Submitted to the New Bern Sun Journal:
The death of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans shines the light of truth on the negligence of the Obama administration. What may be worse than their sheer incompetence is the dishonesty and hype employed to cover up their lies and failures.
Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton attempted to blame the tragedy on a sophomoric video mocking Mohammed. Instead of taking advantage of an opportunity to vigorously tout the strengths of our earned freedom, Obama and company repeated the “apology tour”. When the smoke screen of the video began to look like a losing argument, the administration trotted out UN Ambassador Susan Rice to push the story of spontaneous violence rising from peaceful protests. Yep, peaceful protestors carrying rocket propelled grenades. More disturbing is the weapons likely came from the U.S.
Not only were additional security requests denied, but the bare essentials were pulled out of Libya right before 9/11. American citizens were left defenseless in a war torn area. There had been 13 previous terror attacks and we know Ambassador Stevens was rightly concerned about his own safety. Both the British Embassy and the Red Cross had closed.
Surely the basic truth was known with 24 hours of the event, so why continue the fabrication? It is impossible to ascertain the reasons behind the big lie but perhaps they would rather blame Americans than evil radicals. Or is it just politics? Why is there such a big disconnect between the White House and the State Department? Why was Ambassador Rice willing to ruin her credibility by pushing the White House story? Why did weeks pass before the FBI went to Benghazi?
The words radical Islam and jihad have been basically banned from government language. You may see no evil, hear no evil or speak no evil, but evil will still exist. Appeasement is the strategy of cowards.
What “bump in the road” will be used to blame the next unfortunate event occurring in the Middle East? The odds of another event are high as the actions of this administration have emboldened our enemies. Who would expect our own government to lie for our enemies? Rather than hope and change we are left with fear, uncertainty and debt. Only true demagogues or fools would want four more years of this incompetence and corruption.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Letter to the Editor: Politicians are not above the law!
Sent to the New Bern Sun Journal:
I find it truly amazing and appalling that politicians and candidates for political office can seem to get away with breaking the law, while the average citizen is punished heavily for doing the same. This issue knows no political party as Democrats and Republicans have both had their fair share of breaking the law and getting away with it. Law Breaking knows no bounds when it comes to politicians. Washington DC lawmakers have gotten away with insider trading for many years and now, down east, long time Democrat politician George Graham from Lenoir County appears untouchable.
In recent news, there was a story about the Lenoir County Democrat Party, and George Graham (candidate for NC House District 12). They were placing campaign materials and fliers in citizen’s mailboxes in the Grifton area, without paying postage. Last time I checked this is a federal offence! The only thing that has been done about this is a simple phone call from the Grifton Postmaster to the LCDP asking them to stop. The LCDP has since apologized and promised to stop. However, do you think the punishment has suited the crime? Definitely not.
If an average citizen or small business owner had done this, we would be in jail, or at least paying a hefty fine, along with paying postage for every flyer placed illegally in mailboxes.
This brings me to this point. Why are politicians, political parties, and candidates for public office above the law? The last time I checked these people put their pants on one leg at a time, just like I do. These people should not be above the law. As a tax paying citizen, living in NC House District 12, I DEMAND EQUAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW! If I am not above the law, neither is George Graham or the LCDP.
Sammy Dodd
I find it truly amazing and appalling that politicians and candidates for political office can seem to get away with breaking the law, while the average citizen is punished heavily for doing the same. This issue knows no political party as Democrats and Republicans have both had their fair share of breaking the law and getting away with it. Law Breaking knows no bounds when it comes to politicians. Washington DC lawmakers have gotten away with insider trading for many years and now, down east, long time Democrat politician George Graham from Lenoir County appears untouchable.
In recent news, there was a story about the Lenoir County Democrat Party, and George Graham (candidate for NC House District 12). They were placing campaign materials and fliers in citizen’s mailboxes in the Grifton area, without paying postage. Last time I checked this is a federal offence! The only thing that has been done about this is a simple phone call from the Grifton Postmaster to the LCDP asking them to stop. The LCDP has since apologized and promised to stop. However, do you think the punishment has suited the crime? Definitely not.
If an average citizen or small business owner had done this, we would be in jail, or at least paying a hefty fine, along with paying postage for every flyer placed illegally in mailboxes.
This brings me to this point. Why are politicians, political parties, and candidates for public office above the law? The last time I checked these people put their pants on one leg at a time, just like I do. These people should not be above the law. As a tax paying citizen, living in NC House District 12, I DEMAND EQUAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW! If I am not above the law, neither is George Graham or the LCDP.
Sammy Dodd
OBAMACARE: What You Should Know (and Why We Need to Nullify It)
By Diane Rufino
The official name of the sweeping healthcare reform bill is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148). It passed the House of Congress narrowly, by a vote of 220 – 215. It was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama. We unaffectionately call it “Obamacare” because of the ruthless energy the president used to get it passed, including not giving members of Congress the opportunity to read it. He called Democrats into closed quarters and despite not having enough votes beforehand, magically he was able to convince them to switch their loyalty from the People to the Government. Not a single Republican voted for the bill, and 39 Democrats refused to vote for it as well. Imagine the breach of confidence those Democrats committed when they voted for the bill without even knowing what they were imposing on the American people.
When we learned about the healthcare plan, we understood that it was going to make healthcare available to 32 million Americans who currently are uninsured. We were told that for those of us who already had insurance, either through our employer or a private plan, or through Medicaid or Medicare, we would be able to keep it. For those who don’t have insurance or have been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition, however, they would be able to obtain coverage either through a state-based insurance exchange system (including an expanded Medicaid program) or under newly-expanded Medicare guidelines. Those with pre-existing conditions would not be penalized for those conditions and would be able to purchase insurance at the same rate as those healthier individuals. What we didn’t know was that by 2014, every citizen would be forced to purchase insurance or be penalized. What we didn’t know was that up to 16,000 new IRS agents would be hired under the bill to go after those who didn’t purchase insurance and to have direct access to their bank accounts. What we didn’t know was that healthy young men and women would be forced to purchase insurance for the sole purpose of paying for other’s coverage. What we didn’t know that the bill was full of new taxes and penalties.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the bill as “the greatest initiative for the economy.”
Obamacare was sold to the American people by the President and Speaker Pelosi as a fundamental right. On the House floor, she announced: “Did you know the president’s controversial health care law helps guarantee “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? I appreciate his leadership in helping us honor what our founders put forth in our founding documents, which is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that is exactly what the Affordable Care Act helps to guarantee – a healthier life, the liberty to pursue happiness, to be free of the constraints that lack of healthcare might provide to a family…. If you want to be photographer, a writer, an artist, a musician, you can do so. If you what to start a business, if you want to change jobs, under the Affordable Care Act, you have that liberty to pursue your happiness.”
I’ve never heard someone interpret any of our founding documents so broadly.
Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich) admonished the Democrats for being so intent on passing a “jobs-killing, tax-hiking, deficit-exploding bill.” She said: “We are going to have a complete government takeover of our health care system faster than you can say, ‘This is making me sick’.” Obviously she knew more than most of the other Congressmen knew.
When making promises and assurances to the Congress and to the American people in his attempt to gain support for the healthcare scheme, President Obama emphasized over and over again: “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” Well, funny how that promise; that guarantee, that disclaimer of “no new tax increase” in combination with the term “penalty” that appeared no less than 18 times in the text of the healthcare bill managed to convince Chief Justice John Roberts that the Individual Mandate was in fact a “tax.”
So, in spite of what President Obama promised, he has gifted us the largest middle-class tax hike in history.
Which brings us to the healthcare decision….
The Healthcare Decision –
The bottom line is that we are stuck with Obamacare. The Supreme Court handed down that sentence on June 28 of this year in a decision I like to call “Supreme Nonsense.” As we all may recall, 26 states joined together in a lawsuit right after the healthcare bill was enacted (titled Florida v. Sibelius) and challenged the Individual Mandate under the Commerce Clause (the very basis the Congress gave for its authority to legislate) and the Medicaid expansion provision under the Tenth Amendment (claiming that it coerced, or forced, the states into doing something on behalf of the government). Without the Individual Mandate, the states argued that the bill must fail in its entirety for it is that provision that requires the coverage and which is the primary source of funding. Without the mandate, the stated goals of the bill are defeated.
First, the Chief Justice voted with his four conservative colleagues in concluding that the Individual Mandate violated the Commerce Clause. They defined the scope of the Commerce Clause and established a “bright line” rule to guide future federal intrusion into the personal lives of Americans. On a positive note, this decision will restrict American Presidents and future Congresses for a generation and more. Furthermore, the Chief Justice agreed with the states that the Medicaid expansion program violated the Tenth Amendment (states’ rights) and impermissibly coerced them and their resources. But the decision didn’t end there, unfortunately.
As if out of nowhere, Roberts lobbed a curveball to ordinary Americans (who thought they understood the plain meaning of the Constitution) and to legal scholars as well. He sided with the four liberal members of the Court and classified the Individual Mandate as something the administration took great pains to not classify it as – a “tax.” He embraced a position denied by the White House. Roberts wrote that the mandate provision “need not be read to do more than impose a tax. That is sufficient to sustain it.” He upheld the Individual Mandate, as he explained, under Congress’ expansive tax and spend powers. As he wrote: “The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause,” Roberts wrote. “That Clause authorizes Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not to order individuals to engage in it. In this case, however, it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax.”
Chief Justice Roberts went out of his way to salvage the Individual Mandate which most scholars believed was unconstitutional. As Merrill Matthews wrote in Forbes magazine: “In essence, Roberts reached down and pulled out a drowning man who had gone under for the third time.”
By narrowing Congress’ commerce and spending powers, Roberts moved the law in a decidedly conservative direction. Yet by invoking the taxing power, he saved not only the people but also Congress from the consequences of their political choices. Let’s hope that the decision will help the President suffer from the consequences of his blind ambition by losing in November. I hope the American people will have the courage to do what the Chief Justice refused to do — stand up to a President and democratic congressmen who never once gave even the slightest consideration to the fact that the individual mandate was likely unconstitutional. Not one. As Nancy Pelosi responded when asked about the provision’s constitutionality: “Are you serious? Are you serious?” Another democratic congressman, Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill) said to an inquiring reporter: “I don’t know. I don’t worry about the Constitution on this, to be honest…. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Again, the bottom line is that Obamacare survived judicial scrutiny, whether legitimately or under a flawed application of constitutional interpretation. The Individual Mandate, as both a premium and a penalty, is a tax. Obamacare is paid for by a tax, and in fact, many additional new taxes. But the tax is not uniform. The Obamacare tax does not apply to those who presently are untaxed, and it will not apply to the more wealthy, who will be excused because they carry health insurance anyway. So the tax will fall to the middle-class and in fact, the healthcare bill imposes the biggest tax on the middle-class in the entire history of the United States. (And that doesn’t even factor in all the other taxes included in Obamacare).
[Consider that the median US family income is about $50,000. Family health coverage can easily run $20,000 a year, to increase sharply year after year. In this scenario, the coverage mandate is essentially a 40% tax on that family, which is now required by law to ensure that every family member has qualifying coverage. ($20,000 is 40% of $50,000). Because the cost of the coverage will be similar even though incomes vary significantly, the lower the income the higher the effective tax rate, thereby making the tax the most regressive tax in US history, as well].
The most offensive parts of the healthcare bill, as addressed above, are the Individual Mandate, the Medicaid expansion provision, and the series of taxes that will be levied one on top of another, and to be applied stepwise in the next ten years, as a means to pay for the plan. There are at least 21 new taxes embedded in the bill. Obama pulled the old “bait and switch,” which is defined as “an illegal tactic in which a seller advertises one product with the intention of persuading customers to purchase a more expensive product.” He sold us on a product that would cost us one price and impose little burden on the middle-class when in fact, the product comes at a much higher price and at a much greater consequence (to liberty).
As Judge Andrew Napolitano explained the decision: “When we pay our taxes in April, we’re paying taxes on income that we earned. We went out and earned it. When you put gas in the car, you’re paying a tax on the gasoline that you bought. If you use tobacco products, you’re paying federal taxes on tobacco products that you purchased. In each of those cases you are affirmatively engaging in behavior that you know is taxable. But this is the first time in the history of the country that the Court has permitted the Congress to tax people for doing nothing. To punish them for refusing to do what the government wants them to do. That is a very, very dangerous precedent.”
Simply put, the government is going to take a lot more money from the people who earn it — mostly from wealthier Americans who as I explained above, will most likely not even feel it (although $250,000 doesn’t really get you much these days, especially if you live in parts of the northeast, Florida, California, and Arizona) and from most small businesses who will most certainly feel it. It will result in those businesses hiring fewer people, laying off more employees, cutting hours, closing facilities, and thus increasing already high unemployment.
The healthcare decision was most unfortunate and has put the new demons over the American people.
The “Job-Killing” Bill -
Many people have a basic idea of what Obamacare does. Because the bill was so unwieldy and complicated, many are only now discovering many of its details and implications. You can hide a lot of needles inside a haystack that contains 2,700 pages. Three of those needles included the Individual Mandate (an act of coercion by the federal government), the Independent Advisory Payment Board (IPAB, also known as the “death panels”), and the Medicaid expansion program which will put an enormous burden on the states. I’ll discuss them in more detail.
We now know that Obamacare will be the largest tax increase on the middle class in US history. It is already chilling job creation because employers are afraid of what will come down the pipes with Obamacare, and it will KILL any new jobs because of the massive increase in taxes on those who earn over $250,000. As you know, most small business owners organize as an LLC or an association, which means they file as an “individual” under the tax code. And most small business owners are able to classify as earning over $250,000. So they will be hit the hardest by Obamacare, as well as by Obama’s plans to increase taxes on that group if he is re-elected. They will not be able to absorb all the new taxes and still be able to invest in expanding their business, especially when it means they will have to pay healthcare benefits for all new employees (in addition to those they already employ).
– On Wednesday, October 10th, we heard on the news that a Florida billionaire, David Siegel (owner of Westgate Resorts) sent a letter to his 7,000 employees, informing them that he could be forced to lay some of them off if President Obama wins a second term. He said that the Obama administration was a threat to their jobs. He warned that “if any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. I can longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities.”
– That same day, Darden Restaurants announced that it will cut worker hours to part-time in order to meet the rising healthcare costs imposed by Obamacare. Darden Restaurants includes chains such as McDonalds, White Castle, Ruby Tuesdays, Jack-in-the-Box, and many others. Darden has been providing healthcare benefits to its part-time employees which it thought was more than fair, but now under the healthcare bill, which is inflexible on this matter, employees who work 30 hours or more must be provided the same all-inclusive plan that full-time employees receive. Furthermore, companies that do not comply will be penalized. So Darden is going to respond by cutting all non full-time employees down to under 30 hours. [Note that these restaurants, along with Unions, were granted waivers from Obamacare, but they were only temporary. They were 1-year waivers in order to give these organizations time to figure out how to adapt. And now we know... They are going to cut worker hours].
Parts of Obamacare have already affected you or someone you know, and the economy has already been affected. We hear so much about the depressed jobs numbers. How many jobs could be created today if businesses, especially small businesses, didn’t have to worry about how Obamacare will negatively impact them? We can only imagine how many jobs are instantly able to be created if we only had an administration that wasn’t intent on punishing business in order to establish a socialist scheme. We already have the highest business tax in the entire world.
If Mitt Romney is elected, he has promised to repeal Obamacare on his first day in office. I predict that we will immediately see an increase in job creation and an improvement in our economy. As Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney understand, the economy depends on production and that means jobs. The biggest driver of revenue to the federal government isn’t higher tax rates…. it’s economic growth. Growth is the key to fiscal sustainability. And low tax rates are the key to growth. We can never hope to lower taxes if Obamacare is implemented.
If Obama is re-elected, we can hope to repeal it, but he will never sign it. That will require a supermajority. And we will only have a supermajority if a whole lot more Republicans are elected into both houses of Congress, especially the Senate. We can also look into defunding it.
Repeal and Dismantlement –
Obamacare was intended and designed to withstand attempts by Republicans to make it go away. We saw how easily the Supreme Court was able to convert the Individual Mandate “penalty” into a “tax.” We are seeing how the plan goes into effect piece by piece, to be fully implemented by 2014 but still requiring further appropriations into 2019. The massive 2,700-page health care law is deliberately designed to make defunding and dismantling difficult. Dismantling will be difficult because Obamacare has created so many new governmental agencies. Although original estimates reported that it created 159 new government agencies, the Congressional Research Service later concluded that the actual number of new agencies, boards, etc., “is currently unknowable,” because so many of them are empowered to spawn additional entities, just as weeds grow by sending out runners and seeds. Defunding will be particularly tricky because the law is designed to be difficult to uproot, just like a plant with an elaborate root system.
How does the healthcare bill frustrate efforts by Congress to defund the bill?
– First, approximately $120 billion in funding appropriations were included in the bill which Obama signed. Appropriations were made immediately. This violates the typical Congressional process of appropriations. The normal process typically involves enacting authorization bills that authorize spending, and then follows those with separate legislation that actually appropriates the money.
– Second, by making advance appropriations for tens of billions of dollars up to the year 2019, these provisions of Obamacare seek to remove spending decisions from the reach of the current Congress and from future Congresses and Presidents. Although Obamacare was not pitched to the public as a mandatory spending entitlement, the details of the legislation reveal an intent to block any future Congress from controlling spending on Obamacare.
– To defund Obamacare, it is insufficient simply to deny future funding. Until the full law can be repealed, at least the existing and advance appropriations need to be rescinded, just as the House voted last year to repeal billions of dollars from previous appropriations to 123 federal programs. Unfortunately this vote was void because of a parliamentary procedure violation. That was most unfortunate.
– With the healthcare bill, the Congressional Democrats sought to bind future Congresses to spending obligations with Obamacare – for a full decade in advance. This is an outrageous effort. It may not be unconstitutional per se, but in a system that gives citizens the right to have input in the affairs of Congress thru the ballot box, spending decisions should be made by those who currently hold office, not by those who have resigned or been turned out by the voters.
What are some efforts so far to make Obamacare go away? Eric Cantor introduced H.R. 2 – “Repeal of the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” – in the US House where it passed on January 19, 2011. The Act simply states: “The Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.” H.R. 2 was sent to the Senate where it was put on the calendar but it still has not been allowed to come up for a vote. Also, on July 9th of this year, Congress introduced H.R. 6088 – “Total Repeal of the Unfair Taxes on Healthcare Act” – which would amend the tax code to repeal certain tax increases enacted as part of health care reform. The Act is still in committee.
The healthcare bill can go away if: (i) Congress repeals it (see H.R. 2); (ii) Congress disapproves it under the Congressional Review Act of 1996; (iii) Congress defunds it; (iv) the Supreme Court reverses its opinion; or (v) the States nullify it and are willing to interpose on behalf of their citizens. I will discuss this last option at the end.
Why Obamacare is Bad for America and for Americans
1). First, you should know that members of Congress have EXEMPTED themselves from Obamacare. If it was such a good healthcare plan, why did they exempt themselves? In Federalist Papers No. 57, James Madison listed five ways that members of the House of Representatives can show their fidelity to their constituents and earn their trust. He wrote: “As a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny. If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America — a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.”
2). So far, over $105 billion has been appropriated to fund Obamacare, not including the $760 billion stolen from Medicare. This program is not going to help the economy; it’s going to hurt it. Government spending will be uncontrollable.
3). Under the law, most individuals who can afford it will be required to obtain basic health insurance coverage or pay a fee (termed a “penalty” in the healthcare bill) to help offset the costs of caring for uninsured Americans. This is the notorious Individual Mandate (Section 5000). In other words, everyone must purchase private health insurance or pay a fine. This is the cornerstone of the healthcare reform bill. As Justice Kennedy emphasized at oral arguments, he was very concerned about the status of young people with respect to the healthcare bill. He noted that the government wasn’t exactly been honest about its intentions with the bill, which was to find a way to offset the burden that uninsured individuals place on healthcare. Kennedy said that if the administration was really interested in preventing young people (many who are uninsured) from being such a burden, the healthcare plan would allow them to buy only catastrophic health insurance (instead of the plan that includes well visits, preventative care). Catastrophic health insurance is all that 20-30 year-olds really need; It’s the only product that makes any economic sense for them. But Obamacare doesn’t allow that. So, as Kennedy emphasized, we see what the healthcare bill is really all about. It’s about using 20-30 year-olds to subsidize the plan, to subsidize insurance for those who can’t afford it. It’s about using young healthy people to fund the program. It’s about a social scheme. And now we know… the government’s plan is to subsidize health insurance for everyone, especially those who are uninsured and sick (approximately 20% of all uninsured). The plan forces insurance companies to cover the sick. But it doesn’t want to use the typical means to pay for this – such as tax subsidies. Instead, the government wants to reach OUTSIDE the market and COMPEL a whole bunch of healthy people into that market so they can be used to subsidize the program and help bring healthcare premiums down. In fact, this was the finding by Congress: that bringing young healthy people into the market will bring down the health insurance premium by about 15% for everyone. Unfortunately, though, it will force them to buy something they don’t need or want. This provision kicks in in 2014. By 2014, most citizens and legal residents must carry an expensive health insurance or pay a penalty.
4). A small number of Americans will be exempt from the tax. Those exempted include: (i) people with religious objections; (ii) American Indians with coverage through the Indian Health Service; (iii) undocumented immigrants; (iv) those without coverage for less than three months; (v) those serving prison sentences; (vi) those whose income is below the poverty level. This list of exemptions provides for abuse and group exemptions for certain religious groups.
5). Obamacare will impose 5 major classifications of taxes in 2013 alone, aside from the Individual Mandate (which is the core funding provision, which will hit in 2014):
(i) The Medical Device Manufacturing Tax (a 2.3% tax on medical device makers which will raise the price of every pacemaker, prosthetic limb, stent, operating table, and much more. Most of the manufacturers are small companies).
(ii) The High Medical Bills Tax – This onerous tax provision will hit Americans who face the highest out-of-pocket medical bills. Currently, Americans are allowed to deduct medical expenses on their 1040 form to the extent the costs exceed 7.5% of one’s adjusted gross income. The new ObamaCare provision will raise that threshold to 10%, subjecting patients to a higher tax bill. This tax will hit pre-retirement seniors the hardest. Over the next ten years, affected Americans will pony up a minimum total of $15 billion in taxes thanks to this provision.
(iii) Flexible Spending Account Cap - The 24 million Americans who have Flexible Spending Accounts will face a new federally imposed $2,500 annual cap. These pre-tax accounts, which currently have no federal limit, are used to purchase everything from contact lenses to children’s braces. With the cost of braces being as high as $7,200, this tax provision will play an unwelcome role in everyday kitchen-table health care decisions.
The cap will also affect families with special-needs children, whose tuition can be covered using Flexible Spending Account funds. Special-needs tuition can cost up to $14,000 per child per year. This cruel tax provision will limit the options available to such families, all so that the federal government can squeeze an additional $13 billion out of taxpayer pockets over the next ten years. The targeting of Flexible Spending Accounts by President Obama and congressional Democrats is no accident. The progressive left has never been fond of the consumer-driven accounts, which serve as a small roadblock in their long-term drive for a one-size-fits-all government health care bureaucracy. At this point already, under Obamacare, families cannot use these accounts to pay for over-the-counter medication.
(iv) Surtax on Investment Income - Under current law, the capital gains tax rate for all Americans rises from 15 to 20% in 2013, while the top dividend rate rises from 15 to 39.6%. The new Obamacare surtax takes the top capital gains rate to 23.8% and top dividend rate to 43.4%. The tax will take a minimum of $123 billion out of taxpayer pockets over the next ten years. This new tax will hit capital gains, dividends, rents, and royalties, discouraging investment and harming economic growth.
(v) Medicare Payroll Tax increase - In 2013, the employee portion of the Medicare payroll tax will increase from 1.45 to 2.35% for families earning $250,000 or more and individuals earning $200,000 or more. The income threshold is not indexed for inflation, so more and more middle-income families will be hit by the tax hike as time goes on. This tax soaks employers to the tune of $86 billion over the next ten years. Another provision, as emphasized in the Ryan plan, is a 3.8% Medicare tax on unearned income of “high-income” taxpayers which could apply to proceeds from the sale of single family homes, townhouses, co-ops, condominiums, and even rental income, depending on your individual circumstances and any capital gains tax exclusions. This 3.8% tax on home sales and unearned income will raise more than $124 billion to pay for Obamacare. As you can understand, there is a reason why the authors of Obamacare wrote the law in such a way that the most brutal tax increases take effect conveniently after the 2012 election. It’s the same reason that the bill was pushed thru Congress before anyone had a chance to read it. It’s the same reason that members of Congress (and I’m sure President Obama himself) exempted themselves from it. And it’s the same President Obama, congressional Democrats, and the mainstream media conveniently neglect to mention these taxes.
6). You’ve probably all heard that Obama raided $760 billion dollars from Medicare to pay for Obamacare. But what we didn’t find out until later is that he has no plan to pay that money back. The embedded taxes in Obamacare for Medicare, from what I understand, are to provide for the vast numbers of seniors who will be on the program in the coming years and to provide them with more preventative benefits and coverage. (but not for greater care for major illness). In fact, over-all, Obamacare will reduce the amount of future spending growth in Medicare thru the IPAB. So while more seniors will be on Medicare, spending will not increase accordingly.
7). Medical records will be centralized with the government – in a national database. Put in other terms, the government will have the ability to seize your medical records. In order to make information more readily available for doctors during their appointments, the government intends to create a national database containing every person’s medical history. [This is potentially a violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments - a seizure of a person's privacy, as well as a taking of private property]. People are the owners of their medical records, and the doctors are their custodians. With the creation of such a database, healthcare decisions will be dictated by government bureaucrats and NOT the doctor or patient.
8). Perhaps the most offensive part of the bill is the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) – a 15-member panel of bureaucrats tasked with finding ways to cut Medicare spending (that is, it’s role is to ration care in order to keep the costs of the program contained). It is also called the “death panel.” It will take effect in 2014, although there is talk that Obama will try to have it take effect earlier. By law, no more than 7 of the members can be physicians. Board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Its decisions cannot be easily challenged. In order to override IPAB’s proposal, opponents must assemble a simple majority in the House and then a three-fifths majority in the Senate and finally, the president’s signature. That makes IPAB more than an advisory board. It’s a super-legislature whose members are more powerful than members of Congress As one leading challenger of the bill has said: “The IPAB is ‘independent’ in the worst sense of the word: it is independent of Congress, the President, the judiciary and the American people. The IPAB is a death panel not only by virtue of its awesome powers to control health-care decisions for millions of Americans, but because its creation and existence are antithetical to our republican form of government and the freedoms it was designed to protect. Here is another bit of info about the IPAB… It appears that in order to repeal the IPAB, a repeal bill MUST be passed by 2017; otherwise we are stuck with it. Furthermore, to pass the repeal, there must be a 3/5 supermajority…… and then even after that vote, it would – by law, continue at least until 2020. [IPAB - See Sections 3403 and 10320] In fact the House has already voted to repeal the IPAB, but the Senate, under Harry Reid, will not take up the measure.
9). Illegal immigrants are not covered by Obamacare. So they will still be able to receive healthcare, mostly by going to the emergency room, and continue to burden the healthcare system so that costs and prices will continue to go up. The burden of Illegal immigrants on the healthcare system was one of the very drivers of its cost increases.
10). Parents of dependent children will be required to keep their adult children on their policies until age 26. One of the provisions in Obamacare is a requirement that group health plans that provide dependent coverage of children make that coverage available until age 26. Will this provision can be considered a good one to some, there are many parents that look forward to the day that their children become adults so that they can wean themselves from supporting them. Provisions like this will be seen as a burden by couples who work and can afford health insurance. When deciding how many children to have, this provision will have to be something they need to consider, in addition to college tuition, etc, etc. Those who can’t afford the premiums and are supplemented by the government can, once again, reproduce without responsibility.
11). New plans must cover 100% of wellness or pregnancy exams (even if the person is beyond child-bearing age)
12). Other problems with the healthcare bill include:
(i) It penalizes marriage. Obamacare creates new taxpayer-funded subsidies for the low and middle classes to purchase health coverage, but the structure of the subsidies allows two individuals to claim more in subsidies alone than if married. This discriminates against married couples and discourages marriage at almost all age and income levels.
(ii) It violates religious liberty. We’ve all heard of the Contraceptive Mandate. Churches are in an uproar over this. The Department of Health and Human Services included the full range of contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, among the women-specific preventive services that Obamacare requires insurers to include with no cost-sharing. This mandate violates Americans’ conscience rights and religious liberty. Its narrow exemption for religious employers will force many who find these products morally objectionable—including religious charities, hospitals, and schools—to pay for them.
(iii) It puts over half of all Americans on a government program. Because of Obamacare’s huge expansion of Medicaid and creation of taxpayer-funded subsidies to purchase health coverage, more than half of all Americans will be dependent on a government health care program (Medicare, Medicaid, or the government exchanges) by the end of this decade.
