Obamacare

by

News/Politics 11-23-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. A new attempt to delay the coming pain of ObamaCare. At least until after the 2014 elections. Then the hammer drops. 🙄 Great plan.

From Bloomberg  “Obama also is pushing back the second-year start of enrollment to Nov. 15, 2014, from Oct. 15. That move is intended to give insurers until May 31 to analyze claims from the first year of plans sold under the law , an extension that may potentially stave off premium increases before the 2014 congressional elections.

Technology failings in the new government-run insurance exchanges are undermining efforts to attract the broad array of customers needed to keep plans affordable in the long run. Avoiding a large increase in prices next year is “absolutely critical” if Obama wants to preserve his signature legislative achievement, said Ana Gupte, a Leerink Swann & Co. analyst.

“The death of this law would be for health insurance companies to price policies for 2015 in a way that premiums skyrocket,” Gupte said in an interview. “At that point, it’s a death spiral and it’s over. So he needs to do something.”

““If premiums go through the roof in the first year of Obamacare, no one will know about it until after the election,” Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in an e-mail. “This is clearly a cynical political move.”

A blatant attempt to provide cover for vulnerable Democrats.

_________________________________________________

2. We now learn that if this all goes down in flames, insurers will receive a taxpayer bailout.

From YahooNews  “The insurance industry may be next in line to receive a hefty government bailout. That’s what could happen if sign ups for Obamacare fall short of expectations triggering an obscure provision in the Affordable Care Act that makes up any serious losses. 

The potential price tag: millions of taxpayer dollars or more over a 3-year period.”

“So-called “risk corridors” were  included in the 2010 health law to compensate insurance companies for major coverage losses in the event that far more older and sick people signed up for health plans than younger, healthy people and drove up their costs after they had set the premiums.  If actual claims exceed projections by more than 3 percent under Obamacare, the government will compensate the industry for those losses.”

Yay. 🙄

__________________________________________________

3. Senate Republicans have an option for fighting back against Reid’s power grab. The question is will they use it? With RINO’s like Graham, McCain, and McConnell already giving in to Dems on the matter, and being too busy attacking the Tea Party wing of the party, I doubt it.

From RedState  “Throughout the past few years, aside for a few judicial nominees, Republicans have been willing to grant Democrats a super-majority on major liberal initiatives.  They helped Reid pass amnesty.  They gave him the votes for the massive farm/food stamp bill.  They were all in the tank for the deceptively-named Violence Against Women Act.  They recently gave him the 60 votes for ENDA.  And most importantly, they stood shoulder to shoulder with Reid against House Republicans during the most important time when conservatives were united behind defunding Obamacare.

So why would Harry Reid fear reprisal from Republicans?  What would stop him from pulling the nuclear option?”

“There is one simple thing Republicans can do to retaliate.  They can start by ending the Democrat super-majority on legislative issues.  They can easily pledge to filibuster every piece of legislation and deny all requests for unanimous consent until the rules change is overturned.

How would Harry Reid respond to a complete shutdown of the Senate?  Would he abolish the filibuster even for legislation?  Let him try.  But for now, he has nothing to fear from just eliminating the filibuster on judges because he knows Republicans will not retaliate.  Reid knows that there is not a single issue where McCain, Corker, Graham, and Alexander will now withhold support simply because they were stiffed with the nuclear option.”

_________________________________________________

4. We’ve all heard the stories of leftist indoctrination masquerading as education involved with Common Core. Here is yet another example.

From IllinoisReview  “Fourth graders in Dupo Illinois are reading a biography of Barack Obama that’s raising eyebrows among St. Clair County parents. The book, which supplements the school’s Common Core curriculum, blames television for the negative behaviors the first African-American president picked up as a teen:”

“The book – brought to the attention this week of those on the “Moms Against Duncan – MAD” Facebook page, goes on to say white Americans were hesitant to vote for a black president, and that Obama pushed the race issue to bring the nation together.

“But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president. Other angry voices were raised. Barack’s former pastor called the country a failure. God would @#%$ the United States for mistreating its black citizens, he said.”

_________________________________________________

5. And it looks like mid-week could be messy, just in time for holiday travel.

From NBCNews  “Forecasters are warning Thanksgiving travelers to beware, as a sweeping winter storm system could bring icy roads, flight delays and more headaches to the holiday next week.

“We’ve been lucky the last few years, but unfortunately this is a rather poorly timed storm,” said Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel.

Erdman said the Northeast would likely see “massive flight delays” on Wednesday in all major airports, because of rain, snow and low-lying clouds that wreak havoc with flight plans.”

“The storm is “about as expansive a winter storm as it get,” according to Erdman, with its effects being felt from California to Maine.”

Great. 😦

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-22-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Reid has exercised the “nuclear option” and changed the Senate rules on filibustering. They seek to pack the courts and govt bureaucracies with liberal activists. The President and VP have come out in strong support. Hypocrites, every single one.

Yesterday the President said “So I support the step a majority of senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business, more specifically, the way the Senate does business.”

But here’s what he had to say when his party was the minority and the Republicans were considering it.

