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Cake and the Failure of GOP Healthcare Legislation

Cake and the Failure of GOP Healthcare Legislation

Why I don’t use fondant, a discussion

Just how badly did the GOP’s first attempt at repealing Obamacare fail, and what are your thoughts on buttercream frosting?

Sunday I joined the Matthias Shapiro (one of my very first politifriends) and Jordan Ecarma of CRC Media on their Paradox podcast where we tackled terrible opinions, the AHCA flop, and talked more about fondant vs. buttercream than you’ll probably want to hear.

Though my terrible opinion this podcast had to do with the Huma/Weiner reconciliation, a better terrible opinion would probably be that fondant is grody. Team buttercream!

A synposis:

The lose-lose healthcare bill scenario

Matthias points out that the failure of the GOP healthcare bill is bad in the long term for Democrats since the Affordable Care Act likely won’t survive without extra government intervention on its behalf. Kemberlee analyzes why the bill failed, noting that even though the bill was theoretically Part I of a three-part initiative, most people had no idea there was more to the plan because the GOP failed to communicate yet again. We all sympathize with Speaker Paul Ryan, who seems to be trying to find a compromise solution in a thankless task.

You should have a real life

The Paradox team has been encouraging more discussion about fun interests far outside the realm of politics. Matthias and Kemberlee talk about their experiences with baking and what inspired each of them to learn. There is a lot of important discussion about buttercream frosting.

Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye

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Comments

Buttercream frosting: Accept no substitutes. I make mine with real butter and real cream.

Buttercream. With 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. almond extract.

…and what are your thoughts on buttercream frosting?

Umm, would the fact that I had to google both fondant and buttercream disqualify any thoughts I might have on this important culinary topic?

No? Okay then…I like cake!

My take is that Trump was in a tough position as he was not fighting the Dems but the Republicans, namely Ryan. Ryan has tried to take over and was taken down with this bill. If Trump did this on purpose or it fell in his lap the result is the same, he took down Ryan. Sure he supported the bill and showed cooperation with Ryan but he did not spend much political points on the effort. Ryan is now on the ropes and Trump has gained in power.

    mariner in reply to david7134. | March 30, 2017 at 8:53 am

    I like your take in that I wish it were true, but I don’t believe it is.

    Ryan isn’t in danger of losing his seat, and as long as he keeps his seat he retains his position as Speaker (in the short term).

    We may not like them apples, but there’s not much we can do about it.

      mariner in reply to mariner. | March 30, 2017 at 8:54 am

      Oh, and buttercream it is!

      Tom Servo in reply to mariner. | March 30, 2017 at 12:20 pm

      Of course Ryan’s not in danger of losing his seat, but he was made to look the fool on the national stage, and he sure doesn’t want to repeat that process. It seems fair to assume that this was the best that Ryan could do on his own, so if he is truly committed to getting this done he’s going to have to start listening to some other voices if it’s gonna happen.

inspectorudy | March 29, 2017 at 9:13 pm

“Matthias points out that the failure of the GOP healthcare bill is bad in the long term for Democrats since the Affordable Care Act likely won’t survive without extra government intervention on its behalf.”

You have got to be kidding! Since when have the Demorats been responsible for anything bad? They will say that the Repubs are allowing it to fail and HARM the poor people who will all die the next day if the Repubs don’t pour a ton of money into it overnight. The House R’s are now worrying about a Dem shutdown that the R’s will get blamed for in the CR. Just like the Russian connections that hillary and her people had that no one is reporting on. Podesta should be indicted for his Russian stock cheating scandal that no one has ever heard of. My advice to the spineless R’s is to put your heads down and go to work and do not worry about the msm or the D’s.

    OrangePeril in reply to inspectorudy. | March 30, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    Yeah, and those good ole upstanding repugs never engage in fear mongering and sabotage.

    As I remember it, the repugs never allowed the ‘technical fixes’ that are normally done after a major law is enacted. That hurt, but didn’t result in the ‘death spiral’.

    Further, Trump can sabotage the ACA in the hopes that it will fail. That might create the ‘death spiral’ that repugs have been predicting and hoping for since it was enacted.

    Yes, there are some rural locations where it is not doing well. But surprise, a lot of people like the ACA. Nobody liked the AHCA and the repugs had 7 years to work on it. Trump claimed during the campaign that he had a bill that was better, cheaper and would cover everyone. Then he discovered it was complicated. How do you spell l-i-a-r?

The real fail would have been passing RyanCare. Glad it went down.

And I second Linda and tarheelkate on buttercream.

Feel sorry for Paul Ryan? Please. He wins, right along with the Dems, if Obamacare is not repealed. Then he , and the rest of thee boys, can pass socialized medicine to “save” tyhe healthcare industry anf give everyone healthcare insurance. He only loses if significant changes are made to Obamacare, then he has to explain to his constituents why they have no federal subsidy to pay for their healthcare insurance.

The bill failed to pass because it was a c**p sandwich that the HFC’s constituents were not going to swallow without significant concessions to further the conservative agenda. They wanted to get reelected just like Ryan.

Butter cream, or any number of other traditional icings are usually much better tasting and have a much more appealing texture than either poured or rolled fondant. Both are easier to work with than traditional frosting, in large, complex or sculpted cakes. But, because they contain gelatin and glycerine, they do not have as pleasing a texture or flavor as traditional frosting.

Like the AHCA, fondant looks good, but is lacking.

We all sympathize with Speaker Paul Ryan

Not here at Fort Swift, we don’t.

… important discussion about buttercream frosting.

Never heard of it. Does Home Depot have it? That’s where I do my grocery shopping.

I’m flexible; Lowe’s will do.

I grew up with a mother that was a terrific baker, cake decorator and buttercream frosting maker, so that is my preference.

However, for sculpting with frosting, sometimes fondant is preferred. So, in the spirit of compromise, I found the following recipe for … buttercream fondant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn6k3fge36s

Me Kaye is too naive to be writing for LI. Go read don surber on this one.

Me Kaye is too naive to be writing for LI. Go read don surber on this one.

buckeyeminuteman | March 30, 2017 at 6:54 am

Fondant looks nice, but tastes absolutely disgusting. Honestly, DQ ice cream cake is the way to go!

My daughter #2of9 is a trained cake maker. She said “You’ll end up with an uneven surface if you don’t layer buttercream under your fondant.” So, both! 😉