The Latest in Progressive Politics with a Healthy Dose of Humor
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Ted Cruz makes his late-night debut Texas Republican appears on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'
Ted Cruz makes his late-night debut Texas Republican appears on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'
Author: By CNN's Bryan Koenig
Published: Nov 08 2013 10:19:38 PM EST
Updated On: Nov 08 2013 10:41:52 PM EST
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| CNN |
The Texas Republican was on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" to talk about the tea party firebrand's growing reputation and his stances on issues such as Obamacare and same-sex marriage.
Cruz has fast become one of the most outspoken critics of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Quick Clicks Issa issues another subpoena on Affordable Care Act website Navy launches USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier Petraeus didn't want top honor for soldier After Obama's apology, talk of solutions Victim's family: Navy missed 'red flags' NORML: Pot legalization on 'greased tracks' He picked up 2016 speculation steam as one of the leaders of the Defund Obamacare movement in Congress, an effort that helped precipitate the partial government shutdown when Democrats flatly refused to pass a government funding bill that also sought to destroy the health care law.
Those tactics have gained Cruz intense ire from Democrats and even some Republicans, a situation that seemed to suit Cruz just fine Friday. Asked by Leno about descriptions of the freshman senator as aggressive, arrogant and abrasive, Cruz said, "Don't believe everything you read."
Cruz continued, "What I'm trying to do is do my job," he said. "And occasionally people don't like it."
On Obamacare, Cruz continued to maintain his tried-and-true talking points -- that the law is destructive and harmful, costing people jobs and money on their premiums.
Cruz avoided labels of only wanting to do away with health care reform.
"I'm a big believer in health care reform," Cruz said.
"I think we ought to reform healthcare so it's personal, it's portable, it's affordable. We ought to empower patients rather than government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor."
Cruz also touched on some of the controversy surrounding his father, Rafael Cruz, a businessman and evangelical pastor who's made a number of controversial comments, including calling on President Barack Obama to be sent "back to Kenya." The two have frequently campaigned together and Cruz has often called his father his inspiration.
The comments of his father that Cruz responded to Friday was the elder Cruz's opposition to same-sex marriage, an opposition the younger Cruz shares. But the younger Cruz feels the issue is one that should be determined state to state.
Politics is a dirty game, Cruz acknowledged in the attacks against his father.
"Some folks have decided to try to go after him because they want to take some shots at me,"
Cruz said. "But I think the critics are better off attacking me."
Copyright 2013 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Rand Paul has another problem
Rand Paul has another problem
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
(James Crisp/Associated Press)
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In 2010 Rand Paul explained that he formed the board in 1997 along with 200 young ophthalmologists to protest a decision by the American Board of Ophthalmologists to grandfather those who were certified by 1992, but to limit certification for a ten year period for those first certified after that date. Rand Paul fell within the latter group. He found that decision “discriminatory” and unfair so he set up the NOB along with his wife and father-in-law to certify himself. Despite calling itself “national,” it appears to have operated purely in Kentucky. The board remained in operation until 2000, when it was dissolved. It was reinstated in 2005. Since the certification story broke, the NOB again dissolved in 2011.
However, it is not clear how that entity would have comported within Kentucky law. Michael S. Rodman, executive director of the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure tells Right Turn, “The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure does not license physicians based on their specialty board certification nor is it a requirement for licensure. ” However, he explained that “Board does address specialty board certification through our regulation on physician advertising.” Rodman confirmed that if a board is not on the list, then a Kentucky specialist is prohibited from advertising himself as board certified. That list does not include the National Ophthalmology Board.
A physician in Kentucky and elsewhere can still practice without certification, but since the 1990′s the certification has become increasingly important in the medical field. Beth Ann Comber of the American Board of Ophthalmology tells me, “Board certification, and especially MOC [Maintenance of Certification] participation, by an ABMS-recognized board helps patients make more informed choices regarding their medical care. Today, the internet connects patients with a wealth of physician information, but it’s often difficult for patients to determine where the information on those sites comes from, how the ratings are determined, and where paid advertising stops and unbiased information begins. . . .Certification is voluntary, so physicians who make the choice to participate in continuous learning and quality improvement activities are doing so out of a personal commitment to high standards for their patients and their practice.” Moreover, “there are many hospitals, private practice groups, insurers, etc. that require board certification for staff privileges or leadership positions. Some medical specialty societies also require board certification for membership or offer a special class of membership for board certified physicians.”
Rand Paul continues to perform eye “surgery in his home state, often getting favorable media attention for performing free eye procedures. His profile on the website of the Tri-Star Greenview Regional Hospital, where Paul has privileges, includes the notation “Specialty Board Certifications: Ophathalmology.” Likewise on the Healthgrades Web site where patients can locate physicians his entry reads: “Ophthalmology, Board Certified.”
