Tag Archives: Eugene Robinson

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Close The Gap


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Expanding Medicaid In Every State Is The Next Healthcare Challenge

Last week was a great week for healthcare in America. In its decision to uphold premium tax credits available in states with federally facilitated marketplaces, the Supreme Court sent a strong message: the ACA is here to stay. Now that major court challenges to the Affordable Care Act are in the past, it’s time to focus on improving existing aspects of the law like Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid expansion is a main pillar of the Affordable Care Act that increases Medicaid eligibility to cover individuals making up to 138 percent of the poverty level—or $27,724 a year for a family of three. Expanding Medicaid helps ensure that people who make too much to be eligible for traditional Medicaid but too little to afford insurance of their own aren’t left without coverage. But thanks to the ACA’s first Supreme Court saga, states are allowed to choose whether or not to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid. The result has been almost half of all governors refusing to expand Medicaid eligibility for political reasons leaving more than 4 million people uninsured.Not expanding Medicaid has costs both human and economic. If all 21 remaining states accepted Medicaid expansion 4.2 million residents would become newly insured. Moreover, conservative governors refusing Medicaid expansion are hurting their state’s economically. For every $1 a state spends to expand Medicaid $13.4 federal dollars will flow into the state helping hospitals deliver care and boosting state economic growth and employment.This afternoon the president visited Tennessee—where the legislature has rejected the Republican governor’s Medicaid expansion proposal—to speak about the future of the Affordable Care Act. During the town hall, the president said, “This is about people. This is not about politics. This is not about Washington.” It is time for conservative lawmakers to put people over politics and expand Medicaid.

BOTTOM LINE: The ACA is here to stay. It is time for conservatives to stop fighting against the law at the expense of millions of their constituents.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

#FixCongressNow! Support and Vote for Scott Peters


scottpeters.com

The House is in session five days a week 20 percent of the time. One member wants to change that.

April 6, 2015

During the impressively unimpressive 113th Congress, we looked at the regularity which with Congress was in session. Only about 40 percent of weekdays since 1975, we found, were the House or Senate in session, the sort of work product that might get you fired as a 16-year-old lifeguard, though not as a federal legislator. One response to that article was that Congress does work when it’s not in session, like holding town halls and so on in their districts. Which is largely true, but is also very convenient.

For Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who recently started his second term in the House, the excuse apparently doesn’t hold much water. Last week, he introduced a proposal to #FixCongressNow (apparently including the hashtag for some reason). First on the list? “Institute 5-Day Congressional work weeks.”

 

“Average Americans work five days a week so there is no reason Congress should not be required to as well,” Peters’ proposal reads. “A five-day work week would increase the time members of Congress are able to spend together working on substantive legislation and would help foster bipartisan working relationships.”

How rare is a House five-day-work week? Pretty rare, in fact. Here’s every time the House has been in session five weekdays in a row since 1975.

To put a fine point on it, they are in session for five weekdays in a row 20 percent of the time. (At least that’s consistent; it hasn’t been any lower over the last decade.)

Two more details about Peters’ proposal. First, it also would increase the number of weeks Congress is in session to 39. (This year, they’re slotted for 34.) And, second, it will never pass, any more than if a colleague asked for your vote to extend your workday by two hours. That’s a tough majority to put together.

That there hasn’t been any movement on the bill yet isn’t a surprise. Congress has been on recess for Easter for a week. They’re off this week, too.

SIGN YOUR NAME — Demand Congress work five-day work weeks >>

 

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Join the Truth Team …


 

~ Miami Herald//Barack Obama Op-Ed: We can no longer delay action on climate change

Last week I spent Earth Day in the Everglades, one of our nation’s greatest national treasures, and saw firsthand what makes its unique landscape so magical — what the poet Emma Lazarus called “the savage splendor of the swamp.” Plus, I got to hang out with Bill Nye the Science Guy. “There are no other Everglades in the world,” wrote Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who helped preserve it. But climate change is threatening this treasure and the communities that depend on it. That’s what my visit was all about.

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~ The Wall Street Journal //Gerald F. Seib ~ Obama Presses Case for Asia Trade Deal, Warns Failure Would Benefit China

President Obama and his negotiators are working to finish the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal among 12 Pacific nations that has come to be known as TPP, while also fighting to win “fast track” negotiating authority from Congress to expedite approval of the deal later this year.

