31
Mar
14

ObamaCare In Action

By Nerdy Wonka 149 Comments
Categories: All Photos and Articles
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

BkEKA9GCMAAuVVK.jpg-large

San Antonio, Texas

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Noam N. Levey: Obamacare Has Led To Health Coverage For Millions More People

As the law’s initial enrollment period closes, at least 9.5 million previously uninsured people have gained coverage. Some have done so through marketplaces created by the law, some through other private insurance and others through Medicaid, which has expanded under the law in about half the states. The tally draws from a review of state and federal enrollment reports, surveys and interviews with insurance executives and government officials nationwide. The millions of newly insured also create a politically important constituency that may complicate any future Republican repeal efforts. Precise figures on national health coverage will not be available for months. But available data indicate: • At least 6 million people have signed up for health coverage on the new marketplaces, about one-third of whom were previously uninsured.

A February survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found 27% of new enrollees were previously uninsured, but newer survey data from the nonprofit Rand Corp. and reports from marketplace officials in several states suggest that share increased in March. • At least 4.5 million previously uninsured adults have signed up for state Medicaid programs, according to Rand’s unpublished survey data, which were shared with The Times. That tracks with estimates from Avalere Health, a consulting firm that is closely following the law’s implementation. • An additional 3 million young adults have gained coverage in recent years through a provision of the law that enables dependent children to remain on their parents’ health plans until they turn 26, according to national health insurance surveys from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 • About 9 million people have bought health plans directly from insurers, instead of using the marketplaces, Rand found. The vast majority of these people were previously insured. Rand has been polling 3,300 Americans monthly about their insurance choices since last fall. Researchers found that the share of adults ages 18 to 64 without health insurance has declined from 20.9% last fall to 16.6% as of March 22. The decrease parallels a similar drop recorded by Gallup, which found in its national polling that the uninsured rate among adults had declined from 18% in the final quarter of last year to 15.9% through the first two months of 2014. Gallup’s overall uninsured rate is lower than Rand’s because it includes seniors on Medicare.

More here

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line.mcallen

McAllen, Texas

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Peggy O’Hare: Officials Ready For 1,000 At Alamodome Health Sign-Ups Monday

Organizers are bracing for as many as 1,000 people to show up at a daylong health insurance enrollment event at the Alamodome on Monday, the deadline to apply for 2014 coverage. Public interest in health plans on the federal marketplace has surged markedly, say local navigators and others assisting with enrollment. The last-minute rush has been apparent nationwide. More than 6 million Americans have signed up for private health plans through government-run marketplaces, meeting the target number established by the Congressional Budget Office.

Updated enrollment numbers for Texas and Bexar County were not available Thursday. But community groups are on track to meet the goal of enrolling 47,000 San Antonio residents by deadline, health officials said. Local offices said they’ve also seen a surge in public interest. “This week, it’s just kind of skyrocketed,” said Donna Teall, a health insurance marketplace navigator with the Alamo Area Council of Governments.The largest turnout is expected Monday. EnrollSA will have 150 workers and volunteers on hand to assist with the mass sign-ups at the Alamodome that day. That event, scheduled for 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., could draw 1,000 people seeking health coverage, said Andrea Guajardo, an EnrollSA official who helped plan the event.

More here

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vegas.photos

Las Vegas, Nevada

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Dylan Scott: New Analysis: 9.5 Million Uninsured People Covered Under Obamacare

About 9.5 million Americans who were previously uninsured have gotten health coverage under Obamacare, according to a new analysis. The Los Angeles Times reported the number, which combines data from an unpublished study by RAND Corp. with other publicly available figures. It’s one of the most comprehensive efforts yet to asses the law’s impact on the uninsured as open enrollment comes to a close.

RAND also estimated that about 9 million people have signed up for coverage directly through their insurer, though most of those people were already insured. RAND has surveyed 3,300 adults, ages 18 to 64, nationally. It estimated that the uninsured rate for that population has fallen from 20.9 percent to 16.6 percent.

