Tag Archives: United States

Dept. of Health & Human Services

March 23rd, marks the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment, millions of Americans have benefited from the law. Here are just four of the reasons we have to celebrate today.

1. 5 million people covered: Since October 1, more than 5 million people have signed up for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

2. Bending the cost curve: We’ve held down national spending growth in health care to the slowest rate in a half century.

3. Free preventive care: Today, most health plans have to cover recommended preventive services free of charge, benefiting 71 million Americans.

4. Strengthening Medicare: Today, the Medicare program is stronger than ever. Since enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 7.9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved $9.9 billion on prescription drugs, or an average of $1,265 per beneficiary.

Let’s celebrate millions more covered in 2014. If you know someone who’s uninsured, tell them to sign up today, before the March 31 deadline.

Go to HealthCare.gov (which is working smoothly), or call 1-800-318-2596 (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). You can even get in-person help in your own community (just visit localhelp.healthcare.gov and punch in your zip code).

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Sofia’s nightmare

03/26/2014 Nativegrl77

Approve request for Humanitarian Parole for Anastasiya “Sofia” Petrova (Case #MSC1499990791)

By Bring Sofia Home

Freeport, Maine

At age 15, Anastasiya “Sofia” Petrova was banished to Siberia by her mother and step-father. Not only was she deceived into traveling to Siberia, she was mislead into thinking she would return in a couple of weeks. Upon arriving there, her nightmare began. She was told there were no travel papers to return to the US and she needed to live with her biological father who did not speak English and whom she had never met before. It turns out her biological father was not equipped to care for her – and given Sofia has limited Russian language skills and no permanent residence, she is at great risk. Sofia dreams of completing her education in the US where she lived from age 2-15 and where she attended high school. Sofia needs to return home. With USCIS’ approval of her application for Humanitarian Parole, Sofia can at least travel to the US temporarily. Your support of this petition will let USCIS know that Sofia has so many supporters in the US who care about her future.

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Announcing NMAAHC’s new Welcome Center

03/26/2014 Nativegrl77

NMAAHC -- National Museum of African American History and Culture

Come Visit the New Welcome Center at the

The hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10:00 AM- 2:00 PM, and on Wednesday from 1:00- 4:00 PM.

National Museum of African American History and Culture
Welcome Center Img

Dear Charter Members and friends,
For those of you who may not know, we have a Welcome Center located at the corner of 14^th street and Constitution Avenue NW!

It is beautifully designed space displaying panels about the museum which include a statement from our director Lonnie Bunch, information about the design and collections, and information on future exhibitions and programs. In the middle of the Welcome Center there is a scaled down model of the museum and the space it will occupy on the National Mall.

You will also see a media presentation about our February 2012 ground breaking ceremony and a short public service announcement.
Visitors will be able to sign up to become a Charter Member, and engage in a fun audience evaluation game on two interactive computer kiosks. You can even check out our construction progress through a window that looks out upon the construction site! Highly trained volunteers will be onsite to greet Charter Members and visitors, give a brief tour of the space, and answer any questions.

The hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10:00 AM- 2:00 PM, and on Wednesday from 1:00- 4:00 PM.

In addition to the Welcome Center, our current exhibition, Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and The March on Washington, 1963 is on view through September 7, 2014 across the street at the American History museum.

The exhibition explores two events that changed the course of the nation—the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the 1963 March on Washington.

Separated by 100 years, they are linked together in a larger story of freedom and the American experience.
Sincerely,
Edison R. Wato, Jr.
Membership Program Manager

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Round 2

03/25/2014 Nativegrl77

The gun lobby won this round.

The gun lobby killed a bill in the legislature ensuring that all gun sales go through the same criminal background check system — so we’re going to take this simple, commonsense reform that will save lives directly to the voters of Washington in November.

What the gun lobby did in the legislature is nothing compared to the millions of dollars they’re poised to spend to stop us at the ballot box in November. We’re going to need to really push hard to make sure that we organize a movement so large that it simply can’t be ignored — and we’re going to have to do it fast.

By the end of August, we’re going to organize 126,380 Washingtonians to pledge their votes to make Washington safer — that’s 10 percent of the votes we need to win — and I’d like you to be one of the first.

Thank you for your endorsement of 594 — click here to make it official, and pledge to vote to save lives in November!

The next round of this fight started today, at 11:00 a.m., when I stood alongside survivors of gun violence, prosecutors, moms, and clergy members — all of whom had one thing to say: 594 will save lives in Washington.

It won’t eliminate gun violence — but it’s a simple, effective step that we can take this year to make our communities safer.

I’m not kidding when I say it’s simple. You have to pass a similar background check when you apply to many jobs, volunteer at a school, or coach little league — yet anyone can buy a gun online or at a gun show without any checks whatsoever.

I’m ready to fight back against the gun lobby’s millions of dollars: Are you?

Pledge your vote to save lives in November!

The gun lobby may have stopped us from extending background checks to all firearm purchases in Olympia — but your emails, calls, and support made a huge difference. We succeeded in increasing protections for victims of domestic violence, and made history in the process.

Without your support, and the support of thousands of Washingtonians, that never would have happened.

We have a lot to be proud of — but a lot more work to do to organize 126,380 voters by the end of August.

Are you with me?

Pledge your vote to save lives in November!

Thanks for all of your support. With your help, we’re going to make history again.

Zach Silk Campaign Manager Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility

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News we can all use

03/25/2014 Nativegrl77

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Loan Rebound Misses Black Businesses

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If César Chávez Were Alive Today, He Would Join the Resistance Against Walmart

By Sarita Gupta, AlterNet

As we celebrate Chávez’s legacy, we must remember that today farmworkers — and others laboring for low wages along the food supply chain — are still struggling. READ MORE»

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