Sticking to the topic at hand, and in the holiday spirit, Remy presents the 'Healthcare Mash'...
Related link: RUSH: A Strange Halloween At The Obama White House – SPOOF
The following list of links should suffice plenty in expanding on this mash:
And they've even managed to violate their own privacy policy, putting your identity at risk...
IsThereAProblemHere: The system sends some personal information to 3rd party analytics and advertising companies. For example, the following two images show my username and password reset codes being sent to a couple of 3rd parties:
Not only does this violate Healthcare.gov's stated privacy policy, it likely also violates the privacy policies of these 3rd parties. Even if the 3rd parties receiving the data can be trusted to not abuse the data, they may not protect it as personally identifiable information should be protected -- especially if they are not expecting to receive personal information.
Those state exchange websites aren't going so well either...
theRightScoop: Oh my. It looks like it’s not going as well in some of the state exchanges as the administration would have us believe. At least 15 state exchanges are costing taxpayers $1.1 billion to fix their websites and states like Oregon haven’t even registered a single person into Obamacare, despite what the president touting Oregon as a huge success.
“The White House is exerting massive pressure on the industry, including the trade associations, to keep quiet.” ~ Bob Laszewski
In an effort to keep from looking worse than the fantastic job that the regime is doing all on its own, the White House (i.e., Obama) has taken to bullying insurance companies into keep quiet about criticizing, or even discussing, Obamacare problems. Yeah, that's not authoritarian at all...
TheBlaze: Top White House officials have reportedly “pressured” insurance industry executives to keep quiet about Obamacare, according to a new CNN report.
Insurance executives are not exactly fond of President Barack Obama’s health care law. And after voicing concerns over the new bill and its disastrous rollout, White House officials allegedly retaliated by informing industry leaders that the administration was not pleased.
CNN notes multiple sources declined comment on this claim, presumably out of fear of retribution.
Levin said of the White House, "They're like mobsters!"
"Can you believe this in the United States of America? Like Castro and Chavez, like Mussolini and worse. These executives fear White House retribution? These trade associations fear White House retribution? They're not even allowed to speak out to we the people? They're not even allow to speak directly to their own customers about what's going on and why it's going on from their perspective? This story ought to be every where on every program! That the way these mobsters in the White House conduct themselves, because this is what they do! Just like occurs in the third world banana republics, just like occurs -- yeah, I'll say it -- in communist regimes and fascist regimes. This imperial president speaks in front of a group, he cuts jokes, he smiles, oh, he's a regular guy... but behind the scenes, the knives come out..."
Check out more of Levin's comments here.
This is sort of an elaboration on the NBC report that broke on Monday combined with Sebelius testimony before Congress yesterday (see here, here, here and here)...and it only looks worse, not simply for the President's signature legislation (there's an oxymoron), but more importantly, for us.
Forbes: On Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius testified before Congress about the continuing issues with the rollout of Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges. “Hold me accountable for the debacle,” said Sebelius. “I’m responsible.” I attended the hearing, and I was struck by the scope, scale, and depth of the health law’s problems, problems that far exceed any one political appointee. But Obamacare’s disruption of the existing health insurance market—a disruption codified in law, and known to the administration—is only just beginning. And it’s far broader than recent media coverage has implied.
If you read the Affordable Care Act when it was passed, you knew that it was dishonest for President Obama to claim that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” as he did—and continues to do—on countless occasions. And we now know that the administration knew this all along. It turns out that in an obscure report buried in a June 2010 edition of the Federal Register, administration officials predicted massive disruption of the private insurance market.
See, don't discount that this isn't all by design, because it very well is.
So, while some Republicans who have miraculously decided to get involved in the fight now that's it's more favorable to do so(i.e., Sen. Ron Johnson, Rep. Fred Upton), along with Democrats who wholeheartedly embraced Obamacare's passage, knowing then that it would alleviate millions of private plans, but are backing away now for their reelection bids (i.e., Mary Landrieu), now we've got the 'we-know-what's-best-for-you' lines coming from the breathtaking arrogance of Pelosi, among others.
Yet another example of how Washington is beyond repair. I think it's time for Levin's Article V solution, don't you?
Equal protection? Hardly.
Here's that union nod that we've been waiting for. However, there was apparently no wait...it was buried in Obamacare regulations since its passage. And the realization of this is likely why you haven't heard a peep out of Trumka lately...
TheDC: On June 15, 2009 President Obama told a town hall meeting that “No matter how we reform healthcare, we will keep this promise … if you like your healthcare plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.” The fine print in his health law proves that he never intended to keep that promise.
