A Letter from Kathleen Sebelius

Many of us know women whose lives have been saved by breast cancer screening. Yet, one in five women over 50 hasn't received a mammogram in the last two years. Nothing is more important to us than the health of our children, but nearly one out of eight children hasn't seen a doctor in the last year.

For too long, our health care system has focused on treating the sick, and not on keeping people healthy. Preventive health care like cancer screenings, cholesterol tests and even flu shots saves lives and reduces health care costs, but too many Americans face a tough choice between paying for preventive care and putting food on the table for their families.

The Affordable Care Act is helping to change that by making it easier to access basic preventive care.

Last week, I joined the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden -- two of our country's top health leaders -- to announce that starting in the fall, all new health insurance plans will be required to cover recommended preventive services with no deductible, copay or coinsurance.

The First Lady and Dr. Biden wanted to help raise awareness about this provision of the new law, so they made this video [above]. Please take a look and share it with your friends and family.

Nearly half of all Americans suffer from chronic disease, and seven out of 10 deaths in our country are due to chronic illness. Many of these illnesses can be prevented. By spending our resources on stopping chronic illness before it starts, we can keep more people healthy and reduce health care costs.

Starting in September, preventive services like blood pressure tests, many cancer screenings, well-baby and well-child visits will be free for millions of Americans. By giving people the tools they need to lead healthier lives, we’ll be putting our country’s health resources where they can have the most impact.

To learn more about Affordable Health Care Act's new rules on preventive care click here:

www.HealthCare.gov/preventiveservices/

Access to preventive care is just one of the ways the Affordable Care Act is making America healthier. To find out more about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, visit HealthCare.gov.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and Human Services


What victory in Iraq looks like...

I'm so sick and tired of this guy's brute violations of my personal values and beliefs that I find it impossible to summon up sympathy for him. But I'm not going to jeer, either. That would put me in the same horrid morass as those despicable people who took demonic joy in Teddy Kennedy's final illness and death...

Sunday Funnies & Arts

Our lives...are but a little while, so let them run as sweetly as you can, and give no thought to grief from day to day. For time is not concerned to keep our hopes, but hurries on its business, and is gone.
EURIPEDES

As always, click to enlarge. For more Doonesbury, Tom Toles, Tony Auth, and Pat Oliphant, go here, here, here, and here...

And now, a word from our sponsor (Winstone taste good like a cigarette should):

Don't Do As I Do, Do As I Say Dept. Sometimes, life is sweet:

Bristol [Palin]'s focus will remain on raising Tripp, completing her education, and advocating abstinence [sic]...

Then when you think life can't get any sweeter, something like this happens...

Michelle Obama and Queen Elizabeth, new BFFs...

One man's trash fish is another man's choupique...

If you're ever in Richmond, VA, a trip to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to view this Mary Cassatt painting is a must.

A librarian's work never ends...

France has a cool First Lady, too...

Sunday Gospel Time: Pops Staples sings "Nobody's Fault But Mine":

"What A Country We Live In"

Were the Obamas on their game last night or what? Yes, the questions from 60 Minutes' Steve Croft were largely hanging curves (I can hear the yelping from the Palin apologists), but Barack and Michelle still had to swing the bat and hit them out of the park. Here's one home run, with Michelle Obama talking about when it all sunk in:



All in all, they came across as a devoted, loving couple who are comfortable with themselves, as dedicated family people, and as prepared for the new life in front of them as they can be...

Meanwhile, the Republicans begin to sort through the rubble. Did they depart from conservative principles by letting the budget get out of hand? Have they become too narrow, too defined by cultural issues? Does the problem have everything to do with the incompetence of the Bush administration and nothing to do with conservatism itself? I'll let them figure it out, but will point out one thing: The Republicans have become the party of anger, resentment, and victimization at a time when the American people want hope and practical solutions to the problems facing the country.

So here's a thought, Republicans: Whatever you do, put country first. When you disagree with President Obama (do I like the sound of that!), how about doing it respectfully and rationally? Search for compromise when you can, and when you can't find it, present your differences in a way that does not demonize the millions of fellow countrymen who happen to be Democrats. When you get right down to it, this approach to politics -- embodied by the likes of Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich -- ignited a civil war that had its Fort Sumter 20 years ago with the infamous Willie Horton ad. If nothing else, the failure of the Republican strategy to bring down Barack Obama by attacking his "association" with William Ayers signifies that the American people have tired of this approach and will reject it. The louder you shout, Rush, the less we'll listen...

Speaking of which, don't miss the Big Fat Idiot channeling Willie Stark (at 1:38):

We laugh (or cringe or spit nails), but Limbaugh speaks for a lot of people. Not that I lose sleep over it, but it's hard to see what the Republicans do when the most active part of their party lacks the temperament and intellect for objective self-examination. They've painted themselves into a very tight corner and don't even know it...

Bruce Springsteen's twenty favorite singers here. The guy's got taste, although I'm a little surprised to discover that only eight or nine of them would make my list...

Swimming Upstream, Eve Ensler's (The Vagina Monologues) new play chronicles the experiences of New Orleans women before, during and after Katrina with characters drawn from a wide cross-section of New Orleans society. Says Ensler, 

Usually, [women] are the people who don't create the wars or pick up the guns, or have a say in the structural realities of crisis, yet they are the ones who always end up picking up the community, repairing the community, because they are so resilient...

Finally, Paul Krugman slamdunks George Will:

Sorta like this: