Morning Widdershins: Tuesday Tidbits

I Iz Unity Pony Makin De Hope and Change

WSJ: Old People Are Going to Steal Your Precious Bodily Fluids (Or At Least, Your Money!!11!!)

Of all the crap that’s wrong with the House Bill (including of course, chatblu’s immortal “Pap Smear Through The Ear”), I would say this is about dead last on my list of concerns.

A provision in the House health-care bill sets up a stark choice for Democrats between the interests of younger voters and older ones.

The bill would limit how much insurers can vary premiums based on the age of the person buying the policy. The narrower the range, the lower the premiums for older people, a help to those who currently pay some of the highest rates for insurance and often need coverage the most. But such a limitation tends to raise premiums for younger folks, who are sometimes reluctant to buy coverage.

OH NOES!!!!!!!

Still, a calculator on the Kaiser Family Foundation Web site gives a rough sense. It suggests that under the House’s 2-to-1 cap, a 20-year-old would pay $3,169 in annual premiums and a 60-year-old would pay $6,339 for comparable plans, if they both had incomes above the subsidy-eligible level.

OMG!!! Gawd forbid that a person who has been working his/her entire life should get a fucking break on their insurance. And gawd forbid that a 20-year-old who “doesn’t want to” should buy health insurance. As we know, adults never ever have to pay for things they don’t want to. (insert eyeroll here) And really, as if they’re not on their parent’s insurance anyway! Stop with the generational warfare and go endorse another TARP, Wall Street Journal.

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But Don’t Worry, Both Ways Barack is On The Case…(or maybe not so much)

President Obama said today that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend.

“I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill,” Obama said. “And we’re not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions.”

Saying the bill cannot change the status quo regarding the ban on federally funded abortions, the president said, “There are strong feelings on both sides” about an amendment passed Saturday and added to the legislation, “and what that tells me is that there needs to be some more work before we get to the point where we’re not changing the status quo.”

Perhaps it’s me, but I can’t figure out from his statement what exactly needs to change about this bill. Sounds like the language in the Stupak Amendment is just about perfect for our “radical pro-abortion” President. And yes, we could very well change the status if he would just sign FOCA, the way he promised Planned Parenthood all the way back in July of 2008. But he won’t, because he is the candidate – and President – of Chump Change.

I sure hope he enjoys his upcoming trip to China on Thursday. Excellent timing on his part, no?

Fort Hood Suspect Was Tracked by CIA 

WASHINGTON — Intelligence agencies intercepted communications last year and earlier this year between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of shooting to death 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., and a radical cleric in Yemen known for his incendiary anti-American teachings. But federal authorities dropped an inquiry into the matter after deciding the messages warranted no further action, government officials said on Monday.

(snip)

The communications, the subject of an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Army investigators, provide the first indication that Maj. Hasan was in direct communication with the cleric, who on Monday praised Maj. Hasan on his Web site, saying the Army psychiatrist “did the right thing” in attacking soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Depending on what is contained in the exchanges, the disclosure of the government’s decision not to take any steps against Maj. Hasan may provoke criticism of the F.B.I. and Army investigators for missing possible warning signs of an alleged mass killer. F.B.I., military and intelligence officials were preparing to brief reporters on the matter Monday night.

I have news for those who think the Patriot Act is protecting us. It isn’t. Neither is the loosening of FISA standards. The FBI and the Army had the information they needed, and discarded it. There’s no substitute for common sense, unfortunately.

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Blame It On the Jooz

Poor, victimized Mahmoud Abbas…whose “,moderate” Fatah will never recognize Israel’s right to exist. I mean, Netanyahu is just MEAN…to agree to negotiate with him without preconditions! I can see why Abbas would run away and pout like a baby…er, I mean, threaten to resign.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s negotiating partner, was raised as a possibility on Monday, as several aides to its president, Mahmoud Abbas, said that he intended to resign and forecast that others would follow.

“I think he is realizing that he came all this way with the peace process in order to create a Palestinian state, but he sees no state coming,” Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator, said in an interview. “So he really doesn’t think there is a need to be president or to have an Authority. This is not about who is going to replace him. This is about our leaving our posts. You think anybody will stay after he leaves?”

Mr. Abbas warned last week that he would not participate in Palestinian elections he called for, to take place in January. But he has threatened several times before to resign, and many viewed this latest step as a ploy by a Hamlet-like leader upset over Israeli and American policy. Many also noted that the vote might not actually be held, given the Palestinian political fracture and the unwillingness of Hamas, which controls Gaza, to participate.

Thanks to our friend LadyBoomerNYC for the tips on the Israel and Fort Hood stories!

What’s on your mind? This is an open thread.