Friday, April 8, 2011

Shutdown Averted - UPDATED, CORRECTED

No details yet. Best preliminary article is by David Dayen of FDL, who says this:

Essentially, Democrats bought Planned Parenthood’s continued life for between $1-$4 billion, depending on who you believe.

Such a deal! Planned Parenthood provides basic reproductive health care... completely aside from abortion, I'm talking about pap smears, contraception, well-baby checks, and other basic testing... that would be provided by the government in any civilized Western democracy. But our Western society is neither a democracy nor civilized. So we have to bribe the motherfuckers... good word for them, no?... to keep them from whacking that basic care. It almost makes me wish I weren't a UU, so I could really believe in a Hell they could go to.

More details when they're available, or perhaps tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: a few details are trickling in Friday night. Brian Beutler of TPM says the cuts will total, as Boner put it, "$78.5 billion below the President's 2011 budget proposal..." Yes, seventy-eight-point-five billion, vastly higher than even the Republans' original number.This of course will absolutely ruin any stimulus, and probably send us into the depths of a genuine depression.

Oh, and Senate Republans have been promised an up-or-down vote on riders to defund Planned Parenthood and to kill health care reform. So don't think for a moment that those are gone forever.

My first impression: this is a bad deal for Democrats, and a bad effort by Democrats. WASF!

CORRECTION: according to the NYT, the figure for the cuts is $38 billion. (Other sources say $38.5 billion.) But hey, what's a few dozen billion among friends, as long as they make sure the poor starve and the elderly lack medical care...

No comments:

Post a Comment

USING THIS PAGE TO LEAVE A COMMENT

• Click here to view existing comments.
• Or enter your new rhyme or reason
in the new comment box here.
• Or click the first Reply link below an existing
comment or reply and type in the
new reply box provided.
• Scrolling manually up and down the page
is also OK.

Static Pages (About, Quotes, etc.)

No Police Like H•lmes



(removed)