The Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare

The Article: Meet Butch Matthews, A Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000 by Sy Mukherjee in ThinkProgress.

The Text: Butch Matthews is a 61-year-old former small business owner from Little Rock, Arkansas who used to wake up every morning at 4 A.M. to deliver canned beverages to retailers before retiring in 2010. A lifelong Republican, he was heavily skeptical of the Affordable Care Act when it first passed. “I did not think that Obamacare was going to be a good plan, I did not think that it was going to help me at all,” he told ThinkProgress over the phone.

But after doing a little research, Matthews eventually realized how much the law could help him. And on Tuesday, his local Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) provider confirmed that he would be able to buy a far better plan than his current policy while saving at least $13,000 per year through Arkansas’ Obamacare marketplace.

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Bernie Sanders On Corporate Tax Rates

Honesty! Integrity! Representing the public–and not-so monied–interests! In DC! What is this I’m seeing?!

Robin Williams On Canada

If Canada and the United States formed a filet, Canada would be the prime cut and the US would be the deceptively tender looking parts hat turn out to be filled with fat deposits and gristle.

Krugman: Republican Worst Nightmare Has Been Realized

The Article: Reform Turns Real by Paul Krugman in The New York Times.

The Text: At this point, the crisis in American governance has taken on a life of its own. Some Republicans are now saying openly that they want concessions in return for reopening the government and avoiding default, not because they have any specific policy goals in mind, but simply because they don’t want to feel “disrespected.” And no endgame is in sight.

But this confrontation did start with a real issue: Republican efforts to stop Obamacare from going into effect. It’s long been clear that the great fear of the Republican Party was not that health reform would fail, but that it would succeed. And developments since Tuesday, when the exchanges on which individuals will buy health insurance opened for business, strongly suggest that their worst fears will indeed be realized: This thing is going to work.

Wait a minute, some readers are saying. Haven’t many stories so far been of computer glitches, of people confronting screens telling them that servers are busy and that they should try again later? Indeed, they have. But everyone knowledgeable about the process always expected some teething problems, and the nature of this week’s problems has actually been hugely encouraging for supporters of the program.

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The Great Debt Hoax Explained In One Awesome Cartoon

Sad to say but these days, if you want integrity when you turn on the tube (or ‘Tube), comedy is often the way to go. Here, Mark Fiore smacks down myth after myth about the deficit, debt, and the so-called “cure all” of austerity in a succinct two minutes. Do yourself a favor and have a look.