ObamaCare: It’s the roach motel for humans. Once you’re in forget about getting out.
“We are hearing about a new problem that involves the Affordable Care Act,” said the anchor. “People who signed up for coverage are finding it impossible to cancel their plans. Channel 9′s Lori Brown spoke with an Orlando man who has been trying unsuccessfully to cancel for more than six weeks now.”
“Andrew Robinson was looking forward to getting health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. He has a small publishing business and works part time, so he hasn’t had coverage. In early January he signed up for a plan that cost nearly $300 a month. About a half hour later he and his wife realized they could barely afford that. They quickly found a less expensive plan through Humana for $116 a month,” says the reporter.
“I immediately called back the Florida Blue and asked them to cancel the policy I just set up,” says Robinson.
“But he quickly learned canceling Obamacare is no easy task. … More than six weeks later after spending 50 to 60 hours on the phone his policy is still not canceled and he is still waiting for the payment Florida Blue withdrew from his account to be refunded.”
According to Dingy Harry, he’s clearly lying and making this horror story up.
Minutes after issuing a stern warning to Russia and saying there will be a price to pay if it interferes militarily in Ukraine, President Obama headed to a “happy hour” with fellow Democrats.
Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Obama struck a very different tone than he had less than 30 minutes earlier, when he appeared with little warning in the White House press briefing room and issued a vague threat to Moscow.
“Well, it’s Friday. It’s after 5 o’clock. So, this is now officially happy hour with the Democratic party,” the president told his cohorts. “I can do that. It is an executive action. I have the authority.”
Russian troops moved into Crimea Friday, U.S. officials told Fox News, prompting Ukraine to accuse Russia of an "armed invasion."
At the White House, President Obama said the U.S. government is "deeply concerned" by reports of Russian "military movements" and warned any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty would be "deeply destabilizing."
"There will be costs" for any military intervention, he said, without specifying what those costs might be.
U.S. officials told Fox News they see “evidence of air and maritime movement into and out of Crimea by Russian forces” although the Pentagon declined to officially "characterize" the movement.
Agence France Press quoted a top Ukranian official as saying Russian aircraft carrying nearly 2,000 suspected troops have landed at a military air base near the regional capital of the restive Crimean peninsula.
"Thirteen Russian aircraft landed at the airport of Gvardeyskoye (near Simferopol) with 150 people in each one," Sergiy Kunitsyn, the Ukrainian president's special representative in Crimea, told the local ATR television channel, according to AFP. He accused Russia of an "armed invasion."
The new developments prompted Ukraine to accuse Russia of a "military invasion and occupation" -- a claim that brought an alarming new dimension to the crisis.
Russia kept silent on claims of military intervention, even as it maintained its hard-line stance on protecting ethnic Russians in Crimea, a peninsula of Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian border service said eight Russian transport planes have landed in Crimea with unknown cargo.
WASHINGTON, DC – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) calls on President Obama to address a new administration report that reveals 11 million workers will pay higher premiums because of the president’s health care law. “Mr. President, you owe our 11 million workers an explanation,” Rep. Wagner says, noting this is the latest broken promise under his health care law and that Republicans stand ready to forge better solutions for families and workers. - Via: Speaker.gov Continue Reading....
March 1, 2014 - WASHINGTON, DC — In his weekly address, President Obama said he took action this week to launch new manufacturing hubs and expand a competition to fund transformative infrastructure projects. Both are policies aimed at expanding economic opportunity for all by creating jobs and ensuring the long-term strength of the American economy. Congress can boost this effort by passing a bipartisan proposal to create a nationwide network of high-tech manufacturing hubs and taking steps to invest in our nation’s infrastructure -- rebuilding our transportation system, creating new construction jobs, and better connecting Americans to economic opportunities. Via: WhiteHouse.gov Continue Reading....
Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a move to expel their Democratic colleague Sen. Rod Wright by sending a Republican proposal to the Rules Committee, where it could permanently stall.
Sen. Steve Knight, a Republican from Palmdale, introduced a resolution to expel Wright from the Senate because a jury found him guilty of eight felonies last month for lying about living in the district he represents.
“This will be precedent-setting,” Knight said as debate on his measure was being quashed on a 21-13, mostly party-line vote.
“We have gone past any time period where someone has been convicted of a felony and not resigned.”
Wright went on a paid leave of absence on Tuesday and has been removed from his committee assignments, causing Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg to say the move to expel Wright would “make zero practical difference.”
