The historical election night is long over and the cloud hangs of numerous petitions, signed by 39 states, to secede from the United States.

In the wake of the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama there have been quite a few objections, mainly from the voices of people residing in more conservative states. Citizens are signing petitions by the masses to be granted permission “to peacefully withdraw from the United States of America and to create their own government,” according to the White House’s We the People Petition website.

The 39 states that have signed the petition are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Virginia. While most of the states aforementioned are from the Deep South, a few of them are blue states.

“Every petition that crosses the threshold will receive a response but we don’t comment on what the substance of that response will be before it’s issued,” a White House Official told political website nextgov.com.

The petitions of Louisiana, Florida and Texas have reached beyond the threshold of 25,000 signatures. Texas, which considers itself as a “republic,” not a state, leads the pack with 82,580 and its petition was created on November 9. Louisiana, which was the first state to create a petition the day after President Obama was re-elected comes second with 31,072 signatures. Florida has 26,020 signatures and was created on November 10. All three of these petitions will receive an official response from the Obama administration.

Each petition is similar if not identical in content quoting from the 1776 Declaration of Independence, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government…”

The backlash of the petitions came in the form of responses petitions to ‘Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile Them and to Deport Everyone That Signed A Petition To Withdraw Their State From The United States Of America’. While elected official Gov. Perry took a more objective approach, he said he “believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it. But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government.”

Petitions have a lifespan of a month if they don’t reach the threshold of 25,000 signatures and a majority of the state petitions attempting to secede from the Union may or may not make the cut but a few of the conservative Deep South states have the higher numbers and will probably receive an official response from the Obama administration.

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Stateline, U.S.A. — Most Americans weren’t looking when Obama’s Labor Secretary Hilda Solis first began her attack on family farms. Unfortunately, the battle continues and the price of groceries may go up as a result. And groups like Rowdy House Music are writing about it in songs that are playing nationwide.

Sen. Jerry Moran pleaded, ”If the federal government can regulate the kind of relationship between parents and their children on their own family’s farm, there is almost nothing off-limit when it comes to government intrusion.” Moran added, ”The proposed regulations would change the way family farms work, preventing farm kids from learning their parents’ trade”.

Fortunately, Obama’s Labor Department was flooded with thousands of comments and many outraged farmers weighed in against the changes. But what if farmers don’t catch it next time? Do we really want more inappropriate connections between government regulations, unions and the commercial interests? The government “buddy system” profits enormously from lucrative government contracts, subsidy programs and strategic regulations. This graft is even more insidious when it masquerades as social programs or regulations pretending to protect us from ourselves.

In late March, Congressman Mike Turner joined Ohio’s Congressional delegation and temporarily fought off the attack by Obama Labor Secretary Solis. “This is yet another example of a federal department or agency unilaterally enacting new rules or regulations outside the supervision of Congress. Had Ohioans and farming families across the country not spoken out, this could have had a devastating effect on the important role of agriculture to our nation’s economy,” added Turner.

Senator Moran said, “…For someone in Washington, DC, to propose rules that restrict a young person’s ability to work on a neighbor’s farm because of the amount of sunlight, wind velocity, and humidity is something that again, in my view, demonstrates a lack of understanding about how things work in the real world.”

Gov. Terry Branstad weighed in. “The federal government should not construct further employment barriers at a time when there are fewer job opportunities available for young people.”

Facing significant public outcry early in an election year, the Obama DOL announced that it would drop its proposed labor rules targeting the family farm (They’ll have more flexibility after elections). Iowa lawmakers from both parties were relieved.

“It would have been devastating to farm families across the country,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement. “To even propose such regulation defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.”

Bruce Braley, Iowa’s Democratic 1st District Congressman, also favored repeal of the regulations.

“The demise of the Obama administration’s proposed rule to require children to be a minimum age to work on farms is welcome news,” Braley said in a release. “A regulation prohibiting youths from working on farms would strike at the very core of agriculture across Iowa and the Midwest. This is Iowa. Working on the family farm is part of growing up.”

However, Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin gave a more designed response.  Harkin wrote in a release. ”I am disappointed that the administration chose to walk away from regulations that were, at their core, about protecting children and which could have been revised to correct some of the initial proposals that generated the most concern.”

Clearly, the “family farm labor issue” is not over. Industrial factory farms and labor unions have political insiders to do their bidding. Many remember the revealing gaffe when President Barack Obama was caught on microphone telling Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after November’s election to deal with contentious issues. Obama said: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”

Burdensome government regulations and unpopular policies are easier to push through when politicians have “more flexibility”.  Family Farmers are a group of hard working, independent citizens who are critical to the continued freedom of the American culture.  They will be targeted again, but not until after the 2012 Presidential Election.

Rowdy House addressed this issue with their new song “Family Farm”. Mixed with the anger of an alienated group of our country’s most independent citizens, – the family farmer – the song might be considered to be a new interpretation of the “outlaw” country music from years past. This time however, the whole family has been made “outlaw” by the overreaching federal government. Rowdy House Music contributors are nonpartisan, professional musicians who expand awareness regarding government waste and corruption. Discussions explaining the meaning of their songs can be found in their “Learn More and Download” section on their website.

Image Courtesy of   Chewonki Semester School

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On November 6, California will vote to decide whether genetically modified food will require new labeling. Proposition 37 would require that all food sold to consumers made from plant or animal material that has had its genetic properties changed in certain ways must have labeling stating it has been “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering.” As well as ensuring genetically modified foods must contain this statement on its packaging, Proposition 37 also prohibits genetically modified (GM) foods from being labeled as “natural.”

The main argument for Proposition 37 is the public has the right to know exactly what they are putting into their bodies. The campaigners for the proposition believe that it is one of the fundamental American values to have the right to know, and choose what to eat. They are also pointing to the fact that fifty countries already currently require labeling for genetically modified food as proof that California should have similar laws.

The argument against Proposition 37, however, is comprised of two parts. Firstly, they believe that the introduction of labeling for GM foods would drive up foods costs. One site, “NoProp37.com,” is claiming that should proposition 37 go ahead, then the average family would end up paying up to $400 more a year on food.

Families would only see a rise in their food bill of this size if food producers were to replace every single genetically modified ingredient with organic or non-GM ingredients. While it is likely that some products will have all genetically modified ingredients removed so consumers are not put off by their lack of natural ingredients, it is unlikely that this will happen to all but a few products.

The second point those against the proposition are making is that the labeling system is deeply flawed. With the current system 66% of food expenditures would be exempt from being labeled as containing GM ingredients. For instance, food that does contain genetically modified ingredients is excluded if it will be eaten away from home. All meat, fish and poultry are excluded regardless of whether they have been given natural feed or genetically modified feed. Alcohol is also exempt from the labeling system, but non-alcoholic drinks must be labeled if they contain genetically modified ingredients.

NoProp37.com also points out that Prop 37 was written by a trial lawyer who also helped write Prop 65, and has made a fortune suing businesses.

But what actually is genetically modified food, and why do people want to know whether they eat it or not?

Genetically modified foods differ from normal foods in that they have had changes made to their DNA, either by removing certain genes or by adding other genes, often from viruses and bacteria. This modifies the food slightly, allowing it to grow faster or be resistant to certain pesticides, depending on what genes are added to the plant’s DNA.

There are possible health risks in eating these ingredients. So far, there have been hundreds of reports about the dangers, or lack of, of GM foods, but none of them have managed to prove conclusively that GM foods are bad for one’s health, or pose no health risk at all.

The latest study released on the subject showed that genetically modified food gave rats cancer. However, these results have to be taken with a grain of salt, considering the researchers of this study are well-known to be against GM foods and the lead author has previously been told off by the EU for his statistical techniques in a study of GM corn (being fed to rats, no less).

Genetically modified foods have been grown commercially in America since 1996. Since then, global production of GM foods has grown for fifteen consecutive years, reaching 160 million hectares in 2011.

If Prop 37 is voted in, then California would become the first US state to require GM foods to be labeled as so. This could well cause other states to follow California’s example, and result in the whole of America requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods.

Considering the fact that in 2011 80% of all corn and 94% of soybeans in the US were grown from GM seeds, its clear this is a momentous time for America and could have far reaching consequences for the agricultural industry.

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Few individuals possess more knowledge of the U.S. presidency and the people who comprise it than noted historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin.  In sharing this knowledge with a packed audience at the UNF arena on October 17 at 7:30 p.m., she admitted with a chuckle that this knowledge may come back to haunt her.

