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Vice President Biden calls Phyllis Gould, one of the original “Rosie the Riveters” at Kaiser Shipyard during WWII. The Vice President invites Phyllis to visit him at the White House and recalls a story from 1994 on the 50th anniversary of Normandy. Nov. 11, 2013 Photo Credit: US Senate Photo
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“I am so happy,” says Sizemore as she waits at the Grace Community Health Centre in Clay County, Kentucky, “I’ve not had insurance since I turned 19.” But Sizemore is also nervous. She is seriously overweight and was warned in her teens that she was likely to develop diabetes. Without health insurance she has not been able to afford tests or check-ups to see if she has indeed got the disease. Sizemore is one of 421,000 people in Kentucky who’ve signed up since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, came into force last October. Like many, she now qualifies for Medicaid, the government programme that pays for health care for the poorest Americans. Under the new law, the federal government offers states money to expand Medicaid so that many more people on very low wages, like Liberty Sizemore, are covered. Benita Adams may be one of the people the Governor has in mind. The 62-year-old grandmother lives on the edge of the rolling Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky. She owns her home but works two jobs as a dental assistant to make ends meet.
Adams has had no health insurance since her divorce 30 years ago. A recent heart operation left her with a $67,000 bill. Although the hospital waived around half of that, she still pays $50 a month to clear the rest. “I used to say, if I get hurt just let me be killed because I can’t afford to pay any more hospital bills,” she says. But Adams no longer has to worry. Under Obamacare, she qualifies for a private insurance plan with a hefty government subsidy that covers the monthly payments in full. “Everyone was mad over Obamacare but it’s just wonderful, it’s really helping people,” Adams says as she lists the medical appointments she has been to since getting insured. Liberty Sizemore, waiting for her blood test results at the Grace Community Health Centre, feels the same. “I was so worried,” she says. “But now I can get better because I have a doctor. I have a doctor and that’s a relief off my shoulders, more than you can know.”
More here
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Such an incredibly sad scene at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands pic.twitter.com/i2EMYsqSik
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) July 23, 2014
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/491967395469459456
BREAKING: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration extends Israel flight restrictions
— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) July 23, 2014
Prices of El-Al flights to Israel jumped like crazy over the past 24 hours. Hilarious. pic.twitter.com/IFSQPi4bBT — BWD (@theonlyadult) July 23, 2014
Commas save lives pic.twitter.com/A9qvuosLYH
— Political Line (@PoliticaILine) July 23, 2014
Just have John McCain host Meet the Press. That’s the only way John McCain won’t be a guest.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) July 23, 2014
President Obama’s Marriage Tip To Medal Of Honor Recipient http://t.co/LHfyYkeMfq
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 23, 2014
52 years ago today, Jackie Robinson became the first African–American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/BnU6Lr2v3O
— HuffPost Sports (@HuffPostSports) July 23, 2014
That moment @JBouie points out @HotlineJosh‘s HORRIBLE electoral predictions and he gets mad https://t.co/ai7OkbUTq8 https://t.co/BsGTrXygq3
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) July 23, 2014
Still laughing at this one, @NerdyWonka. @jbouie @HotlineJosh pic.twitter.com/X7EtC1HSKp
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 23, 2014
Always amazing @MichelleObama pic.twitter.com/VrQlPFSDkb
— Sloane Stephens (@sloanetweets) July 23, 2014
@TheObamaDiary That’s my baby girl! What an amazing experience that she will cherish in the future. pic.twitter.com/sH7TNGBZfD
— Alyssa Cunnington (@AlyssaC7777) July 23, 2014
You folks are amazing and wonderful. We really are a family here that cares about each other in good times and tough times and I love you all for that. To thank each of you individually would take all day, so I’ll just give you all my thanks and hugs here…been a tough week, but, we all have those. I have a home and I don’t have to worry every day and night that a bomb might drop on me and my family. I can leave my home safely. I have water and electricity…24/7. I’m free to do a job that I love to do. I am not persecuted for my religion or lack of one.
I miss my mom and my incredible gentle giant, Simi. I’ll miss them everyday until I’m gone from this earth. The house is eerily quiet today and I have so much more space…she had her stuff all over the place..big beds everywhere…so she could be with the family wherever we were….no the space where they used to be , just makes the house echo. I need a rug there, or something, I thought to myself this morning. The vet that came to put her down yesterday asked me if I would like to have a paw print from her…I burst out crying because moments before, as I sat waiting for them to come for her, I kicked myself for NOT having the foresight to have something like this at the ready. I looked online and all I saw were plasters that I had to cook first, then cool. I had no time nor inclination for all that! So when they asked me if I’d like a paw print of her in remembrance, well…I was so happy and touched.
