Patrick Stewart as a Lobster http://t.co/Afd2n5XeFE
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Halloween Costumes (@TipsHalloween) October 31, 2013Wilson from Castaway http://t.co/Br0ODDQeFH
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Halloween Costumes (@TipsHalloween) October 28, 2013South Park, Adult Version http://t.co/cBJ6Ha6YrQ
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Halloween Costumes (@TipsHalloween) October 18, 2013Jesse Pinkman and Heisenburg http://t.co/4vIWbkYMp2
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Halloween Costumes (@TipsHalloween) October 16, 2013
57andfemale – Markos Moulitas
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Alice – ACA “expert” who knows a whole lotta nothing but hired by media to trash Obamacare
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Alycee – Jon Huntsman
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Amk – Marco Rubio
feliz halloween, TOD’ers.
— gulpo rubio (@gulporubio) October 31, 2013
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Anjo – Empty Chair
Joining the Halloween party as a threesome, Empty Chair, Empty Head and Empty Suit
Empty Chair- Hi over here nice to finally have some company
Empty Head (Cruz) Nice to finally meet someone so intelligent I do hope you run in 2014, we need more of us in the Senate
Empty Chair – RUN??! With 4 legs???!! Surely you jest,
Empty Suit (Herman Cain) Isn’t it swell here in Republistan?? The hot air is real cool
Empty Head: Yes, yes cool air of four legs. Brilliant indeed we will have filibuster on this tomorrow
Empty Suit: Yes indeedeyeyeyey
Empty Chair: You Stupid Grand Old Pricks get lost, get lost
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Angdogriff – Jane Hamsher
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Anniebella – Anne “diversity” Lowry (Ezra’s wife)
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Arapaho – Joan Walsh
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Bill R. – Doctor Reverend Brother Prophet Cornell West
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Bobfr – Ezra Klein
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Carol Duhart – Marsha Blackburn
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CarolMae – Mitt’s Dog
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Carolyn – Jake Tapper
“Well, since I’m Jake Tapper today, I guess it’s time to assume my concern-frown and ask people stupid questions all day, then draw absolutely inaccurate conclusions from their answers.”
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Chips – Glen Greenwald
“CULTISTS!!!!
PS Please donate at RioBoyTotallyHeartsDollars.com”
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Claire – Dana Bash
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Cookemom – Rafalca
“Interviewing for a job with the traveling rodeo”
Host: “So Rafalca, do you think you’d have been better off romping on the Withe House south lawn??”
Ralfalca: “As a horse of course, of course. However, with those folks that made me dressage for them……neeeeiiiiigggghhhh”
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Criquet – Cenk Uygur
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CTGirl – Ron Fournier
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Daisydem – Any BuzzFeed Person
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Continue reading ‘Nightmare on TOD Street: Hopefruit’s Halloween Costume Check’
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Chaaaaaat away – Hopefruit’s nightmarish Halloween list up next.
1:30 EDT President Obama delivers remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit
White House Live * CBS *
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A skeleton and candles decorate the Blue Room of the White House in preparation for a Halloween reception for military families and children of White House staff, Oct. 31, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza)
On This Day: President Obama hugs North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant as he tours damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey, October 31, 2012
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Today (All Times Eastern):
12:0: Jay Carney briefs the press
12:0 Cory Booker will be sworn in as a U.S. senator by Vice President Biden
1:30: President Obama delivers remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit
3:15: President Obama meets with Senator-elect Cory Booker
5:15: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome local children and military families to trick-or-treat at the White House
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Jonathan Cohn: Guess Who Really Wants To Take Away Your Insurance: Republicans
Republicans are outraged that some Americans must give up their current insurance plans because they don’t satisfy Obamacare’s new regulations for benefits and pricing. Partly they are mad at President Obama, because he repeatedly said people who like their coverage would get to keep it. And that’s fine. As I said yesterday, Obama should have said “most” people, not “all” people. Readers can decide for themselves whether, by the standards of politics, that’s a felony or misdemeanor.
But Republicans are also making a substantive argument here. It’s unconscionable, they say, that lawmakers would force people to give up their current coverage. Just a few minutes ago, during congressional testimony by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, an angry Representative Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee practically screamed at the witness: “You’re taking away their choice!”
It’s good politics, I’m sure. It’s also breathtakingly cynical. Republicans have repeatedly endorsed proposals that would take insurance away from many more Americans—and leave them much, much worse off.
More here
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Pelosi spox on GOP skipping ACA briefing: “Fortunately … extreme bouts of self-righteous indignation are covered by Obamacare.”
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) October 30, 2013
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LA Times: Another Obamacare Horror Story Debunked
Deborah Cavallaro is a hard-working real estate agent in the Westchester suburb of Los Angeles who has been featured prominently on a round of news shows lately, talking about how badly Obamacare is going to cost her when her existing plan gets canceled and she has to find a replacement.
She says she’s angry at President Obama for having promised that people who like their health plans could keep them, when hers is getting canceled for not meeting Obamacare’s standards.
“Please explain to me,” she told Maria Bartiromo on CNBC Wednesday, “how my plan is a ‘substandard’ plan when … I’d be paying more for the exchange plans than I am currently paying by a wide margin.” Bartiromo didn’t take her up on her request. So I will.
