We The People

I can’t wait for you all to see We The People! This Higher Ground project is filled with the songs and the heart of so many of our favorite artists—but even more, it’s a rallying cry for a rising generation that’s ready to take on the world. Watch it on @Netflix on July 4! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/c8N7nb01n8

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 2, 2021

Michelle and I are excited to share our latest show from Higher Ground: We The People. Some of our favorite artists got together with amazing animators to remix civics—and the result is a lot better than what we had in school. Check it out on @Netflix this July 4. pic.twitter.com/PlsSyq5pgk

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 2, 2021

Early Bird Chat

Pete Souza: Sometimes you gotta have fun. For the past three weeks, there have been four snowmen on display in the Rose Garden (see photo in earlier post). We’ve been joking that we should move the snowmen a few feet closer to the Oval Office every day to see if anyone noticed. Then we realized the snowmen were too heavy to easily lift. But finally this morning before the President came to the office, some helpful staff–I won’t say who–moved all the snowmen so each one was peeking through a different window into the Oval. This photo was taken this afternoon as the President signed end-of-the-year bills.

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Pete Souza: Another snowman from yesterday. Yes he enjoyed the prank. See previous post for the backstory

The President’s Day In Washington And The First Lady’s Day In Madrid

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2016 Nat'l Amb. Ismael was honored to meet @POTUS today & talk about the about the need to help babies & #ZAPzika! https://t.co/aJP3Pir8RL

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March of Dimes (@MarchofDimes) June 30, 2016

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First Lady Michelle Obama and Queen Letizia of Spain at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain.

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First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the presentation of “Let Girls Learn” at Matadero cultural center in Madrid, Spain. In this initiative First Lady Michelle Obama shares the stories of girls she has met in her prior travels and highlights new commitments to support “Let Girls Learn”. She encouraged the audience to value their own educational opportunities, continue to strive for progress for girls and young women in their country, and take action to help the more than 62 million girls around the world who are out of school

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Michelle Obama: "Se ensalza al hombre que cambia pañales y se denigra a la mujer en el trabajo" elmundo.es/sociedad/2016/… vía @elmundoes

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US Embassy Madrid (@USembassyMadrid) June 30, 2016

Michelle Obama insta a cambiar la cultura contra la desigualdad de género #LetsGirlLearn @FLOTUS politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/… vía @el_pais

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US Embassy Madrid (@USembassyMadrid) June 30, 2016

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La Reina asiste al acto de la iniciativa #LetGirlsLearn en compañía de @MichelleObama casareal.es/ES/Actividades… https://t.co/59sZc9d9Ha

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Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) June 30, 2016

W/ @FLOTUS trip, new @USAIDLiberia education programs for adolescent girls announced. wapo.st/29hlFy7 #62MillionGirls #LetGirlsLearn

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susan markham (@msmarkham) June 27, 2016

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ObamaCare: Making History Every Day

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Tara Culp-Ressler: Obamacare Has Reversed A Negative Trend. Researchers Call It ‘Remarkable’

For the first time in a decade, the number of people struggling to pay their medical bills has started to decline, according to a new survey released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund. The researchers attributed the historic drop to the number of people gaining insurance under the health care reform law. Between 2012 and 2014 — as Obamacare’s main coverage expansion took effect — the Commonwealth researchers found that the number of people who had issues paying for health treatment dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent. Over the same time period, the people who skipped out on health services because they couldn’t afford them declined from 43 percent to 36 percent

In a press release, the researchers described the declines as “remarkable.” This marks the first time since 2005, when Commonwealth started surveying people on these questions, that the number of Americans struggling to afford medical care hasn’t increased. Commonwealth’s findings, which also documented a drop in the number of Americans going without insurance, track closely with other surveys that have reported declines in the uninsured rate under Obamacare. The number of Americans without health care was reduced by about 25 percent last year, which means that between eight million and eleven million people have gained coverage.

More here

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Thanks to #Obamacare, fewer people are facing financial distress because of medical bills. More from @nytimes: ofa.bo/f2QG

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Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 16, 2015

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Margot Sanger-Katz: Signs of A Decline In Financial Distress Connected To Medical Bills

After rising for a decade, the number of Americans experiencing financial distress from their medical bills has started to decline, a new survey has found. The result provides new evidence that the Affordable Care Act, by providing uninsured people with health insurance, is also improving their financial security, a major goal of the law. The large telephone survey, from the New York-based health research group the Commonwealth Fund, has been asking people about their medical bills every few years for a decade. In each survey through 2012, a higher percentage of Americans said they struggled to pay their medical bills, were paying off medical debt or had been contacted by a collection agency.

