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He really is that stupid.

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Good lord, these people are nuts.

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You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / Super Ugly Waiver (It’s back)

Super Ugly Waiver (It’s back)

by David Anderson|  April 4, 20178:20 am| 78 Comments

This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance, Free Markets Solve Everything, Fuck The Middle-Class, Fuck The Poor, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

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The AHCA is not yet dead. It was just resting for a bit before joining the choir invisible.

The New York Times reports that the White House and the House Freedom Caucus (the hard right flank of the House GOP) have been talking and thinking they have the contours of a deal.

The terms, described by Representative Mark Meadows, Republican of North Carolina and the head of the Freedom Caucus, are something like this: States would have the option to jettison two major parts of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance regulations. They could decide to opt out of provisions that require insurers to cover a standard, minimum package of benefits, known as the essential health benefits. And they could decide to do away with a rule that requires insurance companies to charge the same price to everyone who is the same age, a provision called community rating…..

In simple terms, a carrier can’t deny a hemophiliac coverage but they can charge an actuarial fair premium of $90,000 per year. A carrier can’t deny a young woman who either is or intends to become pregnant. They just don’t have to cover the prenatal or labor and delivery costs.

It is effectively a slightly modified option 3 of Cassidy-Collins where states can return to the 2009 status quo if they so actively elect to do so. If we combine a single state choosing this route and sell across state lines, it would lead the entire country’s individual market back to 2009.

I may be reading too much into the conditional language but to me this is a SUPER (ugly) WAIVER provision. It modifies Section 1332 guard rails to basically meaninglessness. States could then choose to do whatever the hell that they want without concern for coverage requirements. Currently Section 1332 and other waivers in health policy have an equality clause where the states’ preferred options must be at least as good for beneficiaries. This rule would render that null. And I don’t think many/any states would actually take the Feds up on this option as the localized consequences are too immediate and real but if the goal was to design a bill that could get 12% support instead of 17% support, this would be it.

Update 1 This sounds about right to me:

AHCA STATE OF PLAY: Changes discussed, some talk of "optimism." HFC remains skeptical. If they do get their add-ons, moderates could bolt.

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 4, 2017

I have no idea how the Tuesday Group stays on board. They were a sufficient blocking coalition under AHCA V1 once the flood gates were starting to open up. The politics of health reform are nasty in the best bills and this is a devolution of a very bad bill. The marginal members of a majority sitting in opposite party or break even districts are the first ones to get hit in a wave.

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Previous Post: « Means, ends and Medicare for All
Next Post: Open Thread: J-Kush Faces the Chinese Princelings »

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    April 4, 2017 at 8:27 am

    They will keep trying for generations, just like they’re still trying to tamper with Social Security. We have to be geared up for a long battle.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 8:28 am

    They want to kill us all.

    Plain and simple.

    They truly see nothing wrong with the system as it was. They had absolutely NO PROBLEM with 50 MILLION AMERICANS UNINSURED.

    THEY ARE SOCIOPATHS.

    THE.ENTIRE.LOT.OF.THEM.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 8:28 am

    once again..

    WHERE is the Morning Thread?

  4. 4.

    janelle

    April 4, 2017 at 8:29 am

    Please tell me that has absolutely no chance of getting 50 votes in the U.S. Senate.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    April 4, 2017 at 8:30 am

    If we combine a single state choosing this route and sell across state lines, it would lead the entire country’s individual market back to 2009.

    This sounds like the real risk to good states.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    April 4, 2017 at 8:31 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning. ???

  7. 7.

    JMG

    April 4, 2017 at 8:33 am

    Why don’t they just cut to the chase and outlaw health insurance altogether? It’s their obvious goal.

  8. 8.

    Kay

    April 4, 2017 at 8:33 am

    as the localized consequences are too immediate and real

    Do people notice this about Republicans? That competent and successful GOP governors do not actually follow conservative dogma? Because it’s true. It’s almost a requirement for being competent and successful.

    When media are patting moderate GOP governors on the back for being “bipartisan” what that really means is moderate GOP governors ignore people like Paul Ryan so their programs work.

