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Who Caused The
Government “Shutown?” The Link To The Affordable Care Act. By Samuel L.
Skogstad, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus (Economics)
Mary Landrieu in ’09:
You bet I’ll take 100% responsibility for Obamacare’s outcomes
Gives cover to Democrats who all voted for Obamacare. ~Bob
Blindsided by the Obvious: Figuring Out Insurance Under Obama.
A tale of woe from the frontlines of the Affordable Care Act
Excerpt: I really wasn’t too concerned about Obamacare
personally. I have a good job, with decent — if not great — benefits, and while
I was worried about the effect the ill-advised law would have on the nation as
a whole, I figured I’d get to keep my insurance. I was further convinced I
didn’t need to worry about it when I got an email from my regional manager
telling us that corporate had passed a miracle and we’d not be seeing a premium
increase. Ha. I fell for that one hook, line, and sinker. (Most of the new
plans have very high deductibles, like the $9000 he was shown, which means that
the way the risk is being held down a little for the insurer is that the
consumer will just get seriously whacked for the great majority of the time
that they aren't deathly ill. Then when the deductible kicks off, they get some
kind of support, so this becomes in a way like a pretty tough Major Medical
Plan. That's not what most Americans are used to, or if they did have a Major
Medical Plan, it was fairly inexpensive. Not like what the new plan costs. Now
Mr. Obama has said that insurance companies will be able to continue some plans
they were going to cancel, for a year anyhow, so that people like the woman
with cancer in California
won't now be facing a death sentence. Interesting, when the Republicans wanted
to delay the ACA, the cry from the Democrats was "it's settled law"
and cannot be changed. But I guess nothing is settled in Mr. Obama decides he
wants to make changes. Maybe we should all keep in mind now that Obamacare is
not "settled law" after all. --Del )
Surprise: The Young Aren't Enrolling in ObamaCare
Excerpt: According to insurers, the early buyers of health
coverage on the nation's troubled new websites are older than expected so far,
raising early concerns about the economics of the insurance marketplaces, says
the Wall Street Journal. If the trend continues, an older, more expensive set
of customers could drive up prices for everyone, the insurers say, by forcing
them to spread their costs around. "We need a broad range of people to
make this work, and we're not seeing that right now," says Heather
Thiltgen of Medical Mutual of Ohio, the state's largest insurer by individual
customers. "We're seeing the population skewing older." (Huh. Turns
out the young are racists, refusing to buy Obamacare so it will fail. ~Bob)
President Obama in
a Fix: Obama's press conference showed him to be interested in
political cover, not a solution. By Rich Lowry
Excerpt: President Barack Obama just admitted that the
“settled law of the land” isn’t the least bit settled, and it hasn’t been
sabotaged by Republicans so much as by the ignorance and incompetence of his
own administration. Presidents have had worse press conferences than President
Obama’s announcing a “fix” for people losing their health insurance, but
probably not much worse. He had to resort to his desperation executive maneuver
under the pressure of a full-blown Democratic panic on Capitol Hill and rebuke
from none other than Bill Clinton.
Feinstein’s
Flip-Flop: Even her constituents forced her to back a bill
fixing one of Obamacare’s problems. By Charles C. W.
Cooke
Excerpt: After serving as a Republican stronghold for the
better part of half a century, California
is now an exceedingly blue state. So blue, in fact, that it has become the
go-to example of rampant Democratic electoral success, and of all the trials
and tribulations that come with it. It is the official nerve center of the
idiosyncratic Left
Coast California ”
is enough to prompt eyes to roll and wry smiles to appear.
Obama announces
change to address health insurance cancellations
Excerpt: The president was contrite, and his admissions were
many — he conceded that he was left in the dark about aspects of the crowning
achievement of his presidency, he acknowledged that he and his advisers
underestimated how hard it would be to sell insurance over a Web site, he could
not guarantee that the site would work well for everyone by the end of the
month, he allowed that federal government rules were an impediment, and he
lamented the political problems he caused for members of his party.
