thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Our Health Care Heroes Are Getting Fed Up With Us

For nine months , physicians , nurses and other workers in hospitals , nursing homes and clinics have put their lives and the lives of their family members at risk as they respond to a pandemic that has sickened 18 million Americans and killed more than 320,000 .
More than 3,000 Americans a day have died of COVID-19 in recent weeks , more than even during the initial surge of infections in the spring .
Tides of infectious patients pouring into hospitals threaten to overwhelm the entire health care system .
Gravely ill patients are suffering and dying alone , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ witnesses of their final moments .
Health care facilities are short-staffed but the sick people keep coming .
There ’ s never enough personal protective equipment ( also known as PPE ) such as masks .
Illness and death are part of the job for medical professionals .
But not this much , for this long , with the end still at least months away .
Medical professionals are physically and mentally exhausted .
Americans aren ’ t making matters any better for them .
All along , health care workers have pleaded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wear masks when around other people , to socially distance when around others , to not get together in groups indoors .
That ’ s still what they want , and they ’ re weary of asking .
“ I ’ ve had multiple patients say , ‘ Nope , this is not COVID .
There ’ s no way this is COVID .
I ’ m going to go to work tomorrow , I ’ m going to continue with my daily life , ’ ” said Stacey Marlow , an emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who is the president of the American College of Emergency Physicians ’ chapter in her state .
“ I ’ ve had multiple young persons , mainly in their 20s , who have been going out going to bars and they come in with classic COVID symptoms , and their response is , ‘ There ’ s no way I have COVID , ’ ” Marlow said .
“ They are just so whiny , for lack of better word , but they ’ re very , very upset at their situation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s really hard sometimes to hold back and not tell them that , you know , the magic fix was you not going out to the bars .
You should have lived your life differently.
” “ When we go out somewhere and somebody has their mask on their chin , my kids say it to them .
They say , ‘ Mom , look , that person doesn ’ t have their mask on right .
They ’ re spreading the virus.
’ And I say that ‘ yes , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I ’ m considering that a public health intervention and I have not told them to stop saying it.
” In the first months of the pandemic , front-line health care workers were hailed as heroes .
In cities and towns around America , people would step outside nightly to applaud those fighting for us against the coronavirus outbreak .
Government leaders curtailed daily activities to stem the spread .
That helped , and health care workers noticed .
They ’ ve also noticed how many Americans seem to have stopped trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the rising case numbers indicate .
“ Somebody said , ‘ Well , we want to do something for the health care workers .
Can we bring in pizza ?
’ I said , ‘ You know what ?
Go out on the street , and every person you meet without a mask , slap them across the face .
That might help us , ’ ” Stanerson said .
Alone For The Holidays For Stanerson , COVID-19 denialism has hit home .
Her family members who live nearby in her hometown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frequently gather together .
Part of the problem , she suspects , is that her relatives are supporters of President Donald Trump , who downplayed the severity of the pandemic from the beginning and even insulted health care workers , lying by claiming they overcount cases for financial reasons .
“ It ’ s caused a lot of stress within the family because they interpret my not being there for like Thanksgiving or birthdays or whatever that I don ’ t care about them anymore , ” Stanerson said .
“ They just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID virus and I ’ m like , ‘ Guys , I ’ m with these patients all day , every day .
I can not take a chance on bringing this home to you , ’ ” she said .
“ ‘ If I get this virus , and I get really sick , and I ’ m in the unit , I charge you with coming in there and filming every disgusting thing they do to me , ’ I said .
‘ And you put that out on the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t care what you show , but show these people what really is going on because they just don ’ t get it .
’ ”

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Front-line health care workers see you. They see you traveling for big, indoor holiday gatherings. They see you packing into bars. They see your social media posts from house parties. They see you without a mask.
And they know they’ll see some of you again soon, crammed into increasingly crowded hospitals as coronavirus infections skyrocket across the U.S.
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For nine months, physicians, nurses and other workers in hospitals, nursing homes and clinics have put their lives and the lives of their family members at risk as they respond to a pandemic that has sickened 18 million Americans and killed more than 320,000. More than 3,000 Americans a day have died of COVID-19 in recent weeks, more than even during the initial surge of infections in the spring.
Tides of infectious patients pouring into hospitals threaten to overwhelm the entire health care system. Gravely ill patients are suffering and dying alone, with health care workers often the sole witnesses of their final moments. Health care facilities are short-staffed but the sick people keep coming. There’s never enough personal protective equipment (also known as PPE) such as masks. Illness and death are part of the job for medical professionals. But not this much, for this long, with the end still at least months away.
Medical professionals are physically and mentally exhausted. Americans aren’t making matters any better for them. All along, health care workers have pleaded with us to be safe, to wear masks when around other people, to socially distance when around others, to not get together in groups indoors. That’s still what they want, and they’re weary of asking.
“Don’t praise me, don’t call me a hero ― none of that. Stay home,” said Raul Garcia, a hospital nurse in El Paso, Texas. “Stay home, take care of yourself, stop going to see other family members. Just stay home,” he said. “At the end of the day, it is a lack of compassion.”
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Misinformation And Misbehavior
When these front-line workers head home at the end of their shifts, they see the behavior that’s going to lead to more coronavirus infections. They also endure infuriating comments and unsafe behavior from COVID-19 denialists, including patients and their own friends and family members.
“I’ve had multiple patients say, ‘Nope, this is not COVID. There’s no way this is COVID. I’m going to go to work tomorrow, I’m going to continue with my daily life,’” said Stacey Marlow, an emergency room doctor in Waterloo, Iowa, who is the president of the American College of Emergency Physicians’ chapter in her state.
Some parents have refused to test their kids for COVID-19, even though they’re presenting symptoms, or ranted about wearing a mask in the emergency department “because COVID’s not real,” she said.
“I’ve had multiple young persons, mainly in their 20s, who have been going out going to bars and they come in with classic COVID symptoms, and their response is, ‘There’s no way I have COVID,’” Marlow said. “They are just so whiny, for lack of better word, but they’re very, very upset at their situation and want a magic fix. And it’s really hard sometimes to hold back and not tell them that, you know, the magic fix was you not going out to the bars. You should have lived your life differently.”
Marlow’s two young daughters know what their mother goes through, and that they aren’t allowed to touch her after work until she’s showered and put on clean clothes. They also understand the importance of masks, and they’re not shy about telling strangers, saving their mother the trouble, she said.
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“When we go out somewhere and somebody has their mask on their chin, my kids say it to them. They say, ‘Mom, look, that person doesn’t have their mask on right. They’re spreading the virus.’ And I say that ‘yes, they are,’” Marlow said. “I’m considering that a public health intervention and I have not told them to stop saying it.”
‘Haunted’
All of these things are causing immense emotional and psychological pain for health care workers. It’s also sickened more than 100,000 health care workers and killed an estimated 1,700 of them.
“They use the word haunted,” said Donna Havens, dean of the Villanova University College of Nursing in Philadelphia. “They’re haunted by the COVID-19 experience, and talk about caring for their co-workers who died while they were caring for them. These are just unimaginable things.”
Havens is conducting a study on the psychological effects of the pandemic on health care workers. The early findings from Villanova’s surveys are grim, she said. These workers are suffering severe-to-moderate depression, moderate-to-severe traumatic stress, moderate-to-severe anxiety and moderate-to-severe insomnia. “This is alarming,” she said.
In the first months of the pandemic, front-line health care workers were hailed as heroes. In cities and towns around America, people would step outside nightly to applaud those fighting for us against the coronavirus outbreak. Government leaders curtailed daily activities to stem the spread. That helped, and health care workers noticed. They’ve also noticed how many Americans seem to have stopped trying to prevent the illness from proliferating, as the rising case numbers indicate.
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“In the early stages, they were being celebrated,” Havens said. “That’s all stopped and I’m beginning to hear that, you know, first we were heroes, and now, no one knows we’re here. We’re just doing the best to stay alive,” she said.
Barbara Stanerson, a physical therapist in Iowa City, Iowa, who treats COVID-19 hospital patients, isn’t interested in the hero talk anymore.
“Somebody said, ‘Well, we want to do something for the health care workers. Can we bring in pizza?’ I said, ‘You know what? Go out on the street, and every person you meet without a mask, slap them across the face. That might help us,’” Stanerson said.
The trauma of working during the pandemic will linger after it’s over, Havens said, jeopardizing the health care workforce because disillusioned doctors, nurses and others will flee their jobs and find easier work to do within the health care system. “They’re all incredibly wounded,” she said.
Marlow understands that feeling. “Medicine is my calling, but it definitely made me question how long I will be able to practice, how long I’ll be able to practice at full time,” she said.
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Alone For The Holidays
For Stanerson, COVID-19 denialism has hit home. Her family members who live nearby in her hometown don’t wear masks and they frequently gather together. Part of the problem, she suspects, is that her relatives are supporters of President Donald Trump, who downplayed the severity of the pandemic from the beginning and even insulted health care workers, lying by claiming they overcount cases for financial reasons.
“It’s caused a lot of stress within the family because they interpret my not being there for like Thanksgiving or birthdays or whatever that I don’t care about them anymore,” Stanerson said. “They just don’t connect it to the COVID virus and I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m with these patients all day, every day. I cannot take a chance on bringing this home to you,’” she said.
“I get angry more than anything, but at times, it does just kind of hurt because nobody wants to be alone over the holidays. I mean, it sucks,” Stanerson said. “It is hurtful ― especially friends or family.”
Stanerson wishes there were a way to make people understand how serious the virus can be. She asked Cathy Glasson, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 199 in Iowa City, for a macabre favor in case she contracts COVID-19.
“‘If I get this virus, and I get really sick, and I’m in the unit, I charge you with coming in there and filming every disgusting thing they do to me,’ I said. ‘And you put that out on the media. You get that out there. I don’t care what you show, but show these people what really is going on because they just don’t get it.’”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Trump Vetoes Defense Bill