More here

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elpasoaroundtheblock

El Paso, Texas

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Lainie Jones: Affordable Care Act – Choose Your Health Plan By March 31

I was only 18 months old when I was diagnosed with adrenal cancer. I’ve never forgotten I am a cancer survivor, but I certainly never thought I would get cancer again. In 2008, at age 24, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A year later, an odd mark on my back turned out to be melanoma. If that weren’t enough, in 2010 my doctor determined I had thyroid cancer. Now age 30, I am a four-time cancer survivor. I’ve had 15 surgeries, dozens of doctors, and too many hospital visits to count. Yet, I feel lucky to be alive and to have a supportive husband, family members and friends. I’m also fortunate because I was covered by health insurance during cancer treatment.

My parents and I have had to pay a lot of money for my insurance, but I’ve known at every step that I would get the care I needed. I know many people who have never had cancer, and they wonder if health insurance is worth the money. I have a simple answer for them — it is. Being uninsured can put your life at risk. An American Cancer Society nationwide study of young adults ages 15 to 34 found the uninsured are up to twice as likely as people with health insurance to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer, which is harder to treat and more difficult to survive than cancer caught early.

More here

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houston

Houston, Texas

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Paul Begala: I Got A Better Deal Through Obamacare

I signed up for health care through the Affordable Care Act last week. I did so for one reason and one reason only: it was a good deal for my family. In fact, it was a better deal than we were getting before the ACA.The options it generated for us were more clearly delineated than those we’d been given in the past by a private-sector insurance broker. The benefits were plainly spelled out, as were the deductibles and co-pays. We are fortunate in that we do not need subsidies, and yet the Obama exchange still found us a better deal than we had found on our own.

Let me be clear: this was not a political statement. This is my family’s health. If I got the best care by going through Sarah Palin’s website I would do so. Besides, the business decisions in our family are made by my wife, who has both an MBA and a Masters in Public Administration. I haven’t had a checkbook since the Reagan administration, but because this decision was so personal and consequential, we made it as a team. In the end, it was not a tough choice. On the one hand, we got better coverage under the ACA. On the other, it cost less. I’m not exactly a believer in Republican talking points, but even I was surprised at how obviously superior my choices are under the new law.

The federal health exchange served me better than the private sector had. So I signed up. My doc is still my doc. My insurance company is still a private corporation – not (gasp!) a government agency. (Although I’d sign up for Medicare today if they’d let me; the government-run health insurance program for seniors is terrific.) Bottom line is, the ACA works, period.As one of the millions of Americans who benefits from the ACA, I just want to say thanks, President Obama. And thank you, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and everyone in Congress who voted for the Affordable Care Act.

More here

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White House

lines.elpaso

El Paso, Texas

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Get Covered and spread the word: Healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 or find local enrollment centers here

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149 Responses to “ObamaCare In Action”

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  1. 1 Tally
    March 31, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    Eeeeeeets soooooo craazeeeeee! 😯

  2. 8 Chipsticks
    March 31, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    What a blissful compilation Nerdy, thank you soooooOOOooooOOooooo much!!!!!!

  3. 14 jacquelineoboomer
    March 31, 2014 at 2:28 pm

  4. 15 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    CSpan is reading ACA stories from their Facebook page.

  5. 19 jacquelineoboomer
    March 31, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Random!

  6. 20 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Chips, you might want to check newspaper headlines:

    CSPAN was just showing a big front page story on Courier-Journal (Kentucky) encouraging signups.

    Cool!

  7. 22 carolyn
    March 31, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    I know I may be weird, but as I read those tweets from people getting health insurance, I started crying. I couldn’t help it. To think of living without good health care is frightening. We have always had good coverage. First with our universities (in the days when good coverage was offered) and now with Medicare and Tricare for Life.
    Whenever anyone asks me about what health coverage we have, I tell them, and then say “What every American should have.” I firmly believe that within a decade, we will have Medicare for everyone.
    Thank you SOOOOOO much all of you on this site, and all the unknown people who are working night and day to get people covered! This is true patriotism.

    Seeing those long lines also tugged at my heart. People are obviously desperate for health care…..why do the press and Republicans NOT want Americans to have this as a right? I think that is a question we should be asking.

    • 23 Dudette
      March 31, 2014 at 3:08 pm

      You’re not weird at all carolyn. You have compassion and empathy for people. That’s not an aberration — it’s really the norm. It’s just that so much negativity seeps into our thinking from the constant barrage of ugliness we’re exposed to, it’s easy to forget that sometimes. Sadly, in recent years, it seems that many of our fellow citizens of Republican persuasion have decided that compassion and empathy are signs of weakness. We know better.

