[poochee]

Posted on Friday, June 29, 2012
Health care law’s mandate unlikely to affect many people
By Tony Pugh | McClatchy Newspapers

A recent study by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research center that focuses on economic and social policy, found that if the law had been fully implemented last year, 93 percent of the population under age 65 wouldn’t have faced a penalty or had to buy insurance under the mandate.

In fact, only 6 percent of Americans, about 18 million people, would have to “newly purchase” insurance under the law, the study found. And of this group, roughly 11 million would be eligible for subsidies to help buy their coverage from new insurance marketplaces, or “exchanges,” created by the law.

The remaining 7 million, about 2 percent of the total population and 3 percent of all Americans under age 65, wouldn’t receive any financial help and could face penalties for lacking coverage, said Linda Blumberg, a health economist and senior fellow in the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center.

This relatively thin sliver of Americans who’d be required to pay for full coverage belies the dominant public perception that the mandate would be a financial strain for wide swaths of the population.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/2...#storylink=cpy

[poochee]

.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release June 30, 2012

WEEKLY ADDRESS: An All-Hands-On-Deck Approach to Fighting the Colorado Wildfires

In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people from Colorado, where he had just finished touring areas impacted by the devastating Waldo Canyon fire, meeting with first responders as well as families affected by the fires. The President thanked the brave firefighters and countless volunteers who are providing food, water, and shelter to those in need, and made clear that his administration will continue to bring all resources available to assist efforts to combat the fires. The federal government has marshaled thousands of firefighters, hundreds of fire engines, and more than 100 aircraft, including 19 airtankers that are available for us as of today, to support firefighting efforts in a number of Western states including Colorado.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Colorado Springs, CO
June 30, 2012

Hello, everybody. I'm here in Colorado Springs, visiting some of the devastating fires that have been taking place over the last several days. As many of you have been watching on television, entire communities are under threat. And we had a chance to tour some of the devastation that has been taking place in some of the subdivisions here.

Firefighters are working 18 hours a day, around the clock, trying to make sure that they get this blaze under control. We've got volunteers who are out here who are making sure that these firefighters have the food and the water and all the resources that they need. And we've been engaging in some unprecedented coordination between federal, state, and local communities to try to bring this fire under control.

Continued Here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-...rado-wildfires

VIDEO http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/...campaign=daily

[poochee]

Interior Finalizes Plan to Make All Highest-Resource Areas in the U.S. Offshore Available for Oil & Gas Leasing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Five-Year Strategy Includes Frontier Areas in the Alaska Arctic
06/28/2012
Contact: Adam Fetcher (DOI) 202 208-6416

WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy Beaudreau today announced the release of a proposed final offshore oil and gas leasing program for 2012-2017 that makes all areas with the highest-known resource potential – including frontier areas in the Alaska Arctic – available for oil and gas leasing in order to further reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Consistent with the President’s direction, the Obama administration’s Proposed Final U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program makes available areas focused on the most likely recoverable oil and gas resources that the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is estimated to hold. It schedules 15 potential lease sales for the five-year period, including 12 in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.

http://www.doi.gov/news/pressrelease...as-Leasing.cfm

[poochee]

White House withdraws ambassador nomination after drunk driving report
By Amie Parnes - 06/30/12 11:13 AM ET

Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, told The Hill that Broas withdrew his nomination "for personal reasons."

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affa...-drunk-driving

[poochee]

Obama directs FEMA to aid recovery in states hit by severe storms
By Meghashyam Mali - 06/30/12 04:34 PM ET

Obama made calls to Govs. John Kasich (R-Ohio), Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), Martin O’Malley (D-Md.), and Earl Ray Tomblin (D) to “receive an update on the severe storms... and to express his condolences for the loss of life and his concern for individuals and first responders still confronting the destruction and loss of power that is impacting communities as a result,” the White House said in a readout.

The administration said the president informed the governors that he had “directed FEMA to ensure they continue to provide necessary support to state and local officials in impacted areas as they respond to these events, especially considering the power outages and the high temperatures many of the impacted areas are currently experiencing.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-severe-storms

[poochee]

Obama heads to Camp David for weekend
By Amie Parnes - 06/30/12 01:48 PM ET

Obama left the White House shortly before 1 p.m. for a long weekend at the presidential retreat with the first family.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...id-for-weekend

[poochee]

White House offers condolences on death of former Israeli PM Shamir
By Meghashyam Mali - 06/30/12 07:00 PM ET

“Yitzhak Shamir dedicated his life to the State of Israel. From his days working for Israel's independence to his service as Prime Minister, he strengthened Israel's security and advanced the partnership between the United States and Israel,” said a statement from the White House press secretary. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the people of Israel."

