Hillary Clinton on Iraq vote: ‘I still got it wrong. Plain and simple.’

[freshwest]

123. :) Alhough she won't be the First Feminist President. Hope you enjoy this:

The First Feminist President, Barack Obama

by Mandy Van Deven

March 23, 2009



On January 20th the first self-identified feminist was named President of the United States of America. Just two days after taking office, Barack Obama performed his first presidential act of solidarity with women around the world by repealing the Global Gag Rule. Established in 1984 by President Reagan, the Global Gag Rule denies aid to international groups "which perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning." The Global Gag Rule has come to be seen as a litmus test of the current US President's stance on women's rights, though it is just one aspect of the complicated story of the impact of American reproductive rights policy in countries around the globe. [17]



After witnessing the impact of President Bush's reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, Michelle Goldberg, journalist, author, and long-time critic of the Bush Administration's policies on sexual and reproductive health, decided that a book about the global battle for reproductive justice was long overdue. So she wrote The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World [17].

The cover art depicting a woman holding the Earth on her shoulders is more than appropriate for this deeply-researched, historically-informed examination: fifty years worth of research about four continents has convinced Goldberg that women's oppression is at the crux of many of the world's most intractable challenges. She illustrates how US policies act as a catalyst for or an impediment to women's rights worldwide, and puts forth a convincing argument that women's liberation worldwide is key to solving some of our most daunting problems. "Underlying diverse conflicts - demography, natural resources, human rights, and religious mores - is the question of who controls the means of reproduction," she writes. "Women's intimate lives have become inextricably tied to global forces."

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2009/03/23/controlling-means-reproduction-an-interview-with-michelle-goldberg/

The war on women is not just a war on women, but on men, too. Men who don't support women's rights are sealing their own fate. But that's what division always does.

Not just an American problem. It is about global control and reducing all of mankind to commodities.

Something you lay out well in your posts on this thread... We must hang together, no matter what the timeline looks like.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110212801

And here I go tooting the horn for Obama again:

Keeping His Promises to the Poor and Vulnerable: Thank You, President Obama!



HHS finalizes rule guaranteeing 100 percent funding for new Medicaid beneficiaries

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a final rule with a request for comments that provides, effective January 1, 2014, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of certain newly eligible adult Medicaid beneficiaries. These payments will be in effect through 2016, phasing down to a permanent 90 percent matching rate by 2020. The Affordable Care Act authorizes states to expand Medicaid to adult Americans under age 65 with income of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (approximately $15,000 for a single adult in 2012) and provides unprecedented federal funding for these states.

“This is a great deal for states and great news for Americans,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Americans will have access to health coverage and the federal government will cover a vast majority of the cost. Treating people who don’t have insurance coverage raises health care costs for hospitals, people with insurance, and state budgets.”

Today’s final rule provides important information to states that expand Medicaid. It describes the simple and accurate method states will use to claim the matching rate that is available for Medicaid expenditures of individuals with incomes up to 133 percent of poverty and who are defined as “newly eligible” and are enrolled in the new eligibility group. The system is set up to make eligibility determinations as simple and accurate as possible for state programs.

Under the Affordable Care Act, states that cover the new adult group in Medicaid will have 100 percent of the costs of newly eligible Americans paid for by the federal government in 2014, 2015, and 2016. The federal government’s contribution is then phased-down gradually to 90 percent by 2020, and remains there permanently. For states that had coverage expansions in effect prior to enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the rule also provides information about the availability of an increased FMAP for certain adults who are not newly eligible.

The rule builds on several years of work that HHS has done to support and provide flexibility to states’ Medicaid programs ahead of the 2014 expansion, including:

* 90 percent matching rate for states to improve eligibility and enrollment systems;

* More resources and flexibility for states to test innovative ways of delivering care through Medicaid;

* More collaboration with states on audits that track down fraud; and

* Specifically outlining ways states can make Medicaid improvements without going through a waiver process.

For more information on the improvements made to Medicaid, please visit:

http://www.medicaid.gov/State-Resource-Center/Events-and-Announcements/Downloads/MMF_Jan-Dec-2012_FINAL.PDF

For the full text of today’s final rule, please go to:

http://www.ofr.gov/inspection.aspx

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/03/20130329a.html

This is a huge relief to those who would not be covered for conditions no one can afford. I will be passing this good news along to those who have loved ones dependent on Medicaid.

This is what the GOP wanted to slash and are doing in every state that they control. It will save the lives of many people we may never meet, but they are our fellow sojourners.

Thanks to ProSense for finding this story and letting me post it here. She posted it in GD, where you can see it here:

HHS finalizes rule guaranteeing 100 percent funding for new Medicaid beneficiaries

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2584523

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11028481

Another one, because I can't find the quote about his mom:

Some people have little imagination outside of what media manufactures for them. They don't see outside that narrow box, they don't acknowledge the lives of those who support this president and others like them. They have that luxury.

And even if they claim to have gained knowledge from CTers, youtube, and the many voices that fire them up, all they end up doing is to direct their hatred outside themselves. One has to wonder why all the disdain, vitriol and accusations which they are very practiced at, are so precious to them.

A past member of a Nazi group made an analogy between men who blame women for what's making them unhappy, under the guise of their rights being taken away. That is a deflection from taking responsibility, saying that if women changed, shut up or went away, they would be free. We see this played out again and again. But it doesn't work that way, and you and I both know that.

He said that the sign of a hate group is that instead of advocating positively for their rights and seeking solutions, they blame others. That is where their energy goes and is his defintion of a hate group. He ought to know what one is, I think.

I've quoted from a U2 song they sang to Obama in this first inauguration:

'And I miss you when you're not around...'

He won't always be around.

So enjoy the grace that he has afforded us with his intellect, his heart and his determination. I began to miss him already when he won re-election, and still appreciate your words in 2012.

HRC will be somewhat like him, but there will never be another Obama. The stars were for us, I guess. Anyway, hope you enjoy all of that.