[VIDEO] Harry Reid Is Taking a Taxpayer Subsidy to Buy His Obamacare Plan

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), whose salary is $193,400 a year, said he has purchased a health care plan through the D.C. Obamacare exchange and that he is accepting the federal subsidy that can run up up to $11,378 per year for a member of Congress to purchase a plan.

Private citizens buying an insurance plan in an Obamacare exchange can only get a federal subsidy if their income is less than 400 percent of the poverty level--which equals $94,200 for a family of four.

CNSNews.com asked Reid on Wednesday at the Capitol if he had purchased a health care plan through the D.C. exchange.

“Yes, I have,” he said.

CNSNews.com then asked Reid if he would accept the federal subsidy to help pay for that plan.

“Yes, I am,” Reid said.

Finally, CNSNews.com asked if he thought accepting the subsidy was the right thing to do.

“I’m just like 150 million other people in America,” Reid said. “My employer helps me pay for my health care.”

Via: CNS News
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Reports of erroneous WA health exchange debits

For the second week in a row, the Washington Healthplanfinder website is down, and it's causing problems for people who are dealing with billing issues. Some of them say the website is mistakenly debiting their accounts.

Shannon Bruner of Indianola logged on to her checking account Monday morning, and found she was almost 800 dollars in the negative.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘I got screwed,’” she said.

The Bruners enrolled for insurance on the Washington Healthplanfinder website, last October. They say they selected the bill pay date to be December 24th. Instead the Washington Healthplanfinder drafted the 835 dollar premium Monday.

Josh Bruner started his own business this year as an engineering recruiter. They said it’s forced them to pay a lot of attention to their bills and their bank accounts.

“Big knot in my gut because we're trying to keep it together,” said Shannon Bruner. “It's important to me that this kind of stuff doesn't happen.”

They're not alone.

One viewer emailed KING 5 saying, "They drafted my account this morning for a second time."

Another woman on Facebook with a similar problem commented, "We are all in the same boat."

Via: KGW

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Efforts to enroll young in ObamaCare heads to Air Jordan debuts, late-night haunts

District of Columbia officials are recruiting young residents this weekend to enroll in ObamaCare by showing up where they “party by night and shop by day.”

Officials on Saturday visited two Footlocker stores where Nike’s exclusive Air Jordan 12 “Taxi” sneakers were going on sale. And they are scheduled to visit two Denny’s restaurants from 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

“My motto is ‘Get them health care while you get them Jordans,” DC Health Links representative Vanessa Brooks told Fox News outside a Footlocker in the city’s downtown.

“Get some health care to go along with them taxis, OK?” Brooks told those at the store. “You got to have it. And you need it.”

The Obama administration and other supporters of the Affordable Care Act have worked hard since enrollment started in October to connect with young people, knowing their participation will help cover the cost of the elderly and others who need more medical care.

Via: Fox News Politics

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[VIDEO] Thousands of Obamacare sign-ups disappear into HealthCare.gov black hole

Nearly 15,000 enrollment records from Americans trying to sign up for Obamacare never made it to insurers — but the federal government does not know which records never made it to which insurer.

The federal analysis merely compares the number of times Obamacare enrollees clicked “enroll” to the number of plans HealthCare.gov sent to insurers, according to The Washington Post. Consumers who send the vanishing enrollments, or “orphan files,” are not notified that their information has not been processed and an insurer did not receive sensitive financial and health-related data, meaning that they could be in for an unpleasant surprise when the Dec. 23 deadline — the last day for customers to sign up for health insurance — comes and goes.

But government officials insist that less than one percent of enrollments disappeared into cyberspace since early December, even though their data does not include duplicated and erroneous enrollments.

he Health and Human Services Department needs 7 million Americans to enroll within six months of HealthCare.gov’s launch to fund the exchanges, but only 365,000 Americans have signed up since the end of November, a drastic shortfall.

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Tags: HealthCare.gov, Obamacare

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Center for American Progress releases list of corporate donors after founder moves to White House

Via: Daily Caller

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[CARTOON] New Filibuster Rules

Via: California Political Review

Maine wreaths go to Arlington cemetery

PORTLAND, Maine — Thousands of Maine-made wreaths are being distributed at Arlington National Cemetery.

