Obamacare

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News/Politics 10-15-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, not really surprising. Muslim groups that support terrorists set training policy for DHS and law enforcement, so why not let a hate group like the SPLC decide who the hate groups are. The radicals set the policy in this admin.

From FoxNews  “Several dozen U.S. Army active duty and reserve troops were told last week that the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because the group advocates for traditional family values.”

“A soldier who attended the briefing contacted me and sent me a photograph of a slide show presentation that listed AFA as a domestic hate group. Under the AFA headline is a photograph of Westboro Baptist Church preacher Fred Phelps holding a sign reading “No special law for f***.”

American Family Association has absolutely no affiliation with the controversial church group known for picketing the funerals of American service members.

“I had to show Americans what our soldiers are now being taught,” said the soldier who asked not to be identified. “I couldn’t just let this one pass.”

Who cares if it’s false, as long as it fits their meme, right?

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The next few are ObamaCare related.

Think ObamaCare is too expensive? You’re in luck, a solution to that has been found. Just make less money! 😉

From HotAir  “This is a story out of California that’s been making the rounds this weekend and definitely needs to be filed under, “Who could have possibly seen this coming?” Some of the people who managed the feat of getting through the dysfunctional web site and actually getting quotes on health care policies under Obamacare have already been finding out that “low priced” can mean something entirely different than they may have thought. This is particularly true of older citizens on fixed incomes. But if your income is low enough, you can just scratch off a lot of the cost of those premiums with a taxpayer funded subsidy, right? Sure… but what if your income is too high? Well, duh… you should make less money!

People whose 2014 income will be a little too high to get subsidized health insurance from Covered California next year should start thinking now about ways to lower it to increase their odds of getting the valuable tax subsidy.

“If they can adjust (their income), they should,” says Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s not cheating, it’s allowed.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, if your 2014 income is between 138 and 400 percent of poverty level for your household size, you can purchase health insurance on a state-run exchange (such as Covered California) and receive a federal tax subsidy to offset all or part of your premium.”

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Many places are now demanding co-pays and deductibles up front.

From Bloomberg  “When Barbara Retkowski went to a Cape Coral, Florida, health clinic in August to treat a blood condition, she figured the center would bill her insurance company. Instead, it demanded payment upfront.

Earlier in the year, another clinic insisted she pay her entire remaining insurance deductible for the year — more than $1,000 — before the doctor would even see her.

“I was surprised and frustrated,” Retkowski, a 59-year-old retiree, said in an interview. “I had to pull money out of my savings.”

The practice of upfront payment for non-emergency care has been spreading in the U.S. as deductibles rise. Now, the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to accelerate that trend.”

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And things will only get worse. The job killing will continue as well. Some are saying it’s temporary, but that remains to be seen.

From USAToday  “Hospitals, a reliable source of employment growth in the recession and its aftermath, are starting to cut thousands of jobs amid falling insurance payments and inpatient visits.

The payroll cuts are surprising because the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whose implementation took a big step forward this month, is eventually expected to provide health coverage to as many as 30 million additional Americans.

“While the rest of the U.S. economy is stabilizing or improving, health care is entering into a recession,” says John Howser, assistant vice chancellor of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Health care providers announced more layoffs than any other industry last month — 8,128 — largely because of reductions by hospitals, according to outplacement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas.  So far this year, the health care sector has announced 41,085 layoffs, the third-most behind financial and industrial companies.”

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Oh look, more special treatment for Obama’s friends.

From TheHill  “Labor unions are poised to score the delay of an ObamaCare tax in the bipartisan  budget deal emerging in the Senate.

The bargain under negotiation would make small adjustments to the healthcare law, including delaying the law’s  reinsurance fee for one year. The three-year tax is meant to generate revenue  that will stabilize premiums on the individual market as sick patients enter the  risk pool.”

“The tax applies to all group health plans, but unions argue it will raise their  healthcare costs while providing them no benefit.”

So basically it does the same thing to them that it does to many of us. But we get no special treatment.

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News/Politics 10-11-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

I’ve got a bunch today, so I’ll be brief. Or not. 🙂

First up, an interesting read on the spitefulness from the White House and the similarities to other spiteful leaders in history.

From TheSultanKnishBlog  “The Berlin Blockade was a siege in all but name. Beyond the sheer fact of food and coal being cut off to a city of millions were a thousand minor humiliations by Soviet officials designed to break the will of their enemies to resist. That was their mistake. And it’s a mistake that the left often makes.

The barricades around the Lincoln Memorial and the WW2 Memorial, the traffic cones blocking the view of Mt. Rushmore and the sawhorses around Old Faithful are no Berlin Blockade, but they come out of the same meanness of spirit and the same motives.

The petty harassment extended to a 24-hour blockade of an inn that had tried to stay open and rangers arriving to block Old Faithful every time it erupted. There are few moments that sum up the meanness of spirit of the Obama Blockade as well as a park ranger angrily telling senior citizens to get back on the bus and stop taking photos because they are engaging in forbidden “recreating”.

The Obama Blockade has no valid justification. Like the Berlin Blockade, it is about power and control.”

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Next, good, let’s see more.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Taking their lead from the veterans who first pushed through the barricades  to visit the World War II Memorial,  Americans nationwide are defying the federal government shutdown, tossing aside  traffic cones and toppling wooden fences to get to national parks and other  federal lands that the administration has deemed out of bounds.

As the shutdown hits the middle of its second week, civil disobedience has  become a sensation. Some proudly post online photos of themselves overcoming the  government’s obstacles, and others use more subtle ways to make their point.”

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And here’s more.

From TheWaPo  “Organizers of the “Truckers Ride for the Constitution” rally say they are indeed coming to Washington on Friday — but whether they will shut down the Beltway or just make a lot of noise remains to be seen.”