Permanently expelling Wright is premature, Steinberg said, because the action couldn’t be undone and Wright is planning to ask the judge to overturn the jury’s guilty verdicts. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 16.
Via: Sacramento Bee
Continue Reading.....
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/27/6195891/senate-democrats-block-republican.html#storylink=cpy
One of President Obama’s greatest political challenges has been hiding the fact that Obamacare is largely financed by siphoning huge sums of money out of Medicare. In particular, Obamacare cuts—or guts—Medicare Advantage, the popular program that allows seniors to get their Medicare benefits through private insurers. In fact, it’s only these Medicare Advantage cuts that allow the Congressional Budget Office to pretend that Obamacare won’t raise deficits—an implausible notion that polling indicates only a very small percentage of particularly credulous citizens believe.
BIGSTOCK
Late on Friday, February 21, in a 148-page, after-hours communication, the Obama administration declared that cuts to Medicare Advantage, long put off, will finally take effect in 2015. Predictably, and understandably, many conservatives responded by criticizing the announcement.
The cuts are bad in and of themselves, but cuts to the program have been a part of Obamacare’s written text from day one. So the real question is not whether Obamacare will cut Medicare Advantage; it’s whether the Obama administration—which doesn’t want those cuts to become evident when Medicare’s open-enrollment period begins on October 15, less than three weeks before Election Day—will take unilateral, lawless executive action to stop the cuts from taking place. That’s what has happened to date.
In the lead-up to Obama’s reelection, he and his administration weren’t satisfied with having mailed out full-color, taxpayer-funded propaganda brochures and run millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayer-funded TV ads featuring Andy Griffith, all touting Obamacare to seniors. They knew that such nonsense would quickly be exposed if Obamacare’s prescribed Medicare Advantage cuts were to take effect: Seniors would have started noticing those cuts on October 15, 2012.
Listening the other day to discouraging economic forecasts from Alan Greenspan and Larry Summers, I was reminded of the many polls showing that Americans worry their children won't have the same opportunities they did. To be clear, neither the former Fed chairman nor the former Treasury secretary was predicting recessions or even downturns. But there was little in their words to the National Association for Business Economics to suggest that brighter days are on the immediate horizon.
Their diagnoses and suggested treatments of the economy weren't exactly the same, but both nonetheless left the listener deeply unsettled. Summers argues that it's been a long time since the United States had "healthy, strong economic growth in a full-capacity economy." He argues against current government austerity measures, particularly at a time when the country—he asserts—desperately needs an increase in consumer demand. He also complains that regulatory and policy restraints have restrained economic growth, specifically pointing to the fact that no new oil refineries have been built in the United States in decades. Meanwhile, austerity has led us to a lack of public investment; Summers gives the example of the currently dilapidated Kennedy airport in New York, at a time when borrowing rates are under 3 percent, which would normally be the perfect situation for government to rebuild infrastructure.
Greenspan argued for the need for immigration reform, saying that deporting illegal immigrants would lead to our economy "falling apart." On the other end of the immigration spectrum, he said, the H-1B program for admission of highly skilled workers is important because "we can't staff the high-tech needs of our country with the kids coming out of our high schools." Yet, the prospects for immigration reform in the House, despite the backing of leading Republicans, are problematic at best, due to entrenched opposition within the GOP base.
At the same time, and more broadly, Americans are worried about where our country is—and seems to be—headed. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in May 2012 asked, "Do you feel confident or not confident that life for our children's generation will be better than it has been for us?" Only 30 percent of respondents felt confident, while 63 percent indicated they were not. A New York Times/CBS News poll taken in January of this year asked, "Do you think the future of the next generation of Americans will be better, worse, or about the same as life today?" Only 20 percent said better, 53 percent indicated worse, and 25 percent said about the same. In late 2012, a USA Today/Gallup poll asked, "In America, each generation has tried to have a better life than their parents, with a better living standard, better homes, a better education, and so on. How likely do you think it is that today's youth will have a better life than their parents?" At the time of the poll, the public was evenly split, with 49 percent saying likely, and 50 percent indicating that improvement was unlikely. Results differed widely based on exactly how the question was framed, but at best, in what has historically been one of the most inherently optimistic nations, at least (roughly) half of the population is doubtful that things will be better for succeeding generations.
