Conservative Happenings

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Florida city uproots couple’s 17-year-old garden, over new ordinance

Few things in life are as benign as a home vegetable garden.

But for the residents of Miami Shores, Fla., growing veggies can land you a fine — the type you eventually can’t afford.

That’s what happened to Hermine Ricketts and her husband, Tom Carroll. For the past 17 years they’ve grown a garden in the front yard of their modest South Florida home. The backyard, they say, doesn’t get enough sunlight.

But in May, the city put the couple’s garden, and any others like it, in their legal crosshairs.

A new zoning ordinance designed to “protect the distinctive character of the Miami Shores Village,” was enacted and specifically prohibited vegetables – not fruit, trees or even plastic flamingos – from appearing in front yards.

Shortly after, the couple received a visit from their local code enforcement officer. They were given two choices: Uproot the garden or pay a $50 per day fine to keep it.

After twice appearing before the Miami Shores Code Enforcement Board and being denied an exemption, the couple decided to dig up the garden rather than fork over $1,500 a month to the city.

Via: Fox News

Colo. man signs up for his insurance, his dog gets covered instead

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Colorado healthcare exchange has processed applications for thousands of people … and one dog.

Shane Smith, of Fort Collins, says his dog Baxter received a letter informing him that a health insurance account had been opened in his name through Connect for Health Colorado.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is so awesome,’” Smith said with a laugh. “They have gone out of their way to insure my 14-year-old Yorkie.”

Smith had called Connect for Health Colorado to sign himself up for insurance because his old plan was cancelled due to Obamacare.

He’s not sure exactly how the confirmation letter went to his dog, but he says he thinks it’s because of a series of security questions a representative asked him over the phone.

“There was some kind of code or something, so I gave them my dog’s name,” Smith said. “They must have just put it in the wrong slot or something.”

After hearing about all the headaches with Obamacare nationally, Shane says this mistake doesn’t seem so bad.

“It was pretty funny. Typical Obamacare, that they would insure your dog by mistake,” Smith said.

Smith says he was able to call and correct the mistake fairly quickly.

“They fixed it … I think they fixed it,” he said.

After having his original policy cancelled, followed by this, Smith says he won’t believe it until he sees it.

“There’s been a lot of headaches that’s come from all of this. All the phone calls. All the nonsense. They ended up giving me good coverage I think, but who knows if they’re going to take it away,” Smith said. “As long as Baxter’s covered that’s all the counts.”

Via: KDVR.com/Denver

Watch Out, Red-State Democrats

Red-state Democrats always knew Obamacare would be a problem during next year's midterm election. But a new poll released Tuesday shows just how daunting a threat it is.

An imposing plurality of adults in states that backed Mitt Romney last year say they are more likely to oppose than support a lawmaker who backs the health care law, according to an ABC News/Washington Post survey. Forty-six percent of red-state citizens said they'd be less inclined to support the candidate; only 15 percent said they'd be more inclined.

Overall, the law's unpopularity has dipped far lower since its disastrous rollout, with disapproval of the Affordable Care Act among all adults spiking considerably since last month.

Those numbers draw a bull's-eye on the back of the four red-state Democratic incumbents who voted for the health care reform in 2010 and are up for reelection in 2014: Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Mark Begich in Alaska, Mark Pryor in Arkansas, and Kay Hagan in North Carolina. Each already faces a slim path to victory in their respective conservative-leaning states, one narrowed further by the law's increasing unpopularity. There's little remaining doubt that the law, even with elections a year away, will play a defining role in the 2014 races, and how Democrats handle the issue will largely determine whether the party retains its Senate majority.

Via: National Journal

My Obamacare Cancellation - "Seething at a President I helped elect."

President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks on the Affordable Care Act in the Brady Press Briefing Room. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

We received the letter in the mail a couple months ago. The good people at Regence Bluecross Blueshield were pleased to inform us that due to Obamacare our current low-monthly premium, comically-high deductible medical policy would no longer exist come January 1, 2014. Pleased, because a new and better plan would be offered in its place. Old monthly premium: $578 for a family of four (non-smoking, helmet-wearing, and paternally snipped). New premium: $1,123. A 94% increase.

Once the sound of boiling blood dissipated, in my head I heard my Republican friends chuckling at the sight of a liberal Democrat hoisted ten stories high on his own petard. How’s the view up there, Obamacare Ollie?