“Zeeda Andrews, one of the organizers of the event, said the ride is a go, but emphasized that it will be peaceful. She said that Georgia trucker Earl Conlon “overstepped his boundaries” earlier this week in saying the event was just a ploy to get attention for the group’s agenda.

“Yes, it is happening,” she said about the rally. Andrews said she expects “a few thousand truckers” to descend on the District on Friday.”

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Veterans are sick of the poor treatment and are planning a protest as well.

From VetMarch  “In a mean-spirited fit of selfish anger, Barack Obama has shut down our nation’s war memorials. And he has declared open war on our honored veterans!

 The World War II memorial … the Vietnam Veterans Memorial … the Korean War Veterans Memorial – Obama has shut them all down to force his will on the House of Representatives and frankly, to get revenge on the American people who oppose Obamacare and his other naked power grabs.

Let’s put it plainly: Barack Obama is behaving like a vicious tyrant. And if he succeeds in this assault on the democratic system, the Republic we love is at mortal risk. It’s just that simple.

That’s why I am asking you now to take two decisive moves to show Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi – and all of their oppressive ilk in Washington – that “We the People” are still in charge. And we won’t rest until we take back our memorials and monuments!”

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Some folks are picking up the slack. 🙂

From USAToday  “Most everybody complains about the government shutdown, but Chris Cox is actually doing something about it.

With many government operations shuttered by the political standoff in Washington,  Cox took a lawn mower to the National Mall this week and began cutting  grass areas between the Lincoln and World War II memorials.

“These are our memorials. Do they think that we’re just going to let them go to hell?” Cox told Washington radio station 99.1 in a story recounted by Columbia, S.C., TV station WIS.”

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Maybe de-funding ObamaCare won’t be necessary. It could just collapse on its own.

From TheDailyMail  “Obamacare’s main sign up engine attracted  just 6,200 new customers on its launch day and 51,000 after the first  week

At the same rate, the 6-month open  enrollment period would sign up just 2 million Americans, including 14 states  and D.C., which have their own insurance exchanges

The Congressional Budget Office says  Obamacare needs at least 7 million customers to stay afloat  financially .

Numerous Obama administration officials  have denied seeing any enrollment figures at all

MailOnline’s sources are two Health and  Human Services workers who have access to the data as it’s  crunched

So the White House lied yesterday when asked if the numbers were available. Not surprising.

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And it’s look like 800,000 NJ residents just found how it will impact them.

From NJ.Com  “Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans opened the mail last week to find their health insurance plan would no longer exist in 2014 because it does not cover all the essential benefits required by the Affordable Care Act.

The news surprised some who were unaware that provisions in the new law known as “Obamacare” were forcing insurance companies to scrap some plans they had previously offered.

“The Affordable Care Act is driving many changes to products and pricing,” said Thomas Vincz, a spokesman for Horizon. “Horizon BCBSNJ is actively working to help our members find new insurance plans that meet their needs and budget.”

Sorry folks. But elections have consequences’.

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News/Politics 10-10-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, as always.

We have some interesting ones today.

First up, Wow. 🙄

From DigitalTrends.com  “It’s been one full week since the flagship technology portion of the  Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) went live. And since that time, the befuddled  beast that is Healthcare.gov has shutdown, crapped out, stalled, and  mis-loaded so consistently that its track record for failure is challenged only  by Congress.

The site itself, which apparently underwent major code renovations over the  weekend, still rejects user logins, fails to load drop-down menus and other  crucial components for users that successfully gain entrance, and otherwise  prevents uninsured Americans in the 36 states it serves from purchasing  healthcare at competitive rates – Healthcare.gov’s primary purpose. The site is  so busted that, as of a couple days ago, the number of people that successfully  purchased healthcare through it was in the “single digits,” according to the Washington Post.

The reason for this nationwide headache apparently stems from poorly written code, which buckled under the heavy influx of  traffic that its engineers and administrators should have seen coming. But the  fact that Healthcare.gov can’t do the one job it was built to do isn’t the most  infuriating part of this debacle – it’s that we, the taxpayers, seem to have  forked up more than $634 million of the federal purse to build the  digital equivalent of a rock.”

You say digital rock, I say Obama’s legacy. Either works.

Oh wait……. Never mind, his legacy isn’t working. 😯

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California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a new law allowing non-physicians to perform abortions.

From Breitbart  “The legislation, which had been pushed vigorously by Planned Parenthood, had been strongly opposed by pro-life groups and some physicians, arguing that it amounted to legalizing back-alley abortions for profit.

In a statement, Gov. Brown boasted that AB 154 was one of seven bills signed Tuesday “to support the health and well-being of women in California.”

How exactly does letting unqualified people perform a medical procedure supportive? And well-being? Really? Unbelievable.

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But….but….but…. they’re mostly moderates. Obama and McCain said so.

From TheLATimes  “U.S. intelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Al Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups could carve out a haven in Syria that will offer the kind of sanctuary they once enjoyed in northwestern Pakistan, current and former U.S. officials say.

Officials say a clandestine CIA program that provides rudimentary training and weapons to U.S.-backed politically moderate insurgents is unlikely to curb the growing strength of extremists among the opposition militias seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Though the fighting remains limited to Syria, U.S. intelligence officials already are looking at worst-case scenarios if the country breaks into distinct government- and rebel-controlled enclaves. The alarm grew recently when militants from Al Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate considered the most capable and best-armed rebel force, and its allies seized a border crossing between Syria and Jordan near the Syrian city of Dara.”

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This one wouldn’t surprise me at all. Their do-gooder efforts rarely work out as planned.

From Dallas/FtWorthCBSLocal  “It started as a simple look at bullying. University of Texas at Arlington criminologist Seokjin Jeong analyzed data collected from 7,000 students from all 50 states.

