Dear Editor, Cathy Breen is a long time Voices delegate and will appreciate your consideration of this article for possible posting at your website. Thank you, Kathy In Baghdad, Organized Destruction by Cathy Breen June 26, 2015 Two days ago an email came from an Iraqi doctor in Baghdad in response to a brief greeting […]
Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage Nationwide
The decision is a historic victory for gay rights activists who have fought for years in the lower courts. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia already recognize marriage equality. The remaining 13 states ban these unions, even as public support has reached record levels nationwide.
Gov. Ed Rendell Op-Ed: “Compromise in Harrisburg”
Pennsylvania’s political leaders will have a chance this month to dramatically change that perception by enacting a budget that will bring about real structural change in the way government operates. If it’s done correctly, Harrisburg could both meet the state’s financial challenges and start to restore faith in government.
GOP Pa. budget said to ignore Gov. Wolf
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Republicans who control the legislature spent Thursday putting the finishing touches on their own budget blueprint, one that will exclude many of Gov. Wolf’s priorities and pave the path for a veto. The GOP-backed plan, details of which could be made public as early as Friday, will not contain any of Wolf’s proposed […]
CNN/WMUR Poll: Sanders Gaining on Clinton on New Hampshire
NEWSMAX: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has made significant gains on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, according to the latest CNN/WMUR poll. Clinton leads Sanders 43 percent to 35 percent, according to the poll. But just two months ago, Clinton led the poll 51 percent to Sanders’ 13 percent. But that poll […]
LETTER: U. S. promoted civil war in Iraq
A partition of Iraq has already taken place because, contrary to all of the propaganda about the U.S. “preventing” a civil war in Iraq, they in fact along with the British promoted it at every step of the invasion and military occupation.
Measuring Health Insurance Subsidies’ Success
And industry executives said the law had fostered a revolution in the delivery of health care, encouraging hospitals large and small to increase the coordination of care and the use of electronic medical records while minimizing the readmission of patients who have been discharged. Doctors and hospitals have accepted that they will be rewarded or penalized for the quality of care they provide: their ability to keep people healthy. Medicare and private insurers have adopted a dizzying array of “quality metrics.”…
Supreme Court gives Obama second big health care win
The justices said in a 6-3 ruling Thursday that the subsidies that 8.7 million people currently receive to make insurance affordable do not depend on where they live, under the 2010 health care law.
Capitolwire: GOP, Wolf at loggerheads over severance tax.
Despite public opinion polls showing support for a severance tax, the industry and its allies in state government have pushed back against past proposals, sending them over the cliff. Wolf’s proposal appears headed for the same fate.
Obama Bolsters His Leverage With Trade Victory, but at a Cost
NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN: …While the turbulent process was embarrassing for the president and deeply confusing for foreign negotiating partners, Mr. Obama now has the leverage he sought to force the final concessions needed to wrap up a free-trade pact bringing together 12 nations along the Pacific Rim. Talks should resume soon, and American officials […]
Our runaway spending on the elderly
WASHINGTON POST COLUMN: A recent Congressional Budget Office report, “The 2015 Long-Term Budget Outlook,” reminds us that the federal government is slowly becoming an agency for taking care of the elderly. Almost everything else is being crowded out. We ignored that during the Obama presidency, and now it seems that the fledgling presidential campaign may […]
Who lost Iraq?
POLITICO: Did George W. Bush create the Islamic State? Did Barack Obama? We asked the insiders to tell us who’s to blame… (more) NEWSLANC EDITOR: Five knowledgeable participants and up close observers express their views of what occurred. We recommend the article be read in its entirety. It is only through that process that a […]
KEISLING: PA legislature ignores responsibilities yet again
This year’s stalled budget process again drives home the point that Pennsylvania government and its legislature is broken, and has been broken for years.
Plan would require conviction before property seizure
WITF: House and Senate plans would halt a practice that allows law enforcement to seize property from someone accused, but not convicted, of certain crimes. Supporters of the bills repeatedly equated the policy to theft. Rep. Jim Cox (R-Berks) said civil asset forfeiture is falling more heavily on the poor because most seizures are small […]