For the past 15 years my wife and I have made our living as freelance writers. (To young readers, I say: Do not do this. Your bliss is marvelous, but its following will need to be supported by a banker, plumber, union machinist or tenured faculty member.) As such, our health insurance is our own concern. Over the years we’ve held on to our coverage by letting our co-pay and deductible rise and our covered procedures fall. You may be aware that the three-tiered state exchange policies are labeled Gold, Silver, and Bronze, reflecting their price and level of coverage. If our policy still existed it would fall into the column of Wood.

But Wood we had—and Wood we liked.

No more. O.K., into the state exchange we go. I voted for it. Fair enough.

Via: New York Observer

Are You a Scott Walker Conservative?

Why Wisconsin’s governor may be Chris Christie’s toughest competition in 2016.

If you are a Republican and you like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, then you probably already have your candidate for the 2016 presidential campaign. If you do not like Christie, then your candidate for 2016 is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks during the NRA's Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum.

Now that we've worked that out, you can ignore the next two years of GOP infighting. You can spend your free time canning beans or mastering the miter saw. It’s a very premature conclusion, but the Wisconsin governor appears to be the only likely conservative alternative to Christie who also has a chance at getting elected. If you are uncomfortable with Christie as the default establishment choice, there is an incentive to choose someone else early. Because if the New Jersey governor’s opponents split their vote among several candidates in the primaries, Christie will be the GOP nominee.

The anti-Christie fragmentation is already underway. Once he was re-elected governor, the auditions to play the role of ABC (Anybody but Christie) started pretty quickly. Sen. Ted Cruz drew a fundamental distinction. "I think it is terrific that he is brash, that he is outspoken, and that he won his race," said the Texas senator of Christie. "But I think we need more leaders in Washington with the courage to stand for principle."

Via: Slate

A Beautiful Mediocrity

By almost any measure, John F. Kennedy was a middling president at best, and an occasionally disastrous one. The Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Cuban missile crisis, setting the nation on the wrong course in Vietnam, his nepotism, the spying on political rivals — all must weigh heavily in our judgment of his presidency. And while Kennedy the president was a middle-of-the-range performer at best, Kennedy the man has been relentlessly diminished by the eventual revealing of the facts of his day-to-day life.

Conservatives who see in Kennedy a committed combatant in the Cold War and a supply-side tax-cutter must keep in mind his bungling at home and abroad. Liberals who see in Kennedy a receptacle for all they hold holy must keep in mind his calculating cynicism — for example, his opposition to civil-rights legislation when he believed its passage would strengthen the Republican president proposing it. Kennedy’s virtues — his vocal anti-Communism, his assertive sense of the American national interest, his tax-cutting — would hardly make him a welcome figure among those who today claim his mantle. His vices, on the other hand, are timeless.

The Cuban missile crisis is generally presented as the great episode of Kennedy’s hanging tough in the face of Communist aggression, but, like so much about Kennedy’s life, that story represents a triumph of public relations over substance. Kennedy gave up much more than he let on to resolve the crisis, agreeing to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey — on the condition that the concession remain secret, so as not to undermine his political career or his brother’s. And the Cuban missile crisis was brought on in no small part by Kennedy’s inviting displays of weakness: His performance at the 1961 Vienna summit made little impression onNikita Khrushchev, and within a few months the Berlin Wall was under construction. After the Bay of Pigs, the Soviets had little reason to suppose that Cuba was anything but a safe port for them.

Via: NRO

Ban says people feel 'planet's wrath' over warming

(L-R) Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP), U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk listen to Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec during the COP19 conference at the National Stadium in Warsaw November 19, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

(Reuters) - People around the world are feeling the "wrath of a warming planet", U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday, urging almost 200 governments to take tougher action to reach a deal in 2015 on fighting global warming.

Ban told environment ministers at climate talks in Warsaw they had a steep climb ahead to agree to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say fuel more extreme weather.

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The Warsaw talks are struggling to lay the foundations for a new global accord, meant to be agreed in 2015 and enter into force from 2020, that looks likely to be a patchwork of pledges by national governments rather than a strong treaty.

Many developed nations are more focused on spurring sluggish economic growth than fixing global warming, despite scientists' increased certainty that human emissions will cause more heatwaves, droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

Developing nations, led by China and India, insist that the rich must continue to lead while they focus on ending poverty.

"All around the world, people now face and fear the wrath of a warming planet," Ban said, referring to extreme weather events such as Typhoon Haiyan that killed more than 3,900 people in the Philippines this month.

Current pledges for curbing global warming were "simply inadequate", Ban said. "Here, too, we must set the bar higher."

