Last Call For Honey Badger Mode

Sen. Harry Reid isn't wasting any time, for as soon as the Senate reconvenes next week, extended jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed will be on the table and up for a Monday vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Associated Press in an interview that the Senate will vote Monday on a three-month extension of federal unemployment benefits.

Calling the House a “black hole of legislation,” he offered no prediction on whether the lower chamber would take up the extension as well.

“We’ll see what happens,” he told the AP on Monday.

Reid had previously said taking up the extension would be his first priority when the Senate returns in January. Monday is the first day the Senate is back in session in the new year.

President Obama and Democrats are pressuring Republicans to pass an extension of the jobless aid, which expired on Saturday for about 1.3 million people. 

The Senate is expected to take up a bill sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), which would temporarily extend the benefits without offsetting the cost.

“I hope we can get that done,” Reid said.

President Obama has endorsed the proposal, but Republicans in the House have insisted that any renewal of the extended jobless benefits be offset.

It's that last part that guarantees problems for the House GOP.  Voting against jobless benefits in an election year with a down economy isn't going to make you friends...so they'll simply never vote on the Senate proposal, and pass a extended jobless benefits bill that makes brutal cuts elsewhere, then blame Reid.

Or at least, that's the plan.  Lately that hasn't always worked out for the GOP.  We'll see if they overplay their hand again.

Meanwhile, millions lost their benefits over the weekend and are facing a very hard New Year this week because Republicans cut an extension out of the latest budget deal.  Every week that goes by, things are only going to get worse.

An Israel/Palestine Reality Czech

Meanwhile, in Prague, a real spy thriller is shaping up.

The Palestinian ambassador to Prague was killed in an explosion at his residence on Wednesday that Czech authorities believe was probably an accident. 

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said ambassador Jamal al-Jamal had been trying to open a safe that was recently moved to his new home and a Czech government source told Reuters that the explosion was probably caused by a security device on the unit. 

It was unclear what that was. Some safes can be fitted with mechanisms designed to destroy secret documents in the event of the lock being tampered with. The Czech source said the government did not believe it was a terrorist attack. 

Czech police said the ambassador died of his injuries in hospital after the explosion on the morning of New Year's Day in the two-storey suburban residence. No one else was injured, police said, although Jamal's family was at home at the time. 

No signs of damage to the house was visible from the street. 

"There has been a detonation of a so far unidentified explosive mixture," police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova said. "The ambassador was ... taken to hospital with serious injuries."

A safe with a serious failsafe just happens to go off killing the ambassador?  Something about that doesn't make sense.  Sure, it's a great way to destroy sensitive documents, but also a great way to, you know, kill an ambassador.

There's more to it than a mere fatal accident, especially when the Palestinians are involved.  Because wherever there's Palestinian ambassadors, there's Israel...and they play for keeps.  Not saying Israel had a hand in this, but they're probably not losing any sleep over this accident, either.

Not a wink.

Operation Sonia Says

Justice Sonia Sotomayor took a whack at the Obamacare pinata last night, granting a temporary stay from Affordable Care Act provisions for a group of nuns.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a temporary exemption late Tuesday to a small group of Catholic nuns that shields it from having to comply with a part of President Obama's healthcare law that requires it to provide contraceptive coverage in its insurance plans. 

She acted on an emergency appeal from lawyers for the group who said the nuns faced "draconian fines" beginning on New Year's Day if they failed to comply with the law widely known as Obamacare. 

Sotomayor gave the government until Friday to file a response in the case. Her order extends only to the group of nuns and does not apply more broadly to the Affordable Care Act and its requirements.

So it's a very narrow stay for a specific group, and so far it's the only stay granted, but whether or not it means she is showing her hand as the fifth vote in favor of November's Hobby Lobby case, I cannot tell you. We'll see, but I don't think it's a good thing for the law's mandate.

Zandar's 2014 Predictions

Well, we're getting back into the swing of things here at ZVTS, and that means another batch of wacky predictions for the year ahead.  Here we go:

1)  The Dems will keep the Senate, the GOP will keep the House in November.  Call me an optimist, or call me crazy, but the GOP is going to find a way to overplay their Obamacare hand, and I think it's going to come a lot sooner than anyone thinks with the debt ceiling negotiations and threats to completely shut down the Senate. America will soon be reminded why the congressional GOP's approval rating is in the low 20's.

2)  Google Glass will be delayed until 2015, or later.    Google Glass is supposed to be out in 2014, but with all the noise about privacy concerns in our super-connected world, I think Google is going to find releasing a product as invasive as Glass to be a real problem right now.  As such, I think they'll go back to the drawing board.

3)  Alison Lundergan Grimes would beat Mitch McConnell to be the next Senator from KY.  And she may be the only bright spot for the Dems in 2014.  People are badly underestimating just how much people here hate Mitch McConnell.  If the Clintons come in to back Alison, she'll win.  Should Matt Bevin beat Mitch in the primary however, things are going to be really interesting.

