Only 14 States, and Washington D. C Have Set Up Their Own Affordable Healthcare (Obamacare) Marketplace Exchanges

 Tell YOUR Congress and Senate to Obey the Law That They Swore an Oath to Uphold

Actual Pros and Cons of "The Affordable Care Act" aka "Obamacare"

 An article by bloomberg.com spells out some pros and cons of what's happening with the Affordable Care Act implementation. http://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/health-insurance-exchanges/  The Republicans attaching defunding, delaying, ans obstructing the Affordable Care Act after is was voted into law by the Congress and the Senate, and upheld by the Supreme Court is nothing more than hurting this country immensely. Shutting down the government, and probably risking the full faith and credit of the United States when the debt ceiling comes up on October 17th is wrong. With the health Exchanges opening yesterday the law is being implemented to help the 30 million Americans who couldn't afford healthcare get it. This is a good for all.

If exchanges work as intended, premiums will fall and more people will obtain insurance. If not, costs could rise, especially for younger customers. A few states started organizing their exchanges early and are predicting success; California said in May that insurers agreed to offer cheaper rates than many had predicted. But the technical hurdles are huge, some states have delayed critical functions and there is much debate over the practical fallout.

Healthcare Costs Have Been Rising at a Much Slower Rate Since The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) Has Been Law

 Healthcare costs were rising at about 12% a year, with the Affordable Care Act being made law in 2010 costs have risen much slower, about 4% a year. Since healthcare is such a large part of the non-defense expenditures this is good. Yet there is a small, bet very well-backed faction in our Congress that is hell bent on blocking the law from being implemented. There is a tremendous amount of money being spent ti discourage young people from signing up on the exchanges, to get affordable health insurance plans because they know that for the law to work we need young people to sign up.

People Must Learn What The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare)Does and Does NOT Do

 People need to learn what the Affordable Care Act is all about. It is discouraging when a talk show like Jimmy Kimmel Live asks people about the Affordable Care Act, and Obamacare, and many people are dead set against "Obamacare" but like the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. They are the same exact thing people! When some people are asked if they are for the Affordable Care Act, or, Obamacare many say they are against it, However, when asked about specific things in the law, they are 100% for them. For instance; when asked if young people should be able to stay on their parents health insurance plans, they say YES. When asked if insurance companies should be able to drop subscribers, after the subscribers have been paying premiums for years, just because they get sick, they say NO. When asked if insurance companies should be able to deny insurance to anyone with a pre-existing condition, they NO. When asked if the insurance companies should be forced to spend at least 85% of the money they collect for premiums on actual benefits for the insured, instead of boosting their profits and giving their shareholders bigger dividends, and their executives bigger bonuses, they say YES. Well folks, these are all things that the Affordable Care Act have ALREADY DONE!

To get real facts about "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," the actual name of the law, also known as "Obamacare," click on this link http://www.obamacarefacts.com/ .

So, what can I do? 

The Congressmen and Senators have listened to the people before when enough pressure through phone calls and e-mails were made directly to their offices. It has become less so since the Tea Party, and the money behind them, have put pressure on all of the politicians by threatening to run primary campaigns against anyone that doesn't do what they want, as evidence in things like background checks for gun purchases was an issue. Everywhere from 75% to 90% of people in districts told their representatives they were for background checks but the representatives caving to the Tea Party and the NRA voted against what the people wanted. But the people putting pressure on the representatives is still the best way to try to get the Congress and the Senate to do what we want.

Get Involved For A Better America - YOU CAN Make A Difference

 Contact YOUR Congressmen by using this link http://www.house.gov/representatives/ and your Senators by using this link http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and tell them that you are for 30 million people who can't afford health insurance getting it, and you are for all of the things mentioned above that the Affordable Care Act has already done. Tell them that you want them to stop worrying about the Tea Party running a primary election against them because YOU will vote them out if they don't start moving forward. We need jobs, we need the infrastructure improved, we need better education and much more. Tell them to stand up to the big money and do their jobs. Remind them that they took an oath to not only uphold the Constitution of the United States, but to uphold it's laws, of which "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," aka "Obamacare," is one of. Make the phone call, send the e-mail, it's really easy with the links above. It CAN make a difference.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Exchanges are OPEN, The Government is CLOSED!

October 1, 2013 HAPPY TUESDAY! from a sunny, Patchogue, NY where we're going up to 70 degrees.

AWARENESS: To be happy is to become aware of oneself without fright. - WALTER BENJAMIN

INSIGHT: Sticking to your goals will pave the way to a satisfying and successful adult life.

SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE ON HEALTHCARE.GOV TODAY. Encourage everyone that doesn't have health insurance to sign up at Healthcare.gov, especially those ages 21 to 35. https://www.healthcare.gov/what-is-the-marketplace-in-my-state/#state=new-york

The Republicans have SHUT DOWN the GOVERNMENT!

Quinnipiac Poll: Government Shutdown to Oppose Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Support: 22%
Oppose: 72%

Quinnipiac Poll: Opinions of Republicans in Congress:
Approve: 17% (This is the lowest score they have EVER gotten)
Disapprove: 74%

I'd like to meet the 17% of Americans who approve paying Congressmen $170,000/yr to do little more than obstruct almost every bit of legislation including Jobs, Infrastructure, Education, Immigration, or anything that would help the country and the American people.

CNN/ORC Poll: Thoughts on Congress:
Approve: 10%
Disapprove: 87%

NBC/Kaiser Family Foundation Poll: Enthusiastic about Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Democrats: 44%
Independents: 18%
Republicans 5%

The Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Exchanges ARE OPEN! but the U. S. Government has been SHUT DOWN by the Republican Party. Don't believe any lies about who is at fault for the government shutting down. All that had to be done to avoid the government shutting down is that a clean bill for a Continuing Resolution (CR) had to be passed. Passing a CR has always been done and is normal, to allow the country to have money to continue operation the government, EXCEPT now because the Republicans decided they wanted to hold the country hostage by attaching a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act as part of passing a continuing resolution. That's it! plain and simple. It wasn't enough that the House Republicans spent taxpayer money voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) law more than 40 times, knowing that it would not happen, now they have shut down the government in another attempt to defund a law that has been a law for three years. The "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed by both the House and the Senate, signed by the President, and upheld as being constitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court. This was all done in 2010. Today the health exchanges for people to sign up for healthcare open, even though the government is shut down. Yes, the 30 million Americans who could not afford healthcare insurance can sign up today to get affordable healthcare.

54-44 The Senate Vote to Fund the Government with the Provision to Defund Obamacare Removed

 54-44 The Senate Vote to Fund the Government with the Provision to Defund Obamacare Removed

Recap of Events in the House and Senate the Last Few Days

Let's recap the last couple days; The House of Representatives passed a CR bill that defunded Obamacare and sent it to the Senate.

Senator Cruz made a deal with Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to speak on the Senate floor on Wednesday, he started at 2:41pm EST and spoke for 21 hours. The speech was not really a filibuster because it was never going to stop a vote on cloture, to allow discussion of the bill passed by the house. It was touted as a fauxlibuster because it was never going to stop the vote for cloture, it was a fake filibuster. Mind you the supposed fauxlibuster was to stop a bill put forth by the Republicans in the house. 

Near the end of his little show Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) he said "A vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare." That's right, Senator Cruz said a vote for cloture (a vote to allow discussion of the bill ) is a vote for Obamacare. So, since his speech wasn't really a filibuster the vote on cloture took place, wait for it, wait for it, it passed 100-0! Senator Cruz voted for it, therefore voting for Obamacare. You can't make this stuff up. The Republican party is so broken that no one knows how to fix it. How are we supposed to fix anything else?

The Senate held four votes today that ultimately, sent a bill back to the Congress, restoring funding for Obamacare, and hopefully addressed some of the spending issues that House Speaker John Boehner proposed where 100% of the defense cuts were removed giving the defense spending an actual increase and keeping in place the cuts to non-defense cuts through sequestration. In hopes of passing what is being called "clean bill" continuing resolution (CR) the bill is now back in the house. That leaves only leaves until Monday night at midnight for the Congress to act before a government shut down will take place.

Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have been attacking House Republicans for not passing a  a bill to defund Obamacare. After his 21-hour speech to raise money and gain even more popularity with the obstructionist Tea Party under the premise of a filibuster, which wasn't really a filibuster, Senator Cruz said "A vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare." The result of that Senate vote was 100-0, meaning that he himself voted for cloture! Wait, What?! Still have trouble with that.

Today the Senate voted 54-44 to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government with the provision to defund Obamacare removed.. So, now it's back in the hands of the House of Representatives. We need everyone to CONTACT their Congressmen and tell them we do not want a government shutdown. It is the mission of this blog to motivate people to actually contact their representatives to put pressure on them to do the right thing. We try to do this by making it easier to do that. So, here is a link that you can use to identify who your Congressmen are and how to contact them.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Please get involved and take a moment to call, or send an e-mail to your Congressman or woman right now.

How Far Can People Be Pushed Before They Push Back?

 

 

How Far Can People Be Pushed Before
They Push Back? Volume 1 

(The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)

  When People Stand Together and Actually DO What They Can DO We Are HEARD!

