In a 1/24/13 article in Aljazeera entitled “Top CEOs plan to loot US social programmes”, Dr. Margaret Flowers powerfully calls out the motives of a mendacious “Fix the Debt” campaign launched by 80 CEOs who are determined to cut their corporate taxes even further by decimating social programs beneficial to us, the lower whopping 99% of the American citizenry.
Here is a quick overview of the Census data on income, poverty, and healthcare for 2010. The "year" for this report extends from March 2010 to March 2011.
Income
Real median household income in 2010 was $49,445 a decline of 2.3% from $50,599 in 2009. You would have to go back 15 years to 1996 to find a lower number. Conversely, the high for this number occurred in 1999 ($53,252). The 2010 figure marks a 7.1% decline from that high. (Table A-2, p.34)
Healthcare Insurance
In 2010, the percentage of those without healthcare insurance was 16.3%, up from 16.1% in 2009. The number of uninsured increased from 48.985 million to 49.904 million, an increase of 919,000. Read below the fold...
30% of companies say they’ll stop offering coverage
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Once provisions of the Affordable Care Act start to kick in during 2014, at least three of every 10 employers will probably stop offering health coverage, a survey released Monday shows.
While only 7% of employees will be forced to switch to subsidized-exchange programs, at least 30% of companies say they will “definitely or probably” stop offering employer-sponsored coverage, according to the study published in McKinsey Quarterly.
The Senate Republicans did what they said they'd do today -- they blocked a bill aimed at providing over $7 billion in federal money for 9/11 responders and their families because it came before a vote on taxes. But despite the almost scripted outcome, Democratic Senators behind the bill seemed shocked at the outcome. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/...Read below the fold...
This, right here, is why I will vote third-party in November:
From my mom, this morning:
"This is nuts. Our health insurance will cover the cost of "treatment for cancer." However, it will not cover the cost of incision and biopsy to determine if an apparent tumor is cancerous. We have been going round and round for over a month, and have one more appeal, but this is where we stand. Ridiculous. Why are we going thru this hell?"
My step-dad will be 55 in September. He has a past history of lung and colon cancer and now tumor has been found in his upper jaw. There is a good chance the tumor is benign, but we can't know that without a biopsy. Read below the fold...
On the one hand, the President has just signed an Executive Order extending and legalizing the illegal Hyde Amendment (and "segregating" evil abortion funding from pure Christian-like funding); on the other hand, it's Obama's FDA, refusing to follow the federal judge's orders to allow the emergency contraception pill to be sold over the counter without a prescription. Read below the fold...
Last night, I attended the PNHP NYC Chapter monthly forum, entitled "Where's Labor Been in the Year of Health Care Reform?" LibbyLiberal from Corrente met me there, and we both brought flyers for my Rep. Carolyn Maloney "Yes" vote protest on Saturday afternoon, which she and other Correntians will be attending.
The room was packed, and expectations were high as Bill Henning got up to speak. Read below the fold...
(Hi - I usually post at my own blog, but I've been growing into a regular Coreente visitor and commenter. I could give a long explanation of how I got here, but basically, I've been writing a blog for 3 years or so, I'm very liberal, and I feel very strongly about healthcare issues, which I've been exposed to for a really long time.Read below the fold...
Does the United States Constitution allow Congress to force people to purchase a product (health insurance) from a private corporation, and fine them or tax them if they refuse? The answer is a matter of debate, but there is little dispute that such an act of Congress would be unprecedented.
Sheldon Laskin, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore Law School who has argued that the Constitution forbids such a move, describes the new and dangerous can of worms it would open up: Read below the fold...
