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Tag: Barak Obama

  • Obama Administration: Over 106,000 Enroll Under ACA

    The Obama administration announced today that the enrollment for insurance under his new health care reform law hit 106,185 in October, according to Reuters. The administration admitted that the numbers would be low because of the endless list of troubles the website had after it’s initial roll-out October 1st.

    The numbers include 26,794 people who were able to log on and sign up for private health insurance plans through the bug-riddled, sketchy federal “marketplace” that serves 36 states. Included also, are 396,261 people who were determined to be eligible for the government’s Medicaid program or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (C.H.I.P.) for the underprivileged, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Even though initial numbers were admittedly low due to technical issues with HealthCare.gov, the figures still stress how far the administration has to go in order for the Affordable Care Act to be financially viable.

    They had better get those numbers up, because Republicans are on the hunt for Obamacare alternatives that can be heralded in the elections. In his speech at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet on Saturday the 9th, Mike Lee had some ideas to think about before the next election season, such as “market-based alternatives” that could replace Obamacare should the Republicans hope to have success at the polls in 2014.

    Technical issues haven’t been the only thing plaguing Obamacare. Just last week, President Obama was forced to apologize to the many Americans who began receiving cancellation notices from their insurance companies, after having promised, during the nauseating amount of stumping he did for his Affordable Care Act, that if you like your insurance, you would be able to keep it.

    He admitted that he failed to do enough to ensure that the law did not allow cancellation of insurance policies that citizens like because they don’t meet his requirements. “But obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law,” Obama said. “And, you know, that’s something that I regret. That’s something that we’re going to do everything we can to get fixed.”

    Time will tell.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • “I Have a Dream” Turns 50

    “I Have a Dream” Turns 50

    The nation’s first black president spoke today in honor of the man who started it all, Martin Luther King. Barak Obama lead the massive crowd and several civil rights leaders that gathered in the rain by the reflecting pool in Washington D.C. in a ceremony honoring the man who started the movement 50 years ago today.

    The president spoke just a little after 3 p.m., the same time as King delivered the captivating speech that would go on the immortalize the hopes and dreams of an entire people, to crowd of over 250,000 african-american men in what was originally called The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

    The speech came at a pivotal moment in history that is hard to imagine. Good people were turned down for jobs, denied basic freedoms, and oppressed for the simple reason that their skin was dark. Everyday freedoms like marrying who you love, eating in a restaurant, or even using the restroom at a public facility were near unthinkable. So, does the president think we have come a long way? Does he think we have lived up the dreams that a man and his people dreamed so long ago?

    In an interview with Tom Joyner on Tuesday, Obama declared that Martin Luther King, Jr. would be “amazed in many ways” at the progress that we have been able to obtain. He cited such progress as thousands of african-american elected officials, countless african-american CEOs and heads of major corporations in addition to equal rights and an accessible judicial system.

    However, he was quick to point out that the astounding unemployment rate among african-americans, as well as the nations economic slump shows that we still have work to do.

    Many celebrities showed up to throw in their two cents, as they feel obligated to do at any major public event. Oprah Winfrey stated that the infamous speech forced the nation to “wake up, look at itself, and eventually change”.

    Jamie Fox made a surprisingly touching and on-point speech in which he recalled a meeting with Harry Belafonte,
    “I said (to my daughter), ‘Listen, if you want to get inspired, come listen to this man speak.’ When I sat with Mr. Belafonte, he asked my daughter, ‘How old are you?’ and my daughter said, ’19’. And I said, ‘Mr. Belafonte, what were you doing at 19?’ and he said, “I was coming home from World War Two and when I got back to America I wasn’t allowed to vote… I realised I had more work to do, so myself, Al (Sharpton), Jesse (Jackson) and Martin (Luther King), we marched.”

    And with that, shamed the nation’s entire population of college students.
    Image via Twitter