Werthless wrote:

drsmooth wrote:The ACA doomsday news seems to have died down

Personally, I'm waiting for the cost data. The news that only 24% of signups were ages 18-35, instead of the expected 38%, is not meaningful in isolation. It's only meaningful insofar as the impact on cost.

Zimmer, a Democrat, stuck by her story Sunday. She said her conversation with Constable occurred May 16 at Monmouth University prior to their appearance as panelists on a TV event produced by NJTV.

NJTV doesn’t have any pre-broadcast audio records from that event, said Debra Falk, a spokeswoman.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, who also was a panelist, said he didn’t hear a conversation between Zimmer and Constable.

“I sat next to Mayor Zimmer and, if I recall correctly, (Constable) was on my other side,” Doherty said.

Doherty, also a Democrat, said Belmar hasn’t faced delays in receiving recovery money.

“The administration has always been cooperative and professional and encouraged us to contact them right away if there’s anything we need,” Doherty said.

jerseyhoya wrote:

Zimmer, a Democrat, stuck by her story Sunday. She said her conversation with Constable occurred May 16 at Monmouth University prior to their appearance as panelists on a TV event produced by NJTV.

NJTV doesn’t have any pre-broadcast audio records from that event, said Debra Falk, a spokeswoman.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, who also was a panelist, said he didn’t hear a conversation between Zimmer and Constable.

“I sat next to Mayor Zimmer and, if I recall correctly, (Constable) was on my other side,” Doherty said.

Doherty, also a Democrat, said Belmar hasn’t faced delays in receiving recovery money.

“The administration has always been cooperative and professional and encouraged us to contact them right away if there’s anything we need,” Doherty said.

The recording angle to confirm looks to be out the window, and the Democratic mayor who was sitting in between them says he didn't hear them having the alleged conversation.

Sarah Palin on FB wrote:Happy MLK, Jr. Day!

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer tonight added the state's Hurricane Sandy recovery czar to the list of Christie administration officials who she says pressured her for more development in her city in exchange for rebuilding grant money.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Zimmer alleged she'd met with Office of Recovery and Rebuilding Executive Director Marc Ferzan a month ago to discuss her application for the federal Rebuild by Design competition, which provides money for mitigation projects.

During the meeting, Zimmer said she asked Ferzan for support for her entry to which she said Ferzan responded "well, Mayor, you need to let me know how much development you're willing to do. "

"So the lieutenant governor gave a message," she said. " I didn't do exactly what they want, you know, and so the pressure continues."

pacino wrote:why are we assuming she's full of shit and christie isn't. which one has had the pattern of unbelievable shit? in any event, it shouldn't detract from what has been found out besides her allegations.

jerseyhoya wrote:Zimmer adds Sandy recovery czar to list of people she says pressured her on development project

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer tonight added the state's Hurricane Sandy recovery czar to the list of Christie administration officials who she says pressured her for more development in her city in exchange for rebuilding grant money.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Zimmer alleged she'd met with Office of Recovery and Rebuilding Executive Director Marc Ferzan a month ago to discuss her application for the federal Rebuild by Design competition, which provides money for mitigation projects.

During the meeting, Zimmer said she asked Ferzan for support for her entry to which she said Ferzan responded "well, Mayor, you need to let me know how much development you're willing to do. "

"So the lieutenant governor gave a message," she said. " I didn't do exactly what they want, you know, and so the pressure continues."

She remembers that this happened today, after Ferzan attacked her story about Hoboken being shortchanged. Why, if this happened a month ago, would she cite the LG and DCA commissioner but ignore the freaking "Sandy recovery czar" also making an explicit connection between development and aid?

The Shreveport, La., city council in December voted to approve an anti-discrimination ordinance to protect residents from discrimination based on their sexual and gender identity.

The lone dissenting voice on the measure was that of right-wing councilman, Ron Webb. At the time of the vote, Webb said he opposed the measure because, “The Bible tells you homosexuals are an abomination.”

The ordinance passed with a 6-to-1 vote, but Webb wasted little time before introducing a resolution to repeal it.

