I don’t know about you, but I’ve been trying my best to ignore the “new” Congress. Republicans didn’t take long to wage a new attack on Social Security, this time in the form of a proposed rules change.

The incoming GOP majority approved late Tuesday a new rule that experts say could provoke an unprecedented crisis that conservatives could use as leverage in upcoming debates over entitlement reform.

The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. The transfers, known as reallocation, had historically been routine; the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said Tuesday that they had been made 11 times. The CBPP added that the disability insurance program “isn’t broken,” but the program has been strained by demographic trends that the reallocations are intended to address.

The House GOP’s rule change would still allow for a reallocation from the retirement fund to shore up the disability fund — but only if an accompanying proposal “improves the overall financial health of the combined Social Security Trust Funds,” per the rule, expected to be passed on Tuesday. While that language is vague, experts say it would likely mean any reallocation would have to be balanced by new revenues or benefit cuts.

So basically they’re manufacturing another “debt ceiling” style debacle where they can either cut off funding for disabled folks or force an agreement to fuck over retired people. I hope you’re happy with what you voted for, America. I just wish I didn’t have to live in your world. Though I guess if the GOP has its way, there’s a good chance I won’t have to live in any world when they get done with me.

On the way to work today, I passed a sign (that I must have passed before because I drive the same way every day) that said, “Happy Birthday, Jesus. We love you!” Presumably that was there for Christmas, which even the religious nuts who believe in that sort of thing acknowledge isn’t actually when Jesus (if he actually existed) was born. But, hey, it’s tradition I guess. Personally, I’d like to see them move Christmas to the Monday after the Super Bowl. And we should get a week off for New Year’s (at the very least, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and January 2nd should all be holidays). In fact, let’s make it a 9-day holiday and hold elections over that whole week. Polls open on the Sunday before Jan 1, and close on the Sunday after Jan 1, unless Jan 1 or 2 are on Sunday, in which case they close on the following Monday. Also, no working on February 29th, just because.

So I guess it’s colder than hell for pretty much the whole country. I think the Canadians are up to something again – they hate us for our freedom and for our expensive healthcare system, so they send their cold air this way. Here, it’s been cold for a while, but it’s particularly cold today and it should be even colder by the time I get out of work this evening. Like zero. And then even colder tonight. Fortunately, the wind is also fierce, so they’re talking about wind chills down to -30 or so. So that’s nice.

I knew I should have gotten that remote car starter.