Well, RNC chairman Reince Priebus just lost the actuary vote:
Priebus boldly predicted a Republican “tsunami” in the 2014 midterm elections at a Christian Science Monitor event on Tuesday, but his remarks aimed at actuaries went largely unnoticed.
“ObamaCare was intentionally designed to screw young people over,” he said. “I mean, actuaries sat down in a room and figured out how they were going to pay for this monstrosity of a program, and they decided, let’s just screw over everyone who is 35 or younger. And that’s what they did.”
The American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) shot back late Wednesday in a statement saying the chairman’s allegations were nothing more than “political rhetoric meant to elicit attention.”
“The characterization of actuaries in those remarks cannot be taken seriously,” the group said.
Add them to the list of people (professors, minorities, women, gays…) who are alienated by Republican rhetoric.
Because young people will never grow old or need health care themselves.
Senate Control in 2014 Increasingly Looks Like a Tossup by Nate Silver
Being based on comparison with historical data, it assumes typical mid-term turnouts. If Democrats are going to do anything but lose both Houses, they have to stir up enough excitement to up the turnout and stimulate the volunteers who can get out the vote over a larger geography than is typical–digging into Republican gerrymandered districts.
So far we have caution, boring, and “me too”. And my intuition is telling me that if you thought 2010 was a disaster, watch this year.
What my intuition cannot cope with is the possibility of some event profoundly changing the political culture. Moral Monday movements in four states could do that. Major international events breaking against the Republicans could do that. An economy that finally breaks out of a jobs recession could do that.
The actual experience with Obamacare is beginning to change the picture already.
I think major international events are pretty much only going to break against the party in the White House. The handling of the wars played a good part in why Democrats won the 2006 midterms.
The advantage the Republicans have is that of a larger narrative that works against Democrats. That narrative includes Obamacare, the overall economy, the national security state run amok, and to a much lesser extent international events like the Russian annexation of Crimea.
So what Democrats lack is an issue that gets voters sufficiently riled up to show up and vote out Republicans. The inequality issue is a good one but it requires full buy-in from all Democratic politicians and right now we have too many that are beholden to the corporate elites and the wealthy. Cohesion on selling Obamacare would be nice but most are still running from it in some fashion.
I’m fairly pessimistic.
Greed, religion, and racism/fear are much easier to sell than more complex notions such greater equality leads to more individual financial security, better wealth, better health, and more happiness.
The old GOP “chicken in every pot” failed because too many didn’t even have a pot and unlike the masses living in poverty today, they knew it. Once people had the “pot” and the “chicken,” the GOP could return to the divide and conquer strategy. That the “others” were coming to take away their “chickens and pots.”
The American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) shot back late Wednesday in a statement saying the chairman’s allegations were nothing more than “political rhetoric meant to elicit attention.”
“The characterization of actuaries in those remarks cannot be taken seriously,” the group said.
The conundrum. He’s trolling for attention and you give him some.
What Reince Priebus is saying is that private insurance isn’t actually risk pooling, you know, actual insurance.
Lord, I wish there was some economic literacy in this country. I learned about that in the 8th grade in a SC junior high.
Meanwhile, Pat Robertson is talking about the mass exodus of the rich, the young, and the ambitious from France because of the “welfare state”. Wow-ee, over 36,000 of that demographic left France last year. The US should be scared of what its welfare state is doing?
When, oh when, can we shut up the bullshit?
When more than 1% of the Republican base can spell actuary. A day which will come when the current Republican base shrinks to the point that they have to reach out to a broader constituency. What we’re witnessing in many forms is essentially a single phenomenon: a frightened group of people seeing their worst nightmares unfolding, the country turning brown. They are doing everything they can to make time stand still. If they could turn it back they would. But since they can’t, they’ll just do their best to prevent any progress for as long as they can hold on to enough power to do so. Thus, the party of “No!”
Consider how frightening it would be for such people to see a black man in the White House. No matter how reasonable this particular man may be, his presence and that of his family is fundamentally terrifying, signaling the beginning of the end of the world they know. I say this not to excuse them, but to help us have a bit of empathy. Most people only know what they’re taught as children. As the song in “South Pacific” said, “you’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight . . .”
RNC anagram discovers a new boogieman – actuaries — because the old ones have lost their zing, and the GOP base can be counted to shout about anything they know zip about.
Who I’d like to see weigh in on Obamacare are the demographers. How The GOP Is Using Obamacare To Restrict Abortion Coverage Hope those states are prepared for a baby boom and all the public services that will be required.
You can thank the Conserva-Dem from MI-01 in 2009-2010 for that one. Bart Stupak could hold up the ACA bill to get that in. Every church in the UP must have been having sermons about how Obamacare would harm fetuses.
BTW, I don’t think there has been sufficient notice here of the news that Paul Broun hired Michelle Bachmann’s “rhetorician”, a debate coach from Liberty University (Lynchburg VA) to help him hone his crazy for a mere $33,000 a year (part-time job). If that doesn’t clue you in that the clown show is a choreographed act, what will? The professional Palinization job.
There are three kinds of Republicans.
What you’re seeing now is old-school grifters being thrown out of the party by new-school grifters pretending to be true believers.
The true believers eventually lose their seats because they eventually lose their ability to stop talking.
Both sides alienate people with their rhetoric.
Democrats routinely alienate racists, misogynists and billionaires with their rhetoric.
At this point, I would like to point out to the Washington Post that I am available for employment.
First they came for the actuaries . . .