House Democratic Leaders: We Will Not Apologize to Americans Losing Their Health Insurance

One week ago, President Obama apologized for giving millions of Americans false assurances that they could keep their health care plans if they liked them. At a press conference Thursday evening, House Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Xavier Becerra, and Jim Clyburn were asked if they would like to apologize for making the same false claim. All of them declined.

NANCY PELOSI, LEFT, AND BARACK OBAMA, RIGHT.

"I don't think there's anything for us to apologize for," said Clyburn. 

"There is nothing in the Affordable Care Act that said that your insurance company should cancel you," said Minority Leader Pelosi.

In fact, the Affordable Care Act says that plans created after March of 2010 must be cancelled, and the law also gave the administration the authority to write regulations that forced the cancellation of some policies that existed prior to March 2010.

"Did I ever tell my constituents that if they liked their plan they could keep it?" Pelosi asked. "I would have if I'd ever met anybody who liked his or her plan. But that was not my experience."

In fact, Pelosi's website still states: "Keep your doctor, and your current plan, if you like them."

"As far as the Affordable Care Act is concerned, what the president said was completely accurate," Pelosi said. 

At his press conference Thursday afternoon, President Obama said, "With respect to the pledge I made that if you like your plan, you can keep it, I think -- and I’ve said in interviews -- that there is no doubt that the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate."

Via: Weekly Standard

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Steny Hoyer: Obama Telling Americans They Could Keep Their Plans Was Not A Lie, People Interpreted What He Said “Expansively”…

President Barack Obama issued a rare presidential apology when he expressed remorse for promising to Americans that they could keep their insurance plans if they liked their current coverage.

Don’t expect the same “I’m sorry” from House Democratic leaders.

In a news conference Thursday after a meeting with White House officials, the top four Democrats said they won’t apologize for that promise, instead defending the language of the Affordable Care Act — their prized legislative achievement.

(Also on POLITICO: Obama: 'It's on me')

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who shepherded Obamacare through the House as speaker, said Obama was “very gracious” in making that apology but that the president’s words – in the context of the law – were “absolutely” precise.

“There’s nothing in the Affordable Care Act that says that your insurance company should cancel you,” she told reporters. “That’s not what the Affordable Care Act is about. It simply didn’t happen.”

She continued that she did not make a similar statement to her constituents, noting that she “would have if I ever met anybody that liked his or her plan, but that was not my experience.”

Via: Politico

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Oppose Gimmick 'Fixes' to Obamacare

As chairman of the League of American Voters, a national grass-roots organization, I recently sent out this article urging a stop to Obama's political tactics regarding Obamacare.

Major supporters of President Barack Obama's Obamacare law are proposing new legislation to modify and "fix" problems associated with the new program.


Congress should reject any such legislation that offers minor adjustments to this radical law — unless significant changes are agreed to by President Obama and his supporters.


With the looming nightmare of 5 million Americans soon losing their current healthcare coverage, many leading supporters of the law, including President Obama himself, former President Clinton, and leading senators who backed the law such as Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, are pushing for legislation that will modify Obamacare and allow citizens to keep their current  insurance.

Urgent: ObamaCare Is About to Strike — Are You Prepared?


It's understandable why these senators and congressmen want a political "bailout."

These were the same people who claimed, along with Pres. Obama, that under the new law every American gets to "keep their doctor, and their healthcare plan."

Via: Newsmax

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Obamacare fix for canceled health policies could raise costs: insurers

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fix for canceled health plans could "destabilize" the insurance market and lead to higher costs for consumers without further steps, America'sHealth Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, said on Thursday.

"Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the (Obamacare) law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums," AHIP President Karen Ignagni said in a statement.

"Additional steps must be taken to stabilize the marketplace and mitigate the adverse impact on consumers," she said.

Via: Reuters

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Amtrak loses $72M, while free booze flows

If Amtrak wants to stop losing $72 million per year on food service, a federal auditor has a suggestion: Stop pouring free booze for riders and serving gratis meals to the help.

The taxpayer-subsidized rail line found its food service operation deep in red ink, even as it served the free wine, champagne and cheese to long distance riders and fed employees for free, according to Inspector General Ted Alves.

"Amtrak’s operating losses on food and beverage services have been a long-standing issue, and they contribute directly to the need for federal subsidies to support operations," Alves told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to Bloomberg.

Alves said customers traveling on Amtrak's Auto Train from Virginia to Florida enjoy complimentary wine and cheese and that sleeper-car passengers on three long-distance routes get free wine and champagne -- freebies Alves said cost the company a whopping $428,000 in 2012.

The handouts go beyond free booze. Thursday's testimony revealed that passengers riding on the 43-hour Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief can dine on a $23.25 Mahi-Mahi dinner with a vegetable medley and three-grain rice pilaf. And last year's figures are piled atop years of losses, noted one lawmaker.

Via: Fox News

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‘Father of Obamacare’ on Hugh Hewitt Show: Obama ‘Did Mislead’ But Proposed Dem Fix Is a Bad Idea

MIT Professor Jon Gruber has been called the “father of Obamacare” in some circles, and during an appearance on Hugh Hewitt‘s radio show Wednesday, he admitted that Obama “did mislead” on his promise that people could keep their health care plans if they liked them, even if he did quibble over the actual percentage of the public Obama misled.

Hewitt said that Obama engaged in “deception” and ended up misleading 15 percent of the public, but Gruber thought it was only 2-4 percent that are finding they can’t keep their plans.

Grubed acknowledged that Obama’s “certainly gotten in trouble for this,” but said that Obamacare opponents should stand down and let the law go into effect, and if in the end they’re right, then they’re right. He also went after Democrats for their proposed fix to the law, saying it’s basically a “free lunch” for health people who are supposed to have slightly more expensive plans, because that’s how the pool is supposed to work.

Listen to the audio below, via The Hugh Hewitt Show:

Via: Mediaite.com

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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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California: In LA, It’s Back to Basics

Despite record revenues that are expected to exceed $5 billion, the City Council is considering a $4.5 billion tax increase over the next 30 years to fund the repair of our lunar cratered streets because of its inability to control ever escalating salaries, benefits, and pension contributions.

But the failure of the City Council to balance the budget despite record revenues is compounded by its unwillingness to endorse Mayor Garcetti’s “Back to Basics” priorities by “making government more efficient and effective.”

For example, if the City were to sell the Convention Center, it would eliminate over $400 million in debt and increase the City’s cash flow by $60 to $80 million a year.  More than likely, the sale price of this 870,000 square foot white elephant would be considerably more than the debt, generating additional cash to reduce the City’s outstanding debt, fund the repair of a portion of our streets, or finance the revitalization of the Los Angeles River.

As part of any sale, the buyer would be required to develop a world class facility that would attract top of the line conventions to the City, generating huge increases in hotel and sales tax revenues for the City’s treasury.

Furthermore, the development of the 54 acre Convention Center site by a well healed buyer would create a boat load of additional revenue for the City through development fees and higher property taxes, and, at the same time, create thousands of construction and full time jobs that would revitalize DTLA and stimulate our lack luster economy.

The City has also given lip service to “performance based budgeting.” However, the administration has not made any effort to “benchmark” its operations or any of it compensation and benefit policies with those of other governments or alternative providers.  This was a key recommendation to our Department of Water and Power by PA Consulting in its August 2012 report.  The City should also consider “outsourcing” noncore services to more efficient vendors, another common sense recommendation of PA Consulting.

Via: California Political Review

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Poll: Republicans Now Tied With Democrats In Battle For Congress

Immediately after the federal government shutdown, Democrats claimed that their momentum improved their chances to recapture the House after next year's midterm elections. But a new poll released this week shows that momentum has vanished in the wake of the Obama administration's failures in implementing the health care law.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows the parties are now tied on the generic ballot, with each party at 39 percent. A combined 23 percent of registered voters either prefer another candidate, wouldn't vote, or are undecided.

That is down from a 9-point Democratic lead in late September, immediately before Republican opposition to the health care law led to the shutdown. Independent voters, who split virtually evenly in the September survey, now back the Republican House candidate in their district by an 11-point margin, 37 percent to 26 percent. Among white voters, Republicans now have a 14-point lead, 46 percent to 32 percent. And, perhaps most strikingly, the poll shows no significant difference in vote intention by age, with the two parties virtually tied, even among voters under 30, who stuck with Democrats even in the 2010 GOP landslide.

Results from the same survey, released on Tuesday, showed President Obama with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and a spike in opposition to the health care law. Obama's approval rating dropped 6 points, to 39 percent, since September. And the percentage of voters who say they support his signature legislative achievement dropped by the same margin, as the online health insurance exchange has been plagued by glitches and Americans in the individual insurance market have seen their policies canceled to comply with the law.