Health-care law’s
problems test loyalty of Democrats in Congress
Excerpt: The political fallout from the botched launch of
the health-care law is presenting congressional Democrats with one of their
toughest tests of party loyalty in the five years of the Obama administration. House
Republicans are expected to pass a bill Friday that could dramatically
undermine the law. And after years of trying to impale the initiative, GOP leaders
are hopeful that the political turmoil over the rollout will provide them the
support of a sizable bloc of Democrats.
Kirsten Powers: 'No
Explanation For Doubling My Premiums Other Than Subsidizing Other People'
Excerpt: Fox News's left of center contributor Kirsten
Powers went on a bit of a mini-rant about ObamaCare on Tuesday's Special Report that media members across the fruited plain
she (sic-should) sit up and take notice.
Obama Catching On? By
Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
Excerpt: Of course, if Obama had pitched his
health-care-reform plan as an effort at economic redistribution that would
include millions of Americans losing their insurance and millions more facing
higher premiums, it never would have passed. Maybe this is the most significant
moment from Obama’s press conference, where he came dangerously close to
admitting that he never really understood health insurance at all: What we’re
also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy. And another
mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people
purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of
costs and lot of different benefits and plans and — and somehow expecting that
that would be very smooth. “We” are not discovering this, Mr. President. You
and your team are. You clearly had no real idea of how your system was going to
work, or what the average uninsured person needed. The “complicated nature” of
buying insurance that you’ve suddenly discovered is the precise opposite of what you were saying October 1:
Shumlin stays course
on health care exchange despite Obama shift
Excerpt: Thursday night, Gov. Peter Shumlin indicated that
his commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation would reserve that
authority and not allow Vermonters to extend their current plans for another
year. After March 31, the roughly 100,000 Vermonters buying insurance
independently or via businesses with 50 or fewer employees must buy new plans
on the state-run market, Vermont Health Connect. A Web-based market that is still
not fully functioning.
Excerpt: Except that they can’t. The Obamacare statute says
they can’t and the economics of the situation won’t allow it. The legal
infrastructure of the health care insurance market has been changed. Policies
were canceled because they don’t subsidize all the new services that Obamacare
mandates. Those policies no longer exist for a reason. Insurers can’t just push
a button and bring them back into existence. Obama’s bizarre pronouncement
reflects leftists’ disdain and ignorance of market processes, and the president’s
determination to proceed in defiance of those processes.
Numbers Aren’t Adding Up for ObamaCare. By Arnold Ahlert
Excerpt: The Obama administration did its best to inflate
the number of ObamaCare enrollees yesterday, but it’s clear even the
administration’s most vigorous efforts have fallen painfully short.
Analysis: Is the New Obamacare “Fix” Legal? By Daniel Doherty
Excerpt: He once said that if Congress doesn’t act to fight
global warming, of all things, he
would. This is what democracy looks like in his eyes. But his latest unilateral
quick-fix to Obamacare has raised all sorts of eyebrows. Two
questions: (1) What authority does President Obama have to change an
existing federal statute duly passed by the Congress, and (2) is such
an executive action even lawful?
Five Quotes From the Catastrophically Awful Obamacare Press
Conference. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: President Obama had three goals coming into
today's press
conference: First, to shift responsibility for the Obamacare fiasco
onto insurers by saddling them with mid-implementation changes. Second,to quell
Democratic panic on Capitol Hill. And third, to nudge the media toward turning
the page on his healthcare debacle. He accomplished none of these
things. Indeed, he made things worse -- sinking his presidency to a new
nadir.
Trust frays between
President Obama, Democrats
Excerpt: The White House chief of staff might have been
better off revealing a U.S. map with the president’s plan for saving
congressional Democrats’ seats — or just apologizing for letting so many
Democrats walk out in public and repeat wildly inaccurate White House claims
about the health of the enrollment website and Americans’ ability to keep their
insurance plans if they liked them.
Top White House
officials refuse to testify on Obamacare
Excerpt: On Nov. 7, Rep. Darrell
Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
along with subcommittee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, sent the White House a letter
requesting testimony from top Obama aides Nancy-Ann DeParle and Jeanne Lambrew.
Both are leading figures shaping the White House position in Obamacare design
and implementation. ... On Tuesday, Issa got his answer: No.