All told, 11 truckloads of greenery from Worcester Wreath Co. made their way to the cemetery outside Washington, D.C. Maine first lady Ann LePage planned to be on hand Saturday as the wreaths are laid on headstones.

All told, the nonprofit Wreaths Across America expects to ship 470,000 to 500,000 wreaths to adorn veterans' graves this holiday season. Last-minute donations bumped the number of Arlington wreaths from 100,000 to 120,000.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King say the Senate has passed a resolution designating Saturday as "Wreaths Across America Day."

Via: Politico

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Obamacare’s 19 New Californias

If you try to understand Obamacare, you’re guaranteed to get a nation-sized headache. (I tried, and I did.) Federal and state government officials have a mess on their hands, and nearly every statement you can make about the law comes with 17 qualifications. But here’s some health advice for Californians: take two aspirin—and stop thinking of Obamacare as a national story.

The Affordable Care Act created a lot of new health insurance marketplaces, and the secret is that they’re not really federal or state entities. They’re regional.

For the purposes of selling insurance to individuals and small groups, California’s government divided the state into 19 regions, each with different insurance prices and subsidies based on demographic and economic data. If you’ve heard about the “state insurance exchange” in the media, it doesn’t refer to one market. In California, it refers to 19 different regional markets. Obamacare’s impact will differ across Californian communities, often in unpredictable ways. Unless you’re a policy buff, you’re probably best off if you stick to understanding your own market.

The reason for the 19 regions is that the ACA prohibited insurers from using your health as a basis for denying coverage or determining insurance rates. That left insurers with two ways to set your insurance prices—your age and your place of residence. Healthcare costs differ from region to region—both because of differences among hospitals and other health providers and because of health differences among populations. Therefore, insurance premiums will now differ along regional lines.

Why 19 regions? Under Obamacare, every state is required to divide its insurance markets into a minimum number of regions—essentially, one per Metropolitan Statistical Area, or media market. In some states, however, insurers have lobbied for even more regions than required by law, and the federal government has generally signed off on these changes. In California, lawmakers considered plans for as few as six regions before eventually expanding the number to 19 regions. (We’re not the only state with more regions than usual; Texas, determined to be bigger in everything, has 26, and South Carolina, determined to be crazier in everything, has 46, one for each county.)

Via: California Political Review

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Have Los Angeles Teachers Unions Gone Too Far?

The American Federation of Teachers sponsored a “day of action” Monday to ostensibly shed light on educational issues. Teachers throughout the country — with varying success — staged demonstrations discussing a laundry list of union priorities. Its state affiliate here is the California Federation of Teaches.

In California, where unions have long wielded more influence than in most states, the protests took an interesting turn. That is, Los Angeles teachers mostly just focused on themselves — not students.

Los Angeles teachers, who are relatively powerful, drew light to a very specific issue, one they are facing heat for (even from Democratic legislators). The Los Angeles Times reported that United Teachers Los Angeles members protested “against the conditions under which the L.A. Unified School District handles teachers who are facing allegations of misconduct.”

L.A. Unified teachers are represented by both the CFT and the larger California Teachers Association.

The union members held “vigils” for teachers who were spending time in Los Angeles Unified School District offices because of their impending misconduct cases. The union focused on defending teachers plausibly accused of wrongdoing — from sexual misconduct to aggressive behavior against students.

One teacher, explaining the protest, asked the Times, “What kind of school district removes a teacher from the classroom if a 13-year-old said so?”

The protests are a response to a crackdown on misbehaving teachers. After the district was forced to pay Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt — who sexually molested countless children and photographed them ingesting his bodily fluids — $40,000 to settle his case, the district opened up hundreds of cases against teachers. Those protesting said that the district had gone too far and was no longer defending students, but attacking teachers.

