President Biden’s Sinking Support in Key Voting Bloc a Threat to Dems

Democrats are scrambling to recapture the youth vote as President Joe Biden’s approval rating plummets among the group, Politico reported Sunday.

Biden’s approval rating among people aged 18-30 dropped significantly over the course of 2021, with a CBS News poll released in January recording a 70% drop compared to February 2021. Gallup released a poll the following month that showed only 31% approved of Biden, compared to former President Barack Obama, whose rating from Gallup with the demographic never fell below 42% throughout his entire presidency.

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Lamont: Family First Prevention Plan Gains Federal Approval

Ned Lamont

A plan that provides greater access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment has received federal approval, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor announced the Family First Prevention Plan was approved by the U.S. Children’s Bureau. The plan is drawn from the Family First Prevention Services Act that was signed into law as part of the U.S. Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

“This prevention plan is designed to enhance the well-being of all of Connecticut’s children, youth, and families,” Lamont said in the release. “I am very proud of the collaborative and deliberate approach taken by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families to lead this effort. This is Connecticut’s plan and one that will lead to our children having a brighter future.”

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Biden’s Approval Hits New Low in FiveThirtyEight Tracker

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden’s approval rating hit a new low of just over 43% in FiveThirtyEight’s polling tracker as he confronts multiple economic and legislative headwinds.

Biden’s approval stood at 43.5%, and has steadily declined since July. His disapproval stood at 50.6%, the highest of his presidency.

Biden’s slide has coincided with another spike in coronavirus cases, a messy Afghanistan withdrawal and economic challenges ranging from supply chain issues to inflation. He has also pinned much of his domestic agenda on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and his sweeping budget, but left-wing and moderate Democrats have yet to agree on a compromise that would give both the votes needed to pass the House, where they hold just a three-vote margin, and the 50-50 Senate.

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Federal Agency Approves Ohio Work Requirement for Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Ohio’s work rules for “able-bodied” recipients of Medicare Friday. Obamacare included a requirement that all 50 states expand Medicare eligibility to cover every individual whose income was up to 133 percent of the poverty line by January 1, 2014. In 2012, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court voted to uphold much of the law while ruling the Medicaid expansion requirement unconstitutional. They found that the federal government couldn’t force the states to expand Medicaid with the threat of withdrawing existing Medicaid funding. Instead, each state would have the option to voluntarily opt into the expansion or not. After months of deliberation, then-Ohio Governor John Kasich announced he would push to accept the expanded Medicaid in March of 2013. The once tea-party supported governor faced significant conservative pushback and criticism for accepting the expansion, most significantly for its high cost and potential government overreach. In 2017, Kasich added provisions to the Medicaid expansion, but stipulated that certain work requirements be met before “able-bodied” men could use the program. They had to work 20 hours a week, be actively looking for a job, receiving education or training, or engaged in community service. These measures, while supported in the state, received significant pushback from advocacy groups who…

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