Politics | Politics

Ted Cruz Keeps Quoting 'The Princess Bride' and Mandy Patinkin Isn't Having It

Prepare to be schooled.

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Congress quietly ends federal government's ban on medical marijuana

Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.

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Why the U.S. Pays More Than Other Countries for Drugs

Norway and other state-run health systems drive hard bargains, and are willing to say no to costly therapy.

We have known this for years and it is nothing new. Until there is more regulation of drug pricing they will continue to mark up the costs and pass it onto consumers and there will be more cuts to Medicare and Medical and Insurance companies will increase costs.One of the main things I have learned working in the healthcare industry over the past 10 years is that healthcare is a business in this Country and money is the bottom line even in hospice and at not for profits. The consumer and patient's needs come further down on the list and it's getting worse. I have seen a number of patients and clients have to declare bankruptcy over this or divorce simply to just get on Medical to to help pay for this. All I can say is do as much prevention as you can to not have to be dependent on these drugs and on our medical system if you don't want most of your income to go to medical care as you age. For people where that's not a reality and who have chronic conditions lobby your politicians to combat the powerful pharmaceutical lobbies wanting to stay with the status quo. You get what you vote for and pay for.

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This is the biggest difference between Bernie Sanders' and Hillary Clinton's policies

It's not the substance of the policies themselves.

Very telling and interesting.

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Refugee Screenings Are More Intensive Than Some Politicians Would Have You Think

I can't help wondering how many Anne Franks are among those refugees trying to find a way not to be killed by Muslim Extremists.

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Hillary Clinton:

There are an increasing number of Americans being denied jobs as a result of their credit reports and credit scores. Roland Martin, Host of NewsOne Now, asked Sec. Hillary Clinton if she supports R...

Exactly! It's absolutely ridiculous and employers have no business knowing this except, especially since the recent economic downturn.

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Who Won the Third Republican Debate?

Two senators had very good nights, while a former Florida governor struggled more than ever.

Not CNBC

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Paul Ryan, Opponent of Paid Family Leave, Demands Congress Respect His Need for Family Time

Last night, Paul Ryan announced that he’d run for Speaker of the House if his Republican colleagues met a list of demands. Among them: insisting that time Ryan spends with his family not be sacrificed.

Hypocrite. At least he has the money so he can take time off for his family where millions can't even if they need to care for elderly family members or children.

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A Federal Judge Just Gave an Epic Defense of Planned Parenthood That Everyone Should Read

A federal judge had strong words for Gov. Bobby Jindal.

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Guns, Congress and Murphy’s Law

He is the author of a bill that addresses the mental health issues he believes are central to the mass shootings crisis. Reporters are lighting up the switchboard at his cramped office in the Rayburn Building, while presidential candidates line up to invo

Having worked in the mental health field for 17 years, Rep Murphy's, R-Pa, bill makes sense and gives those who come in contact with those like these mass shooters tools to help prevent violence from happening. I just don't understand why it can't make it to the Congressional floor for a vote. It doesn't impinge on lawful gun owners and focuses more on our failed mental health system.

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John Oliver slams Republicans who only want to talk about mental health to actively avoid gun control

The

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Lying with charts, anti-abortion edition

How can you have a chart without a Y axis? It's scary that some elected officials don't have even an elementary school education according to their made up backwards chart analyzing skills.

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China says it will start the world's biggest carbon market by 2017

On Friday, China will also announce that it will work closely with the US on a host of other climate measures.

Very cool. Wonder what it will take to convince Congress to do the same?

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California is sticking it to the Koch brothers

State regulators are doing what federal regulators can't–or won't.

Awesome and much needed. I don't want hidden outside interest groups and people who don't live in California trying to steer election of my representatives and propositions that directly effect my well being and lively hood in California. This is what happened with Prop 8 being funded by outside interest and religious groups that ultimately led to a long Supreme Court battle and millions of dollars later. Same thing happened with Enron causing an energy crisis in California and then the ousting of Gray Davis.

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House votes to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood

GOP leaders hope the legislation will help avert a government shutdown.

