"The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in #Egypt." at.wh.gov/nVza6, http://t.co/UwGlUU52BJ
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The White House (@whitehouse) August 14, 2013****
BBC News: Benefits Extended To US Gay Military Spouses
US military same-sex spouses will gain all benefits open to opposite-sex spouses by 3 September, Pentagon officials have said. It includes healthcare and housing and will be open to any military member with a valid marriage certificate. The Pentagon had already extended certain privileges to same-sex couples after a ban on openly gay troops – known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – was repealed in September 2011. But most benefits had been off-limits until the Supreme Court ruling.
“It is now the department’s policy to treat all married military personnel equally,” Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a memo on Wednesday to senior Pentagon officials. The Pentagon also stated it would allow leave for military personnel, who are stationed in a state that does not permit same-sex marriage, to travel to a jurisdiction where they can marry legally. The change will mean that homosexual troops and their spouses will also have the right to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington DC.
More here
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#ObamasAmerica: On Sept. 3rd, same-sex spouses will gain full military benefits available to hetereosexual spouses. bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 14, 2013Happy #LeftHandersDay! http://t.co/fYZNcC5hxd
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The White House (@whitehouse) August 13, 2013****
TPM: Peggy Noonan: Obama Should Defend Missouri Rodeo Clown (Yes Peggy, you are a RACIST)
Peggy Noonan offered a “classy” suggestion to President Barack Obama on Tuesday: go to bat for that rodeo clown in Missouri. Let me suggest a classy Obama move that might go over well. From his Vineyard vacation spot he should have the press office issue a release saying his reaction to finding out a rodeo clown was rudely spoofing him, was, “So what?” Say he loves free speech, including inevitably derision directed at him, and he does not wish for the Missouri state fair to fire the guy, and hopes those politicians (unctuously, excessively, embarrassingly) damning the clown and the crowd would pipe down and relax. This would be graceful and nice, wouldn’t it? He would never do it. He gives every sign of being a person who really believes he shouldn’t be made fun of, and if he is it’s probably racially toned, because why else would you make fun of him?
More here
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On bus tour through NY and PA next week, President Obama will discuss importance of keeping college costs down for middle class families
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Matt Lehrich (@Lehrich44) August 14, 2013****
Julian Pecquet: Kerry Slams Crackdown In Egypt As ‘Deplorable’
Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday denounced the violent crackdown by the Egyptian military as a “deplorable” and unnecessary escalation that represents a “serious blow” to peace and democracy.
Kerry said Egypt faced a “pivotal moment” and warned the military-appointed interim government that the “world is closely watching” how it responds. More than 100 people were killed Wednesday when the army raided camps where supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi have been protesting for the past month.
“Today’s events are deplorable, and they run counter to Egyptian aspirations for peace, inclusion and genuine democracy,” Kerry said during a 5-minute surprise appearance at the State Department’s daily press briefing. “It’s a serious blow to reconciliation and the Egyptian people’s hopes for a transition towards democracy and inclusion.” “Violence will not create a roadmap to Egypt’s future,” he said.
More here
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Please Proceed, GOP
Conservative Pollsters To GOP: Don't Worry About A Shutdown, Defund Obamacare! It'lll Work Out Great livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/conserva… via @tomkludt
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Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 14, 2013****
All Egyptians must work to prevent further violence. A peaceful, inclusive process is the route to peace & stability. Force not the answer.
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Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) August 14, 2013****
Jamelle Bouie: North Carolina’s Attack On Voting Rights
North Carolina Republicans passed a sweeping set of changes to the state’s election law. These measures were proposed just one week after the Court’s ruling, and were rushed through the state legislature. GOP Gov. Pat McCrory calls them “common sense” measures, designed to “ensure the integrity” of the ballot box and “provide greater equality in access to voting to North Carolinians.” And that’s true, if you rob those words of their actual meaning. The centerpiece of the law is a strict new mandate for voter identification, that’s more notable for what it bans than what it permits. Of the various forms of state-issued ID, only four are valid for voting: driver’s licenses, passports, veteran’s IDs, and tribal cards. Everything else is unacceptable. This includes college IDs, public or municipal employee IDs, ID from public-assistance agencies, and out-of-state driver’s licenses.
