****
WATE: Tennessee Has Lowest Number Of Uninsured In Decade
A new report says the number of uninsured people in Tennessee has continued to drop. According to a report by the University of Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research Tennessee has hit a 10-year low, with the number of uninsured dropping to 6.6 percent.
Dr. LeAnn Luana, who co-authored the report, says the downward trend began in 2013, coinciding with the availability of the health insurance marketplace established as part of the Affordable Care Act. The number of uninsured children also saw a drop by more than half since 2013. According to the study, 98.5 percent of children are currently uninsured.
More here
****
Tennessee has lowest number of uninsured in decade - wate.com/2015/10/16/ten…
—
(@symmetry11) October 16, 2025
White House.gov
NW, was just departing and I noticed yet another of your outstanding posts featuring #OBAMACARE.
Can’t thank you enough for keeping a bright light on all its successes!
And, then we have these clowns acting like they deserve anything but derision ….
bbl ….
Congrats Bob on First 😎
Thank you Gail.
Thank you Jacqueline & Arapaho for your comments in the previous thread. I responded to each of you.
Thanks, Bob!
“Presidential material”? In their dreams
Hi, Nerdy. We always know that if it’s good news about ObamaCare, you are delivering it. How I wish that someone in PBO’s administration could see what a phenomenal job you’ve been doing to keep people informed.
How do we know they’re not?
*smiles and adjusts tin foil hat*
Sorry, I have a fever and I’m loopy.
Loopy or not - I’m with you LL - no doubt in my mind that the administration well knows about TOD
Thanks so much, Jackie.
hello NW…
i just want to thank your fo all your posts…and tweets…they are truly inspirational and informative….thank you
Thank you so much, PF.
you are so welcomed NW..
I wish I could tell women it’s going to be easy, but we know it won’t be. There are going to be times when someone may be the only woman in a room, standing up for this agenda, but we won’t waiver. There are going to be times when people will try to divide us or make us feel small, but we will stand firm and hold our sisters tall. There are going to be times when we’re afraid, or just plain tired, but we can’t give up. And we can’t worry too much about how this ends, or where we are right now as we get started. We just need the courage to take a stand, and to fight for the women of Mississippi.
******************************
what a truly inspirational story of hope and perseverance and triump
The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black
An examination of traffic stops and arrests in Greensboro, N.C., uncovered wide racial differences in measure after measure of police conduct.
OCT. 24, 2015
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Rufus Scales, 26 and black, was driving his younger brother Devin to his hair-cutting class in this genteel, leafy city when they heard the siren’s whoop and saw the blue light in the rearview mirror of their black pickup. Two police officers pulled them over for minor infractions that included expired plates and failing to hang a flag from a load of scrap metal in the pickup’s bed. But what happened next was nothing like a routine traffic stop.
Uncertain whether to get out of the car, Rufus Scales said, he reached to restrain his brother from opening the door. A black officer stunned him with a Taser, he said, and a white officer yanked him from the driver’s seat. Temporarily paralyzed by the shock, he said, he fell face down, and the officer dragged him across the asphalt.
Rufus Scales emerged from the encounter with four traffic tickets; a charge of assaulting an officer, later dismissed; a chipped tooth; and a split upper lip that required five stitches.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-disproportionate-risks-of-driving-while-black/ar-BBmorCP?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=iehp
Thanks NW for good news about Tennessee 🌟🌟
Just think if state had taken the Medicaid expansion?!! Think what those numbers would be. SMH.
:)
Ok, folks. Got my full-on ITIS going on right now. All week, I dreamt of the meal I had today. For my Chicago folks, I took myself to Lem’s and got me a Large tip/Hot link combo, hot & mild sauce.
For the non-Chicagoans…Lem’s is a shack that sits in the middle of the street. No place to sit down..just get yourself in there - maybe 6 people can fit in there at a time, and get your order and go. Until about a year ago, Lem’s didn’t even take credit cards. So, you know what kind of place it is..
BEST BLACK BBQ EVAH!!
Stuff’s so greasy, it’s seeping through the paperbag before you can get home.
So, you get your Lem’s , another plate, paper towels, and babywipes….
And, here comes the ITIS..LOL
Sometimes, you just want the ITIS…
My sister in Minnesota called while I was eating, and when I told her it was Lem’s, she was like, ‘ have a few tips for me.’
LOL
rikyrah, I love Lems, you had my favorite combo.
Do you need a good lie down now?
Thanks Nerdy for shining the light on the good! :D
:)
October 24, 2025 3:36 PM
House Freedom Caucus Demands
By Nancy LeTourneau
It is looking likely that Rep. Paul Ryan will be elected Speaker of the House next week. Who knows what has transpired behind closed doors, but the word is that he and the Freedom Caucus reached a deal that won enough of them over for him to be elected.
What we also know is that the Freedom Caucus designed a questionnaire for speaker candidates. Kevin Quealy and Carl Hulse have done us all a service by translating those demands from Congressional legalese into plain English.
In looking at the list of 21 items, a lot of the things they are pushing for would simply undo the reforms instituted by Newt Gingrich that put power in the hands of the House Leadership - specifically the Speaker. In that way, they grant the insurgents continuing power to be disruptive.
But there are a few things that would mean pretty immediate chaos. For example, item 13 asks: are you willing to hold the debt limit hostage until we prevail on other issues? Specifically, the Freedom Caucus wants “structural entitlement reforms” in the 2016 budget and the Default Prevention Act (which President Obama has promised to veto) included in any legislation that raises the debt ceiling.
Given that the Treasury has informed Congress that the debt limit will be reached November 3rd - exactly one week after the House votes for a new Speaker - that doesn’t give Paul Ryan a lot of time to work this one out.
Making that job even harder is item 7 which seeks to institutionalize the so-called “Hastert Rule.” It would require that Republicans consider only legislation that has the support of the majority of their party. That would eliminate the possibility for Ryan to develop a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats to raise the debt ceiling.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_10/house_freedom_caucus_demands058286.php
THE AFOREMENTIONED HAS BEEN VERY WELL PLANNED OUT AND PRESENTED AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE IN SPEAKER SHIFT CHANGE TO THE PUBLIC…AT ITS WORST…I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED FOR THE WELFARE OF THE PRESIDENT BECAUSE ALL ARE DIVING INTO A FAMILIAR SWAMP KNOWN AS INSANITY! THE FREEDOM CAUCUS WANTS PBO GONE AND THEY DON’T WANT TO WAIT 15 MONTHS!
Ben Carson AND his wife are scary people.
America, do not give them the keys to the front door!!!!!!
Rikyrah’s encomium to black BBQ makes me think of my weakness: Cuban sandwiches.
Now, it took a good, oh, 30 FUCKING YEARS for there to be a good Cuban sandwich place in L.A. Every sandwich I tried was too damned dry. Like they were making it for fussy white Angelinos rather than being authentic.
A true Cuban sandwich should be dripping in grease from the ham and the roast pork and the swiss cheese. If you’re on a diet, chuck it out the window for a day. It’s worth it. A place opened up in El Segundo a few years ago called Havana Sandwich Company. It’s run by a white guy from Miami who fell head over heels in love with Cuban cuisine, especially The Sandwich. And Hosanna in the highest, this white dude GETS IT RIGHT. Nothing will ever match the taste of the sandwich I would eat from a little hole in the wall on St. Nick and 177th a couple of blocks from my apartment in NYC. But this comes so close as to not make a difference.