The bottom line is that Cavallaro’s assertion that “there’s nothing affordable about the Affordable Care Act,” as she put it Tuesday on NBC Channel 4, is the product of her own misunderstandings, abetted by a passel of uninformed and incurious news reporters.
I talked with Cavallaro, 60, after her CNBC appearance. Let’s walk through what she told me…
More here
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YES, It Is Illegal For Sebelius To Enroll In Obamacare http://t.co/esgyLHeRU0 cc: @philipaklein @BuzzFeedAndrew
— Josh Dorner (@JoshDorner) October 30, 2013
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Spandan (The People’s View): The Cheapest Shot Against Obamacare, And Why Men Should Pay for Maternity
Right wing Obamacare opponents have a rehashed talking point: the Affordable Care Act forces people to purchase coverage for things they do not need. This accusation comes from the fact that the ACA requires insurance plans to cover maternity and newborn care, and that is outrageous because men, who will never get pregnant, are being forced to pay for a policy that covers maternity care.
It’s heartening to see the sudden Republican realization that men will never get pregnant; one only wishes they could apply such factual conviction to decisions about a pregnancy and let those who do get pregnant, rather than the government, determine whether to carry those pregnancies to term.
But I digress. Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies were free to charge women more for health insurance than men – essentially treating the fact of being female as a pre-existing condition – with the excuse that women could get pregnant, and thus they, and not those who couldn’t be pregnant, should have to pay for the cost of childbearing.
More here
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Steve Benen: Budget Deficit Shrinks To Five-Year Low
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor recently appeared on Fox News and when the discussion turned to the budget, the Virginia Republican said lawmakers should be “focused on trying to deal with the ultimate problem, which is this growing deficit.”
In reality, the deficit is not growing; it’s shrinking:
For the first time in five years, the U.S. government has run a budget deficit below $1 trillion….
This is the fastest deficit reduction seen in the United States since the end of World War II.
More here
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This will be my favorite pic ever taken on a plane. So inspiring to be with you today @VP Biden #nomoresilence pic.twitter.com/822BR6kUWI
— Mariska Hargitay (@Mariska) October 30, 2013
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Laura Smith-Spark: Syria Has Met First Chemical Weapons Destruction Deadline, OPCW Says
Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons mixing, filling and production facilities, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Thursday. The watchdog body’s announcement means that the first deadline has been met in an ambitious program to eliminate the country’s entire chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of next year. The joint United Nations-OPCW mission visited 21 out of 23 sites, the OPCW statement said, and 39 of the 41 facilities at those sites.
The remaining two sites were too dangerous for the inspectors to go to, it said, but Syria had declared those sites as abandoned. The chemical weapons equipment there was moved to other sites, which were inspected. The OPCW said it was “now satisfied that it has verified — and seen destroyed — all of Syria’s declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment.” The next milestone for the mission will be November 15, it said, when the body’s executive council must approve a detailed plan submitted by Syria for the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile.
More here
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BREAKING: U.S. initial jobless claims fell 10,000 last week to 340,000
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Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) October 31, 2013****
CNBC: US-Single Family Home Prices Rise In Aug, Yearly Gain Best Since 2006
U.S. single-family home prices rose in August and also posted their strongest annual gain in more than seven years, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday. The report suggested the housing sector continued to recover despite those headwinds. Home prices have been rising nationally since early 2012 and economists have singled out housing as one of the bright spots of the U.S. recovery.
More here
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Think Progress: Senate May Soon Have Enough Votes To Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) To Protect LGBT Workers
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has promised a Senate vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) before Thanksgiving, and possibly as early as next week. This bill, which has been proposed in every Congress since 1994, would make it illegal for employers to make hiring, promotion, or firing decisions based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Like all Senate legislation, ENDA will require a cloture vote of 60 votes before it can pass, and it seems the votes are almost all there, with several new endorsements this week.
An overwhelming majority of the country believe the employment protections already exist at the federal level, when in fact only 21 states protect sexual orientation and 17 protect gender identity. Under the current mosaic of protections, LGBT people have indicated that they much prefer working in states where they are protected, impacting businesses across the country.
More here
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Marine One departs the South Lawn of the White House at the start of President Obama’s trip to Boston, Oct. 30, 2013 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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@NewsBreaker: White House decorated for Halloween as POTUS returned from Boston
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On This Day:
President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talk with local residents at the Brigantine Beach Community Center, which is serving as a shelter for those displaced by Hurricane Sandy, in Brigantine, N.J., Oct. 31, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama greets a woman in the audience after speaking at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 31, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)
First Lady Michelle Obama waits with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg in the Green Room of the White House before making remarks to the White House Historical Association, Oct. 31, 2011 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
It was Halloween at the White House for military families and the First Lady began dancing with some of the their children, Oct. 31, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Marian Robinson welcome children from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia schools for Halloween festivities at the North Portico of the White House, Oct. 31, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza)
First Lady Michelle Obama hands out treats during a Halloween reception for military families and children of White House staff in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 31, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama reacts to performers during a Halloween reception for military families and children of White House staff in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 31, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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On This Day: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hand out Halloween treats to children on the North Portico of the White House, Oct. 31, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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MoooOOOooorning!
Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
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