He thought the results would be predictable and would show that anti-bullying programs curb bullying. Instead — he found the opposite.

Jeong said it was, “A very disappointing and a very surprising thing. Our anti-bullying programs, either intervention or prevention does not work.”

The study concluded that students at schools with anti-bullying programs might actually be more likely to become a victim of bullying. It also found that students at schools with no bullying programs were less likely to become victims.”

But are there just more reported at schools with programs, which could skew the numbers?

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Here’s an interesting case, although I’m surprised it went this far. Seems like a stretch to me. You can’t get plastered and then say you’re not responsible for your actions and what happens once you are. Or can you? We’ll see I guess.

From MSNNews  “Three people convicted of murder in deadly crashes urged New York’s highest court Tuesday to throw out their convictions, arguing they were too intoxicated to know the threat they posed to others.

The murder convictions of Martin Heidgen, Taliyah Taylor and Franklin McPherson all hinge on the prosecution’s contention they acted with “depraved indifference to human life” in fatal crashes that share a number of common threads: driving too fast in the wrong lane while under the influence.

Defense attorneys argued prosecutors failed to prove their clients acted with depraved indifference and, in fact, their clients were too impaired to know what they were doing.”

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News/Politics 10-9-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

A new low in the shutdown fight. Denying benefits to the families of those killed in combat. In many cases this benefit is used to help with burial and travel for the families. This is for no other reason but spite. But thankfully, a group has stepped up to help.

From NBCNews  “A Maryland foundation is stepping into the breach to cover death benefits for the families of fallen service members that were suspended during the government shutdown — including the families of five killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

In what veterans call an outrageous slight after the ultimate sacrifice, the shuttered federal government is withholding a $100,000 payment, known as the death gratuity, that is normally wired to relatives of fallen service members.”

“It is upsetting because my husband died for his country, and now his family is left to worry,” said Ashley Peters of Springfield, Mo., whose husband, Jeremy, was a special agent assigned to the Army’s 5th Military Police Battalion and was among the five killed. “My husband always said if something happened to him we would be taken care of.”

“As outrage over the lapse built Tuesday, the Fisher House Foundation of Bethesda, Md., offered to cover advance grants until the government can make reimbursements to the foundation.”

One father blames the Tea Party for this. But the order for this came from the Obama White House, not Congress. His anger seems misdirected.

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VA offices and benefits are being used to inflict more pain.

From TheHill  “Regional offices run by the Department of Veterans Affairs closed Tuesday as  furloughs began for 7,000 employees of the agency’s Benefits  Administration  (VBA).”

““All public access to VBA regional offices and facilities will be suspended …  due to a lack of funds,” Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Victoria Dillon  said in a statement provided to The Hill.”

“House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.)  slammed Senate Democrats for not agreeing to piecemeal bills to fund the VA. The  ball, Miller said, is now in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) court.  

“Harry Reid could stop these furloughs and ensure veterans’  benefits immediately by acting on either of these bills, but instead he’s  content to let them gather dust on his desk,” he said in a statement. “It’s well  past time for Harry Reid to stop the games and fund VA. If not, he owes  America’s veterans an explanation for why he’s putting their benefits at risk.”

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This admin has specifically targeted veterans, but they’re not the only victims. Here’s the top six.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A partial government shutdown just wasn’t going to hit people the way the Obama administration needed it to, so officials resorted to some unprecedented acts to make Americans feel the pain, as Conservative Intel’s David Freddoso notes:

Most people — even the poor in state-run safety net programs — don’t have that many interactions with the federal government agencies affected right now by the shutdown.

So it’s a challenge to make people notice that your agency is vital to the survival of the Republic. The feds have to apply a lot of force and behave in unsubtle ways to make you angry with Congress.”

Folks are cited for trespassing and threatened with arrest for trying to access parks and monuments. Well, except for the rally for immigration reform, they got a pass.

Aren’t we at least supposed to get cake or something? Maybe a circus?

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The President held an hour-long press conference Republican Bashfest. Funny thing though, the press got him in person for an hour with questions, and yet not one asked about the failure that is the ObamaCare Exchanges. Gee, I wonder why……. 🙄

From Politico  “President Barack Obama sustained an hour-long press conference today without a single question about his signature healthcare law and the glitches that continue to plague the insurance exchanges — a point that frustrated several conservatives.

“Explain to me how in a dozen questions the second biggest story of the week, the healthcare.gov debacle, doesn’t even come up,” Brendan Buck, the press secretary for House Speaker John Boehner, asked in an email to POLITICO.

“”Questions from WH press corps are pathetic,” Brit Hume, the Fox News analyst tweeted. “As of this moment, not a single tough or challenging inquiry.”

Liberal outlets are blaming……. wait for it…… wait……

The shutdown. 🙄

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That’s a shame, because they could have asked some good ones. Like maybe ask why our personal info will be shared with law enforcement and for audits, and why you hide that fact in the fine print?

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Maryland’s Health Connection, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment.  If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website’s privacy policy, a ubiquitous fine-print feature on websites that often go unread. Nevertheless, users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms.

The policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary “cookies” used by the site, and website accessibility.  However, at least two conditions may give some users pause before proceeding.

The first is regarding personal information submitted with an application for those users who follow through on the sign up process all the way to the end.  The policy states that all information to help in applying for coverage and even for making a payment will be kept strictly confidential and only be used to carry out the function of the marketplace.  There is, however, an exception: “[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.”

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Here’s an update on that whole Obama saved GM thing. Not only are the taxpayers out billions, they managed to create a new sub-prime bubble that’s about to burst. And we’ve known all along they were fudging the sales numbers by overstocking inventory. That’s showing up now too.