I am not liking this FBI Director….he also stated that the killing of the parishioners in the SC Church was not an act of terror…
I guess that this person (trayNTP) doesn’t know that the majority of local and state government jobs have been cut by republican governors and republican legislatures
and oh, by the way, the comments are disabled:) Of course they are:)
Yea, sure, we could have seen this coming a mile (kilometer?) away!
she will get many endorsements now that tthe VP is out of the race….not unexpected
Of course, Pf, but when some of these were trying to pour water on VP Joe’s decision before it was made/announced, they lose credibility with me. It matters not how great they *claim* HRC is - IMO they clearly do not have enough confidence in her to allow her to campaign on her merits without hovering over her. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder what kind of a pact they made with her during the 2008 Dem convention, and (no matter how unrealistic it may be) a part of me is silently hoping that she implodes (or backs out for ‘family reasons’) before the convention and VP Joe can be brokered in to save the
daynext term.When the ducks are left standing it may be Hillary…i will defend the President’s record against lies…but i cannot trash her and then ask folks to vote for her…we obots are in tough spot…but we are made of strong stuff…we will do what we must
It may very well be her, but I’m disillusioned that she’s so fenced around she’s not finding her own path, that from the beginning people seem to be knocking the ducks down *for* her. She did such a questionable job in campaigning last time, I would have felt more respect for her if having come back to try again, she had shown more growth and less entitlement. I plan to be mostly silent with regards to her (using the ‘If you can’t say anything nice, be silent’), but in truth I’m still raw from the VP announcement (though my comment above didn’t, or wasn’t meant to, thrash her).
no…i did not mean that i saw you trashing her…i was speaking for myself…i cannot say things that seem like a negative now…and then have to eat those words if she becomes the nominee…it will be hard to do
Pf, I do understand. Dems have to work with what they have because the alternative is no alternative at all! {{{Prettyf}}
yup…
:oops: Prettyf, I just responded to your tweet about reading the endorsement later when it occurred to me that I may have gotten my Davids mixed up!!!! I’m feeling too confused now to go back and search - do you remember if it was Axelrod (as opposed to Plouffe) who was tweeting that VP Joe shouldn’t enter the race way before the decision was announced?
it was Axelrod
:oops: Thanks. So (now that I’ve wronged him) I have no excuse not to read what Plouffe has to say. ….I’ll do it tomorrow when I’m more alert. :D
WOW, we Democrats have really been played. Instead of watching and listening and learning from PBO’s presidency, the DNC fell back and defaulted to the power of the Clintons and all their back-slapping, self-aggrandizing ways. They couldn’t run away from PBO and his plainly obvious enormous success. Rather than being forward-thinking, the DNC was never going to look ahead to the future of the party as anything other than the Clintons. They never even cultivated any other candidates. They never ever even acknowledged that VP Joe should have the respect and privilege of running. They never allowed anyone else to even sit on the bench. They stacked the DNC committees with Clinton cronies in August of 2013. They pledged themselves to her as she strung out the country for over a year, pretending she didn’t know if she was running so she could garner free press everywhere she went. And everybody went along with it. Everybody was more than happy to be manipulated, just as they are now when she steps into these scandals and then plays everyone for support and money while she holds the conspiracy card. The drama of being victimized by the GOP is how she rallies her base. Sorry, but it all feels like a ruse to me - yes, a coronation.
Now that we all know we have no choice in the matter, I guess we are all going to have to keep our mouths shut. Because before any vote has been cast and one year out from the general election, everyone has already proclaimed her the 45th.
Should read: They couldn’t run away from PBO and his plainly obvious enormous success FAST ENOUGH.
From 2013: Clinton adviser Harold Ickes’ return to DNC signals power play by Bill and Hillary
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/clinton-adviser-harold-ickes-return-dnc-signals-power-play-bill-hillary-article-1.1439132
Meta, what you’ve said here is how I feel. I don’t know why I should be, but in a way I’m offended by her early ‘coronation’ as I think of it as insulting to the idea of this being a democratic process. If they had gone about this more tactfully by presenting a more ‘open’ candidate and open season, which she then won, I think I’d have felt more accepting of her victory. For now, the way things are unfolding smells rotten IMO. It seems like the democratic gods have decided that the U.S. in 2017 must have HRC as its 1st woman president and, by golly, they are going to see that it is so!
