Last Call For Huckleberry's Sacrifice

How scared is Lindsey Graham of getting primaried?  This scared:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday introduced legislation that would ban abortions nationwide for women more than 20 weeks pregnant, the senator's office announced.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act draws on scientific evidence that says an unborn child can feel pain, according to Graham's office. The legislation would make it illegal for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion after 20 weeks, or six months, of pregnancy and would mandate a determination of the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child prior to any abortion operation.

The legislation would make exceptions only in the case that an abortion is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor.

See, he can't be a RINO because he wants to ban abortions nationwide and take that War on Women to blue states!  Please South Carolina teabaggers, don't primary me now!  See how much I hate women having sex and/or not being permanently pregnant like the Good Book says they should be?

Best part is Huckleberry's rape/incest exception only applies to minors, so if you're over 18 and get raped, better act fast or you get a bundle of joy from your horrible, soul-crushing violation whether you want it or not.

Because Republicans care!

Customer Service 101

When things go wrong, people don't care whose fault it is, they just want the damn thing fixed.  President Obama understands this.

President Obama said Thursday that he is "sorry" that some Americans are losing their current health insurance plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, despite his promise that no one would have to give up a health plan they liked.

"I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," he told NBC News in an exclusive interview at the White House.

"We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this."

Meanwhile, here in Kentucky, the Affordable Care Act is working the way it was designed to work.

Jennifer Albrecht lost her job after being given a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis last year – a turn of events that her husband, Hugh, described as feeling like “a building fell on us.” She stretches out her medicine because she cannot afford the refills, suffering worse flare-ups as a result. But last month, after seeking the help of a “kynector” – one of Kentucky’s counselors certified to help people sign up for insurance under the federal health care law – Ms. Albrecht found she qualified for Medicaid. Her coverage will take effect at the beginning of 2014.

“I know that starting Jan. 1 there’s some hope, there’s some relief there,” she said.

Ms. Albrecht, 42, is among the roughly 1,000 people a day who are signing up for coverage through Kentucky’s online insurance marketplace, or exchange, a volume that state officials say has far exceeded their expectations. The success of the exchange, known as Kynect, contrasts sharply with the technical failures of the federally run exchange serving 36 states. Even some state-run exchanges, including those in Maryland and Oregon, have struggled so far.

But to watch the sign-up process last month in Louisville, a city of 600,000, was to get a glimpse of how the rollout of the exchanges was supposed to work from coast to coast. 

Kynect is how the PPACA is supposed to work, without Republican sabotage.  It proves the legislation can work, and it's signing up thousands per week.  Most are getting to take advantage of Medicaid expansion.

But in red states where Republicans have blocked expansion, blocked exchanges, blocked making the plan work, and publicly said "We want our citizens to remain without insurance because we hate the black President" it doesn't work very well.  Imagine that.

And yet in "backwater" Kentucky, the exchange is working beautifully.

Losing It All In Cincy

While Mayor-elect John Cranley is busy railing against the streetcar, maybe he should be setting up city bus service to Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, or Indianapolis for women who need to get abortions, because Cincinnati is about to become the largest metro area in the country without an abortion provider.

Abortion restrictions tucked into Ohio's budget are threatening to close facilities around the state and leave 2.1 million people in the Cincinnati metropolitan area – Ohio's most populous – without an abortion clinic. 

If the Cincinnati-area clinics were to close, the region would become the largest metropolitan area in the country without an abortion clinic, according to a Cincinnati Enquirer analysis cross-referencing U.S. Census data and abortion providers. 

Ohio had 14 abortion clinics at the start of 2013 and could soon be down to seven. Three have closed so far this year – in Toledo, Cleveland and Akron – although those closures were mostly unrelated to the new state rules. Two other clinics, one in Toledo and one in Sharonville, are seeking reprieves from the Health Department's moves to revoke their licenses. And two more, in Cincinnati and Dayton, have asked the state to give them special permission to stay open.

And while everyone is telling us how awesome John Kasich is for being all MAVERICKY and bucking the tea party and expanding Medicaid, let's remember it's Kasich's tea party budget that is about to close basically all the abortion clinics in the state, and that was the point.

"The entire western part of the state is in danger of losing access to safe, legal abortion care. And it's because of politics," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio. 

Without abortion clinics in Cincinnati and perhaps Dayton, Southwest Ohioans, Northern Kentuckians and even some Hoosiers would face hours of driving, days off work and gallons of gas to get an abortion – especially because Ohio law requires an appointment at a clinic at least 24 hours before an abortion, unless the woman is endangered by the pregnancy.

 The goal here is to continue to punish women for being women.  That'll teach them to vote against Republicans, right boys?

StupidiNews!

• Super Typhoon Haiyan, with wind speeds measured up to a staggering 235 MPH, has crushed the central Philippines and may be close to the strongest storm ever recorded. 
• Former President Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason has announced his intent to run for governor of the state of Georgia, an office his grandfather held before being elected to the White House.
• With a 64 to 32 vote, the Senate has passed the Employee Non-Discrimination Act protecting Americans from job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
• Twitter's $26 IPO debut rocketed to $45 a share at closing, meaning the markets have, for now, decided the company is worth about $25 billion.
• Mark your calendars Star Wars fans, Episode VII will be hitting theaters on December 18, 2015, just in time for the holidays.