This is such BS especially since these videos were spliced and diced and doctored and have nothing to with Planned Parenthood! Not to mention that they only had a one sided panel that they paraded in front of them. This is why I fear for a Republican President and a Republican Congress that doesn't listen to anyone! They really think this will advert a government shutdown? I hope the Dems shut down the government! This is actually worth it. Women everywhere who care about their reproductive rights and health need to be protesting this and be vocal about it. Did NOW fall asleep with this issue? I hope it can be appealed. Maybe Obama can make another executive order to not defund much needed healthcare for the majority of women. A democracy can't survive when ignorant people make laws that are based on bogus claims and because religious zealots push their agenda. They might as well recreate the Salem Witch Trial and burn PP employees and women who utilize these services at the stake.

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GOP candidates' pick for the $20 bill: a Planned Parenthood board member

Irony alert!

Hypocrites. She did more than stand up for equal rights for African Americans. She also stood up for equal rights of women and for them to omit that shows their ignorance of history.

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Fact-Checking Carly Fiorina’s Debate Statements on Planned Parenthood

Her performance onstage against 10 of her male opponents was commanding, poised, and measured, but unfortunately it was not always rooted in fact — especially when it came to her remarks regarding Planned Parenthood and the recent undercover “sting”

Facts. What are those? Apparently she is trying out for her own show on Fox News Channel.

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Two tax plans from Bush and Rubio help women and families

Two Republican candidates, Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, have proposed different ways of fixing the problem. Bush’s plan works out particularly well for women who are married to men in the top tax bracket. Bush proposes three rates to replace the

UGH! Why can't the Democrats have these tax plans as part of their platform? Why must I choose between my social freedoms and economics?

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America Wakes Up to Mental Health

Challenges remain, but Congress is finally rubbing the sleep from its eyes on mental health care.

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What The Republican Elite Doesn’t Understand About Donald Trump, In One Ridiculous Tweet

They're clueless.

Apparently most Republican candidates and donors are forgetting to "K.I.S.S." like Trump.

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Medicaid enrollment surges, stirs worry about state budgets

ATLANTA (AP) — More than a dozen states that opted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act have seen enrollments surge way beyond projections, raising concerns that the added costs will strain their budgets when federal aid is scaled back start

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How state fights against same-sex marriage may backfire

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has deemed state employees exempt from granting same-sex couples with marriage licenses if it violates their religious beliefs. Utah and Mississippi are considering doing away with state-issued marriage licenses, while co

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Presidential Hopefuls Sell Swag and Collect Data

While the money is nice (purchases from campaign stores are donations), the customer information is invaluable.

Fascinating.

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Aztec Marriage: A Lesson for Chief Justice Roberts

Has

Maybe he should have given his clerks more time to research this argument.

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Economists predict shockwaves if Obamacare subsidies are nixed

By Sharon Begley and Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on whether people in 34 states can continue to receive Obamacare health insurance subsidies, economists are projecting billions of dollars in lost healthca

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Why is California screwed? Californians.

A voter-approved antitax measure prevents drought-plagued cities from going after water hogs.

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Richard C. Holbrooke’s Diary of Disagreement With Obama Administration

“The Diplomat,” a documentary about the diplomat and his dealings with the White House, is to debut Thursday at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Can't wait to see this. He was such a very intelligent, intuitive man and a great Patriot. Too bad it wasn't appreciated by Obama and his Administration who were too blind sighted to see past their own limiting foreign policy agenda. Now we still have the Taliban and now ISIS. I might be a Democrat but Obama has not done us any favors in that tense delicate region.

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Two maps explain how much the Supreme Court could damage Obamacare

A super-simple explanation of Obamacare now, and what the Supreme Court case could do

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Patty Murray Should Be the Next Senate Minority Leader

In Washington, there is a cottage industry of progressives who want Elizabeth Warren to do something besides represent Massachusetts in the Senate. For the past year, that something has been a presidential run. Every few months, she’s asked if she&r

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House Passes Bill Changing Medicare Fee Formula and Extending Children’s Insurance

In a significant bipartisan move backed by President Obama, the House agreed on changing the formula for doctors’ fees and extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Very encouraging. Now they need to pass Medicare legislation to help seniors, the disabled and the dying.

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Obama Says Workers Are Being 'Cheated' Out Of Overtime Pay

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said his administration would soon release details of a highly anticipated reform to the nation's overtime rules, telling The Huffington Post on Friday that many Americans were being

See it all of the time and hopefully companies will now be held more accountable for it.

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Israel’s Gilded Age

Why is the country’s inequality a political issue? Because it didn’t have to be this extreme.

