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RIP Lou Reed
Author: BobR    Date: 2013-10-28 11:09:17

This morning I am going to diverge from the usual partisan politics to pay a visit to art. As most anyone who reads this site knows already, Lou Reed - the iconic NY musician/poet, died yesterday at the age of 71. His raw lyrics and grungy music were inspirations to countless musicians who came after him. He was not known for the beauty of his singing voice, but like Bob Dylan before him, his voice matched the gritty realism of his words.
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78 comments (Latest Comment: 10/29/2013 00:18:32 by Raine)

This Guy
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/27/2013 14:16:18

This is your typical Republican in every way. Pro-life, hates poor kids. Women should be equal, except in the workplace payroll department, the bedroom and higher education. Loves Jesus but doesn't want to spend one dollar of his hard earned money (that he inherited) to feed the poor or help the infirm.

Who is this guy? Why he's EVERYMAN REPUBLICAN. You know, those regular guys. Except this one got interviewed by the Daily Show.
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4 comments (Latest Comment: 10/28/2013 14:19:59 by AuntAzalea)

Nothing here.
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/26/2013 13:05:11

I've got nothing this morning. Nope. Can't even pull anything out of thin air, and the local websites are all overrun with Sox, and I think you've had enough of that.

I'll keep reading, but I thought I should have this open at this hour.

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Obamacare, the Mandate & Perspective
Author: Raine    Date: 10/25/2013 17:59:38

In June of 2012, The Supreme Court Ruled that the Affordable care act was indeed constitutional. That included the much disputed individual mandate that people be insured. It was upheld. ObamaCare would go forward as written with one exception, States could opt out of the feederal Medicaid expansion. Today I'd like to focus again on the Individual Mandate.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s four liberal justices in the ruling, which says Congress had the authority to impose the law’s individual mandate under Congress’s taxing power.

There was one rebuke to the Obama administration: The court ruled that the states can reject the law’s Medicaid expansion.
Many states opted out of the expansion, thus putting the onus of the exchange on the Federal Government. They will not see the benefits of the expansion. Many will be exempt from the individual mandate penalty.

It is beneficial for people to understand the number of people that will be affected by the Individual Mandate slated to go into effect in 2014. That deadline is March 31, 2014. This is the individual mandate. Basically, if you or your family do not have insurance by a set time you will be required to buy an insurance plan or pay a penalty.
Q. I don't have health insurance. Will I have to get it, and what happens if I don't?

A: Under the legislation, most Americans will have to have insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. The penalty would start at $95, or up to 1 percent of income, whichever is greater, and rise to $695, or 2.5 percent of income, by 2016. This is the individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085 or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater. Some people can be exempted from the insurance requirement, called an individual mandate, because of financial hardship or religious beliefs or if they are American Indians, for example.

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58 comments (Latest Comment: 10/25/2013 22:44:54 by Raine)

Success - Delayed, not Dead
Author: BobR    Date: 2013-10-24 10:57:21

After the budget showdown and the government shutdown, it was pretty clear to everyone that the already shabby Republican reputation took another big hit. It was a personal double-whammy for them, not only being hated even more, but also not succeeding in making President Obama a failure (or - more accurately - not preventing him from succeeding). They failed to prevent the ACA from being enacted, they failed to repeal it (42 times), they failed to get the Supreme Court to overturn it, and they failed to defund (well - sort of, but more on that later). All they've got left now is to wax indignant about the perceived failures of the website, and extrapolate the mostly anecdotal evidence across the entire program, crow that it's already a failure, and demand investigations, explanations, and resignations.
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85 comments (Latest Comment: 10/25/2013 00:22:32 by Raine)

1-800-318-2596
Author: Raine    Date: 10/23/2013 12:58:56

Pass it on. Right now there are glitches. There are problems with the ACA website. There is no getting around that. Until then, remind people of this phone number:

1-800-318-2596

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132 comments (Latest Comment: 10/24/2013 01:06:40 by TriSec)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/22/2013 10:22:31

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,398th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,284
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,105

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 482, 616, 500, 000 .00


Although not really a Veteran's Issue, I can't resist posting the latest news about the NSA. Seems like we've managed to annoy the French with our spying, to the point where the US Ambassador to France was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation. In the diplomatic world, that is significant. We used to rail against this sort of thing when Bush did it - what happened?
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115 comments (Latest Comment: 10/23/2013 03:49:52 by Will in Chicago)

Monday Morning Bugaboo...
Author: Raine    Date: 10/21/2013 12:42:50

Going to put this up here as it seems that Bob's Blog is not auto-posting this morning.
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72 comments (Latest Comment: 10/21/2013 20:11:36 by Mondobubba)

Stupid People on Tape
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/20/2013 13:55:30

Good morning dear readers. I thought we'd catch up on some news items that got missed this morning. Specifically, those that deal with ... well, let's just say, people who would be a loathsome match for you if you met them on eHarmony or Christian Mingle.
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 10/21/2013 00:36:14 by Raine)

Fall Foliage
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/19/2013 12:42:31

Ok, so the shutdown has been done to death. I also do not have any prepared material for this morning.
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1 comments (Latest Comment: 10/19/2013 13:20:31 by trojanrabbit)

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