Finding out what’s in it: The total benefits paid by private companies declined outright in the first quarter of 2013 as employers prepare for the onset of Obamacare.
Is there nothing global warming can’t do? A dozen Democrats are calling for action on global warming because it might cause women to become hookers.
I shouldn’t be surprised by this idiocy. These are the same politicians that voted for Obamacare without even reading the bill.
Idiot: Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Wednesday he fears a “train wreck” as the Obama administration implements Obamacare.
Baucus was one of the key architects of Obamacare and voted for it, along with every other Democrat in Congress. That he is only now discovering what a bad law it is is just further proof that he should fired.
The real question is whether the voters will fire him. After the last election I have my doubts.
The competition heats up: Because its FAA test flight permit will expire on May 23, SpaceShipTwo’s first powered flight has to occur by then and be supersonic.
What is unclear to me is how the expiration of this permit could affect future flights. Does Virgin Galactic have to get a new permit to continue test flights? What about the tourist flights that are supposed to follow?
Finding out what’s in it: The nation’s largest movie chain is turning its employees into part-time workers to avoid the cost of Obamacare.
Are your indoor tomato plants probable cause for an armed raid?
Yes, if it was up to most police departments and governments today.
Pushback: To show support for the New Jersey family that had been threatened by the government for posting a picture of their son holding a rifle, hundreds of parents post pictures of their own gun-toting kids.
Note also that if you look at the posed pictures, none of the kids have their hands on the trigger. Unlike Michael Bloomberg’s actor in his anti-gun ads, these kids have been taught the safe way to handle a gun.
Today’s modern politician: “I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom.”
Prepare for a fascist future, as it appears that this kind of politician is popular with far too many of the American people.
The top ten horror stories caused by Obamacare.
I’ve posted many of these stories already, but seeing them all together is somewhat sobering.
Obamacare may cost small business as much as 65% of their profits.
At these levels, the question that will soon occur to the business owner is “Why am I bothering?” If he can shrink his business to less than 50 employees and avoid the Obamacare costs, he will.
And in related news: Health insurers are privately warning brokers that premiums may double next year for many individuals and small businesses due to Obamacare.
A congressional report, issued by Republicans in the House and Senate, says that Obamacare will increase healthcare costs by 200 percent.
Though the report is partisan, it is worth reading because of the depth of the analysis as well as the range of its historical research. For example:
The report notes that a number of states have already imposed requirements on health coverage and the result has been fewer choices and higher premiums. In New York, for example, a 30-year-old male paid an average of $1,200 a year in annual premiums in 1993, but one month after the state passed Obamacare-like reforms, premiums soared to $3,240. At the time Washington state passed similar reforms, 19 insurance carriers wrote policies for state residents. Within six years, only two carriers remained in the state.
I was living in New York when the state legislature passed this early version of Obamacare and can attest to truth of the above facts. Costs doubled and insurance companies fled the state, reducing competition. I even wrote about an article about it. The evidence from these state efforts illustrates the likelihood that Obamacare will do the same, nationwide.
Free speech according to Democrats: The Democrat mayor of Philadelphia has demanded an investigation against a local magazine because he doesn’t like what they published.
I ask the Commission consider specifically where Philadelphia Magazine and the writer, Bob Huber, are appropriate for rebuke by the Commission in light of the potentially inflammatory effect and reckless endangerment to Philadelphia’s race relations probably caused by the essay’s unsubstantiated charges. While I fully recognize that constitutional protections afforded the press are intended to protect the media from censorship by the government, the First Amendment, like other constitutional rights, is not an unfettered right, and notwithstanding the First Amendment, a publisher has a duty to the public to exercise its role in a responsible way. I ask the Commission to evaluate whether the “speech” employed in this essay is not the reckless equivalent of “shouting ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater,” its prejudiced, fact-challenged generalizations an incitement to extreme reaction. [emphasis mine]
Under this Democratic mayor’s standards, anything that offended anyone could be banned. In fact, it would destroy all free speech. All any bully would need to do to silence his critics would be to complain about the inflammatory nature of their statements.
You can read his entire letter here. [pdf]
According to a federal report, businesses nationwide remain reluctant to hire because of Obamacare.
Earlier this month, the Fed released its latest “beige book” – a monthly report on economic conditions across the country. The book noted that employers across the country have “cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff.”
And it is only going to get worse. Read the whole article. The new taxes imposed by Obamacare are going to crush the healthcare industry.
Sooner or later progressives will get around to you.
You can call them liberals, leftists, socialists, communists, do-gooders, busy-bodies, or fascists, but no matter what, the bottom line is that they want to use the power of government to tell you how to live your life, even if it makes life not worth living.
The top ten organizations slashing jobs and hours in order to deal with Obamacare.
And we’ve only just begun!
Physicians fight back against Obamacare.
