Obamacare’s Secret Is Out

Timing is everything. And just as Congress’s focus seems to be drifting from Obamacare’s ravages on the economy, Americans are learning the reason this law’s implementation was postponed until after the presidential election.

That reason is becoming clear as person after person opens the mail. Insurance costs are going up. For many, not just going up—skyrocketing.

Ross, a married father of three small boys in Florida, tells us his insurance will be going up $525 per month. “I feel completely helpless,” he says.

Kevin, who also has three small boys, just found out his wife’s individual health insurance premium will be jumping from $79 per month to $311.82 per month.

“For whom exactly is the Affordable Care Act making care affordable?” asked Kevin, who lives in Alabama.

>>> Read here about how to send us your insurance hikes

But this isn’t all. While people are receiving notices that their premiums are going up or perhaps their health plans are being discontinued, there’s a secret in Obamacare’s exchanges, too.

One of the reasons the Obamacare website has been so slow and glitchy? It requires people to enter personal information before they’re able to see insurance plan options. Health and Human Services does this so that if you’re eligible for a subsidy, you won’t see the true cost of your health plan.

Via: The Foundry

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Neb. school shuts down Pledge of Allegiance

A western Nebraska high school that didn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance one day last week because of the partial government shutdown won't be doing that again.

On Oct. 7, Alliance High School principal Pat Jones told students they wouldn't be reciting the pledge that day, pointing out that the federal government had been partially shut down since Oct. 1. Scottsbluff television station KDUH reported that some students were outraged by Jones' decision, and one woman said her son stood up in class and recited the pledge anyway.

The school of about 500 students sits on the north side of Alliance, a Nebraska Panhandle city of nearly 8,500 residents.

On Monday, Jones declined to comment and referred questions to the district superintendent, Troy Unzicker.

Unzicker said Jones hadn't cleared his plan with administrators beforehand, but Unzicker said he soon heard about it after school board members started getting calls and emails from parents. Near as he knew, Unzicker said, all the calls were critical of Jones.

Under district policy, time is set aside each school day for teachers to lead their classes in the pledge. Unzicker wouldn't say whether Jones had been disciplined for the apparent policy violation.

Jones did get students talking about government, his superintendent said.

"There were some positive aspects that came out of it, but (skipping the pledge) is not something we will do again," Unzicker said.

Via: Press and Dakotan

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California: Gov. Brown Rejects Union Initiative Change

Governor Jerry Brown refused to go along with a labor unions’ scheme to swing the initiative process in their favor. Brown vetoed AB 857, a bill authored by Assemblyman Paul Fong and sponsored by unions, that would have required ten percent of the signatures gathered on statewide initiative petitions to be collected by non-paid signature gatherers.  The problem is that the bill defined non-paid signature gatherers to include members of non-profit organizations. Union members would qualify as non-paid signature gatherers. At the same time, signatures collected through direct mail would not qualify.

Gov. Brown recognized the gimmick in the measure. In his veto message, Brown wrote that the bill’s requirements would not “stop abuses by narrow special interests – particularly if ‘volunteer’ is defined with the broad exemptions as in this bill.”

The governor saw that a special interest was trying to take control of the initiative process.

But there was another reason for the veto besides the pure audacity and unfairness of the bill. Allowing unions to have greater influence over initiatives could result in some uncomfortable times for this and future governors.

Unions would drive their agenda through the initiative process when they couldn’t get what they wanted from the legislature.

Look how unions and their allies in the non-profit realm were pushing a tax initiative that the governor did not agree with for the 2012 election. He ended up compromising with the proponents to develop what became Proposition 30 to avoid their approach.

If AB 857 became law it would have increased the unions leverage in the initiative world. Do you think the governor wants that?

I take issue with one comment in the veto message. The governor writes that, “monied interests have historically manipulated it (the initiative process) at will.”  Money can usually manage to put a measure on the ballot but the record is clear that money cannot buy wins. Just ask PG&E and Mercury Insurance if they can win initiatives with more money.

However, I’ll agree with the governor that it’s worth looking at fair and just reforms with the initiative process. AB 857 wasn’t it.

Via: California Political Review

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CRUZ: 'BOLD COLORS,' NOT 'PALE PASTELS' KEY TO WINNING IN 2014

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Republicans have a chance to take back the majority in the Senate in 2014 only if the party boldly differentiates itself from Democrats. 

“I think 2014 can and should be a very good Republican year and I think if Republicans stand for principle, we’re going to win in 2014," Cruz said in an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. 

Cruz argued that the 2006, 2008, and 2012 election cycles were "disastrous for Republicans," because in "all three of those cycles Republicans followed the philosophy of keep your head down, don’t rock the boat, don’t stand for anything, don’t take any risks and we’ll just somehow magically win at the polls."

Cruz contrasted those election cycles with 2010, where "Republicans stood strong for principle, we stood against Obamacare, we stood with the American people and we won a tidal wave election."

"Now what do all of the voices of Washington say now? ‘We need to return to the pattern of ’06,’08, and ’12. We need to return to not standing for anything, not risking anything, not rocking the boat,'" Cruz said. "That is a path to losing. The way you win elections is you paint in bold colors not in pale pastels. You stand strong for the American people just like Ronald Reagan did."

Cruz said "that’s the path to victory" and emphasized that "if Republicans do that I think in 2014 Republicans can and should take a majority of the U.S. Senate."

"But if we don’t stand for principle we’re not going to win in November," Cruz said.

Via: Breitbart

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