If you already quit your job, you’re a few days too early. The new jackpot is on Wednesday January 13th and it’s expected to reach $1.3Billion.
America awaits its first lottery billionaire, after the Powerball jackpot rollover hit a world-record figure of $1.3 billion. No one won Saturday’s $949.8 million jackpot on 9 January, already the biggest in US history. Strong ticket sales, fueled by excitement over the enormous sum, have driven the prize money up ahead of the next draw on Wednesday.
I suppose it would have been fitting if the Obama Administration had scheduled April Fool’s Day as the last day to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. We’ve certainly been treated to a smorgasbord of ineptitude, shifting deadlines, executive pronouncements that let certain economic sectors off the hook, and some rude, disrespectful, sometimes hateful objections from the right-wing about the entire business.
That’s why March 31 is so important. It represents the end of the first, and possibly most vital, stage of the implementation of the act. Millions of people have signed up for heath insurance. Millions of others are now covered by Medicaid. The federal and state websites are still balky, but they work. The end of the beginning is upon us. It can only get better from here. And the best part is that the law is working.
Republicans have dropped their demand that the law be scrapped, which six months ago looked like a possibility as they shut down the government and Healthcare.gov showed exactly what can go wrong when the government attempts to shortchange the software cycle. Now the arguments are that the law needs to be fixed, although GOP candidates are running against it to the exclusion of everything else, except perhaps voter ID laws that will guarantee a Republican majority in the House for the foreseeable future. Even Democrats in tossup races in Louisiana and North Carolina are talking about fixing the law so it doesn’t ensnare the middle class and endanger employer-provided health insurance.
The problem is that, over time, that’s exactly what the law will accomplish. We are moving into uncharted waters, where the employer mandate will shift and companies will start to drop health insurance from their benefit plans. How this will work is the key. Will companies give employees a voucher with a dollar amount attached to it to buy insurance? Will they raise wages so people can pay for their own policies? Will insurance companies bring down the cost of policies so they can remain viable? Will we eventually get a public option that takes private insurance out of the economy? These are the questions that will define how successfully the ACA reforms the health care industry. Follow the money. That’s always been the gold standard of social change.
My sense is that employer-sponsored health insurance will be gone from most industries within 7-10 years, and the fallout won’t be as bad as some have predicted. Companies have a vital interest in the health of their workers and insurance companies won’t want to price people out of plans. Without the major expense of providing health insurance, companies will be able to pay workers more, though not too much more. The minimum wage will be less of a burden as it rises. Workers will need to make healthier choices and get checked more often before health issues become major concerns. The GOP calls this personal responsibility, and they accuse the Democrats of coddling the country with social programs. The ACA will do more for people taking control of their health than anything we’ve done in the United States. Remembers, the ACA is based on Republican ideas. That’s why the law is both a curse and a blessing.
All of that is in the future. For now, President Obama’s approval numbers are in the tank. History will remember him far more positively.
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A single ticket sold in New Jersey matched all six numbers in Saturday night’s drawing for the $338.3 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials said. It was the 13th drawing held in the days since a Virginia man won a $217 million jackpot Feb. 6.
Thirteen other tickets worth $1 million each matched all but the final Powerball number on Saturday night. Those tickets were sold in New Jersey and 10 other states. Lottery officials said there was also one Power Play Match 5 winner in Iowa.
The New Jersey Lottery said Sunday that details about the winning ticket would be released Monday, declining to reveal where it had been purchased and whether anyone had immediately come forward. It was the sixth largest jackpot in history.
The numbers drawn were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million.
Lottery officials said the 13 tickets worth $1 million apiece – matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball – were sold in Arizona, Florida (2), Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina and Virginia.
Powerball said on its website that the grand prize jackpot has now been reset to an estimated $40 million or a lump sum cash amount estimated at $25 million for Wednesday’s next drawing.
h/t Huffington Post
You couldn’t get this low of an approval even if you tried.
Hammered by bipartisan discontent with its partisan rancor, the U.S. Congress reconvenes Tuesday with its lowest approval rating on record in polls dating back nearly 40 years –ideal fodder not just for late-night comedians, but also for President Obama in the election year ahead.