Sec. 1251(a)(1) of the Affordable Care Act says that no one can be required to give up a plan in effect on March 23, 2010, when the law was passed. Those plans are “grandfathered.” But following that guarantee is a list of costly requirements that made it difficult for insurers to keep offering your plan.
It gets worse. Union plans were “grandfathered” with none of those fine print tricks and exceptions. (Sec. 1251(d))
Sweetness&Light provides the text of Sec. 1251(d):
"(d) EFFECT ON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.—In the case of health insurance coverage maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between employee representatives and one or more employers that was ratified before the date of enactment of this Act, the provisions of this subtitle and subtitle A (and the amendments made by such subtitles) shall not apply until the date on which the last of the collective bargaining agreements relating to the coverage terminates. Any coverage amendment made pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement relating to the coverage which amends the coverage solely to conform to any requirement added by this subtitle or subtitle A (or amendments) shall not be treated as a termination of such collective bargaining agreement."
And as S&L says, "In other words, all unions health insurance plans are grandfathered in. And none of them will have to meet the Obama-Care mandates — ever."
So add another group exemption to the list, which already includes corporate cronies, members of Congress, their staff, and of course, the President and his family. Here's what this all boils down to: While the Democratic strongholds of America are running the system, they will not live under their own impositions, but willfully force the rest of America into subservient institutions against our will. This is TYRANNY, folks!
“Here is why Americans don’t trust this health care law: they do not trust the guy who created this health care law. The guy who said we could keep our doctor but now acknowledges maybe not. … That guy is you, Mr. President”
Damn! Even Levin had to stop and play Neil Cavuto's monologue on his show tonight, because it sums up all of this presidency so perfectly...not only why people don't trust Obamacare, but how they're finally putting the pieces together and don't trust the broken man behind a broken federal agenda...the two are the same and more people are recognizing that.
"The promises broken, the promises forgotten. Lost in the legalese of an administration now drifting, and an administration's whose idea of action is making a good speech, and suddenly shocked to find out Americans are now saying, 'Good grief!' Because they've heard all they want to hear, Mr. President, and they don't want to hear anymore. Because they thought you meant what you said, but they've come to discover what you said you didn't mean. That's what all this means, sir. One too many promises broken, and now just broke. That's what is at issue here, Mr. President. It's not that Americans find you to be a broken record. I hate to break it to you, sir, they find that your broke, period. No follow-through, just through."
Bravo, Neil!
So, now for those who've finally awakened to the latest revelation, perhaps it will now be easier to see the ultimate goal: disrupt & dismantle America's health care system with a Trojan Horse that leads toward single-payer. Don't believe me, believe his own words, their own words...
In 2009 when Obama was pushing universal healthcare, he quickly realized that his dreams of a single-payer, government-run socialized system would never pass Congress. His other option was a "public option," which most knew to be a Trojan Horse for single-payer, slowly eviscerating the private insurance industry. The "compromise" (if we can call Obama compromising with himself) was ObamaCare.
As time goes on, the public becomes fearful that they will not buy the "correct" insurance from whatever company and so slowly the public moves to the Health Exchanges, which will continue to loosen their enrollee income requirements, thus driving private insurance companies out of business.
The Health Exchanges de facto, then become Obama's Public Option, and when there are no more private insurers, the federal government takes over the States' Health Exchanges, creating a single-payer system.
The Public Option, via ObamaCare thus becomes a socialist Trojan Horse that can be repeated in any industry with a little tinkering.
Unaffordable. No care. All control.
Related link: The ObamaCare Awakening
Mark says who cares about a website, this administration needs to keep their hands off our private property (a.k.a. health care), and we should punish those electorally who are punishing you!
"This thing can't work, even if they get their damn website up and running. There's a trillion pieces to it. It's infinite! And we should wrap this around their necks and pull it tight! We should tie it to their ankles like the heavy weight that it is! They wanted it, they got it, we're smothered by it! Now what are we the people gonna do about it?"
Related link: Mark Levin: We should wrap Obamacare around the necks of the Democrat Party and pull it tight!
“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either.” ~ Robert Laszewski, Health Policy and Strategy Associates
LIAR-IN-CHIEF! Another damning indictment of Obamacare...this time from NBC!
NBC: President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.
Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”
None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.
Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.”
That means the administration knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.
Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”
Guess this is what Pelosi meant when she said, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Nothing but a bunch of damn crooks and liars...and here's the chief among them...
