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Obamacare repeal would also affect your employer health insurance

January 22, 2017, 5:17 am
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Stephanie Blythe isn’t due to give birth until April, but she already ordered a breast pump through her insurance company because she’s worried about the future of the Affordable Care Act.

“Once I have it, they can’t take it away from me,” said Blythe, 31.

Approximately 4.6 million Californians... Reported by L.A. Times 11 hours ago.
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Exam malpractice: bill to punish staff, students

January 22, 2017, 12:09 pm
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*The state government is planning to introduce a bill that provides for stringent punishment to public servants and students who indulge in examination malpractice. The bill envisages punishing government staff with imprisonment up to three years and fine, while students will be debarred from taking examination for six years, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait said at the state-level educational convention of pre-university employees here on Sunday. *

The minister said plans were afoot to open a school-cum-college on a single campus in each hobli so that students do not drop out. Such an institution will have class 1 till graduation. The government has also begun recruiting 1,900 pre-university lecturers. The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) is also in talks with the Higher Education Department to promote eligible PU lecturers to degree colleges, he added.

Besides, the government is considering setting up a teachers' welfare fund to provide health insurance to instructors and will pay a part of the premium. Sait further said a Cabinet sub-committee was reviewing the guidelines for sanctioning grants to private educational institutions. Reported by Deccan Herald 4 hours ago.
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Americans won't lose coverage in health law reform: Trump aide

January 22, 2017, 7:10 am
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will not allow 20 million people who rely on the Affordable Care Act for their health insurance to go without coverage when the law, known as Obamacare, is repealed and replaced with a new plan, a senior White House official said on Sunday. Reported by Reuters 9 hours ago.
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Trump may not enforce individual health insurance mandate - aide

January 22, 2017, 10:18 am
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration may no longer enforce a rule requiring individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not, a senior White House official said on Sunday Reported by Reuters India 6 hours ago.
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Bernie Sanders Calls Out Trump Inauguration For ‘Billionaire After Billionaire' In VIP Section

January 22, 2017, 12:05 pm
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WASHINGTON ― Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday he found one part of Donald Trump’s inauguration speech to be at least unintentionally funny ― Trump’s criticism of Washington’s elite. 

On “Face the Nation,” host John Dickerson suggested that maybe Sanders could find some common ground with Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric. The senator quickly put that notion to rest. 

“Well, I found it somewhat amusing that Mr. Trump, President Trump, was punching the establishment, but right behind him, John, sitting in the VIP section, were billionaire after billionaire after billionaire, some of the most powerful people in this country, who over the last 10, 20 years have become much, much richer while the middle class has shrunk,” Sanders said. 

Trump’s potential Cabinet is filled with billionaires, as he has nominated several Wall Street, Washington and oil industry insiders. CBS News reported that his Cabinet has a combined net worth of more than $14 billion. The Intercept noted that at least a dozen seats at the inauguration had been given to elite donors. 

“I find it somewhat amusing that you’re attacking the establishment when the establishment is sitting right behind you and when billionaires and large corporations are funding many of your inaugural events,” Sanders said Sunday.

“Now if Mr. Trump is serious about standing up for working families,” he continued, “then he’s not going to throw 20 million working people off of health insurance, he’s not going to cut Medicare and Medicaid.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 hours ago.
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Conway suggests Trump administration will use 'Alternative Facts'

January 22, 2017, 12:44 pm
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Many were stunned when Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker said his newspaper would not refer to false statements from the Trump administration as "lies," because doing so would ascribe a "moral intent" to the statements. Baker appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" (January 1, 2017) where he described some of President-elect Donald Trump's falsehoods as "questionable" and "challengeable." He went on to say "reporters should state the facts, but leave classifying them to readers, citing the example of Trump's claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating on 9/11" (which is false). "I think it's then up to the reader to make up their own mind to say, 'This is what Donald Trump says. This is what a reliable, trustworthy news organization reports. And you know what? I don't think that's true."

Now Trump Senior Advisor and master obfuscator, Kellyanne Conway, has given Baker a term to use for Trump's lies. The WSJ can now refer to Trump lies as "alternative facts".

Today on "Meet the Press," Todd questioned Conway about "why the White House new Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, in his first press briefing doubled down on Trump's earlier claim that the audience for the Trump inauguration "was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period." After ducking and weaving in a manner that would have done Mohammed Ali proud, Conway finally responded to Todd, "You're saying it's a falsehood. Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts."

After seeing the video of Conway talking about alternative facts Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake wrote "If there is one video clip that describes the new reality for the political media -- and for the truth -- during the President Trump era, it is this one." Americans and the rest of the world will have to learn to deal with this if we are to truly understand and work to stop the negative things we anticipate from the Trump Administration.

Saturday's Women's March on Washington and the sister marches around the United States and the world are a beginning. But marching is only step one. Everyone must take the energy created by these marches home to their communities and put it to work. We need to act beginning today. Call your congressman and let them know your thoughts on Trump's cabinet nominees. Make a daily call to your legislators national, state and local, and tell them what you want them to do; they work for you. Support candidates or run yourself for everything from school board, to city council, to state legislature, to Congress. Your voice can and must be heard.

I am a Democrat and my activism will be with the Democratic Party. If we join together we will be successful and rebuild the Democratic Party at the national level and in each state. We will build a cadre of volunteers in each precinct and District and make sure we communicate with the people living there every day, not just around elections.

The Democratic Party is a big tent and we don't need to tear it down to succeed; we need to make it stronger. Let's not forget 66 million people voted for our Party. Our goal must be to expand on the policies those voters supported and ensure everyone understands our aim is both equality and economic opportunity for all.

We need to effectively communicate with each and every person and listen to them. If a policy needs tweaking, or if we need to look at something new, we need to be willing to do that. The ideas will come from the ground up not the top down. Our goal should be by the 2018 mid-term elections we will have added ten million more people to those already voting with us. Trump may help if he tries to eliminate health insurance for millions or privatizes programs like Medicare and social security. But we can't count on that. We have to talk about our own programs and share them with people in language they understand explaining how they impact them and their families in a positive way. We can do that.

For leadership of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) I support *Tom Perez*, former Secretary of Labor, for Chair, and *Adam Parkhomenko* for Vice-chair. I do so because they have the skills and experience which will best help us do what we need; that isn't building a massive new national structure but rather building a strong Democratic Party in every state and territory. They understand the technology we need and how to share it with each state and local district. They understand how to recruit and motivate the army of volunteers we will need around the country to take our government back.

Donald Trump lied to the American people during the campaign. He promised one thing and today we see he is already not delivering. He promised to 'drain the swamp' and instead is naming millionaires and billionaires and a host of people who have spent their lives in D.C. to his administration. What he has done is tell us from now on we should refer to his lies as 'alternative facts'. Well he fed voters a whole host of 'alternative facts' and we Democrats have our work cut out to make people see the truth.

We will rebuild our Party so once again we have the trust of the majority of Americans whether they are Black, White, Asian, Latino, LGBT, male or female, young or old. The march was yesterday; today is the first day of our future. Together we will win the future.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 3 hours ago.
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Trump May "Stop Enforcing Obamacare's Individual Mandate"

January 22, 2017, 1:20 pm
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Trump May Stop Enforcing Obamacare's Individual Mandate Trump's crackdown on Obamacare is accelerating.

