Showing posts with label DailyKOS.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DailyKOS.. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters


Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

The War on Women continues...



Graphic by Anne C. Savage Cross-posted from Eclectablog.
Thanks to a petition drive that resulted in 4.2% of Michiganders voicing their minority opinion, Michigan is about to become a place where women have to plan ahead for their abortions. If you become pregnant accidentally or if you are raped and become pregnant and haven't purchased a separate abortion coverage rider on your health insurance, you won't be covered. This isn't just for state government insurance plans or those purchased on the health insurance exchange. It's for EVERY insurance plan available in the state.

Apparently no government is too small to get between you, your doctor, and your health insurer.
A controversial initiative that would require women to buy an additional rider on their health insurance if they wanted abortion coverage is one short step away from going to the Legislature, where it is likely to easily become law. Because no one filed a challenge by Monday’s deadline to the more than 315,000 signatures turned in to the Secretary of State, an initiative that would prohibit abortion coverage from being included in standard insurance policies will go forward.
And the Secretary of State certified Monday that Michigan Right to Life, which spearheaded the petition drive, has more than enough valid signatures to start the ball rolling on the new state law. A minimum of 258,088 valid signatures were needed. The anti-abortion activists turned in 315,477 signatures. And the Secretary of State’s elections division estimated that 299,941 of the signatures are valid.
The state Board of Canvassers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 to certify the signatures and then the petition moves to the state Legislature, which has 40 days to approve, reject or do nothing with the legislative ballot initiative.
If Republicans vote it down or fail to act on it, it will be a ballot iniatitive in the next general election. Neither of these is likely given their ideologically extreme views. If they pass it, it becomes law. The other 95.8% of us won’t have a say and neither will Governor Snyder. Don't tell me there isn't a War on Women in Michigan being waged by religious conservatives in our state. The evidence is right before you.
If you want chime in, Planned Parenthood has a petition going asking legislators to allow ALL Michigan voters to have a say in this. You can sign the petition HERE.

Originally posted to Eclectablog - eclectic blogging for a better tomorrow on Wed Nov 27, 2013 at 09:24 AM PST.

Also republished by Motor City Kossacks, Your Government at Work, State & Local ACTION Group, and Michigan, My Michigan.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Another Health Insurer Caught Falsely Cancelling Thousands of Health Plans

Another Health Insurer Caught Falsely Cancelling Thousands of Health Plans

by Vyan
 
Following the report that Insurer Humana was fined $65,000 in Kentucky for sending out 6,500 misleading cancellation letters for low-premiums plans only to be automatic re-enrollment in high cost plans before these customers were given a chance to shop on the open exchange for a better and cheaper plan - we now have a new report that Anthem Blue Cross is being sued for tricking people into dropping their "grandfathered" plans.
Think that's bad, well this is even worse.
http://thinkprogress.org/...
“Blue Cross successfully enticed tens of thousands of its individual policyholders to switch out of their grandfathered health plans and forever lose their protected grandfathered status,” states the lawsuit. “Blue Cross concealed information about the consequences of switching plans and intentionally misled its policyholders to encourage the replacement of grandfathered policies.”
And more... http://www.ibtimes.com/...
The lawsuits, filed Monday in Superior Court, may signal an emerging customer pushback against the approximately 900,000 cancellations in California alone of individual health insurance policies that will take effect Dec. 31.
900,00 Cancellations.  False Cancellations of plans that, which under the Affordable Care Act are "Grandfathered" and Don't Need to be Cancelled.  The Insurance Companies are doing it to Scam their Customers into higher cost plans and away from the ACA Exchanges in a practice that violates State Law known as "Twisting".
The plaintiffs, Paul Simon, 39, and Catherine Corker, 63, of California say that they are among the customers that Anthem Blue Cross pressured to drop their grandfathered policies in 2011 without giving them all the facts about new Obamacare requirements that could raise the price of their plans in an effort to cut its own costs. Simon and Corker would have preferred to remain on the grandfathered plans permitted by the law, and are now asking the courts to block Anthem from canceling any more policies unless the company allows consumers to switch back into their grandfathered plans. “This is about an insurance company manipulating the situation and concealing the facts,” said William Shernoff, an attorney for both the plaintiffs, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We are asking the court to give our clients and everybody else in the same situation the option of going back to their grandfathered policies.”
These lawsuits may take some time to work their way through the court system, but what can work even more quickly is the CA State Insurance Commission and also the Court of public opinion.  Just like in Kentucky the CA Commission has the ability and power to Restore These Improperly Cancelled Plans and get customers back the "Plan they Prefer" if that's what they truly want. Perhaps if a few (thousand) of the customers who received letters claiming their "grandfathered" plan was cancelled were to contact that commissioners office, there might be some action on this faster rather than later.
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/...
California Department of Insurance
Consumer Services Division
300 South Spring Street, South Tower
Los Angeles, CA 90013
California Department of Insurance
Fraud Division
9342 Tech Center Drive, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95826
fraud@insurance.ca.gov
800-927-HELP (4357)
I'm just saying...perhaps the President isn't the one who should apologizing for these Cancellations, the Insurerers Should be.
Vyan

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Republicans even stupider than imagined, disenfranchise own voters

Republicans even stupider than imagined, disenfranchise own voters

 
A member of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers fills out his ballot at a polling station inside the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Spellman Room in Ossining, New York November 2, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Texas Republicans are disenfranchising their strongest demographics.
Consider this bit of nonsense in Texas, thanks to the state's new stringent voted ID laws:
Tarrant County [Texas] Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said Saturday that people who might find themselves in a similar situation should cast a provisional ballot and obtain identification needed to “cure” it within six days. […] Raborn's office reached out to people who might have expired driver licenses, such as those who live in nursing homes, to let them know that the license can be expired by no more than two months to be a valid photo ID for voting. […]
90-year-old Jim Wright, the former speaker of the House, was prevented from voting because of this requirement, one which disproportionately affects seniors with lapsed IDs. Now consider this, from the 2012 presidential national exit polls:
2012 presidential exit polls showing Romney winning seniors 56-44, his strongest demographic.
What kind of moron party disenfranchises its most reliable voters? And not just seniors, who make up a massive proportion of non-presidential year turnout. Married women too. And guess how married women vote?
2012 presidential exit polls showing Romney winning married women 53-46.
attribution: 2012 exit polls
So Republicans, in their zeal to disenfranchise brown and young people, have created a voter ID law that solves a non-existent problem and subsequently disenfranchises two of their most important base groups. We knew the GOP was stupid. This notches it up to a whole new level.

Originally posted to kos on Tue Nov 05, 2013 at 11:25 AM PST.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Consumer Reports destroys 'rate shock' horror story

Consumer Reports destroys 'rate shock' horror story

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Krystal Ball: Greg Abbott Makes Wendy Davis Texas Governorship Possible (VIDEO)

Krystal Ball: Greg Abbott Makes Wendy Davis Texas Governorship Possible (VIDEO)

 

Krystal Ball exposed Greg Abbott on MSNBC “The Cycle.” She provides a funny but fact based analysis of his idiocy. Greg Abbott is currently Texas Attorney General. He is running in the Republican Gubernatorial primary that he is likely to win.
It is common knowledge that education in Texas compares poorly with other states. Texas is the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents. It has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation.
Krystal Ball said Greg Abbott is attempting to solve nonexistent problems in lieu of real problems.  In effect Greg Abbott is addressing phantom problems when Texas has severe social and economic problems.
Greg Abbott has never found intentional voter fraud in Texas. Yet his party instituted a Voter ID law. That Voter ID law was blocked by the US District Court in Washington. Greg Abbott used the Supreme Court’s ruling making Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional as his license to discriminate. This law will discriminate against women, minorities, and the elderly disproportionately.
Greg Abbott has been wasting Texas taxpayer dollars for some time now. He wasted time and taxpayer money investigating ‘curriculums indoctrinating children’. He has irresponsibly sued the Obama administration 25+ times. Here is what Politifact says.
Here’s a typical workday for Texas’ attorney general: "I go into the office, I sue the federal government and I go home," Greg Abbott was quoted as saying to a tea party group in an April 30, 2013, Associated Press news story. …
Greg Abbott and his party’s obsession with women's control of their own bodies will make ‘flea market abortions more common. It will put the lives of many Texas women at risk. He should remember the Texas women battle cry of this summer, “Women Will Remember In November.”
Texans are being activated. Texans are now awake. The reception Texas Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis is getting throughout the state this early is astounding. It speaks well for the turnout in 2014. Battleground Texas is engaged and registering voters at high rates. Greg Abbott and his party are making it easier to see a Wendy Davis governorship.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy & Jim DeMint: Plot To Sabotage US Economy in Secret Meeting

Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy & Jim DeMint: Plot To Sabotage US Economy in Secret Meeting

keepemhonest  At Daily KOS

Koch brother's employee Jim DeMint ... ah ... has been plotting to sabatoge the US Economy since January 20, 2009 along with House GOP Leaders: Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy.

