(Natural News) While involuntary euthanasia – the act of ending someone’s life without their consent to spare them pain and suffering – is illegal in the United States, assisted suicide – or voluntary euthanasia – is legal in six U.S. states. In Washington, Oregon, California, Vermont, New Mexico and Montana, doctors may prescribe lethal doses...
Reported by NaturalNews.com 21 hours ago.
Health insurance companies now pushing EUTHANASIA to avoid paying disease treatment coverage costs to doctors and hospitals
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Gov't report: Health care deductibles higher under GOP bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised to make health care more affordable but a government report finds that out-of-pocket costs — deductibles and copayments — would average 61 percent higher under the House Republican bill. [...] even though the sticker price for premiums would be lower than under the Obama-era law, what consumers actually pay would edge up on average because government financial assistance would be curtailed. The estimates are for the year 2026, and apply to people who buy their own health insurance policies. The report tracks with findings by the Congressional Budget Office, which said millions more would be uninsured under the Republican legislation, in particular due to Medicaid cuts affecting low-income people. In a statement, the Trump administration said the new HHS estimate doesn't take into account other changes proposed by the president, including relief from burdensome regulations and additional health care legislation. While Trump celebrated passage of the House bill with a Rose Garden ceremony, lately he's told senators it's too "mean," and he's urged lawmakers to spend more money on health care.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 17 hours ago.
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Older Americans look to Senate for relief from 'harmful' health care bill
Older Americans are still waiting to hear how Senate Republicans will make health insurance more affordable for them.
Reported by CNNMoney 15 hours ago.
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CO.DON AG: successful General Meeting 2017
DGAP-News: CO.DON AG / Key word(s): AGM/EGM
15.06.2017 / 13:54
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
--------------------
*CO.DON: successful General Meeting 2017 *
Teltow/Berlin, 15.06.2017 - This year's annual general meeting of co.don AG (ISIN DE000A1K0227) took place in Berlin on 9 June 2017. In a presentation entitled, "Agenda 2025 - taking CO.DON forward", Mr Hessel, CEO of the company, first informed the shareholders and proxies present about the financial year 2016 and the company's performance in the first months of the current financial year. "2016 was a successful year for our company overall - CO.DON AG continued on its growth path and successfully refined its business strategy. We have made great progress on the way towards EU approval and have prepared for the tasks ahead by making wide-ranging internal changes." Hessel continued, "In financial year 2016 we again reported double-digit revenue growth, but in contrast to prior years when growth was made up of a mix of price increases and product sales, this time it came exclusively from increased transplant sales." His further comments focused on presenting the strategic options for EU market entry and the general future development of CO.DON AG. The general discussion that followed showed the great interest of those present in the opportunities presented. Positive company news and a buoyant share price ahead of the shareholders' meeting had created a generally positive mood, which also carried over to the event itself.
The voting shareholders attending, who represented 49.26 % of the 17,691,648 million voting shares, approved all the proposals put forward by company management. The members of the Executive Board, Messrs Hessel and Jakobs, and the members of the Supervisory Board were discharged of liability for the financial year 2016; the discharge of liability of Ms Vilma Methner, Executive Board member until mid-2016, was postponed to the next Annual General Meeting due to ongoing litigation. Roever Broenner Susat Mazars GmbH & Co. KG Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Hamburg, was appointed as auditor for 2017. As the terms of office of Supervisory Board members Professor Hans Bauerfeind, Ms Beatrix Bauerfeind-Johnson and Mr Thomas Krause ended at the close of the shareholders' meeting on 9 June 2017, new elections were necessary. Professor Bauerfeind, Ms Bauerfeind-Johnson and Mr Krause were re-elected to the Supervisory Board for another four years. Other agenda items were the creation of Authorised Capital 2017 and the corresponding changes to the articles of association, authorisation to issue convertible bonds and warrants, creation of a new Authorised Capital 2017 and the corresponding changes to the articles of association at the suggestion of shareholder Thommy Stählin and a resolution on amending section 15 paragraph 1 of the articles of association, "Supervisory Board remuneration".
