text:
At its August meeting, the APA Council of Representatives received several task force reports on subjects of concern to members and that bring psychological knowledge to important public health and policy issues.
They are:
The report of the Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion, which found that there is no credible evidence that a single elective abortion, in and of itself, causes mental health problems in adult women.
The report of the Task Force on Resilience and Strength in Black Children and Adolescents, which called for a reframing of research, away from a nearly exclusive focus on risk factors and negative outcomes and to models that account for those factors that contribute to resilience in these youth.
The report of the Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice with Children and Adolescents, which cautions that children's mental health needs are too often undertreated and that these deficiencies will increase unless the health-care system changes the way it delivers care to children and adopts a more evidence-based approach.
The report of the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance, which called upon the profession to provide "appropriate nondiscriminatory treatment to all transgender and gender-variant individuals," while also citing the need for more and better research and training on transgender issues. In related action, the council adopted a resolution on transgender identity and expression. The resolution expressed APA's support for full equality for transgender and gender-variant people and called for the provision of adequate and medically necessary treatment for them.
The report of the 2007 Presidential Task Force on Institutional Review Boards and Psychological Science, which recommended ways to create more collaborative relationships between researchers and institutional review boards, including the creation of evidence-based policies and procedures that facilitate safe and ethical research while minimizing regulatory burden (the full report is available online).
The Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Strengthening the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Psychological Science's final report "Teaching, Learning and Assessing in a Developmentally Coherent Curriculum," which among other conclusions, articulates the developmental sequence of learning outcomes across five domains of the undergraduate curriculum. (download the report).
In other action, the council:
Adopted the document Criteria for the Evaluation of Quality Improvement Programs and the Use of Quality Improvement Data, a move that will help practitioners deal with the emergence of pay-for-performance and quality improvement programs (see "Putting patients first"). The document, created by an APA work group, is designed to help psychologists evaluate quality improvement programs and to provide a framework for the creation of well-designed programs that improve quality of care while protecting the rights of patients and respecting the professional responsibilities of psychologists. The full text of the criteria is available online.
Approved funding for a 2009 presidential summit on the future of psychology practice, to be held May 14-17 in San Antonio, Texas, which will be attended by 150 practice leaders. The goal of the meeting is to develop a strategic plan for meeting the needs of psychology practitioners and the public they serve.
Approved a new mission statement for APA: The mission of the APA is to advance the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives. This statement will be referenced as the APA Mission Statement and will appear on the APA Web site and other places where APA's mission statement is found. Article 1.1 of the APA Bylaws will remain unchanged and be referenced as APA's organizational purposes or "objects."
Approved funding for the sustained contribution of psychology to the World Health Organization's revision of the mental health chapter of the current International Classification of Diseases and Related Disorders (ICD-10). APA will support the effort through a contract with the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), which will retain a psychologist consultant to work on the core revision team at WHO. The IUPsyS consultant will be Geoffrey Reed, PhD, former APA Practice Directorate assistant executive director for professional development, and APA's principal representative to WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health system since 1995.
Approved a preliminary 2009 budget, which forecasts a surplus of more than $700,000.
Approved the election of 128 members as APA Fellows (see "APA fellows").
Approved two new division journals: Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice (Div. 14, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) and Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research and Practice (Div. 56, Trauma).
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Posted Mon, Mar 05, 2012 by Martuk
Pay a visit to the new Line of Defense website to sign up for the beta and learn more.
Source: Line of Defense Press Release
3000AD serves up new batch of screenshots for its upcoming sci-fi shooter MMOG, Line of Defense.
3000AD has announced a partnership with DC Entertainment for a new comic based on their upcoming MMOG, Line of Defense.
Derek Smart discusses his latest work on Line of Defense and his past and future goals in game development.
3000AD launches a newly revamped website for its Line of Defense MMOG and open up beta registration.
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2005 External
Itoh, Yoshita*, Wada, M.* and Liu, Chunlu (2005) Lifecycle environmental impact and cost analyses of steel bridge piers with seismic risk, in Augusti, G.; Schueller, G. I. and Ciampoli, M. (eds), Safety and reliability of engineering systems and structures: proceedings of the 9th international conference on structural safety and reliability (ICOSSAR'05), pp. 1581-1588, Millpress, Rotterdam, Netherlands [B1]
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If you've pulled your credit score and are disappointed by what you see, here are some simple things you can start doing now to improve your score. Credit counselor Bruce McClary of Richmond, Va., suggests these five ways to boost your credit score.
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The Objective Conservative exists to postulate views from the right reflecting conservative, sometime libertarian thought influenced by a belief that the United States of America is a country founded with a Christian/Judeo philosophy. It will express objective views of issues and candidates.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
April Fools
We at the Objective Conservative feel like the last six or eight months have been nothing but an ugly April Fools joke........
The Culture of Corruption and Non-Payment of Taxes
New Era of Government Control
Monday, March 30, 2009
The GOP Has Brought a Knife to a Gun Fight - Doug Patton
"Politics is war conducted by other means." - David Horowitz, from The Art of Political War
At a key point in Mel Gibson's epic film, Braveheart, Edward the Longshanks, King of England, sends his daughter-in-law to bargain with Scottish warrior William Wallace, who has been leading a successful rebellion against England. The princess tells Wallace that compromise is the answer to resolving the conflict between England and Scotland. "Peace is made in such ways," she pleads with him. "Slaves are made in such ways!" he snaps back at her, thereby delivering one of the most stirring and truthful lines in the film.
Fast forward seven centuries to last week, when European Member of Parliament Daniel Hannan, who represents Southern England in that body, was addressing British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a recent EP meeting. (In case you missed it on You Tube, Google "MEP Daniel Hannan" and watch it for yourself.) Some highlights of Mr. Hannan's remarks:
The truth, Prime Minister, is that you have run out of our money…We are now running a deficit that touches almost ten percent of GDP — an unbelievable figure…In the last twelve months, 125,000 private sector jobs have been lost; and yet you've created 30,000 public sector jobs. Prime Minister, you cannot go on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy in order to fund an unprecedented engorging of the unproductive bit.
You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt. And when you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we're well placed to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era Apparatchik giving the party line…Everyone knows that Britain is the worst placed to go into these hard times. The IMF has said so. The European Commission has said so. The markets have said so, which is why our currency has devalued by thirty percent — and soon the voters, too, will get their chance to say so. They can see what the markets have already seen: that you are a devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government.
Now back to our side of the pond, where House GOP Leader John Boehner and his band of lackluster cohorts presented a halfhearted, 18-page pamphlet they called an "alternative" to President Barack Obama's bloated, Christmas tree budget. Boehner, who should be railing at Obama like Hannan did at Brown, instead read a prepared statement, part of which follows:
The President's budget spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed all of this on Friday when they pointed out that the president's budget would actually create $2.3 trillion of additional debt over and above what he's already called for in his budget. And, uh, if you look at the debt numbers in this budget, you'll see that over the next six years, President Obama, uh, will create more debt than his 43 predecessors have in the last 220 years. You also yesterday saw the president reiterate his position on the national energy tax, uh, when he said, "It's non-negotiable." Uh, this non-negotiable, uh, proposal of his, uh, is going to cost, uh, the average family $3,150 a year, uh, in higher taxes, uh, for those who drive a car, or those who have the…or would have the audacity to even flip on a light switch.
My own snoring jolted me back to reality. Some of the lines were interesting, but they were delivered with all the passion of a grocery list. It was like watching the Sharks and the Jets bringing switchblades to a street fight with a 21st century gang armed with Uzis! Barack Obama is arguably the smoothest, most elegant politician of our lifetime. He can sell swamp water in the Everglades and get the buyer to think it tastes like champagne. He proved it last year during the campaign when he took on all comers in his own party and the "my turn" candidate of the GOP and chewed them all to pieces with a smile and an empty slogan.
Scotland had William Wallace. Great Britain has Daniel Hannan. We have John Boehner. I hope I can contain my excitement.
© Copyright 2009 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act - Constitutional?
Friday, March 27, 2009
Get Ready for the Barackmobile
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A message from Congressman Terry
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
George Will speaks out on toxic assets
Check it out at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302140.html
Nebraskans and the AIG Tax
We're pleased that Congressman Terry and Smith voted against HR 1586, the 90% tax to get the money back. That is just bad policy when the government retroactively punishes anyone through taxes-and quite possibly illegal. Perhaps if Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid had provided a couple of days to let their charges read the bill which had to be passed immediately so Nancy could fly off to Italy while Barack Hussein Obama waited for five days to sign into law, someone might have caught the give-away.
You may have noticed that we didn't mention Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry who for some reason decided he needed to vote to take the money back by the 90% tax. Bad decision, Jeff.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Swedes Get it Right - Say No to Saab
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Pandering to the Greedy Poor - Doug Patton
The Sunday morning talk shows frequently serve as fodder for these columns. Sometimes I watch simply to sharpen my point of view. On other occasions, when I am searching for a topic or an angle, these shows are cathartic to the point where I find myself screaming at my television set. This was a scream-at-the-TV-week.
I was watching with my usual level of incredulity as Chris Wallace sought the opinion of yet another Democrat tax cheat, this time Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY, on Fox News Sunday. Rangel, who represents Harlem in Congress, serves as the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which writes all of this nation's tax laws. The irony here is that Rangel apparently sees no need to pay the taxes he himself owes. (If you are behind the curve on this, Google "Rangel's tax troubles" for details.)
Wallace asked whether the 90 percent tax rate — what Lawrence Kudlow has called a "vengeance tax" — passed by the House to penalize AIG bonus recipients might be extended to other companies.
Wallace: "Congressman, are you saying that if one of these private companies that didn't receive any government bailout (money) partners up with the government, starts buying these toxic assets, and they end up giving these multi-million-dollar bonuses, that you may come back and want to tax them?"
Rangel: "Well, I want to make it abundantly clear that what the private sector does in terms of rewarding people that — even if it appears on the outside that they don't deserve these types of reward or bonuses, as they call them — we'll take another look at that."
We'll take another look at that? This was the point at which I started screaming. Who do these people in Congress think they are? Do they honestly believe the American people have given them a mandate to create punitive tax law for each individual group they don't like?
But it got worse. Rangel continued: "But the truth of the matter is you don't do it with taxpayers' money, and that's where the House of Representatives is coming from under the direction of Nancy Pelosi. She says get our money, the taxpayers' money, back."
Now I was ready to throw something at Rangel's face on my tube! "Everything you idiots in Washington do is done with taxpayers' money, you lying old crook!" I yelled. "How about the nearly one trillion dollars you threw away on the so-called 'stimulus package,' which was nothing more than payback to your left-wing constituencies, and the president's? How about the taxes you owe? When will we see those paid?"
It was then that I realized what has happened in America. We have become a nation addicted to envy. The president made a whole campaign platform out of it last year: The rich don't pay their fair share. The rich have made out like bandits under the "Bush tax cuts." The rich get rich while the poor get poorer. It's the whining of America.
Conventional wisdom says that the rich are greedy. But greed is a condition of the heart, not the bank account or the ledger sheet. It is a sense of entitlement based in the covetous nature of humankind. It is a tendency that should be rejected, not embraced. Jealousy and envy were sins Christ warned man about 2,000 years ago. Today, however, we regard them as virtues, rights, entitlements. Greed can afflict the rich, the poor and everyone in between. However, it seems that the poor are especially susceptible to the siren song of manipulative politicians like Charlie Rangel and Barack Obama.
Rangel, who is black, once equated tax cuts with racism. "They used to say 'nigger' and 'spic,'" he spewed in 1995 when Republicans took over Congress, "but now they just say, 'Let's cut taxes.'" Rather than encouraging his constituents to be the best they can be, to access the tremendous opportunity of America, this merchant of resentment would rather sell poison snake oil than the liberating tonic of truth.
This is the bitter, corrupt old man the poor, deceived people of Harlem have elected to represent them in Congress for the last four decades. This is the charlatan the Democrats have chosen to run the committee that writes our tax law. This is the poster boy for the party that panders to the greedy poor.
© Copyright 2009 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
AIG - When will it end?
Two Sad Commentaries
We're a little late in commenting about America's now infamous bowling president and his remarks on Jay Leno last week but just two thoughts:
Unlike George Bush and his malapropisms, Barack Hussein Obama just said something really stupid which reflects his total inability to talk coherently and intelligently without a tele-prompter.
NBC's bleeping of the comment once again reflects a total media bias. Does anyone think for a moment that the comment would have been bleeped had it been uttered by Geroge Bush, Dick Chaney or John McCain.
We say shame on you both, Barack Huessein Obama and NBC!
Obama's Numbers
Friday, March 20, 2009
More Opportunities for Republicans
68% Say Most Bailout Money Going to People who Created the Crisis
With public outrage building over bonuses paid to executives of the bailed-out American International Group (AIG), 68% of Americans now believe most of the taxpayer money given out as bailouts is going to the very people who created the country's current economic crisis. Seventy percent (70%) of investors hold that view along with 67% of non-investors.
68% of Arizona Voters Favor Sheriff Who Gets Tough on Immigration
Check these out. In our humble opinion these are issues that the Republicans should be able to find unity on.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
AIG, Senators Dodd, etal and The Democrat Culture of Corruption.
"According to Fox Business, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called "the Dodd Amendment" by the Obama Administration provides an "exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009" -- which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax.
"Why? Because in the 2008 election cycle guess which Senator was the biggest recipient of AIG contribution money. KEEREKT! Christopher Dodd DEMOCRAT of Connecticut ($103,000).
Want to know who was next? Barack Obama DEMOCRAT of Illinois ($101,000).
If Dodd were a Republican do you think there would be calls for him to give the money back? Where is the Senate ethics investigation to see whether there was any connection between $103,000 in campaign contributions and the Dodd Amendment?
"Drat. Once again, here comes that pesky Constitution. Article I, section 9: No Bill of Attainder or Ex Post Facto Law shall be passed.
In the context of the Constitution, a Bill of Attainder is meant to mean a bill that has a negative effect on a single person or group (for example, a fine or term of imprisonment).
Opportunities for Republicans
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
What's Wrong with this Picture?
- Why should the United States Treasury bail out a privately held company?--unlike General Motors it isn't even publicly traded.
- Does anyone realistically believe that Chrysler won't be back asking for more by the end of the year?
- If Fiat is such a great deal, why hasn't it been able to sell cars in the United States for more than two decades and what makes anyone think that Fiat's worldwide distributorship is going to help Chrysler sell it's vehicles in Europe or Asia?
- Does anyone believe that Chrysler will be able to rid itself of the non-competitive legacy costs and wages that have made it so uncompetitive with the 'domestic foreign' auto manufacturers?
On the other hand, does anyone believe that Barack Hussein Obama would ever allow a large union company like Chrysler to fail? We wonder what he might say about Walmart?
Biden Gets Foot in Mouth Award
Given Joe's propensity for stupid iterations we award him the Objective Conservative 'Foot in Mouth' Award.
Monday, March 16, 2009
American Idol and Domestic Terrorism - Doug Patton
This is the eighth season of "American Idol." Knowing that it was nothing but vacuous eye candy, I resisted watching it for the first three years. Then, during season four, I got caught up in watching country singer Carrie Underwood, who turned out to be my favorite Idol contestant of all time other than Katherine McPhee, who should have won the season five Idol crown instead of the overrated Taylor Hicks. (Obviously, now I'm hooked. Pray for me.)
Imagine my disappointment when I read that American Idol and Carrie Underwood were supporting domestic terrorism. That's right. Ms. Underwood is now donating money to an organization that supports groups the FBI has described as "eco-terrorists."
Since winning Idol, Carrie Underwood has recorded such hits as "Just a Dream," "All-American Girl" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel." More recently, she has recorded her own version of Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home," a tune American Idol producers thought would be appropriate to play for the remainder of this season whenever a contestant is eliminated.
The problem is that Carrie Underwood has announced that she is donating part of the proceeds from that song to the Humane Society of the United States. But isn't this a good cause? Hardly.
This is not your grandparents' Humane Society. Don't mistake these people for a legitimate affiliate of your local or state organization of the same name, which does good work sheltering, caring for and finding homes for animals. In fact, search your local Humane Society web site. You won't find a link to the radical HSUS. This organization, along with "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (PETA), supports violent groups that have been named as "domestic terror threats" by the FBI.
In testimony before a Senate committee on May 18, 2005, FBI spokesman John Lewis stated that extremist environmental activist groups, including animal rights groups, are the nation's top domestic terrorism threat.
"The FBI estimates that the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and related groups committed more than 1,100 criminal acts in the United States since 1976, resulting in damages conservatively estimated at approximately $110 million," Lewis testified. "There is nothing else going on in this country over the last several years that is racking up the high number of violent crimes and terrorist actions."