From TheFreeBeacon  “General Motors of Canada President Kevin Williams is warning that subprime loans could doom the auto industry just as it did the housing industry in 2007.

Williams told the editorial board of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper on Monday that record Canadian auto sales could be attributed to cheap credit loans.”

“Using subprime loans and easy credit to move cars off the lot may not be GM Canada’s goal, but its parent company, bailed-out, Detroit-based General Motors, has been moving in that direction, as the Washington Free Beacon reported in February. Nearly 90 percent of loans issued by GM Financial were subprime.”

“GMF has the riskiest lending portfolio of any major car company: 96 percent of its customers have credit scores below 660.  GM’s lending habits parallel those in the housing market leading up to the 2008 crash…GM finished the year with 8.5 percent of loans in delinquency, the highest rate since 2010 and larger than the delinquency rates at Ford, Toyota, and Honda combined.”

They’ve learned nothing. Well, to be fair they have learned they can milk the taxpayer when they have friends like Obama.

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News/Politics 10-5-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, I’d like to say I’m shocked. I’d like to….

From TheDailyCaller  “In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they  celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during the federal  government shutdown.

“With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests  who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work  – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the general counsel for the  Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it  is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they  attempt to do so.””

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Republicans are continuing their efforts to fund some govt departments. FEMA could be an important one if the hurricane in the Gulf causes widespread damage. Let’s see if the obstruction on piecemeal bills continues from the Senate and White House.

From FoxNews  “The House voted Friday to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as Republicans cast the bill as an emergency measure to help Americans threatened by the approaching tropical storm.”

The bill was one of several House Republicans have pushed in recent days to fund chunks of the government amid the partial government shutdown. 

They’ve been pressuring Democrats, with little success, to support these mini-spending measures while the budget impasse drags on. Republicans upped that pressure on Friday, saying disaster response is critical as Tropical Storm Karen tracks toward the Gulf Coast and is poised to hit this weekend. 

“When you’ve got a storm in the Gulf of Mexico, this is not a time for partisanship,” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said after the vote, flanked by Gulf state lawmakers. Scalise called on President Obama to remove his veto threat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass the bill in the Senate. “

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Meanwhile the firm responsible for the ObamaCare implementation has been identified. And no offense to our Canadian friends, but couldn’t we have found a US company instead of outsourcing to Canada?

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A Canadian tech firm that has provided service to that country’s single-payer health care system is behind the glitch-ridden United States national health care exchange site healthcare.gov.

CGI Federal is a subsidiary of Montreal-based CGI Group. With offices in Fairfax, Va., the subsidiary has been a darling of the Obama administration, which since 2009 has bestowed it with $1.4 billion in federal contracts, according to USAspending.gov.

The “CGI” in the parent company’s name stands for “Conseillers en Gestion et Informatique” in French, which roughly translates to “Information Systems and Management Consultants.” However, the firm offers another translation: “Consultants to Government and Industry.”

The company is deeply embedded in Canada’s single-payer system. CGI has provided IT services to the Canadian Ministries of Health in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Saskatchewan, as well as to the national health provider, Health Canada, according to CGI’s Canadian website.”

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And the last one from me today is this. The founder of McAfee speaks out about the lack of security with the ObamaCare sites. Still needin’ that face palm smiley. 🙄

From TheDailyCaller  “For starters, McAfee said the way it is set up makes it possible for fake  websites be set up to fool people to think they’re signing  up for Obamacare.

“It’s seriously bad,” McAfee said. “Somebody made a grave error, not in designing the program but in simply implementing the web aspect of it. I mean, for example, anybody can put up a web page and claim to be a broker for this  system. There is no central place where I can go and say, ‘OK, here are all the legitimate brokers the examiners for all of the states and pick and choose one.’”

“According to McAfee, there’s not a quick fix — and as long as it set up this  way, it could be a playground for computer hackers.”

““Here’s the problem: It’s not something software can solve,” McAfee continued. “I mean, what idiot put this system out there and did not create a central  depository? There should be one website, run by the government, you go to that  website and then you can click on all of the agencies. This is insane. So, I will predict that the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going  to lose their identities — I mean, you can imagine some retired lady in Utah, who has $75,000 dollars in the bank, saving her whole life, having it  wiped out in one day because she signed up for Obamacare. And believe me, this  is going to happen millions of times.”

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News/Politics 10-1-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, as always.

Well, it’s shutdown. So this is either the worst thing ever if you listen to Dems, or it’s no big deal. I hate not knowing whether it’s time to panic or not. 🙂

From NBCNews  “With just hours to go before a midnight deadline, the Senate swiftly nixed a House-passed government funding proposal late Monday, tossing the legislation back to the lower chamber with unusual speed as the nation careened towards a federal shutdown. 

Shortly after receiving the House proposal to fund the government and delay a key provision of the president’s health care law, the Senate voted along party lines to send the bill back to the House for a last-ditch effort at meeting a midnight deadline to keep the government’s lights on. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor before the vote that Republicans “have lost their minds” by repeatedly voting for “ridiculous policy riders” destined for failure in the Democratically-controlled Senate.”

If it’s the end of the world, why do I feel fine?

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This one? Well it’s kinda like that Sequester thingy. It’s supposed to be bad, and it might be for the little guys in the federal food chain. But rest assured, the people in charge are gonna be OK.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A federal government shutdown will temporarily cut off pay of thousands of Uncle Sam’s workers, but for those considered “excepted employees,” there could be a nice salary bump thanks to rules allowing overtime, compensatory time and other benefits provided to those the administration feels too important to furlough.

In advance of the potential shutdown, the Office of Personnel Management distributed a 30-page “Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs” that spells out who will get what, if anything, if President Obama and House Republicans can’t negotiate a break in the budget stalemate by Monday night, the end of the fiscal year.