America, how many years do you have to be lied to for you to realize YOU'RE BEING LIED TO?!
ADDENDUM: You always know when the MSM performs random acts of journalism...because they'll always try to obscure them, if not outright delete them, when realized!
Breitbart: On Monday, NBC News reported that President Obama’s administration knew for three years that Americans would lose their current insurance under Obamacare. The story quickly became the lead at the Drudge Report, making it the hottest political story on the Internet immediately.
For several hours, there was no problem. Then, late at night, the story was pulled, the link was changed thereby breaking the Drudge link, and stealth edits were made to the piece. In particular, one key paragraph met the cutting room floor:
None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.
NBC News did not reveal that it had stealth edited the piece. As of 1:00 AM ET, the link at Drudge Report had not been fixed.
UPDATE: The paragraph removed from the story suddenly reappeared some half an hour after re-posting.
ADDENDUM II: And because the by-design implosion is occurring faster than expected, now the President's own advisors are out blaming insurance carriers for the crippling regulations wrought by Obamacare! Gotta set the blame before foisting single-payer on us, don't you know...
Breitbart: Barack Obama’s Senior Advisor, Valerie Jarrett, tweeted on Monday, “FACT: Nothing in #ObamaCare forces people out of their health plans. No change is required unless insurance companies change existing plans.”
This flies in the face of an NBC News report that not only revealed that more than half of Americans who buy individual insurance will have their insurance cancelled because of Obamacare’s mandates, but also that the Obama Administration knew that fact and covered it up.
Related link: Rush Limbaugh Plays Audio Montage Of Obama Lies On ObamaCare
Rush discloses the true state of affairs in this country that is the much harder thing for all too many to accept: 'The dire course that we're on is by design.'
But who could have predicted it? You know who...
"This Obamacare rollout has proven every prediction made by the Tea Party in spades. Already Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have been vindicated. Everything they predicted and said has already happened. It only took two weeks, if that. And at the same time, the rollout of Obamacare has proven our news media guardians and pundits wrong on every single point. So who do they mock and ridicule at every turn? The Tea Party, of course, which is our news media in one compact little nutshell."
Rush cast some light on this last week and reiterated today when Politico had to actually admit 'he's right!' Here's the original source...
Powerline: The movement to delay the individual mandate to buy health insurance raises a more fundamental question: what mandate? Under Obamacare, individuals are required to have health insurance. If they are not part of a group plan, they are supposed to purchase individual insurance through one of the exchanges. If they fail to do so, they have to pay a tax, or a penalty, or whatever it is. This tax/penalty was a major focus of the Supreme Court’s decision that narrowly upheld the ACA. These days, many commentators are advising healthy young people to forget about buying expensive Obamacare insurance, which is generally a bad investment for them, and instead go ahead and pay the penalty.
But they don’t have to pay the penalty. The mandate is a sham, and always has been. Theoretically, someone who chooses to be uninsured owes the government money, but the government is prohibited by the ACA from trying to collect it. What kind of a debt is it that can’t be collected?
Referencing a Joint Tax Committee summary, the Powerline piece concludes:
...the only way the IRS can possibly collect the penalty is by withholding your tax refund. No problem: if you arrange your taxes so that you don’t overpay, the penalty can never be collected from you.
Which is to say that there is no penalty for failing to comply with the Obamacare “mandate.” Many commentators have pointed this out, including us. Oddly, however, some observers who should know better continue to tell young people they should pay the penalty and forgo expensive insurance. No: young people, if they want to follow their self-interest, should forgo expensive insurance and NOT pay the penalty, because it can never be collected from them.
This is one of the reasons why many analysts say that Obamacare was designed to fail, that it is a house of cards that was always meant to collapse. Without any way to force healthy young people into the system to subsidize the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, the Obamacare system is actuarially doomed. Either it is repealed; or insurance companies go bankrupt or refuse to participate further; or socialized medicine is achieved via the back door, i.e., taxpayers subsidize pretty much everyone so that the government inevitably takes control. Barack Obama is on video explaining that this is the real purpose of Obamacare...
If there's no penalty, there's no mandate...simple as that! Set to fail...but will the administration be allowed to let it fail (thus, on to single-payer), or will there be internal demands to prop it up and save it? What a mess...
Related link: The Obamacare Penalty: Yes, It Can Be Avoided
On Friday, Mark reviewed several past clips of the President flat out LYING about Obamacare. Mark says you should be disgusted by Obama telling you what you ‘can keep.’