  9. 9.

    cmorenc

    April 4, 2017 at 8:34 am

    States would have the option to jettison two major parts of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance regulations. They could decide to opt out of provisions that require insurers to cover a standard, minimum package of benefits, known as the essential health benefits. And they could decide to do away with a rule that requires insurance companies to charge the same price to everyone who is the same age, a provision called community rating…..

    The net effect of state opt-outs of these provisions would be to effectively force the out-migration of sick people, particularly those with expensive conditions, from states that had opted-out to states that were still in the original ACA framework. This will effectively force states into a “race to the bottom”. This proposal amounts to a mechanism to force the country (and each state) to effectively return to the insurance system in place pre-ACA. Which is exactly what the Freedom Caucus wants – what amounts to repeal without replacement (or, in this case such a hollowed-out replacement as to amount to nothing but an empty shell).

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 8:41 am

    @janelle:

    Please tell me that has absolutely no chance of getting 50 votes in the U.S. Senate.

    But, if the Turtle gets rid of the filibuster, doesn’t his excuse for NOT passing the insanity of the House go out the window?

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 8:43 am

    79 nominees blocked by GOP between 2009-2013, compared to 68 TOTAL between ’49-’08. Don’t buy bullshit spin that GOP hasn’t been partisan.

    — The Resisterhood (@resisterhood) April 3, 2017

  12. 12.

    gene108

    April 4, 2017 at 8:45 am

    You do realize right-wingers were declaring the USA had the greatest healthcare system in the world, prior to Obamacare? Why wouldn’t Right-wingers want to return to what they thought was the greatest healcare system on the planet?

  13. 13.

    satby

    April 4, 2017 at 8:45 am

    @rikyrah: let’s just say this is it, and Good Morning!
    I’ve been posting the LA Times series on Trump to FB. Good stuff.

  14. 14.

    Woodrowfan

    April 4, 2017 at 8:46 am

    @JMG: Why don’t they just cut to the chase and outlaw health insurance altogether? It’s their obvious goal.

    that’d deny the health insurers their profits. it’s not buying insurance they hate, it’;s the companies paying any money back..

  15. 15.

    Woodrowfan

    April 4, 2017 at 8:47 am

    @rikyrah: he can ditch it for nominees and nothing else.

  16. 16.

    Yarrow

    April 4, 2017 at 8:48 am

    Do we need to be calling our Reps about this? I feel like they’re going to stealth pass it in the middle of the night. Everyone’s so focused on Gorsuch they may try to sneak it through without scoring, debate, anything.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 4, 2017 at 8:50 am

    @rikyrah: Cole is holding it hostage.

  18. 18.

    Yarrow

    April 4, 2017 at 8:52 am

    @Woodrowfan:

    that’d deny the health insurers their profits. it’s not buying insurance they hate, it’;s the companies paying any money back..

    Health insurers aren’t exactly going to get rich when no one can afford their products. I’m not sure this kind of law is really best for them.

    I’d also think doctors and hospitals will be screaming about this. If no Essential Health Benefits are covered then people will opt not to go to the doctor until and unless they are really sick. That’s lost money for them.

  19. 19.

    ArchTeryx

    April 4, 2017 at 8:53 am

    The thing is this: The dynamics that led to the death of the original AHCA haven’t changed. The more the “Freedom” Caucus marks up their wet dream wish list, the more the Republican “moderates” get cold feet. The “Freedom” Caucus isn’t a majority, or we’d already be staring down the barrel of full repeal (and fuck replace).

    Back-door repeal is still repeal, and it won’t take long for folks that have the most to lose to catch on and start flooding town halls again. We’re already used to moving goalposts – we deal with health insurance companies, after all! And we have just as much to lose now as we did a couple weeks ago.

    Besides all that, it isn’t even the worst part of the waivers they want. The *work requirement* is. That’s pretty much “work until you are too sick, then go off and die” in a nutshell. It’s even worse then the Dickensian poor-houses.

  20. 20.

    JMG

    April 4, 2017 at 8:56 am

    Until we see the “moderate” Republican reps who were no votes signing on to this, I believe it should be treated as a trial balloon. But the vast majority of GOP reps think they’re bulletproof. Just prove you hate nonwhites, and your constituents will re-elect you even if you reduce them to absolute squalor.

