Quinnipiac:

Eighteen months before the 2014 elections, American voters, by a slim margin, say they are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican for Congress, which would violate the historical model of the president’s party losing ground in the sixth year of a presidency, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

If elections for Congress were held today, 41 percent of voters say they would vote Democratic for Congress and 37 percent say they would vote Republican, continuing a trend that began after an April 19, 2012, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University showing Democrats at 40 percent and Republicans at 39 percent.

Last month’s bombings at the Boston Marathon left three people dead and about 260 people injured, including about 25 victims who had to get limbs amputated. Initial estimates suggested that the total medical costs of treating the survivors could exceed $9 million. Luckily, in order to help ensure that the survivors can afford their treatment, insurance companies and hospital administrators have announced they will help out by waiving most of the medical costs for them.

And now, the bombing victims with particularly serious injuries may also get some relief for their artificial prosthetics — which aren’t necessarily completely covered by insurance. The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, a trade group that represents companies that make artificial limbs, has promised to provide some prosthetics free of cost to the people who underwent amputations after the bombings:


The association’s offer, announced on a conference call with reporters under the name Coalition to Walk and Run Again, will only cover a portion of the expected costs for amputees. Victims who lost both legs face estimated medical bills of $450,000 over the next five years, said Tom Fise, executive director of the association, citing a Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs study.

The association estimates that at least half the Boston Marathon amputees lack enough insurance to cover their prosthetic costs as some policies provide as little as $1,000 per device or only provide one artificial limb. Many prosthetics need replacing every five to seven years.

“The last thing that someone should have to worry about when they lose … a leg is to have adequate insurance coverage for a prosthetic device,” said Kendra Calhoun, president of the Amputee Coalition, an organization supporting the estimated 2 million amputees in the United States.

Shaw's Supermarkets will donate $100,000 to The One Fund Boston, the foundation collecting money to support victims of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.

The supermarket chain, which has a store at North Bevelry Plaza, also announced last week that it is launching an in-store fundraising campaign where customers can donate to The One Fund Boston. Shoppers will be able to contribute any amount to the fund during checkout and all proceeds will go directly to The One Fund.

In addition, Shaw's said it will match all shopper donations up to an additional $100,000, according to a press release from the store.

“As an organization that has been part of the New England and Boston communities for over 150 years, we understand how this tragedy has affected so many of our associates and customers,” Shaw's and Star Market President Shane Sampson said in a statement. “We not only wanted to support the survivors and families of this terrible tragedy, but also wanted to provide customers a way to contribute as well. Taking care of the communities we operate in is important to Shaw’s and Star Market, and we are proud to be able to join with our customers to support The One Fund Boston.”

West, 27, an active-duty captain in the Marines, traveled to Boston with about a dozen other amputees who lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide information and moral support to those injured in the attack.

The trip was paid for by the Semper Fi Fund, which helps critically injured servicemembers. The fund is raising money for Boston's survivors, especially amputees who now face months of rehabilitation and a lifetime of maintenance.

At least 15 people lost limbs in the bombings, which created the largest number of civilian patients with multiple traumatic injuries in the country, said Ross Zafonte, vice president for medical affairs at Spaulding.

Eight bombing patients, including five amputees, have transferred to the rehab hospital, and at least that many will arrive next week, said David Crandell, director of Spaulding's amputee program. Spaulding is the Boston area's premier rehabilitation hospital research and training center.

SNIP:
Conversely, none of the same courtesy has been extended to our current president following the Boston Marathon bombing. Not so shocking, considering how it likewise didn't happen in the aftermath of the Great Recession, or after the killing of Bin Laden, or after the end of the Iraq War. It certainly didn't happen following each of the various gun massacres -- terrorist attacks at gunpoint. And, as we're all aware, an outright conservative inquest was launched following the consulate attack in Benghazi, in spite of the fact that 11 similar attacks took place during the Bush years with considerably greater body counts.

SNIP:
Fox & Friends co-host and miraculous talking monkey Brian Kilmeade said on his radio show, "So like it or not, this president has left [the Middle East] alone. And guess what happens? Now the IEDs are blowing up in our streets." Yep, the Boston bombing was the president's fault. 100 percent. Why? Because of the Middle East, even though the suspects, the Tsarnaevs, are from, you know, Chechnya.

Rush Limbaugh attacked the president's handling of the bombing by invoking Benghazi, the New Black Panthers (all two of them at that polling place in Philadelphia) and Rev. Wright of all people -- all in the context of the Obama government's refusal to tell the truth.

Former Bush attorney general Michael Mukasey attacked the president for apparently downplaying the motives of the Tsarnaev brothers, "There is also cause for concern in the president's reluctance, soon after the Boston bombing, even to use the 't' word -- terrorism -- and in his vague musing on Friday about some unspecified agenda of the perpetrators, when by then there was no mystery: the agenda was jihad."

The Massachusetts native and attorney is managing the payouts from The One Fund, which was established to help victims of the explosions that killed three and injured 260.

Feinberg is experienced dealing with people facing profound loss, but he doesn't seek the work.

"I must tell you every time I do one, you say to yourself, 'God I hope this is the last one," he said.

Feinberg handled victims' compensation after 9/11, the BP oil spill, the Virginia Tech shootings and the Colorado movie theater shootings, among other calamities.

He's now advising a panel distributing money after the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and mediating Penn State's settlement discussions with the sex abuse victims of former football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The experiences are wrenching, he said. And recipients invariably resent him, thinking he's trying to put a price on the priceless things they've lost.

"Don't expect thanks or appreciation or gratitude, none of that," Feinberg said. "We have very emotional victims and you're offering them money instead of a limb, instead of the return of a family member. This is a no-win situation."

SNIP:

In Boston, Feinberg will be dealing with complex injuries, such as numerous amputations, including cases where victims lost both legs. Feinberg hopes to be ready to meet with families by June 15 and get checks out by June 30.

BMDC will join the rally in East Boston immediately following Boston City Hall rally

Supporters: ANSWER Coalition, Boston Anti Authoritarian Movement, Boston Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee, Greater Boston Stop the Wars Coalition, Harvard No-Layoffs Campaign, Industrial Workers of the World, Latinos for Social Change, Mass Global Action, Sacco & Vanzetti Commemoration Society, Socialist Alternative, Socialist Party of Boston, Socialist Workers Party, Student Labor Action Movement, USW Local 8751 - Boston School Bus Drivers Union, Worcester Immigrant Coalition, National Immigrant Solidarity Network, Democracy Center - Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridge/Somerville/Arlington United for Justice with Peace, International Socialist Organization, Community Church of Boston, Dominican Development Center