13). There is no tort reform provision in the bill
14). The government cannot run any program or agency efficiently. It has a history of bankruptcy and failure. For example:
(i) The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 – they’ve had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can’t compete with private sector FedExp and UPS services. The U.S. Postal Service will lose over $7 billion this year and will require yet another “bailout.” [The Postal Service is a CONSTITUTIONAL obligation; Healthcare is NOT).
(ii) Social Security was established in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is broke. There is nothing in the Social Security Trust Fund except IOUs from the government.
(iii) Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.
(iv) The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.
(v) Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.
(vi) AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss!
(vii) In 2009, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus Bill. It shows NO sign of working; it's been used to increase the size of governments across America, and raise government salaries while the rest of us suffer from economic hardships. It has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.
(viii) "Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - after 80% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was promised.
With a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that each and every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government turns into disaster, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system, which is over 17% of our economy?
15). Obamacare only achieves its goals if: (i) everyone is forced to participate and those that can pay do pay; and (ii) the states provide Medicaid expansion to get as many people signed up and on the program as possible. The goal of course is to provide affordable care to everyone and to keep costs contained over the course of the program. Hence, the title of the bill. With the Supreme Court's decision, however, states are no longer mandated to add people to Medicaid. They have the option of opting out of the expansion provision and therefore do not have to set up the exchanges. In fact, several states have been adamant about not creating the health care exchanges, namely Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed setting up an exchange in his state in May of this year, and Governor John Lynch of New Hampshire (a Democrat) also vetoed the initiative in his state. The question is this: If enough states opt out, will the goals of the bill be frustrated to the point that universal healthcare will not be viable as a government entitlement program because of the increased costs that will result?
16). If Obama is re-elected, the fear - or, the likely reality - is that we are stuck with Obamacare. By extension - because of its chilling effect on the economy, the new norm here in the United States might be 8%-9% unemployment (most of it part-time with no benefits) and most people living on the government dole. The question is where will the money continue to come from?
We've Lost our Fundamental Liberties --
The average American would love to believe that as long as he or she isn't annoying anyone or isn't infringing on anyone's legitimate rights, he or she should be left alone to enjoy his life and property -- to pursue happiness. But there are too many government regulatory agencies to allow that to be true. This is not a nation where people are left alone anymore. This is a nation where they are hounded from the moment they are born until the moment they die by the arms of a regulatory state run by men and women weaned on the ideology of big government, socialism, and the idea that the government's job is to protect our green planet and to promote the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people). Sadly, this is a nation, founded on the inherent power of the individual over his life, liberty, and property, where just being left alone is the greatest of luxuries.
All of this begs the bigger question: What has become of our Inalienable Rights? Government has strayed away from its intended purpose. All levels of government have abused their powers. The federal government is no longer constrained by the document that alone gives it permission and limits on what it can legally do -- that is our Constitution. It no longer protects our Life, Liberty, and Property. It attacks our Life with the Obamacare. It attacks our Liberty with the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, and even the TSA at our airports. And it attacks our Property with the federal income tax system and Agenda 21. The government's evil, liberty-killing scheme is funded by the power of plunder that was granted it under the 16th Amendment. The government plunders our very natural human resources -- our Property.... the fruit and improvements of our property, the products of our labor, and the creations of our mind. But then again, a government that can create economic stress is in a good position to constrain our liberties. A hungry man thinks about food, not freedom.
Finally, I don't like the notion of a planned society. We've seen how many of them have ended - Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Communist China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Kim Jung Il's North Korea, to name a few. Obamacare puts our lives under the power of bureaucrats and experts. They claim to be experts, but in what field. One such "expert" who helped craft the IPAB ("death panel") is an expert in cost effectiveness. Ezekiel Immanuel. He has a cold inhuman approach to healthcare. I don't trust when government gets involved in questions that talk about what is good for man, and what justice should be. I don't trust when government enters those debates that talk about what things are worth having at what price and who should have them. And I certainly don't trust when government gives an opinion on the value of life. I saw what they did with the unborn in Roe v. Wade. A decision that asks whether a person's life is worth living on certain terms (as with an unfortunate diagnosis), is a decision that should be left to that person alone and according to the God-given right of self-preservation, he should be entitled to pursue whatever medical options he can. Finally, I don't like a program that demands my obedience to government or be penalized for it. That was Nazi Germany.
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The official name of the sweeping healthcare reform bill is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148). It passed the House of Congress narrowly, by a vote of 220 – 215. It was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama. We unaffectionately call it “Obamacare” because of the ruthless energy the president used to get it passed, including not giving members of Congress the opportunity to read it. He called Democrats into closed quarters and despite not having enough votes beforehand, magically he was able to convince them to switch their loyalty from the People to the Government. Not a single Republican voted for the bill, and 39 Democrats refused to vote for it as well. Imagine the breach of confidence those Democrats committed when they voted for the bill without even knowing what they were imposing on the American people.
When we learned about the healthcare plan, we understood that it was going to make healthcare available to 32 million Americans who currently are uninsured. We were told that for those of us who already had insurance, either through our employer or a private plan, or through Medicaid or Medicare, we would be able to keep it. For those who don’t have insurance or have been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition, however, they would be able to obtain coverage either through a state-based insurance exchange system (including an expanded Medicaid program) or under newly-expanded Medicare guidelines. Those with pre-existing conditions would not be penalized for those conditions and would be able to purchase insurance at the same rate as those healthier individuals. What we didn’t know was that by 2014, every citizen would be forced to purchase insurance or be penalized. What we didn’t know was that up to 16,000 new IRS agents would be hired under the bill to go after those who didn’t purchase insurance and to have direct access to their bank accounts. What we didn’t know was that healthy young men and women would be forced to purchase insurance for the sole purpose of paying for other’s coverage. What we didn’t know that the bill was full of new taxes and penalties.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the bill as “the greatest initiative for the economy.”
Obamacare was sold to the American people by the President and Speaker Pelosi as a fundamental right. On the House floor, she announced: “Did you know the president’s controversial health care law helps guarantee “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? I appreciate his leadership in helping us honor what our founders put forth in our founding documents, which is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that is exactly what the Affordable Care Act helps to guarantee – a healthier life, the liberty to pursue happiness, to be free of the constraints that lack of healthcare might provide to a family…. If you want to be photographer, a writer, an artist, a musician, you can do so. If you what to start a business, if you want to change jobs, under the Affordable Care Act, you have that liberty to pursue your happiness.”
I’ve never heard someone interpret any of our founding documents so broadly.
Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich) admonished the Democrats for being so intent on passing a “jobs-killing, tax-hiking, deficit-exploding bill.” She said: “We are going to have a complete government takeover of our health care system faster than you can say, ‘This is making me sick’.” Obviously she knew more than most of the other Congressmen knew.
When making promises and assurances to the Congress and to the American people in his attempt to gain support for the healthcare scheme, President Obama emphasized over and over again: “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” Well, funny how that promise; that guarantee, that disclaimer of “no new tax increase” in combination with the term “penalty” that appeared no less than 18 times in the text of the healthcare bill managed to convince Chief Justice John Roberts that the Individual Mandate was in fact a “tax.”
So, in spite of what President Obama promised, he has gifted us the largest middle-class tax hike in history.
Which brings us to the healthcare decision….
The Healthcare Decision –
The bottom line is that we are stuck with Obamacare. The Supreme Court handed down that sentence on June 28 of this year in a decision I like to call “Supreme Nonsense.” As we all may recall, 26 states joined together in a lawsuit right after the healthcare bill was enacted (titled Florida v. Sibelius) and challenged the Individual Mandate under the Commerce Clause (the very basis the Congress gave for its authority to legislate) and the Medicaid expansion provision under the Tenth Amendment (claiming that it coerced, or forced, the states into doing something on behalf of the government). Without the Individual Mandate, the states argued that the bill must fail in its entirety for it is that provision that requires the coverage and which is the primary source of funding. Without the mandate, the stated goals of the bill are defeated.
First, the Chief Justice voted with his four conservative colleagues in concluding that the Individual Mandate violated the Commerce Clause. They defined the scope of the Commerce Clause and established a “bright line” rule to guide future federal intrusion into the personal lives of Americans. On a positive note, this decision will restrict American Presidents and future Congresses for a generation and more. Furthermore, the Chief Justice agreed with the states that the Medicaid expansion program violated the Tenth Amendment (states’ rights) and impermissibly coerced them and their resources. But the decision didn’t end there, unfortunately.
As if out of nowhere, Roberts lobbed a curveball to ordinary Americans (who thought they understood the plain meaning of the Constitution) and to legal scholars as well. He sided with the four liberal members of the Court and classified the Individual Mandate as something the administration took great pains to not classify it as – a “tax.” He embraced a position denied by the White House. Roberts wrote that the mandate provision “need not be read to do more than impose a tax. That is sufficient to sustain it.” He upheld the Individual Mandate, as he explained, under Congress’ expansive tax and spend powers. As he wrote: “The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause,” Roberts wrote. “That Clause authorizes Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not to order individuals to engage in it. In this case, however, it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax.”
Chief Justice Roberts went out of his way to salvage the Individual Mandate which most scholars believed was unconstitutional. As Merrill Matthews wrote in Forbes magazine: “In essence, Roberts reached down and pulled out a drowning man who had gone under for the third time.”
By narrowing Congress’ commerce and spending powers, Roberts moved the law in a decidedly conservative direction. Yet by invoking the taxing power, he saved not only the people but also Congress from the consequences of their political choices. Let’s hope that the decision will help the President suffer from the consequences of his blind ambition by losing in November. I hope the American people will have the courage to do what the Chief Justice refused to do — stand up to a President and democratic congressmen who never once gave even the slightest consideration to the fact that the individual mandate was likely unconstitutional. Not one. As Nancy Pelosi responded when asked about the provision’s constitutionality: “Are you serious? Are you serious?” Another democratic congressman, Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill) said to an inquiring reporter: “I don’t know. I don’t worry about the Constitution on this, to be honest…. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Again, the bottom line is that Obamacare survived judicial scrutiny, whether legitimately or under a flawed application of constitutional interpretation. The Individual Mandate, as both a premium and a penalty, is a tax. Obamacare is paid for by a tax, and in fact, many additional new taxes. But the tax is not uniform. The Obamacare tax does not apply to those who presently are untaxed, and it will not apply to the more wealthy, who will be excused because they carry health insurance anyway. So the tax will fall to the middle-class and in fact, the healthcare bill imposes the biggest tax on the middle-class in the entire history of the United States. (And that doesn’t even factor in all the other taxes included in Obamacare).
[Consider that the median US family income is about $50,000. Family health coverage can easily run $20,000 a year, to increase sharply year after year. In this scenario, the coverage mandate is essentially a 40% tax on that family, which is now required by law to ensure that every family member has qualifying coverage. ($20,000 is 40% of $50,000). Because the cost of the coverage will be similar even though incomes vary significantly, the lower the income the higher the effective tax rate, thereby making the tax the most regressive tax in US history, as well].
The most offensive parts of the healthcare bill, as addressed above, are the Individual Mandate, the Medicaid expansion provision, and the series of taxes that will be levied one on top of another, and to be applied stepwise in the next ten years, as a means to pay for the plan. There are at least 21 new taxes embedded in the bill. Obama pulled the old “bait and switch,” which is defined as “an illegal tactic in which a seller advertises one product with the intention of persuading customers to purchase a more expensive product.” He sold us on a product that would cost us one price and impose little burden on the middle-class when in fact, the product comes at a much higher price and at a much greater consequence (to liberty).
As Judge Andrew Napolitano explained the decision: “When we pay our taxes in April, we’re paying taxes on income that we earned. We went out and earned it. When you put gas in the car, you’re paying a tax on the gasoline that you bought. If you use tobacco products, you’re paying federal taxes on tobacco products that you purchased. In each of those cases you are affirmatively engaging in behavior that you know is taxable. But this is the first time in the history of the country that the Court has permitted the Congress to tax people for doing nothing. To punish them for refusing to do what the government wants them to do. That is a very, very dangerous precedent.”
Simply put, the government is going to take a lot more money from the people who earn it — mostly from wealthier Americans who as I explained above, will most likely not even feel it (although $250,000 doesn’t really get you much these days, especially if you live in parts of the northeast, Florida, California, and Arizona) and from most small businesses who will most certainly feel it. It will result in those businesses hiring fewer people, laying off more employees, cutting hours, closing facilities, and thus increasing already high unemployment.
The healthcare decision was most unfortunate and has put the new demons over the American people.
The “Job-Killing” Bill -
Many people have a basic idea of what Obamacare does. Because the bill was so unwieldy and complicated, many are only now discovering many of its details and implications. You can hide a lot of needles inside a haystack that contains 2,700 pages. Three of those needles included the Individual Mandate (an act of coercion by the federal government), the Independent Advisory Payment Board (IPAB, also known as the “death panels”), and the Medicaid expansion program which will put an enormous burden on the states. I’ll discuss them in more detail.
We now know that Obamacare will be the largest tax increase on the middle class in US history. It is already chilling job creation because employers are afraid of what will come down the pipes with Obamacare, and it will KILL any new jobs because of the massive increase in taxes on those who earn over $250,000. As you know, most small business owners organize as an LLC or an association, which means they file as an “individual” under the tax code. And most small business owners are able to classify as earning over $250,000. So they will be hit the hardest by Obamacare, as well as by Obama’s plans to increase taxes on that group if he is re-elected. They will not be able to absorb all the new taxes and still be able to invest in expanding their business, especially when it means they will have to pay healthcare benefits for all new employees (in addition to those they already employ).
– On Wednesday, October 10th, we heard on the news that a Florida billionaire, David Siegel (owner of Westgate Resorts) sent a letter to his 7,000 employees, informing them that he could be forced to lay some of them off if President Obama wins a second term. He said that the Obama administration was a threat to their jobs. He warned that “if any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. I can longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities.”
– That same day, Darden Restaurants announced that it will cut worker hours to part-time in order to meet the rising healthcare costs imposed by Obamacare. Darden Restaurants includes chains such as McDonalds, White Castle, Ruby Tuesdays, Jack-in-the-Box, and many others. Darden has been providing healthcare benefits to its part-time employees which it thought was more than fair, but now under the healthcare bill, which is inflexible on this matter, employees who work 30 hours or more must be provided the same all-inclusive plan that full-time employees receive. Furthermore, companies that do not comply will be penalized. So Darden is going to respond by cutting all non full-time employees down to under 30 hours. [Note that these restaurants, along with Unions, were granted waivers from Obamacare, but they were only temporary. They were 1-year waivers in order to give these organizations time to figure out how to adapt. And now we know... They are going to cut worker hours].
Parts of Obamacare have already affected you or someone you know, and the economy has already been affected. We hear so much about the depressed jobs numbers. How many jobs could be created today if businesses, especially small businesses, didn’t have to worry about how Obamacare will negatively impact them? We can only imagine how many jobs are instantly able to be created if we only had an administration that wasn’t intent on punishing business in order to establish a socialist scheme. We already have the highest business tax in the entire world.
If Mitt Romney is elected, he has promised to repeal Obamacare on his first day in office. I predict that we will immediately see an increase in job creation and an improvement in our economy. As Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney understand, the economy depends on production and that means jobs. The biggest driver of revenue to the federal government isn’t higher tax rates…. it’s economic growth. Growth is the key to fiscal sustainability. And low tax rates are the key to growth. We can never hope to lower taxes if Obamacare is implemented.
If Obama is re-elected, we can hope to repeal it, but he will never sign it. That will require a supermajority. And we will only have a supermajority if a whole lot more Republicans are elected into both houses of Congress, especially the Senate. We can also look into defunding it.
Repeal and Dismantlement –
Obamacare was intended and designed to withstand attempts by Republicans to make it go away. We saw how easily the Supreme Court was able to convert the Individual Mandate “penalty” into a “tax.” We are seeing how the plan goes into effect piece by piece, to be fully implemented by 2014 but still requiring further appropriations into 2019. The massive 2,700-page health care law is deliberately designed to make defunding and dismantling difficult. Dismantling will be difficult because Obamacare has created so many new governmental agencies. Although original estimates reported that it created 159 new government agencies, the Congressional Research Service later concluded that the actual number of new agencies, boards, etc., “is currently unknowable,” because so many of them are empowered to spawn additional entities, just as weeds grow by sending out runners and seeds. Defunding will be particularly tricky because the law is designed to be difficult to uproot, just like a plant with an elaborate root system.
How does the healthcare bill frustrate efforts by Congress to defund the bill?
– First, approximately $120 billion in funding appropriations were included in the bill which Obama signed. Appropriations were made immediately. This violates the typical Congressional process of appropriations. The normal process typically involves enacting authorization bills that authorize spending, and then follows those with separate legislation that actually appropriates the money.
– Second, by making advance appropriations for tens of billions of dollars up to the year 2019, these provisions of Obamacare seek to remove spending decisions from the reach of the current Congress and from future Congresses and Presidents. Although Obamacare was not pitched to the public as a mandatory spending entitlement, the details of the legislation reveal an intent to block any future Congress from controlling spending on Obamacare.
– To defund Obamacare, it is insufficient simply to deny future funding. Until the full law can be repealed, at least the existing and advance appropriations need to be rescinded, just as the House voted last year to repeal billions of dollars from previous appropriations to 123 federal programs. Unfortunately this vote was void because of a parliamentary procedure violation. That was most unfortunate.
– With the healthcare bill, the Congressional Democrats sought to bind future Congresses to spending obligations with Obamacare – for a full decade in advance. This is an outrageous effort. It may not be unconstitutional per se, but in a system that gives citizens the right to have input in the affairs of Congress thru the ballot box, spending decisions should be made by those who currently hold office, not by those who have resigned or been turned out by the voters.
What are some efforts so far to make Obamacare go away? Eric Cantor introduced H.R. 2 – “Repeal of the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” – in the US House where it passed on January 19, 2011. The Act simply states: “The Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.” H.R. 2 was sent to the Senate where it was put on the calendar but it still has not been allowed to come up for a vote. Also, on July 9th of this year, Congress introduced H.R. 6088 – “Total Repeal of the Unfair Taxes on Healthcare Act” – which would amend the tax code to repeal certain tax increases enacted as part of health care reform. The Act is still in committee.
The healthcare bill can go away if: (i) Congress repeals it (see H.R. 2); (ii) Congress disapproves it under the Congressional Review Act of 1996; (iii) Congress defunds it; (iv) the Supreme Court reverses its opinion; or (v) the States nullify it and are willing to interpose on behalf of their citizens. I will discuss this last option at the end.
Why Obamacare is Bad for America and for Americans
1). First, you should know that members of Congress have EXEMPTED themselves from Obamacare. If it was such a good healthcare plan, why did they exempt themselves? In Federalist Papers No. 57, James Madison listed five ways that members of the House of Representatives can show their fidelity to their constituents and earn their trust. He wrote: “As a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny. If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America — a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.”
2). So far, over $105 billion has been appropriated to fund Obamacare, not including the $760 billion stolen from Medicare. This program is not going to help the economy; it’s going to hurt it. Government spending will be uncontrollable.
3). Under the law, most individuals who can afford it will be required to obtain basic health insurance coverage or pay a fee (termed a “penalty” in the healthcare bill) to help offset the costs of caring for uninsured Americans. This is the notorious Individual Mandate (Section 5000). In other words, everyone must purchase private health insurance or pay a fine. This is the cornerstone of the healthcare reform bill. As Justice Kennedy emphasized at oral arguments, he was very concerned about the status of young people with respect to the healthcare bill. He noted that the government wasn’t exactly been honest about its intentions with the bill, which was to find a way to offset the burden that uninsured individuals place on healthcare. Kennedy said that if the administration was really interested in preventing young people (many who are uninsured) from being such a burden, the healthcare plan would allow them to buy only catastrophic health insurance (instead of the plan that includes well visits, preventative care). Catastrophic health insurance is all that 20-30 year-olds really need; It’s the only product that makes any economic sense for them. But Obamacare doesn’t allow that. So, as Kennedy emphasized, we see what the healthcare bill is really all about. It’s about using 20-30 year-olds to subsidize the plan, to subsidize insurance for those who can’t afford it. It’s about using young healthy people to fund the program. It’s about a social scheme. And now we know… the government’s plan is to subsidize health insurance for everyone, especially those who are uninsured and sick (approximately 20% of all uninsured). The plan forces insurance companies to cover the sick. But it doesn’t want to use the typical means to pay for this – such as tax subsidies. Instead, the government wants to reach OUTSIDE the market and COMPEL a whole bunch of healthy people into that market so they can be used to subsidize the program and help bring healthcare premiums down. In fact, this was the finding by Congress: that bringing young healthy people into the market will bring down the health insurance premium by about 15% for everyone. Unfortunately, though, it will force them to buy something they don’t need or want. This provision kicks in in 2014. By 2014, most citizens and legal residents must carry an expensive health insurance or pay a penalty.
4). A small number of Americans will be exempt from the tax. Those exempted include: (i) people with religious objections; (ii) American Indians with coverage through the Indian Health Service; (iii) undocumented immigrants; (iv) those without coverage for less than three months; (v) those serving prison sentences; (vi) those whose income is below the poverty level. This list of exemptions provides for abuse and group exemptions for certain religious groups.
5). Obamacare will impose 5 major classifications of taxes in 2013 alone, aside from the Individual Mandate (which is the core funding provision, which will hit in 2014):
(i) The Medical Device Manufacturing Tax (a 2.3% tax on medical device makers which will raise the price of every pacemaker, prosthetic limb, stent, operating table, and much more. Most of the manufacturers are small companies).
(ii) The High Medical Bills Tax – This onerous tax provision will hit Americans who face the highest out-of-pocket medical bills. Currently, Americans are allowed to deduct medical expenses on their 1040 form to the extent the costs exceed 7.5% of one’s adjusted gross income. The new ObamaCare provision will raise that threshold to 10%, subjecting patients to a higher tax bill. This tax will hit pre-retirement seniors the hardest. Over the next ten years, affected Americans will pony up a minimum total of $15 billion in taxes thanks to this provision.
(iii) Flexible Spending Account Cap - The 24 million Americans who have Flexible Spending Accounts will face a new federally imposed $2,500 annual cap. These pre-tax accounts, which currently have no federal limit, are used to purchase everything from contact lenses to children’s braces. With the cost of braces being as high as $7,200, this tax provision will play an unwelcome role in everyday kitchen-table health care decisions.
The cap will also affect families with special-needs children, whose tuition can be covered using Flexible Spending Account funds. Special-needs tuition can cost up to $14,000 per child per year. This cruel tax provision will limit the options available to such families, all so that the federal government can squeeze an additional $13 billion out of taxpayer pockets over the next ten years. The targeting of Flexible Spending Accounts by President Obama and congressional Democrats is no accident. The progressive left has never been fond of the consumer-driven accounts, which serve as a small roadblock in their long-term drive for a one-size-fits-all government health care bureaucracy. At this point already, under Obamacare, families cannot use these accounts to pay for over-the-counter medication.
(iv) Surtax on Investment Income - Under current law, the capital gains tax rate for all Americans rises from 15 to 20% in 2013, while the top dividend rate rises from 15 to 39.6%. The new Obamacare surtax takes the top capital gains rate to 23.8% and top dividend rate to 43.4%. The tax will take a minimum of $123 billion out of taxpayer pockets over the next ten years. This new tax will hit capital gains, dividends, rents, and royalties, discouraging investment and harming economic growth.
(v) Medicare Payroll Tax increase - In 2013, the employee portion of the Medicare payroll tax will increase from 1.45 to 2.35% for families earning $250,000 or more and individuals earning $200,000 or more. The income threshold is not indexed for inflation, so more and more middle-income families will be hit by the tax hike as time goes on. This tax soaks employers to the tune of $86 billion over the next ten years. Another provision, as emphasized in the Ryan plan, is a 3.8% Medicare tax on unearned income of “high-income” taxpayers which could apply to proceeds from the sale of single family homes, townhouses, co-ops, condominiums, and even rental income, depending on your individual circumstances and any capital gains tax exclusions. This 3.8% tax on home sales and unearned income will raise more than $124 billion to pay for Obamacare. As you can understand, there is a reason why the authors of Obamacare wrote the law in such a way that the most brutal tax increases take effect conveniently after the 2012 election. It’s the same reason that the bill was pushed thru Congress before anyone had a chance to read it. It’s the same reason that members of Congress (and I’m sure President Obama himself) exempted themselves from it. And it’s the same President Obama, congressional Democrats, and the mainstream media conveniently neglect to mention these taxes.
6). You’ve probably all heard that Obama raided $760 billion dollars from Medicare to pay for Obamacare. But what we didn’t find out until later is that he has no plan to pay that money back. The embedded taxes in Obamacare for Medicare, from what I understand, are to provide for the vast numbers of seniors who will be on the program in the coming years and to provide them with more preventative benefits and coverage. (but not for greater care for major illness). In fact, over-all, Obamacare will reduce the amount of future spending growth in Medicare thru the IPAB. So while more seniors will be on Medicare, spending will not increase accordingly.
7). Medical records will be centralized with the government – in a national database. Put in other terms, the government will have the ability to seize your medical records. In order to make information more readily available for doctors during their appointments, the government intends to create a national database containing every person’s medical history. [This is potentially a violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments - a seizure of a person's privacy, as well as a taking of private property]. People are the owners of their medical records, and the doctors are their custodians. With the creation of such a database, healthcare decisions will be dictated by government bureaucrats and NOT the doctor or patient.
8). Perhaps the most offensive part of the bill is the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) – a 15-member panel of bureaucrats tasked with finding ways to cut Medicare spending (that is, it’s role is to ration care in order to keep the costs of the program contained). It is also called the “death panel.” It will take effect in 2014, although there is talk that Obama will try to have it take effect earlier. By law, no more than 7 of the members can be physicians. Board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Its decisions cannot be easily challenged. In order to override IPAB’s proposal, opponents must assemble a simple majority in the House and then a three-fifths majority in the Senate and finally, the president’s signature. That makes IPAB more than an advisory board. It’s a super-legislature whose members are more powerful than members of Congress As one leading challenger of the bill has said: “The IPAB is ‘independent’ in the worst sense of the word: it is independent of Congress, the President, the judiciary and the American people. The IPAB is a death panel not only by virtue of its awesome powers to control health-care decisions for millions of Americans, but because its creation and existence are antithetical to our republican form of government and the freedoms it was designed to protect. Here is another bit of info about the IPAB… It appears that in order to repeal the IPAB, a repeal bill MUST be passed by 2017; otherwise we are stuck with it. Furthermore, to pass the repeal, there must be a 3/5 supermajority…… and then even after that vote, it would – by law, continue at least until 2020. [IPAB - See Sections 3403 and 10320] In fact the House has already voted to repeal the IPAB, but the Senate, under Harry Reid, will not take up the measure.
9). Illegal immigrants are not covered by Obamacare. So they will still be able to receive healthcare, mostly by going to the emergency room, and continue to burden the healthcare system so that costs and prices will continue to go up. The burden of Illegal immigrants on the healthcare system was one of the very drivers of its cost increases.
10). Parents of dependent children will be required to keep their adult children on their policies until age 26. One of the provisions in Obamacare is a requirement that group health plans that provide dependent coverage of children make that coverage available until age 26. Will this provision can be considered a good one to some, there are many parents that look forward to the day that their children become adults so that they can wean themselves from supporting them. Provisions like this will be seen as a burden by couples who work and can afford health insurance. When deciding how many children to have, this provision will have to be something they need to consider, in addition to college tuition, etc, etc. Those who can’t afford the premiums and are supplemented by the government can, once again, reproduce without responsibility.
11). New plans must cover 100% of wellness or pregnancy exams (even if the person is beyond child-bearing age)
12). Other problems with the healthcare bill include:
(i) It penalizes marriage. Obamacare creates new taxpayer-funded subsidies for the low and middle classes to purchase health coverage, but the structure of the subsidies allows two individuals to claim more in subsidies alone than if married. This discriminates against married couples and discourages marriage at almost all age and income levels.
(ii) It violates religious liberty. We’ve all heard of the Contraceptive Mandate. Churches are in an uproar over this. The Department of Health and Human Services included the full range of contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, among the women-specific preventive services that Obamacare requires insurers to include with no cost-sharing. This mandate violates Americans’ conscience rights and religious liberty. Its narrow exemption for religious employers will force many who find these products morally objectionable—including religious charities, hospitals, and schools—to pay for them.
(iii) It puts over half of all Americans on a government program. Because of Obamacare’s huge expansion of Medicaid and creation of taxpayer-funded subsidies to purchase health coverage, more than half of all Americans will be dependent on a government health care program (Medicare, Medicaid, or the government exchanges) by the end of this decade.
13). There is no tort reform provision in the bill
14). The government cannot run any program or agency efficiently. It has a history of bankruptcy and failure. For example:
(i) The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 – they’ve had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can’t compete with private sector FedExp and UPS services. The U.S. Postal Service will lose over $7 billion this year and will require yet another “bailout.” [The Postal Service is a CONSTITUTIONAL obligation; Healthcare is NOT).
(ii) Social Security was established in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is broke. There is nothing in the Social Security Trust Fund except IOUs from the government.
(iii) Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.
(iv) The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.
(v) Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.
(vi) AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss!
(vii) In 2009, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus Bill. It shows NO sign of working; it's been used to increase the size of governments across America, and raise government salaries while the rest of us suffer from economic hardships. It has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.
(viii) "Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - after 80% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was promised.
With a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that each and every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government turns into disaster, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system, which is over 17% of our economy?
15). Obamacare only achieves its goals if: (i) everyone is forced to participate and those that can pay do pay; and (ii) the states provide Medicaid expansion to get as many people signed up and on the program as possible. The goal of course is to provide affordable care to everyone and to keep costs contained over the course of the program. Hence, the title of the bill. With the Supreme Court's decision, however, states are no longer mandated to add people to Medicaid. They have the option of opting out of the expansion provision and therefore do not have to set up the exchanges. In fact, several states have been adamant about not creating the health care exchanges, namely Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed setting up an exchange in his state in May of this year, and Governor John Lynch of New Hampshire (a Democrat) also vetoed the initiative in his state. The question is this: If enough states opt out, will the goals of the bill be frustrated to the point that universal healthcare will not be viable as a government entitlement program because of the increased costs that will result?
16). If Obama is re-elected, the fear - or, the likely reality - is that we are stuck with Obamacare. By extension - because of its chilling effect on the economy, the new norm here in the United States might be 8%-9% unemployment (most of it part-time with no benefits) and most people living on the government dole. The question is where will the money continue to come from?
We've Lost our Fundamental Liberties --
The average American would love to believe that as long as he or she isn't annoying anyone or isn't infringing on anyone's legitimate rights, he or she should be left alone to enjoy his life and property -- to pursue happiness. But there are too many government regulatory agencies to allow that to be true. This is not a nation where people are left alone anymore. This is a nation where they are hounded from the moment they are born until the moment they die by the arms of a regulatory state run by men and women weaned on the ideology of big government, socialism, and the idea that the government's job is to protect our green planet and to promote the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people). Sadly, this is a nation, founded on the inherent power of the individual over his life, liberty, and property, where just being left alone is the greatest of luxuries.
All of this begs the bigger question: What has become of our Inalienable Rights? Government has strayed away from its intended purpose. All levels of government have abused their powers. The federal government is no longer constrained by the document that alone gives it permission and limits on what it can legally do -- that is our Constitution. It no longer protects our Life, Liberty, and Property. It attacks our Life with the Obamacare. It attacks our Liberty with the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, and even the TSA at our airports. And it attacks our Property with the federal income tax system and Agenda 21. The government's evil, liberty-killing scheme is funded by the power of plunder that was granted it under the 16th Amendment. The government plunders our very natural human resources -- our Property.... the fruit and improvements of our property, the products of our labor, and the creations of our mind. But then again, a government that can create economic stress is in a good position to constrain our liberties. A hungry man thinks about food, not freedom.
Finally, I don't like the notion of a planned society. We've seen how many of them have ended - Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Communist China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Kim Jung Il's North Korea, to name a few. Obamacare puts our lives under the power of bureaucrats and experts. They claim to be experts, but in what field. One such "expert" who helped craft the IPAB ("death panel") is an expert in cost effectiveness. Ezekiel Immanuel. He has a cold inhuman approach to healthcare. I don't trust when government gets involved in questions that talk about what is good for man, and what justice should be. I don't trust when government enters those debates that talk about what things are worth having at what price and who should have them. And I certainly don't trust when government gives an opinion on the value of life. I saw what they did with the unborn in Roe v. Wade. A decision that asks whether a person's life is worth living on certain terms (as with an unfortunate diagnosis), is a decision that should be left to that person alone and according to the God-given right of self-preservation, he should be entitled to pursue whatever medical options he can. Finally, I don't like a program that demands my obedience to government or be penalized for it. That was Nazi Germany.
Please continue reading at http://forloveofgodandcountry.com/. There is much more and to important to miss! Share with friends.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Outer Banks Tea Party Meeting October 11
Thursday Meeting at Western Sizzlin' with State House Candidate Mattie Lawson, Special Paul Ryan Video
OBX Tea Party will meet for its next Thursday meeting on October 11th at Western Sizzlin' in Kill Devil Hills at 5:30pm.
Our guest speaker will be House 6 candidate Mattie Lawson (Republican). House 6 covers Dare, Washington, Hyde and Beaufort counties. Come prepared with your questions for Mattie.
Thursday is also the day of the Paul Ryan/Joe Biden Vice Presidential debate, which starts at 9pm. We'll show a special Paul Ryan video at the meeting.
Mattie's Website
You can see all the candidates and their websites on the OBX Tea Party webpage. We will vote on our slate of candidates on 10/18.
Western Sizzlin' is located at MP 8.5 at 804 South Croatan Highway. Click here for a map. You can order the buffet or off the menu.
OBX Tea Party will meet for its next Thursday meeting on October 11th at Western Sizzlin' in Kill Devil Hills at 5:30pm.
Our guest speaker will be House 6 candidate Mattie Lawson (Republican). House 6 covers Dare, Washington, Hyde and Beaufort counties. Come prepared with your questions for Mattie.
Thursday is also the day of the Paul Ryan/Joe Biden Vice Presidential debate, which starts at 9pm. We'll show a special Paul Ryan video at the meeting.
Mattie's Website
You can see all the candidates and their websites on the OBX Tea Party webpage. We will vote on our slate of candidates on 10/18.
Western Sizzlin' is located at MP 8.5 at 804 South Croatan Highway. Click here for a map. You can order the buffet or off the menu.
CCTA Candidate Forum, October 16, 2012
Public Service Announcement
October 9, 2012
A Candidates Forum will be held at the Bridgepoint Hotel on Tuesday, October 16 in the room overlooking the Trent River. There will be an opportunity to meet the candidates individually, ask questions, share ideas and refreshments between 6 PM and 7 PM. The Forum will begin promptly at 7 PM and run until 9 PM. Anyone who would like to can watch the Presidential Debate with us beginning at 9 PM. The event is sponsored by the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association, and all citizens are welcome.
Ten candidates who will be on Craven County ballots have agreed to participate. Darryl Holloman (Lib - Dist 1) who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives will be there. Two candidates for the N.C. Senate, Norman Sanderson (Rep - Dist 2) who is currently serving in the N.C. House, and his opponent, Greg Muse (Dem - Dist 2) will participate. Three candidates running for N.C. House, Michael Speciale (Rep - Dist 3), John Bell (Rep - Dist 10), and Jim Dancy (Rep - Dist 12) will be there.
Among the "down ballot" races, three candidates for judgeships and one candidate for Board of Education will participate. Ballots will not indicate the party affiliation of these candidates. Clinton Rowe and Cheryl Spencer are both running for the same judge's seat in District Court (3B); this is the seat which Ms. Spencer has held for some years; both candidates will participate. David McFadyen,III, is also running for a judge's seat in District Court (3B), but this is a different seat; it is the one to which Kirby Smith was recently appointed. Mr. Smith is still on the ballot, but has "suspended" his campaign. Mr. McFadyen will participate; Mr. Smith will not.
David Hale is the only candidate for Board of Education who has agreed to participate.
All candidates (regardless of party affiliation) who will appear on Craven County ballots have been invited to participate.
Info provided by:
Raynor James, PR Chair, Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA)
252-288-6228 (home) (Answering machine message says "fsboamerica," but that's correct number)
252-626-2804 (cell)
305 Calico Drive, New Bern, North Carolina, 28560
Candidate Forum--Pamlico Community College
PLEASE ATTEND THE CANDIDATE FORUM AT 7:00 PM THIS THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 11, IN THE PAUL DELAMAR CENTER AT PAMLICO COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR OUR LOCAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. THIS FORUM IS SPONSORED BY TOWN DOCK AND PAMLICO NEWS AND FEATURES REP. NORMAN SANDERSON, MICHAEL SPECIALE, AND CHRISTINE MELE VERSUS THEIR OPPONENTS. CHRISTINE MELE WILL BE OPPOSED BY THE "NEW" DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE AND YOU CAN BE SURE THERE WILL BE A LARGE TURNOUT OF ORIENTAL DEMOCRATS TO SUPPORT THE "NEW" CANDIDATE. CHRISTINE IS A VERY HARD WORKING COMMISSIONER AND IS SERVING HER DISTRICT AND ALL OF PAMLICO COUNTY WITH THEIR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND. WE NEED TO BE THERE AND BE COUNTED, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND NOT JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL EVENT!!!!!
YES, I KNOW THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IS THE SAME NIGHT AND I WISH THE FORUM SPONSORS HAD CHANGED EITHER THE DATE OR TIME, BUT THEY DIDN'T. I WONDER WHY? PLEASE MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO BE AT THE FORUM FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, WE NEED AS MANY REPUBLICANS IN ATTENDANCE AS WE CAN POSSIBLY GET. IT IS TIME TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT OUR COMMITMENT TO THIS ELECTION WHICH IS ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY. PLEASE TRY VERY HARD TO STOP IN AND SUPPORT OUR CANDIDATES, THEY ARE WORKING HARD ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO PHYSICALLY SUPPORT THEM. YOUR PARTICIPATION WILL ENSURE THAT IT IS NOT A ONE SIDED FORUM.
PLEASE TRY TO BE THERE!!
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR OUR LOCAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. THIS FORUM IS SPONSORED BY TOWN DOCK AND PAMLICO NEWS AND FEATURES REP. NORMAN SANDERSON, MICHAEL SPECIALE, AND CHRISTINE MELE VERSUS THEIR OPPONENTS. CHRISTINE MELE WILL BE OPPOSED BY THE "NEW" DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE AND YOU CAN BE SURE THERE WILL BE A LARGE TURNOUT OF ORIENTAL DEMOCRATS TO SUPPORT THE "NEW" CANDIDATE. CHRISTINE IS A VERY HARD WORKING COMMISSIONER AND IS SERVING HER DISTRICT AND ALL OF PAMLICO COUNTY WITH THEIR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND. WE NEED TO BE THERE AND BE COUNTED, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND NOT JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL EVENT!!!!!
YES, I KNOW THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IS THE SAME NIGHT AND I WISH THE FORUM SPONSORS HAD CHANGED EITHER THE DATE OR TIME, BUT THEY DIDN'T. I WONDER WHY? PLEASE MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO BE AT THE FORUM FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, WE NEED AS MANY REPUBLICANS IN ATTENDANCE AS WE CAN POSSIBLY GET. IT IS TIME TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT OUR COMMITMENT TO THIS ELECTION WHICH IS ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY. PLEASE TRY VERY HARD TO STOP IN AND SUPPORT OUR CANDIDATES, THEY ARE WORKING HARD ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO PHYSICALLY SUPPORT THEM. YOUR PARTICIPATION WILL ENSURE THAT IT IS NOT A ONE SIDED FORUM.
PLEASE TRY TO BE THERE!!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Obama's Ring: 'There Is No God but Allah'
As a student at Harvard Law School, then-bachelor Barack Obama’s practice of wearing a gold band on his wedding-ring finger puzzled his colleagues.
Now, newly published photographs of Obama from the 1980s show that the ring Obama wore on his wedding-ring finger as an unmarried student is the same ring Michelle Robinson put on his finger at the couple’s wedding ceremony in 1992.
Moreover, according to Arabic-language and Islamic experts, the ring Obama has been wearing for more than 30 years is adorned with the first part of the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada: “There is no God except Allah.”
CONTNUED: http://visiontoamerica.com/12470/obamas-ring-there-is-no-god-but-allah/
Obamacare Regulations Have Dragged $27.6 Billion Out Of The Economy
Obamacare Regulations Have Dragged $27.6 Billion Out Of The Economy, Killed More Than 18,000 Jobs…
Fully implementing Obamacare regulations have already cost the U.S. economy $27.6 billion and more than 18,000 jobs according to a new study released today. Just the top ten most expensive regulations have cost $24.4 billion, according to the new non-partisan and independent American Action Forum (AAF) report.
Just complying with the state health exchanges alone has to cost employers $3.4 billion according to the AAF totals which were compiled from Federal Register data. In addition to the regulatory costs, AAF estimates that Obamacare regulatory compliance has eaten up more than 60 million hours in paperwork. At 2,000 hours a year that comes to 30,000 jobs.
CONTINUED: http://cowboybyte.com/13474/study-obamacare-regulations-have-dragged-27-6-billion-out-of-the-economy-killed-more-than-18000-jobs/
Fully implementing Obamacare regulations have already cost the U.S. economy $27.6 billion and more than 18,000 jobs according to a new study released today. Just the top ten most expensive regulations have cost $24.4 billion, according to the new non-partisan and independent American Action Forum (AAF) report.
Just complying with the state health exchanges alone has to cost employers $3.4 billion according to the AAF totals which were compiled from Federal Register data. In addition to the regulatory costs, AAF estimates that Obamacare regulatory compliance has eaten up more than 60 million hours in paperwork. At 2,000 hours a year that comes to 30,000 jobs.
CONTINUED: http://cowboybyte.com/13474/study-obamacare-regulations-have-dragged-27-6-billion-out-of-the-economy-killed-more-than-18000-jobs/
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
DonorGate: The Obama-China Connection
Obama’s DonorGate is expanding exponentially.
Now we know a foreign-based, Chinese government-connected, Obama bundler-controlled website routes foreigners to the Obama campaign’s donate page.
Now we know the Obama campaign solicits donations from foreigners.
What exactly is the Obama-Chinese connection? Given that Obama does not have to disclose 98% of his record $181 [...]
CONTNUED: http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/10/09/video-donorgate-the-obama-china-connection
Now we know a foreign-based, Chinese government-connected, Obama bundler-controlled website routes foreigners to the Obama campaign’s donate page.
Now we know the Obama campaign solicits donations from foreigners.
What exactly is the Obama-Chinese connection? Given that Obama does not have to disclose 98% of his record $181 [...]
CONTNUED: http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/10/09/video-donorgate-the-obama-china-connection
CCTA OUTREACH CHRISTMAS PROJECT
Part of the mission of CCTA is to help promote, protect and preserve the freedom and secure the Blessings of Liberty afforded us by the constitution and the laws of nature and of nature's God. With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence this country was established and many traditions have been established as well. Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, literally "Christ's mass") is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. In recent years, every attempt has been made to remove the name of Jesus from public view. Through our silence we have handed those who wish to destroy what binds us together many victories. It is time for us to be silent no more. It is time for us to stand and proclaim the name that guarantees us the Blessings of Liberty. Therefore, as chairman of the outreach committee for CCTA, I am beginning a project to distribute as many of the following yard signs as possible between now and Christmas.
These signs are provided by the American Family Association at a cost of $15 per sign. However, bought in a quantity of one hundred, they are only $3.00 each. I am asking anyone that would like to support this outreach with a contribution so that we may distribute at least 100 signs ($300.00), to contact me with your contribution. If we are to turn this country back, we have to repair its foundation. All funds will be used specifically for this project to distribute as many of these signs as we can and any remaining funds will be distributed to needy families at Christmas.
Make checks payable to CCTA and designate for Christmas Outreach. You may mail your check to CCTA, P.O. Box 1043, Havelock, NC 28532 or give your check to a CCTA officer (Nancy, Rick, Gary or Lynn).
Thank You and God Bless You and God Bless Ameri
Viceck Hopkins
Vice Chairman CCTA
Chairman CCTA Outreach Committee
252-626-3662
LAST CHANCE FOR MILITARY TO GET BALLOTS!
This is it. If a registered military voter goes to this site and prints the Federal ballot out now and votes it, there is still time to mail the ballot back.
If the military voter is registered in any state, they can at least print this ballot out and vote for the Federal offices and get it in on time. If they are not registered, that option is available following these steps,and it might reach its destination in time.
Please send this to everyone on your email list. Almost everyone has a family member, friend, neighbor who knows someone in the military. Please encourage them to send it on to their email list. This needs to go viral!!!
LISTEN UP!
How the military can vote:
1. Go to http://www.fvap.gov/ NOW!!!
2. Click 'Get Started'
3. Select your state.
4. Click 'Get my ballot now'
5. Follow the instructions and vote your ballot.
6. Get it out TODAY!
NOTE: With this ballot, you will only be voting for Federal offices, that is, President and in some states Senator. Please, vote!
If the military voter is registered in any state, they can at least print this ballot out and vote for the Federal offices and get it in on time. If they are not registered, that option is available following these steps,and it might reach its destination in time.
Please send this to everyone on your email list. Almost everyone has a family member, friend, neighbor who knows someone in the military. Please encourage them to send it on to their email list. This needs to go viral!!!
LISTEN UP!
How the military can vote:
1. Go to http://www.fvap.gov/ NOW!!!
2. Click 'Get Started'
3. Select your state.
4. Click 'Get my ballot now'
5. Follow the instructions and vote your ballot.
6. Get it out TODAY!
NOTE: With this ballot, you will only be voting for Federal offices, that is, President and in some states Senator. Please, vote!
Breaking News: Federal Campaigns Vulnerable to Illegal Foreign Donations
FROM TEA PARTY PATRIOTS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 8, 2012) --- The Government Accountability Institute (GAI), a non-partisan investigative and research watchdog group, announced today the release of a 108-page report entitled: "America the Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?,” the first in a series regarding the impact of the Internet on American elections. The report reveals that over an eight-month investigation, GAI discovered President Obama’s campaign website, along with nearly half of congressional websites, lack some of the common, industry-standard security measures used by most e-commerce websites. In addition, the report found that the Obama campaign has actively solicited donations from foreign nationals.
GAI is led by Peter Schweizer whose landmark book, Throw Them All Out, exposed congressional insider trading and led to the recent passage of the STOCK Act. GAI is the same organization that provided a detailed report of the Justice Department’s lack of prosecutions of Wall Street executives for the financial bailout and revealed that President Obama has attended 43.8% of his Presidential Daily Briefs (PDB) on intelligence and did not attend his in-person briefings the week prior to the September 11th attacks on U.S. embassies in Cairo and Benghazi.
“There has been a lot of discussion of the role that money plays in our elections but little or no focus on the vulnerabilities of our election system to be influenced and or possibly manipulated by foreign and fraudulent campaign donations. That is precisely what this report is about, and it’s very troubling,” said Peter Schweizer, President and Co-Founder of the Government Accountability Institute. “The findings in this report reveal that foreign agents of influence can easily be contributing untold amounts of illegal money into presidential and congressional campaigns. Here’s the good news for most of those who are vulnerable: it’s a three-minute, couple-of-clicks solution,” said Schweizer. “We are urging all congressional offices and President Obama to turn on anti-fraud credit card protections immediately.”
The report found almost half (47.3%) of congressional campaign donation websites lack anti-fraud credit card security systems common on most e-commerce websites. As for Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign, the research found his website does maintain the proper security measures.
Chairman and Co-Founder of GAI, Stephen K. Bannon, stated: “America the Vulnerable is exactly the kind of complex, long-term investigative effort GAI was established to execute. Just like GAI President Peter Schweizer’s insider trading investigation led to the passage of the STOCK Act, we hope this report will result in immediate action to ensure the security of the American electoral system.”
Nearly Half of Congress Vulnerable to Fraudulent and Foreign Donations: Of the 446 House and Senate members who have an online donation page, 47.3% do not require the three or four digit credit card security number (officially called the Card Verification Value, or the CVV) for Internet contributions. The CVV is an industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security feature used by over 90% of all e-commerce operations and nineteen of the twenty largest charities in the United States. By not protecting themselves with industry-standard security, larger campaigns pay millions of dollars in extra card processing fees that could otherwise be avoided with the use of the CVV.
Given the scope of the problem within Congress, the Institute created an interactive 50-state map to allow citizens and journalists to identify which members of Congress lack industry-standard anti-fraud credit card protection on their campaign donation websites. Go to:www.CampaignFundingRisks.com
•Third-Party Fundraising Organizations Lacking Industry-Standard Anti-Fraud Credit Card Security Funnelling Millions to Federal Candidates: Third-party political fundraising organizations, such as ActRight and ActBlue, distribute millions of dollars to federal candidates, but lack industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security features to block fraudulent and international donations.
•Presence of Fake RNC and DNC Donation Websites: The Institute uncovered and identified an individual who established websites posing as both the Republican and Democratic National Committees. The individual has operated the phony websites for years and has accepted thousands of dollars in “donations.” GAI’s findings were detailed by ABC News.
•Donation Solicitations On Foreign Websites To Then-Candidate Marco Rubio’s 2010 Donation Page: The Institute discovered multiple Spanish language, foreign websites featuring video links that included embedded advertising directing individuals to the donation solicitation page of then-U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. In addition, Rubio lacked CVV protection, which was corrected in May of 2012. As of this report’s publication date, many of these links are still up and active. This is a potential violation of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) solicitation laws.
•Presidential Candidates Lack Transparency Of Small Donations: Campaigns are not required to disclose donations from individuals who gave less than $200 in a campaign cycle unless the campaign is audited. Furthermore, campaigns do not even need to keep records of those who gave less than $50. Presidential candidates are raising large amounts of money that fall under the $200 threshold and audits are rare unless a campaign accepts federal matching funds. To this date (September 26, 2012), the Romney campaign has raised $58,456,968 and the Obama campaign has raised $271,327,755 in contributions under $200 for the 2012 campaign cycle. In the 2008 presidential elections, the Obama campaign raised $335,139,233 in donations under $200. Neither campaign has accepted federal matching funds nor have ever been audited.
•Threat Of “Robo-Donations”: The absence of industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security features render campaigns more vulnerable to so-called “robo-donations.” Robo-donations are large numbers of small, automated donations made through the Internet to evade FEC reporting requirements.
•Given the state-of-the art digital sophistication of the President’s re-election campaign—including social media, micro-targeting and data-mining—its online donation system contains at least three major security vulnerabilities:
1.The absence of the industry-standard CVV and unknown use of AVS anti-fraud security for online credit card donations.
2.The presence of a branded, major third party-owned website (www.Obama.com) redirects its 68% foreign traffic to a campaign donation page.
3.Active foreign solicitation using indiscriminate email solicitations and exposure to social media.
Specifically:
•Obama Campaign Lacks the Industry-Standard Level Of Credit Card Security For Donations, But Uses It For Merchandise Purchases: To purchase Obama campaign merchandise, the campaign requires buyers to enter their credit card CVV security code, but does not require the credit card security code to be entered when making an online campaign donation. By GAI’s estimates, the Obama campaign’s failure to utilize industry-standard protections potentially costs the campaign millions in extra processing fees.
•Obama.comPurchased By An Obama Bundler In Shanghai, China With Questionable Business Ties to State-Run Chinese Enterprises: In 2008, Obama.com was purchased by an Obama fundraiser living in Shanghai, China, whose business is heavily dependent on relationships with Chinese state-run television and other state-owned entities.
•68% Of Traffic To Anonymously Registered Obama.comIs Foreign: According to industry leading web analytics site Markosweb, an anonymously registered redirect site (Obama.com ) features 68 % foreign traffic. Starting in December 2011, the site was linked to a specific donation page on the official www.BarackObama.com campaign website for ten months. The page loaded a tracking number, 634930, into a space on the website labeled "who encouraged you to make this donation." That tracking number is embedded in the source code for Obama.com and is associated with the Obama Victory Fund. In early September 2012, the page began redirecting to the standard Obama Victory Fund donation page. Search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, using common spamming techniques, may have also been undertaken by unknown third-parties, generating foreign traffic to Obama.com .
To see the online donations, and to receive the official page report, America The Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S Elections? visit: www.CampaignFundingRisks.com
Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Tea Party Patriots, Inc. are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.
Copyright © Tea Party Patriots, Inc. 2012
Tea Party Patriots
1025 Rose Creek Drive
Ste 620-322
Woodstock, GA 30189
Support: 404-593-0877
websupport@teapartypatriots.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Report: Federal Campaigns Lack Barriers to Stop Influx of Illegal Foreign Donations
Eight Month Investigation Finds Almost Half of Congress - 47.3% - Vulnerable to Foreign and Fraudulent Online Donations—Presidential Candidates Vulnerable Too
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 8, 2012) --- The Government Accountability Institute (GAI), a non-partisan investigative and research watchdog group, announced today the release of a 108-page report entitled: "America the Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?,” the first in a series regarding the impact of the Internet on American elections. The report reveals that over an eight-month investigation, GAI discovered President Obama’s campaign website, along with nearly half of congressional websites, lack some of the common, industry-standard security measures used by most e-commerce websites. In addition, the report found that the Obama campaign has actively solicited donations from foreign nationals.
GAI is led by Peter Schweizer whose landmark book, Throw Them All Out, exposed congressional insider trading and led to the recent passage of the STOCK Act. GAI is the same organization that provided a detailed report of the Justice Department’s lack of prosecutions of Wall Street executives for the financial bailout and revealed that President Obama has attended 43.8% of his Presidential Daily Briefs (PDB) on intelligence and did not attend his in-person briefings the week prior to the September 11th attacks on U.S. embassies in Cairo and Benghazi.
“There has been a lot of discussion of the role that money plays in our elections but little or no focus on the vulnerabilities of our election system to be influenced and or possibly manipulated by foreign and fraudulent campaign donations. That is precisely what this report is about, and it’s very troubling,” said Peter Schweizer, President and Co-Founder of the Government Accountability Institute. “The findings in this report reveal that foreign agents of influence can easily be contributing untold amounts of illegal money into presidential and congressional campaigns. Here’s the good news for most of those who are vulnerable: it’s a three-minute, couple-of-clicks solution,” said Schweizer. “We are urging all congressional offices and President Obama to turn on anti-fraud credit card protections immediately.”
The report found almost half (47.3%) of congressional campaign donation websites lack anti-fraud credit card security systems common on most e-commerce websites. As for Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign, the research found his website does maintain the proper security measures.
Chairman and Co-Founder of GAI, Stephen K. Bannon, stated: “America the Vulnerable is exactly the kind of complex, long-term investigative effort GAI was established to execute. Just like GAI President Peter Schweizer’s insider trading investigation led to the passage of the STOCK Act, we hope this report will result in immediate action to ensure the security of the American electoral system.”
Other key findings include:
Nearly Half of Congress Vulnerable to Fraudulent and Foreign Donations: Of the 446 House and Senate members who have an online donation page, 47.3% do not require the three or four digit credit card security number (officially called the Card Verification Value, or the CVV) for Internet contributions. The CVV is an industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security feature used by over 90% of all e-commerce operations and nineteen of the twenty largest charities in the United States. By not protecting themselves with industry-standard security, larger campaigns pay millions of dollars in extra card processing fees that could otherwise be avoided with the use of the CVV.
Given the scope of the problem within Congress, the Institute created an interactive 50-state map to allow citizens and journalists to identify which members of Congress lack industry-standard anti-fraud credit card protection on their campaign donation websites. Go to:www.CampaignFundingRisks.com
•Third-Party Fundraising Organizations Lacking Industry-Standard Anti-Fraud Credit Card Security Funnelling Millions to Federal Candidates: Third-party political fundraising organizations, such as ActRight and ActBlue, distribute millions of dollars to federal candidates, but lack industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security features to block fraudulent and international donations.
•Presence of Fake RNC and DNC Donation Websites: The Institute uncovered and identified an individual who established websites posing as both the Republican and Democratic National Committees. The individual has operated the phony websites for years and has accepted thousands of dollars in “donations.” GAI’s findings were detailed by ABC News.
•Donation Solicitations On Foreign Websites To Then-Candidate Marco Rubio’s 2010 Donation Page: The Institute discovered multiple Spanish language, foreign websites featuring video links that included embedded advertising directing individuals to the donation solicitation page of then-U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. In addition, Rubio lacked CVV protection, which was corrected in May of 2012. As of this report’s publication date, many of these links are still up and active. This is a potential violation of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) solicitation laws.
•Presidential Candidates Lack Transparency Of Small Donations: Campaigns are not required to disclose donations from individuals who gave less than $200 in a campaign cycle unless the campaign is audited. Furthermore, campaigns do not even need to keep records of those who gave less than $50. Presidential candidates are raising large amounts of money that fall under the $200 threshold and audits are rare unless a campaign accepts federal matching funds. To this date (September 26, 2012), the Romney campaign has raised $58,456,968 and the Obama campaign has raised $271,327,755 in contributions under $200 for the 2012 campaign cycle. In the 2008 presidential elections, the Obama campaign raised $335,139,233 in donations under $200. Neither campaign has accepted federal matching funds nor have ever been audited.
•Threat Of “Robo-Donations”: The absence of industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security features render campaigns more vulnerable to so-called “robo-donations.” Robo-donations are large numbers of small, automated donations made through the Internet to evade FEC reporting requirements.
•Given the state-of-the art digital sophistication of the President’s re-election campaign—including social media, micro-targeting and data-mining—its online donation system contains at least three major security vulnerabilities:
1.The absence of the industry-standard CVV and unknown use of AVS anti-fraud security for online credit card donations.