David Martosko, research director for the Center for Consumer Freedom, echoed Lewis' concerns: "When most Americans hear about environmental activists, they think about picket signs and street corner protests," Martosko said. "But there is a disturbing underbelly to these activist groups that believes that detonating bombs, making death threats, physically assaulting people, and terrorizing through stalking are justified means of confronting people with whom they disagree. The public must realize that terrorist groups such as ELF and ALF receive support and funding from groups like PETA and the Humane Society of the United States."
Rick Story, senior vice president of U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, also criticized Underwood's decision to support HSUS.
"Carrie Underwood has decided to use her talents to benefit an organization dedicated to destroying the rights of thousands of her fans," Story said. "HSUS does not operate or oversee animal shelters; it is a radical organization that seeks to end hunting and other responsible uses of animals in America."
Story points to companies such as Iams, General Mills, Pet Safe, Sears and Ace Hardware, to name just a few, which have ended relationships with HSUS after thousands of sportsmen expressed strong protest.
I intend to contact Fox Broadcasting to protest the use of Carrie Underwood's song on the show as long as she intends to direct the proceeds to the Humane Society of the United States. If you, too, would like to contact them, you can do so via e-mail at email@example.com; by phone at 310-369-3066; by fax at 310-369-1283; or via snail mail to Mr. Peter Liguori, Chairman of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, 10201 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90064-2606.
Carrie Underwood may think she is supporting puppies and kittens, but she needs to understand that she is supporting domestic terrorists instead.
© Copyright 2009 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Is the glow fading?
See: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/obama_approval_index_history
You might also check out this article on a potential backlash against Barack Hussein Obama at:
Sunday, March 15, 2009
AIG and it's handling by the Washington elite is unconscionable and their payment of millions of dollars in bonuses is beyond belief. Read Galen and you'll be really angry if you already aren't.
See it at: http://www.mullings.com/
Friday, March 13, 2009
Something to watch
It will be interesting (and perhaps sad) to watch. If he gives in to the gays, he will be leading us further down that slippery slope which is precisely where a guy without moral or ethical foundation (see article below) wants to lead us.
More on Ethics, Morality and Science
Check it out at: http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=ee059eaa-2e07-4b53-b9f4-215be3e6bd8f&t=c
More Democrat Corruption
Thursday, March 12, 2009
More on the Democrat Culture of Corruption
Check it out at: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003072861
Where is John McCain?
For more on this, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/11/AR2009031103827.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Democrat Culture of Corruption - Continued
More on the Democrat Culture of Corruption Chief John Murtha
The Pork-Laden, Earmark-Infested Omnibus Bill Passes
- Senator Nelson continues to merit his Objective Conservative Hall of Shame nomination by his vote to support this bill AND HIS CONTINUED EVOLUTION TO THE LEFT, leaving main-street Nebraskans and their best interests behind. SHAME ON YOU BEN.
- Barack Hussein Obama breaks a major promise by saying that he will sign this bill which has some 9000 earmarks in it.
- Republicans continue to disappoint with eight senators supporting it's passage. They were: Senators Alexander, Bond, Cochran, Murkowski, Shelby, Snowe, Specter and Wicker. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU. You might check out this site for more on Republicans and their earmarks: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003071404
For more on this see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031002653_pf.html
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Science over all
The Irony of it
See more at: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003070256 Obama seeks to delay tanker, cancel bomber.
Monday, March 9, 2009
GOP Will Glady Take Rush if Dems Will Claim Soros - Doug Patton
Bill Clinton set a stellar example for Barack Obama. Neither of them understands the difference between campaigning and governing. But then, they did surround themselves with the same people, didn't they?
Former Clinton advisor Rahm Emanuel, now Obama's chief of staff, is once more cahootinizing with recycled Clinton hacks James Carville and Paul Begala. The trio is up to their old tricks again, running the White House war room as if they never left.
This unholy trinity has decided that the one burning issue on the minds of the American people in this time of economic uncertainty is (drum roll, please) who is the titular head of the Republican Party? They have decided it's Rush Limbaugh.
If only it were true.
Do you think for a second Rush Limbaugh would have nominated John McCain as the party's 2008 standard-bearer? Do you believe Rush would have signed off on the bailout bill George Bush and Henry Paulson cooked up last fall?
Do you think Rush Limbaugh would have let Ted Kennedy write the "No Child Left Behind" education bill, or pushed through the massive Medicare prescription drug program or campaigned for Arlen Specter for re-election?
Rush Limbaugh believes in the U.S. Constitution — including the Second Amendment — and in limited government. He believes in low taxes. He is pro-life. He does not believe that marriage should be redefined to include two men, two women or any other bizarre combination. He believes in defending this country, and in controlling our borders. And he has a firm belief that our rights come from God, not from government.
Anyone taking the time to read the Republican Party platform will quickly discover that these are the very principles advanced within it. It is a platform that has been carefully crafted over many years by grassroots volunteers who start in county conventions, then advance to state conventions, and finally to national conventions, where they spend their own time and money advancing a principled agenda they hope their candidates will champion on their behalf.
Only to see it trashed by the likes of Bob Dole, George Bush or John McCain.
The GOP should be so lucky as to have someone with Rush Limbaugh's ideology and passion running their party.
If the Obama While House wants America to believe that Rush Limbaugh is running the GOP, it seems fair to ask who is pulling the strings at the DNC. A cursory examination of the Democrat's platform tells us a lot. It calls for higher taxes on productive Americans and more welfare for those who don't pay taxes. It supports bigger, more intrusive government and advocates unchecked power over American businesses by Big Labor. It promotes deviant ideas like same-sex marriage and other special rights for homosexuals, and destructive policies such as abortion on demand up to the moment of natural birth. Democrats also favor wide open borders, a shackled Central Intelligence Agency and a gutted military. Does that about cover it? I may have left out a few of the crazy planks in their platform, but those are most of the highlights.
Now ask yourself this question: Who most readily embodies and embraces that agenda? Why, it is none other than George Soros, everyone's favorite paranoid Hungarian billionaire, who uses his vast wealth — gained mostly from speculating on and (some say) manipulation of currency markets around the world — to fund left-wing causes like Air America, Media Matters and MoveOn.org.
Soros is a behind-the-scenes despot. He is an evil man who has used his wealth to further all the causes the Democrat Party holds dear.
He was also a Nazi sympathizer. In his autobiography, entitled "Soros on Soros," he blithely describes how as a teenager he helped cart off the possessions of Hungarian Jews after they were sent to concentration camps. Soros wrote that this never bothered him, even though his father was Jewish and he grew up in a Jewish home. He says he has no regrets for his actions. "Somebody would have done it," he wrote.
Oh yeah, the GOP will take Rush Limbaugh in a heartbeat if the Dems will just claim this guy.
© Copyright 2009 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at email@example.com.
Bad News for Republicans
Obama's Coat Tails
One of the unlikeliest places on the Obama-Republican list is Nebraska's 2nd, an Omaha-centered district where the Obama campaign made a full-bore effort to secure one of Nebraska's five electoral votes. Nebraska and Maine are the only states that use a district-based system rather than a statewide winner-take-all system to apportion electoral votes.
The big turnout of voters generated by Obama in Nebraska's 2nd District nearly toppled Republican Rep. Lee Terry . He nonetheless squeaked by to win a sixth term, defeating Democrat Jim Esch in a rematch of their 2006 race.
For more, see: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003069493
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Barack Hussein Obama - Intellectualy Dishonest??
If you are too busy here is his summary: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/a_dishonest_gimmicky_budget.html?utm_source=rcpwidget&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=email
"Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy -- worthy and weighty as they may be -- are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime."
Government Waste, Defense Spending, Senators and campaign contributions
"It was Democrats who stuffed an estimated $524 million in defense earmarks that the Pentagon did not request into the 2008 appropriations bill, about $220 million more than Republicans did, according to an independent estimate. Of the 44 senators who implored Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in January to build more F-22 Raptors -- a fighter conceived during the Cold War that senior Pentagon officials say is not suited to probable 21st-century conflicts -- most were Democrats.
Within a month, Gates and the Navy reversed course and endorsed production of a third DDG-1000 destroyer, at a cost of $2.7 billion. ...."
"He did not mention that since 2006, Democratic lawmakers have presided over a 10 percent increase in the Pentagon's budget -- it now amounts to 46 percent of the government's total discretionary spending -- and have also voted repeatedly to keep funding weapons systems that have had hundreds of billions of dollars in cost overruns.
"There is equal blame to go around," a senior defense official said Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of political sensitivities. "It's bipartisan. It's all about political expediency."
"A lot of these weapon systems that are big-ticket items now have no purpose," said William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. "The Taliban doesn't have an air force. China and Russia are at least a generation behind us. So at a time when we're talking about developing unmanned aerial vehicles and want to increase our special forces, we ought to be making a clean sweep of these systems that were built during the Cold War."
"The problem, he added, is that the defense industry, now dominated by a handful of large firms with offices or subcontractors in key congressional districts, plays the political game extremely well."
"Each aircraft now costs about $145 million, and senior defense officials note that the plane has not been used in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. Although the F-22 is built as an air-superiority fighter, the U.S. military has not faced a serious dogfight threat since the Vietnam War, one of the officials said. The signatories to the Jan. 16 Senate letter supporting the additional planes included Vice President Biden, then still a Democratic senator from Delaware, Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "
"The impact of the shift was pronounced in the two committees that control military spending in the House, where Democrats collected 63 and 66 percent, respectively, of all defense industry funds given to committee members in that cycle. The champion was defense appropriations subcommittee Chairman John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), who collected $743,275 of the industry's money; second place was held by Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), who collected $268,799, according to the center's tally. "
"Murtha added more than $100 million in earmarks to the fiscal 2008 defense bill, nearly a fifth of the total inserted by all Democrats, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. Every earmark reflects a project that the Pentagon did not seek in its budget request, and some of Murtha's earmarks benefited clients of a lobbying firm called PMA Group, now under FBI investigation for possible violations of federal election law. PMA is run by a former Murtha aide, and some of its clients were donors to Murtha campaigns. "
"Kennedy also joined Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.), James Webb (Va.), Herb Kohl (Wis.) and other Democrats in demanding funding for the third, unwanted DDG-1000 Navy destroyer. "The world has changed markedly since we began the march to DDG-1000 in the early 1990s," Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in January, explaining why he sought to cancel the ship in favor of building more of a smaller, cheaper and older alternative vessel.
"A Kennedy aide said of the senators' joint letter to the Pentagon that "we'd like to think that it played a big role in changing their mind." He confirmed that Raytheon, which makes the destroyer's electronic components in Massachusetts, had contacted Kennedy's office about keeping the ship in production. But, he added, "we don't do Raytheon's bidding."
A Navy spokesman said Friday that the service still considers the DDG-1000 "a ship you don't need."
Friday, March 6, 2009
Over Reaching?
Voters Divided on Obama Budget Forty-one percent (41%) of voters nationwide have a favorable opinion of the $3.6-trillion budget proposed by President Obama in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But 46% hold an unfavorable view, and 13% are not sure.
Welcome Back Chuckie
According to the overpriced, moribund daily rag he has donated 2000 boxes of documents (he must have saved every Congressional Record) and eight crates of photos and memorabilia to the university which will maintain his 'archives'. No doubt UNO felt because they get to keep his junk they should also give him a podium to spew his self-aggrandizing sermons from.
We had hoped Chuckie would have simply stayed in his home of Virgina, where incidentally he has spent most of his life including the 12 years of agony that he put Nebraska conservatives through when serving as their U.S. Senator. But, not content to stay home and teach at Georgetown, he will get his face and no doubt crazy comments published at well by the ever more minuscule daily rag when he decides to show up at class here. Perhaps he has realized that he is no longer a fixture on Sunday morning talk shows and only our daily rag will give him the publicity his ego seeks.
The bad news is he is back. The good news is we will still have him around to kick around.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Let them go bankrupt
Effort to stop earmarks in omnibus bill fails-as expected-Nelson votes for pork.
Senator Colburn's Amendment No. 623 to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being earmarked to 14 clients of a lobbying firm under Federal investigation for making campaign donations in exchange for political favors for the group's clients was voted down.
Colburn's Amendment NO 610 to prohibit funding for congressional earmarks for wasteful and parochial pork projects was also defeated.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Maybe They Are Not Dead Yet
Expansion of Dependence on Government is Wrong - Mark Fahleson, Nebraska GOP Chairman
Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have been on an unprecedented spending spree, the speed of which is dizzying. At last count, the Democrats have enacted or proposed:
■ The so-called stimulus package, signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, with a price tag of $1.1 trillion with interest. The bill contains "emergency" spending of $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts and $300 million for plug-in and golf cart-like vehicles. Even if one assumes the Obama administration is correct that the legislation somehow will create 3 million jobs, that comes at a cost of $262,000 per job.
■ A $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, approved by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Feb. 25, that includes some 9,000 earmarks for "critical" projects involving Maine lobsters, tattoo removal and the "Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate."
■ A $3.55 trillion federal budget proposed by the Obama administration for fiscal year 2010 that begins Oct. 1. The budget radically would expand the reach of the federal government. It proposes $634 billion in new taxes and $318 billion in tax increases, including new limits on charitable donations to nonprofit and religious institutions. Meanwhile, the annual budget deficits and national debt would reach unprecedented levels — obligations to be left to our children and grandchildren to pay.
If the sheer amount of the Democrats' proposed spending wasn't alarming enough, the proposed displacement of individual responsibility and private social service organizations by federal bureaucracies is even more concerning. At the end of the day, the Democratic plans, if installed, would make Americans dependent upon the federal government like never before.
Perhaps that is the Democrats' ultimate goal. But that is not the goal of the Republican Party. Republicans, as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal aptly put it, believe that the "strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens." Democrats, on the other hand, now believe that the strength of America is our federal government and that the way to a better life is to increase our dependence on government.
And who said there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Democrat Culture of Corruption
With all of the tax problems Barack Hussein Obama's friends seem to have one would think that he would look to tax simplification, maybe even the fair tax, but then he and his Democrat members of the Democrat Culture of Corruption Club would have to actually pay their fair share which somehow just isn't right.
No doubt, as they did with the treasury secretary, they will approve this guy for a major position even though he doesn't have the good or perhaps ethical judgement to pay his fair share of taxes. Keep it up and maybe Americans will catch on.
Monday, March 2, 2009
One Promise up in flames
Welcome to the U.S.S.A.
Yes, my dear, it is the UNITED SOCIALIST STATES OF AMERICA.
GOP Presidential Watch
Barack Hussein Obama, Over-reaching?
Take for example, health care. Here is what we get from Rasmussen Reports today on his ideas for health care reform:
49% Say Obama Should Delay Health Care Reform Until Economy Is Better
President Obama told the nation last week that health care reform is one of the top three priorities of his administration, but 49% of U.S. voters say the president should wait until the economy improves before moving forward on the health care front.
George Orwell Would be Impressed by Barack Obama - Doug Patton
There he was, standing before a joint session of Congress, promising America the moon one minute and sounding like a deficit hawk the next. President Barack Obama and his Democrat cohorts had just rammed through the biggest pile of pork in the history of the Republic, and yet there he stood, before the whole nation, telling us he was going to go through the budget "line by line" finding ways to cut waste. In fact, he intended to "slash the deficit" he "inherited" by almost exactly the amount he and his Democrat Congress had just spent. What a coincidence.
Like his hero, that great lover of big government, Franklin Roosevelt, whose priorities would change with his moods from week to week, Barack Obama at first simply seemed to be in over his head. I no longer believe that to be the case. This man is not incompetent. I now think that he knows exactly what he is doing and it is going to be terrible for this country.
Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris was exactly right this past week when he said that Obama is a true believer who would trade the possibility of a second term for the chance to realize his radical agenda for transforming America into a Socialist utopia.
Obama is a combination of Ronald Reagan and Big Brother — by which I mean that he uses his considerable communication skills to sell the agenda of a huge, intrusive government, and that he does it in a "Newspeak" that would impress George Orwell.
Those who have read Orwell's prophetic little tome, "1984," will recall that "Newspeak" was a language in which the line between contrary concepts was so blurred that words either had no meaning at all or could be used to create concepts that were contrary. When words no longer had meaning, the concept of truth was not far behind.
So what will Obama's America look like if he gets all that he wants? It won't happen overnight, but if he has his way, eventually it will be a very dreary place, much like the old Soviet Union. Having followed the old Marxist axiom of making everyone "equal," Obama will have brought about the same kind of "equality" instituted by the old Soviet Politburo. Gone will be the equality of opportunity we have enjoyed for more than two hundred years, the right to experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In Obama's America, as in the failed soviet state, equality of outcome will be the preferred result. The idea is to make everyone equally prosperous. This sounds good in theory, until one considers that the only way governments have ever accomplished this is by making men and women equal in their poverty, misery and squalor.
The most glaring example of this is in the area of universal health care. In Obama's America, "free" health care will be a right. No one will receive better care than anyone else. We will all be equal. Unfortunately, that means that everyone will be neglected equally. Health care will be rationed, treatment will be refused, and the kind of inadequate health care that liberals claim the poor receive will be dispersed equally across the all American economic demographics. But at least we will all be equal.
And how does the president pay for it all? It doesn't seem to matter to most Americans. He talks about "taxing the rich" in order to pay for his schemes. Yet, if our government confiscated 100 percent of the income of everyone in this country making more than $75,000 a year, he would barely have enough to cover this years' budget! And we don't even have universal health care yet!
Human beings are endowed with our rights by our Creator. Our Founders recognized that principle. This president and the majority in Congress believe our rights come from them. No one until now has been able to sell that idea to the American people. Barack Obama is doing his best to sell it to us now, and George Orwell would be very impressed.
© Copyright 2009 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at email@example.com.


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Flanders to hold Autumn Festival Saturday at farm
WOODBURY — Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust will hold its annual Autumn Festival on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Van Vleck Farm and Nature Sanctuary, corner of Flanders and Church Hill Roads.
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Medicare Advantage Plans
(December 2013)
Also visit our Seniors Issues page.
Medicare is a federal health insurance program that provides health care benefits for people who are 65 and older. It also pays for health care for people who are eligible because of a disability or qualifying health condition.
Medicare Part A (hospital coverage) pays for
- in-patient hospital services
- skilled nursing facility care after a hospital stay
- home health care
- hospice care
- all but the first three pints of blood each calendar year.
Medicare Part B (medical coverage) pays for
- medical expenses
- clinical laboratory services and tests
- outpatient hospital treatment
- medical equipment and supplies
- preventive health services, including exams, lab tests, health screenings, and shots.
Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) provides the same benefits as original Medicare parts A and B and is another way to get your Medicare coverage.
Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) pays for generic and brand-name prescription drugs. You can get prescription drug coverage either by joining a stand-alone prescription drug plan or by buying a Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage. If you have group health coverage that provides prescription coverage ask your plan whether you need Medicare Part D.
Only private insurance companies approved by Medicare may offer Part D coverage.
People get Medicare parts A and B benefits through either original Medicare or Medicare Advantage plans. Original Medicare is sometimes called traditional Medicare or Medicare fee-for-service. You may go to any doctors or hospitals you want, as long as they accept Medicare patients.
This publication provides basic information about Medicare Advantage plans, what they are, how they provide benefits, and where to get more information and assistance. The official source for information about Medicare Advantage plans is the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Each year, CMS publishes the annual Medicare & You handbook. The handbook includes a list of Medicare Advantage plans available for the coming year.
Medicare Advantage
Depending on where you live, you may be able to join a Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare Advantage is an alternative to original Medicare. It's sometimes called Medicare Part C. If you join a Medicare Advantage plan, the plan will provide your Medicare parts A and B benefits. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, you are no longer in original Medicare but still have the same rights and protections as people with original Medicare.
If you have other insurance, such as retirement insurance, consider how it will work with either original Medicare or Medicare Advantage before deciding which options to consider.
How Medicare Advantage Plans Work
Medicare approves annual contracts with insurance companies and managed care plans to offer Medicare Advantage plans in specific geographic areas. Medicare pays the plan a set amount each month, and the plan provides Medicare parts A and B services. Some Medicare Advantage plans require you to go to doctors in their networks.
Your out-of-pocket costs in a Medicare Advantage plan are different from what you would pay in original Medicare. You will continue to pay your monthly Medicare Part B premium, and you may have to pay a premium for the Medicare Advantage plan. You will also pay any copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance the plan requires.
Medicare Advantage plans usually have more benefits than original Medicare. For instance, some Medicare Advantage plans may cover dental and vision services. Some Medicare Advantage plans include Medicare Part D.
Medicare Advantage plans aren't right for everyone. Consider your options carefully before joining a Medicare Advantage plan.
Medicare Advantage Eligibility
To join a Medicare Advantage plan, you must live in the plan's service area, be enrolled in Medicare parts A and B, and usually not have end-stage renal (kidney) disease. A plan can't drop you if you are diagnosed with end-stage renal disease while you are in the plan. Medicare Advantage and Special Needs Plans have additional requirements.
Enrollment Periods
You can only join or drop a Medicare Advantage plan during certain times. Outside of one of these periods, Medicare usually requires that you remain in the plan for a year. Even if you stop paying for a Medicare Advantage plan, you don't automatically go back to original Medicare and you can't pick up a stand- alone prescription drug plan. Be sure to read your member handbook on how to disenroll.
Open Enrollment Period. The Medicare open enrollment period is October 15 through December 7. It is your opportunity to compare coverages and make changes to your Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. If you make changes to your coverage during the open enrollment period, they will take effect on January 1.
During the open enrollment period, if you want to drop your Medicare Advantage plan and return to original Medicare, you must tell your plan in writing. If your Medicare Advantage plan includes medications, joining a stand-alone prescription drug plan will automatically return you to original Medicare. If you switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, you will be disenrolled automatically from your old plan when the new coverage begins.
Prior to open enrollment, Medicare will mail you its Medicare & You handbook. You can use that handbook or the Find Health and Drug Plans feature on www.Medicare.gov to see the available plans. The website is updated by October 15 of each year. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, the plan must also send you information about changes and costs for the coming year.
Disenrollment Period. The Medicare Advantage disenrollment period is January 1 through February 14. The disenrollment period allows you to leave your Medicare Advantage plan and return to original Medicare. You will not be able to join a different Medicare Advantage plan and may not be able to buy a Medicare supplement policy during this disenrollment period. If you disenroll from a Medicare Advantage plan, you have a right to enroll in a prescription drug plan.
Read the Medicare & You handbook for information about joining and switching plans. You may also call 1-800-Medicare. Medicare's representatives can verify if you have a right to leave your current plan.
Special Enrollment Periods. Certain situations allow you to change plans outside of the open enrollment period or disenrollment period. These include moving out of the area or moving into a nursing home. People with Medicaid, Medicare savings programs, or Extra Help for Medicare Part D have a right to change plans throughout the calendar year. To find out if your situation allows a special enrollment period call 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227), or call the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) at 1-800-252-9240. Your call will be routed to the AAA office near you.
Plan Ratings
Each October, CMS rates Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans based on quality of care, access to care, responsiveness, and beneficiary satisfaction. Plans with the highest level of service are designated as 5-Star plans. You can switch to a 5-Star plan one time during the year. Your coverage with a 5-Star plan will begin on the first day of the month following your enrollment.
You can find a plan's rating online at the www.Medicare.gov by clicking on Find Health and Drug Plans or by calling 1-800-Medicare.
Medicare Supplement Insurance
Medicare supplement insurance - sometimes called Medigap - fills in the gaps between what original Medicare pays and what you must pay out-of-pocket for deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. A Medicare supplement policy only works with original Medicare, not with a Medicare Advantage plan. If you drop a Medicare supplement policy to join a Medicare Advantage, you may not be able to buy another Medicare supplement policy if you later decide to return to original Medicare.
You may buy a Medicare supplement policy in the following situations:
- If you join a Medicare Advantage plan when you first enroll in Medicare Part B, you can drop your Medicare Advantage plan and buy a Medicare supplement policy during the first year. This is called a "trial right."
- If your Medicare Advantage plan ends its coverage, you have 63 days to buy a Medicare supplement policy. On the termination of your Medicare Advantage plan, Medicare will provide you written information about your rights and options.
- If you have a Medicare supplement policy and have never enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan before, you can drop your Medicare supplement policy to try a Medicare Advantage plan. If you leave the Medicare Advantage plan within the first year, you can have your Medicare supplement policy back. If the company no longer sells the Medicare supplement policy you previously had, you can buy certain policies from any company.
For more information about Medicare supplement insurance, read TDI's Medicare Supplement Insurance Handbook. The CMS publication Choosing a Medigap Policy has additional information about your Medicare supplement rights.
Medicare Advantage Options in Texas
The Medicare Advantage options available in Texas include:
- managed health care plans, such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs)
- preferred provider organizations (PPOs)
- private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans
- Medicare special needs plans (SNPs).
Not all of these options are available in every county.