He said governments needed to step up aid to help poor nations slow their rising emissions of greenhouse gases and to adapt to the impacts of warming.

Via: Reuters

Charlie Crist Flip Flops…Yet Again

In An Interview Monday With MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, Republican-Turned-Independent-Turned-Democrat Charlie Crist Said He Would Raise Taxes As Governor. SCHULTZ: “What would you do with Florida’s finances, and what would you expect, would you expect more out of the wealthiest residents? CRIST: Well I think we all have to expect more out of each other. I don’t like to raise taxes. I don’t know that anybody really enjoys the idea of doing that. I did it as Governor, though. SCHULTZ: Would you do it again? CRIST: If necessary, I would.” (MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” 11/18/13)

Crist Noted That He’d Raised Taxes During His Term As Governor. CRIST: “I don’t like to raise taxes. I don’t know that anybody really enjoys the idea of doing that. I did it as Governor, though.” ( MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” 11/18/13)

WHEN HE STILL CALLED HIMSELF A REPUBLICAN, CRIST INSISTED THAT HE HADN’T RAISED TAXES AS GOVERNOR, JUST “FEES”

In A Primary Debate During His 2010 Senate Race, Crist Vehemently Denied Having Raised Taxes In Florida’s 2009 Budget. WALLACE: “Let me ask you, Governor Crist, about your record, though. When you were running for governor four years ago, you made a flat, George H. W. Bush pledge: you will not raise taxes as long as you’re governor. Last year you signed a $66 billion state budget that had a $2.2 billion increase in taxes, new taxes and fees. Didn’t you break your promise to Florida voters? CRIST: No, I don’t think I did, and I’ll tell you why. The only part of it that was a tax — and it’s loosely defined as a tax — was on cigarettes. And I would argue that that’s a user fee. If you don’t use them, you don’t pay it.” (Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

Crist: “The Only Part Of It That Was A Tax — And It’s Loosely Defined As A Tax — Was On Cigarettes. And I Would Argue That That’s A User Fee. If You Don’t Use Them, You Don’t Pay It.” (Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

When Asked About The Higher Fees He Had Approved On Drivers’ Licenses, Motor Vehicle Registration And Motor Vehicle Tags, Crist Again Insisted They Were Fee Increases, Not Tax Increases. WALLACE: “I’m going to get to Mr. Rubio in a minute. But you also signed into law higher fees on drivers’ licenses and on motor vehicle registration, motor vehicle tags. You said these aren’t broad-based taxes. Governor, 16 million people are drivers in Florida and there are 18 million motor vehicles. CRIST: No, I understand that. I understand that, Chris. WALLACE: That’s a pretty broad-based tax, isn’t it? CRIST: Well, I don’t think it’s a tax. It’s a fee. If you don’t drive, you don’t pay it, if you look at it by its pure common- sense definition.” ( Fox News Sunday Florida Primary Debate, 3/28/10)

Via: GOP.com

Jim Clyburn says Democrats are 'in bed' with insurance companies over Obamacare

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., conceded that Democrats got "in bed" with insurance companies while crafting Obamacare, as he argued that the companies should do more to promote the law.

"We need to push this out into the insurance companies," Clyburn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "If we are going to be in bed with them, let's bring them into this process. A lot of these insurance companies could be signing people up, they could be informing their policy holders — this letter that they're sending out, don't just cancel the policies, let them know what their alternatives are."

Clyburn's comment concurred with NBC's Chuck Todd's analysis, who explained why "the White House is disappointed" with the insurance companies' failure to promote Obamacare.

"They're in bed with the insurance companies," Todd said. "They're disappointed that the health insurance companies aren't more publicly enthusiastic since this law was essentially designed to give them more business."

Clyburn seems not to realize that insurance companies are directing policyholders to new Obamacare plans, but some of those policies cost more to provide less. For instance, the city workers in Bel Aire, Kan., lost their coverage only to have inferior alternatives offered to them.

"I simply wanted you to know the pain this is causing me and my staff in losing the terrific health coverage we had through Blue Cross Blue Shield in exchange for worse coverage at a higher price," city manager Ty Lasher wrote in a letter to Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., last week.

"BCBS offers other plans that we can choose from based on the government’s standards," Lasher wrote. "All offer higher deductibles and the two closest to our old plan each cost more than what we were paying. In addition, because we are under 50 employees, we no longer get a ‘group’ rate so everyone is being judged as a single."

Via: Washington Examiner

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Obama reportedly to pen letter to Afghan people admitting 'mistakes,' as part of security deal

U.S. and Afghan officials reportedly have reached a tentative agreement on a critical security pact -- which would include President Obama writing a letter to the Afghan people acknowledging mistakes during the "war on terror."

According to Reuters, an Afghan spokesman said Tuesday that Obama agreed to write the letter, to be presented with the draft security pact at a meeting of tribal elders later this week.

The New York Times, citing a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, reported that Secretary of State John Kerry proposed the letter in a conversation with Karzai.

Karzai asked that Obama sign it, and Kerry reportedly agreed. The letter apparently helped them reach a tentative deal authorizing U.S. raids on Afghan homes in certain circumstances, which had been an area of disagreement.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, at Tuesday's daily press briefing in Washington, would not confirm or deny the letter when asked by Fox News.

"We don't comment on presidential correspondence," he said.

Via: Fox News Political

Illegal immigrants blockade Atlanta office to halt deportations

Immigration activists hold signs and shout during a protest in front of a building that houses federal immigration offices Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Eight activists, protesting deportations of people who are in the country illegally, were taken into custody by police after they locked arms and some of them chained themselves to the gates outside immigration offices. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Illegal immigrants blockaded a federal office that handles deportations in Atlanta Tuesday morning, and soon after a group of 12 illegal immigrants in Chicago chained themselves to the wheels of a bus they said was headed to the airport to finish deport people.

The moves mark the latest escalation in a campaign by activists to pressure President Obama to use his executive authority to stop almost all deportations. They argue he’s targeting rank-and-file illegal immigrants rather than those with criminal records.

The activists targeted the Chicago bus in part because it had two high-profile illegal immigrants who have been the subject of an effort to halt their deportation: Octavio Nava-Cabrera, who was put into deportation proceedings after being arrested in a traffic stop, and Brigido Acosta Luis, who the activists said has two U.S. citizen daughters.

Late last week the Obama administration said it would allow illegal immigrant relatives of U.S. troops and veterans to apply for “parole in place,” which would allow them to remain in the country — and the activists Tuesday said they want the same considerations for all illegal immigrants.

“Undocumented, unafraid,” the Atlanta protesters chanted. “No papers, no fear.”

The protests were part of the Not One More campaign, which has staged similar protests in Arizona, California and Louisiana, broadcasting the action on the web.

Via: Washington Times

First lady rallies on Obamacare: 'There but for the grace of God go I'

The president has dispatched first lady Michelle Obama to rally Democrats around his beleaguered Obamacare which she has boiled down to one religious phrase: “There but for the grade of God go I.”

At a New York City fundraiser for Senate Democrats Monday, the first lady opened with a long defense of Obamacare, suggesting her audience lives by the principle that everyone should have insurance.

We don’t believe in handouts. We don’t think anyone should get a free ride,” she said Monday afternoon in a speech at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

“But we also understand one simple principle — that there but for the grace of God go I; that in the blink of an eye, any of us — any of us — could be faced with a terrible diagnosis. Any of us could be injured in a horrible accident. Any of us could lose the job we count on to support our family — any of us,” she said.

“And when that happens, it shouldn’t mean falling off a cliff. It shouldn’t mean having to go without food, or medicine, or a roof over our heads — not here in the United States of America. Not in the greatest country on the planet. That is not who we are,” Obama added.

She conceded that political fights over the years, including over Obamacare, haven’t been a cakewalk. “I know it hasn’t always been easy. I know that there have been plenty of ups and downs over these years,” she said.

But, she added, the fight to keep Obamacare is something Democrats should join, not quit as it is besieged with problems. “What happened last month reminded us that the folks that we send to Washington make decisions about some very important issues — issues that affect our lives every single day. Will we be able to see a doctor when we’re sick? Will our businesses have what they need to create good jobs? Will our kids have what they need to learn and grow — things like decent nutrition, safe streets, good schools?”

Via: Washington Examiner

[VIDEO] Greta: 'Knockout Game' No Laughing Matter ... Where Are Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Others?

Let's all go "Off the Record" for a minute. Look at this. Take a close look. Do you know what is going on? That is young African-American teenagers viciously and gratuitously attacking a random victim, a teacher, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now, this violent act is what the teens where this is happening laughingly call "The Knockout Game."

This is no game. It's a mean, dangerous and a deadly crime. Already, one man hit has died from the so-called "Knockout Game." That's murder.