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    April 4, 2017 at 8:56 am

    @Kay: In brief conversations with a neighbor who is a Republican and loves, loves, loves Kasich, it has struck me that what she likes most is when he acts the closest he can get to a Democrat — she’s really into the fact that he accepted the Medicaid expansion part of the ACA.

    She also likes to go on about Portman voting for the ABLE act (this law lets people with disabilities save money in special accounts for specific purposes without jeopardizing their eligibility for SSI and Medicaid). She overlooks that that disability community has to work really hard to get him to agree to vote for it.

  22. 22.

    Yarrow

    April 4, 2017 at 8:57 am

    @rikyrah: My favorite recent tweet:

    When McConnell deprived President Obama of a vote on Garland, it was a nuclear option. The rest is fallout.— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 4, 2017

    Yep.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 4, 2017 at 8:58 am

    @Kay:

    That competent and successful GOP governors do not actually follow conservative dogma?

    Successful at what is the question Kay.

  24. 24.

    Hl_guy

    April 4, 2017 at 8:59 am

    And why would this change, which is regulatory and not tax-relevant, not immediately run into major Byrd Rule problems? Reconciliation is not a free pass.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:01 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ? ??

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:09 am

    I got the answer as to why Wilmer doesn’t support John Conyers’ Medicare for All Bill.

    Conyers wants the program to be administered by the feds, while Wilmer wants it to be the states. – found this at another blog.

    If true…Conyers is FOR REAL, and doesn’t want the people to be subjected to the whims of who is Governor, as currently the WORKING POOR are in 19 states where Medicaid has NOT been expanded (thanks for nothing, Mr. Muthaphuckin Chief Justice Roberts)

    How come Wilmer isn’t challenged on this?

  27. 27.

    Jeffro

    April 4, 2017 at 9:11 am

    @satby:

    let’s just say this is it, and Good Morning!
    I’ve been posting the LA Times series on Trump to FB. Good stuff.

    It is indeed!

    Also as long as this is the morning thread…the usually on-point Catherine Rampell wasted a perfectly good column recommending that Trump hire a court jester, an unfire-able fool who can tell him the truth (since Trump only goes with what he wants to hear, which is often not reality based)

    Yes…that’s a great plan, Ms. Rampell…Trump strikes me as a person who recognizes the need for hard truths and objective, real-world information. He’s what, 70? Sure this is an excellent time for him to discover a whole new way of operating, no matter how much cognitive dissonance his feeble brain encounters…

  28. 28.

    laura

    April 4, 2017 at 9:12 am

    @rikyrah: Good Morning back atcha!
    What new,fresh hell is on tap for today?
    Also, Driftglass’ take on the LA Times series is bracing, to say the least. I’m looking forwrd to this week’s Professional Left podcast for additional critique.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:12 am

    @Yarrow:

    When McConnell deprived President Obama of a vote on Garland, it was a nuclear option. The rest is fallout.— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 4, 2017

    TRUTH

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:13 am

    @laura:

    Also, Driftglass’ take on the LA Times series is bracing, to say the least.

    Can you link to it?

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    April 4, 2017 at 9:15 am

    @rikyrah:

    Wilmer is a fraud, an opportunistic grifting asshole.

  32. 32.

    hedgehog mobile

    April 4, 2017 at 9:17 am

    @rikyrah: Preach.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:20 am

    Part 3 from the LA Times

    Trump’s Authoritarian Vision

    http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-trumps-authoritarian-vision/

  34. 34.

    tony in san diego

    April 4, 2017 at 9:20 am

    @rikyrah: Republicans love killing things.

  35. 35.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    April 4, 2017 at 9:31 am

    This is starting to look like abortion as a political issue – something for conservatives to huddle together and denounce piously as immoral while never doing anything about it no matter how much power they are given.

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Black and Proud. Even if Strangers Can’t Tell.
    By REBECCA CARROLL
    APRIL 1, 2017

    My 11-year-old is understated, but not shy. He likes to bake, loves video games, is loyal to his friends and, biased as I may be, is a pretty good-looking kid. He gets mad sometimes, though, that people don’t immediately register him as black. “You’re so lucky,” he said to me a few months ago. “People look at you and know that you are black.”

    Being black in America has historically been determined by whether or not you look black to nonblack people. This keeps racism operational. Brown and black skin in this country can invite a broad and freewheeling range of bad behavior — from job discrimination to a child being shot dead in the street. For my son, though, being black in America is about more than his skin color. It’s about power, confidence, culture and belonging.

    You inherit race, though. You don’t steal it. We’re reminded of this once again by Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who made national headlines in 2015 for claiming a black identity because she felt like it. She released a memoir last week.

    For the record, Ms. Dolezal, who has legally changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo, is white. She is the biological child of white parents who have stated publicly that their daughter is a white woman falsely identifying as black.
    ..

    Ms. Dolezal’s story demonstrates our unnerving trajectory from 2015, when white privilege was a zeitgeisty phrase people might apply to certain egregious behavior — like using your white privilege to decide you are black because you feel an affinity for corn rows and weaves — to the white supremacy of the Trump administration.

    I was adopted into a white family, and the only black birth-family members I am aware of are no longer living. Every day I am saddened by the fact that I don’t have any black relatives for my son to know and spend time with. But my son has me, and I have him. And we are black. He also has his father, my husband, a white man of Italian descent, which accounts for our son’s light-skinned appearance.

    My son is not the only light-skinned, mixed or biracial person I know who identifies primarily as black. Increasingly, I have observed my adult peers and colleagues who fall into this category not merely identifying as black, but routinely pulling out the receipts to prove their blackness.

  37. 37.

    NorthLeft12

    April 4, 2017 at 9:34 am

    I am thinking that I will never understand how people can become so warped and twisted that the suffering, impoverishment, and ultimately death of millions of fellow citizens can be the source of joy and accomplishment.
    As a former Roman Catholic, I know that the teachings of that type of Christianity did not promote those ends. I am wondering if the Christianity taught and practiced by a large number of Americans actually does.

    I guess a large number [majority?] of people have compartmentalized so much that they can completely ignore the plight of others because they don’t know them, or somehow feel that their behavior has earned them their fate. I guess empathy is outmoded.

  38. 38.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Police Told Fla. Woman to Stop Calling 911 Hours Before Boyfriend Killed Her: Report

    Yesha Callahan
    Yesterday 10:56am

    A Florida woman’s calls to 911 failed to keep her and her young son alive after Sanford, Fla.’s Police Department told her to stop calling them.

    In body-camera footage released by the SPD, officers responded to a call that Latina Herring made about her boyfriend, Allen Cashe, 31, according to WCMH-TV.

    Three hours before Herring was killed, she could be seen on police bodycam video arguing with Cashe.

    Police were called to a Wawa store at 3:20 a.m. March 27 and then, 20 minutes later, to a nearby home. In the video, Cashe and Herring are arguing over keys, but the officers’ conversations are quite telling:

    Setup Timeout Error: Setup took longer than 30 seconds to complete.
    “She’s making false accusations; it’s the second time she’s done it.”

    “She’s been calling all night. She first said he had a gun when he didn’t.”

    “We’re going to handle it; just stop calling 911 and making accusations that you don’t know about.”

    Three hours later, Herring and her 8-year-old son were dead, and her 7-year-old son, her father and two bystanders were injured. Cashe is accused of killing them with an AK-47.

  39. 39.

    Jack the Second

    April 4, 2017 at 9:39 am

    @Kay:

    Do people notice this about Republicans? That competent and successful GOP governors do not actually follow conservative dogma?

    I’m pretty sure even the successful Republican politicians are white and hate minorities.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:42 am

    According to Republicans, Black People Are Stupid and Lazy

    Michael Harriot
    Yesterday 5:45pm

    In the latest round of “studies confirming stuff we already knew,” newly released opinion-poll data from the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center shows that people who identify as Republican are more likely to believe that blacks are less motivated and less intelligent than whites. The survey results also reveal that more Republicans believe that African Americans get preferential employment treatment over more-qualified whites.

    For more than four decades, the General Social Survey has studied the complex questions of American society; it is the “only full-probability, personal-interview survey designed to monitor changes in both social characteristics and attitudes currently being conducted in the United States.”

