2014: TWO BIGGEST SCANDALS to start the new year!

[napkinz]

But will the media cover these TWO HUGE GOP SCANDALS with the same intensity they covered the ACA website glitches? (Will they cover them at all???)



[center]GOP SCANDAL I
REPUBLICANS DENY 5 MILLION AMERICANS HEALTH CARE![/center]

by Marc Levy
December 30, 2013

About 5 million people will be without health care next (THIS) year that they would have gotten simply if they lived somewhere else in America.

They make up a coverage gap in President Barack Obama's signature health care law created by the domino effects of last year's Supreme Court ruling and states' subsequent policy decisions.

The court effectively left it up to states to decide whether to open Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled, to more people, primarily poor working adults without children.

Twenty-five states declined. That leaves 4.8 million people in those states without the health care coverage that their peers elsewhere are getting through the expansion of Medicaid, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation estimate. More than one-fifth of them live in Texas alone, Kaiser's analysis found.

read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2013/12/health_reform_gap_5_million_wi.html
http://www.theledger.com/article/20131230/news/131239961




[center]GOP SCANDAL II
REPUBLICANS DEVASTATE LIVES OF 1.3 MILLION UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS[/center]

by Rmuse
December 30th, 2013

On Saturday, 1.3 million Americans lost their unemployment benefits because Congress failed to extend the benefits before adjourning for the year. According to Democrats they tried in vain to include an extension in the bicameral budget deal going into effect next week, but Paul Ryan would not have it; not when he could lay waste to 1.3 million “takers.” Senate Democrats intend on broaching the subject of reinstating the extensions in two weeks, but Senate Republicans are still able to filibuster legislation, and House Republicans have said for a month that extending the benefits is wasteful and counterintuitive while job numbers improved and GDP rose in the third quarter. It is unlikely the unemployed will see any relief, particularly because John Boehner said he will not even consider extending the benefits, and if he did he demands equal cuts to other domestic programs. One thing Republicans can be counted on doing is causing economic damage for some segment of the population for the sake of austerity, sheer pleasure, and to avoid affecting the rich and corporations.

read more: http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/30/republicans-devastate-lives-1-3-million-americans-media-stays-silent.html

[napkinz]

1. MORE ...

[center]GOP SCANDAL I -- MORE
THE MEDICAID GAP HITS HOME IN RED STATES[/center]

by Joan McCarter
December 9, 2013

The politically motivated decision by Republican governors to refuse the Medicaid expansion money offered under the Affordable Care Act is now being felt every day by people seeking health insurance, and the people trying to help them. It's the dark cloud surrounding the silver lining of a functioning HeatlhCare.gov, and the masses of people now flocking to sign up.

Navigators are forced to tell more and more people that they probably won't be able to get covered because their states, all of which had a GOP-controlled legislative chamber or governor, have refused to expand Medicaid. Lynne Thorp, who is overseeing the University of South Florida's navigator program in that state, told TPM that about one in four people who contact her team fall into that Medicaid gap.

"Those are hardest phone calls because it doesn't make any sense to them," Thorp said. "We have to explain that they fall into this gap where this program can't assist them." ...

Florida and Texas lead the nation in uninsured. The two states also lead the nation in dollars lost by their refusal to expand. Now they'll lead the nation in people really pissed off when they realize that the only reason they can't get health coverage is because they are represented by assholes.

Yes, Obamacare and Medicaid expansion will be campaign issues in 2014 and 2016.

read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261429/-The-Medicaid-gap-hits-home-in-red-nbsp-states#




[center]GOP SCANDAL II -- MORE
THE CRUELEST CUT OF ALL/UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS[/center]

by Eugene Robinson
December 31, 2013

To 1.3 million jobless Americans: The Republican Party wishes you a Very Unhappy New Year!

It would be one thing if there were a logical reason to cut off unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work the longest. But no such rationale exists. On both economic and moral grounds, extending benefits for the long-term unemployed should have been an automatic bipartisan vote in both houses of Congress.

It wasn't. Nothing is automatic and bipartisan anymore, not with today's radicalized GOP on the scene. In this case, a sensible and humane policy option is hostage to bruised Republican egos and the ideological myth of "makers" versus "takers."

The result is a cruel blow to families that are already suffering. On Saturday, benefits were allowed to expire for 1.3 million people who have been unemployed more than six months. These are precisely the jobless who will suffer most from a cutoff, since they have been scraping by on unemployment checks for so long that their financial situations are already precarious, if not dire.

read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/12/31/the_cruelest_cut_of_all_121094.html

[freshwest]

14. Robinson always get right to it. n/t

[louis-t]

26. The sad part is, Obama will get blamed for this

unless navigators tell people who fall into the gap that it is their Republican governor or legislators that caused it.

[napkinz]

27. where is the MSM?

Isn't it the JOB of the media to REPORT the truth and assign blame where it belongs?

Hello CBS/NBC/ABC Nightly News. Hello CNN. Hello Sunday morning news shows.

They had no problem covering the ACA website glitches day after day, week after week.

Now where is the coverage on THIS story (that 25 red states are denying healthcare to MILLIONS because REPUBLICAN governors are refusing Medicaid expansion)?

[malaise]

2. K & R

Two huge stories that should cost ReTHUGs big time come November.

[Delphinus]

15. Got to keep talking about them and

I'm sure there will be more.

[napkinz]

16. How do we get the CBS/NBC/ABC Nightly News and CNN and the Sunday morning shows to ...

cover these BIG STORIES for the same duration and with the same intensity they covered the "glitches scandal"?

Can we coordinate a campaign to bombard them with complaints about their dereliction of journalistic responsibility?

(We need to somehow shout and scream and jump up and down to get their attention, to say, "Hey, IMPORTANT NATIONAL STORIES over here, you guys want to take a look!!! Maybe REPORT on them?!&quot

[Cirque du So-What]

3. But...Benghazi!

I said, 'BENGHAZI!!!'

[Berlum]

4. Republicons Planned Systematic Campaign of Lies to Americans About Benghazi

Truly disgustingly treasonous.

Audio Emerges Proving Secret Conservative Organization Behind Benghazi “Scandal”

Groundswell, the conservative behind-the-scenes organization that forms a coalition between prominent Republicans, right wing media, and conservative activists to wage a “30-front war against Obama and progressives” has been revealed to have played a role in the hype and false scandalization of the Benghazi “controversy.”

A secret tape released by Crooks And Liars (audio below) has detailed the cooperation between House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ginni Thomas (the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas), former Rep. Allen West, as well as high-ranking members of Judicial Watch and Breitbart. The meeting was presided over by Catherine Engelbrecht, one of the founders of the voter suppression group, True The Vote...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024250469

[Berlum]

5. NY Times Benghazi Bombshell: Attack was spurred by anti-Islam Video

Benghazi Truthers dealt a blow by months long investigation by NY Times as actual journalism rears its head.

Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.

MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/benghazi/#/?chapt=0
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/28/1265761/-NY-Times-Benghazi-Bombshell-Attack-spurred-by-anti-Islam-Video

[napkinz]

9. --->

https://www.facebook.com/Republicansareidiots1

[DefenseLawyer]

21. It hasn't blown up in their faces at all

Thinking people knew it was bullshit all along. But they have already created a narrative for their audience. An audience eager for anything about the President that they can hate. The New York Times can run a story debunking it on the front page every day for the next 5 years and wingnuts will still be saying "Benghazi" with the same violent fervor that they say madrassa and Bill Ayers and Kenyan birth certificate and Hip-hop Barbecue.

[napkinz]

6. That makes THREE SCANDALS!

And wait ... there's more (as they say in that commercial).

Are we about to have another debt-ceiling crisis?

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. If those 4.8 million and 1.4 million can vote........

ok, maybe 1/2 of the 4.8 million....
let them remember who denied them survival aid.

[napkinz]

10. The problem is those who are being hurt in those red states are the very

people whose votes are being suppressed by Republicans.

[RC]

8. How many 'Democrats' up for reelection, will use these facts as a sledge hammer against their

opponent? I'm guessing not many, because they don't want to stop their own corporate gravy train.

[napkinz]

17. Democratic candidates should be running ON the ACA, not FROM it.

The glitches have been fixed; enrollment is really picking up.

By early spring, Obamacare/ACA will be a success story.

And the GOP will be back to shouting Benghazi or IRS or Kenya!

And Democrats should be shouting back the real SCANDALS: Healthcare denied to 5 million! Cutting off unemployment benefits to 1.5 million!

[RC]

18. Health care, the ACA, is only a small part of the problems of this dysfunctional country.

The ACA is the new business as usual and not by any means a fix for our health care problems.
The NSA, Obama's drone wars, attacks on Social security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, food stamps, welfare... Anything to enhance our race to the bottom.
This is not Democrats against the Republicans, this is the citizens against our own government.
Not as bad does not equate to being against.

[napkinz]

23. "This is not Democrats against the Republicans"

When it comes to taking back the House this year, it is.

We have to start somewhere.

