Editorial: Obamacare Remains Alive And Well
Ventura County Star (CA)
Commentary
Mark Twain famously responded that a report of his death was an exaggeration. He had nothing on Obamacare. At one time or another during his tenure, President Donald Trump declared the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act dead, ended, terminated and obliterated. What we really have left is the carcass of Obamacare, Trump told Fox News a year ago. It was, in his words, a disaster and a joke. Has anybody heard of Obamacare? Trump mocked at a campaign stop in September.
Actually, that would be a most definitive yes – particularly for the 20 million Americans who have health insurance today thanks to the 11-year-old federal sponsored health insurance program that was a signature achievement of President Barack Obama. Either by expanding Medicaid enrollment or providing government discounts (tax credits) on health insurance plans, the law has been effective at reducing longstanding health co
Local focus helps keep partisanship in check
KAREN FRANCISCO | The Journal Gazette
University researchers released a report last month on an intriguing experiment: Can newspaper opinion pages reduce polarization by focusing on local news?
The researchers conclude it can: “Local newspapers can hold back the rising tide of political division in America by turning away from the partisan battles in Washington and focusing their opinion page on local issues,” according to the report s abstract. “When a local newspaper in California dropped national politics from its opinion page, the resulting space filled with local writers and issues. We use a preregistered analysis plan to show that after this quasi-experiment, politically engaged people did not feel as far apart from members of the opposing party, compared to those in a similar community whose newspaper did not change.”
Ⓐ presumes the problem is the
echo chamber. You and your uncle each consume too much news that aligns with your viewpoints, and exposure to the other side’s arguments will give you a new appreciation for them.
Ⓑ presumes the problem is a
lack of facts and fact-checking. The reason your uncle doesn’t agree with you is that he’s been told a bunch of lies, and if you can only show him the truth, debate-style, you can come to a new understanding. (He thinks the same thing about you, by the way.)
Ⓒ presumes the problem is the
absence of humane contact. You spend too much time around people who agree with you about everything, and that’s led you to reduce the other side to a caricature. Get in the same room with some agreed-upon ground rules and talk it out you’ll realize it’s a person on the other side of the aisle, not an ideology.
Ventura sheriff sued over alleged violations of records laws
April 1, 2021
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VENTURA, Calif. (AP) The Ventura County Sheriff was sued this week over alleged violations of the California Public Records Act, a newspaper reported.
The lawsuit by the First Amendment Coalition comes after the nonprofit said it received denials and delays from the sheriff’s office for public records related to police misconduct and use of force, according to the Ventura County Star.
The litigation names Sheriff Bill Ayub in his capacity as head of the county’s largest law enforcement agency. Through a sheriff’s office spokesman, Ayub declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.
Study shows Desert Sun opinion page experiment curbed polarization desertsun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from desertsun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.