Weekend Toon Roundup 1: Let Freedom Ring!

Speaking of offensive flags...

Toon: Love Wins

Toon: Let Them Eat Cake

"It Is So Ordered"

The Beautiful Closing Paragraph of Justice Kennedy’s Gay Marriage Ruling

By Jordan Weissmann



Justice Anthony Kennedy, who authored today’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States, is sometimes made fun of for his notoriously purple prose. But today he managed to close his opinion with one of the most beautiful passages you’ll likely read in a court case. I teared up. So did a few other Slate staffers.



http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/26/supreme_court_legalizes_gay_marriage_here_is_the_beautiful_last_paragraph.html

Friday TOON Roundup 3 - The Rest

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The Issue

Friday TOON Roundup 2 - Dustbin of History

Friday TOON Roundup 1 - ACA Stands!

Company that Fled U.S. Over Taxes Now Wants Feds’ Help

A biotech firm that made headlines by abandoning its status as a U.S. corporation in order to gain tax advantages is now demanding that the Federal Trade Commission help protect it from a hostile takeover bid by an Israeli company. The irony was not lost among politicians in Washington who have criticized so-called “corporate inversions.”

Mylan, a generic drug maker based outside Pittsburgh, came under intense criticism earlier this year when it followed through on a plan to acquire a smaller firm in the Netherlands, and then transfer its corporate citizenship there. The move was undertaken to reduce the amount of taxes the company pays on drugs it sells overseas, while maintaining most of its operations in Pennsylvania.

The company came under fire from members of Congress and from the Obama administration as a symbol of corporate greed being placed above commitment to the country where the company grew and flourished.

Now, though, Mylan finds itself in a bind. It is the subject of a potential hostile takeover by an Israeli generic drug giant Teva Pharmaceuticals. In an effort to further its bid to buy Mylan, Teva has purchased nearly 5 percent of Mylan’s outstanding stock. Mylan is now asking the FTC to examine the stock purchase for possible violation of the requirement that large purchases of stock of U.S. firms must be reviewed by antitrust authorities.

In legal terms, Mylan probably has at least a defensible case. The company claims that its principal office remains in Pennsylvania, which makes it a “U.S. issuer” of stock for federal anti-trust purposes.

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Consumers express relief after health law ruling: ‘Thank God, hallelujah’

By Lena H. Sun and Robert Gebelhoff


Ida Sievers, who was diagnosed with leukemia last fall, had been praying that she wouldn’t lose the $620-a-month government subsidy for her health insurance. So she was delighted Thursday when she learned that the Supreme Court had ruled that the financial aid was legal and could continue.

“Thank God, hallelujah, that is so awesome,” said Sievers, a 46-year-old resident of Sioux Falls, S.D. “Oh man! I’m so happy. I’ve been so stressed about it and worried, just every day. I’ve been talking to my husband, ‘What are we gonna do honey’? And he just says, ‘Have faith, honey, it’s gonna be okay.’”

Sievers was one of several consumers who expressed relief that the court sided with the Obama administration in the highly anticipated King v. Burwell decision. Under the administration’s interpretation of the Affordable Care Act, about 6.4 million Americans receive financial aid to reduce the cost of health plans sold on the state and federal insurance exchanges. The suit challenged the subsidies provided through the federal exchange.

Sievers bought her insurance late last year on the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov, because South Dakota was one of 34 states that did not set up its own marketplace. She got chemotherapy and is now in remission. But she has been too weak to go back to her part-time job as a cashier at a convenience store. Her husband’s job, which involves operating machinery for the city street department, is seasonal, has limited hours, and doesn’t provide insurance. He earns about $30,000 a year.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/consumers-express-relief-after-health-law-ruling-thank-god-hallelujah/2015/06/25/78cb900c-15cd-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html