[freshwest]

11. Conservative billionaire owned MSM answer to Rmuse's breaking news:

[freshwest]

13. Wait, I spoke too soon. There has been a response:

Sorry, not salutes from me.

[napkinz]

32. that video of the crickets chirping in the forest ended prematurely

I think I saw another creature emerge from the forest at the very end ... continued in this other video:

[freshwest]

33. Eewww! Stinky McTurtle! n/t

[napkinz]

34. calling on Alison!

[Scuba]

12. Boy, just wait 'til the liberal media hears about this!

[hay rick]

19. For the record, you forgot the sarcasm thingie.

There, fixed it.
Oh, and for the phrase "liberal media"

[Scuba]

20. Yes, and there's an astonishing number of folks who need it.

Amazes me. Are there really that many liberals who lack the sarcasm gene or are they all trolls?

[Cha]

22. I bet the US corporatemediawhores don't even mention them..

Did they talk about these GOooP Scandal?..







thanks napkinz

[napkinz]

24. the GOP shutdown and its cost has all but been forgotten by the MSM

But right now, in this NEW year, we have TWO ONGOING GOP SCANDALS ...

First, 5 million Americans in red states being denied health insurance by REPUBLICAN governors who have refused Medicaid expansion.

Second, 1.3 million unemployed Americans who have had their benefits cut by REPUBLICANS in the House and Senate.

These are TWO MAJOR CURRENT STORIES -- SCANDALS -- not being covered by the MSM.

CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN covered the ACA glitches EVERY SINGLE night for WEEKS. We were bombarded with story after story (many of them actually bogus, it turned out).

Well, it's 2014, and we have two ONGOING NATIONAL STORIES -- TWO GOP SCANDALS -- that deserve attention night after night after night. If the MSM were doing their job, every evening news broadcast would be reporting on the millions of Americans, all those FAMILIES, being DEVASTATED by the REPUBLICAN PARTY's (1) refusal to accept Medicaid expansion and (2) to extend unemployment benefits.

Maybe we have to bombard the nightly news shows and the cable news networks with complaints over their journalistic dereliction. Perhaps if DU and progressive Facebook sites got together and started such a campaign until the MSM cried uncle and finally start reporting on these REAL scandals with the same intensity they reported on the ACA website glitches.

[sheshe2]

28. I guess this proves beyond any reasonable doubt,

that CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN have become the New Faux news. They all, along with the GOP, not only wish to bring down this President they wish to destroy us all for the sake of the 1%. Pretty sickening!

I guess it is up to us to yell louder so that people will wake up and listen.

[napkinz]

29. Reminds me of "Horton Hears a Who!"

We're like the citizens of Whoville screaming "We are here! We are here! We are here!" while the GOP is trying to "boil that dust speck!"

If we can just "break through" and get our message out.

[bvar22]

25. Why isn't the Democratic Party blanketing the states that refused the Medicaid Expansion..

..and informing the citizens of those states that the Republicans turned down the FREE MONEY that would have let their children go to the Doctor when they get sick?

Include endless video clips of grateful Working Class families going to the Doctor in states where the ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion was implemented.

The Democratic Party has tons of Dry Powder.
This would be a great way to use some of it rolling in to the 2014 elections.

The Media can't be trusted to carry this story.
Time for our Party to get Pro-Active,
and Carry the Message directly to The People.
Lots of Bang-for-the-Buck available here.

[napkinz]

31. re "Why isn't the Democratic Party blanketing the states that refused the Medicaid Expansion"

That's a GOOD question!

I see on MSBNC, of all places, during breaks of Rachel's and Lawrence's shows, commercials by Tea Party groups calling for the repeal of the ACA. There is one commercial in particular I can't stand ... a woman comes on, looking into the camera, and says, "I don't care about politics. I care about people and Obamacare is hurting people." (I'm paraphrasing; she actually says a lot more bullsh*t.)

Where are our groups with commercials exposing this travesty by the red states regarding the failure to expand Medicaid?

You're right. "Time for our Party to get Pro-Active." We need a coordinated effort, a massive campaign, that tells the true story ... the true stories, of the millions being DEVASTATED by the inaction of these 25 reprehensible Republican governors.

Is there something DU can do to help launch such a campaign, or push those with the wherewithal to start such a campaign?

[napkinz]

30. Four States Are Responsible For ONE FOURTH Of America's Uninsured. Is Yours One Of Them?

They also happen to be fighting Obamacare. And have governors from one specific party. Guess which.








http://www.upworthy.com/four-states-are-responsible-for-one-fourth-of-americas-uninsured-is-yours-one-of

[napkinz]

35. kick

nt

[napkinz]

36. two scandals brought together in this graphic ---->