Progressive News Feeds

A new insurance report says that unconventional fossil fuel production risks blowing global economic recovery off course. [ Guardian ] Soaring risks around new fossil fuel frontiers – shale gas, deepwater exploration and the Arctic – have the potential to blow the global economic recovery off course, according to a report

Tags: author, economy, facebook, feeds, indian, insurance, progressive news, security

Last week, the Colorado Division of Insurance became the second state agency in the week to issue a bulletin stating that discrimination in health coverage on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status is impermissible under state law. The bulletin is the latest in a series of decisions by states and employers clearly stating that no person should be denied health care or coverage based on who they are

Tags: author, economy, facebook, health, health-insurance, insurance, lgbt, marriage, marriage equality, progressive news, transgender, war

Fox Business host Stuart Varney selectively cited a Wall Street Journal article to fearmonger over President Obama’s health care law, ignoring that potential increases would impact only a small part of the insured population and would be partially offset by federal tax subsidies. On America’s Newsroom , Varney, citing a Wall Street Journal article , claimed that millions of people “will be paying a whole lot more for their individual coverage after Obamacare takes full effect next year

Tags: discrimination, education, environment, feeds, government, health, insurance, jobs, journal, science

Fox News host Alisyn Camerota falsely claimed “your premiums are going to double” under the new health care law, when in fact potential increases would only affect a small portion of the insured population and would be partially offset by tax credits. On Fox & Friends, Camerota cited an Associated Press report on health insurance reform and claimed it showed “your premiums are going to double and that your bills could double, this is really stunning news for lots of Americans.” But the Associated Press report found that the potential increases in health care premiums would affect “a relatively small slice of the insured population” and that the new policies are expected to reduce health care costs for many. The report also found that tax credits will offset some of the increases, particularly for young adults: There also will be tax credits, or subsidies, given to people with incomes that fall within 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

Tags: education, elections, friends, government, hawaii, insurance, security, video, war

By Kiley Kroh After a year full of mishaps and failures in its quest to drill for oil off the coast of Alaska, Royal Dutch Shell announced today that it would not pursue exploratory drilling activity in the Arctic Ocean this year.  The decision comes as the Obama administration nears the end of its high-level, 60-day review of Shell’s troubled Arctic drilling program, which was announced on January 8. Last year was fraught with problems for Shell as the company attempted the first Arctic offshore exploratory drilling activity in decades. Technical failures, permit violations, struggles with the harsh and unpredictable Arctic conditions, and warnings from a wide range of voices all combined to discredit the company’s claims that such operations could be carried out safely and responsibly

Tags: carbon, global-warming, industry, insurance, lgbt, oil-spill, pollution, thinkprogress, tweets, video

According to a just-released study by the Commonwealth Fund and Georgetown University, most states are woefully behind in implementing even the most basic Obamacare consumer protections. The report finds that “only 11 states and the District of Columbia have passed rules needed to implement the law.” That means the other 39 states — which constitute an overwhelming majority of the American population — find themselves playing catch-up when it comes to enacting Obamacare’s core regulations, including provisions that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions and charging outsized premiums to elderly Americans

Tags: #abortion, action, economy, facebook, insurance, lgbt, public-health, tweets, yahoo

Rush Limbaugh falsely redefined redlining, claiming that it involves forcing banks to loan money to people who can’t afford to pay it back in order to blame liberals for the financial crisis. In fact, the prohibited practice involves a lending institution’s refusal to lend money based on location. After noting a news article stating that new regulations will require mortgage lenders to verify and inspect borrowers’ financial records, Limbaugh said on the January 10 edition of his radio show: LIMBAUGH: You know what Obama and the Rev.

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Fox News host Neil Cavuto and Fox guest Stephen Moore agreed that President Obama is wrong to suggest that federal spending growth is driven by health care costs, when in fact Obama is right. Health care spending is the only category of federal spending projected to grow substantially over the next two decades, and government health insurance is actually more efficient than private sector insurance.

Tags: education, elections, environment, health, insurance, media, president, progressive news, science, slate, the nation, war

On Friday morning, outgoing Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) attributed the GOP’s reluctance to reach a balanced deal that could avert the so-called fiscal cliff to Grover Norquist’s pledge, which prevents Republicans from supporting a tax increase. President Obama has called on lawmakers to pass a package that maintains the Bush tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year, though Republicans have thus far ignored his call and unsuccessfully attempted to advance a much more modest measure that preserved tax breaks for incomes under a million dollars.

Tags: cnn, congress, debt-ceiling, ethics, feeds, house speaker, insurance, olympia snowe, taxes

Major banks this year paid $10.7 billion in fines for a host of transgressions, including money laundering and foreclosure fraud.

Tags: corporate ethics, economy, insurance, news, taxes, thinkprogress, tweets, yahoo