To survive a war to spread democracy, only to be put near death by Oakland PD for exercising a Constitutional right is... ironic to say the least.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

The new deficit-reduction plan from a majority of Democrats on the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the "supercommittee") marks a dramatic departure from traditional Democratic positions -- and actually stands well to the right of plans by the co-chairs of the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson commission and the Senate's "Gang of Six," and even further to the right of the plan by the bipartisan Rivlin-Domenici commission. The Democratic plan contains substantially smaller revenue increases than those bipartisan proposals while, for example, containing significantly deeper cuts in Medicare and Medicaid than the Bowles-Simpson plan. The Democratic plan features a substantially higher ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases than any of the bipartisan plans.

Here's a chart comparing the plans.

More from the CBPP:

The Democratic plan has $200 billion in Medicare beneficiary cuts, a level that exceeds the beneficiary cuts in Bowles-Simpson (the Gang of Six is not specific on this point) and is eight times the level of Medicare beneficiary cuts in the budget plan that President Obama released on September 19. Since half of Medicare beneficiaries have incomes below about $21,000, it would be extremely difficult to secure $200 billion in savings from increased Medicare beneficiary charges without requiring significantly larger out-of-pocket payments by beneficiaries with incomes as low as $12,000 or $15,000.

I shudder to think how much worse it gets when the GOP throws its usual temper tantrum and Dems start trying to be more accommodating.

So, trying to get a grip on things tonight I figure, "nothing but reruns on the tube, my dog's asleep, the ice pellets are chiming off the roof and windows, let me click on TL and see if any insomniacs are on line, or have written any recent posts."

Scrolling down the site I notice a couple of new entries on Jeralyn's "Wednesday Open Thread," even though it's Thursday. And, half way into the thread, there's my friend, Anne, surprisingly, not railing about the world's fetid condition, and not even lamenting how much better earth would be if the symbol, 99%,  represented the percentage of people who should've been flushed down the toilet at birth.

So, there's Donna (Anne) Reed, impersonating Suzy Homemaker (not her true identity, Leona Trotsky) and flashing those two beautiful (unclench your fist please)........ words, near and dear to my heart: "Guitar," because I used to play, and "Woodstock," which is right next door to my house.

Now, being after midnight, drowsiness & pre-dementia toying with my mind, the next words that popped out of the screen caused my palm to smack my forehead so loudly, my Doby woke up growling at the world.

There it was, "As a fellow MD resident,"..........

I can't believe it!! How many talents can one lady have?

And, now, a Doctor??? When did this happen? You kept the secret so very, very well.

Yes, yes, for a brief (well, not so brief) moment I felt like I was eavesdropping on a private conversation you were having with the sweet Lady Zorba about the trials and tribulations, and pressures of being a post-intern, Resident M.D.!!!

So, bottom line: the next time I tweak, or gently critique one of your posts, please don't reflexively rip off my head as you seem so elated when doing.

Be gentle, be kind, be considerate,

"A Kingdom No Longer Magic" (LINK)

Thanks to anyone who reads and comments, any thoughts are always useful.  Happy Friday, y'all.

Boston gets ugly in the winter.  Really ugly.  Right now they are camped out in a very open, unprotected area that gets a ton of wind. New York isn't much better.

PARIS - Paris police have arrested around 20 Christian fundamentalists who burst into a theatre and threw stink bombs to protest against a play featuring the face of Christ drizzled with fake excrement.
[snip]
After days of trying to get in, the protesters on Wednesday "entered the theatre and threw stink bombs into the auditorium, shouting: 'Enough Christianophobia!'" a police source told AFP.

A three-year investigation into the police's habit of fixing traffic and parking tickets in the Bronx ended in the unsealing of indictments on Friday and a stunning display of vitriol by hundreds of off-duty officers, who converged on the courthouse to applaud their accused colleagues and denounce their prosecution.

[ . . . ]

As the defendants emerged from their morning court appearance, a swarm of officers formed a cordon in the hallway and clapped as they picked their way to the elevators. Members of the news media were prevented by court officers from walking down the hallway where more than 100 off-duty police officers had gathered outside the courtroom.

The assembled police officers blocked cameras from filming their colleagues, in one instance grabbing lenses and shoving television camera operators backward.

[ . . . ]

"It is hard to see an upside in the way the anger was expressed, especially in Bronx County, where you already have a hard row to hoe in terms of building rapport with the community," said Eugene J. O'Donnell, a professor of police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "The Police Department is a very angry work force, and that is something that should concern people, because it translates into hostile interactions with people."