The residents of Shreveport — most of whom supported the ordinance — came out this week to comment on the repeal. Pamela Raintree was one among dozens of community members to address the council, and her testimony was a passionate and scathing indictment of Webb’s ignorance and bigotry.

Raintree, who is a transgender woman, held a stone as she read aloud from the Bible, telling Webb, “Leviticus 20:13 states, ‘If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, they shall surely put him to death. I brought the first stone, Mr. Webb, in case that your Bible talk isn’t just a smoke screen for personal prejudices.”

Moments after Raintree’s testimony, Webb withdrew his resolution without calling for a vote. The ordinance protecting LGBTQ residents from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations remains in effect.

In New Hampshire, Medicaid pays for in-home care for nearly all of its developmentally disabled residents. For frail elders, the opposite is true. Most wind up in nursing homes.

To remedy this imbalance, New Hampshire is taking advantage of Affordable Care Act funding for a program aimed at removing existing barriers to providing long-term care in people’s homes and communities.

Known as the Balancing Incentive Payments Program, it is one of several ACA provisions designed to keep as many people as possible out of costly institutions. Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas are also participating in the $3 billion incentive program.

According to a 2010 AARP survey, nine out of 10 older Americans said they would rather be cared for in their homes than in a nursing home. People with mental and physical disabilities, and those who represent them, also have pushed for community-based long-term care options and the ability to live independently in their homes.

States participating in the $3 billion program receive a higher federal match for all of their spending on home and community care through September 2015, provided they reduce the red tape and confusion that caretakers, elders and those with disabilities typically encounter when they attempt to find alternatives to nursing homes.

The program also requires states to create a standardized set of eligibility assessments for everyone so that all of their needs can be met, no matter what their age or type of disability.

States must also provide an independent case manager for every person in need – one who does not have ties to a nursing home or any other type of health care service.

To qualify for the incentive program, states must have spent less than 50 percent of their Medicaid long-term care dollars on community-based care in 2009. (See chart below.)

When the program began in 2011, New Hampshire was ahead of most other states. Nearly 50 percent of its spending was on home and community care. Today, community spending exceeds 55 percent, Hunter said.

Another impediment to shifting more care to the community is that New Hampshire, like most other states, has a well-established nursing home industry. The owners of dozens of facilities who employ thousands of workers have a vested interest in making sure they have a steady stream of business.

That issue doesn’t exist for people with developmental disabilities. As the result of a lawsuit, New Hampshire in 1991 closed its only institution for people with cognitive impairment—the Laconia State School. As a result, there was no other option but to find home and community based services for its residents. “It was like lightning in a bottle,” McNutt said.

swishnicholson wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

Zimmer, a Democrat, stuck by her story Sunday. She said her conversation with Constable occurred May 16 at Monmouth University prior to their appearance as panelists on a TV event produced by NJTV.

NJTV doesn’t have any pre-broadcast audio records from that event, said Debra Falk, a spokeswoman.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, who also was a panelist, said he didn’t hear a conversation between Zimmer and Constable.

“I sat next to Mayor Zimmer and, if I recall correctly, (Constable) was on my other side,” Doherty said.

Doherty, also a Democrat, said Belmar hasn’t faced delays in receiving recovery money.

“The administration has always been cooperative and professional and encouraged us to contact them right away if there’s anything we need,” Doherty said.

The recording angle to confirm looks to be out the window, and the Democratic mayor who was sitting in between them says he didn't hear them having the alleged conversation.

My feeling is that it's a lot of hooey, but I like to think Christie and his confidants are stuck in a room somewhere seething and biting their lips, unable to even utter the blistering rebukes they'd like to offer on the chance they'll get out and be seen as threatened retribution.

An influential leader of the NAACP in North Carolina recently compared Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lone black Republican in Congress, to a ventriloquist's dummy.

"A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” the Rev. William Barber said about Scott during remarks in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday, according to The State.

Barber added that “the extreme right wing down here (in South Carolina) finds a black guy to be senator and claims he’s the first black senator since Reconstruction, and then he goes to Washington, D.C., and articulates the agenda of the Tea Party.”