“In 2008, Mr. Reid himself swore that as long as he was leader, he would never turn to the nuclear option, saying it would be a “black chapter in the history of the Senate.”

Here’s what Biden had to say in 2005.

Yeah. Hypocrites.

_________________________________________________

2. Democrats better come up with a plan quick. This could get real ugly for them.

From FoxNews  “A new and independent analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall — right before the mid-term elections. 

 The next round of cancellations and premium hikes is expected to hit employees, particularly of small businesses. While the administration has tried to downplay the cancellation notices hitting policyholders on the individual market by noting they represent a relatively small fraction of the population, the swath of people who will be affected by the shakeup in employer-sponsored coverage will be much broader. 

An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, shows the administration anticipates half to two-thirds of small businesses would have policies canceled or be compelled to send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges. They predict up to 100 million small and large business policies could be canceled next year. “

_________________________________________________

3. And it looks like the Catholic Church has scored another legal victory against the Obama admin’s contraceptive mandate. 🙂

From Pittsburgh/CBSLocal  “A federal judge in western Pennsylvania says Catholic groups don’t immediately have to comply with mandates in the federal health care overhaul law.

The Diocese is challenging its participation in the health care program because it would be required to provide its employees with contraceptives.

There were strong words earlier this month from Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese leader Bishop David Zubik as he testified in federal court on the issue.”

_________________________________________________

4. NBC being the Obama cheerleaders that they are, have blacked out coverage of the ObamaCare disaster.

From NewsBusters  “NBC News has completely censored any mention of the unfolding ObamaCare disaster  for the last 72 hours. Not one word about the millions of Americans losing their  health insurance nor the severe political damage that has been done to President  Obama and the Democratic Party.

In that same time period, both CBS and  ABC reported on major developments regarding the new law, including revelations  that much of ObamaCare’s infrastructure was still unfinished and that the  administration knew of serious problems with the HealthCare.gov website as early as  March.

The last time ObamaCare was even mentioned on the air waves of NBC News was  during Monday morning’s Today show, when White House correspondent  Peter Alexander touted a “to-do list” of damage control for the President and former  Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs was given a platform to spin for his former  boss.”

Straight propaganda, no chaser.

_________________________________________________

5. A new study is out which proves yet again that govt. funded pre-k programs are a waste of money and resources. President Obama supports it, but let’s face it, he likes it because it’s money that can be pushed to the teachers unions. Outcome doesn’t matter, financing his supporters, who return the money to Dem coffers is what matters to him. The italicized remarks are his.

From HotAir  “Naturally, on the heels of these scientifically rigorous findings, the president announced his desire for a massive expansion of Head Start and state pre-K programs. Universal pre-K— Who could object to that?

“You know, study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than three in ten 4-year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents can’t afford a few hundred bucks a week for private preschool. And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives. So, tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.“

Making high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. So, what would we get for that money? And, more importantly, what do students get? A new study of Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program suggests, once again, the answer is not much.”

“The relatively large effects of TN‐VPK on the Woodcock Johnson achievement measures found at the end of the pre‐k year were greatly diminished and no longer statistically significant at the end of the kindergarten year. The only exception was a marginally significant negative effect on Passage Comprehension such that non-participants had higher scores at the end of the kindergarten year than TN‐VPK participants.”

_________________________________________________

6. I know it’s early, but it’s we have our first sighting…..

GRINCH ALERT!!!!

From AllianceDefendingFreedom  “On behalf of concerned parents, Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter Tuesday to a South Carolina public charter school whose band director prohibited students from performing the music to “Joy to the World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.” A student also provided the letter to the school at a board meeting Tuesday night.

School officials claim they received some type of communication from either the American Civil Liberties Union or another group that prompted the ban after students had already begun rehearsing the pieces for a concert.

“Schools shouldn’t have to think twice about whether they can allow their bands to play the music to time-honored Christmas carols like these,” said Litigation Staff Counsel Rory Gray. “School districts can and should allow religious Christmas carols to be part of their school productions.”

_________________________________________________

by

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.”

_________________________________________________

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. 🙄

_________________________________________________

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.”

_________________________________________________

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.”

_________________________________________________

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

_________________________________________________

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

😆

________________________________________________

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

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

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-20-13

What’s interesting out there today?

1. First up today, we know the Obama admin’s BLS numbers have been fuzzy as all get-up. Now we find they’ve put some fur on the Census numbers too. This is especially troubling considering the Census Bureau is all about staying apolitical and not allowing outside influences.

From TheNYPost  “In the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington.

The decline — from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September — might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated.”

“Just two years before the presidential election, the Census Bureau had caught an employee fabricating data that went into the unemployment report, which is one of the most closely watched measures of the economy.”

“The Census employee caught faking the results is Julius Buckmon, according to confidential Census documents obtained by The Post. Buckmon told me in an interview this past weekend that he was told to make up information by higher-ups at Census.”

_________________________________________________

2. Yesterday I mentioned folks not being able to pay for their new insurance plans from the govt. website. Turns out, that part’s not built yet. And won’t be until January, after the first payment is due. 🙄

You can watch the video testimony at the link.

From HotAir  “Skip to 3:15 for the key bit. We’re 50 days removed from launch and Chao’s spent hours upon hours testifying about the website before Congress over the last few weeks. And somehow only now are we hearing about this.”

“Two things as you watch. First, note that Chao’s talking about the entire online exchange apparatus here, not the front end of Healthcare.gov where people sign up. The front end is in place and being repaired, he says. It’s the back end that … hasn’t completely been built yet. Second, it sounds initially like he says 60-70 percent of that back end is missing, but then he appears to correct that in the last minute or so. I’ll be conservative and assume it’s the later number that’s accurate. Regardless: How does the enrollment process work if the payment system hasn’t been finished yet? Remember, even if you’re one of the chosen few who managed to complete the sign-up process, your coverage doesn’t take effect on January 1 unless you make your first premium payment by December 15. You could make that payment directly to the insurer, bypassing the federal website entirely, but some segment of people won’t do that, whether because of absent-mindedness or their understandable assumption that payment should be made through the same site they used to enroll — i.e. Healthcare.gov.

It’s not just enrollees and insurers who are having trouble with payment either:”

_________________________________________________

3. The President’s “fix” is going to cost insurers, which translates into higher costs for policyholders.

From Politico  “President Barack Obama had some bad news for the insurance company CEOs who met him at the White House: His “fix” might cost them.

Obama asked the CEOs to reinstate millions of Americans’ health insurance plans that were canceled because they fell short of coverage requirements under the law, according to two executives who attended the session Friday.

The president offered the execs some sweeteners, but admitted they won’t necessarily add up to enough to cover the full brunt of added costs that the changes to the insurance market could create.”

_________________________________________________

4. Then we have the new lie, which is being used to provide cover for the old lie.

From NationalReview  “Obama’s ‘5 Percent’ Con Job        

It’s a 100 percent lie, according to the White House’s own figures”

“But that’s not the half of it. Obama’s claim that unwelcome cancellations are confined to the individual-insurance market is another brazen lie. In the weekend column, I link to the excellent work of Powerline’s John Hinderaker, who has demonstrated that, for over three years, the Obama administration’s internal estimates have shown that most Americans who are covered by “employer plans” will also lose their coverage under Obamacare. Mind you, 156 million Americans get health coverage through their jobs.

John cites the Federal Register, dated June 17, 2010, beginning at page 34,552 (Vol. 75, No. 116). It includes a chart that outlines the Obama administration’s projections. The chart indicates that somewhere between 39 and 69 percent of employer plans would lose their “grandfather” protection by 2013. In fact, for small-business employers, the high-end estimate is a staggering 80 percent (and even on the low end, it’s just a shade under half — 49 percent).”

Meet the new lie, worse than the old lie.

_________________________________________________

5. It turns out college age women aren’t impressed with being portrayed as promiscuous tramps who can’t control themselves in ObamaCare ads using sex to sell their product. Via MRC-TV.

_________________________________________________

6. Pass the popcorn, it looks like Democrats are about to enter the open revolt stage.

From TheHill  “The administration is risking rebellion from some Democrats in Congress if it fails to deliver on its promise to fix HealthCare.gov by the Nov. 30 deadline set by President Obama.”

“If the president’s team fails to deliver, Democrats will embrace legislation extending the law’s enrollment period or forcing insurance companies to continue offering plans that do not meet ObamaCare’s standards, according to Democratic aides.”

“A second Democratic aide said the party’s incumbents in the chamber facing reelection next year will begin to panic if the Department of Health and Human Services misses another important deadline set by the president.

“If the website is not up, the administration and 2014ers are going to start freaking out even more,” said the aide.”

If the rats are jumping ship, it’s sinking fast. 🙂

_________________________________________________

7. Once again, the Hyde Amendment is just one more law this administration ignores. And don’t insult our intelligence by saying this won’t fund abortion. It will, and they know it.

From LifeSiteNews  “A Planned Parenthood facility in Texas has reopened its doors, thanks to federal taxpayer dollars it has received from the Obama administration.”

“The facility – which is named after the Rev. Bruce Galloway – gives women referrals for surgical abortions, offers chemical abortions by administering the “morning-after pill,” and performs “LGBT services.”

“The Mission office closed after Texas Governor Rick Perry passed a law forbidding abortion providers from receiving state planning funds. After the Obama administration threatened to withhold all federal money, Governor Perry established an entirely state-funded family planning system whose network is free of abortion providers.

But tn March, the Obama administration did an end-run around that law by directly providing $13 million to the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas (WHFPT), a coalition including Planned Parenthood.”

So they held a party to celebrate the ability to continue killing the unborn. Disgusting.

As is the President for ignoring federal law and celebrating with them, all on the taxpayer dime.

_________________________________________________

8. And last one today…… FINALLY! 🙂

From YahooNews  “British comedy veterans Monty Python are set to reunite for a new show in their first major collaboration in 30 years, member Terry Jones revealed on Tuesday.

“I’m quite excited about it. I hope it makes us a lot of money. I hope to be able to pay off my mortgage!”

