Here today (June 26 - September 15)...
Gone tomorrow (sometime between September 16 - 23)...
More from theWeeklyStandard:
The page in question is not a new one, as the webpage's Internet address remains the same, still containing the word "free": www.healthcare.gov/where-can-i-get-free-or-low-cost-care/. However, there is no notation anywhere on the page that it was revised; the change just appeared unannounced.
Other changes include dropping references to "dental" care and the availability of "prescription drugs," as well as exchanging the phrase "specialized care for more serious conditions" for the milder "referrals to specialized care."
Since President Obama has been emphasizing of late how inexpensive Obamacare will be for many Americans, advertising the availability of "free" health care might have been viewed as a deterrent to purchasing even the least expensive option from the government-run exchanges. Since the "bronze" and "silver" level plans that the president has recently been touting as equaling "the cost of your cable bill" and "less than your cell phone bill" will still entail significant out-of-pocket costs for medical care, "free" might still look more attractive to many on the lower end of the income scale. It may be that community health centers will still offer free care to some, but visitors to Healthcare.gov will no longer be made aware of the option.
Affordable it is not...and it damn sure isn't free either.
Well what do you know...finally some defiant resilience over the weekend. No, it's not defunding, but it is a delay. Whether that's helpful or hurtful in the longer run is up for debate. And let me remind readers once again that no total shutdown will occur, only a partial one, if any. Regardless though, there can be no mistaking that the ball's in Harry's court, even if the media won't say so...
BusinessInsider: The Republican-led House passed two amendments intended to chip away at the Affordable Care Act. One would delay the law by a year, a measure that passed by a 231-192 vote. The other permanently repeals a new tax on medical devices, which passed by a 248-174 vote.
Seventeen Democrats joined all 231 Republicans that voted in passing the medical-tax repeal. Two Democrats broke ranks and voted for a one-year delay, while two Republicans broke ranks and voted against it.
The White House said Saturday that President Barack Obama would veto any bill with the House-passed amendments. And the Democratic-controlled Senate is likely to table both amendments on Monday, sending back the so-called "clean" continuing resolution to the House just hours before the government is set to shut down.
House Republican leadership committed to the strategy in a rare Saturday session, and it earned broad support within the caucus.
“The House has again passed a plan that reflects the American people’s desire to keep government running and stop the president’s health care law," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.
"Now that the House has again acted, it’s up to the Senate to pass this bill without delay to stop a government shutdown. Let’s get this done.”
The House also passed — in a unanimous, 423-0 vote — a measure to pay members of the military in the event of a shutdown.
That last bit about ensuring military pay is very important...because that's always an Obama last resort (well, that and threatening Social Security payments).
If, as suspected, Reid wants to reject this latest bill and pass it back to the House at the 11th hour, then the only other offer should include no exemptions for Congress, for crony corporations, for unions, for anyone. Either way, it's still up to Harry Reid whether a partial shutdown is enacted.
Related link: Limbaugh: Make The Democrats Vote To Defend Their Getting A Heath Care Subsidy
UPDATE: I guess so...
Republican Senators have just successfully helped to defeat themselves and their party...the tally for cloture has exceeded the 60 vote threshold.
Waiting to see which RINOs will throw their meaningless votes towards Cruz's way now that they've made certain Reid's secured cloture and beaten the filibuster. On with the show vote!
Feckless bunch.
Roll call to follow (this will be the list to PRIMARY!)...
UPDATE: Well, that took no time...here's the headline from C-SPAN (bolding mine):
Senate Passes CR; Strips Obamacare Defunding Provision; House to Take Up Bill Saturday
Idiot RINOs with no strategy.
UPDATE II: Here's the roll call. I'll make this simple and list the RINOs who betrayed their constituents with meaningless political games and allowed our healthcare to be destroyed:
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)*
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)*
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Chiesa (R-NJ)
Coats (R-IN)*
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Graham (R-SC)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)*
Kirk (R-IL)*
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Wicker (R-MS)
Those designated with an asterisk (*) rode in on the tea party's coattails, which makes their actions even more despicable. All the rest are entrenched mush. ALL of these TRAITORS need to be PRIMARIED and/or RECALLED ASAP! THROW THESE BUMS OUT and replace them with CONSERVATIVES! Only then will we, scratch that, only then will AMERICA stand a chance against these Democratic statists who stand to maintain control otherwise. It's up to YOU!
Last night, Mark Levin spoke to a new 'historic figure'...that is, Ted Cruz, to talk about his Senate floor speech to defund Obamacare and the reaction to it. Mark also called for an official Levin Surge to flood D.C. with calls to vote no on cloture.
H/t: DailyRushbo
Using Scott Brown's rise and fall as merely an example of the overarching problem with the Republican Party, Rush proceeded to explain during yesterday's program precisely what this schism is between the Republican establishment and the party's base, particularly in regards to the current topic of socialized medicine. This message applies to so many more that fall under the category of establishment types who've turned their backs on the conservative base...
Have you noticed that the Republican Party has a -- oh, I don't know -- call it a weapon, if you will, that it wields against its own voters. What they say to the base is, "If you guys do this, we're gonna lose in 2014," or, "We're gonna lose in 2016, if you don't help us support us or help support us on amnesty or whatever it is.
"We're gonna lose." They always put it on us, and my opinion is, we're the only reasons they win when they do. This is what they either don't appreciate or don't like or don't even understand. But the Republican establishment not liking its conservative base isn't new. They didn't appreciate or like Reagan in the eighties. Now, when he won big, you know, success has many fathers. Everybody wanted to be in that light. Everybody wanted to be in that aura.
But behind the scenes, they couldn't wait for Reagan's term to end so they could get their hands back on the levers of power. The establishment's the establishment. Conservatives are small government, limited government. The establishment's pro-big government, no matter what party. It's where the money is, it's where the power is, and they don't want any part of limiting it. They just want to trade running it with the Democrats now and then. I'm sure they understand this, but they reject it.
This is where they don't take us seriously. ...
The Republican Party base has opposed any form of socialized medicine forever, no matter whose it was, no matter what name. Whether it was Hillarycare or Obamacare, the Republican Party has always opposed it, wanted no part of it. ...
The Republican base has been united on this anti-Obamacare pedestal for five years. From the first day Obama talked about it, the Republican base has been unified. It is no more opposed to it today than it was five years ago. The Republican Party base has been full-fledged, 150% against it from the first day.
The Republican base has not changed. The Republican base is who is consistent here. The Tea Party, the Republican base, you can count on who they are and what they believe and what they support and what they oppose. They have not changed. They have been very consistent, very reliable. The Republican Party's base has been united for five years in opposition to Obamacare -- and in those five years, the Republican base elected people who promised them that they would get rid of or at least try to stop it.
They gave them their money.
They gave every elected official who promised to stop Obamacare their money.
... It was the same for any other Republican running for office who convinced the Republican base that they were as opposed to Obamacare as the people are. The people supported them with money, with time, with get-out-the-vote efforts. So it eventuates that the people who empower Republicans by electing them have taken these Republicans at their word.
They have given them money, they have supported them, they've gone out and campaigned for them, they've manned phone banks for 'em. They have voted for them. They've done everything to get them elected. And today, many of those people who were the beneficiaries of that money, the beneficiaries of all of that time and effort, have now gone soft. They are personified by John McCain, Peter King, you name it. All of the people the last five years who engendered the trust and the support of the voters, a lot of them have faded away, and it turns out that they weren't what the voters thought they were.
And so now the base, which has been consistent, which is filled with support for people who promise one thing and then follow through on it. The reason Ted Cruz is so manifestly popular right now in the Republican Party is because he is doing exactly what he was elected to do. The people in Texas who elected him see him go to Washington and do exactly what he told them he was gonna do when he asked them for their support. But not every Republican, of course, can say this anymore, and as such they have lost support.
So what has happened now is that those Republicans are turning on the base and calling them extremists or wacko birds, whatever term McCain used. And now, after all of this love and support based on trust, the Republicans continue to hold over their heads defeat if they don't change, if the base doesn't change, if the base doesn't modify, if the base doesn't moderate, if the base doesn't get less, if the base doesn't become less demanding, the Republicans are gonna lose. And, meanwhile, all these people saw most of the candidates they supported win. And now defeat is an anvil being held over their heads unless they change.
