Found this on ...

[YvonneCa]

...Twitter. Thought you guys would like it:

http://lockerz.com/s/124541963

[Luftmensch067]

1. You could wait a lifetime

For a shot like that! LOL!!!! When you imagine the amount of time the poor guy must spend at airports...

The best thing is the sign he's looking at! Thanks a billion for posting!

[Inuca]

3. What was teh sign?

I could not figure it out.

[karynnj]

13. I think it is the menu, but they have a picture of some kind of shake

and the words "bring on the brain freeze".

[Luftmensch067]

14. Yes, I think he is looking at the menu, actually

But the fact that he's at least facing a sign that says "Bring on the Brain Freeze!" and it looks like a late night in an airport with everyone kind of dragging themselves around made me laugh! It is kind of sweet to see him just patiently waiting in line. I bet the Lesser Senator would have said he had something important to get to and would have pushed his way to the front! OK, I don't know that he would, but I'd put money on it!

[MBS]

2. Fantastic!!

Thanks!
A long night indeed. I've had insomnia all week. Will I have a paycheck after August 2? We shall see..
A little OT, but I recommend these two comments on the current situation
TOLES, July 29 (I couldn't get the cartoon to upload properly, but one of these links should get you there)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/toles
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-toles-cartoons/2011/06/30/AGuECVsH_gallery.html
http://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles
http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/259624f09b88012e2f8200163e41dd5b?width=750.0

And an essay by Joe Klein on the Time blog:
http://swampland.time.com/2011/07/28/republicans-dangerous-debt-ceiling-charade/#ixzz1TTh9ASyqhttp://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/259624f09b88012e2f8200163e41dd5b?width=750.0

[Inuca]

4. Not exactly insomnia here, but

soemthing close to it, waking up many times per night. What is happening is beyond ridiculous. As to my own paycheck... I am paid by the state, BUT I work at a community college, Pell grants are our blood line.

Side note: there are moments when I feel almost sorry for Boehner, but then I remember his (in)famous "HELL, NO" speech (remember that?) and I stop. Stewart's comment ("saddest tangerine") is spot on.

[karynnj]

6. The Joe Klein article is amazing - Thank you so much for posting it here

His personal journey as someone usually on the left to the Bush fan after 911 back to realizing where the two parties really are.

These last two paragraphs are strong. I like that he admits (though I think he sees it as a virtue) to having been one of the people fostering the myth that "both sides do it" for various "its" - as he unambiguously says there is none of that here.

And so, here we are. Our nation’s economy and international reputation as the world’s presiding grownup has already been badly damaged. It is a self-inflicted wound of monumental stupidity. I am usually willing to acknowledge that Democrats can be as silly, and hidebound, as Republicans–but not this time. There is zero equivalence here. The vast majority of Democrats have been more than reasonable, more than willing to accept cuts in some of their most valued programs. Given the chance, there was the likelihood that they would have surrendered their most powerful weapon in next year’s election–a Mediscare campaign–by agreeing to some necessary long-term reforms in that program. The President, remarkably, proposed raising the age of eligibility for Medicare to 67.

The Republicans have been willing to concede nothing. Their stand means higher interest rates, fewer jobs created and more destroyed, a general weakening of this country’s standing in the world. Osama bin Laden, if he were still alive, could not have come up with a more clever strategy for strangling our nation.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/07/28/republicans-dangerous-debt-ceiling-charade/#ixzz1TUm6gF2C

[Mass]

7. Somewhat better than others, but still DC logic.

It would be bad politics to raise Medicare age. Way to many people wait until they are under Medicare to see a doctor and find out they have a serious disease that should not have been left untreated if they could afford it. So, I certainly hope Klein is wrong and applying DC logic to Obama and Obama did not propose it.

I cant say I agree with the Dems politics at this point. Whatever is passed will be bad. The Reid plan will be somewhat less bad than the Boehner plan, but both will cut (or slash) programs that are necessary for the poor and the middle class. I know my son will enter college in 2012. That is, if he can finance it. Even if Pell grants are not cut, college prices will increase and therefore a cap on Pell Grants (which is likely to happen) will make college less affordable. I wished Klein would be in tune with real people, not the DC Village.

[karynnj]

8. I think it would be atrocious and there is at least one good study suggesting it actually would cost

the government money. This entire cohort would then have to seek less efficient coverage. People, without insurance from their companies, would seek insurance from the exchanges and their higher than the average of younger people costs, would raise the costs, raising the subsidies needed. So, you would gain a savings in Medicare and raise a cost for Medicaid and for the HCR plan.

I personally don't think this will happen - because every large corporation would fight it. Many companies give life time medical benefits to their retirees who meet certain criteria. AT&T's (and I assume other companies) require retirees to apply to Medicare when they become eligible - and the AT&T plan then becomes the secondary one.) The Leiberman/Coburn plan would cost each of these companies a lot of money because what currently happens is part of what was written into their agreements with retirees.

So, given that it really does not save money AND big business will likely oppose it, I don't see it happening.

[Mass]

9. Yes, but the question is "Did Obama propose that".

[karynnj]

10. Ah - good point - I don't think he did

I think all he did was make vague comments commending people working on various alternatives. To my knowledge the ONLY people who have pushed the idea are Leiberman and Coburn. I really do not get Leiberman's relationship with Medicare. He was the Senator who refused the deal that would have allowed people 55 to 65, without insurance to buy into Medicare. This was BY FAR the best way to insure these people, many of whom had lost jobs that paid their insurance when younger.

I would bet that if Leiberman (and all other possible other dissenters) gone with this, healthcare might have passed in both Houses in 2009. In addition, more might have been happy with the result. I suspect that it might even have affected the MA election, in spite of Brown running the better campaign.

[Mass]

11. It would have been nice if the WH had said it did not happen. At this point,

it is common wisdom that he did propose this, as this article shows. When will Dems understand that it is important to deny the lies that are spread. Being above the frey does not work.

[karynnj]

12. I think it is a good example of not seeing that it is being said in the chaos of the time

It might be good if the Obama administration actually had a team assigned to read and hear the media - including the fringe to pick up these "talking points" or occasionally honest inaccurate perceptions when they are in their infancy and forward the lie with information on how prevalent it is to the Obama media folks to determine the right way to counter it. (Not an easy thing to do because when the lie is young, few people have heard it and a full out denial would raise more questions than it answers.

There are abundant examples of Democrats getting saddled with things they never really said as common knowledge.

Here, I read the article, not even picking up that embedded as a positive is a position that Obama has not taken and which most Democrats should hope he never does.

[karynnj]

5. Fantastic

Imagine John Kerry in line at a pizza place - just like everyone else. Nice to post the next time someone posts the elite/aloof/disconnected nonsense.

It is also amazing just how much he stands out in a crowd - instantly recognizable even in the shadows from the back.