ThePrettiestOne

It turns out that Donald Trump and Paul Ryan really are capable of bridging divides and bringing the nation together.

It is a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation that passed the House on Thursday.

What does the AMA think of the latest Trumpcare bill?

“None of the legislative tweaks under consideration changes the serious harm to patients and the health care delivery system if AHCA passes. Proposed changes to the bill tinker at the edges without remedying the fundamental failing of the bill – that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance as a direct result of this proposal.

What does the AARP say about Medicaid cuts in the bill?

The impact of such a huge loss of federal Medicaid funds on people with disabilities and poor seniors will be devastating—especially for 11 million Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid. 

But aren’t the insurance companies supposed to love this?

... Blue Shield of California, came out in opposition to the bill before the vote. “We feel compelled to oppose it,” said Paul Markovich, the company’s chief executive. “It raises the specter that the sickest and neediest among us will be disproportionately hit in losing access.”

frogsuggest:

svartfalk:

iguanamouth:

princezilla:

megarah-moon:

“Gathering Doubt” by Annie Stegg

@iguanamouth

Please Put Me Down

@frogsuggest

handsome fairy and a pretty

Where…where can I get a Doubt?

swinsea:

Originally published by Rewire. Read it there if Tumblr has made it a blurry mess!

The important thing on Thursday was for Republicans to pass a bill. After all, Paul Ryan had the beer ordered, Donald Trump was tapping his foot in the Rose Garden, and lots of Republican legislators had already read and practiced their speeches about “leadership.” Which is a lot more than can be said about their familiarity with the bill they were voting on.

Wolf Blitzer: “Did you read the health care bill?”

Republican Rep. Chris Collins: "I will fully admit, Wolf, I did not.” 

Collins isn’t alone in casting a blind vote for a bill that few had read and even fewer understood.

In many ways, Republicans appear to be operating in the dark about the AHCA. There have been very few hearings. The full bill text was only unveiled hours before the vote. The Congressional Budget Office didn't have time to finish its study of the legislation. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday it is "literally impossible" to judge the impact of the bill. For his part, Trump, in interviews and conversations with associates, has seemed to care little about what the legislation says.

What it says doesn’t matter. What it does can’t be measured. How then are Republicans convinced that their bill is worthy of a Bud Light? The answer is: They don’t care.

Because somehow passing a bad bill they didn’t believe in is supposed to better than not passing that bill.

Donate $1 to nominee funds targeting vulnerable House Republicans who voted to destroy access to health care.

It’s jarring enough to receive a large bill when you don’t expect it, but to be asked to pay hundreds of dollars for a tainted product you don’t even want to use is even worse. After last year’s lead poisoning crisis in Flint, MI, state officials say that city’s water now meets governmental guidelines for lead. But although many residents still don’t trust the water, now that the state has ended a subsidy program that reduced their water bills, Flint is asking people to pay up.

A woman in Flint, MI, says the city sent her a bill for $1,090.09 in back payments, reports Vox. The city had installed a new water meter in her house in December and claimed it showed she had been undercharged.

Like many in Flint, she doesn’t drink the water out of her tap: Over the last few years, residents of the city have been dealing with water that’s contaminated with lead.

The city is now trying to replace thousands of pipes that are leaching lead into the water supply. And it needs cash, because although the state says it’ll help pay to replace those pipes, it’s ending a subsidy program that reduced customers’ water bills.

This week, Flint issued shutoff notices for more than 8,000 people who are six months late on their bills. The city says it will place tax liens on people’s homes, or push them into foreclosure, if they don’t settle their bills by May 19.

The 76-year-old woman who spoke to Vox didn’t receive one of the shutoff notices — she’s paid enough of her bill every month to keep service on — but she hasn’t had much luck fighting the bill for back payments. She still has an outstanding balance of $638 left.

“People are moving away, and a lot of people I talked to said they weren’t paying it because we can’t even drink the water,” she told Vox. “But I’m old; they know I’m stuck here.”

Grilled cheese is already one of the best snacks around but, believe it or not, there’s a way to make it even better: add cheese (and other toppings) to the outside, not just the inside, of the sandwich. Cancel your appointments for the day and make this grilled cheese instead.

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glngerales:

douchetier:

since the whole daddyofive thing came to light can we actually just? stop youtube “prank” culture in general. and im not talking about harmless little shit. i’m talking about actively fucking with kids, making them cry, and also messing around with people that are obviously mentally ill. because people LOVE filming kids, teenagers, and even adults having “epic meltdowns” because they find it hilarious. nevermind the trauma behind it and the added humiliation of being filmed for millions of people to laugh at your misery which only adds to the trauma.

idk but filming people freaking out (sometimes justifiably so) should have been left in 2010 with that first “greatest freakout ever” video

Cringe culture centered around children and autistic people needs to go as well. It’s not funny, it never has been funny, and if you find it funny you’re a sick creep.

reagan-was-a-horrible-president:

justsomeantifas:

senator: okay how do we fuck over as many people as possible but make it sound good

other senator: okay okay hear me out, we fuck over people by destroying net neutrality which is something they’ve shown to care about but we call it something that sounds like they’d agree with

senator: okay like what

other senator: Restoring Internet Freedom Act

senator: brilliant.

These 9 (REPUBLICAN)Senators proposed a bill to kill net neutrality called the “Restoring Internet Freedom Act”

These 9 Senators really don’t like net neutrality

Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE]
Sen. Tillis, Thom [R-NC]

eronthebender:

corporationsarepeople:

naturepunk:

mikedawwwson:

The Underdog Myth

WOW

America worships bullies. Even in our popular stories where the underdog prevails, he usually does so by becoming a bully.

America loves the story of white male underdogs. It’s why revenge of the nerds is considered a “classic” even though the main characters are bastards.

If it’s an underdog story of non-white person they’ll tell you 5209364 reasons why that person shouldn’t win and is the villain. It’s why people on here keep demonizing Finn from the new Star Wars movie and wanting him to be replaced with Kylo Ren. Cause to them Kylo is a misunderstood underdog who deserves to win

nsmrj:

🌙

greyhound-days:

happy star wars day, carrie.

letshearitforthisclown:

*young republican voice* i don’t see why my rich, rich, rich rich rich, rich rich rich rich, so fucking rich, father should have to pay for poorer boys school lunches. he could spend that money on a racism machine

boymayors:

nefepants:

Oh what an interesting doll, why is its head on a sti- OH JESUS CHRIST

@odlaws

I have found @keyofjetwolf a new friend.

refurbthecat:

PROTIP:

Having a rough day? Make it a little easier by screaming a whole bunch!

Pre-existing conditions not covered under #Trumpcare: Postpartum depression, being a domestic violence survivor, having a C-section. #VoteNo

Source

This doesn’t work btw

luke: [sitting on a rock, gazing at the ocean dramatically]
[a lightsaber floats past his face]
rey: [from behind the rock] ooOOOOOooooOOoo
luke: rey i know it's you
rey: nooOOooo
rey: i'm the ghost of obi-wan kenobiiiiii
rey: stop being a baby and go apologize to your sisteeeerrrrrr
rey: oooOOOOOOOOoooOOOOooooOOOOOOOOoo

shinelikethunder:

New favorite Twitter account: @PresVillain

Trump tweets pasted into Red Skull’s dialogue bubbles. So simple. So brilliant. So disturbingly apt.

cinexphile:

Carrie Fisher magazine covers

pidgepitchu:

strict-constitutionalist:

constitutioncutie:

Minimum wage: $7.25

$7.25 x 40 hour full time work week: $290

$290 x 4 weeks per month: $1,160

In every Southern state (didn’t have time to look at the rest of the country) you can find some sort of studio apartment for around $500 per month, sometimes less than that. Why bother lying about something so easily disproven? 

Because Bernie Sanders supporters aren’t going to fact check him, and they’ll ignore any contrary evidence that’s presented to them anyways.

Things like this really tick me off and It’s not political or anything but it’s the fact that you think all that money is there. Here’s what I mean;

That weekly check comes to, according to you, 290. Most places DO NOT pay for your half hour lunch that is required by law. So your beginning number was wrong. $7.25 x 7.5 hours a day x 5 days a week only gets you $271.88.  Most people in America get paid bi-weekly, so let’s double it to get the budget. $543.75. That’s GROSS, not NET. Out of that comes anywhere between 10% and 15% taxes depending on state so we’ll low ball it at 10%. Automatically down to $489.38 a pay check. Now health insurance. Usually anywhere from 70-100 a pay check for the cheapest plans. Again, we’ll low ball and go $70. So now we have $419.39 a paycheck. x 2  = $839. 

Eight hundred thirty nine dollars. A MONTH.

But again, you seem to think that’s fair. So let’s proceed. You say rent is $500? Okay. This person now has $339 left to buy groceries for the whole month, pay utilities, car payment, car insurance, and gas money to get to work. 

Those are the bare needs. You have to eat. You have to pay for heat, water, garbage removal, gas and or electricity because apartments do not always include things and rarely all of the above. Most cities in America do not have public transportation. Mine doesn’t despite the fact that our population is over 15,000 people, not counting a taxi. If you have a car, you have to pay that. If you have a car, legally you have to have car insurance. You have to pay that. You have to have gas in that car to get to work to make that money.

Now if you can tell me you can get all of that out of $339 you’re lying.