    The Washington Post reviewed the survey’s 2016 data and learned some not-so-surprising facts about the differences in how the different parties view race in America. The poll asked, “On average, blacks have worse jobs, income and housing than white people. Do you think those differences are because most just don’t have the motivation or willpower to pull themselves up out of poverty?”

    Fifty-five percent of white Republicans agreed with this statement, while 26 percent of white Democrats believed it to be true. While the difference in opinion was striking, the results were almost the same when researchers asked the question in 2010, when 60 percent of white GOPers agreed, compared with 32 percent of white Dems.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 4, 2017 at 9:43 am

    @NorthLeft12:

    I am wondering if the Christianity taught and practiced by a large number of Americans actually does.

    The Prosperity Gospel. “I’m rich because Jesus loves me.” The other side of that coin is obvious.

  42. 42.

    Jack the Second

    April 4, 2017 at 9:44 am

    @Yarrow:

    Health insurers aren’t exactly going to get rich when no one can afford their products. I’m not sure this kind of law is really best for them.

    What insurance companies want most is STABILITY. Health insurance policy changing dramatically twice a decade is the nightmare scenario for them. They can make money in the old system or the new, but if they can’t predict what’s happening next year they don’t know how to price their policies.

  43. 43.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 9:44 am

    @tony in san diego:

    @rikyrah: Republicans love killing things.

    Truth.

    It’s actually one of the main reasons I don’t believe for a second that their abortion spiel is actually pro-life rather than anti-choice. Sure, I could believe that they’re just that obsessively dedicated to fighting abortion because they believe a fetus is a human life and human life is sacred… if I ignored literally every single other part of their platform related to that same subject. Nobody who treats people as the disposable commodity that the Randian worldview demands gives a flying fuck about human life.

  44. 44.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 9:46 am

    @NorthLeft12:

    As a former Roman Catholic, I know that the teachings of that type of Christianity did not promote those ends. I am wondering if the Christianity taught and practiced by a large number of Americans actually does.

    “Christianity” for fundamentalists is simply a tribal identity, like “white” or “man” or “American.”

  45. 45.

    Redshift

    April 4, 2017 at 9:50 am

    @rikyrah: We’re opposed to discrimination against people, and they’re opposed to discrimination against dollars. What’s sociopathic about that?

    Oh, right – everything.

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:50 am

    Elections have Consequences, Dear.

    Karma remains undefeated.

    But, we’re supposed to have sympathy for these people…..Uh huh

    ……………………………….

    ” If I have to get a lawyer, I will” : Trump voter upset the border wall will put her house on Mexico side.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:52 am

    Muslim Teen Writes #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times for His Stanford Application Statement, Gets Accepted

    Monique Judge
    Yesterday 8:10pm

    Is your activism performative or substantive? One New Jersey teen knew exactly how to show his answer to that question when filling out his application to Stanford University. Asked “What matters to you, and why?” the teen could think of only one thing: #BlackLivesMatter.

    Ziad Ahmed wrote the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter 100 times, and that one act of activism paid off. According to a Mic profile of Ahmed, he received his letter of acceptance from Stanford on Friday.

    Ahmed, who is a senior at Princeton (N.J.) Day School, said in an email to Mic: “I was actually stunned when I opened the update and saw that I was admitted. I didn’t think I would get admitted to Stanford at all, but it’s quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability.”

  48. 48.

    Wag

    April 4, 2017 at 9:53 am

    @janelle:

    OK, this has absolutely no chance of getting 50 votes in the Senate. But it could pass the House.

  49. 49.

    ruemara

    April 4, 2017 at 9:53 am

    @rikyrah: because he’s goddam charlatan with a stranglehold on the mind of those who think they’re well versed in politics and leftist thought but are really just followers.

  50. 50.

    NorthLeft12

    April 4, 2017 at 9:55 am

    @rikyrah: I have not read the entire article [thanks for the link] but early on I read the line about people ‘pouring across the borders” and the whining about “no control of our borders”.
    When you dig down a bit, and talk to people who repeat this, I find that they believe that the government should have complete control and approval of everyone coming in. They describe a society where anyone that comes in without scrutiny, or under false pretenses, is quickly rooted out and sent out again. The supporters envision a society where these people have no protection under law, will not be able to get a job, home, or government/business document and would be instantly turned over to the authorities if they were found. I expressed my fears about what that kind of apparatus would do to the society at large, and always receive the reply that I should have nothing to fear because I am a long time citizen, with the unspoken caveat that I am white also, so the negative impact of these changes would not be applicable to me. Yeah, as long as I did nothing to entice the current powers that be to use that power against me.