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affa...aeli-pm-shamir

[poochee]

Obama asks donors to help keep margin with Romney ‘close enough’
By Amie Parnes - 06/30/12 12:35 PM ET

In an e-mail, Obama acknowledges that his campaign "may not outraise" Romney, but said he was “determined to keep the margin close enough that we can win this election right away."

My check is on it's way.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign...y-close-enough

[poochee]

Pelosi: House GOP efforts to repeal Obama health law unrealistic
By Meghashyam Mali - 07/01/12 06:58 AM ET
VIDEO

Pelosi said Democrats were ready to debate Republicans on the merits of the healthcare reform bill and were confident voters would see benefits from the landmark legislation.

"They'll bring it up, and when they bring it up they will ask for repeal, repeal of all the things I said that help children, help young adults, help seniors, help men or women who may have prostate cancer, breast cancer, whatever it is, any precondition. And everybody will have lower rates, better quality care and better access. So that's what they want to repeal, we're happy to have that debate," she said.

Democrats get out there and educate the public in language they understand!

http://thehill.com/video/house/23578...aw-unrealistic

[poochee]

July 1st, 2012
09:03 AM ET
Obama chief of staff: Time to get over debate
Posted by
CNN's Kevin Liptak

(CNN) - Jack Lew, the White House chief of staff, said Sunday the Supreme Court decision upholding President Barack Obama's health care measure should put to rest the national debate over the law's practicality.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Lew said the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, needs to be fully implemented before Americans assess its merit, and that detractors of the law, including Obama's opponent in the 2012 presidential election, were using it to divide the country.

– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

"This was a plan that Gov. Romney supported," Lew said, "and it's something that I would have thought he would be proud of."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...t-over-debate/

[poochee]

John Boehner: Republicans Will File Civil Lawsuit Over Fast And Furious
Go do some real work.
The Huffington Post | By Arthur Delaney Posted: 07/01/2012 10:37 am Updated: 07/01/2012 11:27 am

On "Fox News Sunday," White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew called the Republicans' pursuit of additional documents a "fishing expedition." Obama administration officials have testified at 11 hearings on the issue and provided thousands of documents.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1640997.html

[poochee]

Mitch McConnell On 30 Million Uninsured: 'That Is Not The Issue'
Mr "make Obama a one term president" speaks
Posted: 07/01/2012 10:17 am Updated: 07/01/2012 11:46 am
VIDEO

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace interrupted, "You don't think 30 million uninsured is an issue?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1641033.html

[poochee]

Obamacare Support Rises After Supreme Court Ruling, Poll Finds
Reuters | By Patricia Zengerle Posted: 07/01/2012 4:36 pm Updated: 07/01/2012 4:56 pm

WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - Voter support for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul has increased following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding it, a lthough majorities still oppose it, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed.

Among all registered voters, support for the law rose to 48 percent in the online survey conducted after Thursday's ruling, up from 43 percent before the court decision. Opposition slipped to 52 percent from 57 percent.

The survey showed increased backing from Republicans and, crucially, the political independents whose support will be essential to winning the Nov. 6 presidential election.

Thirty-eight percent of independents supported the healthcare overhaul. That was up from 27 percent from a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken days before the justices' ruling. Opposition among independents was 62 percent, versus 73 percent earlier.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1641560.html

[poochee]

Chuck Schumer: Republicans Will Lose If They Campaign On Repealing Obamacare (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | By Arthur Delaney Posted: 07/01/2012 12:34 pm Updated: 07/01/2012 2:47 pm

"The bottom line is most Americans are not for repeal," Schumer continued. "If you look at all the polls, a little more than a third are for repeal; the rest are either for keeping it or changing it but not repealing it. Some of those who are for changing it want to make it tougher."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...#slide=1156810

[1956brother]

if the republicans want to repeal obama care they better have a plan of their own.