Since 2005 Rand Paul has not been certified by any board recognized by the state of Kentucky, and since 2011 has had no certification since the NOB was dissolved. I asked Rand Paul’s staff a series of questions, trying to determine why he still held himself out as a “certified” ophthalmologist:
Did the National Board of Ophthalmology have examinations and/or continuing education requirements? If so, what were they?I got back a nonresponsive answer that recited his medical school and residency record. As to the certification issue, a Rand Paul spokeswoman would only say:
How many doctors claimed certification through the NBO? Did they continue to do so or did they obtain American Board of Ophthalmology certification?
When it dissolved, did Dr. Rand stop presenting himself as “board certified”?
The Kentucky Board of Licensure’s list of approved accreditation boards does not appear to include the NBO so why did Dr. Rand believe he had the right under Kentucky law to advertise as board certified? Did he receive an exemption or opinion of some sort from the state licensure board?
Is he continuing to hold himself out as “board certified”?
Has he taken any continuing education since he was originally certified? Since 1997?
In 1997, Dr. Paul led a nationwide protest against the American Board of Ophthalmology’s decision to require recertification for younger ophthalmologists, but not for older ophthalmologists. Over 200 young ophthalmologists co-signed a letter with Dr. Paul to protest the policy. When ABO refused to extend their recertification policy to all ophthalmologists, the group formed a competing board certification group called the National Board of Ophthalmology. The group administered its own certification exam for about a decade, but is no longer active.In refusing to answer the direct questions Rand Paul will prompt further inquiry as to whether he skated around Kentucky law, received appropriate continuing education and represented himself forthrightly to his patients, paid or otherwise. It is noteworthy that he says 200 people signed the letter; he does not confirm that any of them relied on the NBO certification.
NBO is a nonprofit corporation and all who took part were volunteers without salary. Dr. Paul has not profited in any way from this group.
The decade-long battle against a policy that the ABO did not make binding on all members is just another example of Dr. Paul’s willingness to fight against any law or rule that doesn’t include equal protection for everyone.
Rand Paul is already under fire for plagiarism charges, and has reacted angrily to that story. (“It annoys the hell out of me. I feel like if I could just go to detention after school for a couple days, then everything would be okay. But do I have to be in detention for the rest of my career?”) His reaction doesn’t bode well for presidential campaign-level scrutiny. At one point he told the New York Times, “To tell you the truth, people can think what they want, I can go back to being a doctor anytime, if they’re tired of me. I’ll go back to being a doctor, and I’ll be perfectly content.” If he does, he would be smart to get certified by the American Board of Ophthalmologists to be fully compliant with state law and give patients the reassurance he’s current on the latest developments in his field.
So long as he is a U.S. senator with presidential aspirations, however, he will need to respond calmly and honestly with controversies about his own actions and record. By providing so little information he guarantees continued scrutiny.
White Anti-Gay Activist Wins Election After Pretending To Be Black
White Anti-Gay Activist Wins Election After Pretending To Be Black
By Ian Millhiser
on
November 9, 2013 at 9:31 am
on
November 9, 2013 at 9:31 am
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| Dave Wilson: not black |
Wilson’s campaign fliers were filled with black faces that he admits to simply pulling off of websites, along with captions such as “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson.” Another flier announces that he was “Endorsed by Ron Wilson,” which is the name of an African American former state representative. Only by reading the fine print will voters discover that the “Ron Wilson” who actually endorsed Dave is his cousin. The cousin lives in Iowa.
In an interview with a local TV station, the anti-gay activist turned higher education policymaker did not deny that he intended to mislead the electorate, instead justifying his actions by claiming that “[e]very time a politician talks, he’s out there deceiving voters.”
It’s worth noting that Wilson was likely able to get within striking range of a 24-year incumbent member of the board due to a wave of scandals involving insider dealing by board members.
Nevertheless, he defeated the incumbent Austin by just 26 votes, so it
is likely that Wilson’s deceptive campaign tactics helped push him over
the edge to victory.The Houston Community College Board of Trustees governs the college and has the power to approve the school’s “educational program.” Previously, Wilson unsuccessfully tried to scuttle the campaign of victorious Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker by mailing a flier to 35,000 voters featuring a picture of Parker standing by her same-sex partner and the caption “IS THIS THE IMAGE HOUSTON WANTS TO PORTRAY?”
Parker told a local news station that he opposed Parker because “[t]he openly gay lifestyle leads to extinction.”
