Tag: policy

Hobby Lobby appears willing to face fines rather than bow to the Obamacare contraceptive mandate.

11:12 pm

Hobby Lobby has decided to face millions in fines rather than bow to the Obamacare contraceptive mandate.

They will continue to provide their employees healthcare, but will refuse to include any payments for contraceptives as now required by Obamacare. For standing by their beliefs and doing this, it is very possible this company could end up going bankrupt, thereby putting 13,000 employees out of work. Not only will they lose the healthcare plans that Obama promised they could keep, they won’t even have jobs!

Thank you Obama for giving us Obamacare. And thank you the American voters who have decided to allow this disaster of a law to go forward. Sadly, the worst is yet to come.

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Not only have the models failed to predict temperature, they also have failed to predict the amount of methane in the atmosphere.

3:05 pm

Another IPCC failure, revealed in the leaked report: Not only have the models failed to predict global temperature, they also have failed to predict the amount of methane in the atmosphere.

The graph at the link is just like the temperature graph I posted on Monday. It compares actual observations with the predictions of the computer models, which all called for a hefty rise in atmospheric methane. All the models got it wrong.

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Democratic senators (who voted for it) have joined Republicans to call for the delay or cancellation of an Obamacare tax on medical equipment.

10:16 am

Finding out what’s in it: Democratic senators (who voted for it) have joined Republicans to call for the delay or cancellation of an Obamacare tax on medical equipment.

Maybe if these idiots had read the damn bill before they passed it we wouldn’t have this problem. But then again, this is the quality of senators the American people want in charge of our country. I read this and weep.

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Photo Op meets red tape. Red tape wins.

6:06 pm

Photo Op meets red tape. Red tape wins.

I find quite disturbing how people still have faith in the empty promises made by politicians at a disaster scene. The politician is there for only one reason: to look good for the cameras. Rarely if ever does that appearance mean a damn thing. If anything, it will only hinder relief efforts, as local authorities have to scramble to deal with the politician’s entourage rather than deal with disaster victims and their problems.

I actually have far more respect for politicians who stay away during these times of crisis, rare as they are. They show common sense and good judgment.

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Why state regulation is better than federal regulation

11:09 am

In response to my condemnation of the insane requirement by Obamacare that restaurants and take-out pizza delivery services publicly post on their menus the calorie count for every item, including a calorie count for each of the literally thousands of topping variations for pizzas, regular reader Patrick Ritchie asked me, “What level of super market labeling would you support?”

I replied, “I think the federal government has no business requiring any labeling at all. This is a state matter, pure and simple, both for practical and Constitutional reasons.”

He responded, “Which practical reasons? I’m genuinely curious. What makes a state regulation inherently better than a federal one?”

My response to this last question was quite long, and after reading it Patrick suggested I elevate the comment into a full headlined post. I have decided to do so. Here is what I wrote, edited slightly for clarity:
» Read more

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The requirement in Obamacare that restaurants list calories on their menus will cost billions.

11:29 am

Finding out what’s in it: The requirement in Obamacare that restaurants list calories on their menus will cost billions.

President Obama’s own Office of Management and Budget listed the menu display imposition as the third most burdensome statutory requirement enacted that year, forcing retail outlets to expend 14,536,183 work hours every year just to keep Uncle Sam happy. Instead of applying the menu rule just to restaurants, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided on its own initiative to sweep certain convenience stores and pizza delivery storefronts under the calorie-count requirements. FDA bureaucrats are even micromanaging compliance, down to determining the sizes of fonts that can be used on menu signs.

This regulation does nothing to lower the cost of healthcare, and in fact increases costs in more ways than can be counted. Moreover, it is less than useless in improving the public’s health.

However, it does do a lot for federal bureaucrats, giving them more power over businesses and our lives. Hooray!

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When you go for your annual physical — free under Obamace — the doctor cannot treat you for, or even answer questions about, any new ailments.

6:29 pm

Finding out what’s in it: When you go for your annual physical — free under Obamace — the doctor cannot treat you for, or even answer questions about, any new ailments.

We are obligated by law to code specifically for the reason of the visit. An annual exam is one specific code; you can not mix this with another code, say, for rectal bleeding. This annual visit covers the exam and “discussion about the status of previously diagnosed stable conditions.” That’s the exact wording under that code — insurance will not cover any new ailment under that code. If you are here for that annual exam, you will not be covered if you want to discuss any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to another code — that’s illegal. We, the physicians, are audited all the time and can lose our license for insurance fraud.

You, the patient, will then have to make a decision. Do you want your “free” yearly exam, or do you want to pay for a visit which is coded for a particular, new problem? You can have my “free” exam if you only discuss what Obamacare wants me to discuss.

In other words, this so-called “free annual physical” is a fraud. In fact, in order for it to be free, both the doctor and the patient have to purposely ignore any new problems that might have come up since the last physical. Or the doctor has to cheat and do work for which he will not be paid.

None of this should be surprising. You allow the government to stick its hands into everything you do, those hands are going to go places you never expected or would have permitted. Just ask anyone who has had to go through airport security.

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A Pennsylvania college has cut the work hours of all instructors to avoid the costs of Obamacare.

8:03 pm

It ain’t just restaurants: A Pennsylvania college has cut the work hours of all instructors to avoid the costs of Obamacare.

And we’ve only just begun. Under Obamacare the costs for employing anyone full time will be so high that soon most companies will realize they have no choice but to make as many of their staff part-timers as possible.

However, it is this quote, from one of the instructors who almost certainly voted for Obama, that makes me want to scream.

It’s kind of a double whammy for us because we are facing a legal requirement [under the new law] to get health care and if the college is reducing our hours, we don’t have the money to pay for it.

You’re a damn college professor and you didn’t have the brains to figure this out before the election?

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“Long-term budget pressures on NASA mount.”

12:07 pm

Why SLS will surely die: “Long-term budget pressures on NASA mount.”

Whether the cheaper, more efficient, and competitive commercial space program will survive remains unknown. It could be that our brilliant Congress, which wants SLS, will keep that very expensive program alive just long enough to choke the life out of the commercial space program. Then, with the government part of private space dead from lack of support, they will suddenly be faced with the gigantic bill from the NASA-built SLS and will, as they have done repeatedly during the past four decades, blanch at paying the actually construction and launch costs, and will kill that too.

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California now has the highest poverty rate in the nation.

9:12 am

Success! California now has the highest poverty rate in the nation.

California’s state legislature and governorship have both been held by the Democrats for years. Both have repeatedly raised taxes. Both have repeatedly failed to balance the state’s budget. And both have been and continue to be eager to increase government regulation on the state’s citizenry. What could go wrong?

Update: In related news, Los Angeles’ film and television industry has lost 16,100 jobs in past seven years, mostly due to businesses leaving the state.

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Obamacare is still vulnerable.

11:19 pm

Amen! Obamacare is still vulnerable.

One way or the other, this monstrosity is going to crash. Better that we keep fighting to kill it now rather then wait for it to do endless harm and then fail. And since a majority of state governors are Republican, they shouldn’t back down but keep up the fight. Moreover, despite Romney’s loss the election was still close and Obamacare remains deeply unpopular. There is plenty of support for killing it. The Republicans should not back down.

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