Just over 7 hours after his inauguration, late on Friday, the president signed an executive order concerning the 2010 healthcare law, telling reporters the action was meant "to ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition from repeal and replace" and urging U.S. agencies to "waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation" of provisions deemed to impose fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals.



Executive order just signed by @POTUS relates to #Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/dTaX6QEZBS

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 21, 2017



While the executive order was purposefully vague and served mostly a symbolic role, on Sunday the Trump administration provided some more details on how the "repeal and replace" would look, when Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said the government may no longer enforce the key "Affordable Care Act" rule requiring individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, Conway who is a counselor to the president, said Donald Trump "*may stop enforcing the individual mandate*." Then, on CBS' "Face the Nation" show, she reiterated Republican promises that no one would lose their health insurance under Obamacare while a replacement is being developed.

"For the 20 million who rely upon the Affordable Care Act in some form, they will not be without coverage during this transition time," she said quoted by Reuters.

Also on Sunday, Mitch McConnell repeated Republican promises to replace Obamacare and allow patients to buy health insurance across state lines using health savings accounts. "We’re going to move carefully in conjunction with the administration to repeal and replace it with things like health savings accounts and interstate health insurance sales and high-risk pools at the state level to take care of people who have pre-existing conditions." he said.



Last week Republican Representative Tom Price, Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, that an overhaul of Obamacare will initially focus on individual health plans sold on online exchanges and the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Americans.

 

He added that the revamp would not immediately tackle changes to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for those 65 and older and people with disabilities.



Trump has previously said he wants to keep some elements of Obamacare, such as allowing young adults to be covered under their parents' insurance. He is in favor of plans that use health savings accounts and the sale of insurance across state lines. A bigger question is once the administration moves beyond the *repeal *phase, just how long would the *replace *phase take: as a reminder, a full replacement would require bipartisan support, and at the current time that appears very much improbable, which is why Goldman, and others, speculated that the replacement of Obamacare could take as long as 2 years, and may bog down much of Trump's fiscal agenda.If so, much of what the market has priced in will have to be "unpriced" quickly, as Trump focuses exclusively on undoing 8 years of Obama tinkering with the US health insurance system. Reported by Zero Hedge 3 hours ago.
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Kellyanne Conway Says Trump May Act Quickly To Undermine Key Feature Of Obamacare

January 22, 2017, 3:04 pm
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A top White House adviser said Sunday that the Trump administration may use its executive authority to weaken or effectively eliminate Obamacare’s “individual mandate.”If the administration takes such action, it’s likely that fewer people would pay a financial penalty for not having health insurance, but people who hold onto their coverage would face higher premiums. In addition, the number of people without coverage would rise, maybe even dramatically.But the new statements from Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to President Donald Trump, come with all the usual caveats.

There’s no way to know whether they accurately reflect what administration officials believe or how they intend to act. And it’s anybody’s guess as to whether Trump has personally settled on a course of action ― or if he even cares enough about policy details to decide on one.

Just about the only thing clear right now are the policy stakes. And they are significant.

The Individual Mandate And Why It Matters

The mandate is among of the Affordable Care Act’s most controversial features, but experts say it’s essential for making the rest of the program work. It’s basically a tax on people who decline to get health insurance, even if available coverage meets the law’s definition of “affordable.”

The mandate is meant to encourage healthy people to buy insurance. It makes it possible for insurers to sell to anybody, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and not worry that people will wait until getting sick to enroll. The mandate also makes sure that people without coverage assume some financial responsibility for the charity care they would receive if they needed it.

Without the mandate or some other policy device to keep healthy people buying coverage, most experts say insurers would have to charge everybody else even more ― and, partly as a consequence, fewer people would end up having insurance. 

Just last week, a report from the Congressional Budget Office predicted that removing the individual mandate but keeping other Obamacare provisions, such as the pre-existing condition guarantee, would lead to premiums jumping by 20 to 25 percent within a year, above and beyond current projections.

In addition, CBO said, the proportion of Americans without health insurance would rise even more dramatically ― by 18 million, which is roughly the number of people who have gotten coverage through the law, according to the most reliable estimates.

By design, the mandate is sizable: It’s either $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, or 2.5 percent of a household’s income ― whichever is greater, up to a maximum of $2,085 per family.

How Trump Could Weaken The Mandate 

The law gives the Department of Health and Human Services broad discretion to grant “hardship” exemptions to people who say they can’t afford the mandate. There are signs that the Trump administration intends to use that leeway to minimize the penalty’s impact, in ways that go beyond what the Obama administration did.

Just hours after his inauguration on Friday, Trump signed an executive order instructing the HHS to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from” taxes and penalties associated with the Affordable Care Act.

And then on Sunday, Conway got a little more specific. 

Trump “wants to get rid of that Obamacare penalty almost immediately, because that is something that is really strangling a lot of Americans, to have to pay a penalty for not buying government-run health care,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”

When host George Stephanopoulos followed up, asking specifically whether Trump intended to “stop enforcing that mandate,” Conway responded, “he may.”
Of course, “he may” is not the same as “he will.” And Trump’s executive order didn’t change policy or otherwise commit the administration to a course of action. It was simply a statement of intent. The president and his deputies are under no obligation to follow through.

And for all of their bluster, Trump and his advisers might be worried about the consequences of weakening the mandate.

Acting Quickly On The Mandate Could Cause Serious Aftershocks

In a separate, prerecorded interview that ran Sunday on NBC’s “Today” show, Conway reiterated a promise she and other Republican officials have made repeatedly: That nobody with insurance through Obamacare right now would lose it in the transition to a new system.

That promise would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep if the Trump administration weakens or eliminates the mandate on its own, before a new health care system is in place. 

“If the IRS ‘delays’ the individual mandate, the insurance markets in many states could go into a tailspin. Rates for 2018 will skyrocket and some insurers could fold,” Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan and expert on Obamacare, explained at The Incidental Economist blog.

Some experts have warned that even hinting about efforts to undermine the mandate could destabilize Obamacare’s already-fragile insurance markets. 

Many insurers suffered significant financial losses during the first few years of the program, because they attracted fewer healthier customers than they anticipated. This year, those carriers responded with larger-than-usual premium increases and, in some places, by withdrawing offerings altogether.

Early reports have suggested that insurers were expecting better performance this year, thanks in part to the higher premiums. But insurers are already calculating next year’s rates and are supposed to finalize them by the spring. If they are not sure the mandate will be fully enforced next year, they could decide on higher premiums or even more exits from state markets.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 53 minutes ago.
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Colorado's largest union goals clash with business groups, Senate Republicans

January 24, 2017, 1:24 pm
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Colorado’s largest union said Tuesday that it will focus on defeating bills to repeal the state’s health-insurance exchange and to bar union membership as a condition to private-sector employment. The union will also advocate for expected legislation to require companies to step up equal-pay efforts and offer retirement-savings plans to workers. The plans by the Colorado AFL-CIO leave it in the cross-hairs of business groups in some ways. While private-sector leaders are largely split on the… Reported by bizjournals 1 day ago.
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Trump's Health Care Nominee Doesn't Have Much To Say About Trump's Plans

January 24, 2017, 2:15 pm
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WASHINGTON ― “I’ve had conversations with the president about health care, yes.”

That line ― delivered by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services ― was about as close to a revelation as anything that transpired during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday considering his nomination.

After six terms in the House where he specialized in health policy, years in the Georgia state legislature and a long career as a physician, one of Price’s chief qualifications for the top health care position in the federal government is his knowledge and experience.

Price opted to keep most of that knowledge and experience to himself at his confirmation hearing, just like he did during an appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee a week ago.

There are a lot of questions swirling around the future of the health care system, assuming Trump and congressional Republicans follow through on their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and “replace” it with some other plan. When will they act? How many people will lose coverage? Will the Trump administration upend the health insurance market before Congress even acts?

None of those questions were answered Tuesday. Democrats also failed to get Price to say much that was new about his controversial investments in health care companies.

Price repeatedly declined to provide even the slightest hint about what Trump wants to do, whether Price’s own health care reform legislation might be part of that, or when Americans can expect to find out what the health care system of Trump’s dreams looks like.

During the presidential transition, Trump said he intended to submit a comprehensive proposal for “replacing” Obamacare shortly after Price’s confirmation.

As with most of Trump’s promises, there was reason to doubt at the time that he was as close as he claimed to having a plan. This claim was especially dubious because Trump’s statements on health care have ranged from promoting universal coverage to embracing standard GOP proposals that don’t even attempt to achieve that goal.

Price didn’t offer any clarity about this on Tuesday. Arguably, he just raised more questions.

“President Trump said he’s working with you on a replacement plan for the ACA, which is nearly finished and will be revealed after your confirmation. Is that true?” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked.

Price’s immediate response: “It’s true that he said that, yes.” This prompted laughter that filled the hearing room.

Brown pressed Price about whether Trump told the truth about his impending health care plan, and whether Price was helping him develop it.

“I’ve had conversations with the president about health care, yes,” Price said.


The work that I did as a legislator is not necessarily the work that I would promote as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)
CNN reported this month that Trump’s team has deliberately excluded Price from the deliberations on health care, expressly so that he wouldn’t be able to answer questions about the president’s ideas during the confirmation process.

Democrats also failed to nail down Price about health care legislation he authored as a member of Congress. Price has introduced a bill to “replace” Obamacare with a smaller benefit that would cover fewer people and offer less help buying health insurance. As House Budget Committee chairman, Price also shepherded a budget that would be dramatically cut Medicare and Medicaid funding.

“There’s big gap between the Trump pledge of insurance for everybody and great health care, and the congressman’s proposal,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee.

But Price argued that senators shouldn’t read too much into his lengthy history as a lawmaker and a prominent spokesman for conservative health care ideas.

“The work that I did as a legislator is not necessarily the work that I would promote as secretary of Health and Human Services,” he said.

This exchange between Wyden and Price pretty well summed up Tuesday’s hearing. Wyden asked Price questions about Trump’s executive order instructing federal agencies to scale back the Affordable Care Act ― including potentially ending enforcement of the law’s individual mandate to obtain health care, which could destabilize the entire insurance market. The Georgia Republican didn’t have much to say.

Wyden: Under the executive order, will you commit that no one will be worse off?

Price: What I commit to, senator, is working with you and every single member of Congress to make certain that we have the highest quality health care and that every single American has access to affordable health care.

Wyden: That is not what I asked. I asked will you commit no one will be worse off under the executive order. You ducked the question. Do you guarantee that no one will lose coverage under the executive order?

Price: I guarantee you that the individuals that lost coverage under the Affordable Care Act, we will commit to making certain that they don’t lose coverage under whatever replacement plan comes forward. That’s the commitment that I’d make.

Wyden: The question, again, is will anyone lose coverage, and the answer is something I didn’t ask. I’ll wrap up this round by saying: Will you commit to not implementing the order until the replacement plan is in place?

Price: As I mentioned, senator, what I commit to the American people is to keep patients at the center of health care. What that means to mean is making certain every single American has access to affordable health coverage that will provide the highest quality health care that the world can provide.

Wyden: I’m going to close by way of saying that what the congressman is saying is that the order could go into effect before there’s a replacement plan. And independent experts say that this is going to destroy the market [where] millions of working families buy health coverage. And the question that I asked ― will the congressman commit that nobody will be worse off, nobody will lose coverage ― we didn’t get an answer.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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60 Years in Journalism: 40-Something Presidents Who Wowed the Electorate

January 24, 2017, 2:04 pm
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I first saw Barack Obama in political action when I was assigned to cover the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in the winter of 2008. Obama lost New Hampshire to Hillary Clinton, but when I arrived at a high school gymnasium late that evening expecting to observe some concessionary gloom, what Obama gave the crowd instead was a rousing campaign speech, looking to the primaries that still lay ahead. It was a demonstration of the 47-year-old Senator's skill in organizing two successful presidential campaigns, with himself as the spark plug.

As they campaigned against each other, Senators Clinton and Obama returned to Washington for significant business on Capitol Hill. I covered a joint hearing on Iraq of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees with General David Petraeus. Clinton, a member of Armed Services, used her allotted minutes for a tirade against the General for his unwarranted optimism about the war; her Senate vote to give President Bush an Iraq green light was a millstone for her campaign, as it was again in 2016.

Senator Obama's turn, as a first termer, came a lot later. He asked Petraeus what would have to happen in Iraq to declare that the United States did what it set out to do, and the forces could come home. The General gave a respectable and respectful answer to the law-professor-turned-legislator; Petraeus was himself a Princeton PhD. Score another one for Obama's effectiveness.

The issues separating Clinton and Obama were few. One point of difference related to enacting a national health insurance plan. Based on her experience with the abortive Hillarycare effort early in her then-46-year-old husband's administration, she insisted that everyone be required to participate. Obama opposed the so-called individual mandate.

But when he took office, Obama sought the cooperation of the health insurance industry, to avoid a reincarnation of its devastating "Harry and Louise" advertising campaign against Hillarycare. He was told that if the law ordered insurers not to deny coverage to those who had a costly health condition, it would have to require that everyone eligible be induced to buy a policy.

The best explanation I heard for that requirement came not from Obama, but from Mitt Romney. Early in his Presidential campaign, he spoke at a medical college, asserting from his experience as governor of Massachusetts that medical insurance for all could not work if there were "free riders."

Hillary Clinton and David Petraeus went on to become colleagues in the Obama administration. It's now well known that as Secretary of State, she advocated a more forceful policy in Syria, after urging Obama to join Britain and France to counter the violence unleashed on the Libyan people by Muammar Gadaffi. Libya's subsequent descent into chaos helped Obama decide not to go along with Clinton on Syria.

Obama left office in this hundredth anniversary year of the birth of President John F. Kennedy, who was inaugurated at the age of 43. Both ran for President as inspirational agents of "hope" and "change." Both energized supporters, notably young people, who showed up in droves at rallies and later at the ballot box. Both were articulate and photogenic, and so were their wives. Kennedy had to conquer prejudice as the first Roman Catholic President, Obama as the first African-American. Obama was much better at delivering a prepared speech in the teleprompter era, Kennedy better at delivering a succinct reply to a press conference question. Reporters couldn't help but admire Presidential candidates who were also skillful wordsmiths.

I could not bring myself to go to the "Jackie" movie and relive the shocking and dispiriting murder of JFK--the result of which has been that subsequent Presidents are surrounded by security, "the bubble," Obama called it. It also helps them keep reporters behind a barrier.