Trump Vetoes Defense Bill

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill , following through on threats to veto a measure that has broad bipartisan support in Congress and potentially setting up the first override vote of his presidency .
The bill affirms 3 % pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes more than $ 740 billion in military programs and construction .
Trump has offered a series of rationales for vetoing the bill .
He has called for lawmakers to include limits on social media companies he claimed are biased against him .
He has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the renaming of military bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Hood that honor Confederate leaders .
Without going into detail , he has claimed the biggest winner from the defense bill would be China .
Both the House and Senate passed the measure by margins large enough to override a veto from the president .
Trump had vetoed eight bills previously , but those vetoes were sustained because supporters did not gain the two-thirds vote needed in each chamber for the bill to become law without Trump ’ s signature .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , has said the bill would help deter Chinese aggression .
Other GOP backers of the measure , including Sen. John Thune of South Dakota , the second-ranking Senate leader , and Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin , a member of the House Armed Services Committee , have tweeted that the bill would counter threats from countries such as China .
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island , the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee , said Trump ’ s declaration that China was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ false .
Reed also noted the shifting explanations Trump had given for the veto .
“ President Trump clearly hasn ’ t read the bill , nor does he understand what ’ s in it , ” Reed said .
“ There are several bipartisan provisions in here that get tougher on China than the Trump Administration has ever been.
” The measure guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels , new weapons systems and military readiness , military personnel policy and other military goals .
Many programs can only go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including military construction .
McConnell , in a rare break with Trump , had urged passage despite Trump ’ s threat to veto it .
McConnell said it was important for Congress to continue its nearly six-decade-long streak of passing the defense policy bill .

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill, following through on threats to veto a measure that has broad bipartisan support in Congress and potentially setting up the first override vote of his presidency.
The bill affirms 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes more than $740 billion in military programs and construction.
Trump has offered a series of rationales for vetoing the bill. He has called for lawmakers to include limits on social media companies he claimed are biased against him. He has called for stripping out language that allows for the renaming of military bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Hood that honor Confederate leaders. Without going into detail, he has claimed the biggest winner from the defense bill would be China.
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Both the House and Senate passed the measure by margins large enough to override a veto from the president. Trump had vetoed eight bills previously, but those vetoes were sustained because supporters did not gain the two-thirds vote needed in each chamber for the bill to become law without Trump’s signature.
In advance of the veto, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said the bill would help deter Chinese aggression. Other GOP backers of the measure, including Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Senate leader, and Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, have tweeted that the bill would counter threats from countries such as China.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Trump’s declaration that China was the biggest winner in the defense bill was false. Reed also noted the shifting explanations Trump had given for the veto.
“President Trump clearly hasn’t read the bill, nor does he understand what’s in it,” Reed said. “There are several bipartisan provisions in here that get tougher on China than the Trump Administration has ever been.”
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The measure guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels, new weapons systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military goals. Many programs can only go into effect if the bill is approved, including military construction.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Democrats Support Trump Demand For $2,000 Payments Some Were Pushing For All Along

Several top Democrats have rallied around President Donald Trump ’ s demand for lawmakers to include $ 2,000 stimulus checks in the latest COVID-19 relief package ― payments some Democrats have been pushing for for months .
Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement Sunday on a $ 900 billion coronavirus relief bill after a monthslong impasse .
But Trump on Tuesday seemingly threatened to veto the bill , which Congress passed a day earlier , unless lawmakers more than tripled the bill ’ s $ 600 stimulus payments .
Democratic leaders seized on the rare overlap between their policy goals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) to heed the call .
“ I ’ m in .
Whaddya say , Mitch ?
” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) .
wrote in a tweet .
“ Let ’ s not get bogged down with ideological offsets and unrelated items and just DO THIS !
The American people deserve it.
” For months , Democrats have been calling for stimulus checks at least equal to the $ 1,200 payments Americans received as part of the Coronavirus Aid , Relief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Act signed into law in late March .
In May , three Democratic senators ― Kamala Harris of California , Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Ed Markey of Massachusetts ― introduced a bill that would provide $ 2,000 relief payments to many individuals in the United States .
But the Republican-controlled Senate never brought the bill to a vote .
“ Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks , ” Pelosi wrote in her tweet Tuesday .
“ At last , the President has agreed to $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent.
” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) also tweeted in support of boosting the payments , stating that she and fellow progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib ( D-Mich. ) had drafted an amendment outlining such language last week .
“ Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation , ” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday .
“ We can pass $ 2k checks this week if the Senate GOP agrees to stand down.
” Sanders on Tuesday took a swing at Republicans and conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ payments ― let alone $ 2,000 ― was “ too costly ” for the working class .
He called on Republicans to bend to Trump ’ s request .
“ Now , Mr. President , get Mitch McConnell and your Republican friends to stop opposing it and we can provide working class Americans with $ 2,000 , ” Sanders tweeted .
“ Let ’ s do it.
” McConnell ’ s office has not publicly responded to the demands from Trump or the Democrats as of early Wednesday .
His office did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comment .

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Several top Democrats have rallied around President Donald Trump’s demand for lawmakers to include $2,000 stimulus checks in the latest COVID-19 relief package ― payments some Democrats have been pushing for for months.
Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement Sunday on a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill after a monthslong impasse. But Trump on Tuesday seemingly threatened to veto the bill, which Congress passed a day earlier, unless lawmakers more than tripled the bill’s $600 stimulus payments.
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Democratic leaders seized on the rare overlap between their policy goals and Trump’s demands, and urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to heed the call.
“Let’s do it,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tweeted Tuesday.
“I’m in. Whaddya say, Mitch?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). wrote in a tweet. “Let’s not get bogged down with ideological offsets and unrelated items and just DO THIS! The American people deserve it.”
For months, Democrats have been calling for stimulus checks at least equal to the $1,200 payments Americans received as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law in late March.
In May, three Democratic senators ― Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Ed Markey of Massachusetts ― introduced a bill that would provide $2,000 relief payments to many individuals in the United States. But the Republican-controlled Senate never brought the bill to a vote.
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“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks,” Pelosi wrote in her tweet Tuesday. “At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also tweeted in support of boosting the payments, stating that she and fellow progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) had drafted an amendment outlining such language last week.
“Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday. “We can pass $2k checks this week if the Senate GOP agrees to stand down.”
Sanders on Tuesday took a swing at Republicans and conservative Democrats who thought $1,200 in relief payments ― let alone $2,000 ― was “too costly” for the working class. He called on Republicans to bend to Trump’s request.
“Now, Mr. President, get Mitch McConnell and your Republican friends to stop opposing it and we can provide working class Americans with $2,000,” Sanders tweeted. “Let’s do it.”
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McConnell’s office has not publicly responded to the demands from Trump or the Democrats as of early Wednesday. His office did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Trump Pardons Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Charles Kushner In Another Pardoning Spree

