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Politics

"Happy Mother's Day from The Affordable Care Act"

Scott Shackford | 5.13.2012 2:16 PM

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Yes, this is actually on the White House's website (along with one pandering to military families).

Show your mom you care enough to make her a data point in the president's reelection campaign!

(Hat tip to Andrew Staroska via Twitter)

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NEXT: Sheldon Richman on Freedom and Equality

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

PoliticsAffordable Care ActMedicareWomenPropagandaHealth insuranceNanny StateEconomicsPolicy
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  1. Killazontherun   13 years ago

    Off Topic: Jello Biafra on Oprah. Bitch sets him up!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

    at 8.36

    Funny how the pissed off call in always had the same nasty Midwestern accent back then. I'm guessing her occupation was production assistant.

    1. sloopyinca   13 years ago

      Even funnier is Oprah's "evolving" views on everything progressive. She used to be the epitome of the outraged SoCon with a stick up her ass. Once she got big (no pun intended), she took a dramatic shift to the left. And once "the O" started running for the WH, she left all pretense of her past and jumped on the bandwagon.

      I wonder what her reaction would be if a white Team Redder was murderdroning Americans overseas, was bombing the fuck out of country after country, was incarcerating black Americans on drug charges at a rate unrivaled in our past, and played class warfare against rich people like her.

      Fuck Oprah. I can't wait for her to have to go back on TV after her media empire completely crumbles. I may not have to wait long.

    2. Killazontherun   13 years ago

      Holy crap! Just watched the third part, and the same woman calls in pretending to be another caller. Listen to the caller at the start:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Q6KFem4xo

      And after she says 'not knowing whether he was going to KILL" then flip it quickly to the 7 minute 10 second mark. It sounds like she is continuing in on the same monolog.

      AND PEOPLE BOUGHT IT!

      1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

        They dangle a shiny hook laden with pork, sloop. Of course, the bait will be taken.

  2. Mike M.   13 years ago

    Oh look, it's Obamacare's last hurrah. The appropriate response to this sad little bit of agitprop is to laugh at it.

    1. deified   13 years ago

      Show your mom you care enough to make her a data point in the president's reelection campaign!

      I'm sorry but the infographic's earnest factoid beats reason's smart-assery on the appealing scale.

      The welfarists are handing us our asses.

      Good day.

  3. sloopyinca   13 years ago

    This isn't much different than Bush flying onto an aircraft carrier deck and declaring "Mission Accomplished."

    Assholes, every one of them.

  4. Brendan   13 years ago

    As always, ends justify the means.

    It's so adorable-A poster that basically says "here's what "I" have done for you, vote for me again." It also implies that what was accomplished could not have been accomplished another way.

    Just to recap-it's wrong when conservatives 'buy' votes with tax breaks or regulation changes, but not wrong when liberals 'buy' votes with tax breaks or regulation changes.

    1. Nando   13 years ago

      It's not the results that matter, it's the intention.

      1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

        You actually believe that, don't you, Nando.

        1. wareagle   13 years ago

          nando..spoofing his own team.

          1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

            Anything for The Cause, eh?

  5. Sharon Stone   13 years ago

    Has anyone else been disturbed by this administration's attempt to guise their bullshit programs as hip & edgy? (The Statist life of Juila). Trying to make government control of markets look cool, completely makes me fucking sick to my stomach.

    I can only imagine the millions of brain dead fucks who eat this stuff up.

    1. Killazontherun   13 years ago

      Well, there is that appearance on Jimmy Fallon. Some extremely flaky opinion journalist, like super goofy Kathleen Parker, were yapping after the appearance that Obama had a cool kids factor going for him that Romney didn't. Okay. I watched the video and I only felt embarrassed for the guy. That shit is going to haunt him when he is out of the bubble of White House politics with an epilepsy inducing case of the heeby jeebies.

      1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

        "heeby jeebies"

        JOOOOOOZZZZ!!!!!1!!e1eventy!!!!!!!!

    2. wareagle   13 years ago

      I can only imagine the millions of brain dead fucks who eat this stuff up.

      and they have the right to vote. Liberalism cannot exist without a massively uninformed populace. The Obama's presence simply confirms that. On the other hand, finding the "unsubscribe from..." button on FB has eliminated a great deal of inanity from my life.

    3. WWNGD?   13 years ago

      WHAT IS WRONG WITH SHINY THINGS?

  6. Brutus   13 years ago

    This is so depressing. One of the true joys of Mothers' Days past was knowing Mom could be denied health coverage for pre-existing conditions. Now Obamacare has stripped us of this felicity.

    1. Killazontherun   13 years ago

      Oh joy. Now she will have to wait her turn in line after needy crackheads just to get a pap smear. Que is only seven months, darling. Equality demands it!

      1. Ted S.   13 years ago

        I don't know if CBS made a Mothers' Day version

        1. deified   13 years ago

          What the--I don't even...

          Fuck

          Also, what kind of son lets his mom go to a perfect stranger for a pap smear when it's relatively simple to do at home?

        2. Repairman Jack   13 years ago

          NBC beat them to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DeIqJm4vM

  7. Mr Whipple   13 years ago

    The Radical History of Mother's Day

    1. Teaching Student   13 years ago

      It's funny how radical leftists continue to try to talk anti-war.

      1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

        From the comments:

        http://www.jillstein.org/

        "A Green New Deal for America"

        *barf*

        1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

          More barf material:

          http://www.jillstein.org/text_psou

          Makes Ralph Nader look like Pat Buchanan.

        2. yonemoto   13 years ago

          well, a green surge is better than a santorum surge.

          1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

            Ew. Ewwww ewwwwwww.

            1. yonemoto   13 years ago

              on second thought, maybe it's just as bad.

              1. yonemoto   13 years ago

                who knew having sex with aliens would be so messy?

                1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

                  Vulcan semen, maybe?

                2. Groovus Maximus   13 years ago

                  who knew having sex with aliens would be so messy?

                  Behold, the xenomorph life cycle!

        3. Paul.   13 years ago

          A Green New Deal for America"

          Doesn't that suggest it's gone moldy?

  8. Jerry   13 years ago

    So it is better that women pay the same amount as men, even though previously they would both be paying less. This is socialism pure and simple: rather equally poor than unequally rich.

    1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

      As everyone in France other than Hollande will be finding out soon...

    2. np   13 years ago

      I bet they are thinking how they've won a victory against insurance companies, clamping down on unjust treatment, while the insurance companies are secretly cheering how they have to charge all of their low risk clients the same as a pregnant, cancer suffering woman.

  9. Mad Scientist   13 years ago

    In other words:
    Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could choose who they did business with in order to keep costs down, and men weren't charged higher premiums to subsidize women's premiums.

    Starting in 2014, it will be illegal to make good business decisions affecting every other customer of the insurance company, or to charge women what they actually cost.

    1. Number 7   13 years ago

      Dude, why do you have to get all wordy and logicy on Mother's Day. Do you hate mothers?

      1. Mad Scientist   13 years ago

        No, no, I'm an equal opportunity hater.

        1. Pi Guy   13 years ago

          I am a terrible driver. Multiple accidents (largely my fault), myriad speeding tickets, and 2 DWIs. As much as I'd like to hope that these "pre-existing" conditions should be ignored when GEICO computes my premiums, how can I deny that I am a very high risk to their company?

          IOW: how can a business create a model to turn a profit if they're not allowed to determine what thye think is and is not profitable? I don't want to pay through the nose but them's the breaks. They can't, especially if the biz landscape keeps shifting beneath them.

          Sorry, ladies. From the health care perspective, you cost more and it's not clear to me why you think that you should not have to cover your own costs more proportionally.

          That is, unless one thinks that I should get to pay the same auto insurance as the rest of you better, less costly drivers. I doubt that most reasonable people would. More than likely, they'd assert that I should pay my way.

          Because, you know, driving is a privelege and health care is a right. Or something.

  10. SIV   13 years ago

    I assume "sex discrimination" is still a perfectly acceptable in life and auto insurance? After all, it's not discrimination if men pay more.

    1. deified   13 years ago

      +11eventy quintillion

  11. Hugh Akston   13 years ago

    I want to see Mothers Day greetings from other pieces of legislation.

    Happy Mothers Day from the AUMF. May you be indefinitely detained in your child's heart.

    1. Kant feel Pietzsche   13 years ago

      Happy Mother's Day from the Patriot Act. Your children do love you, Mom. We know. We've been listening.

      Happy Mother's Day from the Dodd-Frank Act. We know you like to have your kids close. So we've arranged to have them live in your basement until they're 40. You're welcome.

      The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act wishes you a joyous Mother's Day. When we get through with the internet, your kids will once again send you cards in the mail like they used to.

      #$%^ing creepshow merchants......

      1. deified   13 years ago

        I have no idea what your ScreenName means but it makes me want to sex you. Make it stop!

  12. DRM   13 years ago

    Starting in 2014

    Which is to say, the situation today, and for the rest of the Obama Administration, is the same as it was before passage of the act.

    Well, it's not like the President has anything else he can pretend is an accomplishment.

  13. SIV   13 years ago

    So what are the ultra-right fundie SoCons up to this weekend?

    Call me cynical, but I wasn't sure his views on marriage could get any gayer

    1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

      Rand Paul =/= ultra-right fundie SoCon.

      1. SIV   13 years ago

        What else do you call a well-received speaker at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition?

        1. SIV   13 years ago

          He said it was time for traditionalists to stand together to "save the Republic" and that the traditional family unit needed to be defended.

          Paul also earned cheers from the audience as he ticked off his antiabortion credentials.

          "We've introduced the Life at Conception Act, the Pro-Life Act, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, I'm also co-sponsor of the Human Life Amendment," Paul said. "I've also been trying to defund Planned Parenthood. Anybody here for that?"

          Testing to see how easy it is to strip the "smart quotes" that give the word is more than 50 characters error message.

          1. wareagle   13 years ago

            seems to me the main thing "the traditional family unit" needs defending against is those who would defend it. Goddamn, I hate these "war on...", "save this..." slogans. Ironically, anything the govt declared war on got worse.

            1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

              Sorry, but Rand's no Santorum. And that's MY benchmark for so-con loathsomeness.

              1. SIV   13 years ago

                Santorum isn't "ultra-right". Rand Paul is far to the right of him. Santorum voted FOR funding Planned Parenthood.

                1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

                  Then Santorum was pandering.

                  I will, however, chuckle for a few minutes over the thought that Santorum isn't "ultra-right". I've despised that man for years, for that very reason.

                  1. Marshall Gill   13 years ago

                    I am pretty sure that Santorum endorsed Arlen Specter as a Democrat against the Republican. "So-con" is hardly limited to the right.

                    1. SIV   13 years ago

                      All the "libertarian-leaning" congressmen are SoCons.

            2. teapartydoc   13 years ago

              No one is declaring 'war' on anything. The Paul's take the position that the government has no business issuing marriage licenses in the first place. This practice was actually started by Calvin in Christian totalitarian Geneva. The idea is to free marriage from the government so it can return to it's traditional roots. Back in the day when there were social but not governmental benefits to marriage, there was no great hue and cry from homosexuals for a right to marriage. It was only when that state began to be associated with special rights and privileges from the government that it became an issue. In other words, the libertarian position is completely consistent with the social conservative position.

              1. np   13 years ago

                I'm all for getting the government completely out of marriage. Let "marriage" be defined by institutions. But legal status would not be any different, just the same as individuals who make whatever contracts with each other (bank accounts, trusts, inheritance, hospital/medical rights, etc).

                The problem is, no politician besides Ron Paul, and I mean no one, not even Rand, has proposed that. I seriously doubt any of the socons would give up defending the "sanctity of marriage"; nor would I think most people left and right--even if they are for gay marriage--tolerate the ultimate implications of deregulating marriage (which would simply be treated as a legal relationship in libertopia); nor would I think any on the left and most couples in general would give up their marriage benefits.

                1. Sevo   13 years ago

                  Pretty sure I'm agreeing with np here:

                  "It was only when that state began to be associated with special rights and privileges from the government that it became an issue. In other words, the libertarian position is completely consistent with the social conservative position."

                  I may fail the purity test here, but no, you don't speak for me.
                  Yes, the government has no place in the marriage 'business'. But until the government gets out of it, it has the duty to assure that all who wish to marry get the same perks.

                  1. 0x90   13 years ago

                    @sevo: I am single, unattached, and I intend to remain so. As such, your argument means, in my case, that: until such time as I am no longer being screwed by the traditionalists, I should be subject to being screwed equally by the non-traditionalists. Perhaps you can understand if I have a slight problem with that. Any of the latter who make the correct argument (not that I've seen much evidence they exist), I'm with them; those who do not, though, can piss right off.

            3. deified   13 years ago

              anything the govt declared war on got worse

              Cancer?

              1. Sevo   13 years ago

                deified|5.13.12 @ 11:13PM|#
                "anything the govt declared war on got worse
                Cancer?"

                Bastiat?
                Yes, like providing roads, the government did so. At what cost compared to alternatives?
                And even with that offer, how much of the 'war on cancer' is privately funded?

              2. SIV   13 years ago

                The perception anyways.

  14. RingoHungo   13 years ago

    Wow that sounds like a plan to me dude. Wow.

    http://www.Privacy-Folks.tk

  15. teapartydoc   13 years ago

    So. Women use a full 33% more health care resources than men and live longer, as well. And they shouldn't be expected to pay their full share? What the hell ever happened to equality under the law?

    1. 35N4P2BYY   13 years ago

      That sounds about right, but where did that 33% statistic come from? I need it to argue with statist toolbags.

      1. Sharon Stone   13 years ago

        Gender Differences in Health Care Expenditures (April 2008)

        "Research spanning several decades shows that in comparison with men, women use more physician services, have more episodes of acute ill-ness, require reproductive care, and need more long-term care over their longer life span."

  16. Francisco d Anconia   13 years ago

    OT: Just saw the Avengers. Best movie I've seen in at least 10 years.

    Whedon impresses!

  17. Francisco d Anconia   13 years ago

    OT: Just saw The Avengers. Best movie I've seen in at least 10 years.

    Whedon impresses!

    1. Francisco d Anconia   13 years ago

      Where exactly did the first post go? Did it hide somewhere in the virtual ether just long enough for me to re-post, just so it could fuck me?

      Fucking squirrels!

    2. heller   13 years ago

      OT: Just saw The Avengers. Best movie I've seen in at least 10 years.

      So that and The Lucky One were the only movies you've seen in the last ten years.

      I enjoyed Iron Man far more than Avengers. Whedon's generally cringeworthy dialogue/CGI budget seemed to overtake the actual plot of the movie. Halfway in, I didn't know why these people were standing around on the big slow flying aircraft carrier (that can't defend itself from arrows) saying annoying things, nor did I care. The only good part was the final battle and some self-deprecating jokes, but that doesn't make a whole movie.

      1. heller   13 years ago

        Also, Michael Bay could have made the good part of the movie.

        1. Groovus Maximus   13 years ago

          Heresy!

          1. heller   13 years ago

            Anyone who wouldn't describe the final battle of Avengers as 'Bayesque' is deluding themselves.

            Endless car flips and explosions are not Whedon's signature.

          2. heller   13 years ago

            Also giant metallic snake thing and power cube are straight copies of Transformers.

          3. heller   13 years ago

            Also giant metallic snake thing and power cube are straight copies of Transformers.

          4. A Serious Man   13 years ago

            Marvel movies are a small step above Michael Bay, only because they tend to have spot-on casting with actors that can bring out the gravitas in their characters.

            That being said, I am on the fence about seeing 'Battleship'. Can I really, possibly, risk missing Liam Neeson say "You sunk my battleship"? I would watch a 2 hour movie of him looking for his car in the mall parking lot.

  18. Kant feel Pietzsche   13 years ago

    OT but necessary:

    What can I say that the title doesn't?

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po.....t-studies/

  19. 0x90   13 years ago

    Is it just for mother's day, or will government propaganda be written on maxi pads from now on?

  20. ChrisO   13 years ago

    I want to vote for the Libertarian Party, I really do. But getting the chance to vote this overtly redistributionist POS out of office is quite enticing. Even if the replacement ends up being nothing more than a slightly less overt redistributionist POS.

  21. heller   13 years ago

    Men's health is equal to women's health? I've been buying redundant magazines!

  22. Groovus Maximus   13 years ago

    Quothe the Barfman:

    *barf*

  23. SFC B   13 years ago

    I'm trying to wrap my mind around the claim on the "Military Moms" poster at the WH link that "On average military-connected children attend 6-9 different school systems before 12th grade". I'd love to see a cite on that. That is a PCS every two years to almost every 18 months. I don't doubt that such things happen... it's a big military. But I'm not tracking how that would be considered the "average".

    1. Xenocles   13 years ago

      Averaging a PCS per

      1. Xenocles   13 years ago

        I hope the rest of the comment comes back, because I'm not going to retype it.

    2. Brian D   13 years ago

      I grew up while my father served in the Air Force. Combine PCS moves with occasional school redistricting for military families and the normal changing of schools from elementary to junior high to high school and the number of schools attended can add up fast. I myself went to 9 different schools from K-12.

      1. SFC B   13 years ago

        Hence why I want to know what they're actually talking about. When they said "school systems" I assumed that to mean different districts, not just different schools. Cause, honestly, is going to 6 different schools really that out-of-the-ordinary? The Elementary-Middle-High path will give a student 3 schools. A family with school age kids that moves twice in a 12 year period will probably hit 6 schools. And is that really a huge deal?

  24. West Texas   13 years ago

    I just don't understand how it's unfair or wrong to charge women more for their health care because, you know, it actually costs more.

    Obviously I am way past the target demographic for this campaign. mainly because I don't believe in magic money fairies, right?

  25. ShagNasty   13 years ago

    Its hilarious that they say motherhood is not a pre-existing condition. Is it a condition? It would be hard to argue that its not. Did this condition exist prior to your purchase of this health-insurance policy? Please explain to me how that is not a pre-existing condition. Oh yeah I forgot, leftists don't logic.

  26. creativebiolabs   6 years ago

    Mandate upheld. Kennedy, after a long hard debate with himself, will conclude that the health insurance market truly is unique and decide to vote with the liberals. Roberts will then panic and decide to join the majority so he can write the opinion to ensure that it is very narrow and so he (and thus his Supreme Court) appear to be less political (especially following Bush v. Gore and Citizens United). Roberts does not want his tenure to be called the "Political Court."
    IgG-IgG

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