Health Maintenance Organizations. Medicare HMOs usually require you to use doctors and hospitals they have contracts with. These doctors and hospitals make up the HMO's "network." Some HMOs have an option called point-of-service that allows you to use doctors and hospitals who aren't in the HMO's network, but you'll have to pay more.
You must also choose a primary care physician who will oversee your health care and provide referrals to specialists.
Preferred Provider Organizations. Like HMOs, PPOs contract with networks of doctors and hospitals. Unlike HMOs, PPO members don't need a referral from their primary care physician to visit specialists or out-of-network doctors. However, your costs will be lower if you use the PPO's network of doctors and hospitals. Some services may still require prior approval.
Private Fee-For-Service Plans. PFFS plans allow you to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts the plan's terms of payment. However, some PFFS plans are required to have a network of doctors and hospitals. If the PFFS plan has a network, you will probably pay more if you see a doctor or hospital outside of the network.
Since PFFS plans don't require you to have a primary care physician to oversee your care, you won't need a referral to see a specialist. Although you must live in the plan's service area to be eligible, you can receive treatment anywhere in the United States as long as the doctor or hospital is willing to treat you.
Special Needs Plans. SNPs provide health care for people with specific diseases such as heart disease or diabetes. To be eligible for a plan, you must have a health condition covered by the specific plan. In some cases, you may have to change your doctor or hospital if yours isn't willing to accept your plan. Some plans are specifically for people in long-term care facilities or for people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, also called dual-eligibles.
Note: Some employers offer their retirees Medicare Advantage plans. Those plans may be different from the plans found in the Medicare & You handbook and may work differently. Because plans can change each year, be sure to check with your previous employer to understand your coverage.
How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
The best way to choose a Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plan is to use the Find Health and Drug Plans link on Medicare's website at www.Medicare.gov. This website compares the plans and their premiums, maximum out-of-pocket costs, basic service costs, and medications. The Medicare & You handbook can tell you all the Medicare Advantage and drug plans available in Texas.
If you don't use a computer or don't have someone who can help you, call 1-800-Medicare and say "agent" when prompted. You can also get local help by calling the AAA at 1-800-252-9240. You will need your Medicare information, information about other insurance, the names of your providers, and a list of medications you take.
Medicare Advantage Plan Out-of-Pocket Expenses
- Premiums. Medicare Advantage plan members are responsible for their Medicare Part B premium and may pay an additional plan premium. Some plans may offer several premium options with different levels of benefits. Additionally, the cost for plans with prescription benefits will include the premium for the prescription plan.
Although the premiums for a Medicare Advantage plan may be less than that of a Medicare supplement policy, you also need to consider what your out-of-pocket costs are with the Medicare Advantage plan.
- Deductible. A deductible is an amount you must pay for medical services and prescriptions before your plan begins to pay. Once you meet your deductible, you will pay either a copayment or coinsurance.
- Copayments. Copayments are a set amount you pay for specific services covered by the plan.
- Coinsurance. Coinsurance is the percentage of the cost of a service that you pay after the plan pays its portion of the cost. For example, a plan might pay 85 percent of the cost of a covered service, while you pay the remaining 15 percent.
- Extra charges. Some PFFS plans allow doctors and hospitals to charge you a remaining balance for the services you receive. It is in addition to the amount you pay in copayments or coinsurance, and you'll have to pay it yourself. If you're considering a PFFS, be sure to find out whether the plan allows doctors and hospitals to charge you and for what amount they can bill.
- Annual maximum out-of-pocket limits. This is the maximum or total amount you will pay towards the parts A & B costs. You can find the out-of-pocket limits in the Medicare & You handbook and at www.Medicare.gov. In addition, plans can't charge more than what original Medicare would charge for administration of chemotherapy services, renal dialysis services, and skilled nursing care. Services your plan denied won't count toward the annual maximum out-of-pocket amount.
Things to Consider Before You Buy a Medicare Advantage Plan
- If you have other insurance - such as a group retirement plan, Medicaid, or military retiree coverage ? find out whether the Medicare Advantage plan will work with it. Be sure to compare the costs and benefits of Medicare Advantage plans with your other coverage options. Medicare Advantage plans might provide more benefits than original Medicare, such as, providing transportation to and from the doctor's office.
- Some Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug benefits cover some prescriptions without a gap in coverage.
- If you can't buy a Medicare supplement policy, you can generally enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan regardless of your health history, unless you have end-stage renal disease. A Medicare Advantage plan can't drop you if you are diagnosed with end-stage renal disease after you've joined the plan.
- People under age 65 in original Medicare only have the option to purchase Medicare supplement Plan A. Medicare Advantage plans may offer more services at a lower cost than Medicare supplement Plan A.
- Most Medicare Advantage plans have a network of doctors and hospitals you must use. This can be an advantage if you have difficulty finding Medicare doctors.
- Plans can legally deny payment for covered services if you didn't follow their rules.
- Some plans require that you use their doctors and hospitals for all nonemergency care. Most plans also require prior authorization before covering certain services.
- Medicare Advantage plans negotiate contracts each year. Your plan could leave Medicare or change its benefits, premiums, and copayments at the end of each year.
- If you enroll in a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D plan outside of an annual enrollment period, you may not be able to drop the plan until the next year.
If you need help comparing a Medicare Advantage plan with original Medicare or other options, call your local AAA office at 1-800-252-9240. AAA offices provide free one-on-one counseling about insurance and related issues.
Protect Yourself from Fraud
Beware of deceptive and fraudulent Medicare sales practices. If you think you've been the victim of fraud, report the marketing fraud to Medicare at 1-800-Medicare.
Here are some tips to help you protect yourself from fraud:
- Before joining a plan, always confirm with your doctor and hospital that they will accept the plan. Don't take a salesperson's word for it!
- Don't buy anything from a salesperson who comes to your home uninvited or pressures you into making a quick decision. It is illegal to sell Medicare Advantage plans door-to-door or to make unsolicited telephone calls.
- Don't be fooled if a salesperson claims to be with Medicare or Social Security, even if he or she shows you an official-looking identification card. Get their name and report them to Medicare.
- Be careful about giving out your Medicare number or other personal information. An unethical salesperson can use this information to illegally remove you from original Medicare and enroll you in a Medicare Advantage plan without your knowledge.
- Don't sign anything you haven't read and don't fully understand. Agents are required to disclose in advance the product they are selling. Write down the salesperson's name, address, phone number, and what he or she told you.
- You shouldn't have a Medicare supplement policy and a Medicare Advantage plan.
It is illegal to sell insurance in Texas without a license. To verify a license, call the TDI Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439 or 512-463-6515 in Austin or visit our website at www.tdi.texas.gov.
Getting The Most from Your Medicare Advantage Plan
Understand your plan
Medicare Advantage plans must give you a member handbook when you enroll. Read your member handbook or evidence of coverage to know what and how services are covered and what out-of-pocket costs you will have to pay. Make sure you understand how the HMO or PPO handles regular appointments and visits to specialists. PFFS plans cover care anywhere in the United States as long as the doctor or hospital is willing to accept your plan's payment terms. Keep the plan's telephone numbers handy to call if you have questions.
Use the complaint and appeals process
If you are not satisfied with the care you received, first try to resolve the problem with your doctor or with the plan. If you have a question about a particular treatment you did or did not receive, ask your doctor for an explanation. If you still are not satisfied with the results, file a written complaint or grievance as outlined in your member handbook.
You can ask the plan for an advance coverage decision to make sure a service is medically necessary and will be covered. If the plan decides a service is not medically necessary, federal regulations give you the right to appeal the decision.
You have a right to several levels of appeal, including an expedited appeal (72-hour decision), for a denial of services or for payment for services. Read your member booklet for details about the appeal process.
For More Information or Assistance
For answers to general insurance questions, for information about filing an insurance-related complaint, or to report suspected insurance fraud, call the Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439 or 512-463-6515 in Austin between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Central time, Monday-Friday, or visit our website at www.tdi.texas.gov.
You can also visit HelpInsure.com to help you shop for automobile, homeowners, condo, and renters insurance, and TexasHealthOptions.com to learn more about health care coverage and your options.
For printed copies of consumer publications, call the 24-hour Publications Order Line at 1-800-599-SHOP (7467) or 512-305-7211 in Austin.
To report suspected arson or suspicious activity involving fires, call the State Fire Marshal's 24-hour Arson Hotline at 1-877-4FIRE45 (434-7345).
The information in this publication is current as of the revision date. Changes in laws and agency administrative rules made after the revision date may affect the content. View current information on our website. TDI distributes this publication for educational purposes only. This publication is not an endorsement by TDI of any service, product, or company.
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Last updated: 10/13/2014


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European Central Bank unveils bond-buying plan to lower rates
By The Associated Press September 6, 2012 8:16AM
Updated: September 6, 2012 9:43AM
FRANKFURT, Germany — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has unveiled a long-awaited program to buy up bonds and help bring down the borrowing costs of Europe's struggling governments.
The plan envisions no set limit on the amount of bonds the ECB could buy, making the program "a fully effective backstop" against a further worsening of the debt crisis in the 17 countries that use the euro.
The initiative — dubbed Outright Market Transactions or OMT— goes beyond an earlier, limited bond purchase program that was not big enough to decisively lower borrowing costs.
Draghi emphasized that the new, unlimited program by contrast was open-ended and had "no quantitative limits." He said it would work because it was "very very different from any program we have had in the past. " The new program would continue until its goal of lower borrowing costs is achieved, or a government violates the conditions attached to getting the help.
Markets remained buoyant Thursday as investors cheered the ECB's package of measures. In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 2.1 percent at 7,113 while the CAC-40 in France surged 2.3 percent to 3,484. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 1.2 percent higher at 5,728.
The euro, meanwhile, was flat at $1.2593.
"The ECB did not disappoint in its decision to start a vast bond purchase programme," said Marie Dimon, senior economic adviser at Ernst & Young
Bond purchases push bond prices up and interest yields down, since price and yield move in opposite directions. Governments can then take advantage of the lower yields when they borrow. Countries must constantly borrow by selling new bonds to pay off old ones that are coming due. If rates rise too much, it can make it impossible for the country to maintain its debt burden. That's what forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailout loans from other eurozone countries.
Spain and Italy are in the same difficulty now, with Spain paying more than 6 percent on 10-year borrowing and Italy more than 5 percent. The fear is that they are too large to bail out, and that a failure to pay their debts could trigger financial turmoil that could break the eurozone apart and disrupt the global economy.
Following Thursday's announcement, Spain's interest rate on its 10-year bond was down 0.3 percent on the day at 6.09 percent, while Italy's 10-year rate was down 0.18 percent at 5.25 percent.
A key feature of the OMT is that countries that want the ECB to buy their bonds must first officially ask for help from Europe's bailout funds and agree to "strict and effective" budget policy conditions. That is to ensure they won't relax their efforts to reduce deficits once the bond purchases take the financial pressure off them.
The ECB said the International Monetary Fund — which has long experience pushing governments to stick with loan conditions — should be involved in enforcing conditions.
Some analysts believed the OMT program unveiled Thursday would not solve the underlying problems in the eurozone, however. "Without trying to be a 'party pooper'," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital, "suppressed borrowing costs certainly provide relief in the short term but do not resolve problems of solvency and debt unsustainability."


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When Jimmy Stewart peeps through his telephoto lens into the apartment across the courtyard, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Windowbecomes not just a suspenseful mystery but a study of voyeurism and a riff on the meaning of watching a movie. Now imagine that Hitchcock is alive and well and making computer games. His Rear Window might be a lot like The Sims (Electronic Arts, for PC, $49.95).
The foundation for The Sims was built more than a decade ago, when Will Wright engineered the urban-planning game SimCity, which in turn led to a phenomenally successful line of spin-offs (SimEarth, SimAnt, SimCopter). But where the previous titles were variations on a macrocosmic theme, The Sims is a microcosmic advance: It provides a Peeping Tom's-eye view into daily life while offering the chance to play God in the bargain. And, like Hitchcock's masterpiece, it ultimately becomes a computer window onto your own life.
The main screen of The Sims presents an overview of a single house; a panel at the bottom lets you build and furnish it and control each Sim's movements. On top of feeding, paying bills, and getting your Sims to work on time every day, you'll have to clean up a lot of fly-ridden garbage, repair the toilet, and provide fun time so that Sim Bachelor doesn't get totally bummed out. Partying with neighbors becomes a necessary, but rewarding, chore in fact, that's how Sims find time to get hitched and eventually have Sim Babies (who may be remanded to social services if they're not cared for properly).
Once you've mastered basic Sim life the closest thing to winning in this game you build your own family, choosing everything from astrologically inclined personality traits to wallpaper. Playing The Sims becomes a kind of mouse-and-keyboard dance, where you constantly click from one Sim to another, adjusting comfort zones, fostering social interactions, and monitoring bladder levels so no one pees on the living-room carpet. Luckily, Sims aren't completely helpless: They learn to autopilot some of their minor chores (like eating) so you can work at finessing a kiss from a fellow Sim or making more moola at the office and if you play long enough, superpower-style options (like the ability to career-hop) become available.


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Autorust Frame Body Mount Channels for 87-95 Jeep® Wrangler YJ - Quadratec
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Autorust Frame Body Mount Channels
For 87-95 Jeep® Wrangler YJ
Quadratec Part No: 56011.9061
Manufacturer Part No: ART-106S
A huge problem that's common to CJs and early Wranglers is frame rust. Over time, moisture and silt gets trapped inside the frame rails causing severe rust through. These rusted out areas create a very unsafe condition and can result in failed safety inspections in many states. Our prefabricated replacement parts rebuild the damaged frame sections with no additional metal fabrication required. All kits come with helpful instructions and are intended to be installed by people with average auto-body welding skills. We make it easy. If you are not a welder, you may find that your local body shop will install our kits for you. These parts save time and money and are the perfect cure for failed frames. Repair sections feature factory standard metal thickness, welded construction and bare steel finish. Made in USA.
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Autorust Frame Rear Cross Member for 87-95 Jeep® Wrangler YJ
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Quadratec 03-06 Factory Styling Replacement Mirror Kit in Black
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The following parts require additional handling charges due to their large size or weight: wheels, tires, full suspension lift kits, oversized bumpers, tire carriers, body tubs, hard tops and cargo racks. The following parts do not qualify for free shipping: Oversized items and items delivered by truck freight, as well as prior purchases and returns.
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Throughout this web site all the preceding marks & logos are used for identification purposes only. Quadratec has no affiliation with the FCA, MOPAR®, General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, Suzuki Motor Corporation or Isuzu Motors Limited. It is not implied that any part listed is a product of, or approved by FCA, General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, Suzuki Motor Corporation or Isuzu Motors Limited.
Quadratec, Inc. is sometimes mis-searched as Quadartec and Quadratech, we have no affiliation with either. [1]
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I'm giving a presentation on what next generation work can look like for my company, and I need to figure out just what's different about the way I work compared to the way other people might work. This is difficult because, well, this is the only way I've ever worked in IBM! ;) So here are some of the things about the way I work…
(braindumping for an upcoming presentation!)
W- and I are adopting a cat from the Toronto Animal Services shelter. Leia's a medium-ish-haired black-and-white cat who's somewhat shy. We're going to bring her home on Wednesday, after she gets spayed, and we'll take care of post-operative care.
It was so difficult to choose. I wanted to take them all! After we spent almost an entire afternoon looking at and playing with the various cats, we narrowed it down to a handful – all female cats around two years of age. Iggy was a brown-and-white tabby who purred constantly and loved rubbing her head against you. Sasha was a quiet cat with a classic tabby coat. Leia, the one we eventually chose, was a bit reserved, but used such a variety of sounds: high meows, soft mews, and chirps. And Angel, well, Angel was insane. ;) (Well, probably not clinically insane, but getting there!)
We ended up choosing Leia because she felt like the best fit. I joked that she's probably like W- and me in cat form: fairly low-key (well, I'm like that when I'm not excited about something ;) ), with a slight build (some cats were huge!), and with a pretty big vocabulary we're not afraid to use. ;)
I'll post more pictures when we have her!


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Utica Weather
Current Temp 29.0 °F
Wind : East at 5.8 MPH (5 KT)
Humidity : 78 %
Pressure : 1028.1 mb
Searchers look for missing 20 year old from Liverpool
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Searchers are looking for a 20-year-old woman who went missing Friday after coming home from college for the Thanksgiving break.
Sgt. John D'Eredita of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office says
police, firefighters and others fanned out over a large area in the northern suburbs of Syracuse to search for Jenni-Lyn Watson of Clay. The search area was based on her cell phone records.
A search and rescue team from Oswego County was also on the
scene Tuesday.
Friends and family set up a Facebook page dedicated to the
search for Watson, a junior dance major at Mercyhurst College in
Pennsylvania. Watson is described as 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds, with
dark blonde hair and brown eyes.