*About CO.DON AG:* CO.DON AG develops, produces and markets in Germany autologous cell therapies for the minimally invasive repair of cartilage damage in joints following traumatic or degenerative defects. CO.DON condrosphere(R) is a cell therapy product that uses only the patient's own cartilage cells ("autologous chondrocytes"). CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been approved by the German federal agency PEI in accordance with Section 4b of the German Pharmaceuticals Act (AMG) and is currently undergoing Phase II and III clinical trials to obtain European marketing authorisation. CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been used for more than 10 years in over 150 clinics to treat more than 11,000 patients. In Germany the statutory health insurance companies have paid for the treatment of knee and hip joints since 2007 and for the treatment of vertebral joints since 2008. The shares in CO.DON AG are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A1K0227). Executive Board: Dirk Hessel (CEO), Ralf M. Jakobs (CFO).
More information can be found at www.ihre-zellzuechter.de and www.codon.de
*Investor Relations and Press Contact:*
Matthias Meißner, M.A.
Director Corporate Communications / IR / PR
Tel. +49 (0)30 240352330
Fax +49 (0)30 240352309
Email: ir@codon.de
--------------------
15.06.2017 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de --------------------
Language: English
Company: CO.DON AG
Warthestraße 21
14513 Teltow
Germany
Phone: 03328 43460
Fax: 03328 434643
E-mail: info@codon.de
Internet: www.codon.de
ISIN: DE000A1K0227
WKN: A1K022
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (General Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
End of News DGAP News Service Reported by EQS Group 13 hours ago.
15.06.2017 / 13:54
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
--------------------
*CO.DON: successful General Meeting 2017 *
Teltow/Berlin, 15.06.2017 - This year's annual general meeting of co.don AG (ISIN DE000A1K0227) took place in Berlin on 9 June 2017. In a presentation entitled, "Agenda 2025 - taking CO.DON forward", Mr Hessel, CEO of the company, first informed the shareholders and proxies present about the financial year 2016 and the company's performance in the first months of the current financial year. "2016 was a successful year for our company overall - CO.DON AG continued on its growth path and successfully refined its business strategy. We have made great progress on the way towards EU approval and have prepared for the tasks ahead by making wide-ranging internal changes." Hessel continued, "In financial year 2016 we again reported double-digit revenue growth, but in contrast to prior years when growth was made up of a mix of price increases and product sales, this time it came exclusively from increased transplant sales." His further comments focused on presenting the strategic options for EU market entry and the general future development of CO.DON AG. The general discussion that followed showed the great interest of those present in the opportunities presented. Positive company news and a buoyant share price ahead of the shareholders' meeting had created a generally positive mood, which also carried over to the event itself.
The voting shareholders attending, who represented 49.26 % of the 17,691,648 million voting shares, approved all the proposals put forward by company management. The members of the Executive Board, Messrs Hessel and Jakobs, and the members of the Supervisory Board were discharged of liability for the financial year 2016; the discharge of liability of Ms Vilma Methner, Executive Board member until mid-2016, was postponed to the next Annual General Meeting due to ongoing litigation. Roever Broenner Susat Mazars GmbH & Co. KG Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Hamburg, was appointed as auditor for 2017. As the terms of office of Supervisory Board members Professor Hans Bauerfeind, Ms Beatrix Bauerfeind-Johnson and Mr Thomas Krause ended at the close of the shareholders' meeting on 9 June 2017, new elections were necessary. Professor Bauerfeind, Ms Bauerfeind-Johnson and Mr Krause were re-elected to the Supervisory Board for another four years. Other agenda items were the creation of Authorised Capital 2017 and the corresponding changes to the articles of association, authorisation to issue convertible bonds and warrants, creation of a new Authorised Capital 2017 and the corresponding changes to the articles of association at the suggestion of shareholder Thommy Stählin and a resolution on amending section 15 paragraph 1 of the articles of association, "Supervisory Board remuneration".