The BBC reported that the new collaboration — the first major project since the 1983 film “Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life” — would come in the form of a theatre show.”

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-19-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up, stop digging.

From TheChicagoTribune  “On some level, then, the president plainly agrees with critics of Obamacare, this page included, that the law needs to be rewritten: He and his administration keep rewriting its major components — remember the mandate that sizable employers offer coverage in 2014? — as practicalities and politics demand.

But in this country we don’t change bad laws by presidential fiat. We change them by having Congress rewrite them or by starting from scratch. Obama doesn’t want to reopen this law for fear that Republicans and some Democrats will substantially rewrite it. But that’s what has to happen.

We understand why the president and leaders of his party want to rescue whatever they can of Obamacare. On their watch, official Washington has blown the launch of a new entitlement program … under the schedule they alone set in early 2010.

What we don’t understand is their reluctance to give that failure more than lip service. Many of the Americans who heard their president say Thursday that “we fumbled the rollout of this health care law” would have been pleased to hear him add: So we’re admitting it. This law is a bust. We’re starting over.“

_________________________________________________

2. Rand Paul is reminding folks who is responsible for folks getting cancellations. And no, it’s not those evil insurance companies. There’s also a 30 minute video of the whole conversation with Paul at the link.

From WeaselZippers  “RAND PAUL: I’m still learning about it. It’s 20,000 pages of regulations. The Bill was 2,000 pages and I didn’t realize this until this week, the whole idea of you losing or getting your insurance cancelled wasn’t in the original Obamacare. It was a regulation written by President Obama, three months later.

So we had a vote, this is before I got up there. The Republicans had a vote to try to cancel that regulation so you couldn’t be cancelled, to grandfather everybody in. You know what the vote was? Straight party line. Every Democrat voted to keep the rule that cancels your insurance.“

_________________________________________________

3. Info that should have raised red flags, but didn’t. Cronyism and no-bid contracts got in the way of common sense.

From TheWaPo  “The lead contractor on the dysfunctional Web site for the Affordable Care Act is filled with executives from a company that mishandled at least 20 other government IT projects, including a flawed effort to automate retirement benefits for millions of federal workers, documents and interviews show.

CGI Federal, the main Web site developer, entered the U.S. government market a decade ago when its parent company purchased American Management Systems, a Fairfax County contractor that was coming off a series of troubled projects. CGI moved into AMS’s custom-made building off Interstate 66, changed the sign outside and kept the core of employees, who now populate the upper ranks of CGI Federal.

They include CGI Federal’s current and past presidents, the company’s chief technology officer, its vice president for federal health care and its health IT leader, according to company and other records. More than 100 former AMS employees are now senior executives or consultants working for CGI in the Washington area.”

Among that list are Obama donors and the first lady’s college friend.

_________________________________________________

4. If you can’t pay for your new insurance plan, do you really even have one? Of course not.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “An editorial in last week’s USA Today repeats the common belief about the deadline: “The deadline for signing up for insurance that begins Jan. 1 is Dec. 15.”  However, “signing up” for insurance is not enough.  As the Healthcare.gov website states [emphasis added]:

If you enroll in a private health insurance plan any time between October 1, 2013 and December 15, 2013 and make your first premium payment, your new health coverage starts January 1, 2014.”

“However, paying the premium is not necessarily a simple matter.  An online chat with a Healthcare.gov representative revealed that the site is not recommending using the exchange to make the initial premium payment. The representative was not even completely sure the option was being offered.”

“The federal government-run exchange is not the only one to experience problems with premium payments.  The Maryland Health Connection, that state’s version of the Obamacare exchange, announced a week ago Friday that it was suspending the bill-pay feature indefinitely:”

Really need that face-palm smiley.

_________________________________________________

5. Looks like some liberals are taking the IRS method of dealing with conservatives to heart. Nothing like govt funded intimidation of your political enemies huh?

From TheCapitolCityProject  “In Wisconsin, dozens of conservative groups and allies of Gov. Scott Walker are undergoing political intimidation from the left at the hands of a special prosecutor.

Subpoenas have been issued demanding correspondence and donor information of right-leaning organizations and individuals and raids have been conducted resulting in law enforcement officers taking computers and files in a secret investigation, according to reports.”

“It continues, “Copies of two subpoenas we’ve seen demand ‘all memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications’ both internally and between the subpoena target and some 29 conservative groups, including Wisconsin and national nonprofits, political vendors and party committees. The groups include the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.”

The WSJ says the latest actions are taking place under Wisconsin’s John Doe law, which makes it difficult for the groups involved to defend themselves publicly. The law, “Bars a subpoena’s targets from disclosing its contents to anyone but his attorneys. John Doe probes work much like a grand jury, allowing prosecutors to issue subpoenas and conduct searches, while the gag orders leave the targets facing the resources of the state with no way to publicly defend themselves.”

_________________________________________________

6. The saga continues. What a mess.

From NBCNews  “George Zimmerman was arrested and charged  with threatening his girlfriend with a gun Monday after Florida authorities responded to a disturbance call at the woman’s home.

Zimmerman has been charged with felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal mischief, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma said during a press conference Monday in Sanford, Fla., hours after Zimmerman was arrested in nearby Apopka, roughly 15 miles northwest of Orlando.

Zimmerman’s girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, told deputies that she and Zimmerman were having a “verbal dispute,” and she alleged that he broke a table and pointed a long-barreled shotgun at her, Lemma said.”

_________________________________________________

7. Why does this not surprise me?

From TheLATimes  “College students who cheated on a simple task were more likely to want government jobs, researchers from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania found in a study of hundreds of students in Bangalore, India.

by

News/Politics 11-18-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Severe weather has once again taken a heavy toll on the nation’s mid section.

From TheChicagoTribune  “A string of tornadoes and severe storms left a trail of damage and flooding through the Midwest Sunday, leveling parts of a town near Peoria, knocking down buildings in Grundy County and prompting Bears fans to scatter for cover as the game at Soldier Field was postponed.

In Washington, in Tazewell County, one person was reported killed, two were killed in Massac County and in Nashville east of St. Louis, two elderly siblings were reported killed . Dozens of others were reported injured including at least six who were seriously injured as the tornado spawned warnings through much of Illinois and northern Indiana.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

More here from APNews  “Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across the Midwest on Sunday, causing extensive damage in several central Illinois communities, killing at least three people and prompting officials at Chicago’s Soldier Field to evacuate the stands and delay the Bears game.

“The whole neighborhood’s gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house,” said Michael Perdun, speaking by cellphone from the hard-hit town of Washington, where he said his neighborhood was wiped out in a matter of seconds.”

_________________________________________________

2. The hits just keep on comin’.

From Yahoo/Reuters  “UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company’s other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing “significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment.” According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.”

_________________________________________________

3. Is President Obama’s “fix” even legal? Doesn’t look like it.

From NationalReview  “No, the purpose is to highlight how insouciantly lawless and transparently political the president’s latest Obamacare “fix” is. I refer, of course, to Obama’s magnanimous proclamation that he now deigns to permit insurers to issue policies made illegal by the Obamacare statute — at least until the Democrats can get through the 2014 elections. This was frivolous to the point of malfeasance.

Let’s start with the basics. The president has no power to rewrite statutes — he is bereft of dictatorial power to legitimize what Congress has made a violation of law. This reflects our abiding conceit that we have “a government of laws and not of men,” ascribed by John Adams to the 17th-century political theorist James Harrington. As Justice Antonin Scalia recounts, Adams provided the best elaboration of this principle when he enshrined it in the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution:

The legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: The judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them: to the end it may be a government of laws, and not of men.”

Now what?

_________________________________________________

4. Who’s up for an ObamaCare marriage penalty? Well here it comes anyway.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Every time you think that we’ve finally touched bottom on Obamacare, some new problem emerges. So what began merely as a dysfunctional website became a broken and mis-designed system. When it turned out that lots of people were paying more for their plans, it then turned out that others were having their plans canceled—and that some people were even losing their doctors. And now we’re finding that, along with everything else, Obamacare contains a marriage penalty, too.“

“The Atlantic reports that in practice, this means that a married couple in New York making more than a combined $62,040 gets no subsidies from Obamacare. But two people who live together without getting married? They can make up to a combined $91,920 and still get subsidies from the government.”

_________________________________________________

5. Here’s more on the new revelations in the Benghazi scandal.

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-16-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

We lost power last night and didn’t get it back until the wee hours. So only a few from me today, but it’s an open thread so I’m sure you folks can come up with more. 🙂

1. The House passed the Upton Bill, with Democrat support I might add. Why they would give Democrats an out like this is beyond me.

From Politico  “The White House reiterated its veto threat of a just-passed House bill to allow insurance companies to continue selling insurance plans that don’t meet the minimum requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

The House passed the legislation introduced by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) with 261 votes, including 39 Democrats who defied President Barack Obama’s veto threat issued Thursday evening.

“We absolutely do not support and oppose the Upton bill,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said minutes after Friday’s House vote.”

Obama will veto it. He kinda has to. He can’t have Republicans getting credit for fixing his mess.

_________________________________________________

2. Once again, Congress gets special perks the rest of us aren’t allowed to have.

From CNSNews   “Under Obamacare — as it is being implemented  under a regulation issued by the White House Office of Personnel  Management (OPM) — a middle-aged member of Congress who earns an annual  salary of $174,000 from the taxpayers, and who has a wife and children,  will get a $10,000 subsidy from the taxpayers (over and above his  $174,000 salary) to buy a health insurance plan that a regular citizen  making almost $80,000 less than the congressman will not get.”

“Americans in the private sector who buy health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges only get a federal subsidy (a tax credit) if their income/family situation is below 400% of poverty, the ceiling for which is $94,200 for a family of four.

If they surpass that 400% level, then no subsidy.  Theoretically, a  family bringing in $174,000, like a member of Congress, would have to  have 12 children dependents to even be eligible for a subsidy under the Obamacare rules.”

We don’t even get cake to eat.

