Obamacare

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News/Politics 1-24-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. It. Just. Gets. Worse.

From FoxNews  “While the administration publicly expresses full confidence in its health care law, privately it fears one part of the system is so flawed it could bankrupt insurance companies and cripple ObamaCare itself.

 “Week after week, month after month,” says John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, “the Obama administration kept telling us everything’s working fine, there’s no problem and then they turn on a dime and fire their contractor.”

To justify a no-bid contract with Accenture after firing CGI as the lead contractor, the administration released documents from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that offered a rare glimpse of its worst fears, saying the problems with the website puts “the entire health insurance industry at risk” … “potentially leading to their default and disrupting continued services and coverage to consumers.”

Then it went even further, saying if the problems were not fixed by mid-March, “they will result in financial harm to the government.”

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2. It’s the Chicago way.

From Reuters  “Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner angrily warned the chairman of Standard & Poor’s parent that the rating agency would be held accountable for its 2011 decision to strip the United States of its coveted “triple-A” rating, a new court filing shows.

Harold McGraw, the chairman of McGraw-Hill Financial Inc , made the statement in a declaration filed by S&P on Monday, as it defends against the government’s $5 billion fraud lawsuit over its rating practices prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

McGraw said he returned a call from Geithner on Aug. 8, 2011, three days after S&P cut the U.S. credit rating to “AA-plus,” and that Geithner told him “you are accountable” for an alleged “huge error” in S&P’s work.

“He said that ‘you have done an enormous disservice to yourselves and to your country,'” and that S&P’s conduct would be “looked at very carefully,” McGraw said. “Such behavior could not occur, he said, without a response from the government.”

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3. If intimidation is how they respond to a downgrade, I’d be nervous if I was these guys.

From TheHill  “Moody’s announced Thursday it was downgrading its outlook for health insurers from stable to negative based on uncertainty related to ObamaCare.

The credit rating agency cited an unstable environment because of the healthcare law’s difficult rollout, and projected that insurers would earn 2 percent less than forecast in 2014.

“While we’ve had industry risks from regulatory changes on our radar for a while, the ongoing unstable and evolving environment is a key factor for our outlook change,” Moody’s Senior Vice President Stephen Zaharuk said in a statement. “The past few months have seen new regulations and announcements that impose operational changes well after product and pricing decisions were finalized.”

The Moody’s report also cites the slow enrollment of young people into ObamaCare as a reason for the downgrade.”

🙄

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4. The IRS intimidation of conservative groups continues. And it looks like they’ve targeted one of the few conservative groups in Hollywood.

From TheNYTimes  “In a famously left-leaning Hollywood, where Democratic fund-raisers fill the social calendar, Friends of Abe stands out as a conservative group that bucks the prevailing political winds. A collection of perhaps 1,500 right-leaning players in the entertainment industry, Friends of Abe keeps a low profile and fiercely protects its membership list, to avoid what it presumes would result in a sort of 21st-century blacklist, albeit on the other side of the partisan spectrum.

Now the Internal Revenue Service is reviewing the group’s activities in connection with its application for tax-exempt status. Last week, federal tax authorities presented the group with a 10-point request for detailed information about its meetings with politicians like Paul D. Ryan, Thaddeus McCotter and Herman Cain, among other matters, according to people briefed on the inquiry.”

“Those people said that the application had been under review for roughly two years, and had at one point included a demand — which was not met — for enhanced access to the group’s security-protected website, which would have revealed member names. Tax experts said that an organization’s membership list is information that would not typically be required. The I.R.S. already had access to the site’s basic levels, a request it considers routine for applications for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.”

“People for the American Way, Mr. Lear’s group, stands as something of a liberal counterpart to Friends of Abe, though the organization is far larger, with an affiliate that spends millions of dollars a year on issue advocacy in Washington and beyond. But the entertainment industry has been crisscrossed by progressive groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, which maintains a tax-exempt educational adjunct under the 501(c)(3) provision, and includes the producer Laurie David and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio among its trustees. Another, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, is a nonprofit that supports marriage rights for gay people and counts the producer Bruce Cohen and the writer Dustin Lance Black among its founders.”

And none of those have been targeted. Neither has Obama’s OFA.

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5. This also stinks of intimidation, but we’ll have to wait and see. If he is guilty, then he’ll pay the price.

From Variety  “Dinesh D’Souza, director of the 2012 documentary “2016: Obama’s America,” was arrested and indicted for campaign finance fraud on Thursday, Reuters reports.

The conservative filmmaker and best-selling author allegedly contributed $20,000 in 2012 in the name of others to Republican Wendy Long’s U.S. Senate campaign. Long ran for Hillary Clinton’s vacated Senate seat, but lost to Kirsten Gillibrand.

Federal law in 2012 limited election campaign contributions to $5,000 per person per candidate. Breaking this law is punishable to two years in prison.

“As we have long said, this Office and the FBI take a zero tolerance approach to corruption of the electoral process,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, said in a statement.”

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6. And it seems Gov. Cuomo is taking a page from the Obama playbook.

From FoxNews  “Conservative activist James O’Keefe is accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration of targeting his group with document requests and a subpoena, claiming the Democratic governor’s recent comments critical of conservatives “aren’t simply words.”

“”Governor Cuomo’s shocking words this past week aren’t simply words,” O’Keefe said in a statement. “Governor Cuomo and the New York Department of Labor are on a witch hunt, demanding all documents and financials since our founding. … His goal, of course, is to harass us and limit our effectiveness by tying us up in court. Just like President Obama used the IRS to target and suppress conservatives, Governor Cuomo is using his Department of Labor to do the same exact thing.”

“The group claims its finances are “meticulously maintained to the penny” and calls the inquiries “meritless.” A statement said Project Veritas would be relocating to New Jersey. 

Further, the group claimed that it complied with an earlier document request and showed up for a scheduled meeting on Dec. 13, but state labor officers “never showed up.”

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7. The White House is rejecting a review board’s findings that calls their NSA data sweep illegal.

