Friday, August 9, 2013

NYT Sours on Obamacare?

The American Interest
"In the NYT‘s Economic Scene column this week, Eduardo Porter compares the Obamacare roll-out to Harvard University’s introduction of a similar plan in the mid-1990s. In that case, the university made changes that were intended to encourage covered employees to shop around for care. The plan seemed like it was working, at first; competition had cut Harvard’s health care costs by 5-8 percent. But as time went on, younger and healthier employees dropped out of the plan altogether, leaving behind the older and sicker. Insurance premiums shot up, pushing out another layer of the relatively young and healthy, which pushed up premiums again, and so on."

The Next Threat to Your Privacy

Heritage  "Who has access to your Social Security number, your bank information, and your tax records?
"When Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges open, your data could be exposed to shysters and hackers, thanks to serious vulnerabilities in the system.
"The exchanges are scheduled to open on October 1 (just 53 days away). But the list of implementation failures keeps growing, and the security of Americans’ data is threatened."

THREAT #1: Obamacare “Navigators”
Navigators are a group of people and organizations that are going to be facilitating signups for Obamacare’s insurance exchanges. More on this here.
....

THREAT #2: Obamacare’s Data Hub
The data hub is a massive compilation of tax filings, Social Security reports, and other government data that will be used to determine eligibility for subsidized insurance. More here.
Related:
Liberals gear up for Obamacare fight
Obamacare’s Menu Labeling Law: The Food Police Are Coming

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Krauthammer's Take: 'Biggest Recruiter of Terrorists Is American Weakness'


 
"Charles Krauthammer explained that one of the main reasons al-Qaeda is in the midst of a resurgence despite President Obama’s earlier claims that it was severely weakened is because this administration “has done a lot of retreating.” He clarified that retreating does not necessarily mean the president’s decisions to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, but more so that he has refused to take a tougher stance in the face of terrorism, such as in the aftermath of last year’s attack on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi.

" “Obama used to talk about Guantanamo and all the sins of the Bush administration — torture and all this stuff — as the recruiter of terrorists,” he said on Special Report [Wednesday]. “The biggest recruiter of terrorists is American weakness.” "

China's take on "Winners and losers in Snowden fiasco"

In case you were wondering how the US under Obama is respected by our rivals.
Global Times of China   .... "Russia has impressed the world, which views the Kremlin as the "winner" and the White House as the "loser."

"This judgment is correct. In the Snowden case, all the other countries involved have become winners while the US is the sole loser. Washington put on a show of bravado, but failed to extradite Snowden in the end. By contrast, Moscow displayed its national characteristics of decisiveness and boldness and kept Washington at bay."
....
"Washington ate the dirt this time, but it does not necessarily mean it is really awed by Moscow. In the same manner, Washington is unlikely to fear Beijing, and Beijing needn't fear Washington. What Beijing should care about most is how to maximize its interests in its relations with Washington.

"Snowden can do more in a country like Russia. The performance that has disgraced the US is far from over."

More on Snowden from this source
 

American History in Black & White; Part one of twelve

David Barton  "David Barton sets the record straight! Click to watch part 1 - part 12. This video is supported with the Bible, the Constitution, historical facts and other documents that establish America as a Nation. The 3/5th clause is explained for voting and representatives in Congress, not to diminish the worth of blacks."
 Hat tip to Jodi Free at Conservatives Network


10 Reasons Pets Are The Best Coworkers

Buzzfeed  "Turns out nine times out of ten, your pet would probably make a better coworker than just a plain ol’ human. Find out just how well pets and people work together by celebrating National Bring Your Pet to Work Day on June 21. Pets at home are great, but #PetsAtWork is even better."

8. They have excellent hygiene..."

In wishing Bush well, Putin has message for Obama

Reuters    "Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram on Thursday to his old sparring partner, former U.S. President George W. Bush, wishing him a quick recovery from heart surgery.
"It may have been coincidence that the Kremlin released details of the telegram a day after Barack Obama pulled out of a planned summit with Putin, but little is left to chance in Russian politics.
"The warm words to the man who once said he looked Putin in the eye and got a "sense of his soul" highlighted how different the relationship is between the leaders in the Kremlin and the White House now."....

No contact from Obama as of this morning  "White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that President Barack Obama was briefed on Bush’s procedure and “obviously wishes him well.” He didn’t believe Obama and Bush had spoken, Carney said."

Neither did these- apparently- Obama voters

South Korea calls North Korea's bluff and wins

American Thinker  "President Park Geun-hye of South Korea has more stones than Barack Obama. She isn't content to lead from behind when it comes to dealing with North Korea. Instead of groveling apologies, she called a bluff.  Jack Kim of Reuters reports: "  Read more:
 
But one does wonder: if a US president were to defy this little demagogue, would the "progressive" pacifists and their submissive press in the US do all in their power to make him cave in to the Norks or be branded a "warmonger"? Is America capable of being defended by a strong president (should we ever get one?)
 
This all happened in the 1930s and caused Britain to be unprepared for the war of conquest Hitler started. The Communists and their allies of the British left did everything in their power to bring that about and they will do it again.

UPDATED: Con Artists and Scammers Eager for Obamacare Grand Opening

Big Government  "With the Obama Administration scrambling to cobble together the Obamacare health insurance exchanges in time for the October 1st grand opening, experts say con artists and fraudsters are eager to begin exploiting the new law's complexity and government-enforced fines to swindle uninsured Americans."
....
"Federal authorities are well aware of the identity theft threat. In July, the Federal Trade Commission issued an alert warning that fraudsters are using Obamacare to poach Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, Medicare IDs, and other personal information."

Political Cartoons by Eric Allie
Thanks, Obama!  "President Obama has just handed his opposition a powerful focus for resentment over Obamacare, by exempting Congress and its army of staffers from the Obamacare disaster foisted on average folks." Thomas Lifson

Sign Up for ObamaCare Over the Phone!    "Last month, the government announced that it wouldn't verify an individual's self-reported income for ObamaCare subsidies. Simply claim you qualify for a subsidy and you will receive that subsidy. Today, we learn, that you don't have to physically show up to claim coverage. You can sign up for coverage, and the subsequent subsidy, over the phone!"

UPDATE from The Comical Conservative
One comment to this post reminded us that those responsible for passing ObamaCare are on this list of groups exempted.

Barack Obama cancels meeting with Vladimir Putin over Edward Snowden

130807Leno-Obama-cartoon-
"Asked about recent joint appearances, where Mr Putin has often looked glum and confrontational, Mr Obama said the Russian leader's "preferred style" is "sitting back and not looking too excited".
" "Part of it is he’s not accustomed to having press conferences where you’ve got a bunch of reporters yelling questions at you," Mr Obama said in a thinly-veiled barb at Mr Putin's crackdown on media critics."
Political Cartoons by Bob Gorrell

Tawana Brawley Finally Forced to Pay Man She Defamed

Big Government
" As Breitbart News has previously recalled, in November 1987, fifteen year-old black teenager Tawana Brawley was found in Wappinger's Falls, NY wrapped in a plastic bag, with feces in her hair and with "KKK" and the n-word written on her body. She claimed to have been abducted, then raped and sodomized by six white men. She quickly gained a set of advisors headed by Al Sharpton along with attorneys Mason and Maddox, fresh off a round of racially charged publicity in the Howard Beach incident. As the Post explains:".....
.....Brawley’s handlers then claimed — without proof — that Pagones was part of the white mob that kidnapped and raped the girl 33 times.
Celebrities lined up to support Tawana, including Bill Cosby, who posted a $25,000 reward for information on the case; Don King, who promised $100,000 for Brawley’s education; and Spike Lee, who in his 1989 film, “Do the Right Thing,” included a shot of a graffiti message reading, “Tawana told the truth.”


...."Sharpton had his settlement debt to Pagones paid by supporters, including O.J. Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran. MSNBC host and Obama ally Sharpton is still unrepentant about the Brawley incident and refuses to even say that Brawley was lying, instead claiming in a recent interview: "Whatever happened, you're dealing with a minor who was missing for four days, so it's clear that something wrong happened.""

What Everybody Ought to Know About Obamacare

Heritage
"Obamacare: It’s unfair, unaffordable, and unworkable.
"So it’s no surprise that Organizing for Action, President Obama’s campaign group, is aggressively posting on all of its media outlets to try to hide the truth about Obamacare.
"Just last week, the group blasted out emails and tweets to activists encouraging them to “see how Obamacare is already working.”
"But Organizing for Action is wrong. Obamacare isn’t working, and it won’t ever work. That’s why we’re challenging every claim Obamacare supporters make—and you should, too. Congress should refuse to spend a single dime implementing this massive train wreck."