Via: National Journal

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Mayor with Ties to Fla. Gov. Guilty of Corruption

A south Florida mayor with close ties to Governor Rick Scott haspleaded guilty to public corruption for participating in a scheme involving the theft of federal grants earmarked for his tiny working class city.

The plot involves a small-town mayor, Manuel Maroño, with big-time political ties to prominent Republicans. In fact, Maroño was a rising star in the party and played a key role in Scott’s transition team in 2011. The disgraced politician even launched a “business development” firm called 7 Strategies after the governor’s 7-step plan to create 700,000 jobs in 7 years.

But everything went downhill in early August when the feds indicted Maroño and a longtime mayor pal of a neighboring city for operating a brazen scheme to steal federal grants that were supposed to help their respective towns. The mayors teamed up with two prominent lobbyists, one of whom worked for U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart when the Republican lawmaker was a state legislator.

Large sums of cash were exchanged in envelopes and hidden in notebooks during covert meetings in cars and at local eateries, according to federal prosecutors, who claimed in separate complaints that the lobbyists went around recruiting corrupt politicians to participate in the scheme. In all, tens of thousands of dollars were exchanged with hefty cash bonuses for making introductions to other public officials willing to participate in the kickback and bribery operation.

Both mayors abused their power to enact measures to help fake companies get federal grants made available only upon the official request of local municipalities, authorities say. Maroño collaborated with both lobbyists and pocketed more than $40,000 in bribes, according to his federal complaint. The money was supposed to help the 13,000 constituents in his working-class town of Sweetwater, which barely spans a square mile.

Upon getting indicted Maroño paraded around town confidently guaranteeing that his innocence would quickly vindicate him. At his side was his mother, a Sweetwater councilwoman, who led a media campaign professing her son’s innocence. This week, however, the former mayor marched into a federal court in Miami and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January and faces five years in prison.

Via: Judicial Watch

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Little-Known Tax Funding Obamacare

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare seems to be in the headlines every day because of all of the problems surrounding the launch. And while most realize the law is funded in part by the individual mandate and penalty tax, it is also being funded in ways that are not discussed as much in the media.

Luxury real estate broker Ron Aioso says there is a tax that is rarely discussed that also helps fund Obamacare. It is a tax on high-income taxpayers when they sell their homes.

Franklin Lakes, N.J. was listed on Forbes.com in 2010 as one of "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes", with a median home price of $1.3M.

Aioso says homeowners in a neighborhood like this could really be impacted by the Obamacare tax.

“Where we are today in a luxury area, you look and you see this home behind me, somebody like this is really affected,” he said.

If you are single with an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or file jointly with an income of $250,000 or more, you may be impacted. Once you sell your home, any profits over the first $500,000 are already subject to a capital gains tax. And now those profits will have an additional 3.8% tax to fund Obamacare.

Aioso noted that there is also a lot of confusion surrounding this tax and many homeowners know little about it.

“I think more than anything we need some education on it so people fully understand what is this 3.8%? What am I paying?” Aioso said.

You can join the chase with Chasing New Jersey weeknights at 10pm on My9 and don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Via: MY9NJ

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Hillary Clinton in 2007: 'If you have a plan you like, you keep it'

When former President Clinton this week critiqued President Obama's broken promise that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, Clinton was also knocking a similar plan once proposed by another politician: his wife.

"I personally believe, even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment that the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got," Clinton said in an interview with OZY.

The remark came across as a stern rebuke of current White House policy — but it could also prove tricky for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is moving toward a bid for president in 2016.

When she was last a candidate for president in 2007, Hillary Clinton unveiled her own health care proposal, which, like Obamacare, included beefed-up benefits and a catchy pitch: "If you have a plan you like, you keep it." Obama went on to defeat Clinton, but he adopted her tag line to help win support for his own health care plan -- making the same promise, for which he recently apologized.

"You can keep the doctors you know and trust. You keep the insurance you have," Clinton said on Sept. 17, 2007, at the Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. "If you have private insurance you like, nothing changes — you can keep that insurance."

Clinton's campaign website echoed that claim. "If you have a plan you like, you keep it," it read.

Hillary Clinton is an old hand at health care reform. In 1993, when her husband was president, she led a health care reform effort that ultimately crashed and burned.