_________________________________________________

3. The more we know, the worse it gets. Now we know why a cover-up from the White House was necessary. They had to hide details like this, which raise even more questions.

From FoxNews  “The terrorists who attacked the Benghazi consulate last year knew the location of the safe room where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security team sought shelter, according to a congressman who spoke for 90 minutes with the diplomatic security agent severely injured in the assault.

“He confirmed this – that it was a very well orchestrated, and well organized, almost a military operation, using military weapons and using military signals,” the late Florida Rep. Bill Young said after meeting diplomatic security agent David Ubben at Walter Reed Medical Center last summer, when both were patients there.”

“”He (Ubben) emphasized the fact that it was a very, very military type of operation they had knowledge of almost everything in the compound,” Young explained. “They knew where the gasoline was, they knew where the generators were, they knew where the safe room was, they knew more than they should have about that compound.”

“An August 16 classified cable, reviewed and reported on by Fox News last fall, showed there was an emergency meeting in Benghazi less than a month before the attack due to rapidly deteriorating security.  The cable warned the office of Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton, and other State Department leaders in Washington, that the consulate could not sustain a coordinated assault.

The cable also reflected a grave concern among officials on the ground that the Libyan militia charged with protecting the consulate had been compromised, perhaps even infiltrated by extremists.”

And Obama’s White House and Hillary’s State Dept ignored these warnings. These deaths would not have happened had they listened and installed some proper security.

_________________________________________________

4. And Obama’s war on the military continues.

From Politico  “After a spate of news stories this summer citing tensions between President  Barack Obama and his top military commanders over the possibility of U.S.  intervention in Syria, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough hastened to  assure the Washington Post that everything was, in fact, copacetic: The  president “appreciates” candid military advice “above all else,” McDonough insisted, and has “close, and in some instances warm,  relationships with his military chiefs,” as the Post put it. During my  own time at the Pentagon, where I worked as an Obama appointee from the spring  of 2009 until mid-2011, few seemed to hold this view. I recall asking one  general, recently back from Afghanistan, if he’d shared his experiences and  insights with the president. Rolling his eyes, he told me grimly that the White  House preferred the military to be seen but not heard.

Curious about whether things had changed since then, I asked a dozen serving  and recently retired senior military officers with high-level White House   access, many of whom were not comfortable speaking on the record, if they knew  of any military leaders with whom the president had a close and warm personal  relationship. In every case, the initial response was a long silence. “That’s a  great question,” said one retired senior officer, after a lengthy pause. “Good  question. I don’t know,” said a second. “I don’t think he’s close to anyone,”  commented a third. He just doesn’t seem to have any interest in “getting to  know” the military, a retired general concluded.”

Why would he? They have nothing in common. Their views are quite the opposite of his.

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-15-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the President has proposed some changes to ObamaCare in order to quiet down the commoners. He’s decided to let you keep your sucky plan for one more year. 🙂

Democrats still aren’t happy, neither are the American people.

From Politico  “Senate Democrats are still considering legislation to repair President Barack  Obama’s broken Obamacare promise, despite the White House plans for an  administrative fix.

Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) still want to see votes  on their separate, alternative proposals aimed at helping Americans who lost  insurance plans. Several of the other Democrats who are up for reelection in  2014 want to vote on a legislative fix, too.”

“Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), one of the most vulnerable Democrats up next year,  called Obama’s plan a “step in the right direction,” but said, “a one-year fix  is not enough, and we need to do more.”

_________________________________________________

2. Even Howard Dean is wondering if the President has the legal authority to make this “fix.”

From TheWeeklyStandard  ““I wonder if he has the legal authority to do this, since this was a congressional bill that set this up,” said Dean of Obama’s proposed fix. 

The former Vermont governor suggested that since the Obamacare website isn’t working, the president’s signature legislation might fail.”

When you’ve lost Howard Dean, you’ve got problems.

_________________________________________________

3. And O’Keefe strikes yet again. More ObamaCare navigator fraud. Yeah.

From CapitolCityProject  “James O’ Keefe’s Project Veritas has released a second video showing even more Obamacare Navigators in Texas suggesting fraud and deceit to undercover reporters — despite some in the mainstream media calling the first exposé an “isolated incident.”

“Today, Project Veritas released a second investigation exposing more Obamacare navigators counseling applicants to lie and cheat the health care system by erroneously reporting income status, health history, and more,” Project Veritas wrote.

They continue, “Critics said the first video was an isolated incident so we decided to visit with even more navigators funded by your American tax dollars. What we found was disturbing and showed a clear pattern of fraud through the Obamacare navigator program.”

Within the new video, Obamacare Navigators in Texas yet again counsel the reporters to lie in order to avoid higher premiums.”

The video shows it’s hardly an isolated incident.

_________________________________________________

4. Huh….. That’s funny. Democrats, the President, and Attorney General insist that Voter ID is racist and a Republican effort to suppress voter turnout. Yet the real results are actually quite the opposite…….

From TheDailyCaller  “The first Texas elections under a contentious new photo ID law drew  interesting conclusions for an off-year election that normally draws a low  amount of voters.

