Gallup: "33% Have Put Off Medical Treatment Because Of Cost" | House Considering Options On Obama's Overreach on Immigration
AG Eric Holder On New Racial Profiling Standards |
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that he will soon unveil long-planned Justice Department guidance aimed at ending racial profiling. "In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement. This will institute rigorous new standards - and robust safeguards - to help end racial profiling, once and for all," Holder said. Holder traveled to Atlanta to meet with law enforcement and community leaders for the first in a series of regional meetings around the country. President Obama asked Holder to set up the meetings in the wake of clashes between protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) were sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden after winning election to serve the remainder of the terms they were appointed to.
At 10:30 AM, the Senate voted on two controversial ambassador nominees who are also Obama bundlers, Noah Mamet to be ambassador to Argentina and Colleen Bell to be ambassador to Hungary. Yesterday, the Senate voted 50-36 to invoke cloture on the Mamet nomination and 50-36 to invoke cloture on the Bell nomination.
The Mamet nomination was confirmed by a vote of 50-43 and the Bell nomination was confirmed by a vote of 52-42. Neither candidate would have been approved except for the Democrats "nuclear option."
Suggest that Senate Republicans in January, pay back the Democrats and continue this procedure started by the Dems for at least the same duration of time as the Democrats have used the nuclear option. The people did not elect Republicans to control the Senate beginning in 2014, to let the Democrats off for their prior abuses.
The Senate then voted 59-34 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Nani Coloretti to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and 52-40 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Robert Adler to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
At 4 PM, there will be at least 3 roll call votes on confirmation of the Coloretti and Adler nominations and then on cloture on the nomination of Charlotte Burrows to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 5629 (374-11) — "To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to strengthen the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5421(Voice Vote) — "To amend title 11 of the United States Code in order to facilitate the resolution of an insolvent financial institution in bankruptcy."
H.R. 4924 (Voice Vote) — "To direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into the Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement and the Hualapai Tribe Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Agreement, to provide for the lease of certain land located within Planet Ranch on the Bill Williams River in the State of Arizona to benefit the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, and to provide for the settlement of specific water rights claims in the Bill Williams River watershed in the State of Arizona."
H.R. 3438 (386-0) — "To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize use of grants under the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to work in conjunction with a Department of Energy national laboratory."
H.R. 3410 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to secure critical infrastructure against electromagnetic pulses, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2455 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the sale or transfer of certain Federal lands in Nevada, and for other purposes."
Today, at a press briefing with Republican leaders, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) took President Obama to task for his recent unilateral action on immigration, saying the president’s overreach has made “it harder for the American people and their elected representatives to trust his word on any issue.” Boehner’s remarks: “The American people want both parties to focus on solutions to our still-struggling economy. This week we’ll pass important legislation to help families with special needs and to prevent tax hikes on millions of families and small businesses.
“The president, on the other hand, has ignored the will of the American people and he’s refused to listen. … His decision to take unilateral action on immigration – action he himself said exceeded his authority – makes it harder for the American people and their elected representatives to trust his word on any issue.
“I said before Thanksgiving that Republicans would fight his unilateral actions. We’re looking at a variety of options, both for right now and when Republicans control both Houses of the Congress next year. And we’ll continue to discuss with our members a number of options, in terms of how we will deal with this, in consultation, again, with the members - but no decisions have been made at this point.”
When Democrats were pitching their unpopular health care law, they promised many times that it would lower the cost of health care. In a speech to Congress in September 2009, President Obama claimed the law “will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.” And a few months later during debate on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said, “Bringing down costs of health insurance and making it more affordable is job one for this health care reform.”
Of course the law is still failing to live up to these promises. The Wall Street Journal reports today, “The American middle class has absorbed a steep increase in the cost of health care and other necessities as incomes have stagnated over the past half decade, a squeeze that has forced families to cut back spending on everything from clothing to restaurants. Health-care spending by middle-income Americans rose 24% between 2007 and 2013, driven by an even larger rise in the cost of buying health insurance, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of detailed consumer-spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. . . . The overall cost of health care rose by 21% between 2007 and 2013, according to separate data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. And employees paid more for workplace insurance, averaging $380 a month for family coverage in 2013, up 39% from 2007, data from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.”
The WSJ details the experience of Wisconsin business owner Michael Peters. “Michael Peters, who owns the four-store Carpet Plus chain in Wisconsin, and his wife just began paying more than $900 a month for their health insurance. That’s about 40% more than what they paid six years ago even though his company plan increased their deductible and dropped ambulance coverage to save money. His wife’s cataract surgery in August cost the couple $1,700 out of pocket. In 2007, when she had the operation on her other eye, the couple was on the hook for just $189. ‘Same procedure, same doctor, same wife,’ said Mr. Peters, who lives near Madison.”
This report follows a Gallup poll yesterday which found that “One in three Americans say they have put off getting medical treatment that they or their family members need because of cost. Although this percentage is in line with the roughly 30% figures seen in recent years, it is among the highest readings in the 14-year history of Gallup asking the question.”
As Gallup pointed out, “One of the goals of opening the government exchanges was to enable more Americans to get health insurance to help cover the costs of needed medical treatments. While many Americans have gained insurance, there has been no downturn in the percentage who say they have had to put off needed medical treatment because of cost. This may reflect high deductibles or copays that are part of the newly insured's plans . . . .”
Obamacare is a huge, flawed piece of legislation that has repeatedly broken the promises Democrats used to pass it. It needs to be repealed and replaced with real reforms that will actually lower the cost of health care instead of growing government.
Tags: Obamacare, Gallup, Senate confirmations, House bills, Economy, Immigration, Eric Holder, Racial Profiling Standards, police To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
2 Comments:
Dig a little deeper Mr. Boehner. Thank you for speaking up, but Americans need to be forced down the rabbit hole.
America NEEDS leaders who can tell the WHOLE truth, no matter how hard to believe or swallow that truth may be.
Boehner doesn't write this anyhow it's some low level staffer. Watch what he does not what some staffer says he'll do
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