2.The presence of a branded, major third party-owned website (www.Obama.com) redirects its 68% foreign traffic to a campaign donation page.
3.Active foreign solicitation using indiscriminate email solicitations and exposure to social media.
Specifically:
•Obama Campaign Lacks the Industry-Standard Level Of Credit Card Security For Donations, But Uses It For Merchandise Purchases: To purchase Obama campaign merchandise, the campaign requires buyers to enter their credit card CVV security code, but does not require the credit card security code to be entered when making an online campaign donation. By GAI’s estimates, the Obama campaign’s failure to utilize industry-standard protections potentially costs the campaign millions in extra processing fees.
•Obama.com
•68% Of Traffic To Anonymously Registered Obama.com
To see the online donations, and to receive the official page report, America The Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S Elections? visit: www.CampaignFundingRisks.com
Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Tea Party Patriots, Inc. are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.
Copyright © Tea Party Patriots, Inc. 2012
Tea Party Patriots
1025 Rose Creek Drive
Ste 620-322
Woodstock, GA 30189
Support: 404-593-0877
websupport@teapartypatriots.org
Seal Team Six the Movie Starring Obama et al
President Barack Obama counts on a November 4, made for television movie to push him over the finish line on November 6.
President Barack Obama counts on a November 4, made for television movie to push him over the finish line on November 6.
“Obama killed Osama” is the message they want carried down to the voting booth; Obama’s sort of last word from the boob-tube after gazillions of text messages sent out over his free cell phones.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” is being touted as an example of the president’s leadership. Make that a borrowed leadership with events reversed by making the true heroes play bit parts.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” will air over the National Geographic Channel, courtesy of prominent Obama reelection fundraiser Harvey Weinstein and his company Voltage Pictures.
CONTINUED: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50117?utm_source=CFP+Mailout&utm_campaign=6bcb87fc79-Call_to_Champions&utm_medium=email
President Barack Obama counts on a November 4, made for television movie to push him over the finish line on November 6.
“Obama killed Osama” is the message they want carried down to the voting booth; Obama’s sort of last word from the boob-tube after gazillions of text messages sent out over his free cell phones.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” is being touted as an example of the president’s leadership. Make that a borrowed leadership with events reversed by making the true heroes play bit parts.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” will air over the National Geographic Channel, courtesy of prominent Obama reelection fundraiser Harvey Weinstein and his company Voltage Pictures.
CONTINUED: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50117?utm_source=CFP+Mailout&utm_campaign=6bcb87fc79-Call_to_Champions&utm_medium=email
North Carolina: Insurance industry proposes 30% increase in Homeowner Insurance Rates
CRAVEN COUNTY IN THE 30% INCREASE ZONE!
Tell ALL of your neighbors and friends to vote for MIKE CAUSEY for NC Insurance Commissioner! ENC's only chance for fairness in rates! Inside Baseball: MIKE CAUSEY needs every ENC vote to counter the western/urban NC vote. Don't hand your ballot in until you vote for him!
NEW BERN, N.C. -- Insurance companies have proposed an 18 percent hike in homeowners’ insurance rates throughout the state next year.
The North Carolina Department of Insurance will decide next month whether to approve the North Carolina Rate Bureau’s request to increase insurance rates. If approved, the increase would take effect on policy renewals or new policies taking effect in June 2013.
“I think an increase at this time, given the economy, given everything else, people are out of work, an increase at this time is totally unacceptable,” said Gerard Cormier, a New Bern homeowner.
Homeowners on or near the coast could see the highest rate increases. The North Carolina Rate Bureau has proposed that rates for them go up by 30%. The bureau claims coastal counties are at higher risk for hurricane damage.
The proposed increase of 30 percent would affect 18 counties, including Craven, Carteret, Pamlico, Jones, and Onslow. Advocacy group NC 20 says coastal counties are being discriminated against.
“Thirty percent is huge,” said Tom Thompson, chairman of NC 20. “The cost of homeowner’s insurance on the coast is already five times higher than in the Piedmont section of the state.”
The proposal could also increase renter’s and condo insurance on the coast by 30%. The state insurance department is collecting public comment on the proposal till October 19.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau has requested rate increases four times since 2002, ranging from 12 percent to nearly 22 percent. Each time, state insurance officials knocked those increases down to much more modest ranges, from 2.2 percent to 5.4 percent, said Ray Evans, director of the North Carolina Rate Bureau.
Cormier expects a similar outcome for this rate proposal.
"The strategy that people like that use is you ask for a ridiculous amount of an increase, and then when everything is settled, they get their full three or four percent increase that they wanted to begin with," said Cormier. "It gives people a false sense of happiness. People feel 'We beat them, they asked for 30 percent, we only gave them three percent.' But it's all part of insurance companies' strategy."
http://m.wnct.com/wnct/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=7Ssd0hxN&full=true#display
Tell ALL of your neighbors and friends to vote for MIKE CAUSEY for NC Insurance Commissioner! ENC's only chance for fairness in rates! Inside Baseball: MIKE CAUSEY needs every ENC vote to counter the western/urban NC vote. Don't hand your ballot in until you vote for him!
NEW BERN, N.C. -- Insurance companies have proposed an 18 percent hike in homeowners’ insurance rates throughout the state next year.
The North Carolina Department of Insurance will decide next month whether to approve the North Carolina Rate Bureau’s request to increase insurance rates. If approved, the increase would take effect on policy renewals or new policies taking effect in June 2013.
“I think an increase at this time, given the economy, given everything else, people are out of work, an increase at this time is totally unacceptable,” said Gerard Cormier, a New Bern homeowner.
Homeowners on or near the coast could see the highest rate increases. The North Carolina Rate Bureau has proposed that rates for them go up by 30%. The bureau claims coastal counties are at higher risk for hurricane damage.
The proposed increase of 30 percent would affect 18 counties, including Craven, Carteret, Pamlico, Jones, and Onslow. Advocacy group NC 20 says coastal counties are being discriminated against.
“Thirty percent is huge,” said Tom Thompson, chairman of NC 20. “The cost of homeowner’s insurance on the coast is already five times higher than in the Piedmont section of the state.”
The proposal could also increase renter’s and condo insurance on the coast by 30%. The state insurance department is collecting public comment on the proposal till October 19.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau has requested rate increases four times since 2002, ranging from 12 percent to nearly 22 percent. Each time, state insurance officials knocked those increases down to much more modest ranges, from 2.2 percent to 5.4 percent, said Ray Evans, director of the North Carolina Rate Bureau.
Cormier expects a similar outcome for this rate proposal.
"The strategy that people like that use is you ask for a ridiculous amount of an increase, and then when everything is settled, they get their full three or four percent increase that they wanted to begin with," said Cormier. "It gives people a false sense of happiness. People feel 'We beat them, they asked for 30 percent, we only gave them three percent.' But it's all part of insurance companies' strategy."
http://m.wnct.com/wnct/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=7Ssd0hxN&full=true#display
Monday, October 8, 2012
UPCOMING EVENTS!
40 Days of Prayer
Proclamation for America
September 28, 2012 to November 6, 2012
Sign up at: http://www.jhm.org/Resources/FortyDaysOfPrayer
October 8, 2012, 12:30 pm: Fundraiser for Rep. Bill Cook, Conservative Candidate for NC Senate District 2, The Bank Bistro and Bar, 216 W. Main St., Washington, NC. Special guest: Thom Tillis, Speaker of the NC House of Representatives. Lunch Donation $35; Sponsor $100; and Host $200.
October 8, 2012, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm: Moore Tea Citizens, Monthly Supper/Meeting, Russell's Restaurant, Southern Pines, NC. Contact: Moore TEA Citizens at mooreteacitizens@gmail.com. Website: www.mooreteacitizens.com
October 8, 2012, 6:00 pm– 7:30 pm: Fundraising Reception Honoring Rep. Norman Sanderson, Republican Candidate for NC Senate District 2, Leon Mann Senior Center, 3820 Galantis Drive, Morehead City, NC. Heavy Hors D'oeuvres Served--RSVP to Jennifer Alcock at jenniferalcock@embarqmail.com or call 252.876.7189. Please bring a friend! Please make checks payable to Citizens to Elect Norman Sanderson or donate online at VoteForNorm.com.
October 8, 2012, 6:30 pm: You are cordially invited to a one time only screening of the documentary "They Come To America" by film creator Dennis Michael Lynch.
This film is being sponsored by Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page at the Rockingham County Community College Auditorium, Wentworth, NC. Doors Open @ 6:00 p.m. - Movie starts @ 6:30 p.m. Admission is Free, but Seating is Limited....Come early...Warning this movie contains some adult language..... Contact: James Johnson
President-NCFIRE, NCFIRE@ncfire.info, 1-888-885-0879
October 8, 2012, 7:00 pm: Havelock Board of Commissioners Meeting, City Hall Auditorium, 1 Governmental Avenue, Havelock, NC.
October 9, 2012, 7:00 pm: New Bern Board of Alderman Meeting, City Hall Courtroom, 300 Pollock Street, New Bern, NC
October 11, 2012, 7:00 pm: River Bend Town Council Work Session, 45 Shoreline Drive, River Bend, NC. Regular meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month and Council work sessions are held on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm. Meetings are held in the Town Hall Meeting Room and televised on CATV Channel 10 the following Friday. Website: http://www.riverbendnc.org/index.html.
October 11, 2012, 9:00 pm: Televised Vice President Debate.
October 10, 2012, 6:00 pm: Eastern NC Tea Party, Movie Night at the Coffee Shack, 168 Beacon Dr., Winterville. The DVD tentatively scheduled at this time is "The Fraudulent Ratification of the 16th Amendment."
October 13, 2012, 10:00 am-12:00 Noon: Conservative Candidate Council of State Forum, Paramount Theatre, 145 S. Center St., Goldsboro, NC. Featuring the following candidates and offices: NC Lieutenant Governor--Dan Forest; NC Secretary Of State—Edward (Ed) Goodwin; NC Commissioner Of Insurance—Mike Causey; NC Commissioner of Agriculture--Steve Troxler; NC Superintendent of Public Instruction--John Tedesco; NC Auditor--Debra Goldman; NC Commissioner of Labor—Cherie Berry; and NC Treasurer—Steven L (Steve) Royal. Hear the candidates explain how they govern by Constitutional and Biblical principles. Sponsored by: Citizens for Constitutional Liberties (Wayne County Tea Party) These candidates are most closely aligned with our core values but we do not endorse anyone.
October 13, 2012, 11:00 am-2:30 pm: Moore Tea Citizens—Saturday Seminar: Raising All Voices Movie "A Pebble In Your Shoe," Douglass Community Center, Southern Pines, NC. Tim Johnson, founder of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, and Kevin Daniels, North Carolina chair of the FDF will be our two featured speakers. Pastor Joshua Haire, leader of the First Missionary Baptist Church, will express his views regarding faith and the history of blacks in America. We will view the video, "A Pebble In Your Shoe". In the film Dr. James Taylor, Pastor of the University Christian Church in Norman, Oklahoma since 2007, traces American history from the perspective of the Black voter. He reveals the history of the Democratic Party in its efforts to thwart Civil Rights for Blacks. He challenges viewers to reflect on why they vote as they do. He asks Black voters to come back home to Conservative values. Snacks will be served. TO SIGN UP FOR ANY OF OUR EVENTS LINK TO OUR WEBSITE, www.mooreteacitizens.com. LOOK FOR THE CALENDAR, AND REGISTER TODAY! Contact: Moore TEA Citizens at mooreteacitizens@gmail.com.
October 13-14, 2012: MumFest in New Bern, NC! CCTA will be exhibiting. Festival Hours: Saturday 9:30am-6:30pm and Sunday 10:30am-5pm. FREE Trolley/Shuttle from New Bern Mall.
Festival Information: http://mumfest.com/
October 14, 2012, 7:00 pm: Wilson NC Tea Party Presents the Kirk Cameron film, MONUMENTAL: In Search of America’s National Treasure. "Monumental is the story of America’s beginnings. Presented, produced, and starring Kirk Cameron, the 90-minute true story follows this father of six across Europe and the U.S. as he seeks....http://wilsonncteaparty.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/monumental-farmington-heights/
CCTA WATCHDOG REPORT: Eastern NC Region
NORTH CAROLINA'S EASTERN REGION- 2 Oct 2012
This report is limited to just one issue. It is extremely important that all CCTA members, and indeed all taxpayers, understand the importance of this issue.
The utter failure of North Carolina's Eastern Region and the Global TransPark to do anything significant except waste millions of taxpayer dollars has primarily come to light by two sources. The first is by CCTA member, Bill Harper's consistent demand that our Board of Commissioners remove the county from these organizations and any association with them and the second is by an honest evaluation of North Carolina's Eastern Region by our Board of Commissioner's appointed representative to the organization, Mark Griffin, also a former member of CCTA.
Bill's major arguments have been: 1) that the highway signs indicating the entering and departure from the "Global TransPark Zone" are offence to him (and should be to all taxpayers) because of the squandering of huge sums of taxpayer dollars on schemes promoted as providing huge numbers of jobs (55,000 or so) that have simply never materialized, and 2) That Carolina's Eastern Region is obligated to promote the Global TransPark.
his written report to the Board of Commissioners on North Carolina's Eastern Region, Mark Griffin stated the following: "After having now served for over 18 months as an Active NCER board member for Craven County, it is my opinion that our county would be better served by developing its own economic development board and exiting the NCER. I believe that Craven County is underserved with the regional approach because: 1) of the charge that the NCER has to promote the Global TransPark and 2) other member counties have the ability to entice projects to their county more easily due to the relative poorer economic condition, while at the same time using Craven County as leverage."
Importantly, Mark goes on the say, " I would also suggest that a better process for determining economic development projects would be by allowing county commissioners, rather than the NCER Board, to direct final decisions for funding of projects. This would allow for accountability from those elected rather than appointed."
This last gets to the heart of the problem with all these regional authorities, boards and commissions. They have the ability to waste vast sums of taxpayer money without accountability to the taxpayers!
To his great credit, Mark Griffin goes on the explain three options for withdrawing from the NCER:
The NCER commission may dissolve at any time. Dissolving would take a majority of the board and is unlikely to take place.
Craven County could withdraw but the trust fund monies would stay in place. I believe this would be a poor choice, as Craven County would have money invested but no voice on the NCER board. (These are Mark's exact words, but I think the general taxpayers of Craven County have about as much chance of benefiting from this money as a snowball's chances in hell. I would rather that the Craven County Board of Commissioners take a bold stand for taxpayers and disavow the whole mess by unilaterally pulling out).