*About CO.DON AG:* CO.DON AG develops, produces and markets in Germany autologous cell therapies for the minimally invasive repair of cartilage damage in joints following traumatic or degenerative defects. CO.DON condrosphere(R) is a cell therapy product that uses only the patient's own cartilage cells ("autologous chondrocytes"). CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been approved by the German federal agency PEI in accordance with Section 4b of the German Pharmaceuticals Act (AMG) and is currently undergoing Phase II and III clinical trials to obtain European marketing authorisation. CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been used for more than 10 years in over 150 clinics to treat more than 11,000 patients. In Germany the statutory health insurance companies have paid for the treatment of knee and hip joints since 2007 and for the treatment of vertebral joints since 2008. The shares in CO.DON AG are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A1K0227). Executive Board: Dirk Hessel (CEO), Ralf M. Jakobs (CFO).
More information can be found at www.ihre-zellzuechter.de and www.codon.de
*Investor Relations and Press Contact:*
Matthias Meißner, M.A.
Director Corporate Communications / IR / PR
Tel. +49 (0)30 240352330
Fax +49 (0)30 240352309
Email: ir@codon.de
--------------------
15.06.2017 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de --------------------
Language: English
Company: CO.DON AG
Warthestraße 21
14513 Teltow
Germany
Phone: 03328 43460
Fax: 03328 434643
E-mail: info@codon.de
Internet: www.codon.de
ISIN: DE000A1K0227
WKN: A1K022
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (General Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
End of News DGAP News Service Reported by EQS Group 13 hours ago.
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Konami Is Making Life Difficult for Former Employees
The company is making it difficult for former staff to get new jobs and even health insurance.
Reported by PCMag.com 13 hours ago.
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Health Insurance - An Industry In Transition
Reported by SeekingAlpha 12 hours ago.
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A.M. Best Special Report: U.S. Health Insurance Industry Earnings Up 46% in 2016
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The health insurance industry posted improved earnings for 2016, with net income for those companies filing on a health annual statement rising by 46% to $13.1 billion compared with $9.0 billion in 2015, according to a new A.M. Best special report. The Best’s Special Report, titled, “U.S. Health Insurance Industry Earnings Up in 2016,” notes that net income was supported by a second year of improving underwriting income, which is owed to favorable year-over-year
Reported by Business Wire 12 hours ago.
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THE INSURANCE AND THE IoT REPORT: How insurers are using connected devices to cut costs and more accurately price policies
Insurance companies have long based their pricing models and strategies on assumptions about the demographics of their customers. Auto insurers, for example, have traditionally charged higher premiums for parents of teenage drivers based on the assumption that members of this demographic are more likely to get into an accident.But those assumptions are inherently flawed, since they often aren't based on the actual behaviors and characteristics of individual customers. As new IoT technologies increasingly move into the mainstream, insurers are able to collect and analyze data to more accurately price premiums, helping them to protect the assets they insure and enabling more efficient assessment of damages to conserve resources.
A new report from BI Intelligence explains how companies in the auto, health, and home insurance markets are using the data produced by IoT solutions to augment their existing policy pricing models and grow their customer bases. In addition, it examines areas where IoT devices have the potential to open up new insurance segments.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
· The world's largest auto insurers now offer usage-based policies, which price premiums based on vehicle usage data collected directly from the car.
· Large home and commercial property insurers are using drones to inspect damaged properties, which can improve workflow efficiency and reduce their reliance on human labor.
· Health and life insurance firms are offering customers fitness trackers to encourage healthy behavior, and discounts for meeting certain goals.
· Home insurers are offering discounts on smart home devices to current customers, and in some cases, free devices to entice new customers.
In full, the report:
· Forecasts the number of Americans who will have tried usage-based auto insurance by 2021.
· Explains why narrowly tailored wearables could be what's next for the health insurance industry.
· Analyzes the market for potential future insurance products on IoT devices.