Via: Washington Examiner

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[VIDEO] Former Federal Prosecutor: Obama Is Guilty of SERIAL FRAUD

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Half the country thinks the president knowingly lied 

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Half the country thinks the president knowingly lied when he promised you could keep your health care plan if you like it, period. Four in ten believe he just didn't know that this pledge would be broken. And consider this, 55 percent of solid majority of the American people say this administration has tried to deceive the public about the health care law. And the big picture number, nearly nine in 10 people, 86 percent say, elected officials in Washington are adding to the country's problems, not solving them.

Andrew McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor, best known for putting away the terrorists behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and he just wrote a column for National Review online talking about the president's broken promises. And coming right out in this piece, Andy and saying that Barack Obama is guilty of fraud, serial fraud.

ANDREW MCCARTHY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Right. Serial fraud.

KELLY: Explain it.

MCCARTHY: Far more serious than people who routinely get prosecuted by the Justice Department. Just the lie about if you like your plan, you can keep your plan which basically just scratches the surface of the fraud here was repeated systemically and numerous times years after we can prove that he knew what he was saying was not true. We have millions of victims. They've been untold billions of losses here. And if you look at what the U.S. attorneys guidelines say about prosecuting fraud cases, they talk about frauds of big classes of people, like people who are the in the market for purchasing insurance on your own rather than getting it through your work.

Via: Fox News

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California: Brown’s “School Reform” Morphs into Union Payoff

In 2013, maybe more than ever, the key to figuring out how California works is understanding that by far the most powerful forces in state politics are the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers and the 500,000 people they represent and collect dues from.

So when a Los Angeles Unified teacher feeds semen to his students and has to be bribed to quit, instead of enacting rules to make it easier to fire classroom sexual predators, the Legislature passes a fake reform that would have actually increased protections for pervert teachers.

So when a judge says districts must follow a state law requiring student performance be part of teacher evaluations, instead of compliance, we see the state cancel the standardized tests whose results could have been used against bad teachers.

And now here is the latest example of teacher unions’ hegemony in California: A much-trumpeted education reform enacted earlier this year is being hijacked in brazen fashion, further propping up the teacher-favoring education status quo.

The reform I refer to is Gov. Jerry Brown’s seemingly successful push this summer to divert school funding specifically to English-language learners, foster children and disadvantaged children because of his concern that they will lead difficult lives unless they get more out of school, with grim implications for the state’s future workforce. Brown didn’t say it, but these students are the biggest victims of the CTA/CFT chokehold on public education. Instead of having a school system devoted to getting the best teachers to where they’re most needed, we have a system devoted above all to protecting veteran teachers’ compensation. If minority kids suffer, the establishment ultimately doesn’t care.

Via: California Political Review

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[VIDEO] Jen Psaki’s Sexist Comment At State Dept Briefing

Via: Weasel Zippers

Failure of Failures

Indulge me if you will, and join me in imagining that Obamacare has taken the calamitous path of the Hindenburg and ended up as little more than a smoldering warning against hubris. Imagine, that is, that enrollment rates have remained dangerously low; that the risk pools consist largely of the elderly and the sick; that the insurance companies, unable to operate on the magical thinking of which the White House is so fond, are being forced either to get out of the market completely or to raise premiums dramatically; and that skittish Democrats have started to run away — first calling weakly for fixes, then hinting at more, and then barely resisting the temptation to follow the trail of the pitchforks and nullify the president’s signature achievement. Imagine, in other words, that things are bad.

Now answer me this: If such a scenario were actually to come to pass — and, of course, it most certainly has not as of yet — how serious a failure will we judge it to be? Will we see it as a hiccup? Will we claim that it is typical for a second term? Or will we consider it to be a calamity of historical proportions? Personally, I would plump for the lattermost: In my view, if Obamacare were to fail hard, it could well come to be seen as the most catastrophic domestic-policy enterprise of the last century.

I do not say that flippantly. The last 100 years have certainly thrown up a few turkeys — Prohibition, the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, and the short-lived Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 all come to mind — and yet Obamacare stands out as being potentially even worse because, as David French recently noted, it has the disadvantage of being unprecedently partisan. This, after all, is a law that bears a president’s name. This is to say that if it fails, not only will it hurt a swath of innocent citizens — as many other messy initiatives have — but it will also discredit for a generation the worldview of its architects. And this, as Joe Biden might say, is a “big f***ing deal.”

Via: NRO

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Obama’s Cavalier ObamaCare Distraction

Obama Can’t Escape His Keep Your Plan Promise In Cleveland

TODAY, OBAMA PLAYED POLITICS TO SAVE DEMOCRATS AS THEY FACE THE 2014 MIDTERM ELECTION

Obama Made “A Political Decision” Allowing Insurance Companies To Offer ObamaCare Canceled Health Policies. “President Obama announced Thursday that insurance companies can offer health policies canceled under ObamaCare to customers that held them for an additional year. The move could prevent existing plans from being cancelled until after the 2014 midterm elections, a political decision designed to provide relief to Democrats worried the issue could cost them at the polls.” (Elise Viebeck and Justin Sink, “Obama’s Fix: Canceled Plans May Be Offered Until After Midterms,” The Hill’s Health Watch, 11/14/13)

• Americans Are Still At Risk Of Losing Their Health Care Plans. “What the White House is announcing today is, under political pressure, a temporary step back from that policy stance. The Obama administration will allow insurance companies to renew policies that do not meet health law standards through the end of 2014, senior White House officials told reporters on a call this morning.” (Sarah Kliff, “The White House’s ObamaCare Fix Is About To Create A Big Mess,”The Washington Post’s Wonk Blog , 11/14/13)

HOPING THAT THE WORST IS BEHIND HIM, OBAMA WILL PIVOT TO THE ECONOMY TODAY IN CLEVELAND

Instead Of Offering Ohioans An Apology For Losing Their Health Care Plan Today, Obama Will Pivot To The Economy. “There’s a disconnect between those statements, and that could be a problem for President Barack Obama on Thursday. The president will visit the ArcelorMittal steel mill in Cleveland in the afternoon and is expected to not only brag on the mill’s prowess but also use it as a backdrop for discussing post-recession growth. Look for him to promote his economic policies and make a connection between the auto industry rescue, mileage standards that will save fuel and cut emissions, and steel industry developments that should help achieve that goal, with ArcelorMittal at the forefront.” (Stephen Koff, “With ObamaCare Mess Dominating Attention,

Via: GOP.com

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Obama’s Toothless Team Of Rivals

REPORT: OBAMA’S CABINET IS SEEN AS A “NUISANCE” TO BE DEALT WITH BY HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF

Obama Has Taken “Hoarding Power In The White House At The Expense Of The Cabinet… To An Extreme.” “For any modern president, the advantages of hoarding power in the White House at the expense of the Cabinet are obvious—from more efficient internal communication and better control of external messaging to avoiding messy confirmation battles and protecting against pesky congressional subpoenas. But over the course of his five years in office, Obama has taken this White House tendency to an extreme, according to more than 50 interviews with current and former secretaries, White House staffers and executive branch officials, who described his Cabinet as a restless nest of ambition, fits-and-starts achievement and power-jockeying under a shadow of unfulfilled promise.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)   

• “The Staffers Who Rule Obama’s West Wing Often Treat His Cabinet As A Nuisance.”  “The staffers who rule Obama’s West Wing often treat his Cabinet as a nuisance: At the top of the pecking order are the celebrity power players, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to be warily managed; at the bottom, what they see as a bunch of well-intentioned political naifs only a lip-slip away from derailing the president’s agenda. Chu might have been the first Obama Cabinet secretary to earn the disdain of White House aides, but he was hardly the last.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)  
   
•  “Never Has The Job Of Cabinet Secretary Seemed Smaller,” Than In Obama’s White House. “Two presidents later, the Cabinet is a swarm of 23 people that includes 15 secretaries and eight other Cabinet-rank officers. And yet never has the job of Cabinet secretary seemed smaller.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)    

The Reality Of Obama’s Cabinet Is A “Far Cry From The Vision Obama Sketched Out In The Months Leading Up To His 2008 Election.” “That’s a far cry from the vision Obama sketched out in the months leading up to his 2008 election. Back then, he waxed expansive about the Cabinet, promising to rejuvenate the institution as a venue for serious innovation and genuine decision making. ‘I don’t want to have people who just agree with me,’ he told Time magazine, after reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s classic account of President Abraham Lincoln and his advisers, Team of Rivals. ‘I want people who are continually pushing me out of my comfort zone.’” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)   

Via: GOP.com

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Obamacare Schadenfreudarama

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the unraveling of Obamacare.

First, the obligatory caveats. It is no laughing matter that millions of Americans’ lives have been thrown into anxious chaos as they lose their health insurance, their doctors, their money, or all three. Nor is it particularly amusing to think of the incredible waste of time and tax dollars that has gone into Obamacare’s construction. And the still-unfolding violence that this misbegotten legislation will visit on the economy and our liberties is not funny either. This very magazine has been downright funereal about the brazen and unconstitutional seizure of one-sixth of the economy, and rightly so.

But come on, people.

If you can’t take some joy, some modicum of relief and mirth, in the unprecedentedly spectacular beclowning of the president, his administration, its enablers, and, to no small degree, liberalism itself, then you need to ask yourself why you’re following politics in the first place. Because, frankly, this has been one of the most enjoyable political moments of my lifetime. I wake up in the morning and rush to find my just-delivered newspaper with a joyful expectation of worsening news so intense, I feel like Morgan Freeman should be narrating my trek to the front lawn. Indeed, not since Dan Rather handcuffed himself to a fraudulent typewriter, hurled it into the abyss, and saw his career plummet like Ted Kennedy was behind the wheel have I enjoyed a story more.

Via: NRO

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The GOP's Primary Shakeup Plot

Fearing a Hillary Clinton glide to the nomination in 2016 while unpopular GOP contenders battle it out, Republicans are plotting a ‘Midwestern Super Tuesday’ and earlier convention.

Most significantly, the party is considering holding a “Midwestern primary” featuring Great Lakes states such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin that would come immediately after the votes in the traditional early primary states. Also being weighed and thought likely to be approved when the Republican National Committee meets in early 2014 is a plan to shorten the primary season considerably by holding the party’s convention in July, almost as soon as the last primary ballots are cast.

The move toward a “Midwestern Super Tuesday” after the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida appears aimed in part at wresting control of the nominating process from social conservatives in the South in an effort to produce a nominee more likely to carry the election in November. Nearly all the “Rust Belt” states have fallen into Democratic hands in recent elections, and GOP officials believe that showering them with more resources throughout the primary process—and ensuring that an eventual nominee is broadly popular there—could flip the Midwest into the Republican column in November.

“The idea here is to try to recapture an area of the country that Republicans have simply not been able to carry,” said one GOP insider familiar with the plans.

Plus, the Midwestern states are relatively expensive places to mount a campaign, and bunching them together on one day would likely cost candidates less, as they could focus all their resources on one section of the country for an extended period of time, as opposed to campaigning in Michigan one week, Ohio a few weeks later, and Wisconsin a month after that.

Via: The Daily Beast

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[VIDEO] Boehner Shares Stories of Ohioans Hurt By Obamacare

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 14, 2013 2:48 pm

In an effort to garner support for the Keep Your Health Plan Act (H.R. 3350), Speaker John Boehner shared the stories of two of his constituents who have experienced hardships thanks to Obamacare.

One constituent and his wife have had their insurance plan canceled and replaced with a plan that will cost them an additional  $500 per month. Another man, Brian, owns a small business and was informed that his insurance rates will double. Brian is fearful because if the premiums double, he will be forced to shut down his business. His workers will thus lose their jobs and health care insurance.

Boehner warned “Now these are just two stories from my district Ohio. And there’s millions more of them all around the country. Premiums are going up. People are losing their coverage. And small business owners are being terrified” and encouraged House members to vote for the Keep Your Health Plan Act.

Via: WFB

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Pelosi reiterates that Obamacare is about ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday morning that Obamacare is a certain unalienable Right, which is no big surprise coming from the Left.

Pelosi was speaking at The Atlantic’s Washington Ideas Forum when she argued that the president’s health care law is “all about” a great many things, one of them being a core tenet of American life.

“This all about the people, about the seniors, about the children … it’s about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Pelosi said to a gathering at the Newseum, a Washington, D.C. museum of journalism and news. At the top of her remarks, Pelosi gave praise to freedom of the press, and she harked back to it as she continued her explanation of Obamacare-as-product of the Declaration of Independence.

“As we talk about the First Amendment, let’s go back even further than that — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. A healthier life, the liberty to pursue your happiness so that you’re not job-locked because you have a preexisting condition or your child does, but you are free — that liberty to pursue your passion, whether you want to be a writer, a photographer, be self-employed, start a business, change jobs. This is a transformative initiative.”

And oh, what a transformative explanation.

This is not the first time the nation’s House minority leader has made these comments – not by a long shot – but it’s comical that she’s continuing to use it as a talking point. Pelosi’s ilk say that it’s Republican obstructionism to the law that will keep people off of health insurance “even if it means half the country dies,” and yet Obamacareis forcing insurance cancellations. So much for the “life” argument. And where is the “liberty” in having to payjacked-up premiums for the same health insurance?

Via Red Alert Politics

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