Just 13 percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of the way Congress is handling its job, while 84 percent disapprove – its worst rating in poll results since 1974. Sixty-five percent disapprove “strongly,” a vast level of high-intensity criticism.
Congress’ rating is a broad 35 points below Obama’s 48 percent approval, the biggest gap between approval of the president and Congress since 1990
But no one should be surprised. This is just part of the Republicans “Anyone But Romney” strategy. We all expect that when it’s all said and done, Republicans will put the future of this country into the hands of someone who can’t decide where he stands on any issue, on any particular day.
To quote Christine O’Donnell when she endorsed the man Republicans will be forced to accept, “That’s one of the things that I like about him — because he’s [Romney] been consistent since he changed his mind.”
This article was originally posted on my blog: www.anjfarmer.blogspot .com. If you like it, please visit and read more of my posts.
Since our last episode, on November 6, one year before the national elections, much has changed in the race for president. We are currently in the middle (end? beginning?) of the Gingrich ascendancy, and there is some evidence (from this CBS News poll) that Newt could pull off a stunning comeback win in Iowa, which would put him in terrific position for New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada later in January. So with that appetizing thought in our heads, let’s move on to the main meal.
Obama Job Approval
The latest RealClearPolitics Index of Obama’s job approval is here. Since last month, Obama’s approval has dropped from 45.3% to 43.8% and his disapproval has risen slightly, from 50.7% in November to 50.8% today. A look at the main 3-day averages that RCP uses, Gallup and Rasmussen, shows almost no change in Obama’s improvement. Further, this article puts Obama’s approval lower than Jimmy Carter’s at the same stage in their presidencies. Clearly, this is not good news for the President’s supporters.
Head-To-Head Match-ups
These number tell a much different story. While more Americans disapprove of the job the president is doing, they favor him over every other prospective Republican nominee.
He’s also slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in the swing state of Florida, but only by 1 point.
The Republican Field
It’s the Newt show at this point, and that’s a very recent phenomenon, coming on the heels of, and in some ways caused by, the implosion of Herman Cain’s campaign. The numbers are stark and solid, but the real question is, how long will they last?
Perhaps more troubling for Mitt Romney’s campaign are these results from pollsandvotes.com showing Romney’s support actually dropping in the first four states to hold votes next month. If Mitt doesn’t watch out, he might be in a position where a less-than-solid win in New Hampshire could be seen as a failure or a “he’s supposed to win” moment that doesn’t pay off in the long run.
My sense is that Romney will win most of the January states simply because, at this point, Gingrich doesn’t have a presence in these states that would allow him to conduct the retail politics necessary to corral votes. It’s even more uphill for Newt in Iowa, where getting your people to the caucuses is the main concern. Still, he does have money and is beginning to air TV ads that will reach far more people than getting out and shaking hands.
But Romney also has to be concerned. Conservatives will show up in droves this year, and he could find himself third, behind Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann. That would be quite a fall. Romney didn’t think he would have to fight hard for Iowa since he’s been in the state for the past two years, but that’s changed now.
The Ballots
The Electoral College map hasn’t budged since November.
And neither has the Generic Congressional Ballot, which shows Democrats leading Republicans by 1.2%
Although it’s very early in the campaign, Obama’s strategists have mapped out his electoral college strategy, and it looks something like this:
First, the president is aiming to win all the states John Kerry won in 2004. That would bring him to 246 electoral votes, including Pennsylvania’s mother lode of 20. Add New Mexico, which the president won in 2008, and that’s five more electoral votes. Now he’s at 251.
Then it gets hard. The final 19 electoral votes would come through a process of mix and match.
North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and even Arizona are in the mix, with each showing both promise and peril for Obama’s reelection chances.
That’s it for now. Before I push-off for the holidays (I’ll post another polling report on January 3 for Iowa), let me suggest some gifts for the political junkie in your household. Or in your shoes.
From Amazon, if you’re one of those people who still reads (how 2009!)
Cheers.