· Discusses and analyzes the barriers to consumers opting in to policies that collect their data.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the IoT, choose one of these options:
1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> *START A MEMBERSHIP*
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> *BUY THE REPORT*
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of insurance and the IoT.
Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 11 hours ago.
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The Obamacare-focused insurance company founded by Jared Kushner's brother has made a new move to survive as the GOP healthcare bill looms
Oscar Health, the $2.7 billion health-insurance startup, is going to start offering health insurance plans alongside the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for the first time. Oscar was co-founded by Josh Kushner, whose brother Jared is one of President Donald Trump's senior advisers. The health insurer originally focused on offering insurance through the Obamacare exchanges. The new plans with the Cleveland Clinic, a 96-year-old academic medical center, will also be offered on the exchanges.
This is the first time the Cleveland Clinic will be offering a health insurance plan under its name.
Here's what it'll look like: If you live in northeast Ohio and want to buy one of the Oscar-Cleveland Clinic plans, you sign up through Oscar's website as you might if you were in one of the other areas where Oscar operates (today, that's New York, California, and Texas). You'll use Oscar's apps and concierge services, but your clinical team will be healthcare professionals from the Cleveland Clinic at its hospitals and medical centers.
"This relationship goes beyond the traditional approach of getting sick and seeing the doctor," Cleveland Clinic chief of staff Brian Donley said in a news release. "Instead, it's about getting people the right care, at the right place, at the right time. It's about avoiding an unnecessary trip to the doctor or a stay in the hospital, whenever possible, through better patient education, better access to care, better care coordination, better behaviors and, ultimately, better health."The move comes at a time when there's a lot of uncertainty about the future of healthcare in the US. In May, the House passed the GOP's Obamacare replacement bill, and Senate Republicans are quietly crafting their own bill. If either one becomes law, it could drastically upend the individual exchanges that are Oscar's bread and butter.
Oscar's chief technology officer Alan Warren told Business Insider that the company has seen things stabilize. And, if a new law replaces the Affordable Care Act, Warren said it won't change anything about the co-branded Cleveland Clinic health plans.
For now, the plans are just for individuals, but Warren said the hope is to expand into the small group market as well.
*SEE ALSO: A new kind of doctor's office charges a monthly fee and doesn't take insurance — and it could be the future of medicine*
*DON'T MISS: Health insurance startup Oscar has a new way to get all your medical details in one place for your doctor*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Buying Tesla stock is like buying a call option on Elon Musk Reported by Business Insider 10 hours ago.
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A.M. Best Revises Outlooks to Stable for Highmark Inc. and Its Subsidiaries
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” of Highmark Inc. (Highmark) (Camp Hill, PA), Highmark Choice Company, HM Health Insurance Company and Highmark West Virginia Inc. (Parkersburg, WV). Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IRs) of “bbb+” on Highmark’s existing senior
Reported by Business Wire 6 hours ago.
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Top GOP senator seeks action now to steady insurance markets
WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading Republican senator is calling for immediate action to stabilize shaky health insurance markets around the country, amid concerns that the GOP will get blamed if constituents' lives are disrupted. Alexander, the health committee chairman, says guaranteeing the money would avoid the "real possibility" that millions of people will have no options for coverage next year.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 4 hours ago.
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Cleveland Clinic partners with startup Oscar to offer insurance in Ohio
Cleveland Clinic and Oscar Health announced that they'll work together to offer individual health insurance plans to consumers in northeast Ohio.
Reported by CNNMoney 4 hours ago.
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Medica Files to Sell Individual Products Statewide in Nebraska in 2018
MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#healthinsurance--Medica today filed with the Nebraska Department of Insurance to sell individual health insurance products statewide for the 2018 coverage year.
Reported by Business Wire 2 hours ago.
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Cleveland Clinic partners with startup Oscar to offer insurance in Ohio
Cleveland Clinic and Oscar Health announced that they'll work together to offer individual health insurance plans to consumers in northeast Ohio.
Reported by CNNMoney 21 hours ago.
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What you need to know about health insurance when you travel abroad
Reported by MarketWatch 17 hours ago.
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Resistance In A Time Of Gunfire
The smell of gun smoke had net yet lifted from an Alexandria baseball field when the calls for unity began. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan. “You’re going to hear me say something you’ve never heard me say before,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responded. “I identify myself with the remarks of the speaker.”
“We’ve had a very, very divided country for many years,” said President Donald Trump, “and I have a feeling that [wounded Congressman Steve Scalise] has made a great sacrifice but there could be some unity being brought to our country.”
“Let’s hope so,” Trump added.
The country’s leaders understandably tend to call for unity after acts of political violence. But unity doesn’t mean silence. There are sharp political differences in this country. Important issues are being debated, and lives are at stake.
The president was right to reject violence. But his own words of years past lingered in the air, as acrid as smoke. “I’d like to punch him in the face,” Trump said of a protester at a campaign rally last year, before lamenting the passing of the “good old days” when the protester would have been “carried out on a stretcher.”
President Trump invited Ted Nugent to the White House for a private dinner in April. This, after the Southern rocker had for years called President Barack Obama an unprintable name, referred to him as a “sub-human mongrel,” and invited him to “suck on my machine gun.” That was “just an outrageous metaphor,” Nugent later said.
“We have got to be civil,” a seemingly chastened Nugent said after the Virginia shooting.
If that was to be the new far-right Republican stance, not everyone got the memo. Several hard-right commentators said that a “Second Civil War” –capitalized, for emphasis – had begun.
“America has been divided,” Republican Rep. Steve King said when he visited the Alexandria baseball field. “And the center of America is disappearing, and the violence is appearing in the streets, and it’s coming from the left.”
The violence is coming from the left? Nine murdered churchgoers in Charleston, along with several hundred other Americans murdered by the far right, would have been surprised to hear that.
The far right has conducted more terrorist violence, in fact, than any other social group in the United States. That includes radical Islamists, according to data published by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism & Responses to Terrorism.
Trump, Rep. King, and other Republicans have exaggerated the threat of Muslim extremists, while ignoring the many American lives lost to right-wing terrorists since 1990. The extremist right often targets law enforcement and military personnel. Despite Trump’s fearmongering about immigration, it poses a much greater threat to public safety immigrants do.
“Violence,” wrote the revolutionary writer and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, “is man re-creating himself.”
Is he right? Are Americans doomed to an endless cycle of political violence? Not if we take reasonable precautions, like other countries do.
Fanon’s use of the word “man” reflects the gendered language of his time. But studies show that mass shooters are more likely to be men ― especially men who have committed violence against women. Police records show that James Hodgkinson, the gunman behind Tuesday’s shooting, committed anti-woman violence against his daughter and a female neighbor.
Mass murders at Virginia Tech, in Isla Vista, Newton, Kansas, Colorado Springs, and across the country were carried out by men who had previously assaulted women. And yet, despite his profile and his record of violence, the FBI reports that James Hodgkinson was able to lawfully purchase a 9 mm handgun and a 7.62 caliber rifle.
Republicans continue to block any attempts to pass reasonable gun control legislation. They are also increasingly eager to outlaw peaceful protests. Trump’s Commerce Secretary expressed admiration for Saudi Arabia’s totalitarian repression of demonstrations even as lawmakers across the country are moving to criminalize protest.
That’s a toxic combination. This is a time of growing economic inequality, state violence against people of color, and a fraying social safety net. Protests provide a voice for the voiceless and a channel for change. Without protest, crushed dreams are likely to lead to greater unrest.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible,” said John F. Kennedy, “will make violent revolution inevitable. “
Virtually all leaders of the American left, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Bernie Sanders, have been deeply committed to nonviolence.
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,” Dr. King said, “adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” Sanders has always spoken of peaceful revolution, as he did after the Alexandria shooting. “Real change can only come about through nonviolent action,” Sanders said.