Also From FoxNews  “The White House on Thursday disputed the findings of an independent review board that said the National Security Agency’s mass data collection program is illegal and should be ended, indicating the administration would not be taking that advice. 

“We simply disagree with the board’s analysis on the legality of the program,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. 

He was responding to a scathing report from The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), which said the program ran afoul of the law on several fronts. 

“The … bulk telephone records program lacks a viable legal foundation,” the board’s report said, adding that it raises “serious threats to privacy and civil liberties” and has “only limited value.” The report, further, said the NSA should “purge” the files. “

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8. We’re all racist, and there’s nothing we can do about it. 😯

From TheFederalist  “One of the most troubling aspects of modern racial discourse is how it often, if not usually, rests upon an unequivocal and unassailable assumption, namely that “society” makes everyone, or nearly everyone, racist. The presumption is not that most of us are racist in the way that a Klansman, or a diehard segregationist, is racist; such bigotry would be easily provable by examining the actions and the stated intentions of a person or a group of people. Nor is the debate given to the idea that people simply believe in genuine racial bigotry but is holding it back for one reason or another. Today’s discussions on race are more often than not informed by the notion that racism is a deep-seated, internal, subconscious set of values within the lion’s share of the populace, fashioned by “culture” or “society,” undetectable in superficial appearances but still omnipresent: this racism is insidious, surreptitious, unconscious and, most importantly, ineradicable without a great deal of dramatic, penetrating, soul-searching mental and emotional labor.”

“The most frequent encounter one has with the “everyone is racist” or “most people are racist” tenet is the one that argues that our “culture” or our “society” has conditioned us to be racist; to use one of the more widespread examples, for instance, it is held that popular perceptions and depictions of black men have created in all of us the tendency to suspect all black men to be criminals, and in many cases, the theory goes, we are not even aware of this tendency, lodged so firmly and deeply in our minds as it is. It is true that the proponents of this theory cannot clearly prove that you contain this invidious judgment within your psyche, but then again, and most importantly, you cannot disprove it. Ideally, the burden of proof would be upon the accuser, as is the case in any competent judicial system; but in instances like these the burden of proof is not even on the accused, because there is no proof to be had—there is only an accusation with which one cannot argue, because one is not even aware of one’s deepest thoughts.”

Welcome to the kangaroo court of the politically correct. Either way, you’re guilty.

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News/Politics 1-23-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Despite the bad weather many turned out for yesterdays March for Life. Numerous plane and bus delays, as well as cancellations did lower the numbers.

From LifeSiteNews, photos at the link.   “Tens of thousands of pro-life activists endured frigid temperatures and a snow storm Wednesday as they gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to mark the 41st anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that has prepared the way for an estimated 56 million abortions.”

“Taking the stage to welcome the marchers shortly after noon, March for Life organizers insisted pro-lifers wouldn’t be daunted by the frigid weather in D.C. “We may be freezing, but we’re freezing for the best cause in the world,” said Patrick Kelly, chairman of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. “No sacrifice is too great for this cause,” said Jeanne Monahan, the group’s newly minted president.

Speakers at the rally included Dr. James Dobson, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), and Washington State Democratic Legislator Roger Freeman.”

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2. Democrats took the anniversary of Roe v. Wade as an opportunity for reaffirming their commitment to abortion. The DNC trotted out the tired, old “war on women” meme in a tweet aimed at the Republicans above who dared to stand up for life.

“On the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the GOP actually postponed it’s winter meeting to rally against women’s rights.”

The President did exactly what you would expect. He reminded folks that without abortion, some women wouldn’t be able to fulfill their dreams.

Also from LifeSiteNews  “President Obama reaffirmed his support for the “right to reproductive freedom” in a statement celebrating the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a ruling which has paved the way for over 56 million abortions.”

““Today, as we reflect on the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, we recommit ourselves to the decision’s guiding principle: that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health,” the president said.

“We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom,” he continued. “And we resolve to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, and continue to build safe and healthy communities for all our children.  Because this is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities to fulfill their dreams.”

Except for the unborn, right Mr. President?

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3. This, like the March, is encouraging. A Knights of Columbus/Marist poll shows 84% of Americans support significant restriction on abortion.

From KOFC.org  “A new survey of Americans finds strong support for abortion restrictions – including among those who identify as “strongly pro-choice.” Eighty-four percent of Americans would limit abortion to, at most, the first three months of pregnancy, with 58 percent of strongly pro-choice Americans supporting such limits.

The Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll also found that almost three-quarters of Americans (74 percent) favor a ban on abortions after 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother, a majority of Americans (53 percent) believe life begins at conception, and more than 6 in 10 (62 percent) think abortion is morally wrong.

More than 8 in 10 Americans (84 percent) do not see the abortion debate as an all or nothing proposition, saying that laws can protect both the well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn.”

80% support parental notification, 79% support a 24 hour waiting period, and 76% oppose allowing abortions to be performed by non-doctors as well.

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4. Here’s another interesting poll. And this ain’t no right-wing pollster.  🙂

From Quinnipiac.edu  “American voters give President Obama a negative 40 – 54 percent approval rating, compared to 41 – 53 percent January 8, and 38 – 57 percent December 10, indications that his plunge has leveled off.

But voters give Obama his lowest grades for their top priorities:

 Negative 39 – 56 percent for his handling of the economy;

 Negative 36 – 59 percent for his handling of healthcare;

 Positive 48 – 41 percent for handling terrorism;

 Negative 40 – 49 percent for foreign policy;

 Negative 39 – 47 percent for handling Iran.”

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5. And they won’t be the only ones.

From CNBC  “Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini told CNBC on Wednesday that Obamacare has failed to attract the uninsured, and he offered a scenario in which the insurance company could be forced to pull out of program.

The company will be submitting Obamacare rates for 2015 on May 15.

  “Are they going to be double-digit [increases] or are we going to get beat up because they’re double-digit or are we just going to have to pull out of the program?” Bertolini asked in a “Squawk Box” interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Those questions can’t be answered until we see the population we have today. And we really don’t have a good view on that.”

“He said that so far, Obamacare has just shifted people who were insured in the individual market to the public exchanges where they could get a better deal on a subsidy for coverage. “We see only 11 percent of the population is actually people that were firmly uninsured that are now insured. So [it] didn’t really eat into the uninsured population.”

Why would it? After all, nothing else has been as advertised. Why would this be any different?

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News/Politics 1-22-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. ObamaCare?…  Affordable Care Act?…….

Nope, doesn’t ring a bell…..

From NationalReview  “At this point, the real action of 2014 will be in the red state Senate races in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Montana. Unsurprisingly, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee isn’t so eager to talk about Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act — at least on their home page.

The only reference to “health” on the DSCC home page right now is a John Walsh tweet that “#MT can’t afford ppl like @SteveDaines who don’t believe in a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions” and a generic “war on women” blog post that claims “We must do everything in our power to protect women’s rights and women’s health.”

The words “Affordable Care Act” and “Obamacare” do not currently appear on the home page of the DSCC web site, nor do the words “exchange” or “insurance” or any other reference to the president’s signature domestic legislation, impacting families, workers, and businesses right now.”

As if we’d let them get off that easy. 🙄

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2. This is what Democrats consider success. This is also why having your state running one of these debacles is a bad idea. Thankfully I live in a state that refused.

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3. Four minutes. That’s how long it took to hack HealthCare.gov.

From TheDailyCaller  “David Kennedy, the hacking expert that shook the country this week with his congressional testimony about the security failures of HealthCare.gov, explained Sunday how he was able to penetrate the site.

“There’s a technique called, what we call ‘passive reconnaissance,’” Kennedy explained to “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace, “which allows us to query and look at how the website operates and performs.”

“And these type of attacks that I’m mentioning here, and the 70,000 [personal records Kennedy found] that you’re referencing, is very easy to do,” Kennedy continued. “It’s a rudimentary type attack that doesn’t actually attack the website itself. It extracts information from it without actually having to go into the system.”

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4. The walk back.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “New York governor Andrew Cuomo came under fire for criticizing pro-life and pro-Second Amendment citizens of his state — and saying “that is not who New Yorkers are.”

“Now his office is backtracking and insisting that the governor said “‘it is fine’ to be anti-gun control, and anti-choice – as he respects both positions.

The video at the link demonstrates otherwise, in his own words.

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5. Here’s a fun one.

From Time  “See how your preferences in dogs, Internet browsers, and 10 other items predict your partisan leanings.”

I’m 87% conservative.

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News/Politics 1-16-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The bi-partisan Senate report on Benghazi is out.

From HotAir  “The bombshell here isn’t the blame — it’s that the blame is bipartisan. Normally in these circumstances, a Congressional committee looking into the activities of a current administration will split into partisan conclusions, especially if it’s critical at all. Not this time:

A long-delayed Senate intelligence committee report released on Wednesday spreads blame among the State Department and intelligence agencies for not preventing attacks on two outposts in Libya that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

The bipartisan report lays out more than a dozen findings regarding the assaults on Sept. 11 and 12, 2012 on the diplomatic compound and a CIA annex in the Libyan city of Benghazi. It says the State Department failed to increase security at the sites despite warnings, and faults intelligence agencies for not sharing information about the existence of the CIA outpost with the U.S. military.

The committee determined that the U.S. military command in Africa didn’t know about the CIA annex and didn’t have the resources to defend the diplomatic compound in an emergency.”

They conclude it was preventable. And Hillary doesn’t escape blame either.

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2. ObamaCare is having some unintended consequences for Democrats too. Kay Hagan can ignore the president now, but folks know what she did, and it’s costing her. She now trails all possible Republican challengers.

Also From HotAir  “It wasn’t so very long ago — as in, last September — that Democratic senator and enthusiastic ObamaCare cheerleader Kay Hagan was posting fairly comfortable margins leading all of the Republican challengers to her reelection bid this year. Cue the ObamaCare initiation sequence, however, and that all started to change pretty quickly. These past few months have been whittling away at her erstwhile lead, and even as the Republican primary race is starting to solidify, Public Policy Polling‘s latest update indicates that all of her potential opponents are seriously gaining on her:

For the first time in our polling of the North Carolina Senate race, presumptive frontrunner Thom Tillis has opened a little bit of space between himself and the rest of his opponents in the Republican primary. Tillis now leads the field with 19% to 11% for Greg Brannon and Heather Grant, 8% for Mark Harris, and 7% for Bill Flynn. …

39% of voters in the state say they approve of the job Hagan is doing to 49% who disapprove. She has 1 or 2 point deficits against each of her potential GOP foes.

And if these ads are any indication, she’s in for a looong summer.

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3. And it’s not just North Carolina. Democrats own this, and folks are being reminded of that fact.

From TheNYTimes  “Democrats are increasingly anxious about an onslaught of television ads hitting vulnerable Senate and House candidates for their support of the new health law, since many lack the resources to fight back in the early stages of the midterm campaign.

Since September, Americans for Prosperity, a group financed in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, has spent an estimated $20 million on television advertising that calls out House and Senate Democrats by name for their support of the Affordable Care Act.

The unusually aggressive early run of television ads, which has been supplemented by other conservative initiatives, has gone largely unanswered, and strategists in both parties agree it is taking a toll on its targets.”

Looks like it’s time for the IRS to go after the Koch brothers again. 🙂

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4. This is ridiculous. They can search you and your personal belongings near the border in the name of national security, but they won’t enforce the borders in the name of national security. 🙄

From FoxNews  “A federal judge who endorsed “suspicion-less” searches of laptops, cameras and cell phones at the border has set up a possible Supreme Court showdown challenging what critics call “Constitution-free zones” and the Obama administration’s dragnet approach to national security.

A decision by Judge Edward Korman upholding the federal government’s right to search travelers’ electronic devices at or near the border conflicts with a similar ruling in California. That ruling requires a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity before agents can confiscate and examine personal photos, laptops and files. Korman’s ruling does not. 

“I think Americans are justifiably becoming increasingly surprised and even outraged by the extent to which the national security state seems to be monitoring and collecting information about us all,” said ACLU Attorney Catherine Crump. “We think that having a purely suspicion-less policy is wrong, because it leaves border agents with no standards at all to follow. That opens the door that people will be [targeted] for inappropriate reasons.”

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News/Politics 1-15-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. This one isn’t all that surprising considering this administration’s over-regulation and constant rule changing.

From TheWallStJournal  “World economic freedom has reached record levels, according to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. But after seven straight years of decline, the U.S. has dropped out of the top 10 most economically free countries.

For 20 years, the index has measured a nation’s commitment to free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100 by evaluating 10 categories, including fiscal soundness, government size and property rights. These commitments have powerful effects: Countries achieving higher levels of economic freedom consistently and measurably outperform others in economic growth, long-term prosperity and social progress. Botswana, for example, has made gains through low tax rates and political stability.”

“It’s not hard to see why the U.S. is losing ground. Even marginal tax rates exceeding 43% cannot finance runaway government spending, which has caused the national debt to skyrocket. The Obama administration continues to shackle entire sectors of the economy with regulation, including health care, finance and energy. The intervention impedes both personal freedom and national prosperity.

But as the U.S. economy languishes, many countries are leaping ahead, thanks to policies that enhance economic freedom—the same ones that made the U.S. economy the most powerful in the world. Governments in 114 countries have taken steps in the past year to increase the economic freedom of their citizens. Forty-three countries, from every part of the world, have now reached their highest economic freedom ranking in the index’s history.”

Obamanomics at work. Or not…

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2. I sure hope the Supreme Court is about to reel them in, because they seem intent on continuing with this over-regulation and overstepping their authority trend.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “President Obama has a resolution for 2014: That this will be a year of action,” Pfeiffer said in the e-mail, pointing out that Obama would no longer be waiting around for Congress to get things done.

“Instead, the president will use his executive authority, both his pen and his phone, to work with anyone to get things done — whether they be leaders in business, education, Congress, states, or local communities,” he said.”

And if you don’t have the authority, just pretend you do. It’s worked so far.

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3. In other non-shocking news….

No one will be held accountable for the IRS targeting of the Tea Party. Like always with Obama scandals.

From MarketWatch  “The Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn’t plan to file criminal charges over the Internal Revenue Service’s heightened scrutiny of conservative groups, according to law-enforcement officials, a move that likely will only intensify debate over the politically charged scandal. 

The officials said investigators didn’t find the kind of political bias or “enemy hunting” that would amount to a violation of criminal law. Instead, what emerged during the probe was evidence of a mismanaged bureaucracy enforcing rules about tax-exemption applications it didn’t understand, according to the law-enforcement officials.  

While the case is still being investigated and could remain open for months, officials familiar with its progress said it is increasingly unlikely any criminal charges will result. That could change, the officials cautioned, if unexpected evidence is discovered that alters their thinking.”

So their defense it that it wasn’t criminal behavior, just government incompetence. 🙄

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4. More fuzzy math.

From CNNMoney  “Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a blog post Monday that “More than 6 million Americans have now either signed up for a private health insurance plan through the Marketplace or for Medicaid coverage.”

But the numbers are somewhat misleading.”

“The squishiness lies in the Medicaid number. The 3.9 million figure includes people who were already on Medicaid and are just renewing, as Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services noted in a blog post late last month. So not all of these folks have coverage due to Obamacare.”

“”It’s a mushy number,” Dubay said. “Everyone’s saying the numbers are not quite right. Nobody knows how not quite right they are.”

It’s a squishy, mushy, and fuzzy number.

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5. This is probably helping/hurting the numbers, depending on your perspective. I say good.

From NBCNews  “States whose governments are hostile to Obamacare are hindering efforts to get people signed up for health insurance, according to a study released Tuesday.

Laws restricting outreach and enrollment efforts have handicapped community health centers that are a key component of plans to get health insurance to millions of Americans who lack it, researchers at George Washington University found.

“This is the first study to attempt to measure the impact of restrictive state policies,” said Sara Rosenbaum, who led the team at GW’s Department of Health Policy that did the study. “The navigator laws are having a real effect.”

“”This is a blatant attempt to add cumbersome requirements to the navigator program and deter groups from working to inform Americans about their new health insurance options and help them enroll in coverage,” U.S. Health and Human Services department spokesman Fabien Levy said in September after Texas passed its law.”

Yeah! How dare you question the president’s ACORN friends. And asking for background checks is racist too!

🙄

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6. And last one for today, the wussification of the American male continues. 🙄

I prefer the title “Clueless and Raising Children” but the author calls it, “I Never Thought My Son Would Play With Guns”

From The HuffPost  “I woke up this morning to my nearly 5-year-old son, his big blue eyes close to mine, saying “Mama! Let’s play!” Somehow, I dragged myself to the living room where he had set up dinosaurs. He told me the rules: “My dinosaurs have superpowers and yours don’t. Mine find yours and then kill them with their power!” That woke me up.

I wondered if I should say something to him about killing — again. I tried to redirect the violence in the play by having my dinosaurs offer friendship and joint living in a cave. He didn’t bite. “No! they are not friends! OK mama? OK?” “OK,” I said, in resignation. Because at that moment, it felt like I had lost that battle.

What happened to my gentle little boy who would cradle his dolls if they happened to fall on the ground? Where is the boy who would never consider the possibility of intentionally hurting another? And where did this one, who pretends to shoot others, come from? “My son will never do that,” I used to say.

As usual, parenting is humbling.

Guns first showed up last year. Amidst his love affair with Mary Poppins and Annie, he also started asking about weapons. He wanted me to cut a gun out of cardboard so he could take it to school. Mortified, I imagined his teachers’ reactions when they saw it.”

OH THE HORROR!!!!!!  😯

And there’s plenty more liberal hand wringing at the link. 🙄

Oh yeah, and she’s a therapist, so she gets to share her expertise with other people’s kids too. 😉

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News/Politics 1-14-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Every 96 seconds Planned Parenthood ends a life. With the aid of 540.6 million taxpayer dollars.

