Social Issues

Under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the government spent $2.4 billion creating 23 non-profit healthcare cooperatives which were intended to help drive down health insurance costs through competition with for-profit companies.

As we noted, insurance premiums have subsequently skyrocketed, 12 of the 23 co-ops lost so much money that they had to shut down, and the remaining 11 lost a combined $400 million last year. So far, so good on the Obamacare front.

Refugees escaping war and hardship in the Middle East who risked their lives and paid smugglers 1000’s of dollars to reach the safety of Europe, are now trying to swim their way back to Turkey. They are leaving behind asylum detention centers described by some as unfit for animals. Some migrants weary of deportation back to Turkey and an uncertain welcome by the authorities have pre-empted the process to avoid facing Turkish interrogation and detention.

In a rather stunning move, France's prime minister Manuel Valls announced that the government would be invoking a little known, and seldom used, article of its constitution in order to bypass parliament and push through a controversial labor reform bill.

The public schools in Fort Worth — Fort Worth — are going trans-positive. Here’s a link to the new school policy, which is based on the new federal interpretation of Title IX. It’s in Scribd, so I can’t quote excerpts. Highlights include:

A confusing voter registration issue could cost Bernie Sanders potential votes in the upcoming California primaries. The far-right American Independent Party has its name on California ballots and independent voters wishing to vote for the Democratic presidential hopeful might have inadvertently registered with the extremist anti-liberal party. They need to change their registration forms soon otherwise their votes will not be counted. Despite the obscurity of the far-right group, currently 3% of Californians are registered with the American Independent Party (AIP).