Ever since Marci Lieber, a part-time social worker in Brooklyn, learned she was pregnant, she and her husband have been scrambling to find health insurance. But insurers consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition, and won’t sell anyone a new policy that covers it.
That changes on Jan. 1, 2014, when insurers will no longer be permitted to deny coverage of pre-existing conditions — and all Americans will be required to have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Ms. Lieber, 37, hopes to purchase a policy through New York State’s new health exchange as early as this October.
Just in time: the baby is due Jan. 25…..
More here
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The Daily Beast: Texas’s Unwanted-Baby Boom
Between the state’s anti-abortion bill, its move to defund contraception providers, and its war on sex education, experts predict tens of thousands of unplanned pregnancies next year.
The war on women is a nationwide phenomenon, but nowhere are women in more danger of having their reproductive health undermined at every turn than in Texas. Under the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry and a Republican Party completely in the thrall of the religious right, Christian fundamentalists have launched a three-pronged attack on the well-being of women of the state….
More here
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@daddylonglegs01
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A peek inside my inbox: Racism & the #GeorgeZimmerman trial. http://t.co/5FH7X934p3 #TrayvonMartin
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) July 16, 2025
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I wrote more than 60 posts seeking justice for #TrayvonMartin as if my life depended on it - because one day it might http://t.co/2Ed3MGO9Pi
ThinkProgress: In a piece that contains the telling (even in context) line “I am a racist,” longtime Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen employed a mishmash of poorly explained statistics and bafflingly ignorant mathematical reasoning to argue that Trayvon Martin was “understandably suspected because he was black” — that is, Americans should assume any young black men they meet are criminals.
More here
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Trayvon Martin and My Old Doctor http://t.co/VHZPuGWLuC
— The People’s View (@thepeoplesview) July 16, 2025
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Richard Cohen flashback Oct. 1986: “Post Offers Apology to Blacks” http://t.co/XPXedVJ1nO
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) July 16, 2025
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The inadequacy of a “good heart” http://t.co/3zcAFFfr05
@petesouza: POTUS and FLOTUS wave from aboard AF1, en route to Africa
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Today:
EST
8:45 AM: The President and the First Family depart the White House
GMT
8:25PM: Arrive Dakar, Senegal
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Today, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2025
These men never stood in unmovable lines. They were never denied the right to participate in the democratic process.
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2025
They were never beaten, jailed, run off their farms or fired from their jobs. No one they knew died simply trying to register to vote.
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2025
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Heather Gerken (Slate): Goodbye to the Crown Jewel of the Civil Rights Movement - People died to pass Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, but that didn’t save it at the Supreme Court.
…. To understand why Section 5 was special, you have to know a bit about its history. The brutal attacks on civil rights marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge provided the push needed to pass the Voting Rights Act. When the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, almost no African-Americans were registered to vote in the Deep South due to brutal repression and sickening legal chicanery.
Civil rights litigators and the Department of Justice were doing their best to help. They filed lawsuit after lawsuit to make it possible for blacks to register. But every time a court deemed one discriminatory practice illegal, local officials would switch to another. Literacy tests, poll taxes, burdensome registration requirements - these techniques were all used to prevent African-Americans from voting. Southern voting registrars would even resign from their positions as soon as a lawsuit was on the cusp of succeeding, thereby sending the case back to square one. The Voting Rights Act aimed to change all of this.
Section 5 was the most important and imaginative provision in the law….
More here
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Sahil Kapur: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned the fierce dissent against the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision Tuesday to invalidate a key section of the Voting Rights Act, accusing the conservative justices of displaying “hubris” and a lack of sound reasoning. “[T]he Court’s opinion can hardly be described as an exemplar of restrained and moderate decision making,” wrote the leader of the court’s liberal wing. “Quite the opposite. Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the VRA.”
Joined by the three other liberal-leaning justices, Ginsburg scolded the conservative majority and its rationale for throwing out Section 4 of the law — which contains the formula Congress has used to determine which states and local governments must receive federal pre-approval before changing their voting laws. “Congress approached the 2006 reauthorization of the VRA with great care and seriousness. The same cannot be said of the Court’s opinion today,” she wrote. “The Court makes no genuine attempt to engage with the massive legislative record that Congress assembled. Instead, it relies on increases in voter registration and turnout as if that were the whole story.” “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet,” Ginsburg wrote.
More here
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1965-2008: Minorities should be able to vote. 2008, 2012: Black guy elected president. 2013: Let’s rethink that voting rights thing…
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) June 25, 2025
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Something special is happening in Austin tonight: http://t.co/RpbnCbO6zw #StandWithWendy
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 26, 2025
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Texas Tribune: The nation watched on Tuesday — and into Wednesday — as Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and hundreds of impassioned reproductive rights advocates stalled proceedings and ultimately defeated controversial abortion legislation in a storm of screams and shouts as the clock struck midnight.
“I am overwhelmed, honestly,” Davis said after standing for nearly 13 hours to filibuster Senate Bill 5, the abortion legislation. The outpouring of support from protesters at the Capitol and across the nation, she said, “shows the determination and spirit of Texas women and people who care about Texas women.”
…. Republican senators made a last-ditch effort to approve SB 5, voting 19-10, but by then the clock had ticked past midnight. Under the terms of the state Constitution, the special session had ended, and the bill could not be signed, enrolled or sent to the governor.
… Conservative lawmakers tried every tool in the Senate rulebook to derail the filibuster. A “three strikes, you’re out” precedent in the Senate grants lawmakers two warnings about staying germane to the bill topic … Davis received the three strikes: two were on the germaneness of the discussion and one was related to Davis receiving assistance from another senator to put on a back brace….
Message left for Nelson Mandela on the wall outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria where he has been hospitalized since June 8:
“I hope you feel better. I love you so much. And I know you love me too.”
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Today:
11:0: VP Biden Speaks on the Fair Labor Standards Act
1:55: The President delivers remarks on Climate Change at Georgetown University
(listed in some places as 1:35)
3:35: The President and Vice President meet with members of the Congressional Leadership, Oval Office
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President Obama talks with Rob Nabors, Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy, center, and Miguel Rodriguez, Director of Legislative Affairs, in the Oval Office, June 24 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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CBS: With little to no hope on Capitol Hill for action on climate change, President Obama on Tuesday plans to bypass Congress and move forward with executive actions designed to reduce carbon emissions.
In a speech at Georgetown University, the president will lay out what the administration is billing as a comprehensive plan built on three pillars: cutting the nation’s carbon pollution, leading global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change. As part of that effort, Mr. Obama on Tuesday will sign a presidential memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start engaging with states, the private sector and other stakeholders to set carbon pollution standards for both new and existing carbon power plants.
The president, a senior administration official said, has “made it very clear his preference would be for Congress to act.” At this point, however, he is ready to rely on the existing authorities in the executive branch.
More here
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Keeping our eyes on the ball http://t.co/CkR5IbKet1
— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) June 25, 2025
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USA Today: President Obama tries to conduct some summertime legislative business Tuesday in a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties. Among the likely topics: An immigration bill and the debate to extend a low interest student loan program set to expire on Monday.
The guest list features Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell …. Republican House Speaker John Boehner is also scheduled to attend the presidential meeting, as is House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
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The #scotus liveblog is up and running. Love to see you. http://t.co/cvRf0nHM0T.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 25, 2025
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Jon Favreau: When Journalists Attack
If you saw the news at any point in the last month, chances are that you heard Barack Obama compared in some way to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. A quick and admittedly unscientific Google search on the comparisons turns up 1.7 million hits, and they are not limited to right-wing media or Republican politicians. Partisan and nonpartisan journalists across the political spectrum casually and frequently linked Obama to Nixon over and over again, this publication included.
…. the facts that have emerged over the last month, through more solid reporting and independent investigation, are proving once again that the political media’s addiction to sensationalism and snap-judgment hyperbole has contributed to a lack of serious, informed debate about issues that badly deserve it.
Full post here
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The virtual absence of MSM coverage on the #reprorights goings-on in Texas is SHAMEFUL. #texlege #SB5 #HB60 #HB16 #fem2
— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) June 24, 2025
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ThinkProgress: …. Nancy Pelosi blasted the GOP’s continued assault on reproductive rights in an exclusive interview with ThinkProgress. She noted the 20-week abortion ban was just the latest example of House Republicans’ priorities, which have included attempts to kill the Violence Against Women Act and to defund Planned Parenthood.
Though House Speaker John Boehner’s Congress has gone down in history as the least productive Congress since World War II, House Republicans have aggressively pursued anti-choice legislation in recent years. In response, Americans increasingly brand the GOP as a party of anti-woman extremists, which sunk the 2012 campaigns of several Republican candidates who were too blunt about their desires to restrict women’s access to health services. Women - even Republican lawmakers-— have fled the party.