The Obama administration announced Thursday that states with faulty Obamacare enrollment websites will be able to “retroactively” give taxpayer subsidies to people who signed up for private insurance plans off the Obamacare exchanges.
The administration’s executive decision to make Obamacare tax credits, which count as subsidies, available to non-Obamacare customers was slammed Friday by House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Joe Pitts.
“It is outrageous for the Obama administration to be quietly telling states: pay subsidies now, worry about the paperwork later. The administration is blatantly ignoring the law, paying subsidies to plans outside of exchanges,” Pitts said.
“Additionally, this ‘pay now, verify later’ directive could be a boon for fraudsters, raising the administration’s unaccountability to the likes we have not seen. Once again, the self-proclaimed ‘most transparent administration in history’ is caught trying to hide another change from the public. The unilateral delays and changes have been rampant. The American people deserve better – they deserve fairness for all,” Pitts said.
“I applaud the federal government for its efforts to make this financial assistance available for more Oregonians,” said Democratic Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, whose state’s Obamacare enrollment figures as of last Friday registered at less than 800. Oracle, the current contractor on the “Cover Oregon” website, moved 100 out of approximately 165 programmers off the project Friday.
(CNSNews.com) – At a time of escalated tensions with the West over Ukraine, Russia says it is negotiating with eight governments around the world for access to military facilities, to enable it to extend its long-range naval and strategic bomber capabilities.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday the military was engaged in talks with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Algeria, Cyprus, the Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore.
“We need bases for refueling near the equator, and in other places,” ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying.
Russia is not looking to establish bases in those locations, but to reach agreement to use facilities there when required.
The countries are all strategically located – in three leftist-ruled countries close to the U.S.; towards either end of the Mediterranean; in the Indian Ocean south of the Gulf of Aden; and near some of the world’s most important shipping lanes in the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
Access to the new locations would extend the Russian military’s potential reach well beyond its existing extraterritorial bases, at the Syrian port of Tartus and in former Soviet states – Ukraine’s Sevastopol, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and the occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Shoigu said Russia was also beefing up its existing military presence in the post-Soviet region, doubling its troop numbers in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and deploying a regiment of troops to Belarus where it already has fighter aircraft stationed.
For months, the key question about the upcoming midterm congressional elections has been whether Republicans can overcome their six-seat deficit to become the majority party in the US Senate.
Now the question has changed somewhat — to whether the surprising strength of Republican candidates in states once considered long shots for the GOP portends disaster for Democrats hobbled by ObamaCare and the president’s weak approval ratings.
No one doubted the GOP would come close or better than close to a Senate takeover in November. But every day, the map looks more favorable for the Republicans.
First, four races feature wounded Democrats in states that went against President Obama in 2012: Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Mary Landrieu (Lousiana), Kay Hagan (North Carolina) and Mark Begich (Alaska).
The GOP challenger in Arkansas, the extremely impressive Rep. Tom Cotton, may already be running away with his race; he’s ahead anywhere from four to seven points over Pryor. Every potential Republican challenger to Hagan is beating her in head-to-head polls. In Alaska, Begich is losing to both possible GOP candidates and has a job-approval rating around 40 percent, which is basically death for an incumbent. Landrieu is essentially tied with her leading challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy; that’s better than her colleagues, but not where you want to be when you’ve served as a senator for 18 years.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine Next.
Sarah Palin discussed the issue with Fox New's Todd Starnes: I just finished chatting with Sarah Palin. Here's a comment she asked me to share exclusively with you folks:
"Back in 2008, I accurately predicted the possibility of Putin feeling emboldened to invade Ukraine because I could see what kind of leader Barack Obama would be. The bullies of the world are always emboldened by indecision and moral equivalence. We can expect more of this sort of thing in a world where America is gutting its military and 'leading from behind.'"
A South Floridaorthodontist is taking on President Obama‘s penchant for unilaterally altering the Affordable Care Act without the approval of Congress.
And he’s got a shot a winning.
Larry Kawa took to Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., Wednesday morning to announce a lawsuit filed on his behalf with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the only case of its kind against any of the 29 executive orders relating to Obamacare.
If successful, the court could force the Obama administration to adhere to the employer mandate that it has twice delayed, contradicting the plain text of the law.
DR. LARRY KAWA: Filed suit in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the Obama administration’s employer mandate delays.
It could be the biggest case of 2014.
“I’m not a politico. I’m not a Washington D.C. guy. I’m an orthodontist from Boca Raton,” Kawa told Watchdog.org.
