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American exceptionalism!
The working people of industrialized nations around the world laugh and shake their heads once again hearing the news how Americans freely and without a whimper resign their plight to the whims of giant corporations and their robed jesters. The Reagan revolution has after thirty years of dirty fighting, corrupted elections (Bush v Gore, Bush v Kerry), illegal and unjustified war in Iraq, the near collapse of the United States and possibly the world economy - has opened the door for corporations to assert their rights of personhood.
wonder if hobby lobby objects to the use of Viagra?
I was brought up in a Lutheran home. I was taught that god was a loving god - and Jesus would answer my prayers. I believed to take care of the sick, give food to those who are hungry, ones the golden rule.We have crossed into a new paradigm of theocracy - the Christian Taliban.
first they came for our right to vote and made it more difficult.they came for our jobs and made it difficult to care for our families. They (facebok) came for our privacy and played with fears and emotions like a rat in a cage. They came for our phone numbers and listened to our calls. They came in the name of god to tell us who we can and cannot love. They came to take away our health insurance. Today, though I have complied with the terms of the contract - working for you at low wages without a union, now you take away what you feel are legally available medications because some unseen demon speaks to you?
American exceptionalism!
rich in Folsom
DAnneMarc: I certainly agree with all that you have said. It is just like all those people who watch Fox News...some not so bright (actually, many not so bright), and some very intelligent who want to believe all of what Fox News says because it suits their selfish and snobbish selves. The not so bright, well, they get hooked on the stupid little things that tick them off and go along with the bigger picture which ends up screwing them.
There are also some very intelligent people who, like you said, get trapped in "cognitive dissonance". They wouldn't believe any evidence that was put to them for various reasons.
For one, the idea that there are people in high places of power in this country would do such a thing to fellow Americans is just too much for some people to take.
For another, those powers have a very strong reason to use much of their money and power to put pressure on people, even other scientists and other technologists, to throw doubts about other scientists and technologists who have spoken out and written articles that question the official government conspiracy theory. There is a great deal of pressure that they can put against these people if they dare speak out against the prevailing powers. Some of these people's very jobs can be threatened if they don't play ball with the powers that be. So, they will write and publish articles that will feed the cognitive dissonance of people who are predisposed to it.
It's like the Intelligent Creationists who use scientific buzzwords and a lot of specious arguments and logical fallacies that appear to be logical and correct but usually only is convincing for non-scientific thinking people predisposed to non-critical thinking.
Just the way NIST has acted since 9/11...totally avoiding investigating the possibility of the use of explosives...making statements that they later had to recant on because they were so brazenly ridiculous. NIST knew very well what nano-thermite could do and despite the evidence of nano-thermite in the dust samples they completely ignored it. Nano-thermite was very well known to NIST as they had studied it for years prior to 9/11. The various groups of architects and engineers and scientists and many other highly technical people who have risked a great deal by speaking out have made monkeys out of the NIST people. Yet, there are still cognitive dissonant people who chose to believe that the Neocons/Bush regime in power would not do such a thing. Follow the money...follow the results...who stood to gain the most? Who stood to lose the most? And how did that work out for us since 9/11? People would do well to read about all of the history of past actions by the US government that did some really horrible things just to scare it's citizens into going along with what they did.
Matt, I'd just like to reply to one point you've made regarding gay marriage. Because marriage is a basic human right, I do not believe it is appropriate for gay marriage to even be voted on. Why should someone's basic rights be up for a vote?! I think that's bullshit. - AIW
You're right, Matt. We think for-profit health "insurance" companies should not even exit. They are not providing anything of value to health care, or to those receiving health care; their function is to minimize care to maximize profits, which brings zero benefits to healthcare providers and their patients. I don't give a rat's ass that this system employs hundreds of thousands of workers, or that it is supposedly working "beautifully" for some people. It is killing nearly fifty thousand other people each year. That is enough reason, by itself, to justify putting an end to this extortion racket once and for all.
Many of these people who say the system is working great for them haven't had a crisis. Once they do, they just might find out it isn't working so "great" after all. - Aliceinwonderland
OMG!!!
Please go take the time to READ the Ruling in its entirety and stop listening to the LEFT and RIGHT PRESS. They are all IDOTS.
The ONLY thing that Hobby Lobby case decides is that of the 20 Birth Control medications, they only wanted to NOT pay for 4! The four that are "embryo killing"......GEEZ you all are so friggin brain washed. Ease up and get educated. HOBBY LOBBY should not have to comprimise their religiaous beliefs any more than I should fund a womans right to SCREW with out getting pregnant if I choose not to. Truly, we have the best government money can buy and we still re-elect the LEFT and RIGHT. We need a third party of moderate libertarians. But I will be dead, (Thank God), by the time you youngin's wake up and try to take the country back to 1969 values. Good luck....for me, its been a great ride!
THIS COUNTRY IS QUICKLY LOOKING MORE LIKE A CORRUPT BANNANA REPUBLIC
FG
Loren Bliss ~ I think you hit the nail on the head...again! Now that the ACA mandates services, and premiums and copays have risen as a result, the only way to increase profits are by finding another way to restrict services. This is a tremendous windfall for the insurance industry. Most young women seek birth control--at least most of the time. It is the one health service that is popularly needed by completely healthy people. In fact, the more physically fit, the more it is needed. It is the one major expense of the insurance industry. Now, thanks to SCOTUS, companies can help the insurance industry save a fortune; and, at the same time rip off the masses even more so.
The idea that this decision actually favors an establishment of religion over individual human rights just infuriates me to no end. SCOTUS, the highest court of the country, is predominantly ran by a bunch of mindless corporate shills. That scares the hell out of me and does nothing to inspire my confidence in our system. This is one of the big prices we are being made to pay because Barack the Betrayer didn't follow through with his campaign promise to establish single-payer health care for all. How much more is it going to cost us citizens in the long run? I can only imagine. This is just the beginning.
With single payer both the employer and the insurer would have been removed from the equation. Now there are two entities standing in between you and your Doctor; and, both of them are more interested in their profits and other agenda than your health, rights, well being, or wishes.
Loren Bliss ~ I'm not sure what problem you are having; however, I am not having it. What I do is to compose everything right here in the comment box of Thom's blog. Then, before I post it, I copy and paste it into my email to run it through the spell checker. After I do my edits I cut it and paste it back into the comment box--replacing the original text. Then I do a second brief proofread, make any bold, or italicised additions. (Underlying doesn't seem to work for some reason.) Add any hyperlinks--with the hyperlink tool.
The only problem I've encountered is sometimes there will be an extra space between one of the paragraphs that I didn't want. When I re edit I remove the extra spaces with my backspace button. Very simple. I think this is probably because the font and font size used on this site is fixed and not completely compatible with that of my email service. That is probably what is happening with you. I'd suggest starting with the site's text. Then copy and paste back and forth to edit. You might also want to play around with the program you are using to edit. Also, make sure your software is up to date. Sometimes different programs--and operating systems--just aren't completely compatible with some sites.
Don't get too frustrated. I know how that feels after you spent time composing. However, I'm sure whatever the problem is there is a simple solution.
Hobby Lobby? Seriously! A nonvital retail service has the nerve to push the buttons of an already taxed market and risk losing customers over such a petty issue? You've got to be kidding me? SCOTUS and its reich wing backers dares to PO 51% of the voting public; and, the men who love them? Really? These people are incredibly out of touch with reality. Well, lets just see how their behavior and policies pay off for them at the ballot box and the cash register.
As far as these vindictive hypocritical corporate sexist fascist are concerned I agree with stecoop01 above, it is our constitutional duty as Americans in solidarity with women's rights to BOYCOTT 'HOBBY LOBBY'.
Chi Matt -- What we need is a competitive carbon market place. Where is Teddy R when we need him?
Chi Matt -- No belief is a belief system. Some astute group needs to work on the English language. I thought no means no.
This case has nothing to do with Hobby Lobby's belief system. Before the ACA, they were quite willing to provide contraceptive services to their employees. When the 99% said that they were required, they responded like all the other 1% fascists. No one is going to tell them what they can do to their employees.
I'm just so angry I don't think I can write anything worth reading. The K-RATS are just so openly stupid--can't they see the future ramifications? Alito's comments were that others should not use this decison to deny coverage for other things like vaccinations and blood transfusions, but they will, everyone knows it. I thought SMART people were supposed to be on the Supreme Court not greedy corporate hacks and mindless lapdogs.
Read Ruth Bader Ginzberg's desent--it takes away a little sting.
Thanks OrgDevGuy--that's my gripe too.
I am a quilter and an artist and I haven't shopped in HobbyLobby since the case came up and will not so do and encourage others to do so. There are other more worthy shops in my town who will receive my devil dollars.
Finally after FOUR attempts: whaddya bet the site software has been changed and is no longer compatible with Open Office Writer. Only way I can get correct paragraphing -- and this was an hour-long effort -- was to write everything again, then run it all together with no spacing and hope the <p> symbols hadn't somehow disappeared. WAY too much frustration and clerical detail work -- precisely the sort of thing I utterly despise -- which is precisely why (sorry Alice et al), I most likely won't be back.
The dire triple impact of the Hobby Lobby decision has seemingly been missed by Mr. Hartman and every other commentator thus far. But the hideous truth is that Hobby Lobby clears the way for de jure imposition of Christian theocracy on the United States. It provides a means of making birth control unobtainable throughout the nation even as it further reshapes the Affordable Care Act to maximize profit for the insurance barons.
It does so because of how two facts interface.
The first of these facts is that 63 percent of the U.S. population is, by definition, fanatically Christian (see http://legacy.rasmussenreports.com/2005/Bible.htm ). This means these people believe the Bible is literally the word of their god, and that to disobey his mandates (which include the genocidal elimination of non-believers) condemns one to eternal damnation. (Though intelligent humans consciously reject the notion of everlasting hell, subconsciously it remains our species' most terrifying concept.)
Element two in this equation of theocratic oppression is that at least 90 percent of all U.S. business comes under the "closely held" definition (see http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/closely-held-corporations.html ).
The convergence of these two realities means the vast majority of U.S. business how has the ability to abolish the reproductive freedom of its employees. This in turn gives business the power to impose a de facto state religion on these employees, who given economic reality are its de facto subjects -- scarcely different from slaves or serfs.
(Imposition of theocracy via the private sector is already a standard Christian tactic. Note for example how the takeover of the nation's health care facilities by the Roman Catholic Church imposes a de facto ban on abortion -- and indeed on all forms of contraception -- wherever it occurs.)
Meanwhile the insurance barons are allowed to continue collecting the obscene windfall profits imposed by mandatory insurance even as they set prohibitively expensive co-pays and deductibles to radically limit the public's ability to obtain health care. The Hobby Lobby decision furthers this same process: it gives the insurance barons another means of maximizing profit and minimizing cost, in this instance by following the Christian employers' no-birth-control mandates. And since ACA required birth control be provided at no cost to the workers, there is no mandate for the insurors to lower their premiums in response to the birth-control bans. The decision therefore actually increases the insurance barons' profits.
(No doubt this economic sleight-of-hand is intentional, carefully scripted by Obama and his corporate henchmen from the very onset of the Obamacare scheming.)
Those who doubt the Hobby Lobby is the beginning of the end of all birth-control availability in the United States need only look at how private-sector and state-level initiatives already deny abortions in 87 percent of the nation's counties. (See https://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/access_abortion.html )
Meanwhile the claim that redress can be obtained through Congress is wishful thinking so absurd it borders on delusional. The House has been gerrymandered to ensure its Republican majority -- which is also a fanatical Christian majority -- is permanent. And given the electorate's (deliberately induced?) rage at the Democrats for their deceptions and betrayals, it's likely the Senate will become permanently Republican too.
Thus we are herded far down the slippery slope toward theocracy, the course upon which we were forcibly set in 1954 when the phrase "under God" -- the ultimate coda for theocratic subjugation -- was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.
At least though there is a tiny chance the brazen egregiousness of the Hobby Lobby decision will awaken more USians to the savage, core-doctrine misogyny that defines Abrahamic religion -- Christianity, Islam, Judaism -- as the most relentless enemy of women and womanhood anywhere on this dying planet.
Plus, they weren't imposing any beliefs on anyone. The women who work there can get all of the contraception they want. The owners just aren't going to be forced to pay for a few types of contraception. It's like saying that someone who works for a company owned by Hindus can still bring beef in their lunches, but don't expect it to be served in the company cafeteria.
I predict there will be a temporary surge in Hobby Lobby sales, as people try to make a statement of approval of their stand, just like there was a surge in Chik-Fil-A after that one owner said some anti-gay things. I also suspect there will be no mention of this surge in the media.
Dunno why this goddamn website won't paragraph properly despite use of the correct codes. . Sorry -- I know the bad formatting makes my post impossible to read -- which is why I'm going to try once more to edit it to make it right, and if not, delete it. Mr. Hartmann and his nurds can cheer: they may have finally driven me permanently off this site.
Most of the numbers I can find online say that around 500,000 people work for health insurance companies. It's not just the CEOs who make money from them. That's 500,000 families who get at least some - but probably most - of their income through this system that you think shouldn't even exist.
Only if you focus on the negatives, which would be easy to do if you listened to too much Progressive radio. The "system" is working beautifully for more people than Thom would want you to believe. And WAY better than most government-run systems have done in this country.
Again, as always, we have totally different perspectives. I'm a full generation behind you, which means I haven't had as much exposure to the healthcare system. I know I sound like an arrogant prick who thinks his body is going to be this good forever. I know what's in store for me. I just don't think it's so bad as to warrant risking all of the positives for the chance at something better. Because once that attempt at a better, single-payer system happens, there's no going back, no matter how bad it is. It's like trying to un-bake a cake at that point.
