Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott To Block Health Insurance Reform

Ten US states plan to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health insurance reform legislation as soon as President Barack Obama signs it into law.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Texas plans to join a multi-state lawsuit opposing the legislation immediately after President Barack Obama signs it into law. Abbott says the legislation violates the U.S. Constitution and "unconstitutionally infringes upon Texans' individual liberties." [Star-Telegram]

Florida's attorney general, conservative Republican Bill McCollum who is in Florida's gubernatorial race for the upcoming November mid-term elections, charges that a provision which requires most people to buy health insurance or else pay a fine is unconstitutional.

Virginia state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says,"Virgina will file suit against the federal government charging that the health-care reform legislation is unconstitutional." [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

Republican attorneys general of South Carolina, Nebraska, Florida, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia and Alabama have indicated they will also join the multi-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the reform legislation.

The governor of Idaho signed a bill last week blocking federal mandates requiring individuals in his state to purchase health insurance. Some 38 states have either filed or announced their intention to file similar legislation, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council, which opposes the health insurance reform.

Here are some of the private health insurance industry reforms mandated in the legislation that Republicans have blocked for the past year and will continue to block though lawsuits:

• Health Insurers cannot deny children under age 19 health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the discrimination in adults will take effect in 2014.
• Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums for 2009 and 2010.
• Seniors will get a rebate to fill the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare drug coverage, which severely limits prescription medication coverage expenditures over $2,700. As of next year, 50 percent of the donut hole will be filled.
• The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance rises to the age 27.
• Lifetime caps on the amount of insurance an individual can have will be banned. Annual caps will be limited, and banned in 2014.
• Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a temporary national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. While these will not be cheap, they're still better than total exclusion and get some benefit from a wider pool of insured adults. Health insurance exchanges will eliminate the program in 2014.
• Free preventative care - New plans must cover checkups and other preventative care without co-pays. All plans will be affected by 2018.
• No more rescission. Effective immediately, insurance companies can no longer cut someone when he or she gets sick.
• Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders' amendment). Community health centers provide primary, dental and vision services to people in the community, based on a sliding scale for payment according to ability to pay.
• Insurers must now reveal how much money is spent on overhead - All insurers must post their balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
• Any new plan must now implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.
• This tax will impose a ten percent tax on indoor tanning services. This tax, which replaced the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, would be effective for services on or after July 1, 2010.
• New screening procedures will be implemented to help eliminate health insurance fraud and waste.
• Medicare payment protections will be extended to small rural hospitals and other health care facilities that have a small number of Medicare patients.
• Non-profit Blue Cross organizations will be required to maintain a medical loss ratio -- money spent on procedures over money incoming -- of 85 percent or higher to take advantage of IRS tax benefits.
• Chain restaurants will be required to provide a "nutrient content disclosure statement" alongside their items. Expect to see calories listed both on in-store and drive-through menus of fast-food restaurants sometime soon.
• The bill establishes a temporary program for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55-64 in order to help reduce the often-expensive cost of that coverage.
• The Secretary of Health and Human Services will set up a new Web site to make it easy for Americans in any state to seek out affordable health insurance options The site will also include helpful information for small businesses.
• A two-year temporary credit (up to a maximum of $1 billion) is in the bill to encourage investment in new therapies for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

House Passes Health Care Legislation

President Obama appeared before cameras in the East Room of the White House just before midnight, with Vice President Biden at his side, to hail the historic health care vote in the House.

"This isn't radical reform, but it is major reform," Obama said in the late-night speech. "This isn't going to cure everything that ails our health care system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what changes looks like."

Obama is expected to sign the Senate health care bill Tuesday.

Message From President Barack Obama:

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, we are finally here.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just 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.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we've faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right -- and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,
President Barack Obama

Late Season Snow And Cold Prove No Global Warming

"It's cold. So there's no Climate Change" Facts From The National Snow And Ice Data Center

Get ready to hear climate change deniers point to the unusual late season late snow storm and cold weather as evidence that global warming isn’t really happening.

North Texas had one of the snowiest winter seasons on record. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth reported today that North Texas got 17.1 inches of snow this cold season, ranking it No. 2 behind the 1977-78 season which got 17.6 inches.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport recorded 1.2 inches of snow on Saturday, which shattered the old record of 0.4 inches established on March 20, 1970. An additional 0.1 inches of snow earlier today brought the weekend total to 1.3 inches. The last time an inch or more fell on North Texas was March 29, 1937, when 2 inches fell.

Union of Concerned Scientists:

There is a significant difference between weather and climate. Weather is what we experience on any given day or even over a couple weeks. Climate describes a region’s prevailing conditions — including such things as temperature, rainfall, wind, humidity and atmospheric pressure — over long periods of time. Climate is a good indicator of what to expect. For example, in the Midwest, one would expect cold winters. Whereas, in a Mediterranean climate, one would expect a generally milder winter.

Climate change refers to shifts in prevailing conditions observed over decades. One such shift is a long-term rise in global average temperatures. The current cold spells are occurring against this backdrop.

Putting aside the difference between weather and climate, climate change projections show that a warming planet generates more precipitation in areas that typically experience rain or snow. Rising ocean surface temperatures already have increased the temperature and moisture content of the air passing over the United States, setting the stage for heavier snow and rain storms.

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found that global warming has increased the frequency of storms that dump heavy precipitation over most land regions that experience storms. Most deserts, conversely, are getting drier.

“Climate scientists aren’t at all surprised that there are more drenching rain or blizzards in certain parts of the country,” said Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “That’s consistent with well-documented climate change trends over the past several decades. Unless we take some dramatic steps to curb global warming, we likely will see a lot more regional precipitation over the next few decades.”

Precipitation in the Northeast has increased markedly over the last century, according to the Northeast Climate Impact Assessment, a collaboration between UCS and a team of more than 50 scientists and economists. Over the past few decades, winter precipitation in the Northeast has increased 0.15 inch per decade.

The Northeast is not alone. According to Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, released last year by 13 federal agencies, Great Lakes states are experiencing more precipitation because the lakes have less ice and more open water in the winter. The maximum seasonal coverage of Great Lakes ice decreased approximately 30 percent from 1973 through 2008. That means more lake water is likely to evaporate into the atmosphere, resulting in heavier snowstorms.

The current decade likely ranks as the hottest since temperature records began in the 1850s, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization announced in December 2009. On December 8th 2009, at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), reported that 2009 was likely to rank in the top 10 warmest years since 1850. He added that since 1980 every decade has been warmer than the previous one. He also stressed that greenhouse concentrations were highest now than at any time over the last 800,000 years.

While conservative Republican lawmaker continue to strongly deny all evidence of climate change, Military planners in the Pentagon have concluded that “global warming is now officially considered a threat to U.S. national security.” In its upcoming 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, Pentagon planners will report that climate change could result in food and water scarcity, pandemics, population displacement, and other destabilizing events that could create conflict.

“The American people expect the military to plan for the worst,” says retired Vice Adm. Lee Gunn, a 35-year Navy veteran now serving as president of the American Security Project. “It’s that sort of mindset, I think, that has convinced, in my view, the vast majority of military leaders that climate change is a real threat and that the military plays an important role in confronting it.”

Democratic Party of Collin County Convention

The Democratic Party of Collin County will convene its County Convention, the kick-off event for the general election season, on Saturday, March 20th, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Plano Centre, located at 2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway in Plano, Tx. [map] All local Democrats are welcome to attend. For more information - click here.

* Must be elected as a Delegate to the County Convention by your Precinct Convention on March 2nd to vote.