But he’s also on to something. A federal district judge previously dismissed his case against the government while simultaneously lying out a roadmap for how to proceed. Kawa lacked standing.
Standing is the legal principle in which a plaintiff must show an actual injury before a court will hear the dispute. It’s a hurdle that has kept at bay other would-be challengers seeking to avoid an injury.
“If the court grants us standing then they lose,” Kawa said.
Because he employs more than 50 workers, Kawa Orthodontics is subject to complicated regulations and penalties under Obamacare.
In March 2013, Kawa spent $5,000 on legal fees to make sure his business was in compliance with the health law. Kawa said he spent 100 additional hours learning about the law, including meetings with insurance agents and his accountant.
Four months later it was all for naught. The administration changed the law without congressional approval. It was delayed again on Feb 10.
In a clear double standard, CNN was in an uproar on Thursday and Friday over an Arizona GOP legislator's racist jokes about Latinos but has yet to report a Florida Democrat's gaffe about immigrants.
"As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this," Anderson Cooper piled on. He played state representative John Kavanagh's "racist roast" of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and added that his jokes "set off a firestorm in the Latino community." Yet a few days ago, Florida Democrat Alex Sink emphasized the importance of immigration reform because of the need for landscapers and hotel workers and CNN has said nothing.
Below is a transcript of Sink's remark:
"Immigration reform is important in our country. It's one of the main agenda items of the beach's chamber of commerce, for obvious reasons. Because we have a lot of employers over in the beaches that rely upon workers, and especially in this high-growth environment, where are you going to get people to work to clean our hotel rooms or do our landscaping? And we don't need to put those employers in a position of hiring undocumented and illegal workers."
Sink lost to Republican Rick Scott in the 2010 gubernatorial election and is now running in a special election in Florida's 13th congressional district. Yet for a politician of her profile, CNN didn't deem her gaffe newsworthy.
Yet CNN reported Kavanagh's comments on Thursday's 2 p.m. ET of Newsroom, Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360, and Friday's 8 a.m. ET hour of New Day.
Below is a transcript of Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360 segment:
CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 2/28/14 [8:42 a.m. EST]
ANDERSON COOPER: Welcome back. As if lawmakers in the state of Arizona didn't already have enough negative national attention, there is this. It comes from Arizona Republican state's representative John Kavanagh. He is actually one of the leading defenders of the now-vetoed SB 1062, and took great care to say it was really no big deal.
This weekend, as the controversy over 1062 was heating up Mr. Kavanagh spoke at a roast for Phoenix's controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the guy who was at the center of Arizona's last controversy over SB 1070, the so-called "papers please" immigration law. Here is part of what the state representative said at this roast.
(Video Clip)
JOHN KAVANAGH (R), Arizona state legislature: I'm not the federal monitor. How many Hispanics did you pull over on the way over here, Arpaio, huh?
David Zechman, President and CEO of McLaren Northern Michigan hospital, says that Obamacare is to blame for the hospital’s newly announced layoffs and cuts.
Obamacare has increased patients’ deductibles, making it difficult for them to continue visiting their doctors.
McLaren Northern Michigan hospital’s budget was severely affected by lower federal reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare services.
“We still have the same costs of taking care of patients, but it’s hard to keep doing the same things you’re doing if you paid less for the same amount of costs and services you provide- it’s just basic economics,” Zechman told WPBN.
He says it is hard to predict if there will be any more cuts or reductions in the future, but he would not be surprised if nearby hospitals were also forced to lay off their employees.
“We are hearing about a new problem that involves the Affordable Care Act,” said the anchor. “People who signed up for coverage are finding it impossible to cancel their plans. Channel 9′s Lori Brown spoke with an Orlando man who has been trying unsuccessfully to cancel for more than six weeks now.”
“Andrew Robinson was looking forward to getting health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. He has a small publishing business and works part time, so he hasn’t had coverage. In early January he signed up for a plan that cost nearly $300 a month. About a half hour later he and his wife realized they could barely afford that. They quickly found a less expensive plan through Humana for $116 a month,” says the reporter.“I immediately called back the Florida Blue and asked them to cancel the policy I just set up,” says Robinson.“But he quickly learned canceling Obamacare is no easy task. … More than six weeks later after spending 50 to 60 hours on the phone his policy is still not canceled and he is still waiting for the payment Florida Blue withdrew from his account to be refunded.”
