Even as we took a week away to be with family, friends, and just generally relax, the world didn't stop turning. You could be forgiven thinking it had come to a stop, though, as all the so-called "news" channels on cable appeared to be stuck in the same loop for a week, repeating that they still don't know where the lost Malaysia Airlines plane is.
Some things in other news changed slightly last week. Vladimir Putin and Russia pushed forward and illegally annexed Crimea. Now, the Russians and Ukrainians are holding in a tense standoff over Eastern Ukraine, even as sanctions from the U.S. and Europe begin to really hurt Russia's economy.
Back in the U.S., most things didn't change. The spring weather was volatile. Congress did almost nothing. Democrats are still worried about the 2014 elections, but left-leaning Americans aren't actually doing much to change that. Meanwhile, the right-wing extremist and extremely wealthy Koch Brothers are still continuing to try and buy the 2014 elections, and politics in general - including the upcoming decision over the Keystone Pipeline. Republicans all over the country are still proving they're misogynists, and racists, and - like Nebraska Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Shane Osborne - still unable to tell the whole truth.
Unfortunately, over the break, one important thing did change. Republicans in Nebraska's legislature, led like a dog on a leash by right-wing, Koch Brothers-funded groups like AFP, defeated the most recent effort to expand Medicaid to Nebraska's poorest citizens.
In short, the outside groups choked off an effort to help their fellow Nebraskans led by Nebraska Republican state Senator Kathy Campbell - and now Nebraskans will have to deal with the effects of that poorly made, outside-influenced decision.
Rural Nebraskans only have to look to rural Georgia to get a glimpse of what the future of local health care looks like when you prevent hospitals from getting paid to do their duties.
For the fourth time in two years, yet another rural Georgia hospital is closing, this time the Lower Oconee Community Hospital in Wheeler County. It's the eighth rural hospital in the Peachtree State to close since 2000. As many who understand how Medicaid expansion under the ACA warned, without helping the poorest Americans to get insurance coverage, hospitals in rural areas inundated with poor patients simply can't keep their doors open.
As Steve Benen noted last week, the real-world effects of such partisan obstinacy aren’t pretty - but they are pretty stupid.
Decisions like those in Georgia & Nebraska fly in the face of the facts on health policy, in the era of the ACA. As health policy wonks like Robert Reich & Rick Ungar showed last week, the numbers about Obamacare are coming out now - and they look very favorable for both Americans and the politicians who've supported the ACA. While Republicans and scaremongers should be eating crow in the media, it's doubtful the cable "news" media will ever force them to honestly account for their lies on the issue.
Meanwhile, millions of poor, often rural Americans - including the 54,000 Nebraskans too poor to afford health insurance - are looking at a health care landscape that increasingly looks more like that in a third-world nation.
It shouldn't take an outbreak of ebola - like that going on in West Africa right now - to prove to rural voters that a third-world standard of health care isn't something to be emulated. It will likely cost a few more lives though, needlessly lost due to a lack of proper health care, for poor rural voters in places like Nebraska and Georgia to finally realize that voting for politicians who are the lap dogs of wealthy outside influences might not be in their best interests.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Time For A Break
Even as there are still a few chilly days in the long term weather forecast - at least for our DC and Nebraska offices - the season of spring is finally beginning across most of the Northern hemisphere. For millions of young men and women, this time of the year used to mean a trip back home, or maybe even a trip to Mexico or Florida. More than a few of those kinds of trips ended up in slightly embarrassing situations we're certain that more than a few people would rather forget.
These days, with the massive amounts of debt college students take on, this time of year now more often means a few days free from school responsibilities, maybe to work a few extra shifts at a job, read a book, or simply walk around outside in temperatures that aren't insanely cold.
No matter how it's celebrated, the tradition of spring break as a way to celebrate the end of winter is one our staff members have always enjoyed. Conveniently, it's a tradition we'll be enjoying again next week, along with Saint Patrick's Day, some Florida sunshine, and some extra time with our families.
It's not as though no one will be watching the website. We wouldn't be surprised if the CIA or NSA peeked in on either site, and of course, Paul will still be checking in to post new Oklahoma Gazette Cartoons and new Cap News Toons as well.
We empathize with our readers who will also be missing their daily fix of cultivated links and news information. For that kind of great content, we highly advise you check out Greg Sargent's Plum Line at The Washington Post. We also recommend you check the Post's 'Wonkblog', now being run by the very capable Puneet Kollipara.
On Monday, we also highly suggest you click over to Nate Silver's relaunch of FiveThirtyEight.com, for more of the great writing, charts, and commentary we've relied on for guidance for many years here at The Daily Felltoon.
We'll be keeping our eyes on a few key topics of note, including the restoration of unemployment insurance in Congress announced yesterday. We'll also be watching the next steps in the President's efforts to restore the Federal laws surrounding overtime pay to the mostly balanced and fair mode it was in prior to 2004. That's when President Bush used Executive Power to expand the exemptions to the overtime law, which has since allowed all kinds of corporations to abuse workers. Of course, we'll also be keeping our eyes on the CIA/Senate fight, and the conflicts overseas in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Mostly though, we'll be taking a week away from our regular responsibilities here to get our bearings, clear off some of the other tasks on our desks, watch some basketball or spring baseball, or maybe just take the dog for a walk outside, without having to put on five layers of clothes first.
We don't know about you, but we've never wanted to celebrate the end of winter so badly in all our lives.
We hope you get a chance to rest and recharge this next week.
We'll resume our regular publishing schedule on March 24, 2014.
These days, with the massive amounts of debt college students take on, this time of year now more often means a few days free from school responsibilities, maybe to work a few extra shifts at a job, read a book, or simply walk around outside in temperatures that aren't insanely cold.
No matter how it's celebrated, the tradition of spring break as a way to celebrate the end of winter is one our staff members have always enjoyed. Conveniently, it's a tradition we'll be enjoying again next week, along with Saint Patrick's Day, some Florida sunshine, and some extra time with our families.
It's not as though no one will be watching the website. We wouldn't be surprised if the CIA or NSA peeked in on either site, and of course, Paul will still be checking in to post new Oklahoma Gazette Cartoons and new Cap News Toons as well.
We empathize with our readers who will also be missing their daily fix of cultivated links and news information. For that kind of great content, we highly advise you check out Greg Sargent's Plum Line at The Washington Post. We also recommend you check the Post's 'Wonkblog', now being run by the very capable Puneet Kollipara.
On Monday, we also highly suggest you click over to Nate Silver's relaunch of FiveThirtyEight.com, for more of the great writing, charts, and commentary we've relied on for guidance for many years here at The Daily Felltoon.
We'll be keeping our eyes on a few key topics of note, including the restoration of unemployment insurance in Congress announced yesterday. We'll also be watching the next steps in the President's efforts to restore the Federal laws surrounding overtime pay to the mostly balanced and fair mode it was in prior to 2004. That's when President Bush used Executive Power to expand the exemptions to the overtime law, which has since allowed all kinds of corporations to abuse workers. Of course, we'll also be keeping our eyes on the CIA/Senate fight, and the conflicts overseas in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Mostly though, we'll be taking a week away from our regular responsibilities here to get our bearings, clear off some of the other tasks on our desks, watch some basketball or spring baseball, or maybe just take the dog for a walk outside, without having to put on five layers of clothes first.
We don't know about you, but we've never wanted to celebrate the end of winter so badly in all our lives.
We hope you get a chance to rest and recharge this next week.
We'll resume our regular publishing schedule on March 24, 2014.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The GOP Prescription: Lyin', Cryin', & Snake Oil
When you take in as much media as our staff does, you tend to see trends that the average American who might read one newspaper, or only looks at a small handful of news websites, would likely miss. One of those trends has been the growing sounds of desperation coming from the Republican Party as their extremist, tea-tinged wing continues to drag the rest of their party to the edge of oblivion.
The worried cries of Republicans were evident Wednesday, after the special election in Florida. As many legitimate ethical journalists forecasted they would, Republicans read too much into the results and hyped a minor win - a "win" that cost Republicans the lion's share of $12.7 million to retain for eight short months a U.S. House seat that the GOP had held comfortably for over 40 years. The stink of fear, rank as it was, didn't seem to stop a flood of hypocrisy from Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner, who - even as he spun the Florida race like a top in a tornado - told Democrats they shouldn't be spinning the race.
As journalists like Brian Beutler, Steve Benen, and E.J. Dionne plainly noted Wednesday, Republicans' foolish attempts to peddle snake oil about the Florida election didn't stand up to the historical facts of special elections.
Another topic that also hasn't been standing up to facts is the right-wing's futilely screamed claims that Obamacare still isn't working, and that Americans don't want something so liberal.
In fact, as Greg Sargent pointed out Tuesday - using CNN's latest poll on the Affordable Care Act - a majority of Americans actually favor Obamacare or think it isn't "liberal" enough.
While the enrollment numbers for the exchanges may not reach the ambitious goals originally set by the Obama administration, as Jonathan Cohn noted earlier this week, the numbers of enrolled Americans are about what experts had predicted all along. So far, thanks to Obamacare, more than 4.2 million Americans have enrolled in private health insurance they can afford, with another 4.4 million enrolling in Medicaid.
That's more than 8.5 million Americans who now have affordable health insurance, who didn't have health insurance just a few months ago, who now won't be simply stumbling into emergency rooms, expecting taxpayers to foot their bill.
That kind of success is exactly the medicine that President Obama and some Democrats prescribed for America's previously exploding health insurance and health care cost problem - and it appears to be working.
It should have been no surprise then, that President Obama's attempt to get even more young people to sign up for health insurance this week, with the humorous and satirical interview video made with actor Zach Galifianakis, made those on the right cry out in anger and frustration.
According to White House spokeswoman Tara McGuinness, the web video directly led to a 40% increase in visits to Healthcare.gov, and was the single biggest event or action to drive web traffic to the health insurance website since it began less than six months ago.
As with the race in Florida, Republicans may be able to scream their empty policy prescriptions on health insurance louder, and they may be able to scream them in more places, thanks to the conservative-dominated media. However, Democrats and those on the left need to stick to the facts, which are in their favor - and unlike Alex Sink in Florida, don't be shy about promoting the fact that progressives and liberals currently have the right medicine for what ails America, while Republicans have nothing but the snake oil of anger, hatred, and selfishness.
The worried cries of Republicans were evident Wednesday, after the special election in Florida. As many legitimate ethical journalists forecasted they would, Republicans read too much into the results and hyped a minor win - a "win" that cost Republicans the lion's share of $12.7 million to retain for eight short months a U.S. House seat that the GOP had held comfortably for over 40 years. The stink of fear, rank as it was, didn't seem to stop a flood of hypocrisy from Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner, who - even as he spun the Florida race like a top in a tornado - told Democrats they shouldn't be spinning the race.
As journalists like Brian Beutler, Steve Benen, and E.J. Dionne plainly noted Wednesday, Republicans' foolish attempts to peddle snake oil about the Florida election didn't stand up to the historical facts of special elections.
Another topic that also hasn't been standing up to facts is the right-wing's futilely screamed claims that Obamacare still isn't working, and that Americans don't want something so liberal.
In fact, as Greg Sargent pointed out Tuesday - using CNN's latest poll on the Affordable Care Act - a majority of Americans actually favor Obamacare or think it isn't "liberal" enough.
While the enrollment numbers for the exchanges may not reach the ambitious goals originally set by the Obama administration, as Jonathan Cohn noted earlier this week, the numbers of enrolled Americans are about what experts had predicted all along. So far, thanks to Obamacare, more than 4.2 million Americans have enrolled in private health insurance they can afford, with another 4.4 million enrolling in Medicaid.
That's more than 8.5 million Americans who now have affordable health insurance, who didn't have health insurance just a few months ago, who now won't be simply stumbling into emergency rooms, expecting taxpayers to foot their bill.
That kind of success is exactly the medicine that President Obama and some Democrats prescribed for America's previously exploding health insurance and health care cost problem - and it appears to be working.
It should have been no surprise then, that President Obama's attempt to get even more young people to sign up for health insurance this week, with the humorous and satirical interview video made with actor Zach Galifianakis, made those on the right cry out in anger and frustration.
According to White House spokeswoman Tara McGuinness, the web video directly led to a 40% increase in visits to Healthcare.gov, and was the single biggest event or action to drive web traffic to the health insurance website since it began less than six months ago.
As with the race in Florida, Republicans may be able to scream their empty policy prescriptions on health insurance louder, and they may be able to scream them in more places, thanks to the conservative-dominated media. However, Democrats and those on the left need to stick to the facts, which are in their favor - and unlike Alex Sink in Florida, don't be shy about promoting the fact that progressives and liberals currently have the right medicine for what ails America, while Republicans have nothing but the snake oil of anger, hatred, and selfishness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)