Health savings accounts, coupled with high deductible health plans, increasingly are on the list of choices. The insurance industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans reports that the number of people with these plans “rose to more than 11.4 million in January 2011, up from 10 million in January 2010.” Still, HSAs can be confusing, and, many people…
Legal experts predict a Supreme Court win for Obamacare
The American Bar Assn. devoted all 40 pages of the latest Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases magazine to the high courts review of Obamacare, formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The court is scheduled to hear arguments about the laws constitutionality this month. For this special issue, the editors of…
U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement Takes Effect Today
As of March 15, 2012, the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement – the most commercially significant U.S. trade agreement in nearly two decades — is now in effect. The opportunities this agreement offers to American manufacturers, service providers, farmers, ranchers, and workers are key components of President Obama’s National Export Initiative, which aims to double American exports by…
Vermont Edges Toward Single Payer Health Care
From October 2011: Many of the details of the system, including the key issue of financing, still need to be worked out and more legislation will be required to complete the transformation. But Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin has moved quickly since taking office last January to set the state on a path to create the…
The Health Law And The Supreme Court: A Primer For The Upcoming Oral Arguments
How big is the constitutional challenge to the Obama health care law, which the Supreme Court will hear on March 26-28? For starters, it’s big enough for the justices to schedule six hours of arguments — more time than given to any case since 1966. After all, the Affordable Care Act is arguably the most…
For once, the Senate tries to make highway spending less irrational
Wednesday, the Senate passed a two-year, $109 billion transportation bill that tries to change all that — at least in a few modest ways. The bill itself is critical because funding for roads, bridges and transit is set to run out on March 31. But there are a few notable reforms tucked away in the…
New healthcare exchange rules issued for states
Industry and consumer groups welcomed the regulations, saying they provided states with the flexibility necessary to meet consumer needs for choice and quality protections. They also said the regulations shift policy focus to the state level, where the new rules must be implemented. State exchanges are part of a two-pronged effort to provide health coverage…
McConnell: Im Filibustering Seventeen Judges Because Reid Made Republicans Look Bad
Both Reid and McConnell agree that there is nothing objectionable about these judges — in McConnell’s words, “it is highly unlikely any of these district judges are not going to be confirmed.” Additionally, both men agree that the Senate should vote on the “IPO bill” that Reid refers to, a bill dealing with investments in…
Details on President’s Plan to Provide Americans with Job Training and Employment Services
The President’s proposal also calls for the creation of an American Job Center network to unify all Federally-supported One-Stop Career Centers and electronic resources. Currently, names for these nearly 3,000 federally funded employment centers vary widely from state to state, or even from town to town, and electronic tools are spread across many disconnected websites. …
U.S. Production of Oil Rising Under Obama
Check out this informative graphic from whitehouse.gov. Some takeaways: Production of oil is increasing Dependence on foreign oil declining More oil rigs in operation Total oil and gas production is up http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/gasprices
The Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future: One-Year Progress Report | The White House
From Heather Zichal, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change: One year ago, the President put forward a comprehensive plan in the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that outlined the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy aimed at reducing our reliance on foreign oil, saving families and businesses…
Texas Voter ID Law Blocked By Justice Department
The U.S. Department of Justice has blocked a new voter ID law from going into effect in Texas. The department says the state failed to show that the law would not deny or limit minorities right to vote. Its the second state voter ID law the department has blocked. Texas, like several other states, has…
86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Can’t Vote After Government-Issued ID Is Rejected At Poll
Paul Carroll, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who has lived in the same Ohio town for four decades, was denied a chance to vote in the state’s primary contests today after a poll worker denied his form of identification, a recently-acquired photo ID from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The poll worker rejected the…
Science: Ocean Acidifying So Fast It Threatens Humanitys Ability to Feed Itself
That is to say, it’s not just that acidifying oceans spell marine biological meltdown “by end of century” as a 2010 Geological Society study put it. We are also warming the ocean and decreasing dissolved oxygen concentration. That is a recipe for mass extinction. A 2009 Nature Geoscience study found that ocean dead zones “devoid of fish…
Drug Testing Bill Targets Florida State Workers, Excludes Lawmakers
A Florida state lawmaker is pushing a bill requiring state agencies to test their workers for drugs. But the bill wouldn’t mandate testing for all public sector employees; members of the Florida legislature would get a pass. Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Lecanto), the bill’s sponsor, said he supports drug testing for lawmakers, but requiring them to…
Florida House Of Representatives Overwhelmingly Approves ‘Inspirational Message’ Bill For Schools
Florida students will soon be allowed to deliver “inspirational messages,” which include everything from prayers to manifestos, at mandatory school events. The Florida House of Representatives just approved SB 98, which permits Florida school districts to allow students to read inspirational messages of their choosing at assemblies and sporting events. The House approval was overwhelming,…
Kansas Abortion Bill: Risks Lives, Governor Hasn’t Read It, But Promises To Sign It
Brownback, speaking to The Huffington Post Monday following the National Governors Association meeting, said that while he has not read the 69-page bill, he is likely to sign the proposal since he opposes abortion rights. Brownback, a former U.S. senator, has signed several anti-abortion bills since he took office last year. “I am pro-life,” Brownback…
Progressive Chellie Pingree Considers Run for Snowe’s Seat
Rep. Chellie Pingree D-Maine is all but certain to make a bid for the Senate in the wake of Sen. Olympia Snowes R retirement announcement, she told The Huffington Post in an interview Wednesday. “I cant think of anything right now thats holding me back,” Pingree said. “I mean, I love being in the House,…
Election Director: No Proof of Dead Voters
The director of the South Carolina Election Commission released a report Wednesday refuting claims that more 200 dead voters participated during the 2010 election. Election Commission Executive Director Marci Andino said that 197 of the cases her agency investigated appeared to be results of human error or coincidence and not cases of voter fraud. The…
Why The Right Is Wrong About Saving Detroit
An emerging myth being pushed by the right contends that federal spending to rescue GM and Chrysler was unnecessary, and that the companies instead should have gone through a “traditional” bankruptcy. In fact, economists at the time explained that frozen credit markets made private financing for a “traditional” bankruptcy impossible. READ MORE: via Why The…