"If you listened with the ear that I suggested you listen with, to have somebody stand up there and go on and on about what you can keep, what you're going to get, what he's going to do to you and for you, and it's in every damn one of these clips, every damn one of these speeches, on and on and on, I say to you, ladies and gentlemen: Have we rejected the enlightenment? Have we rejected completely our founding? Must we now rely on one individual or a group of individuals who lie incessantly as they must? Must we rely on them for our sustenance, for our future?"
This entire segment is spot on...check it out!
Related link: Mark Levin Plays ‘DAMNING’ Audio Montage Of Obama’s ‘SERIAL LIES’ On ObamaCare
Abandon ship! Ten Dem Senators have sent a letter to Sebelius asking for a delay in the Obamacare mandate deadline (H/t: WZ).
WSJ: Jeanne Shaheen doesn't sound like a Democrat who just won a government-shutdown "victory." Ms. Shaheen sounds like a Democrat who thinks she's going to lose her job.
The New Hampshire senator fundamentally altered the health-care fight on Tuesday with a letter to the White House demanding it both extend the ObamaCare enrollment deadline and waive tax penalties for those unable to enroll. Within nanoseconds, Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor had endorsed her "common-sense idea." By Wednesday night, five Senate Democrats were on board, pushing for . . . what's that dirty GOP word? Oh, right. "Delay."
After 16 long days of vowing to Republicans that they would not cave in any way, shape or form on ObamaCare, Democrats spent their first post-shutdown week caving in every way, shape and form. With the GOP's antics now over, the only story now is the unrivaled disaster that is the president's health-care law.
Hundreds of thousands of health-insurance policies canceled. Companies dumping coverage and cutting employees' hours. Premiums skyrocketing. And a website that reprises the experience of a Commodore 64. As recently as May, Democratic consultants were advising members of Congress that their best ObamaCare strategy for 2014 was to "own" the law. Ms. Shaheen has now publicly advised the consultants where they can file that memo.
Apologies for having to use the WallStreetJournal as a source, as they think principled conservatives are all hobbits up to shenanigans (yeah, I caught that 'antics' reference). However, Strassel's piece does capture the hypocrisy of the Left. Now, had folks within the establishment channels gotten behind Cruz/Lee's principled defund effort (or even the delay effort), Republicans could have owned this, instead of Democrats coming to the rescue of themselves (a preferred media narrative, just as the promise that the website will be fixed by the end of November). Strategies, guys...Principle will provide it.
Related link: Now Dems are suddenly open to a 'delay' in the individual mandate?
I guess if Obamacare's subsidies are a sham, per sequestration, why not game the system by turning to Medicaid? That well-established program is in the process of imploding, as opposed to the current one predisposed to failure on launch...
Eh, it'll pay for itself, right? Ahh, the welfare state...
Here's more from...Chicago?!
ChicagoTribune: This week the reality of the ObamaCare roll-out appeared in a set of news stories that serve as an ironic juxtaposition. Over 500,000 individuals have seen their insurance policies cancelled in just 3 states. In all 50 states, only 476,000 applications have been "filed" in an exchange. (Even though we are still learning the true definition of "filed.")
As I have tracked enrollment by states, many are reporting out both Medicaid and exchange enrollment at the same time.
Therefore the 476,000 number is misleading. My best guess is that for the 17 states that have reported out some data, the number is closer to 193,818 applications (once you pull out he Medicaid applications that have been reported on). Of course, this number is also still too high as it is compromised by the jointly reported data.
What becomes clear, is that the federal exchanges in 34 states are accounting for a single digit percentage of the accounts being filed.
A significant portion of the Medicaid enrollees are for those that were currently eligible, but not previously enrolled. (All 56,000 in Oregon, in fact.) As a result, this population is not eligible to receive the higher ACA federal reimbursement rate, and state taxpayers will be paying more for their coverage. A point I have yet to see reported by the media since October 1 open enrollment began.
Knock, knock. Who's there? Sequestration. Oh, crap...
Heritage: Remember sequestration? Those automatic budget cuts that went into effect when Congress failed to do real budgeting a couple of years ago? It’s hitting Obamacare now.
Both laws have been around for awhile, but the Obama Administration hasn’t done anything to prepare for their collision.
The cuts are hitting a set of subsidies that were supposed to help pay deductibles and co-pays for lower-income Americans with Obamacare coverage. An Obama official pledged there would be a plan before the Obamacare exchanges opened on October 1, but that didn’t happen.