      We all understand how vital it is for people to have good healthcare. Even if you were to just look at it from the standpoint of dollars and cents, this law goes a long way to lowering costs and helping to stabilize the economy. Remember, this law in it’s original incarnation was a Republican idea, from back when some of them actually cared about solving problems.

      It’s really sickening to think of how backwards U.S. policy has been in this area until President Obama came to the White House. How many families and individual lives have been destroyed, even lost, because of the ridiculously immoral healthcare for-profit system we have in place. Like you, I look forward to the day when Medicare for All is enacted.

      These are amazing times we live in. It’s such a gift that we have TOD here, so we can share living through them together.

      {{{{{ carolyn }}}}}

    • 24 daiseymay2
      March 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm

      Tears start with me also. I have been a physician for many years and dream of eventual universal health care.

    • 25 jackiegrumbacher
      March 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm

      Carolyn, the truly heartbreaking thing was that we were ONE vote shy of Medicare for everyone 55 and up. What a breakthrough that would have been for people who have trouble getting health insurance at that age. The truly disgusting Lieberman nixed that possible for millions of Americans.

  8. 26 amk for obama
    March 31, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    great collection of tweets,stories and articles, ut

  9. 28 cookemom
    March 31, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    Howdy all you O’s!!! Another great getting up day in TODdytown, don’ cha know!!!

    #2 FINALLY called an ACA navigator yesterday because she wasn’t sure if she needed to sign up by today. She turns 26 this year and will be kicked off my insurance in July. She wasn’t sure if she’d be penalized for not having insurance for 5 months, because her substitute teaching job doesn’t offer it.

    The navigator called her back this morning and put her worries to rest. She will not be penalized as long as she was covered and for whtever reason lost it. If her employer doesn’t offer it, or she doesn’t get paid enough, then she can sign up for expanded medicaid. Should she get a job that offers coverage, then she’s good to go.

    So even though she procrastinated and waited until the last minute to find out what she needed to do, it turned out well. The Navigator was friendly and thorough and took time to explain.

    #2 still upset that unlike when she lived in Spain, we even have to deal with the whole health care issue in the first place.

    • 29 donna dem 4 obama
      March 31, 2014 at 3:00 pm

      Hey Cookemom, I was reading a comment online last week and people were complaining that your Governor and Mayor were doing little to nothing to promote people signing up for Health Care. They said that IL didn’t get its own exchange website even though they have a Democratic Governor. What’s up with that?

      • 30 japa21
        March 31, 2014 at 3:05 pm

        Totally wrong. Getcoveredillinois has been going since the beginning. It was one of those coop sites. It has been promoted a great deal.

        • 31 57andfemale
          March 31, 2014 at 3:33 pm

          I have not seen great presence from Quinn and virtually nothing from Emanuel. There has been an effective ad campaign in the last month, but virtually nothing before then. There could have been personal messages from both of them – nothing, mailings. For the first two months when you looked at the site and what events were being offered, it was all being done by Latino groups. Absolutely NOTHING from my alderman or any state legislators.

          Unless it has changed from the beginning, all the GetCoveredIllinois site did was send you to healthcare.gov. You could not sign up through the IL site. I don’t know if that changed. I know our legislature did refuse to set up a separate state exchange.

          I have been very discouraged by Emanuel concerning ACA. I think Quinn could have done more. A lot more.

          • 32 donna dem 4 obama
            March 31, 2014 at 3:45 pm

            As I said, it was a comment that I read last week but they echoed your sentiments 57.

            • 33 57andfemale
              March 31, 2014 at 3:49 pm

              It has infuriated me. I know the administration ran into issues with funding for an information campaign, but IL should have stepped up. Emanuel should have made sure that all of the Chicago aldermen were hosting events, getting the word out. He did nothing.

              And this should have started a year ago, and certainly in earnest in October and throughout the enrollment period. The reason there is still a negative view is because our own Dems have not done their job to get the word out and raise expectations and attitudes of the people. I’m seriously disappointed in Quinn and Emanuel.

              You would not believe the campaign literature I got for the stupid primary. I’ve never seen anything like it. There is no excuse that ACA wasn’t a big component.

            • 34 57andfemale
              March 31, 2014 at 4:27 pm

              In fact, Donna, a few blocks in my congressional district got gerrymandered from my excellent representative to Luis Guttierez. Not one piece of mail, robocall, email – nothing – about ACA. But boy he had a lot to say about potentially not voting for ACA unless undocumented were included. My great middle class neighborhood is full of Hispanic citizens who work hard, start their own businesses. You think they might need a hand on health care?

              • 35 TrumpDog
                March 31, 2014 at 5:09 pm

                That’s what really bugs me about Luis Guitierrez; he’s awful loud and quick to run to the Tv with his criticisms but very quiet in pitching in to help out or even in speaking positively about something in the administration.

                • 36 57andfemale
                  March 31, 2014 at 5:39 pm

                  he’s the worst representative I’ve ever had. I don’t know why my few blocks were gerrymandered away from Mike Quigley, who is one of the best. Of course, Gutierrez is unopposed in the general but I voted for his Democratic challenger anyway. Me, and probably the other 100 people who bothered to vote in the primary. Sigh.

      • 37 cookemom
        March 31, 2014 at 6:49 pm

        Hi Donna, sorry I’m so late responding to your question, but I had to step out as soon as I posted the comment. I’m just getting back on-line. Anyway, we have Get Covered Illinois, but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t listen to WVON, a black talk station in Chicago metro area. Our governor, who I do like, is up to his eyebrows with some pretty heavy lifting and there’s factions within the Dem party here that make you just want to pull your hair out. As a result, neither faction seems to have the citizens in mind.

        Don’t even get me started on Emanual. He was elected by his association with PBO and not at all on any policy. I think his mayoralship is a stepping stone to something else, or just a plain old power high. He has done nothing other than aestetics to make himself look good. His faction of the party is opposite Danny Davis’ faction. The Dem Speaker of the House has a lock and he plays the governor, the mayor, Danny Davis and even the rural downstate bluedogs like a fiddle. He is the real leader of this state and his daughter is the state’s Attorney General.

        The crazy teabags in exurbia and rural downstate are insane and they managed to elect a billionaire teabagger in the primaries. What’s worse is that he’s leading in the polls against our Dem Governor. He ran on lowering the minimum wage, he never held one political office in his life and he used his own money to finance his campaign.

        ACA is gonna be the least of our issues if folks who have the most to lose, don’t vote in November. The Dem factions here will likely cause a split that allows the teanut to slip in to the gov’s office.

        #2 and I ended up on the Get Covered Illinois site back in October, after being directed there via healthcare.gov and had no problem. It could be because #2 falls into the Medicaid option. I’ve been checking back frequently since then and didn’t have any problems. The issue isn’t the site, it’s people either uninformed (most likely), or just procrastinating. In the last month, there has been all kinds of advertisement, especially TV. But again, there’s no excuse for our AA community to be unaware cause there have been many activist involved with that effort.

        Here’s a blurb from the Chicago Tribune (right leaning) on ACA

        “We certainly have increased messages that resonate with a younger consumer, and that seems to be working,” said Kurt Kossen, vice president of retail marketing for Health Care Service Corp., the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. “We’re starting to see more younger consumers starting to purchase plans, and we hope to see more of that in the coming week.”

        The state’s largest insurer has held events this month at community centers, universities and other venues, seeking to reach as many young people as possible.

        Through February, slightly more than 113,000 people in Illinois have signed up for new health plans, a figure on target with federal projections but far off the pace needed to meet the state’s internal goal of enrolling 300,000 in 2014.

        Of those who picked a plan, about one-fourth are ages 18 to 34, a percentage the state and insurers are hoping to raise substantially this month.”

        • 38 donna dem 4 obama
          March 31, 2014 at 8:05 pm

          Thanks for giving some clarification to what’s happening in IL and I agree with you about Rahm. I have heard nothing impressive about him since winning that election.

    • 39 MightyPamela
      March 31, 2014 at 4:30 pm

      I know, cookemom, my #1 and only has had the benefit of the beautiful Australian health services for 10 years. Coming back to the US to find nothing has ever been available to us w/o the means is an astonishment to her. So I can relate perfectly your #2.

  10. 40 Linda
    March 31, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    C-span never corrects the callers……Grrrrrr………….

    Some woman from Mass just said that PBO gave exemptions to over 1200 of his friends from Hollywood and also exempted the Unions.

    • 41 anniebella
      March 31, 2014 at 3:21 pm

      Why would POTUS just give exemption to only 1200 of his his from hollywood? Did Bo and Sunny get POTUS to exempt any of their friends?

    • 42 57andfemale
      March 31, 2014 at 3:35 pm

      This is one of those b.s. chain mails that’s been circulating. I’ve heard this same call repeatedly. I’m assuming the Liars like Rush repeat it, too.

  11. 45 Don
    March 31, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    Blow it out your ass MSNBC, the ACA works no matter how much bullshit you make up it about.

  12. 47 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    Hmmm, there seems to be some Word Press Weirdness going on… Am I stuck in moderation or something?

    I’ve tried twice to post a comment about KY Cabinet member appearance on CSPAN and neither of them showed up in the thread.

  13. 48 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    This thing is worth a repeat!

  14. 49 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/carney-cooking-books-obamacare

    White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Monday dismissed Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-WY) claim that the administration has been “cooking the books” on Obamacare sign-ups.

    “If we were cooking the books, do you think we would have cooked them in October and November?” he asked at a press briefing. “We could have saved ourselves a lot of pain.”

    Carney also compared those doubting the statistics on Obamacare enrollment to those who doubted public opinion polls during the 2012 election.

    “We know we’re doing well when we get back to the ‘polls being wrong’, as we saw in late 2012, that the numbers could not possibly be real, but I will tell you they are real and people are signing up,” Carney said.

  15. 50 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    Eyes on the other ball too please…

  16. 51 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/healthcaregov-record-volume-march-31

    An administration spokesperson confirmed to TPM that both figures are the highest that the site, which serves 36 states, has experienced since its Oct. 1 launch.

    1.2M visits Today and over 125K calls as of 12:pm ET today.

  18. 53 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 3:23 pm
  19. 54 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:28 pm

    🙂

  22. 62 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/03/at-49-percent-support-obamacare-hits-a-high/

    Public support for the Affordable Care Act narrowly notched a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, while criticism of Barack Obama’s handling of the law’s rollout – although still substantial – has eased from its peak last fall.
    Views hardly are enthusiastic: With the year’s sign-up deadline upon us, Americans split on Obamacare, 49 percent in support, 48 percent opposed. But that compares with a 40-57 percent negative rating after the initial failure of the federal enrollment website last November.
    See PDF with full results, charts and tables here.
    While still shy of a majority, 49 percent support is numerically the highest on record – albeit by a single point – in more than 20 ABC/Post polls since August 2009. The previous high was 48 percent in November 2009. The low was 39 percent in April 2012; the average, 45 percent.

    • 63 japa21
      March 31, 2014 at 3:38 pm

      And many of the 48 percent opposed are opposed because they don’t think it goes far enough. Of course, that is hardly ever mentioned. Nor is the fact that all provisions except one have high favorability.

      • 64 Nena20409
        March 31, 2014 at 4:06 pm

        Yes indeed, Japa21.

        Those on the unfavorable are 12-20% folks who think that ACA didn’t go far enough.

        • 65 jackiegrumbacher
          March 31, 2014 at 4:51 pm

          Nena, I have a number of acquaintances who think this way. They will not accept the reality that the votes were not there for single payer. They keep saying that the president could have made it happen if he wanted to. This is delusional thinking. But very typical of a certain type who always have to have something to complain about.

          • 66 Nena20409
            March 31, 2014 at 5:12 pm

            Yes. The left have their own foolish idiots.

            The same type of delusional thinking helped JEB and Kathleen Harris steal FL from Gore.

            Those people Love the debates than winning elections. I know for up until 2004…..I was not like that but I believed that Dems and GOPers were Not talking to me for They were both not good enough. I have always voted since 1988. The late sen Paul Wellstone after his death on Oct 22 2002. That was the 1st time in my life that I voted for a Dem. My vote didn’t count. It would have counted had I voted for Walter Mondale …..he was the guy for the Dems after Wellstone’s death. In 2004, I went in and voted for sen John Kerry.

  23. 67 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:39 pm

  24. 68 isonprize
    March 31, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    😆 😆 My TOD peeps. I have a question for you. Do you have any idea if/when videos are posted of livestreams from the White House website?

