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Thursday 28 June 2012

Court Upholds Health Care Law, Individual Mandate Survives as Tax
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "The long-awaited Supreme Court vote on the health care bill Thursday upheld the individual mandate, which requires individuals to buy health insurance or face a fine, as a tax. Whether the Affordable Care Act could have survived if the mandate had been struck down was in question throughout the months-long deliberations and heated oral arguments of the court."
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President Obama Speaks on Historic Health Reform Plan
President Barack Obama, The White House: "Earlier today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act - the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago. In doing so, they've reaffirmed a fundamental principle that here in America - in the wealthiest nation on Earth - no illness or accident should lead to any family's financial ruin. I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this, about who won and who lost. That's how these things tend to be viewed here in Washington. But that discussion completely misses the point. Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court's decision to uphold it."
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In Florida, Minimum Mandatory Sentencing Laws Fuel Push for Private Prisons
Dina Rasor, Truthout: "On Valentine's Day this year, Florida almost made the unprecedented move to privatize 29 of its prisons, but the legislation was narrowly defeated. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the state prison guard unions were able to squeak out a victory. This win against privatization was surprising because of the powerful forces of the private prison industry, especially because the two largest private prison companies ... had poured campaign money into the state ..."
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Paul Krugman | To End This Depression, What Do We Do Now?
Paul Krugman, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: "... [M]any books about the financial crisis of 2008, which marked the beginning of the slump, have already been published, and many more are no doubt in the pipeline. But this book is, I believe, different from most of those other books, because it tries to answer a different question. For the most part, the mushrooming literature on our economic disaster asks, "How did this happen?" My question, instead, is "What do we do now?"
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Chicago Decriminalizes Marijuana, but Will It Curb Racialized Policing?
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "Chicago joined several other localities this week when the City Council voted to decriminalize marijuana. The new ordinance, which would allow people caught with less than half an ounce of the drug to face fines instead of being arrested, hopes to counter the devastating effects that the criminalization of low-level drugs has had on communities of color in the city."
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Eugene Robinson | The Bigger Picture: The Physical and Moral Health of the Nation
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post Writers Group: "The political impact of Thursday's stunning Supreme Court decision on health care reform is clear - good for President Obama and the Democrats, bad for Mitt Romney and the Republicans - but fleeting, and thus secondary. Much more important is what the ruling means in the long term for the physical and moral health of the nation."
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On the News With Thom Hartmann: Banksters and Members of Congress Are Downplaying JPMorgan Chase’s Sudden Loss of $2 Billion, and More
In today's On the News Segment: Despite what you might have seen on cable news networks FOX News and CNN, the Supreme Court upheld Obama's health care plan today, banksters and Members of Congress have been downplaying JPMorgan Chase's sudden loss of $2 billion, Arctic sea ice is at its lowest level ever for this time of year, and more.
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The US Postal Service: It's Not About Profit!
Ellen Dannin, Truthout: "The right-wing mantra these days seems to be that every government activity should make a profit and those that don't should be privatized so that someone in the private sector can make a profit. It would be interesting to see the inner workings of the families of the people who beat the drums for privatizing the Postal Service.... Families and communities do not operate like businesses."
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FOX's Brazen Star: Karl Rove Rebukes Obama on Executive Privilege Claim
Joe Conason, Creators Syndicate: "Forever incapable of embarrassment, let alone sober reflection, Karl Rove is very well suited to his current roles as Fox News commentator and Crossroads Super PAC smear sponsor. But he achieved a moment of near-perfection last Thursday when, appearing on a Fox morning news broadcast, he spoke up about President Obama's invocation of executive privilege against a House committee subpoena of Justice Department documents."
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Mad, Bad, Sad: What's Really Happened to America's Soldiers
Nan Levinson, TomDispatch: "When your job requires you to pull sleeping families from their beds at midnight thousands of miles from your home, or to shoot at oncoming cars without knowing who's driving them, or to refuse medical care to decrepit old men, you begin to question what doing your job means. When the reasons keep shifting for what you're supposed to be doing in a country ... it's hard to maintain any sense of innocence."
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More Women Are Breadwinners, but They Still Can't Get Out of the Kitchen
Annie-Rose Strasser, ThinkProgress: "Women are a growing part of the American workforce. In the last 25 years, the number of working women has grown by 44.2 percent, while 59.4 percent of working-age women are currently in the labor force. Sixty percent of women are the primary or co-bread winner for their household. But despite those historic numbers, most women are still left doing the majority of the house work."
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Stop Using the Phrase "Obamacare"; This Is Health Care Reform That Benefits the 99 Percent
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: "But the law ruled upon today is not 'Obamacare.' It is a law that benefits 99 percent of Americans ... in a remarkable number of ways.... The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, now uncontested law, is not 'Obamacare.' For many millions and millions, it is a lifeline."
Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

The Truth About the Fast and Furious Scandal
Read the Article at Fortune

Student Loans to Become More Expensive Despite Deal
Read the Article at The Washington Post

The Health Care Decision: Why It Matters
Read the Article at Talking Points Memo

It's Official: Murdoch's News Corp. to Split Into Two Companies
Read the Article at CNN

Here Is Why Our Elites Are Not Fixing the Economy
Read the Article at The Campaign for America's Future

Trading Loss at JPMorgan Could Rise to $9 Billion
Read the Article at The New York Times

Colorado Springs: Rescuing Conservative Paradise
Read the Article at Daily Kos

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