For Democrats, Turnout Trumps Honesty

Election “reform,” Democratic-style, is designed to protect and perpetuate voter fraud.

In Colorado, the results of Democrats valuing election “turnout” over electoral honesty — or even common sense — are becoming clear.

Among the many mindless laws passed on party-line votes during Colorado’s recent hyper-partisan legislative session — both chambers of the legislature being controlled by Democrats — is HB-1303, the “Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act.” The Act is a poorly considered measure designed to maximize Democrats’ advantage in elections, not least by maximizing the potential for voter fraud — which Democrats have proven far more adept at than Republicans for at least two generations.

HB-1303 was passed not only without a single Republican vote (on an issue that one would not assume should necessarily be partisan) but also without input from Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, whose office is responsible for ensuring an honest and efficient election process. Supporters of the bill claim that county election clerks widely supported the bill, but Wayne Williams, the Clerk and Recorder of El Paso County (the state’s most populous county) voiced a strong objection, later adding that “there is no way to run a check through federal immigration or a felon database on election day.”

Judge Robert McGahey, in his ruling in favor of a Libertarian Party challenge to part of the ongoing recalls of two state senators (one of whom was the senate sponsor of the election “reform” bill), used the politest term possible in describing HB-1303 as “flawed.” But that doesn’t begin to describe the horror that passes for election “reform” where Democrats are concerned — and not only in the Centennial State.

Via: American Spectator

Continue Reading....

Coburn calls on Oklahomans to push for national constitutional convention

MUSKOGEE — U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn urged Oklahomans on Wednesday to join the movement for a national constitutional convention to cut down an oversized federal government and counter what he repeatedly referred to as a “lawless” Obama administration.

“I used to have a great fear of constitutional conventions,” Coburn told about 300 people at the Muskogee Convention Center. “I have a great fear now of not having one.”

A national convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures is one of two ways the U.S. Constitution can be amended. Such a convention has never been called, largely because the Constitution itself was the product of a convention authorized only to amend the existing Articles of Confederation, but which replaced it entirely.

Thus, political leaders and scholars have long held that such a convention could be dangerous and even destructive to the nation.

But as conservative frustration with the Obama administration has grown, some factions have begun advocating for such a convention.

Coburn’s announcement that he had read what amounts to the national convention movement manifesto, Mark Levin’s “Liberty Amendments,” drew the loudest applause and reaction of the hour-long town hall meeting.

It might also have somewhat cooled the emotions of those in the crowd who were upset because Coburn has been so outspoken in his opposition to a proposal to “defund” the Affordable Care Act by holding the rest of the government’s discretionary spending hostage when current authorization ends on Sept. 30.

“If you’re going to do that, you’d be better off to do it through the debt ceiling,” Coburn said.

Pressed by questioners, Coburn said the proposal championed by conservative special interest groups such as Freedomworks and the Heritage Foundation — and Levin — would be “childish” and “intellectually dishonest.”

“I am 100 percent convinced it won’t work,” he said.

Via: Tulsa World

Continue Reading....

CNBC Notes Yet Another Obamacare 'Quirk': Many Employees Will Turn Down Employer Coverage and Head to the Exchanges

Maybe we should cue up the old classic "High Hopes," especially given its ironic title, every time one of these "unintended consequence of Obamacare" stories comes along. Instead of singing "Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant," we can all sing, "Oops, there goes another Obamacare 'quirk.'"

One of the latest "quirks," also described as a "weird" result of the progressive movement's March 2010 legislative handiwork gleefully signed by President Obama, arrived via CNBC Health Care Reporter Dan Mangan on Tuesday. As predicted by many center-right analysts several years ago, it will make financial sense for quite a few employees to turn down their employers' health care coverage and move to the subsidized, government-run Obamacare exchanges. If enough employees start doing that — given the financial consequences, thousands if not millions will — many employers will have even more incentive than they already have to jettison their plans completely. Imagine that (bolds are mine):

Obamacare penalty: Your family could pay more for insurance

Just imagine saying this to your boss: "Don't offer me health insurance benefits."

Those apparently bizarre words might actually end up being uttered next year because of a quirk in Obamacare that could financially penalize a number of workers and their families.