Via: California Political Review

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ObamaCare Is A Lump Of Coal For Employers

On The 7th Day Of ObamaCare, Democrats Gave To Me … Businesses-A-Closing

DURING THE SALE OF OBAMACARE, OBAMA PROMISED “COST-SAVINGS” FOR EMPLOYERS

Obama Promised That ObamaCare Would Provide “Cost-Savings” To Employers That Could Result In Raises For Employees. OBAMA: “Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, cost-savings could be as much as $3,000 less per employer than if we do nothing. Now, think about that. That’s $3,000 your employer doesn’t have to pay, which means maybe she can afford to give you a raise.” (Barack Obama, Remarks At George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 3/19/10)

BUT ACCORDING TO A POLL BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, OBAMACARE IS THE TOP WORRY FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

According To A July Chamber Of Commerce Poll, ObamaCare Now “Surpasses Economic Uncertainty As The Top Worry For Small Business Owners.” “Small business owners’ concern about the economy remained steady this quarter; however, their concern about the 2010 health care bill rose significantly in the past quarter and for the third quarter in a row (from 42% in January to 49% in June). Since June 2011, anxiety about the requirements of the law has increased by 10-points since and now surpasses economic uncertainty as the top worry for small business owners.” ( Harris Interactive/U.S. Chamber Of Commerce , 1,304 Small Business Executives, MoE 2.5 %, 6/21/13-7/8/13)

A Separate IFA Poll Shows That “Sixty-Four (64) Percent Of Business Decision-Makers In Franchise-Owned Businesses And 53 Percent Of Non-Franchisee-Owned Businesses Believe The ACA Will Have A Negative Impact On Their Businesses.” ( IFA/U.S. Chamber Of Commerce/Public Opinion Strategies , 414 Franchise-Owned And Non-Franchised Owned Businesses With 40 To 500 Employees, 11/13/13)

“Twenty-Nine (29) Percent Of Franchise And 41 Percent Of Non-Franchise Businesses Are Already Seeing Health Care Costs Increase Due To The Law.” ( IFA/U.S. Chamber Of Commerce/Public Opinion Strategies , 414 Franchise-Owned And Non-Franchised Owned Businesses With 40 To 500 Employees, 11/13/13)

The IFA Poll Shows That “The Employer Mandate Will Almost Double The Percentage Of Franchise-Owned Businesses And More Than Triple The Percentage Of Non-Franchise Businesses That Will Not Offer Health Care.” “Twenty-eight (28) percent of franchise and non-franchise businesses surveyed report that the employer mandate will mean they will drop coverage for their employees. In effect, among this segment of businesses, the employer mandate will almost double the percentage of franchise-owned businesses and more than triple the percentage of non-franchise businesses that will not offer health care.” (IFA/U.S. Chamber Of Commerce/Public Opinion Strategies , 414 Franchise-Owned And Non-Franchised Owned Businesses With 40 To 500 Employees, 11/13/13)

Via: GOP.com

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[CARTOON] The Gift

Via: California Political Review

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‘The problem with Obamacare isn’t just a glitch. It’s fundamental and it’s taking away our freedom. At the heart of the program is the idea that the government should decide your health coverage – what you require and how much you should pay. Never mind what you want, what you need, and what you can afford.’ ~ Sen. Pat Toomey  WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the Weekly Republican Address, Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania talks about how the President’s deeply flawed health care law is causing millions of Americans to lose the insurance plans they liked and pay higher premiums and deductibles under new Obamacare plans. He tells of a constituent with multiple sclerosis who was recently kicked off of her insurance plan because of Obamacare. The woman now has a choice of two plans – one that will allow her to keep her doctor and the other that will pay for her medication. “Neither plan will do both,” says Toomey. “These are the kinds of painful and unfair choices millions of people now face” thanks to Obamacare.

BACK TO BREITBART TV

Via: Breitbart

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Obama Weekly Address: Marking the One-Year Anniversary of the Tragic Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Saturday December 14, 2013

In his weekly address, President Obama honors the memory of the 26 innocent children and educators who were taken from us a year ago in Newton, Connecticut.

Via: WhiteHouse.gov

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Populist blowhard Ed Schultz secretly flies on his own fleet of private jets

MSNBC host Ed Schultz, who has repeatedly criticized opponents for owning private jets, owns multiple private jets and conceals his flight data from the  public.

Schultz owns Ed Schultz Broadcasting, LLC and has owned at least three Cessnas and one Piper. Schultz has owned two Cessna 560s, which typically sell for more than $5 million per plane. (He sold one plane—tail number N421LT — to Lakin Tire West Incorporated in 2011). Schultz also owns one Cessna 208B which is worth over $1.5 million. He also owns a Piper Cheyenne turboprop, estimated at more than $2 million.

Those hefty price tags don’t include the salaries of the two pilots, the fuel, or the maintenance costs. It costs more than $1,295 per hour to operate a Cessna 560, making it one of the more expensive private jets.