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~ Reuters // Sharon Begley ~ Decline U.S. science spending threatens economy, security:MIT

Warning of an “innovation deficit,” scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say declining government spending on basic research is holding back potentially life-saving advances in 15 fields, from robotics and fusion energy to Alzheimer’s disease and agriculture.

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 ~ Politico // Heather Caygle ~ DOT secretary: US transportation system “in a huge ditch”
“We’ve had catastrophes, and it’s unfortunate that we’ve had to have catastrophes,” Foxx told POLITICO’s Mike Allen at a Playbook Lunch event, mentioning the 2007 Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13 people. “I think, frankly, the American public have to demand action in Washington.”
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~ The New York Times // Paul Krugman Op-Ed: Nobody Said That
Imagine yourself as a regular commentator on public affairs — maybe a paid pundit, maybe a supposed expert in some area, maybe just an opinionated billionaire. You weigh in on a major policy initiative that’s about to happen, making strong predictions of disaster. The Obama stimulus, you declare, will cause soaring interest rates; the Fed’s bond purchases will “debase the dollar” and cause high inflation; the Affordable Care Act will collapse in a vicious circle of declining enrollment and surging costs. But nothing you predicted actually comes to pass. What do you do?
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One day only! Join “The Big Payback” and support ABB


Dear Friend,
Thank you to all our wonderful supporters who came out for our Spring Celebration last night! As we mentioned at the end of the program, we have until midnight tonight to make a big difference for our Southern Office.
A Better Balance’s Southern Office has been open just over a year bringing ABB’s successful model to the Southeastern United States, where poverty rates are some of the highest in the country. Today, we have a unique opportunity to expand our reach with your help!

Officer Trischler
Here are just a few highlights from the last year:
-ABB represented Police Officer Lyndi Trischler against the City of Florence, after she was pushed onto unpaid leave while pregnant and in need of light duty. Officer Trischler’s story garnered national media attention and inspired a bill in the Kentucky legislature after lawmakers heard abut her story.  We testified before the House committee and read a powerful letter from Officer Trischler herself. Her legal dispute is still ongoing, and we are continuing our hard work on her behalf.

ABB & SisterReach with training participants in Memphis
-Educated hundreds of families about their rights in the workplace across the South, and provided direct advice to many working families with questions about their rights.
-In Mississippi, a recent article called ABB a “breastfeeding warrior,” recognizing our role in public education in the state.
-In Tennessee, we worked with lawmakers and partners to introduce two important bills to protect the health and economic security of pregnant women and families. We are leaders of a campaign to make both bills a reality next legislative session when we get back to work at the Legislative Plaza.
Donate to ABB’s Southern Office Today!
With your support, we can continue this important work and expand to provide even more critical services.
Thank you for all that you do,
The ABB team
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Photo: The President and First Lady Show Their School Spirit


 

First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Wayne State University on Friday to attend Detroit’s first-ever citywide College Signing Day Celebration — an event aimed at honoring those students dedicated to furthering their education.

The First Lady commended the 2,000 students present — and all college-bound high school seniors throughout America — on their college acceptances and called them real role models. In congratulating the soon-to-be graduates, the First Lady also called on them to help younger students reach this impressive goal of attending college.

See highlights from the First Lady’s trip — and check out how students across America celebrated College Signing Day.

The President and First Lady celebrate College Signing Day

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sport their college t-shirts in support of the First Lady’s “Reach Higher” initiative on College Signing Day, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Weekly Address: Ensuring Every Child Gets a Great Education

In this week’s address, the President reiterated his commitment to expanding access to education, and to spreading the joy of reading to more children and young adults. Earlier this week, the President announced two new efforts that help every student get a library card and provide more than $250 million in free e-Books for low-income students. The President also previewed his upcoming commencement speech at Lake Area Tech in Watertown, South Dakota.

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Harry Potter, Math Whiz, and Pencils: 3 Things You Didn‘t Know About a Young President Obama

President Obama traveled to the Anacostia Neighborhood Library in Washington, D.C. last week to announce new partnerships to expand access to free books for America’s students, and to ensure every student has easy access to their local libraries. While in a conversation with kids, the President shared new details of what he was like as a young student.

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West Wing Week: “I Think That Works!”

Last week, the President hosted the Japanese Prime Minister, joked around at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, sat down for an interview with the Wall Street Journal, took a walk with the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, and participated in a “virtual field trip” with students at D.C.’s Anacostia Neighborhood Library.

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