final | The Obama Diary

Des Moines, Nov 5, 2012 – the final rally of the campaign

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Today (all times Eastern):

11:30: President Obama and VP Biden meet with business leaders to talk about the impact overhauling immigration laws will have on U.S. economy

2:10: President Obama departs the White House en route Bethesda, Md. where he will visit wounded troops at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He will also visit Fisher House, a program that supports military families

4:0: Michelle Obama makes remarks at White House Diwali celebration

6:30: VP Biden and Jill Biden host reception for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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Video of President Obama addressing OFA yesterday – see here

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Today (Tuesday, November 5th) is election day. Get all the information you need vote411.org Then go V-O-T-E.
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) November 05, 2013

Have you voted yet #TeamTerry? Find your polling place and get to the polls! terrymcauliffe.com/locate #VAGov http://t.co/4ZRziGFGsk
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Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) November 05, 2013

#Vote Nov. 5 - Time to Vote for #NYC's next mayor, @BilldeBlasio @deblasionyc. Keep calm, & vote Democratic y'all! 😉 http://t.co/sFrfc7e1Qc
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Carmelo Menace (@38_28_38) November 05, 2013

Already voted? Help us make calls: BuonoForGovernor.com/calls Let's get out the vote New Jersey!
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Barbara Buono (@BuonoForNJGov) November 05, 2013

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NYT: For Uninsured, Clearing a Way to Enrollment

Kelli Cauley’s fingers raced over her keyboard as she asked the anxious woman at her side a series of questions. What was her income? How many people lived in her household? Did she smoke? (“That’s the only health question it asks,” Ms. Cauley said of the application they were completing.)

The woman, a thin 61-year-old who refused to give her name, citing privacy concerns, had come to the public library here to sign up for health insurance through Kentucky’s new online exchange. She had a painful lump on the back of her hand and other health problems that worried her deeply, she said, but had been unable to afford insurance as a home health care worker who earns $9 an hour.

Within a minute, the system checked her information and flashed its conclusion on Ms. Cauley’s laptop: eligible for Medicaid.

The woman began to weep with relief. Without insurance, she said as she left, “it’s cheaper to die.”

More here

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After logging out of Kynect, she says she decided that Obamacare was "just too good to be true.” huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/ken…
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(@igorvolsky) November 05, 2013

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Jonathan Cohn: ‘I Would Jump At It’ The media labeled her an Obamacare victim. Here’s what she really thinks.

If you’ve followed the stories of insurance cancellations related to Obamacare, you may have heard about Dianne Barrette. She’s the 57-year-old Florida realtor who was paying $54 a month for a Blue Cross insurance plan. The plan won’t be available after December. And while FloridaBlue offered her a new plan, the company told her the premium would be $591 a month. Barrette, who makes $30,000 a year and could not pay for such a plan, was flabbergasted. Jan Crawford of CBS News made her the key source for a story about plan cancellations. An appearance on Fox News followed, as did multiple cameos in press releases from Obamacare critics. For at least a few days, she was the poster child for the Obamacare cancellation story.

But Barrette’s situation defies quick and easy description. It’s true that she can’t keep her current policy—and that most policies available to her for next year have higher premiums. But those plans also offer real coverage, and her current plan does not. Some people might resent government effectively prohibiting her current plan. Barrette doesn’t appear to be one of them. Based on conversations we’ve had over the past few days, she wants more comprehensive insurance and, within reason, she’s willing to pay more for it.

More here

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The real reason that the cancer patient writing in today’s Wall Street Journal lost her insurance: thkpr.gs/1hHgZjp
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(@igorvolsky) November 04, 2013

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Bob Cesca: Another Obamacare ‘Horror Story’ Debunked; And, No, the President Didn’t Lie About the Law

As the week began, another “Obamacare” horror story hit the press, instigating a fleet of outrage-pornographers and concern trolls across the political spectrum to resume its self-flagellation and screeching about the disastrous Affordable Care Act — selectively forgetting about actual healthcare horror stories that existed before the law was implemented. It was a story focusing on yet another vague, anecdotal tale about a hapless ACA victim whose insurance policy was canceled, thus vindicating the accusation that the president lied about “keeping your existing insurance policy if you like it.”

Before we dive into the lie accusation, let’s take a closer look at an op/ed for the Wall Street Journal written by a stage-4 gallbladder cancer survivor, Edie Littlefield Sundby.

More here

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Cancellation letters from insurance companies signal end to worthless, limited benefit policies bit.ly/19u9GrP by @wendellpotter
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Public Integrity (@Publici) November 04, 2013

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Sally Kohn: 6 other Obamacare promises – and these are very much coming true

Republicans recently pounced on the fact that, yes, some Americans will lose their current crummy insurance plans that don’t meet the new standards set by the Affordable Care Act.

These Republicans are accusing President Obama of having misled the American public – or worse, having lied.

I think that’s a ridiculous claim. If you like your crummy plan, you can’t keep your crummy plan under Obamacare, but odds are you will find a better plan that is also more affordable, with subsidies available to more than half of Americans.

Aside from parsing this promise that you could keep your plan, it is wrong to say that this alone was how Obamacare was sold to the public.

…. here, for the record, are a few of the Affordable Care kept promises:

More here

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.@GovSteveBeshear on @edshow: “Now for the 1st time in history, every Kentuckian is going to have access to affordable healthcare.” #ACA
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Dag Vega (@DagVega44) November 04, 2013

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Washington Post: Congratulations, America! Your deficit fell 37 percent in 2013

The federal government’s 2013 fiscal year ended Sept. 30, though most of us were so busy focusing on the government shutdown that accompanied the new fiscal year that there wasn’t much time to reflect on the year that had passed.

Now the Treasury and Office of Management and Budget is out with the final budget results. Surprise! The deficit fell quite a bit in 2013. The federal government took in $680 billion less revenue than it spent, or about 4.1 percent of gross domestic product. In 2012, those numbers were $1.087 trillion and 6.8 percent of GDP. That means the deficit fell a whopping 37 percent in one year.

This is the first sub-$1 trillion and sub-5 percent of GDP deficit since the 2008 fiscal year, which ended the very month that Lehman Brothers fell and a deep crisis set in.

More here

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Patrick Stewart is a Boss. http://t.co/gkpPjR3kWp
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George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 05, 2013

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ThinkProgress: Three Progressive Measures On Tuesday’s Ballot That You Should Know About

Congress may not be up for grabs, but Election Day 2013 still comes with high stakes for progressive economic policy ideas. On Tuesday, voters in Colorado, New Jersey, and a small Washington town are getting an up-or-down vote on some proposals that would improve lives both today and decades from now. Here’s a rundown of the three ballot initiatives:

Colorado’s Amendment 66 would raise income taxes and commit $1 billion in new revenue to public schools….

New Jersey’s Question 2 would raise the minimum wage and keep it rising….

SeaTac, Washington’s Proposition 1 would mean a $15 minimum wage for one of the country’s busiest airports….

More here

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Steve Benen: Rand Paul caught once again

After Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was caught presenting others’ work as his own by The Rachel Maddow Show, BuzzFeed, and Politico, the senator’s office seemed to realize Paul had a problem on his hands. It reached the point late Friday that the senator’s aides started making it more difficult to access Paul’s speeches, perhaps fearful more evidence would come to light.

Unfortunately for the senator, it’s too late to hide op-eds Paul has already written and published…

More here

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Billie Jean is not my lover, she’s just a girl who claims that I am the one but the kid is not my son. #RandPaulSpeeches

— S Caruso (@scaruso5555) November 5, 2013

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A Year Ago Today – The Final Day of the Campaign

Madison: