Obamacare-speak fails to mask an evolving fiasco. By Victor
Davis Hanson
Excerpt: The Obama administration once gave us
"man-caused disasters" for acts of terrorism and "workplace
violence" for the Fort
Hood
Interesting: Poll Results on the Politics of
Healthcare Reform
Excerpt: Affordable Care Act (ACA) Has Net -12 Approval
Rating: Forty one percent of registered voters approve of the law compared with
53 percent who disapprove. Approve/Disapprove: Republicans – 15/82 Democrats –
68/14 Independents – 28/63. Independents Trust Republican Party More on
Healthcare: Loyalty prevails among partisans, but among independents, 42
percent trust the Democratic Party more when it comes to handling healthcare
compared with 58 percent who trust the Republican Party more. Trust Democratic
Party/Republican Party: Republicans – 7/93 Democrats – 92/8 Independents –
42/58
Excerpt: Multiple individual plans available on the D.C.
health-insurance exchange specifically cover elective abortion but not
hearing aids, routine foot-care, and routine eye-care. One such plan,
Healthy Blue PPO $1500, has a summary on the D.C. exchange’s website
titled “Excluded Services & Other Covered Services.” It says enrollees
can receive coverage for abortions performed for non-medical reasons, but not
for a number of other services that could seem medically
necessary. (I couldn't hear her say no...~Bob)
Obamacare website
developers rush to fix bug suggesting hacking methods: Flaw in Affordable Care
Act site records hack attempts through its search box and re-presents code
as autocomplete options
Excerpt: A flaw in the website of President Obama's flagship
Affordable Care programme has left the site and its users vulnerable to
hacking, the Guardian has discovered. Healthcare.gov has been unknowingly recording hack
attempts through its search box and re-presenting the code as automatically
completed options. The bug could invite hackers to plant malicious code, which
could then infect users' computers, but while site managers have removed the
most obvious mistakes, several serious flaws remain and attacks continue to be
suggested to users.
Obama was briefed
earlier in year on health website problems
Excerpt: (Reuters) - President Barack Obama,
who has portrayed himself as surprised by technical problems with the
government's new health care website, was briefed earlier this year on a
consultant's report that warned of possible widespread site failures, the White
House said on Tuesday. There have been weeks of questions about
whether Obama understood the depth of the site's problems and let it open
anyway, or simply "did not have enough awareness" of them, as the
president stated at a November 14 news conference. (OK, now we have even more
scoop on who knew what when. And wow, it's not exactly like we were told. --Del )
O’Keefe video
captures nonprofit Obamacare enrollment group conspiring to engage in political
activity
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/okeefe-video-captures-nonprofit-obamacare-enrollment-group-conspiring-to-engage-in-political-activity/#ixzz2lFI24zpE
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/okeefe-video-captures-nonprofit-obamacare-enrollment-group-conspiring-to-engage-in-political-activity/#ixzz2lFI24zpE
Excerpt: An official with the nonprofit Obamacare enrollment
group Enroll America conspired
to give people’s personal information to what he thought was a political action
committee, according to James O’Keefe’s latest video, provided to The Daily
Caller. Enroll America ,
which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted to
fundraising for, is a “nonpartisan” 501(c)(3) nonprofit that critics accuse of
working as an unofficial Obamacare navigator across the country. Enroll America ’s Texas state communications lead
Christopher Tarango conspired to provide a list of potential Obamacare
enrollees, obtained through the “commit cards” that the group hands out door to
door to help them pick insurance plans, to an O’Keefe investigator posing as
the representative of a political action committee.
Repeal is
increasingly plausible
Excerpt: Insurers and Democrats are now in a similar
situation. Legislators need insurers to help them make this law work by staying
in the market and selling policies for affordable premiums. Insurers need
legislators to hold this law together, particularly the individual mandate. If
both of them hold strong, then Democrats have their best chance to get Obamacare
working, and they can hope that voters like it so they can win re-election.
Insurers, meanwhile, get a system in which the public is legally required to
buy their product. But if you think the other side might waver, then your best
move is to defect immediately.
To Cut Costs,
ObamaCare Plans Drop Top Docs, Hospitals
Excerpt: If you have a health care
provider you really like, look very carefully at any plan you buy on
HealthCare.gov. To keep costs down—a top Obama administration priority—insurers
on the government's health care exchange are offering smaller networks that cut out the country's most prestigious
(and most expensive) hospitals and doctors, the Washington Post reports. In one much-watched case, the
Seattle Children's Hospital has filed a lawsuit against Washington 's insurance commissioner over all
the plans excluding it. (The top hospitals and docs tend to charge more, so the
answer is.....They are OUT of Obamacare network. Which means, every insurance
plant that partners with them is automatically also out. There should be a way
for them to not be out, even if they charge more, but apparently the geniuses
who are running Obamacare can't figure out anything like that. This just keeps
getting better and better. --Del )
(Former Dem Rep.) Harold Ford: The
Obama Admin Should Consider Shutting Obamacare Down
Excerpt: Is this the beginning of something? Former
Democratic Rep. Harold Ford (TN) appeared on Morning Joe today and
said that the problems with the Healthcare.gov website are just the beginning
(which most people have already realized). He cites the coming shortage of
doctors as one of the next major problems facing Obamacare.
Mark Warner Is Afraid
Of His Own Words On Obamacare
Excerpt: The heat cranked up on Warner even further when a
video that his office posted to YouTube began making the rounds where Mark
Warner makes an Obama-esque promise that no one who likes their current health
insurance plan would lose it. Warner provided the 60th and decisive vote for
Obamacare’s passage.
Important: Second wave of health plan cancellations
looms
Excerpt: 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.
Older hill aides
shocked by Obamacare prices
Excerpt: “In a shock to the system, the older staff in my
office (folks over 59) have now found out their personal health insurance costs
(even with the government contribution) have gone up 3-4 times what they were
paying before,” Minh Ta, chief of staff to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), wrote to
fellow Democratic chiefs of staff in an email message obtained by POLITICO.
“Simply unacceptable.” (well, they voted for all this. ~bob)
Obamacare Ignites
Revolution Inside The Democratic Party
Excerpt: President Obama backpedaling on Obamacare's
effectiveness is the equivalent of Jefferson rethinking the Louisiana
Purchase , or Reagan telling Gorbachev to keep the Berlin Wall up. And
Obama is far from the only Democrat noticing the chinks in Obamacare...
Senate Dems weaken
GOP power with major filibuster rule change
Excerpt: Senate Democrats bowled over Republicans on
Thursday to win approval for a highly controversial rule change which would
limit the GOP's ability to block nominees, in a move Republicans called a
"raw power grab." (There will eventually be another GOP
President. ~Bob)
Reid, Clinton, Obama,
Biden All Opposed 'Nuclear Option' Eight Years Ago
Excerpt: Obama: “Mr. President, I rise today to urge my
colleagues to think about the implications of what has been called the nuclear
option and what effect that might have on this Chamber and on this country,”
Obama said. “I urge all of us to think not just about winning
every debate but about protecting free and democratic debate.” Obama added that
if the nuclear option was invoked, partisanship would “get worse.”
Flashback, ’08 Reid:
‘As Long As I Am The Leader’ We Will Not Have A Nuclear Option
Not his first or last lie. ~Bob.
Puerto Rico: Greece in the Caribbean
Excerpt: (democrat-run) Puerto Rico ,
an American territory, risks a Greek-style bust. With $70 billion of debt
outstanding, the equivalent of 70% of its GDP, it is more indebted than any of America ’s 50
states. (Puerto Rico is not technically a
state, but its bonds are treated as if it were.) Yields on its bonds have
soared as high as 10%, as investors fret it may be heading for a default.
Three “Knockout”
Attacks Reported In Philadelphia
Excerpt: “Knockout” attacks have been reported in several
states around the country and now investigators believe three people have been
attacked in our area.
'Knockout Game' Perp
Shot, Killed. During apparent burglary, ran into 'right person' with gun
Excerpt: Tiffany Thompson got her
wish: Demetrius Murphy met the “Right Person” and he will not be playing the
Knockout Game any more. …A St. Louis homeowner shot Murphy dead late last week during
a burglary. And a whole lot of people in St. Louis feel relieved, if not safer.
Tweet from Pam Besteder @pambesteder
How soon before a press conf. from Obama saying that if he
had a son, they'd look like these Black boys playing the Knockout game? (Racist!
O, wait, Pam is black. ~Bob)
Kennedy Cousin
Michael Skakel Granted Bond
Excerpt: Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin, was granted bond
today after a judge found that his defense lawyer did not adequately represent
him 11 years ago when he was tried for a murder committed decades earlier. Skakel,
the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, was granted
bond after serving 11 years of a 20 years to life sentence for the brutal 1975
murder of teenager Martha Moxley. She was beaten to death with a golf club.
Excerpt: Repeat after me: JFK was killed by a Communist.
Again: JFK was killed by a Communist. One more time: JFK was killed by a
Communist. Because the New York Times keeps telling us how the Dallas of 1963 was a
right-wing “city of hate.”
Excerpt: In a brilliant 2006
analysis, Camelot and the
Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered
American Liberalism (Encounter), James Piereson showed how
liberals turned the murder by a Communist of John F. Kennedy, a liberal
politician, into a stain on conservatives, and how this distortion then caused
liberalism to evolve into the sickly phenomenon it is today.
The Oswald Agenda. By
Jerry Organ
Excerpt: Oswald was a self-proclaimed Marxist since
adolescence who defected to the USSR
in 1959 on his own initiative, offering to trade on his military experience
with the Marines. Oswald's ideal of a Soviet utopia was immediately soured by
bureaucratic indifference, causing Oswald to adopt revolutionary Marxism as
opposed to institutionalized Leninism, perhaps inspired by some Cuban students
he befriended while living in Minsk .
By the time Oswald and his Russian-born wife Marina leave the USSR in June
1962, Oswald sees in the Castro revolution a truer form of socialism — one not
corrupted by Soviet Communist Party Officials and their perks. ... That summer,
while living in New Orleans ,
Oswald was very active in defending Castro through leafletting and debating on
radio.
Excerpt: By almost any measure, John F. Kennedy was a
middling president at best, and an occasionally disastrous one. The Bay of Pigs
fiasco, the Cuban missile crisis, setting the nation on the wrong course in Vietnam , his
nepotism, the spying on political rivals — all must weigh heavily in our
judgment of his presidency. And while Kennedy the president was a
middle-of-the-range performer at best, Kennedy the man has been relentlessly
diminished by the eventual revealing of the facts of his day-to-day life.
The real JFK
conspiracy. By Dale McFeatters
Excerpt: However, one conspiracy is real: John Kennedy was a
very sick man, at times a physical and psychological cripple, and Kennedy and
his aides conspired mightily to cover up his ailments on the not unreasonable
grounds that had they been known Richard Nixon would probably have won the
election.
The Islamic Hijacking of George Orwell. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Islam is a religion of Peace. That is as
certain as the three slogans of the Ministry of Truth; War is Peace, Freedom is
Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. These three slogans of the Party in George
Orwell’s 1984 are especially applicable to Islam; a religion of war
that claims to be a religion of peace, whose political parties (such as the
Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party) use “Freedom” in their name but
stand for slavery, and ignorance of its true nature creates an illusion of
strength for industrialized nations that imagine that they are only battling a
tiny handful of outmatched extremists.
Excerpt: This policy, which is hastening the voluntary
disintegration of the Western sphere of influence, is creating a vacuum into
which old and new powers moved with incredible alacrity, led by realpolitik
statesmen with scant regard to Western sensibilities, undeterred from using
force to attain their goals. In the Middle East, in Africa, and in Asia, state
actors such as Russia and China , as well
as fundamentalist and terrorist groups such as the Taliban or Al-Shabaab, have
moved in. Even in parts of South America – America ’s
“back yard” – the United
States is being left behind.
Excerpt: The United States
has promised that it will not carry out any drone strikes in Pakistan during
any peace talks with Taliban militants in the future, the Prime Minister's
Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Wednesday. (Well there's an
incentive for the Taliban...to talk and talk and talk while they move supplies
and fighters into position. ~Bob.)
Didn't get the "Islam is a Religion of Peace"
memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: Tanzanian police broke up an al-Shabaab training operation
in Tanga region, arresting 69 suspects and freeing dozens of recruits ranging
from 4 to 13 years old in a security sweep carried out October 28th to November
5th. ... When police found them at Madina mosque, the youngsters possessed
exercise books which contained teachings on "how to kill using a knife
[or] a machete, how to fight aggressors with weapons and without [weapons], how
to sabotage the economy and how to liberate East Africa from the hands of the
kuffar [infidels]," according to Liwowa.
The Jarrett File: What we know about Obama’s secretive
adviser.
Excerpt: In the fall of 2012,
when New York Times reporter Jo Becker was working on a profile of longtime Obama confidante and senior adviser
Valerie Jarrett, the White House press office circulated a list of talking points to ensure that potential sources
would be on the same page regarding “The Magic of Valerie.”… Jarrett’s critics
have no dearth of examples. She has been variously described by her critics
within the Obama administration as the “Night Stalker,” on account of her
general ruthlessness, as well as her tendency to follow the president into the
White House residence after hours; “She Who Must Not Be Challenged”; and
Obama’s “Rasputin.”
Hospital delays are killing
America
Excerpt: Military veterans are dying needlessly because of
long waits and delayed care at U.S.
veterans hospitals, a CNN investigation has found. What's worse, the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs is aware of the problems and has done almost
nothing to effectively prevent veterans dying from delays in care, according to
documents obtained by CNN and interviews with numerous experts. (Extremely
upsetting news. To be fair, the VA is running on overload in many places, but
still, what has gone on here is indefensible. Maybe this will get a tighter
focus on the situation and things will start to get better. --De. The VA here
in Madison , WI Columbus ,
MO
Secret U.S.
Excerpt: A secret U.S. intelligence court let
the National Security Agency collect an expanded amount of data about
Americans' email even after finding that the agency systematically exceeded the
limits of a smaller program, newly released documents show. The judge on
the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court recounted a litany of
problems with the first, smaller program, including the NSA collecting more
categories of information than had been approved by the court and sharing data
more widely within the electronic eavesdropping agency than had been authorized
Fisa court documents
reveal extent of NSA disregard for privacy restrictions
Excerpt: Newly declassified court documents indicate that
the National Security Agency shared its trove of American bulk email and
internet data with other government agencies in violation of specific
court-ordered procedures to protect Americans’ privacy. The dissemination of
the sensitive data transgressed both the NSA’s affirmations to the secret
surveillance court about the extent of the access it provided, and prompted
incensed Fisa court judges to question both the NSA’s truthfulness and the
value of the now-cancelled program to counter-terrorism. While the NSA over the
past several months has portrayed its previous violations of Fisa court orders
as “technical” violations or inadvertent errors, the oversharing of internet
data is described in the documents as apparent widespread and unexplained
procedural violations.
US Fed likely to
start QE taper in 'coming months'
Excerpt: The US Federal Reserve sent investors a clear
signal that it expects to begin tapering in the “coming months” its $85bn
(£53bn) bond buying programme, its primary tool for reinvigorating the world’s
largest economy
Barack Obama's
approval rating sinks to an all time low. This might be the nadir of his
presidency.
Excerpt: We might have hit the nadir of Barack Obama's
presidency – and it's no coincidence that it should happen when his biggest initiative finally bears fruit. The latest CBS opinion poll says that his approval rating has sunk to its
lowest point yet: just 37 per cent. …The Republicans might be
feeling pretty down in the dumps right now but at least they have the
consolation of knowing that Obama's down there with them.
Cheap
But Imperfect: Can Geoengineering Slow Climate Change?
Excerpt: Keith: The idea is to make earth a little bit more
reflective by putting say, sulfate or sulfuric acid aerosols in the upper
atmosphere. This method is cheap, effective, quickly implantable but rather
imperfect…. Eventually the sulfur will settle down into the lower atmosphere.
And then there's the ozone loss risk.(Right. Back in the 197s, when Global
Cooling was the settled science scare, scientists were suggesting dumping ask
on the North Pole to increase heat and melting. The law of unintended
consequences suggests this is a bad idea. ~Bob.)
Op-Ed: Can Obama
Be Charged with Anti-Semitism?
excerpt: The US president last week mortally
endangered the Jewish people by saying, through his Secretary of State,
that Jewish life in Judea andSamaria is
"illegittimate". Then he almost welcomed Iran into
the world's nuclear club. Isn't that the world's most significant
expression of anti-Semitism?
Exclusive: Syria
Excerpt: Syria 's
chemical weapons could be processed and destroyed out at sea, say sources
familiar with discussions at the international body in charge of eliminating
the toxic arsenal. Four days after Albania rejected
a U.S. request
that it host a weapons decommissioning plant, Western diplomats and an official
of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague told
Reuters the OPCW was studying whether it might carry out the work at sea, on a
ship or offshore rig. (Creatures that live in the sea don’t have a
vote….Anybody want a nice, odd-looking seafood platter? --Barb)
Bill Ayers Reportedly
Reveals He Is Author Of “Dreams From My Father” in Latest Book
Excerpt: Flashback to 2011: Author
Jack Cashill documented his thesis in “Deconstructing Obama.” Cashill explains that Obama does
not possess the understanding or skills to author “Dreams From My
Father”—however—the book writing style is remarkably similar to other
works from Bill Ayers. Jack Cashill offers a full and
fascinating discussion (along with a Q&A) on the topic at this C-SPAN video
link.
“Schadenfreude”: “hurt,” “damage,” “detriment” plus “joy.” Is
there any more perfect German word? Taking malicious glee in the misfortunes of
others. (Melds with the “Knock Out” game where the “peeples have fun.”
--Barb)
Exclusive—Rand Paul: ‘We
Want Our Freedoms Back’
excerpt: Citing The Book of Laughter and
Forgetting by Milan Kundera, Paul explained, “Kundera captures the heart
of the debate: the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory
against forgetting…against allowing the state to define away its usurpations.