"Reverse" racism is nearly as big a societal problem as employees sexually harassing their bosses.
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(@LOLGOP) August 14, 2013It’s no accident that those are the excluded categories. As with similar laws in other states, the restrictions target Democratic voters, from students and young people—who are more likely to rely on university-issued identification—to public employees and the poor. And of course, a large share of these voters are black and Latino. Overall, the state estimates that as many as 318,000 voters could lack (PDF) appropriate identification. Echoing many supporters of voter identification, Governor McCrory points to other activities that require photo ID: “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote.” But voting is just that, a right, and restricting particular kinds of ID—used by particular kinds of people—without expanding access to other forms of identification is an obvious attempt to make voting hard for some and not others.
There is but you have to wait in line 9 hours to get it // Rand Paul: No ‘evidence’ blacks prevented from voting wapo.st/19tBrDf
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(@LOLGOP) August 14, 2013Indeed, the other provisions of the law make it plain that this was the intent. Governor McCrory’s “common sense” initiative bans paid voter-registration drives, removes a week from the early voting period (which was a popular option for black voters in 2008 and 2012), eliminates straight-ticket voting, repeals out-of-precinct voting, repeals a mandate for high-school voter-registration drives (again, because Republicans don’t want young people participating), eliminates flexibility in early-voting hours, and makes it more difficult for precincts to designate additional voting sites for the elderly or voters with disabilities. We’re only 50 years removed from Jim Crow, and history has a strong grasp. Yes, we have an African-American president. But we also have deep-seated racial inequality. To think we’ve overcome this—to think it no longer matters for the present—is worse than ignorant, it’s naive.
More here
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Once again, the White House is winning at social media
Guess what day it is… http://t.co/YG8o5fIN4m
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The White House (@whitehouse) August 14, 2013****
Here’s the hilarious backstory
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The Obama Diary 
First?
Congrats, 57!
Congrats 57 on #1 🙂
yes, you are # 1! Congratulations!
tough day for Egypt!
Thanks for these News of the Day posts UT. It reallyshelps folks like me catch up with the rest of y’all since I can’t check much throughout the day. I appreciate them just as much as the Night Owl chats!
Also Happy Belated Birthday Mizzz Chips! I missed all the raucous revelery in your honor. You really don’t look a day over 21 :-smile:
You’re welcome. Thank you for the feedback.
LMAO!
I’ll stop just short of replying, “Bo, bite Boehner.”
I’ll go ‘ahead and say it:
Bo, bite Boehner’s crusty orange heel while you’re making him get to work!
Oh no HF!!! Not Bo’s beautiful white teeth on an orange crusty heel (gagging)!
Thank you. 🙂
I think Bo should bite about 3 feet higher than his heel. Then once he does go get a doggie tetanus shot! 😦
Solved! And then give Bo a little doggie cookie for a job well done! 🙂
An a bowl of beer too!
And some beer for the Prez, for teachin’ that dog right!
I gotta test it first for foreign substances, eh? 😀
Good idea. You first! I should probably take a sip myself … strictly as a back-up official taste tester, of course. 🙂
Between the two of us there won’y be any left. 😆
Then we’ll send out for more. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Hic. 🙂
You betcha!
That is the problem jacquelineoboomer: Bo looks like he is one big ball of furry love who wouldn’t bite a flea if it bit him. We’d have better luck telling me to bite Boehner (cepting I don’t wanna bite that orange alcohol infused nicotine smelling skunk).
Peggy Noonan is a sick joke.
I would tell you what I really think of her, but I don’t want to offend any of you with my language.
Nasty racist woman. I’d be banned from TOD if I said what I really think about her.
AB, Peggy is long past her retirement date. She is also obsessed by the president–she must dream of him, think of him at every meal and fantasize constantly. It’s pitiful to see her decline over the years. She used to be–once a very long time ago–a deft writer. Now she is a joke.
Newt Gingrich saying something of ‘value’ – the cynic in me wonders what’s in it for him.
What’s in it for him? Ah! Interesting how GOPs don’t generally speak up in the interest of the nation, just in their own financial interests.
‘Gingrich’s remarks were pegged to his forthcoming book “Breakout,” which calls on Republicans to embrace new technologies and policies in an effort to become a party of the future.’
Thank you. Our Newt is nothing but a grifter.
One thing I can unreservedly give GOP ‘leaders’ like Newt credit for, is that they are unashamed in their grifting. I immediately think Christine O’Donnell, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Michelle Bachmann, Newt, …….
When Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove sound like the voice of reason you know you’re in trouble.
Derbingle, you mean ‘When Newt & Karl…. etc. etc.’ the GOP are in trouble? I doubt this Newt warning will reach many of them because IMO they are not open to facts or to reason.
This is rich, coming from the guy who wrote the book of obstructionism back during the Clinton years.
He did answer THAT, Lp2008.
‘Gingrich, who was speaking at the opening session of the Republican National Committee’s summer meeting, fielded a question about “Obamacare” and recalled that Republicans were able to block Bill Clinton’s health care reform effort in 1994 because they had “a positive alternative approach” to health care.’
I don’t recommend this response – a frustrated UK voter eggs a politician. Part of his frustration ‘If you are poor in this country, you are considered a burden’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23702510
//…
Its the information he[Gigi] doesn’t provide that tends to change the whole tenor of the story from the one he tries to tell.
I’ll give you an example. In April 2012 Greenwald wrote a story about the harassment filmmaker Laura Poitras was experiencing at border crossings coming into and out of the United States. Several times in that article he says that not only has the government not proven that Poitras has committed any crimes that would warrant that treatment, he says that she is not even suspected of any wrongdoing.
..//
http://www.immasmartypants.blogspot.ca/2013/08/whats-real-story-behind-snowden-leak.html
//…
Holder’s announcement this week signals both his leadership and commitment to these issues as well as his capacity to hear and respond to calls for equal justice from the litany of voices aimed at ending the war on drugs and reforming our broken criminal justice system.
The Department of Justice memo sent to all U.S. federal prosecutors this week requires them to not include information regarding drug quantities – thereby allowing them to sidestep mandatory minimums – for drug defendants that meet a reasonable set of criteria, including having no affiliations with drug cartels or other criminal organizations, no prior criminal record, and no violent crimes connected to their offenses.
According to Holder, “a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. However many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem rather than alleviate it.”
…//
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/14/eric-holders-sentencing-reforms-represent-a-sea-change/#.Ugv2K4GnqGo.twitter
So, PFC Manning has apologized for screwing his country and betraying his oath. When I first saw the story, I thought, “Well, a bit late, buddy.” But then I thought “There goes his Nobel nomination.” No doubt the die hards will say that he said it with a gun to his head. But when a defense witness is saying that the young man is a walking DSM-V, well, you have to have a large helping of cognitive dissonance to not accept the fact.
Watch the Emoprogs twist themselves into pretzels – I guess they will say Obama gave him a call and forced him to say sorry….
(I think I need a drink, after this. Gag.)
But, come to think of it, that “Hey bartender” did make me laugh!
Piggy Noonan has some nerve, PBO should gracefully tell a clown that it is ok to be racist. Piggy maybe PBO should gracefully talk to your birthers, or Kenyon people or congress.
Yep. She’s a crackpot.
Greenwald and Snowboy’s paradise!
I’m just going to say this.. Peggy Noonan is a BIATCH. Damn I’d like to pour a bucket of ice water on her smarmy head. As Jovie would say, That is all.
No she’s not, Peggy Noonan is a Racists Bitch.
you win anniebella, I cannot disagree with you.