Though nearly a month old, this video's utter brilliance and relevance continues to radiate...
Reason: The official deadline for the government-touted Healthy Young America Video contest, which is designed to promote the benefits of The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), was September 23.
But we figure that, what with all the other delays associated with Obamacare, the kind judges at Young Invincibles will be willing to cut us a few days' slack.
So here's Reason TV and Remy's "Obamacare Video Contest Song."
...and the way things are going, this video's relevancy will likely retain itself for the life of this bumbling mess.
ADDENDUM: While we're talking wrecking balls (referencing the end of the video), thought I'd throw this one in the mix...
"Let me ask you a quick question here, folks. Can you imagine — and I’m serious here, now — can you imagine what the news would be like today if all of those 2,500 businesses and unions and others had not received Obamacare waivers? Can you imagine what it would be like? I mean, we are just getting the tiniest glimpse of the horrors of this. I mean, if you think Kathleen Sebelius is a jerk today, just wait, ’cause these waivers, they’re gonna expire. I’m gonna tell you what’s coming. The full weight, the full weight of the evil of Obamacare is going to end up being a wrecking ball so big, not even Miley Cyrus would ride it."
Of course, that was followed by this magnificent parody of a Talking Heads song!
Well, I just knew a firing would likely be the results of telling the TRUTH. No, I'm not talking about the White House's insulting insider, but actually a private citizen who dared to spill the beans about Obamacare's glitch-riddled rollout (via the hotline) to one of this imperial president's political enemies...
TheBlaze: Earline Davis, the Obamacare hotline operator who took a call from conservative radio host Sean Hannity on Monday, has apparently been fired over the conversation.
Because his decision to call the operator technically led to her firing, Hannity generously offered the mother of two a year’s tax-free salary of $26,000 and also vowed to help find her a new job.
“Earline did NOTHING wrong, she was kind, polite, helpful, honest and extremely patient,” Hannity told TheBlaze via email. “The president said we should call, and I did, and Earline did what she was hired to do. How sad she got fired and Kathleen Sebelius still has her job!”
Bravo, for stepping up, Sean.
When all else fails from the launch of your president's signature domestic plan, causing a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill to commence, DemocRats do what they do best: blame Republicans. Here's a couple of the biggest loudmouth fools Thursday morning...
WesternJournalism: According to Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the GOP is responsible because it purposely worked to stymie the socialized healthcare launch.
“We have already documented a record of Republicans attempting to sabotage the Affordable Care Act,” he claimed, blasting his political opponents for their support of a full repeal of the law.
“If we want this law to work,” he continued, “we have to make this right. We’ve got to fix it. Not what the Republicans are trying to do — nix and repeal it.”
Waxman also called Obamacare an 'enormous success'...oh, except for that website...
His lunacy was joined by a fellow comrade...
WashingtonTimes: A Democratic congressman on Thursday called a Republican-led hearing on Obamacare glitches a “monkey court” designed to prevent Americans from enrolling for coverage through the new health care law.
Rep. Frank Pallone, of New Jersey, rebuked Rep. Joe Barton, Texas Republican, for claiming that legal language on the Obamacare website amounts to a violation of health privacy laws.
'Monkey court'...could you imagine a Republican saying this? Immediate calls of racism...but with a DemocRat, no problem.
Now, I wanted to highlight both of those anti-free market idiots, because each brought up the default excuse why everyone, including Republicans and conservatives, should desire universal healthcare: preexisting conditions. And unfortunately, many on the right have fallen prey to this ruse. So, here's a FACT that needs to permeate throughout the internet and airwaves to once and for all shut down this sham. Levin referenced this research all the way back in January of 2011...
Habledash: John Goodman over at the National Center for Policy Analysis, who's been labeled as "the father of the health savings account," unveiled details and facts about pre-existing conditions, which was the centerpiece that liberals used during the debate.
Every argument came back to this topic and how evil insurance companies were for not accepting people with pre-existing conditions. The liberal media used this talking point to attack Republicans. We're now finding out how many people have pre-existing conditions that couldn't get coverage. It's actually nowhere near the lies fed to Americans by President Obama and Democrats.
"Out of 310 million Americans, only 8,000 people have the problem given as the principle reason for spending almost $1 trillion, creating more than 150 regulatory agencies and causing perhaps 150 million more people to change the coverage they now have."
There's no point re-crafting what Goodman breaks down piece by piece. However, there is an important item to note. The government surveyed people about a potential policy issue to get ammunition. That's not how the government works. Typically, an organization lobbies over a certain issue to make it an issue so lawmakers address it. In this case, Obama's White House went out of their way to find an alleged problem, artificially inflate it and use it as ammunition.