Leaders of the right should follow their example.
But there must be nonviolent action. As of this writing, Republicans are moving to deprive an estimated 24 million people of their health insurance – an act that will cause an estimated 43,000 needless deaths each year.
These are our lives, and the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors. We have the right to act peacefully to protect them.
We don’t have to reinvent ourselves along violent lines. Instead, we can become a country that changes itself through nonviolent revolution. To do that we will need more voices of dissent. Protest is patriotic. The politicians calling for unity are forgetting a simple principle: When justice is achieved, unity will follow.
-- 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 8 hours ago.
“We’ve had a very, very divided country for many years,” said President Donald Trump, “and I have a feeling that [wounded Congressman Steve Scalise] has made a great sacrifice but there could be some unity being brought to our country.”
“Let’s hope so,” Trump added.
The country’s leaders understandably tend to call for unity after acts of political violence. But unity doesn’t mean silence. There are sharp political differences in this country. Important issues are being debated, and lives are at stake.
The president was right to reject violence. But his own words of years past lingered in the air, as acrid as smoke. “I’d like to punch him in the face,” Trump said of a protester at a campaign rally last year, before lamenting the passing of the “good old days” when the protester would have been “carried out on a stretcher.”
President Trump invited Ted Nugent to the White House for a private dinner in April. This, after the Southern rocker had for years called President Barack Obama an unprintable name, referred to him as a “sub-human mongrel,” and invited him to “suck on my machine gun.” That was “just an outrageous metaphor,” Nugent later said.
“We have got to be civil,” a seemingly chastened Nugent said after the Virginia shooting.
If that was to be the new far-right Republican stance, not everyone got the memo. Several hard-right commentators said that a “Second Civil War” –capitalized, for emphasis – had begun.
“America has been divided,” Republican Rep. Steve King said when he visited the Alexandria baseball field. “And the center of America is disappearing, and the violence is appearing in the streets, and it’s coming from the left.”
The violence is coming from the left? Nine murdered churchgoers in Charleston, along with several hundred other Americans murdered by the far right, would have been surprised to hear that.
The far right has conducted more terrorist violence, in fact, than any other social group in the United States. That includes radical Islamists, according to data published by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism & Responses to Terrorism.
Trump, Rep. King, and other Republicans have exaggerated the threat of Muslim extremists, while ignoring the many American lives lost to right-wing terrorists since 1990. The extremist right often targets law enforcement and military personnel. Despite Trump’s fearmongering about immigration, it poses a much greater threat to public safety immigrants do.
“Violence,” wrote the revolutionary writer and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, “is man re-creating himself.”
Is he right? Are Americans doomed to an endless cycle of political violence? Not if we take reasonable precautions, like other countries do.
Fanon’s use of the word “man” reflects the gendered language of his time. But studies show that mass shooters are more likely to be men ― especially men who have committed violence against women. Police records show that James Hodgkinson, the gunman behind Tuesday’s shooting, committed anti-woman violence against his daughter and a female neighbor.
Mass murders at Virginia Tech, in Isla Vista, Newton, Kansas, Colorado Springs, and across the country were carried out by men who had previously assaulted women. And yet, despite his profile and his record of violence, the FBI reports that James Hodgkinson was able to lawfully purchase a 9 mm handgun and a 7.62 caliber rifle.
Republicans continue to block any attempts to pass reasonable gun control legislation. They are also increasingly eager to outlaw peaceful protests. Trump’s Commerce Secretary expressed admiration for Saudi Arabia’s totalitarian repression of demonstrations even as lawmakers across the country are moving to criminalize protest.
That’s a toxic combination. This is a time of growing economic inequality, state violence against people of color, and a fraying social safety net. Protests provide a voice for the voiceless and a channel for change. Without protest, crushed dreams are likely to lead to greater unrest.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible,” said John F. Kennedy, “will make violent revolution inevitable. “
Virtually all leaders of the American left, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Bernie Sanders, have been deeply committed to nonviolence.
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,” Dr. King said, “adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” Sanders has always spoken of peaceful revolution, as he did after the Alexandria shooting. “Real change can only come about through nonviolent action,” Sanders said.
Leaders of the right should follow their example.
But there must be nonviolent action. As of this writing, Republicans are moving to deprive an estimated 24 million people of their health insurance – an act that will cause an estimated 43,000 needless deaths each year.
These are our lives, and the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors. We have the right to act peacefully to protect them.
We don’t have to reinvent ourselves along violent lines. Instead, we can become a country that changes itself through nonviolent revolution. To do that we will need more voices of dissent. Protest is patriotic. The politicians calling for unity are forgetting a simple principle: When justice is achieved, unity will follow.
-- 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 8 hours ago.
↧
Gardner Promised Obamacare Replacement Wouldn't Be Drafted 'Behind Closed Doors'
During a conference call in February, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner assured worried constituents that they would have plenty of opportunities to weigh in on any legislation to replace Obamacare.
“It’s important to me that this debate be open and that the American people see what’s happening and taking place,” said Gardner. “So Sandy, I think as this committee hearings and legislation is being is drafted, it’s not going to be something behind closed doors, everybody is going to be a part of it. It’s important that we get this right.”
Now, about four months later, the Republican leadership of the U.S. Senate, which includes Gardner himself, has no plans to hold public hearings on their Obamacare replacement legislation, currently being drafted in secret by 13 senators, including Gardner.
As U.S. Senate President Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained this week after invoking a rule that would move the health care bill to a full Senate vote with little or no chance for amendments:
“We’ve been dealing with this issue for seven years. It’s not a new thing,” McConnell said, arguing that there was little new left to be discussed in a public forum. “Nobody’s hiding the ball here,” he said. “You’re free to ask anybody anything. But there have been gazillions of hearings on this subject, when they were in the majority, when we were in the majority. We understand this issue pretty well and we’re now working on coming up with a solution.”
Despite his previous promises, Gardner hasn’t objected to the secrecy ― and it doesn’t appear that reporters have asked him about it.
But U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has objected, saying she “has a problem with it” and the secrecy is “just not a good way to handle something that is as significant and important as health care.”
In fact, Gardner has said very little of substance about the Senate bill. But based on the little he has said, he’s apparently not fighting to keep 400,000 Coloradans on the Obamacare health insurance rolls but instead is advocating for throwing them off slowly, in a “glide path.”
Gardner is doubling down on hypocrisy here, because he’s been apoplectic for years over what he says was Democrats’ failure to offer sufficient public input into the formulation of Obamacare, even though, in 2009 with Democrats in control, the full U.S. Senate debated the Obamacare bill for 25 straight days, the Senate Health Committee held 60 hours of public hearings, and the Senate Finance Committee considered 130 amendments and held 79 roll-call votes.
“This President [Obama] has claimed to be one of the most transparent in history, yet his health care overhaul was passed behind closed doors and ended up cutting $500 billion from Medicare,” Gardner said in 2013. “The American people deserve better than that.”
And Gardner repeated this false accusation just three months ago on KNUS 710-AM.
“This is an idea [the Obamacare replacement] that will go through regular order, through committees, and have an opportunity to be openly debated and talked about — something that is completely different than what happened six years ago when the Affordable Care Act was written behind closed doors and the leadership offices, and then crammed down on the Senate floor directly,” Gardner told KNUS 710-AM’s Jimmy Sengenberger. “So, this is something that is going to go through an open process — regular order.”
Gardner is in a good position to influence the Senate’s health-care bill, not only due to his Senate leadership role but also as a member of the committee of 13 senators selected by McConnell that’s drafting the Senate’s Obamacare replacement in secret. Gardner was among a group of senators who had lunch with Trump Tuesday to discuss the legislation.
Gardner continued to keep his cards close to his chest this week, saying he’s not seen any text of the bill and not offering any details.
It appears that Senate Republicans plan to send their legislation to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for a “score.” A quick vote by the House Republicans last month came before the CBO analysis, which later showed that 14 million more people uninsured next year and 12 million more within 10 years.
On conservative talk radio in March, Gardner suggested that the dismantlement of Obamacare should begin without a CBO analysis, thus avoiding public outcry over the prospect of so many people losing health insurance.
Listen to Gardner’s comment on the Feb. 6 conference call here.
-- 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 6 hours ago.
“It’s important to me that this debate be open and that the American people see what’s happening and taking place,” said Gardner. “So Sandy, I think as this committee hearings and legislation is being is drafted, it’s not going to be something behind closed doors, everybody is going to be a part of it. It’s important that we get this right.”
Now, about four months later, the Republican leadership of the U.S. Senate, which includes Gardner himself, has no plans to hold public hearings on their Obamacare replacement legislation, currently being drafted in secret by 13 senators, including Gardner.
As U.S. Senate President Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained this week after invoking a rule that would move the health care bill to a full Senate vote with little or no chance for amendments:
“We’ve been dealing with this issue for seven years. It’s not a new thing,” McConnell said, arguing that there was little new left to be discussed in a public forum. “Nobody’s hiding the ball here,” he said. “You’re free to ask anybody anything. But there have been gazillions of hearings on this subject, when they were in the majority, when we were in the majority. We understand this issue pretty well and we’re now working on coming up with a solution.”
Despite his previous promises, Gardner hasn’t objected to the secrecy ― and it doesn’t appear that reporters have asked him about it.
But U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has objected, saying she “has a problem with it” and the secrecy is “just not a good way to handle something that is as significant and important as health care.”
In fact, Gardner has said very little of substance about the Senate bill. But based on the little he has said, he’s apparently not fighting to keep 400,000 Coloradans on the Obamacare health insurance rolls but instead is advocating for throwing them off slowly, in a “glide path.”
Gardner is doubling down on hypocrisy here, because he’s been apoplectic for years over what he says was Democrats’ failure to offer sufficient public input into the formulation of Obamacare, even though, in 2009 with Democrats in control, the full U.S. Senate debated the Obamacare bill for 25 straight days, the Senate Health Committee held 60 hours of public hearings, and the Senate Finance Committee considered 130 amendments and held 79 roll-call votes.
“This President [Obama] has claimed to be one of the most transparent in history, yet his health care overhaul was passed behind closed doors and ended up cutting $500 billion from Medicare,” Gardner said in 2013. “The American people deserve better than that.”
And Gardner repeated this false accusation just three months ago on KNUS 710-AM.
“This is an idea [the Obamacare replacement] that will go through regular order, through committees, and have an opportunity to be openly debated and talked about — something that is completely different than what happened six years ago when the Affordable Care Act was written behind closed doors and the leadership offices, and then crammed down on the Senate floor directly,” Gardner told KNUS 710-AM’s Jimmy Sengenberger. “So, this is something that is going to go through an open process — regular order.”
Gardner is in a good position to influence the Senate’s health-care bill, not only due to his Senate leadership role but also as a member of the committee of 13 senators selected by McConnell that’s drafting the Senate’s Obamacare replacement in secret. Gardner was among a group of senators who had lunch with Trump Tuesday to discuss the legislation.
Gardner continued to keep his cards close to his chest this week, saying he’s not seen any text of the bill and not offering any details.
It appears that Senate Republicans plan to send their legislation to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for a “score.” A quick vote by the House Republicans last month came before the CBO analysis, which later showed that 14 million more people uninsured next year and 12 million more within 10 years.
On conservative talk radio in March, Gardner suggested that the dismantlement of Obamacare should begin without a CBO analysis, thus avoiding public outcry over the prospect of so many people losing health insurance.
Listen to Gardner’s comment on the Feb. 6 conference call here.
-- 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 6 hours ago.
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