“When I am dead, I fear that I may be confronted by all the presidents that I have studied, and they may all tell me that I said something wrong,” she said, to laughter from the audience.

Throughout the lecture, titled “Former U.S. Presidents and their Mark on the World,” Goodwin had nothing to fear from the audience, as they attentively listened to her personal experiences with noted former U.S. presidents, explaining the time that she spent with noted figures such as Lyndon Baines Johnson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

She started her speech by reminiscing about her time spent with LBJ, noting that he found her particularly interesting due to her “willingness to listen to his tall tales.” She then recalled a particularly humorous moment when he arranged to spend some private time with her at a lake. Here, he even provided wine and cheese, romantic trappings that initially led Goodwin to think that LBJ had other thoughts on his mind.

Those thoughts were immediately set aside once LBJ spoke to Goodwin.

“Doris, more than any other women I have ever met, you remind me of my mother,” recalled Kearns, to laughter from the audience.

That unusual moment aside, Goodwin expressed fondness for the time that she spent working under then-president Lyndon Baines Johnson.

“The older I have gotten, the more I realize what an incredible privilege it was to have spent so many hours with this aging lion of a man,” she said with pride, while also recalling some of his key legislative accomplishments, which included three great civil rights laws, as well as Medicare and aid to education.

“He opened up to me in ways that he never would have, had I known him at the height of his power,” she added.

Goodwin then pointed out to the audience that her experiences with LBJ inspired her to understand the person behind the presidency. This drive would lead her to learn about other presidents, and she focused throughout the event on Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, men that she praised for their leadership abilities during crisis periods in American history.

Goodwin noted that a key aspect of leadership is being able to motivate yourself in the face of frustration and being able to withstand adversity.

“The world breaks everyone, but afterward, many are strong in the broken places,” she said, quoting Ernest Hemmingway.

Referencing Abraham Lincoln, she praised his early love of learning and desire to read, qualities regarded as anathema in a time that emphasized physical labor and regarded such pursuits as laziness. Despite this, he loved reading and saw literature as an escape from the daily struggles of his life.

These struggles included him losing those closest to him, including his mom and first love; his mother’s final words simply emphasized that should would never return to him once she closed her eyes. It was this realization, Goodwin noted, that allowed Lincoln to realize that once a person’s life is finite and will mean nothing once they leave the earth. However, as he grew older, he tempered this thought to where he believed that if you could accomplish something greater, people would remember you for it.

This latter thought was the rationale that Lincoln took as he pursued public office; he simply wanted to leave the world in a better place than the way he found it.

When she referenced Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she spoke about the challenges he faced when dealing with polio, the fallout that reduced him to being a paraplegic.

“The paralysis crippled his body but expanded his mind and capabilities,” she noted.

This expansion, Goodwin noted, would allow him to better relate with others and empathize with their struggles.

“FDR now reached out to know people, to pick up their emotions, to put himself in their shoes. No longer belonging to his old world in the same way, he came to empathize with the poor and underprivileged, people to whom fate had also dealt an unkind hand,” she said.

These challenging times, Goodwin pointed out, helped in shaping the characters of both Lincoln and FDR and greatly influenced their leadership methods going forward.

Continuing this character study on these two former presidents, Goodwin also praised their emotional intelligence of both men, a trait that allowed them to set aside grudges and show willingness to accept praise and criticism with equal measure, as well as credit others even if the situation did not warrant it.

Goodwin noted that Lincoln always found a way to praise his Cabinet members, even if they did not always deserve any credit for their work.  This was also true for members of FDR’s cabinet as well; in fact, she noted how Francis Perkins, FDR’s Labor Secretary, praised him for renewed confidence after entering the meeting feeling overwhelmed about the responsibilities of her position.

As the event continued, she continued to praise the actions and exploits of these two individuals, before taking the time to answer questions about the event. In speaking with the audience, she expressed her interest in learning about the trials of Theodore Roosevelt, observing how many of the concerns that were a part of his era, such as workers’ rights and anti-trust suits, are now commonplace in our time as well.

As she concluded her speech, she emphasized the nobility of politics and that it is still a worthwhile endeavor, despite the polarization that is present in our current society.

“Politics is still an honorable vocation; as tough and rough as it may seem right now, I still think that there is nothing like it out there. The feeling that you have made people’s lives better and the curiosity of meeting so many people is unmatched,” she said.

Image Courtesy of  americanlibraries

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Florida, U.S.A. — Eileen Fleming, a no party affiliated candidate for Florida’s new congressional District 5 explained, “I thrive on challenges and one of them is making a community out of the new District 5 and I begin with a three day road trip.

“My navigator through the district that runs through the heart of central to north Florida is a 21-year-old Iraqi vet who had been homeless twice during his high school years. For a few weeks Tim and his family lived in the Ocala National Forest, which is in the heart of District 5.

“Because Florida has the third largest homeless population in this nation and over 53,000 homeless students have been enrolled in Florida schools, one of my missions on this trip is to discover how many of them are in District 5 and the Ocala Forest is just one place we will be looking.

“These children are America’s future and I want to hear their voices, so my trip maybe more an investigative journey than time actually spent with people who can vote for me.

“I want the people of District 5 to know that my faith has taught me that to whom much is given, much more is required, so if I am elected I can and I will donate my take home pay after work related expenses to seed the funding of Habitat for Humanity Homes throughout District 5, for qualifying single parent families and families of Veterans are at the top of the list.

“My hope is that act will inspire other members of Congress to also serve their constituents in deeds and that the local community will be empowered to meet the needs of those within their community.”

Fleming added, “My desire to serve in the US House of Representatives began as a crazy dream in 2005, within three weeks after my first of seven investigative journeys to both sides of The Wall in IsraelPalestine and the establishing of my public service site: WeAreWideAwake.org

“In the last seven years I have written three books and over a thousand articles and come Election Day, I begin the editing of my fourth book Vanunu WAITS for LIBERTY, Remembering the USS LIBERTY and My Life as a Candidate of Conscience for US HOUSE 2012.”

Image Courtesy of  Eileen Fleming

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Middlefield, U.S.A — The Village of Middlefield launched its new two-pronged website this week, less than four months after Mayor Ben Garlich all but declared war on the area’s much-too-long economic slide.

“We will not use the global economic crisis as an excuse for complacency,” says Garlich. “We are determined to bring Middlefield to new heights and to do that we simply must up our game.”

The redesigned site, www.middlefieldmeansbusiness.com, has a double purpose: 1) to showcase the area’s rural beauty, unique charm and many attractions and services to residents and future residents, and 2) to make a compelling case to commercial and industry sectors to build or move business to Middlefield. The site is the first visible outcome of Middlefield Means Business, a three-year stimulus plan developed by Garlich and the village’s newly formed economic development committee.

“We have to demonstrate to business leaders that we will rally around them and respond to their needs,” Garlich maintains. “We have shovel ready-land. We have the tax incentives. We have a wealth of natural resources, good transportation and competitive utilities. And we have an extremely high-performing nonunion workforce. There is no reason we shouldn’t have industry forming a line at our door.”

The site is designed to be a one-stop resource for anyone wanting to know anything about the Village of Middlefield. It has both a business section and a consumer section, and features a customizable and searchable business directory with benefits to both audiences. From the directory, a user can link to anyMiddlefield business to access a full description of the company, along with contact information, photographs and a map.

The industry-facing side of the site features content relating to economic incentives, available commercial property, workforce, zoning, utilities, tax, business partners/tools, village stats, maps and an opportunity to sign up for Middlefield’s business e-letter.

Elsewhere on the site, residents and future residents can virtually explore the village’s schools, churches, community services, government and emergency services, restaurants, and recreational facilities and parks.

Founded in 1799 and situated between the two major urban markets of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Middlefield Village embraces its rural heritage, Midwestern work ethic, easy lifestyle and welcoming demeanor.

Image Courtesy of   JustASC / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. – Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor, has issued the following statement:

“Today, in our prayers and in our hearts, we remember the thousands of innocent Americans and first responders who lost their lives during the cowardly terror attacks of September 11, 2001. We mourn their loss and pledge to their families and loved ones to always honor their memory and to never forget their bravery and sacrifice. We offer our full respect for the courage and selflessness demonstrated by those who answered this nation’s call to respond through the War on Terror, including those in the United States Armed Forces, committed federal civil servants, countless state and local police, and emergency responders whose ongoing vigilance continues to keep us safe here at home.