     That's right, on January 20, 2009 Republican Leaders in Congress literally plotted to sabotage and undermine U.S. Economy during President Obama's Inauguration.  At that time, Koch brother's employee, Jim DeMint, was a US Senator from South Carolina.
     Let's get something straight from the giddy-up, a Continuing Resolution (CR) legally relates only to Discretionary spending, just government agency budgets and nothing else.  CR's do not affect non-descretionary spending.  The Affordable Care Act is mandatory spending so anyone with even half a brain would know that the GOP threat to shut down government or delay, defund, rip-up or rip-out the ACA by way of the Continuing Resolution is legally, the wrong place to have that type of legislation.
    Therefore, since delaying, defunding, or ripping up the ACA Law is prohibited language in a Continuing Resolution, this GOP led Shutdown Government Plan clearly is not really about Obamacare -- because Obamacare will be law regardless.
     Rather, the GOP led Government Shutdown Plan is really about the GOP's desire to continue with their plot to sabotage the US Economy.
     In Robert Draper's book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" Draper wrote that during a four hour, "invitation only" meeting with GOP Hate-Propaganda Minister, Frank Luntz, the below listed Senior GOP Law Writers literally plotted to sabotage, undermine and destroy America's Economy.
The Guest List:
Frank Luntz - GOP Minister of Propaganda
Rep. Paul Ryan(R-WI)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX),
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA),
Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R),
Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ-R),
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK-R),
Sen. John Ensign (NV-R) and
Sen. Bob Corker (TN-R). Non-lawmakers present Newt Gingrich
    During the four hour meeting:
     The senior GOP members plotted to bring Congress to a standstill regardless how much it would hurt the American Economy by pledging to obstruct and block President Obama on all legislation.     These Republican members of Congress were not simply airing their complaints regarding the other party's political platform for four long hours.  No, these Republican Congressional Policymakers, who were elected to do 'the People's work' were literally plotting to sabotage, undermine and destroy the U.S. Economy.  
Fast forward to July 2013,
     Koch brothers paid Jim DeMint to cook up an elaborate "Defund" Fundraising Gimmick with lemmings: Mike Lee and Ted Cruz where they plotted to shut down the government unless President Obama turned white ... err ... no, that's not right, they plotted to shut down the US Government unless President Obama defunded and got rid of the Affordable Care Act.
     Part of DeMint, Cruz, Lee Fundraising Gimmick involved asking their Tea Party brethren to go to Koch brother's "DontfundObamacare" website and donate money to Koch brother's founded: Senate Conservative Fund (which is a non-profit fundraising organization the Koch brothers paid Jim DeMint to set up.)
     Naturally, Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor were excited to go along with Koch brother's scheme to shut down the US Government unless President Obama agreed to deny the People with pre-existing conditions health insurance -- after all -- they know shutting down the US Government is, in and of itself, a means to sabotage the US Economy.
US Economic damage caused by GOP led Government Shutdown:
     The 1995 GOP led Government shutdown cost local businesses $14 million per day.  The Congressional Research Services calculated the 1995 GOP led Government shutdown as costing $1.4 Billion.
“According to the Department of the Interior, the last government shutdown in 1995-1996 cost local businesses $14 million per day. Our analysis indicates the actual impact on businesses now could be closer to $30 million per day,” the National Parks Conservation Association said.
    Economists say a GOP led Government shutdown will mean 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed and will hurt the already fragile US Economy.      So, did Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor get a major TeaParty "here's our chance to really sabotage the US Economy" hard-on when they realized a 2013 GOP-led Government Shutdown would cost $30 Million per day?
      It appears as though Kevin McCarthy is totally drooling at the prospect of sabotaging the US Economy with threats of government shutdown as he told Chris Wallace of Fox News that the House will never, ever send a clean CR to the Senate.
WALLACE: Assuming that the senators do what they say they're going to do and they reject this issue, will you have a clean C.R. with Democratic votes and send it back to the Senate to avoid a shutdown? MCCARTHY: This is not a place to negotiate, but I promise you this -- we will pass the bill if the Senate does what you think they will do, that will keep the government open, that will reflect the House that I believe the Senate can accept, that will have fundamental changes in ObamaCare that can protect the economy for America.
