Just before midnight tonight, the Department of Justice filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act-- also known as Obamacare—the health care law that has enabled millions of Americans to get health insurance. In addition to making healthcare affordable, the law prohibits discrimination because of pre-existing conditions and allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they are 26. In 2020, about 11.4 million people signed up for Obamacare policies, while nearly 12.7 million adults are covered by the law’s expansion of Medicaid. The law has increased the number of Americans covered by health insurance and slowed the rise of health care costs across the board.
I don't understand why in general, we continue to frequently call it Obamacare (and the ACA) and not only refer to it as the Affordable Care Act. It wasn't President Obama personally guaranteeing affordable health care it is the consequence of the Act being passed. Of course it was his initiative but he didn't name it Obamacare. It's like calling Social Security, Roosevelt Retirement Fund. I strongly believe the name we use makes a difference in how it is perceived.
Every time you think these scum can't be as mendacious, malicious and malevolent as you see they are, not to mention as ignorant, unintelligent, and celebratory of their stupidity as they are, they say "Hold my Diet Coke" and do something as depraved, ignorant, malicious and malevolent as this.
With any luck, they'll set themselves up with this to be destroyed and discredited even more thoroughly than they were in 1932. The Confederate White People's Treason Party needs to be destroyed in detail.
And once this is over, I will NEVER forgive any of these scum for the choices they've made the past 5 years.
My God, the depravity of this administration knows no limits. I hope The Lincoln Project takes note of this and creates their most searing ad to date. Thank you for the time, effort and brilliance you bring to your letters. I am beyond grateful for having this port in the storm. Just started listening to your new book. So it’s kinda HCR all day/every day here in deep red Louisiana. 😊
"Republicans have vowed to get rid of the ACA since it became a law in 2010. Their opposition is based in their larger objection to an activist government that regulates business, provides a basic social safety net, and promotes infrastructure. Such a government, today’s Republicans argue, is essentially socialism: it prohibits an individual’s ability to control one’s business without government interference, and it redistributes wealth from the haves to the have-nots through taxes.
In 2014, Fox News Channel personality Bill O’Reilly explained: “Obamacare is a pure income redistribution play. That means President Obama and the Democratic Party want to put as much money into the hands of the poor and less affluent as they can and the healthcare subsidies are a great way to do just that. And of course, the funds for those subsidies are taken from businesses and affluent Americans who have the cash…. Income redistribution is a hallmark of socialism and we, in America, are now moving in that direction. That has angered the Republican Party and many conservative Americans who do not believe our capitalistic system was set up to provide cradle to grave entitlements…. Obamacare is much more than providing medical assets to the poor. It's about capitalism versus socialism.”
The only way I can explain this kind of thinking is that somehow Republicans have been raised to believe that people are basically bad and that life is a zero-sum game; therefore, they have to defend themselves in all things. They seem to have no belief in religious faith that emphasizes loving one's brother, nor in social science that shows that collaboration (working together to achieve common goals) builds a more effective society/economy than competing for everything. Competition, which can be useful in some things, has become their religion.... along with red herring causes like anti-abortion laws and anti-LGBTQ laws...... They put property and shareholders ahead of people/customers/employees.... it is a tragic sadness that so many of the most influential have bought into Ayn Rand, extreme overextension of Milton Friedman's work, and fundamentalist religions... regarding how to treat others....... Our Business Schools and law schools have perverted the thinking with false notions like corporations being solely responsible to shareholders.......... It seems very difficult to break through this kind of defensive thinking. My experience is that it requires affective learning even more than cognitive...and the problem is that Our Republican friends seem to be totally out of touch with their feelings and frightened to death of experiencing any feelings.....therefore they have cut themselves off from the very data they need to understand how people can thrive in effective collaborative enterprises...
I don't watch Faux Noise, so I missed this: "In 2014, Fox News Channel personality Bill O’Reilly explained: 'Obamacare is a pure income redistribution play. ..."
After reading it, Bill O'Reilly has me sold on SOCIALISM. What's not to like about taking money from billionaires who have gotten obscenely rich from the working class toils and redistributing it to their benefit, like the civilized, industrial nations of Europe have managed to do.
OK, don't judge, but I am stuck on the fact you watched Hannity last night. Way to take one for the team. Watching Hannity makes me physically ill. The rest of it I have no words. I lied! Going after ACA, AGAIN! What a boneheaded thing to do.
The timing of this is stunning. I fervently hope it provides the nail in his electoral coffin. The cruelty takes one’s breath away. I can’t imagine that the Republican Party will survive this. Botched pandemic+ensuing economic collapse+rip away the meager health care we’ve got=GOP’s funeral. It is sickening and mortifying at once.
“And he is going to be president because some people don’t love me, maybe. ....”
There is a tone of resignation, even certainty in his statement. I've learned not to put too much stock in what he says, but his bumbling response to Hannity's question about second term agenda said much, mostly for what it didn't say--he has no plan. He had to know the question would come up; Hannity traveled WITH him to Wisconsin. If that's the best he can offer in a friendly setting, just imagine the how debates will expose his failings--live before a large national audience.
Anxious to hear your thoughts on a Trump resignation, a prospect you've long held was a distinct possibility.
It interests me that the Republicans who want this Act removed have constituents who only have healthcare because of this Act. Even more interesting will be what those same constituents will say if it is removed. How many times do people have to be stomped on before they stop singing the praises of a man who only cares about them for their vote and nothing more?
Let’s speak for a moment about the government subsidies that the rich get to keep them in business. Without them they would not be able to continue to amass wealth. Asking the wealthy to pay their fair share and not be subsidized never comes up. Hypocrisy as a defector from them robbing the rest of us.
The nerve of him to ask SCOTUS to invalidate what is still law. SCOTUS isn't there to make law, so by extension it cannot simply invalidate law. Isn't that the job of Congress? Shouldn't that be how SCOTUS should respond to Trump and Barr? Shouldn't SCOTUS respond that "We're not here to carry out your personal animus" for the whole country to hear?
Question: Where is all the money Mike Bloomberg said he was committing to getting Trump out of office? We need way more than the (exRepublicans) Lincoln Project. With the Coronavirus, many of us are not in a position to donate funds to political campaigns.... back to big money donors?
I think Pelosi's and Biden's comments are accurate but ineffective in influencing anyone -- remember that for many on the right, the cruelty is the point. They thrive on anger, hate, and fear. I have long held that this sort of messaging needs to be accompanied by a [planned, deliberate] "rogue" voice that calls it out as idiocy. In my view, humiliation and mockery (of the figures and policies at the top, not the lowly individuals) are the only things that can disrupt that mindset. Liberals may have higher EQs, but they are strangely and frustratingly inept when it comes to propaganda.
"Emancipation proclamation, No taxation without representation."
When I was a little girl, I didn't get bedtime stories. My mom gave me history lessons.
She prepared me for this day. It never hit me until recently what she taught me.
She would have me repeat "Emancipation proclamation, No taxation without representation."
She was pregnant with me in the summer of '67. Nixon was in office, we had race riots. She taught me that the slaves were not truly freed.
We are witnessing taxation without representation. Puerto Rico is a prime example.
They are taking away our rights. One spoonful at a time. We as Americans have allowed ourselves to become enslaved.
But the biggest and most IMPORTANT one is voter suppression. You know we are experiencing voter suppression. And that's what scares me the most.
They are also attempting to kill off the USPS. They have hackable voting machines tied to mirror servers. Where the tally counts can be changed with the click of a key.
There was one polling place in McConnel's state of KY. ONE place for for 600k voters. I can go on. This is why we need to vote by mail. My new motto is: Vote by mail! We need a paper trail!
On another front is the effort to get DC established as the 51st state. It may take a while, but it seems inevitab.e The District is an interesting entity, and one I know little about, but would like to (hint Heather).
I don't understand why in general, we continue to frequently call it Obamacare (and the ACA) and not only refer to it as the Affordable Care Act. It wasn't President Obama personally guaranteeing affordable health care it is the consequence of the Act being passed. Of course it was his initiative but he didn't name it Obamacare. It's like calling Social Security, Roosevelt Retirement Fund. I strongly believe the name we use makes a difference in how it is perceived.
Every time you think these scum can't be as mendacious, malicious and malevolent as you see they are, not to mention as ignorant, unintelligent, and celebratory of their stupidity as they are, they say "Hold my Diet Coke" and do something as depraved, ignorant, malicious and malevolent as this.
With any luck, they'll set themselves up with this to be destroyed and discredited even more thoroughly than they were in 1932. The Confederate White People's Treason Party needs to be destroyed in detail.
And once this is over, I will NEVER forgive any of these scum for the choices they've made the past 5 years.
“Some people don’t love me.” One moment of self-awareness in his raging narcissism.
My God, the depravity of this administration knows no limits. I hope The Lincoln Project takes note of this and creates their most searing ad to date. Thank you for the time, effort and brilliance you bring to your letters. I am beyond grateful for having this port in the storm. Just started listening to your new book. So it’s kinda HCR all day/every day here in deep red Louisiana. 😊
"Republicans have vowed to get rid of the ACA since it became a law in 2010. Their opposition is based in their larger objection to an activist government that regulates business, provides a basic social safety net, and promotes infrastructure. Such a government, today’s Republicans argue, is essentially socialism: it prohibits an individual’s ability to control one’s business without government interference, and it redistributes wealth from the haves to the have-nots through taxes.
In 2014, Fox News Channel personality Bill O’Reilly explained: “Obamacare is a pure income redistribution play. That means President Obama and the Democratic Party want to put as much money into the hands of the poor and less affluent as they can and the healthcare subsidies are a great way to do just that. And of course, the funds for those subsidies are taken from businesses and affluent Americans who have the cash…. Income redistribution is a hallmark of socialism and we, in America, are now moving in that direction. That has angered the Republican Party and many conservative Americans who do not believe our capitalistic system was set up to provide cradle to grave entitlements…. Obamacare is much more than providing medical assets to the poor. It's about capitalism versus socialism.”
The only way I can explain this kind of thinking is that somehow Republicans have been raised to believe that people are basically bad and that life is a zero-sum game; therefore, they have to defend themselves in all things. They seem to have no belief in religious faith that emphasizes loving one's brother, nor in social science that shows that collaboration (working together to achieve common goals) builds a more effective society/economy than competing for everything. Competition, which can be useful in some things, has become their religion.... along with red herring causes like anti-abortion laws and anti-LGBTQ laws...... They put property and shareholders ahead of people/customers/employees.... it is a tragic sadness that so many of the most influential have bought into Ayn Rand, extreme overextension of Milton Friedman's work, and fundamentalist religions... regarding how to treat others....... Our Business Schools and law schools have perverted the thinking with false notions like corporations being solely responsible to shareholders.......... It seems very difficult to break through this kind of defensive thinking. My experience is that it requires affective learning even more than cognitive...and the problem is that Our Republican friends seem to be totally out of touch with their feelings and frightened to death of experiencing any feelings.....therefore they have cut themselves off from the very data they need to understand how people can thrive in effective collaborative enterprises...
I don't watch Faux Noise, so I missed this: "In 2014, Fox News Channel personality Bill O’Reilly explained: 'Obamacare is a pure income redistribution play. ..."
After reading it, Bill O'Reilly has me sold on SOCIALISM. What's not to like about taking money from billionaires who have gotten obscenely rich from the working class toils and redistributing it to their benefit, like the civilized, industrial nations of Europe have managed to do.
OK, don't judge, but I am stuck on the fact you watched Hannity last night. Way to take one for the team. Watching Hannity makes me physically ill. The rest of it I have no words. I lied! Going after ACA, AGAIN! What a boneheaded thing to do.
The timing of this is stunning. I fervently hope it provides the nail in his electoral coffin. The cruelty takes one’s breath away. I can’t imagine that the Republican Party will survive this. Botched pandemic+ensuing economic collapse+rip away the meager health care we’ve got=GOP’s funeral. It is sickening and mortifying at once.
“And he is going to be president because some people don’t love me, maybe. ....”
There is a tone of resignation, even certainty in his statement. I've learned not to put too much stock in what he says, but his bumbling response to Hannity's question about second term agenda said much, mostly for what it didn't say--he has no plan. He had to know the question would come up; Hannity traveled WITH him to Wisconsin. If that's the best he can offer in a friendly setting, just imagine the how debates will expose his failings--live before a large national audience.
Anxious to hear your thoughts on a Trump resignation, a prospect you've long held was a distinct possibility.
It interests me that the Republicans who want this Act removed have constituents who only have healthcare because of this Act. Even more interesting will be what those same constituents will say if it is removed. How many times do people have to be stomped on before they stop singing the praises of a man who only cares about them for their vote and nothing more?
Let’s speak for a moment about the government subsidies that the rich get to keep them in business. Without them they would not be able to continue to amass wealth. Asking the wealthy to pay their fair share and not be subsidized never comes up. Hypocrisy as a defector from them robbing the rest of us.
The nerve of him to ask SCOTUS to invalidate what is still law. SCOTUS isn't there to make law, so by extension it cannot simply invalidate law. Isn't that the job of Congress? Shouldn't that be how SCOTUS should respond to Trump and Barr? Shouldn't SCOTUS respond that "We're not here to carry out your personal animus" for the whole country to hear?
Question: Where is all the money Mike Bloomberg said he was committing to getting Trump out of office? We need way more than the (exRepublicans) Lincoln Project. With the Coronavirus, many of us are not in a position to donate funds to political campaigns.... back to big money donors?
I think Pelosi's and Biden's comments are accurate but ineffective in influencing anyone -- remember that for many on the right, the cruelty is the point. They thrive on anger, hate, and fear. I have long held that this sort of messaging needs to be accompanied by a [planned, deliberate] "rogue" voice that calls it out as idiocy. In my view, humiliation and mockery (of the figures and policies at the top, not the lowly individuals) are the only things that can disrupt that mindset. Liberals may have higher EQs, but they are strangely and frustratingly inept when it comes to propaganda.
"Emancipation proclamation, No taxation without representation."
When I was a little girl, I didn't get bedtime stories. My mom gave me history lessons.
She prepared me for this day. It never hit me until recently what she taught me.
She would have me repeat "Emancipation proclamation, No taxation without representation."
She was pregnant with me in the summer of '67. Nixon was in office, we had race riots. She taught me that the slaves were not truly freed.
We are witnessing taxation without representation. Puerto Rico is a prime example.
They are taking away our rights. One spoonful at a time. We as Americans have allowed ourselves to become enslaved.
But the biggest and most IMPORTANT one is voter suppression. You know we are experiencing voter suppression. And that's what scares me the most.
They are also attempting to kill off the USPS. They have hackable voting machines tied to mirror servers. Where the tally counts can be changed with the click of a key.
There was one polling place in McConnel's state of KY. ONE place for for 600k voters. I can go on. This is why we need to vote by mail. My new motto is: Vote by mail! We need a paper trail!
On another front is the effort to get DC established as the 51st state. It may take a while, but it seems inevitab.e The District is an interesting entity, and one I know little about, but would like to (hint Heather).