Among the many disturbing arguments in John Roberts' Voting Rights Act (VRA) decision, the most pernicious may be his invention of the "equal sovereignty" doctrine. In his Shelby County majority opinion, the Chief Justice struck down the VRA's Section 4 formula for determining which jurisdictions must be subject to "preclearance" in part because the VRA […]

As the New York Times documented last week, the choices and pricing of private health insurance will vary widely from state to state when the Affordable Care Act's exchanges launch this fall. In state-run marketplaces in California, Colorado and Oregon, residents will have a wide array of providers and plans to choose from. But in […]

Few issues incite Republican fury like medical malpractice. For conservative ideologues, malpractice lawsuits are a double affront which interferes with the righteous operation of the free market while lining the pockets of trial lawyers who help fund the Democratic Party. That's why, despite the near-total debunking of GOP mythology that frivolous lawsuits and "jackpot justice" […]

For four years, "death panels" has been the GOP's killer lie in the debate over the Affordable Care Act. The slander that proposed Medicare coverage for end-of-life counseling constituted a government "death panel" that would "pull the plug on grandma" was Politifact's 2009 Lie of the Year. Then what Sarah Palin dubbed a "metaphor" for […]

From the beginning, the defining irony of the never-ending debate over Obamacare has been this: health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best. That is, the map of the states with the worst health care systems largely mirrors GOP strongholds in the Electoral College. Red state residents are generally the unhealthiest and […]

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Right now, a heart-breaking tragedy is unfolding in Philadelphia, where desperately ill 10 year-old Sarah Murnaghan is in a race against time as she waits for a lung transplant that is her only hope as she battles end-stage cystic fibrosis. But in Washington, Republican politicians and their media […]

Until this week, Republican Congressman Steven Palazzo of Mississippi's Katrina ravaged 4th district was best known for his opposition to federal aid for New York and New Jersey in the wake of super storm Sandy. Now thanks to his partnership with Florida Senator and 2016 GOP White House hopeful Marco Rubio, Palazzo will be known […]

Over the past few days, Erza Klein and Jonathan Cohn among have debunked the claims by Avik Roy of Forbes that Obamacare will produce a "rate shock" in California. As they noted, Roy conveniently ignored the fact that many people individual market cannot currently buy insurance at any price, let alone at the "teaser" rates […]

Since the overwhelming Republican triumph in the 2010 elections, conservative majorities in states across the nation have implemented draconian new abortion restrictions at a dizzying pace that shows no signs of letting up. So-called "human life" amendments, punitive clinic regulations, "personhood" initiatives, fetal heartbeat bills, mandatory, invasive ultrasound procedures and outrights abortion bans are typical […]

From the beginning, the defining irony of the never-ending debate over Obamacare is this: health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best. The map of the states with the worst health care systems largely mirrors GOP strongholds in the Electoral College. Red state residents are generally the unhealthiest and more likely than […]