RNC Launches Obamacare Impact Website

The Republican National Committee has launched a website showing Obamacare’s impact on individual states, the party announced Wednesday.

The website, ObamacareCosts.org, allows visitors to search by zip code for Obamacare’s impact across the United States.

“Each week the RNC will release a video of real news stories highlighting the costs of ObamaCare to Americans around the country. This week’s video, ‘ObamaCare Costs: Colorado,’ shows the difficult choice facing Coloradans: going into debt or paying a fine in order to comply with ObamaCare,” the RNC’s announcement said.

The website also has a place for visitors to sign a petition asking for a repeal of the law.

“With less than a month to go before this disastrous law begins to take full effect, Democrats bear sole responsibility for ObamaCare’s costs,” said RNC chair Reince Priebus in the announcement. “The RNC will ensure voters hold them accountable in 2014 by providing the facts and highlighting real stories from real people from now until Election Day.”

The health insurance exchanges mandated by Obamacare are scheduled to open Oct. 1, although some Republicans are calling for a delay of the law over security concerns.

The Obama administration has delayed several parts of the law, including the mandate that all employers with over 50 full-time employees provide health insurance and that states verify the eligibility of those applying for subsidies.

Via: WFB

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CO SHERIFF: 'SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIRE REPRESENTATIVES WHO IGNORE CONSTITUENTS'

When El Paso County, Colorado Sheriff Terry Maketa spoke to Breitbart News on September 4, he said "constituents should be able to fire representatives who ignore constituents."

Just hours before, Maketa attended a rally where he lent his voice "to citizens fighting for their constitutional rights through the recall process." 

Speaking to Breitbart News, Maketa made it clear that he understands Coloradans' frustration with the new gun control laws: "If you look at it from the macro-level, these laws did not deliver what was promised." 

"Number one--they were passed under the promise that they would prevent another Aurora or Sandy Hook but there is no validity to that statement," he explained. 

"Number two--these laws were not born in Colorado. Rather, they are just a copy of what NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others are trying to do all around the country," Maketa said. "Number three--the laws are unenforceable. They ban 'high capacity' magazines purchased after the laws went into effect on July 1, but provide no mechanism for knowing which magazines were in fact owned or transferred prior to that date."

"Also, the rules of possession at a length of 72 hours mean that if your firearm is out of your possession for more than 72 hours you have to do a background check to get it back," Maketa revealed. "I have a friend in Special Forces, and what this rule means for him is that each time he's deployed and leaves his gun with this fiance, she has to have an initial background check and then another background check every 30 until he returns in order to keep possession of the firearms."

"This is just one more burden on a man who is fighting for our country," Maketa said.

Via: Breitbart

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The Most Embarrassing President of My Lifetime

Obama is a symbol of much of today’s generation, which accepts no responsibility for anything

“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” — Teddy Roosevelt
“The buck stops here.” — Harry Truman
“I didn’t set a red line.” — Barack Obama

Barack Obama is, without question, the most embarrassing president of my lifetime — and that is saying something, since my life so far has encompassed 12 presidencies, some of which have brought a lot of embarrassment to the nation. Even Richard Nixon, with his Watergate scandal, Jimmy Carter, with his malaise, and Bill Clinton, with his lewd behavior in the Oval Office, could not top this president for pure, unadulterated disgrace.

Of course, in Obama’s case, it is not a matter of personal scandal like it was for Clinton. By telling the world a year ago that he was drawing a red line in the hot desert sands of Syria — that red line being the use of chemical weapons — he created the debacle that currently threatens to engulf the Middle East. He blustered at the time that if the regime of Bashar al-Assad crossed that red line, there will be a price to pay. No one yet knows what that price will be, but from the current discussion, it appears that it will involve the destruction of at least three camels, four sheep, a half-dozen goats and an abandoned aspirin factory.

That oughta show ‘em!

What it will do, in all likelihood, is unify the Islamic crazies in the Middle East and turn Assad into a regional hero, emboldening him to attack Israel, secure in the knowledge that the United States has no stomach for a wider war.

Congressional offices on Capitol Hill are reporting phone calls coming in at a rate of more than 200 to 1 against approving Obama’s plan to attack Syria. Republican and Democrats alike are being bombarded with negative responses from their constituents. Still, there are those among the insulated legislative class — John McCain, Lindsay Graham, John Boehner, etc. — who have not gotten the message that the American people are about as enthusiastic about Obama’s proposed war plans as they are about undergoing a quadruple root canal. In fact the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve a resolution to allow Obama to use force.

Via: Canada Free Press

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169,000 net jobs created in August; June, July numbers drastically lowered

The "official" unemployment rate dropped to 7.3% from 7.4% last month. But, as usual, the number went down because more American workers simply gave up trying to find a job.

Labor force participation dropped to 63.2% - the lowest since 1978.

Wall Street Journal:

Employers added 169,000 jobs in August and July's figure was revised sharply lower to 104,000, suggesting the labor-market recovery isn't gaining strength and potentially complicating the Federal Reserve's plans to start dialing back its support for the economy.

In its monthly employment report released Friday, the Labor Department lowered the combined tally for job gains in June and July by 74,000. The nation's unemployment rate stood at 7.3% in August, down slightly from 7.4% in July.

The August jobs gain was slightly lower than the average monthly gain of 184,000 over the prior 12 months and the 175,000 new jobs forecast by economists. The private sector added 152,000 jobs in August and government increased employment by 17,000.

The new estimate of 104,000 jobs added in July, down from an initial estimate of 162,000, was the lowest increase in over a year, a sign of easing momentum in the labor market recovery.

Via: American Thinker

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90,473,000: Record Number Not in Labor Force--Up Almost 10M Under Obama

(CNSNews.com) - The number of Americans who are 16 years or older and who have decided not to participate in the nation's labor force has pushed past 90,000,000 for the first time, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or older and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. A person is not participating in the labor force if they are 16 or older and have not sought a job in the last four weeks.

In July, according to BLS, 89,957,000 Americans did not participate in the labor force. In August, that climbed to 90,473,000--a one month increase of 516,000.

In January 2009, when President Barack Obama took office, there were 80,507,000 Americans not in the labor force. Thus, the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 9,966,000 during Obama's presidency.

Part of the increase in the number Americans not participating in the labor force can be explained by Baby Boomers reaching retirement age and deciding to stop working--and not be replaced by an equal number of younger people reaching age 16 and thus becoming part of the BLS labor force population.

Via: CNS News

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These 11 universities are awful and should be demolished down right now

The Great Recession has put a lot of people out of work and has taken a huge bite out of the value of pretty much everybody’s real property values. It bankrupted some historic companies, too, including Lehman Brothers and General Motors.

Education is a sector of the economy — a pretty large sector — that has managed to survive the malaise mostly unscathed. American colleges have been able to hang on, virtually en masse, with the tenacity of cockroaches — thanks in no small part to federal largesse in the form of Pell Grants and subsidized student loans.

That’s sad, really, because many public and private colleges and universities are delivering a sloppy, unfinished product. The 2011 “Pathway to Prosperity” study conducted by Harvard University found that only 56 percent of students complete four-year programs in fewer than six years.

Graduation rates don’t always accurately reflect the dropout rate. Some students don’t graduate because they leave at the first opportunity for better schools, for example. Also, students who obtain two-year degrees get missed in any four-year graduation count.

Still, way too many public and private nonprofit schools produce deplorable results — leaving dropouts on the hook for student loans and with little else, and leaving the government out billions in wasted grant money.

The slideshow below presents some of the worst offenders. Hopefully, your alma mater isn’t on the list. It’s probably not, though, because graduation rates are so low.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

 

Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria?  Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria?  Of course.  Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe.  Why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been "jetting from covert command centers near the Syrian front lines to the Élysée Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime"?  Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia intends to install their own puppet government in Syria which will allow the Saudis to control the flow of energy through the region.  On the other side, Russia very much prefers the Assad regime for a whole bunch of reasons.  One of those reasons is that Assad is helping to block the flow of natural gas out of the Persian Gulf into Europe, thus ensuring higher profits for Gazprom.  Now the United States is getting directly involved in the conflict.  If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia.  This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all.

 

It has been common knowledge that Qatar has desperately wanted to construct a natural gas pipeline that will enable it to get natural gas to Europe for a very long time...

Via: The Economic Collapse

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WEAK: JUST 169,000 NEW JOBS CREATED IN AUGUST, BAD DOWNWARD REVISIONS, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE FALLS

There were just 169K new jobs created in August.

Private payrolls came in at 152,000 new jobs vs. expectations of 180,000.

What's worse. Last month was revised SHARPLY down from 162 to 104K. That is quite ominous.

June was also revised down, from 172K to 188.

The unemployment rate did, however, drop to 7.3%, but that's basically just due to continued exodus from the workforce.

The participation rate fell to 63.2% from 63.4%.

Snap reaction: this could delay the Fed's drive to reduce the pace of bond buying. The consensus had been that starting in September, the Fed would begin the so-called "taper" but right now the market is calling that bluff. Gold is surging, the dollar is tumbling, the US 10-year is seeing yields go down. And stocks are actually rising.

You can read the full report from the BLS here.

Via: Business Insider

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WATCH: Arizona Voters Savage John McCain’s Syria Support at Town Hall

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) came face-to-face with his constituents Thursday during a tense town hall event in Phoenix, Arizona. The senator, who has perhaps been the loudest Republican voice supporting military action in Syria met voters who were vehemently opposed to intervention and let their voices be heard.

According to a report by CNN’s Kevin Liptak, one man told McCain, “We didn’t send you to make war for us. We sent you to stop the war,” drawing applause from the crowd. Another man held up a bag on marshmallows, telling him, “This is what I think of Congress. They are a bunch of marshmallows. That’s what they are. That’s what they’ve become. Why are you not listening to the people and staying out of Syria? It’s not our fight.”

Videos captured at the event show McCain contending with the often angry crowd. At one point, a man repeatedly attempted to interrupt McCain mid-speech, causing the senator to stop and address him. “What you’re doing is not just disrespectful to me, but disrespectful to others who want their opinions and views heard.”

Later, a woman who said she had a young cousin living in Syria delivered an emotional plea to McCain. “For me, to listen to you say there is no good option in Syria-–I refuse to believe that,” she told him. “The good option right now is to take Saudi Arabia and Iran and force them to stop supporting the two sides in Syria. And you could do it. You can do it by diplomacy, not bombs, Sen. McCain. We cannot afford to shed more Syrian blood.”

McCain thanked the woman, who got loud support from the crowd, for her “emotional plea,” but disputed what he saw as her support for the Assad regime. “To say that Bashar Assad is anything but a merciless butcher, then we have a strong disagreement.”

Watch the two exchanges in the video below:

Via: Mediaite.com

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[CARTOON] BoehnerCare

Via: California Political Review

Creative Destruction

Obamacare versus artists, writers, musicians, actors, et al.

Nancy Pelosi waxed rhapsodic in 2010 as she imagined the benefits of Obamacare: “Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.”

GARY LOCKE

Well, that was the economy we used to have. But as Obamacare begins to kick in, artists, photographers, writers, and other members of the “creative class” who have access to health insurance programs through numerous professional organizations will lose that coverage.

Up until now professional organizations have worked with insurance providers to craft reduced-rate plans for their members. But thanks to the fine print in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on January 1, 2014, many of these plans will fail to pass legal muster.

The College Art Association website posted a notice this month: “The New York Life Insurance Company recently informed CAA that it will no longer offer catastrophic healthcare coverage previously available to CAA members.” Why? Because it “is no longer an option” for “associations whose members reside in different states” to provide such coverage. These members will have to seek help from their home states’ newly formed Obamacare exchanges. Plans offered to Modern Language Association (MLA) members will suffer a similar fate.

Other insurance providers are reporting cancellations. The Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) website posts the following notice: “All individual and/or Sole Proprietor Health Insurance will terminate January 1, 2014. This includes plans acquired as Members of our Affiliated Associations & their groups.” Those affiliated associations include the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Graphic Arts Guild, NY Women in Film and Television, and many others.

Via: Weekly Standard

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Obama struggling to win support on Hill, world stage for Syria strike

The specter of defeat is starting to hang over President Obama’s drive to win congressional backing for a Syria strike, as his team struggles to win rank-and-file support in the House – with even top ally Nancy Pelosi saying she’s not sure she can round up a majority of her caucus.

The president is not doing much better 5,000 miles away, seemingly running into a wall -- and Vladimir Putin -- during his brief visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the G-20 summit as he tries to sway allies to back his plan.

Speculation is swirling that the president may address the nation in the near future, as Congress takes up legislation authorizing the use of force. But for now, lawmakers say their constituents are overwhelmingly against military action in Syria – a fact they weigh heavily as they consider how to vote.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., one of the biggest advocates for military action on the Hill, acknowledged in an interview with Fox News that he’s not at all certain there are 218 votes in the House for the resolution to pass. Informal tallies show only a few dozen members of the House have come out for military action.

"It is up to the president to be much more forceful and not seem like he is trying to pass the buck on to someone else," King said.

Via: Fox News

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CBS and Time Warner win; viewers lose in cable dispute

So here's the final score: Time Warner Cable got some but not all of what it wanted. CBS got pretty much everything that it wanted.

And after a month of being denied access to CBS, Showtime and other popular channels, Time Warner subscribers got the certainty of even costlier monthly bills and the assurance that money-grubbing squabbles among multibillion-dollar media giants will continue.

Excuse me if I'm not exactly thrilled about this week's conclusion to the latest in a series of go-ahead-make-my-day confrontations between greedy corporations.

Moreover, why aren't our elected officials hopping mad about these ongoing industry food fights and racing to pass legislation aimed at finally giving consumers a break from the endless cycle of rising pay-TV bills?

"We need regulators who are willing to stop powerful special interests, whether broadcasters or cable firms, that use consumers as pawns in their spats," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

"In the long run, we need better rules, including a la carte pricing, to help change the video marketplace," he said.

I've been pushing for years for a la carte pricing — paying only for the channels you want. More on that in a moment.

First, let's sample the bury-the-hatchet statements released by Time Warner Cable and CBS after they made the peace.

Glenn Britt, Time Warner's chief exec, said the company's hard-nosed bargaining stance was guided by wanting "to hold down costs and retain our ability to deliver a great video experience for our customers."

"While we certainly didn't get everything we wanted, ultimately we ended up in a much better place than when we started," he said.

Via: LA Times

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