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Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare

President Barack Obama came out as a winner when the Supreme Court upheld his signature health care reform legislation. Mitt Romney and the GOP leaders in Congress were hoping that the Supreme Court will declare the individual insurance mandate to be unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts turned that hope on its ear when he was part of the 5-4 majority that upheld the mandate.

Presidents have been trying for decades to reform health care. Barack Obama is the first one to do it ... and Justice Roberts decided found a creative way to let the law stand. This is a big victory for Obama, Democrats and the American people. Methinks that history will look very kindly on the legislative accomplishments of our president.

First, Obama won victory in his battle with Arizona's 'Papers Please' law ... and now this victory with Obamacare. The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised to see the unemployment rate taking a sharp dip next week.

Barack Obama continues to play chess while his political opponents are still playing checkers.

Do Republicans Really Believe That We Should 'Let Him Die'?

The audience in the recent GOP presidential candidate debates is making almost as much news as the candidates themselves. Whether it is cheering the number of death penalty killings in Texas or yelling out 'Yes' when the moderator asked a candidate if he would let a person without insurance die rather than provide emergency room care ... the GOP appears to have gone wild.

One woman -- Susan Grigsby -- was moved and quite hurt by the 'Let Him Die' incident at the GOP debate. She shares her personal insights on the issue ... and wonders why all of the GOP candidates were silent on the matter.

What do you think?

32,000,000 Uninsured People Will Get Health Insurance

32,000,000 -- that’s the number of Americans who will get health insurance under the President’s plan. It appears that the President's health care reform plan takes care of quite alot of ground -- from eliminating discrimination based on pre-existing conditions to controlling costs and lowering the national deficit to providing tax credits for middle class families and small businesses, health insurance reform will finally put America's families and small businesses in control over their own health care.





I'm in favor of the legislation being pushed by the president and Democrats in the congress. The Republicans don't appear to have a clue on how powerful the need is for health insurance reform. What are your thoughts about the national debate on health insurance reform?

Health Care Reform: 'This is What Change Looks Like'

Did you watch any of the coverage of the health care reform bill in the House of Representatives yesterday? It was a remarkable moment in political history when Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of our health care system -- a major progressive victory that will rein in the worst insurance abuses and expand health care to 32 million Americans.

The Republicans are pissed off ... yelling things like 'Baby-Killer', spitting on John Lewis (D-GA) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and bringing up the images of the rogue Confederate states from our nation's civil war. The minority leader was yelling, 'Hell No' as he realized that he was losing the legislative battle.

The Democrats were 'giddy' as they realized that they had the votes to pass historic health care reform. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) solidified her reputation as one of the most powerful leaders in congressional history. She gets the votes when it counts. Pelosi is credited with keeping the flame burning for comprehensive reform in February, after Sen. Brown (R-MA) was elected, when many others had abandoned the idea.



President Obama proved to the world once again that he was a political opponent to be feared as he cancelled a high-profile international trip to stay home for yesterday's vote. He used the power of his office to make a deal with Bart Stupak (D-MI) and five other pro-life Democrats.

Obama has to feel good today. No longer can people call him a weak president. After decades of attempts, this is a historic achievement.

Once again I find myself proud of my president!

Obama Revives 'Yes We Can' Spirit With His Health Reform Speech

We had a sighting of the inspirational man that we elected to be our president yesterday. He was at George Mason University, speaking before thousands at the Patriot Center in Virginia about finishing the job on health reform.

There were chants of 'Yes We Can!' and he made a strong case for passing health care reform. Check out the transcript or watch the speech on video:



It truly will be a historic moment when President Obama signs this health reform legislation into law. I've been amazed by the persistence that Obama has shown in this process over the past year ... especially when I remember the dark thoughts that were running thru my mind after the election of Sen. Brown in Massachusetts.

How are you feeling about the health care reform debate now? How are you feeling about your president now? Somebody pass me that Obama Kool-Aid ... I'm drinking again!

Obama's Weekly Address: What Health Reform Will Deliver – This Year

In this week’s address, President Obama describes how American families will have more control over their health care this year, after health reform passes.



Here are a few more points about how health insurance reform measures will benefit Americans this year:

Hold Insurance Companies Accountable:

• Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all new plans;
• Prohibit rescissions of health insurance policies in all individual plans;
• Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
• Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs;
• Establish a process for the annual review of unreasonable increases in premiums, requiring State insurance commissioners to work with the HHS Secretary and States.

Protect Consumers:

• Provide grants to States to support health insurance consumer assistance and ombudsman programs to help consumers;
• Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
• Require all insurance plans to use uniform coverage documents so consumers can make easy comparisons when shopping for health insurance;
• Establish an internet portal to assist Americans in identifying coverage options;
• Prohibit insurers from discriminating in favor of highly compensated employees by charging them lower premiums.

Ensure Affordable Choices and Quality Care:

• Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
• Create a temporary re-insurance program for early retirees;
• Require new plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
• Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
• Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
• Facilitate administrative simplification to lower health system costs.

I admire President Obama for continuing to fight for health insurance reform. If he is able to pull this rabbit out of his hat ... it would be quite remarkable.

What are your thoughts on his message this week?

1 in Every Six Dollars Spent on Health Care

1 -- in every six dollars in the U.S. economy is spent on health care today.

If we do nothing, in 30 years, 1 out of every three dollars in our economy will be tied up in the health care system.

Skyrocketing health care costs aren't just crippling the U.S. economy -- they're emptying the pocketbooks of American families. If we do not enact health insurance reform, individual and family spending on premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs could increase 79 percent in just 10 years.

I ran a business in downtown Cincinnati for five years. I employed two people. One of the major cost factors was health insurance. It kept getting more and more expensive at the time. I can't imagine what it is like for small businesses with employees in today's economy.

President Obama was in Ohio today speaking out about the impact of rising health insurance costs (premiums, co-pays and such). Have you noticed increases with your health insurance? Is it enough of a reason to support health care reform?

Hispanic Caucus Threatens to Vote Against Health Care Bill

We are in the final countdown to an up-or-down vote on healthcare reform in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers are beginning to realize that now is the time to make their voices heard on the issue.

The Hispanic Caucus is meeting with the White House today to discuss their concerns about certain immigration-related provisions in the health care bill. They threaten to vote against the bill if the Senate language that bars undocumented immigrants from buying insurance from the proposed exchanges with their own money isn't removed.

President Obama is pushing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "to go further than Obama has previously disclosed" to strip the special deals for individual senators from the final health care reform bill. These include Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) 'Cornhusker Kickback' and a handful of other deals.

It is never good when your secret backroom deals go public and get a name, like 'Cornhusker Kickback', attached to 'em! I bet Sen. Nelson wishes he had just supported the bill in the first place ... without using his blackmail techniques to get special treatment.

625 People Lost Their Health Insurance Every Hour in 2009

625 -- that's the number of people who lost their health insurance every hour in 2009.

A statistic like that tells a frightening story -- losing insurance can happen to anyone. How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance and how many more businesses have to drop coverage before we fix our broken health care system?

We've been debating what to do about our broken health care system for decades -- not just this past year. Every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health reform has been said. It's time to decide how to reform our health care system to give American families and businesses the security and stability they deserve.

As the President has said, "In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they'll go without insurance -- not for one year, not for one month, not for one day."
The millions of Americans who lost their insurance last year can't wait any longer. The time is now for health insurance reform.

Let's get it done!

Obama's Weekly Address: The Olympic Spirit, the Spirit of Bipartisanship, and Health Reform

The President takes a moment to congratulate our Olympic athletes. Discussing the unity and pride Americans feel in cheering them on, the President relates that sentiment to his own desire for bipartisanship in Washington. He praises the recent bipartisan meeting and talks about moving forward on health reform.





What was your taken on the past week's activity in the Olympics, Health Reform or Bipartisanship?

41 - Health Care Reform Can't Wait

41 -- that's the number of leading economists -- including three Nobel Prize winners -- who sent a letter to President Obama and Congress urging the swift passage of comprehensive health insurance reform to curb skyrocketing health care costs.

41 -- is also the percentage of adults under the age of 65 who accumulated medical debt, had difficulty paying medical bills, or struggled with both during a recent one-year period.

No ifs, ands or buts about it -- if we do nothing to reform our broken health care system, costs will continue to skyrocket and break the budgets of American families, small businesses and the Federal Government.

If we pass comprehensive health insurance reform, we can reverse this trend and control rising costs. According to some of our nation's leading economists, "the health care reforms passed by the House and Senate -- with recent modifications proposed by President Obama -- include serious measures that will slow the growth of health care spending."

