New York Times: Obamacare Enrollments Exceed 3 Million

Robert Pear's article at the New York Times is linked below.

Nearly 3.3 Million Enrolled in Obamacare

New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait: Right-Wingers Demonizing Obamacare as the New Welfare

Jonathan Chait's article at New York Magazine is linked below.

Jonathan Chait: Obamacare is not the old "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" Program

"But Ryan is completely wrong about the class of people facing this reduced-work incentive. It’s not workers who are set to “begin working” and “get on the ladder of life” who face the Obamacare phase-out. That hits much higher up the income ladder — $94,000 a year for a family of four. A person facing this subsidy cutoff may work fewer hours, or even quit altogether, but he or she would be living off his or her own savings or a spouse's income. There's no Obamacare "dole," in the sense of income that substitutes for work, unless conservatives imagine Medicaid patients clothing themselves in free hospital gowns and feeding their children all the waiting room lollipops they can eat."

---Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine 

Pew Research Center: In 2012, Modest Uptick in U.S. Marriages Among the College-Educated

The Pew Research Center article is linked below.

Pew Research Center: Some Rebound in New Marriages Among College-Educated

"But a closer look at the demographic patterns reveals some interesting insights about who is getting married. From 2011 to 2012, the total number of newly married adults increased by 113,000 (from 4.21 million to 4.32 million).  Examining the newlyweds by education level, the number of newly married adults with at least a bachelor’s degree increased by 98,000 from 2011 to 2012.  Thus, almost the entire increase in new marriages (87%) from 2011 to 2012 is accounted for by the college-educated."

---Richard Fry, Pew Research Center

Salon's Simon Maloy: Coca-Cola's Multi-Language Super Bowl Ad Drew Out the Nativist Xenophobes

Simon Maloy's column at Salon is linked below.

Simon Maloy: The Backlash Against the Coca-Cola Super Bowl Ad

"Coca-Cola’s ad was a nod to a long-standing truth about America: A country of such broad ethnic diversity is going to have whole communities that speak languages other than English. From the barrios of Los Angeles to the tenement blocks of turn-of-the-century New York to the Gullah region of the antebellum South, there have always been American communities where standard English wasn’t spoken at home. In my own family it’s not uncommon to hear conversations in English, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese. This isn’t a threat to American culture. It is American culture.

But for the conservative pundits and 'English first' nativists, the simple act of recognizing other heritages somehow detracts from their own. This is the culture war, and it’s a zero-sum fight. In the eyes of the critics, Coke’s acknowledgment that English does not command 100 percent of the linguistic market was giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It’s a blatant and nasty appeal to cultural resentment and xenophobia."

---Simon Maloy, Salon 

Coca-Cola's "America the Beautiful" Super Bowl Commercial Ignites Rightwing Xenophobia

Coverage of the Super Bowl Coca-Cola Controversy is linked below.

New York Daily News: Coverage of the Backlash Against Coca-Cola

Eonline.com: Coverage of the Coca-Cola Super Bowl Controversy

Politico: Coverage of Conservative Reaction to the Coca-Cola Multi-Language Ad

Salon's Joan Walsh: Fox News is the Avant-Garde of White Grievance and Backlash

Joan Walsh's column at Salon is linked below.

Joan Walsh: Fox News, a Channel for White Grievance

"Thanks in large measure to Roger Ailes, we live in a country now where a carnival barker with an ugly comb-over can make the duly elected president show him his papers, and an angry mediocrity like O’Reilly can condescend to an accomplished black man who is in fact his moral and intellectual superior.

Maybe more important, day to day Fox provides a steady infusion of toxic lies into our political bloodstream, from tales about 'victims' of Obamacare who could in fact be helped by it, to fantasies of neglect and incompetence at Benghazi that in fact shame the memory of the men who died there. Politically, we are all the sicker for it.

So if progressives want to believe that Fox is history because its viewers are getting old and its hosts are getting crazier, that’s their choice. I was always told dying animals can be the most dangerous."

---Joan Walsh, Salon 

The New York Times: American Abortion Rate Falling

The article in The New York Times is linked below.

The New York Times: Significant Decline in U.S. Abortions Since 2008

Associated Press: The U.S. Abortion Rate Has Declined Significantly Since 1981

The Associated Press article posted at Politico article is linked below.

Associated Press: U.S. Abortion Rate Has Declined to a Nearly 40 Year Low

"According to the report, the abortion rate dropped to 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 in 2011, well below the peak of 29.3 in 1981 and the lowest since a rate of 16.3 in 1973."

---Associated Press, article posted at Politico.com 

Joe Namath Contends that the Human Body was not Engineered for Football

Huffington Post's coverage of Joe Namath's statement is linked below.

Huffington Post: Joe Namath Claims that a Person's Body not Suited for Football

The Star-Ledger Editorial: Chris Christie Must Resign if Latest Allegations Prove True

Star-Ledger editorial is linked below.