From CNSNews  “In its latest annual report, released in December,  Planned Parenthood says it did 327,166 abortion procedures in the  course of one year and 2,197 adoption referrals. That works out to  approximately 149 abortions for each adoption referral.

The data comes from an accounting of “patient care” Planned  Parenthood says its “affiliate health centers” did in the year that ran  from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012.

Planned Parenthood says in it new annual report that it received a total of $540.6 million in  government grants and reimbursements for the fiscal year that ended on  June 30, 2013. That accounted for almost 45 percent of the  organization’s total revenue of $1,210.4. “

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2. The Benghazi transcripts  further expose the lies from the Obama admin.

From FoxNews  “Minutes after the American consulate in Benghazi came under assault on Sept. 11, 2012, the nation’s top civilian and uniformed defense officials — headed for a previously scheduled Oval Office session with President Obama — were informed that the event was a “terrorist attack,” declassified documents show. The new evidence raises the question of why the top military men, one of whom was a member of the president’s Cabinet, allowed him and other senior Obama administration officials to press a false narrative of the Benghazi attacks for two weeks afterward. 

 Gen. Carter Ham, who at the time was head of AFRICOM, the Defense Department combatant command with jurisdiction over Libya, told the House in classified testimony last year that it was him who broke the news about the unfolding situation in Benghazi to then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The tense briefing — in which it was already known that U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens had been targeted and had gone missing — occurred just before the two senior officials departed the Pentagon for their session with the commander in chief. “

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3. The justices voiced their doubts yesterday on some of the Obama admins claims relating to executive authority.

From TheNYTimes  “In an extended argument that contained large doses of constitutional history and practical politics, the Supreme Court on Monday seemed skeptical of the Obama administration’s contention that it could bypass the Senate to appoint officials during short breaks in the Senate’s work.

Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared prepared to rein in the ability of presidents to make appointments without obtaining the Senate’s advice and consent by invoking the Constitution’s recess-appointments clause, which says “the president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate.”

“Justice Elena Kagan said the clause may be a “historic relic” from “the horse and buggy era,” when presidents needed the authority to fill vacancies because lawmakers were out of town and could not return on short notice. More recently, she said, presidents of both parties have used the appointment power “as a way to deal, not with congressional absence, but with congressional intransigence, with a Congress that simply does not want to approve appointments that the president thinks ought to be approved.”

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4. Obama deciding to bail out insurance companies will cost taxpayers up to a trillion dollars due to the rollout debacle. Affordable Care Act? I think not.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Robert Laszewski—a prominent consultant to health insurance companies—recently wrote in a remarkably candid blog post that, while Obamacare is almost certain to cause insurance costs to skyrocket even higher than it already has, “insurers won’t be losing a lot of sleep over it.”  How can this be?  Because insurance companies won’t bear the cost of their own losses—at least not more than about a quarter of them.  The other three-quarters will be borne by American taxpayers.

For some reason, President Obama hasn’t talked about this particular feature of his signature legislation.  Indeed, it’s bad enough that Obamacare is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to funnel $1,071,000,000,000.00 (that’s $1.071 trillion) over the next decade (2014 to 2023) from American taxpayers, through Washington, to health insurance companies.  It’s even worse that Obamacare is trying to coerce Americans into buying those same insurers’ product (although there are escape routes).  It’s almost unbelievable that it will also subsidize those same insurers’ losses. “

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5. Darryl Issa is saying the Obama admin is waging a war on guns, and like with Fast and Furious, using questionable methods.

From TheDailyCaller  “California Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused the Obama administration of waging “a war on guns” after new reports of “rogue” sting operations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) conducted during 2013.

Issa spoke to Fox News’ Shannon Bream Sunday about a report by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which claimed that ATF agents operating firearm stings in 6 separate cities “took advantage of the mentally ill, set up stings near churches and schools and made decisions which some claim actually increased crime in their neighborhoods.” Issa and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to ATF Director Todd Jones this week to demand answers on the tactics and how often they’ve been used.”

“This is ‘Fast and Furious’ revisited,” he began, referencing the infamous gun-running operation that saw thousands of small arms fall into the hands of drug cartels. “You finally have a confirmed director, Todd Jones, who was supposed to clean up these operations. And instead — what you see in many of these cases — they’re continuing. They’re continuing to have this be what’s called a ‘rogue organization.’ But I think for the members of the ATF, I want to make sure I make one thing clear. The ATF never acts alone. The FBI and the U.S. attorneys in each of these areas — political appointees — they work hand in hand… This is the president, President Obama’s Department of Justice that continues to support these sting operations, these ‘rogue operations’ as they’re called, that lead to harm in communities.”

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News/Politics 1-11-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread. Feel free to share with the group. 🙂

1. The families of Benghazi victims and others have sent a letter to Speaker Boehner. The letter calls him out for his lack of effort and possible involvement in hiding what really happened in Benghazi. The letter pulls no punches.

From JudicialWatch  “Dear Speaker Boehner,

We write to express our grave concern over the failure of your House of Representatives to extract the truth from the Obama administration concerning the attack on our diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi, Libya; and, the brutal deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and security officers Ty Woods and Glen Doherty.

To date, five (5) different committees of the House have conducted separate hearings, uncovering information in a piecemeal fashion lacking professional investigators.  The five committees’ efforts are disjointed and uncoordinated.  The Obama administration has benefited from that dysfunctional process to hide the truth.  Hardly any Obama administration witnesses have testified – publicly or privately.  You have resisted repeated calls for the creation of a select investigative committee with subpoena authority. It appears that you are satisfied to allow that state of investigative incoherence and ambiguity to continue.  The last public hearing by any of the five committees was held in September – four (4) months ago.  The families of the dead who fought valiantly to protect the mission and their families, the survivors, and the American people deserve better from you and your Members of Congress. They deserve the absolute truth from their government. Your failure to get the truth and hold public officials accountable increases the possibility of other repeat attacks and additional failures to defend Americans abroad.