For my mom…If I still lived in CT at the shore, I would be down at the jetty at our beach, with a bundle of daisies for her. I loved to do that…just go down and talk to her there. But, no shore in AZ! So I pretty much just know that she’s here with me and I talk to her and I hear her voice and see her smile and feel her extraordinary presence around me…all the time. So, its ok…I celebrate her life and don’t dwell so much on the fact that she’s not here. I’d really love it, though, if those that are reading this, would just kiss and hug your parents…tell them how much you love them and how much they mean to you. Life happens quickly and we all need to live a life with no regrets. You will put a smile on their face and that’s what it’s all about.
I have my kiddos to tutor today. I can hardly wait. It’s where I should be…doing good and taking my mind off things…then I may just go get a pedicure. 🙂 Seriously. Love you all. truly I do. I’ll be ok. Time is a wonderful healer. Put this on the last thread..but quick draw had a new thread up already…. This is for my mom, my dear Sims, and all my TOD family. Hugs.
On This Day: President Obama signs books and photos at a fundraiser in Chicago, Illinois on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
9:20: Attends a fundraiser for House Democrats; Four Seasons, San Francisco
12:0: Attends a second fundraiser for House Democrats, private residence, Los Altos Hills, California
1:20: Departs San Fransisco
2:30: Arrives Los Angeles
4:55: Attends a DNC fundraiser, private residence, Los Angeles
Hey, @SamSteinHP, try to imagine what living without healthcare & to know your 14-yr-old brother died because of it. Now make a joke.
— Andie the Obamanista (@andie_walsh) July 22, 2014
I thought of Andie’s tweet from yesterday when I read:
….. Millions of our fellow citizens have spent the last several months with a great weight lifted from their shoulders. Every ache and sudden twinge no longer felt like it could be the first step toward personal ruin. They have been able to look at their sleeping children without a familiar knot in their guts. They have been able to pursue happiness, like all of us have a right to do so, without feeling like they’re running in leg shackles.
All of these people have been tossed into uncertainty – again – because their government has been rendered dysfunctional by a political philosophy of nihilistic vandalism…
Simply put, there is almost an entire half of our political system that believes that a great number of Americans simply do not matter enough to make it economically feasible to help them stay healthy. They do not count. It does not matter how many of them die preventable deaths….
… This half of the system includes prospective presidents, members of Congress, think-tank geniuses, pundits, and a lot of other people who generally have one thing in common – most of them have wonderful health care coverage either because they have really good jobs, or they’re wealthy enough to afford it, or both. These are the health care chickenhawks. And we held them to a split decision today, and maybe that’s enough for the moment.
Full post here
A History Of The #GOP In Three Campaign Pins Or Less –> #Obamacare #ACA #p2 pic.twitter.com/x6PA0aB0FL
— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) July 22, 2014
How excellent is this? Allan is now writing for TPV:
Editor’s welcome note: Hello TPV community, please welcome our newest contributor, Allan Brauer. Most of you probably already know Allan from his prolific Tweets as well as from his contribution to the Angry Black Lady Chronicles (ABLC). It is an absolute honor for me to have Allan make TPV his new blogging home! – Spandan
Obamacare is dead!
“I’m not dead yet!”
Three court rulings have come down this week in three separate legal challenges to various aspects of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. One, the case of Halbig v. Burwell, is being trumpeted loudly across the media as a death blow to Obamacare, especially by those sites with a rightward bent and/or those whose business model involves screaming headlines as click-bait.
More here
One Court Strikes ObamaCare Subsidies One Court Upholds ObamaCare ” : ” MEDIA = President Obama Suffers a BIG BLOW on ObamaCare #journalism
— Kasai™ (@Kahsai) July 22, 2014
The closer one looks at the D.C. Circuit’s ruling yesterday on ACA subsidies, the harder it is to defend. Two conservative jurists not only want to destroy the health care system over an out-of-context drafting error, they also based their reasoning on a farcical foundation. Scott Lemieux explained that the far-right judges effectively said Congress consciously decided to give states veto power over the law’s implementation.
Why would the ACA’s architects do that? They wouldn’t – and they didn’t. The argument is a sham, which is why so many are so confident that yesterday’s truly absurd decision simply cannot stand.