That quirk means that for some people, it will be more economical to have an employer not offer health insurance subsidies for them and their families—and for the entire family to then instead be able to buy insurance with government subsidies on the Obamacare state health exchanges.

"For a lot of people, that may be a better deal," said Jonathan Wu, co-founder of the price-comparison site ValuePenguin.com. "We're talking like thousands of dollars."

Wu noted that companies might be able to shed health-care costs as a result of the quirk, too.

"Our analysis suggests that employees and employers across the country should sit down and discuss the potential merits of discontinuing employer-sponsored plans," ValuePenguin.com said in a new report. "The company would end up saving money while the employee would benefit from thousands of dollars in tax subsidies—a clear win-win for both parties."

Absolutely no one saw this coming ... oh, wait.

Via: Newsbusters

Continue Reading....

Dem Rep.: Right-Wing Blogs ‘Manufacture Controversy,’ Like Pre-Holocaust Nazi Propaganda

Are you talking about Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS, NSA?  You hold the prize for propaganda!!

In a satellite radio appearance Wednesday morning, Rep. James Clyburn (D-MD) scolded “extreme right-wing blogs” for not being “news” and for acting in manner he believes is destructive like pre-Holocaust Nazi propaganda outlets.

Asked by Sirius XM POTUS host Jon Deckerwhether race relations have improved under President Obama, Clyburn answered in the affirmative before going off on the “negative” aspects of the Internet:

“You have manufactured controversies. You have people’s words and phrases being misrepresented and looped through the news media and thrown out there on the Internet, and people run with it because these things start getting reported in the mainstream media, and before you know it, people believe that stuff.”

He warned that such “manufactured controversies” could have similar consequences as seen in pre-Holocaust Germany:

“The people of Germany believed Hitler’s foolishness that led to the Holocaust. They believed that stuff. People will tend to believe what they hear through the media.”

Before citing specific outlets, Clyburn said that many of these negative stories originate from people who “are not media people,” but are “bloggers for the extreme right-wing.” The controversies over ACORN and the resignation of USDA official Shirley Sherrod, Clyburn said, are examples of right-wing blogs feeding “misrepresentations” to the mainstream media.

He concluded: “The media has not been discerning enough, to say to people, ‘This ain’t news. This is foolishness.”

Listen below, via SiriusXM POTUS:

VIa: Mediaite

Continue Reading....

On the Anniversary of Welfare Reform, It’s Time for the Next Round of Welfare Reforms

Seventeen years ago, on August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the most sweeping changes ever made to our nation’s safety net. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was the centerpiece of these reforms, replacing the New Deal-era Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. TANF had a new mandate to help those in need by supporting and rewarding work and assisting low-income families in becoming self-sufficient. In the wake of the work-based 1996 welfare reforms, work and earnings in households headed by single mothers increased, child poverty in female-headed households has fallen, and welfare caseloads have declined remarkably.

Commenting on the success of welfare reform and the need to apply a similar approach across the programs designed to assist low-income families, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) stated, “Clearly, the best way out of poverty is a job, and welfare reform has been successful because it underscored how reform can both foster job creation and ensure welfare is a pathway to a better life. The 1996 welfare reform law is a model for reforming other safety-net programs so that we use our resources effectively to truly help those in need – not from a hand out, but from a hand up.”
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee stated, “The landmark 1996 bipartisan welfare reform law successfully moved millions of Americans from welfare to work. Seventeen years later, it’s time for Congress to fully examine this law to ensure it fits today’s realities. Water-downed work requirements coupled with lax oversight and misguided government spending is pushing our safety-net programs in the wrong direction. It’s time we take stock of these programs – what’s working and what isn’t – to ensure that the backbone of government assistance is work, not just a blank paycheck.”

Even 17 years after these reforms, many of our nation’s other safety-net programs have yet to be reformed. In fact, most low-income benefit programs have few expectations of those receiving benefits, offer little help to support and reward work, and continue to spend more each year without showing that they’re really helping those in need. The Ways and Means Committee has held a number of hearings this year focused on our nation’s safety net and how it can be improved to help low-income families and individuals move up the economic ladder. Below are key selections from testimony at these hearings, along with related information highlighting how our current system isn’t working. It’s time to undertake another round of welfare reforms to ensure those in need are receiving real help to get back on their feet and move up the economic ladder.

Via: House Ways and Means

Continue Reading....