Why Obama can’t wave away this scandal

People are puzzled: Why would Barack Obama have lied about how wonderfully everything was going to go with ObamaCare when officials in his administration knew perfectly well that disaster was going to strike?

In one sense, the answer is simple: At the time, just before Oct. 1, Republicans were insisting ObamaCare be delayed or defunded. The president and his team weren’t going to give the enemy the satisfaction of agreeing — or the potent ammunition that would have come from a rueful admission the system wasn’t ready.

Today, a bipartisan agreement to delay ObamaCare seems like it would have been a pretty good deal. It didn’t look that way at all in the last two weeks of September.

But there’s a deeper reason he and his people lied: They did it because they could. They did it because nearly five years in the White House had given Obama and his team confidence they would not face the music and they could finesse the problems until they got fixed.

Via: NY Post

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[VIDEO] JFK Cutting Taxes: A Fiscal Camelot

As the country marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, there are many reflections about the man and his legacy. For those old enough, the emotion of the day will never be forgotten.

When it comes to his economic decisions, it may surprise some to take a look his tax policies. They contrast sharply with the Democratic Party of today, and, in particular, with the tax policies pursued by President Obama.

JFK Cut Taxes to Get Out of a Recession

Like our current President, Kennedy came to office amidst a recession and stubbornly high unemployment. Rather than raise taxes, President Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax cuts, taking the top rate from 91 percent to 70 percent.

According to The Tax Foundation, President Kennedy’s tax cut was larger than the Reagan tax cuts and any single Bush tax cut, compared with national income. While no one would deem a 70 percent top rate desirable, it was a fiscal Camelot compared to the 91 percent top rate in existence when Kennedy took office. It reflected his belief that cutting taxes—not raising taxes—would benefit the economy.

Via: The Foundry

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Sticker shock hits health exchange shoppers

Sweeping differences in health care exchange pricing among states and counties is leading to sticker shock for some middle-class consumers and others who aren't eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

The average prices for the most popular plans are twice as high in the most expensive states as those with the lowest average prices, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data for 34 states using the federal health insurance exchange.

PPOs, the most popular type of health care plan, carry monthly premiums that range from an average of $819 a month in the most expensive state to $437 in the least expensive. Plans on the federal and state exchanges are grouped into four categories that cover 60% to 90% of out-of-pocket costs. USA TODAY looked at the pricing of PPOs and HMOs across these bronze, silver, gold and platinum categories.

The premiums for bronze-level plans are generally the least expensive, but "the deductibles are simply not affordable," says Laura Stack, a former financial analyst looking for full-time work and using her 401k to pay for health insurance. "Many will not be able to afford the per person deductibles before insurance begins to pay. What are you really paying for?"

About 4.4 million people in the individual insurance market are not eligible for the subsidies and tax credits that can help cover premiums and out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles.

Via USA Today

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CALIFORNIA DEMS NIX OBAMACARE 'FIX'

The state of California has rejected President Barack Obama's proposed "fix" for individuals whose insurance policies are being canceled this year as a result of the law. 

Last week, the president proposed that insurance companies allow those policies to continue, in an effort to reduce the political damage after he broke his oft-repeated promise that people could keep their plans. 

However, California's regulators refused the change.

California's decision is critical--not only because it has already signed up more customers for Obamacare than the federal government as a whole, but also because it is the flagship for the policy's success. 

It would have been impossible, in any case, for California to implement Obama's "fix," because several insurance companies have withdrawn from the state rather than participating in the restrictive "Covered California" exchange.

Via: Breitbart

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How 40 Congressmen Are Challenging Obamacare

The Supreme Court may have ruled once on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, but the debate about the law’s constitutionality is far from settled.

Forty members of the House of Representatives, led by Trent Franks (R–AZ), have filed an amicus brief in the latest case challenging the constitutionality of the Obama Administration’s crowning achievement (or failure, depending on your perspective). The lawsuit claims that the Obamacare legislation violates Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 of the Constitution, otherwise known as the Origination Clause.

In last year’s surprising and oft-criticized opinion in NFIB v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court upheld the act under Congress’s authority “To lay and collect Taxes” under the Spending Clause of the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, found that, despite the plain text of the statute, the individual mandate was actually a tax and not a penalty.

The Origination Clause provides: “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” Our Founding Fathers understood that the power to tax, if abused, involved the power to destroy. They viewed the Origination Clause as a safeguard for liberty by insisting that the power to initiate new taxes should be left with the lawmakers who were most directly accountable to voters—members of the House, who are elected every two years in local districts.

Via: The Foundry

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USAID Programs Hit By Fraud, Corruption And Bid-Rigging Allegations

WASHINGTON –  USAID, the government agency in charge of distributing tax dollars to foreign aid projects, once again is being hit with allegations and audits exposing how fraud and corruption are undermining its programs.

 

Though the government says it's taking "steps" to address the problems, the multiple reports reflect a decades-long problem with how USAID money is administered and, critics say, how little has been done to fix it.

"There's a cult around foreign aid and those who question it," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told FoxNews.com.

One new investigation shows millions are being stolen and sold on the black market from money meant for malaria drugs in Africa.

The malaria initiative was set up to help fight the disease but has been hijacked by organized networks in the region that steal large amounts of the drug and resell it on the street.

The U.S. spent $2.5 billion between 2006 and 2012 on the President’s Malaria Initiative – a program created by George W. Bush in 2005 and led by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Via: Fix News

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MAN INFORMED HIS DOG HAS SUCCESSFULLY SIGNED UP FOR OBAMACARE

It’s a real shaggy dog story. While Americans across the country are struggling to sign up for ObamaCare due to problems with the federal health care website, at least one enrollee has successfully gotten covered through a state-run exchange: a Colorado man’s 14-year-old Yorkie.

Fort Collins resident Shane Smith told KDVR he received a letter last week informing his dog,Baxter, that a health insurance account had been opened for the pup through Connect for Health Colorado.

Smith told the station he had to sign up for coverage through the state exchange because his health insurance plan was cancelled under ObamaCare. He isn’t sure how Baxter wound up getting enrolled instead, but he said he did give Baxter’s name as a security question as part of the registration process.

“It was pretty funny. Typical ObamaCare, that they would insure your dog by mistake,” Smith told KDVR.

Smith said when he called Connect for Health Colorado they fixed the problem, but he is still wary of ObamaCare due to all the issues.

“There’s been a lot of headaches that’s come from all of this,” Smith told KDVR.  “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,” he joked.

Colorado runs its own health insurance exchange that is separate from the problem-plagued website Healthcare.gov, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services. A Connect for Health Colorado spokesman told KDVR its system would never make up a name when generating a letter, but it works quickly to resolve the situation when mistakes are made.

Via: Human Events

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