In a way I find the whole roll-out so far to be insulting, just as, as a woman, I was insulted by that picture of the horde of female journalists that were apparently assigned to her campaign bus(?). [Yes, she had nothing to do with the choice of reporters.] The notion that the news outlet would believe women are so simplistic that all they need to do to appease us when we talk about fair reporting is send female reporters is truly offensive. To my mind, the entire life of the 2016 campaign has seeped out slowly even before the campaign was able to get to its feet.
saw that photo, and seemed like they were a 100% white bunch of “reporters” too…
They absolutely could NOT risk having a more open primary because then she would also risk losing. Especially not anyone viable and charismatic like PBO. NO WAY. That was another reason she bullied them on the number of debates. The less exposure to fumbling, the better. The DNC is the Clinton’s firewall.
It smells rotten because it is. Her campaign was like watching paint dry until the hearing on Friday. The controversy is how she energizes her base. There isn’t a day that goes by that her supporters aren’t talking about Benghazi. So look for more scandal and controversy ahead, opportunities for her to be the “fighter.”
Sigh! Little does HRC realize that there are some voters who would prefer her to be ‘fighting’ for our causes, as opposed to her contrived victim scenarios. That is what strikes me most about her - she does not really have a heart for the people in general, I don’t care what she or her supporters say! She has a heart, I think, for those who will serve her purpose.
I am waiting for one of the ‘women’ reporters to say something that offends her/her campaign for them then to argue sexism, and for the other side to say ‘O, it can’t be sexism because it was said by a female reporter.’ :roll: :roll: She may have been brushing off her shoulder at one point during the hearing (I couldn’t watch), but she so clearly doesn’t know how to brush it off in reality. I listen to and look at her and can immediately envision little pockets of regression to the old political template. Sigh! Sigh!
HILLARY WON’T WIN ANYWAY….HELL IS COMING FROM THE OTHER SIDE BECAUSE THIS FALLEN COUNTRY WILL GET WHAT IT DESERVES FOR ITS HATESPEAK,GREED AND SELFISHNESS. THIS COUNTRY WILL PAY FOR THE ABHORANT WAY IT HAS TREATED THIS PRESIDENT!
You are on point
gave you a big thumbs up but seems to be in moderation, so again, great comment and should be front-paged in my opinion.
^^^ THIS.
And “Now that we all know we have no choice in the matter, I guess we are all going to have to keep our mouths shut.” That’s going to be the toughest part for me and many others. I’m just one voter, but so many times since VP Joe’s announcement, I’ve thought of a response to some “coronation” pitch for HRC on twitter and held myself back from actually posting it. I’ve made a few comments where I put my real annoyance between the lines. Here on TOD is the only place I feel comfortable actually making reference to her by name. Can’t trash her much “in public,” if we want a Democrat in the White House in ’17. She’ll never get one thin dime from me. That’s what her friends are for, I’m thinking.
“We Democrats have been played” would make a good silent bumper sticker right about now. You nailed it, Meta.
‘ “I guess we are all going to have to keep our mouths shut.” That’s going to be the toughest part for me and many others’
For me, yes!
However, I *think* if we can air out our frustration and disillusionment here now we may be able to tamp them down *soon* (by primary season?), as opposed to them festering under the quiet until they explode later. I hope (…… for myself anyways).
Meanwhile….
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/10/team-bush-in-fog.html
‘Sorry, Malia Obama’: Brown University Newspaper Apologizes After Students Post Photos Of Visit
Noting that the college application process is stressful enough without the whole world watching, The Brown Daily Herald apologized this week on behalf of students who posted images of the first daughter’s recent campus tour at Brown University, creating a social media frenzy.
