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News/Politics 11-21-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. How can this be legal? They say you’re under no obligation to do so, yet they’re wearing passive sensors which already answered one of their questions. Be sure to watch the video at the link for more details.

From NBCNewsDFW  “Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at a police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood.

It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said participation was “100 percent voluntary” and anonymous.”

“But a Fort Worth attorney who is an expert in civil liberties law questioned whether such stops are constitutional. “You can’t just be pulled over randomly or for no reason,” said attorney Frank Colosi.

He also noted the fine print on a form given to drivers informs them their breath was tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”

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2. Next up, more disturbing news. Looks like our refugee relocation efforts have resulted in terrorists who attacked US Troops being allowed into the US. 🙄

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3. Told ya so. Some “fix” huh? 🙄

From NewsObserver.com  “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Tuesday that it will raise rates as much as 24 percent on 2013 individual health insurance plans that are being extended next year.

The increase is double the price inflation for the same health plans just a year ago, but many Blue Cross customers who have grumbled about rising costs in past years are cheering the news this time.

The health plans in question were slated for elimination under the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s health care law, but Blue Cross said last week it would offer the plans next year. President Barack Obama urged insurers to extend the individual plans for one year amid a public outcry over forced cancellations and steep price increases for replacement plans.”

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4. The privileged few escape their share of the misery brought about by ObamaCare. The same clowns who dumped it on the rest of us.

From TheNYTimes   “Members of Congress like to boast that they will have the same health care enrollment experience as constituents struggling with the balky federal website, because the law they wrote forced lawmakers to get coverage from the new insurance exchanges.

That is true. As long as their constituents have access to “in-person support sessions” like the ones being conducted at the Capitol and congressional office buildings by the local exchange and four major insurers. Or can log on to a special Blue Cross and Blue Shield website for members of Congress and use a special toll-free telephone number — a “dedicated congressional health insurance plan assistance line.”       

And then there is the fact that lawmakers have a larger menu of “gold plan” insurance choices than most of their constituents have back home.       

While millions of Americans have been left to fend for themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through their options and enroll.”

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These last 2 are because laughter is good for ya’. 😉

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5. This one is toooo funny! 🙂

From TheHill  “President Obama’s relationship with congressional Democrats has worsened to an unprecedented low, Democratic aides say.”

“Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.”

““Is he even more unpopular than George W. Bush? I think that’s already happened,” said one Democratic chief of staff.”  😯

““They’re freaking out, as they should be,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide, adding that the rollout continues to be “a lasting mess.””

Bush

😆

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And this one? Let’s call it “My how things have changed.” 🙂

The irony in the statement at the :20 mark is priceless.

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23 thoughts on “News/Politics 11-21-13”

  1. I have NC Blue Cross, with Medicare the primary. So far, medicare has gone up $15 and Blue Cross only $11. I did receive something about the perscription options, but neither of us is on any medication, so I haven’t paid attention to that.

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  6. The audio on my computer is not currently working. Could someone please tell me what Obama said in the video, especially at the :20 mark that AJ pointed out? (For Jo, too, who can’t watch videos.)

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  7. He said something to the effect that they’ll call it Obamacare until it starts working really well. The irony is that they’re now calling it the Affordable Care Act because it’s not working at all….

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  9. Al Qaeda in Kentucky. These people come to the US as refugees from the wars in the Middle East.
    This has been discussed previously in books and articles such as Stealth Jihad by Robert Spencer and The Islamization of America by Abdullah Al-Araby. Muslims are coming to America with the intent of infiltrating this country. Look at Europe. We are next.
    This is ABC news. I got the link on Drudge.

    An al Qaeda-linked terrorist, who was resettled in the U.S. as an Iraq War refugee after allegedly killing American soldiers, was caught on camera in Kentucky handling heavy weapons that the FBI said he believed would be sent to insurgents back in Iraq.
    The 2010 video, obtained exclusively by ABC News, was part of a broader ABC News investigation into the flawed refugee vetting program, which officials said may have let “dozens” of terrorists into the country.

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/11/exclusive-fbi-video-shows-al-qaeda-in-kentucky-handling-heavy-weapons/

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  11. Thanks, MakeItMan.

    I hate the way Obama makes me feel. I just cannot stand the man, nor his arrogant incompetence. He is bent on ruining (or maybe that should be further ruining) our once-great nation.

    I wrote on a friend’s post on Facebook that I don’t like accusing people of lying. They may have made a mistake or they may merely be wrong, without lying. Having said that, I do believe our president is indeed lying to us, & has been for a long time. (Like since before he was our president.)

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  12. It’s always interesting to listen to liberals … I heard someone say recently that the only reason Reagan is considered a good president now is because people felt bad when he wound up with Alzheimer’s so they dismissed his awful second term and all the other failures of that era.

    Say what?

