Thursday, November 13, 2014

Commentaries on the ObamaCare bait-and-switch

toon141113

First, lets define "bait and switch"   "FRAUD IS A FEDERAL CRIME - A FELONY:"
  • ... under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the selling ploy of a particular establishment is liable of facing legal action against bait and switch fraud if: 
  • The advertised product is not shown or sold in agreement with the offer's precise terms 
  • The advertised product displayed is defective or impractical for the purposed implied in the advertisement. 
  • The advertised product is strongly criticized or lied about- either regarding the product's guarantee, credit terms, production value, service and repair availability, etc- in hopes of "upselling" to another "better" product.   Full IBA article here.
 "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"


Political Cartoons by Steve Kelley
 
Jonathan Gruber's Freudian Slip  Recap, in case you hadn't heard:
"In a recent forum on healthcare and economics hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Gruber made the following statement about ObamaCare:
This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. Okay, so it’s written to do that. In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in -- you made explicit healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed… Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass… Look, I wish Mark was right that we could make it all transparent, but I’d rather have this law than not.   More here.
Gohmert: Public Should Be ‘Burning Up the Phone Lines’ on ObamaCare  This will help
        
 It’s time to present this week’s statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!
"To Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber!!"
jonathan_gruber_1-550x389
 
NYT On Gruber: Everybody Lies To Get Legislation Passed

NRO: Calling Me Stupid   ... "Arrogance and condescension have too often characterized the attitudes of the current administration and their proponents. But the fact is, the American public is not stupid when it comes to Obamacare, and they are not deceived. Understanding this clunker and not liking it is precisely why this law has never been popular."
..."My patient with a thyroid problem couldn’t afford the necessary ultrasound and antibody tests to better understand her condition before Obamacare, and she can’t afford them now, either, because of her large deductible."

; Obamacare's Foundation of Lies  ... "I strongly support bipartisan efforts to expand the availability of health coverage to the working poor, and bending the cost curve that threatens federal budgets for years to come. While I think President Obama and congressional Democrats helped contribute to the 2009 standoff over what became the Affordable Care Act, I've openly rooted for Obamacare's success. I've denounced the knee-jerk opposition from the GOP, a party that once embraced key elements of Obamacare. My ideology is amorphous; I am not "on the right."                                    

"All of that, and yet: Gruber's remarks struck a nerve with me."

Bad Month for Obamacare   ..."With Republicans taking control of the Senate and expanding their majority in the House, we can expect an onslaught of bills to repeal the law or cut out important parts of it. While the presidential veto will likely prevent full repeal, the law’s supporters can expect to spend the next two years fighting a defensive war."

Who are you calling “stupid?”... "The people tried desperately to make their anti-Obamacare wishes known, but the Democratic members of Congress who were in the majority at the time refused to listen. Their leaders whipped them into line, and although a few were allowed to vote against, Pelosi and Reid made sure there wouldn’t be enough of them voting “nay” to actually derail the bill."

Podcast: The Obamacare Lies

Contact info on Congress

Contact them now, regardless of the changes to come in January. The present congress is the dangerous one as I see it. TD

Online Directory for the 113th Congress
"Contacting the Congress is a very up-to-date citizen's congressional directory for the 113th Congress. As of November 13, 2014 there are 538 electronic contact addresses (of which 537 are Web-based contact forms), and 538 home pages known for the 540 members of the 113th Congress. Traditional ground mail addresses are available for all current members of Congress.

The President's fallback setting for the past six years and for the next, well, how many?

 
Sure, his term has just two years left, but Obama will spend the years after that blaming the next administration for messing up the great things he put in place.
When he says the war on ISIS, for example, is a long term war, you know he will dump it onto future administrations and blame them for any messes coming out of it.
No way will Obama and his sycophants allow the next administration to talk about the mess they "inherited" from this one.
 
Obama has the integrity of a spoiled adolescent and I have seen zero growth of his character in the last six years. The Tunnel Dweller.

Looking deep into the Obama Administration and their goals

Infidel Bloggers Alliance    "AMERICANS READY TO DIGEST THE TRUTH"
"Erik Rush is the Journalist who broke the story about Barack Obama's Pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Rush has been consistently and extremely critical of Barak Obama ever since he came on the scene.

"In this piece, Rush explains exactly why it is imperative that a Republican House and Senate dig through all the disgusting details of how the Obama Administration has defrauded and attacked America these past six years.
Case in point: Back in August, atheist scientist Lawrence M. Krauss asserted that religion could be essentially done away with in a generation if we simply changed how children were taught about faith and religious systems is schools. 
Now, going from manipulating our attitude about religion to that of all other progressive issues:

Having relativized morality, they’ve also factored in the curious notion that they occupy the moral high ground. This, as contradictory as it sounds, creates for them the moral imperative to behave amorally in order to achieve said ends. They’ve been called “deranged,” too – and now you understand why...

 Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy
 
... "What’s particularly disgusting about this is that we have a situation in this country where people in government feel perfectly comfortable lying about a blatant attempt to legislate away Americans’ rights in a wholesale manner, and then admitting to it four years later without fear of being dragged out onto the Capitol Mall and burned in a bonfire with their co-conspirators." ... 
 
Political Cartoons by Gary Varvel
 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

The Concert for Valor: Bruce Springsteen's Unfortunate Song

Anti-Military Anthem Played at 'Concert for Valor'  "Who would have thought that that Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and Zac Brown, accomplished musicians all, would be so, well, tone-deaf? But how else to explain their choice of song—Creedence Clearwater's famously anti-war anthem “Fortunate Son”—at the ostensibly pro-military “Concert for Valor” this evening on the National Mall?
 
"The song, not to put too fine a point on it, is an anti-war screed, taking shots at "the red white and blue." It was a particularly terrible choice given that Fortunate Son is, moreover, an anti-draft song, and this concert was largely organized to honor those who volunteered to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. 
 
"On a musical level, “Fortunate Song” is not a bad song—that's one hell of a riff. But the “Concert for Valor,” a Veterans Day event sponsored by HBO and Starbucks, in front of the Capitol Building, was not the place for it."
 

 
Weasel Zippers only comment was, "What an absolute douchebag" but I'm sure they meant it in a nice way.

WaPo: Bruce Springsteen’s antiwar songs at Concert for Valor didn’t go over too well
... "But it was the song’s third chorus that really got people’s dander up on the Mall. In that one, Fogerty insisted he “ain’t no military son.” Here’s Springsteen singing the offending lyric as Grohl and Brown bang their heads:" ...
 
Code Pink Holds Anti-Military Protest Outside Event Honoring Veterans… Video
"Keepin’ it classy.

"Via MRC:
On Veterans Day a free concert was held on the National Mall in honor of those who have served their country in the United States Military.  Many of these men and women lost their lives or have been seriously injured for life in service to their country.
But the fact that the night was to honor our fighting men and women didn’t seem to bother the leftist, anti-war group “Code Pink.”
The group decided to stage an anti-war and anti-military protest right outside the gates where attendees were entering the concert.
One U.S. veteran protesting with Code Pink said that, “technically,” he served in the U.S. military during the Reagan Administration – but, “I was a Communist in the Army.”

Net Neutrality: Obama’s proposal to regulate the internet signals desire for confrontation with the GOP

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Hot Air   ... "Barack Obama has invited a fight with the GOP over his support of regulating internet providers, and an emboldened Republican Party is more than happy to engage him over this issue. This is just the latest signal to suggest that the White House wants confrontation rather than accommodation with Republicans in his final two years in office."

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Gum-chewing, limo-eschewing Obama riles some Chinese

USA Today   ... "Obama eschewed the Red Flag limousine service that ferried other leaders one by one from a nearby building to a banquet, cultural show and fireworks at the aquatic venue. Some Chinese went online to criticize his preference for the familiar security of a U.S.-supplied vehicle, while others understood his choice, but what happened next surprised many here..."
Via Lucianne
 

MSNBC’s Fun Election Night Coverage

Washington Free Beacon    "As MSNBC’s party of choice took a beating in the polls last Tuesday, the pundits and anchors reacted with foul language, bad predictions and poor cell phone etiquette."
 


Via Legal Insurrection   "MSNBC has a serious ratings problem."

"Ace notes the sagging numbers:"
MSNBC’s Ratings, Like Obama’s, Are Sad
This story has been noted for some time, though it’s getting a fresh look today from some media analysts.
Bill Carter wrote a big piece on MSNBC’s declining ratings in mid-October.
Though it has mostly happened quietly, which may be a comment on the cable network’s larger status in the media landscape, MSNBC has seen its ratings hit one of the deepest skids in its history, with the recently completed third quarter of 2014 generating some record lows.

