Pelosi tries desperately to spin her way out of her broken Obamacare promise, even saying stuff Democrats were saying two weeks before Obama finally came out and admitted it was a broken promise:
Sunday, November 17, 2013
THE WEEK THAT WAS
“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
─ Mark Twain
Monday was Veterans Day and we honored our heroes. Also this week more than 1000 US troops deployed to help the people of the Philippines whose lives have been devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.
Obamacare has started out with neither a bang nor a whimper. It hasn’treally started out at all yet. For those wondering about the status of the healthcare.gov website, please refer back to last week’s Week That Was.
Many Obamacare navigators have been found-out as being fraudulent hacks. Fulfilling the old “takes one to know one” saying, former President Bill Clinton himself came out and denounced Obamacare as an ill-planned scam. (You know it’s bad when not even Slick Willy wants to be associated with it.) Referring to the whole deceptive principle of Obamacare, the navigators shrugged and said, “What did you expect?”
President Obama tried to rally more support for his unpopular law and Obamacare’s failure to launch by saying it was OK that the government failed big time, because other people have failed before, too. Barry O. needs to watch more inspirational sports movies.
The House passed the Keep Your Plan Act proposed by Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI). The bill holds President Obama (who threatened to veto it) accountable for his promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” 39 House Democrats voted in favor of the act and against Obama’s agenda: a sign that the end of the world is nigh.
The Victoria’s Secret lingerie show took place this week and Jennifer Lawrence cut her hair off. That’s all.
[VIDEO] George Will: White House press room has become a third legislative chamber
Will points out that Obama is using the White House press room to illegally rewrite laws, something that can only be done by Congress (h/t: NRO):
The lawlessness of this ‘fix’ goes far deeper than just the president rewriting laws. Andy McCarthy explains in his brilliant piece why the insurance companies had better steer clear of this ‘fix’ Obama is encouraging them to do. It’s a must read if you want to understand the legal jeopardy they are putting themselves into.
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
Continue Reading.....
Thus Spake Obama - The incompetence of our neo-monarchy by Mark Steyn
It is a condition of my admission to this great land that I am not allowed to foment the overthrow of the United States government. Oh, I signed it airily enough, but you’d be surprised, as the years go by, how often the urge to foment starts to rise in one’s gullet. Fortunately, at least as far as constitutional government goes, the president of the United States is doing a grand job of overthrowing it all by himself.
On Thursday, he passed a new law at a press conference. George III never did that. But, having ordered America’s insurance companies to comply with Obamacare, the president announced that he is now ordering them not to comply with Obamacare. The legislative branch (as it’s still quaintly known) passed a law purporting to grandfather your existing health plan. The regulatory bureaucracy then interpreted the law so as to un-grandfather your health plan. So His Most Excellent Majesty has commanded that your health plan be de-un-grandfathered. That seems likely to work. The insurance industry had three years to prepare for the introduction of Obamacare. Now the King has given them six weeks to de-introduce Obamacare.
U. S. Education Secretary: ‘White Suburban Moms’ Upset Common Core Shows Their Kids Aren’t ‘Brilliant’
YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP! IS HE SERIOUS WITH THIS CRAP?
Via: Washington Post
Continue Reading....
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents Friday that he found it “fascinating” that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”
Yes, he really said that. But he has said similar things before. What, exactly, is he talking about?
In his cheerleading for the controversial Common Core State Standards — which were approved by 45 states and the District of Columbia and are now being implemented across the country (though some states are reconsidering) — Duncan has repeatedly noted that the standards and the standardized testing that goes along with them are more difficult than students in most states have confronted.
The Common Core was designed to elevate teaching and learning. Supporters say it does that; critics say it doesn’t and that some of the standards, especially for young children, are not developmentally appropriate. Whichever side you fall on regarding the Core’s academic value, there is no question that their implementation in many areas has been miserable — so miserable that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, a Core supporter, recently compared it to another particularly troubled rollout:
You think the Obamacare implementation is bad? The implementation of the Common Core is far worse.
Via: Washington Post
Continue Reading....
[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.