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he ’ s granted yet another spate of pardons to 26 people , including his friend and confidant Roger Stone , former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner , father of Trump ’ s son-in-law , Jared .
Trump also gave sentence commutations to three people .
The move comes just a day after the president announced his decision to pardon or commute the sentences of 20 people , including three corrupt former Republican congressmen , two subjects of special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s Russia investigation and four Blackwater security guards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Iraqi civilians .
In a Wednesday statement , the White House said Stone and Manafort ― both of whom were indicted in the Mueller probe as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election ― had been victims of “ perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history.
” Stone was sentenced in February to 40 months in prison for multiple felonies , including witness tampering , lying to Congress and obstructing the House investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016 .
“ Stone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal crimes .
He remains a convicted felon , and rightly so , ” the special counsel wrote in an op-ed at the time .

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he’s granted yet another spate of pardons to 26 people, including his friend and confidant Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared. Trump also gave sentence commutations to three people.
The move comes just a day after the president announced his decision to pardon or commute the sentences of 20 people, including three corrupt former Republican congressmen, two subjects of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and four Blackwater security guards who were involved in the 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians.
In a Wednesday statement, the White House said Stone and Manafort ― both of whom were indicted in the Mueller probe as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election ― had been victims of “perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history.”
Stone was sentenced in February to 40 months in prison for multiple felonies, including witness tampering, lying to Congress and obstructing the House investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.
Trump commuted Stone’s sentence in July ― prompting a harsh rebuke from Mueller.
“Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so,” the special counsel wrote in an op-ed at the time.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--GOP Voters Say They'd Back Trump Over Congressional Republicans

Patrick Semansky / ASSOCIATED PRESS President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington , D.C. , before boarding Marine One on Dec. 12 .
GOP voters remain far likelier to align themselves with President Donald Trump than they are to side with other Republicans , a new HuffPost/YouGov survey shows .
In the case of a disagreement between Trump and Republicans in Congress , 52 % of Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters say they ’ d be more likely to support Trump , according to the poll , conducted Dec. 15 through Sunday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the GOP legislators , with the rest saying they ’ d back neither or that they ’ re not sure .
Similarly , 62 % say they would back Trump over their own representative , and just 14 % say they would support the latter .
The results reflect , at most , a modest erosion in Trump ’ s base support since he lost his bid for reelection .
In an August HuffPost/YouGov survey , 61 % of GOP voters said they would back Trump over congressional Republicans , and about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back him over their district ’ s representative .
The questions are broad hypotheticals , designed to gauge levels of intraparty loyalty rather than precise reactions to any particular issue .
But such a disagreement is currently brewing : On Tuesday , Trump threatened to veto the coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress , calling for an increase in the size of direct stimulus checks ― something Democratic legislators have also supported .
Trump also lashed out against GOP legislators , including South Dakota Sen. John Thune , who shot down the idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s electoral loss .
“ Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget , ” Trump tweeted .
“ Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election.
” Just 18 % of Republican and Republican-leaning independents say they believe that almost all congressional Republicans support Trump , down from 27 % who said the same in August .
A 65 % majority of those voters say most congressional Republicans back the outgoing president .
That ’ s down from 78 % in the summer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in 2017 , when only about half of Trump ’ s voters thought he had the support of most party legislators .
A 42 % plurality of Republican and Republican-leaning independents who voted for Trump in this year ’ s presidential election say they consider themselves more supporters of Trump than of the Republican Party .
Just 21 % feel that they are more supporters of the party , with another 31 % saying they are supporters of both .
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted Dec. 15-20 among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ selected from YouGov ’ s opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the population .
HuffPost has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls .
You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov ’ s nationally representative opinion polling .
More details on the polls ’ methodology are available here .
Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some but not all potential survey errors .
YouGov ’ s reports include a model-based margin of error , which rests on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ selected sample rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling .
If these assumptions are wrong , the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate .

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., before boarding Marine One on Dec. 12. Patrick Semansky / ASSOCIATED PRESS
GOP voters remain far likelier to align themselves with President Donald Trump than they are to side with other Republicans, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey shows.
In the case of a disagreement between Trump and Republicans in Congress, 52% of Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters say they’d be more likely to support Trump, according to the poll, conducted Dec. 15 through Sunday. Only 15% say they would side with the GOP legislators, with the rest saying they’d back neither or that they’re not sure.
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Similarly, 62% say they would back Trump over their own representative, and just 14% say they would support the latter.
The results reflect, at most, a modest erosion in Trump’s base support since he lost his bid for reelection. In an August HuffPost/YouGov survey, 61% of GOP voters said they would back Trump over congressional Republicans, and about two-thirds had said that they’d back him over their district’s representative.
The questions are broad hypotheticals, designed to gauge levels of intraparty loyalty rather than precise reactions to any particular issue. But such a disagreement is currently brewing: On Tuesday, Trump threatened to veto the coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress, calling for an increase in the size of direct stimulus checks ― something Democratic legislators have also supported.
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Trump also lashed out against GOP legislators, including South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who shot down the idea that Republicans in the Senate could challenge Trump’s electoral loss.
“Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget,” Trump tweeted. “Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election.”
Just 18% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents say they believe that almost all congressional Republicans support Trump, down from 27% who said the same in August. A 65% majority of those voters say most congressional Republicans back the outgoing president. That’s down from 78% in the summer, but still considerably above what it was in 2017, when only about half of Trump’s voters thought he had the support of most party legislators.
A 42% plurality of Republican and Republican-leaning independents who voted for Trump in this year’s presidential election say they consider themselves more supporters of Trump than of the Republican Party. Just 21% feel that they are more supporters of the party, with another 31% saying they are supporters of both.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted Dec. 15-20 among U.S. registered voters, using a sample selected from YouGov’s opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the population.
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HuffPost has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov’s nationally representative opinion polling. More details on the polls’ methodology are available here.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Newt Gingrich Makes Bonkers Claim About Trump's COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich penned an op-ed this week in The Washington Times saying he won ’ t accept President-elect Joe Biden as president , packing the essay with baseless claims of election fraud .
But even more outrageous was a tangent declaring that President Donald Trump followed science in responding to the coronavirus pandemic .
Gingrich , now a right-wing media personality , wrote that the “ elite liberal media ... blamed President Trump for the global pandemic even as he did literally everything top scientists instructed.
” In reality , Trump and his administration falsely downplayed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientists , even though the president knew early on it was lethal .
He pushed unproven and dangerous treatments and attempted to discredit White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci .
He promoted a rapid reopening of the country , defying scientists ’ pleas for caution .
And he mocked research-based safety guidelines like social distancing and mask-wearing .
He also attempted to stoke fear in his base by warning in October that his then-opponent Biden “ will listen to the scientists.
” As if this were dangerous .
Since his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic ’ s mounting toll .
While Biden has given the Trump administration some credit for fast-tracking the development of vaccines , U.S. deaths have now passed 323,000 as COVID-19 patients push hospitals to the brink .
A full vaccine rollout remains perhaps months away .
“ Nor do I have any interest in pretending that the current result is legitimate or honorable , ” wrote Gingrich , whose article was retweeted by Trump .
“ It is simply the final stroke of a four-year establishment-media power grab .
It has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law , cheated the country of information , and smeared those of us who believe in America over China , history over revisionism , and the liberal ideal of free expression over cancel culture.
” He added : “ I write this in genuine sorrow , because I think we are headed toward a serious , bitter struggle in America .
This extraordinary , coordinated four-year power grab threatens the fabric of our country and the freedom of every American .
”