The right needs to seize this information and allow it, along with many of the other misconceptions and lies used to sell Obamacare, to shift the narrative from one of somehow fixing or tweaking the government's control of our health care in America to a principled approach that allows the free market to innovate solutions for these relatively small groups without destroying the entire private health care system for the rest of us.
Despite the disaster of Obamacare and the harm that's being foisted onto the American people due to such a flagrant failure, vindication has gotta feel pretty good for those who've been on the side of Principle fighting it all along...
FoxNation: Texas Senator told Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday's ON THE RECORD that it's getting harder for Democrats to support ObamaCare, that it's clear it is not working, and that he feels momentum shifting against it. He also reflected on being 'reviled' in Washington after the shutdown.
They tried to beat him, but this statesman had TRUTH on his side. Now, he's too humble to gloat and too cordial to throw this vindication back at them...so I will. I've got the same message for a quisling like McCain as I've got for that wretch known as Harry Reid: SUCK IT!
Related link: Vindication? 'Reviled' Sen. Ted Cruz: 'It's becoming harder and harder' for Democrats to defend ObamaCare
Picking up where he left off a few days ago, Rush continues explaining the single-payer path, but says Obama's incompetence is getting in the way of that Democratic statist dream...
"Obama has designed a total bomb of a system. And at the same time, what he's done is he's done it in such a way that the government is being blamed for it. It's HealthCare.gov that's screwed up! It's O-BA-MA-CARE that's screwed up! It isn't the insurance companies being blamed for this. It isn't the Republicans. It isn't the hospitals. It isn't the pharmacies. It's the government. Everybody, the news media, everybody, dutifully falling in line here..."
Furthermore, Rush divulges the dirty little secret (actually, not a secret at all): if the individual mandate goes, the whole thing goes. And though the plan was for Obamacare to segue into single-payer, the more this program is kicked down the road of incompetence, with the government to blame mind you, well, Rush says, 'Bye-bye, Obamacare.'
It's like some fecal-induced version of leap-frog with this guy...he jumps from one pile of excrement to another, with mess trailing in between...
PJMedia: As the White House struggles to fix the problem-plagued rollout of its healthcare reform law, President Barack Obama on Thursday will try to focus attention on another policy priority – immigration reform – with a call for congressional action.
Gotta hand it to this guy, he doesn’t let one spectacular failure after another slow him down. His successes to date are winning a few elections and having the good fortune of being in office when bin Laden was found (an operation that he inherited from the previous administration).
Oh, and his “signature legislation”. You know, the one with all the waivers, delays and crappy website, that isn’t going to do any of what it proposed it would do.
But Ted Cruz or something.
Related link: President Obama's renewed focus on immigration: Timely or distracting?
Besides not being able to fix this disaster over the next 6 weeks with any kind of delay, as NBC reported last night...
...nor with the exorbitant amount of taxpayer funds that have been infused in this failure...
TheHill: A surge in government spending in the six months before the ObamaCare exchanges went live pushed federal spending to top government contractors over the $1 billion mark, a new study finds.
According to the report released Thursday by Bloomberg Government analyst Peter Gosselin, federal spending ramped up in the months leading up to Oct. 1, with $352 million of the $1 billion in federal contracts to the top 10 ObamaCare contractors awarded during this time.
...the Obamacare law states that the President can't unilaterally extend the timing of the mandate. That requires an act of Congress.
WashingtonExaminer: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., urged President Obama in a letter to consider extending the open enrollment period for Obamacare beyond March 31, 2014, given the IT problems confronting the program.
But that decision isn’t up to Obama.
Even if Obama wanted to extend the open enrollment period, he wouldn’t be allowed to without an act of Congress — at least if he wants to follow the law he signed.
Though the health care law granted the Secretary of Health and Human Services discretion to define dates for the open enrollment period to occur each year, it also specified that the initial enrollment period (i.e. the current one) had to be announced by July 1, 2012.
Specifically, Section 1311 of the healthcare law reads, “ENROLLMENT PERIODS: The Secretary shall require an Exchange to provide for– (A) an initial open enrollment, as determined by the Secretary (such determination to be made not later than July 1, 2012).”
However, this Imperial President has already unilaterally reassigned, redefined and rewritten the law humpteen times now (as did the SCOTUS in their decision to uphold its unconstitutionality), and as long as Congress lets him get away with such impeachable offenses, why would he stop now?