The most recent installment of the survey, the first since the health law’s major provisions kicked in, shows a reversal in that trend. The survey also found that fewer people were avoiding doctors’ visits because of concerns about cost. But Commonwealth also found that, over all, even people who had insurance before 2014 were having fewer problems with medical bills than they were before. That change may reflect rules in the health law that require individual insurance plans to cover a minimum set of benefits for every customer.

More here

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Obamacare has reversed a negative trend. Researchers call it 'remarkable' thkpr.gs/3611905 http://t.co/YgFonAulJU

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ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) January 15, 2015

Early Signs of Another Win for Obamacare immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/01/early-…

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Nancy LeTourneau (@Smartypants60) January 15, 2015

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The New Health Care: Financial Distress Connected to Medical Bills Shows a Decline, the First in Years nyti.ms/156xnI0

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The New York Times (@nytimes) January 15, 2015

Of all the clicks you make today, this one is most important: ofa.bo/i2P0 #GetCovered http://t.co/8VKcCuLyxb

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Obamacare (@obamacare) January 15, 2015

‘the reality of obamacare’ – an update from ross

You might remember an article posted here about 10 days, ‘Couple comes face to face with reality of ‘Obamacare’: After more than five weeks on a ventilator, Amy Ward is finally being weaned off it to breathe on her own. She no longer requires dialysis. But a near-fatal infection resulting from a freak accident has left her with a long road of rehab ahead.

In the time he’s spent at his wife’s bedside in a hospital critical care unit, her husband has been able to do a lot of thinking. Ross Daniels, on unpaid family medical leave from his IT job to tend to his wife, has had to face the real possibility that he would lose her, though she’s just 39….

… Daniels has also thought about what would have happened if portions of the new federal health care law had not been in place. His wife’s insurance had a million dollar lifetime cap on benefits. Her current expenses have already exceeded that. One medication costs $1,600 a dose. Without the protection against lifetime limits the new law provides, they would have had to declare bankruptcy.

…. by the time the next president is sworn in, enough people will have experienced the protections and benefits it offers that no elected official would risk his or her standing by rescinding it. That’s the value of first-hand experience, painful as it may be. It brings you closer to the truth than all the political platitudes in the world.

Full article here

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Ross very kindly left a comment under the original post (here), and he came back today with another message:

Thanks so much to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. They are are a great source of strength to both of us. Amy continues to get stronger every day and making great steps towards a full recovery.

I simply cannot believe the response that this article has received from so many people. It has helped restore my faith that, as Anne Frank said, people are generally good. This faith had been and continues to be shaken by the support the tea party continues to receive on this, and so many other issues.

What I hope people take away from this article though is not a sob story about what we have been through. Yes, it has been a living hell for me personally, but we are fortunate in that we have excellent insurance. We have the savings so that my leave is not an undue hardship and I will have a job to go back to when this is over. We are just the cautionary tale of”what could have been”. I hope people realize that this story applies to millions of people who are LESS fortunare than we are, as opposed to just about us.

Thanks again to all of you,

Ross

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Thank you Ross, wishing Amy a speedy return to full health, and wishing you both the happiest of futures. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

the reality of ‘obamacare’ (please send your best to ross in the comments)

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Des Moines Register: After more than five weeks on a ventilator, Amy Ward is finally being weaned off it to breathe on her own. She no longer requires dialysis. But a near-fatal infection resulting from a freak accident has left her with a long road of rehab ahead.

In the time he’s spent at his wife’s bedside in a hospital critical care unit, her husband has been able to do a lot of thinking. Ross Daniels, on unpaid family medical leave from his IT job to tend to his wife, has had to face the real possibility that he would lose her, though she’s just 39….

… Daniels has also thought about what would have happened if portions of the new federal health care law had not been in place. His wife’s insurance had a million dollar lifetime cap on benefits. Her current expenses have already exceeded that. One medication – a potent antifungal agent – costs $1,600 a dose. Without the protection against lifetime limits the new law provides, they would have had to declare bankruptcy.

That law, derisively dubbed “Obamacare” by the president’s opponents, has been portrayed as the essence of evil among Republican presidential candidates. At a tea party-sponsored debate this week, front-runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney vowed to sign executive orders exempting states from enforcing it. Michele Bachmann bragged of working for its repeal in Congress.

Those attitudes confound Daniels, who says, “It is hard for us to believe that so many of the GOP candidates would have us go back to a time where an illness like this would have forced us, or any other family for that matter, into bankruptcy.” He’s also grateful for the law’s protection against insurance companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

…. by the time the next president is sworn in, enough people will have experienced the protections and benefits it offers that no elected official would risk his or her standing by rescinding it. That’s the value of first-hand experience, painful as it may be. It brings you closer to the truth than all the political platitudes in the world.

Full article here

Thank you JER, this is a brilliant article – make sure you read it all everyone, and spread it far and wide 😉

betrayal

Addicting Info: ….. On Thursday, the House passed a resolution which vows to “Never forget 9/11”. The resolution was introduced by Eric Cantor. There are some nice words in there. They ask us to remember the victims …. They also ask us to remember the war on terror and keep supporting the war on terror.

When I read about the resolution, I was outraged. For 10 years, politicians, especially Republican politicians, have held this country hostage. They have told us to live in fear of Muslims….

They use 9/11 to acquire and to hold power… They use 9/11 to propagate their neocon agenda…. They use 9/11 to distract us. While we’re worried about the brown person next door, they steal our livelihoods … They use 9/11 to pander to us…

In the meantime, first responders are getting sick from the toxins. Their medical bills are going unpaid. Some have died since, and their bodies are not counted with the first 3000. Their families, the same families Eric Cantor claims to honor, are being saddled with medical bills from their lost loved ones.

Just one day after passing Cantor’s resolution, he proposed massive cuts to first responders….

…. I have reached my boiling point when it comes to fear mongering, manipulation and empty lip service …. In our own way, each American is a victim of that day’s tragedy. All Americans have been held hostage for 10 years …. Anyone who truly believes that Cantor is helping the American people or the more direct victims of 9/11 is suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

Full post here

Thank you Ladyhawke

where’s the change?

WH: On Tuesday, the President signed a number of bills …. which help ensure Americans can enjoy clean air, safe drinking water, and healthy wildlife.

These bills will curb lead levels in water pipes, a major source of harmful lead exposure for children, and help address diesel engine pollution that is linked to serious health conditions like asthma and heart and lung disease.  They also hold the Federal Government accountable for the water pollution it contributes to American communities; encourage volunteer opportunities in National Wildlife Refuges; and help conserve vulnerable shark populations. These measures are just the beginning of what we can accomplish in 2011….

The President signed the following environmental bills into law:

• H.R. 81, the “Shark Conservation Act of 2010 and International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act,” which generally prohibits the removal of shark fins at sea and amends certain laws related to international fisheries;
• H.R. 4973, the “National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Improvement Act of 2010,” which reauthorizes and amends authorities relating to volunteer programs and community partnerships for national wildlife refuges;
• H.R. 5809, the “Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2010,” which modifies and reauthorizes through FY 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Program;
• S. 3481, which clarifies the Federal Government’s responsibility to pay reasonable service charges to a State or local government to address stormwater pollution from Federal properties; and
• S. 3874, the “Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act,” which modifies the Safe Drinking Water Act definition of “lead free” with regard to pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures

Meanwhile…

Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior): I am in Florida today to announce an exciting initiative to conserve working lands and wildlife habitat in the Everglades headwaters.

The Everglades rural working ranch landscapes are an important piece of our nation’s history and economy, and this initiative would work to ensure that they remain vital for our future.

The partnerships being formed would protect and improve water quality north of Lake Okeechobee and restore wetlands which are so vital to the entire Florida economy. The proposed conservation area and refuge would also protect important habitat for 88 federal and state listed species, including the Florida panther, Florida black bear, whooping crane, and Everglade snail kite.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, along with its partners, is conducting a thorough, preliminary study to establish a new National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area of approximately 150,000 acres of important environmental and cultural landscapes in the Kissimmee River Valley south of Orlando. The proposed area includes 50,000 acres for potential purchase, and an additional 100,000 acres that could be protected through conservation easements and cooperative agreements, keeping the land in private ownership.

all the president’s pens

March 2010: Why do presidents use so many pens to sign legislation? White House Staff Secretary Lisa Brown explains.

(Perry was wondering why so many pens are used to sign bills – this video provides the answer!)

that’s the trouble with holidays … when you get back there’s soooo much to do

With pen in hand, President Barack Obama sits at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as Staff Secretary Lisa Brown organizes a stack of 35 bills for him to sign into law, Jan. 4, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Here’s the list of the 35 bills