Why does anyone pay attention to anything she says? She claimed that Romney was going to win despite the polls because she felt something in her guts. How idiotic!
IMHO I think not one ounce of attention should be paid to that woman!
with you there Layla… I didn’t even click the link to see what other utter bs she had to say.
I know TODville is boycotting Salon because of that article a couple of weeks ago about Eric Holder being the President’s…
I think the article might have been written by this author (the headline nauseated me, wasn’t about to click on the story). But…
“Heritage’s new poll oversamples Republicans and asks misleading questions — but finds most want to keep Obamacare…”
BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD
sevenish @sevenish 33m
Romney won 213 out of 254 counties where food stamp recipients doubled between 2007 and 2011. Food stamp recipients are mostly #GOP.
Retweeted by Steve Weinstein
No doubt they will blame PBO if they lose the food stamps – sad reality
Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein 32m
Rick Santorum Illegally Directed $1 Million Contribution To Super PAC: FEC Complaint http://huff.to/1cOgfrR via @HuffPostPol
Crooks and Liars…every last one.
He’ll say they’re “out to get” him. Whoever “they” are.
Yes, JOB, because if Sanctimonious Santorum does something it is sacrosanct and must never be criticized or examined too closely. The president on the other hand must be vilified for something he hasn’t even thought of doing.
Yes. Santorum’s Sacred Rules.
Barg.
Oh no, not that good Christian sweater vest man!!! I’m shocked I tell you!
Lately, he said somebody’s keeping somebody out of the YMCAs of the country, or something, didn’t catch it. I’m shocked, I tell ya!
The Russians have no idea what they have unleashed with their bigotry against LBGT community. I’m guessing that there’s a pretty high percentage of LBGT likemindedness in top notch athletes across the globe.
IOC must act soon, and follow George Takei’s advise. Move the games to Vancouver. The 2010 games were great (loved Colbert’s broadcasts from there).
http://projectmillennial.org/2013/08/14/most-young-adults-on-the-individual-market-today-will-qualify-for-subsidies-in-2014/
Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein 1m
Who knew “racist rodeo clown” would be a thing? Racist rodeo clown car, the official vehicle of the GOP.
Good one! I read somewhere that a Texas rep finds his firing outrageous and has invited the clown to Texas for a repeat performance…
Disgusting Steve Stockman——saw nothing wrong with the vile rodeo clown show—–wants the clown guy in Texas so all his constituents can enjoy all the hilarious Obama getting run down by a bull hilarity too.
What are Stockman’s redeeming qualities? Who are these people? Pure hate in their hearts. What a pitiful existence.
Ty for naming the guy D, I forgot where I found the article….
No surprise to me – close to my speculation here sometime ago that losing his job would be a win-win situation for this clown! In a way the GOPs are quite predictable! 🙄
LOL! Hey Steve, we here at TOD knew. It is a creation of the GOP political campaign. There was no mystery there for us. We called it from day 1. 🙂 🙂
That’s a pretty good showing!
Future governor of Cali!
Or Supreme Court Judge!
Or Vice President!
“……Then, as on Easter morning at the tomb of the crucified Jesus, there was the sound of a woman’s voice. King had already begun to extemporize when Mahalia Jackson spoke up. “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin,” said Jackson, who was standing nearby. King left his text altogether at this point — a departure that put him on a path to speaking words of American scripture, words as essential to the nation’s destiny in their way as those of Abraham Lincoln, before whose memorial King stood, and those of Thomas Jefferson, whose monument lay to the preacher’s right, toward the Potomac. The moments of ensuing oratory lifted King above the tumult of history and made him a figure of history — a “new founding father,” in the apt phrase of the historian Taylor Branch.”
“I say to you today, my friends … even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream,” King said. “It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream” — a dream that had been best captured in the promise of words written in a distant summer in Philadelphia by Jefferson. “I have a dream,” King continued, “that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
Stunning cover.
Indeed JB……. sadly one of the only news magazines of substance left 😦
So true!
Well written article. Didn’t know that Dr. King’s speech was off the cuff. Always thought that he memorized it for the march.
Learn something new every day.
A few minutes ago, I heard Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor who delivers “I hate all men” attorneyspeak for a living on TV, just say – in response to a segment on HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell’s show about missing young women in one localized area of Charlottesville – that the governor of the state and President Obama need to come in and make a pitch or a BOLO about these missing women. Murphy added something like “Pres. Obama can say that Trayvon could have been his son. Couldn’t these girls have been his daughters?” She was ranting and raving about his non-response for as long as Jane let her.
Seems to me that we’ve lost our collective minds in this country. Huge numbers of people don’t like anything about Pres. Obama, but apparently we all must hear from him on any given topic before knowing what to do ourselves about any given topic. Maybe, like the school principal, he should get on the nation’s public address system every morning, clear his throat, and then announce all of the things he’s for, against, what we should be for, against, what we might eat for breakfast, maybe read a little poem to us, explain the mysteries of life, then tell us what time we should all tuck in for the night.
Wonder what’s on HBO?
Watch Americans in Bed.
Oh, thanks. I recorded it already, but keep forgetting!
Good point, JOB. They hate our president, but they want him to be all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere. They have absolutely no idea how unstable they sound. They want him to be God -like and they want him to go away.
True – and they have absolutely no idea they’re doing it. Believe that’s called having “no observant ego” – I find that remarkable. And ghastly, of course.
THIS!!
Allison these KKK folks have stop hiding under the hoods.
Anniebella, we need the 50th Anniversary March in Washington stat. Things are trending backwards but with our beloved President we will move #Forward.
I am pleased to say that President Obama and I are both left-handed.
Great! I am left handed also!
We lefties are in our right minds! heeee heeee.
😆 😆 😆
I think tnmtngirl is a lefty too.
Pretty sure she responded to my Sandy Koufax “southpaw” comment awhile back.
Cool!
I’m lefty, too.
Racist pigs!
Stockman is waaayyy out there. Can’t remember off the top of my head what vile things he has said, but this is a way for him to get free publicity and funds from his good-ole boy donors.
Dregs of the earth, the worst possible idiots in our government.
I see one thing Josh Earnest told reporters today was that the Obama daughters were not yet on the island and would join their parents “later this week”.
http://mvgazette.com/news/2013/08/14/crisis-egypt-casts-shadow-across-presidential-vacation
You can get an “Obamarita on the Ba-rocks” on the Vineyard —–both the drinks and the t-shirts proclaiming you drank one are big sellers. All the biz owners are big into the Obama stuff. One shop owner said MIchelle Obama handbags sold like hotcakes. It’s all good.
http://www.mvtimes.com/2013/08/14/from-obamaritas-obama-t-shirts-edgartown-businesses-capitalize-first-familyaes-visit-16910/
I see it is being reported that the Obamas are dining here tonight, State Road Restaurant. Love the look of it.
http://www.stateroadrestaurant.com/
Saddest part about this was the following
“John Malcolm Bales, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said his office does not have a social media policy but said he did not agree with Craft’s comments and found any discriminatory sentiments “reprehensible.”
He regretted that they were in the public domain but said that the almost 5,000 U.S. attorneys employed nationwide were entitled to their opinions on public issues.”
When does being a racist pig become part of a “public issue”? NO legitimacy should be given to the overt (or covert) racism that exists today,
… President Obama has spent little time away from his rented vacation house during his evenings on the Island. Perhaps not coincidentally, there’s still no sign of the kids. … http://www.mvtimes.com/2013/08/14/president-ms-obama-enjoy-low-key-vineyard-vacation-16912/
Mmmmmmmmmmm …. not going to read the link. I will just let myself fantasize about the romantic evenings they might be having, and vicariously delight in them. What happens in BO’s rented Martha Vineyard vacation home stays in BO’s rented Martha Vineyard vacation home!