We should make every company responsible for all aspects of cleaning up their product, not just in the air, but landfill as well.
Some products already have this: companies that do oil changes and auto parts stores must also collect used oil and car batteries. We should extend this to include EVERYTHING. I should be able to take my garbage to Target, since that's where I buy most of my stuff, and they should have to either pay for the landfill, or figure out a way to make money recycling it.
It's a win-win for all, really.
Lefties get: Instant recycling programs around the country, and profit motives for the companies to reduce their garbage and recycle more.
Righties get: A weakened sanitation worker union, since they won't be needed anymore, and a break from the taxes and fees that come along with disposing of your own garbage.
Thanks Chuck. I'm always hesitant to log on and read this blog unless I have time to reply right then, because otherwise it will mark things as "read" and I forget about them. I like to spend time on my posts, which is why I don't do as many as I used to. For it being my summer vacation, I'm actually more busy now than usual.
Anyway, I'm going to answer your question with another question: Who, exactly, are "We the People", in your opinion? The Koch brothers are American citizens, right? They are equally "the people". As is George Bush. As are the 50 percent or so of voters who vote Republican. As am I.
Democrats love to talk about "We the People" when it fits their class-envy needs. But when it comes to something like gay marriage, which has been voted down every time "the People" have been allowed to vote on it, suddenly the "We the People" chant grows silent.
There are currently 24 "Right to work" states in the Union. "The People" in those state voted to be on their own when it comes to the workplace. But a Progressive would say that those laws are actually not good for "The People" and should be thrown out.
I think both sides need cut the "The American people want this or that" crap. The American people are divided on a national level. I'd respect any politician more if they started saying "The voting majority of my actual constituents wants this or that." Nancy Pelosi is not my representative, and I wish she would quit saying she speaks for me, since I am an American too.
Perhaps you, too, would respect a tea party Representative if they just came out and said, "The majority of the voters in my district elected me knowing that I would be a roadblock to and left-wing agenda. So I am here to vote "no" to pretty much everything. I don't really care what people outside of my district think of me."
It's also a loss for all who understand that "freedom of religion" does NOT mean that you're free to impose your beliefs on me.
I want to move to France or the Netherlands.
Conservative christians need to be reminded: Those who discrimante against others can themselves be discriminated against!
I will never do business with Hobby Lobby, and I will encourage all I know to not shop there.
BOYCOTT HOBBY LOBBY!!!!
to rflood321
You are right........but we must win in NOV 2014 and give DEMs MAJORITY.........or forget Democracy
Not at all surprised. We need to be up in arms about this decision. And the mere fact that this company invests in companies that provide contraception devices and pills is dispicable. What a bunch of hypocrits
I was taught incorrectly, in 1975 7th grade history, that the Supreme court served 2 primary purposes; 1) to be the last court of appeal and 2) to hold the Congress and the POTUS to constitutional standards with regard to legislation. ALL these years, until today, I assumed that the latter to be true. Thanks Thom, for setting me straight! I was taught something along these lines;
“The Supreme Court has a special role to play in the United States system of government. The Constitution gives it the power to check, if necessary, the actions of the President and Congress.
It can tell a President that his actions are not allowed by the Constitution. It can tell Congress that a law it passed violated the U.S. Constitution and is, therefore, no longer a law. It can also tell the government of a state that one of its laws breaks a rule in the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the final judge in all cases involving laws of Congress, and the highest law of all — the Constitution.” http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/role-supreme-court
Horrifyingly, from the scRotus’s own web site;
“The complex role of the Supreme Court in this system derives from its authority to invalidate legislation or executive actions which, in the Court's considered judgment, conflict with the Constitution. This power of "judicial review" has given the Court a crucial responsibility in assuring individual rights, as well as in maintaining a "living Constitution" whose broad provisions are continually applied to complicated new situations. While the function of judicial review is not explicitly provided in the Constitution, it had been anticipated before the adoption of that document. Prior to 1789, state courts had already overturned legislative acts which conflicted with state constitutions. Moreover, many of the Founding Fathers expected the Supreme Court to assume this role in regard to the Constitution; Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, for example, had underlined the importance of judicial review in the Federalist Papers, which urged adoption of the Constitution.” http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/constitutional.aspx
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, if I’m reading it right, Yale Law School’s Eugene V. Rostow wrote a paper in 1952 entitled, “The Democratic Character of Judicial Review” http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3158&cont... He seems to interpret Jefferson in an opposite frame as does Thom.
Noticing the obvious and deliberate misinformation being taught from grade school to law school in the US today regarding this issue, it would seem the same faction of fascists who tried to hire Gen. Smedley Butler to overthrow FDR, has seized upon judicial review with the intent to use the scRotus to accomplish what they could not then.