Most workers won’t be considered excepted employees, but OPM emphasized that it’s not because their work isn’t valued. “Excepted employees include employees who are performing emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property or performing certain other types of excepted work,” said the guide.”

Comp time and overtime will be permitted for the lucky ones. The ones who get furloughed will get back pay when they get back to work, at least they have the last 17 times this has happened.

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Today is the scheduled launch day for ObamaCare. And yes, it breaks federal law on taxpayers not funding abortions.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “The Office of Personnel Management ruled Monday that members of Congress and  their staffs will be able to buy health care plans that pay for abortions, even  though the premiums are funded largely by taxpayer money — a move that  conservatives say breaks federal law on abortion funding.

Under the terms of Obamacare, lawmakers and their aides are required to  ditch their government-sponsored plans and buy insurance on state-based health  care exchanges, though unlike most people on the exchanges, the staffers and  members will have most of the costs of their premiums paid by their employer —  in this case, taxpayers.”

“Federal law generally prevents taxpayer money from being used to pay for  abortions, but OPM said the health care plans offered through the exchange were  private. The agency also said it will make sure the money is segregated so that  the portion that pays for abortions comes out of the employees’ own  contributions, which amounts to about a quarter of the premiums.”

Please. Don’t insult our intelligence. That’s hogwash and they know it. It’s a distinction without a difference.

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And last one from me today…

The Obama DoD continues their war on Christians.

From FoxNews  “Evangelical Christian airmen at Lackland Air Force Base are facing severe threats and retribution for their religious beliefs and some personnel have been ordered to publicly express their position on gay marriage.

“There is an atmosphere of intimidation at Lackland Air Force Base,” said Steve Branson, the pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio. “Gay commanders and officers are pushing their agenda on the airmen. There is a culture of fear in the military and it’s gone to a new level with the issue of homosexuality.”

Branson tells me at least 80 airmen attended a private meeting at the church where he heard them voice their concerns about religious hostilities at the Air Force base. It was a standing-room only crowd.

“The religious persecution is happening,” the pastor said. “It’s getting bigger every day. Gay and lesbian airmen can talk about their lifestyle, but the rest have to stay completely quiet about what they believe.”

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UPDATE

Looks like the govt isn’t the only thing down this morning.

From Twitchy  “Surprise! Obamacare health insurance exchange websites don’t work”

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Now by now you’re all aware that I’m a bit snarky. But I’m a rank amateur compared to some of these. 🙂  Via Twitter, the first hour of shutdown Tweets.

And the fun continues in the comment section. 🙂

Also from Twitchy  “We’ve just lost the Eastern Seaboard. Pray.”

“I think I just saw a star go out.”

“The space station is spinning out of control and the polar bears are dying.”

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News/Politics 9-30-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, the plot thickens….

From Politico  “House Republicans forced through a short-term government funding bill that  delays Obamacare and permanently repeals a tax on medical devices, setting up  their most dramatic face-off ever with President Barack Obama and Senate  Democrats.

The vote to delay Obamacare was 231-192,  with two Republicans voting against the bill, while two Democrats supported  it.  The Republicans opposed to the bill were New York Reps. Chris Gibson  and Richard Hanna, and the Democrats who supported the measure were North  Carolina Rep. Mike McInytre and Utah Rep. Jim Matheson.

The move represents a complete about-face by Speaker John  Boehner (R-Ohio) and the House Republican leadership. They wanted to shift the  focus of health care and budgetary squabbles onto the debt ceiling fight, but  conservative Republicans honed in on the government funding battle.”

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Maybe Boehner has found his spine.

From TheWallStJournal  “House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) issued a statement blasting Democrats for not reconvening the Senate sooner, in the latest round of recriminations over a rapidly approaching government shutdown.

If the Senate reconvenes as planned Monday afternoon, Democrats will be engaging in an act of “breathtaking arrogance,” Mr. Boehner said in a written statement early Sunday afternoon.

“They will be deliberately bringing the nation to the brink of a government shutdown for the sake of raising taxes on seniors’ pacemakers and children’s hearing aids and plowing ahead with the train wreck that is the president’s health care law,” Mr. Boehner said.”

Why should Democrats worry? They know the media will carry their water and blame it all on those dastardly Republicans.

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Here’s a summary of the job killing ObamaCare has wrought on the economy.

From InvestorsBusinessDaily  “ObamaCare’s impact on jobs is hotly debated by politicians and economists.  Critics say the Affordable Care Act, with its employer mandate to provide health  insurance, gives businesses an incentive to cut workers’ hours. This year,  report after report has rolled in about employers restricting work hours to  fewer than 30 per week — the point where the mandate kicks in. Data also point  to a record low workweek in low-wage industries.

In the interest of an informed debate, we’ve compiled a list of job actions  with strong proof that ObamaCare’s employer mandate is behind cuts to work hours  or staffing levels. As of Sept. 25, our ObamaCare scorecard included 313 employers. Here’s our latest analysis, focusing on cuts to adjunct  hours at nearly 200 college campuses. The ObamaCare list methodology is explained further in our  initial coverage; click on the employer names in the list below for links to  supporting records, mostly news accounts or official documents.”

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Canada has revoked the tax exempt status of The Islamic Society of North America for supporting terrorism.

From TheTorontoSun  “The Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable status of an Islamic group after it says it distributed over $280,000 to an agency allegedly linked to a terrorist organization in Pakistan.

The CRA announced Friday it will strip the Islamic Society of North America Canada’s Development Foundation of its charitable status.

After a nearly two-year-long audit of its books, the CRA said it found evidence linking the group to an organization that funds a terrorist organization in Pakistan.

“The Government of Canada has made it clear that it will not tolerate the abuse of the registration system for charities to provide any means of support to terrorism,” a press release from the CRA said.”