Star-Ledger: A Chris Christie Resignation Might Prove Necessary

"Forget about the White House in 2016. The question now is whether Gov. Chris Christie can survive as governor."

---Star-Ledger Editorial Board

The New Republic's Lane Florsheim: The Decline of Self-Identified Members of the American Middle Class

Lane Florsheim's article at The New Republic is linked below.

The New Republic: Fewer Americans Consider Themselves to be Middle Class

"However, the Pew survey released last week indicates a rapid increase in the number of people who identify themselves as lower class, as well as a smaller rise in those identifying themselves as lower-middle class. As Paul Krugman points out, the two “lower” categories now make up almost a plurality of the population (indeed, approaching the 47 percent mark)."

---Lane Florsheim, The New Republic 

The Nation's Dave Zirin: All Hail the Attempt by Northwestern Wildcats Football Players to Form a Union

Dave Zirin's column at The Nation is linked below.

Dave Zirin: The Northwestern Wildcats vs. the NCAA

"Whether or not the Northwestern players succeed in their efforts to unionize—and the NCAA will spend however many billions it takes to make sure this does not happen—their efforts today will long be remembered as the opening shot that cracked the NCAA Cartel. They deserve our support. They deserve our respect. Most of all, they deserve our solidarity. In 1922, that author of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair wrote, 'College athletics, under the spur of commercialism, has become a monstrous cancer.' I do not know what Sinclair would make of a twenty-first-century world where coaches make 100 times the salaries of professors. I think we can say safely, however, that the actions of the Northwestern football team would have made Mr. Sinclair very proud indeed."

---Dave Zirin, The Nation 

NBC News: A Majority of the American Public Supports Marijuana Legalization

Michael O'Brien's article at NBC News is linked below.

NBC News: Strong Majority Support for Marijuana Legalization

"Fifty-five percent of Americans support legislative efforts to legalize marijuana, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Those respondents would back similar laws to the ones on the books in Colorado and Washington state, where adults over the age of 21 are permitted to possess limited amounts of marijuana for personal use."

---Michael O'Brien, NBC News

NBC News: Chris Christie Collapsing

The NBC News article is linked below.

NBC News: Chris Christie Crashing

"Chris Christie’s political future looks to be in serious danger with more Americans believing the embattled New Jersey governor is lying about the bridge closure scandal than telling the truth, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.  Christie’s overall standing has taken a major hit in the survey, with just 22 percent of Americans viewing the Republican New Jersey governor favorably -- down from 33 percent in October."

---Domenico Montanaro, NBC News

NBC News: Americans are Deeply Pessimistic Regarding the State of the Nation

The NBC News article by Mark Murray is linked below.

NBC News: A Pessimistic America

"As President Barack Obama enters his sixth year in the White House, 68 percent of Americans say the country is either stagnant or worse off since he took office, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Just 31 percent say the country is better off, and a deep pessimism continues to fuel the public's mood. Most respondents used words like 'divided,' 'troubled,' and 'deteriorating' to describe the current state of the nation."

---Mark Murray, NBC News

The New York Times' Ross Douthat: Left and Right and the Matters of Contraception, Abortion, Divorce, and Marriage

Ross Douthat's column at The New York Times is linked below.

Ross Douthat: Abortion, Contraception, Divorce, and Marriage

Auburn Ranked as the Best City in Alabama

Movoto.com's article is listed below.

Movoto.com: Auburn is Alabama's Best City

"This charm, this Southern something that residents have known about for years—and in today’s post, we are going to explore just which Alabama places are the best, and what that something is that makes them so special. Without further ado, here are the 10 best places in Alabama, starting with our winner, Auburn:"

---Natalie Grigson, Movoto.com

Auburn Ranked #1 Among Alabama's Cities

Politico: Rankings of the Best and Worst States in America

Politico's report is linked below.

Politico: New Hampshire the Best, Mississippi the Worst

"With this in mind, Politico Magazine rounded up 14 different state rankings from reputable sources like the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, and on important factors such as high school graduation rates, per capita income, life expectancy and crime rate. Then we averaged out each state’s 14 rankings to come up with a master list—atop which sits none other than New Hampshire."

---Margaret Slattery, Politico 

Huffington Post: More Than 3 Million Have Registered for Private Insurance Under Obamacare

President Barack Obama

Sam Stein's article at Huffington Post is linked below.

Over 3 Million Registered for Private Insurance Under Obamacare

"Hundreds of thousands of people have chosen private health coverage under Obamacare so far in 2014, continuing the accelerated pace of enrollments from the end of last year.

The Obama administration said Friday that more than 3 million people have now signed up for private plans through the federal and state health insurance exchanges, including more than 800,000 in January."

---Sam Stein, Huffington Post 

CDC: Final U.S. Birth Data for 2012

Access to the CDC's final birth data for 2012 is linked below.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm