The Wingnuts Return

++It didn't take long. The anti-Obamacare hate mail has started again. This time it is the cost of malfunctioning websites in Hawaii,Oregon,Vermont and Massachusetts. Yes,they have been a bother and Massachusetts and Vermont are withholding payment from the contractor. But is this how deep in the weeds they will go?

++Apparently,yes. Americans for the Prosperity of the Koch Brothers have unleashed ads against first-term Democrats attacking them for the failures of Obamacare. These ads feature actors who claim they had multiple heart attacks and now they received a letter from the insurance company saying they were cancelled. Good thing they won't be banned from insurance for pre-existing conditions. This will continue through 2014 and beyond.

++Mitch McConnell has said the number 1 priority for him in 2014 is the repeal of Obamacare. The New York Times, which pretends this people are normal,says that now the law is in effect the Republicans are debating how best to deal with the law--gut it. The Times neglected to mention that because millions more will have healthcare that won't stop the GOP from going after it. After all,they have gone after foodstamps and unemployment insurance. Why should people who now have healthcare insurance benefit?

++Jared Bernstein in today's Huffington Post goes into detail about how Food stamps and unemployment insurance works during the Great recession and how as we climb out of it they taper off. That's why it is nuts to cut them further.

++Paul Krugman is hip to the game in today's op-ed "the Fear Economy". Krugman writes how corporations actually can manage quite well with a moderate depression. This allows them to suppress wages and cut benefits because employees are living in a state of fear.

++Robert Parry writes for Consortium News about "Obama's Not So Bad Year". Parry focuses on Obama changing the dynamic of our Middle East policy and how the Beltway pundits conditioned by years of the neoconservatives blast Obama for this so-called "Failure". 

++I like Eugene Robinson but his column this morning on the civil war among the GOP is just wishful thinking. Gene talks about the CNN polls which show the public favor the GOP in the mid-terms but that the GOP doesn't have any ideas. That maybe true but they whipped up 2010 without any ideas either. 

++It should be noted that at least three polls have shown Democrats with at least a three point margin in the generic poll. Others point out the inconsistency of Americans hating Congress and giving it a single digit approval rating but wanting the GOP to control it. Democracy Corps a few weeks ago--long enough after the shutdown to be relevant--pointed out that in swing districts ,which would determine the control the House,the races are very close. But readers should remember 150 GOP House members are running unopposed.

++Kudos to Brainwrap for having his Excel sheets referred to in the Washington Post concerning the signups of Obamacare.

++What was President Obama's best decision this year? You can debate about certain nominations to the court and to the administration. But my candidate is the decision he did not make--Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Washington Times yesterday went ape about this because there is now a conflict of interest investigation into the State Department's approval process. Remember Keystone would raise gas prices in the Midwest and would not provide any oil to the United States or create significant jobs.

++Tomorrow 1.3 million Americans will not receive their unemployment compensation.