Must Read: Low-Information Leadership. By Peggy
Noonan
Excerpt: But back to the president, and his problem with
being known as intelligent—Columbia ,
Harvard Law, lecturer on constitutional issues at the University of Chicago Law
School. The program he created in 2009-10, ran on in 2012, and whose
implantation he delayed until one year after that election—in retrospect, that
delay seems meaningful, doesn’t it?—has turned out to be wildly misleading as
to its basic facts. Millions are finding you can’t keep your plan, your
premium, your deductible, your doctor. And millions more will discover this
when the business mandate kicks in. All of this—the fraudulent nature of the
program—came as a rolling shock to people the past two months.
New Holiday Song: "All
I want for Christmas is to keep the plan I liked." ~Bob
The five biggest political questions for the next stage of
the Obamacare debate. By Sean Sullivan
Excerpt: Welcome to the next phase of the health-care
battle, in which Democrats are hopeful the law will live up to its billing and
Republicans will look for new opportunities to attack it, while standing ready
to pounce aggressively should major problems arise. Here are the five biggest
political questions for the next phase of what's already been a divisive and
highly-charged debate:
Two Years Old and Not
Part of the Family? By Jeannie DeAngelis
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/12/two_years_old_and_not_part_of_the_family.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/12/two_years_old_and_not_part_of_the_family.html
Excerpt: The Obamacare elves have been busy doling out
holiday tips on how to talk about signing onto the Affordable Care Act website
while huddled around the yuletide fire singing secular
songs with uninsured family members. One tip the tip-givers forgot to include
in the "Healthcare
for the Holidays" Guide to Getting Insured was how to explain to those
with children under the age of two that family insurance plans in the New York
health exchange do not cover the littlest members of the family.
DC Scandal Expert: Haven't Seen 'Disaster' Like Obamacare in a While. By Tony Lee
Excerpt: Judy Smith, the legendary Washington , D.C.
Salon.com Asst. Editor Elias Isquith Declares Obamacare
Implementation “Sabotage.” By Erick Erickson
Excerpt: All I did was demand Republicans
insist Obamacare be implemented as it was designed and written.
After all, the President himself tweeted out his signature on the law and
declared it “the law of the land.” I’m sure Salon.com Assistant Editor Elias
Isquith thinks Obamacare is the “law of the land” too. But he calls my
demands that the law be faithfully implemented “sabotage.”
Not a Good Enough
Obamacare Fix. Can it really be called a “fix” when the back
end of the website still needs to be built? By Jonah Goldberg
Excerpt: There’s still one hitch. HealthCare.gov doesn’t
work, at all. Sure, it provides a remarkably realistic user experience, but as
of now it’s basically a video game. A really, really boring video game. Call it
Sim Healthcare. This is because the so-called back end essentially doesn’t
exist. (Oh, I'm sure they can find some crony to give a no-bid contract to
to fix it. ~Bob)
The Return of the
Queue. It’s been the death knell of every progressive effort. By Charles C. W.
Cooke
Excerpt: Traditionally, the British are rather patient.
Nevertheless, the notion that even a patient people will queue indefinitely is
so much romantic fluff. They won’t. And for a government to ask them to do so
is for that government to open itself up to defeat. This, the polls suggest, is
precisely what the Obama administration has been busy doing over the past few
months.
Who was standing behind Obama today? White House won't say.
By Byron York
Excerpt: If any of those people were with Obama on stage,
the president didn't say. It's also worth noting that of the four examples
cited during the event, two were young people whose medical treatment was
covered by the up-til-age-26 provision of Obamacare, one was a woman who
benefited from the abolition of lifetime caps, and one was a doctor who
advocates more preventive care. None had purchased affordable coverage through
healthcare.gov. The last time Obama gathered everyday Americans to stand behind
him as he delivered remarks on Obamacare turned into something of an embarrassment for the White House.