    Same person was reading off the litany of horrible things George W did, from Katrina to Iraq and on and on. When someone suggested that the current president faced a bleak legacy, the first person says “Oh, I think people forget (the bad stuff) over time.” Well, apparently not. He just refuted his own point.

    I’m the first to admit that W had a poor 2nd term. But I’d still take him over the current administration in a heartbeat. Among the things I’ve always liked about him is his lack of retribution and how he’s never reacted to what was some brutal criticism through the years. He wasn’t an angry partisan. He treated those who disagreed with him respectfully. He always stepped up and took responsibility for what went wrong (even when it wasn’t directly his doing — will the mayor of NO please step up and take some responsibility?).

    He wasn’t full of himself.

    And I do respect that he’s refrained from any public criticism of the current president.

    I know a number of conservatives here don’t like him and even openly mock & disrespect him. He left office with a mixed record and, in some areas, was a disappointment. Things didn’t always turn out the way he (or we) thought they would/should. I wish we hadn’t gone into Iraq.

    But say what you will, the guy had/has character.

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  13. I’m afraid I have a very bad reaction to Obama as well, especially now that we pretty much know how this all will turn out (badly). When he comes on TV, I can’t listen. I’ll read about what he said later, but if he’s giving a speech (and the tv is on at work), I’ll actually have to quietly leave the room often times. If a speech of his comes on the radio, the dial gets turned. Just can’t do it. 😦 😦

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  15. Seen on Facebook…

    “Corporate profits are at a 50-year high while unemployment is also at a 50-year high. It is were true that the rich and business were the job creators, we’d be drowning in jobs today.”

    Anyone have any insight into how accurate or inaccurate is this?

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  16. I don’t know if that’s true or not, Karen, but I know that in financial uncertainty, companies hunker down to see what will happen next rather than take on new employees they may get stuck with.

    They’ll hire temps because they’re not so difficult to let go. Is this right? Is it fair? Who owns the company?

    The changing nature of the tax laws also wreaks havoc on fiscal planning. If you don’t know what will happen with your taxes, your health insurance requirements, OSHA, and other things coming from the government, how can you make a reasonable estimate on whether you can afford to hire another employee?

    OTOH, who really needs to earn $5 million a year to work a job? Hollywood, anyone?

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  17. Good question, Karen O!

    1. For at least the last 30 years, most new jobs have been created by small businesses, including start-ups. These companies are not the big companies making record profits. Many of the owners of these small businesses almost went under in 2007-2008 and they are very cautious. They are scared by the uncertainties of Obamacare and the huge deficit.

    2. The lending industry is dominated by a handful of federally created megabanks. All lenders face a multitude of new regulations. Big companies can raise money. The credit market is still not working well for small businesses ready to expand.

    3. Welfare benefits for the unemployment have skyrocketed over the last five years. Many aren’t looking for work. Others are being very picky. My wife discovered that a young able-bodied woman at our church hasn’t worked for three years and is living off various government benefits, including payments she receives because her husband is in prison.

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  18. Karen,

    That’s way too simplistic a statement IMO. While the first part may be true in companies like “big oil” and “big bank,” in many more it’s not. Small businesses are suffering, uncertainty and the lack of available credit leaves them unable to do much but wait it out.

    ObamaCare makes this worse. Don’t forget, the employer mandate shoe is yet to drop, but it’s coming. Would you put your money at risk any more than necessary? You wouldn’t be a very good small business owner if you did. While the “bigs” make money either way (because you always need gas and money right?), that’s not true of the average small business, which is what drives the economy.

    Add in numerous new oppressive and restrictive regs, and the situation worsens.

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  22. Interesting piece from Russell Moore on evanglicals and the public square:

    http://www.firstthings.com/article/2013/12/evangelical-retreat

    ” … As Evangelicalism grows increasingly estranged from American culture—especially from the evaporating culture of the Bible Belt—it grows increasingly committed to the “strangest” aspects of the evangel itself: atonement, resurrection, reconciliation, and so on. Some younger Evangelicals’ flight impulse from issues deemed “political” isn’t a move to the political left as much as a move to the theological right. …

    “The times will demand that Evangelicals stand for the faith in a different way from that in which we have done in the past even when we were at our best, to stand in a way that lives in the tension of prophetic distance and prophetic engagement. Prophetic distance in that we don’t become mascots for any political faction, adding Bible verses to justify somebody’s agenda when called upon to do so. Prophetic engagement in that we understand that the Gospel speaks to the whole of reality, including the decisions we make together in civil society and statecraft.

    “Evangelicals may go wobbly here and there, but we will still be here, even if our sawdust trail leads again to the prison cell. We might be left behind by Wall Street or Capitol Hill, but we’re looking beyond them to something—Someone—we expect to see exploding forth in the eastern skies, maybe any moment now. You can call that a ‘Rapture’ if you want, but don’t call it a ‘retreat.’ “

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