We also pay tribute to America’s next greatest generation, whose love of our country and unwavering commitment to their fellow citizens was forged by the events of that day. Through their patriotism, military service, and example of helping those in need here and overseas, young Americans have sent a powerful message to the world that our nation’s ideals are intact, that our exceptionalism remains, and that the memory of those who fell of September 11 will never fade.”

Mr. Conway served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on September 11, 2001, and was involved in the legislative efforts to establish the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He later served as an agency Chief of Staff at DHS and was awarded the Secretary’s Silver Medal, the second highest DHS civilian award, for his leadership and distinguished service over a significant time to the Department.

Image Courtesy of   Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com

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Charlotte, U.S.A. — “The Divided State of America,” an innovative political art series, will make its national debut in a symposium for attendees of the Democratic National Convention at 12:00 PM ET on September 6, 2012, at Gallery X (aka Elder Gallery) in Charlotte, NC. The session will feature a roundtable discussion with prominent thinkers about the themes of the exhibition, asking them fundamental questions about why America is currently polarized and how to solve the crisis before the election.

The “Divided State of America” is a larger-than-life collection spray painted by world-renown artist Chor Boogie and commissioned by pharmaceutical and biotechnology entrepreneur Nirmal Mulye. The paintings depict universal issues that have affected Mulye’s life and the lives of many other Americans – policies affecting immigration, energy, the economy, class, and religion – to stimulate discussion and political discourse.

The exhibition will be on show throughout the convention in the lounge of Gallery X, hosted by entrepreneur coalition StartUp RockOn, and later in a series of public events throughout the country in the run-up to the Presidential Election in November. More information is available at www.facebook.com/DividedUSA.

The work of artist Chor Boogie has been featured in numerous exhibitions worldwide, including a recent installation for the Smithsonian Institute on the National Mall in Washington D.C. His work has influenced and inspired a generation of young adults through his dynamic, positive message. Using the contemporary medium of spray paint, Chor Boogie’s soulful portraits and abstract elements combine in color therapy, inviting the viewer to see and think, internally and externally.

Image Courtesy of   CHOR BOOGIE

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Miami, U.S.A. – Friday 17th, Paul Crespo, candidate for the Florida Republican House of Representatives, sent a formal letter to Miami Dade County State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle asking for a full and immediate investigation into irregularities in the recent absentee voting process in House District 105, specifically focused on electoral precincts in the city of Sweetwater.

A copy of this letter was also sent to Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz; Collier County State Attorney, Stephen Russell; Commissioner Gerald Bailey, head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE); John Boynton, Director of the Florida Division of Elections; Joseph Centorino, Executive Director of the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics; and the United States Attorney for Florida’s Southern District, Wifredo Ferrer.

This letter provides detailed information pointing to disturbing patterns of irregular absentee voting in this race that could potentially include voter fraud.

 Based on the raw voting data evaluated by our election consultants and attorneys, we believe we have identified significant statistical and anecdotal evidence of serious irregularities in absentee voting that may have dramatically altered the election results in this race.

We believe these serious irregularities in Sweetwater mirror those recently exposed in the nearby city of Hialeah, which have resulted in various arrests.

 “The vote percentages for absentee ballots in Miami Dade County in House district 105 are totally out of line with the early and election day voting numbers, and even more out of line with the voting results in Collier and Broward counties,” said Crespo campaign consultant Emiliano Antunez, “We will be investigating these major discrepancies and reporting any evidence we uncover to all relevant state and federal governing law enforcement agencies.”

Following the precedent set by the 1997 lawsuit for absentee voter fraud which successfully overturned that year’s City of Miami mayoral election, we are considering taking action against the Carlos Trujillo campaign shortly.

“I am very disturbed by the information I have been shown pointing to potentially serious irregularities in absentee voting performed by my opponent’s campaign,” said former Marine Corps Captain Paul Crespo. “I served 12 years in the US Marines defending our country and our political system. We cannot allow the integrity of our elections to be undermined.”

 Paul Crespo Campaign at 
www.paulcrespo.com

Image Courtesy of  Logicmaker103 [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

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Minnesota, U.S.A. — Despite all the recent controversy surrounding U.S. Supreme Court decisions on health care, immigration and other issues, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t name even a single member of the Supreme Court. That’s according to a new national survey by FindLaw.com (www.findlaw.com), the most popular legal information Web site. The survey found that only 34 percent of Americans can name any member of the nation’s highest court.

Chief Justice John Roberts is the most well known of the justices, but could be named by only one in five Americans. Only one percent of Americans can correctly name all nine sitting Justices.

According to the FindLaw survey, the percentage of Americans who can name any U.S. Supreme Court justice are:

• John Roberts – 20%
• Antonin Scalia – 16%
• Clarence Thomas – 16%
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg – 13%
• Sonia Sotomayor – 13%
• Anthony Kennedy – 10%
• Samuel Alito – 5%
• Elena Kagan – 4%
• Stephen Breyer – 3%

“Recent rulings, particularly the decision upholding health care reform, have brought more attention to the U.S. Supreme Court than we’ve seen in past years,” said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor at FindLaw.com.

“However, the High Court issues its rulings as a collective body. While justices can and do issue individual concurring and dissenting opinions, court sessions are conducted without TV cameras and deliberations take place behind closed doors. So while the decisions often have significant and lasting impact, the justices themselves are generally not very visible nor well known to the public as individuals.”

The FindLaw.com survey was conducted using a demographically balanced telephone survey of 1,000 American adults and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percent.

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During a midnight screening of the film, ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ a mass shooting occurred at a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, located at the Town Center of the Aurora shopping mall, on July 20, 2012. Seventy people were shot, and twelve were killed. In terms of the number of people injured, the shooting is one of the worst in the contemporary United States and the deadliest in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. The sole suspect, James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema a few minutes after the shooting.

Following the mass shooting in Aurora, another mass shooting occurred on August 5, 2012, and took place at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The 40-year-old ex-army gunman, Wade Michael Page, killed six people and wounded four others. After being shot in the stomach by an officer, Page shot himself in the head. The investigation was handed over to the FBI, and they investigated possible ties to white supremacist groups because of Page’s previous involvement with neo-Nazi groups, being a member of the Hammerskins.

The lead singer of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, recently made an accusation against President Barack Obama during the band’s live concert at Fort Canning in Singapore. The 50-year-old rocker claimed that President Obama was the mastermind behind the mass shooting in Aurora last July. According to Mustaine, Barack Obama is staging mass shootings in order to legislate gun control laws. Specifically, he suggested that President Obama had almost twenty people killed (12 in Aurora and 6 in Wisconsin).

“Back in my country, my president (makes puking sign with his finger in his mouth), he’s trying to pass a gun ban, so he’s staging all of these murders, like the ‘Fast And Furious’ thing down the border… Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there… and now the beautiful people at the Sikh temple,” he said.

“I was talking to our promoter here tonight,” he continued. “What a great guy. I was saying, ‘I don’t know where I’m gonna live if America keeps going the way it’s going because it looks like it’s turning Nazi America.’ And he said, ‘Move down here to Singapore.’”

Mustaine also told Infowars: “Nobody can deny that there were criminal rogues within the administration, and CBS News got the memos. Congress has the information, and basically, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, who is a highly respected person, said that if they would stage ‘Fast and Furious,’ they’d be capable of staging anything, and it was all done to blame the second amendment.”

It is not a secret that the Megadeth’s frontman was never an Obama fan. He previously questioned the President’s birth certificate and disapproved his tax policy. “I’m disgusted with this guy,” he said. “He is my President; I respect the office of the presidency, but I think as a person and the things that he says, I’ve never heard anything this offensive ever come out of the mouth of a president, and I’m 50. I’ve heard a lot of presidents talk in my life.”

Because of the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation, it is a fact that many people believe the U.S. government should not be trusted, but the accusation against Barack Obama seems unstable, since there is no proof to support it. Many of Mustaine’s fans believe that the 50-year-old singer should not mix music with politics, but of course, there are also those who think it is time for celebrities to express their opinions since they influence such a large number of people.

Image Courtesy of  Megadeth

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Washington, U.S.A. — Former CIA and Special Operations members are announcing the creation of OPSEC, a new nationwide public campaign to combat the spike in leaks and politicization of Intelligence and Special Operations missions that threaten their effectiveness and the safety of Americans who conduct them.

OPSEC – short for Operational Security, meaning to eliminate or reduce the exploitation of critical information — will begin with the release of ‘Dishonorable Disclosures,’ a new documentary short film highlighting the problem from the perspective of those who have served in these critical positions. The film will also serve as the basis for a TV and online advertising effort.

“Intelligence and Special Operations members are angry and frustrated at how our work has been used for political advantage by officials across government, including President Obama himself who bears special responsibility as Commander in Chief,” said Scott Taylor, chairman of OPSEC and a former Navy SEAL. “We want the American people to understand the cost of these leaks and politicization both on those who serve and on our national security and to hold those in positions of leadership accountable if it doesn’t stop.”

OPSEC is made up of individuals who served their country in the CIA, and Special Operations Forces (SOF) consisting of Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Marine Corps and Air Force Special Operations. It is organized as a  nonpartisan public education campaign and is independent of any political party or campaign organization.

The campaign will begin with the release of ‘Dishonorable Disclosures,’ a documentary short film that views the impact of the increasing number of leaks on Intelligence and Special Operations missions, tradecraft, tactics and capabilities from the perspective of those who have relied on these tools to carry out similar missions and protect themselves and those they served alongside.

The film will be shown at events in key states across the country over the next several months, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Nevada. “Dishonorable Disclosures” can be seen at www.OpSecTeam.org.

“Countless leaks, interviews and decisions by the Obama Administration and other government officials have undermined the success of our Intelligence and Special Operations forces and put future missions and personnel at risk,” said Fred Rustmann, an OPSEC member and 24-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency. “OPSEC will carry a strong message across the country that it’s time for President Obama and other administration officials to stop jeopardizing national security operations for political gain.”

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Washington, U.S.A. — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to clarify his decision to meet privately with a key figure in the Islamophobia movement, retired Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin.

Boykin asserts that “[Islam] should not be protected under the First Amendment,” that there should be “no mosques in America” and that there can be no interfaith dialogue or cooperation between Muslims and Christians. In 2003, President Bush rebuked Boykin for his anti-Muslim stance.

Earlier this year, Boykin’s extreme viewpoints resulted in him withdrawing from a prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. CAIR and VoteVets.org, a coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, had both asked the academy to retract the invitation because of Boykin’s Islamophobic views.

“Romney would rightfully never meet with an anti-Semite or white supremacist, so why would he meet with an infamous Islamophobe?” said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor.

Saylor added that Boykin’s extremist views are well-documented and called on the Romney campaign to explain either why Boykin was not vetted or why a decision was made to have the candidate meet with a key figure in the domestic Islamophobia movement.

CAIR has been challenging Boykin’s un-American bigotry for a number of years.

CAIR and People For the American Way objected to a speech Boykin gave to a mayor’s prayer breakfast in Maryland. Hundreds of people contacted city officials to protest Boykin’s appearance.

CAIR last year asked Romney to drop Walid Phares, a newly-appointed advisor on Middle East affairs, because he is a “former official” of a group implicated in the 1982 massacre of civilian men, women and children at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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California, U.S.A. — As more than 2000 Knights of Columbus and their family members gather for the organization’s 130th International Convention – together with more than 80 archbishops and bishops, including 12 cardinals, and scores of clergy – the Pope has praised the organization’s work for religious liberty in a letter to be released to attendees Tuesday.

The letter’s distribution will come just two days after the Knights of Columbus – along with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles – drew tens of thousands to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe in what was described as the largest celebration of the Virgin Mary in Southern California in a generation.

At a time when Catholics in the United States face unprecedented attempts by the federal government to limit First Amendment religious liberty, the Pope has applauded and encouraged the work of the Knights of Columbus to protect Americans’ religious freedom.

The letter, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, offers Pope Benedict XVI’s encouragement of the organization’s work for religious liberty and expresses confidence that the Knights will take a leadership role in leading the laity “to counter reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about issues which are determining the future of American society.”

The Knights – led by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson – have been actively involved in the defense of religious freedom, speaking out publicly in the face of proposed limits to First Amendment rights including the HHS Mandate. That regulation seeks, with only the narrowest of exemptions, to force employers to cover medical interventions which are contrary to Catholic teaching – and the government’s arguments Hosanna Tabor, which sought to eliminate the exception from general employment law granted to religious ministers.

The letter expressing the Pope’s sentiments states: “At a time when concerted efforts are being made to redefine and restrict the exercise of the right to religious freedom, the Knights of Columbus have worked tirelessly to help the Catholic community recognize and respond to the unprecedented gravity of these new threats to the Church’s liberty and public moral witness.

By defending the right of all religious believers, as individual citizens and in their institutions, to work responsibly in shaping a democratic society inspired by their deepest beliefs, values and aspiration, your Order has proudly lived up to the high religious and patriotic principles which inspired its founding.”

It continues: “His Holiness is confident that the Supreme Convention will carry on this distinguished legacy by providing sound inspiration, guidance and direction to a new generation of faithful and dedicated Catholic laymen.

As he stated to the Bishops of the United States earlier this year, the demands of the new evangelization and the defense of the Church’s freedom in our day call for ‘an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-a-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about issues which are determining the future of American society”

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore – Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Religious Liberty – said: “The sentiments expressed by Pope Benedict XVI in the letter to the Knights of Columbus makes clear that our work on behalf of religious liberty is important not only to the Knights and to the Catholic Church in the United States, but also to the universal church.

United with our Holy Father, the Knights of Columbus will continue to actively take the lead among the Catholic laity in supporting the First Amendment rights of our Church and of all Americans in the face of the unprecedented threats to our freedom confronting us today.”

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson noted: “The message from the pope to the Knights of Columbus is clear. We must continue to stand up for our religious liberty and to point the way for our fellow Catholics to do the same. Defense of religious liberty has long been a part of the Knights of Columbus history – dating back to our defense of Catholic education from the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.

We are honored by the pope’s encouragement and confidence in our work, and will continue to do all we can to protect the First Amendment rights of all Americans from laws and regulations that would encroach on the first freedom guaranteed in our bill of rights – the freedom to practice our religion.”

The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest fraternal group, with more than 1.8 million members worldwide, the majority of whom live in the United States. One of the country’s most active charitable groups, last year the Knights of Columbus set records by giving more than $158 million and 70 million hours to charitable causes.

The Organization’s 130th convention in Anaheim, Calif. will run from August 7 – 9. It is the largest gathering of Catholic bishops and cardinals in the United States outside of the annual United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual meetings.

Image Courtesy of   Martin Ezequiel Gardeazabal / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. — In the wake of President Obama’s recent backing of same-sex marriage and a Supreme Court decision looming, BeautifulPeople.com is launching Gay and Lesbian versions of its online dating site in a national show of support for equal rights. BeautifulPeople’s billboard campaign, scheduled to launch across the country in support of same-sex marriage legislation, has been banned.

Choosing not to bow to an infringement on their right to free expression, BeautifulPeople has redesigned censored versions of the billboards. The censored images, originally a playful take on political dissonance, have gone up in 10 locations around Los Angeles including West Hollywood, California – one of the largest LGBT communities in the country – and also in Florida.

The original BeautifulPeopleGay.com billboard shows a loving matrimonial union between the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman and TV personality. The BeautifulWomenOnly.com billboard features former presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann kissing Sarah Palin, the gun-toting former Alaska governor and darling of the right. Both billboards show President Obama as officiant.

“This is a national campaign championing equal rights for the LGBT community and pledging support in a colorful way,” says Greg Hodge, BeautifulPeople’s Managing Director. “Through a humorous campaign we wanted to showcase how many of our political heavyweights are living in the last century.”

Determined to play an active role in the national effort to legislate equal rights for the LGBT community, BeautifulPeople.com is giving 15% from every same-sex membership to a non-profit organization championing marriage equality.

BeautifulPeople.com, an online dating site exclusively for beautiful people, already has a large gay membership; however only opposite sex voting is allowed to avoid members voting strategically against other beautiful hopefuls. The exclusively gay versions now allow gay members to enjoy the same-sex voting process and vote according to their own unique definition of beauty.

Both sites, www.beautifulpeoplegay.com and www.beautifulwomenonly.com, are now live, coinciding with the BeautifulPeople marriage equality campaign launch.