This is why, within the base and within the Republican Party there's this, whatever you want to call it, lack of trust, diminishing support, what have you. And it's why whenever anybody like a Ted Cruz or a Mike Lee stands up, they're supported. It's substantive. It's not personality. The base is not interested in personalities or pop culture. These are issue oriented people who give their money and time to people they think are like-minded. This anvil of defeat that they keep holding over the Republican base head, I think it's just the exact opposite. I don't think we win -- and history bears this out, recent history -- I don't think we win the next election if this continues.
The Republican Party cannot successfully win by moving in the direction of the Democrat Party and then demanding its voters to do the same thing. That's when voters stay home and they stop writing donation checks. Now, I really don't know if the Republican Party doesn't know this or does know it and maybe they're tired of this base, they don't like this group of people as their base. Maybe the Republican establishment does not want a base that's conservative.
Maybe they're willing to lose a couple of elections in order to come up with what they think would be a new base, you know, comprised of some African-Americans and some Hispanics and some malcontent women. I don't know what they're doing. I don't know what base they want to trade us in for, but to some people it appears that's what they want to do.
If it's the latter, I wished they'd just come out and say it; because if they're planning on losing the next few elections, that'd give conservatives plenty of time to form a new principled party.
Levin says Obama's in 'full nut-job mode' today as he criss-crosses the nation (on the taxpayers' dime) back on his perpetual, manufactured campaign across the nation, making up and outright lying about the greatness of his healthcare dictate, as well as slandering the handful of conservatives that actually care to stop Obamacare's destruction...
H/t: DailyRushbo
In the midst of efforts to defund Obamacare before it's fully implemented, with mainstream media coverage demonizing the healthcare law's opponents, while defeatist Republicans give Democrats aid and comfort by attacking the conservative warriors of their own party, we begin to see leaks springing forth from the administration's media blackout, illustrative of just how volatile the so-called Affordable Care Act is. And wouldn't you know it...it ain't affordable!
Forbes: For months now, we’ve been waiting to hear how much Obamacare will drive up the cost of health insurance for people who purchase coverage on their own. [Tuesday] night, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally began to provide some data on how Americans will fare on Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchanges. HHS’ press release is full of happy talk about how premiums will be “lower than originally expected.” But the reality is starkly different.
Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.
What? Yeah...prepare for the double down. Obamacare premiums will dramatically increase your costs! Of course, most of the media has sworn off the rate shock as myth, but obviously getting harder to hide the truth of the matter.
AP: Before tax credits that work like an up-front discount for most consumers, sticker-price premiums for a mid-range benchmark plan will average $328 a month nationally for an individual, comparable to payments for a new car.
FYI, that tax credit...yeah, that's a subsidy that will be billed to taxpayers. Oh, and don't count out co-pays and deductibles...
Politico: Consumers may have to dig a little deeper into their wallets to pay for health care in the Obamacare insurance exchanges, according to a new analysis by Avalere Health.
The study of six states suggests that consumers could face steep cost-sharing requirements — like co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles — layered on top of their monthly premiums.
The health law sets exchange enrollees’ maximum annual out-of-pocket costs at $6,350. But many people won’t get near that limit, and deductibles for typical exchange plans can run twice as high as the average employer-sponsored plan.
Uh oh...
So roll all that together, with the expected waits and deficiencies of socialized medicine, and as a previous report calculated, for a typical family of 4 (that'd be mine), your health spending will increase by about $7,450 over the next several years!
Forbes: It was one of candidate Obama’s most vivid and concrete campaign promises. Forget about high minded (some might say high sounding) but gauzy promises of hope and change. This candidate solemnly pledged on June 5, 2008: “In an Obama administration, we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year….. We’ll do it by the end of my first term as President of the United States.” Unfortunately, the experts working for Medicare’s actuary have (yet again[1]) reported that in its first 10 years, Obamacare will boost health spending by “roughly $621 billion” above the amounts Americans would have spent without this misguided law.
Between 2014 and 2022, the increase in national health spending (which the Medicare actuaries specifically attribute to the law) amounts to $7,450 per family of 4.
Yet somehow, these skyrocketing costs are supposed to be more affordable for us? That's nonsense. It needs to be defunded first, then ripped out by the roots!