And yet Pres. Obama praises them, and recently released a video which was played at their annual conference thanking them for their work…….

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I’ve told you before about this woman’s fraudulent credentials. And yet McCain hire her. Now you know why he supports the rebels in Syria. This is the type of adviser he takes advice from.

From TheDailyCaller  “Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain hired the Syria analyst in favor of U.S.  intervention who was fired for fabricating her Ph.D., Foreign Policy reported.

Elizabeth O’Bagy, formerly of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), will  start Monday as a legislative assistant in Sen. McCain’s office.

McCain told Foreign Policy that “Elizabeth is a talented researcher, and I  have been very impressed by her knowledge and analysis in multiple briefings  over the last year.” The senator’s office said they would not make any further  comment on O’Bagy’s employment.”

Gee, I wonder why?…… 🙄

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And lastly, I wonder when Holder and the DoJ will get around to investigating these leakers?

From TheDailyCaller  “A leaked State Department email indicates that officials were worried about  the safety of House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa after  Democrats revealed his plans for a secret trip to Libya this week.

Issa, a Republican from California, has safely returned from his fact-finding  trip to the country as his committee continues to investigate the terrorist  attacks that killed America’s ambassador and three others in Benghazi on Sept.  11, 2012.

CBS News reported Thursday on an email that quoted a  Libyan national sharing “his concern and his opinion that Representative Issa  should not come to Libya for his own safety.”

““Ranking Member Elijah Cummings’ reckless release of information was not going  to deter Chairman Issa from conducting his oversight responsibilities in the  wake of the Benghazi tragedy,” Issa spokesman Frederick Hill told The Daily  Caller. “Fortunately, despite the media attention and resulting threat, no  security incident occurred during Rep. Issa’s time in Libya.”

That’s low, even for a treasonous Dem like Cummings.

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News/Politics 9-27-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread, as always.

As launch day approaches, second thoughts?

From Bloomberg  “U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke ranks with fellow Democrats and said he’d support a stopgap spending plan that delays the individual mandate in President Barack Obama’s health-care law.

“There’s no way I could not vote for it,” Manchin said at a Bloomberg Government breakfast today. “It’s very reasonable and sensible.”

“The individual mandate is the linchpin of the law that requires Americans who lack insurance to purchase health care through government-run exchanges. Republicans, led by a group of newcomers in the House, are pushing to dismantle the health-care law and are using a ticking clock on a possible Oct. 1 government shutdown as leverage.”

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So Manchin is a terrorist too?

What? I’m just repeating what I’ve heard. He might be a kidnapper and/or arsonist as well. Like us.

From BusinessInsider  “White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer used three vivid analogies to  attack House Republicans’ laundry list of demands for  raising the debt ceiling, comparing Republicans to arsonists, hostage-takers  and suicide bombers.

 “What we’re not for is negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to  their chest,” Pfeiffer said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday  afternoon. “We’re not going to do that.””

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More problems…..

From DesertNews  “Days before the debut of new online insurance markets, a couple of last-minute technical glitches with President Barack Obama’s health care law are making supporters anxious and giving opponents a new line of attack.

The administration said Thursday that small business owners who want to use insurance markets designed especially for them will have to wait until sometime in November before they can finish their sign-ups. They still can start shopping right away on Oct. 1. And even with the delay, they can get coverage for their employees by Jan. 1, when the law takes full effect.

In a potentially more significant delay that affects the law’s larger insurance market for individuals, the administration quietly told Hispanic groups on Wednesday that the Spanish-language version of the healthcare.gov website will not be ready to handle online enrollments for a few weeks. An estimated 10 million Latinos are eligible for coverage, and 4 million of them speak Spanish primarily.”

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This one we’ll call “Lowered Expectations”.

From Politico  “Americans probably won’t flock to sign up for Obamacare coverage in October  or even in November — and the White House doesn’t expect them to, a top Obama  adviser said Wednesday.

Enrollment will go through lots of ebbs and flows over the six-month  enrollment period rather than remaining steady, communications adviser David  Simas told reporters during a 45-minute interview at an event sponsored by Third  Way at which he downplayed the Obama administration’s expectations for the law’s  rollout starting next week.”

“But he also acknowledged the realities on the ground. Simas said that  “perhaps” the administration could have started its outreach efforts earlier, to  prepare to sign up as many people as possible. But he blamed financial  limitations for the late start — an indirect reference to House Republicans who  have blocked the administration’s requests for more implementation funding.

“In a perfect world with a ton of money for outreach and engagement, perhaps  you could have started earlier,” Simas said. “This is not a perfect world, and  there are limitations on what you can do.””

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That’s funny. They need more money. Maybe they should just find the 67 million the IRS misplaced from their ObamaCare slush fund.

From Reuters  “With Congress debating whether to take funding away from the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in an audit that the IRS failed to account for some of the agency’s spending to implement the law.”

“The IRS did not report $67 million in costs the agency incurred for employees who were working on the healthcare law for fiscal 2010 through 2012, the report said.

The money was part of $488 million the IRS tapped from a special fund the agency was using to implement Obamacare.

“Funding related to direct labor were sometimes inaccurate and not always substantiated by reliable supporting documentation,” TIGTA said.”

Translated, we spent it on perks and wasteful stuff and didn’t get receipts, but it’s all totally legit. Uh-huh. And yet Obama wants to give them another 1/2 a billion for their ObamaCare work.

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In other news, the revolving door between the press and Obama admin continues to spin.

From TheWashingtonPost  “As it happens, Carney was an early adopter. He was among the first of what has turned out to be a parade of journalists who’ve turned in their press badges for work in the Obama administration. In a trend that has raised some eyebrows among Obama’s critics, at least 20 reporters and editors from mainstream news organizations have taken high-profile positions in the administration within the past five years.

The latest hire: Richard Stengel, Time magazine’s managing editor (and Carney’s former boss). Obama nominated Stengel last week to be the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a top communications post. Stengel will succeed Tara Sonenshine, another journalist (ABC News, Newsweek) who became part of the government she once covered.

At State, Stengel can swap newsroom stories with Samantha Power, a former journalist (U.S. News, the Boston Globe, the New Republic) who is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. His staff will include Desson Thomson, a former Washington Post movie critic who became a speechwriter for Hillary Rodham Clinton when she served as secretary of state. Other colleagues will include two recent additions to Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s staff: Glen Johnson, a longtime political reporter and editor at the Boston Globe, and Douglas Frantz, a reporter and editor who has worked for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and, most recently, The Post. Frantz was also briefly an investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Kerry, then a senator from Massachusetts.”

All these connections ensure that the press remains “on message” for Obama. It’s Journolist 2.0

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This one, well once again…

Thank you Texas.

From TheHill  “Texas attorney general Greg Abbott (R) is threatening to sue the federal  government after Secretary of State John Kerry signed the U.N. arms treaty this  week.

“Texas stands ready to lead the charge to have the treaty overturned in court,”  Abbot said Wednesday, according to the Austin  American Statesman.“

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And the last one from me today. Saying goodbye to the greatest closer ever. Mariano Rivera’s final game at Yankee Stadium.

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News/Politics 9-26-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, someone notes the obvious bias in the treatment the filibustering Cruz has gotten from the media when compared to Wendy Davis.

From Politico  “Sen. Ted Cruz has been speaking on the Senate floor for almost 19 hours, as of this post. The talk is not technically a filibuster — he can’t actually block the Senate from going about its business — but symbolically, it’s more or less the same thing. The point is to show one’s opposition to something through a demonstration of physical will.

Which is why you can forgive conservatives for being upset with the mainstream media’s coverage of the Cruz affair. When a Democrat like Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis filibusters against abortion restrictions, she is elevated to hero status, her tennis shoes become totems. When Cruz grandstands against Obamacare, he is a laughingstock in the eyes of many journalists on Twitter, an “embarrassment” in the eyes of The New York Times editorial board.

“Gee I wonder why NYT and WaPo and everyone else gave ecstatic coverage to Wendy Davis but not to Ted Cruz. I just can’t make sense of it!” John Podhoretz, the conservative columnist, tweeted on Wednesday morning.”

Was that sarcasm? 🙂

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The usual suspects are all wound up over Ted Cruz’s behavior. Several have shown their true colors. McCain being the most obvious.

From WeaselZippers  “UNREAL: McRINO Backs Dems On Senate Floor After Cruz Filibuster, “The People Spoke” And They Want Obamacare – Update: Chuck Schumer Thanks McRINO For His “Outstanding Remarks”…

Yeah. Sad. And what polls has he been looking at? From day 1 the majority has been against ObamaCare.

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Senator Durbin seems to say a lot of stupid things. Here’s Exhibit B, also from yesterday.

From CNSNews  ” Questioning Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen.  Dick Dubin, an Illinois Democrat, explained why he’s proud to have  voted for Obamacare.

He told the story of a chambermaid named  Judy who works “at a motel that I often go to,” and who will benefit  from Obamacare because she is so poor: “The good news for Judy is that  her income is so low that she now qualifies for Medicaid for the first time in her life,” Durbin said.”

Yes, you read that right. She’s lucky she’s poor. Wow. A face palm smiley would be perfect here, but I have to settle for this. 🙄

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But in a way he’s right, even if he is a condescending jerk about it. She is lucky, she won’t get what most of us will get. Higher premiums.

From Forbes  “For months now, we’ve been waiting to hear how much Obamacare will drive up the cost of health insurance for people who purchase coverage on their own. Last night, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally began to provide some data on how Americans will fare on Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchanges. HHS’ press release is full of happy talk about how premiums will be “lower than originally expected.” But the reality is starkly different.”

“Earlier this month, I and two colleagues from the Manhattan Institute—Yevgeniy Feyman and Paul Howard—published an interactive map that detailed Obamacare’s impact on individually-purchased health insurance premiums in 13 states plus D.C. As the accompanying article described, Obamacare increased premiums in those states by an average of 24 percent.

But those states were largely blue states that had set up their own, state-based insurance exchanges. The big data dump that we’ve been waiting for, since then, is from the majority of states that didn’t set up their own state-based exchange. That data is the responsibility of the Obama administration, namely HHS. Finally, with less than a week to go before the exchanges are supposed to go on-line, HHS has released a slim, 15-page report and a press release that summarize some of the premium data.”

“Former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin agrees. “There are literally no comparisons to current rates. That is, HHS has chosen to dodge the question of whose rates are going up, and how much. Instead they try to distract with a comparison to a hypothetical number that has nothing to do with the actual experience of real people.”

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Next up, this is why I’ve said in Libya and Syria, if you aid the so-called rebels, you aid our enemies. Or stuff just gets “stolen” by the bad guys while the other rebels look the other way.

First one is on Syria, from TheBlaze  “Recent images from the front line of the Syrian war suggest that terrorists are enjoying the small comforts of U.S. equipment and supplies that are meant to aide legitimate rebels, who are part of the Free Syrian Army. This appears to prove all the concerns among U.S. lawmakers and analysts that aid to the Syrian rebels could end up in the hands of Al Qaeda.

The photograph allegedly shows Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) linked Commander Muhajireen Kavkaz wa Sham, along with other rebels dawning battle-gear and an RPG, inside a USAID tent.”