Images: The following are links to images of the uncensored billboard campaign, and the wedding album images from the BeautifulPeopleGAY photo shoot. Images of the uncensored billboard truck in NYC are also available upon request.

See the billboard here: http://www.beautifulpeople.com/microsites/billboards/

See the wedding album here: http://www.beautifulpeople.com/microsites/WeddingAlbum/

About BeautifulPeople.com

Like BeautifulPeople.com, acceptance to the site is a democratic process, with existing members voting beautiful hopefuls in or out. All members must pass through a strict rating process to make sure they are up to standard. Potential members submit a picture of themselves and existing members then vote. If successful they have exclusive access to a dating site where the one thing they can guarantee is that everyone is good looking and they don’t have to filter through riff raff.

BeautifulPeople is the largest community of attractive people in the world representing almost every ethnic and cultural background. This coveted community shamelessly exists so beautiful people can meet other beautiful people. There have been over 650 marriages through unions founded on BeautifulPeople.com and thousands of beautiful babies born.

Image Courtesy of  davidyuweb

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Holly Springs, U.S.A. — On August 8, Liberty Institute will represent Opulent Life Church of Holly Springs, Mississippi, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, La. The Court will hear oral arguments from the City of Holly Springs, Opulent Life Church and the U.S. Department of Justice. Like Liberty Institute, the DOJ contends that Holly Springs’ ordinance improperly singles out places of worship for special restriction and is in violation of federal law.

“We are thankful that the Department of Justice is weighing in on the importance of securing religious freedom for a church like Opulent Life that is facing discriminatory restrictions,” said Hiram Sasser, Liberty Institute’s Director of Litigation. “Churches should be able to grow and expand free from discrimination. Placing special burdens on them is unfair, unconstitutional and illegal.”

In the case Opulent Life Church; Telsa DeBerry v. City of Holly Springs, Mississippi , the Church sought to move to a new space in the town square area of Holly Springs, Miss. Due to zoning restrictions, the city told the church it must get the approval of 60 percent of local property owners and the city’s mayor before it can exist in the downtown area. This ordinance only applies to churches. Businesses and other groups are not subject to this requirement.

In January 2012, Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of Opulent Life Church and its pastor, Telsa DeBerry, and sought a preliminary injunction, which the federal district court unfortunately denied. In March 2012, Liberty Institute filed an appeal, arguing that the city’s zoning ordinance unfairly singles out churches, and asking the court to reverse the lower court’s decision.

Liberty Institute is a nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty across America, their vision is to reestablish religious liberty in accordance with the principles of the  nation’s Founders

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Washington, U.S.A. — A recent vote showed overwhelming support for Personhood in Georgia, with 66% of voters showing support to amend the Georgia constitution to grant the paramount right to life to all innocent human beings.  The measure was passed in 158 of the 159 counties in Georgia.

The non-binding GOP primary results overwhelmingly supported Georgia’s Personhood amendment. Georgia Right to Life President Dan Becker has called on the State Legislature to approve the amendment to go before voters; acknowledging the clearly expressed will of the Georgia voters.

“The message has been sent,” Becker said, “the legislature needs to let every Georgian decide the human rights issue of the 21st century.”

Support for the Personhood movement has been growing rapidly; both in the US with Personhood USA’s attempts multiplying state by state, as well as internationally; with a similar, Vatican-approved amendment in Europe.

“Personhood amendments do not grant rights to anyone – they merely recognize the God-given rights of every individual human being,” explained Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. “The people of Georgia have shown that they are ready to vote ‘Yes’ on personhood, and now it is time for the legislature to ensure that the Georgia Personhood amendment is on the ballot.”

In a statement, Georgia Right to Life calculated that nearly 1.5 million children have been killed in Georgia since 1973′s Roe v. Wade decision, with an astonishing total of 56 million children killed nationwide.

“We’re living in a society that sadly accepts death—either abortion or the willful neglect of the fragile—as a way to deal with perceived problems,” continued Becker, “and that violates both God’s will and our right to life guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence.”

Personhood USA is a grassroots, Christian organization founded to establish personhood efforts across America to create protection for every child by love and by law. Personhood USA is committed to assisting and supporting Personhood Legislation and Constitutional Amendments and building local pro-life organizations through raising awareness of the personhood of the pre-born in all 50 states and internationally.

Image Courtesy of  infomatique

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Washington, U.S.A. – While the nation awaits the imminent release of the latest numbers on poverty from the U.S. Census Bureau, broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton University Professor Emeritus Cornel West, hosts of the nationally syndicated public radio program “Smiley & West” from Public Radio International (PRI), are once again bringing national attention to economic injustice by announcing “The Poverty Tour 2.0.”

“The Poverty Tour 2.0″ will be on the road September 12–15, 2012, visiting four battleground states: Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida, continuing the moral crusade to make the eradication of poverty a top priority in America—a clarion call to President Obama and Governor Romney as the race for the White House heats up.

“We expect that the forthcoming census data will reveal that poverty in America is not an abstraction; too many Americans are living hand to mouth,” said Cornel West. “Basic needs such as living-wage jobs, food, clothing, medicine, and shelter cannot be ignored by the major parties during the upcoming political conventions, or by their respective nominees on the campaign trail.”

Both Smiley and West have been consistent whistle-blowers on the topic of poverty. In addition to discussing this on their weekly radio show they have:

• Released the text, The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto this past April, which debuted at #1 on The Washington Post Book World Best Sellers List and peaked at #7 on The New York Times Best Sellers List.
• Featured an all-woman panel focusing on the impact of poverty on women and children in America at “Made Visible: Women and Children in Poverty” on March 18, 2012, televised nationally on PBS, C-SPAN and PRI. The panel included U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.
• Explored how to restore America’s prosperity in a live C-SPAN broadcast of “Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity” that included panelists such as Michael Moore, Suze Orman, and Barbara Ehrenreich on January 12, 2012.
• Examined the impact of the Great Recession on America’s poor in a white paper titled, “At Risk: America’s Poor During and After the Great Recession.” This paper served as a factual foundation for the original Poverty Tour and was released in collaboration with Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) on January 11, 2012. This white paper has since been expanded and will be published as a book, America’s Poor, this winter.
• Given voice to the plight of the poor during “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience,” a week-long special television and radio series on both PBS and PRI that aired from October 7–14, 2011.
• Revealed the new face of poverty with their national 18-city, 11-state “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience” that began on August 6, 2011.

According to last week’s Associated Press article, “Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty including in political battlegrounds [states]…”

During “The Poverty Tour 2.0,” Smiley and West will host free and open to the public, solution-providing town hall meetings that will broadcast LIVE on multiple platforms including USTREAM, radio and social media. They will also upload podcasts. In addition to inviting local families, community organizers, job cooperatives, elected officials, war veterans, and religious leaders, the major presidential candidates will also be invited to participate.

“It is our intent that in the sprint from Labor Day to Election Day, poor people do not get trampled on or left behind,” said Tavis Smiley.

Image Courtesy of   Center for American Progress Action Fund

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Washington, U.S.A. – The Coalition of Americans for Political Equality (CAPE PAC) has released a new episode in their ad series titled “Fact vs. Fiction: Ted Cruz” which aims to get-out-the-vote campaign for former Solicitor General Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz for the upcoming Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday, July 31, 2012.

Cruz faces Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

CAPE PAC’s Chairman Jeff Loyd said: “We believe Ted Cruz is the right person to fight for Conservative values and help put America back on the right path. Our hope is that our many efforts will get people to take part and vote for Cruz in this crucial election that is being watched across the country.”

CAPE PAC will release a social media campaign, pushing out the hashtag #VoteCruz on Twitter, a GOTV campaign for Cruz beginning on Monday, July 30, 2012, as well as an online campaign to help Texas voters find polling locations.

Additionally, CAPE PAC has launched a 30-second radio spot airing on Texas’ 103 The Bull in addition to a voice broadcast campaign targeting 150,000 registered Republicans in Texas with a message to GOTV for Cruz.

Mr. Cruz is the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, serving from 2003-08 and representing Texas before the U.S. Supreme Court and all state and federal appellate courts. He was also the youngest Solicitor General in the United States and also longest serving Solicitor General in Texas history. He has authored over 80 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued 40 oral arguments, including nine before the U.S. Supreme Court.

