Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 20 October 2013

Various driveby media television networks ^ | 20 October 2013 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces

[Alas Babylon!]

The Talk Shows

October 20th, 2013

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla.

STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Cruz; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

[Son House]

Here’s the exact quote I mentioned before;
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3073182/posts

“I do believe that there is a basis for a resolution [because] Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons,” Obama told reporters.

Where’s the lap dog media on this?

Am I supposed to take comfort or confidence in that?

What is a fatwa? I speak English, not Iranian, I have no idea what he means.

What is a Supreme Leader? Does everyone in Iran have to obey him? What if they don’t? Do tell...reporters...

[bray]

Do they perform castrations in the Cloak Room?

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

excellant summary.

[Morgan in Denver]

Now is also the time to explain to voters that a single payer plan would be even worse. With government mandating coverages and not caring about profitability, the consumer gets the worst of both worlds: worse care and higher prices.

Democrats will demonize insurance companies but there is no example of government being more competitive than private insurers.

[kabar]

wait till this guy goes to the doctor and finds out he has to use up $2,500 worth of charges a year before his “subsidized” insurance kicks in, plus one grand of dough before a prescription is purchased. And when it DOES finally pay something, he will have to pay 30% of the bill.

Good morning. Good points all. According to some articles I have read, patients will be asked to pay the deductible up front before receiving services.

Patients Pay Before Seeing Doctor as Deductibles Spread

When Barbara Retkowski went to a Cape Coral, Florida, health clinic in August to treat a blood condition, she figured the center would bill her insurance company. Instead, it demanded payment upfront. Earlier in the year, another clinic insisted she pay her entire remaining insurance deductible for the year -- more than $1,000 -- before the doctor would even see her.

The practice of upfront payment for non-emergency care has been spreading in the U.S. as deductibles rise. Now, the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to accelerate that trend.

Many of the plans offered through the law’s insurance exchanges have low initial premiums to attract customers, while carrying significant deductibles and other out-of-pocket cost sharing. The second-lowest tier of Obamacare plans in California, for example, carries a $2,000 annual deductible.

[RitaOK]

One advantage of being referred to as a “problem” is to say you are NOT irrelevant. I believe they are all pretty twisted about the power of the people held up nicely in the Tea Party.

With leadership like Cruz and Lee already ensconced in office and determined, we have a meaningful future immediately ahead.

IF, we can remove McConnell and Graham, a titanic shift comes to the Surrender Caucus.

[Morgan in Denver]

I agree with you but add the lower quality of healthcare we are going to have because of fewer doctors and government mandates as to care. Putting government in bed with doctors can never be a good thing for patients. Nor can punishing some hospitals over policy and eliminating charitable hospitals because they cannot adhere to government guidelines in patient care.

0bamacare may tell people they are now covered by health insurance but there is no way 0bamacare can guarantee a doctor will be there to provide it.

[Son House]

Good point, and you just know most the Frank Luntz Focus Group folks are not aware of this reality too.

[chiller]

E.J. Dionne appears to harbor a load of bitterness for the T-Party. He has zero use for us. Feeling is mutual, E.J.

What's your feeling, kabar, regarding the mid-terms and the cueing up of issues? Dems seem to win with debt limit/shutdown but their recent kicking the can just 3 months down the road doesn't set it up as a campaign issue.

Whereas, Obiecare will remain and perhaps grow as an issue throughout next year until it's repealed. '10 redux X 2, imho.

[chiller]

ABC THIS WEEK has a segment with geniune T-Partiers from Ohio. I missed most of it, damn....looked pretty good.

[Momto2]

I agree - I cannot trust him either! I think he is sneaky and not trustworthy and that illegal immigration/amnesty is his true #1 goal. Sad for I had high hopes for him at one time.....

[kabar]

Right. And with 18 million added to Medicaid rolls due to Obamacare, access to doctors will be diminished even further. 40% of doctors don’t take Medicaid patients now because the reimbursement rates are so low. Add more users to a deteriorating system will only make matters worse.

[Momto2]

The only reason ABC is putting on Cruz vs Bush is to further divide the GOP.

I agree - the only thing more despicable then the surrender RINO's is the attempt of the dems (aka/ media) to capitalize on it. Bob Schiefer egging on McConnell -"What are you going to "DO" about Cruz"? "How are you going to handle him????" etc. etc.

[Fishtalk]

I agree with you Rita.

I listened all morning, dear Lord, John McCain, do they have to say we FAILED? Couldn’t they say we “postponed” the debate, which is what happened.

McCain says to Obama to the effect “Okay, you won, now let’s talk....” or words like that.