There were nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, and the number  of votes tallied was nearly double what it was in 2011. Democrats and civil  rights groups have long argued that voter ID requirements suppress turnout,  particularly in poor and minority communities.”

“In Hidalgo County, which is 90 percent Hispanic, just over 4,000 voted in  the constitutional amendment election in 2011. In 2013, an average of over 16,000 voted according to the Texas secretary of state’s office.“

Doh!

_________________________________________________

5. This one should be fun to watch.

From Breitbart  “Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) has introduced an Articles of Impeachment resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder for his role in Operation Fast and Furious and other scandals of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Seven congressman have signed onto the resolution thus far in addition to Olson. They are Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Phil Roe (R-TN), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Roger Williams (R-TX), Ted Yoho (R-FL), and Randy Weber (R-TX).

The Articles of Impeachment has four different sections. The first calls for Holder’s official removal because of his failure to comply with congressional subpoenas relating to Operation Fast and Furious. Holder has been voted on a bipartisan basis into both criminal and civil contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with the Fast and Furious subpoenas from House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).”

Another of the Articles is for his refusal to enforce DOMA.

_________________________________________________

6. Some scathing words for the Obama admin from a former secret service agent tuned congressional candidate who has a released a book on the whole affair.

From TheNYPost  “Dan Bongino, the Secret Service agent who turned on President Obama and is running for Congress, says he believes the “toxic” administration is “using government as a weapon exclusively to intimidate enemies.”

““That wasn’t necessarily the case with the Clintons, and I was pretty much enmeshed in Hillary’s Senate campaign. Although I disagreed with a lot of their political positions . . . I can’t tell you that they thought government was a weapon exclusively to intimidate their enemies. But this administration constantly seems to use government [as a weapon] because they are inexperienced with it — it’s like giving a kid a Bowie knife and saying, ‘Have fun.’ They gave this administration which has no experience the reins of government and they have just gone wild.””

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-14-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The fight for control of the GOP continues.

From Politico  “A takeover is not instigated by a small minority of outsiders but, rather, by  a majority of the shareholders. The transition of power turns “hostile” when the  entrenched management regime strikes back, more concerned with preserving its  own power than advancing a vision to produce something of value.

Sound familiar?

There is a hostile takeover happening within the Republican Party. The senior  management of the GOP has failed its key shareholders, abandoning the founding  vision of individual freedom, equal opportunity, fiscal responsibility and  constitutionally limited government. What’s worse, those passing through the  revolving door of rent seekers like things just the way they are.

That’s why reform efforts by the new generation of principled Republican  legislators like Sens. Lee, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky are met  with vitriol and media attacks designed to isolate and discredit.”

And the media is all too willing to attack the conservatives, and does it’s part by trumpeting another RINO (Christie) who will lose to Hillary, just like the last 2 as well. 🙄

_________________________________________________

2. This one? Well let’s be honest. Who didn’t see this coming? 🙄

From TheDenverPost  “Dillon, who is now a school resource officer with the Mesa County Sheriff’s  Department, said he is seeing more and younger kids bringing marijuana to  schools, in sometimes-surprising quantities.

“When we have middle school kids show up with a half an ounce, that is  shocking to me,” Dillon said.

The same phenomenon is being reported around Colorado after the  2010  regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries  and  the 2012 vote  to legalize  recreational marijuana.”

“”We have seen a sharp rise in drug-related disciplinary actions which,  anecdotally, from credible sources, is being attributed to the changing social  norms surrounding marijuana,” said Janelle Krueger. Krueger is the  program  manager for  Expelled and At-Risk Student Services for the Colorado Department  of Education and also a longtime  adviser to the Colorado Association of School  Resource Officers.”

_________________________________________________

3. Next up, the numbers are in, and yes, they’re bad.

From NationalJournal  “The Health and Human Services Department said 106,185 people have successfully applied for and chosen private insurance through the health care law’s new marketplaces. That total is only about 20 percent of the administration’s initial enrollment target for October, the first month in which consumers were able to sign up for coverage.”

“HealthCare.gov has performed even worse than expected. Fewer than 27,000 people selected a plan through the website, compared with roughly 79,000 who picked a plan through the 15 state-based insurance exchanges. Unofficial estimates leaked earlier this week suggested the federal website had done slightly better.”

And there were 400,000 approved for Medicaid, so they’re not paying customers.

_________________________________________________

4. This is one of the problems with lying. You have to keep lying to cover it up.

From NationalReview  “The cancellations will affect only a small number of people, those who buy individual policies.

In making this claim, the president focuses on the individual market, which he accurately notes covers about 5 percent of Americans. Still, that is about 14 to 15 million people. So far, as of mid November, roughly 4.8 million individual insurance plans have been canceled, with most estimates suggesting that as many as 10 million will eventually lose their current coverage.”

“But the same conditions that are causing the cancellation of individual policies will eventually result in the cancellation of millions of employment-based policies as well. The only reason that hasn’t happened yet is that the employer mandate was postponed for a year, so employer plans don’t yet have to be ACA-compliant. But they will. Even the Congressional Budget Office estimates that as many as 20 million workers will lose their current employer-sponsored plans. Combine that with those losing individual plans, and more than 30 million Americans cannot keep their current insurance.

It could be far more. As Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute points out, some 51 percent of the employer-based insurance market will lose grandfathered status and need to make changes to comply with Obamacare provisions. That could mean that, in total, as many as 93 million will lose their insurance. That’s not exactly “a few.””

That shoe should be dropping around elections next year.

_________________________________________________

5. So how bad is it? This bad….

Democrats have actually become camera shy. 🙂

_________________________________________________

6. And this one doesn’t shock me much. Democrats want to pass a bill to override many states new, more restrictive, abortion laws. We know how much these same politicians rely on abortion blood money to fund their campaigns. So of course they’d defend their “Precious” like good little Sméagol’s.

From PJMedia  “Democratic lawmakers will announce this afternoon a bill to override state abortion laws that have placed restrictions on the services.

The Women’s Health Protection Act “would protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion by preempting restrictive regulations and laws—such as those in place in states including Texas and Wisconsin—intended to curtail reproductive health services for women,” according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-Conn.) office.

Blumenthal will be joined at an afternoon press conference by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.),  Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Lois Frankel (D-Fla.).

Also at the announcement of the bill will be leader of NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights.”

_________________________________________________

by

News/Politics 11-13-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

It just gets worse.

From CBSNews  “CBS News has learned that the project manager in charge of building the federal health care website was apparently kept in the dark about serious failures in the website’s security. Those failures could lead to identity theft among buying insurance. The project manager testified to congressional investigators behind closed doors, but CBS News has obtained the first look at a partial transcript of his testimony.

Henry Chao, HealthCare.gov’s chief project manager at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in advance of this week’s hearing. In excerpts CBS News has obtained, Chao was asked about a memo that outlined important security risks discovered in the insurance system.

 Chao said he was unaware of a Sept. 3 government memo written by another senior official at CMS. It found two high-risk issues, which are redacted for security reasons. The memo said “the threat and risk potential (to the system) is limitless.” The memo shows CMS gave deadlines of mid-2014 and early 2015 to address them.

But Chao testified he’d been told the opposite.”

_________________________________________________

A former Obama advisor is warning that without significantly more sign-ups, the premiums could rise much higher.

_________________________________________________

ObamaCare effect on individual healthcare plans is getting worse by the day.

From SacramentoCBSLocal  “More than 1 million cancellation notices have been sent to Californians as the Affordable Care Act begins allowing individuals to buy insurance through exchanges, Jones said. The federal law requires policies to offer minimum levels of coverage, forcing companies to terminate many existing plans. But Jones said that under the law, insurers have another year to do so.”

_________________________________________________

But thankfully people are wising up. Those responsible should be getting nervous, like this Senator. Looks like consequences and repercussions may be coming from voters. Lets hope so.

From Politico  “Incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) is near the top of national Republicans’  target list for 2014 — and a new poll shows her lead over her potential GOP  challengers has all but evaporated.

Against state House Speaker Thom Tillis, Hagan leads by only 2 points, 44  percent to 42 percent, according to the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. She  leads the Rev. Mark Harris by 2 points as well, 43 percent to 41 percent, and  nurse Heather Grant by 3 points, 43 percent to 40 percent.

Hagan trails physician Greg Brannon, the Rand Paul-endorsed candidate in the  race, by 1 point: He leads 44 percent to 43 percent.

That’s a huge difference from PPP’s September poll, which gave Hagan leads of  anywhere from 12 points to 17 points against all possible GOP challengers.”

Ruh-Roh…… 🙂

_________________________________________________

And that Project Veritas video of the ObamaCare navigators engaging in fraud has already brought consequences.

From FoxDallas/FtWorth  “The Urban League of Greater Dallas fired one person and suspended three  others after a video from a conservative activist reportedly showed the workers  encouraging health care applicants to lie.

An edited video was released Monday that seemingly shows so-called health  care Navigators encouraging people to lie on forms signing up for health care to  get better rates.”

“The Urban League said the person fired was a “part-time receptionist trainee”  who was not authorized to speak on behalf of The Urban League or act as a  Navigator and said it supports decertifying three “Navigators-in-training” in  the video.

The Urban League also called for the unedited video of the incidents to be  released. It said the undercover applicants were told the people they were speaking to were Navigators-in-training and “the full context of these comments  is not reflected in the video.”

_________________________________________________

And here’s a pretty lengthy piece on the consequences of the green energy push, especially when it comes to ethanol production. As with many govt ventures, the cure is worse than the illness.

From APNews  “The hills of southern Iowa bear the scars of America’s push for green energy: The brown gashes where rain has washed away the soil. The polluted streams that dump fertilizer into the water supply.”

“With the Iowa political caucuses on the horizon in 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his plan to slow global warming. And when President George W. Bush signed a law that year requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, Bush predicted it would make the country “stronger, cleaner and more secure.”

“As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found.

Five million acres of land set aside for conservation – more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined – have vanished on Obama’s watch.”

It’s caused the expansion of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico as well. Read the whole thing, it’s worth the time.

_________________________________________________