Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

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Current Politics


30 Aug

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Posted in Politics | Comments Off

This is the place where I get to be political. And given my self imposed word limit, it keeps me from rambling. The other day, a friend asked “How can you still believe in Obama?” Has he lived up to all of our collective hopes and dreams? No, no one could have. That’s political reality, especially in this very divisive political climate.

For me, the questions are “Do I think we’d be better off with McCain?” and “Do I think Romney can do better”. The answer is no. Mostly, I think we need to focus on changing Congress right now.

Why Abortion Must Remain Legal


20 Aug

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Posted in Discrimination, Healthcare, International Politics, Politics | Comments Off

I am Pro-Choice. I would love to see an entire world where abortion is legal, safe and rare. But before we can get to the rare part, we absolutely must focus on the legal and safe parts.

This week in the Dominican Republic, a 16 year old girl died of cancer because doctors at first refused to give her treatment on the off chance it would terminate her pregnancy. Their Constitution says the right to life is inviolable from conception until death. But apparently, the right to life is only inviolable for fetuses, and not for the women carrying them.

Your Money Friday: Who Pays for a Disbabled Child?


03 Aug

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Posted in Finances, Healthcare, Politics, Relationships | Comments Off

This is a tricky situation, one that is more complicated than any of us can really understand from news articles. This week on Your Money, we have been discussing how much a private organization (in this case, the Girl Scouts) should be required to pay to accommodate a disabled child and how much of that accommodation should be the responsibility of the parents of the disabled child.

If the parents are not wealthy, should their child not be allowed to participate in non-publically funded activities? Should families with healthy children be forced to help pay for disabled children to participate?

Aurora, Colorado


24 Jul

Posted in Movies, Politics | Comments Off

Tomorrow I will have a review up of the new Batman. But before it goes up, I wanted to say something about the shooting in Colorado. In no way do I believe it was related to the movie. Batman simply happened to be the movie with a midnight showing and a packed house.

It was a terrible thing that happened in Aurora. But it had nothing to do with Batman, movies, midnight showings, or even with the availability of guns. (The shooter’s apartment was rigged with bombs.) It only had to do with one sick individual who has been caught.

Affordable Care Act- the 80/20 Rule


03 Jul

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Posted in Finances, Healthcare, Politics | Comments Off

You may hate parts of the Affordable Care Act. You may think the individual mandate is unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court. (Lots of people think this about income taxes.) But there are parts of the ACA that everyone can like.

One part of the act you should like- the 80/20 rule. This rule says your insurance company must spend at least 80% of your premium on healthcare costs. Only 20% can go toward administration. The company must make visible exactly what those percentages are and issue you a rebate if they don’t spend enough of your premium on medical costs.

Affordable Care Act Upheld


29 Jun

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Posted in Healthcare, Politics | Comments Off

Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act was a momentous one. Legal precedent wise, the number of opinions, and which Justice signed on to what, is a much murkier bag. For precedent purposes, it is going to take some time to parse exactly what this ruling means. It may or may not be a win for Democrats. It may or may not be a loss for Republicans.

But for those people who, as a friend put it yesterday, just want the option of being able to pay for insurance, it is a major win.

Today is THE DAY (Court Watching Day 3)


28 Jun

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Posted in Healthcare, Politics | Comments Off

Today is THE BIG DAY in Court watching. It’s the day the Supreme Court will announce it’s ruling on the healthcare bill. I see reports everywhere that lots of people want it struck down as unconstitutional. I want to ask those people if they think a pre-existing condition should be a barrier to insurance. Or if college students (who are unlikely to be able to get health insurance through a job) should be forced off their parents’ insurance? People like those provisions. They don’t like the individual mandate. Today we find out if all, none, or some of it goes.

Court Watching Day 2


27 Jun

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Posted in Politics | Comments Off

Let’s talk about the Montana case. This is not a case the Court heard. Basically, every branch of theMontana state government said that there has been corruption onMontana politics based on money, so they were rejecting the decision handed down in Citizen’s United, and would not allow unlimited corporate spending in state elections. The Supreme Court struck downMontana’s ruling in a 5-4 decision. Even though the 4 could have forced a full hearing, they didn’t. Theory is they do not want to run the risk, especially in an election year, of the other 5 expanding Citizen’s United.

 

Court Watching Week!


26 Jun

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Posted in Discrimination, Politics, Racism | Comments Off

It’s that time of year- Court watching season, when the Supreme Court finally tells us their verdicts for the cases they have heard in the past year. A couple decisions came out last week. I am not anti-union, but I do agree with the SEIU verdict that non-union members, working in union represented positions, should not be forced to pay for union political activities.

Big deal yesterday was the Arizona Immigration law. Most of it was struck down. One part was left, but with basically a note that said- we expect to strike this down later after you abuse it.

Congratulations, #Egypt


23 May

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Posted in International Politics, Politics | Comments Off

I think one of the things it is easiest to forget in theUS,Canada,Great Britain, and other countries that have long standing, successful, democratic governments, is what it means to vote, to have a voice in choosing your own government. We often take it for granted. We threaten to move to a different country if the leader we want isn’t elected or if policies don’t change. And we forget what a luxury it is to have that freedom.

For the first time in 30 years, Egyptians today get to have an actual voice in who runs their nation.

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