Jeff Blum (Huffington Post): There are, perhaps, more than 100 million reasons to be thankful for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I want to mention just two of them.
Recently, thanks to USAction affiliate Iowa Citizen Action Network, we were introduced to Ross Daniels and Amy Ward. Their life – as difficult as it remains – would be in shambles today were it not for the ACA.
One year ago Amy … developed a rare fungal pneumonia called blastomycosis …. Within two days of being admitted to the hospital, she was placed on a ventilator as her lungs broke down. Her kidneys failed and she received dialysis …. She was given approximately one in three chance of survival, optimistic by many estimates.
Amy did survive, with the help of an astonishing array of the most advanced technology, medications, excellent doctors and amazing nurses. Ross watched Amy learn to walk again, and re-learn how to do the most basic activities of a normal life. Throughout this ordeal, there was one thing Ross didn’t have to worry about: their health insurance coverage running out. Because of the ACA – and yes, I will proudly call it Obamacare – Amy’s health insurance company had removed limits on coverage the year before.
….. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, while Amy was fighting for her life, Ross was able to cast aside worries of the potentially devastating impact this might have had on his family’s financial future….
Many thanks to Ross Daniels for getting in touch and asking me to post this piece – I never usually post stuff from Huffington Post, but this one is more than worth it.
There was another post here last September about Amy and Ross (here)
Thank you again Ross, wishing you and Amy all the best in the world.
President Obama sits on the famed Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum following an event in Dearborn, Mich., April 18 (Pete Souza)
“I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history but is also part of that long line of folks who sometimes are nameless, oftentimes didn’t make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream.”
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Detroit Free Press: The good economic news has been stacking up for Michigan.
On Wednesday, the state reported that the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% for March, a level not seen since August 2008 and down 2 percentage points from a year ago. The jobless rate in metro Detroit fell to 9.4%, down 2.3 percentage points from a year ago.
…. And a PNC Bank survey of small companies in Michigan found that 35% plan to hire full-time or part-time employees sometime in the next six months …. worker rolls have increased across various industries, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 22,000 more workers in southeast Michigan this year than last year.
…. That increase in workers is partly responsible for a first-quarter, 47% increase in housing starts in southeast Michigan when compared with the same three months last year….
2:20: PBO welcomes the BCS National Champion University of Alabama Crimson Tide to the White House to honor their 14th championship
4:20: PBO attends a campaign event in DC (closed press)
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National Journal: A big lead among women voters is fueling a slight advantage for President Obama in the early phase of his contest with likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney, according to a poll published Thursday morning by Quinnipiac University.
In line with other national polls published this week, the new Quinnipiac poll showed Obama with a narrow lead over Romney, in this case, 46 percent to 42 percent. Among women, Obama’s enjoys a yawning lead of 49 to 39 percent….
ThinkProgress: As part of his attempt to appear more relateable, presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney sat with a handful of regular, working Americans in Pennsylvania today to discuss their plight in the struggling economy. But the Romney campaign may not have vetted the attendees to make sure they were sufficiently anti-tax before giving them access to the candidate and his picnic table full of lemonade and pretzels.
Charles Pierce: Things In Politico That Make Me Want To Guzzle Antifreeze, Part The MCLIV
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Business Insider: Despite the ground Mitt Romney has gained in recent polls, he will be in the record books for a statistic he would probably rather forget.
Romney is the least likable presidential candidate in 30 years, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. Since Walter Mondale. And he is the first candidate ever that more people view unfavorably than favorably.
President Barack Obama meets with former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Oval Office, Jan. 27, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The White House released a statement saying, “The three men enjoyed a personal visit in the Oval Office – as they have done on previous occasions when President Bush is Washington.”
The Bushes are in town to attend the exclusive Alfalfa Club dinner Saturday, an annual get-together for Washington power brokers that Obama also is scheduled to attend.
7:15 PM: PBO delivers remarks at the 99th annual Alfalfa Club Dinner in Washington. Michelle Obama attends.
Thanks Jovie
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President Barack Obama boards Marine One for departure from Cambridge-Dorchester Airport in Cambridge, Md., Jan. 27, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
USA Today: Republicans were quick to rebuke the Obama administration after a third clean-energy company to receive taxpayer dollars, Ener1, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week.
But absent from their critique of Ener1 — which was awarded a $118.5 million grant from the Department of Energy in 2009 to expand an Indianapolis manufacturing plant — has been any mention that the electric battery manufacturer was also championed by one of the GOP’s rising stars, Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic): All parties agree that Ron Paul is not, personally, racist and that he didn’t write the (newsletters) passages …. As I’ve said before, we all must make our calculus in supporting a candidate or even claiming he is “good” for the debate. But it must be an honest calculus.
If you believe that a character who would conspire to profit off of white supremacy, anti-gay bigotry, and anti-Semitism is the best vehicle for convincing the country to end the drug war, to end our romance with interventionism, to encourage serious scrutiny of state violence, at every level, then you should be honest enough to defend that proposition.
What you should not do is claim that Ron Paul “legislated” for Martin Luther King Day, or claim to have intricate knowledge of Ron Paul’s heart, and thus by the harsh accumulation of evidence, be made to look ridiculous.
Supporters of President Obama cheer at the press bus travelling with Newt Gingrich arriving at the Republican Jewish Coalition rally in Delray Beach, Florida, January 27
9:50: PBO departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews
10:05: Departs Joint Base Andrews en route to Cedar Rapids, Iowa
12:20: Arrives in Cedar Rapids
12:40: Tours Conveyor Engineering & Manufacturing
12:55: Delivers remarks
2:30: Departs Cedar Rapids en route to Phoenix, Ariz
5:35: Arrives in Phoenix
6:30: Delivers remarks at Intel Ocotillo Campus
8:35: Departs Phoenix, Ariz. en route to Las Vegas, Nevada
9:30: Arrives in Las Vegas
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John Cole (Balloon Juice): I gotta say, every time I get some one on one time with that guy, which is basically what the SOTU is- an opportunity for the President to speak to America, I just want to vote for him early and often. The contrast between Obama and the crowd of miscreants in the GOP running to replace him is just striking.
…. every time I hear him speak, I am still aware of all the things I disagree with him on, but think “That is a good man doing what he thinks is best.”….
Paul Krugman: From the Daniels reply to the State of Union: Contrary to the President’s constant disparagement of people in business, it’s one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs – what a fitting name he had – created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew.
…. Steve Jobs designed great products. It’s very, very hard to make the case that he created large numbers of jobs in this country. Obama’s auto bailout, just by itself, saved a lot more jobs than Apple’s US employment.
David Corn (Mother Jones): …. With this speech, Obama forcefully presented a view of the nation and the tasks at hand that positioned him as a can-do, patriotic, forward-looking optimist against obstructionist Republicans with a dark take on the nation’s prospects. He pitched government policies that would bolster middle-class security ….. “Take the money we’re no longer spending at war,” he declared, “use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.”
… This State of the Union — Obama’s best so far — won’t move the needle (as politicos like to say) in Washington. The president’s calls for bipartisan cooperation, for reforming the easy-to-abuse rules of the Senate, for campaign finance reform, and for lowering the heated rhetoric will not be heeded. But he demonstrated that when it comes to concocting a political messaging — and tethering it to his past achievements and current proposals — he can be masterful….
Steve Benen: Daniels is the serious one? Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels delivered the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, to the delight of GOP insiders who still hope he might run for president. The national platform offered Daniels an opportunity to back up the hype — pundits routinely praise the former Bush budget director as a serious, thoughtful conservative, and this was his chance to prove it.
President Obama phones Jessica Buchanan’s father John last night to inform him of her rescue.
MSNBC: In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.
American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.
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.
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.
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.
A very, very, very big thank you again to Henry VIII (!) for visiting us today (here) – thrilled to have you here, Mr Healy!
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Bye bye Muppets, hello the Living Dead…..
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Worried about Huntsman?
Nate Silver: …. polling worse than Mr. Gingrich was Mr. Huntsman. About half of the views Republicans expressed about Mr. Huntsman were negative, producing an Unacceptably Index of 51 percent.
Robert Shrum: Shortly after Donald Trump was fired as his poll numbers receded faster than his real hairline, Mitch Daniels became the latest candidate to flee the contest …. Mike Huckabee would rather be rich and on television … Haley Barbour would rather be his good ole boy self. And the third Bush (Jeb), along with John Thune, would rather be president in 2016 than a losing nominee in 2012. So would Chris Christie who’s presently pear-shaped in his home state polls and probably couldn’t carry it against Barack Obama.
…So who’s left to jump into this shallow tank… Her sell-by date may be passing, but the once and obvious entrant could be Sarah Palin. That cure would be worse than the illness. Fox’s Roger Ailes apparently, and rightly, has come to the conclusion that she’s “stupid” … It looks like she’d rather be raking in the dollar bills …. but she might suddenly tweet her way in…
Palin’s delay supposedly leaves room for Michele Bachmann, Minnesota congresswoman, Tea Party firebrand, and patriotic Mrs. Malaprop, who recently relocated the start of the American Revolution to Lexington and Concord, New Hampshire…
Then there’s Paul Ryan whose stunning proposal to dismantle Medicare has already put the House Republican majority in jeopardy … Ryan insists he won’t run; Democrats wish he would…
….the dissatisfaction represents a verdict on the inauthentic Mitt Romney, the inconceivable Newt Gingrich, and the implausible Tim Pawlenty, who just announced to the national sound of one hand clapping.
….Romney, once pro-choice, pro-stem-cell research, and pro-health reform, has decided to repudiate his past … he, as Sen. Edward Kennedy once said, isn’t “pro-choice, but multiple choice.” Meanwhile, Pawlenty grovels on stage at the first candidates’ debate as he cravenly crawls away from his record on climate change and cap and trade.
Jon Huntsman, who in a sensible party would be taken seriously, has already taken a similar road, but negotiated it with a certain degree of cleverness and credibility … (but) what will he say now about his past support – as governor of Utah, no less – for civil unions? Can the GOP abide a conservative with a tinge of moderation ….
… thoroughly beaten they will be if Republicans entirely lose their heads and settle on Rick Santorum, a defeated and far right senator from Pennsylvania – or Herman Cain, the one time CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, who now peddles hate speech instead of pepperoni…
Plainly, this is a weak and hobbled field. … from Jeb Bush to Mitch Daniels, they don’t want to do this … They anticipate that in the end, at high noon on Jan. 20, 2013, Barack Obama will raise his right arm and take the oath of office from a chief justice who will get the words right the second time around….
AP: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said early Sunday that he won’t run for president because of family considerations, narrowing the field in the race for the GOP nomination.
“In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one,” the Republican said, disclosing his decision in an e-mail to supporters. “The interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry.”
The Obama Diary 
night everyone
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A very, very, very big thank you again to Henry VIII (!) for visiting us today (here) – thrilled to have you here, Mr Healy!
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Bye bye Muppets, hello the Living Dead…..
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Worried about Huntsman?
Nate Silver: …. polling worse than Mr. Gingrich was Mr. Huntsman. About half of the views Republicans expressed about Mr. Huntsman were negative, producing an Unacceptably Index of 51 percent.
Thank you Suzanne
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See you tomorrow 😉