Anytime we can get people to stand together and act together we gain strength, this is why I've created this blog, and a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the-Obstructionist-Tea-Party/1404191656471075 . I get frustrated when I see Tea Party members, and other Conservatives, saying absurd things that are totally untrue and outright lies. Then people make comments, act out at town hall meetings, and appear elsewhere in the media, because they actually BELIEVE the misinformation and outright lies that these obstructionists spew out. Politicians put this garbage out, not because they believe it, but because they're only worried about their reelection, and people buy it!

I saw a post on Facebook by Robert Reich, author of "Beyond Outrage - What has gone wrong with our Economy and our Democracy, and how to Fix it." It provoked many comments and emotions among people. I thought I would share the link to that post because it inspired me to post another piece to try to motivate people to speak up and get involved, which is the mission of this blog. 


Robert Reich's Facebook page address is: https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?hc_location=stream. This link brings you to his Facebook page, on it is a post he made on August 25, 2013. You can identify the post as it begins with "A few days ago I had breakfast with a man who had been one of my mentors in college,".
I encourage you to read it, comment, and come back to this blog and comment on this article so I can hear what you think.

 People are being pushed further than ever before on many fronts. Inequality of Opportunity, Income inequality, we are being told that getting health insurance for 30 million uninsured people is not what we want, we are having to deal with a minimum wage that full-time workers, working a full 40 hours a week are living below the poverty level, we are told that if a women wants to have an abortion that she must consent to a trans-vaginal ultrasound that has not be deemed medically necessary by a doctor, (isn't that assault?,) we are having to deal with numerous Voter ID laws that clearly discriminate against the poor and the minorities, we are told that no environmental concerns exist with fracking, pipelines, and deregulation of industries, we are told that the deregulation of the financial industry didn't cause the near depression and wipe out people's 401k's and net worth, and much more rhetoric that is simply NOT TRUE!. ENOUGH!

People need to speak up! Many people say "What can I do? Plenty. History shows that when people stand together and speak out by flooding the offices of politicians with enough calls, e-mails and other personal contact, that we can pressure them to do the right thing. But we must flood them with contact. We must let them know, that we know, what they are doing. There are links on this blog page for people to find out who there representatives are, how to contact them, and to see how their Representatives are voting on bills. . If you want to get involved and don't know who your Congressmen, Senators, and other Representatives are, please use the links on this page to find out who they are, and how to contact them. Do it now! It's as simple as putting in your zip code, and for your local politicians, your address. We can make a difference! Speak to your neighbors, coworkers, friends, and encourage them to seek out various sources for news and information. The internet is a useful tool but people need to be aware that anyone can write anything they want on the internet, so they have to look at numerous sources, and respected sources. People should visit fact-checking organizations; here are a couple sites http://www.factcheck.org/ , http://www.politifact.com/ , http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker , http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/29/realtime-political-fact-checking-becomes-a-reality-with-wapos-truth-teller/ ,  and not accept when people in the conservative party say "we will not let fact-checking get in the way of our agenda"

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Volume 1 emphasis) 

Why aren't people telling their Governors, Congressman, and Senators that it is NOT O.K. to do NOTHING! Elected officials get a golden healthcare plan, for life, and turn right around and vote 40 times to repeal Obamacare which will help 30 million uninsured Americans get health insurance. Governors in many states refuse to implement "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act", a LAW, not a bill, (which many conservatives insist on still calling it.) They refuse to set up insurance exchanges so people can sign up on October 1, 2013. In lieu of setting up exchanges they must come up with alternatives. One state decided that a viable alternative was to have a lottery where only 2500 people would "win" an opportunity to get health insurance. The problem? there were numerous, 1) there are 3 million people uninsured in that state, 2) everyone had to call within the same 2-3 hour window and 3) it was announced on the news that the phone lines were closed, before they ever actually opened. One woman that was in the hospital for surgery, she was under anesthesia and couldn't call. She was told that she had the opportunity just as everyone else in the state did and she was out of luck. One person who "won" the lottery actually didn't get health insurance but did get a 19 page application that a lawyer for the news agency reporting on this lottery said "was confusing and it was not probable that citizens could possibly complete accurately."

This is where states stood as of June 13, 2013:

Via: The Advisory Board Company

and this site tracks executive and legislative action taken to achieve—or totally rule out—expansion in each state. http://www.advisory.com/Daily-Briefing/Resources/Primers/MedicaidMap

Please get involved, be heard. Tell the Congress that it is not O.K. for them to make a salary of $29,000 for 9 days work in all of August when they have done nothing to help Americans yet voted 40 times to repeal "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act!"