    What the f'ck?!?      House GOP Whip, Kevin McCarthy said that the GOP will include "fundamental changes in ObamaCare" ... I ask, the feeble Kevin McCarthy, what part of CR's are for discretionary funding only does he, McCarthy, not understand in his Tea Party brain?
     Oh, then I remember, the GOP led government shutdown is not about "Obamacare" it is all about the GOP plot to sabotage the US Economy that was conceived in the secret meeting held back in January 2009.
     And that fact, explains why the GOP House also included a "Conscience Clause" provision that also has nothing at all to do with discretionary spending. Typically, the Conscience Clause is written to allow employers to deny women and men contraceptive coverage, including, but not limited to denying men and women the right to sterilization such as: No vasectomy coverage, no hysterectomy coverage.
     Rightwinged Zealot Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) said:
Also, I am excited that conscience protections have been added to the CR. This provision is a victory for our religious liberty as guaranteed by the First Amendment.
    Yeah, that's nice, ole Tim Huelskamp is excited to add a Conscience Clause to a CR which legally is only supposed to include discretionary funding ... but wtf ... the CR is not legally supposed to have any legislation regarding Obamacare so naturally Speaker Boehner, Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor let Huelskamp put his BS language in the CR. Back to the 2009 GOP Secret Meeting to Sabotage US Economy:
     Remember, for months prior to January 20, 2009, America had been losing over 750,000 jobs per month because of policies these same elected Republican lawmakers had enacted and their goal, their goal that night, was to plot ways to sabotage and undermine any and all legislation that would pull American families up and out of the economic calamity they [lawmakers] had helped create.
     Two months after their covert meeting where Kevin McCarthy, Eric Cantor, Jim DeMint and other Republican lawmakers -- lawmakers -- plotted to sabotage the US Economy, Rep. Pete Sessions said Republicans should follow the model of the Taliban in its battles against President Obama.
     In the March 2009 interview with National Journal Rep Sessions said:
    "Taliban Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban.  Insurgency is the way they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- is an example of how you go about to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that Insurgency may be required when [dealing with] the other side" ~Rep Pete Sessions, March 2009 to National Journal
    Yes, I see ... just like trying to include defunding, delaying, ripping-out the ACA Law is not discretionary funding so ...  the GOP-Taliban are disrupting the entire government workforce and entire US economy by shutting down the US Government unless they can include mandatory spending legislation in the discretionary spending CR.      In that March 2009 interview, Rep Pete Sessions went on to say:
    "If they [democrats] do not give us those options or opportunities then we will then become Insurgency ... I think Insurgency is a mindset and an attitude that we're going to have to search for and find ways to get our message out and to be prepared to see things for what they are, rather than trying to do something about them"
    Yes, the GOP-Taliban have, indeed, adopted the Taliban Insurgency mind-set which is a mind-set geared to destroy a country and what better way to destroy a country than through its economy.      Currently, Pete Sessions supports shutting down the government unless President Obama gets rid of the ACA Law. Over the weekend, Pete Sessions said this on the House floor:
The law is an "attack and an assault on the free enterprise and the free economy," said Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.
     Yeah, um - ok, so what does that have to do with passing the discretionary funding CR bill?   Kevin McCarthy's active role in sabotaging the US economy:
     At their secret meeting they plotted to suddenly stop supporting any Stimulus Legislation, even though, they all supported Bush/Cheney Stimulus legislation.
    At the meeting, Rep Kevin McCarthy said,
"We've gotta challenge them on every single bill." "Show united and unyielding opposition to the president’s economic policies."
    Like I said, this whole GOP 'defund or shutdown government' bs is a Fundraising Gimmick whereby the Koch Brothers will rake in millions and at the same time will sabotage the US Economy.      Remember, these same Republican members of Congress supported the very Bush/Cheney policies that caused America to teeter on the brink of the 2nd Great Depression and caused the 2007 US Economic Meltdown.
Here's how they all voted:
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney January 2008 Stimulus
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney bailing out Bear Stern