Three political
reasons led to Obama’s capitulation yesterday
Excerpt: Three primarily political reasons drove the Obama
concession yesterday to allow insurance companies to continue to cover
customers whose plans don’t meet ObamaCare standards. And none really had
anything to do with doing what was right for the citizenry. He wasn’t really
doing anyone any favors except Democrats. He was, as usual, focused solely on
limiting political damage.
Video: Jon Stewart
marks the end of ‘Yes we can’
This is too funny. ~Bob
Tweet from Guy Benson @guypbenson
USA Today banner headline: 'Health Law Shakes Presidency.'
Subhead: 'Obama apologizes, but that might not be enough now.'
Tweet from Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
More dead people voted in the last election than enrolled in
ObamaCare. Congratulations America !
Little-Known Tax
Funding Obamacare
Excerpt: If you are single with an adjusted gross income of
$200,000 or file jointly with an income of $250,000 or more, you may be
impacted. Once you sell your home, any profits over the first $500,000 are
already subject to a capital gains tax. And now those profits will have an
additional 3.8% tax to fund Obamacare.
Obamacare vs. Katrina.
By Jonah Goldberg, The Goldberg File
Excerpt: The New York Times today compares the Obamacare
debacle to Bush's problems with Katrina. It's a comparison I've made several
times myself. But the obvious difference is that George W. Bush didn't spend
years forcing the Affordable Hurricane Act on the American people. And he
didn't have three years to plan for its arrival, either. Nor did he have a
national press corps desperate to minimize the downside of the storm. Unless
you're Louis Farrakhan or Spike Lee, nobody entertains the idea that
flooding New Orleans
has been a goal of conservatism for decades. Oh and conservatives didn't go
around saying that they had completely and totally mastered all of the nuances
of meteorology and climate. And -- wait -- I should also mention that
Republicans never said that any criticism of their Affordable Hurricane Act was
racist and extremist. Aha! I almost forgot. Bush didn't promise every single
living American: "You can keep your current weather if you like it.
Period." But other than that, I guess the comparison is spot on.
Good Column: Obama in the Dark: Dems
have only themselves to blame for Obamacare quagmire. By Jonah Goldberg
Excerpt: Watching President Obama’s press conference
Thursday, I almost started humming the old ditty “The Farmer in the Dell”
because all I could think was: “The cheese stands alone.”
The president did his level best to explain that he was as
in the dark as anybody about the problems with his signature legislation.
PFoL’s Ads Are
Better: #NoThanksObamacare
Good ads. ~Bob
Excerpt: Young people fully supported President Barack Obama
in 2008 and 2012. But many are beginning to feel the sting of the President’s
signature law as health plans begin to disappear under Obamacare, including
students at Bowie State University
in Maryland . The
historically black college announced on its website it decided to suspend
offering health plans to students as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Tweet from Lee Doren @LDoren
"For the truth is that the good news on costs just
keeps coming in." -- Paul Krugman on Obamacare, September 8, 2013.
Staff Warned in July
That Website Was Failing
Excerpt: A series
of emails released Friday by a House committee show that staff
overseeing development of the HealthCare.gov website
were worried the project was off-track and in jeopardy of failing several
months before the scheduled Oct. 1 launch.
Why liberals are panicked about Obamacare. By Charles
Krauthammer
Excerpt: Coming from the dean of the Democratic Party, this
one line marked the breaching of the dam. It legitimized the brewing rebellion
of panicked Democrats against Obamacare. Within hours, that rebellion
went loudly public. By Thursday, President Obama had been forced into a
rear-guard holding action, asking insurers to grant
a one-year extension of current plans. The damage to the Obama
presidency, however, is already done.
Tweet from J P @RileyRebel129
Just so we're clear: Obama has threatened a veto because the
House legally did today what he illegally said he wanted to do
Obamacare plans will
cost MORE 'in many cases' even with government subsidies, officials admit for
the first time
The Non-Affordable, Obama-Doesn't-Care Act. ~Bob
Tweet from Jerome Hudson @JeromeEHudson
"153 Democrats in the House don't want you to keep the
insurance plans you like"
Obamacare Update
Only 106,185 people signed up during the first month
of ObamaCare. Three-quarters of those were through state-based exchanges,
while 26,794 of those were able to sign up through
the HealthCare.gov website. The Obama Administration was hoping
that more than 450,000 people would enroll the first month.- Meanwhile, tens of millions of people could be forced out of their current health insurance plans. This, in spite of the President's repeated promises to the contrary.
- Even President Clinton says that President Obama should keep his promise. Note to President Obama: When Bill Clinton lectures you about keeping your promises, you have a serious problem.
- House Republicans introduced the 2-page "Keep Your Health Plan Act" that gives insurance companies a year to offer health plans that were canceled because of Obamacare. Despite the President's threat to veto the bill, several Democrats (including leadership) openly considered voting for it. In the end, the bill passed 261-157, with 39 Democrats supporting.
- Trying to provide cover for the Democrats, President Obama announced that health insurers would be allowed to renew canceled policies. Even Howard Dean wondered where the President gets his legal authority to make such unilateral decrees.
- Insurance companies are not happy because the President's surprise announcement effectively shifts the responsibility to them.
- Senate Democrats are not happy with the situation. Neither are House Democrats. Basically, Democrats who voted for ObamaCare are mad.
- Meanwhile, the HealthCare.gov website still isn't working. They hope to have it fixed by the end of the month, but probably won't.
- Everyone agrees that this is a big mess.
‘I Won’t Enforce It’:
Sheriff in NY Wins Third Term by Standing Against SAFE Act
http://girlsjustwannahaveguns.com/2013/11/wont-enforce-sheriff-ny-wins-third-term-standing-safe-act/
http://girlsjustwannahaveguns.com/2013/11/wont-enforce-sheriff-ny-wins-third-term-standing-safe-act/
Excerpt: Four words that he uttered at a news conference
last May helped Timothy B. Howard win a third term as Erie County sheriff. The
words were “I won’t enforce it,” and Howard was talking about the SAFE Act, a
controversial new state firearms law that has outraged gun owners.
Excerpt: After Hurricane Katrina devastated New
Orleans , Mayor Ray Nagin said that the storm was divine
punishment for “being in Iraq
under false pretenses.” Not only was a Liberal deity taking a position on WMDs
and punishing George W. Bush by evicting a lot of black people from their
homes, but the Democratic divinity was paradoxically also committed to
progressive housing policies. “This city will be a majority-African American
city. It’s the way God wants it to be,” Nagin promised.
Excerpt: On Wednesday, Hassan
Nasrallah of Hezbollah announced (from
a secret location) that the P5 + 1 group’s failure to reach an agreement with
the Islamic Republic on sanctions will result in a regional war. Clearly,
Nasrallah wants and, in fact, needs a deal. Sanctions have already cost Iran 130 billion
dollars.
Excerpt: While you ponder that, how many Americans would
like Washington
to be in charge of managing the delivery of food and other items to the
nation’s supermarkets? Today’s average well-stocked U.S.
supermarket stocks 60,000 to 65,000 different items from all over the U.S. and the
world. Congress or some congressionally created committee could organize the
choice of products and their prices. Maybe there’d be some cost savings. After
all, what says that we should have so many items from which to choose? Why
wouldn’t 10,000 do?
Excerpt: Russia
is proposing to sell Egypt
modern fighter jets, helicopters and air defense systems reportedly worth $2
billion, Russian officials said, in a clear sign of returning military
cooperation between the two countries. (The result of "leading from
behind." ~Bob)
Excerpt: A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about Hugo Chavez'
successor to the Venezuelan Presidency, Nicolas Meduro, creating a new
government cabinet department named the Department of Happiness. It seems the
folks in oil rich Venezuela
are a little put out by high utility rates, soaring inflation and general
starvation. So, to boost citizen morale Meduro established the Department of
Happiness. While we don't know all the details, apparently Meduro's henchman
call in a irate citizen and allow him to voice his gripes about empty stomachs,
crumbling infrastructure and roving power outages.
Al-Qaeda-linked
rebels apologise after cutting off head of wrong person: Islamic State of Iraq
Excerpt: Militant Islamist rebels
in Syria linked
to al-Qaeda have
asked for "understanding and forgiveness" for cutting off and putting
on display the wrong man's head. In a public appearance filmed and posted
online, members of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, one brandishing a knife,
held up a bearded head before a crowd in Aleppo .
