The Senate is probably going to repeal the 1099 provisions of the ACA, but they are not going to do it under the Democratic bill of Debbie Stabenow - which would have paid for it with federal funds and exempt Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid funds from being used - but via the Mike Johann's bill, which would look to pay for it by forcing families receiving subsidies through the exchanges to pay back a larger percentage of those subsidies should their income situation unexpectedly change.

What does this mean, in real terms?

Well, Ezra Klein explains:

Under their proposed policy, a family with income at 225 percent of the poverty line who needed subsidies for the first half of the year but canceled them mid-year when the husband got a better job could get a bill for more than $4,500 at the end of the year.

A more worrying example goes the other way: Imagine a family where the breadwinner makes much more than 400 percent of poverty, but loses his job late in the year. He tries to apply for subsidies so the family can keep getting health insurance but is told that he shouldn't bother -- because his total income that year will still be above 400 percent of poverty, he'll get a bill at the end of the year forcing him to pay back the money.

The Affordable Care Act, unfortunately, already includes a "payback" policy along these lines -- the House Republicans are just proposing to make it much, much worse. This will do two things: make people hate the Affordable Care Act for bait-and-switching them, and keep people from entering the exchanges because they've heard horror stories of huge bills. It's clear why the GOP wouldn't mind that outcome, but there's no reason for Democrats to accept it.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by
inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until
their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

Thomas  Jefferson

smart man.

. . . [in 1971], Nixon asked Congress to require for the first time that all companies provide a health plan for their employees, with federal subsidies for low-income workers. Nixon was particularly intrigued by a new idea called health maintenance organizations, which held the promise of providing high-quality care at lower prices by relying on salaried physicians to manage and coordinate patient care.

At first, Kennedy rejected Nixon's proposal as nothing more than a bonanza for the insurance industry that would create a two-class system of health care in America. But after Nixon won reelection, Kennedy began a series of secret negotiations with the White House that almost led to a public agreement. In the end, Nixon backed out after receiving pressure from small-business owners and the American Medical Association. And Kennedy himself decided to back off after receiving heavy pressure from labor leaders, who urged him to hold out for a single-payer system once Democrats recaptured the White House in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Thirty-five year later, the single-payer dream of Democratic liberals still remains politically out of reach . . .

The simple lesson from this story -- and certainly the one Kennedy himself drew -- is that when it comes to historic breakthroughs in social policy, make the best deal you can get, leaving it to subsequent generations to perfect."

Ryan's plan simultaneously places burdens on the lower classes, cuts taxes for the richest and does so in a way that places additional burdens on the states.  It's ridiculous.

If, as many had suggested, Obama had set forth his proposal, he'd have been attacked by the left and the right and been negotiating on GOP terms.  Now the GOP is going to be divided at a time when seniors and others are up in arms.

That's not a bad position for Obama and the dems to be in.

Given: Obama and the dems are going to agree to cuts that tick people off. No doubt. There will be those here angry at what he cuts.  But I think that was a given because there will be hard cuts that have to be made.  But I think the current bargaining position is a good one.  Obama and the dems will look reasonable and the GOP is going to look extreme.

Liberty University students received approximately $445 million in federal financial aid money last fiscal year, according to U.S. Department of Education data, making LU the top recipient in Virginia.

The rapid growth of Liberty's online program has fueled the increased reliance on federal aid dollars, said Robert Ritz, LU's executive director of financial aid.

Last year, Liberty enrolled about 52,000 online students, plus another 12,000 through its residential programs.

"It has ballooned," said Ritz of Liberty's financial aid volume. "In some categories, I've seen us rank no. 3 nationally, or in the top ten. It's because of our size and the growth."

Jennifer and Jim kept getting huge water bills. They knew that the bills weren't representative of their actual usage. But no matter how they tried to conserve, the high bills continued. They had everything checked for leaks or problems: first the water meter, then underground pipes, faucets, etc. -- all to no avail!
One day, Jim heard water running downstairs. Apparently this was happening ALL day long when they were not at home. Knowing that few would believe him, he taped the "problem" for posterity.

Now watch attached video!

the video is of a cat.  flushing the toilet in the basement over, and over, and over, and over, and over.
apparently he would do it all day.  just hit the handle and stare transfixed at the water circling as it exited.

Barack Obama's mantra on Libya is that "Muammar Gaddafi must go". Pentagon supremo Robert Gates, asked about the Yemeni Gaddafi, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, answered, with a straight face, that Washington had no opinion, because it does not interfere in internal affairs of other countries.

The evidence points otherwise. The first African-American president - a Nobel Peace Prize laureate - now also holds the dubious distinction of being the only American president to launch a war on an African nation. He has also launched his re-election campaign, which is bound to gobble up a cool US$1 billion.

Meanwhile, Saleh kept killing his own people, and injuring hundreds - like in the southwestern city of Taizz this Monday. Obama had to do something, so he has "quietly shifted positions", in the quaint words of the New York Times; the new mantra is "Saleh must go". Contorted rhetoric suggests Washington now wants Saleh to go because it has come to the conclusion that his days in power are gone, even though for over two months, killing spree included, he enjoyed full US backing.