Obama is young enough, 55, to have another career, perhaps to create a foundation like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter who have roamed the earth promoting democratic change and fighting epidemic diseases. So too Michelle Obama, who was a lawyer and hospital executive before she reluctantly went to the White House and sought activities that would test her skill set but not overshadow her husband. She insists she won't be a politician, but her talent with a teleprompter is also now formidable.

How we will eventually look back on the Obama years will depend on such factors as how far his successor is able to go in reversing his initiatives (and whether the administration after his restores them), as well as how the Middle East's various quagmires play out, and whether his successor's policies toward Russia and China, not to mention Israel, succeed or backfire.

President Trump's ambitions to overturn much of the Obama track record, as well as some policies that once were Republican or bipartisan, are--as one of his supporters put it in a television interview--"quite a crap shoot."

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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Showing panic over Obamacare repeal, GOP senators release replacement plan that (almost) makes sense

January 24, 2017, 2:53 pm
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If you’re following the health insurance debate—and since the coverage of more than 20 million Americans is under threat from the Trump White House and the Republican congressional majority, you should be—you’re going to be hearing a lot in the coming weeks about Cassidy-Collins. 

That’s an Obamacare... Reported by L.A. Times 1 day ago.
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Here's A Strategy For This Year: Be Afraid

January 24, 2017, 2:46 pm
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Monday, January 2nd was a holiday for most people. And hey, why not? The Federal government was closed. So were schools. It was the day after New Year's Day and because New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, most companies were also closed. But not for some business owners I know.

While most employees at larger companies slept in and enjoyed the last few moments of their hard-earned holiday break, all across my city, some businesses and restaurants opened their doors. I saw coffee shops, dry cleaners, barbers, nail salons -- even a pet supplies shop and a shoe repair store had their lights on. I also saw a few familiar street vendors at their usual place. Remember -- this was on January 2nd, a Federal holiday and school holiday where most offices in the city were shut down. But these people were working. Why? I know why.

They're afraid.

Do you really think these people want to be at work? Of course not. They want to be sleeping, binge-watching, reading, relaxing -- all the things that the rest of the world seemed to be doing. But they weren't. They weren't because they're running businesses. They've all been around for a while. And they've seen it all.

Go ahead, you survive as a dry cleaner for 30 years -- like the guy in my neighborhood -- in an era of casual dress and wrinkle-free shirts. You run a coffee shop for more than five years that's one block from a Starbucks and when most startups have already reached their expiration date. You operate a nail salon for a decade when it seems that every other block has a nail salon. Not so easy, is it? So what's the secret? The secret is fear.

They're afraid of what will happen if they don't open up their doors. They're afraid of losing their hard-earned customers because they're not available and the competitor down the street is. They're afraid of the next definite, inevitable recession, stock market crash, banking failure or other financial calamity that will close up their customers' wallets so they slash their dry cleaning expenses or make more coffee at home.

They're afraid of some financial meltdown in China, India or Europe that reverberates here and makes people cut back on the chewy bones they buy for their dogs. They're afraid of the next big bill for health insurance, a key employee who leaves them in the lurch, a fight with their insurance company over an accident, a bad review on Yelp.

In industrial parks and corporate centers around the area, many of my clients were open for business on January 2nd even when officially "closed" or operating on a skeleton staff. They came in for a quiet day in the office or they worked from home. They responded to emails and revisited their paperwork. They, like me, are also afraid. We don't know what new regulation will hit us or what new product a competitor is introducing this year. We don't know if that piece of equipment will perform as hoped or that marketing campaign will generate enough leads to pay for itself. We're afraid of the darkness that looms in just a few months when our spreadsheets tell us that our backlog will end. We expect that more work will ultimately be there, but we don't know for sure.

Small business owners like me don't have the security of a paycheck or a severance package. We don't bank overtime or accrue vacation pay. Sure, we take our time off and get our golf time in -- but we still obsessively worry what's going on back in the shop when we're not around. We work those extra hours not because we are passionate, driven and enthusiastic...does your dry cleaner seem that way? No, he's not. He's open early and staying open later on a national holiday because he knows there's money to be made. He's afraid of not making that money. He knows that every dollar that goes into his bank account today is security for all those unseen events that will require money tomorrow.

Long-time business owners know that to be afraid is to be prepared, and being prepared means survival. That's why we worked on January 2nd. Did you?

A version of this column originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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Troubling Issues From Linda McMahon's Time As Wrestling CEO Go Unmentioned In Senate Hearing

January 24, 2017, 3:06 pm
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WASHINGTON ― Former World Wrestling Entertainment chief executive Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Small Business Administration, sailed through a confirmation hearing on Tuesday and didn’t have to answer for some of the most explosive moments of her time running the company. 

McMahon, who held various executive roles at WWE before serving as its CEO from 1997 to 2009, had direct involvement in settling a teen sex abuse case involving WWE employees in the early 1990s. In 2007, she also testified before a congressional committee that was investigating potential steroid abuse in wrestling and the number of wrestlers whose deaths were connected to the activity.McMahon and WWE have denied that they are responsible for wrestler deaths, and pointed to a corporate wellness and testing program they instituted to combat drug abuse. 

Her time at WWE also included a federal steroid investigation and lawsuits from former wrestlers who said the company had improperly classified them as independent contractors to avoid providing them benefits such as health insurance ― an issue that SBA experts have said would be pertinent to her role atop the agency. (The most prominent of those suits was dismissed; WWE began requiring its wrestlers to obtain insurance in 2011.)And while both McMahon and Trump have touted the former WWE chief’s experience growing the company into a national wrestling titan, small business groups had raised concerns about how she and her husband achieved that growth. WWE was part of a patchwork of regional wrestling companies when the McMahons assumed control of the company in 1982, and it grew into a nationwide business with near monopolistic control over professional wrestling ― in large part, critics say, because of the McMahons’ willingness to crush their smaller competitors.Despite the fiery nature of many confirmation hearings so far this month, only Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) referenced any of those controversies during the hearing before the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
Duckworth said she and McMahon met Monday to discuss some contentious aspects of McMahon’s time at the WWE, including the company’s practice of designating wrestlers as independent contractors.
“I especially appreciated your candor and willingness to address my concerns with WWE’s use of [independent contractors], especially as it pertains to the health of your performers,” Duckworth said. “As someone who’s going to head the SBA and promoting small businesses, I don’t want that to become the standard that small businesses use [independent contractors] to avoid paying and providing the health benefits and protections for small business employees just like anyone else. And also, I appreciate you addressing my concerns about potential monopolistic practices at WWE as well.”

But Duckworth did not follow up with any questions about those issues, or offer any indication of how McMahon had responded.

McMahon often referenced her time at WWE, and it factored into questions from Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) about how she would protect small businesses on issues regarding intellectual property and patents. But there were no questions about McMahon’s extensive lobbying efforts to classify wrestling as entertainment instead of a sport, a distinction that allowed it to escape many state-level sport-related regulations, including on drug and steroid testing. 

The most memorable references to the company instead focused on the fact that McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, and son-in-law, former wrestler Paul Levesque, were in attendance to watch the hearing. 

Stephanie McMahon and Levesque ― better known as Triple H ― are both executives at WWE. McMahon introduced them at the start of the hearing.

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) used Levesque’s presence as an opportunity to comment on their own appreciation for wrestling.

“He and I are about the same age, and Paul’s letting himself slip a little bit, so after this maybe we should go down to the Senate gym and I can give Triple H some triple help in getting back in shape,” Booker joked, before pressing McMahon on the need to continue grant programs that help people recently released from prison.

During the two-hour hearing, McMahon did face questions about her approach to small business regulation, climate change and disaster relief, an area that she said would become her primary focus. She also answered questions about previously saying she supported folding the SBA into the Commerce Department (an idea former President Barack Obama was once considering).

“When I was asked if I supported merging SBA into Commerce, I really wasn’t focused on SBA or Commerce, I was focused on the concept of merging agencies, or reducing duplicative programs, so that we could reduce those costs,” she said. “I am a firm believer that SBA needs to be a stand-alone agency.”

The lack of fireworks related to wrestling ― or anything else ― would seem to point to a smooth confirmation process for McMahon, which may disappoint the small business groups that had tried to challenge her. 
“We need a leader who truly understands the struggles of small business owners and has the technical expertise to navigate the maze of complex programs to steer the SBA in the right direction,” Amanda Ballantyne, national director of the the Main Street Alliance, a network of small business coalitions, said in a statement after McMahon was chosen. “We fear that Linda McMahon does not meet this criterion and is ill-equipped to address the needs of our members and their fellow small business owners.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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HUFFPOST HILL - Senator Katie McGinty So Grateful For Those Illegal Votes

January 24, 2017, 3:43 pm
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Sean Spicer called on a reporter from fake news outlet LifeZette, which until today we assumed was some kind of Safeway insert that falls out of your Sunday paper; but no, it isn’t ― it isn’t at all. Donald Trump said he would announce a Supreme Court nominee next week, while, we assume, Merrick Garland sat on a park bench, limply tossing chunks of bread at nearby pigeons. And the Trump administration continues to hinder federal employees in their attempts to release important information to the public, recalling Smokey the Bear’s heart-wrenching, “Loose Lips Sink Ships” campaign. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, January 24th, 2017:@hillhulse: On SCOTUS, Sen McConnell hopes “our Democratic friends treat Trump’s nominees same way we treated Clinton and Obama.”  Hmmmm

*WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY MONSTROUSLY FALSE VOTER FRAUD CLAIMS* - Sam Stein and Michael Calderone: “White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed on Tuesday that his boss, the president of the United States, is a committed conspiracy theorist. There is no other way to interpret what transpired at Spicer’s daily briefing.* On repeated occasions, reporters asked him why Donald Trump continues to argue that 3 to 5 million undocumented immigrants **voted illegally in the 2016 election**. And on each occasion, Spicer responded that Trump says it because he believes it to be true.* ‘The president does believe that,’ Spicer told one reporter. It’s a ‘longstanding belief,’ he told another. ‘He’s believed this for a long time,’ he said to a third. There is no evidence that millions of votes were cast illegally. In fact, multiple outlets and fact checkers have called such allegations bunk…repeatedly.” [HuffPost]

*Oh*: “Spicer eschewed the tradition of calling upon a famous mainstream organization of some sort — either The Associated Press or a major TV network or newspaper — and instead beckoned Jim Stinson, who is covering the White House for LifeZette, a conservative cultural and political site started in 2015 by Laura Ingraham, the radio talk host and Fox News analyst.” [Poynter]

*GOP LAWMAKERS DUCK VOTER FRAUD CLAIMS - *Laura Barron-Lopez: “Asked point-blank if Trump’s claim was true, McConnell refused to say. ‘I can just tell you that on the whole issue of election fraud, which our Democratic colleagues always argue is just fiction: There are people literally in jail in Kentucky for this kind of activity,’ McConnell told reporters on Tuesday…. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, third-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, also wouldn’t call Trump’s statement a lie. ‘I don’t know the answer to that,’ he said when asked if he agreed that as much at 5 million voted illegally. ‘I don’t know what that number is, and I guess you’ll have to get that info from [Trump].’ … House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters he’s ‘seen no evidence to that effect’ when asked about Trump’s comments. *Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) gave the only real denunciation of Trump’s voter fraud claims out of his Republican colleagues on Tuesday*. ‘I would urge the president to knock this off; this is the greatest democracy on earth, we’re the leader of the free world, and people are going to start doubting you as a person if you keep making accusations against our electoral system without justification,’ Graham told CNN in an interview.” [HuffPost]

*Steve King, God bless ya’, lad: *“In an interview with MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, King responded to President Donald Trump’s evidence-free claim that there were between 3 and 5 million illegal voters in the election ― an assertion that puzzled even some of Trump’s supporters. *Citing ‘sample data from certain counties,’ King told Jackson he had done his own calculations* and determined it was ‘plausible’ that 2.4 million people could have voted illegally. ‘I...did an extrapolation calculation on how many illegals could have or could be voting in the United States,’ King said, using an offensive term for undocumented immigrants.” [HuffPost]

Are you in the mood to watch Kellyanne Conway try stand-up comedy? No? Well, in case you change your mind, watch this video from 1998.

*Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s new book*, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Governmen

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to eliot@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

*POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED GAG ORDERS, GET YER POLITICALLY MOTIVATED GAG ORDERS HERE - *Since we’re reverting to the 2000s ethos of persecuting climate scientists, can we at least come up with cool, Newspeak names for anti-environmental bills like W’s Clean Skies Act? Kate Sheppard: “*The Environmental Protection Agency has frozen its grant programs, according to sources there. EPA staff has been instructed to freeze all its grants ― an extensive program that includes funding for research, redevelopment of former industrial sites, air quality monitoring and education, among other things *― and told not to discuss this order with anyone outside the agency, according to a Hill source with knowledge of the situation. An EPA staffer provided the information to the congressional office anonymously, fearing retaliation…. T*he Huffington Post also received a message that was reportedly sent to staff Monday that seems to cover the current agency guidance on talking to the press in general, not just about the directive on grants*. The memo states that the agency is imposing tight controls on external communication, including press releases, blog posts, social media and content on the agency website.” [HuffPost]

*CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GREEN PARTY ON A BANNER YEAR -  *Alexander Kaufman: “President Donald Trump *signed executive orders on Tuesday to push forward the Keystone XL and **Dakota Access** pipelines, opening new fronts in his looming war with environmentalists. *Keystone was rejected in 2015 by former President Barack Obama after a seven-year review. Trump’s orders clear the way to continue building Energy Transfer Partners’ 1,172-mile Dakota Access project, which has been stalled since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted construction in December amid massive protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux…. Another action signed Tuesday calls for U.S. steel to be used if the pipelines are built, though that may mean little in the case of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is nearly complete. One more order aims to overhaul what Trump called the ‘horrible permitting process’ by slashing environmental regulations.” [HuffPost]

*CONSERVATIVE COLORADO JUDGE POSSIBLE SCOTUS NOMINEE *- David Savage: “*Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, has emerged as a leading contender for President Trump’s first Supreme Court nomination*. Gorsuch, 49, was among 21 potential high court candidates circulated by Trump’s team during the campaign, but his stock has been rising lately as several admirers and supporters have been named to positions in the Trump administration. He currently serves on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver…. In Gorsuch, supporters see a jurist who has strong academic credentials, a gift for clear writing and a devotion to deciding cases based on the original meaning of the Constitution and the text of statutes, as did the late Justice Antonin Scalia.” [LA Times]

*Why: *“The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee has *unanimously approved President **Donald Trump**’s nominee for housing secretary, **Ben Carson*. The former Republican presidential candidate and celebrated neurosurgeon would lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a sprawling agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion. His nomination now heads to the full Senate.” [AP]

*TOM PRICE TAKES THE FIFTH, BASICALLY -* The HHS nominee went to great lengths to pretend he knows nothing about anything at his confirmation hearing. Jeffrey Young: “*’I’ve had conversations with the president about health care, yes.’ *That line ― delivered by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services ― was about as close to a revelation as anything that transpired during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday considering his nomination. After six terms in the House where he specialized in health policy, years in the Georgia state legislature and a long career as a physician, one of Price’s chief qualifications for the top health care position in the federal government is his knowledge and experience. *Price opted to keep most of that knowledge and experience to himself at his confirmation hearing.*” [HuffPost]

At least Tom Price didn’t reveal himself to be an anti-vaxxer.

And Tom Price’s investments in health care companies remain a problem.

*CHRIS SMITH IS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HOW YOU USE YOUR UTERUS -* Laura Bassett: “The first bill the House of Representatives passed under President Donald Trump is a sweeping anti-abortion bill that would make the procedure more expensive for women. *The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act would make permanent the Hyde Amendment*, which denies abortion coverage in health insurance plans for women on Medicaid, military servicewomen, federal employees, residents of the District of Columbia, women in federal prisons, and women covered by the Indian Health Service. The bill also provides incentives for private health insurers to drop abortion coverage, bans abortion coverage in multi-state health insurance plans except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment, and denies women and small businesses tax credits if they choose health plans that cover abortion.” [HuffPost]

*Watch your backs, LGBTQ people. *The White House hasn’t decided whether to let federal contractors resume discriminating against you. [HuffPost’s JamesMichael Nichols]

*TRUMP CARRIES CRUCIAL, ‘RICH SCIENTOLOGIST’ VOTE* - We’re surprised the president hasn’t signed onto a religion centered around the interstellar flight of a bunch of jets. Jon Schleuss, Arlene Tchekmedyian and Kim Christensen: “[*W]hile nearly all of the surrounding region voted for the Democratic former secretary of state, one little chunk of Hollywood best known for the Church of Scientology’s ‘Big Blue’ complex went red, picking the Republican billionaire instead*…. Of the roughly 1,100 voters registered in the precinct, about half list addresses of Scientology properties. More than 250 voters listed addresses on L. Ron Hubbard Way, named for the science fiction writer who founded the church in 1954 and parlayed his self-help system, Dianetics, into a worldwide religion without a deity…. Among those who did proffer a theory for publication was James Kronwall, a registered Republican who lives on L. Ron Hubbard Way, and said he knew why the precinct went for Trump. ‘Scientology is the No. 1 foe of psychiatry,’ he said, adding that he and others in the church perceive Clinton to be an advocate for psychiatric programs.” [LA Times]

*DEFICIT GROWING JUST IN TIME FOR MASSIVE TAX CUTS - *Alan Rappeport: “*After seven years of fitful declines, the federal budget deficit is projected to begin swelling again, adding nearly $10 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years*, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that reveal the strain that government debt will have on the economy as President Trump embarks on plans to slash taxes and ramp up spending…. Now, congressional leaders will have to choose between their fealty to the cause of fiscal prudence and the demands of the new president, who wants $1 trillion in infrastructure work over 10 years, a surge in military spending and large tax cuts for individuals and corporations.” [NYT]

*MINNESOTA GOVERNOR HAS CANCER - *Ricardo Lopez: “Gov. Mark Dayton unexpectedly revealed on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. *Dayton revealed his diagnosis at a news conference the morning after he collapsed Monday night during his State of the State speech, which cut it short*. He told reporters that his outlook is good and that he expects to learn more after a follow-up consultation at Mayo Clinic next week to discuss his treatment options. The DFL governor, who turns 70 on Thursday, said he learned he had prostate cancer during his annual physical examination. A biopsy conducted last Wednesday confirmed the diagnosis.” [Star Tribune]

*BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR *- Here’s the White House given the “Office” treatment.

*TRULY WE’VE COME A LONG WAY AS A COUNTRY - *It’s nice when oppressed people can start excluding people. That right there is the American Dream. Mark Landler: “For weeks, *the members of an exclusive, mostly Jewish country club in the Maryland suburbs of Washington have been entangled in a bitter dispute over whether to exclude former President Barack Obama, who has played golf there, because of Mr. Obama’s policies toward Israel*. On Monday, the management of the club, Woodmont Country Club, sought to put an end to the rancor, sending a letter to members notifying them that it had invited Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, to join as ‘special members.’ Under those terms, the former first couple would pay dues and other fees but would be spared the $80,000 initiation fee. ‘In the current deeply polarized political environment,’ the club’s president, Barry Forman, wrote, ‘it is all the more important that Woodmont be a place where people of varying views and beliefs can’” [NYT]

*COMFORT FOOD*

- Michael Jackson grunts make action scenes so much more intense.

- Why can’t all Amazon Alexas be Big Mouth Billy Basses?

- The Netherlands makes a play to be Donald Trump’s friend.

*TWITTERAMA*

@goldengateblond: ILLEGAL VOTERS: We’re ready! Which swing state needs us?

DEMOCRATS: Just run up the vote in California, we’re after a moral victory here.

@ClareMalone: Really appreciate the specificity of reader letters telling me to take my head out of “sphincter” rather than ass. Anatomically correct!

@Phil_Lewis_: Ben Carson has been confirmed as Housing Secretary. Qualifications? He lives in a house.

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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Barbra Streisand's LA Women’s March Speech

January 24, 2017, 5:54 pm
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January 21, 2017

Hello, Los Angeles! What a beautiful day... What a great country we already live in! 

I’m going to start by quoting H. L. Mencken, the journalist, satirist and social critic, who said in 1920: “On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

I’m not sure the minority who voted for Trump are prepared for what is coming next. 

But it’s fantastic that so many of you have turned out to speak truth to power.

Truth is the essence of living in a democracy. And yet this newly elected president seems to care very little about it. That worries me.


Truth is the essence of living in a democracy. And yet this newly elected president seems to care very little about it.

But I’ll tell you what worries me the most…that’s children. I’m afraid of what they are seeing and hearing these days.

It’s ok to lie?

It’s ok to brag about sexual assault as just “locker room talk?”

To never apologize and always retaliate?

To try to silence people and the press when they don’t agree with you?

To lack kindness and humility?

That’s what frightens me most about this president: that children will listen, and learn, and emulate his behavior. 

What also worries me is that he said his inauguration was going to be “a great show.” Those words are very revealing. I guess that’s the world he comes from: reality TV. Does he think of the presidency as another show? He tweets about ratings. He basks in the applause. There’s no coherent discussion of policy. 

This man who would be king doesn’t seem to understand the seriousness of the job he is about to undertake. The Obama administration left 275 briefing papers. It would be nice if he read some of them. He doesn’t even know what he doesn’t know… And that should make everybody feel very unsafe.

Sometimes, I have to admit, I do feel bad for him. What must it be like to feel so wounded at the slightest criticism, to be so insecure that he has to lash out immediately with crass and cruel personal attacks. He must feel terrible that coming into office he has the lowest approval ratings of any president in history. But he doesn’t seem to examine that, or change his behavior. He just gets more defensive.

