Category Archives: Election

Election, Health

US health care ranks 37th in the world

Makes you proud, don’t it. mjh

Eugene Robinson: The Supreme Court, helping to heal the nation – The Washington Post

The World Health Organization gives the U.S. health system an overall ranking of 37th in the world, far below other Western democracies. The CIA World Factbook — hardly the work of a bunch of left-leaning one-worlders — reports that life expectancy in the United States is not just lower than in other industrialized countries but also lower than in Jordan and Bosnia.Infant mortality in this country, according to the CIA, exceeds that of Slovenia and Cuba. It is possible to quibble with these figures but not to ignore them. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

Eugene Robinson: The Supreme Court, helping to heal the nation – The Washington Post

Election, Health

Here are some Health Care Reform changes you already benefit from

Republicans were for it until Obama joined them. Then it became unacceptable. Next time you vote, remember that every single Republican will work to completely undo the good parts of health care reform. mjh

Supreme Court Upholds Health Reform Law

What are some changes that have already taken place because of the law?

About 3.1 million young adults gained health insurance through a provision that allows them to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26. In addition, nearly 62,000 Americans with pre-existing health conditions, who would otherwise be uninsurable, gained coverage through the government’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs). Those enrolled will be able to stay in the program until it expires in 2014. At that time, they’ll be eligible to buy health insurance through state-based insurance marketplaces scheduled to be up and running by fall 2013.

Other consumer protections already in effect include:

  • The right to appeal an insurer’s decision
  • Preventive care with no co-pay
  • Guaranteed insurance coverage for children under the age of 19 with pre-existing conditions
  • Drug discounts for people on Medicare
  • No more lifetime limits on health insurance spending
  • Review of suspected unreasonable insurance rate increases
  • The requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80% of the money they collect on medical expenses (this 80/20 rule so far means 12.8 million Americans will participate in $1.1 billion in rebates from insurance companies this summer, according to the HHS)
What does this ruling mean for small businesses?

So far, an estimated 4.4 million small businesses that provide employee health insurance are eligible for a 35% tax credit to offset the cost of insurance premiums (as of mid-May 2011, only about 228,000 small business owners claimed the credit).

To qualify, a business must employ fewer than 25 employees and the average company salary must be less than $50,000. Businesses must also pay at least half of workers’ health insurance costs.

These tax credits will remain in effect, and will increase to 50% starting in 2014.

Companies with more than 50 employees will be required to provide workers’ insurance or pay a fine.

Supreme Court Upholds Health Reform Law

Election

The Agenda of Activist Conservative Justices

States’ rights, no; corporate rights, yes – PostPartisan – The Washington Post By E.J. Dionne Jr.

The corporate conservative majority on the Supreme Court was at it again on Monday. By its customary 5 to 4 vote, the court threw out a Montana law that had been on the books since 1912, banning corporate spending on elections. Naturally, the court’s conservatives believe their judgment in the Citizens United case is so much more refined and intelligent than the judgment of the good people of Montana.Will everyone please finally admit that conservatives actually don’t care a whit about states’ rights unless invoking states’ rights happens to be helpful to the conservative agenda? Conservatives on the court have become complete and utter hypocrites on the matter of what states can and can’t do.

This has stuck in my craw for a long time. Recall that the Supreme Court had absolutely no qualms about telling the state of Florida in 2000 that there was no way it could recount its votes in a fashion that would be satisfactory, and never mind that the Florida Supreme Court had ruled in favor of recounts. Those recounts might have gotten in the way of George W. Bush’s elevation to the presidency. Face it: If states’ rights are inconvenient to the outcome conservatives want, conservative justices will find a way to supersede them.

States’ rights, no; corporate rights, yes – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

Election

The GOP strategy to hold on to power

Wisconsin’s recall election on Scott Walker: A bid for regular order – The Washington Post by EJ Dionne

Walker is being challenged not because he pursued conservative policies but because Wisconsin has become the most glaring example of a new and genuinely alarming approach to politics on the right. It seeks to use incumbency to alter the rules and tilt the legal and electoral playing field decisively toward the interests of those in power.

The most obvious way of gaming the system is to keep your opponents from voting in the next election. Rigging the electorate is a surefire way of holding on to office. That is exactly what has happened in state after state — Wisconsin is one of them — where GOP legislatures passed new laws on voter identification and registration.

Wisconsin’s recall election on Scott Walker: A bid for regular order – The Washington Post

Election, media, NADA - New American Dark Ages, other voices

Marriage is a civil contract governed by established contract law

The following letter is a cogent and thorough argument for marriage rights for all adults. Marriage is a contract. Indeed, Merri has made this argument for 25+ years. Kudos to David Paul Blacher.

A different letter insists Americans bow to Leviticus as the law. Not in America, bub. We have the Constitution. You are free to let the Bible rule your life, but not to force that rule on the rest of us. Amen. peace, mjh

Contract Law Applies To Marriage Licenses

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER’S comments (“The Same-Sex Marriage Dilemma,” May 19) are interesting, but he misses the fundamental issue— marriage is a contract. In fact, in America, it is most often actually two contracts: one civil and one religious. I absolutely support the right and obligation of religious organizations to define, pursuant to their own doctrines, who may enter into a contract that they validate and recognize.

However, the civil contract — usually in the form of a “marriage license” — automatically provides the individuals who sign and register the document with several unique and valuable government- issued and -sanctioned advantages. First and foremost is a significantly lower income tax rate, both federal and state. Add to this the way married couples may choose to own real property — usually as community property — and the inheritance advantages which are thereto attached.

Also, married couples have access to a capital gains deduction upon sale of the primary residence that is double that of a single owner. Add to this the general inheritance rights and tax levels provided by governments to married couples but not single couples.

Furthermore, the ability for hospital visitation, treatment and health-decision participation are treated differently for married and unmarried couples. The list of civil rights available only to married couples is extensive. … Most, if not all, governmental entities have laws that disallow discrimination on the basis of sex in the fulfillment contracts — both oral and especially written. The most significant contract that most people will ever sign is their civil marriage contract.

To abrogate a contract based on the sex of the signatories goes totally against the grain of the history of the United States as to the sacrosanct nature of contracts — see Article I, section 10, clause lof the U.S. Constitution that forbids the states from passing any “Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.”

DAVID PAUL BLACHER
Albuquerque

[Curiously, this letter is not available on-line. What’s up with that, abqjournal.com?]

Election

Liar, liar, Romney’s on fire

Romney’s distortions about Obama do us a disservice – The Washington Post

By Eugene Robinson, Published: May 28 The Washington Post

Even by this lax standard, Romney too often fails. Not to put too fine a point on it, he lies. Quite a bit.

“Since President Obama assumed office three years ago, federal spending has accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history,” Romney claims on his campaign Web site. This is utterly false. The truth is that spending has slowed markedly under Obama.

Romney’s distortions about Obama do us a disservice – The Washington Post

Election, loco

Lujan Grisham should stop unfair attacks | NMPolitics.net

Grisham has one constituent: herself. peace, mjh

Lujan Grisham should stop unfair attacks | NMPolitics.net

Rather than focus on the issues…

Rather than focus on the issues, Michelle has used her staff, surrogates and her allies in the conservative media to bring up old issues related to traffic tickets, Eric’s work on children’s issues, and even his hard work taking on establishment politicians in the Senate. …

The best person to fight for women and families

Michelle Lujan Grisham and her surrogates have suggested that only she can fight for women and families. I resent that as a woman. Eric has spent his career on the front lines of fighting for women and families as an advocate, an elected official and an active member of his community.

I hope other women and mothers will reject the attacks that Michelle Lujan Grisham and her conservative allies in the media and elsewhere have launched against Eric. I know him best. I have watched him as a loving father, dedicated husband and passionate fighter for kids who came from families like his. Those who know his heart know he is the best person to fight for women and families in Congress.

Kim Griego is Eric Griego’s wife, mother to Lucas their 3-year-old son, and has worked with and for young children with special needs and their families for 20 years. She currently works for the Albuquerque Public Schools in the Special Education Department.

Lujan Grisham should stop unfair attacks | NMPolitics.net