Tag: politics

Should Republicans again demand that the Obamacare individual mandate be delayed?

10:49 am

Should Republicans again demand that the Obamacare individual mandate be delayed?

I say, no. I say the Republicans should demand that Obamacare be repealed. Agreeing to delay the mandate only acts to cement other parts of the law into place, which is bad as there is literally nothing about this law that is good, for the country or for health care.

Moreover, agreeing to delay parts of Obamacare will then make the Republicans part of the problem. Better to force the Democrats to vote against repeal, even as the law unravels. The result in November can only be good, as this vote will provide conservatives with more ammunition during the election campaign.

Finally, by putting repeal up to a vote we might even be surprised and get enough votes to repeal. Obama would then veto that repeal, but the vote would set the precedent for further repeal votes down the line, when Obama is gone.

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The first theorem of government: Government is a racket that benefits the political elite by taking money from everyone else.

9:40 am

The first theorem of government: Government is a racket that benefits the political elite by taking money from everyone else.

He has the data. Look especially at his first graph. And he correctly notes that this has been a bi-partisan effort.

The solution? Vote these bums out of office, repeatedly and often, so that no one has a motive to concentrate power and money in Washington.

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The sticker shock of Obamacare only begins when you pick your plan.

9:45 am

The sticker shock of Obamacare only begins when you pick your plan.

As a key enrollment deadline hits Monday, many people without health insurance have been sizing up policies on the new government health care marketplace and making what seems like a logical choice: They’re picking the cheapest one.

Increasingly, experts in health insurance are becoming concerned that many of these first-time buyers will be in for a shock when they get medical care next year and discover they’re on the hook for most of the initial cost.

In other words, the high premiums don’t cover most initial bills. You will have to pay the cost of most of your medical bills yourself.

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“An apparent double standard in President Barack Obama’s unprecedented crackdown on unauthorized leaks.”

12:45 pm

“An apparent double standard in President Barack Obama’s unprecedented crackdown on unauthorized leaks.”

Disclosures by lower-level officials have been vigorously pursued. For example, seven Navy SEALs were reprimanded for disclosing classified material to the makers of a military video game. Moreover, the administration has prosecuted a record number of intelligence community personnel for leaking.

Rarely, however, has the administration taken criminal action against senior officials for leaking.

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Scientists admit that second-hand smoke causes zero cancer deaths.

9:51 am

Scientists admit that second-hand smoke causes zero cancer deaths.

The article notes that this fact has been known for years.

Jyoti Patel, MD, of Northwestern University School of Medicine said the findings were not new. … “Passive smoking has many downstream health effects—asthma, upper respiratory infections, other pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular disease—but only borderline increased risk of lung cancer,” said Patel. “The strongest reason to avoid passive cigarette smoke is to change societal behavior: to not live in a society where smoking is a norm.”

In other words, the power hungry who have been imposing these regulations on us have been lying about why they want to do it. They aren’t protecting anyone, they are simply trying to impose their will. And succeeding.

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Advice for Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty.

10:23 pm

I posted this Andrew Klavan commentary back in January 2011, shortly after the Tucson shooting when the left was accusing the right of causing the shooting because of the so-called “incivility” of their speech. It was all lies, merely intended to stifle the speech of anyone who dissented from liberal orthodoxy.

I think it bears viewing again, as it provides good advice and council to Phil Robertson and the entire Duck Dynasty family. It also once again outlines quite starkly how oppressive and fascist the American left has become.

As Klavan concludes, “Whatever you do, don’t shut up.”

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The Obama administration has announced another eleventh-hour exemption to Obamacare.

9:35 pm

Chaos: The Obama administration has announced another exemption to Obamacare.

The Obama administration, in an 11th-hour change just before the holiday break, announced a major exemption in ObamaCare that will let people who lost coverage and are struggling to get a new plan sign up for bare-bones policies. The move Thursday to allow potentially hundreds of thousands of people to sign up for “catastrophic” coverage plans was blasted by the insurance industry as a shift that would cause “tremendous instability.”

I thought these “bare-bone” policies were “garbage plans” that only a few weeks ago Democrats were telling us we should be happy were cancelled.

It also appears from the above article as well as other sources that the insurance companies are very hostile to this announcement. (Read the second link especially. It outlines the many problems this new ad-hoc exemption causes.)

In a word, this law doesn’t work, it never has, and it should be repealed now.

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The Obamacare state exchanges are losing their directors.

11:35 am

The Obamacare state exchanges are losing their directors.

So far, 25 percent of officials in charge of the 14 state-run exchanges, plus Washington D.C., have been replaced, according to Forbes, which compares the turnover rate to professional sports coaching rosters. “More are sure to come as enrollment performance remains poor,” according to Forbes. New Mexico, Massachusetts, Idaho, Washington DC, Nevada and Colorado are posting dismal enrollment numbers, all less than 10 percent of what was expected, the magazine noted.

Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that Obamacare is a turkey that no one wants to buy?

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Cuba is lifting the limit on the number of people allowed to buy a car.

9:45 am

Freedom in the socialist paradise: Cuba is lifting the limit on the number of people allowed to buy a car.

The government has a monopoly on the sale of imported new and used vehicles, and has required any potential buyer to obtain a special card from the Transport Ministry authorizing the purchase of a car. The cards took months or years to obtain, creating a black market in cards in which holders would often sell them for more than the price of the car itself.

Don’t count your blessings, however. The change is only in place “of new regulations, which would be made public in coming days.”

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The real legal issues surrounding the right to openly carry your pistol.

9:41 am

The real legal issues surrounding the right to openly carry your pistol.

Cooke carefully tears apart the typical but nonsensical arguments of the left against open carry, but then discusses intelligently the problems. As he notes, “The open-carry question is a more complex one than some of its advocates like to admit.”

If only the conversation focused on these issues instead of the absurd fear-mongering of the left.

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77% of the uninsured don’t want Obamacare.

9:33 am

But we’re here to help you! 77% of the uninsured — the very people Obama and the Democrats claimed they were trying to get insured — don’t want Obamacare.

Repeal is still the number one favored option of voters:

A majority said they would vote to have the new healthcare law repealed, if they were able, and they wish it had never passed and the old system was still in place, according to the poll taken Dec. 14-16 of 1,027 registered voters across the country.

The Fox News poll was one of two polls published Wednesday that showed the growing unpopularity of the law. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll also showed that a majority disapprove of the new health care law, even the uninsured, who are supposed to benefit from the law.

Obviously all these people are wrong! Obamacare is “the law of the land”, as the Democrats were so fond of telling us in October as they shut the government down to protect it.

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A judge has blasted the Obama administration for attempting to keep non-classified materials secret and ordered their release.

9:49 am

A judge has blasted the Obama administration for attempting to keep non-classified materials secret and ordered their release.

From the judge:

The government appears to adopt the cavalier attitude that the President should be permitted to convey orders throughout the Executive Branch without public oversight, to engage in what is in effect governance by ‘secret law.’

This is the second legal ruling this week that has ripped the Obama administration for its illegal willingness to abuse the law.

But hey, why is anyone objecting? Barbara Walters thought Obama would be the next messiah, so anything he wants to do should be okay with us!

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The media’s ten worst predictions for 2013.

9:04 am

The media’s ten worst predictions for 2013.

Most of these predictions involved major issues — Obamacare, climate change, the federal budget. In every case, the media either was either starkly wrong, badly misinformed about stuff they should be experts at, or participated in political lies to prop up their partners on the left. Thus, this list of news sources is a good guide for the news sources no one should rely on for information.

Not surprisingly, the list includes bad reporting from the news divisions of NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Interestingly, the one media cable news outlet not mentioned at all in this list is Fox. It appears that this news outlet avoided making any of these foolish predictions, and thus avoided looking like a fool.

Update: Just to confirm the above conclusions: CNN’s top five credibility catastrophes in 2013.

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Thirteen insane projects funded by our federal government.

9:49 am

Thirteen insane projects funded by our federal government.

I especially like #5: “NASA spends $3 million looking for signs of intelligent life…in Congress.”

These idiotic programs, which certainly only scratch the surface of the wasteful and corrupt spending in Washington, prove once again that the most recent budget deal is a fraud, that there is no reason to support any increase in federal spending, that we probably could cut the budget in half and not notice anything.

Sadly, that budget deal appears about to pass the Senate.

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The Obamacare contraceptive mandate is struck down again, and here are six reasons why.

9:34 am

The Obamacare contraceptive mandate is struck down again, and here are six reasons why.

At the heart of this mandate is the amazing contempt the Obama administration and the left has for religious belief:

In an astonishing display of anti-religious sentiment, the administration argued that forcing religious organizations to designate a third party to provide contraception coverage to their employees isn’t a big deal (legally: de minimis) because it’s “just a form” to fill out, “a purely administrative task.” The district court rightly found that whether a violation of religious freedom is small or large isn’t for the courts to decide. It would be too easy to simply sweep away deeply-held religious beliefs under the claim that government action is merely “de minimis” infringement of rights.

I am not religious, but I will defend to the death the right of a religious person to practice their religion freely, even when we disagree, as long as they don’t act to limit me in my beliefs. Apparently, Obama believes it is okay to trample on those beliefs if they happen to contradict things he believes in.

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A campaign ad that says it bluntly: “You lied.”

12:09 pm

A campaign ad that says it bluntly: “You lied.”

It is… remarkable, the way that the Democrats were so bald-faced in that lie. It’s like they thought that the rules simply didn’t apply to them, or something. Apparently, the plan was to simply bull on through and expect nobody to call them on the fact that their entire policy position was based on things that everybody knew just weren’t so.

The Democrats must be called on these lies, strongly and often.

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Paul Ryan says House Republicans are going to demand something in exchange for raising the debt ceiling again in February.

9:07 am

We shall see: Paul Ryan says House Republicans are going to demand something in exchange for raising the debt ceiling again in February.

Though I’m glad he’s saying this, forgive me if I am skeptical. The Republican leadership in the House has proven itself weak and willing to back down all too often. For example, they have allowed the lie that they alone caused the government shutdown to become accepted as truth, merely by acting as if it were true. The result: they were unwilling to demand any concessions in the just completed budget negotiations, even though they had a strong hand and could have easily obtained concessions, especially on Obamacare.

Then there’s this: Ten quotes that explain why conservatives do not trust the Republican Party.

His conclusion is most pertinent:

Incidentally, the solution to all of this is not to leave the Republican Party. To the contrary, it’s to treat the Republican Party like a puppy that’s having difficulty with house training. When Republicans do the right thing, praise them, support them and do what you can to help them out. When they do the wrong thing, rub their noses in it. Attack Republicans who betray their principles relentlessly, primary them at every opportunity and take over the Republican Party so we can shove the politicians who won’t listen to us to the side. While we will never be able to build an entire party full of men like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, we can make it miserable enough for bad actors that the go-along-to-get-along Republicans will conclude it’s better to work with us than face primaries and incessant attacks from their own side in the new media. Most people don’t realize it, but we have already started moving the Republican Party to the Right and the time will come when Republicans are just as afraid of their base as Democrats are of Planned Parenthood and the unions. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if we keep going after Republicans who sell us out, even the ones that are as hostile as John McCain, Peter King and Lindsey Graham will eventually have to get on board if they want to keep their jobs.

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Leftwing news photographer reveals he is no news photographer, ashamed he broke a big story revealing the ugly side of his hero Obama.

8:54 am

Leftwing news photographer reveals he is no news photographer, ashamed he broke a big story revealing the ugly side of his hero Obama.

This would be funny if it wasn’t so pitiful. Your job is to cover the news, to tell the public the real reality behind the propaganda politicians pump out, no matter what political party those politicians belong to. Instead, this guy wants everyone to look the other way in order to protect his political heroes on the left.

In other words, he ain’t a reporter, he’s a leftwing Democratic Party propagandist, disguised as reporter. Sadly, that description applies to almost all reporters today.

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As deadlines loom and the problems with the Obamacare website continue, the Obama administration has issued a number of illegal extensions to the law.

9:50 am

The law is such an inconvenient thing: As deadlines loom and the problems with the Obamacare website continue, the Obama administration has issued a number of illegal extensions to the law.

I hate the law, as any reader of this website knows. However, the law is the law. Obama and his bureaucratic minions don’t have the legal right to rewrite it at their pleasure, just because it doesn’t work. And they are discovering this, as increasingly insurance companies and state insurance boards are telling them that their so-called changes are invalid and cannot be obeyed.

It appears a growing number of Congressmen also agree: A resolution in the House demands Obama be brought to court for not faithfully executing the law.

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A survey of 400 chief financial officers finds that nearly half plan to cut back on employment because of Obamacare.

11:00 pm

A survey of 400 chief financial officers finds that nearly half plan to cut back on employment because of Obamacare.

And there’s also this:

Besides altering the makeup of their workforces, companies said they also plan to change the health benefit packages offered to employees. “Two-thirds of companies will change health benefits in response to ACA,” reads the Fuqua/CFO Magazine report summary. Forty-four percent of CFOs said they are considering reducing health benefits for employees. Thirty-eight percent said that employees and retirees may be forced to contribute more to their health plans.

“The inadequacies of the ACA website have grabbed a lot of attention, even though many of those issues have been or can be fixed,” said John Graham, Duke Fuqua School of Business finance professor and director of the survey, in a press release. “Our survey points to a more detrimental and potentially long-lasting problem. An unintended consequence of the Affordable Care Act will be a reduction in full-time employment growth in the United States,” the study says. [emphasis mine]

So, tell me again why the Republicans in Congress should not challenge the Democrats over Obamacare?

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It is time to start applying the Broken Windows Theory to liberal intolerance.

8:45 pm

Right on! It is time to start applying the Broken Windows Theory to liberal intolerance.

Compare the rude, vicious terms from Obama and his spokespeople, and Senior Democrats such as Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Nancy Pelosi and others, with the gentlemanly behavior of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. There is plenty of push back and name-calling on both sides at lower levels and on the blogosphere, but it’s qualitatively different when it comes from The White House and the Democratic Party House and Senate leadership. When the leadership of the Republican Party does not push back against the leadership of the Democratic Party for the name-calling and taunts, it’s an invitation to more attacks, and it sets a national tone.

We’ve become punching bags. At dinner and at the highest political levels.

We need to do what Rudy Giuliani did to graffiti artists and squeegee guys, apply broken windows theory. “Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.”

In other words, push back hard every time a liberal spits out an insult or rude comment about conservatives. Don’t back down. Don’t let them get away with it easily.

Well, I agree, but be forewarned. Liberals are all self-righteous about you being polite, but never think such rules should apply to them. (Which isn’t surprising considering how much they like to tell others what do to.) You will lose friends, as I have. I don’t think any of those lost friendships was ever much of a loss, but you should be forewarned.

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