The incident occurred last week after The Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, kicked off the media frenzy after obtaining a Snapchat photo showing 17-year-old Malia standing in front of cups arranged for a game of beer pong. She is not seen playing the game or drinking alcohol in the photo.
…The editorial concludes that “Malia did not choose to grow up in the White House, and it is unfair that everything she does at just 17 years old is subject to such harsh scrutiny. While the chances of her selecting Brown have probably decreased since the publication of those articles, if she does ever come back to Brown, hopefully next time we will ‘have more chill.'”
http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/10/_sorry_malia_obama_brown_university_apologizes_after_students_post_photos.html
“You have got to give Pelosi full credit,” said a former House aide who still works closely with the Republican caucus and could not speak freely for fear of losing his access. “She is an incredibly tough adversary and she knows how to use power, and she doesn’t lose very often in her conference.”
But, they re-elected him.
………………….
Gov. Sam Brownback in deep hole with Kansans
Lots of numbers in a new statewide survey of Kansas from Fort Hays State University, but here’s the stunner:
Only 18 percent of state residents said they were “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.
Kansas, in case there’s any misunderstanding, is a heavily Republican state.
President Barack Obama, long a punching bag for Republicans, rated higher. Some 28 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with the Democratic chief executive.
Bob Beatty, a political scientist at Washburn University, told the Topeka Capital-Journal that Brownback’s poll numbers were “epic.
“This could be some of the lowest approval ratings of any Kansas governor in history,” he said.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article41315862.html
‘President Barack Obama, long a punching bag for Republicans’.
yeah, keep punching your noses, you numbnutz.
Is the Jackson-Jefferson dinner tonight
opps Jefferson-Jackson…
yes according to cspan…it is tonight @ 9pm
al giordano is going to be live-blogging it tonight here:
http://tsu.co/groups/the-democratic-convention
thanks :)
There truly will NEVER be another like President Barack Obama.
#IDPJJ Reminder - 9p ET/6p PT - CSPAN Link:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?328787-1/presidential-candidates-jeffersonjackson-dinner
As you noted in the previous thread pf58, Speaker Pelosi introduced Senator Obama, as I’m sure many of our TOD colleagues remember, “the Next President of the USA.”
He then spent a few min convincing (overwhelmingly) a bunch of folk that he could (would) win and overcome what Gallup on 23 Oct 2025 proclaimed an assured Hillary Clinton Presidential nomination.
Without any doubt, he also set the bar, for any future Dem candidate who was going to rise to challenge the ‘institutional’ favorite son (daughter).
And, a mere 8 years later we see precisely that same match-up - Hillary Clinton v Martin O’Malley … that Senator Sanders is on the stage for me is about as consequential as the fact that Senator Edwards was on the stage at the 2007 Iowa Pres Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
If anyone doubts how high he set the bar - and how hard he took it to then Senator Clinton - here’s the video pf58 posted in the previous thread so you can savor it with a glass of wine (or whatever) while awaiting a very important moment - for America.
Obviously, had VP Biden entered the race, it would be an entirely different evening.
But, he didn’t. So, will another upstart make history? We’ll see …..
#FORWARD Together
that is my feeling as well…Bob…this is O’Malley’s chance…either he has has it or he doesn’t..
p.s. The following is the text of an email from the O’Malley Campaign that began circulating during the past hour or so:
——————————-
“This is the day they say changes presidential campaigns. It’s the day that President Obama’s campaign in 2007 took a turn—people say it’s the day he ultimately won the nomination.
At that point in the race, he was the underdog chasing the front-runner.
Today is the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner, in which the remaining Democratic candidates for president and their supporters gather for rousing speeches and performances.
This is our day and this is our moment. …..
Yesterday, Governor Schweitzer endorsed my campaign. Earlier this week, 21 local Party leaders in New Hampshire endorsed me as well. Today, over a thousand supporters from Maryland, Iowa and beyond will join my campaign.