As Solicitor General, Cruz had numerous victories for Texas including defending the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the constitutionality of the Texas Ten Commandments monument, the constitutionality of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and others. He is currently a Partner at Morgan, Lewis & Brockius LLP in Houston.

The Coalition of Americans for Political Equality Political Action Committee is a non-profit political organization dedicated to restoring conservative values in the politicians elected to represent all citizens of the United States of America. Through the utilization of tools in the CAPE PAC advocacy center, our goal is to assist an informed and active citizenry in their drive for change in the political landscape this November and beyond.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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In parts one through four of our series on the Affordable Care Act, we have examined a few of the benefits that are seen as the most desirable provisions of the law, things like no pre-existing condition, no-cost birth control, and the ability for children to remain on their parents’ plans. There are other benefits, like cash subsidies to assist in the purchase of the ACA health care plans that will be examined later in the series. For part five, we will skip ahead and discuss the law as it relates to small business and corporate America.

Who Must Comply with Obamacare?

Under the ACA law, any business with more than 50 full-time employees must offer health insurance to its employees. This health insurance plan must be compliant, meaning the benefits of the plan must meet or exceed the minimum benefit thresholds in the ACA law. If a company does not offer a plan or has a plan that does not meet the minimum standards, then the employer will be assessed a tax fine of $2,000 per employee. This provision is not quite as straightforward, however, because technically the company is only supposed to pay the fine for employees who are eligible to receive subsidized health care costs.

Since everyone is mandated to have coverage, that means the fine would apply to all employees, not just the ones receiving government subsidies. In addition, the first 30 employees are exempted from the fine. For example, a company of 51 workers would pay a $2,000 fine on 21 workers (51-30=21) or $42,000. A good guide for explaining different scenarios can be found at the National Federation of Independent Business website.

If you have fewer than 50 employees, you are not required to provide health insurance. However, if you have up to 25 employees, the government will provide a tax credit if you have employees earning at least $50,000 per year and offer health insurance. In 2013, the tax credit amount is 35% of your annual cost for health insurance premiums and goes up to 50% after 2014.

However, that is only if your average employee salary is $20,000 or less. If the average salary is higher than $20,000, then the tax credit will be reduced by a factor determined by how much the average salary is above $20,000. In addition, if the company has more than 10 employees, regardless of salary average, the tax credit will be reduced. Lastly, there are no tax credits allowed for employees considered “highly compensated.”

For the ACA law, highly compensated is considered anyone making over $80,000 a year. If you noticed how the first sentence in this paragraph contradicts with the numbers in the third sentence, that is not a typo. It is contradictory, but that is what is written in the ACA law. You can find this information at the healthcare.gov and on page 319 of the ACA law.

Implications

The number one implication of the small business and employer provision is the flooding of potential ACA recipients into the system, resulting from employers dropping coverage. Most proponents of the ACA law have dismissed this idea as conservative scaremongering at best and corporate greed at worst. That, however, is because they are not the ones writing the checks. This is a simple math equation. The increase in required ACA benefits increases the costs of the health insurance premiums, because more items are covered.

At current levels, the Kaiser Family Foundation puts the average cost of employee health insurance at $15,073. Only $4,129 of that is paid by the employee, meaning close to 11,000 of the costs is paid by the employer. The ACA coverage mandates will increase those premiums, but even at current levels, paying a $2,000 per person fine is better than $11,000. This is simple math, and as you move into companies that have 5,000 or more employees, you are now talking about saving hundreds of millions of annual costs. Make no mistake, many companies will take this option.

For the companies that bite the bullet and provide health insurance, their costs will increase. This will be because of higher premiums charged by the insurance companies for having to cover more health care benefits and for costs related to keeping up with the regulations that come with the law. There is no definitive way to determine the costs accurately ahead of time, but the Congressional Budget Office projects the costs of ACA to be double what they originally projected.

To be fair, the CBO estimates were for the first 10 years. New projections that go out 11 years have the cost down 0.64%. Why the CBO would go out just one year on their projections is a little strange, especially given the paltry reduction in costs it would show. More telling is that the projection is based on additional revenue provisions that would pay for the law. This is always the problem with the CBO; it only answers questions based on the paper and assumptions put in front of them.

If any of those figures are wrong, if something is left out (like payments to doctors left out by Democrats when the bill was originally submitted), or the revenue gathered is less then projected, then the whole analysis is thrown off. Garbage in, garbage out is the old saying. The primary common sense question to this is simple: When has any government program ever cost less than promised? The answer is never.

The other implication is that the country may see an increase in temporary agency usage. Companies on the cusp of going past 50 employees and either wish to expand or have no choice to can avoid that employee threshold by going through temp agencies. This will alleviate some added costs to them, but only marginally as the temp agencies will also be charging a higher fee per employee supplied.

Lastly, small businesses will not get near the benefit from the tax credit. As discussed above, employers cannot have more than a $20,000 in average salary to receive the full tax credit. If you have higher salaries, the tax credit percentage goes down. Any company that can only afford to pay an average salary of $20,000 or less, in all likelihood, cannot afford to pay for health insurance regardless. Look at the numbers: With an average employer cost of $11,000, an employer could get a $5,500 tax credit, and they pay the other half.

However, $5,500 dollars is a quarter of a $20,000 salaried employee’s pay. A business that small cannot afford to pay that. They cannot afford to risk going under just to satisfy some politician’s belief that paying for health insurance is the right thing to do–no matter the cost. Also, this tax credit does nothing for large employers because they are not eligible. If you have 51 or more employees, you cannot get a tax credit at all. Because of this, there is no incentive.

The primary problem is political and social philosophy intruding on policy and business. Things like health care, time off, vacations, etc., used to be called fringe benefits. They were there to create greater employee loyalty and a way to compete for better employees. They were, in short, extra benefits. Today, they are seen as items that are owed to employees.

The President and the Democrats have determined that health insurance is a right, and if the government cannot get a bill through for single payer, then employers are responsible for paying for that right. Whether this is true (health insurance as a right) is an argument for a different day. The point here is when you approach policy that way, then you end up with bills that have consequences far beyond what is written or intended. Businesses exist to provide a product or service, and make a profit. That is all. They are not smaller surrogates for government to be enlisted in the care and feeding of the population.

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The Stop Online Piracy Act led to the voluntary blackouts of websites like Reddit and Wikipedia, while the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act gained President Obama’s promise of a veto.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was originally introduced into the Senate on Feb. 12, “To enhance the security and resiliency of the cyber and communications infrastructure of the United States.” On July 19, Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced a revised version of the legislation for consideration in the Senate, expected to reach the floor sometime this week.

The revised bill has been praised for addressing privacy concerns raised by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and Technology, such as the bill’s provisions that ensure information is passed onto civilian government agencies instead of military agencies. It also allows individuals to pursue litigation if the use of their information violates the law, a notably absent provision in CISPA.

The legislation also incorporates narrowed language regarding its provisions to create a National Cybersecurity Council from existing members of the Departments of Defense, Justice and Commerce in collaboration with members of the intelligence community and federal agencies. Authors of the bill also included a new section on “incentivizing the adoption of voluntary cybersecurity practices” by providing protection for “owners of critical infrastructure” who meet the standards of cybersecurity practices, as determined by the Council.

Unlike previous pieces of legislation geared towards cybersecurity, CSA has the White House’s approval. In a July 19 op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, President Obama urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Act, citing a serious need for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation to avoid being compromised.

“It doesn’t take much to imagine the consequences of a successful cyber attack. In a future conflict, an adversary unable to match our military supremacy on the battlefield might seek to exploit our computer vulnerabilities here at home,” Mr. Obama wrote. “This is the future we have to avoid.”

However, organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation still have reservations about the bill’s language regarding monitoring and countermeasures. The EFF raises concerns that, “the bill specifically authorizes companies to use cybersecurity as an excuse for engaging in nearly unlimited monitoring of user data,” which the organization finds especially broad and susceptible to administrative abuse.

Similarly, the Heritage Foundation finds the revised legislation still provides, “far too great an intrusive federal role in defining cybersecurity standards.” Instead, Heritage calls for the legislation to prohibit, “any effort to create a new regulatory system for cybersecurity.”

With the bill reaching the Senate floor this week, the amendments in place may or may not remain in their current form, but will hopefully fulfill Mr. Obama’s words:

“It’s time to strengthen our defenses against growing danger.”