Corporate Lobbying Group ALEC Put Falsified Signatures On A Letter To A Senator, Group Finds
Corporate Lobbying Group ALEC Put Falsified Signatures On A Letter To A Senator, Group Finds
By Annie-Rose Strasser on
August 14, 2013 at 11:00 am
on
August 14, 2013 at 11:00 am
This
week, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) sent Sen. Dick
Durbin (D-IL) a letter that claimed the Senator’s investigation into
ALEC’s involvement “Stand Your Ground” laws was a form of “intimidation.”
The letter was supposed to have carried the clout of about 300 state
legislators who signed onto it, but, according to an investigation by
progressive group by ProgressNow, many of the signatures on that letter
were falsified or duplicated. ALEC has come under intense scrutiny for its involvement in orchestrating passage of Stand Your Ground in several states. The law became a hotbed of controversy in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death. Though it wasn’t ultimately used in killer George Zimmerman’s defense, Stand Your Ground allowed Zimmerman to walk free on the night of the killing, turned out to be central to the case at trial, and was cited by one of six jurors as a justification for his acquittal.
After the Zimmerman verdict was announced, Durbin said that he would conduct an inquiry in ALEC’s involvement in the bill.
The group hit back Monday with a letter that tried to discredit Durbin’s inquiry. The group said it was signed by 293 elected officials. But, ProgressNow found, 55 of the signatures are “blatantly invalid.”
“[A] simple Google search found that seven of the signatures on the letter were unidentifiable, four were spouses of elected lawmakers, 35 of the signatures were duplications and one was an expletive rant,” said ProgressNow Research Director Brian Wietgrefe in a release.
The group’s full ananlysis is available here.
Over half of states in the U.S. have enacted some version of Stand Your Ground laws. Much of that legislation is similar to model legislation crafted by ALEC. The National Rifle Association, too, has been pivotal in lobbying for Stand Your Ground.
Koch brother says supporters of carbon tax are “on LSD”
Koch brother says supporters of carbon tax are “on LSD”
He also expressed skepticism about renewable energy — and supports the Keystone XL Pipeline
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| William Koch (Credit: AP/Louis Lanzano) |
Koch also weighed in on the Keystone XL Pipeline, which he supports, and climate change, in which he does not believe. “I won’t bet on global warming,” Koch said before arguing that alternative energy sources — like solar or wind — were too expensive. ”We can’t count on renewable energy to save us,” he said.
Koch encourages drilling for shale gas. He described the process involved in extracting shale gas deposits, which requires vertical and horizontal drilling and the process known as fracking to break through the rock surrounding the oil.
Elias Isquith is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on politics. Follow him on Twitter at @eliasisquith, and email him at eisquith@salon.com.
CBS to Correct Erroneous Report on Benghazi
CBS to Correct Erroneous Report on Benghazi
By BILL CARTER and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: November 8, 2013
CBS Apologizes for Benghazi Report: Accounts
differ from a man interviewed by “60 Minutes”
who said he was at the U.S. mission the night
of the attack that killed
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
As it prepared to broadcast a rare on-air correction Sunday for a now-discredited “60 Minutes” report, CBS News acknowledged on Friday that it had suffered a damaging blow to its credibility. Its top executive called the segment “as big a mistake as there has been” in the 45-year-old history of the celebrated news program.
CBS
Lara Logan acknowledged the “mistake” on Friday.
CBS
Dylan Davies was identified as Morgan Jones on the “60 Minutes” report.
The executive, Jeff Fager, conceded that CBS appeared to have been duped
by the primary source for the report, a security official who told a
national television audience a harrowing tale of the attack last year at
the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. On Thursday night
it was disclosed that the official, Dylan Davies, had provided a
completely different account in interviews with the F.B.I., in which he
said he never made it to the mission that night.
After that revelation, CBS decided to take multiple actions Friday. It
removed the report from the CBS News website, and the correspondent for
the segment, Lara Logan, appeared on the CBS morning news show to
apologize personally for the mistakes in the report. And the company’s
publishing division, Simon & Schuster, said it was suspending
publication of a book by Mr. Davies, in which he tells the same
narrative he recounted on “60 Minutes.”
“It’s a black eye and it’s painful,” Mr. Fager said in a phone
interview. He declined to say whether there would be negative
consequences for any of the journalists involved.
The retractions and the scale of the mistake spurred comparisons with
another embarrassing episode for CBS News — a report in 2004 about
George W. Bush’s National Guard record that CBS was also forced to
retract. That report, which actually appeared on a short-lived spinoff
program called “60 Minutes II,” resulted in several firings and played a
role in the eventual separation between CBS and its longtime anchor,
Dan Rather.
Mr. Davies, identified as Morgan Jones on the “60 Minutes” report and on
the jacket of his book, “The Embassy House,” gave three separate
interviews to the F.B.I., according to Obama administration officials.
Each time he described the events in ways that diverged from his account
to CBS, when he claimed to have been personally involved in the action
during the attack — to the point of disabling one of the attackers with a
blow from a rifle.
His interviews with the F.B.I., disclosed Thursday night by The New York
Times, were critical in the unraveling of his story. Mr. Davies had
already told his employer, the security firm Blue Mountain, that he
never appeared at the mission the night of the attack, and the firm had
prepared an incident report with that information. Mr. Davies contended
that he had not created or approved the incident report and that he had
needed to lie to his employer because he had defied orders to remain at
his villa. The justification for believing him, Mr. Fager said Friday,
was Mr. Davies’s assurance that had told the real truth to the F.B.I.,
one that would corroborate his account to CBS.
With agents unable to operate freely in Benghazi, the F.B.I., which is
conducting an investigation into the attack, has struggled to get
interviews with the guards hired to protect the mission and other
witnesses. That has forced the agents to rely on the accounts provided
by State Department officials and contractors who have left the country.
As part of those efforts, the F.B.I. interviewed Mr. Davies by phone,
teleconference and in Wales, where Mr. Davies lives. (Mr. Davies could
not be reached Friday. Mr. Fager said he had told CBS News he had “gone
into hiding.”)
Mr. Fager said CBS had been duped by a convincing liar. “There are
people in the world who try to deceive others,” he said. “We believe we
have a really good system to guard against that. This guy got through
that.”
But the program seemed to make a crucial error in going ahead with its
report before it knew for certain what was in the F.B.I. interviews. Mr.
Fager said CBS had made extensive efforts to determine what Mr. Davies
told the F.B.I. He said the network had sources who led the program to
believe that the report was “in sync” with the account Mr. Davies gave
to “60 Minutes.”
Informed Thursday night by The Times that the F.B.I. version diverged
from what Mr. Davies said on “60 Minutes,” CBS News quickly checked its
own F.B.I. sources, Mr. Fager said, and learned that what Mr. Davies had
told the F.B.I. “differed from what he told us.”
Mr. Fager said that led to a difficult night with “a tremendous amount
of soul-searching.” He said, “We were sick. We knew we were misled and
for us that is a mistake and we shouldn’t have put him on the air.”
He called Ms. Logan and said she would have to appear on “CBS This
Morning” to admit the error and apologize. “It is one of the most
difficult things for a reporter to do and she did it extremely well,
with the recognition that this is about the organization, not about
her,” Mr. Fager said.
As CBS was backtracking on its report, Threshold Books, an imprint of
Simon & Schuster, said in a statement that it was recommending that
booksellers remove Mr. Davies’s book from their shelves. “The Embassy
House” was published Oct. 29, and more than 38,000 copies are in print.
Ms. Logan did not reply to requests for an interview Friday. In an
interview earlier this week, she had ardently defended Mr. Davies’s
character and his veracity against charges that he had given differing
accounts of the events that night in Benghazi.
She also suggested, as Mr. Fager did on Friday, that the “60 Minutes”
report became enmeshed in the continuing political battle over the
Benghazi incident. The compelling account from Mr. Davies had provided
congressional Republicans with new ammunition to criticize the Obama
administration.
Since the attack on the mission in Libya, Republicans have contended
that the administration failed to secure the mission adequately, held
back on sending military forces to rescue the Americans there, then
tried to cover up how it handled the matter.
The day after the CBS report, several Republican senators held a news
conference, demanding that the administration allow congressional
investigators to interview survivors of the Benghazi attack. In
particular, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that he would
block all administration nominations until it met the Republicans’
demands.
“We really hope that this will force him to drop his block on the
nominations,” a senior administration official said on Friday.
A spokesman for Mr. Graham declined to address the matter on Friday,
saying that Mr. Graham would address it on Sunday in an interview with
CNN.
A version of this article appears in print on November 9, 2013, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: CBS to Correct Erroneous Report on Benghazi.
Related
-
The Lede: Lara Logan’s On-Air Apology for Flawed Benghazi Report (November 8, 2013)
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Accounts Differ to F.B.I. and CBS on Benghazi (November 8, 2013)
Free the Media!
Free the Media!
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| It's time to get rid of corporate
control of the Internet.
(AP Photo/Amy Sancetta) |
An opportunity we had not anticipated helped make our network a major player more rapidly than we had ever imagined. Free Press took shape early in 2003, as George W. Bush was selling his war in Iraq. Americans recognized that media outlets had let them down by tipping coverage in favor of a wrongheaded rush to war. When administration allies on the FCC proposed greater consolidation of media ownership by the same interests that had facilitated an unnecessary war, Free Press and allies like Common Cause, MoveOn and Code Pink got an unprecedented 3 million Americans to signal their opposition. The courts put consolidation on hold, citing the public outcry.