Courtesy of dotster3, above:
One cozy and romantic restaurant, just for daisydem!
I’m having a little chuckle over this article. Geez…LOL!
Media is keeping a daily journal of PBO’s vacation (with dates and all), and also standing vigil looking out each and every day to see whether the girls have arrived. LOL! I’m telling ya – we here at TOD are not the only ones going to suffer from some serious Obama-withdrawal come 2017!!
No-one in the WHPC will EVER admit how much they prefer the locations they cover with PBO compared to the 400 days sitting outside the ranch house in Texas. In 2017 they will all heap wonderful praise on the “first black President” and conveniently forget how disgustingly they behaved in any interactions with the President.
I will never understand how Repubs get away with the things they do vis-a-vis voting, especially in a country that’s supposed to be a model of democracy!
Texas Brags To Court That It Drew District Lines To ‘Increase The Republican Party’s Electoral Prospects’
By Ian Millhiser on August 14, 2013 at 10:50 am
“It’s not exactly a big secret that Texas Republicans drew their state’s district lines in order to maximize the weight of Republican voters and minimize the voting strength of Democrats. Still, this isn’t normally something that a state’s top legal officer openly admits to in a brief filed with a federal court. Nevertheless, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) is so confident that the courts will let Texas Republicans get away with rigging elections that he openly brags about his fellow Republicans’ efforts to do so in an official court filing. According to a brief Abbott filed earlier this month, “[i]n 2011, both houses of the Texas Legislature were controlled by large Republican majorities, and their redistricting decisions were designed to increase the Republican Party’s electoral prospects at the expense of the Democrats.” ”
…//
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/14/2465761/texas-brags-to-court-that-it-gerrymandered-to-increase-the-republican-partys-electoral-prospects/
What does one say here?
‘Burglars Return Stolen Computers to Nonprofit – Along With Apology Note
“We had no idea what we were taking. Here’s your stuff back,” the note said
Burglars who stole computers from an office building returned the items – along with a letter of apology – after apparently realizing they had ransacked a nonprofit that helps victims of sexual violence.
The thieves broke into the San Bernardino County Sexual Assault Services office on the night of July 31, police said. They apparently came in through the ceiling about 10 p.m. and hurriedly took several computer towers and monitors, along with a laptop.
Police arrived and summoned the nonprofit’s executive director, Candy Stallings.
… //
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Burglars-Return-Stolen-Computers-to-Non-Profit—Along-With-Apology-Note-218751441.html
So apparently I’m sitting here watching Patrick Swayze’s very last dance film…and it called “One Last Dance”, written, directed and co-starring his wife Lisa. Aww…RIP Patrick Swayze.
So the final dance between Swayze and his wife had me misty-eyed ya’ll. It soo sweet, it ended with her saying “I Love You” like it was the last time she was gonna see him and him looking at her all lovingly…
I’m telling ya’ll…bawling…awww!
This showed up in my #Discover twitter timeline.
Pretty sure it showed up there because I follow some people (no doubt TODers) who retweeted or favorited it… ironically, no doubt. 😉
The authors start by figuring out what the initial, upfront cost of insurance will be for people buying coverage on the exchanges. Based on Congressional Budget Office projections, the average across all households—that is, individuals and families, of all ages—works out to $8,250 a year. That’s not a bad price for comprehensive coverage: It’s in the same ballpark as policies that employers provide employees. Still, it’s more than some families buying coverage on their own might pay today, because they have skimpy policies or benefit from preferential pricing for the healthy that Obamacare prohibits. That’s why conservatives insist people won’t want to sign up for Obamacare’s insurance options. But, again, those are the initial premiums. According to the Kaiser study, the subsidies on average will reduce premiums by $2,672, or about a third of the price.
100ish hours later…… thank you UT for the very, very, very, very brilliant newsie round-up!!
You are welcome.
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/08/14/who-does-he-love-michelle/