New legislation giving counties the ability to withdraw WITH county paid funds. I believe this is the best option and should be explored (Mark's exact words).
OK. If the Board of Commissioners wants to take the advice of its representative on North Carolina's Eastern Region, then let's see some action in that direction. Prepare a resolution to be voted on at the November Board of Commissioner's meeting requesting such legislation from the General Assembly. We at CCTA are optimistic that we will have a strong voice in the North Carolina Senate in Norman Sanderson and in the North Carolina House by Michael Speciale. Let's all work together to get that legislation passed and put the taxpayer support of the Global TransPark and North Carolina's Eastern Region in our past!
Respectfully Submitted:
Hal James
CCTA
Issues & Watchdog Committee Chairman
This report is limited to just one issue. It is extremely important that all CCTA members, and indeed all taxpayers, understand the importance of this issue.
The utter failure of North Carolina's Eastern Region and the Global TransPark to do anything significant except waste millions of taxpayer dollars has primarily come to light by two sources. The first is by CCTA member, Bill Harper's consistent demand that our Board of Commissioners remove the county from these organizations and any association with them and the second is by an honest evaluation of North Carolina's Eastern Region by our Board of Commissioner's appointed representative to the organization, Mark Griffin, also a former member of CCTA.
Bill's major arguments have been: 1) that the highway signs indicating the entering and departure from the "Global TransPark Zone" are offence to him (and should be to all taxpayers) because of the squandering of huge sums of taxpayer dollars on schemes promoted as providing huge numbers of jobs (55,000 or so) that have simply never materialized, and 2) That Carolina's Eastern Region is obligated to promote the Global TransPark.
his written report to the Board of Commissioners on North Carolina's Eastern Region, Mark Griffin stated the following: "After having now served for over 18 months as an Active NCER board member for Craven County, it is my opinion that our county would be better served by developing its own economic development board and exiting the NCER. I believe that Craven County is underserved with the regional approach because: 1) of the charge that the NCER has to promote the Global TransPark and 2) other member counties have the ability to entice projects to their county more easily due to the relative poorer economic condition, while at the same time using Craven County as leverage."
Importantly, Mark goes on the say, " I would also suggest that a better process for determining economic development projects would be by allowing county commissioners, rather than the NCER Board, to direct final decisions for funding of projects. This would allow for accountability from those elected rather than appointed."
This last gets to the heart of the problem with all these regional authorities, boards and commissions. They have the ability to waste vast sums of taxpayer money without accountability to the taxpayers!
To his great credit, Mark Griffin goes on the explain three options for withdrawing from the NCER:
The NCER commission may dissolve at any time. Dissolving would take a majority of the board and is unlikely to take place.
Craven County could withdraw but the trust fund monies would stay in place. I believe this would be a poor choice, as Craven County would have money invested but no voice on the NCER board. (These are Mark's exact words, but I think the general taxpayers of Craven County have about as much chance of benefiting from this money as a snowball's chances in hell. I would rather that the Craven County Board of Commissioners take a bold stand for taxpayers and disavow the whole mess by unilaterally pulling out).
New legislation giving counties the ability to withdraw WITH county paid funds. I believe this is the best option and should be explored (Mark's exact words).
OK. If the Board of Commissioners wants to take the advice of its representative on North Carolina's Eastern Region, then let's see some action in that direction. Prepare a resolution to be voted on at the November Board of Commissioner's meeting requesting such legislation from the General Assembly. We at CCTA are optimistic that we will have a strong voice in the North Carolina Senate in Norman Sanderson and in the North Carolina House by Michael Speciale. Let's all work together to get that legislation passed and put the taxpayer support of the Global TransPark and North Carolina's Eastern Region in our past!
Respectfully Submitted:
Hal James
CCTA
Issues & Watchdog Committee Chairman
AFP Fighting for the American Dream
October 18, 2012, 5:00-9:00 pm: AFP Fighting for the American Dream—Freedom Phone Bank.
Americans for Prosperity will host a Freedom Phone Bank in Cape Carteret North Carolinians to educate them about the disastrous economic policies of President Obama, and encourage them to put grassroots pressure on the President to change his agenda. We will be meeting at the Ribeyes Steakhouse in Cape Carteret 104 Golfin Dolphin Drive , Cape Carteret , NC 28584
BOOK REVIEW: Shadowbosses
Shadowbosses: How Government Employee Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind
(NY Times Bestseller!)
Mallory Factor is the author of SHADOWBOSSES.
SHADOWBOSSES tells a story of intrigue, drama, and corruption and reads like an organized crime novel. However, it is a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process.
This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers’ freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what’s coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans–maybe even you–for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, SHADOWBOSSES is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.
Read More: http://malloryfactor.com/
(NY Times Bestseller!)
Mallory Factor is the author of SHADOWBOSSES.
SHADOWBOSSES tells a story of intrigue, drama, and corruption and reads like an organized crime novel. However, it is a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process.
This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers’ freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what’s coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans–maybe even you–for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, SHADOWBOSSES is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.
Read More: http://malloryfactor.com/
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Top 10 Obama anti-business, anti-job actions
President Obama loves to complain that he inherited an economic mess. That may be true, but his wrong-headed policies have only made matters worse, taking actions that hurt businesses and stunt job growth.
1. Obamacare costs
Obamacare will impose a new cost on many small businesses that currently do not provide health insurance for their employees and will pressure many to shift workers to part-time status to get below the measure’s “50-worker” loophole. It also means all companies will have to re-evaluate their health care coverage and make changes to come into compliance with federal guidelines or pay fines of up to $3,000 per worker. The Congressional Budget Office says the bill will lead to 800,000 fewer jobs by 2020.
2. Small business tax hikes
The expiration of the Bush tax cuts for individuals making over $200,000, or families making $250,000, will hit many small business owners, an increase that will hit as those same owners are still trying to dig out of the recession. Considering that small businesses are the main creator of jobs in the nation, every dollar taken from them in tax hikes is that many fewer dollars available for expanding employment.
3. EPA’s burdensome regulations
Regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency put a tremendous burden on businesses, making job creation more difficult. The agency’s rules on air quality standards are curtailing energy produced from coal-fired electrical plants, causing a rise in electricity prices and making scarce a major resource that is abundant in America.
CONTINUED: http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/06/top-10-obama-anti-business-anti-job-actions/
Obama House Of Cards Could Collapse With Donor Scandal
Video: Obama House Of Cards Could Collapse With Donor Scandal
A scandal that is being blamed for Obama’s poor performance at the presidential debate has been seething on social media since late Thursday night.
The Washington Examiner reports that an extensive investigation into the Obama campaign’s donations—specifically illegal donations from overseas—is due to be reported on by an unnamed national magazine.
Will this be the scandal that will derail the Obama campaign? Do the alleged overseas donations have anything to do with the illegal Russian money that poured into the Obama campaign in 2008? Was Obama paid off with Russian money to be “more flexible” with Russia in regards to U.S. missile defense systems?
http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/10/06/video-obama-house-of-cards-could-collapse-with-donor-scandal/
A scandal that is being blamed for Obama’s poor performance at the presidential debate has been seething on social media since late Thursday night.
The Washington Examiner reports that an extensive investigation into the Obama campaign’s donations—specifically illegal donations from overseas—is due to be reported on by an unnamed national magazine.
Will this be the scandal that will derail the Obama campaign? Do the alleged overseas donations have anything to do with the illegal Russian money that poured into the Obama campaign in 2008? Was Obama paid off with Russian money to be “more flexible” with Russia in regards to U.S. missile defense systems?
http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/10/06/video-obama-house-of-cards-could-collapse-with-donor-scandal/
Saturday, October 6, 2012
NC--Democratic Party Office Accused of Campaign Violations
FROM SAMMY DODD:
Jim Dancy's opponent George Graham with the Lenoir County Democratic Party have committed a federal felony crime by placing fliers and campaign materials in people's mailboxes illegal without postage. News Channel 12 broke the story after I reported it to them. Story is linked here. http://www.wcti12.com/news/Democratic-Party-Office-Accused-of-Campaign-Violations/-/13530444/16878056/-/a8039o/-/index.html
I want to organize a large campaign of folks calling the NC Board of Elections, and the NC Postmaster General demanding punishment to the FULL extent of the law for these illegal acts. Would the CCTA be willing to assist in such an effort?
Jim Dancy's opponent George Graham with the Lenoir County Democratic Party have committed a federal felony crime by placing fliers and campaign materials in people's mailboxes illegal without postage. News Channel 12 broke the story after I reported it to them. Story is linked here. http://www.wcti12.com/news/Democratic-Party-Office-Accused-of-Campaign-Violations/-/13530444/16878056/-/a8039o/-/index.html
I want to organize a large campaign of folks calling the NC Board of Elections, and the NC Postmaster General demanding punishment to the FULL extent of the law for these illegal acts. Would the CCTA be willing to assist in such an effort?
Friday, October 5, 2012
DC Report: Is Possible Donor Scandal Story Distracting Obama?
A brewing political scandal regarding potentially illegal campaign donations is threatening to cause even more problems for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, the Washington Examiner reports.
The news comes the day after the commander-in-chief was easily outperformed by his rival Mitt Romney in the first presidential debate on Wednesday night, putting Obama suddenly on the defensive.
The Washington Examiner, citing “knowledgeable sources,” reports that a national magazine and a national web site are preparing to run a bombshell donor scandal story that President Obama and his campaign have been trying to keep under wraps.
However, a “key source” reportedly said the story could be published on Friday or this upcoming Monday.
The Washington Examiner has more details:
According to the sources, a taxpayer watchdog group conducted a nine-month investigation into presidential and congressional fundraising and has uncovered thousands of cases of credit card solicitations and donations to Obama and Capitol Hill, allegedly from unsecure accounts, and many from overseas. That might be a violation of federal election laws.
The Obama campaign has received hundreds of millions in small dollar donations, many via credit card donations through their website. On Thursday, the campaign announced a record September donor haul of $150 million.
Political analysts have been trying to figure out why Obama looked off his game during the debate — a possible donor scandal story from a national magazine and website could be one possible explanation.
If there is any silver lining for Obama, the Obama-Biden ticket survived a similar scandal at the end of 2008. The Washington Post reported that the Obama campaign allowed donors to use “largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor’s identity.”
TheBlaze will continue to follow this developing story.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/dc-report-is-possible-donor-scandal-story-distracting-obama/
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
How Looming Tax Hikes Would Hit Typical Families
A variety of tax cuts enacted during the tenures of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama expire at the end of December. Expiring provisions include Bush-era cuts on wage and investment income and cuts for married couples and families with children. Also expiring is a 2 percentage point temporary payroll tax cut.
A look the tax increases facing typical families:
—A married couple with two children and an income of $100,000 would pay $7,935 in income taxes and $5,650 in payroll taxes this year, for a total federal tax burden of $13,585. Next year, they would face income taxes of $11,919 and payroll taxes of $7,650, for a total federal tax burden of $19,569, a total tax increase of $5,984.
CONTINUED: http://cowboybyte.com/13139/how-looming-tax-hikes-would-hit-typical-families/
A look the tax increases facing typical families:
—A married couple with two children and an income of $100,000 would pay $7,935 in income taxes and $5,650 in payroll taxes this year, for a total federal tax burden of $13,585. Next year, they would face income taxes of $11,919 and payroll taxes of $7,650, for a total federal tax burden of $19,569, a total tax increase of $5,984.
CONTINUED: http://cowboybyte.com/13139/how-looming-tax-hikes-would-hit-typical-families/
Surprise! Obama Ignores A Law to Aid His Reelection!
In case you missed it over the weekend, the Obama administration’s Friday afternoon document drop was a memo from the Department of Labor telling defense contractors not to provide legally-required notice to thousands of employees that they are about to be laid off, if automatic spending cuts agreed to by the President and the Congress take effect.
Translation: President Obama wants to prevent thousands of employees, especially in swing-state Virginia, from being told that they are going to be laid off due to Department of Defense funding cuts. Because of the timing of the cuts, those notices would have been sent to employees just prior to the election in November. The man who signed those funding cuts into law would like to avoid that.
When the administration first proposed this idea back in June, defense contractors patiently explained to the reelection-obsessed President that there is a law, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification ("WARN") Act of 1988, that requires federal contractors to tell employees 60 days in advance of expected layoffs. There are quite a few layoffs expected for the end of the year as a result of a genius agreement between President Obama and Congress to cut astonishing amounts of funding for the Department of Defense. Companies that fail to meet their obligations under the WARN Act can be sued by their former employees. Defense contractors indicated that they would not be ignoring their legal duty under the WARN Act.
CONTINUED: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/the_rumble/2012/10/surprise-obama-ignores-a-law-to-aid-his-reelection
Translation: President Obama wants to prevent thousands of employees, especially in swing-state Virginia, from being told that they are going to be laid off due to Department of Defense funding cuts. Because of the timing of the cuts, those notices would have been sent to employees just prior to the election in November. The man who signed those funding cuts into law would like to avoid that.
When the administration first proposed this idea back in June, defense contractors patiently explained to the reelection-obsessed President that there is a law, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification ("WARN") Act of 1988, that requires federal contractors to tell employees 60 days in advance of expected layoffs. There are quite a few layoffs expected for the end of the year as a result of a genius agreement between President Obama and Congress to cut astonishing amounts of funding for the Department of Defense. Companies that fail to meet their obligations under the WARN Act can be sued by their former employees. Defense contractors indicated that they would not be ignoring their legal duty under the WARN Act.
CONTINUED: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/the_rumble/2012/10/surprise-obama-ignores-a-law-to-aid-his-reelection
Herman Cain Schools Anti-American College Hecklers
Former presidential candidate and successful CEO Herman Cain participated in a jobs forum at the University of Michigan last week. During his presentation, Cain told several hundred students that they'll enjoy at least one significant advantage when the enter the job market, triggering an interesting response from a handful of hecklers: Cain: "This is the greatest country in the world."
Students: "Not," "It's not!"
The rest of the audience gasped, booed, and a few chanted "U-S-A." Cain then launched into an epic impromptu monologue about the greatness of America -- her liberties, her prosperity, her military strength, and her opportunities -- bringing the crowd to its feet. Pure awesome:
CONTNUED: http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2734278%3ATopic%3A411239&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
Students: "Not," "It's not!"
The rest of the audience gasped, booed, and a few chanted "U-S-A." Cain then launched into an epic impromptu monologue about the greatness of America -- her liberties, her prosperity, her military strength, and her opportunities -- bringing the crowd to its feet. Pure awesome:
CONTNUED: http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2734278%3ATopic%3A411239&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
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