On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the New York Times published a story concerning the Benghazi attacks that directly contradicts the sworn testimony of witnesses who appeared before various committees.  Besides the obvious New York Times editorial and political objectives of inoculating Hillary Clinton and her 2016 presidential campaign from further criticism of her failures as Secretary of State, the story contradicts objective truth and established facts in a way that confuses the public.  Your inaction and failure to lead on the Benghazi investigation directly contributes to the repetition of lies; a lack of accountability from responsible government officials; and the political advancement of persons who seek to continue to “fundamentally transform” the Constitution and our country.  The New York Times recent publication proves the Benghazi story is not “going away.”

Your oversight of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation has been without any meaningful effect or result.  Not a single terrorist in this well-planned and executed military attack by radical Islamists has been apprehended.  Ahmed Abu Khattala, a ringleader of the attack, granted long interviews to reporters in Benghazi cafes, while the Obama administration – and you – have done nothing.  Nearly 16 months after the terrorist attack, the American public has no accountability and no plan of action from House leadership. The public is subjected to undisputed disinformation from a White House who calls the terror attack a “phony scandal.”  While the White House repeats false and misleading information, you continue to ignore claims, documented by Rep. Frank Wolf, of intelligence officers being intimidated with multiple, punitive polygraph examinations and harassing non-disclosure agreement demands.  If Benghazi is “phony” why are intelligence officers being threatened not to speak and subjected to polygraph exams? Why do you stand by passively?

Some analysts believe your inaction and passivity towards getting to the truth concerning Benghazi is because you were briefed on the intelligence and special operations activities in Libya as a member of the “Super 8.”   You may possess “guilty knowledge.”  We recall how then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi developed a form of “amnesia” concerning a documented briefing she received on so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” – later termed “torture” for political purposes.  Are you in the same position as your predecessor?  Are you dodging a legitimate, thorough, coordinated investigation of Benghazi because it will damage your political position as Speaker?”

You can click any of the above text to read the rest. This is signed by numerous Generals, Admirals, Colonels, Captains and others.

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2. The Obama admin has finally gotten around to maybe actually holding someone responsible. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “The State Department today publicly announced a $10 million reward “for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual responsible for the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks.” The announcement for the reward is posted on rewardsforjustice.net.”

“Because of “security issues” the offer of the $10 million reward had not been officially announced until today.”

More like delayed by lies and CYA from Obama and Hillary.

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3. The unemployment rate has dropped again. Fuzzy Math, as always.

From TheFederalist   “According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released this morning, the U.S. economy last month added 74,000 new payroll jobs, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent from 7.0 percent. Good news, right? Not really.

Yes, the unemployment rate has fallen significantly from its high of 10 percent in October of 2009. But it turns out the unemployment rate has been falling for a pretty depressing reason: people dropping out of the labor force. Last month, 347,000 workers dropped out, effectively sending the message that it wasn’t even worth looking for work anymore.”

“In June of 2009, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent (by way of comparison, the average over the last decade is 65.1 percent, while the peak was 66.5 percent in June of 2003). Since the end of the recession, that number has nose-dived. At the end of last month, it hit 62.8 percent — on par with what the U.S. experienced in the late 1970′s (although at the time, the number was on the upswing).”

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4. And we have another ObamaCare success story. 🙄

Firemen getting their hours cut, and communities having to fork out more taxpayer dollars because of it.

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News/Politics 1-10-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The WSJ has a piece on the differences between Christie and Obama when it comes to dealing with scandals.

From TheWallStJournal  ” Governor Chris Christie apologized to New Jersey on Thursday for aides who closed traffic lanes in order to punish a Democratic mayor, and he fired a deputy chief of staff. We mention the IRS because Mr. Christie’s contrition contrasts so sharply with President Obama’s handling of the tax agency’s abuse of political opponents and his reluctance to fire anyone other than a military general for anything.”

“Which brings us to the Obama Administration, which quickly leaked to the media that the U.S. Attorney is investigating the lane closures as a criminal matter. Well, that sure was fast, and nice of Eric Holder‘s Justice Department to show its typical discretion when investigating political opponents.

This is the same Administration that won’t tell Congress what resources it is devoting to the IRS probe, and appears to be slow-rolling it. It has also doubled down by expanding the political vetting of 501(c)(4) groups seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who ran the IRS tax-exempt shop and took the Fifth before Congress, was allowed to “retire,” presumably with a pension. Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller resigned under pressure but no other heads have rolled. Yet compared to using the IRS against political opponents during an election campaign, closing traffic lanes for four days is jaywalking.

We raise this mostly because our media friends have been complicit in dismissing the IRS abuses, and for that matter every other legal abuse during the Obama years. The exception is the Edward Snowden theft of National Security Agency documents, which so far have exposed not a single example of law-breaking.”

Yet the media sure is all over this bridge thing, like good little lap dogs.

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2. The Youth Misery Index has hit an all-time high. (I didn’t even know there was one)

All I can say is sorry kids, but elections really do have consequences. You helped cause this. Now what are you going to do about it?

From TheCollegeFix  “A Youth Misery Index that measures young Americans’ woes has skyrocketed under President Barack Obama and hit an all-time high.

The index, released Wednesday, was calculated by adding youth unemployment and average college loan debt figures with each person’s share of the national debt. While it has steadily grown over the decades, under Obama the figure has shot up dramatically, from 83.5 in 2009 to 98.6 in 2013.

The index has increased by 18.1 percent since Obama took office, the highest increase under any president, making Obama the worst president for youth economic opportunity, according to the nonprofit that released the figure.

“Young people are suffering under this economy,” said Ashley Pratte, program officer for Young America’s Foundation, which developed the index and calculates it annually using federal statistics. “They’re still living in their parent’s basements, unable to find full-time jobs that pay them what they need in order to pay back their debt.”

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3. We just had a story on the overbearing regulations from the Obama admin during his terms. Now we get an idea on what some of that over-regulation is costing the economy.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “New federal regulations cost the economy $112 billion in 2013, according to a newly released tally of government figures from the American Action Forum.

Led by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and health care agencies, the federal government added 157.9 million hours of paperwork for U.S. workers.

American Action Forum, a right-of-center Washington think tank, found in an analysis of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and Federal Register data released Wednesday that regulators have published $494 billion in net costs in final rules from 2009 through 2013.”

