This is not a political blog. This might be the only time I write about that kind of topic. But while I love fashion, tea-parties, jewelry, make-up and meet-ups there are some things that are much more serious and important. Like Health Care.
So what does Universal Health Care look like. As President Obama stated:
For the first time in our nation's history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.
Consider the staggering scope of what has been accomplished:
Every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.
Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.
And we'll finally start reducing the cost of care -- creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.
But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.
It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.
It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.
And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.Death Panels - remember Sarah Palin going on and on about how so-called death panels were going to put Grandma to death. Check out this story.
Woman's move triggers loss of coverage for cancer treatment.
This woman did something she never imagined would jeopardize her good health. She moved. Less than 30 miles - from one county in Wisconsin to another. The move triggered a review of her health insurance from Medicare, which eventually led to a loss of coverage, including the drug. And the tumor returned within four months. What happened to Ms Oertel stunned her doctor, Mark Malkin. Nothing he learned in medical school prepared him for what now is too often a sad and frustrating part of his job as a cancer specialist: fighting Medicare and private insurance companies over life-or-death decisions. She was sentenced to death by her private insurance company. This is not an isolated incident. Hardly.
But let's look at one of the most positive outcomes of this legislation.
Young Adults.
The passage of health care reform -- and the under-publicized but far-reaching student aid reform that passed along with it in reconciliation -- arguably constitutes the broadest, most meaningful and beneficial legislative victories for young people in recent history. Adults from 19 to 29 -- although they tend to be healthier than older adults -- represent nearly a third of the uninsured population. Two-thirds of those uninsured young people reported going without necessary medical care in 2007 because of costs, according to research for the Commonwealth Fund. By addressing these two issues in the face of epic political opposition, Congress and the Obama administration did a great deal to restore young Americans' faith in a system that many considered irreversibly broken.
Some amazing quotes from Arizona Senator John McCain that reflects the general sense of the Republicans who refused to accept a constructive role in shaping health care reform.
"There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year," McCain said during an interview Monday on an Arizona radio affiliate. "They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it."
"With all this euphoria that's going on, this inside-the-Beltway champagne toasting and all that, outside the Beltway the American people are very angry. And they don't like it, and we're going to try to repeal this, and we're going to have a very spirited campaign coming up between now and November, and there will be a very heavy price to pay for it," he said.
"I believe the will of the people is reflected sooner or later in the makeup of the government," McCain said.
No cooperation for the rest of the year? Laughable. The Republican's plan since Obama became President has been to do everything in their power to make him fail. Armageddon. No cooperation. Nothing. Nada. The party of NO! Also, when a Republican quotes the "people" you need to understand that their "people" are the fat cats on Wall Street, Insurance Company CEOs, and the like. The Republicant party has not changed one iota since the days of Marie ("let them eat cake") Antoinette. Sorry, I meant Herbert Hoover. But you get the idea.
Guess what. Now that the rhetoric is over the American people check out the latest pool.
Health Care Reform a Political Victory for Obama.
BTW - for those of you who are not all that familar with
history read about the fights for Social Security (FDR) and Medicare (LBJ). History repeats itself.
If it's any consolation to Democrats, progressive policymakers are always vindicated by history. In 1935, Republican opponents of Social Security insisted that Roosevelt's "socialistic" plan would, among other things, force all Americans to wear dog tags. Not quite a half-century ago, conservative critics of Medicare seriously argued, in public, that the law would empower bureaucrats to dictate where physicians could practice medicine, and open the door to government control over where all Americans were allowed to live. Around the same time, many opponents of the Civil Rights Act believed the fabric of America was being torn apart by the legislation.
Right-wing arguments of today are absurd, but they are branches on a large and ridiculous tree.
Andrea Nicole Baker
Okay, so I know it's incredibly cliche to do a Kim K post these days, but I don't even watch Keeping up with Kardashians .. I've just loved Kim K since the minute I saw her!!
The skin and bones look remained on the runways but dissipated slightly from the mainstream until it's sad return in the mid 00s with the help of emaciated fashion stylist Rachel Zoe. 
Beautiful, healthy, and most def well fed.