Related links: Obamacare premiums expected to dramatically boost consumer costs
Obamacare's average monthly cost across U.S.: $328
ADDENDUM I: Here's a few reminders of the Great Deception...
ADDENDUM II: Rush says the media are now covering their ASSets on Obamacare...
"Folks, as I was perusing the news doing show prep today, it was really striking to note how many stories, how many articles that are out there this morning that detail all of the problems in Obamacare. It’s nothing you don’t know. You’ve heard it all. We have gone to great lengths since the beginning days of this. You know all the details. But what’s fascinating to me as I went through show prep today is how many articles are out this morning with new and troubling details about Obamacare.
That, to me, shows that the Drive-By Media now think Obamacare is totally safe from being repealed or defunded and now it’s time, for whatever journalistic reasons, to get all of the truth, the details, the news about Obamacare out there. Now, as I say, most of the news is information that the regular daily listener of this show has known about for more than three years, but the media has never reported it.
You know, all of these details, all of the waivers, all of the exemptions, all the fines. The hard numbers, all of these things have never been in the Drive-By Media, but it’s starting to show up. All of a sudden we’re now being told about it so that when people start seeing Obamacare up close and personal starting next week, the Drive-Bys can say, “Well, we reported that.” The news media are now covering their assets, if you will, and they’re doing it as late as possible."
Here's an excellent rally call from Allen West that needs to bore through the defeatist within the GOP, explaining what conservatives among the ranks know in their heart of hearts, what we believe, that even when the odds are stacked against us, we can still win. And it's proven time and time again throughout the history of mankind...
In the battle of Termopylae, Leonidis stood for what was right. He fought against Persian tyranny, against Xerxes; and though he did not win the battle, it was the tide-turning moment that lead to the Greeks' overall victory. As Ted Cruz stands in protest, and House members vote to defund Obamacare--should we give up the battle because it is very unlikely we will win it? Or should we stand firm for what's right; and can that stand have positive consequences elsewhere? Listen to Allen West's weekly commentary to find out.
H/t: theRightScoop
Related link: Allen West: If Rubio Runs For President “Of Course” I Would Run For Senate
Once again, McCain makes a complete ass of himself, his constituency and the party he claims to represent...
Freedom'sLighthouse: This is as low as it gets in politics. Sen. John McCain literally offering himself to become the mouthpiece of the Democratic attack machine against Sen. Ted Cruz. Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer even gleefully was the one to yield time to McCain so he could get up and make his attack today after Sen. Ted Cruz concluded his 21 hour, 19 minute filibuster against ObamaCare.
What came out of McCain’s mouth were pure Democratic talking points. He lauded Democrats for the way they conducted the original process that passed ObamaCare into law (which was partisan and used Reconciliation to pass the bill). He trotted out the “Elections have Consequences” line, as if Republicans now have an obligation to lay down and cede the field to Obama to do as he pleases.
John McCain embarrassed himself today, and doesn’t have the sense to even know it. The Democrats have him at their disposal to trot out and say whatever they want said. It’s a pathetic and sad spectacle. McCain is clearly jealous of Ted Cruz, and is out to ruin him. But McCain better know it won’t be Ted Cruz that Republicans reject going forward. It will be those like him who willfully side with the Democrats who are pushing policies that are destroying this nation.
Maverick? It's more blatantly apparent now than ever (if that's even possible) that McCain is a collaborator.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...what a disgrace, Arizona.
Related link: John McCain PRAISES how Democrats passed Obamacare, says ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES…
ADDENDUM: Mark Levin went on the air tonight SLAMMING John McRINO as a ‘useful idiot for the Democrats’...
theRightScoop: Mark Levin hammered John McCain for being unwilling to engage Ted Cruz while he was on the floor for 21 hours, only to wait for him to finish to attack Cruz. Levin called McCain a ‘complete useful idiot for the Democrats’ and said he’s a pathetic Senator.
Listen here.
Related link: RUSH: The Unbridled Hate For Ted Cruz Is Striking
Following Ted Cruz's epic 21 hour filibuster on the Senate floor, he joined Rush to continue advancing the cause on the EIB network, discussing the defund effort as well as the 'defeatist attitude' within the GOP. Rush also emphasized how Cruz is 'fighting for the soul of his party.'