As of Monday evening, more than 3,500 people have joined a Facebook group dedicated to finding Watson.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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You are very welcome.
CHEVY CHASE, MD/NEW YORK (February 5, 2013) – Travel Channel joins with Sports Illustrated for an up-close-and-personal excursion to the exotic locales featured in the 2013 edition of SI Swimsuit multi-platform franchise. The one-hour Travel Channel original special, "Sports Illustrated®: The Making of Swimsuit '13 – 7 Continents, 17 Wonders," premieres Sunday, February 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and crisscrosses the world, giving exclusive behind-the-scenes insight into what makes these shoots so difficult, and so spectacular.
This year's Swimsuit production is a groundbreaking effort that brought the models and team to all seven continents – an unprecedented achievement -- to capture the breathtaking imagery from the farthest corners of the globe. This includes the first fashion shoot to take place on the ice-covered terrain in Antarctica. From battling sandstorms in the African dunes to traversing treacherous cliffs in Asia, we'll show what goes into capturing these singular moments on film.
"Hands down, this is the most fantastic armchair adventure you can take this winter," says Laureen Ong, President, Travel Channel. "We jumped at the chance to partner with Sports Illustrated®, knowing our viewers will enjoy this fascinating and exciting travel show packed with extreme backdrops and locations. This is not an hour of just models posing on sandy beaches — this special takes viewers to all seven continents, spotlighting the most magnificent places in the world.
"Sports Illustrated®: The Making of Swimsuit '13 – 7 Continents, 17 Wonders," is produced by Sports Illustrated Productions in association with Ocean Sky Films. SI's Ian Orefice and Christopher Hercik serve as executive producers. For Travel Channel, the executive producer is Dale Roy Robinson.
"The journey to all seven continents was a bold undertaking to deliver, once again, a spectacular Swimsuit production for our millions of loyal fans," said Mark Ford, President of the Time Inc. Sports Group. "We are delighted that the Travel Channel will present the vibrant behind-the-scenes narrative and visuals of this epic and rigorous production. It will show a completely new and captivating perspective of the Swimsuit franchise."
TRAVEL CHANNEL (http://www.travelchannel.com) is a multiplatform travel lifestyle brand with the core mission of providing inspiring and compelling programming that takes viewers beyond their everyday destinations, making the unfamiliar familiar, whether it's around the world or around the block. A dual feed network that is also available in HD, Travel Channel is the world's leading travel media brand, and is available in over 94 million U.S. cable homes. Owned and operated by Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), Travel Channel has offices in Chevy Chase, MD, and New York, NY. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) also owns and operates HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (www.SI.com/Swimsuit) franchise reaches more than 70 million people annually, and more men 18 to 34 than the Super Bowl. The iconic franchise now spans more than 20 product extensions in digital social, broadcast, publishing, mobile and consumer products, along with supporting a vibrant experiential marketing business. Since debuting in 1964 Swimsuit has become a pop-culture phenomenon and an established launching pad for successful careers in TV, fashion, business and film including those of Kathy Ireland, Cheryl Tiegs, Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum. All of Swimsuit's product extensions are built upon a heritage of amazing photography and footage of gorgeous models and athletes from the most exotic locations in the world.
You have a voice. Vote for the Blitz Babe 2013®.
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NEW RELEASE & COUPON CODE: I have a new kit available at GingerScraps! Autumn is is on the way out and the changing colors of the leaves take on beautiful jewel tones! Autumn Jewels kit if perfect for all your Fall/Autumn layouts! Purchase the kit and get the Word Bits for FREE! Simply put both items in your shopping cart and use coupon code: dec6B1G1
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Work in different time zones? We got your back.
During the weekend, a new version of TimeRank was rolled out to the server.
Since the previous roll-out on April 23, the following improvements have been made:
We are now 100% time zone capable. Even if you have different Google Calendars each in a different time zone, and [...]
Week 16 TimeRank update
I have just rolled out a new version of the software to our server. The following improvements have been made since the previous release on April 15:
The TimeRank planner now takes into account project importance when scheduling tasks. This means that tasks belonging to projects that you've [...]
First ever TimeRank released!
Dear users,
With great pleasure I hereby announce that we have just made the first release of the TimeScapers system under its official name: TimeRank.
As you might have noticed, we have been hard at work these past weeks on the TimeRank Planner, unique functionality of our software that tries to make educated [...]
Netherlands second-most efficient European country
In a recent post on The Guardian's Data Blog, the statistics concerning average hours per week worked and productivity per hour (efficiency in other words) are visualized and compared. We are happy to see that The Netherlands, home of TimeScapers, spends less than the average number of [...]
Inbox Zero: No hype, just a clever step towards efficiency.
Inbox zero, a term coined by Merlin Mann of 43folders.com, refers to the state where your inbox is completely empty, implying that you've in some or other way taken care of all of the emails in there. Due to the increasing volume and real-time nature of email,
Programming: A concise tutorial on django-nose-selenium.
So you'd really like to perform integration testing on your Django site, to exercise the whole stack right from the client-side Javascript through to the database at the backend. There are a million ways to do this, but only a few work. Of the few that work, none have a fully worked out example showing [...]
Programming: Fix for cancel button weirdness with jQuery Jeditable onblur=submit
Jeditable is a great jQuery plugin for when you want to do those neat HTML text fields that turn into input boxes when you click on them, almost like the fields in the GMail contact editor. Whilst working on our all-singing and dancing super interactive web-based time-management tool, we [...]
Beating the Meeting Monster
Ideally, we would have a system or a tool that would unify the scheduling of meeting and of tasks, that is, the actual work that needs to be done. As it is, however, task management systems and the calendaring software that is used to schedule meetings are two separate entities and usually don't support the [...]
Why am I not in a pomodoro?
When you combine Getting Things Done (GTD) with the Pomodoro Technique (PT), the result is super hero productivity. PT entails that you work in 25 minute blocks of ultimate focus, referred to as pomodoros, each followed by 5 minutes of ultimate goofing off. After every 4 pomodoros, you get to take [...]
The micro morning planning session
GTD considers the daily review to be an important component of effective time management. Here at TimeScapers, we agree strongly with this sentiment, although we prefer to implement this as the micro morning planning session. This is the very first thing that you should do when starting at work, and if done well, helps to [...]
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Article Last Updated: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 5:22pm
Sam Green/Cortez Journal
The Cortez Cultural Center celebrated the hard work of its volunteers with an annual dinner at the United Methodist Church. The volunteers keep the Center operating with their hours of donated labor.
By By Gladys Guillet Hart
Email announcements to email@example.com and include "Community Calendar" in the subject field. Items submitted less than two weeks in advance will be less likely to be published. Entries and the calendar may be edited for length and content.Friday, Dec. 19Interested in becoming a Colorado Master Gardener? Today is the deadline to enter the 11-week program. This year's program begins in...


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WASHINGTON -- To Maryland congressman John Delaney, it's simple: "The Maryland health exchange doesn't work." And on Tuesday, the Maryland health exchange board will meet to vote on the future of the exchange.
Who will be politically affected by the roll out of the exchange, which some have deemed sloppy? Different observers point in different directions.
To Shane D'Aprile, editor of Campaigns and Elections magazine, the fallout could hit Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, now a candidate for governor, hardest.
"There is certainly the possibility that it could stick, if indeed the board votes to scrap it, as it looks like will occur," D'Aprile says. "Already you've got 125-plus million dollars spent."
Maryland's online health exchange has been troubled with computer glitches ever since its debut on Oct. 1.
Gov. Martin O'Malley has said the Connecticut health-exchange program is a better model.
But Todd Eberly, associate professor of political science at St. Mary's College, says that O'Malley's presumed 2016 presidential campaign will be weakened by the exchange situation.
Eberly says that O'Malley's strength was his image as the tech-savvy mayor of Baltimore who adopted data-driven policies and advanced the idea that "government could be a competent partner, and at least with regard to the exchange, that was anything but competence."
D'Aprile expressed a similar opinion.
"I don't think there's any question that Obamacare's going to be a big issue [in the 2016 election], and if you are from a state that has had a problem with implementation and rollout, it's going to be an issue," she says.
Related Stories:
- Harris: Feds to review Md. health exchange
- Md. health exchange board adopts enrollment plan
- Candidate for Maryland governor works to ready health exchange
- Md. resets goal for health insurance enrollment
WTOP's Kate Ryan contributed this report.
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