It's hard to think it could be worse, even more degrading, but it might be because lots of other teens know about this "Knockout Game." They have even been interviewed laughing about it, laughing like they don't get that this is wrong. Instead, acting like it's funny. Funny, really? They think it's funny?

Watch the videos on Gretawire. It's posted there. There is even more. This "Knockout Game" crime is a trend. It's growing. Don't believe me? We've had two incidents in the last few days right here in D.C. I know this is a very touchy topic because the game is regrettably popular amongst unsupervised African-American teens. No one wants to get near the topic of race. We also can't run from this one.

People are getting her hurt and murdered, and even those who live in these communities where this is happening. They have a right to be safe, and they don't have to live in fear of having their children hurt or even poisoned by ugly peer pressure, right? This game has to be condemned. And in order for the condemnation to have any impact whatsoever it has to come from important role models to these young teens.

I beg of Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton and even President Obama to step up right now and speak out. Your silence will speak volumes, but your voice could make a big difference. Don't wait. Be leaders, they need you. We need you.

Via: Fox News

WND: Media Matters Funded ObamaCare Deceit

The progressive activist organization Media Matters for America funded the group that reportedly crafted President Obama’s false claim that Americans can maintain their “choice” of doctors and insurance plans.

The little-known Herndon Alliance has been behind the marketing of Obamacare since the inception of the legislation.

The Herndon Alliance is “the most influential group in the health arena that the public has never heard of,” reported Politico in 2009.

Politico said that when Obama repeatedly announced Americans can maintain their “choice” of doctors and insurance plans, he was “using a Herndon strategy for wringing fear out of a system overhaul.”

In June 2012, the Christian Science Monitor reported administration officials had been attending meetings with the Herndon Alliance and other organizations that support healthcare reform.

Via: WND

Healthcare.gov ‘may already have been compromised,’ security expert says

Not only is healthcare.gov at risk, it may already have been compromised, a security expert testified before the Senate.

“Hackers are definitely after it,” said David Kennedy, CEO of information security firm TrustedSEC before a House Science, Space, and Technology committee hearing on security concerns surrounding the problematic Healthcare.gov website.

“And if I had to guess, based on what I can see … I would say the website is either hacked already or will be soon.”

Kennedy told FoxNews.com he based this on an analysis revealing a large number of SQL injection attacks against the healthcare.gov website, which are indicative of "a large amount" of hacking attempts.

'I would say the website is either hacked already or will be soon.'

- David Kennedy, CEO of information security firm TrustedSEC

"Based on the exposures that I identified, and many that I haven’t published due to the criticality of exposures – if a hacker wanted access to the site or sensitive information – they could get it," he told FoxNews.com.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the nation's new healthcare website, did not immediately respond to a request to for more information.

Via: Fox News

[VIDEO] Obamacare Success Story Now an Embarrassment

November 19, 2013 4:09 pm

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was pressed during Tuesday’s press briefing over the story of Jessica Sanford, a Washington resident once touted as an Obamacare success story by the President, but who is now unable to affordhealthcare due to a miscalculation of her tax credit eligibility.

When asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar on whether she could receive a subsidy, Carney said that the problem lied with the state and not the federal exchange, and referred reporters to the Washington Health Benefits Exchange.

Keilar continued to press Carney on Sanford’s predicament and why she had shifted from an Obamacare success story to a prototypical Obamacare embarrassment. When Carney began to list off unrelated benefits of the Affordable Care Act, Keilar noted, “Some people, like Jessica, may just fall through the cracks?”

Carney could only respond that he did not know Sanford’s personal circumstances.

Via: WFB

Justice, JP Morgan Chase Agree on $13 Billion Settlement BY KEVIN G. HALL AND MICHAEL DOYLE

WASHINGTON — Thousands of homeowners could gain some measure of mortgage relief under a record $13 billion deal reached Tuesday between the Justice Department and banking giant JPMorgan Chase, in what is the largest such government settlement with a single entity.

Long in the making, the settlement resolves allegations about the bank’s liability for financially toxic packages of mortgage-backed securities sold to unsuspecting investors. It includes $9 billion to settle federal claims and those from individual states like California, and $4 billion in consumer relief.

It is also, far and away, the most highly anticipated settlement to arise from the housing market crash and general economic calamity that came to a head in 2008.

“Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “JPMorgan was not the only financial institution during this period to knowingly bundle toxic loans and sell them to unsuspecting investors, but that is no excuse for the firm’s behavior. “

In the settlement, JPMorgan Chase acknowledged a set of facts laid out by the Justice Department, stopping short of an outright admission of guilt. The facts included a statement that JPMorgan Chase employees, not just those of lenders it had purchased, knowingly signed off on the sale of complex mortgage bonds that they knew did not meet compliance guidelines.

