March 16, 2010
Top of the morning
Not that we need any, but here’s more evidence that some of the people Republicans are running for office have a strange version of reality.
The Political Animal reports that the newly elected Attorney General of Virginia, Republican Ken Cuccinelli, was recorded during his campaign saying that the allegation that President Obama is not a citizen because he was born in Kenya ”doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility.”
The man who is now the top law enforcement official in Virginia didn’t stop there.
Cuccinelli added that “it’s possible” he would use his office to test the president’s eligibility/citizenship if Virginia were involved in litigation against the federal government.
It’s getting hard to keep with …
March 15, 2010
New Democracy NC report shows risks of Census undercount
The good guy wonks and organizers at Democracy NC are out with another report on the Census today. The message: One out of four N.C. counties is at high risk of a major undercount that would effectively flush millions of federal dollars down the drain.
According to Democracy NC Director Bob Hall,
If the 2010 Census ends up with a similar 1.3% undercount [the undercount in 2000] for NC’s roughly 9.5 million people, the state would lose more than $190 million a year or $2 billion in the next decade.”
Bottom line: Tell your people to tell their people to tell everyone to fill the darned thing out!
Read the report here.
Governor Perdue implements preferred drug list in NC Medicaid
Last year, the pharmaceutical industry won yet another round in the NC General Assembly when they successfully fought off yet another attempt to implement a comprehensive preferred drug list in NC. Commentators been writing about such a list for years and it’s pretty simple – almost every state and private health insurance plan does this already. The state develops a list of drugs that are the most effective and steers people towards using those drugs. Drugs that aren’t effective or even dangerous will be discouraged or even not paid for unless individual physicians make specific requests for patients. The list discourages very expensive drugs that research shows work no better or are even …
Lunch links
Watauga Watch tells us that Virginia Foxx held a health care town hall today in Statesville conveniently scheduled for 11:30am so all working people in her district can easily attend. Can’t wait to hear about her solutions to our health care mess — let me guess, malpractice reform and selling insurance across state lines.
Speaking of health care, last week the Equality North Carolina blog posted a bit about how reform will benefit the LBGT and HIV communities.
Interesting tidbit from the NC Conservation Network: North Carolinians throw away more than $74 million in aluminum cans each year. Wonder how much that soda adds to our health costs?
Tim “Christ’s War” …
Price will vote “Yes”
Representative David Rice (D-NC) has announced his intention to vote for the comprehensive health reform package that could finally be voted on this week in the House of Representatives.
Price becomes the first member of North Carolina’s congressional delegation to formally announce that he will back the landmark legislation.
To help bolster the case for reform, Rep. Price had three constituents share their own stories about rising premiums, pre-existing conditions, and their growing frustration over the status quo.
Top of the morning
The New York Times reports that three members of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation are among the 40 members of the House being bombarded with ads by both sides as a final vote on health care reform approaches.
Representatives Bobby Etheridge, Larry Kissell, and Mike McIntyre have all been singled out for special attention. Etheridge had the good sense to vote for the House health care bill months ago, while Kissell and McIntyre voted against helping thousands of people in their districts afford health care.
They are likely to have one more chance this week. Let’s hope they stand with the people who elected them, not the insurance companies and corporate lobbyists who would rather …
March 14, 2010
Six Ways Health Reform Will Lead to Better Care For Breast Cancer Patients (And Other Patients)
Here’s the essence of the issue: Health insurance reform will save American consumers money, will lead to higher quality care, and will reduce the deficit. That’s true for Americans generally, whether or not you’re at risk for breast cancer.
To try to mislead people, Americans for the Prosperous is running a new ad that focuses on breast cancer. …
March 12, 2010
Moving Ahead
NYT – health reform up for a vote next week:
The White House and Congressional leaders put Democrats on notice Friday that they would push ahead next week toward climactic votes on the health care legislation, as President Obama delayed a foreign trip and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped to complete House action before he leaves.
Search
Previous Posts
- Top of the morning
- New Democracy NC report shows risks of Census undercount
- Governor Perdue implements preferred drug list in NC Medicaid
- Lunch links
view full archive » subscribe to feed
Web Links
- BlueNC
- Capital Beat (Greensboro News-Record)
- Capital Commentary (Wilmington Star News)
- Capital Letters (Asheville Citizen-Times)
- Deathwatch (Death penalty updates)
- Equality NC blog
- Exile on Jones Street
- Isaac Hunter’s Tavern (WUNC Radio)
- Leftyblogs
- Let’s Talk Politics (Hickory Daily Record)
- NC Conservation Network Blog
- North Carolina Economics
- Orange Politics
- Public Policy Polling
- Say Ahhh!
- Stop NCAR (Realtor’s Assn. watchdog)
- The Arc of North Carolina Policy Blog
- The People’s Business (Fayetteville Observer)
- This Old State (Charlotte Observer)
- Triangulator (Independent Weekly)
- Under the Dome (News & Observer)
- Watauga Watch