Many of the governors threatening to stymie implementation of the Affordable Care Act preside over states with high uninsurance rates, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser data breaks down each state’s population by source of insurance, and by percent uninsured. Unsurprisingly, Massachusetts has the lowest uninsurance rate in the country, thanks to…
Category: News & Opinion
Islamophobia: A Bipartisan Project
When the New York Times ran its story on Obama’s “kill list,” showing the president poring over names of people to potentially assassinate in drone strikes, it sparked a controversy. The content of that controversy was not over this extraordinary revelation about Obama’s use of power but rather over the leaking of state secrets, which…
Democrats Lead House Ad Spending
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and its allies have made their plans known early this year, plopping down millions of dollars in advertising reservations in markets across the country months before those advertisements will air. The DCCC has reserved a total of $46 million across dozens of media markets around the country for ads that…
STUDY: Media Avoid Climate Context In Wildfire Coverage
While numerous factors determine the frequency, severity and cost of wildfires, scientific research indicates that human-induced climate change increases fire risks in parts of the Western U.S. by promoting warmer and drier conditions. Seven of nine fire experts contacted by Media Matters agreed journalists should explain the relationship between climate change and wildfires. But an…
GOP governors say Medicaid costs are already breaking states’ backs. Are they right?
The Republican governors vowing to opt out of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion argue the program is already burdening cash-strapped state governments and would be a poison pill for state budgets in the long run. Are they right? When you look at all spending on state programs—including money from both federal and state governments—Medicaid is the single…
Republican Michigan Governor Vetoes GOP Voter Suppression Law
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) bucked his fellow Republicans on Tuesday by vetoing a voter ID law crafted by GOP members of the state legislature, the Detroit Free Press reports: Among the bills vetoed was one requiring photo ID for first voter registration or to obtain an absentee ballot, a requirement that African-American activists claimed…
Former IRS Official Demands Investigation of ALEC : Roll Call Lobbying & Influence
The former head of the IRS’ Exempt Organizations division has asked the agency to revoke the tax-exempt status of the conservative nonprofit ALEC. Marcus Owens, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale, who for a decade directed the division responsible for approving organizations’ charity status, accused the American Legislative Exchange Council of illegally lobbying state lawmakers…
Three Controversial Bain Decisions That Happened Before Romney Left
The Romney campaign has deflected criticism of the former governor’s business record as head of Bain Capital by insisting that he cannot be held responsible for its actions following his departure in February of 1999. However, SEC documents unearthed by Mother Jones directly contradict the campaign’s assertion that Romney broke all ties with Bain after…
Romney Left Bain Later Than He Says, Documents Show
David Corn published an important story Monday morning about Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney co-founded. Using documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, David proves that Romney was involved with Bain’s investment in Stericycle, a medical waste firm that has been criticized by opponents of abortion rights for disposing of…
Everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian health care in one post
The Canadian health care system was built around the principle that all citizens will receive all “medically necessary and hospital physician services.” To that end, each of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories finance and run a statewide health insurance program. There is no cost-sharing for the health care services guaranteed under federal law. While…
Whats Ahead On The Post-SCOTUS Decision Landscape
After the Supreme Courts decision last week upholding the health law, news outlets analyze what comes next in terms of the laws implementation, the obstacles it faces and its impact on various parts of the health system. MORE: Whats Ahead On The Post-SCOTUS Decision Landscape – Kaiser Health News.
Justice Scalia should resign
Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court. He’d have a lot of things to do. He’s a fine public speaker and teacher. He’d be a heck of a columnist and blogger. But he really seems to aspire to being a politician — and that’s the problem. So often, Scalia has chosen to…
11 facts about the Affordable Care Act
In the past week, both Alec MacGillis and Sabrina Tavernise have written articles touching on how little the uninsured actually know about the Affordable Care Act. Given that polling shows the law remains unpopular even as its component parts — with the notable exception of the individual mandate — are very popular, it seems they’re…
Awaiting The Court Ruling, A Consumer Guide To Health Reform Law
The Supreme Court is expected to rule within a week on some key constitutional challenges brought by states against the 2010 health care overhaul law. The decision will have sweeping ramifications for consumers, state officials, employers and health care providers, including hospitals and doctors. While some of the key features don’t kick in until 2014, the still-controversial…
Genetically modified grass blamed for mass cattle deaths in Texas
A form of genetically modified grass is being cited as the likely culprit in the sudden death of a herd of cattle in Central Texas, according to CBS News. Preliminary tests revealed that the grass, an altered form of Bermuda grass known as Tifton 85, had mysteriously begun producing cyanide gas. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are…
Want to read the over 300 lies Romney has told in the past few months?
For those who are watching the 2012 presidential race closely, Mitt Romney’s penchant for falsehoods is hard to miss. Michael Cohen summarized the issue nicely this week in a piece for The Guardian: Granted, presidential candidates are no strangers to disingenuous or overstated claims; it’s pretty much endemic to the business. But Romney is doing something very different…
Expect gas prices to fall below $3
Is it possible the average price at the pump could be below $3 a gallon by the time leaves begin to change? Absolutely, according to experts who follow fuel price trends, and some areas of Georgia have already broken the barrier. At one station in Macon on Friday, unleaded regular was selling for $2.90, and in Duluth and…
Dell Becomes 21st Company To Drop ALEC
Computer technology giant Dell has decided to drop its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing corporate front group behind the spread of voter suppression laws and Stand You Ground legislation. SOURCE: BREAKING: Dell Becomes 21st Company To Drop ALEC | ThinkProgress
Flawed Voter Purge Underway In Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that after a state-level investigation, Fulton County, Georgia identified at least 2,400 voters it believed to be registered to vote at vacant lots. Like with the Florida purge, county elections officials began sending letters to those voters to determine whether they lived at those address. Unfortunately, as with Florida, they ran…
Republicans Holding Nearly 3 Million Transportation Jobs Hostage For 6,000 Temporary Oil Jobs
The deadline for new transportation funding is June 30, and if the calendar flips to July without a compromise, as many as 1.9 million workers could lose their jobs, at least temporarily. The Senate version of the bill, if adapted, would create an additional one million new jobs as well, according to Department of Transportation…