In a website statement, company CEO Jamie Dimon said he was “pleased to have concluded this extensive agreement” and said it covers a “very significant portion” of lawsuits involving it and two lenders it purchased in 2008.

The investigation included help from U.S. attorneys in New York, California, Delaware, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and does not does not close the book on Wall Street misdeeds, Holder warned.

Via: McClatchy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/19/209040/justice-jp-morgan-chase-agree.html#storylink=cpy

HHS Study Concludes Married Couples ‘More Happy’ When ‘Wife Calms Down’

According to a Department of Health and Human Services study, marital fights can be easily defused and married couples made more happy if the “wife calms down” quickly. The study, according to HHS Health Beat’s Ira Dreyfuss, indicates that when women “calm down” early, fights are more quickly defused and married couples are happier.

“This isn’t about who wins the argument,” Dreyfuss notes, “but a study of hot marital fights indicates that when the wife calms down, the couples are more happy.”

“The marriages that were the happiest were the ones in which the wives were able to calm down quickly during marital conflict,” said Lian Bloch, a researcher with the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Palo Alto.

Bloch says calm wives were able to look constructively for ways to deal with the emotions and talk about ways to solve the problems. Happiness didn’t change if the husband calmed down quickly.

Via: Mediaite.com

$100 Billion in Benefits Awarded by Judges with High Social Security Approval Rates

Administrative law judges awarded plaintiffs nearly $100 billion in total between 2005 and 2012

Hundreds of judges across the country with abnormally high approval rates for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments awarded about $100 billion in lifetime benefits between 2005 and 2012, raising further questions about a program that could be insolvent in just three years.

An analysis by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that judges with approval rates higher than 80 percent, about 30 percent of all administrative law judges (ALJs) nationwide in past years, awarded billions of dollars in benefits in almost 140,000 cases as recently as 2009. The number of awards has since declined to about 46,000 last year.

“Not all of those are incorrect but there are significant amounts,” said Rep. James Lankford (R., Okla.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements, at a hearing Tuesday, adding that even small amounts of improper payments can imperil the program for the truly disabled.

“We cannot ignore glaring issues that are driving this program into insolvency,” he said.

Almost 11 million disabled workers, spouses, and children receive SSDI benefits—a 45 percent increase from a decade ago—with average monthly payments of $1,130 for disabled workers and $300,000 total over their lifetimes. Social Security estimated in 2009 that less than 1 percent of more than 560,000 beneficiaries reviewed would eventually leave the system because of improved health, suggesting that many recipients stay on the program for life once they start collecting benefits.

Via: WFB

De Blasio vs. the market

Business leaders in the city are scratching their heads over recent remarks by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.

Describing how he plans to govern once he takes office next year, the mayor-elect declared flatly that he doesn’t believe in the free-market system.

At least Comrade Bill was being honest.

“Everything you heard about me is true. . . I am not a free-marketeer. . . I believe in the heavy hand of government,” de Blasio stated matter-of-factly during an hour-long presentation to some of the city’s biggest real-estate developers.

The meeting occurred several weeks before the election with de Blasio way ahead in the polls and New York’s business elite hoping and praying he wasn’t as much of a leftist as he said he was on the campaign trail.

Now that de Blasio’s been elected mayor with a resounding 73 percent of the vote, his comments have become a hot topic for business people trying to digest what life will be like with Comrade Bill in charge.

Attendees of the gathering with de Blasio included Jared Kushner of Kushner Properties, Stephen Green of SL Green Realty, Douglas Durst of the Durst Organization and Jeff Blau, chief executive of the Related Companies. Scott Rechler of RXR Realty, who hosted the event at his offices, served as moderator (that is, to the extent it’s possible to moderate de Blasio).

“It was startling to hear someone in this day and age boldly proclaim he’s not a ‘free marketeer,’ ” said one person in attendance.

“To be fair, [de Blasio] also said he knows that the economy must grow in order to help poor people. But he did not back off his principles.”

Via: NY Post

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Why Wisconsin’s governor may be Chris Christie’s toughest competition in 2016.

WHEN HE STILL CALLED HIMSELF A REPUBLICAN, CRIST INSISTED THAT HE HADN’T RAISED TAXES AS GOVERNOR, JUST “FEES”

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

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