Since Republicans took the House in 2010, Pelosi explained, Americans are beginning to understand just how far beyond abortion the GOP’s war on women reaches:
“…..They don’t believe in government…except when it comes to the bedroom.”
Full post here
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IMPORTANT: You don’t have to be a Texan to stop the destructive #SB5 anti-women bill. Want to help? Use this: http://t.co/ZtDo5SUW8O
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 25, 2025
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I’m so inspired by women in Texas right now. #FeministArmy #GirlPower #TXlege pic.twitter.com/8gjPBy6WSn
— The Queen Regnant™ ⛵ (@TheQueenRegnant) June 24, 2025
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RH Reality Check: An Open Letter to Anyone Ready to Write Off Texas: Don’t, Because it’s *Your* Future at Stake
Read here
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News Observer: More than 2500 people rally outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building on Halifax Mall Monday, June 24, 2013, prior to an act of civil disobedience opposing the Republican legislature’s agenda. About 120 activists were arrested by General Assembly and Raleigh police. About 600 have been arrested over the course of 8 “Moral Monday” demonstrations.
More here
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How will we find the time to read all the mea culpas from Very Serious People who went all-in on IRS story?
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) June 24, 2025
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AP: The Internal Revenue Service’s screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed … Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, said he was writing a letter to J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose audit in May detailed IRS targeting of conservatives, asking why his report did not mention other groups that were targeted.
“The audit served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of congressional investigations and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way,” Levin said.
…. Democratic staff on Ways and Means said that they had verified that of the 298 groups seeking tax-exempt status that George’s audit had examined, some were liberal organizations - something George’s report did not mention.
More here
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Daily Banter Staff: As the IRS Scandal Goes Down in Flames, An Important Lesson for the NSA Story http://t.co/GMCzAqSsxD
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 25, 2025
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Steve Benen: Stick a fork in the IRS controversy; it’s done
The good news for conservatives is that new information about the IRS controversy came to light late yesterday, which renewed coverage of the story Republicans are heavily in. The bad news for conservatives it that the revelations were the opposite of what they wanted to hear.
More here
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Start proceedings to charge Darrell Issa with ethics violations, and remove him from Congress. http://t.co/h769o9h0pw #lastword
— RB Blair (@TuxcedoCat) June 25, 2025
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Dana Milbank: The most remarkable thing about the Supreme Court’s opinions announced Monday was not what the justices wrote or said. It was what Samuel Alito did …. when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, Alito visibly mocked his colleague.
Ginsburg was making her argument about how the majority opinion made it easier for sexual harassment to occur in the workplace when Alito, seated immediately to Ginsburg’s left, shook his head from side to side in disagreement, rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling.
His treatment of the 80-year-old Ginsburg, 17 years his elder and with 13 years more seniority, was a curious display of judicial intemperance….
Days earlier, I watched as he demonstrated his disdain for Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor….
2:05: The President makes a personnel announcement
12:45: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney
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USA Today: President Obama will announce Friday that he’s picked James Comey, a former Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, to be his next FBI director……
…. Comey, who previously served as deputy attorney general and supervised operations for the Justice Department, was a key player in one of the most dramatic moments of the Bush administration. In 2004, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House chief of staff Andrew Card tried to persuade Attorney General John Ashcroft - who was ill with acute pancreatitis - to reauthorize a warrantless eavesdropping program while in his hospital bed.
Comey learned of Gonzales and Card’s plan and rushed to Ashcroft’s hospital room, along with Mueller. Both threatened to resign if the White House renewed the program. As a result, it was not reauthorized.
More here
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USA Today: …. The President holds his first meeting today with the newly constituted Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, in part to discuss criticism of National Security Agency programs that gather phone and Internet records.
Obama will discuss his recent direction to the Director of National Intelligence to de-classify certain information “to better contextualize these programs, correct misrepresentations, and provide an opportunity for the dialogue he welcomes about the right balance between national security and privacy,” the White House said.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was actually created in 2004 as part of the executive branch, and made an independent agency in 2007, but it has never met amid disputes over its duties.
More here
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Where is the media? Nearly 800 ppl have taken over the #TXLege in Austin opposing the omnibus abortion bill. Police have been called. #HB60
AP: The Republican chairman of a House committee considering new abortion regulations in Texas has told more than 300 women that they would not be allowed to testify against the bill because it had become too repetitive.
The predominantly-female audience roared in disapproval when Corsicana Rep. Byron Cook made the announcement. State troopers flooded the room as he and other Republicans left.
The new bills would limit how, when and where women could get abortions in Texas and shut down 38 out or 42 clinics in the state.
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Bravo to the hundreds of TX men and women who made sure their disdain against #HB60 #HB16 anti-women bills were heard loud and clear #TXLege
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 21, 2025
Here’s everything you need to know about #HB60 and the #txlege special session: http://t.co/3YsKdiRkJR via @scATX #prochoice #abortion
— Mary (@OHTheMaryD) June 21, 2025
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UT/NerdyWonka: I am so proud of the hundreds of Texas men and women who showed up to make their voices heard.
I am proud of us standing up and keeping the debate going for over 14 hours so that the anti-women bills would not just have a smooth sailing through committee.
I am proud of Texans for making sure the world knew that these destructive bills had died in a regular session and the GOP is trying to sneak them past in shoddy special sessions.
I am so proud of everyone who made sure the draconian bill #HB60 trended worldwide on Twitter and made people from other states and countries tune into the fight and realize what damage and destruction really is.
I am proud of the Democratic State Reps who made sure voices were heard even when the GOP Chair Byron Cook tried to shutdown debate.
People forget that California used to be red until the GOP tried to ram down Prop 187 and then California became blue and has stayed blue since then. That is is Texas right now.
What I saw yesterday and into the morning shows that the groundwork for Texas turning purple and eventually blue has been laid. People in states who vote Blue in presidential elections and those who don’t but are controlled by GOP state legislatures and Governors need to be vigilant because these laws have and will spread to your states too. See Ohio for example. These laws have also come to the U.S. House of Rep so be on the lookout. States are a blueprint for what can and will become national anti-women bills and laws.
The war on women is real but the Texas Legislature found out that you don’t mess with Texas women.
We might be controlled by majority republicans but our voices will not be silenced. 2014 is no joke.
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@B_Twe5_G Here you go. http://t.co/sGClR2zHdI http://t.co/ZmR3S9CEiU #HB60 #HB16 #TXLege
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 21, 2025
I hope TX republicans are watching this. You have pushed women too far. U should be worried in 2014. This is just beginning. #hb60
— Laura Allen (@truebluebell) June 21, 2025
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Reuters: It takes an army: Tens of thousands of workers roll out Obamacare
From the chief actuary at the California health insurance exchange that President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law established to the legions of call center staffers who will help people trying to buy insurance through such state exchanges, the number of people working to implement “Obamacare” has reached the tens of thousands, a Reuters analysis has found.
No one said that overhauling healthcare, which accounts for 17 percent of all national spending, was going to happen with a skeleton crew.
State offices that will run insurance exchanges are hiring tens of thousands, either on staff or through outsourcing firms. Federal agencies that are key to implementing the law, such as the Internal Revenue Service, plan to hire thousands more, and private non-profit groups backed by the White House are dispatching thousands of newly hired staffers and volunteers into the field.
More here
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Good for Joe Manchin for declaring all out war on the NRA; really great stuff from him here: http://t.co/fWGDY2hKRc
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 20, 2025
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Greg Sargent: In another embarrassment for House Speaker John Boehner, the farm bill went down to a surprise defeat in the House, 195-234. Most Democrats voted against it, because of its deep cuts to food stamps, but what really sealed its fate is that in spite of those cuts, 62 Republicans voted against it, too, apparently because it didn’t cut spending enough.
….. “This underscores that Boehner cannot pass bills on his own,” Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein told me in a quick interview today. “He can’t do anything with only Republicans. The real power center in the House is not Boehner. It’s not Cantor. It’s not Ryan. It’s not McCarthy. It’s the extreme right. This shows the real dilemma ahead for a Speaker who is very weak and very conscious of his weakness within the party.”
….. Ornstein’s final verdict on today’s display from House Republicans: “They’re pathetic.”
Full post here
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Steve Benen: …. From a progressive perspective, it’s hard to shed tears over the bill’s demise - this was an awful, needlessly punitive piece of legislation. Its GOP proponents, without so much as a hint of shame, were a little too eager to redistribute wealth in the wrong direction - punishing poor families and rewarding wealthy agricultural interests - and their efforts to slash funds for food stamps bordered on cruel.
To be sure, even if the House had passed its bill, it wasn’t going far given the scope of the opposition from Senate Democrats and an unambiguous veto threat from the Obama White House.
But the real takeaway here is that the House Republican leadership, once again, failed miserably….
White House.gov