You are so focused on rent that you aren’t thinking about everything else people have to pay for. Rent was an example. This is a breakdown of the budget you gave me and it’s not possible to live off that in 2017 America. 

And BECAUSE this person makes over $800 a month, they probably won’t qualify for financial aid or food stamps. $800 is the line in my state where they won’t help you. No food stamps, financial aid, or government housing if you make more than $800 a month. 

Why does it bother you that people deserve to live above the poverty line?

Campaign Action

Literally at the same time that House Republicans were celebrating their Trumpcare vote with popular vote loser Donald Trump, like they'd won the Super Bowl or something, Senate Republicans were throwing the bill under the bus. They are starting over from scratch.

Several key Senate Republicans said they will set aside the narrowly passed House health-care bill and write their own version instead, a sign of how difficult it will be to deliver on seven years of promises to repeal Obamacare.

Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who chairs the Senate health committee, and Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership, both described the plan, even as the House was celebrating passing its repeal after weeks of back and forth. The decision will likely delay even further the prospect of any repeal bill reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.

But in the wake of the House’s razor-thin 217-213 vote, the Senate made clear it was going in a different direction. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, who has been very critical of the House bill, said Thursday she hopes they start with "a clean slate" in the Senate. […]

In short, without changes, the House bill arrives in the Senate well short of the 50 votes, plus a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence, that will be needed to pass.

"We are not under any deadlines, so we are going to take our time," No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas said. "When we have 51 senators we will vote but not until then."

For his part, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell emerged from his shell long enough to send out a statement which avoids any real mention of anything actually in the Trumpcare bill beyond acknowledging that the House passed it. "As Congress considers this legislation," he says in the statement, "the Administration will continue working to deliver relief and stabilize health markets, and Congress will continue to act on legislation to provide more choices and freedom in health care decisions." Half of Congress just acted, McConnell. Any comment on it? No? It's like Trumpcare doesn't even exist.

It's pretty darned clear that the bill Paul Ryan and pals are still toasting is, well, toast when it comes to the Senate. As it now stands. So McConnell has to come up with something that will get through the Senate with just 51 votes. How that then gets by the House Freedom Caucus maniacs is a mystery. No wonder no one in Senate leadership is rushing to get this done.

Sign and send a petition to your Senators, demanding they say NO to Trumpcare.

rassoey:

my man neil was just making a fun tweet and this cat straight up murdered him

House Republicans just voted 217-213 to roll the clock back and make the American healthcare system even more dysfunctional and unfair than it was before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.

• A minimum of 24 million people could lose their health insurance. That number will go up when the Congressional Budget Office scores the bill next week.
• More than 24,000 people could die prematurely because of this bill, every year. That’s even more than are killed by guns every year.
• Premiums will spike insanely for people with pre-existing conditions.
• Premiums will spike insanely for people who are older than 50.
• Premiums will spike insanely for people living in red states.
• Medicaid will be gutted, destroyed.
• Medicare will be blown up.

That’s just a start. But, hey, millionaires get an average annual tax cut of $50,000, so it’s all good, right?

Here’s another consequence: we will make the political life of every Republican who voted for this a living hell.

Start now. Call and let them know that we’ve just begun and we’re not backing down. 202-224 3121.

The tumblr sirens are singing… reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it   reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it Tumblr Gets Deep: Next Page–>

The post Tumblr Gets Deep (21 Pics) appeared first on Pleated-Jeans.com.

Yay! Yay for principled & kind Congressional staffers everywhere! Thank you so much for all the hard work you are doing!!! 

Republicans, hell bent on passing a healthcare replacement bill that nobody wants, have snuck in several provisions making the bill somehow even more terrible than the original one they drafted.

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This is the key. Don’t ever forget that this has nothing to do with making health care better for anyone. It’s always been about making the filthy rich more filthy and more rich.

This patient little fellow has been living in Animal Welfare League for over a year. That’s more than 400 days, and it’s certainly 400 days too long to live without a family, so the shelter’s staff came up with a brilliant adoption campaign idea.

Champas the cat arrived at Animal Welfare League (NSW, Australia) all the way back in December 2015

He was super shy, hiding in the shelter’s corners and shadows, avoiding the slightest interaction with anyone

When Champas had been living in the shelter for over a year, the staff decided to boost his adoption chances

So they made him Animal Welfare League’s feline receptionist, working at the front desk

Meeting more and more people, Champas realized not all of them are bad

The kitty grew to love shelter’s visitors and started purring for their attention

Finally, 436 days after his arrival, Champas went to a forever home with his new dad, Nathan

“Champas the long term resident of Kemps Creek – he came home with me today, and after biting my hand, went straight to sleep,” Nathan said