Krauthammer: Obamacare’s war on jobs; Pelosi, Marx, and 'Job Lock'

Krauthammer  "In the ongoing saga of the Affordable Care Act, oddly referred to by Democrats as the law of the land even as it is amended at will by presidential fiat, we are beginning to understand the extent of its war on jobs.

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"Nancy Pelosi spoke lyrically about how Obamacare subsidies will allow people to leave unfulfilling jobs to pursue their passions: “Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.' ”

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"Pelosi’s vision is equally idyllic except for one thing: The taxes of the American factory worker — grinding away dutifully at his repetitive mind-numbing job — will be subsidizing the voluntary unemployment of the artiste in search of his muse. A rather paradoxical position for the party that poses as tribune of the working man."

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"But doesn’t this undermine the whole idea of universal health coverage? Of course it does, but Obamacare was so structured that it is crushing small business and killing jobs. It creates a major incentive for small businesses to cut back to under 50 employees to avoid the mandate. Your business becomes a 49er by either firing workers or reducing their hours to below 30 a week. Because that doesn’t count as full time, you escape both the employer mandate to buy health insurance and the fine for not doing so."

 

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/07/branco-cartoon-celebrate-good-timescome-on/

 

And these excerpts are only a sample of what Mr. Krauthammer has to say on the subject.   Full article.

Pelosi, Marx, and 'Job Lock'   "Actually, the Pelosiites are pursuing a dream rooted in Karl Marx. The major work in which Marx expounded on what a communist society would look like is titled The German Ideology, written in 1845. Here is a famous passage from it in which Marx expounds on the virutes of liberation from job lock that communism supposedly would provide (courtesy of Marxists.org):" ... Read more:

Obama ambassador nominees prompt an uproar with bungled answers, lack of ties

WaPo  "A century-old debate over whether presidents should reward political donors and allies by making them ambassadors has flared again after a string of embarrassing gaffes by President Obama’s picks.

"The nominee for ambassador to Norway, for example, prompted outrage in Oslo by characterizing one of the nation’s ruling parties as extremist. A soap-opera producer slated for Hungary appeared to have little knowledge of the country she would be living in. A prominent Obama bundler nominated to be ambassador to Argentina acknowledged that he had never set foot in the country and isn’t fluent in Spanish." ...
 

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"Norwegians, meanwhile, are still seething over Tsunis’s erroneous remarks about the Progress Party. Jan Arild Ellingsen, a member of the party who serves in Norway’s parliament, said the remarks were “unacceptable and a provocation” and demanded an apology.

"Tsunis has responded with diplomacy, calling Norwegian politicians to apologize. He also contacted Anders Tvegard, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.’s Washington correspondent, and offered to do an on-air interview — but only after he is confirmed by the Senate."

This part of the 1% living large

 

Bokbluster  "The Obamas hosted a state dinner this week for the tax cutting socialist president of France, Francois Hollande. The menu featured dry aged ribeye beef, quail eggs, caviar, chocolate cake, ice cream, fudge, shortbread cookies and cotton candy."

 

Pretty much the whole first family lives large

Michelle Obama and her daughters toured London for two days after President Obama had returned to U.S.

GROUNDED! Time To Sequester Air Force One for Obama's Vacations

 

Obamas' 2009 Date Night in New York City Draws Criticism  "Even before the Obamas left Washington, the there-and-back trip drew criticism from Republicans. They questioned the president's decision to travel to New York for a night of entertainment during a recession and while automakers struggle to survive.

 

"It was just a few months ago that auto executives were roundly criticized when they traveled to Washington for congressional hearings in pricey private planes."

"Hillary" signs should actually read "The Clintons".

If you had a daughter hoping to intern at the White House, would she look just like Monica?

Former CNN host Larry King has never heard of Juanita Broaddrick; have you?  "Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home worker, accused President Clinton of raping her during the late 1970s in a 1998 Dateline interview."  This incident gave us the immortal Clinton quote, "Better put some ice on that..."

Column: The Hillary Papers and the Death of the Mainstream Media  "How ironic if Bill Clinton's behavior is the cause of Hillary's defeat."

