What Are The Chances Of Getting Rid Of Obamacare?


TYT Network

Probably not much.

On Thursday, for the second time in three years, the Supreme Court rejected a major lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), thereby preserving the largest expansion in health coverage since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid half a century ago, writes the Huffington Post.

The stakes of the case, King v. Burwell, were enormous. Had the plaintiffs prevailed, millions of people who depend upon the Affordable Care Act for insurance would have lost financial assistance from the federal government. Without that money, most of them would have had to give up coverage altogether.

In an interesting twist, Forbes reported that the Supreme Court decision has helped investment in health care Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) – in other words, investing in health care real estate.

Forbes: “As a result, health systems and doctors will now be able to move forward with the certainty they need to make major decisions such as leasing, capital expenditures and other investments.

“The ACA is projected to add an additional 35 to 45 million insured patients into the marketplace. These individuals are expected to increase their utilization of health services, which should bode well for hospitals and physicians volumes – a net positive for hospitals and the owners of on-campus medical office buildings.”

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks breaks it down.

(Updated post)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bradthomas/2015/06/29/affordable-care-act-serves-as-strong-tailwind-for-healthcare-reits/

California ‘Cap-And-Trade’ Program Provides $122 Million For Affordable Housing

According to scpr.org, California’s cap-and-trade program this year will provide $122 million in funding for affordable housing, including more than 800 new units in Southern California for lower-income residents.

28 winning projects are to be built using high energy-efficiency standards and will be located within a half mile of public transit stops.

California’s Strategic Growth Council, which picked the award recipients, said that’s in keeping with the spirit of the cap-and-trade program that collects fees from polluting companies to put toward addressing climate change.

The housing projects will “reduce as much greenhouse gas as taking all the cars in Newport Beach and Citrus Heights up north off the road for a year,” said Mike McCoy, the council’s executive director.

http://www.housingca.org/#!cap-and-trade/c1rev

http://www.hcd.ca.gov/financial-assistance/affordable-housing-and-sustainable-communities/

June 28th, 1997: Mike Tyson Bites Off Piece Of Evander Holyfield’s Ear

Exported.; exp;

On June 29th, 1997, The New York Daily News wrote, “Biting off more than he could chew, Mike Tyson was disqualified for twice sinking his teeth into Evander Holyfield in the third round of last night’s rematch between the two biggest money-making fighters in history.”

Tyson chewed off a piece of one ear and reportedly also tried to bite Holyfield’s other ear.  Tyson was disqualified from the boxing match that night.  Holyfield was sent to the hospital.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201506/throwback-mike-tyson-bites-evander-holyfields-ear

Is Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly Catholic? Will He Follow The Pope’s Encyclical On Climate Change?

The Washington Post once discussed Bill O’Reilly’s faith with him.  He appeared to be Catholic.  Below is an excerpt.

“You grew up Catholic. How big of a role did faith play in your home?

“I lived in a traditional Irish Catholic home that didn’t deviate very much from what had happened in the past 150 years. We went to church on Sunday, went out to breakfast afterward. There were rituals. My mother wanted me to be an altar boy, so I was. I can compare it to a very working-class, predictable, faith-based situation. It was just: Here are the rules. Here’s what we do. There wasn’t a lot of why in it.

“Did you believe in God?

“Yes, I bought into the orthodoxy. When you’re a little kid and your parents believe and then the school teaches you, it’s an inculcation. I didn’t challenge it.

“And what about Jesus? Did you believe Jesus was the Son of God?

“Oh, yes. Sure. Yes, back then in the late ’50s, early ’60s when I was in Catholic school, everybody believed it.

According to hollowverse.com, “O’Reilly grew up going to Catholic schools and is still Catholic today.” Hollowverse.com cites the “Bill O’Reilly Biography.”

On the website http://www.creators.com, O’Reilly writes, “Over the years, I have occasionally written about being a practicing Roman Catholic, a fact that sometimes leads to incredulous statements like ‘You go to church?’ Somehow, I don’t believe the question is a compliment.”  He also writes, “A number of Catholics have left the church because of the priestly sins, but not me.”

Several sites show that he is Catholic. As a conservative, he also denies man-made climate change. So, the question is, will the pope’s encyclical on climate change affect Bill O’Reilly?

http://hollowverse.com/bill-oreilly/#footnote_0_7708

Did Romneycare Save Obamacare In The Recent Supreme Court Decision?

Chief Justice John Roberts cited Massachusetts’ own Romneycare law extensively throughout his opinion explaining the court’s 6-3 decision to uphold Obamacare’s subsidies.  The Affordable Care Act (the ACA, aka Obamacare) relied on a similar framework to Romneycare, writes MSNBC.

Legal scholars say the 2006 Massachusetts law, which Romney supported and signed as governor, played a key role in bolstering the White House’s case that the ACA always intended to provide subsidies to federal and state exchanges, despite a clause that referred only to “an exchange established by the state.”

Democrats have Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health care law to thank as inspiration for the Affordable Care Act, which relied on a similar framework. Now they can credit the 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney with helping to save it from an existential legal threat in King v. Burwell, writes MSNBC

(Updated posting)

Read the Supreme Court decision here:

Click to access 14-114_qol1.pdf

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-mitt-romney-saved-obamacare

Leader Of New York’s Women Firefighters Makes Controversial Post On ‘White Privilege’

According to The New York Post, the leader of New York City’s female firefighters has sparked outrage for blasting “white boys” and “white privilege.”

Sarinya Srisakul, president of United Women’s Firefighters, is taking heat from fellow firefighters after posting online comments.

They read:  ‘“These white boys crying and complaining over this because their white privilege is being messed with. Trying living a life being racially profiled!!!!”’

Critics say Srisakul violated the FDNY’s social-media policy when she posted the comments in November. The policy bars statements that bring the department into disrepute, but some firefighters say Srisakul gets away with it because she is “politically correct.”

(Updated article)

Epic O’Reilly Race Rant: Vintage Video


NewsBrusandReviews

Writer Leonard Pitts looks at the typical talking points made by pundits like O’Reilly, such as the black-on-black crime rate:

“…this has become the go-to “reasoning” for those on the right — Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh — when asked to give a damn about the killings of unarmed black boys and men.

“That formulation is false for multiple reasons.

“In the first place, being concerned over the shooting of unarmed black men hardly precludes being concerned over violence within the African-American community. Giuliani and others suggest a dichotomy where none exists.

“In the second place, they ignore the obvious: When black people commit crimes against black people, they face prosecution, but when police officers (or certain neighborhood watchmen) commit crimes against black people, they face getting off with little if any punishment.

“In the third place, what exactly is “black on black” crime?

“Do black people kill one another? Sure they do. Ninety percent of black murder victims are killed by black assailants.

“But guess what? White people kill one another, too. Eighty-three percent of white victims are killed by white assailants. See, the vast majority of violent crime is committed within — not between — racial groups. Crime is a matter of proximity and opportunity. People victimize their own rather than drive across town to victimize somebody else.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article4187602.html#storylink=cpy

Change.org Petition For NBC To Cut Ties With Donald Trump

Recently, Univision decided to drop Donald Trump’s Miss USA pageant from the network lineup.

Univision is the largest Spanish-language broadcaster.  They decided to not air the annual Miss USA pageant next month due to the presidential candidate’s recent comments on immigration.

In a statement recently, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) lauded Univision’s decision to sever ties with Trump and urged NBC to “follow Univision’s lead.”

Members of the coalition include business, media, and cultural advocacy groups like the National Council of La Raza, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Presente.org and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, according to CNN.

Close to 200,000 people have signed a three-day old Change.org petition that calls for NBC to cut ties with Trump by dropping the Miss USA Pageant, the Miss Universe Pageant, and The Apprentice franchise.

Citing actions taken against Phil Robertson by A&E for his anti-gay views, Petitioner Guillermo Castaneda Jr. urged NBC to side for “ethics, principles and values” by dropping Trump.

“A few days ago, one of your reality show stars by the name of Donald Trump decided to announce his candidacy for the largest public position in the United States, the presidency,” wrote Castaneda. “He called Latinos … rapists drug users and criminals,” writes Entertainment Weekly.

“I am not a rapist,” Castaneda continued. “I have never taken drugs, and the worst thing I have ever done is going fast on the freeway from time to time,” continued Castaneda Jr. “I am not worth $4.1 billion, but my people spend way more than that on your advertisers. We have a voice and we decide the future of this country.”

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/27/media/donald-trump-nbc-univision/

Info / Interview On The 38 killed in Tunesia


AJ+

On Friday at a hotel in Tunisia (North Africa), a gunman dressed as a tourist opened fire, killing 38 people, including British, German and Belgian visitors. Reports say he had hidden a gun in his umbrella.

A brief look at the headlines shows that 1 German, 3 Irish, and “at least 30” Britons were killed.

AJ+ reports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tunisia/11701043/Tunisia-attack-tourists-victims-survivors-live.html

Grandmother Shoots Daughter, Grandchildren in Florida Murder-Suicide

Elizabeth (center), her son Xavier, 7 (right, left), and her daughter Sofia, 2, were found with gunshot wounds on Saturday

A woman shot her daughter and her two small grandchildren before reportedly killing herself inside the Greenacres, Florida, home they shared, police said Sunday.

Grandmother Nilda Sheffield, 53, shot her daughter Elizabeth Flores, 30, and grandchildren Xavier Neff, 7, and Sofia Chiddo, 2, said Greenacres police Lieutenant Brady Myers, according to the NBC News.

Police are searching for a motive in the apparent murder-suicide in the 4600 block of Chariot Circle in Greenacres, Florida.

The horrific crime scene was discovered by a family friend at about 12 noon on Saturday, Lieutenant Myers said.

“That friend told authorities they had not been accounted for since Friday evening,” Myers said.

A group of young adults and small children gathered at the edge of yellow police tape in the neighborhood on Saturday, at times weeping and hugging each other, writes NBC News.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3142570/Grandmother-shot-killed-daughter-grandchildren-aged-2-7-taking-life.html

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Grandmother-Shoots-Daughter-Grandchildren-in-Murder-Suicide-Police-310519521.html