Al Franken: 'We Have to Consider Extending the Deadline for the Mandate'

Unless HealthCare.gov meets its deadline at the end of November, Senator Al Franken (D., Minn.) wants lawmakers to consider pushing back the enrollment date. He could join six Democratic senators who are already supporting a bill that would extend the enrollment period by two months from its original date of March 31, 2014.

“I think then we have to consider extending the deadline for the mandate [in the event that the website is not fixed in time], but let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” he told MinnPost.

Some experts have doubted that the White House will be able to meet the November 30 deadline for HealthCare.gov, pointing to the website’s vast array of problems. Last week, the administration stated that its goal is for 80 percent of users to be able to enroll on the federal marketplace.

As for President Obama’s recent “fix” that would allow people with canceled plans to potentially renew them, Franken said he’s “making sure that [people who have lost their plans] can find the absolute best policy” on the state’s exchange marketplace. Earlier this week, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton announced that the state would not accept the president’s “fix.”

Franken is up for reelection in 2014 and, while he is currently generally considered to be able to hold the seat, Republicans are hoping to make the race more competitive in light of the political fallout over the health-care law.

Via: NRO

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My Obamacare Cancellation - "Seething at a President I helped elect."

We received the letter in the mail a couple months ago. The good people at Regence Bluecross Blueshield were pleased to inform us that due to Obamacare our current low-monthly premium, comically-high deductible medical policy would no longer exist come January 1, 2014. Pleased, because a new and better plan would be offered in its place. Old monthly premium: $578 for a family of four (non-smoking, helmet-wearing, and paternally snipped). New premium: $1,123. A 94% increase.

Once the sound of boiling blood dissipated, in my head I heard my Republican friends chuckling at the sight of a liberal Democrat hoisted ten stories high on his own petard. How’s the view up there, Obamacare Ollie? 

For the past 15 years my wife and I have made our living as freelance writers. (To young readers, I say: Do not do this. Your bliss is marvelous, but its following will need to be supported by a banker, plumber, union machinist or tenured faculty member.) As such, our health insurance is our own concern. Over the years we’ve held on to our coverage by letting our co-pay and deductible rise and our covered procedures fall. You may be aware that the three-tiered state exchange policies are labeled Gold, Silver, and Bronze, reflecting their price and level of coverage. If our policy still existed it would fall into the column of Wood. 

But Wood we had—and Wood we liked. 

No more. O.K., into the state exchange we go. I voted for it. Fair enough.

Via: New York Observer

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Charlie Crist Flip Flops…Yet Again

In An Interview Monday With MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, Republican-Turned-Independent-Turned-Democrat Charlie Crist Said He Would Raise Taxes As Governor. SCHULTZ: “What would you do with Florida’s finances, and what would you expect, would you expect more out of the wealthiest residents? CRIST: Well I think we all have to expect more out of each other. I don’t like to raise taxes. I don’t know that anybody really enjoys the idea of doing that. I did it as Governor, though. SCHULTZ: Would you do it again? CRIST: If necessary, I would.” (MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” 11/18/13)

• Crist Noted That He’d Raised Taxes During His Term As Governor. CRIST: “I don’t like to raise taxes. I don’t know that anybody really enjoys the idea of doing that. I did it as Governor, though.” ( MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” 11/18/13)

WHEN HE STILL CALLED HIMSELF A REPUBLICAN, CRIST INSISTED THAT HE HADN’T RAISED TAXES AS GOVERNOR, JUST “FEES”

In A Primary Debate During His 2010 Senate Race, Crist Vehemently Denied Having Raised Taxes In Florida’s 2009 Budget. WALLACE: “Let me ask you, Governor Crist, about your record, though. When you were running for governor four years ago, you made a flat, George H. W. Bush pledge: you will not raise taxes as long as you’re governor. Last year you signed a $66 billion state budget that had a $2.2 billion increase in taxes, new taxes and fees. Didn’t you break your promise to Florida voters? CRIST: No, I don’t think I did, and I’ll tell you why. The only part of it that was a tax — and it’s loosely defined as a tax — was on cigarettes. And I would argue that that’s a user fee. If you don’t use them, you don’t pay it.” (Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

• Crist: “The Only Part Of It That Was A Tax — And It’s Loosely Defined As A Tax — Was On Cigarettes. And I Would Argue That That’s A User Fee. If You Don’t Use Them, You Don’t Pay It.” (Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