 " I seem to remember that the shadow of the Clinton scandals—described in the “Hillary Papers” as a “pattern of sleaze”—loomed over Al Gore’s candidacy in 2000; that George W. Bush made a vow during that campaign to restore “integrity” to the White House; that when Democratic mogul David Geffen threw his he told Maureen Dowd, “I don’t think anybody believes that in the last six years, all of a sudden Bill Clinton has become a different person.” The Clintons call to mind the old Faulkner line that

“The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” They carry their baggage like Marley carries his chains. It weighs them down."

allegiance to Barack Obama in 2007,

Sen. Rand Paul is hammering former President Bill Clinton hard for his past sexual indiscretions -- and it isn't by accident.    "Someone who takes advantage of a young girl in their office? I mean, really. And then they have the gall to stand up and say, 'Republicans are having a war on women?'"

Politico covers the Monica episode here.

NRO: Hillary, Relentless and Shameless 

 

 

"The phrase “Clinton fatigue” entered the political lexicon during the previous century; by this point, we surely must have entered the age of Chronic Clinton-Fatigue Syndrome. But the recent making public of the so-called Hillary Papers — the notes kept by her close friend Diane Blair during Mrs. Clinton’s tumultuous White House years, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon — shed additional light on the character of the “co-presidents” who just will not go away."

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"The Clintons are our national grotesques. At the height of the Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton, who had immovable support among black voters, began using black leaders as the political equivalent of human shields — Jesse Jackson and the Congressional Black Caucus prominent among them — while his minions smeared prosecutor Ken Starr, characterizing him as a racist, a sex fanatic, and a monomaniac. President Clinton strutted into church waving a Bible the size of a telephone directory..."

Obama's cult of personality has turned US into 'a nation of enablers'

Washington Examiner   "Law professor Jonathan Turley said he's astonished by how passive Americans -- especially Democrats -- have been to President Obama's abuse of executive power, which he said has become so dangerous it's making the U.S. political system unstable.

 

" 'I think that we've become a nation of enablers. We are turning a blind eye to a fundamental change in our system. I think many people will come to loathe that they remained silent during this period," Turley, who teaches at George Washington University, told Fox News host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday.

 

"I'm afraid this is beginning to border on a cult of personality for people on the Left.' "

 

"This isn't the first time Turley has issued his warning. He told the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 3 that Obama is "becoming the very danger the Constitution was designed to avoid.' "   Emphasis added, TD

The Republican alternative for Obamacare

Budgetary and Coverage Impact of the Empowering Patients First Act (H.R. 2300) "is legislation aimed at repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with patient centered solutions. The proposed reform creates a defined contribution environment intended to “ensure access to health coverage for all Americans; rein in out-of-control costs; solve insurance challenges of portability and pre-existing illness; and improve the health care delivery structure,”[1] and achieves budget neutrality. We used a non-elderly, health insurance market model to estimate the budgetary and health insurance market impacts of the legislation compared to current law."

 

Eakinomics: The Unraveling of ObamaCare  " ... HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “announced” ...that the administration was 1) waiving the individual mandate for those with cancelled policies, and 2) Waiving the age limitations on catastrophic plans so those with cancelled policies can purchase a catastrophic plan.

 

"This is a big deal.  Substantively, it opens the door to deferring the mandate entirely and by acknowledging that catastrophic plans would be suitable coverage it makes a lie of all the rhetoric about how existing insurance (“underinsurance”) is “subpar” and “poor”. It will be fine for 2014."

 

I am 74 years old; my wife is 71, and our present plan is subpar because we do not have prenatal care and contraceptives provided.

Myth: “Republicans have no alternative for Obamacare.”

Raging Against the Rhetoric

 

... "Congressman Price is rightfully regarded as one of the brightest minds we have when it comes to healthcare. What I find particularly interesting is that we have been proposing alternatives to Obamacare since day one. Price’s Empowering Patients First Act of 2009 manages to both increase the number of insured Americans and save us trillions of dollars, two of Obamacare’s biggest failures.

 

"These facts are far from manufactured. In fact, Douglaz Hotlz-Eakin*, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office conducted an independent review of the proposal, and found that the number of insured Americans would actually increase by 29% by 2016, which is a relief after wave after wave of Obamacare cancellations.

 

"Surely this must be expensive, right? Again, false. Holtz-Eakin’s study also predicted that Price’s bill would actually save $2.3 trillion over the next ten years. Remember when Obama promised that Obamacare won’t “add one dime to our deficit?' ”

 

Via Jackie Wellfonder at Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

*Douglas Holtz-Eakin has a distinguished record as an academic, policy adviser, and strategist. Currently he is the President of the American Action Forum and most recently was a Commissioner on the Congressionally-chartered Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Since 2001, he has served in a variety of important policy positions. 

What's with "smart meters" that are being installed on our houses?