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney bailing out AIG
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney TARP (sept 2008)
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney TARP (oct 2008)
   And these same Republican members of Congress:
Supported Bush/Cheney keeping cost of two wars out of the Budget. Supported Bush/Cheney spending $4Trillion while giving Top 1% Tax Cuts; ignoring the fact that taxes pay for wars.
     Not only did these Senior members of Congress plot to destroy the American Economy more than it already was destroyed? They actually carried out their mission:  
    Every one of these Senior members of Congress have threatened Government Shutdown over things like: - Funding planned parenthood,
- Raising the Debt Ceiling which, in-and-of-itself, would cause US Economic turmoil.
   In January 2011, John Boehner was sworn in as Speaker of the House, the House and in 2011, the House GOP threatened to shutdown government roughly every 3 months.
April 2011: House GOP threaten to shutdown government unless Planned Parenthood is defunded.
July 2011: House GOP threaten to shutdown government and default on US loans.
September 2011: House GOP threaten to shut down government unless we cut spending on things like food-stamps to offset FEMA spending.
    In 2011, during the Debt Ceiling negotiations, Eric Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl abruptly walked out of negotiations and refused to renew discussions with Democrats. As a result, America's credit rating was lowered which put a smile on Republican's faces.
As Senator, Jim DeMint along with: Jon Kyl, Tom Coburn, John Ensign, and Bob Corker have: - Filibustered more Bills (over 300) than any Congress combined in US History.
- Voted NO on every single piece of Legislation brought to the Floor including:
NO on Al Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment,
NO on Lilly Ledbetter,
NO on Fair Pay Act,
NO on Anti-Outsourcing Bill (2010)
     How in the hell could any thinking American be against those Bills?  Seriously?!?
    Representatives: Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Pete Sessions, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Hoekstra and Dan Lungren have voted NO on every single piece of Legislation including:  NO on increasing FEMA during natural disasters.
Other Legislation Republicans used to sabotage US Economy
Republicans Used the Transportation Bill to Sabotage the US Economy:
     The 2011 Transportation Bill - no funding for transportation projects and 1.9 million construction workers would lose their jobs.  Eric Cantor and Republicans in the House are refused to act because Republicans were overjoyed if almost two million Americans were added to the unemployment rolls this summer before the election.
    Obama's American Jobs Act - Republicans in Congress refused to negotiate or even discuss passing President Obama's American Jobs Act that independent economists claim would create 1.3 million new jobs.  God forbid Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy support an actual Bill that would put people to work building needed infrastructure and provide funds to pay to rehire hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public service workers that have been laid off in droves by cash-starved states.
     President Obama's 2012 Anti-Outsourcing Bill - which is a Bill to discourage the outsourcing of American jobs, which is due to come to the Senate floor around the fourth of July.
     In June 2012, The Washington Post reported that Republicans have made it clear that the Federal Reserve would face fierce Republican criticism if it takes further actions to stimulate the economy before the election. The Washington Post wrote that,
   Republicans... have expressed deep concern about measures taken by the Fed to support the economy -- and could be doubly upset if new efforts goose the stock market and are perceived to work in favor of President Obama's re-election.
   Yes, it is true, the House Republican Leaders: Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy met in secret and plotted to sabotage and undermine the US Economy ... I call them Traitors to America.      So, the next time you hear the GOP say "Obama wants to destroy the economy" or "Government Shutdown" ... remember ... as Newt Gingrich said after their four hour dinner on January 20, 2009 "You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown."
   To Translate GINGRICH:
 "You'll remember this day as they day we became Traitors to the United States."
    My hope is that Americans and all members of Congress are reminded via twitter, facebook and all other forms of media over and over and over:
Republican Leaders in Congress who are involved in attempts to shutdown government on Oct 1, 2013, literally plotted to sabotage the US Economy on January 20, 2009 and the current GOP 'defund or shutdown government' bs is a Fundraising Gimmick whereby the Koch Brothers will rake in millions and at the same time will sabotage the US Economy.