When Asked About The Higher Fees He Had Approved On Drivers’ Licenses, Motor Vehicle Registration And Motor Vehicle Tags, Crist Again Insisted They Were Fee Increases, Not Tax Increases. WALLACE: “I’m going to get to Mr. Rubio in a minute. But you also signed into law higher fees on drivers’ licenses and on motor vehicle registration, motor vehicle tags. You said these aren’t broad-based taxes. Governor, 16 million people are drivers in Florida and there are 18 million motor vehicles. CRIST: No, I understand that. I understand that, Chris. WALLACE: That’s a pretty broad-based tax, isn’t it? CRIST: Well, I don’t think it’s a tax. It’s a fee. If you don’t drive, you don’t pay it, if you look at it by its pure common- sense definition.” ( Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

Via: GOP.com

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DC Mayor fires Insurance Commissioner for disagreeing with Obama

Seems to me the Democrat Mayor from DC who is White, fired his insurance commissioner, who is Black, for disagreeing with Obama.

Imagine how the MSM would behave today if it was a GOP Mayor and the law in question was Bushcare.

A day after he questioned President Obama’s decision to unwind a major tenet of the health-care law and said the nation’s capital might not go along, D.C. insurance commissioner William P. White was fired.

White was called into a meeting Friday afternoon with one of Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s (D) top deputies and told that the mayor “wants to go in a different direction,” White told The Washington Post on Saturday.

White said the mayoral deputy never said that he was being asked to leave because of his Thursday statement on health care. But he said the timing was hard to ignore. Roughly 24 hours later, White said, he was “basically being told, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ ”

White was one of the first insurance commissioners in the nation last week to push back against Obama’s attempt to smooth over part of the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act: millions of unexpected cancellations of insurance plans.

The website from the DC Government still has Mr. White as the Insurance Commissioner

Via: The Right Scoop

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[VIDEO]Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: 'We All Knew' Obama's Health Care Pledge Wasn't Accurate

"YOU KNOW AND DID NOT SAY ANYTHING WHICH IS STILL A LIE OF OMISSION"

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand wasn’t surprised when Americans began to get letters saying their health insurance policies had been canceled.

Mrs. Gillibrand, New York Democrat, said Sunday that President Obama simply should have been “more specific” when he declared that those people who liked their insurance could keep it, a pledge that clearly has been broken amid growing reports of Americans being booted from their plans because the insurance policies don’t comply with the standards in Obamacare.

“We all knew,” Mrs. Gillibrand said on ABC’s “This Week,” referencing the fact that she and many others were fully aware that Obamacare would result in cancellations.

Gillibrand: "No, we all knew. The whole point of the plan is to cover things people need, like preventive care, birth control, pregnancy. How many women, the minute they get pregnant, might have risked their coverage, how many women paid more because of their gender because they might get pregnant? Those are the reforms that we have to fix.

Via Fox News

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SEATTLE ELECTS SOCIALIST CANDIDATE TO CITY COUNCIL

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle voters have elected a socialist to city council for the first time in modern history.

Kshama Sawant's lead continued to grow on Friday, prompting 16-year incumbent Richard Conlin to concede.

Even in this liberal city, Sawant's win has surprised many here. Conlin was backed by the city's political establishment. On election night, she trailed by four percentage points. She wasn't a veteran politician, having only run in one previous campaign.

But in the days following election night, Sawant's share of the votes outgrew Conlin's.

"I don't think socialism makes most people in Seattle afraid," Conlin said Friday.

While city council races are technically non-partisan, Sawant made sure people knew she was running as a socialist — a label that would be politically poisonous in many parts of the country.

Sawant, a 41-year-old college economics professor, first drew attention as part of local Occupy Wall Street protests that included taking over a downtown park and a junior college campus in late 2011. She then ran for legislative office in 2012, challenging the powerful speaker of the state House, a Democrat. She was easily defeated.

This year, though, she pushed a platform that resonated with the city. She backed efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15; called for rent control in the city where rental prices keep climbing; and supports a tax on millionaires to help fund a public transit system and other services.

Via: AP

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Sheila Jackson Lee: Insurance Companies Should Not Have Sent Out Cancellation Letters, They Should Have Sent Letters Telling Them Their Insurance Was Getting Better…

"Is she still living in a Fantasy World?"

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, told National Review Online today that instead of sending out cancellation letters, insurance companies should have told their customers that their coverage was about to get better.

She said she wrote an amendment before the president’s announcement that would require insurance companies to “tell the truth.”

“The cancellation notice was not the truth,” she says. “It should have been: ’We intend to or expect to modify your insurance.’”

She adds that cancellation is what happens “when you don’t pay your premium, or something has happened in the bad old days,” but that’s not what’s happening here.

“A cancellation notice was the inappropriate document to send without notice,” she continues. “All they had to do is that, ‘This is a notice to say that we’re going to improve your insurance, not, in essence, eliminate your insurance.’”