Jay Carney: If you
purchased an Obamacare plan, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re
actually covered. By Doug Powers
Excerpt: Yet another demonstration
of the kind of “private sector
velocity and effectiveness” we’ve come to expect:
Excerpt: The problem with the Obamacare program from the
get-go has been the liberals' insistence that the plan wraps every possible
liberal lifestyle cause and brings them under one very expensive umbrella.
While that plan endears them to their liberal electorate, especially the 30
million green check tit-suckers who will pay nothing for their care, it creates
a tremendous burden on everyone else.
Obamacare blurbs from
The Patriot Post
We recently told you about
Toni Townes-Whitley, the senior vice president at CGI Federal, which was
awarded the no-bid contract to build the $678 million Healthcare.gov fiasco. Toni
was a classmate of Michelle Obama (Princeton
'85) and they share membership in the Association of Black Princeton.
Evidently, the two are still close friends. Townes-Whitley, in a Facebook album
titled "Christmas with the Obamas," published a personal photo from
inside the White House in 2010. Daniel Greenfield quips, "A 600 million
dollar website that doesn't work made by a company with a lousy track record
and a top executive who's a pal of the First Lady. It's the free market at
work. I blame the private sector." -- According to Obama's update on
Healthcare.gov, "While there is more work to be done, the team is
operating with private sector velocity and effectiveness, and will continue
their work to improve and enhance the website in the weeks and months
ahead." That's right, "private sector velocity"! So after
hundreds of millions of dollars were washed down the drain, Obama's endeavor to
nationalize healthcare is working almost as well as the private sector! Even
MSNBC's Chuck Todd picked up the irony: "That is an indictment on the
whole idea of government as a solution."
Ted Cruz Slams Reid for Exempting Staff
from Obamacare
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/harry-reid-exempts-staff-obamacare/2013/12/04/id/539961?promo_code=11102-1&utm_source=11102Real_Clear_Politics&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/harry-reid-exempts-staff-obamacare/2013/12/04/id/539961?promo_code=11102-1&utm_source=11102Real_Clear_Politics&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Excerpt: Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, a staunch supporter of the president's signature
healthcare law, has chosen to allow some of his staff to opt out of buying
insurance on the new health exchanges. Instead, he's letting them keep their
existing federal employee insurance plans.
Excerpt: Recent polling shows that an election wave of
anti-ObamaCare sentiment is growing, and it is not only likely to hand the GOP
control of the United States Senate, but might wipe out as many as 12 Democrat
seats–many of which looked safe just a few months ago.
Tweet from Lee Ritz, M.D. @lee_ritz
#TheNewObamacareSalesPitch
Don't be alarmed if you feel a little prick. That's just Obama ruining the best
healthcare system in the world.
81% Favor Repealing or
Changing Health Care Law
Excerpt: Given the problems associated with the law, a new
Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S.
Voters believe Congress and the president should repeal it and start again from
the beginning. That’s up from 43% support in
late October. Another 31% think Congress and the president should go
through the law piece by piece to improve it. Just 16% want to leave the law
the way it is, down slightly from 18% four weeks ago. (I think even repeal
doesn't get us to the Given the problems associated with the law, a new
Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S.
Voters believe Congress and the president should repeal it and start again from
the beginning. That’s up from 43% support in
late October. Another 31% think Congress and the president should go
through the law piece by piece to improve it. Just 16% want to leave the law
the way it is, down slightly from 18% four weeks ago. (“If you’ve got a
majority of folks who believe in something, then it should be able to
pass." --Barack Obama. I think even repeal doesn't get us to the status quo ante. They have destroyed our
healthcare system, will now push for single payer. ~Bob)
YAY,
KIDS! Majority of 18-24 year olds support recall of Obama from office. By
Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt:
These are bad numbers. Really, really bad. What is interesting about the Harvard University’s Institute of Politics millennial poll is that it subdivides older
millennials (25-29) from younger millenials (18-24). And it’s the latter group
that is more predictive and its verdict is wholly negative.