Early victories created a sense that we could pressure Congress and regulators to do the right thing. Free Press and other groups achieved significant success with those strategies, forcing the FCC to consider minority ownership issues, fighting cuts to public broadcasting, exposing corporate and government spin masquerading as news, and defending Net neutrality and a free and open Internet. But big media corporations have reasserted themselves. They are spending more freely on campaigns and lobbyists than ever before, reminding all of us that whichever party is in power, the money power rules in Washington.
It’s time to get back to our roots—the grassroots—and organize citizens into a media-reform movement so big and so bold it cannot be denied. The people are ready. On our current book tour we have spoken to thousands of Americans. We’ve heard the fury at a media system that fails to cover elections but gladly pockets billions for spewing negative campaign ads; that facilitates government and corporate data mining; that creates cartels rather than independent journalism.
We are more certain than ever that Americans can be organized around ideas for sweeping media reforms. They include:
§ Increase public funding for public media. Newspaper and broadcast layoffs, cutbacks and closings have gutted newsrooms, and digital media are not coming close to filling the void. We are as excited by the investment Pierre Omidyar is making in a new venture with Glenn Greenwald as we are by every serious investment in serious journalism. But there will never be enough enlightened billionaires to fill the information voids that have opened. We need enlightened policies. Instead of merely opposing cuts, reformers must fight for massive expansion of public broadcasting, community media and nonprofit digital experiments. The hallmark of a strong democracy is public support for great independent and aggressive journalism—and a great deal of it.
§ Give the Internet back to the people. The Internet has spawned the greatest wave of monopoly in history. Thirteen of the thirty-two most valuable publicly traded US firms are primarily Internet companies, and many of those thirteen have a market share in their core activities approaching that of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly in its prime. This is simply untenable for democratic governance. One place to start: eliminating the government-created cartel of Verizon, AT&T and Comcast, which gives the United States some of the lousiest, yet most expensive, cellphone and Internet service in the world. Washington should establish free high-speed broadband for every American.
§ Restore privacy. Coverage of the NSA scandal has focused on data mining by the government. But private corporations and political consultants have access to the same information, and they’re using it to manipulate our choices as consumers and citizens. The restoration of privacy rights may begin with limits on the NSA, but it should extend to strict regulation of, and limits on, the digital data that can be collected from us, and how corporations and politicians can use those data to manage discourse.
These are starting points for a broader reform moment in which we must limit the influence of negative campaign ads while extending the range of political debate; more tightly regulate the commercial carpet-bombing of our children; and make media literacy central to public education. That moment must be characterized, above all, by organizing so that no matter who runs things in Washington, politicians will know that the people want media that err on the side of diversity and democracy—not profiteering and propaganda.
In August, Leticia Miranda wrote about deregulation of the telecom giants and how it affects working-class and minority people.
About the Author
John Nichols
John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated...
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The governor thinks his victory will take him far down the presidential trail. Don’t bet on it.
A Mass Shooting Happened Yesterday But You Didn’t Hear Anything About It
A Mass Shooting Happened Yesterday But You Didn’t Hear Anything About It
By Annie-Rose Strasser on
November 8, 2013 at 11:03 am
on
November 8, 2013 at 11:03 am |
| CREDIT: AP |
What makes this shooting different? Several things. First, it happened in Detroit, a city with a staggeringly high murder rate. Second, the reported gunman had a criminal history, and may have had a longstanding feud with some of the victims. And, third, it happened in a space where many people can’t imagine themselves: a gambling session in the back room of a barber shop.
But the quotes coming out of the shooting at Al’s Place Barber Shop are as heartbreaking as those you’d hear anywhere.
“Police wear body armor. Why would a community member be driving around in body armor?” asked Detroit Police Chief James Craig in a press conference following the shooting. Craig called the violence “urban terrorism.”
“I’m angry that it happened. I’m angry that people are dead,” Arnold Redmond, one of those injured in shooting, told the Detroit Free Press. Redmond also insisted that the shooting had nothing to do with “the barbershop or any of the people associated with it.”
Sadly, the relative media ignorance of the shooting tracks with a common theme: Gun crimes often occur in low-income neighborhoods with largely non-white victims, but, from the news, you’d think every shooting put the white and affluent at risk of violence. There’s an obvious reason from a producer’s perspective: They want traffic, or viewers, and think they can get more if more well-off news consumers are self-concerned with the story. But it doesn’t reflect the reality of gun violence in the United States, where black people are far more likely to be victims of gun homicides compared to their white counterparts.
The three victims have been identified as Joezell Williams, 61, Bryan Williams, 29, and Kevin Perryman, 40. Police say each one was shot at least twice.
The Rest of the Story on Arizona Anecdote
The Wire
The Rest of the Story on Arizona Anecdote
Conservative groups are highlighting the case of an Arizona man with leukemia whose insurance plan was canceled because it didn’t comply with the Affordable Care Act. A news report quoted the man as saying he would need to pay $26,000 to keep the same doctor. It turns out, he was able to get a new plan, which has his doctor in its network, for a lower premium and a lower out-of-pocket maximum than his old plan.
Michael Cerpok, from Fountain Hills, Ariz., was featured in a local TV news segment on Oct. 3. The ABC15 report said that Cerpok, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 and requires ongoing treatment, had received a letter from his insurer, Celtic Insurance Company, saying that his policy wasn’t “fully compliant” with the Affordable Care Act and would be canceled. Cerpok, a self-employed businessman, was paying $855 per month for the policy for himself.
The report said his out-of-pocket costs in 2012 were only $4,500, even though his treatment for leukemia totaled more than $350,000. Cerpok wanted to keep the same doctor he had at the Mayo Clinic. He told ABC15: “Now it doesn’t mean I can’t go see my current doctor, but my $4,500 out-of-pocket, is going to turn into a minimum of $26,000 out-of-pocket to see the doctor that I’ve been seeing the last seven years.”
That local Phoenix news segment has gone viral. Cerpok’s plight now has been highlighted by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank; cited in an ad from Americans for Prosperity, as the announcer says “Arizonans are losing the health care plans they love, the doctors they know”; and featured on many other conservative websites. Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint wrote a letter in early October to President Obama that said: “We are fighting for people like Michael Cerpok, a leukemia patient in Arizona, who recently learned he will lose his current health insurance due to this misguided law. He notes that ‘my $4,500 out-of-pocket [expense] is going to turn into a minimum of $26,000 out-of-pocket to see the doctor that I’ve been seeing the last seven years,’ and he worries that he and his wife might need to take second jobs to stay afloat.”
But this story has a happy ending. We spoke with Cerpok a month after the TV report aired, and things have changed. Cerpok told us he was able to sign up for a new plan that has his current oncologist and hospital in its network. He said the policy was less expensive, but didn’t have some of the same benefits — such as a specialty prescription drug benefit for cancer drugs. “I will say that my premiums went down, as did my yearly total out of pocket maximum, commensurate with the benefits I lost,” he said in an email to FactCheck.org. “My policy contains MANY things that I will never use.” He didn’t want to reveal how much money he was saving with the new policy or other details on the coverage, saying that he had received a lot of criticism after the ABC15 report aired.
That report, however, is what led him to a new plan. Cerpok had a career as a martial artist, and one of his former student’s parent, who owns an insurance agency, contacted him after seeing the news report, Cerpok said, and helped him find comparable insurance. “He did a lot of research,” Cerpok said, and “found a plan for me which I have now signed up for.”
It’s an individual market plan, but it is not through the federal exchange. “I didn’t want my new plan to be a part of a subsidized government-mandated health care,” he told us. He said he had no problem with Americans getting subsidies to help them buy insurance, but he was opposed to the individual mandate, requiring everyone to buy coverage. “This is about freedom to choose,” Cerpok said.
He said he did not look at health plans on the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov. Estimates available on the exchange website show significantly lower rates than the $855 Cerpok had been paying. Coverage for a single person over 50 — Cerpok is 52 — starts at $237.04 per month for a bronze plan. The highest-priced plan was an estimated $576.62 in Maricopa County, Ariz.
His old insurer, Celtic, did not offer him a new plan and is no longer selling individual market plans in Arizona, according to its website. We contacted Celtic’s parent company, Centene, but haven’t received a response to our questions. The $26,000 figure Cerpok cited in the news report comes from him looking into joining his wife’s employer-based plan, which is through Blue Cross Blue Shield and doesn’t include Cerpok’s doctor and the Mayo Clinic in its network. He said Blue Cross Blue Shield told his wife he could continue to see his doctor on that plan, but the out-of-network costs would total $26,000 for the year.
The $855 Cerpok is paying for the soon-to-be-canceled Celtic policy is a high price, but he said he was happy it covered the bulk of his leukemia treatment. Individual market premiums vary — and as his premium shows, can vary greatly. The average price for Arizona, as calculated by the conservative Manhattan Institute, adjusting for preexisting conditions, was $127 per month for a 40-year-old and $386 for a 64-year-old male before the Affordable Care Act. The Kaiser Family Foundation found an average individual market premium of $241 per person per month in 2010 in Arizona, noting that was an average for all adults and children.