Obama won nothing. The can was pushed down the road although all the lamestream media says FAIL.

My point is, doesn’t anyone in the Republican party ever send out talking points? Do they have to say we FAILED, Obama WON?

Just like that, our former presidential nominee spits us on TV and....

....lookit, the Tea Party is here to stay, although we all know there is no physical TEA PARTY that you can touch.

They really hate us, they fear us.

We all, yon readers and you know who you are, do not care that they call us names and mock us. They look really silly.

And if the political elite think they’re going to roll out some malfunctioning health care behemoth on us and we’re going to take it sitting down.....

....all they did is take a break, suggested waiting till after the holidays....give America one last good holiday before the economy is wrecked. Then discuss it....

....nobody “won” anything.”

Obamacare was funded, yes, but it can be defunded or over-ridden later. They make their own talking points with that horror of an intro to the AFCA.

Just laugh at the silly political elite twits. They think they’re going to win this.

No they’re not.

[SMM48]

McCain took her under his wing....or something.

McCain's wing is the kiss of death. Too bad she won't realize that until it's too late.

[hillarynot]

Re- less Doctors

My neighbor (and personal physician) is in his late fifties. He said he and many of his peers are considering retiring earlier than planned when Obamacare kicks in. Not only will they get paid even less, they expect a huge influx of patients which will overwhelm their resources.

[SMM48]

Looks like Rubio is trying to do a media rehab tour...

Rubio is done. He pissed in his own cornflakes. Having said that, who here does not think he was set up by McCain and Shyster..er I mean Schumer?

[ROCKLOBSTER]

He said he and many of his peers are considering retiring earlier than planned

I just lost a doctor (specialist) to unexpected retirement.

[Morgan in Denver]

Nor are all those young Democrat supporters/voters who don’t realize what’s in store for them.

It will be honestly funny when some young 0bamacare patient gets to the emergency room only to be delayed over all the paperwork, deductibles and copays that have to be paid prior to their receiving care.

I can envision it now..... Quit screaming, sign here and write that check or bring out that credit card...... We’ll get to you sometime today or tomorrow.

[Fishtalk]

So I take a few moments to write the story of the little black cat.

I write this story because, well the story's not over yet. Frankly I don't know how it will end.

There's a rather unusual story about this cat, as background.

Currently she is about 15 years old. She's not young. Her name is Lisa.

She was a beloved cat to my husband, who died this past April. The only thing he asked of me before his death was to please take good care of the pets.

Billy loved cats and we always had at least four, most times six, once we had eight cats. Thus I am quite experienced in the dynamics of cats and this background has been very helpful in dealing with Lisa.

First, there's Lisa's hair.

I just do not know what to say about this cat and her hair except it's about the weirdest thing on the planet. Her hair is like cotton candy, I kid not. To comb it is almost impossible as it sticks together, gets tangled and hurts her. She tries desperately to groom herself and the other cats also helped her groom but alas even with human brushes, co-cats' tongues and her own ministrations, this cat's hair formed huge mats on her sides and belly and in due course she was like a burro, walking around with two "packs" of piles of mats hanging down each side in one big impossible to untangle mess. It looked exactly like foam.

We did everything in our human power to groom this cat but first, for whatever reason her hair was weird, so weird that even she could not groom herself even with the help of a bevy of cats.

And please do not think that Lisa herself tolerated a lot of human tugging and pulling in attempts to clear her mats. She bit and scratched and clawed and after a while we gave up.

There were times I used a craft straight razor to gets those mats off of her. Which, again, is not easy because that's a dangerous tool and her mats did get stuck to her very skin so sharp instruments often caused her as much harm as most anything. Once I even sliced open her entire belly region in an attempt to tear off a huge piece of foam-hair. It was a thin cut but fully six inches long. She spent ages in a corner licking and coaxing the sore to heal and eventually it did.

For most of her life Lisa has walked around with over three pounds of cat hair affixed to her and only when she began dropping turds all over the place due to the hair trap did I wrestle with clearing her up, at least her hind quarters.

The only thing to be done, seriously, about this cat's hair, was to have her put to sleep and rid her of the mats while she was under. Don't think a cat groomer or any other animal expert could get those mats off of Lisa but despite she's lived a very happy life despite her strange affliction.

Eventually Lisa began to lose weight and the big mat packs on her side began to disappear. The ministrations of the other cats evidently helped to clear her ageing mats. An old cat losing weight is nothing new. Cats often have teeth issues as they age and can't chew certain foods properly. We usually switch them over to a soft food when this happens and keep an eagle eye on the elderly feline to keep them as healthy, and comfortable, as possible.

