Monday, July 2, 2012

After fleeting Supreme Court victory, Obama remains the amateur

Edward Klein, author of The Amateur  "Only a rank amateur could levy a series of new taxes on America’s small businesses, under the guise of ObamaCare, that will raise unemployment and stall an already anemic recover.
"Only a rank amateur could hand his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, an electoral game changer.
"Yes, Barack Obama is still The Amateur"
Read excerpts of "The Amateur" here.
 See an interview with Edward Klein here:

A doctor comments on his taxes and FLOTUS's vacations

So...what about those Chevy Volts in the region?

From Hot Air; DC, mid-Atlantic region could be without power several more days
"Last week, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu insisted that the government needed to subsidize electric vehicles to make them cheap enough to transform personal transportation away from fossil fuels.  This week, people in Washington DC, Virginia, and several other states may beg to differ:"
....Thus we see the wisdom of energy diversity.  Light rail and subways run on electricity, which is only stable and plentiful enough to supply that kind of power because of the use of coal and natural gas.   (Emphasis gleefully added.)

"....On the other hand, those who have no other transportation options except electric are stuck inside the emergency area.  Their vehicles don’t have the range to get them out of the disaster area, which means they have to be dependent on rationed supplies if their food supplies run low.  They can’t easily get to distribution centers for that, either, at least not more than a couple of times, which means that emergency response teams eventually have to bring in gasoline-powered vehicles to reach them in a disaster."

POTUS and the SCOTUS


Rick Moran: Support for Obamacare ticks up after SCOTUS decision  "Frankly, I'm surprised the jump in support wasn't larger. Many Americans respect the Supreme Court and even with a decision like the one last Thursday, tend to see SCOTUS as the final judge in matters Constitutional. The fact that sentiment to repeal the law has actually gotten stronger at the same time support has also grown, would seem to indicate that some voters actually favor repeal but respect the Court's decision."


Althouse; Is Roberts a genius or just a politician?  Commenting on the Wall Street Journal column posted above:
"They're disturbed that Congress can configure a tax that shapes behavior that it could not simply command, and yet they admit — as they must — that tax law does that all the time. Congress can't compel you to go into debt to buy a house, but you'll pay less taxes if you have a mortgage interest deduction. Congress can't require you to get married, but single taxpayers get stuck with higher tax rates. Why is this new area of taxing so shocking?"
Neal Boortz; Four days after  "No … sorry.  I can’t figure out just what Chief Justice John Roberts was trying to accomplish with his ruling on ObamaCare last week.  And no … I don’t pretend to know how this is going to work itself out in the election and for future court decisions.  I can, though, just throw out some random thoughts on the subject … see what you think."....


http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com/
Michael Barone: Obamacare survives, but political playing field has changed   "But the fact remains that a majority of five justices, including Roberts, also declared that Congress' power to regulate commerce does not authorize a mandate to buy a commercial product. This will tend to bar further expansion of the size and scope of the federal government.
"Moreover, the Constitution's limits on congressional power have now become, for the first time in seven decades, a political issue. They're likely to remain one for years to come."
As far as the Democrats claiming the mandate was not a tax, Barone writes:
Roberts' decision undercuts such arguments, now and in the future. Members of Congress supporting such legislation will be held responsible, this year and for years to come, for increasing taxes.
 Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Sunday, July 1, 2012

OBAMACARE WILL AFFECT THOSE MAKING LESS THAN $120K A YEAR

Conservative Blogs Central  "Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer with the Wall Street Journal, told FOX and Friends this morning that nearly 75% of Obamacare costs will fall on the backs of those Americans making less than $120,000 a year. Whatever happen to Obama's promise that no one making $250K per year will get tax. Obama is full of crap"


"If you want to know what to expect under ObamaCare, listen to this …"

Which is good and which is bad?

Healthcare: Liars lie; it's what they do that makes them what they are.

Alan Caruba: The Liar's Tax  ...."Among the many new taxes buried in the 2000-plus pages of Obamacare, there’s a 2.3% excise tax on U.S. sales of medical devices that observers believe would prove to be a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs an estimated 400,000. 
"There’s a 3.6% surtax on investment income from capital gains and dividends on those earning more than $250,000. "Obamacare imposes a $50,000 excise tax on charitable hospitals that fail to meet new “community health assessment needs”, whatever they are."There’s a $2.6 billion-a-year tax on drug companies. A 10% excise tax on indoor tanning salons. An $87 billion hike in Medicare payroll taxes for employees, as well as the self-employed. "Between now and November voters are going to be reminded that Obama promised to fix the economy and then spent the first two years getting Obamacare through Congress. No Republican voted for it and, in 2010, voters replaced some sixty representatives and senators with Republicans.".... More in the article.
Mr. Caruba links to this Wall Street Journal column which states:
 In upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has allowed the president and Congress to put the country's health policy on a path that will restrict individual choices, stifle innovation and sharply increase health-care costs. Now the only recourse is to repeal the law through the legislative process and replace it with policies that rely on the power of the markets.
But the task will be daunting. First, Republicans must take the White House, then get sixty votes in the Senate and a simple majority in the House.
We must then get over a mountain of demagoguery in the media: entertainment TV, liberal news sources, academia, permanent- victim industries (Big Victimhood?) who claim oppression and a host of protest groups with no other commitments in their lives than to occupy and party.
And this would all have to be led by a president who passed the same program in his home state that he is now wanting to repeal nationally.

