A Big Week For Health Care
Posted by Michelle Moquin on August 22nd, 2013
Good morning!
Sometimes staying up with all the news even if the news is good news, can be daunting. There are so many lies that we constantly have to sift through to get to what is real and factual. And at the same time we need to remember and stay on top of what we know to be true and not let the lies get tossed, thrown and tangled in the truth to try and confuse us. I don’t know about you but hearing the lies and clearing them out can be exhausting.
As sick as I am of the LSOS’s and their lies, I’m not confused about many things when it comes to what is right and best for all in our country, even when the right-wing LSOS’s try their very best to convince us otherwise.
Obamacare – ACA -The Affordable Care Act is a good thing. Here’s the latest of the lies, and those that oppose actions, that we have to sift through to get to the gems.
Obamacare, Obamacare, Obamacare
BY JOSH DORNER ON AUGUST 21, 2013 AT 5:57 PM
A Big Week for Health Care
In less than 6 weeks, millions of Americans will have the chance to sign up for quality, affordable health coverage for the very first time. Progressives are doing everything possible to educate Americans about the law and push back on the never-ending conservative misinformation campaign against Obamacare. Conservatives are, well, trying anything and everything in order to try and derail the law at the very last minute.
(Things are not going very well for conservatives.)
Here’s a roundup of the very latest Obamacare news:
- Pro-Obamacare protesters confront Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at town hall: Multiple pro-Obamacare protesters confronted the Tea Party senator at the Dallas stop of Heritage Action’s tour promoting a government shutdown over Obamacare. The town hall slid further downhill from there when Cruz’s father took the stage, railed against Socialism, said “Sarah Palin was right,” and warned of the dangers of death panels. Even Republicans have called this strategy and tour “political suicide” for the GOP.Meanwhile, Texas Governor Rick Perry is quietly lobbying the Obama administration for $100 MILLION in Obamacare funding.
- Tea Party group calls on Congressional staffers to “burn their Obamacare cards: FreedomWorks, a right-wing group that has helped fuel opposition to health reform and other progressive policies since the earliest days of the Obama presidency, is currently engaged in a cynical effort to dissuade young people and others of securing affordable coverage under Obamacare, which it is offensively likening to Vietnam war opponents who burned their draft cards.A GOP amendment to Obamacare requires Congressional staffers to receive their health coverage through the Obamacare marketplaces starting next year and now FreedomWorks says it hopes they forego their health coverage and instead pay a fine, though the group concedes “everyone should do whatever’s best for them and their families.” We assume most Hill staffers (including Republicans), like most Americans, will prefer the security of health coverage.
- More GOP congressmen concede they will help their constituents enroll in Obamacare: While Republicans remain united in their irrational opposition to Obamacare, even some vocal conservatives are now conceding that they will help their constituents find out about their rights, responsibilities, and new benefits under the law.
- Two more states announce affordable premiums: Colorado and Montana became just the latest states to announce that their residents will find affordable premiums when they go to sign up for coverage offered through the new marketplaces that will be opening on October 1. Indeed, the growth in overall health care costs has slowed remarkably since Obamacare passed, contrary to fearmongering from many of the law’s opponents.
- GOP civil war escalates: Republicans are locked in an all-out civil war over whether or not to shut down the government over Obamacare (which even Republicans concede won’t actually stop the law but will harm millions of Americans and the economy).
Heritage Action is currently on a national tour to fan the shutdown flames, with former Tea Party Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), now the president of the Heritage Foundation, going so far as to tell a town hall audience that any Republicans who are afraid of shutting down the government ought to be “replaced.” To that end, his group and others are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads going after Republicans.
For the latest news, be sure and check out ThinkProgress health.
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Readers: Care to share your thoughts? Blog me.
Carlos: Thank you. I’m working on it.
Denise: Thank you. However, you are the one that deserves the gratitude. You are the one that encouraged your boys to read here. I am sorry that your husband doesn’t see the light but as we all know, some people don’t change. We can’t make them. They have to “see.” And some refuse to. I am happy that you re taking the step to do what is best for you. I am wishing you much peace, love and joy in your new life. At least you have 4 wonderful boys that you can surround yourself with. :)
Sophia: I agree. Yes, he is. We are so lucky and so many don’t realize it.
Adriana: Yes, yes, yes.
Lucy: Thanks for the heads-up. Click here to read what I found on the Jury Scam.
Got to run. Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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August 22nd, 2013 at 9:08 am
I am now free of that man. I will not speak any more ill of him. I thank God I started reading your blog and realized I could live a life without the marriage I am unhappy with.
Your courage inspired me.
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:13 am
The republicans will do everything in their power to stop Obamacare. They will every tactic they can think. Never take lightly a party that runs on racism, fear and ignorance.
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:59 am
Michelle, this is a timely article. Hypocrites like Rick Perry who spread fear about ObamaCare at every opportunity are one of the first to go begging to the Obama administration for its activation.
——————
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), a longstanding Obamacare critic, is negotiating a $100 million health care deal with the Obama administration, Politico reported on Tuesday.
——————http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/rick-perry-obamacare-funding_n_3787510.html
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:09 am
Your Boss Is Watching You And Listening, Too
They can read our e-mails, listen to our phone calls, watch us through hidden cameras, track our movements and monitor our Facebook pages—all legally. They are not federal agents from the National Security Agency—they are our employers.
Few Americans are aware that their bosses have wide-ranging rights to look into their lives. The rapidly dropping cost of high-tech surveillance equipment, including digital cameras and GPS technology, has been making such prying increasingly common.
YOUR E-MAIL AND TEXT MESSAGES
Any e-mail sent through your employer’s computer network can be read by your boss—including not only messages in your work e-mail account but also messages in your personal e-mail accounts if you use your employer’s network to send or receive them. This includes messages on your own personal laptop, tablet computer or smartphone.
The e-mails most likely to be examined are those containing words that often are used in a sexual context. Many employers use computer programs that call such messages to their attention so that they can stop workplace sexual harassment before it leads to a lawsuit.
But the same keywords that appear in sexual harassment e-mails also can turn up in very private messages between sexual partners or in messages about sensitive medical matters.
Employers have a right to read text and e-mail messages sent from company-owned cell phones, smartphones and laptops, too, even if those messages are sent through personal e-mail accounts from outside the workplace.
Employers can’t easily monitor such messages as they are sent, but they can be uncovered later when the device is returned to the IT department for repairs or upgrade.
What to do:
If you must send a private e-mail or text from the workplace, do so through your own mobile computer or cell phone…and if this device is capable of operating over both Wi-Fi and a cellular network, confirm that it currently is accessing the cellular network, not company Wi-Fi.
If you must use a company cell phone to send a private message, opt for calling the person rather than texting or e-mailing. That makes it much less likely that the company will learn the content of the message, though the company could determine what person or place you called.
YOUR ONLINE ACTIVITY
Most employees realize that their employers can monitor their Internet use when they’re in the office. And most job applicants understand that many potential employers now evaluate applicants’ Facebook pages, blogs and other Internet postings.
But some employers go even further, monitoring Internet content by and about their current employees—and occasionally firing those whose personal lives or opinions the employer considers offensive or unprofessional.
Examples: Employees have been fired for posting pictures of themselves holding a beer at a party…or wearing a bikini on a beach while on vacation. One employee was fired for expressing opinions about the Iraq war that ran counter to his employer’s views.
In most states, an employer can legally fire an employee for nearly any reason, aside from reasons that are specifically prohibited by federal law (such as race, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability)…by collective bargaining agreements…or by civil service protections for government employees.
Apart from laws prohibiting employers from firing employees for smoking, only California, Colorado, Montana, New York and North Dakota have laws restricting the ability of employers to fire employees for legal off-duty activities and statements.
Employers even can require employees to provide their social-media passwords to facilitate their snooping, though some states have begun passing laws to prohibit this.
What to do:
Do not post anything online that you would not be comfortable saying or doing in the office. Discourage your friends and relatives from posting pictures of you doing these things as well. Even if your current employer does not monitor your online life, there’s a good chance that it will be examined the next time you apply for a job.
TRACKING YOUR MOVEMENTS
If you have a company car or company cell phone, your employer could be tracking your movements—even during your free time.
It’s common and reasonable for employers to install GPS in company vehicles to make sure that their salespeople and delivery people are where they’re supposed to be during the workday. But nothing legally prevents employers from also tracking company vehicles during nonworking hours to learn where employees go in their spare time.
Modern cell phones have GPS capabilities, too. For as little as $5 per phone per month, an employer can obtain a service that will use this GPS to track employees’ movements.
A company might monitor how late an employee stays out on weekends, how often he visits bars or whether he’s having an affair with a coworker.
What to do:
If you don’t want your employer to know about your activities outside the office, leave your company car at home or at least park it several blocks from destinations that you hope to keep private. Leave the company cell phone home.
CAMERAS, LAPTOPS, PHONES
Some of the following types of snooping are not as common, but it may just be a matter of time before they catch on with employees…
Digital video camera surveillance.
Although the cameras are present in many workplaces as security devices, employees often don’t realize that they’re being observed or recorded. These aren’t the obvious security cameras of old—a modern digital camera can be easily concealed. Courts generally have ruled that employers have the right to record video of their workers and workplaces, though usually not in employee bathrooms or locker rooms.
Example:
The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that an employer was within his rights to take videos of a female employee who regularly changed into gym clothes in her cubicle after everyone else had left for the day.
Laptop surveillance.
If you have a company laptop, your employer—or a rogue employee in your employer’s IT department—could activate that laptop’s Webcam and spy on you, possibly with no obvious sign that the camera is active. We don’t yet have evidence of an employer doing this, but it was done with laptops issued to students by a Pennsylvania high school.
Audio surveillance.
In most states, employers can place hidden audio recording devices in their workplaces, too, though a state law might require them to disclose to employers that they have done so.
These listening devices generally must be confined to parts of the workplace where conversations are predominantly work-related, so they typically can’t be used in cafeterias, break rooms or bathrooms.
Companies can and do monitor and record employee phone conversations, however. By federal law, they must disclose that calls are being recorded. Federal laws also require them to stop listening if it becomes clear that a call is not work-related—but don’t count on this rule to protect your privacy.
Employees can’t know for sure that their employers are hanging up on personal calls, and employees legally can be disciplined if the call violates employer restrictions limiting personal use of the phone.
Companies legally can monitor calls made on company-owned cell phones as well, but in practice, this is difficult for them to do.
What to do:
Do not do anything in your workplace that you would not want your employer to see, even if no one else is around. If you must do something private in the workplace, the bathroom or locker room is the spot least likely to be under observation.
Do not say anything on an office phone that you wouldn’t want your employer to hear. If you must make a private call, do so from a cell phone—ideally your personal cell phone. If you have a company laptop, turn it off or at least close it when it’s not in use. If you never use your company laptop’s Webcam, cover it with a piece of tape.
Source: Lewis Maltby, JD, president of the National Work Rights Institute, a not-for-profit organization that researches and advocates on issues related to employee rights. Maltby previously served as general counsel of Drexelbrook Engineering Company and as director of employment rights with the American Civil Liberties Union. He has testified before Congress on employment issues. WorkRights.org
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:28 am
Another crazy white boy with an Ak-15 and 500 rounds of ammunition goes to an elementary school to murder children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/georgia-school-shooting-call_n_3794415.html
So when will we start profiling white boys driving by elementary schools for their stop and frisk?
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:54 am
What about the niggers that killed that innocent White man from Australia?
August 22nd, 2013 at 12:15 pm
“Sick opinions made by someone looking to justify one racist’s action and their supporters.”
August 22nd, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Creating a massive sink hole in Louisiana has hardly affected the humans. C09//i6 suggests that we send huge hurricanes to the area. Let’s drown, blow away and terrify some humans in the area.
If their president wants to send the Stealth drones against the hurricanes of Florida, Louisiana, and surrounding states let him.
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:08 pm
There are so many reasons why republicans don’t want the people to try ObamaCare, the main reason they will not like the lies the republicans have been telling about it.
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Become a fan
21 hours ago ( 1:02 PM)
It seems you misread my post. It was specifically addressed to Christians.
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Not really. It was addressed to anyone that you believe you can convince to accept your version of “Christianity.” The God I pray to does not discriminate.
Since I added that my version of God expects some measure of responsibility. You tried to imply that all Christians accepted your moral view. NOT true.
I suspect you next, discriminatory move will be to suggest you meant, “Biblical” Christians, as if even all of those accepted your concept of what they should believe.
I like to think that when it comes to how we treat the planet it should be “Prepare first, then depend on God.”
You may feel differently, as you are entitled as I am entitled to differ.
August 22nd, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Michelle, I live in a state that allows a man to rape a woman, get convicted for that rape and then the state allows him to have visitation rights to the child born of that rape.
This happened to my sister. I couldn’t believe it. I cursed the state she is in, then she told me that her state wasn’t the only one. I have discovered that most of the states in which the republicans have complete control of the governor and legislative branches this is true.
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June 5th, 2014 at 9:19 am
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Michelle Moquin’s “A day in the life of ” » Blog Archive » A Big Week For Health Care
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