Whoa, this isn't going to be anywhere near enough. According to a lawyer filing suit against the owners of the Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, the plant only carried a $1 million liability insurance policy. The blast last month killed 14 people, injured 200 more, and destroyed blocks of nearby property. An estimate by an insurance industry group puts the damages at $100 million.

AP:

Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts said he and other attorneys who have filed lawsuits against West Fertilizer's owners were told Thursday that the plant carried only $1 million in liability insurance. Brook Laskey, an attorney hired by the plant's insurer to represent West Fertilizer Co., confirmed the amount Saturday in an email to The Associated Press, after the Dallas Morning News first reported it.

"The bottom line is, this lack of insurance coverage is just consistent with the overall lack of responsibility we've seen from the fertilizer plant, starting from the fact that from day one they have yet to acknowledge responsibility," Roberts said.

Roberts said he expects the plant's owner to ask a judge to divide the $1 million in insurance money among the plaintiffs, several of whom he represents, and then file for bankruptcy.

He said he wasn't surprised that the plant was carrying such a small policy.

"It's rare for Texas to require insurance for any kind of hazardous activity," he said. "We have very little oversight of hazardous activities and even less regulation."

Roberts said that lawyers will look to see what other assets the company may have, as well as search for any other responsible parties.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren grilled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday over government policies that she said promote large financial institutions that are “too big to fail.”

Warren also asked whether big banks should repay taxpayers for the billions of dollars they save in borrowing costs because of the credit market's belief that they won't be allowed to fail, repeatedly citing a recent Bloomberg View study estimating that the biggest banks essentially get a government subsidy of $83 billion a year, nearly matching their annual profits.

Warren quizzed Bernanke on that study. “I understand that we’re all trying to get to the end of too big to fail, but my question, Mr. Chairman, is until we do, should those biggest financial institutions be repaying the American taxpayer that $83 billion subsidy that they’re getting?”

Bernanke responded, "The subsidy is coming because of market expectations that the government would bail out these firms if they failed. Those expectations are incorrect.”

After some back and forth, Warren countered, “$83 billion says there really will be a bailout for the largest institutions.”

“That’s the expectation of markets. But that doesn’t mean we have to do it,” Bernanke responded.

Warren insisted that the large banks should pay for the subsidy. “Ordinary folks pay for homeowners’ insurance, ordinary folks pay for car insurance, and these big financial institutions are getting cheaper borrowing to the tune of $83 billion in a single year simply because people believe that the government would step in and bail them out. I’m just saying, if they’re getting it, why shouldn’t they pay for it?” she said.

“I think we should get rid of it,” Bernanke replied.

Devon Lawrence hasn't had heat since Hurricane Sandy three months ago. His elderly mother wears gloves to bed and Lawrence wakes up early to turn the heat on so she doesn't wake up cold. Despite all of the challenges, he isn't giving up:

Via:

Devon Lawrence neatly stacked bricks on the gas burner of his kitchen stove and turned up the blue flame, creating a sort of radiator that warmed the ice-cold room.

His two-story house in the Far Rockaway section of Queens hasn't had working heat since Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters destroyed the oil burner in the basement. Now mold is growing upstairs because the house has been cold and damp for so long.

Lawrence wakes early every morning to heat the bricks and light a kerosene space heater while his 75-year-old mother sits in bed in a hat and gloves.

"That way she doesn't freeze," said Lawrence, a former Army medic who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Even the dog is cold."

The Associated Press also interviewed Norma Mancia, a Salvadoran immigrant, for this report. Mancia's home is also located in the Far Rockaways, and she lost many preciouos documents in the flooding.

"We lost all the receipts and papers we could need in case we have the opportunity of solving our legal status here," said Mancia, who has received only $500 in aid from a local church. "I have cried a lot."

Because she is in the U.S. illegally, Mancia has not received any funds from FEMA.

President Obama today called upon Congress to finally fix what he called a "broken" immigration system. While there seems to be rare bipartisan cooperation in crafting a plan that includes a clear path to citizenship, it seems unlikely that any new legislation could be put into effect soon enough to be of assistance to Mancia, or others in similar situations.

Mike Huckabee makes a pre-election push with a new ad claiming, in his usual unsubtle Republican way, that if you vote the wrong way on Nov. 6 you're probably going to go to hell.

