Tag: health care

New poll: Shutting down the government is a loser for the GOP

October 1, 2013 at 10:38 amCategory:Uncategorized

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As this article at Talking Points Memo makes clear, Tea Partiers in Congress are playing with fire with their latest exercise in political hostage taking:

“Republicans in Washington insist they have simply been upholding the wishes of the American people throughout their efforts to block the Affordable Care Act, but a poll released Tuesday tells a very different story.

In fact, the latest survey from Quinnipiac University contains a ton of bad news for the GOP. For starters, 72 percent of Americans said they are opposed to shutting down the government in order to block implemntation of the health care law. A poll last week also showed a wide majority opposed to shutting down the government over Obamacare. Read More…

Tuesday lunch links

September 24, 2013 at 12:08 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Five quick things worth knowing/remembering on the first Tuesday of fall 2013:

#1 – As noted below, seats still remain for Thursday NC Policy Watch Crucial Conversation: “Worse than NAFTA: Lori Wallach explains the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”  Click here for more info and to register.

#2 – It’s hurricane/sea level rise season, but don’t think that’s leading the folks running the state of North Carolina to do anything intentional or proactive to address it. Indeed, as journalist Kirk Ross reports over at the N.C. Coastal Federation website, the state Coastal Resources Commission has been gutted and is now “essentially out  of business.”

#3 – On the courts and law front, Senator Richard Burr is still doing his impression of The Invisible Man by blocking Senate consideration of federal District Court nominee Jennifer May-Parker for the long-vacant seat in North Carolina’s Eastern District and then lacking the decency to even admit he’s doing it or explain why. Court watchers at the Center for American Progress are urging folks to call Burr and demand action. 

#4 – And speaking of “The Invisible Man,” has there been a more delightful story in recent days than the overwhelming response to the book-banners in Randolph County for their knuckleheaded effort to ban the the Ralph Ellison classic? Barry Saunders of Raleigh’s N&O did a great job ridiculing the book banners yesterday and now, today, we learn that the censorship effort has completely backfired.      

#5 - And finally, for those looking to have America’s health care crisis explained in fast-moving 7 minute video, check out this pretty doggone accurate effort by a fellow named John Green at the website Upworthy.

More plaudits for supposedly “broken” NC Medicaid program

August 7, 2013 at 4:16 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Pretty soon, the far right is going to have to find another public program to serve as its official whipping boy when it comes to telling the story repeating the ideological talking point that North Carolina government is “broken.” The one about Medicaid — the health insurance program for low income people — being the problem keeps on getting disproved.

We’ve already reported about how Senator Richard Burr keeps praising NC Medicaid. Now comes new evidence of Medicaid’s effectiveness in an article in the wonky journal, Health Affairs.  Here’s the abstract of the study featured: Read More…

Anti-choice advocates contradict McCrory on abortion bill’s impact

July 29, 2013 at 8:43 amCategory:Uncategorized

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In one of his stranger efforts to retain his once-moderate image (if only in his own mind) Governor McCrory has been trying mightily in recent days to argue that his support for Senate Bill 353 – the omnibus anti-choice bill just passed by the General Assembly last week — does not somehow violate his 2012 campaign pledge to oppose any new restrictions on access to abortion in North Carolina.

Laying aside for a moment that one need look no further than the title of the bill to find multiple new restrictions spelled out in detail, it may also prove useful in understanding the real impact of the legislation to check in on what the anti-choice folks who helped craft it are saying. This is from the website of the North Carolina Family Policy Council: Read More…

Physicians weigh in against new abortion restrictions

July 18, 2013 at 11:30 amCategory:Uncategorized

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From today’s Charlotte Observer:

Doctors to N.C. legislators: Get out of our exam rooms
By Jeanne A. Conry and Haywood L. Brown

North Carolina is yet another example of legislators wanting to play doctor, telling real doctors how to practice medicine and how to care for our patients. Medical decisions must be based on scientific evidence and made by patients in consultation with physicians, not the state or federal government.

Let’s be clear. Senate Bill 132 and Senate Bill 353 collectively have one purpose: To restrict the reproductive rights of women in North Carolina by interfering with the practice of medicine. The two leading state ob-gyn associations – the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the North Carolina Section of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – have joined together to stand against these bills because they undermine the very fabric of what’s important: Patient safety and access to quality medical care for all women in our state.

ACOG respects our members’ deeply held personal beliefs on abortion. While we can agree to disagree about abortion on ideological grounds, we must draw a hard line against any legislation that threatens women’s health. That’s why we’re setting the record straight for all politicians: Get out of our exam rooms.

Read the rest by clicking here.