“The largest new burden in terms of paperwork came from an “obscure” rule relating to affirmative action and nondiscrimination for contractors. It would add 9.9 million hours of paperwork.”

Gee, why is that last part not shocking? 🙄

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4. Here’s an update on the story from yesterday about the DoJ crying racism (shocking right?) in school discipline.

From CNSNews  “particularly in the case of minority students and other federally protected groups.

“Racial discrimination in school discipline is a real problem today,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who joined Attorney General Eric Holder in speaking about the new guidance. Holder said “students of color and those with disabilities” often receive “different and more severe punishment than their peers.”

While the nation’s schools are under local control, they must follow federal civil rights and disability laws. And the new guidance for the nation’s schools could subject more of those schools to federal discrimination lawsuits. In fact, the crackdown already is happening, as CNSNews.com previously reported.

While the guidance is “voluntary,” it encourages schools to set up a “recordkeeping system” that tracks demographic information on misbehaving students, including their “race, sex, disability, age and English-learner status” along with the infraction, the discipline imposed, who imposed it, etc.”

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5. Once again the DoJ sticks it’s nose where it’s not needed. Now Lehigh University will be investigated for racism. Not because of any request from the victims, but an alumni in Connecticut who graduated in 1977. Any excuse to cry racism I guess. Doesn’t the DoJ, and this woman, have more important things to worry about than this?

From LehighValleyLive  “The federal government is launching an investigation into allegations that Lehigh University has failed to properly address incidents of racial harassment on campus and created a racially hostile environment, a spokesman said.

Spokesman David Thomas said the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has decided to investigate the complaint lodged in November by Lehigh University alumna Susan Magaziner.

Magaziner, of Connecticut, submitted the complaint on behalf of students after a Nov. 6 incident on campus where the multicultural dorm known as the Umoja House was vandalized with eggs and graffiti that included racial slurs. The crime remains unsolved, but Lehigh University police Chief Edward Shupp said the investigation is ongoing.

The vandalism followed the formation on campus of FBR, or From Beneath the Rug, in response to an off-campus fight involving a Lehigh University football player that members say was sparked by racial comments.”

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6. More glitches in the ObamaCare website. You might’ve thought you signed up, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting a policy.

From ABCNews  “Record-keeping snags could complicate the start of insurance coverage this month as people begin using policies they purchased under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Insurance companies are still trying to sort out cases of so-called health insurance orphans, customers for whom the government has a record that they enrolled, but the insurer does not.

Government officials say the problem is real but under control, with orphan records being among the roughly 13,000 problem cases they are trying to resolve with insurers. But insurance companies are worried the process will grow more cumbersome as they deal with the flood of new customers who signed up in December as enrollment deadlines neared.

More than 1 million people have signed up through the federal insurance market that serves 36 states. Officials contend the error rate for new signups is close to zero.”

And the one million number is bogus. Just opening up an account and putting a policy in your shopping cart doesn’t mean you “signed up.” But since not many have actual policies, they had to do something to make the numbers look good. Fuzzy math is all that number is.

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News/Politics 1-6-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Welcome to the new norm in employer healthcare plans.

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2. An interesting read from a teacher leaving the profession.

From TheWaPo  “To pursue this calling, I worked hard to earn the title of “classroom teacher,” but I became quickly disillusioned when my title of teacher did not in any way reflect my actual job. I realized that I am not permitted to really teach students anything. When I was in middle school, I studied Shakespeare, Chaucer, Poe, Twain, O. Henry, the founding fathers, if you will, of modern literary culture. Now, I was called to drag them through shallow activities that measured meaningless but “measurable” objectives.

Forced to abandon my hopes of imparting the same wisdom I had gained through my experiences and education, I resigned myself to the superficial curriculum that encouraged mindless conformity. I decided that if I was going to teach this nonsense, I was at least going to teach it well. I set my expectations high, I kept my classroom structured, I tutored students, I provided extra practice, and I tried to make class fun. At this point, I was feeling alright with myself. I quickly rose through the ranks of “favorite teacher,” kept open communication channels with parents, and had many students with solid A’s.

It was about this time that I was called down to the principal’s office with a terse e-mail that read only, “I need to speak with you.” Clueless, I took down my grade sheets, communication logs, lesson plans, and sat down as an adult still summoned down to the principal’s office. “I need to talk to you about these students.” She handed me a list of about 10 students, all of whom had D’s or F’s. At the time, I only had about 120 students, so I was relatively on par with a standard bell curve. As she brought up each one, I walked her through my grade sheets that showed not low scores but a failure to turn in work—a lack of responsibility. I showed her my tutoring logs, my letters to parents, only to be interrogated further. Eventually, the meeting came down to two quotes that I will forever remember as the defining slogans for public education:

“They are not allowed to fail.”

“If they have D’s or F’s, there is something that you are not doing for them.”

And then it gets worse. It’s time for some accountability in all areas of public education.

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3. This is probably the weirdest story I’ve read in a while. Is exorcism a “cure” for PTSD? Or is this just a cult type operation preying on those suffering from it?

From TheNYPost  “The 2005 tragedy haunted him when he returned to his home in Savannah, Ga. At night, a tall, shadowy figure crept into his room. Sometimes the Black Thing would threaten to kill him; other times it would choke his dead best friend.

The dark figure, a “Destroyer demon,” punished him, he said, “for killing and for living.”

Without answers — his PTSD diagnosis offered little explanation — he went to the one person he felt could save him: a minister who offered $199 exorcisms out of his trailer.

Daniels, profiled in the book “Demon Camp” by first-time author Jennifer Percy, is just one of many deeply troubled soldiers suffering from the after-effects of war who are so desperate for respite they undergo exorcisms at a fringe Pentecostal retreat.

Bear Creek Ranch, in Portal, Ga., is ministered by Tim and Katie Mather, a husband-and-wife team that has conducted over 5,000 exorcisms, some of them on veterans.”

Like I said, weird.

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4. Facebook is being sued for trolling the private messages of users for advertising purposes.