Poll: 52% Of Young
Adults Want Obama Recalled, 57% Oppose Obamacare
Excerpt: A stunning new poll of
young adults aged 18 to 29 shows that in large numbers, they have turned
against President Obama and ObamaCare. ("They come with vengeance
in their eyes, too late, too late are they..." Irish folk song. ~Bob)
RNC: Obama Lied, His
Millennial Support Died
Excerpt: Reacting to Wednesday's bombshell Harvard poll that
shows Millennials abandoning
Obama and ObamaCare in huge numbers, the Republican National Committee
released a statement blasting the president for lying to young adults about
being able to keep their coverage and increasing the cost of their insurance
premiums.
Young people have
bailed on Obama. Why that matters a lot. By Sean Sullivan And Scott Clement
Excerpt: A new Harvard University
Institute of Politics poll released Wednesday confirms what
other surveys have shown in recent months: Millennials have soured on Obama so
much this year that their opinion of him largely mirrors the American
public's. Even though Obama does not ever have to face another election, he should
be worried about the findings for a couple of reasons, which we will dive into
momentarily.
ObamaCare Website
Says: “You Don’t Have To Be A US
Tweet from Harry @Tark31
Barack Obama calls on bartenders to host happy hours to
garner support for Obamacare, but conservatives are the whackos.
Obamacare Website Is
in Great Shape — If This Were 1996
Excerpt: Certainly, this sounds like progress. But if you
look at Healthcare.gov for what it is — a simple e-commerce site — the White
House is still years behind the times. Welcome back to Web 1.0. According to The Washington
Post, the Obama administration said Healthcare.gov processed 18,000
insurance enrollments during the most recent 24-hour period, “nearly double the
previous record.” Great. But consider that on Cyber Monday last year, Amazon
filled 306 orders per second. That’s 26.5 million orders in the most recent
24-hour period. This year, it’s hard to imagine that number won’t be higher.
*****
Obama’s illegal alien deportation evader Uncle Omar gets his amnesty.
By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: What have I said ever since my first book Invasion
came out in 2002? It ain’t over ’til the alien wins. America ’s
systematically refuses to enforce visa requirements, enforce deportation orders
and fix our reckless immigration catch-and-release policies. (The ridiculous
scandal of deportation evaders ignoring the law and just staying on, in some
cases going on welfare, in other cases being drunk drivers or even bomb makers,
is enough to make anyone cry. Why in hell can't we expel the people who don't
have any right to be here, especially the freeloaders and malcontents? This
isn't just on Obama, it's been going on for a lot longer than his presidency. And
there's just no excuse for it. --Del )
Excerpt: But before getting into that let’s pause for a
moment. Is being born really a matter of luck? Doesn’t that take willful activity
on the part of two parents? And is the inability of parents to support their
children really a matter of luck? Or is it the result of bad habits and
undisciplined behavior.
Net Subsidy Analysis:
A Better Way
Excerpt: Consider the following two quite different verdicts
on the winners and losers from U.S.
energy subsidy policy, the first from a pro-renewable energy organization and
the second from a free-market energy group.
Excerpt: Tina Turner did it, as
well as Denise Rich and Eduardo Saverin. As U.S. taxpayers expatriate at record
rates, some experts say a complex IRS tax code could be to blame. So far this year,
2,369 people have either given up their U.S.
passports or surrendered their green cards after long-term residency, according
to Andrew Mitchel, a tax lawyer in Centerbrook ,
Conn.
Manufacturing
Intolerance
Excerpt: It’s a short distance from Dayna Morales forging a
receipt to get some money and attention to Barack Obama faking accusations of
racism to win a political fight and score another term.(Excellent observation
of how liberals manufacture intolerance and division where none existed. --MasterGuns)
Papal Bull: Why Pope
Francis Should Be Grateful For Capitalism - Forbes
Kerry Tries to Convince Senate that UN Treaty Won’t Affect U.S.
