Day: July 19, 2013

A Nightmare Scenario

Can you remember back to 2012?  The election…..all the negativity and lies……remember all the polls that show Mitt basically running neck and neck with Obama?  There were even some that were predicting a Mitt victory by a slim margin.  Through all this speculation came a political mathematician, Nate Silver……he was laughed at when he predicted the the Prez would win and win big……there were many in the MSM that totally ignored his numbers and his prediction…..and guess what?  He was right and all the “reputable” pollsters were completely WRONG!

As a political wonk I keep up with Nate Silver and his latest but initial findings are disturbing…….

Harry Reid might want to think carefully before revising the filibuster rules—because there’s a decent chance he’ll soon be on the other end of them. Nate Silver at the New York Times has crunched the race-by-race numbers, and based on them and his own best guesses and assumptions, concluded that “Republicans might now be close to even-money to win control of the chamber,” even though they’ll have to win more seats to do it this year (net six) than they needed in 2012.

Some key races include:

  • South Dakota and West Virginia: Democrats are retiring in both these states, the GOP has strong contenders, and the electorate leans red already.
  • North Carolina: Republicans still don’t have a good candidate here, but given how poorly incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan is polling, they need only a halfway decent one.
  • Arkansas: Democrat Mark Pryor’s poll numbers took a dip recently, and given how badly Blanche Lincoln lost her seat here, he can’t be feeling safe.
  • Montana: Barry Schweitzer’s decision not to run is a huge boon for Republicans who now have the most qualified potential candidate in former Gov. Marc Racicot, in a state that already leans red.
  • Alaska “is the closest thing to a tipping point state,” representing Republicans’ best bet to go from 50 seats to 51—assuming they win all of the above, plus tossup Louisiana—but incumbent Democrat Mark Begich is polling pretty well right now. (Will a familiar name be in the mix?)

This is worrying me…..I trust Silver and his technique…….it is disturbing to know that the GOP could possibly control both houses of the legislative branch…..if he is accurate, we are in for a long two years of total obstructionism………….any thoughts?

Hey! It’s Working!

I wish the twats on the Right would shut up and let the facts drive the conversation…..but that is probably too much to ask for in these times, huh?

We all know just how the Right feels about Obamacare, right?  They are always telling us what a dismal failure it is and will be…..and of course the Prez gave them more ammo when in postponed the small business part of the law……let me interrupt the mindless clowns and telling of the successes……..but first let’s look at the action taken by the House (again)………

(AP) – House Republicans voted today to delay core provisions of ObamaCare, emboldened by the administration’s concession that requiring companies to provide coverage for their workers next year may be too complicated. After a day of heated rhetoric, the House voted largely along party lines, 264-161, to delay by one year the so-called employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act. It voted 251-174 to extend a similar grace period to virtually all Americans who will be required to obtain coverage beginning Jan. 1, the linchpin of the law. The House legislation stands no chance in the Democratic-run Senate. Even if it somehow did, the White House promised two vetoes.

The dual political-show votes marked the 38th time the GOP majority has tried to eliminate, defund, or scale back the law since Republicans took control of the House in January 2011. “This administration cannot make its own law work,” said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, during House debate. Eager to counter the Republican criticism, Obama plans to deliver remarks tomorrow focusing on rebates that consumers are already receiving from insurance companies under the health care law.

And now as promised…..the SUCCESSES!

  • New York: Just today we found out that health insurance premiums for those in the individual market will plummet by 50 percent or more. The New York Times reports that someone who is paying $1,000 a month now will be able to purchase coverage next year for as little as $308 — and that’s not even counting potential Obamacare subsidies that could lower the cost even further.
  • California: The costs for a medium coverage plan are far below predictions. For example, in southern Los Angeles County Health Net is going to charge $242 a month for one of its plans while Blue Shield is charging $287 and Kaiser Permanente $325 for the same coverage. That means that the 5 million uninsured residents of California will now have more access to affordable, higher quality care than is currently available.
  • Montana: The individual and small group health plans sold on the marketplace will be cheaper and offer better coverage. Without the health law, insurance officials predicted the average premium in 2014 to rise by 10 percent to $290. Instead, the average cost for an individual plan will be $273 — about five percent lower than it would have been without the health law’s marketplace. Costs are going down even has insurance companies will now have to cover ten “essential health benefits,” including prescription drug and mental health services, that skimpy individual plans almost never cover.
  • Louisiana: Residents will soon see lower premiums as well. Just last week Louisiana’s largest private health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, estimated that two-thirds of its customers who buy their own policies will pay the same premiums or less for better coverage under the federal health care overhaul.
  • Washington: After warning that premiums would go up by 50-70 percent under Obamacare, Premera Blue Cross released rates for individual plans that are far lower that current levels. Premera currently offers individual plans for 21-year-old non-smokers at a monthly cost of $325, with a deductible of $1,800. In the exchange, that same person in King County could purchase a similar Premera plan with a lower deductible at a rate of $276 — a decrease of 15 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Obamacare is working. And with 24 million Americans expected to gain coverage through the marketplaces by 2016, that’s great news for Americans’ pocketbooks — as well as their health. It’s time Republicans do their job and make sure their constituents get coverage and the benefits from Obamacare, instead of doing everything in their power to take away those benefits from their constituents.

Okay sports fans here is the ammo we all need to fight the revisionist bullsh*t of the GOP……..make good use of the information at hand………we can beat the pants off the Right when armed with facts…..you have your facts…..GET BUSY!