During the third quarter, Ms. Maddow reached an average of 183,000 viewers in the audience component that most matters to MSNBC’s advertisers, viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, her lowest total since she started her show in 2008.
More worrying is the slide for “Morning Joe,” which has, for much of its time on the air, enjoyed status as one of the most talked-about shows in media industry circles. Now the heat around the show seems to have dissipated. For four straight months, and six of the last eight, “Morning Joe” has trailed CNN’s new morning entry, “New Day.”
Did Chuck Todd Say Too Much About MSNBC?   "Not only does Chuck Todd concede that MSNBC is openly leftist, the NBC host writes that “perhaps most frustrating to Team Obama was that even their allies weren’t always allies.' ”  (Emphasis in the original)
 

VOTERS ARE GIVING YOU ONE MORE CHANCE, GOP

Political Cartoons by Dana Summers

Ann Coulter (Cartoons added, TD)

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne
... "Libertarians and tea partiers, you were fantastic this election. I have a lot on my plate right now, so it's kind of a relief that I'm not going to have to drown you.
"Third-party libertarian voters didn't cause us to lose any elections, except probably in Virginia, where Republican Ed Gillespie nearly pulled off a come-from-behind shocker. But no one saw that one coming -- other than, presumably, the people who ran Gillespie's amazing Redskins campaign commercial. Those GOP consultants should win whatever big awards political consultants win.


" We'll call that one an unintentional error by libertarians. Just remember Gillespie the next time you're thinking of casting a protest vote. Unless it's against Marco Rubio, in which case, you may cut loose. 
"Tea partiers prevented an outright Republican win only in Louisiana, which doesn't matter because there's a runoff. They are now united behind Bill Cassidy. BUT DON'T TAKE THE RUNOFF FOR GRANTED, REPUBLICANS. " ...  Full article

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Why are there no songs for the victims of Michael Brown and the Ferguson rioters?


 Why I Fear for the People of Ferguson   "The violence seen after the Michael Brown shooting, as bad as it was, was but a dress rehearsal for the real show about to begin."
The thousand officers whose deployment Ms. Hostin laments are only the beginning of what will be needed at crunch time.  There will be violent incidents not only in Ferguson, but also in downtown St. Louis and in Clayton, where the grand jury has been deliberating.  If this violence is not swiftly and effectively met, it will spread like wildfire.  As was demonstrated in Los Angeles in 1992, the surest guarantor that chaos will spread is to convey the message that the police are unable or unwilling to do anything about it.  It took three days for us get our act together quell the ‘92 riot.  May they have better luck in St. Louis.

 
 
Michael Brown's parents speak at UN   "The idea that UN member states should be lecturing the US about police brutality is absurd. But hypocrisy never stopped the UN before so don't expect that to change with this incident."
The idea that UN member states should be lecturing the US about police brutality is absurd. But hypocrisy never stopped the UN before so don't expect that to change with this incident.

INCREDIBLE! Ferguson – BRAVE MAN STANDS UP TO LOOTERS!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Thoughts on Ferguson, MO.

Missouri Gov. Warns Against ‘Senseless Violence’ in Anticipation of Ferguson Grand Jury Verdict ... "The grand jury is expected to soon decide whether to indict Wilson, the officer whose shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown sparked massive riots last summer. And judging by the reaction of local and state officials, many appear to be expecting that Wilson will not be indicted." ...

Minister Who Called Out Black Community Following Ferguson Riots Has a Message for Al Sharpton  Aug. 15, 2014

Al Sharpton: 'To Become Violent in Michael Brown's Name, Is to Betray the Gentle Giant That He Was'
Police incident report
 

Drought Is Taking California Back to the Wild, Wild West

National Journal

 
... "Last fall Madden noticed something suspicious. The water filling the tanks outside her veterinary clinic in Los Gatos, Calif., was disappearing at an alarming rate. Madden checked for leaks but found none. Then she realized: Someone was stealing her water.
 
" 'I just couldn't believe it," she said. "You never imagine anyone would do something like that but there it was, vanishing right before our eyes."

"Madden decided to act. She installed security cameras. Then she put locks on the tanks. She even strung a chain across her driveway to keep out unwanted visitors. The theft stopped after the locks went on. But Madden never caught the thief, and she can't stop thinking about who did it." ...

California Drought: San Joaquin Valley sinking as farmers race to tap aquifer
"PIXLEY – So wet was the San Joaquin Valley of Steve Arthur's childhood that a single 240-foot-deep well could quench the thirst of an arid farm.
"Now his massive rig, bucking and belching, must drill 1,200 feet deep in search of ever-more-elusive water to sustain this wheat farm north of Bakersfield. As he drills, his phone rings with three new appeals for help.
 
" 'Everybody is starting to panic," said Arthur, whose Fresno-based well-drilling company just bought its ninth rig, off the Wyoming oil fields. "Without water, this valley can't survive."...

Below: Sierra snowfall on January 2013 and 1/ 2014