From TheDailyMail  “The social networking site, is accused of monitoring messages and website links sent between users so they can profile what people read online. This in turn allows the website, which has 24million UK members, to charge more for the information.”

“Facebook apparently tracked such messages so they could collect data on the interests of people who use the site. Advertising agencies and marketing companies are then allegedly sold this information so they can build up profiles of a person’s interests, and target them accordingly.

If the linked webpage contains a ‘like’ button, Facebook will activate this so any company who has been ‘liked’ will see the person is interested in their products.

Google, Yahoo! and LinkedIn are among six companies facing accusations of intercepting communications for profit.”

Facebook is denying the claims.

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News/Politics 1-4-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up today, some good news. And the people who profit from this industry blame the Tea Party. 🙂

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Some 22 states enacted 70 new provisions to target abortion last year, the second most ever, prompting an outcry from Planned Parenthood, which accused “out-of-touch Tea Party politicians” with using “every underhanded trick in the book to get these laws passed.”

““The historic rise of these attacks on women’s health can be traced back to 2010, when out-of-touch Tea Party politicians picked up key seats in legislatures across the country, promising to create jobs and boost our economy — but immediately focused on ending access to safe and legal abortion and limiting women’s health care options,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.”

Thank you Tea Party. 🙂

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2. Al-Qaeda on the run? Hardly.

From TheWaPo  “A rejuvenated al-Qaeda-affiliated force asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah on Friday, raising its flag over government buildings and declaring an Islamic state in one of the most crucial areas that U.S. troops fought to pacify before withdrawing from Iraq two years ago.

The capture of Fallujah came amid an explosion of violence across the western desert province of Anbar in which local tribes, Iraqi security forces and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have been fighting one another for days in a confusingly chaotic three-way war.”

“In Fallujah, where Marines fought the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war in 2004, the militants appeared to have the upper hand, underscoring the extent to which the Iraqi security forces have struggled to sustain the gains made by U.S. troops before they withdrew in December 2011.”

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3. This better be nothing more than a rumor. Even he can’t be this stupid. You’ll just give them another target in the area besides Israel.

From YahooNews  “Unconfirmed news reports out of Israel signal that an offer of US troops to secure the borders of a new Palestinian state is in the mix in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. US defense analysts urge caution.

Secretary of State John Kerry is proposing to offer up US troops to help secure the borders of the new state of Palestine, according to some unconfirmed news reports coming out of Israel.”

“The US troops would be tasked with helping to prevent anti-Israel forces from coming out of Jordan and reaching Israel, according to Debkafile, an Israeli intelligence and security news service.”

“Samantha Power, then a Harvard professor and now the US ambassador to the United Nations, seemed to indicate in a 2008 interview with Harry Kreisler of the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies that crisis in the region could possibly be ameliorated by the introduction of US troops to provide security needs.”

Samantha Power, the best friend of the UN and oppressive regimes everywhere. 🙄

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4. Another ObamaCare success story.

Or not. 🙄

From WashingtonCBSLocal  “The new year brought relief to some Illinois patients newly insured under the nation’s health care law. Others still weren’t sure whether they were covered, despite their best efforts to navigate the often-balky new system.

The major benefits of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul took effect Wednesday, the first day of 2014. By Thursday, the first business day of the new insurance system, it became clear that snags in the rollout of the Affordable Care Act still remained.”

“Paperwork problems almost delayed suburban Chicago resident Sheri Zajcew’s scheduled surgery Thursday, but Dr. John Venetos decided to operate without a routine go-ahead from the insurance company. That was after Venetos’ office manager spent two hours on hold with the insurer Thursday, trying to get an answer about whether the patient needed prior authorization for the surgery. The office manager finally gave up.

“I’m not a happy camper,” said Nate Zajcew, the patient’s husband. The couple signed up for a Blue Cross Blue Shield bronze plan through the federal HealthCare.gov site on Dec. 16. “I understand it’s just a matter of paperwork and yesterday was a holiday. I can be an SOB, too, at times, but since they’re going on with the procedure, it’s OK.”

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5. ObamaCare faces a new test in the coming days.

From TheHill  ” The number of people seeking to use their new ObamaCare coverage for the first time is expected to spike next week.”

“They’re expected to turn out in force at the nation’s clinics and hospitals as early as next Monday.

 “Two worries are paramount. The first is that a sizable number of consumers who show up at the doctor’s office will discover that they don’t have the insurance they thought they purchased.

A second is that people have enrolled in ObamaCare, but have to make a payment. Some will discover they don’t have the insurance they thought they purchased as a result .”

If the previous story is any indication, office managers at doctors offices everywhere are gonna be on hold for a loooong time.

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6. The Obama admin has released executive orders to further restrict access to guns. While I think we all agree that guns should be kept from the mentally ill, and I agree with the general idea, I just don’t trust them to not abuse the rules and be overly restrictive.

I also dislike the new reporting guidelines which doctors will be forced to comply with. Asking doctors to snitch on private conversations and personal health info will greatly restrict what patients may be willing to share with their doctor. Nobody likes a snitch.

From FoxNews  “The Obama administration on Friday proposed two new executive actions to make it easier for states to provide mental health information to the national background check system, wading back into the gun control debate after a months-long hiatus. 

Vice President Biden’s office announced the proposals Friday afternoon. Both pertain to the ability of states to provide information about the mentally ill and those seeking mental health treatment to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

One proposal would formally give permission to states to submit “the limited information necessary to help keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands,” without having to worry about the privacy provisions in a law known as HIPAA.”

“The other proposal would clarify that those who are involuntarily committed to a mental institution — both inpatient and outpatient — count under the law as “committed to a mental institution.” According to the administration, this change will help clarify for states what information to provide to the background check system, as well as who is barred from having guns. “

That last proposal I don’t really have a problem with. But I don’t like all these lists and registries nonsense. Sounds too much like a national registry in bits and pieces. And how long would someone stay on the list if they did have something like this in their past? Is it a lifetime ban once your name hits the criminal background check system? And they’re not criminals, but you just added them to the criminal database as if it qualifies as a criminal background. Too many questions.

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