Huckabee:

Many issues are at stake, but some issues are not negotiable: The right to life from conception to natural death. Marriage should be reinforced, not redefined. It is an egregious violation of our cherished principle of religious liberty for the government to force the Church to buy the kind of insurance that leads to the taking of innocent human life.

Your vote will affect the future and be recorded in eternity. Will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire? This is Mike Huckabee asking you to join me November 6th and vote based on values that will stand the test of fire.

Actually, "the Church" is exempt from the contraception coverage mandate, which Huckabee says forces "the Church to buy the kind of insurance that leads to the taking of innocent human life." Not only that, but the hormonal birth control he's likely speaking of works by suppressing ovulation, not sperm.

So essentially, Mike Huckabee lied. As I recall that puts him at risk of eternal damnation, hell fire and all that jazz.

The lobbying firm Strategic Health Care is hosting a Capitol Hill event titled, "White Trash Reception." Here's a flyer for the um, "event":

"Hey y'all - get gussied up in your Sunday jorts, mullets, and fullets and come on down to the White Trash Reception," the invitation reads:

White Trash Reception
July 19, 2012 5:30 - 9:30 pm
230 2nd Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

Grab some suds and grub with Strategic Health Care! Please RSVP to info@shcare.net

Peggy Tighe, Beth Swickard, Jason Gromley, and Kyah Flickinger

Here's how the lobbying firm describes itself: "Strategic Health Care’s vision is to become the leading health care consulting firm focused all matters where government and health care meet. In order to achieve this (and distinguish ourselves from other firms), we will continue to capitalize on our knowledge of the health care system, our understanding of our clients’ businesses, our ability to anticipate and influence legislative and regulatory issues, and our dedication to efficient and cost-effective client service."

The National Journal contacted Strategic Healthcare's director of government relations to find out if the invitation was legitimate, and the response? It is.

She said the party at the firm's Capitol Hill townhouse gathers lobbyists, Hill staffers and health industry types for some happy hour fun. The firm throws themed parties every couple of months, though past themes have included the decidedly less edgy pirate and cherry blossom varieties.

This reminds me of the foreclosure attorneys office staff that held a party where they dressed in mock "homeless" attire, and even created scenery to depict vacant, foreclosed homes.

If this invitation hadn't been become public knowledge, I imagine the lobbyists would have dressed as stereotypes of the people who won't ever be able to afford healthcare as their states are opting out of medicare expansion.

And as ThinkProgress notes the event particularly stings because health care lobbyists at Strategic Health Care profit from pharmaceutical companies that make their money on expensive drugs that low income Americans of all races frequently have to turn their pockets inside out to pay for.

[Via]

My name is Olivia. I can’t hold a sign because I’m so little.

I was born with club feet. One was so bad, it was nearly upside-down. My feet have been stretched into place and casted into position every week since I was 3 weeks old. It really hurts. I’m 3 and a half months old now, so I’ve done that a lot. It costs about $500 each time. (You can see one of my casts peeking out under my dress.)

On March 21, 2012 I had my first surgery, because the stretching wasn’t working. That cost nearly $9,000, but if my feet don’t get fixed, I’ll never be able to walk.

Medicaid is paying to fix my feet. My Daddy is a disabled veteran, but his insurance won’t cover my feet. My Mom is trying to raise my 3 brothers and I while she wracks up student loans getting her college degree, because minimum wage isn’t enough to keep a roof over our heads.

WIC is paying for my formula, because Mom’s milk never came in. She feels kinda bad about that, but sometimes these things just happen.

I hear that some people want to get rid of Medicaid, the Pell Grant, and WIC, so that the 1% can have even more tax breaks. Well, I want to be able to walk. I need to eat. And my Mom would like to be able to provide for me better someday. I don’t understand why people want to take that away from me. What did I do wrong?

[Via]

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Former "ER" star Noah Wyle was among 100 protesters arrested on Capitol Hill Monday during a demonstration urging Congress not to cut Medicaid. The AP reports that the protesters were affiliated with ADAPT, a disability rights organization.

Wyle, who was a regular on the long-running popular NBC hospital drama until 2005, has been active with a number of causes and organizations, from Doctors of the World to the Worldwide Wildlife Fund. He also served as a spokesman for Cover the Uninsured, an organization pushing for health insurance to be provided to the more than 40 million Americans, including children, who are without coverage.

Wyle is the second "ER" actor to be arrested in D.C. for a good cause recently. In March, George Clooney was arrested at a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy.