Do Young Americans Understand Thanksgiving?

"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.” - John Wayne

While on errands today, I overheard shopkeepers wishing customers happy holidays. One young woman who handled my purchase wished me Happy Thanksgiving.

I was surprised and asked her why Happy Thanksgiving instead of happy holidays. Her answer disappointed me but it was not unexpected – we live in Washington, D.C. where the state-sanctioned religion is atheism.

Everyone displays their tolerance towards other faiths with COEXIST bumper stickers, but when it comes to Christianity, they make strong exceptions. She told me in a very confident voice that Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday and thus she would not be offending anyone with her wishes. It is just another holiday that everyone celebrates. I did not have the patience to tell her how wrong and ignorant she was.

According to Stanley Yavneh Klos, the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation Presidents issued National Thanksgiving Day Proclamations in 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1781, and 1782. The first presidential proclamation was issued by John Hancock as President of the United Colonies Continental Congress on March 16, 1776. (Historic.us)

Via: Canada Free Press

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[CARTOON] Obamacare Swamp

Via: California Political Review

Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied on Porn Habits as Part of Plan to Discredit 'Radicalizers'

WASHINGTON -- The National Security Agency has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches, according to a top-secret NSA document. The document, provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, identifies six targets, all Muslims, as “exemplars” of how “personal vulnerabilities” can be learned through electronic surveillance, and then exploited to undermine a target's credibility, reputation and authority.

The NSA document, dated Oct. 3, 2012, repeatedly refers to the power of charges of hypocrisy to undermine such a messenger. “A previous SIGINT" -- or signals intelligence, the interception of communications -- "assessment report on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent,” the document argues.

Among the vulnerabilities listed by the NSA that can be effectively exploited are “viewing sexually explicit material online” and “using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls.”

Via: Huffington Post

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Obamacare: Grumbling is not enough

It is amazing how fast momentum can shift in politics. And it usually happens for reasons that could not have been predicted.

Case in point: only a month ago, the reckless shutdown of the federal government left its engineers -- the tea party and the Republican Party -- weakened, and the president and Democrats energized and with the wind at their back.

And beyond Washington, the people's movement in the shutdown's wake was energized too.

But this newly acquired momentum turned out to be far more momentary than most anticipated, myself included. In fact, it lasted only a few days. Why? Because Republicans seized the opportunity provided by the big problems with the rollout of the Affordable Health Care Act. They were all over it, with the help of compliant corporate media.

Literally, overnight the atmosphere changed for the worse. President Obama and Democrats, rather than riding a wave, found themselves on the defensive. And the Republicans' shutdown disaster became a distant memory.

Now, if the health insurance exchanges are running smoothly by the end of the year, as they appear to be in many states, much of the furor will die out. But if they aren't, Obamacare will be turned by the far right into a metaphor for "broken government" and the prospects of unseating Republicans in Congress and statehouses next fall will become problematic.

Which means that grumbling about the problems of the health care rollout heard in some progressive and left circles needs to give way to actively resisting the right wing's campaign to kill Obamacare and regain the initiative leading into the midterm and 2016 elections.

Via: People's World

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EXCLUSIVE–RUBIO: PREVENT BLANK CHECK BAILOUTS UNDER OBAMACARE

It's become a hallmark of Barack Obama's presidency that mistakes made by policy makers, businesses, and governments at all levels must be paid for by American taxpayers. 

This perverse bailout culture is again evident in ObamaCare, which we now know contains a little-known provision that grants the administration a blank check for a taxpayer-funded bailout of insurance companies when ObamaCare fails.

When President Obama recently announced his unilateral order to allow health insurers to ignore ObamaCare's mandates and regulations and keep offering health plans that people wanted to keep, it exposed another fundamental problem in the law which puts American taxpayers on the hook.

Buried deep within ObamaCare's approximately 1,000 pages was section 1342, which authorized what are known as risk corridors that limit the amount of profit insurers could extract from the program while also limiting their losses. While risk corridors can be structured in budget-neutral ways that protect taxpayers, ObamaCare did no such thing.

After the law was signed, thousands of more pages of regulations, administrative interpretations, and executive actions included further clarity on how this administration would implement this provision.

The day the president announced his temporary "keep your plan fix," he unsurprisingly left this important background detail out of his speech, leaving it to his Department of Health and Human Services to acknowledge in the fine print of a press release: “Though this transitional policy was not anticipated by health insurance issuers when setting rates for 2014, the risk corridor program should help ameliorate unanticipated changes in premium revenue. We intend to explore ways to modify the risk corridor program final rules to provide additional assistance.”

Via: Breitbart

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Heritage Foundation’s Latest Obamascare Story — Does It Check Out?

Even as CNN improves its reporting on Obamacare, Fox News continues the larger mainstream media trend of reporting on supposed Obamacare horror stories. On Monday night’sThe Kelly File, Megyn Kelly featured a report byTrace Gallagher that told the sad story of a family that might have to cut down on manicures and such, in order to afford their Obamacare plan. Turns out the story, as it was initially reported by the Heritage Foundation, doesn’t really add up.

Gallagher’s report focused on Kate Joy, a California woman who, “despite her name, is not happy” about Obamacare. She and her husband “have an extensive Christmas list, and have checked it more than twice,” Gallagher reveals. “It’s a list of what they plan to give up to pay for the new healthcare plan.”

Obamacare burn! Nicely done.

“They live in northern California, and help support their 19- and 21-year-old sons who work part-time and go to college,” he continues. “Here’s the deal. Under the old plan they paid $499 a month. Of course it was cancelled, because it doesn’t qualify under the Affordable Care Act. Look at the number. $1,252 per month.”

This would be a good place for Gallagher to explain why the old plan didn’t qualify under the Affordable Care Act, but he doesn’t. The viewer, then, is free to assume that the old plan only covered non-complicated doctors’ visits on alternating Tuesdays.

“That’s actually more than my monthly mortgage on my home,” Joy says in the interview clip. “You can imagine that you have to start thinking about, you know, where is the extra money coming from to pay for the policy.”

Via: Mediaite.com

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Anti-Christian Valerie Jarrett Targets Hobby Lobby As ‘Corporate Entity’ Trying To ‘Seize A Controlling Interest’ Over Women

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett called out Hobby Lobby and insisted the Obamacare mandate case that will go before the Supreme Court is about whether big corporations can restrict women from having access to birth control.

The case is actually a religious freedom complaint against the administration for the Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance to provide free coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization. If the plaintiffs win, it would not allow them to restrict employees from buying these products on their own, only that the employees would not get them for free.“No corporate entity should be in position to limit women’s legal access to care, or to seize a controlling interest over the health care choices of women,” Jarrett wrote on the White House blog. “To take that type of power away from individuals, and to let the personal beliefs of a woman’s boss dictate her health care choices would constitute a major step backward for women’s health and self-determination.”

The high court will hear the case from two family-owned companies, the Oklahoma-based chain Hobby Lobby and the Pennsylvania-based Conestoga Wood Specialties Store Corp., both of which argue that paying for employee-based coverage of these drug violates their religious freedom.

“Today, there are people trying to take this right away from women, by letting private, for-profit corporations and employers make medical decisions for their employees, based on their personal beliefs,” said Jarrett, whose blog was cross-posted on the Huffington Post.

Via: The Blaze

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POLL: GOP SURGES PAST DEMOCRATS

A new CNN poll finds a dramatic reversal in the battle for Congress. A month ago, Democrats held a 50-42 advantage on a generic ballot, gauging basic party preference. The disastrous rollout of ObamaCare has driven a ten-point swing to the Republicans. The GOP now leads Democrats 49-47. More importantly, Republicans hold a 17 point advantage among Independents. 

For the past month, President Obama's approval ratings have declined sharply in the wake of the implementation of ObamaCare. His falling poll numbers are acting like an anchor on Democrats everywhere. The new GOP advantage in the polls is not in response to anything the party has done. Indeed, most of the party's establishment seems consumed with waging a civil war with conservatives in the party. The conservative wing of the party, however, was the most vocal in opposition to ObamaCare and now looks prescient. 

A 10-point swing in the generic ballot is remarkable. Obviously, generic party members don't run in elections. Most generic ballot polls understate Republican support by 3-4 points. On the eve of the GOP wave in 2010, Republicans had the same 49% level of support in the generic ballot test. 

The fantasy that the Democrats could compete for control of the House ought to now be in tatters. With redistricting, that was a tough hill to climb. The continuing failure of ObamaCare not only makes it impossible, but raises the possibility that Republicans will gain seats in the House. 

Via: Breitbart

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Obamacare update: Consumers see progress but insurers smell trouble

As the Obama administration closes in on its self-imposed deadline to fix the troubled online health insurance marketplace, consumer advocates say it is becoming easier for people to sign up for coverage but insurers warn that critical flaws continue to hinder participating health plans.

Administration officials have promised that HealthCare.gov will be working smoothly for most people by Saturday and are citing evidence indicating progress toward that goal. Workers helping people sign up for coverage have noticed that the site has been running better over the past two weeks, with consumers experiencing shorter wait times and fewer crashes.

But the online system is still marred by defects that will create havoc for insurance companies if a significantly larger volume of applicants starts to sign up in coming weeks. Among them are the error-riddled reports that insurers are receiving about who has enrolled, a problem that could be disastrous if not fixed soon.

There is little room for error at this point. People seeking to take advantage of the new coverage that kicks in Jan. 1, or whose health insurance policies are being canceled at the end of the year, have until Dec. 23 to choose a plan and until Dec. 31 to pay their first month’s premium. Some congressional Democrats, uneasy about the messy rollout of the exchange, have expressed a willingness to dismantle parts of the law if problems continue.

“If they get this fixed, it’s a chapter in somebody’s book. If they don’t get this fixed, it’s a chapter in history,” said Michael O. Leavitt (R), a former Utah governor who served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during the tumultuous rollout of Medicare Part D, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare. “They will need to demonstrate fairly soon that there’s improvement, or they will lose the support of their own party.”

On Friday, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) told Minnesota Public Radio that if the Web site isn’t fixed on time, he would consider delaying the rule requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or face a fine. He joins a growing chorus of Democrats in Congress who have advocated for changes or delays to the law that could weaken it.

Administration officials contend that they are on track. By Saturday, they said, they will have doubled capacity to allow at least 50,000 users at a time without the system malfunctioning. They are also working on a new system that gives people alternate ways to sign up for coverage and get government subsidies, including going directly to insurers’ corporate Web sites.

They are also moving on to the outreach phase, which had taken a back seat as they grappled with the faulty Web site. Next week, the White House will host an insurance-oriented “youth summit” aimed at people ages 18 to 35, an age group whose participation in the health-care law will be critical to its success.

Via: Washington Post
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Thankful For…Obamacare?: Obama’s Campaign Group Pushing Turkey Table Talking Points For Families

There is virtually nothing that the Left isn't willing to politicize, and that includes holidays. Obama's Organizing for America is trying to make ObamaCare a part of your Thanksgiving celebration. They are encouraging Americans to discuss ObamaCare talking points around the dinner table.

There's no doubt that ObamaCare may be a point of discussion amongst families, but not for the reason Obama propagandists would like. Millions of Americans are facing the prospect of lost coverage, losing their doctors or re-working their budgets to account for the increased price of premiums. Americans may be consuming turkey this Thanksgiving, but they aren't buying OFA's ObamaCare baloney.

Do have any idea where the president is right now? He is out West, in Hollywood and elsewhere, fundraising for Democrats. With all of the troubles he is facing and a new self-imposed ObamaCare deadline looming, it's a bit absurd that this is what the president has time for. Remember last week when he couldn't attend a commemoration for the 150th anniversary for the Gettysburg address? Obama finds time for what is convenient and what he wants to do, but not necessarily for what is always best for the country.

Obama's trip out West is nothing more than an attempt to distract from the real failures of his administration. If you'll notice, he's still trying (and failing) to push immigration reform to the forefront of the conversation. The Hill points out the White House has apparently attempted to pivot – for the fifth time this year – to the economy. It notes that this is a transparent attempt to shift the focus from ObamaCare and the disastrous rollout of the exchanges.

Via: Fox News

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Obama’s call to close Vatican embassy is ‘slap in the face’ to Roman Catholics

The Obama administration, in what’s been called an egregious slap in the face to the Vatican, has moved to shut down the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See — a free-standing facility — and relocate offices onto the grounds of the larger American Embassy in Italy.

The new offices will be in a separate building on the property, Breitbart reported.

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SEE ALSO: Pope Francis takes veiled swipe at ‘progressive’ Democrats

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And while U.S. officials are touting the relocation as a security measure that’s a cautionary reaction to last year’s attacks on America's facility in Benghazi, several former American envoys are raising the red flag.

It’s a “massive downgrade of U.S.-Vatican ties,” said former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson in the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s turning this embassy into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy. The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States, and … [it’s] an insult to American Catholics and to the Vatican.”

Via: Washington Times

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FLASHBACK: Mooch Says Barack Will Make Everyone In America “Sacrifice” For Health Care…

And then some.

Via: Weasel Zippers

Administration accused of giving unions 'special treatment' with exemption from ObamaCare fee

The Obama administration is being accused of giving labor groups "special treatment under the law" after formally proposing a change that could exempt union health plans from a pesky ObamaCare fee. 

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who flagged the obscure rule change after it was filed in the Federal Register (see page 70), blasted the exemption as "crony capitalism at its worst." 

"Unions are now experiencing the ugly reality of this law, and they want out," he said in a statement. 

Indeed, the AFL-CIO has fought against what is known as the "reinsurance fee" in the Affordable Care Act. The temporary fee would kick in next year and is meant to raise $25 billion over three years, to help pay for the cost of people with pre-existing conditions signing up for coverage through the ObamaCare exchanges. 

The proposal filed Monday would exempt certain self-insured plans -- those that do not use a third-party administrator for core functions -- for 2015 and 2016. 

Republicans charge this is aimed at unions' so-called Taft-Hartley plans, though union officials had downplayed the change and suggested some of their plans wouldn't be eligible anyway. 

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Kimmel: President's Visit 'Turned LA Into the Traffic Equivalent of ObamaCare'

As NewsBusters has been reporting for almost two months, the disastrous rollout of Barack Obama's signature piece of legislation has made him the butt of late night jokes.

On ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday, the host repeatedly mocked the President's fundraising trip to California saying, "He basically turned the westside of Los Angeles into the traffic equivalent of the ObamaCare website" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

JIMMY KIMMEL: This is definitely a boost for President Obama who arrived here in Los Angeles today. He's here to congratulate Taylor Swift on her American Music Awards in person. [Laughter and applause]

As usual, the President’s motorcade made our normally miserable traffic even worse. He basically turned the westside of Los Angeles into the traffic equivalent of the ObamaCare website. [Laughter and applause]

The President is, I guess he's here for the same reason he's usually here: to attend a few Democratic fundraisers and to go to In-N-Out burger without his wife finding out. [Laughter and applause]

And I don't know what it is, but It seems like the only time the President comes to LA is for money. He’s like a college student who only comes home to do his laundry and steal leftovers from the fridge.

Via: Newsbusters

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Mark Halperin Trolls Obamacare to Newsmax, Agrees ‘Death Panels’ Are Coming

Time magazine scribe and Obama dick-whisperer Mark Halperin took to the airwaves Monday to troll Obamacare by agreeing with Newsmax TV‘s Steve Malzberg that “death panels” (remember those?) are definitely coming, and that President Obama is a big fat liar. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but if you look a little deeper into Halperin’s puddle-shallow commentary, it sounds more like Mark Halperin supports death panels, not President Obama.

Before you consider Halperin’s commentary, it’s important to remember how the conservative media, followed by the mainstream “villager” media that Halperin represents, have tried to define down Palin’s original “death panel” claim, which was that her specific baby would be forced to “stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care.”

There was, of course, no part of that claim that was remotely true, but the media tried its damnedest to give Palin the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she meant payment for end-of-life care counseling, which is also not a “death panel” and is already a thing, yeah, that’s the ticket. Or maybe she was referring to the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which the law says “shall not include any recommendation to ration health care, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums under section 1818, 1818A, or 1839, increase Medicare beneficiary cost sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, and co-payments), or otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility criteria.”

Or maybe she meant transplant committees, which are also already a thing.

Via: Meidiate.com

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