Nor do we know where one of Schulz’s planes — his Cessna 560, tail number N469ES — actually goes. Schulz has been given special permission not to reveal his flight routes.

In early 2011, the Department of Transportation required private plane owners to reveal their flight information to the general public. The registration number, flight, path, departure point, destination, and flight length of private planes are now accessible to the public — unless operators and owners send the Federal Aviation Administration “writtencertification” that that data would create a security threat. The Department of Transportation later reversed itself in late 2011 and allowed any operator to block that information.

Via: The Daily Caller
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HARVARD VOTES TO BANISH BOTTLED WATER

Harvard University students agreed by vote that plastic single-use water bottles should no longer be sold on campus, leaving the fate of plastic water bottles in jeopardy at the Ivy League institution.

While campus administrators cannot be forced to go along with the student vote’s outcome, organizers of the ballot measure say they expect cooperation from Harvard officials, who will be lobbied by the student government to comply.

“We will be working with the administration to make sure student wishes are met,” Katrina Malakhoff, chairperson of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee, said in an email to The College Fix.

Sixty-four percent of students who voted in Harvard’s fall referendum late last month supported “ending the sale and distribution of plastic non-reusable water bottles on campus (including at Harvard cafes and Crimson Catering events) and making drinking water more accessible through the installation of additional water fountains and reusable water bottle filling stations.”

Harvard University officials did not respond to phone calls and emails from The College Fix asking if they would support the student referendum’s majority vote to end the sale of bottled water on campus.

Malakhoof, in her email, said “now that students have shown their support, we are optimistic that these stations can be installed within the next few months.”

Funding for the new water stations will be shouldered by a grant the environmental action committee received, as well as support from the Harvard Office for Sustainability and other campus coffers, Malakhoff said.

Single-use plastic water bottles are the latest environmental trending cause. Critics contend the environment is polluted once to create the plastic bottles, then again when they clog landfills, and further tout tap water as just as good if not better than bottled.

Via: The College Fix

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Legal Scholar Turley: 'Imperial Presidency' Emerging

Only the courts can stop President Barack Obama from tweaking the Affordable Care Act without going through Congress, according to Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar and professor at George Washington University Law School.

"This administration's been very successful in blocking challenges to actions that were viewed as unconstitutional. We have to get over what's called the standing barrier where courts just refuse to hear challenges," Turley told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV. 

Republican lawmakers have complained that Obama's changes to the healthcare law, including delays and tweaks of certain parts of it that are causing problems, are unconstitutional because they must be passed through Congress.

"The Framers [of the U.S. Constitution] would have been appalled that you can have very clear violations of the Constitution, but literally no one can actually get a hearing to review them," Turley said.

"At a minimum, courts should recognize that members of Congress have standing to challenge these types of rules and policies. If they did, many of these things would be struck down.

"We have the emergence of what is often called an imperial presidency, something that we have resisted for generations."

Via: Newsmax

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Obama has shown how a future GOP president can gut Obamacare

 I owe Mitt Romney an apology.

During the 2012 Republican presidential primary season, I repeatedly criticized Romney — and personally challenged him during his editorial board meeting with the Washington Examiner — for promising that if elected, on day one of his presidency, he would grant Obamacare waivers to all 50 states.

As I reported, under the text of the law, the ability to offer waivers to states was subject to many restrictions and wouldn’t even be an option until 2017, four years after his hypothetical swearing in.

Though I still believe I was right about what the statute said, as it turns out, I was being old-fashioned by taking the letter of the law so literally.

Having watched President Obama and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius over the past several months unilaterally alter or outright ignore major portions of the law, I now believe that a future Republican president would have greater latitude to gut Obamacare than I once thought possible.

The changes instituted by the Obama administration in response to implementation snags have ranged from perfectly legal areas of administrative discretion stemming from the vast regulatory powers granted to the HHS secretary under Obamacare, to more creative interpretations of that discretion, to Obama simply choosing to ignore parts of the law that became inconvenient.

Obama has turned his signature legislative accomplishment into a constantly evolving wikilaw, with editing privileges restricted to himself and a few administration officials.

He’s largely been able to get away with it due to the difficulties posed by gaining standing in court for legal challenges.

Via: Washington Examiner

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