Urban Legend: Military funeral protocol

One of those forwarded emails came today telling how President Obama has changed the wording of the flag presentation from, "On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation, I wish to present you with this flag in appreciation for your husband's service ..." to the following: 'On behalf of the Secretary of Defense and a grateful nation...'
The account continues with this statement:
"Today for the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of the current U.S. President!"
I did not serve in the military but my love of country parallels that of people like my late uncle who bled red, white and blue. As a second generation Serbian-American who's heritage produced many patriotic military men and women who fought for freedom both in the United States as well as in the former Yugoslavia (most recently in Kosovo against the slaughter of Serbs by Muslim extremists), I implore you to make the American people aware of this little-known or, at least, publicly acknowledged fact.

 Snopes refutes this account here.
The Marine Corps covers it in the MARINE CORPS DRILL AND CEREMONIES MANUAL on page 25-19, section 25006:
The escort commander will present it to the next of kin in a dignified manner with a short statement such as “On behalf of the President, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Marines everywhere, please accept this flag in memory of the honorable and faithful service performed by (relationship).”
On to other rumors: Truth or Fiction lists some of the trending e-rumors and if they are true or false.

Obamacare Mandate Survives as a Tax

Even ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos challenged the president and Obama was his usual petulant, juvenile self when disagreed with.

Is this the last laugh?


Newsbusters   "After the applause subsided, Leno continued, "This is a major victory for President Obama who spent three years promoting it, and of course a major setback for Mitt Romney who spent three years creating it."  

"As we won't really know for months who the political winner and loser is from this ruling, that joke seems a stretch if not typical of the liberal media view on this issue. 
"What we do know is the Romney campaign has seen a huge surge in donations following Thursday's announcement. But that didn't stop Leno's celebration."
We all share your joy.
Those who understand the economic and social impact of the Healthcare law realize how much freedom has been lost and shudder at the Great Mediocrity that is descending on this nation. Meanwhile, the shallow left can only think, "Wahoo, we beat your a**!"

Friday, June 29, 2012

Obamacare taunts from the civil left

Ethel C. Fenig: Democratic three word summaries of Obamacare decision  "Patrick Gaspard, Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee, tweeted the following summary on the Supreme Court Obamacare decision."
                           it's constitutional. Bitches.

"According to Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit Gaspard also tweeted this but then deleted it:" 
                           
....Gloating about the ruling, Obama followed up with this oh so modest tweet  
                             Presidents tried to pass health care reform for decades-and this one got it       done.


Weasel Zippers interprets this report as: Obama Taunts Romney After Supreme Court Ruling…

And liberal, conservaphobic cartoonist Pat Oliphant gloats this way:

Obamacare conservative reading list

Charles Krauthammer: Why Roberts did it   "The law stands, thus obviating any charge that a partisan court overturned duly passed legislation. And yet at the same time the commerce clause is reined in. By denying that it could justify the imposition of an individual mandate, Roberts draws the line against the inexorable decades-old expansion of congressional power under the commerce clause fig leaf.
"Law upheld, Supreme Court’s reputation for neutrality maintained. Commerce clause contained, constitutional principle of enumerated powers reaffirmed."


J. Christian Adams: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the Court Decision
"There will be lots of analysis and spin today on the Supreme Court’s decision. But here is all you need to know. The Court got the Commerce Clause part right, but so what? They were never going to find the mandate within the power of the Commerce Clause. The Court, on the other hand, disregarded the position of the government and read the law to be a tax, and therefore within the power of the Constitution."

Roger Kimball:SCOTUS and ObamaCare: The Search for a Silver Lining  "There is also the issue of whether overturning legislation judicially (as distinct from repealing it legislatively) is a habit to be encouraged. Right and Left complain about “judicial activism” whenever the court’s activity goes against legislation they like. “Activism” is not the issue so much as the proper role of the courts in our tripartite system. There is something to be said for limiting the use of the courts as a legislative tool."
Andrew C. McCarthy: ObamaCare Ruling: Pure Fraud and No Due Process  "The ObamaCare mandate was enacted as a penalty flowing from Congress’s Commerce Clause power. It has been upheld as a tax flowing from Congress’s power to tax-and-spend under the General Welfare Clause. As the dissent sharply demonstrates, the contention that the mandate could have been enacted as a tax is frivolous. Meanwhile our country, trillions of dollars in debt and rapidly sinking further, desperately needs a debate about the limits of Congress’s power to tax and spend for the general welfare."
Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy
Rand SimbergThe chief justice threw down the gauntlet on Thursday to those of us who support limited government.

American Thinker: The Chief Justice Done Good  "Chief Justice John Roberts has handed a remarkable victory to American conservatives by threading the judicial needle with perfect precision.  The initial disappointment collectively felt by Americans who had hoped for a Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Obamacare soon will be replaced, upon further reflection, by the excitement that will come with a fuller appreciation of what the Chief Justice has wrought."
As Laura Ingraham asked, if this decision is such a good deal for conservatives, why weren't we hoping all along this would be approved?  Or maybe some did and we were too obtuse to recognize it.
Political Cartoons by Bob Gorrell
Breitbart isn't so optimistic and I'm afraid with good reason: What Long-Run Victory?
"Conservatives who are trying to salvage a little “hope and change” from Chief Justice John Roberts’s disastrous ruling in the Obamacare case yesterday argue that the limits the Court placed on the Commerce Clause and the power of the federal government vis à vis the states are victories for conservatives in the long run. But in this case, the short run is the long run: Obamacare will change our society forever--and not for the better." Via Lucianne


Big Government: The Path to 50  "Contrary to popular opinion, Republicans don’t need a 60-vote majority to ram through an Obamacare repeal – as Ken Klukowski pointed out yesterday, “The only way to stop Obamacare now is with a one-page repeal bill that must be passed by the House and Senate. Because it would reduce the deficit you can pass it with 51 votes as a reconciliation bill in the Senate; you don’t need 60 votes.” "  Via Lucianne
Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez