what should we do about north ikea

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama from President Barack Obama

president barack obama went on between two ferns

as you probably already know...

...the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act insurance mandate, as well as nearly all of the law's other 92 provisions.  The liberal wing of the court ruled that the law was constitutional under the Commerce Clause, while the conservative wing of the court ruled the law unconstitutional.  Justice John Robert's was the swing vote on this ruling, deciding that the legislation was constitutional, but not under the Commerce Clause, but rather as part of the right of Congress to create and raise taxes.

The Atlantic has an interesting article about how John Robert's might be the sneakiest of the sneakiest by ruling in such a way as to deny Obama a rallying cry to his base, giving Romney a rallying cry for his base, and casting the already unpopular ACA as a dirty, dirty tax.

[NYTimes]

lawyer stuff

this article had me at hello. which was this photo. just look at it. (the print version is better)

the supreme court will soon hold the much anticipated hearing regarding the legality of the affordable heath care for america act, known colloquially as "obamacare". as is their way, conservatives are being unreasonable, demanding that justice elena kagan recuse herself on the grounds that she was obama's solicitor general when the bill was developed. additionally, after its passing, she expressed happiness via email to a colleague.

in the recent nymag issue, dahlia lithwick makes a compelling argument against this position, and illustrates the fascinating inner workings of the nation's highest court. it's definitely worth a read. here are a couple of my favorite parts:

The Supreme Court is currently experiencing what is known as an extremely “hot bench.” That’s a polite way of saying the justices ask so many questions at the one-hour session allocated to each case that counsel can’t get a word in. While new justices, in particular, often go silent during their first few weeks and months at the verbal roller derby (the soft-spoken Justice David H. Souter and the mild-mannered Justice Samuel Alito each asked very few questions in their first terms, and Thomas has not asked a question at oral argument for five years), the two new female justices are different.

...

Things got weird, though, when she pushed her comedic luck as the argument progressed. Sotomayor asked Kagan whether the law prohibiting Americans from offering “material support” for terrorist groups might bar Americans from “teaching these members to play the harmonica?” In other words, does teaching members of a terror group how to dig wells, or any other peaceful skills, really constitute aiding terrorists under the statute? Kagan couldn’t resist the joke: “The first thing I would say is there are not a whole lot of people going around trying to teach Al Qaeda how to play harmonicas,” she replied.

Scalia was having none of that rookie back talk. “Well, Mohammed Atta and his harmonica quartet might tour the country and make a lot of money,” he snapped.

...

Back when she was the dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan evinced the same concern for civil discourse across ideological divisions. When she took over as the first woman dean there in 2003, she hired three conservative legal thinkers, including Goldsmith—who came from the Bush administration’s controversial Office of Legal Counsel—as well as Adrian Vermeule, who formerly taught at the University of Chicago Law School, and John Manning, who clerked for Scalia. She went out of her way to welcome conservative heroes (like Scalia) and conservative student groups to campus. In February 2005, the student branch of the Federalist Society held its national jamboree at Harvard. As legal legend Charles Fried described it last year in The New Republic, “Kagan rose to speak the host institutions’ words of greeting to the thousand or so Federalists assembled from every corner of the country. She was greeted by a long and raucous ovation. With a broad grin and her unmistakable Upper West Side twang, the former ­Clinton White House official responded, ‘You are not my people.’ This brought the dark-suited crowd of Federalist students to their feet in a roar of affectionate approval.” (via)

interesting follow-up

remember yesterday, when i showed you that clip of tea party jerks wooting the idea of letting uninsured sick people die? here's a real-life scenario of that happening.

As it turns out, Paul was not speaking purely in hypotheticals. Back in 2008, Kent Snyder — Paul's former campaign chairman — died of complications from pneumonia. Like the man in Blitzer's example, the 49-year-old Snyder (pictured) was relatively young and seemingly healthy* when the illness struck. He was also uninsured. When he died on June 26, 2008, two weeks after Paul withdrew his first bid for the presidency, his hospital costs amounted to $400,000. The bill was handed to Snyder's surviving mother (pictured, left), who was incapable of paying. Friends launched a website to solicit donations. (via) 

and it seems he wasn't uninsured in some great show of individual liberty, but that a pre-existing condition caused his premiums to be out of financial reach.

rawr!

(via) thx melissa!

want some information?

the obama campaign and subsequent administration is known for harnessing the power of the internet....to make things easier. today, the white house is rolling out their new healthcare website, healthcare.gov. you input personal information (your state, your employment status, etc.), and it tells you what your options are under the new healthcare reform.

it's well-designed, clearly organized, and easy to use. thanks, president obama!

dnd

happy healthcare tuesday!

obama's gonna sign that shit into law today! are you excited?! i think i am.

if you're not sure, you can check out this breakdown of just what's in the bill, and when it will all go into effect. it's helpful, i think.

a smart republican

David Frum, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative research organization, said Republicans had tried to defeat the bill to undermine Mr. Obama politically, but in the process had given up a chance of influencing a huge bill. Mr. Frum said his party’s stance sowed doubts with the public about its ideas and leadership credentials, and ultimately failed in a way that expanded Mr. Obama’s power.

“The political imperative crowded out the policy imperative,” Mr. Frum said. “And the Republicans have now lost both.”

"Politically, I get the ‘let’s trip up the other side, make them fail’ strategy,” he said. “But what’s more important, to win extra seats or to shape the most important piece of social legislation since the 1960s? It was a go-for-all-the-marbles approach. Unless they produced an absolute failure for Mr. Obama, there wasn’t going to be any political benefit.” (via)

orange you glad that wasn't you

i bet joe biden hazed the shit out of this guy after the speech. via.

#HCR

i feel like im still digesting the potential impact of the health care reform vote last night, but in reading through this nymag article i was struck by the following quote which i wanted to share. change is good.

"Health care experts for decades have bemoaned the impossibility of such reforms--the system is wasteful, but the very waste creates a powerful constituency for the status quo. Finally, the Democrats have begun to untangle the Gordian knot. It's a staggering political task and substantive achievement."

i wish that hadn't have happened.

massachusetts blew it big time yesterday, giving the democrats' 60th senate seat to white male pickup-truck-driving republican instead of a nice freedom-loving lady democrat. son of a.

ykwgmg : healthcare stuff

remember when the stimulus bill was passed back in march? it was full of lots of helpful solutions intended to assist the growing number of unemployed. included in the bill was a healthcare subsidy, in which the government covered roughly 65% of monthly COBRA costs. unfortunately, as many are finding out the hard way, the subsidy was only scheduled to last for 9 months, ending in a couple of weeks.

From March through November, the federal government picked up 65 percent of the cost. But the subsidy lasts for only nine months and will not be available to people who lose their jobs after Dec. 31, unless Congress extends it. On Wednesday, the House approved a six-month extension, and the bill now goes to the Senate.

The end of the subsidy can be particularly hard on families that are covered by a single health-insurance policy. Families USA, a nonprofit organization that lobbies for affordable health care, said the average monthly premium for a family covered by Cobra was $1,111, meaning that the subsidy was saving the typical family more than $700 a month.

In some states, the average unemployment benefit is smaller than the average cost of Cobra benefits, said Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA.

“This makes it clear that the people subsisting on unemployment benefits are very unlikely to be able to afford their Cobra premium,” Mr. Pollack said. (via)

i'll tell you what, that really gobbles my goop. COBRA is a failing system as it is. it's defined as 'continued coverage', making individuals eligible for the 'discounted group rate' that employers recieve. when i was unemployed, i couldn't afford it, even after the subsidy went into effect. i was uninsured for a year, and most of my unemployed friends are in the same position. and now, millions of americans who are taking advantage of the subsidy are about to have their monthly payments tripled. so, fingers crossed for that 6-month subsidy extension.



and while i'm at it...
speaking of failing systems, the increasingly disappointing healthcare bill getting pushed through congress is looking more and more like governement-subsidized-COBRA-for-all than medicare-for-all. in an interesting new development, howard dean and many other democratic leaders are calling for the abandonment of the current senate healthcare bill altogether, saying it does not represent real reform. i pretty much agree.

so those are some of my opinionz. you're welcome! ;(

want to try something new?

call your congressman day!

tell them that your friend joel hasnt been able to afford healthcare ever since he was laid off from his job.... but he is prone to accidental falls and is afraid of the next one.

my congressmen are Rep. Steve Cohen, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Sen. Bob Corker. Who are yours?

keith olbermann on healthcare

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

last night, keith olbermann devoted his entire show to a special comment on healthcare reform. i'm not always his biggest fan, but i was curious. i thought the show was really well done, riveting, and emotional. i recommend watching and/or listening if you have some time.

i've posted part 1. you can watch the remaining parts here.

ctm.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

dear barack

via

president barack obama

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last."

jicydak, he gave an important speech last night outlining his plan for healthcare reform. you can watch, listen, or skim through the entire speech over at nyt.

i'll withhold my own punditry, and just share a couple of informative links about how his speech is being percieved.

nymag pundit roundup
nytimes report

as always, feel free to throw your two peeunies into the comments box. for example, you might comment on how good you thought hillary looked in her bright red suit. or maybe how you wish that bo obama had been invited to the meeting. or how crazy it was when that south carolina congressman lost his shit and called the president a liar right in the middle of his speech. just for an example.