Medicaid Expansion Back Again: Lawmakers in Augusta will likely consider a bill to expand Medicaid this week, although there is some uncertainty which bill will be considered. While recent focus has centered on the compromise proposal introduced by Sens. Roger Katz (R-Kennebec) and Tom Saviello (R-Franklin), Majority Democrats may move House Speaker Mark Eves (D-North Berwick)’s non-compromise expansion as a standalone item. The Katz-Saviello proposal has failed to attract more Republican supporters – quite the opposite, actually.
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Union Slams Obamacare Costs: Unite Here, a national union that represents 300,000 low-wage hospitality workers, has said the Affordable Care Act will reduce wages, cut hours limit access to health care and worsen “income inequality.” The ACA, also known as Obamacare, became law, in part, because of strong support from the typically-pro Democratic labor unions.
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Kim Jong Un “Re-elected”: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was re-elected over the weekend, netting an unsurprising 100 percent of the vote.
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Downgrading Chicago: Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Chicago’s credit rating due to unfunded pension liabilities. The city now has the lowest credit ratings of any major American city except for bankrupt Detroit. Moody’s says another downgrade could come about if Chicago fails to address the city’s “massive and growing” pension liability.
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O’Care Ads: The Obama administration is conducting an advertisement campaign which urges a primarily young audience to sign up for Obamacare. The ads, which can be seen when viewing entertainment programs (for example, Comedy Central’s South Park), use funny themes and lighthearted messaging: “Affordable health care coverage is now available… Consider this a friendly reminder.” What the ads don’t say? Buy state-sponsored health insurance or the IRS will hunt you down!
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Fosters Daily Democrat on Revenue Sharing Hypocrisy: The daily newspaper calls out House Speaker Mark Eves (D-North Berwick) and Rep. Joshua Plante (D-Berwick) for blasting Gov. Paul LePage on revenue sharing cuts while passing a budget that does not meet the 55 percent education funding goal: “We find it interesting then that in their Feb. 27 community commentary titled, “Fulfilling Maine’s promise,” Eves and Plante sidestep the issue of education funding and castigate Gov. LePage for proposing to cut revenue sharing on the municipal side. Meanwhile, state government as a whole repeatedly looks to renege on its commitment to education funding.”
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Dem Senators Plan Global Warming Climate Change Talkathon: In a gimmicky plea to progressive mega-donors, more than two dozen liberal U.S. senators plan to take the floor Tuesday to stage an all-night talk-a-thon about global warming, or climate change, or whatever we’re calling the environmental apocalypse these days. The stunt was organized by the Climate Action Task Force and is supposed to raise awareness for the Barack Obama administration’s “climate change agenda.” No word yet whether Maine Sen. Angus King will join.
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AmSpec on Bowdoin: The American Spectator has chimed in on Bowdoin College’s recent decision to expel from its campus the volunteer leaders of the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship (BCF): “BCF enjoys the freedom to select its leaders no less than any other campus organization. Per long-standing historical precedent, the Bowdoin College Democrats need not admit Republicans to leadership. The Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance need not admit a person who believes homosexuality is immoral to leadership. The Middle Eastern Belly Dance Ensemble need not admit a non-belly dance enthusiast to leadership. If these points seem straightforward, it is because they are. Yet this logic is undergoing revision by the Bowdoin administration.”
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Bank of USPS: The Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service released a white paper in January proposing that the post office provide basic banking services. The proposal has been endorsed by liberal Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
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LePage Taps Moody to College Boards: Gov. Paul LePage has tapped businessman and former independent gubernatorial candidate Shawn Moody to serve on the board of both the Maine Community College System and the University of Maine System.
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Origami Condoms: According to the Washington Free Beacon, taxpayers have paid more than $2.4 million for a National Institutes of Health project that aims at developing “origami condoms” and a “first of its kind anal condom.”
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Liberals Protest Donation to Hospital: Seriously. The New York State Nurses’ Association, the NAACP New York State Conference, and SEIU Local 1199, and other progressive-minded organizations marched against the soon-to-be-builty David H. Koch Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which will be built, in part, with funding from a $100 million donation from David Koch of “Koch Brothers(!)” fame. Liberals, Democrats and progressives know the Koch brothers as the purely evil financiers of a global libertarian conspiracy to take over the world… and leave everyone alone.
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