VIDEO: 'Muslim
Brotherhood' protesters storm London university
lecture on Egypt
Excerpt: A guest lecture at a London
university was abandoned when protesters backing Egypt ’s Muslim Brotherhood chased
the speaker from the stage. Speaker Mohamed El-Nabawy had to be ushered off
stage by security guards when around 30 demonstrators stormed a lecture theatre
at Bloomsbury’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), which is part of
the University of
London
Christians in Syria
Excerpt: As the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's
forces and rebel fighters rages on, the country's Christians fear they are
becoming easy targets for Islamic extremists. "In fact attacks on churches
happen a lot now. They are also targeting Christians," Hanna wrote.
"Many of them are killed or kidnapped. When they are kidnapped they ask
their families for ransom or they force them to convert to Islam. Women are
often raped.
Excerpt: One woman, her eyes red from crying, approached me
with a tearful message. "Tell the West to leave us alone," Rima
Haddad cried. "What did these children do to die like this? Please tell America , Britain ,
Turkey , Qatar , Saudi Arabia they are bad
people."
Key Republican
compares Obama push to delay Iran sanctions to appeasement of Nazis before WWII
Excerpt: Key US Senate Republican Mark Kirk slammed the
White House's push to delay new sanctions against Iran on Wednesday, comparing the
Obama administration's actions to Neville Chamberlain’s “appeasement” of Nazi
Germany before World War II.
Open Season on Jews? By Colin Flaherty
Excerpt: Open season on Jews continues. The latest reported
example of black mob violence on Jews came last Sunday night in the Orthodox
enclave of Crown Heights
Barack Obama, Low Information President. By Jonathon Moseley
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/11/barack_obama_low_information_president.html?utm_source=11-14-13&utm_campaign=AT+Newsletter+11-14-13&utm_medium=email
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/11/barack_obama_low_information_president.html?utm_source=11-14-13&utm_campaign=AT+Newsletter+11-14-13&utm_medium=email
Excerpt: President Barack Obama is the perfect "Low
Information President." He is not really interested very much in doing his
job. He doesn't know anything going on in his own administration. He is always
the last to know. He learns important developments only when he reads about it
in the newspaper, apparently after first reading the sports section.
Tweet from Frank J.
Fleming @IMAO_
You can hate on gays, blacks, or whatever as long as you
also really hate on Republicans. #TwoHatesMakeARight
Excerpt: I wonder how many bats coal and nuclear power
plants killed last year? More than 600,000 bats were killed by wind energy
turbines in 2012, a serious blow to creatures who pollinate crops and help
control flying insects, according to a new study from the University of Colorado
Denver
Excerpt: How do you fundamentally transform a nation from
what it has been to what a clique of ideologues wants it to be? The easiest way
is to convince the general population that what the would-be masters want is
what the people want. Those seeking to subvert a culture must take a long view.
They must realize that this will be a multistage project that will take
generations to achieve.
Obamaville
Climate Scientists
Murder World’s Oldest Creature
Excerpt: A group of “climate change experts” that discovered
a 507-year-old clam that was the world’s oldest known creature killed it in the
process of determining its age. (At least it didn't fly into a wind farm. ~Bob)
Armed Robbery
Spikes in California Gun Control Paradise. By Byran Preston
Excerpt: Let’s see how that’s working out.
In Oakland ,
a lot of people who shouldn’t have guns have them, and a lot of people who
might defend themselves from those people now have a much harder time obtaining
a gun. Armed robbery is up 24% over last year.
Polls: Young Voters Turn on Obama. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: Three horrific polls bombarded the president over the
last week. ... In the latest Q-poll, Obama's overall approval rating is
underwater by 15 percentage points (39/54). Among young voters, the gap is
larger: (36/54). The same trend plays out on issues. ("You'll say,
'Lord, Lord, we dinna ken.' And the Lord in his mercy well look doon and say,
'Well, ye ken noo!" --Scots divine to his congregation. ~Bob)
Tweet from Lori Ziganto @snarkandboobs
Now Obama even totally sucks at lying, which used to be the
one thing at which he excelled.
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