US Politics Mega-thread - Page 605

On November 05 2013 09:37 DoubleReed wrote:
current day politics? I'm pretty sure that's a time-honored tradition.

On November 05 2013 09:34 Liquid`Drone wrote:
well, according to that I guess she stated that she wanted more relief to fishermen, which I guess is only the former. but then there was the "Warren also said she's not comfortable with the science that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has relied on to set catch limits." statement, which, while I'm not familiar with this particular piece of science, still represents one of the more/most annoying aspects of current day politics - politicians cherrypicking science and refusing to adhere to science that conflicts with their political stance.

On November 05 2013 09:52 Liquid`Drone wrote:


haha, more like I meant that current day politics, at least in Norway, isn't actually all that insane. We still have a lot of this though. Historically, stuff like slavery and holocaust makes me angrier than cherrypicked science.

The Senate voted to proceed with a landmark anti-bias gay rights bill Monday, reflecting the dramatic shift in national attitudes towards the acceptance of homosexuality that has taken place since similar anti-discrimination legislation was rejected by lawmakers two decades ago.

By a vote of 61-30, the Senate effectively ended a filibuster, allowing it to debate the Employee Non-Discrimination Act of 2013.

The legislation would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. The bill is expected to pass a final senate vote, but is slated to face strong opposition in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.

A reminder of some lawmakers’ lingering resistance to equal rights for gay men and women resonated in Maine, as six-term Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud, who is running for governor with a slight edge over the opposition in opinion polls, said he was gay and questioned whether it still mattered to voters.

"Yes I am (gay). But why should it matter?" Michaud said, in a bid to maintain his constituency.

Hours before Monday's Senate procedural vote, President Barack Obama issued a fresh plea for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the first significant gay rights bill since Congress lifted the ban on gays serving openly in the military nearly three years ago.

"Americans ought to be judged by one thing only in their workplaces: their ability to get their jobs done," the president said in a message written for the Huffington Post. "Does it make a difference if the firefighter who rescues you is gay — or the accountant who does your taxes or the mechanic who fixes your car?"

Following Monday's vote, the White House said the president welcomes the “senate’s bipartisan first step” toward the law’s enactment.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was busted in what may have been another incident of plagiarism on Monday.

As first reported by BuzzFeed, there are unmistakable similarities between an opinion piece Paul wrote for The Washington Times on drug sentencing in September, and an article written by Dan Stewart of The Week a week earlier.

BuzzFeed highlighted two excerpts from Stewart's piece -- an introduction to mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and the story of a man affected by them -- from which Paul appears to have borrowed heavily.

Stewart wrote this in the introduction of his piece:

At least 20 states, both red and blue, have reformed their mandatory sentencing laws in some way, and Congress is considering a bipartisan bill that would do the same for federal crimes.

Paul's op-ed included the same sentence -- with the addition of a hyphen:

At least 20 states, both red and blue, have reformed their mandatory-sentencing laws in some way, and Congress is considering a bipartisan bill that would do the same for federal crimes.

Stewart wrote this about John Horner, a man who sold his own painkillers to a friend:

He will be 72 by the time he is released, and his three young children will have grown up without him. “Matt,” who turned out to have a long history of drug offenses, was more fortunate -- he received a reduced sentence of just 18 months after informing on Horner, and is now free.

And here's how Paul recounted Horner's story:

John will be 72 years old by the time he is released, and his three young children will have grown up without him. The informant, who had a long history of drug offenses, was more fortunate -- he received a reduced sentence of just 18 months, and is now free.

That still leaves the question of why spending varies so spectacularly. Age, sex and health status account for some of the difference—after controlling for these, factors such as race and income have little effect. The other big driver of variation in Medicare spending is the use of so-called post-acute care, such as services in skilled nursing facilities. Once the researchers controlled for post-acute care, the variation in spending dropped by 73%.

. . .

The Centres for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) sets a price for Medicare services, adjusted for various regional input costs. In contrast, private insurers negotiate payment rates with hospitals. In areas with a dominant hospital chain, prices are likely to be higher. The IOM reports that price mark-ups account for 70% of the variation in commercial spending.

. . .

For Medicare patients, most variation comes from differences in patients’ health status and the overuse of a particular service, post-acute care. For privately insured patients, price gaps are to blame.

. . .

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare”, CMS is already exploring ways to reward better, more efficient hospitals. Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs), for example, reward networks of doctors for keeping costs below a benchmark. Bundled payments pay a set price for an entire episode of care, rather than a fee for each service. Similar experiments are underway in the private sector. UnitedHealthcare, a giant health insurer, has already linked some hospital payments to measures of quality and efficiency. This month United said it would more than double these contracts, from $20 billion today to $50 billion by 2017.

On November 06 2013 04:33 Gorsameth wrote:

Does his speechwriter never learn? You would think that after getting caught twice before they would stop doing it....

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Historic votes Tuesday in the Illinois Legislature positioned that state to become the largest in the heartland to legalize gay marriage, following months of arduous lobbying efforts by both sides in President Barack Obama's home state.

Under the measure, which the state House approved 61-54 before sending it on to the Senate for technical changes, gay weddings could be held in Illinois starting in June. The bill heads next to Gov. Pat Quinn, who has pledged to sign it but didn't immediately indicate when.

Fourteen states plus Washington D.C., allow same-sex marriage. Most recently, New Jersey, Minnesota and Rhode Island have legalized it.

The road to the Illinois vote was long with stalled attempts earlier this year, something that frustrated activists in the state where Democrats lead the House, Senate and governor's office. Chicago Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, who is the sponsor of the bill, decided not to bring the bill for a vote in May because he said he simply didn't have the support.

Then the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, something he said resonated with lawmakers. Backers also launched a furious campaign, hiring a lobbyist from the state's largest union, the former head of the Illinois Republican Party and field organizers spanning the state.

"To treat all our citizens equally in the eyes of the law we must change this," Harris said on the floor. "Families have been kept apart."

Debate lasted more than two hours, and the final roll call was met with hearty cheers and applause. Supporters' speeches echoed themes of equality and civil rights with mentions of Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Matthew Shepard, a gay college student whose 1998 death sparked numerous hate crime bills.

On November 06 2013 06:34 DoubleReed wrote:


I somehow think "speechwriter" is too generous at this point.

Democrats possibly having control over both U.S. Senate seats (Mark Warner and Tim Kaine), the governor’s mansion (McAuliffe), lieutenant governor (Ralph Northam), and attorney general (Mark Herring) would be quite the feat in this key swing state.

On November 06 2013 11:21 xDaunt wrote:
McCaulliffe was up by double digits last month. He is getting weighed down by the Obamacare anchor.