Illinois Electricity Customers Forced to Get 'Smart Meters' or Pay Fine 

... " Tammy Yeakel’s power company, PPL Energy, had helpfully installed a “smart meter” on her home that could monitor her power usage in real time. The meter uploaded that information to PPL’s website, so she could identify peak usage times during the day."

 

ComEd customers refusing smart meter will be charged $21.53 a month

Smart Meters: We can monitor everything you do in your home (Video)

"Although Smart Meters are promoted as energy efficiency components, the actual intent of these meters is to track your use of energy in real time across every 24hr. period, which will allow the provider to bill you for that period at the highest energy rate for the day.

"They have another purpose: thanks to Smart Meters, every appliance in your home will be monitored.

"As you will be rationed only so much energy for any 24 hr. period, opening and closing your refridgerator too many times during the daily billing cycle can cause your power to be disrupted. Your use of lights, appliances and even your time on the Net will be charged against your daily allowance of power."

 

Pros and Cons of Smart Meters

There is even a website on this subject: Stop Smart Meters!

Jonathan Turley: The left’s indifference to Obama’s executive power grabs is beginning to border on a cult of personality

Hot Air    "Precedents are being set that will be built on by future presidents of both parties; for all the complaining about executive overreach by Democrats circa 2006 and Republicans today, the cold realities of power are what they are. I’m tempted to say that it was O’s latest unlawful delay to ObamaCare’s employer mandate that soured Turley’s mood, but I don’t think that’s it. I think it was the State of the Union, where Obama embraced bypassing Congress as formal policy. Look out for the phrase “borders on authoritarianism.' ” 

It's official: the American press is pathetic (Updated)

 

Rick Moran;  How 'free' is our 'Free Press'?  ... "The U.S. has taken a hit largely from the post-9/11 insistence on fetishizing claims of "national security" (Rep. Mike Rogers now wants to criminalize the publication of sensitive information like that released by Edward Snowden) and from the Obama administration's crusade against whistleblowers."

 

Reporters Without Borders reports: “One step forward, two steps back for media freedom”  "These media freedom concerns are part of a wider trend that has come to light in recent months. The Obama administration has named James Rosen of Fox News as a co-conspirator in its case against State Edward Snowden, and Bradley Manning, who is currently on trial for passing documents to WikiLeaks."

Department leaker Stephen Jin-Woo Kim. Moreover, Jeffrey Sterling, the former CIA employee, is the seventh former government employee to face prosecution under the Espionage Act since Obama took office..."

 

Crazy Gets A Pass When It’s ‘Progressive’   "During his monologue segment on The Five last night, co-host Greg Gutfeld slammed the lamestream media for turning a blind eye to loons just because they happen to be leftist loons."

None of The Network Newscasts Reporting Ray Nagin’s Corruption Conviction Bother To Mention He’s A Democrat…

Michelle’s $12,000 Dress Cost More Than Median Yearly Household Income Worldwide of $9,733

 

CNS News   "The blue and black designer dress that first lady Michelle Obama wore to Tuesday’s state dinner for the French president reportedly cost between $10,000 and $12,000, according to news media, which is more than the median annual household income worldwide of $9,733, and greater than the median income for households in at least 87 countries, according to data from Gallup."

IRS Targeted Established Conservative Groups for Audits, Too

Wall Street Journal    “ 'We now know that the IRS targeted not only right-leaning applicants, but also right-leaning groups that were already operating as 501(c)(4)s,” Mr. Camp said in a statement. “At Washington, DC’s direction, dozens of groups operating as 501(c)(4)s were flagged for IRS surveillance, including monitoring of the groups’ activities, websites and any other publicly available information. Of these groups, 83% were right-leaning. And of the groups the IRS selected for audit, 100% were right-leaning.' ”

Vulnerable Democrats Want the IRS to Do More of Something that ‘Outraged’ Obama Last Year  "We can officially mark the Democrats’ feigned outrage at the IRS targeting conservative groups from 2010 through 2013 as dead. They weren’t really outraged about it then when the IRS engineered its disclosure, and they want even more of it now. Even the systematic persecution of Catherine Engelbrecht by multiple executive branch agencies doesn’t bother them. Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings piled on even more persecution."
"What the Democrats really want is to silence everyone who disagrees with them. They want a weaponized IRS to make that happen."

Not a ‘Smidgen’ of Corruption… Vulnerable Dems Push IRS to Crack Down on Conservative Groups   "Senate Democrats facing tough elections this year want the Internal Revenue Service to play a more aggressive role in regulating outside groups expected to spend millions of dollars on their races."