8 - Health Care Reform

We are at a point in the healthcare reform debate where a vote needs to be taken by congress. Let's have a vote and live with the results. Here are some reasons that the issue needs to be dealt with now:

8 -- that's the number of people every minute who are denied coverage, charged a higher rate or otherwise discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition.

8 is also the number of lobbyists hired by special interests to influence health reform for every member of Congress in 2009.

The facts speak for themselves -- the status quo isn't working, and special interests are doing everything in their power to maintain that status quo.

Being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition is something we all know is wrong. And for those 8 people every minute who can't find health coverage or face discrimination because of a pre-existing condition, reform can't wait.

It appears that the White House is putting on a full-court press to get a healthcare bill passed. Where do you stand on this issue?

Joe Lieberman Sucks ... I mean Socks

It breaks my heart to see President Obama's approval ratings taking a nosedive as a result of inaction by the US Senate on health care reform bill. I keep reminding myself that Obama is a smart brother with a vision ... and that he isn't deterred by the small stuff. However, watching Sen. Joe Lieberman hold health care reform hostage is hard to stomach.




Villagers, do you think that President Obama is going to pull a rabbit out of the hat and salvage a health care reform bill?

Opposition Grows Against Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Senator Joe Lieberman is not shy about stating his opposition to any public option in the proposed health care reform legislation. He is losing support in his own state for this point of view. The guy who chaired the 'Connecticut for Lieberman' campaign starred in a new TV ad that is playing in Connecticut and Washington DC today.



I encourage villagers ... especially those of you that live in the state of Connecticut ... to sign the online petition calling on Senator Lieberman to represent his constituents ... and not the health insurance lobbyists.

Race-Baiting Comments by Lamar Alexander (R-TN) During Healthcare Debate

Perhaps I am too sensitive. However, 50 years of living in America has taught me to hear the race-baiting dog whistles from old white guys. I heard Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on one of the Sunday talk shows call Medicaid a 'medical ghetto'.

It turns out that Alexander used this term a number of times on the Senate floor during the healthcare debate.





Cheryl Contee (Jack and Jill Politics) wrote,

"The right (and some on the left) would have you think that Medicaid was created so lazy shiftless black people could eat bonbons, watermelon & fried chicken while having their free x-rays, abusing the tax dollars of hardworking white people. Like Lamar Alexander who has repeatedly called Medicaid a “Medical Ghetto” on the Senate floor."

I encourage all villagers to read Cheryl's full blog post.

Why do old white guys in politics always devolve to race-baiting when they are losing the argument?

Why Do We Keep Doubting Barack Obama?

I wonder when folks will stop doubting President Obama? His vision is more long-range than the rest of us. He doesn't float with the wind on important decisions.

He demonstrated his long-range vision when he ran for office in the United States Senate. We learned that he doesn't sweat the small stuff when he beat Hilary Clinton and others in the Democratic primary. Others focused on the rhetoric from his opponents while Obama focused on getting any delegates to be nominated as his party's candidate for president. We were concerned when Obama didn't lash out against McCain, Palin and Joe the Plumber during the general election. Obama didn't sweat the small stuff ... instead he ran a campaign that resulted in a landslide victory a year ago.

Many Obama supporters clamored for him to take a more visible role in the health insurance reform debate in the past weeks and months. Obama set the direction of the debate ... then quietly and confidently worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others to get a historic bill passed last night. Heck, we even saw our Republican buddy from New Orleans voting in favor of the bill.

I imagine that many villagers are going to begin to worry about whether or not Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be able to get the 60 votes he needs to bring a health insurance reform to the floor for a vote. I'm putting my confidence in the President and his team. How about you?

No Public Option; No Re-Election; No Kidding

I'm self-employed. I don't have health insurance. I haven't had health insurance since I started my company back in 2002. It is important to me that the Democratic Party take advantage of their recent election success by passing health insurance reform ... that includes a robust public option. I am hopeful that Harry Reid (D-NV) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are tough enough to get this done.



Do you think that a robust public option will be in the final bill that goes to President Obama for his signature later this year?

Track Meet: Heather Graham Supports Public Option

Heather Graham stars as the Public Option in this funny ad, showing how she'll force the lazy, bloated private insurance companies to get back in the game and compete. After all, competition is as American as apple pie.

President's Weekly Address: 'Taking the Insurance Companies on Down the Stretch'

As the health insurance reform debate enters into its final stages in Congress, the President denounces the desperate and deceptive last-ditch efforts of the health insurance companies to derail it.





What do you think about the message from the President this week?