It's unfortunate that the GOP leadership couldn't strategically coalesce behind the Cruz/Lee effort to stop this debacle, and thus apply pressure on many of those Democratic voices up for reelection next year who are now calling for a delay. That could have avoiding the pain that millions of Americans are about to feel being caught between their current insurance dropped and a lack of affordable insurance provided as promised by an all-powerful government. What a mess.
H/t: WZ
And a combined 89% say it was somewhere from a minor inconvenience to none at all! Sounds a lot different than what we heard from the very mainstream media...or from Republican establishment mouthpieces...
CNSNews: A large majority of Americans say they did not miss the federal government when it was partially shutdown during the first half of October, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released today.
78 percent said that they were not inconvenienced by the partial shutdown of the government. Of the 22 percent who said they were inconvenienced, 11 percent said it was a major inconvenience and 11 percent said it was a minor inconvenience.
Proof positive that the state side of federalism still works among an independent people...or at least those of us who choose to be.
Related link: SHOCK POLL: Almost 80% of American say they were NOT inconvenienced by government shutdown
Levin had an excellent interview with one of the 'Great Generals on the Battlefield' to STOP Obamacare!
"Here we are, and they're talking about delaying it. Now, if they're willing now to delay it, why then were they willing to shut down the government over it? This is atrocious. This is inexcusable what they did. They did that in order to hurt the American people. They did that in order to secure a short term political win. And they did so by hurting innocent Americans all over the country by forcing us into a shutdown posture. They should be ashamed of themselves, because now we're right back where we were a few weeks ago, where the House of Representatives offered essentially what they're now asking for, what they're now suggesting that they would accept. And they could have funded the government in time to avoid a shutdown. So shame on them for ignoring and distorting the truth as long as they did only to acknowledge it after they had already caused a government shutdown."
Mark was quick to point out that it's worse than that, because even if they get a delay, many have already been dropped from their healthcare, atop premiums and deductibles skyrocketing.
In discussing what Obama knew and when he knew it, Lee said he has strong reason to believe Obama might have known exactly what was going to happen, "If in fact he did, that shows that the President is willing to use the American people as pawns in a very high stakes game of politics." Lee continued, "And that, my friend, is the very best example we can ever come up with against Obamacare."
Related link: LIMBAUGH: Obama ‘Stone-Cold Lying’ On ObamaCare
So...why the hell did Democrats (yes, Reid, the Democrat-run Senate and Obama) shut the government down over this? Simply because the Republicans requested that Obamacare be delayed first? You got it. It was all about ideology & political scoring, boys and girls. Ri-damn-diculous.
FoxNews: WHITE HOUSE OPENS DOOR TO OBAMACARE DELAY - As the federal government teetered on the brink of shutdown at the end of last month, the White House and Senate Democrats flatly refused a Republican emergency spending bill that would have kept the government open but delayed ObamaCare’s requirement that individuals purchase health insurance by March 31 or face a fine. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded to a GOP counteroffer by saying Republicans had “lost their minds.” But after an epic failure of a launch for the new health insurance entitlement and with the partial shutdown over, “delay” suddenly isn’t a dirty word anymore. With many of those subject to the fine unable to sign up due to manifold botches in the enrollment process, Democrats are warming up to the idea.
See, if the R's come up with it, it's bad; but if the D's come up with it, it's good. So goes the mainstream media mantra...when the narrative should be if such a private institution as your personal health care is government-controlled, period, it's dead wrong!
Related links: Democratic senator asks Obama to delay Obamacare deadline
Anxious Dems: On Second Thought, Maybe Delaying More Parts of Obamacare Isn't Such a Horrible Idea
Looks like Lee and Cruz were on the right path all along...should have stood solidly behind them, Republican Party.
ADDENDUM: Levin spoke of this, the Republican delimma and more concerning the Obamacare trainwreck, saying, "now the Democrats are coming to the rescue of...the Democrats!"
UPDATE: Oh, wow...the Obama administration is finally taking House Republicans and Senate conservatives' advice...well, sorta (ok, not really). Six whole weeks...well blow me down! I've got news for them...six more months, six more years, six more decades won't improve this disaster!
Plenty has already been reported about this ludicrous interview given by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta (dodging Congress, but has time for the MSM, go figure). Here's a couple of jewels that you may be hearing repeated throughout the day...
Uh huh. Did Sebelius really say Obama didn’t know about issues with the website before implementation? Yep. Here's Gupta's thoughts in a post-report...