    And I live in Canada, and I still hear this drivel.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:57 am

    Where Are All the Black Bone Marrow Donors?

    Kellee Terrell
    Saturday 9:00am

    ……………………………………………………
    Asaya is currently waiting to find a donor from the Be the Match Registry, run by the National Marrow Donor Program. But as it is for many other black people who are suffering from blood disorders and cancers such as sickle cell, leukemia and lymphoma, finding that perfect match isn’t easy.

    There just aren’t enough potential donors of African descent on the registry.

    Of the 12 million-plus donors registered, only 8 percent (800,000) are black, while 75 percent are white. Most important, given how much blood cell and marrow compatibility is based on similar DNA, race definitely matters in situations like Asaya’s.

    “African Americans are more likely to match with other African Americans than with other races. But because we are one of the most diverse people genetically, finding a match is even more difficult for us,” said Addie Sanders, a senior community engagement representative for the National Marrow Donor Program.

    “We have a 34 percent of not finding a donor, while white patients have a mere 3 percent chance. That’s a steep disparity. This is why it’s crucial for more of us, especially healthy people between the ages of 18 to 44, to sign up. Black lives are depending on it,” she stressed.

  52. 52.

    Hunter Gathers

    April 4, 2017 at 9:57 am

    This is an attempt to flush their failure down the memory hole.

    “We didn’t fail to repeal Obamacare! In fact, we’re still working on it! See our latest proposal!”

  53. 53.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 9:57 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good for Stanford.

    Earn those “liberally biased colleges!” labels, people.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 9:59 am

    I can’t wait for this episode.

    ………………..

    Upcoming Episode of Underground Will Be Solo Performance by Aisha Hinds, Focused on Harriet Tubman

    Monique Judge
    Saturday 1:38am

    The sixth installment of the second season of Underground will be a solo performance by actress Aisha Hinds, focused on her portrayal of Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, who led many enslaved black people to freedom.

    WGN America announced Friday that the April 12 episode will air at a special time, 8 p.m. ET, Yahoo! Finance reports.

    Underground creators, writers and Executive Producers Misha Green and Joe Pokaski said: “When introducing someone as iconic as Harriet Tubman, we felt compelled to attempt an episode as revolutionary as her spirit. When we learned through research in 1858 she began to give talks about her life to like-minded abolitionists to raise money for the cause, we knew we had our in: A ‘TED Talk’ with Harriet Tubman.”

    “This episode is truly one of a kind. It alone, masterfully revolutionizes TV storytelling,” Anthony Hemingway, Underground director and executive producer, said. “Aisha surrenders herself to the spirit of Harriet Tubman and gracefully reintroduces us to Harriet’s humanity by sharing her story, in a chillingly exceptional performance. I am extremely proud of the amazing artistry that every cast and crew member poured into making Underground. It’s the most exhilarating experience I’ve had as a filmmaker.”

  55. 55.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 10:00 am

    @Hunter Gathers:

    I can only hope that’s all it is. I could totally see them coming back to this, especially “in the dead of night” as mentioned above.

  56. 56.

    Ruckus

    April 4, 2017 at 10:03 am

    @rikyrah:
    About every third day I hope, in the back of my head, that every dumpf voter gets exactly what they voted for, for everyone else but themselves. good and hard. It would of course be horrible for about 98% of us but still. Evil needs payback.

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 10:03 am

    This Is All James Comey’s Fault

    Michael Harriot
    Thursday 3:55pm

    On Thursday morning, news surfaced that the experimental humanoid who somehow got a job as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (you’re not fooling us, James Comey; we know a Frankenstein monster when we see one) wanted to tell the public about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election as early as last summer. He didn’t want to hold a congressional hearing, convene an investigative committee or appoint a special prosecutor. No, when Ol’ Jughead James discovered that America’s mortal enemy was trying to undermine the foundation of American democracy, he wanted to write an article about it.

    According to Newsweek, Comey gathered Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, national security adviser Susan Rice and others to inform them that Russia was trying to hack the election. Instead of advocating for sanctions, a diplomatic solution or even counterintelligence, the FBI director held up a piece of paper with an outline and offered to fight what amounts to an act of war by writing a public opinion piece. “He had a draft of it or an outline. He held up a piece of paper in a meeting and said, ‘I want to go forward. What do people think of this?’”a source familiar with the meeting told Newsweek.

    President Barack Obama’s White House balked at the idea because it believed a public revelation that serious should be backed by intelligence sources, the president and multiple agents. In other words, when they were confronted with the proposition of fighting an enemy state’s attempt to sabotage the nation with cyberwarfare with a few sternly worded paragraphs, the collective response was, “For real, bruh?”

    And that is how Donald Trump became president.

    In case you forgot, Comey is a huge fan of letter writing. After he investigated the Hillary Clinton email scandal and declared that the Justice Department would not indict her, the FBI chief sent a letter to Congress informing its members that he was reopening the investigation. Then, three days before the election, the Lurch look-alike penned another letter that basically said, “My bad. I didn’t find out anything new,” and closed the Clinton case again. Many polls and political experts cite the negative publicity from that action as one of the contributing factors in why Clinton lost a close race to Trump.

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 10:11 am

    The Danger of Forcing the ‘Runaway’ Label on the Missing DC Girls

    Preston Mitchum
    Thursday 2:00pm

    Double-digit numbers of young black and Latinx girls in the nation’s capital are missing and, as expected, there has yet to be a national outcry. Instead, within the past week, Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and other social media outlets are now focused on emphatically underscoring the message that social media distorted the stories and numbers of those missing.

    The effort to find a handful of missing teenagers is being used to illustrate how a community is supposedly lying. But what’s still abundantly clear is that young black girls are missing, and many don’t care. The lack of rage over these young girls reveals a troubling truth: Missing girls are oftentimes immediately thought of as “runaways” who are not being harmed by systems of exploitation and victimization.

    This mindset allows black girls to experience harm and trauma, while the assumption that girls are runaways puts the blame on caregivers, removes the government’s role and implies that these girls got what they deserved for being “fast”—stereotypes of oftentimes physically, emotionally and psychologically abused girls.

    ……………………….

    This nonuptick in numbers is being used to diminish the feelings among black people in the District—feelings that are beginning to develop nationwide—that law enforcement and many elected leaders don’t care about these black girls. These numbers are also being used to assure the public that there isn’t a real sense of urgency and that this “black outcry” is opportunistic and nonfactual. We know better.

    As of March 28, 14 cases of missing young black girls and Latinx remain open in D.C., including 14-year-old Shaniah Boyd, who went missing March 18, and 17-year-old Demetria Carthens, who was last seen Feb. 7. For many black people, it isn’t surprising that only we are discussing the trauma associated with what could be happening to the missing girls.

    This lack of compassion for the black experience is part of a long line in history: Multiple missing black girls, in the eyes of white America and, by extension, white media, will never equal one Natalie Holloway. Many of us recognize this at a young age, so we don’t have to curb our enthusiasm when we find out later in life that law enforcement doesn’t value us.

  59. 59.

    jeffreyw

    April 4, 2017 at 10:11 am

    @Jeffro: He needs to hire a person to [s]whisper[/s] yell into his ear: “No! Don’t! That is stupid!”

  60. 60.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 10:14 am

    @jeffreyw:

    “Remember Caesar, thou art mortal. Remember Caesar, thou art mortal. Remember Caesar, thou art mortal.”
    “Oh, blow it out your ass!”

  61. 61.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 10:15 am

    Mercedes has pulled their ads from Bill O’Reilly’s show.

  62. 62.

    jeffreyw

    April 4, 2017 at 10:15 am

    @jeffreyw: Sometimes the magic works…

  63. 63.

    Rob in CT

    April 4, 2017 at 10:20 am

    @Chris:

    “I’m going to take a treasure bath!”

    “Ugh. Wash this.”

  64. 64.