I’m excited to deliver a speech this important to a crowd this big. And I’m excited to give this speech to democrats who support Bernie and Hillary. Because I think this is my chance—it’s the campaigns chance, it’s our chance—to show them the alternative the Democratic Party wants and needs.
…..
I can’t wait to update you after the JJ dinner.
Thanks,
Martin O’Malley
P.S. Tune in tonight at 9pm ET to catch my speech! http://martinomalley.com/jj ”
———————————
In an hour or so lots of folk will know if he’s got the right stuff or if he should plan to spend his time doing something else …. MD Senator, perhaps …..
Looks like plans to watch ‘in real time’ are going to be disrupted by a biz matter …. will check in as soon as we’re done … hopefully before tomorrow morning!!!!
Take care TOD!
hmmmmmmm
……………..
Donald Trump’s Lead Explained in Two Sentences
An exclusive look at states where the GOP front-runner splits Republican voters along class and education lines
The blue-collar wing of the Republican primary electorate has consolidated around one candidate.
The party’s white-collar wing remains fragmented.
That may be the most concise explanation of the dynamic that has propelled Donald Trump to a consistent and sometimes commanding lead in the early stages of the GOP presidential nomination contest.
Both national and state polls show Trump opening a substantial lead among Republican voters without a college education almost everywhere. And in almost all cases, Trump is winning more support from noncollege Republicans than any candidate is attracting from Republican voters with at least a four-year education. “It’s a challenge to Republicans that nobody has consolidated the college-graduate vote against Trump,” says Glen Bolger, a longtime GOP pollster skeptical of the front-runner.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/newsdesk/trump-lead-alienates-white-collar-voters
Livestream of the JJ dinner
Guess I missed MO’M.
no…none of the Presidential candidates have spoken….they are candidates from Iowa….here is another stream… http://whotv.com/on-air/breaking-news-live-stream/
Thanks - just figured out what was going on! Found it on teevee, although I’m muting the “earlier today” part.
Oops. C-Span TV says the 3 headliners are still coming up to speak …
lil jeb dropped out yet?
countin’ the hours
Shows he would overfill the administration with his friends if ever he got near to the white house
Pretty sure Joe and Jill are gonna be fine. (It’s the rest of us I’m wondering about.)
What a lovely photo of them!
Good evening TOD. I spent the week basking in the sun in the Bahamas (a late birthday present) and I see quite a bit has happened while I was gone. :shock:
Well, welcome back, Donna! Hope it was a great trip!
How nice for you! :) Hope it was wonderful/relaxing…what a nice belated birthday gift!
Thanks JOB and DF. I’m sorry to read so much dismay here over HRC. I saw this coming months ago so it’s not as shocking for me. I think VPJoe would have been a great candidate and would have put some real fire into this campaign but I respect his decision. I bleed blue so I’ll do what I can to get our nominee elected.
I am with ya.
Is there a better candidate than hillary ? Yes.
Is there a better candidate than hillary in the dem primary ? No.
glad to have you back…hope you enjoyed yourself
You iz back!!!! :) :) I am very glad to see you. Lovely ‘tan’!
Wow, what a great birthday treat. Glad you had a wonderful time.
Good one!
the best rubes in the world ? dumbya3’s “donors”.
NW,
I LOVE that you have Carlton up top. Makes me smile everytime I see it. :)
:)
they crowd gave out a loud cheer!!
Here’s Revolutionary Bernie now, at the JJ. :)
Bernie just said, ” … thanks to the President and Vice President, we have made real progress in improving our economy … “
??? For an old guy, he sure is good in this somersaulting thingy.
hahahahahah
Interesting that comes out of Bernie’s Mouth
this tweet…got a lot of traction
And if I twittered I would agree X 73million :)
Bernie is all in love with the President
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/10/24/tweet-of-the-day-10/
Bernie anti TPP….i wonder if he read it
Uh huh…