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The second is Libya, from FoxNews  “The recent theft of massive amounts of highly sensitive U.S. military equipment from Libya is far worse than previously thought, Fox News has learned, with raiders swiping hundreds of weapons that are now in the hands of militia groups aligned with terror organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

 The equipment, as Fox News previously reported, was used for training in Libya by U.S. Special Forces. The training team, which was funded by the Pentagon, has since been pulled, partly in response to the overnight raids last August. 

According to State Department and military sources, dozens of highly armored vehicles called GMV’s, provided by the United States, are now missing. The vehicles feature GPS navigation as well as various sets of weapon mounts and can be outfitted with smoke-grenade launchers. U.S. Special Forces undergo significant training to operate these vehicles. Fox News is told the vehicles provided to the Libyans are now gone. 

Along with the GMV’s, hundreds of weapons are now missing, including roughly 100 Glock pistols and more than 100 M4 rifles. More disturbing, according to the sources, is that it seems almost every set of night-vision goggles has also been taken. This is advanced technology that gives very few war fighters an advantage on the battlefield.”

It wouldn’t be shocking to find that this is what was actually stolen from the CIA’s gun running program at the embassy on 9-11.

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News/Politics 9-25-13

What’s of interest in today’s news?

Sen. Ted Cruz began filibustering over ObamaCare funding yesterday. In fact, as of 6:15 AM this morning, he still was. Sen. Harry Reid is not happy, and would like to remind you it’s not a real one, it just looks and sounds like one. And “Green Eggs and Ham” was the perfect reading selection for an ObamaCare related filibuster. Like the man said, “We do not like it Sam I am”.

From WeaselZippers  “Cruz Begins “Talking Filibuster,” Vows To Speak “Until I Am No Longer Able To Stand” – Update: Harry Reid Whines: Your Filibuster Isn’t Real – Update: Enters Third Hour – Update: Dingy Complains, This Is “Fake” – Update: Reads “Green Ham And Eggs” On Senate Floor – Update: Passes 7 Hour Mark – Update: 8 Hours And Counting…Update: Approaching 16 Hours, Still Going! 

And it’s not just Dems and ObamaCare he’s being critical of.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “In his remarks, he repeatedly took aim at fellow Republicans, urging  them to  join him in voting against limiting debate on a stopgap spending  bill that also  defunds Obamacare. Many Republicans said they will vote  along with Democrats to  proceed with the stopgap bill because as of now  it contains the defunding  provisions.

Mr. Cruz, though, said it is certain Democrats will be able to strip  the  defunding provision with a majority vote later in the process, so  the only  chance to exert influence is early on, when it will take a  60-vote threshold to  even proceed with action.”

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The House GOP is offering another solution.

From Politico  “The House Republican leadership is seriously considering attaching a one-year  delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate to the Senate bill to avert a government  shutdown, according to senior GOP aides.

If House Republicans decide to go this route, it would all but provoke a  government shutdown, since Senate Democrats might not even schedule a vote on a  bill that includes that provision, Senate leadership staffers say. Even if the  Senate schedules a vote, there might not be time to move the legislation through  the slow-moving chamber.”

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Here’s an interesting read on the US terrorists involved in the mall massacre.

From YahooNews  “A heated debate has erupted among Somali refugees in the U.S. over the slaughter of civilians in the Kenyan shopping mall, highlighting what U.S. intelligence officials fear is fertile recruiting ground for Islamic jihadists.”

“When the conversation turned to Kenya, the room erupted in debate in a smattering of broken English and Arabic dialects between the men playing cards and sipping tea on ramshackle furniture.”

“”Al-Shabaab is not just recruiting young Somalis in the U.S. Also around the world,” Abtieon said in an interview outside the din of his arguing countrymen in the market’s back room.”

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Bob Beckel has had a stunning moment of clarity. Perhaps some on the left are starting to wise up.

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The same can’t be said for major US print news sources. Not surprisingly, they won’t point out the obvious, or the relevant facts. That wouldn’t be politically correct.

From NewsBusters  “Dare a top newspaper journalist to play connect-the-dots and chances are  he’ll fail miserably – at least with drawing the line between Islam and  terrorism. In Nairobi, Kenya last weekend, Islamist militants took over a  high-end shopping mall and began executing non-Muslims. In Pakistan, Islamist  suicide bombers detonated at a Christian Church on Sunday. 

Yet on Monday, September 23, 90 percent of the top ten (via  circulation numbers) daily newspapers’ headlines in the United States  censored the words “Islam” and Muslim” from Nairobi and Pakistan reports. One –  the New York Daily News – didn’t even have a headline for the latest Islamic  terrorist attacks. That’s journalism at its finest.”

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Looks like Obama and Kerry have a backdoor route to their gun control utopia in mind.

From TheHill  “Secretary  of State John Kerry is expected to sign an arms trade treaty opposed by the  Senate and the gun lobby as early as Wednesday, and Republicans aren’t happy  about it.

Kerry’s plan to sign the treaty on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly  in New York this week has sparked immediate criticism from GOP  opponents. 

“This treaty is already dead in the water in the Senate, and they know it,” said  Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services.  “The Administration is wasting precious time trying to sign away our laws to the  global community and unelected U.N. bureaucrats.”

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This one I only have one comment on. It’s about time.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has no  Catholic right to be  granted Communion, said the leading cardinal of the  highest court at the  Vatican.”

“That’s canon law, not opinion, he said. Canon 915 states that  Catholics who are stubbornly contrary “in manifest grave sin  are not to  be admitted to Holy Communion.”

And Cardinal Burke said Mrs. Pelosi fits   the definition.

“Certainly this is a case when Canon 915 must be  applied,” he said,  the Western  Center for Journalism reported. “This is a person who  obstinately, after  repeated admonitions, persists in a grave  sin — cooperating with the crime of  procured abortion — and still  professes to be a devout Catholic.”

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