What’s important to this president, as I heard him say on TV early on, is winning. It’s about beating the other guy or gal.

I thought maybe he would rise to the occasion in his inaugural address. But it was just another version of his divisive, apocalyptic campaign speech. It was shockingly small and uninspiring. There was no grace or generosity. 

And then there are Trump’s appointees from the far right of the Republican Party, who can’t wait to reverse the progress of the last eight years. The Republicans are eager to take away health insurance from 20 million people. Trump will appoint a conservative Supreme Court justice who will be a threat to all our rights, women’s rights, voting rights. And just look at the White House website today. They have already taken down the civil rights page, the LGBT page, and the climate change page. And they are determined to defund Planned Parenthood, which supplies health care to the women who need it most. 

That’s why we’re here today.

Gender inequity has always been an unspoken and tacitly accepted practice in our society. We have, as a culture, normalized violence against women. We have normalized the wage gap. We have accepted men legislating what we can and cannot do with our bodies, even in cases of rape and incest. We have enabled a culture of sexual harassment of women for years. Even when it comes to the treatment of women in medical research, we are not valued as equal. 

Donald Trump, a man who has a legacy of disrespecting women, now holds the most powerful seat in the world. His election reflects openly what has been hidden in the shadows for some time: that in many ways women are still second-class citizens in the 21st century. 

But this also presents a real opportunity for social change. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to rise up again.

People of all races, sexual identities, and religions are out in the streets today across the country. It’s thrilling to see so many people who care so deeply, and are making their voices heard. We are saying that we will not sit by as our rights are stripped away. We will not hide as the freedoms of others are destroyed.


We will not sit by as our rights are stripped away. We will not hide as the freedoms of others are destroyed.

 By coming out today, we can engage in a deep, honest dialogue about how to reach real equality and change the playing field, from the classroom to the boardroom and, God willing, in the not so distant future, the Oval Office! But because of the antiquated Electoral College, we don’t yet have a woman president ― with another perspective, expansive, experienced, and most of all, extremely intelligent.

You know, before you can drive a car, you have to pass a test. Maybe you should have to pass a test to become president of the United States ― a test in civics, American history, domestic and foreign policy, perhaps have a psychological evaluation! 

All I really know is we must continue to speak out. When you refuse to back down, when you refuse to be silenced, when you demand equality for yourself and your fellow men and women, you will be heard in the end. We can’t give up. 

Today is the beginning of a new movement to hold power accountable to the truth.

Thank you.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 23 hours ago.
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Trump health pick gives Dems few details on health overhaul

January 24, 2017, 9:37 pm
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*By The Canadian Press*

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's selection to become health secretary told a Senate committee Tuesday that the new administration believes people with existing illnesses should not be denied health insurance, but committed to no details on that or any aspects of how Republicans will reshape President Barack Obama's health care law.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who would be at the centre of GOP efforts to scuttle Obama's statute and create new programs, frustrated Democrats probing for... // Read Full Article Reported by CJME 20 hours ago.
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The NHS will never have enough cash:Our national religion needs reformation

January 24, 2017, 9:07 pm
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The NHS will never have enough cash:Our national religion needs reformation We British like traditions. A well-established one which comes round every year is the “winter crisis” in the NHS. Health provision is a political hot potato not just for this government, or indeed for any particular UK government, but for governments across the developed world.

One of the key assumptions made by economists about human behaviour is that there is no limit to the amount of things that people want. In the splendid jargon of economic theory, this is referred to as “non-satiation”.

But regardless of what name we give to the concept, health is an excellent practical example of it. When the NHS was founded in the late 1940s, many thought that the demands on its services would dwindle over time. As the new system gradually improved the health of the population, fewer would require the NHS. On the contrary, the demand for health provision has expanded across the West much faster than the overall economy has grown. As people get wealthier, they want more and more healthcare.

*Read more*: Britain's government debt nightmare makes NHS reform even more urgent

Nigel – now Lord – Lawson once pronounced that “the NHS is the closest thing the English people have now to a religion”. Certainly, any politician tampering with it too much risks his or her career. A striking illustration was provided in the General Election of 2001. The Labour government proposed closing the hospital in Kidderminster on the grounds that it was just very bad. This provoked fury, and a local doctor stood and won as an Independent, destroying the incumbent Labour rising star and holding on until 2010. A subsequent independent inquiry carried out for the NHS showed unequivocally that the hospital was even worse than had been initially thought.

An Institute of Economic Affairs monograph by Dr Kristian Niemietz shows how things could be run much better. The intriguing title summarises the contents: “Universal Healthcare without the NHS”. Niemietz begins with a simple point to debunk the popular view that the NHS is the envy of the world: its structure has never been copied anywhere outside the UK.

*Read more*: A better health system requires brutal honesty about the NHS's failings

In fact, in international comparisons of health system outcomes, the NHS almost always ranks in the bottom third of developed world countries, sitting with places such as the Czech Republic and Slovenia. If the UK’s breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer patients were treated as in Germany, 12,000 lives a year would be saved.

Most European countries use a social health insurance (SHI) system, in which even homeless people have health coverage. Essentially, these systems are based upon means-tested insurance. Niemietz regards each individual one as having its own particular flaws and irritations, but they routinely achieve much better outcomes for patients, while preserving the concept of universal access.

Their experience shows that, for example, charging for GP appointments does not damage health, and that ordinary people can be trusted to make sensible choices from a range of health insurance plans. The alternative to the NHS is not American, but European health care.

We are, quite rightly, steaming ahead with Brexit, but Europe still has valuable things to teach us in the case of health provision. Reported by City A.M. 20 hours ago.
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Six killed in explosion at a fireworks shop in China

January 24, 2017, 10:31 pm
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Six killed in explosion at a fireworks shop in China *Beijing:* At least six persons have been killed in an explosion at a fireworks shop in a market in Yueyang City of central China's Hunan Province.

At least six persons were suffocated in the fire in the blasts late last night. One another was hospitalised and is now in stable condition, according to local authorities, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/jan/Donald-Trump-16-s.jpg

*Washington:* In a bizzare incident, a man allegedly bit off his housemate's ear after the pair got into a heated argument over US President Donald Trump's immigration policies and the attacker's fears that he will be "sent back to Mexico".

The victim is identified as Marco Ortiz, 30, media reports said. He was bitten at his apartment at around 6:45 am Monday, then ran to a nearby gas station for help.

Ortiz said he was left gushing blood after his friend tore into it with his teeth during a row in their flat in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Ortiz said: "When he bite it, I see it, I see a little piece on the floor, and then bleeding." Both men are from Mexico.

Ortiz had just returned home in the early hours of the morning yesterday when the pair became embroiled in the dispute over Trump.

Ortiz said his flatmate had been drinking beer and watching the news, and that tensions were escalated by fears over new US President's immigration policies and anti-Mexican rhetoric.

He said: "Anytime he's drinking, he's going crazy. All he would say is 'if Donald Trump gonna take me out I gotta kill so many people, then somebody kill me and I am happy."

Ortiz said his roommate attacked him, breaking his finger and biting a chunk out of his ear, and also threatened to kill him before he managed to escape.

Police recovered his ear and doctors were able to stick it back on.

http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/jan/musharraf-dance-nightclub-s.jpg

A video reportedly showing former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf dancing to the song 'Dilli wali girlfriend' at a nightclub with a young girl instead of his wife Sehba goes viral on social media platforms and seems to have stoked a new row between his supporters and detractors.

The controversy is over the fact that the 73-year-old was allowed to leave Pakistan to get treatment for a backbone ailment in March 2016.*Video grab of Pervez Musharraf dancing in a nightclub with an unknown girl*

The video clip shows the ex-military ruler dancing with a young girl, not his wife, in what is apparently a nightclub -- where else will you see strobe lights?

The location and time the video was shot though has not been confirmed. The video was shared on Twitter by Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir. Mir tweeted, "Do you know who is this man dancing in a night club and where is his pain these days?” 



Do you know who is this man dancing in a night club and where is his pain these days? pic.twitter.com/9R5xVqLTHA

— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirGEO) January 21, 2017

This is not the first time such a video clip of Musharraf dancing has emerged. In September 2016, another video had gone viral that had him dancing with his wife Sehba at a private function.*Video grab of Pervez Musharraf dancing with wife Sehba that went viral in 2016*

According to several media reports, that dance had taken place at one of Musharraf's relatives' wedding ceremony. While the date of that video also wasn't clear, the song the couple were seen dancing to was released in 2015. The former president, in brown kameez and white salwar, was seen shaking a leg on a popular Pakistani movie song "shakar wandan re" from the film 'Ho Mann Jahaan'.

The video was also shared on social media by Mir. He had also tagged Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan seeking an explanation. “Attention Ch Nisar sb I hope Musharraf no more suffering from back pain u claimed he will come back in few weeks where is he these days? (sic),” he had tweeted along with the video.



Attention Ch Nisar sb I hope Musharraf no more suffering from back pain u claimed he will come back in few weeks where is he these days? pic.twitter.com/YKZnNlyfFL

— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirGEO) September 25, 2016

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*Washington:* Nikki Haley got the unanimous approval of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, clearing the first stage for becoming the first Indian American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post. Haley's nomination by President Donald Trump to be the US ambassador to the UN will now go before the full Senate for final approval.

Senate approval assured for her because of her popularity across the political divide as witnessed by the unanimous committee approval. When she appeared before the panel last week, she got what was probably the best reception for a Trump nominee. At the confirmation hearings she criticised the UN for its paralysis, corruption and inefficiency and said that she would work to reform the world organisation.

The South Carolina Governor has no diplomatic or foreign policy experience which raised questions about her qualification for the post. Democratic Party Senator Ben Cardin dismissed these doubts saying that her "track record of building coalitions in South Carolina" as governor makes suitable for a diplomatic job. She makes up for her lack of diplomatic experience through her "capability, intelligence," he added.

She has won high marks for her leadership of the southern, conservative state, particularly for getting the state leaders to agree to take down the flag of the Confederacy, the states supporting slavery, durign the Civil War. It was considered a symbol of enduring racism. Haley has also spoke at her confirmation hearings about her achievements in negotiating with corporate leaders to get businesses to invest in her state, One of her successes was getting Boeing to set up a aircraft factory in the state.

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*Rio de Janeiro:* At least 150 inmates broke out of a prison in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, following a riot that set fire to part of the prison. The riot, that took place in Bauru on Tuesday, is in no way related to a recent spate of violent incidents at prisons in other parts of the country, Military Police Col. Flavio Kitazume said at a press conference, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the state's prison administration agency, police succeeded in recapturing about 100 of the escapees. Since the start of the year, more than 130 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, which authorities have blamed on organised crime rings, but observers have at least partly blamed on overcrowding in these prisons.

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*Washington:* Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.

Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House. "Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.

This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.

During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House. White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.

President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business. Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.

Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision. Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".

Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told IANS that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.

As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.

Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs. That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US. Tuesday was a special day to hold their conversation. Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to get a cabinet-level appointment when the Senate approved on that day Trump's nomination of her to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.

On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the powerful agency that regulates mobile phones and the spectrum, telephones, radio, television and cable. A third senior administration appointee of Trump is Seema Verma, who will be in charge of the government healthcare programmes and have a key role in reforming President Barack Obama's health insurance plan.

Before the call with Modi, Trump had spoken only with the neighbours, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto, with premier ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism. Reported by Mid-Day 19 hours ago.
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Ralph Nader: George H. Haddad And Unsung Excellence In Medicine – OpEd

January 24, 2017, 9:49 pm
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Ever wonder about the people who make our health care system work at a time when reports of greed, fraud, profiteering and harmful malpractice are rampant and remedies are not advanced?

I was recently reminded how hard these proficient and caring physicians, nurses and physician assistants are working day after day and how their commitment to patients and their profession receives so little recognition. The sad occasion for these reflections was the passing this month of Dr. George H. Haddad, an alert 101-year-old surgeon who had worked for many years in New York City’s public hospitals.

Growing up in Egypt, he graduated from the American University of Beirut Medical School and returned home to serve poor farmers in a small village in the Nile Delta. Later he would say that was one of the most fascinating experiences in his life.

He came to New York City in 1947, and began a life of singular commitment to patients.  He believed profit-seeking should be taken out of medical practice as much as possible. He certainly practiced what he preached as a staff physician who worked long hours for modest remuneration. Soon after his arrival in New York, fellow physicians and nurses noticed his drive toward perfection, his keeping up with developments in surgery, his quiet, reassuring bedside manner, his unfailing courtesy and mentoring of staff, and his readiness, as a bachelor, to take the place of other doctors wanting to spend holidays with their families.

He took the hard cases in emergency rooms where victims of crimes flowed into highly pressurized situations. One year he conducted more surgeries than any other physician in New York City. During these procedures, he noticed that many surgeons could not easily differentiate between the wounds that penetrated into the abdominal cavity from those that did not. As a result, the customary procedure was to operate into the abdominal cavity, which was often excessively invasive. Drawing on the medical literature and his experience, he was instrumental in introducing surgical techniques to save patients from unnecessary operations, an improvement that, since the late sixties, has spread all over the world.

Dr. Haddad also knew a great deal about the waste, redundancy and gouging in the health care economy. He favored a reorganization of medical care where primary care would be very local and the more technologically-intensive care would be in regional centers. He saw the increasing corporatization of his beloved profession as interfering with professional judgments, leading to profitable over-diagnosis,over-treatment, and higher prices resulting in patients, without universal health insurance, not being able to afford to pay for basic health care.

Inasmuch as he was my second cousin, I would often call and ask him for specialists to help friends and associates. He had an uncanny sense of who the best physicians in many field were, not just in their skills, but also for their character and personality.

He viewed the profession of medicine as one where self-renewal was critical, where prevention was the first duty and availability for treatment was to be maximized. He was always willing to be on call and ready for any emergency.

I would frequently query him whether any public official would ask for his advice on improving the healthcare industry, about which he knew so much, or whether anybody in the media ever wanted to interview him in place of the usual bloviators or hucksters. He would smile and shake his head no.

As far as disputes over medical behavior, he wished for lawyers not to be just adversarial but also technically informed. In that pursuit, he wrote a meticulous chapter in the encyclopedia, Proof of Facts, on foreign items left inside patients during operations and ways to avoid such damaging malpractice.

George Haddad’s self-effacing, honest, generous lifetime work for sick and injured people evokes the observation by the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. The sage wrote that “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Would that there be more public recognition of such regular, consistent and faithful excellence, if only to provide an exemplary legacy for future generations. Reported by Eurasia Review 20 hours ago.
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