Obamacare: A Fiasco by the Numbers
Three months ago, California had six million people with no health insurance; now thanks to Obamacare’s forced cancellations in the individual market, that number has risen to well over seven million (Associated Press says 7,471,000). Yet despite this, the first six weeks of sign-ups on the state’s insurance exchange are pretty paltry – only 59,000 enrolled in new policies out of the 7.4 million uninsured Californians. This amounts to less than one percent of the uninsured.
Covered California naturally is trumpeting this number. “A very proud day for Covered California,” says state director Peter Lee. But if sign-ups remain at this pace, only 360,000 Californians will have signed up by the end of the enrollment period March 31, 2014. And even if that number is doubled, it comes nowhere close to the 1.1 million California individual health care policyholders who have been told their health care is being cancelled as of December 31, 2013.
The Covered California sign-ups for just the month of October, 30,830, is lower than the number of people losing their insurance who called the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein to complain, which Feinstein said is 30,842. It would appear that people are more interested in complaining to their elected officials about losing their old plan than surfing Covered California’s webpage to find a new plan.
And now President Obama and congressional Democrats are in full retreat before the outraged hoards who have lost coverage and have let the Democrats know how mad there are. So now the President wants folks to be able to keep their current plans for at least another year, and some Democrats want even longer.
But the Obama “fix” is a dagger into the heart of Covered California, because their whole market scheme depends on the 1.1 million who lost their plans signing up for the new plans in the exchange. A frightened politician named Dave Jones, who is California’s Insurance Commissioner, wants the plans extended ala Obama to save his hide and that of other pols up for election in 2014, but to do so plays havoc with the Covered California insurance market.
Obama Golfing at Andrews. Outing #151
President Obama headed out to the links today on an overcast but balmy Sunday, playing at Join Base Andrews with some of his usual crew – trip director Marvin Nicholson, his brother Walt Nicholson, and Joe Paulsen of the White House advance office.
The press pool is “holding at food court in the shadow of the always welcoming Captain D’s Seafood and the Robin Hood Sandwich Shoppe,” according to jocular veteran White House reporter George Condon of National Journal, who’s doing pool service today.
It’s Obama’s 40th time playing this year – more than any previous year of his presidency – and the 151st time he’s been golfing since he assumed office.
Oprah: Generations 'marinated' in racism will need to die out for discrimination to end across the world
Oprah Winfrey has said racism is still a problem around the world and the only way for it to end is for generations of racists to die out.
In an interview with the BBC to coincide with the release of her latest film The Butler, the chat show host said generations had been 'marinated' in racism.
The 59-year-old added that President Obama was treated with disrespect because of the color of his skin and said she feels fortunate to have been born after segregation ended in the U.S.
Pressing issue: Oprah Winfrey talks about the problems of racism during a BBC interview
When asked if some of the challenges faced by Obama were down to the color of his skin, Winfrey, who had been a high-profile backer of his presidential campaign, said: 'There's no question'.
She highlighted an incident in 2009 when Republican congressman Joe Wilson called out 'you lie', as Obama gave a speech to Congress.
'I think there's a level of disrespect for the office that occurs,' she said. 'And that occurs in some cases ... because he's African American. There's no question about that. And it's the kind of thing no one ever says, but everybody's thinking.'
Via: Daily Mail
Continue Reading....
Pelosi still says people will like Obamacare once they see what’s in it
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are not backing away from Obamacare despite the uproar. That was clear from numerous comments on the Sunday talk shows.
Millions of Americans have had their health insurance plans cancelled, the Obamacare exchange website does not work and President Obama apologized this past week for Obamacare’s failures since it took effect on October 1.
The vibe was so bad that 39 Democrats joined Republicansthis past week to pass a bill to fix Obamacare sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) said he would not wait for the president to fix Obamacare with his constitutionally questionable administrative fix.
“I am not waiting for the president’s promise. I want to see results,” Begich said on “Fox and Friends” in the past week.
Pelosi, the current House minority leader, along with other Democrats bent over backwards to defend the law.
Pelosi notoriously said back in 2010 that “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it beyond the fog of the controversy.”
Now that we know what is in it beyond the fog of the controversy, Pelosi is not backing down.
“I stand by what I said there,” Pelosi said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “When people see what is in the bill they will like it and they will. And so while there is a lot of hoop de doo and a doo about what’s happening now, that is very appropriate, and I’m not criticizing.
“The Affordable Care Act is right up there with Social Security, Medicare – affordable care for all Americans – as a right, not a privilege,” Pelosi said. “The rollout of the website – that’s terrible, but the fact is that will be fixed”
ONE THIEF PICKED THE WRONG 92-YEAR-OLD WOMAN TO MESS WITH
A 92-year-old Texas woman refused to comply with a home intruder that demanded money earlier this week and fought him off at one point by kicking the man in the face
Opal Phelps awoke and saw the masked thief in her Jasper County home Monday, but was not intimidated.
“He tried to make me shut up, but he didn’t have no luck at it,” Phelps told KHOU-TV.
When the thief asked for money, the woman pretended she had misplaced her purse. That’s when the intruder ordered her to put on her shoes. She refused.
“He had a hold of my leg trying to put them shoes on, and they hard to get on, and I just took my other foot and kicked him right in the face,” Phelps said.
The man eventually took off when Phelps pushed her “Life Alert” monitor, but she noted the thief managed to escape with her gun.
“I’m going to stay here. I told that cop I was getting me another gun,” Phelps said. “He says get it. I’m going to use it next time I think.”
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Why the Fear of American Exceptionalism?
Talk of American exceptionalism enrages some liberals.
For example, it drove Oliver Stone and American University professor Peter Kuznick to pen a USA Today commentary saying Washington should have a wall with “the names of all the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and others who died [in the Vietnam War].” That, they said, would be “a fitting memorial to all the victims of ‘American exceptionalism’ a perfect tombstone for that most dangerous of American myths.”
New America Foundation’s Michael Lind, in a 2011 piece titled “The Case Against ‘American Exceptionalism,’” dismissed the idea as “amusing, if it were not so dangerous.”American“exceptionalists,” he argued, are know-nothing boastful boobs “not allowed to peep beyond [their] borders, to learn from the successes and mistakes of people in other countries.” They “thump” The Federalist Papers as if it were the Bible, trying to “deduce what Hamilton, Madison and Jay might have said about physician reimbursement rates.”
Oh my. Stuff that straw man before you knock it down, Mr. Lind.
Mr. Lind and Mr. Stone miss the point completely. American exceptionalism is not about nostalgic yahoos railing against “furriners.” Thomas Jefferson staunchly believed that Americans had an exceptional destiny. His entire worldview was informed by European philosophy. He took ideas from Swiss natural law philosopher Emmerich de Vattel to write the Declaration of Independence, and he was a great admirer of the French philosopher Voltaire. Is Jefferson a know-nothing rube for believing in American exceptionalism?
Those who believe in American exceptionalism don’t reject foreigners. They recognize what’s unique about our history: a distinctive confluence of culture, government and economy, and an ethos of personal responsibility that tamed the economy’s wild horses and tempered the potentially anarchic tendencies of free people. These, not government action, gave rise to the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.
Words That Sum Up Democrats Day In The House – Defection, Disloyalty, Dissatisfaction, Defied
“Thirty-Nine Democrats Broke With Their Party Leaders” To Back The “Keep Your Plan Act.” “Thirty-nine Democrats broke with their party’s leaders and backed the bill despite a veto threat by the White House, highlighting the political problem the issue has come for President Obama’s party.” (Pete Kasperowicz, “House Approves ‘Keep Your Plan’ ObamaCare Bill; 39 Dems Defect,” The Hill’s Floor Action Blog, 11/15/13)
- “The House Approved The ‘Keep Your Health Plan Act’ In A 261-157 Vote.”(Pete Kasperowicz, “House Approves ‘Keep Your Plan’ ObamaCare Bill; 39 Dems Defect,” The Hill’s Floor Action Blog, 11/15/13)
Today’s Vote Dealt Another Blow To Obama
“This Episode Is The Most Recent Sign Of Democratic Angst On Capitol Hill Over ObamaCare’s Implementation.” (Seung Min Kim and Jennifer Haberkorn, “With 39 Dems Behind It, House Passes ObamaCare Fix,” Politico, 11/15/13)
“The Relationship Between Capitol Hill Democrats And The White House Hasn’t Been This Bad In A Long Time.” (Seung Min Kim and Jennifer Haberkorn, “With 39 Dems Behind It, House Passes ObamaCare Fix,” Politico, 11/15/13)
“The Vote Is A Further Blow To Obama …” “The vote is a further blow to Obama, who was forced on Thursday to admit that new standards under the healthcare law are forcing millions of people into new and often more expensive health insurance plans. Obama repeatedly said that under ObamaCare people could keep their plans if they liked them.” (Pete Kasperowicz, “House Approves ‘Keep Your Plan’ ObamaCare Bill; 39 Dems Defect,” The Hill’s Floor Action Blog, 11/15/13)
- “Dealing A Blow To President Obama’s Effort …” “Dealing a blow to President Obama’s effort to fix problems with his healthcare law, more than three dozen House Democrats voted Friday to support a Republican-sponsored bill to address the crisis, brushing aside White House warnings that the legislation would only make matters worse.” (Michael A. Memoli, “Dozens Of House Democrats Back Republican Health Care Bill,” Los Angeles Times , 11/15/13)
Democrat Defections Are “A Major Show Of Disloyalty To The White House.” “It’s a major show of disloyalty to the White House, but House Democrats had expected the defections to be far higher before the Obama administration said Thursday that it would pursue an administrative fix to the cancellation problem.”
(Seung Min Kim and Jennifer Haberkorn, “With 39 Dems Behind It, House Passes ObamaCare Fix,” Politico, 11/15/13)
N.J. bill to offer in-state tuition, financial aid to immigrants in the country illegally gains momentum
Giancarlo Tello, an undocumented immigrant who came to New Jersey from Peru with his parents at age 6, pays out-of-state tuition at Rutgers-Newark. Tello, the campaign chair for New Jersey United Students' Tuition Equity for DREAMers, today joined advocates to push for a bill to offer in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants who went to high school in New Jersey. (Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger) (Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger)
TRENTON — After a decade-long effort by advocates, a bill that would charge in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who grew up in New Jersey appears well on its way to landing on the governor’s desk.
The state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today voted eight to three with one abstention to approve the measure (S2479), which advocates say will affect tens of thousands of New Jersey residents.
“This community has waited long enough. Let’s not look for excuses to say no. Let’s look for reasons to say yes,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who has lent his name to the bill as a prime sponsor.
The bill now heads for a vote in the full Senate on Monday, where it’s expected to pass. Assembly leaders say they expect to pass it soon as well.
Under the bill, undocumented immigrants who attended high school in New Jersey for three or more years, graduated, and filed an affidavit saying they plan to legalize their immigration status as soon as legally possible would be able to get lower in-state tuition rates at New Jersey’s public colleges and universities.
The undocumented immigrant students would also be eligible for state financial aid under the Senate version of the bill. Incoming Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), a Cuban immigrant, said today that he expects the Assembly version will incorporate that aspect — which had been part of a separate bill —as well.
Advocates said it doesn’t make sense for the state to provide K-12 education to undocumented students — which federal law requires — and then refuse to treat them the same as citizens once they graduate.
OBAMACARELESSNESS
That didn’t take long. His very first words at yesterday’s press conference—a lie! “Good morning,” he began, when it was already afternoon. But he quickly caught himself, pushed his nose back in (it works like an elongated spyglass), said the wrong time of day was on him. Meaning we really do get to keep him, though White House aides and many a guest and host on CNN and MSNBC reminded reporters and viewers it was still morning in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones when he spoke, not to mention Hawaii and Baja California.
He did a good job defending the idea if not the practice of Obamacare. Some favorite lines: “We can always make this law work better.” “Ultimately, I’m the president of the United States.” “It’s scary getting a cancellation notice.” But for pure psycho-syntactical bliss, there was this: “I think everybody understands that I’m not happy about the fact that the rollout has been, you know, wrought with a whole range of problems that I’ve been deeply concerned about.”
For sheer bravery, though, there was his directing viewers to the White House website that links to organizations helping in Philippine relief efforts. He even spelled the it out, WhiteHouse.gov/typhoon. We went to the site. It opened. It consists of one page, sort of like a flat tax form. Imagine that. But of course the architecture was there. It’s a branch of the main White House site, the indispensable WhiteHouse.gov, home of many an Obama photo and publicity still and the texts he reads on his teleprompter. In other words, it’s Ground Zero for the Obama ego machine. If it didn’t work, it would be the end of 21st century civilization as we've come to know it.
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