Sovereignty: Pushing for ratification of disabilities treaty: “I am
still convinced that we give up nothing, but we get everything in return,”
Excerpt: Secretary of State John Kerry vowed in a hearing
before the congressional recess to work with senators on caveats to a stalled
United Nations disabilities pact, as some concern about threats to U.S. sovereignty
remains among Republicans. “We want senators to feel comfortable so we’re
prepared to address legitimate concerns,” Kerry told the Senate Foreign Affairs
Committee. “We want to act in good faith…so you’re not feeling like you’re
entering into a quicksand deal.” (If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck,
looks like a duck…. Barb)
Excerpt: Global warming hysterics at the BBC warned us
in 2007 that by summer 2013, the Arctic would
be ice-free. As with so many other doomsday predictions by warmists,
the results turn out to be quite the opposite. Meanwhile, down the other end at Santa’s summer vacation condo: Antarctic sea ice has grown to
a record large extent for a second straight year, baffling scientists seeking
to understand why this ice is expanding rather than shrinking in a warming
world.
Pappy Van Winkle
whiskey heist in Kentucky
excerpt: Authorities trying to solve a distillery heist that
netted cases of prized Kentucky bourbon
have monitored websites and interviewed more than 100 people since the
expensive whiskey was taken weeks ago. Now a cash reward is getting mixed in. Sheriff
Pat Melton in Kentucky 's Franklin County
Excerpt: The Putin visit carries
far more significance than a papal document
which criticizes free markets and is considered a step toward
the possible collaboration—or even merger—of the Roman Catholic Church and the
Russian Orthodox Church in global affairs. Discussions between these churches
are already taking place under the rubric of the Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity. The Russian Orthodox Church has been
dominated by Putin’s old KGB and continues to serve the interests of the
Kremlin.
Hezbollah commander
gunned down in Beirut
Excerpt: A Hezbollah commander
was gunned down overnight Wednesday outside his home south of Beirut ,
in an assassination the Lebanese group said Israel would
bear full responsibility for. “Hajj Hassan Hawlo al-Lakkis, a leader of the
Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah], was assassinated outside his house in St.
Therese, Hadath, as he returned from work last night,” Hezbollah said in a
statement. (As likely to be al Qaeda as Israel ,
since they are on opposite sides in Syria . But have to blame the Jews!
~Bob)
Marines beef up
embassy security, but at a price. By: Kate Brannen
Excerpt: The Marine Corps has created dozens of new embassy
security teams, just as Congress ordered after the Benghazi attack — but at the same time,
budget cuts are forcing the Corps to reduce its size. This means that for now,
ramping up the security mission comes at a cost to the rest of the force,
officials say. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos is adding about 1,000
troops to the force that deploys to American diplomatic missions overseas, but
unless he’s given some leeway on the Marine Corps’ overall end strength, he has
to pull them away from other important jobs. (The Administration wants the
Corps to under go a 14% reduction in manpower, which is damn serious in terms
of effects. And now we are beefing up Marine presence at embassies, and there
is even consideration given to putting Marines back on Navy ships. So we want
to get more out of our Corps, while putting a big slash right into it. Somehow
that doesn't sound like a really sound way to go at things. But then again, we
have politicians making decisions about the military, and the track record for
that is pretty bad. --Del )
Excerpt: Giuliani, elected in part because of the Crown
Heights Pogrom perpetrated under Mayor Dinkins whose staffer Bill de Blasio
will take Bloomberg’s place, helped bring some safety back to the area. Crime
rates fell, but the underlying danger never went away. An entire generation of kids
has grown up never having seen the old bad Dinkins era or carried a switchblade
for the days when the night comes early and even a short walk from the bus stop
can have a bloody end. The Knockout Game existed in my time; but we didn’t have
a name for it. It just was. It was something that could happen to you so you
had to stay alert. Looking into store windows was an easy trick and adopting
the right body posture for when a pack of teenagers was about to pass you came
as second nature.
Excerpt: The FBI has released its 2012
list of hate crime statistics, and much of the data clashes with the leftist
narrative that America
remains besieged by increasing amounts of anti-black racism and anti-Muslim
bigotry. Yet the greater issue involves more than who is committing what crime
against which entity covered by hate crime statutes. ... Again, while overall
levels of hate crimes motivated by religion decreased from 2011 to 2012, crimes
committed against Jewish victims far outnumbered those committed
against every other religious group.