Very good article by Krugman. Very similar to the US's economy now but even worse. The 3rd to last paragraph is especially telling of the dangers of privatizing government programs.

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Pol Who Gave Away Adopted Daughters Thought They Were Possessed 

The Arkansas Times continues to do a stellar job unraveling the incredibly disturbing story of Arkansas State Representative Justin Harris, who gave away the little girls he'd adopted to a man who sexually abused one of them. The Times' newest sto

Wow! You stay classy Arkansas! These girls are better off than to stay with this delusional fidiot.

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This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country

The next time your right-wing family member or former high school classmate posts a status update or tweet about how taxing the rich or increasing workers' wages kills jobs and makes businesses leave the state, I want you to send them this article....

Maybe I should move to Minnesota. I think I will look into social work jobs there. I could put up with some snow and humidity for a better paying job and being able to help people with better services and programs.

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Anti-Tesla States Jabbed With Luddite 'Award'

The votes are in for the inaugural Luddite Awards, intended to call out the stifling of innovation. The winners of the dubious honor are four states which banned Tesla Motors from selling its electric cars directly to consumers. The Information T...

I thought Republicans are supposed to be for Capitalism, competition and Free Market and small businesses. I guess their only for the companies that line their pockets. What hypocrites!

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California’s next big political wave

When California Sen. Barbara Boxer announced on Jan. 8 that she would be retiring after her current term ends in 2016, Golden State politicos reacted with the sort of panting excitement usually reserved for a regime change at, say, Buckingham Palace. A ne

This should be interesting although I think Antonio Villaraigosa is a terrible choice and did a terrible job in Los Angeles.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Writes Scathing 35-Page Dissent In Birth Control Case

The Supreme Court delivered a blow to universal birth control coverage on Monday, ruling that closely-held corporations can refuse to cover contraception in their health plans for religious reasons. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sharply disagreed w...

So disappointing

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Special Report: How the U.S. made its Putin problem worse

By David Rohde and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK (Reuters) - In September 2001, as the U.S. reeled from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Vladimir Putin supported Washington's imminent invasion of Afghanistan

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GOP hopes ad featuring hipster can save it

Democrats do not have a monopoly on scraggly-bearded hipsters. To prove the point -- whether intentionally or not -- the GOP released a 26-second long online commercial featuring a hipper than thou Republican pumping gas into his Audi.

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How Liberal Are You?

This short quiz will tell you.

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Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a new GOP face for the State of the Union response

The top-ranking GOP woman in the House will talk about her life and the economy after Obama speaks.

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Who Pays the Taxes and Gets the Benefits

Even as some conservatives acknowledge the value of a social safety net, public support for aid to the needy is falling, an economist writes.

Very interesting analysis.

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A Conservative Millionaire's Quest to Raise California's Minimum Wage to $12 an Hour

The Conservative Argument for Raising the Minimum Wage

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Q: 'Siri, What Are Your Political Views?' A: 'Ron Paul'

Regardless of your own political persuasion, apparently your iPhone is a libertarian. Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant on Apple devices, pulls up the Wikipedia page of everyone's favorite libertarian, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, when as

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Fighting for His Presidency | TIME.com

With Democrats on the Hill restless, Obama and the White House are struggling to respond

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The splitting of the Senate (now in convenient GIF form)

It's been said that American politicians have grown more rigid, more entrenched, less willing to compromise over the years. Here's the GIF that illustrates just how correct those assumptions are.

Very Cool.

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Survey: 81 Percent of Universities Say Sequester Has Directly Affected Research Activities | Sequester Watch, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com

Universities say the automatic federal budget cuts that began last March have directly affected their research activities, leading to layoffs.

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Global study: World not ready for aging population

The world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study being issued Tuesday by the United Nations and an elder rights group.

A very sad reality. Luckily there are those of us in Gerontology that have been working on this for many years and can help our clients prepare.

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American History: Do you know US History?

Watch the video American History: Do you know US History? on Yahoo News. In a few weeks, the U.S. will celebrate Columbus Day, but it’s likely many Americans don’t know that this holiday commemorates Christopher Columbus arriving in North Amer

You have to be kidding me? Only 7% can name the first 4 Presidents. Very sad.

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Obama: U.S. military ready if Russia’s Syria plan fails