Dr. Ryan Neuhofel, 31, offers a rare glimpse at what it would be like to go to the doctor without massive government interference in health care. Dr. Neuhofel, based in the college town of Lawrence, Kansas, charges for his services according to an online price list that’s as straightforward as a restaurant menu. A drained abscess runs $30, a pap smear, $40, a 30-minute house call, $100. Strep cultures, glucose tolerance tests, and pregnancy tests are on the house. Neuhofel doesn’t accept insurance. He even barters on occasion with cash-strapped locals. One patient pays with fresh eggs and another with homemade cheese and goat’s milk. “Direct primary care,” which is the industry term for Neuhofel’s business model, does away with the bureaucratic hassle of insurance, which translates into much lower prices. “What people don’t realize is that most doctors employ an army of people for coding, billing, and gathering payment,” says Neuhofel. “That means you have to charge $200 to remove an ingrown toenail.” Neuhofel charges $50.
Neuhofel is not alone in this. The article describes other doctors who have done the same. As the bureaucratic mess from Obamacare expands and becomes increasingly impossible for anyone to handle, we are going to see this happen more and more.
Finding out what’s in it: New Obamacare regulations produce a stack of regulations seven feet high.
And then there’s this: The burger chain Five Guys plans to raise the price of burgers and hot dogs in order to pay for Obamacare.
Worse than Pop-tarts! A Philadelphia girl was searched and ridiculed for having a gun made of paper at school.
From a former TSA screener: “A lot of what we do is make believe.”
Read the whole thing. It will give you a touch of reality. Everything the TSA does is an abomination to freedom and common sense.
Surprise, surprise! The Federal Reserve reports that Obamacare is causing layoffs and a slowdown in hiring.
This is wrong too: Some US communities are trying to make gun ownership mandatory.
As much as I think gun ownership and personal defense a good idea, forcing people to do it is just as bad as denying them that right. In each case it is an act of tyranny, using the power of government to impose the will of the majority on everyone, even those who disagree. Nor does it satisfy that some of these local laws allow for an exemption from gun ownership because of religious or personal beliefs. The use of the law to force people to do things is still wrong, no matter what the cause.
The frightening thing to me is the trend. Everyone, from both sides, seems eager to use the law to solve every problem, when the law is probably the worse tool for solving any problem you could possibly imagine. All it ends up doing is robbing everyone of freedom and their fundamental rights to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA issued security badges to at least eleven airport employees with criminal backgrounds.
According to a Feb. 22 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the TSA’s mishandling of the program caused a backlog of security badges that had yet to be issued. As a result, the TSA permitted airports to issue security badges to employees without conducting federally required background checks between April 20 and June 1 of 2012. The OIG concluded that there still may be individuals with criminal records who are working in secured areas of airports.
Good news: A federal appeals court has ruled that the Obama administration does not have the right to search or seize a person’s electronic devices when they cross the border.
The [Department of Homeland Security’s] civil rights watchdog, for example, last month reaffirmed the Obama administration’s position that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security.
The San Francisco-based appeals court, ruling 8-3, said that view was too extreme. Under the ruling, border agents may undertake a search of a gadget’s content on a whim, just like they could with a suitcase or a vehicle. However, a deeper forensic analysis using software to decrypt password protected files or to locate deleted files now requires “reasonable suspicion” that criminal activity is afoot. The court left rules intact that a “manual review of files on an electronic device” may be undertaken without justification. [emphasis mine]
Why is it that I sometimes get the feeling that this administration does not know how to read? They certainly seem all too often completely unfamiliar with the Constitution.
Finding out what’s in it: The CEO of a major health insurance company warned that rates will likely go up 20% to 100% next year because of Obamacare.
Someone’s lying: One week before the sequester cuts took effect, the TSA issued a $50 million contract for new uniforms.
I find these quotes from the article most interesting:
The TSA employs 50,000 security officers, inspectors, air marshals and managers. That means that the uniform contract will pay the equivalent of $1,000 per TSA employee over the course of the year.
…
The TSA provides uniforms to new employees, but requires its employees to buy their own replacements. “You will be measured for your new uniforms at your first orientation session,” the fact sheet says. “TSA will provide your initial uniform issue consisting of 3 long sleeve shirts, 3 short sleeve shirts, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 ties, and one belt, sweater, socks, and jacket.”
$1,000 per uniform? And only for first time employees? At a time Janet Napolitano is claiming they will be forced to lay off workers because of sequestration? As I said, someone is lying. Or they are so incompetent words fail me.
Another chance at killing Obamacare in the Supreme Court?
Pushback: A major manufacturer of gun magazines says it will leave Colorado if the state legislature passes a law banning high capacity magazines.
This same stupid law, pushed by the Democrats, would also outlaw the most popular form of shotgun used by hunters. I wonder what those citizens might say about it.
The censoring of Google maps, by Google and governments.
This is a complex issue, described in great detail by the article. Very much worth reading.