But while the legal process plays out, there’s a political angle worth watching. After the Halbig v. Burwell decision came down, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement that the ruling proves that the Affordable Care Act is “completely unworkable” and “cannot be fixed.”
As it happens, it’s funny that Boehner would use those particular words.
More here
Dear Hispanic Americans, this is what Republicans have to offer you and your CHILDREN. #VoteThemOut pic.twitter.com/jixIJGoxXs
— Amarlie (@marabout40) July 22, 2014
Margaret, our good Christian Governor down here in Texas, Rick Perry, said he would use his executive authority to activate up to 1,000 National Guard troops to help secure the Texas border region against “criminal aliens.” Criminal Aliens being Spanish for children, I think. My Spanish isn’t so good so you might want to look that up. These are children who were not aborted so Texas just doesn’t have room for them… or compassion. In Spanish I believe the word for compassion is… well I’m not sure what it is but I am sure that good Christian Perry knows.
More here
Names & ages of 132 Palestinian children killed in #Gaza. http://t.co/Qb5N7I2s0t pic.twitter.com/gj4P73jjmU
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) July 23, 2014
The UN’s top human rights official has condemned Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, saying that war crimes may have been committed.
Navi Pillay told an emergency debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Israel’s military offensive had not done enough to protect civilians.
She also condemned Hamas for “indiscriminate attacks” on Israel.
Israel launched its offensive on 8 July with the declared objective of stopping rocket fire from Gaza.
“There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes,” Ms Pillay said.
More here
Criticizing Israel does NOT make you an anti-Semite. #GazaUnderAttack #FreePalestine #GazaUnderFire pic.twitter.com/38Q4mUW7X1
— Steve Dill (@ThusSpokeDill) July 23, 2014
On Monday afternoon, July 28, 2014, President Obama will award the 2013 National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal to distinguished recipients in the East Room. The First Lady will also attend.
…. the President will deliver remarks and present the awards to the following individuals and organizations:
Julia Alvarez, Novelist, Poet, and Essayist, Weybridge, VT
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Presenter, Brooklyn, NY
Joan Harris, Arts Patron, Chicago, IL
Bill T. Jones, Dancer and Choreographer, Valley Cottage, NY
John Kander, Musical Theater Composer, New York, NY
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Director and CEO of DreamWorks, Beverly Hills, CA
Maxine Hong Kingston, Writer, Oakland, CA
Albert Maysles, Documentary Filmmaker, New York, NY
Linda Ronstadt, Musician, San Francisco, CA
Billie Tsien and Tod Williams (receiving individual medals), Architects, New York, NY
James Turrell, Visual Artist, Flagstaff, AZ
M.H. Abrams, Literary Critic, Ithaca, NY
David Brion Davis, Historian, Orange, CT
Darlene Clark Hine, Historian, Chicago, IL
Anne Firor Scott, Historian, Chapel Hill, NC
William Theodore De Bary, East Asian studies scholar, Tappan, NY
Johnpaul Jones, Architect, Bainbridge, WA
Stanley Nelson, Filmmaker, New York, NY
Diane Rehm, Radio Host, Washington, D.C.
Krista Tippett, Radio Host, St. Paul, MN
American Antiquarian Society, Historical Organization, Worcester, MA
More here
‘Woah, that’s totally the President’ (Seattle, July 22) pic.twitter.com/Ph2iZ7grQA
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 22, 2014
‘Hey!’ ‘Hey!’ (Seattle, July 22) pic.twitter.com/pI88LRAQgx
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 22, 2014
Senator Obama visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel, July 23, 2008
President Obama signs a photo after a fundraiser in Chicago, Illinois on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama listens to an overview about the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama waits backstage to be introduced at a health care town hall meeting at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
Audience members listen as President Obama speaks at a town hall meeting at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Samantha Appleton)
President Obama conducts a town hall meeting at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Samantha Appleton)
A supporter looks on as President Obama speaks at a fundraising reception at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, Ill. on July 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama answers questions during a health care town hall meeting at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio, July 23, 2009 (Photo by Samantha Appleton)
President Obama waves a Louisville Slugger baseball bat presented to him by the Louisville Cardinals, the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions, during an event in the East Room of the White House July 23, 2013
First Lady Michelle Obama visits Sterling Farms Grocery Store in Marrero, Louisiana, July 23, 2013
… with
On This Day:
MooooOOOOoooorning – Happy Wednesday!
Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Smartypants Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
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