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But even more outrageous was a tangent declaring that President Donald Trump followed science in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Gingrich, now a right-wing media personality, wrote that the “elite liberal media ... blamed President Trump for the global pandemic even as he did literally everything top scientists instructed.”
In reality, Trump and his administration falsely downplayed the threat of the virus as presented by scientists, even though the president knew early on it was lethal. He pushed unproven and dangerous treatments and attempted to discredit White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci. He promoted a rapid reopening of the country, defying scientists’ pleas for caution. And he mocked research-based safety guidelines like social distancing and mask-wearing.
He also attempted to stoke fear in his base by warning in October that his then-opponent Biden “will listen to the scientists.” As if this were dangerous.
Newt Gingrich's op-ed for The Washington Examiner was a doozy. Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images
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Since his election defeat, Trump has mostly ignored the pandemic’s mounting toll.
While Biden has given the Trump administration some credit for fast-tracking the development of vaccines, U.S. deaths have now passed 323,000 as COVID-19 patients push hospitals to the brink. A full vaccine rollout remains perhaps months away.
As for Biden’s decisive victory, Gingrich again took liberties with reality.
“Nor do I have any interest in pretending that the current result is legitimate or honorable,” wrote Gingrich, whose article was retweeted by Trump. “It is simply the final stroke of a four-year establishment-media power grab. It has been perpetrated by people who have broken the law, cheated the country of information, and smeared those of us who believe in America over China, history over revisionism, and the liberal ideal of free expression over cancel culture.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Trump Back At Mar-A-Lago, Raising Taxpayer Golf Tab To $151.5 Million

Donald Trump has arrived at his Palm Beach , Florida , resort for the 31st golf vacation there of his presidency , raising the taxpayer-funded travel and security total for his hobby to $ 151.5 million , according to a HuffPost analysis .
Trump has already played golf on his own properties 289 times since taking office in January 2017 , although he claimed during his 2016 campaign that he would not have time for a vacation at all .
“ I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off , ” he said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on playing at his own properties ― rather than courses on military bases close to the White House , as former President Barack Obama mainly did — has made his outings enormously expensive for American taxpayers .
Each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs $ 3.4 million flying Trump , his staff and the vehicles needed for his motorcade on Air Force One and a number of cargo planes , as well as the expenses incurred by the Coast Guard to patrol both the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to his for-profit resort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his course in Bedminster , New Jersey , at a cost of $ 1.1 million each as well as trips to his courses in Palos Verdes , California ; Doral , Florida ; Turnberry , Scotland ; and Doonbeg , Ireland .
The trip to Scotland cost taxpayers an extra $ 3 million over what it would have cost for Trump to remain in London an extra two days before flying to Helsinki , Finland , for his meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin .
A Mar-a-Lago visit over Thanksgiving 2019 cost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all the extra expenses of flying both modified Boeing 747s across the Atlantic and back necessitated by Trump ’ s decision to visit Afghanistan from Florida , rather than leaving from Washington , D.C .
The $ 151.5 million total means that Trump has now spent the equivalent of 379 years of presidential salary — which he and his supporters frequently boast that he does not take — playing golf .
The White House has refused to provide information about how much Trump ’ s golf trips cost , and , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about his golf visits , even refusing to confirm whether he is playing golf when he is physically at his golf courses .
But a 2019 Government Accountability Office report regarding Trump ’ s four early 2017 visits to Mar-a-Lago provided hard data and a methodology that HuffPost followed in its own analysis .
That review took a conservative approach to determining costs .
For example , it used a per-hour rate of $ 15,994 for Trump ’ s use of the smaller Air Force One that he takes to Bedminster , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and maintenance , not the additional factors that GAO used when it determined the $ 273,000-per-hour cost of operating the larger plane .
Trump is scheduled to remain in Florida through the holidays , meaning his total number of days on the course is likely to hit 300 before he returns to the White House .

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Donald Trump has arrived at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort for the 31st golf vacation there of his presidency, raising the taxpayer-funded travel and security total for his hobby to $151.5 million, according to a HuffPost analysis.
Trump has already played golf on his own properties 289 times since taking office in January 2017, although he claimed during his 2016 campaign that he would not have time for a vacation at all. “I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off,” he said in February 2016.
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Trump’s insistence on playing at his own properties ― rather than courses on military bases close to the White House, as former President Barack Obama mainly did — has made his outings enormously expensive for American taxpayers. Each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs $3.4 million flying Trump, his staff and the vehicles needed for his motorcade on Air Force One and a number of cargo planes, as well as the expenses incurred by the Coast Guard to patrol both the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to his for-profit resort.
Trump has also made 23 trips to his course in Bedminster, New Jersey, at a cost of $1.1 million each as well as trips to his courses in Palos Verdes, California; Doral, Florida; Turnberry, Scotland; and Doonbeg, Ireland.
The trip to Scotland cost taxpayers an extra $3 million over what it would have cost for Trump to remain in London an extra two days before flying to Helsinki, Finland, for his meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. A Mar-a-Lago visit over Thanksgiving 2019 cost taxpayers an additional $5.3 million because of all the extra expenses of flying both modified Boeing 747s across the Atlantic and back necessitated by Trump’s decision to visit Afghanistan from Florida, rather than leaving from Washington, D.C.
The $151.5 million total means that Trump has now spent the equivalent of 379 years of presidential salary — which he and his supporters frequently boast that he does not take — playing golf.
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The White House has refused to provide information about how much Trump’s golf trips cost, and, in fact, declines to answer most questions about his golf visits, even refusing to confirm whether he is playing golf when he is physically at his golf courses.
But a 2019 Government Accountability Office report regarding Trump’s four early 2017 visits to Mar-a-Lago provided hard data and a methodology that HuffPost followed in its own analysis.
That review took a conservative approach to determining costs. For example, it used a per-hour rate of $15,994 for Trump’s use of the smaller Air Force One that he takes to Bedminster, even though that figure accounts only for fuel and maintenance, not the additional factors that GAO used when it determined the $273,000-per-hour cost of operating the larger plane.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Georgia Poll Closures Limit Black, Latino Voting In Senate Runoffs, Advocates Say

A coalition of voting rights groups on Wednesday denounced election officials in Hall County , Georgia , for opening fewer early voting sites , which the groups say is limiting turnout of Black and Latino voters during crucial January runoff elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate .
Officials in the county , which is located about an hour northeast of Atlanta , opened four polling locations when early voting in the runoffs began Dec. 14 .
That ’ s down from eight early voting locations for the November elections .
“ This is what voter suppression looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the MiJente Support Committee , a national Latino voting rights advocacy group .
“ This is one example of what we don ’ t want to happen , particularly in an important runoff.
” More than 1.4 million voters cast ballots during the first week of early voting for Georgia 's Senate runoff elections .
But in Hall County , where the number of early voting places has been cut in half , turnout is lagging , voting rights advocates say .
Georgia has seen massive turnout since early voting began , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first week that polls were open .
But similar surges haven ’ t taken place in Hall County , where turnout was just 13 % as of Tuesday , far lower than statewide figures , those from other major counties , or Hall County ’ s own early turnout levels for last month ’ s election , said Michael Pernick , the Georgia state lead for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund ’ s voting rights project .
“ The reason Hall County ’ s turnout is lower in the runoff is because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Pernick said .
“ We know this because turnout is up in almost every other county in the state , but not in Hall .
...
This isn ’ t theoretical or hypothetical.
” Similar polling place reductions have occurred in some other Georgia counties .
Voting groups have spent weeks urging election officials in Cobb County , a major Atlanta suburb , to expand early voting access after it reduced its number of locations from 11 for the November elections to just five for the runoffs .
The New Georgia Project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out young and minority voters have helped expand Georgia ’ s electorate and shift the state ’ s political landscape over the last decade , also sued four other counties earlier this month .
Amid the pressure from voting rights groups since early voting began , Cobb County has opened two additional polling places , according to NBC News .
But the county is still providing fewer early voting locations than for the general election , which officials have blamed on a lack of staffing , NBC reported .
President-elect Joe Biden won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his way to victory in Georgia in November .
Cobb County has also relocated one polling place in an effort to ease access for minority voters and has taken steps to redirect those who show up to the closed locations .
Still , Cobb County ’ s turnout rate has lagged statewide figures and its general election totals , Pernick said , adding evidence for the argument that Hall County “ has it backward ” when it claims that it doesn ’ t need additional polling locations because turnout is down .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials last week , the American Civil Liberties Union , the NAACP and other groups called on the county to follow Cobb officials and open at least two more early voting locations .
The letter said that the refusal to open one location in a heavily Latino corner of the county used for early voting in the November election meant that voters had to travel more than seven miles to the next-closest location , on a route that is not served by public transportation .
The failure to open another polling location , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within the county in which more than a third of voters are Latino .
The Hall County Board of Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
But participants in Wednesday ’ s conference call uniformly said that their groups had volunteers ready and waiting to help staff additional sites and educate voters if new locations were opened for the final week of early voting .
President Donald Trump handily won Hall County in November , earning 71 % of the vote in Georgia ’ s 10th-most-populous county .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less than 1 percentage point .
Polls show that both Senate races are currently within the margin of error , meaning that even small changes in county margins could affect the outcome , and thus control of the Senate , in either direction .

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A coalition of voting rights groups on Wednesday denounced election officials in Hall County, Georgia, for opening fewer early voting sites, which the groups say is limiting turnout of Black and Latino voters during crucial January runoff elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Officials in the county, which is located about an hour northeast of Atlanta, opened four polling locations when early voting in the runoffs began Dec. 14. That’s down from eight early voting locations for the November elections.
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During a Wednesday conference call hosted by several prominent national and Georgia-based Latino groups, activists said that the closures are concentrated in the county’s Latino and Black communities.
“This is what voter suppression looks like,” said Tania Unzueta of the MiJente Support Committee, a national Latino voting rights advocacy group. “This is one example of what we don’t want to happen, particularly in an important runoff.”
More than 1.4 million voters cast ballots during the first week of early voting for Georgia's Senate runoff elections. But in Hall County, where the number of early voting places has been cut in half, turnout is lagging, voting rights advocates say. AP Photo/Jeff Amy
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Georgia has seen massive turnout since early voting began, with more than 1.4 million ballots cast over the first week that polls were open. But similar surges haven’t taken place in Hall County, where turnout was just 13% as of Tuesday, far lower than statewide figures, those from other major counties, or Hall County’s own early turnout levels for last month’s election, said Michael Pernick, the Georgia state lead for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s voting rights project.
Hall County officials told the rights groups that their models showed there was no need to open additional locations, said Miranda Galindo, an attorney for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a national civil and voting rights group.
But voting rights advocates reject those claims.
“The reason Hall County’s turnout is lower in the runoff is because Hall County cut early voting locations,” Pernick said. “We know this because turnout is up in almost every other county in the state, but not in Hall. ... This isn’t theoretical or hypothetical.”
Similar polling place reductions have occurred in some other Georgia counties. Voting groups have spent weeks urging election officials in Cobb County, a major Atlanta suburb, to expand early voting access after it reduced its number of locations from 11 for the November elections to just five for the runoffs. The New Georgia Project, whose efforts to register and turn out young and minority voters have helped expand Georgia’s electorate and shift the state’s political landscape over the last decade, also sued four other counties earlier this month.
Cobb County, home to more than 750,000 people, is nearly 30% Black and 13% Latino. Hall County’s 240,000 residents are 8% Black and nearly 30% Latino.
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Amid the pressure from voting rights groups since early voting began, Cobb County has opened two additional polling places, according to NBC News. But the county is still providing fewer early voting locations than for the general election, which officials have blamed on a lack of staffing, NBC reported. President-elect Joe Biden won the county by 14 percentage points on his way to victory in Georgia in November.
Cobb County has also relocated one polling place in an effort to ease access for minority voters and has taken steps to redirect those who show up to the closed locations.
Still, Cobb County’s turnout rate has lagged statewide figures and its general election totals, Pernick said, adding evidence for the argument that Hall County “has it backward” when it claims that it doesn’t need additional polling locations because turnout is down.
In a letter sent to Hall County election officials last week, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and other groups called on the county to follow Cobb officials and open at least two more early voting locations.
“Hall County has consistently chosen to make things more difficult. Every opportunity the county has had to expand access to voters, the county has chosen not to do that.” - Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of the Latino rights group GALEO
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The letter said that the refusal to open one location in a heavily Latino corner of the county used for early voting in the November election meant that voters had to travel more than seven miles to the next-closest location, on a route that is not served by public transportation. The failure to open another polling location, they said, largely affects two cities within the county in which more than a third of voters are Latino.
“This community, they’re enthusiastic to vote,” said Elton Garcia, a Hall County field organizer for Georgia Latino rights group GALEO. “But this closure of early voting sites adds another barrier.”
Hall County, however, has refused to open new polling places and has also balked at taking smaller steps like providing bilingual voting guides or interpretation services for Spanish-language voters, said Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of GALEO.
“Hall County has consistently chosen to make things more difficult,” Gonzalez said. “Every opportunity the county has had to expand access to voters, the county has chosen not to do that.”
The Hall County Board of Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But participants in Wednesday’s conference call uniformly said that their groups had volunteers ready and waiting to help staff additional sites and educate voters if new locations were opened for the final week of early voting.
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President Donald Trump handily won Hall County in November, earning 71% of the vote in Georgia’s 10th-most-populous county. But the presidential race statewide was decided by less than 1 percentage point. Polls show that both Senate races are currently within the margin of error, meaning that even small changes in county margins could affect the outcome, and thus control of the Senate, in either direction.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--There's An Important Win On Health Care Tucked Into The COVID-19 Relief Bill

Although Democrats and Republicans may not agree on much when it comes to health care , lawmakers in both parties could see the fundamental unfairness of the situation .
Somebody having a heart attack really isn ’ t in a position to pick a hospital , and even a well-informed consumer might not be able to check and then guarantee that a radiologist called in to consult on one X-ray is in-network .
One way to solve the problem is to set some kind of standard rate that doctors and hospitals would have to accept , even if they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insurance network .
The law could dictate , for example , that out-of-network providers accept some multiple of Medicare or some blended average of what private insurers pay in the community .
A 2016 California law uses this approach , which is the one consumer advocates , insurers and employers have generally favored .
Last year , congressional negotiators appeared to have settled on a compromise in which smaller bills would use the payment benchmark method and larger bills would go to arbitration .
But a dark money group , funded by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight it ― and then , at the last minute , House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal ( D-Mass . )
introduced a new proposal that signaled he wasn ’ t willing to go along with the emerging compromise .
Of course , even with the new federal law in place , many Americans would struggle with the hassles and financial burden of America ’ s uniquely ragged health care system , which is the only one in the developed world that still does not guarantee coverage as a right of citizenship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that routinely asks individual patients to pay large out-of-pocket costs for essential medical care .