Via: NRO

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State rebuts Obama plan to allow old health insurance policies

SEATTLE (AP) - Washington state's insurance commissioner says President Barack Obama's proposal on old insurance policies isn't a good deal for Washington citizens.

Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Thursday he won't allow insurance companies to extend their old policies that didn't meet the requirements of federal health care reform. An estimated 290,000 Washington residents have received notices that their old insurance policies will be canceled.

"Trying to do what the president has proposed would be very disruptive to the insurance market in the sate of Washington so no, we will not be allowing insurance companies to extend these policies," he said. "You'd have to go back and re-rate all of the policies, and the premises for what they originally proposed rates would all change."

Kreidler, a Democrat, says all of them can get better coverage on the new health care exchange. He says at least half of them will qualify for a subsidy to help them pay the premium.

"I have empathy for these people, I certainly feel for them, but at the same time, people really have a chance right now to shop and compare various health plans and make some decisions that best fits themselves and their families in ways that could never do before," Kreidler said. "But if you wind up extending these current plans that are out there, you really disrupt the ability for that to happen."

When asked if he was worried his decision was going to upset those who just heard earlier in the day they could keep their insurance, Kreidler replied that having the new policies that meet minimum coverage requirements will be beneficial to them in case of a major health incident.

Via: Weekly Standard
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Dem. Rep.: 'I Think the President Was Grossly Misleading to the American Public'

By DANIEL HALPER

Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon, said that President Obama was "grossly misleading" on Obamacare:"Very misleading," the Democratic congressman says of Obama's promise that you can keep your health care plan, if you like it.

"I think next year at the election time, people are going to want to know, was I able to sign up? And what is the shape of the benefit package I'm going to get and how much is it going to cost me, at the end of the day? I think this will, the sign-up period and problems and the horrendous problems that are going on right now will be way in the past.

Via: Fox News

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Annapolis Council To Consider Stripping Republican Mayor-Elect’s Power

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power.

Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor.

Under Arnett’s legislation, the mayor’s post would be largely ceremonial. The mayor would retain a single vote on the council. Arnett says the change would stabilize the city’s management.

If the measure is approved, it would mean the Democratic-dominated council would be removing the powers of the first Republican mayor elected since 1997.

Last week, Republican Mike Pantelides defeated Democratic incumbent Josh Cohen.

Via: CBS Baltimore

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Dems Propose Outrageous Minimum Wage Hike

Though it sounds good in theory, many conservatives view minimum wage laws as an impediment to the free market system. Nevertheless, Congress continues to demand that employers pay unskilled workers at an increasingly high rate.

Since 2007, the national minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour. A group of Democrat legislators recently advanced plans to address the issue, including a proposal by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin that would raise the hourly rate by almost 40 percent to a staggering $10.10.

Furthermore, wages would be directly influenced by the rate of inflation under Harkin’s proposal.

Not only would this cut deeply into the already thin profit margins of small businesses; it would force companies to make cutbacks and curtail hiring in many cases.

The Democrat senators met Thursday to kick around a few ideas, emerging from the conference with plenty of reasons to further besiege the private sector.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin called a rate spike “long overdue” as fellow senators touted the fact Barack Obama is on board with the initiative.

Via: The Western Center for Journalism

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ALL THE SINGLE LADIES

Every time a major election comes around, the conversation inevitably turns to the impact of female voters. There are more women in the world than men, and they vote in greater number, too. The trend hasn’t been good for the GOP. Single women are the blame, but is it their fault?

Most recently, the single, liberal lady phenomena took its toll on the state of Virginia, where Republican Ken Cuccinelli narrowly lost the governorship to Mr. Skeeze himself, Democrat Terry McAuliffe. TheWashington Post reports:

“Cuccinelli only lost female voters by nine points….Where Cuccinelli did get swamped, however, was among non-married women where he lost by a massive 42-point(!) margin, according to preliminary exit polling.”

So the hard right GOP doesn’t have a woman problem per say, but more specifically asingle woman problem. Case in point: “Cuccinelli beat McAuliffe 51-42 among women who are married.”

So why are conservative Republicans so repulsive to single women, and whose fault is it?

The idea that single women look to government to replace the men not in their lives is an old and logical one. These women might have Daddy issues, and that’s why they’re single. Or maybe the reason they’re single is because they’re looking for the wrong kind of man. Is this because he doesn’t exist in mainstream America?

Via: Human Events

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[VIDEO] Obama Secret Service Agent: “It’s Worse Than People Know… and I’m Not Trying to Scare You Either”

You may have your suspicions about what’s going on behind closed doors at the White House.

But according to one of President Obama’s former body guards it’s much worse than we can even imagine.

Dan Bongino has protected numerous Presidents over his career, including President Obama. He has been within ear-shot of many a discussion in the Oval Office, but up until this administration has stayed out of the lime light. Apparently, however, the activities of this administration are so abhorrent that he could no longer keep quiet.

Bongino is so upset with what he witnessed that he is now running for Congress because he feels it’s the only way to take America back from the sycophants who have made every effort to enrich themselves with money and power at the expense of the American people.

How bad is it?

We’re in a lot of trouble.

The President sees government – and I think it’s because of his lack of experience and maybe community organizing in the past – as this shiny new toy.

For all the disagreements I had with Clinton, Carter and Bush there were always limits… there was that line you just didn’t cross… We cross it seemingly every day. We’re lost in the scandals…

The Jamie Dimon shakedown at Chase… the HHS scandal.. Kathleen Sebelius shaking down the health care industry for money… the IRS… it’s to the point where these scandals in and of themselves would be huge back-breaking scandals [but] are just lost in the scandal fog of this administration…

It’s worse than people know… and I’m not trying to scare you either.

This is coming from someone who has stood next to Presidents for his entire career.

The implications are absolutely terrifying, especially considering how bad the publicly known scandals already are. Can you imagine what’s happening outside the view of Americans?

This is not about Republican or Democrat, it’s about liberty, pure and simple, and this administration has done more to damage our individual rights than any that has come before it.

Bongino expresses this succinctly when discussing the NSA scandal and the administration’s use of the information acquired by government snoops all over the country.

Via: InfoWars

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Blue State Lawmakers Make Taxpayers Blue

The terms “Blue State” and “Red State” were coined about a dozen years ago by journalist Tim Russert and were based on the colored maps being used by the television networks to graphically display presidential election results. Although originally based on the arbitrary decision to label Republican voting states red, and those supporting the Democratic candidate blue, these colors have also come to represent liberal (blue) and conservative (red).

The latest Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Legislative Report Card demonstrates that, in terms of state representation, California continues to be the bluest of blue. But while California has a reputation as being ultra-liberal on a host of issues, for purposes of the HJTA Report Card, we focused solely on how legislative votes were cast on tax issues.

Taken as a whole, the Report Card shows that a preponderance of lawmakers actively support the redistribution of wealth, not from one citizen to another, but from all citizens to the government. This allows the majority party in the Legislature to continue to reward their most active backers, the government employee unions. Government employees in California are the highest paid in all 50 states and it is no secret that money to meet the payroll must come from taxpayers.

The HJTA Legislative Report Card is designed to help Californians gauge how their state representatives are actually performing on taxpayer-related issues. For the 2013 legislative year, 20 bills were used to evaluate and grade voting records. Practically all of these bills deal with tax increases — often masquerading as fees — or direct assaults on Proposition 13 and Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act.

There is no question that the consequences of what occurs “Under the Dome” are very real and personal for average taxpayers. For example, decisions made by legislators in the last five years have helped ensure we have the highest income, sales, and gas taxes in the nation. These are facts most lawmakers fail to mention when discussing their voting records. The letter grades allow Californians to see past the politicians’ self-promoting press releases and glossy campaign mailers touting their record in Sacramento.

Via: California Political Review

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The Strategy for Defending Obamacare: Misrepresentation and Diversion

Demonstrating for a fact that he does not read RedState, today the Washington Post’s E. J. Dionne advocates the strategy I warned against over the past couple of weeks and he also demonstrates why debating with the delusional and dishonest is an exercise in futility. In an op-ed titled The noise around Obamacare he outlines the problem for the Democrat party and his solution:

The ace political and baseball prognosticator Nate Silver titled his book about prediction and statistical mastery “The Signal and the Noise.” Rarely has it been more important to distinguish between the two than in the uproar over the launch of the Affordable Care Act.

As Silver put it, “The signal is the truth. The noise is what distracts us from the truth.”

[…]

Opponents of Obamacare want government to let the market do what the market does. That’s why the program’s critics have not come up with a plausible alternative to covering the uninsured — and why many in their ranks have been trying to hack away at Medicare and Medicaid. Their overarching purpose is to get government out of the way. If the market generates vast inequalities, this must be because such inequalities maximize efficiency.

Thus, foes of the new health-care law aren’t against it because its Web site worked badly or because the president once said that everybody could keep their current policies when it turned out that some in the small individual insurance market got cancellation notices. For those trying to kill the law, such noise is designed to distract attention from what they really think, which is that we should let non-elderly Americans sink or swim in the insurance arrangements that existed before Obamacare.

This is why people like Dionne should never be allowed to play with matches.

Via: Red State

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