"According to Sebelius, President Barack Obama was not aware of any significant problems until a "couple days" after the website had been launched.
The Affordable Care Act is touted as a signature achievement for the Obama administration, and it surprised me that the President was not being kept up to speed -- according to Sebelius -- on the concerns around the rollout."
Also, we get the 'I'm Not Signing Up for Obamacare' elite response...peasants!
Great WZ comment: "You know, because she had good insurance, unlike the crap they are pushing on the commoners."
CNSNews: In an interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta Tuesday night, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she won't be enrolling in the problem-plagued health insurance system that she was charged to implement.
"I have created an account on the site. I have not tried signing up, because I have insurance," she told Gupta.
But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says government officials like Sebelius should be required to live under the same laws they impose on everyone else.
Paul is now plugging a constitutional amendment that states, "Congress shall make no law applicable to a citizen of the United States that is not equally applicable to Congress." The amendment also contains two provisions that apply that same principle to the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch of the federal government.
Agreed...but good luck getting the majority of either party on Capitol Hill to agree to live by their own law. That would likely require taming the federal leviathan through the states' amendment process (the same process that Levin lays out in The Liberty Amendments).
Anyway, these are merely two examples pulled from the trainwreck atop a trainwreck that is Sebelius managing Obamacare.
Related links: Thousands of consumers get insurance cancellation notices due to Obamacare changes (UPDATE)
Limbaugh Blasts Sebilious: A Combination Of Absolute Incompetent Ignorance And Willful Arrogance
Another historic moment. Here's one to accompany that previous record unemployment post...
TheWeeklyStandard: New research from the Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee shows that over the last 5 years, the U.S. has spent about $3.7 trillion on welfare. Here's a chart, showing that spending versus transportation, education, and NASA spending:
"We have just concluded the 5th fiscal year since President Obama took office. During those five years, the federal government has spent a total $3.7 trillion on approximately 80 different means-tested poverty and welfare programs. The common feature of means-tested assistance programs is that they are graduated based on a person’s income and, in contrast to programs like Social Security or Medicare, they are a free benefit and not paid into by the recipient," says the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee.
The research goes on to explain how that 'enormous sum' spent on welfare assistance is 'nearly five times greater than the combined amount spent on NASA, education, and all federal transportation projects over that time.' Furthermore, because the welfare budget is so fragmented (15 federal programs alone that provide food assistance, for example) effective oversight is near impossible, not to mention the scope of the budget being disguised certainly from taxpayers, but apparently from lawmakers as well (or that's the desired perception of the latter when making such arguments that nothing can possibly be cut or everything that could be cut has been).
'Useless and misleading' doesn't even begin to describe it...
theRightScoop: CBS News is reporting that the Obamacare website has added the ability to see price estimates for consumers before having to create an account on the website, however the price estimates provided aren’t even close to being accurate and are often far too low which is very misleading to someone who is shopping for health insurance.
...and here's more uselessness...unfortunately, this actual online chat isn't a parody...
H/t: tRS
Related link: Andrea Looks Into Obamacare, Finds Out It Sucks Like Everyone Says
Better late than never? Well, turns out Congress should have heeded the words of the man who said, "I hope he fails," when it came down to a better plan than a Keynesian-style stimulus...
Breitbart: In 2009, at the height of debate about President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh proposed a compromise in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that would have devoted half the stimulus to tax cuts. Now, a new working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) concludes that Limbaugh was right, at least in terms of that portion of the stimulus that was directed to state governments.
The paper, by Gerald Carlino and Robert P. Inman, finds that "ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] assistance would have been 30 percent more effective in stimulating GDP growth had the share spent on government purchases and project aid been fully allocated to private sector tax relief and to matching aid to states for lower-income support." In other words: tax cuts and cash transfers would have been better.
The new research partly answers the challenge Limbaugh laid down in January 2009: let Obama devote 54% of the stimulus to "infrastructure and pork," in accord with his share of the 2008 vote, and let the remainder go towards corporate tax reductions and capital gains tax suspensions. "Then we compare." The "Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan" was never passed, of course, but the NBER paper provides a comparison.
President Obama and the Democrats often claimed that the stimulus did provide tax cuts--but they were only typically available under restricted conditions, and constituted a smaller part of the total (about 28%, according to Politifact.com). On the state level, the stimulus was devoted to $318 billion in government transfers--about 40% of the total bill. If Obama had listened to Rush, the economy might have been in better shape.
Limbaugh commenting as we speak (coming soon)...