The cost estimates aren’t what’s important to Cerpok, however. It’s about the right to choose to buy whatever you want. “The health insurance industry certainly needed to be put in check, and we certainly needed to provide affordable care for low income earners,” he told us in an email. “But, I should not have had a product that I was willing to pay for, and that I had been very happy with, taken away from me by a government mandate and then taxed…er, I mean fined…if I chose not to replace it with a product I don’t like.”
The cost of insurance has been the focus of political claims, and it was the focus of the local Arizona news report, which said the insurance switch could cost Cerpok “tens of thousands of dollars.”
In the end, Cerpok isn’t facing such an increase, and instead lowered his monthly payments. He wasn’t able to keep his plan, but he was able to keep his doctor.
– Lori Robertson
Racine women closed Street sat in middle of road front of Paul Ryans office
Protest. Racine women closed Street sat in middle of road front of Paul Ryans office
Protest shuts down Sixth Street
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| Twelve women hold hands Friday afternoon, November 8, 2013, as they block Sixth Street during an immigration reform protest outside Congressman Paul Ryan's office in Downtown Racine. / Gregory Shaver gregory.shaver@journaltimes.com |
Police blocked off the street at Main Street and allowed the women to address a crowd of several dozen that gathered in front of the Racine office for Ryan, the Janesville Republican who represents Racine County in Congress.
The women-led protest, organized by the Milwaukee-based immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, called on Ryan to work for speedy immigration reform and stop deportations.
Police wrote down each woman’s information and told them that they would be cited for the incident, according to Joe Shansky, a representative of the organization.
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| Cecilia Anguiano, right, talks about her family's struggles with immigration, as she and her mother, Sofi Anguiano, center, and her grandmother, Luz Maria Hernandez, left block Sixth Street with other women during a immigration reform protest Friday afternoon, November 9, 2013, outside Congressman Paul Ryan's office in Downtown Racine. Gregory Shaver gregory.shaver@journaltimes.com |
“I have no fear because I’m fighting for my children and for many families who also suffer and are saddened,” said Hernández, who has nine children, 31 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Hernández, her one daughter who has been able to move to Racine, 57-year-old Sofia Anguiano, and her granddaughter Cecilia Anguiano were three of the women cited during the protest.
Hernández and her granddaughter were arrested together in a protest in Washington, D.C., in September, but Sofia Anguiano said that Friday was the first time she has ever been ticketed in the United States.
Another protester, Luisa Morales, 25, said that deportations are of particular concern for her because she was raised in Racine by two parents who were
always at risk of being deported.
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| Racine police gather information from twelve women Friday afternoon, November 8, 2013, as they block Sixth Street during a immigration reform protest outside the Congressman Paul Ryan's office in Downtown Racine. / Gregory Shaver gregory.shaver@journaltimes.com |
Shansky said that the organization has held similar protests in front of the offices of Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ron Johnson in the past to spur action on immigration reform.
The protest began at about 3 p.m. and lasted for about an hour, until the women concluded the protest and willingly moved out of the street.
Journal Times, 212 Fourth St. Racine, WI
Friday, November 8, 2013
Ted Cruz's Dad Declares God Is Pro Death Penalty
Ted Cruz's Dad Declares God Is Pro Death Penalty
The Huffington Post
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By Shadee Ashtari
The Cuban-American creationist quoted Bible verses that he said described God’s hardline position on capital punishment. “You know, the Bible is so clear," he said. "Go to Genesis chapter nine and you will find the death penalty clearly stated in Genesis chapter nine ... God ordains the death penalty!”
He brushed off “all these people that want to come home with their violins to tell you, ‘Oh, we need to show mercy,'" declaring that the death penalty rightly shows no mercy.
On the subject of mass shootings on school campuses, Cruz blamed Democrats who have lobbied for gun control in response to the atrocities.
“Look at all the massacres that we’ve had in the last year or two that the left is using to try to tell us that we need to control guns. Every one of those was in a gun-free zone,” Cruz said, amid exclamations of “Amen!” and “Exactly!” from the audience.
“You want to eliminate school massacres? Have the teachers carry [guns]! … How stupid can you be?” Cruz said. An audience member answered, “It’s doggone stupid!”
Cruz also spoke at length against same-sex marriage, arguing, “It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
He said the legalization of gay marriage would lead to a deluge of hate speech claims.
“After this homosexual marriage law gets passed, do you know what the next thing that is coming very soon is? ... Hate speech,” Cruz said. “You preach Romans chapter one in your church, you’re going to be called before a court for hate speech. Now what are you gonna do? Are you going to take that page and cut it out of your Bible? Because it’s not politically correct? So it’s going to come to a head.”