    I so wanted to see the Cesar Chavez ceremony that was this morning at 10am. But the journey of the broke (that’s what I call my J. O. B.) kept me from being near a computer screen with ‘net connection. I REALLY want to see it, as Helen Gym, a sister in the struggle for public education, was honored.

    Does anyone here have the knowledge? 😆 😆

    • 69 Chipsticks
      March 31, 2014 at 3:55 pm

      Hiya Isonprize, it varies a *lot*, sometimes videos appear an hour or two later, sometimes it takes a day-ish!

      Keep checking here:

      https://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse/videos?view=0&flow=grid

      • 70 isonprize
        March 31, 2014 at 4:25 pm

        Thanks Chica. I’ll keeping checking on it. We wanted Helen to ask if she could take Arne Duncan’s job, since he seems to have NO IDEA what he’s doing with public education. You know I LOVE MY PRESIDENT, but the pace at which the corporate raiders are slicing and dicing public schools under his watch (both PBO and Duncan) is just disgusting! WE MUST SAVE and RE-MAKE REAL PUBLIC EDUCATION.

        • 71 tnmtngirl
          March 31, 2014 at 4:46 pm

          This is the one area I question PO’s choices, decisions, etc. I agree with isonprize.

        • 72 57andfemale
          March 31, 2014 at 5:40 pm

          I agree. Not happy with Duncan. Wasn’t happy with Duncan when he was in Chicago and he does seem to think that charter schools are the answer. As does Rahm. drives. me. nuts.

        • 73 aquagranny911
          March 31, 2014 at 7:48 pm

          Ison, if you have cable TV you might check Univision for footage. I’ve been looking on line & so far didn’t find a clip for this. I suspect we may have to be patient until it gets posted somewhere for us to see.

  25. 75 donna dem 4 obama
    March 31, 2014 at 3:43 pm

  26. 76 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:44 pm

  27. 77 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 3:47 pm

  28. 80 vcprezofan2
    March 31, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Okay, rushed home from work to be part of the ‘final registration day’ euphoria for 2014! There has got to have been great jubilation in the village all day, so ….I’m hoooome to participate! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Good afternoon, Ms Chips, Ms Nerdy, and all the other Chiplets! Greetings TODobots, one and all!!! How’s it going?

    • 81 meta
      March 31, 2014 at 4:22 pm

      The healthcare website was down last night for extended maintenance and then it crashed for a few minutes earlier today. The MSM have lost their minds and are whinging incessantly but there are millions more people who now have healthcare, so YEAH!!

      • 82 vcprezofan2
        March 31, 2014 at 4:25 pm

        – What’s that you say, Meta?
        – “There are millions more people who now have healthcare.”
        – Yea, yea yeah! 😉 🙂 (Piffle on the rest.)
        THANKS for the update!! 😀 😀 😀

  30. 84 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    POTUS!!

  31. 86 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/washpo-abc-news-obamacare-poll-march-31

    Support among Democrats jumped from 65 percent in January to 76 percent in the new poll. Independents (44 percent support; 54 percent oppose; and Republicans (20 percent support; 78 percent) was more stable, according to the poll. Surprisingly, the poll found a significant shift in support for the law among conservatives, with 36 percent of them backing it now compared to 17 percent last fall.

    On Republican efforts to replace Obamacare, Americans were also narrowly split: 47 percent support those efforts, and 49 percent oppose them.

    The poll, conducted from March 26 to 30, surveyed 1,017 U.S. adults. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

  32. 87 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 3:51 pm

  33. 88 donna dem 4 obama
    March 31, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    • 89 Nena20409
      March 31, 2014 at 3:56 pm

      And Chuck Todd is still fantasizing a bad omen for the Dems?

      Well Dems of all stripes……Vote in Nov 2014 and permanently S T F U of idiots like the Toad, Chuck.

      • 90 Linda
        March 31, 2014 at 4:12 pm

        He will probably whip out a NBC/WSJ poll that is the exact opposite by the end of the week…

        He is predictable , cynical, skeptical and boring.!

    • 91 hopefruit2
      March 31, 2014 at 5:19 pm

      To be honest, I don’t think this “high” just happened over this past week. I suspect this has been true now for at least 2 months. But the media/pollsters were suppressing that info to keep people from signing up. Now that people HAVE signed up, they feel okay to tell the truth about Obamacare – which is what WE KNEW TO BE TRUE long ago.

  34. 92 Nena20409
    March 31, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    3-31-14 Jay “Clark Kent” Carney’s WH Presser.

    Please Begin at 24.30 Mins in

  35. 93 vcprezofan2
    March 31, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    Better late, than never?

  36. 94 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:10 pm

  37. 95 Gazelle
    March 31, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    [That photo of the line brings back election day memories! I hope they’re all going to vote this year! OT, sorry if this has been posted and/or addressed, guess they got what they really wanted in that spending bill.]:

    […..] Citizens United’s argument against these rules got a boost from Congress last month. A small provision slipped into the giant omnibus spending bill bars the IRS from using its funds to “target” citizens and organizations from exercising their First Amendment rights or ideological beliefs. Tax experts are worried that 501(c)4 groups, including Citizens United, could exploit that provision to win a court ruling barring the IRS from investigating non-profits’ political activities.

    .
    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/02/citizens-united-redux

  38. 96 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:22 pm

  39. 97 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Whoa, we are having some freakish weather at the moment.
    Extreme downpour, astounding thunder and lightning. Wow.

  41. 106 JER
    March 31, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    Vice President Biden on Rachael Ray about Obamacare

    • 107 donna dem 4 obama
      March 31, 2014 at 4:32 pm

      Thanks (again) JER!!!

    • 108 meta
      March 31, 2014 at 4:37 pm

      Thanks so much to all the celebrities who stood up for what’s right. And thanks to our VP Joe for fighting for all of us.

      • 109 donna dem 4 obama
        March 31, 2014 at 4:46 pm

        Meta, the WH did a phenomenal job of cutting through the crap to sell this Law. It’s a shame that we got zero help from the media because I believe the numbers would have been astronomical had they chosen to not exclusively focus on RW negative talking points. It made our our job harder but not impossible. YES WE DID!!!!

        • 110 hopefruit2
          March 31, 2014 at 5:26 pm

          Yes, we totally did!

          There are also people in the media who were hoping for the ACA to fail. So its not surprising that they so eagerly did the GOP’s bidding. As recently as Friday, the AP put out (what I believe was) a GOP-commissioned poll that support for the ACA “had dwindled to a low of 26% approval” That was just Friday. Today we have the WaPo tell us that 49% approve of the ACA…so if we have to take both polls at face value, the approvals almost doubled over this weekend alone?

  42. 111 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Alex Wagner just announced that Mad Vlad told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he’s about to start a partial troop draw down from Crimea!

    • 112 MadameSoph
      March 31, 2014 at 4:46 pm

      That’s good news Dudette!

      O.k., this is in reply to a post of yours from a couple of days ago wishing Terence Hill a Happy Birthday: did you know that he’s been doing a show called Don Matteo for years now, where he plays a priest who is an amateur detective, for Italian Television? You can watch a version of the show with English subtitles if your cable company carries MHZ Networks or you can watch it online at the MHZ website http://www.mhznetworks.org/series/don-matteo It’s actually a really good show and Terence Hill is still mighty fine looking at 75!

      • 113 Dudette
        March 31, 2014 at 5:01 pm

        Hi MadameSoph! Yes I did know about his show on Italian TV. But I’ve never seen it, so thank you for the link! [Squeeee!]
        I’m kind of annoyed that folks in Macon can get the MHZ Network, but not here in metro Atlanta. What the… ???

        I had such a crush on him as a kid. I didn’t realize until I was grown up those westerns he and Bud Spencer did were dubbed. 🙂

        • 114 MadameSoph
          March 31, 2014 at 5:08 pm

          I know, the Italians and their love of dubbing! They even dub Italian speakers if their Italian isn’t proper/perfect. I still can’t get used to it; I prefer i sottotittoli (subtitles) 🙂 I think they probably dubbed Terence Hill (aka Mario Girotti) because his accent was neither American nor perfect Italian (his mother is German). On the Don Matteo show, they explain his accent by saying that he was a missionary in the Americas for many years before returning to Italy.

  43. 115 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    I missed this yesterday:

  44. 120 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    In case you’re interested. CollegeKay, um, I mean KayDubzHU, are you out there? 🙂

  45. 121 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:35 pm

  47. 123 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 4:41 pm

  48. 128 donna dem 4 obama
    March 31, 2014 at 4:42 pm

  49. 129 Mellesia Barnett
    March 31, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sebelius-obamacare-premiums-80-90-percent

    DYLAN SCOTT – MARCH 31, 2014, 4:30 PM

    Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that between 80 and 90 percent of Obamacare enrollees had paid their first premium, the last step to formally initiating their coverage.

    Sebelius made the comments, flagged by BuzzFeed, in an interview with KWTV in Oklahoma City.

    Insurance companies “tell us that, for their initial customers, it’s somewhere between 80, 85, some say as high as 90 percent, have paid so far,” Sebelius said. “Lots of companies have different timetables for when their new customers have to send their first payment.”

  50. 130 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 4:47 pm

  51. 132 JER
    March 31, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    • 133 Nena20409
      March 31, 2014 at 5:20 pm

      I don’t Care what Chuck Says, ACA is here to stay. Has been since March 23rd, 2010.

      He is Not an honest man. He used 6M knowing fully well that the numbers hare higher than that. 3.1M are 26yrs and under. 7M plus under medicare. 9M outside Healthcare.gov and the 7M as of March 31st 2014.

      That a HUGE Total of 26.1M.

      Let Chuck Todd Choke on those numbers.

    • 134 LDS
      March 31, 2014 at 5:33 pm

      Too bad We, the People can’t impeach his ass out of the WH press pool.
      We all agree he is NOT a journalist. “I AIN’T GOT TIME FOR THAT!” And DAT!
      Anyway you spin it, this guy needs attention that I care not to indulge him. He is just too pathetic.

  52. 135 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    March 31, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    Ukraine sticking it to Putin ….

    “Eugene Perebyjnis, the head of the MFA’s Department of Information Policy, commented on Russia’s proposal of Ukrainian federalization and upholding the rights of Ukrainian citizens, at a briefing on Monday, March 31. Mr. Perebyjnis pointed out that Russians’ forceful suggestions on Ukraine’s federal organization, political, economic and sociocultural life were grossly inappropriate.

    “Russian leadership has better concentrate on making their own federal structure meaningful; for instance, they could reinstate democratic elections in the regions and provide for the rights of ethnic minorities, who suffer from inability to fully participate in the governmental and political activities and are removed from deciding on the development of their regions”, – he underscored.

    “If no progress can be made towards those goals, Ukraine could give Russia some advice on how to perfect and optimise its government and political system. For example, we could produce a plan of making Russian state into a confederation, implementing 5 to 10 official languages and putting up national quotas in main institutions of the government, which would take care of all ethnic and language groups of Russian society”, – said Perebyjnis.”

    I really dig these folk ….

    #TrustBarack

  53. 136 japa21
    March 31, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    • 137 dotster3
      March 31, 2014 at 4:59 pm

      The reports are alarming, to say the least. I heard a discussion on Thom Hartmann recently with a climate scientist saying that many believe that within 30-50 years——earth will not be able to sustain human existence——within some of our lifetime’s, definitely within our children’s lifetimes, that changes are happening so much faster than predictions from just a few years ago. In the meantime we keep poisoning our water sources, polluting our air.

  54. 138 Dudette
    March 31, 2014 at 4:50 pm

  55. 139 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 4:52 pm

  56. 140 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    AWWWW!!

  57. 142 Dakota
    March 31, 2014 at 5:04 pm

    Of all days, I’m home with a cold. Ugh! However, I’m so thrilled with what’s happening today I can hardly stand it! I’m enjoying these jackasses making themselves look like, well, jackasses way to much. Not!

  58. 144 meta
    March 31, 2014 at 5:09 pm

    To follow up on an earlier tweet:

  60. 146 donna dem 4 obama
    March 31, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    Whoa California you ROCK!!!

  61. 147 Linda
    March 31, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) will retire after his current term in Congress ends.

  62. 148 Chipsticks
    March 31, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    Isonprize? Here’s that video:

    • 149 isonprize
      April 1, 2014 at 12:23 am

      YES!!!! That’s MY friend and colleague, Helen Gym (it’s actually pronounced GIM like in ‘gimlet) in the black suit/red blouse. THEY ARE ALL AMAZING!! Everyone of them has a beautiful story to tell. But she is the feistiest one!!


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