Will we allow defenders of the surveillance state to airbrush history and
define away the notion of spying? Will we sit idly by as our expectation of
freedom is defined downward?”
Issa Probes Report Of
Fabricated Jobs Data Ahead Of 2012 Election
Excerpt: House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Census
subcommittee chairman Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), and Joint Economic
Committee chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) sent a letter to U.S. Census Bureau
director John H. Thompson seeking information following reports that economic
and jobs report data may have been “fabricated” ahead of the 2012 election.
“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,” John Crudele wrote for the New York Post on Tuesday evening.
EPIC FAIL: UN climate talks fall apart as 132 countries storm
out
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/epic-fail-un-climate-talks-fall-apart-as-132-countries-storm-out/#ixzz2lFJHn2zd
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/epic-fail-un-climate-talks-fall-apart-as-132-countries-storm-out/#ixzz2lFJHn2zd
Excerpt: Poor countries pulled out of the United Nations
climate talks during a fight over transferring wealth from richer countries to
fight global warming…. Poor countries have demanded that the developed world
give them $100 billion annually by 2020 to prepare for the impacts of global
warming, such as heat waves and droughts.
Congress takes up
probe of fake unemployment data
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/congress-takes-up-probe-of-fake-unemployment-data/#ixzz2lFIgv1ES
http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/20/congress-takes-up-probe-of-fake-unemployment-data/#ixzz2lFIgv1ES
Excerpt: “These allegations are shocking,” Republican Rep.
Blake Farenthold of Texas ,
chairman of the subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the
Census, wrote in a letter Monday night to U.S. Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson. “If true,
there may be a systemic problem at the Philadelphia Regional Census Office,
where the alleged data fabrication occurred. These allegations also raise the
prospect that the fabrication of data is a widespread problem.”
The real "War on Women." Thousands of girls
flee homes for fear of FGM
Excerpt: Every year, thousands of girls flee mass
mutilations in Africa . We have reports from Uganda , Sierra
Leone , Tanzania
and Kenya .
Most of the girls are aged between 3 and 12 years and are hidden by older
sisters to protect them from FGM.
Obama is America's
first Black President, may be America Crystal
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/crystal-wright-conservative-black-chick/2013/nov/20/wright-obama-americas-first-black-president-may-be/#.Uo445gdpC58.twitter
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/crystal-wright-conservative-black-chick/2013/nov/20/wright-obama-americas-first-black-president-may-be/#.Uo445gdpC58.twitter
Excerpt: Barack Obama is a terrible president who just so
happens to be the nation’s first black president. (racist! h, wait, Crystal is black. ~Bob)
This Man Rescued Over
600 Jewish Kids from Nazi Camps. He Doesn’t Know It Yet, But He’s Sitting with
Them.
Black woman named
county mayor: Sharief also first mayor of Muslim upbringing
Excerpt: Sharief is also in a dispute with the state's
Agency for Health Care Administration, which audited her business, South
Florida Pediatric Homecare in Pembroke Pines, and accused her of overbilling Medicaid $485,615. In June she settled with the state,
admitting no wrongdoing and agreeing to pay the disputed amount, plus costs and
a fine of $48,561. The state has a second, open case against her business,
accusing her of $221,819 in inappropriate Medicaid billings.
Boko Haram Forces
Kidnapped Christian Women To Be Slave Brides
Excerpt: In July, Christian teenager Hajja was picking corn
in Gwoza, which is in the northeastern region of Nigeria , when the radical Muslim
terrorist group Boko Haram, who control that region, kidnapped her. One of the
men held a knife to her throat and told her he would kill her if she did not
convert to Islam.
Tweet from Gun Shots @Gun_Shots
Excerpt: Sheikh also admitted that his laptop contained a
video he made of a 14-year-old male student masturbating, records show. The
name of the mosque where Sheikh led the youth group was not included in court
records. ... Sheikh convinced the parents that their son would best be able to
lean the Koran if he stayed at Sheikh's home on weekends during summer
vacation," according to the plea agreement Sheikh signed.
Obama Woos Liberal
Journalists With Another Off-The-Record Meeting
Excerpt: On Thursday, Fox News’ Ed Henry tweeted that MSNBC
hosts Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell, as well as Ezra Klein of theWashington
Post and Fox News’ Juan Williams, had
been invited for a private off-the-record chat with President Obama.
Obama’s signature program, Obamacare, has been flailing in the press for weeks,
and Obama apparently believes that it is about time to reshift the narrative:
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