4)  And speaking of the Clintons, Hillary won't announce any run for 2016...at least not in 2014. She's too cagey and knows part of the reason she lost to Obama in 2008 was because of her attitutde of inevitability and the fact that familiarity bred more than a little contempt.  She'll keep a low profile until 2015, minimum.  Besides, look how far Chris Christie has gotten by not announcing his 2016 plans yet.

5)  Marvel will continue their movie hot streak in 2014 with Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  I predict all three movies will make $200 million domestically.

6)  The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on same-sex marriage later in 2014, but the decision won't come until 2015.  And it's going to be a hell of a decision, with the court having to face the legality of same-sex marriage in all 50 states.  I fully expect a Loving v.Virginia-level event.

7)  No impeachment measures in 2014, but 2015 will be a different story.  At some point, the GOP will have to play the impeachment card against President Obama, especially if #1 up there becomes true.  It's all they will have left.

8)  Obamacare will be around through 2014 and beyond.  Sorry Republicans, it's not getting repealed in 2014 or, well, ever.  Deal with it.

9)  The Sochi Winter Olympics will be a disaster.  The whole world will get a close up view of Putin's Russia in February for two weeks, and it's not going to be pretty.  It will make Atlanta 1996 look like the most competent games ever put on.

10)  ZVTS will make it to 2015.  I'm back from vacation starting tomorrow, and back in the ball game.  We'll be around for another year.

We'll check back in a year to see how I did.  Here's hoping all my readers have a happy and prosperous 2014, and as always, thanks for being here.

Zandar's 2013 Prediction Scorecard

With 2013 almost over, it's time to revisit my predictions for 2013 and get my picks for 2014 in order, and well...my score wasn't too good.  Not good at all:

1) The upcoming debt ceiling fight will cost America another credit notch from one of the big three agencies. 

Nope, this didn't happen. Thankfully. It may still happen in 2014, but I was pleasantly surprised here.

2) Bashar al-Assad won't be Syria's President by Dec 31, 2013. This also seems like a pretty safe bet, as the end of 2012 sees him barely holding on as leader.

Not only is he sill in charge of Syria, but with Russia's tacit and in some cases overt support, Assad and the Syrian civil war will last for years.

3) President Obama will have to make a recess appointment for a Cabinet position. That's unprecedented as far as I know. But that's really the next step in Total Republican Opposition, isn't it?

Wrong again, but only because Harry Reid finally changed the rules on presidential appointments in the Senate.  And thank God he did that.

4) Chris Christie will be re-elected as Governor of New Jersey with Cory Booker holding out for Senate...but don't be surprised if Christie doesn't finish his term.

Nailed this one.

5) As more Obamacare benefits kick in, it will gain majority approval by Americans. I honestly believe this will get better as more benefits come due.

The jury's still out on this one. Some argue that the program will never have a majority approval, some argue it will, but it will take years, and some predict it will be repealed completely by scared Democrats in 2014 or 2016. But as far as 2013 went, no, the program doesn't have majority approval. Yet.

6) Republicans will muster enough votes to split the electoral vote by Congressional district in at least one state that went for Obama in 2012. Ohio would be the biggest prize.

I thought this would happen, then Republicans realized how hard this would be, and that it would bite them in the ass later on.

7) The Leap Motion controller turns into one of the big tech successes of 2013. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, enough to put my money on one.

Nope.  The Leap Motion faded into one of yet another also-rans of 2013, but it was overshadowed by much larger tech failures:  Blackberry's near-death disintegration, Target's massive credit care breach, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch phone, and yes, the first month of healthcare.gov.

8) Kim Kardashian's baby with Kanye West will be the story we're all sick of by the end of the year. I'm already sick of it.

Maybe.  Lord knows I'm still sick of hearing about North West, but it was Kanye's videos that really made me want to pull my hair out.

9) Lincoln takes home the most Oscars. Tall order, I know. But I just see this being the big Oscar flick in 2013's awards.

Nope.  Lincoln lost to Life of Pi and Argo for most Oscars.

10) ZVTS makes it to the end of another year. I still plan to be around, and Bon is concentrating on her writing these days, but you'll see more of us. Still plenty of Stupid to fight.

Yeah, still here, technically.

So, final score, 2 yes, 2 maybe, 6 wrong.  I'll have my 2014 predictions up tomorrow.

Last Call For A While

After some serious introspection over the last several weeks, I've decided to take a break from ZVTS for a while.  It's a combination of the holidays, and partially because I've not really taken a break from this place in five and half years.

I'm overdue for something of a vacation for a while.

Don't worry, I'll be back, but I'm somewhat burnt out and have a lot going on in my life, and I need to put ZVTS on the back burner for a bit.

Thanks for understanding.  I'll still be fighting the good fight after the holidays.

--Z

Transfer Students

The screaming right wing headline from CNS News:




The actual CBO report:




In other words, the poorest Americans are getting Medicare and Social Security, and that bottom 40% accounts for 9.7% of the nation's income.  After taxes and help, that comes to 20.3%.

The wealthiest one percent, by the way, accounted for 51% of the nation's income.

And yes, it's been awful being in the top 1 percent.