Since when did abortions from rape become a partisan issue?
Obviously Think Progress’ fact-checking has a distinct liberal slant, but that doesn’t change the necessity of investigating just what Romney has planned.
Chaos on Bullshit Mountain is, to borrow a phrase from my friend Kyla, maybe the best thing the Daily Show has done this year.
Attention Mitt Romney: Who’s part of the 47 percent
(via think-progress)
Mark Bernstein profiles Douglas Massey, the founder and co-director of Princeton’s Mexican Migration Project—”a unique database,” Bernstein writes, “of ethnographic information about border crossing: who migrates, where they come from, where they go, and how that has changed over time.” From that data, Massey concludes that:
- We are not being flooded with illegal Mexican migrants. The total number of migrants from Mexico has varied very little since the 1950s. The massive influx many have written about never happened.
- Net illegal migration has stopped almost completely.
- Illegal migration has not stopped because of stricter border enforcement, which Massey characterizes as a waste of money at best and counterproductive at worst.
- There are indeed more undocumented Mexicans living in the United States than there were 20 years ago, but that is because fewer migrants are returning home — not because more are sneaking into the country.
- And the reason that fewer Mexican citizens are returning home is because we have stepped up border enforcement so dramatically.
From Massey’s book:
Mexicans had been crossing the Rio Grande ever since it was a border, but migration traditionally was seasonal and cyclical. Young men would head to El Norte in search of agricultural or construction work, earn money, and then return home. But when it became too risky and too expensive to migrate seasonally, migrants simply chose to stay in the United States. Because they no longer were returning home regularly, they could look for work farther from the border. They also settled down and had families, which made them even less likely to leave.
(via azspot)
Interesting how our actions have unintended consequences! More proof that illegal immigration is more complicated an issue than many would have us believe.
(via wilwheaton)
I’m just gonna put this here…
I had a conversation with a friend a few weeks ago about this. They sincerely believed Republican politicians wouldn’t push this legislation just to fulfill an agenda, and perhaps they wouldn’t. But they have access to the same information and research we do, and unless they’re dense they can realize how not-rampant voter fraud actually is. So which is better?
(via wilwheaton)
This is a fun idea to get people involved in examining their political beliefs and some relevant issues.
“A thoughtful and lucid answer. YOU WILL BE DESTROYED!”
The Futurama episode this week was so spot on that it kind of hurt.
(via changeyoulike-a-remix)
Here are just a few of the things the Koch Brothers and their Tea Party Rubes are trying to get the Supreme Court to take away from Americans, by striking down the Affordable Care Act:
Already in effect:
It allows the Food and Drug Administration to approve more generic drugs (making for more competition in the market to drive down prices)
It increases the rebates on drugs people get through Medicare (so drugs cost less)
It establishes a non-profit group, that the government doesn’t directly control, to study different kinds of treatments to see what works better and is the best use of money.
It makes chain restaurants like McDonalds display how many calories are in all of their foods, so people can have an easier time making choices to eat healthy.
It makes a “high-risk pool” for people with pre-existing conditions. Basically, this is a way to slowly ease into getting rid of “pre-existing conditions” altogether. For now, people who already have health issues that would be considered “pre-existing conditions” can still get insurance, but at different rates than people without them.
It renews some old policies, and calls for the appointment of various positions.
It creates a new 10% tax on indoor tanning booths.
It says that health insurance companies can no longer tell customers that they won’t get any more coverage because they have hit a “lifetime limit”. Basically, if someone has paid for life insurance, that company can’t tell that person that he’s used that insurance too much throughout his life so they won’t cover him any more. They can’t do this for lifetime spending, and they’re limited in how much they can do this for yearly spending.
Kids can continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26.
No more “pre-existing conditions” for kids under the age of 19.
Insurers have less ability to change the amount customers have to pay for their plans.
People in a “Medicare Gap” get a rebate to make up for the extra money they would otherwise have to spend.
Insurers can’t just drop customers once they get sick.
Insurers have to tell customers what they’re spending money on. (Instead of just “administrative fee”, they have to be more specific).
Insurers need to have an appeals process for when they turn down a claim, so customers have some manner of recourse other than a lawsuit when they’re turned down.
New ways to stop fraud are created.
Medicare extends to smaller hospitals.
Medicare patients with chronic illnesses must be monitored more thoroughly.
Reduces the costs for some companies that handle benefits for the elderly.
A new website is made to give people insurance and health information.
A credit program is made that will make it easier for business to invest in new ways to treat illness.
A limit is placed on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they’re not price-gouging customers.
A limit is placed on what type of insurance accounts can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs without a prescription. Basically, your insurer isn’t paying for the Aspirin you bought for that hangover.
Employers need to list the benefits they provided to employees on their tax forms.
“Most Americans oppose President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform even though they strongly support most of its provisions… The survey results suggest that Republicans are convincing voters to reject Obama’s reform even when they like much of what is in it, such as allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26.” (Source)
It is embarrassing that this kind of issue is being attacked in such a biased, partisan way. The mandate is controversial, but if it is put in place correctly it could help heal our system. Healthcare reform is a good thing, and an area the U.S. is lagging in. Using it as a political battleground is reprehensible.
