NC'S BLACK BABIES ARE DYING IN THE ABSENCE OF MEDICAID EXPANSION: Deaths of African-American babies declined most quickly in states that expanded Medicaid coverage, researchers have found. North Carolina isn’t one of those states. More than 15% of North Carolina women ages 19-44 don’t have health insurance, 10th most among states, according to the United Health Foundation. North Carolina is one of 14 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion as allowed by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. States that expanded Medicaid, which allowed more low-income adults to have health insurance, also had greater overall declines in infant death rates, said a 2018 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Those improved rates were driven by declines in black babies’ deaths. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article239501218.html
This is not a BlueNC endorsement. It's my personal choice.
I had been planning to keep quiet through primary season in the interest of peace and harmony. But last night, after doing hours of research and thinking hard about our system of government, I decided to support Erica Smith for US Senate. Erica checks all the boxes for me, and perhaps most important, she's an African American woman.
TILLIS COVERS HIS EARS AND SAYS, "LA LA LA, LA LA LA": Sen. Thom Tillis said a new account from former Trump administration official John Bolton “hasn’t affected my decision” on whether he will vote to call witnesses in the Senate’s impeachment trial. The Republican senator from North Carolina has said he would probably oppose calling witnesses. Tillis has also said he plans to vote to acquit President Donald Trump, something he made clear even before the Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democrats want to call Bolton to testify about his time as Trump’s national security adviser and specifically about how the president handled aid to Ukraine. In an unpublished manuscript described in a New York Times story Sunday, Bolton says Trump told him he wanted to continue withholding the security aid until Ukraine turned over material related to his political rivals Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article239681818.html
It's not often two national politicians can be tied together with a single fancy ribbon, but Thom Tillis and Mark Meadows certainly can. They're both hyper-partisan shills for Donald F. Trump, fluffing the Orange One with no regard for truth, decency, or constitutional responsibility. Each has a daily Twitter presence that sings Trump's praises while denigrating fully half of their constituents with accusations of being part of a liberal mob.
“Congressman Meadows is in regular contact with the White House and the president’s legal team and is a crucial ally who amplifies the president’s views and the president’s case to the American people,” said a source familiar with his involvement, who added that Meadows has been to the White House at least once in the last week.
The White House counsel’s office and Meadows and his staff are also in touch by phone. Meadows has made multiple media appearances, a willing interview at a time when many senators are avoiding the press. He went on Fox News on Thursday morning, accusing House Democrats of “intentionally misleading” the American people about Trump’s actions.
We should probably start ignoring Meadows, since he's not running to keep his seat this year. Way too many other moles to whack. But when I see crap like this:
WOMEN MARCH ON RALEIGH WITH THE ERA ON THEIR MINDS: Most of Sunday’s event took place in the grassy center of Halifax Mall, where nearly a dozen speakers took the stage, representing a wide range of issues, from healthcare and reproductive rights, to indigenous people’s rights, to pay inequality between men and women. Longtime activist and march organizer Yevonne Brannon said a new generation is ready to pick up the torch for women’s rights. “I think you see a lot of young women who are anxious,” Brannon said at a march event earlier in the week. “They’re willing and ready and want to connect to their world. They’re very frustrated by coming out of high school and entering college, entering the workplace and seeing that we’re still facing many of the things they read about in their U.S. History classes.” https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article239601663.html
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