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Boston, U.S.A. — George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, spoke as the keynote speaker at the annual 2012 GBTA Convention at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

A standing room-only crowd welcomed the President, who spoke candidly about leadership, his time in office and the decision making process behind some of the most challenging moments during his presidency. The President then sat for a one-on-one interview with Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO discussing global events, the economy and his memoir, “Decision Points.” President Bush’s appearance was sponsored by Orbitz for Business.

On leadership, George W. Bush said, “When you get into the Oval Office, you better be ready to make decisions. To run a company or an organization, you need to have a vision and principals. State them clearly and honor them.” In the sit down interview with Michael W. McCormick, he talked about his first foreign trip as President and Air Force One. Bush said humorously, “Our country does Presidential travel right.”

At the ‘Luminaries of Travel’ panel, Trip Davis, co-founder and chairman, TRX, president, Darden School Foundation, University of Virginia moderated the panel of leaders comprised of major travel suppliers including Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, Luis Maroto, president and CEO of Amadeus, David Cush president and CEO of Virgin America and Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. Technology’s ability to change the dynamic between customer, supplier and company were big themes as well as the increasingly globalized nature of business.

“Technology is complementary to travel,” said David Cush of Virgin America, “But you still have to get on the airline, stay at the hotel and get out there to grow business.” The panel was sponsored by BMO Financial Group.

GBTA and Fast Company also announced the winners of the annual Business Traveler Innovation Awards 2012 congratulating the category winners, ExpertFlyer, Kayak.com, Carlson Wagonlit, Sabre Travel Network, Hertz and unveiled the 2012 People’s Choice Award and the GBTA Business Travel Judges’ Award Winners. ExertFlyer took home the 2012 People Choice Award and TripLingo won the GBTA Business Travel Judges’ Award Winners taking home the top prize.

Continuing a day of breaking news at Convention, GBTA announced the launch of its new GBTA Media Group. Through advocacy in radio, television, online and in print, the Association will build a dynamic media presence. The first phase of the media group is the launch of its new magazine, Global Business Travel, which was unveiled during the general session by GBTA Executive Director and COO, Michael W. McCormick. The first full issue of the print magazine will be published in January 2013.

Image Courtesy of   Jason and Bonnie Grower / Shutterstock.com

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Pennsylvania, U.S.A. — Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment was 7.5 percent in June, up one-tenth of a percentage point from the 7.4 percent May rate. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was below the U.S. rate of 8.2 percent, and has been below the U.S. rate for 50 consecutive months, and at or below the U.S. rate for 68 consecutive months.

June was the first increase in Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate since July 2011. The state’s unemployment rate was down 0.5 percentage points from June 2011.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – was up 16,000 in June to 6,469,000. Resident employment was up 3,000 to 5,981,000, and the number of unemployed residents was up 13,000 to 488,000. Pennsylvania’s labor force was 97,000 above its June 2011 level.

Seasonally adjusted total non farm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 14,600 in June to 5,729,700, the highest level since December 2008. This was the first increase in the past three months. Both goods producers and service providers added jobs from May, but the majority of the increase was in service providing industries.

Government had the largest increase of any super sector, up 9,000 with most of the gain in local government. Three super sectors, leisure and hospitality, mining and logging, and professional and business services, reached record high levels in June.

Pennsylvania’s job count was up 37,200 (0.7 percent) over the year while national total non farm jobs were up 1,777,000 (1.4 percent) over the past 12 months.

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President Obama is blaming Romney of not releasing his tax returns. But the criticism goes further. Democrats suggest that Romney is evading taxes. Denounce have been made throughout a video that Obama’s department has elaborated. The video shows some video clips from different TV channels, where Romney is accused of not releasing his tax returns, and recriminates him on investing his money in offshore accounts. They incriminate him for having accounts in tax havens such as Bermuda, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands. The video can be seen on Youtube.

But accusations do not come just from the video. Examples are Vice-President Joe Biden declarations, who attacked Romney for not releasing his tax returns: “ ‘Mitt Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his,’ said Biden in a speech to Latino leaders in Las Vegas during the National Council of La Raza convention.

Romney’s father who was a candidate during the 1968 elections released 30 years of tax returns when he was asked for them. Now, the son is not following his father’s steps. During the Latino meeting, Biden did not forget about this familiar kinship: “His son has released one year of his tax returns. Making a lie of the old adage: Like father, like son.”

Due to the relevance of the topic, even some Republican sectors are pressuring Romney to reveal his tax returns. “If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong,” Robert Bentley, Alabama Republican Governor, told reporters at the National Governors Association meeting on July 14. “I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”

The question is why is Mitt Romney hiding the rest of his tax returns? With this movement, Romney is allowing people to assume he has something to hide.

It seems that Obama’s team is very confident about Romney’s tax evasion. If it isn’t true what they are saying about the Republican candidate, they would seem like liars, and could make him loose the presidency.

Romney has not taken long to respond, and has said that the 2011 tax return will be released when it is completed. “None of those tax returns are required by law to be put out,” he said. “What is required, the financial disclosure, has already been made.”

According to Yahoo news there are various hypotheses about why Romney is not releasing the information. The first theory that they came up with says that Romney’s income might have been extremely high. Supposedly Romney earned  21.7 million USD in 2010 and  20.9 million USD in 2011, says John Cassidy of The New Yorker.

Second theory says that his tax rate might have been close to zero, which will bring up the thinking that he has might being doing something “shady to bring his tax rate way down,” tells Martin Sullivan of Tax Analysts to  Agence France-Presse.

Then there are other theories such as each return provides a reminder of Romney’s Mormonism, and all the money that he has given to its church, which could subtract votes from other religions. According to Doug Matacoins in declarations to the Outside the Beltway, Romney’s tax returns “reveal the extent of his tithing to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Others says that Romney is just being arrogant, or that he won’t give in to attempts to divert attention from Obama.

Despite Romney is not doing anything illegal, it is a fact that something cloudy is around all this. It cannot be assured that Romney is actually hiding something , but why is he doing this? Shouldn’t the Obama team be pretty confident about this in order to make this accusations?

Despite Romneys acts, it should be reconsider withing the political sphere that they sometimes spend more time on attacking their rival than explaining what their platforms are. It is true that there are some occasions when it is acceptable to criticize the opponent if they have done something that get close to the illegal barrier or breaks from precedent, but this practice should be taken into consideration

Image Courtesy of  NewsHour

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Although the United States has traditionally been a two parties system, there are other forces such as the Libertarian Party and the Green Party who try to add their voices and represent the interests of millions of US citizens. However, these parties work with some handicap in the strictly divided US political system, one being the amount of money that the two bigger parties have at their disposal and the other focusing on the air time that media gives to alternative voices.

There have been third parties candidates in the past who were able to face these problems and gain a significant number of votes at elections. Examples of politicians who challenged the Democratic and Republican hegemony are right wing Ross Perot who in 1992 received 19% of the voters trust, or activist Ralph Nadar who obtained an important number of votes specially in the 2000 election, gaining 2,7% of the American vote.

One of the parties working on the edge of the political system is the Green Party, which on July 14 chose Jill Stein as their candidate for the Presidential elections. The decision was made at their national convention that took place during the weekend of July 14-15 in Baltimore, Maryland. Physician Jill Stein was picked over the other candidate, actress Roseanne Barr, who did not attend the convention. During the convention weekend, where approximately 290 delegates from 34 states participated, the party confirmed that they will campaign in at least 45 of the 50 states.

During the weekend in July, Stein attacked both the Democratic and Republican party, accusing them of following lobbyists’ guidelines instead of listening to citizens’ demands: “We need real public servants who listen to the people, not to the corporate lobbyists that funnel campaign checks into the big war chests.”

“That’s what brought me to the Green Party, the only national party that is not bought and paid for by corporate money,” Stein told their supporters in Baltimore.

The Green Party electoral program proposed policy ideas which they admit may seem unreachable. They are however convinced that it is possible to offer a universal health care system, free tuition for college access and debt forgiveness for students, and a moratorium on all housing foreclosure.

Jill Stein’s vice president candidate will be Cheri Honkala, a single mother, age 49, who was homeless at one point in her life and is now the coordinator of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights national movement.

The Green Party is hoping to get an important amount of votes, especially due to the Occupy Movement boom which favors some of the political ideas that the party advocates.