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A provision tucked into the pandemic relief package that Congress passed Monday could go a long way toward ending one of the most notorious and exploitative practices of American health care.
The provision would create a new law designed to stop “surprise bills,” which are the charges people with health insurance get because, unknowingly, they received medical services from a provider who isn’t part of their insurance networks ― like a radiologist consulting at a hospital, for example, or even an ambulance company.
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The fate of the anti-surprise billing initiative depends on the fate of the overall relief package, which President Donald Trump has hinted he might veto over unrelated provisions. And even if he ultimately signs it, the new protections would not be perfect.
They are the product of bipartisan compromise. The only reason they got into legislation is that advocates made concessions both to key industry groups and to a powerful House Democrat whose objections helped kill similar legislation a year ago.
In the long, ongoing struggle to make health care affordable for all Americans, enactment of this new law would represent a modest victory at best.
But even modest victories are pretty rare in health care these days. And this particular one would mean real, occasionally life-changing relief for millions of Americans whose sole mistake was to get sick or injured, and require medical care.
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The Problem Of Surprise Bills
Surprise bills can come from both emergency and non-emergency care. The prototypical case is a patient who schedules surgery with an in-network physician and at an in-network hospital, but ends up drawing an anesthesiologist who isn’t part of the network ― and then gets a separate bill for the anesthesia services.
The bills can run into thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. They are also quite common. Overall, studies have found, 1 in 5 emergency room visits and nearly 1 in 10 elective procedures generate some kind of surprise bill.
Surprise billing has existed at least since the 1980s, when private insurers began constructing limited networks of doctors and hospitals as a way to bargain down the prices they paid for medical care. But many analysts believe the practice has become more common ― and more harmful ― in the past few years.
The main reason is private equity companies, which have been buying up physician staffing firms that provide personnel for emergency rooms and hospitals. The firms saw an opportunity to jack up out-of-network fees, partly to collect extra payments from patients and partly to increase their leverage with insurers, in order to extract higher fees overall.
One obstacle to surprise billing legislation has been House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who would not support the compromise emerging last year and, it so happens, also got generous donations from the hospital industry. The new bill has his support. Tom Williams via Getty Images
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One 2017 study, by researchers at Yale, found that when the staffing firms take over responsibility for a hospital’s emergency rooms, prices for medical services jump.
That study got a lot of attention ― and it came in the middle of a series of exposés, by reporters at The New York Times, Vox and Kaiser Health News, that put a spotlight on both the role of private equity and the financial duress of patients facing the unexpected charges.
The resulting outrage helped advocacy organizations get the attention of Congress, where the idea of finding a solution got bipartisan support.
Although Democrats and Republicans may not agree on much when it comes to health care, lawmakers in both parties could see the fundamental unfairness of the situation. Somebody having a heart attack really isn’t in a position to pick a hospital, and even a well-informed consumer might not be able to check and then guarantee that a radiologist called in to consult on one X-ray is in-network.
The Debate Over Solutions
But the consensus over surprise billing broke down when it came to figuring out how to curb or end the practice.
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One way to solve the problem is to set some kind of standard rate that doctors and hospitals would have to accept, even if they are not part of a patient’s insurance network. The law could dictate, for example, that out-of-network providers accept some multiple of Medicare or some blended average of what private insurers pay in the community. A 2016 California law uses this approach, which is the one consumer advocates, insurers and employers have generally favored.
An alternative would be to enlist independent arbitrators, who could then determine reimbursements for surprise bills either on a case-by-case or group basis. This is the approach New York state adopted when it addressed surprise billing. It’s also the approach that provider groups and private equity firms have supported, because it would likely result in higher fees.
“Legislation coming out of Congress is rarely perfect ... but the bill ended up in a pretty strong place.” - Loren Adler, USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy
To an individual consumer, either approach would look similar because ― in either case ― patients would pay no more than what they would normally pay for in-network services, through their standard copays and deductibles.
Last year, congressional negotiators appeared to have settled on a compromise in which smaller bills would use the payment benchmark method and larger bills would go to arbitration. But a dark money group, funded by the private equity firms, spent heavily to fight it ― and then, at the last minute, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) introduced a new proposal that signaled he wasn’t willing to go along with the emerging compromise.
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Whether Neal was doing so to protect his legislative turf, help the providers who fund his campaigns, or both, the consequence was to stop negotiations and kill the legislation for the year.
The New Compromise
And that appeared to be the end of it, at least as long as COVID-19 was such a central preoccupation, until a few weeks ago when a new compromise emerged ― with Neal’s endorsement.
It uses arbitration, which is what the industry and Neal always wanted. But it comes with a series of “guardrails” designed to prevent providers from abusing the system and keep the final fees closer to where consumer advocates want them.
Among other things, arbitrators can take into account a variety of factors but not the actual provider charges. In other words, the outrageous fees from the private equity-owned staffing firms won’t even be part of the discussion.
The law’s full impact would ultimately depend, in part, on the specific regulations for implementing it. Writing those would fall to the Biden administration, which would be under the same pressure from advocates that Congress was while crafting the legislation.
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The law would also have its gaps, some of which are already apparent. Among the biggest is that it wouldn’t cover ambulance fees, which have been one of the most notorious sources of surprise bills. Mostly that’s because many ambulance companies are owned by local governments, not private firms.
But the bill does call for studying the problem further. And it would cover air ambulances, which have been a frequent source of outrageous bills and in many cases are also owned by private equity firms.
“Legislation coming out of Congress is rarely perfect, especially with powerful industries lined up against reform, but the bill ended up in a pretty strong place,” Loren Adler, associate director of the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, told HuffPost.
Adler, who has done some of the groundbreaking research on surprise bills, said that “Congress is putting an end to a market failure that was being exploited by private equity and some other large groups in a manner that should reduce health care costs overall. That’s a win in my book.”
The Next Challenges
The federal law would make a difference even in states like California, which already has strong surprise billing laws on the books, because states don’t have authority to regulate insurance plans for large corporations that “self-insure” (meaning they pay insurers to administer employee health plans, but cover the expenses out of their own funds). Such plans are, by law, under federal regulation exclusively.
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And in states like New York, where the existing laws are weaker, lawmakers might be able to upgrade to the new federal standard ― especially if providers decide it’s easier to have one system, rather than two, even if it’s a system that pays them somewhat less.
Of course, even with the new federal law in place, many Americans would struggle with the hassles and financial burden of America’s uniquely ragged health care system, which is the only one in the developed world that still does not guarantee coverage as a right of citizenship ― and one of the very few that routinely asks individual patients to pay large out-of-pocket costs for essential medical care.
But expanding access to health care has been an ongoing process going back decades ― with each new reform, big and small, making it easier to achieve the next one. And that is what seems to have happened with surprise billing, according to Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, an influential consumer advocacy group in California.
Nobody was paying attention to surprise billing a decade ago, Wright said, in part because the U.S. health system had so many other, even more egregious failings. But at least some of those problems have become a lot less severe, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and that’s put issues like surprise billing into much sharper relief.
“Prior to the ACA, surprise bills existed but were on a long list of abuses and gaps that patients fell through in our health system,” said Wright, who was heavily involved in lobbying for California’s law. “If an insured patient got a huge bill, it could be because they were denied for a preexisting condition, or underinsured with junk coverage, or 10 other reasons. When the ACA set some standards and safeguards, this was a conspicuous problem that remained.”
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Wright, like most advocates for more affordable health care, would like to see even stronger protections against surprise billing. Even California’s law could do more, he says.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Andrew Yang Files Papers To Run For Mayor Of New York City

NEW YORK , Dec 23 ( Reuters ) - Andrew Yang , an entrepreneur and former 2020 U.S. presidential contender , has filed papers to run for mayor of New York City as a Democrat in next year ’ s elections , according to the city ’ s Campaign Finance Board .
Yang , who had no background in electoral politics , built an ardent grassroots following in the race to become the Democratic Party ’ s nominee for the presidency with his pledge to create a universal basic income that would pay every American $ 1,000 a month .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ poor showings in the first two state primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire .
He has not formally declared his candidacy in New York , but should he proceed he would enter the race to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio with the advantage of high name recognition among voters .
Yang could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday .
More than a dozen other candidates have already declared , including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams , New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley , a civil rights activist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Blasio .
De Blasio , a Democrat , is nearing the end of his second and final term .
Registered Democrats will vote for their nominee on June 22 , 2021 , ahead of the general election on Nov. 2 .
The Ivy League-educated son of Taiwanese immigrants and a native New Yorker , Yang would be the city ’ s first Asian-American mayor .
During his presidential run , he argued that a universal basic income was needed to counteract the effects of automation , which he said threatened the jobs of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a corporate lawyer before founding a company that helped students prepare for school tests and a non-profit organization called Venture For America , which trains recent college graduates to work at startup companies .

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NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and former 2020 U.S. presidential contender, has filed papers to run for mayor of New York City as a Democrat in next year’s elections, according to the city’s Campaign Finance Board.
Yang, who had no background in electoral politics, built an ardent grassroots following in the race to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency with his pledge to create a universal basic income that would pay every American $1,000 a month.
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He ended his campaign in February after poor showings in the first two state primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
He has not formally declared his candidacy in New York, but should he proceed he would enter the race to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio with the advantage of high name recognition among voters.
Yang could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
More than a dozen other candidates have already declared, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley, a civil rights activist and lawyer who previously worked for de Blasio.
De Blasio, a Democrat, is nearing the end of his second and final term. Registered Democrats will vote for their nominee on June 22, 2021, ahead of the general election on Nov. 2.
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The Ivy League-educated son of Taiwanese immigrants and a native New Yorker, Yang would be the city’s first Asian-American mayor.
During his presidential run, he argued that a universal basic income was needed to counteract the effects of automation, which he said threatened the jobs of millions of Americans.
He previously worked as a corporate lawyer before founding a company that helped students prepare for school tests and a non-profit organization called Venture For America, which trains recent college graduates to work at startup companies.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--U.S. Immigration Arrests Down 27% In 2020, A Trend Activists Hope Biden Will Continue

WASHINGTON , Dec 23 ( Reuters ) - U.S. immigration arrests fell by 27 % in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic led to fewer border crossings and reduced operations , a falloff that pro-immigrant activists say should continue when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January .
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) said on Wednesday that it arrested roughly 104,000 immigration law violators in fiscal year 2020 , which ended on Sept. 30 .
ICE arrested 143,000 during the previous year .
Outgoing President Donald Trump , a Republican , made cracking down on legal and illegal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in office .
Enforcement efforts slowed this year , as fewer immigrants were caught crossing the border and ICE reduced its operations , Henry Lucero , an executive associate director with the agency , told reporters during a call on Wednesday .
ICE is holding far fewer immigrants in its detention centers , with just under 16,000 detained as of Dec. 18 , down from an average detainee population of 50,000 in 2019 .
Biden , a Democrat due to take office on Jan. 20 , has vowed to pause all deportations for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priorities.
” He also plans to increase the use of alternatives to detention as well as case management programs that help migrants navigate the legal system .
Even with those promises , he will face pressure from pro-immigrant activists not to ramp up enforcement levels , several advocates said .
Some groups have urged that immigration detention be reserved for the most serious cases or phased out altogether .
Michelle Brané , a senior director at the pro-immigrant Women ’ s Refugee Commission , said the incoming Biden administration should keep lowering the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in light of the risk posed by the coronavirus in such settings .
“ There ’ s no need for these large levels of detention , ” she said .
( Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington ; Editing by Howard Goller )

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WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - U.S. immigration arrests fell by 27% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic led to fewer border crossings and reduced operations, a falloff that pro-immigrant activists say should continue when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Wednesday that it arrested roughly 104,000 immigration law violators in fiscal year 2020, which ended on Sept. 30. ICE arrested 143,000 during the previous year.
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The agency deported 186,000 people this year, a 30 percent decline from a year earlier.
Outgoing President Donald Trump, a Republican, made cracking down on legal and illegal immigration a focus of his four years in office.
Enforcement efforts slowed this year, as fewer immigrants were caught crossing the border and ICE reduced its operations, Henry Lucero, an executive associate director with the agency, told reporters during a call on Wednesday.
ICE is holding far fewer immigrants in its detention centers, with just under 16,000 detained as of Dec. 18, down from an average detainee population of 50,000 in 2019.
Biden, a Democrat due to take office on Jan. 20, has vowed to pause all deportations for 100 days and restore “sensible enforcement priorities.” He also plans to increase the use of alternatives to detention as well as case management programs that help migrants navigate the legal system.
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Even with those promises, he will face pressure from pro-immigrant activists not to ramp up enforcement levels, several advocates said. Some groups have urged that immigration detention be reserved for the most serious cases or phased out altogether.
Michelle Brané, a senior director at the pro-immigrant Women’s Refugee Commission, said the incoming Biden administration should keep lowering the number of people in custody, particularly in light of the risk posed by the coronavirus in such settings.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Weird Al Yankovic Shares Sweet Story About Stumbling Across 9th Grade Crush On Twitter

The 61-year-old comedy singer shared a heartwarming story on social media this week about how he reconnected on Twitter with Patrice , a girl he liked in 9th grade who sat in front of him in math class .
“ Of course , Patrice would never in a million years have suspected that I had a crush on her , ” Yankovic , whose real name is Alfred Matthew Yankovic , wrote in a post .
So , as an “ awkward , shy and nerdy ” student who was only 12 years old ( he had skipped two grades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day to make his big move and draw a picture of Patrice and give it to her .
“ But because I didn ’ t want to give her the impression that I LIKED her or anything , I also drew pictures of EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CLASS and handed those out as well , just to throw her off the scent , ” he explained .
“ Anyway , everybody seemed to like their drawings , and , as you may have predicted , my love life remained completely dormant for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skip ahead almost 50 years , and Yankovic is scrolling on Twitter and stumbles across a post from a woman talking about how she used to sit in front of him in the math class .
“ Being slightly less shy at my current advanced age , I decided to follow up on this : I DM ’ ed her and asked if by any chance her name was Patrice , ” he wrote .
“ Turns out , it was .
When asked if she remembered the pictures he drew of everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photo a minute later : “ She had saved it all these years , ” he wrote .
“ I just felt like telling this story because , well… 2020 was arguably a pretty sucky year overall , but there were some real moments of joy sprinkled in here and there ― and for me , this was definitely one of them.
” Yankovic was valedictorian of his high school in Lynwood , California , when he graduated at age 16 .
He and his wife Suzanne , have been married for nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Nina .

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It’s been nearly half a century, but turns out Weird Al Yankovic’s high school crush noticed him after all.
The 61-year-old comedy singer shared a heartwarming story on social media this week about how he reconnected on Twitter with Patrice, a girl he liked in 9th grade who sat in front of him in math class.
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“Of course, Patrice would never in a million years have suspected that I had a crush on her,” Yankovic, whose real name is Alfred Matthew Yankovic, wrote in a post.
So, as an “awkward, shy and nerdy” student who was only 12 years old (he had skipped two grades), Yankovic said he decided one day to make his big move and draw a picture of Patrice and give it to her.
“But because I didn’t want to give her the impression that I LIKED her or anything, I also drew pictures of EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CLASS and handed those out as well, just to throw her off the scent,” he explained.
“Anyway, everybody seemed to like their drawings, and, as you may have predicted, my love life remained completely dormant for the next several years.”
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So, skip ahead almost 50 years, and Yankovic is scrolling on Twitter and stumbles across a post from a woman talking about how she used to sit in front of him in the math class.
“Being slightly less shy at my current advanced age, I decided to follow up on this: I DM’ed her and asked if by any chance her name was Patrice,” he wrote. “Turns out, it was.
When asked if she remembered the pictures he drew of everyone, Yankovic said Patrice sent back this photo a minute later:
“She had saved it all these years,” he wrote. “I just felt like telling this story because, well… 2020 was arguably a pretty sucky year overall, but there were some real moments of joy sprinkled in here and there ― and for me, this was definitely one of them.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--Ohio Mayor Urges Firing Of Cop Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Black Man

A police officer has been relieved from duty after authorities in Columbus , Ohio , say he fatally shot an unarmed Black man , the second deadly police shooting of a Black man in the city this month .
Officer Adam Coy was responding to a non-emergency call of someone repeatedly turning on and off their vehicle in a neighborhood early Tuesday morning when he shot 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill who had walked out of a home ’ s garage while carrying a cell phone , police said .
“ Mr .
Hill was known to the residents at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said at a press conference Wednesday .
“ He was expected .
He was not an intruder , he had not committed any crimes.
” Hundreds of marchers gathered in downtown Columbus , Ohio , on Dec. 11 to protest the fatal shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. , who was Black , by a white sheriff 's deputy on Dec. 4 .
This week , another Black man was fatally shot by a member of the city 's police department .
Coy was with another officer at the time of the shooting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on .
Seconds after Hill was shot , both officers turned on their cameras but they failed to render first aid or comfort Hill as he lay dying , Ginther said .
Because the cameras feature a 60-second “ look back ” function , the shooting was caught on video though no audio was obtained , the police department said .
Ginther blasted the officers ’ actions and described himself as deeply disturbed by their apparent lack of compassion for Hill in the moments after the shooting .
“ There were literally no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had committed no crime .
That is a stunning disregard for life and in this case Black life .
That is unacceptable , ” Ginther said .
“ It is an officer ’ s duty to not only summon a medic but to render aid .
... We are better than this and we must make sure that everyone is safe.
” There were literally no attempts to render aid to this man who had committed no crime .
That is a stunning disregard for life and in this case Black life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions of dollars in these cameras for the express purpose of creating a video and audio record of these kinds of encounters , ” he said in a statement Tuesday .
“ They provide transparency and accountability , and protect the public , as well as officers , when the facts are in question.
” Quinlan said he ordered Coy to turn in his badge and gun pending the outcome of an internal and criminal investigation , which will be conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation .
Coy , a 19-year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a history of complaints of excessive force , including nine filed against him in 2003 .
Of those complaints , four took place in a one-month period , The Columbus Dispatch reported .
In 2012 , one such complaint led to the city paying a $ 45,000 settlement .
This followed Coy repeatedly banging the head of a drunk driving suspect on the hood of a car during the man ’ s arrest .
Coy was suspended 160 hours for that incident , according to the Dispatch .
Goodson , 23 , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deputy on Dec. 4 as he was about to enter his home , his family has said .
It remains unclear what led to the shooting .
Goodson , who was also Black , was returning to his home from a dentist appointment with Subway sandwiches for members of his family , including his grandmother , when he was gunned down on the doorstep , an attorney representing his relatives said .
The deputy , identified as Jason Meade , had been searching the area for “ violent offenders ” with a U.S @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing a man with a gun .
It ’ s not clear what led Meade to open fire , however .
He was not wearing a body camera and no witnesses to the shooting have come forward , authorities said .

A police officer has been relieved from duty after authorities in Columbus, Ohio, say he fatally shot an unarmed Black man, the second deadly police shooting of a Black man in the city this month.
Officer Adam Coy was responding to a non-emergency call of someone repeatedly turning on and off their vehicle in a neighborhood early Tuesday morning when he shot 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill who had walked out of a home’s garage while carrying a cell phone, police said.
“Mr. Hill was known to the residents at the home,” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said at a press conference Wednesday. “He was expected. He was not an intruder, he had not committed any crimes.”
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Ginther said Coy should immediately be fired from the police department.
Hundreds of marchers gathered in downtown Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 11 to protest the fatal shooting of Casey Goodson Jr., who was Black, by a white sheriff's deputy on Dec. 4. This week, another Black man was fatally shot by a member of the city's police department. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coy was with another officer at the time of the shooting, but neither had their body-worn cameras turned on. Seconds after Hill was shot, both officers turned on their cameras but they failed to render first aid or comfort Hill as he lay dying, Ginther said. Because the cameras feature a 60-second “look back” function, the shooting was caught on video though no audio was obtained, the police department said.
Ginther blasted the officers’ actions and described himself as deeply disturbed by their apparent lack of compassion for Hill in the moments after the shooting.
“There were literally no attempts to render aid to this man who had committed no crime. That is a stunning disregard for life and in this case Black life. That is unacceptable,” Ginther said. “It is an officer’s duty to not only summon a medic but to render aid. ... We are better than this and we must make sure that everyone is safe.”
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There were literally no attempts to render aid to this man who had committed no crime. That is a stunning disregard for life and in this case Black life." Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther
Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, who has called Hill’s death a tragedy, criticized the officers’ failure to activate their cameras prior to the shooting.
The department has “invested millions of dollars in these cameras for the express purpose of creating a video and audio record of these kinds of encounters,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “They provide transparency and accountability, and protect the public, as well as officers, when the facts are in question.”
Quinlan said he ordered Coy to turn in his badge and gun pending the outcome of an internal and criminal investigation, which will be conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Ginther said that he has asked that the investigation also examine whether Hill’s civil rights were violated.
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Coy, a 19-year veteran of the police force, has a history of complaints of excessive force, including nine filed against him in 2003. Of those complaints, four took place in a one-month period, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
In 2012, one such complaint led to the city paying a $45,000 settlement. This followed Coy repeatedly banging the head of a drunk driving suspect on the hood of a car during the man’s arrest. Coy was suspended 160 hours for that incident, according to the Dispatch.
This week’s shooting comes a little more than two weeks after Columbus police responded to the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Casey Goodson by a Franklin County sheriffs’ deputy.
Goodson, 23, was shot multiple times by a sheriff's deputy on Dec. 4 as he was about to enter his home, his family has said. It remains unclear what led to the shooting. Facebook/Walton + Brown, LLP
Goodson, who was also Black, was returning to his home from a dentist appointment with Subway sandwiches for members of his family, including his grandmother, when he was gunned down on the doorstep, an attorney representing his relatives said.
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The deputy, identified as Jason Meade, had been searching the area for “violent offenders” with a U.S. Marshals task force when he reported seeing a man with a gun. It’s not clear what led Meade to open fire, however. He was not wearing a body camera and no witnesses to the shooting have come forward, authorities said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-23--'Balloon Boy' Parents Convicted In 2009 Hoax Are Pardoned By Governor

The parents behind the “ Balloon Boy ” hoax have been pardoned by the governor of Colorado more than a decade after the saga captivated the nation .
Richard and Mayumi Heene reported on Oct. 15 , 2009 , that their 6-year-old son had floated away in a giant helium weather balloon from their home in Fort Collins , Colorado .
It prompted a chase of more than an hour that included dozens of emergency responders and two Colorado National Guard helicopters , and the story dominated the media and the public ’ s attention .
But when the balloon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He was later found hiding in the attic of his parents ’ garage .
Public concern pivoted quickly to skepticism , and authorities ultimately reported that the parents had engineered the incident as a publicity stunt to market themselves for reality TV shows .
They had previously appeared on “ Wife Swap.
” “ We are all ready to move past the spectacle from a decade ago that wasted the precious time and resources of law enforcement officials and the general public , ” Polis said in the statement .
“ Richard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the eyes of the public , served their sentences , and it ’ s time for all of us to move on .
It ’ s time to no longer let a permanent criminal record from the balloon boy saga follow and drag down the parents for the rest of their lives.
” The balloon landed in Weld County , Colorado , after a furious chase by authorities that captivated the nation 's attention over concerns for 6-year-old Falcon Heene 's safety .
According to the Denver Post , the governor told both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believed they had suffered enough legal and social consequences in the intervening years to prevent them from ever repeating their mistakes .
Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail for attempting to influence a public servant .
His wife served 20 days for false reporting to authorities .
Both pleaded guilty .
Nonetheless , both deny that the ordeal was a hoax .
Richard said in 2014 that they pleaded guilty because they wanted to avoid Mayumi ’ s deportation to Japan or losing their kids .

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The parents behind the “Balloon Boy” hoax have been pardoned by the governor of Colorado more than a decade after the saga captivated the nation.
Richard and Mayumi Heene reported on Oct. 15, 2009, that their 6-year-old son had floated away in a giant helium weather balloon from their home in Fort Collins, Colorado.
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It prompted a chase of more than an hour that included dozens of emergency responders and two Colorado National Guard helicopters, and the story dominated the media and the public’s attention.
But when the balloon landed, no boy was in it. He was later found hiding in the attic of his parents’ garage. Public concern pivoted quickly to skepticism, and authorities ultimately reported that the parents had engineered the incident as a publicity stunt to market themselves for reality TV shows. They had previously appeared on “Wife Swap.”
In a statement Wednesday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced clemency for both parents and for 20 other people.
“We are all ready to move past the spectacle from a decade ago that wasted the precious time and resources of law enforcement officials and the general public,” Polis said in the statement.
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“Richard and Mayumi have paid the price in the eyes of the public, served their sentences, and it’s time for all of us to move on. It’s time to no longer let a permanent criminal record from the balloon boy saga follow and drag down the parents for the rest of their lives.”
The balloon landed in Weld County, Colorado, after a furious chase by authorities that captivated the nation's attention over concerns for 6-year-old Falcon Heene's safety. Craig F. Walker via Getty Images
According to the Denver Post, the governor told both the Heenes in separate letters that he believed they had suffered enough legal and social consequences in the intervening years to prevent them from ever repeating their mistakes.
Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail for attempting to influence a public servant. His wife served 20 days for false reporting to authorities. Both pleaded guilty. Nonetheless, both deny that the ordeal was a hoax.