Obama war chiefs
widen drone kill box: Lethality of collateral damage ‘must not be excessive’
Excerpt: The Pentagon has loosened
its guidelines on avoiding civilian casualties during drone strikes, modifying
instructions from requiring military personnel to “ensure” civilians are
not targeted to encouraging service members to “avoid targeting” civilians.
Court Awards $9
Million to Victims of Iranian-Backed Terrorism: State Department and government
of Iran
Excerpt: A U.S.
district court has awarded millions in Iranian government funds to five
American families who were victims of an Iranian-backed suicide bombing,
despite objections from Tehran
and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The tolerance of
Muslims
Warning--graphic photo. Unverified. ~Bob
Report: Saudi Arabian
Heart Surgeon Turns Suicide Bomber, Detonates For ‘Allah’ In Syria
Excerpt: A Saudi militant doctor has killed himself during a
suicide attack on Syrian soldiers in Northern province
of Aleppo , sources close to the Syria militants
reported. The Asia News Website reported on Tuesday that Moshari al-Anzi, a
Saudi heart surgeon and one of the first people who came to fight in the more
than two-and-half year bloody conflict, killed himself in a suicide attack on
the Day of Ashura (November 13). (Yup, it's poverty and lack of opportunity
that causes terrorism, not religion. ~Bob)
Millions of Facebook
usernames and passwords stolen and posted online
http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/04/millions-of-facebook-usernames-and-passwords-stolen-and-posted-online/#ixzz2mXUcsng2
http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/04/millions-of-facebook-usernames-and-passwords-stolen-and-posted-online/#ixzz2mXUcsng2
Excerpt: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yahoo! were
among a group of high-volume websites that had more than 2 million usernames
and passwords stolen and posted online Wednesday. The website is written
in Russian and claims to have more than 300,000 usernames with passwords for
Facebook alone. Security experts from Trustwave speculate a criminal group stole the information
via computers infected with malware, which records key presses and transmits
the data to the infector(s).
MSNBC’s Bashir
Resigns
Excerpt: On Wednesday, MSNBC’s
Martin Bashir formally tendered
his resignation from his daily show. Bashir had been absent from his
show since November 22, prompting rumors from inside the network that he had
been suspended; MSNBC had maintained that he was merely on vacation.
Bashir was under heavy fire for his comments in which he stated that someone
should “p*ss” and “s***” in Sarah Palin’s mouth.
Truck Carrying
‘Extremely Dangerous Radioactive Material’ Hijacked In Mexico
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/12/04/Truck-Carrying-Extremly-Dangerous-Radioactive-Material…
Excerpt: An IAEA statement Wednesday said the
truck was stolen Monday while taking the material to a radioactive
waste storage center from the northern city of Tijuana . It says the heist occurred in
Tepojaco, a town near Mexico City ,
and describes the load as `'extremely dangerous" if damaged or removed
from its protective shielding. The IAEA says isotope cobalt-60 can't be used
for a standard nuclear weapon, but could be utilized for a so-called
"dirty bomb" spreading dangerous radioactive materials over a wide
populous area.
CIA witnesses offer
more evidence Benghazi
Excerpt: According to the closed-door testimony on the Hill
by two CIA personnel, a small team was sent on the night of the attack
from Tripoli and got held up at
the Benghazi airport.
After they were eventually cleared, they arrived at the annex. …. The witnesses
also testified that the mortar fire was extremely accurate, professional and
likely the work of a trained mortar team which they believe included a
spotter. (Just bodies under the Obamas’ and Hillary’s buses; who cares, as
stated? --Barb)
Excerpt: In America ,
the New York Times chirped, "The lifting of the head scarf ban was part
of a package of democratic changes Mr. Erdogan unveiled in September." It
is this news that I have just informed my friend, which elicited his retort.
Only an hour earlier, his wife and I had walked past a university student's
home recently raided by police. The reason: boys and girls were suspected of
living there, two sexes under one roof – and this behavior, Erdogan had
declared only weeks after his "democratizing" reversal of the
headscarf ban, would not be tolerated.
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