Image Courtesy of   Jill Stein

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New York, U.S.A. – Newtek Business Services,  The Small Business Authority ‘s President and CEO Barry Sloane appeared on Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends the morning of July 18. Mr. Sloane was interviewed by host Gretchen Carlson addressing the recent statements made by President Obama about small business.

Mr. Sloane took the position that the government and larger regulation are interfering with the ability of the economy to grow. He stated that business owners are offended by President Obama’s comments because they feel they have earned the right to be successful. Business owners do a great job within their communities by giving to charities, hiring workers and paying taxes that build roads and bridges. This is a government by the people and for the people; it is the people who have paid taxes and created revenue to create all this. The full video clip of the interview can be seen here.

Barry Sloane also presented his position on this issue in a blog on Forbes and on Twitter.

President and CEO, Barry Sloane commented, “Unfortunately, the country is now in a debate over deciding whether successful business owners and entrepreneurs should thank the government for building roads or great school teachers for their education. At Newtek – ‘The Small Business Authority,’ we represent over 100,000 business accounts and owners and believe that the American philosophical and cultural way of doing things has made them and all of their stakeholders successful.

Their stakeholders include their employees, spouses, children and communities who benefit from taxes assessed against their income and success. It is not necessary for the government or any federal official to remind us that the government needs to be thanked for providing services. Our government is for the people and represents the people; it should only be providing a support mechanism for the American way. We are presenting our opinion using these channels as an advocate for our small business clientele who feel the need to celebrate their success outside of the political circle and to elaborate on their concerns over government expansion and the sharing of wealth outside of the free market mechanisms.”

Image Courtesy of  Intel Photos

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Washington, U.S.A. — The Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) and others from the non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding community delivered a letter to Congress, urging leaders to avert sequestration by adopting a “balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include further cuts to the NDD programs.”

Joining AAHC in this effort are nearly 3,000 national, state, and local organizations from all 50 states representing the biomedical research, health, education, and public safety communities, among others. Despite diverse interests, the organizations share a common purpose to protect from further cuts the core government functions that make up NDD spending.

NDD programs are provided by the government for the benefit of all Americans. They support economic growth, strengthen safety and security, and enrich the lives of every American in every state and community across the nation. In 2011, NDD spending represented less than one-fifth of the federal budget and 4.3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Under strict discretionary caps in the bipartisan Budget Control Act (BCA), by 2021 NDD spending will decline to just 2.8 percent of GDP, the lowest level in at least 50 years. If sequestration is allowed to take effect, cuts to NDD programs will be even deeper.

“NDD programs are not a principal reason for our growing debt, and yet they are often the first place lawmakers look for cuts,” said Dr. Steven Wartman, President and CEO of AAHC. ”Our goal is to protect health and well-being by ensuring an adequate health workforce and vital biomedical research, all of which are also essential to a robust economy. It is our hope that in educating the public and policymakers about NDD and its small and shrinking share of the budget, we can convince Congress to avoid sequestration by adopting a balanced approach to deficit reduction that recognizes NDD has already largely done its part.”

Image Courtesy of   Ken Durden / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. — William Kellibrew IV, deputy director and national victims advocate, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, made the following statement in response to Governor Nikki Haley’s remarks about rape and domestic assault prevention programs:

“The recent remarks by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley calling rape and domestic assault prevention programs a ‘distraction’ for the Department of Health and Environmental Control in order to justify nearly a half million dollars in budget cuts are appalling and insensitive to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

With that type of attitude toward victims it’s no wonder that, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the state she leads ranks seventh in the country for the number of women killed by men, and has had a rate of sexual violence higher than the national average since 1982.

“Governor Haley may think that the only thing victims of violent crimes need is  ‘sympathy and encouragement;’ however, as a person who as a child witnessed the brutal murder of my family in our living room, I assure you that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault need extensive medical and mental health care services.

The lack of services adds tremendously to the public health crisis and becomes more costly in the long run. I did not receive desperately-needed therapy or support for three years after my mother and sister brother were murdered so I understand that cutting funding for victims is dangerous and a direct slap in the face to those who need these services the most. Reducing funding sounds contrary to the agency’s mission of protecting South Carolina’s public health.

“I urge Governor Haley to venture out into the community and speak with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and I’m sure she will recognize that we need support in every way possible. Perhaps Governor Haley should consider that an increase in funds for prevention programs could reduce the number of women killed in her state, reduce South Carolina’s high rate of sexual violence, and lower costs over time.”

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In this world, there will always be something refreshing about children: innocent, wholesome, naïve and with whole lives filled with journeys and memories ahead of them. However, not all children are so fortunate.

Hence, the 2009 case of the 18-month-old girl who died in a car accident on the way to the emergency room after she fell out of her bed. Rather than having her in her car seat, she was sitting on her aunt’s lap when another vehicle ran the stop sign, hitting the car and killing the toddler. After social workers looked further into the case, it was revealed there was neglect in the toddler’s home and her two other brothers were placed in foster care for a year.

The case has brought to light several considerations that the child welfare system should be acting upon. Finally, the California Supreme Court has decided to do just that.

According to the Associated Press’ statement last week, “The California Supreme Court ruled that a “breach of ordinary care” with fatal results is enough reason for child welfare agencies to act because it poses an inherent concern for the safety of siblings, and that Welfare officials can take children from parents who negligently cause the death of a son or daughter, such as failing to place them in a car seat, even if there was no criminal harm.”

Regarding the 2009 case, Assistant County Counsel James M. Owens, who represented the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services stated, “It’s a big case for us, and it is a big case for the child welfare community.”

However, several parents and residents of the state of California are upset about this ruling and are speaking out about it. In the past few days, the California Supreme Court has received countless letters regarding the ruling, including that of one Beverly Hills resident, Stella Resnick:

“I am appalled at the misguided ruling of the California Supreme Court to allow social workers to place children in foster care after a car accident in which a sibling died as a result of not being restrained by a car seat or seat belt. The measures taken by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services have nothing to do with child welfare or protection. This is state-sanctioned child abuse with life-altering consequences. Removing a child from parents who have no history of neglect or abuse and placing them in foster care compounds their tragedy. Case workers put children at greater risk by seizing them from parents who love and fight for them, only to place them in the care of strangers.”

While residents are outraged at the ruling, statistics for child abuse speak another tune. According to childhelp.org, five children die a day as a result of some form of abuse while every 13 seconds a child is abused in America alone. And of those that die as a result of abuse, 80% of them are under the age of four. So when we think of children, their innocence, naivety, and futures, we need to think about their safety and well-being before anything else.

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Chicago and Springfield, U.S.A. — The Republican led U.S. House of Representatives wasted taxpayer dollars playing a partisan game on Wednesday, when they voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It represented the 33rd time Congress has attempted to repeal the Act, even though the measure is destined for certain defeat in the U.S. Senate. Keith Kelleher, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, uniting 91,000 health care and child care workers, issued the following statement in response:

At a time when Congress should put its full attention on the country’s economic recovery, the U.S. House Republicans squandered a day at the office Wednesday when they voted for a politically motivated and legislatively futile repeal of President Obama’s landmark health care reform.

While average Americans need Congress to focus intensely on policies that will create jobs, make college education more affordable, reduce the federal deficit and generally improve our economic fortunes, the House Republicans chose to spend the day on a blatant political stunt. The attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act is considered dead on arrival in the Senate, so Wednesday’s vote was an exercise in empty symbolism, wasting time, energy and public dollars that should have been marshaled to accelerate our economic revitalization.

In response to today’s vote we will be informing our union members of all of Illinois’ Congressional members who voted to deny Illinois citizens quality, affordable health care. In the wake of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, the time has come for opponents of the bill to dispense with partisan gamesmanship and move on to the business at hand: putting more Americans to work.

Congress should let the Affordable Care Act continue to work for the people of Illinois.

According to the Campaign for Better Health Care, the law has already generated the following rewards in Illinois:

• More than 3.6 million residents became entitled to preventative medical services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without having to pay deductibles or co-pays.
• More than 100,000 uninsured young adults under the age of 26 became eligible for coverage under the parents’ health insurance.
• More than 150,000 seniors with Medicare received a $250 rebate to cover the cost of their prescription drugs once they hit the so-called donut hole.

For all of these reasons, members of Congress who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act must explain to Illinois voters why they chose to deny health security to their constituents and why they oppose providing quality and affordable health care for all Americans.

Image Courtesy of  Jose Gil / Shutterstock.com

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