More broadly, the senator's father warned that “social justice very quickly leads to socialism and ultimately communism.” He squeezed in a jab at the National Rifle Association's past support for the Senate majority leader, asking, “How can you call yourself righteous and go endorse Harry Reid?”
Cruz attacked President Barack Obama as a “king” and a “tyrant,” before closing with “God bless you all.”
The event at which Cruz spoke was sponsored by the gun rights advocacy group OK2A and the anti-government Tulsa 9.12 Project.
Posted: 11/07/2013 7:14 pm EST View it here as well:
Evangelical pastor Rafael Cruz, father of shutdown dramatist Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), served up a stemwinder this week, laying out God’s positions on the death penalty, guns in schools, gay marriage, communism and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), all in an impassioned 45 minutes.The Cuban-American creationist quoted Bible verses that he said described God’s hardline position on capital punishment. “You know, the Bible is so clear," he said. "Go to Genesis chapter nine and you will find the death penalty clearly stated in Genesis chapter nine ... God ordains the death penalty!”
He brushed off “all these people that want to come home with their violins to tell you, ‘Oh, we need to show mercy,'" declaring that the death penalty rightly shows no mercy.
On the subject of mass shootings on school campuses, Cruz blamed Democrats who have lobbied for gun control in response to the atrocities.
“Look at all the massacres that we’ve had in the last year or two that the left is using to try to tell us that we need to control guns. Every one of those was in a gun-free zone,” Cruz said, amid exclamations of “Amen!” and “Exactly!” from the audience.
“You want to eliminate school massacres? Have the teachers carry [guns]! … How stupid can you be?” Cruz said. An audience member answered, “It’s doggone stupid!”
Cruz also spoke at length against same-sex marriage, arguing, “It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
He said the legalization of gay marriage would lead to a deluge of hate speech claims.
“After this homosexual marriage law gets passed, do you know what the next thing that is coming very soon is? ... Hate speech,” Cruz said. “You preach Romans chapter one in your church, you’re going to be called before a court for hate speech. Now what are you gonna do? Are you going to take that page and cut it out of your Bible? Because it’s not politically correct? So it’s going to come to a head.”
More broadly, the senator's father warned that “social justice very quickly leads to socialism and ultimately communism.” He squeezed in a jab at the National Rifle Association's past support for the Senate majority leader, asking, “How can you call yourself righteous and go endorse Harry Reid?”
Cruz attacked President Barack Obama as a “king” and a “tyrant,” before closing with “God bless you all.”
The event at which Cruz spoke was sponsored by the gun rights advocacy group OK2A and the anti-government Tulsa 9.12 Project.
Jon Stewart Blasts Rand Paul For Plagiarizing Wikipedia
Jon Stewart Blasts Rand Paul For Plagiarizing Wikipedia
Posted: 11/08/2013 10:30 am EST | Updated: 11/08/2013 10:40 am EST
Rand Paul has had a tough last few weeks as he's addressed charges of plagiarism, seemingly against his better nature. And Jon Stewart was not about to let him off the hook for copying from Wikipedia, of all places.
Rand Paul has had a tough last few weeks as he's addressed charges of plagiarism, seemingly against his better nature. And Jon Stewart was not about to let him off the hook for copying from Wikipedia, of all places.
GOP using the “phoniest” anti-gay arguments
GOP using the “phoniest” anti-gay arguments: Tom Harkin unloads to Salon
"A religion that says it's alright to discriminate... I have a real question about the underlying basis of it"
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| Tom Harkin (Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) |
He also touted his proposal to increase Social Security benefits as a better alternative to the president’s favored “chained CPI” cut, which he compared to telling seniors, “Don’t live so long.” A condensed version of our conversation follows.
Given the Republican House, is the vote today on ENDA going to make a difference?
Well, I hope the vote today will encourage and pressure John Boehner, Speaker Boehner, to bring the bill up on the House floor…I think we got ten Republicans here, that is almost 25 per cent of the caucus. I think they have the same kind of support among Republicans in the House. So if Boehner were to bring this up in the House, it would pass…If he doesn’t bring it up, of course then it dies – but then it’s very clear to the country who killed ENDA, and it will be the Republican House of Representatives.
A spokesperson for Speaker Boehner told the Huffington Post that the legislation “will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs.” An aide to Boehner also told them that they believe “this is covered by existing law.” What do you make of those arguments?
Those are about the phoniest arguments I have ever heard. I mean, you know, that’s an old argument that was used against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was used against the Americans with Disabilities Act which I was a sponsor [of] in 1990…Did some people bring suits under them? Sure, but that’s the whole idea of a civil rights bill, and that is to give people recourse to the courts to redress their wrongs.
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