After my husband died I had to establish a new relationship with the cats -before I'd always been the bad guy, the human who poked their ears for mites and combed the tangles. Now I was all they had and, tentatively, they approached me for food, love and care.

One morning I noticed Lisa weaving in place with a huge drop of….well snot I guess it was, hanging out of her nose. I picked her up and cleaned up the snot, then put her down. She could not walk hardly at all, in fact she walked sidewise and kept falling down, as if she were drunk.

I believe she had some kind of stroke.

I spent that day tending to Lisa, praying what to do. Snot kept hanging out of her nose, she kept walking sidewise, could not even stand up….I had to consider putting her down.

Anyone who's had pets has had to face this decision and so I pondered. Intriguingly, Lisa still was hungry and thirsty but was totally unable to walk to the food or water.

I decided I would tenderly deal with Lisa and come the time, we'd go to the Vet for the needle.

Because she was unable to walk I had to bring her little bowls of water and food by her cat bed and she did, God Bless, crooked and confused, manage to sip water and eat some Temptations.

Only something else was also very wrong with this cat.

She seemed unable to eat or drink.

Now my considerable experience with dying cats is once they become very ill they often go off into a corner and just sit till they die.

Not Lisa.

Old and crippled by a stroke and with obvious eating and drinking issues , Lisa meowed a soft croak every time I walked by. She ate the temptations and drank some water but I could see she was having trouble.

She was always hungry.

I did not want her to suffer so I decided, hey, I'm going to do everything I can for this cat and comes the time….well comes the time. Billy loved his cats but we knew when we had to end it. We've a backyard full of our beloved cat pet grave, even two dog graves.

Suddenly, just the strangest thing. Lisa, all her life, fifteen years, she begins to….well I know yon reader shall think me nuts, but she began to SING!

For 15 years Lisa never uttered a sound. Oh she had a raspy kind of whisper meow, we never knew why she couldn't make any noise but it was no matter. We recognized her rasp and often made fun of the sweet little thing, rasping to her owners for something or other.

Now the house was filled with …..hand to God, just the strangest, most beautiful, melodious sounds one ever heard coming from a cat, it was weird. Both daughter and granddaughter have heard Lisa with her new singing voice so I got witnesses. Her sounds were angelic, celestial, once she sat on my lap and made a sound exactly like...well like a butterfly, if a butterfly could make a sound.

I plopped Lisa on the counter and removed the rest of her mats, yes I did, for now she was so weak she couldn't fight me. Her poor tail was encased in some kind of mat mess and she couldn't even lift it. I figured out how to removed her trapped tail and combed her thorough.

She is by now of the beautiful singing, extremely thin, very, very thin, and I prayed for guidance. I wanted to keep her alive but not in a life filled with pain. Her sounds were not pain sounds, just an old cat finding out she could sing.

Lisa got better and better and now can walk fairly straight. It helped getting her tail out of its hair case. The snot kept coming out of her nose for a couple of days but in due course it stopped.

For many years this cat could not jump up on anything and, indeed, husband and I had to set up a special feeding/watering station for her on the floor, hidden, as we put up cats' food so dog won't get. Lisa could not jump to the cat food and water station.

All of a sudden Lisa began jumping everywhere! She jumped up on tables, she jumped up onto my bed, to my surprise for Lisa never came into my bedroom but now she jumped up and snuggled next to me, even PURRING!

She still has trouble eating but it gets better and better. She gets plenty of water and, hurray, she can now get up to the cats' feeding station and does not need a special spot on the floor.

As of now I think Lisa's going to live but I don't know how long. But she can eat and drink, though it's tough and her head still tilts sideways and she does still walk a little crooked.

The other day she even joined the other cats in a cat game and last week she had a bit of catnip.

I do think Lisa had a stroke or some kind of event.

I will keep her alive and comfortable as long as possible and I will know that I kept my promise to Billy to take care of the pets.

Meanwhile it's like I got a new kitten, jumping and singing and Lord help me, I have to lock the bedroom door at night to keep her out as she keeps me up all night with her "songs".

Lisa is not going softly into any good night.

I will do my best to take good care of her.

This is not to say she's going to pull through. I have to give her quite a bit of extra care plus keep doors closed that never was required before. The time may come when Lisa will have to be taken on a final trip to the Vet.

I'll know when the time is right. Meanwhile she gets better every day.

I call her the crazy little black cat.

Notice in the picture below, what looks like ugly skin or lumps on Lisa's side is really her matted fur that I cut with a garden shear to get off. Notice the mucous plus.