    Fair Economist

    April 4, 2017 at 10:30 am

    @Jack the Second:

    What insurance companies want most is STABILITY. Health insurance policy changing dramatically twice a decade is the nightmare scenario for them.

    More probably three times, as whatever the Republicans pass is sure to be a disaster and will have to be fixed quickly.

  65. 65.

    JMG

    April 4, 2017 at 10:36 am

    Ryan tells Reuters bill talks “are still in the conceptual stage.” Translated: Who the hell made this public four days before another recess? Now we’ll all be under house arrest in our districts.

  66. 66.

    laura

    April 4, 2017 at 10:36 am

    @rikyrah: here ya go:

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2017/04/what-los-angeles-times-is-trying-to-say.html?m=1

    He’s in your neck of the woods, and is always worth your time. He and the Mrs. Do a weekly podcast and are wicked smart, funny and deserve a much wider audience.
    Enjoy!

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    April 4, 2017 at 10:39 am

    @laura:

    I’m a very small donor to their podcast.

  68. 68.

    rikyrah

    April 4, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @laura:
    thank you :)

  69. 69.

    Chris

    April 4, 2017 at 10:51 am

    @JMG:

    I’d like to believe that somebody leaked it in order to get it squashed early, and that it’ll work.

  70. 70.

    Barbara

    April 4, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @JMG: Trump really doesn’t understand how this process works. The time for “discussion” was before you tried to mandate a high stakes vote. Having failed, and having seen how Trump is likely to blame them for ANYTHING that is perceived to be wrong with the bill including the process by which it is adopted, House reps will not be eager to go around this block one more time. I cannot determine the probabilities here, but this process seems to be random, a la carte negotiation that leaves the underlying status quo unchanged. Stay tuned.

  71. 71.

    randy khan

    April 4, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @JMG:

    Yeah, he has to be thrilled about that. At least it gives people something to talk about with their reps during the recess.

  72. 72.

    daveNYC

    April 4, 2017 at 10:55 am

    Worse than pre-ACA. Sounds like the mandate would still be there, but you’d end up with people being forced to buy effectively worthless and/or insanely expensive insurance.

    If they scream loud enough about not wanting to pay for abortions (yes, I know, they already don’t do that, but facts are for losers) and giving people the freedom to buy the exact insurance they need, this might have a shot of passing the Senate. The House probably just want’s to pass anything at all in order to try and stop looking so hapless.

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    April 4, 2017 at 11:05 am

    @jeffreyw:

    [Trump] needs to hire a person to [s]whisper[/s] yell into his ear: “No! Don’t! That is stupid!”

    That’s essentially what she’s arguing for…as if Trumpov could ever be convinced that would be a good thing…

    This is a guy who “has a very good brain” and has “the best words” and takes his own advice above all others(!) Doesn’t strike me as someone who would see the value in having a hard-truth-teller around.

  74. 74.

    Roger Moore

    April 4, 2017 at 11:29 am

    @Hunter Gathers:

    This is an attempt to flush their failure down the memory hole.

    It’s also an attempt by the Freedumb Caucasians to prove their importance and power. If they can make a deal with trump and put together a bill that passes in the House, they’ll have proven that they can block legislation while the RINO wing of the party can’t. That will give them effective veto power over everything that happens in the House.

  75. 75.

    laura

    April 4, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    @rikyrah: I found the amazing News Blog in 2005ish with the great, late Steve Gilliard, which led me to Driftglass, which led me to Crooks & Liars, which led me to Digby and then to this here place.
    In a just world The Gilly will be the pullitzer prize to blogging.

  76. 76.

    TenguPhule

    April 4, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    @Baud:

    This sounds like the real risk to good states.

    California might have to declare war on Arizona to stop it.

  77. 77.

    Barbara

    April 4, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    @Baud: A lot of studies have been done on this issue and the reality is that it is so hard and expensive to move that not many people move for benefits. It does happen, but it is not common. It is most common among middle class or even affluent people whose children have high needs and, often for the first time, they begin interacting with public programs and realize how awful some states are.

  78. 78.

    David Spikes

    April 4, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    And meanwhile Krauthammer, whose lifetime medical bills as a paraplegic must be astronomical, insists that people shouldn’t have to pay for coverage that the don’t need.

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