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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Question: Now that it appears that 16 million Americans will lose the health insurance they currently have as a result of ObamaCare, where will they turn for coverage?
YOU & I ARE MEMBERS, DON'T DELETE, JUST READ AND PASS ON!
The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday. If all of us old farts have all of the money, then let us try to elect someone who might be near honest and not be after feathering their own nests.
They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.
In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age. Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience.
We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators. A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.
We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off. We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam. We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America ; we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America , and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America.
Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land
we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.
It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress. You fell for the "Hope and Change" which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies."
You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Kool-Aid.' Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom.
This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.
Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2014 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2014 we're going to the polls by the millions.
This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."
Footnote:
This is spot on. I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on. I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great county.
Can you feel the ground shaking???
It's not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE.
=
Benador: Obama's War On America: Mercenary Immigration
In fact, 11 million illegal immigrants in America are enjoying all kind of aids and privileges,
especially, the outrageous Supreme Court order that has granted vote to illegal immigrants in American elections WITHOUT documentation, means that a de facto immigration has already taken place.
The rest will only be a formality. Those who have entered America breaking the laws of immigration, instead of being punished, will be rewarded.
Obama continues pulling the strings among his friends and donors to help him achieve his goals. Among them, www.FWD.us the political action group founded by one of Mr. Obama’s supporters, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook; the National Immigration Forum; and the Partnership for a New American Economy, led by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, Rupert Murdoch and Bill Marriott Jr. They have joined in their quest to help the President crush public opinion with their arguments and influence and policymakers to pass a most comprehensive immigration reform.
Their agenda is set as the “partnership [to] enable Mayors and CEOs to demonstrate to policymakers the vital role that immigration plays in our economy by publishing studies, conducting polls, convening forums, and sponsoring public education campaigns."
Given that people such as Zuckerberg, Bloomberg and Murdoch are involved, the weight of their influence almost guarantee the success of this endeavor.
Yesterday, in an unprecedented move, a group of Utah business leaders confronted several members of their state’s congressional delegation as they all waited to board their flight to Washington D.C. last Monday at the Salt Lake City airport. The businessmen were urging House Republicans to take up a broad immigration overhaul. “Our plea is to act now, do it now, lead,” Stan Lockhart, a former chairman of the Utah Republican Party, said Tuesday in an interview as he explained the group’s basic pitch. “Ask House leadership to lead, and let’s pass what’s possible now.” Randy Parker, chief executive of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, chimed in: “They need to act now. That’s the bottom line.”
Why would such a coalition of business executives, evangelical groups and prominent conservatives come together to urge House Republicans to put broad immigration legislation on the House floor, “ideally before the end of this year?”
They were not alone. There was also another larger group of more than 600 leaders from roughly 40 states who descended on Capitol Hill for meetings with nearly 150 Republican lawmakers who they expect to support a broad immigration overhaul, including some sort of legal status for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.
When conservative business leaders urge lawmakers to take a more proactive role in pushing immigration legislation to a House vote, one must wonder what is in there for them when they are demanding their lawmakers to “ actually create dialogue and create discussion and tell leadership in the House that we’re not interested in waiting two years — we need to address this now.” The urge is certain to please President Obama, Zuckerberg, Bloomberg, and Murdoch.
Meanwhile, in Capitol Hill conflicting messages are coming from Marco Rubio who seems to have heard people unhappy with his immigration positions and is struggling to remain a viable candidate for next elections. Mike Lee, who won with support from the Tea Party, is also targeted by the business leaders, in the hope to convince him to join the bandwagon of immigration reform. However, Senator Lee will not be an easy prey, as he has qualms to oppose an immigration overhaul that he considers more of an “amnesty.”
No one forgets that President Obama has made clear he wants this immigration legislation signed by the end of this year. To that purpose, he has met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus “to discuss administration efforts to urge House passage of immigration legislation.”
The president will use “all tools available”. Indeed, Americans know that he will do all in his power, and more, to get an immigration bill through Congress.
The Obama Administration has said that “enacting the Senate immigration measure would increase the U.S. gross domestic product by 3.3 percent in 2023 by creating a larger labor force, higher productivity and stronger technology and agriculture.”
They willingly forget that America already has a large labor force, there are roughly a third of the American population, i.e., 114 million in all, jobless, unemployed or without work who must be given any and all jobs available in America. They should be priority number one, above anyone else.
Most immigrants targeted by the Obama Administration to receive their gifts, are highly unskilled individuals -not the opposite. So, how do they figure these people would be instrumental in increasing the U.S. gross domestic product by 3.3%?
And, there are still other issues such as border security, immigration agents to be dealt with. For now, suffice it to note the incongruent ambitions of the President with the reality of the situation.
The ill policies of democrats and republicans from the last decades have been guided by an American political leadership that has governed in accordance to the personal and corporate interests and not by the best interest of America and her citizens. That is the reason why they need to maintain the fabric of the country made of immigrants -while they give hard time to born-Americans.
Fifty million American babies have been murdered thanks to laws promoting and facilitating abortion. America needs more American born babies. A good President would have promoted and facilitated that young couples have as many babies as possible. Sadly, the abortion program is one of the abhorrent pet projects of this President
Once again, the politics of the leadership serve their own personal and corporate interests. Once again, they are not thinking of the country and people whom they should defend -with their lives, in case of need. Once again, political and business leaders are betraying America.
At this point, allowing a quasi-amnesty on immigration equates to have the doors wide open to unskilled mercenaries. They will not respect or share the values of the land and will show no love, solidarity or gratitude for America.
They would still have to show if they are ready to sacrifice for a land that deserves to be worshiped.
One thing is for sure, those mercenary immigrants will show allegiance to the rotten American leadership that has facilitated their status as new Americans.
Frankly, America deserves better.
God bless America
Copyright ©Eliana Benador
Eliana Benador is a global strategist, a political operative and a human rights activist. She has been the founder of Benador Associates. She has represented dissidents abroad from Iraq, Iran, the Copts and others. Her blog is Eliana's Choice. You may follow her on Twitter, join her fan page on Facebook and you may find her also on LinkedIn.
Bigger, Lighter, Deadlier! Navy launches new stealth destroyer...
October 29th, 2013
01:44 PM ET
By Larry Shaughnessy
(CNN) - The Navy's newest warship slipped out of dry dock this week into the waters of Maine, marking a new era for war fighting at sea.
The USS Zumwalt, the first of the DDG-1000 class of destroyers, is longer, faster and carries state-of-the-art weapons that will allow it to destroy targets at more than 60 miles, according to the Navy.
At 610 feet long and 81 feet wide, the Zumwalt is longer and thinner than the USS Arizona, a battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor. But it weighs about half as much.
Much of the ship's superstructure is wrapped in a huge, canopy made of lightweight carbon fiber composite.
The canopy and the rest of the ship is built on angles that help make it 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer.
"It has the radar cross-section of a fishing boat," said Chris Johnson a spokesperson for Naval Sea Systems Command.
The Navy had planned to spend up to $9 billion in research and development on the DDG-1000 program and up to $20 billion to design and deliver seven ships. But cost overruns cut production to three ships.
When it begins missions, the Zumwalt will be the largest stealthy ship in the Navy.
Coming out of dry dock at Bath Iron Works in Maine does not mean the ship is ready to put to sea.
The shipbuilder will now begin installing a considerable arsenal of weapons, including two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS), which can fire rocket powered, computer-guided shells that can destroy targets 63 miles away. That's three times farther than ordinary destroyer guns can fire.
The DDX will go to sea with a crew of about 150 as opposed to current destroyers which carry a crew of 275. One reason is the AGS is practically self-firing. It needs no sailors to load the shells or remove the spent rounds.
The Zumwalt will also be equipped with a new missile launching system capable of firing 80 missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Seasparrow surface to air missiles.
Finally it will be able to carry and launch two Seahawk helicopters or four unmanned aerial vehicle.
Its christening had been been scheduled for last month, but the government shutdown forced the Navy to cancel the ceremony.
It's expected to be rescheduled next spring. The shipbuilder, plans to finish construction and turn the ship over to the Navy next year.
Fox News First -- Frightful poll sends Dems screaming | Deadline day for ObamaCare exemptions | Holy See (and hear?) | Cruz vows no tricks for fellow Senate GOPers | All the eggs and toilet paper in Fargo
FOX News First: Oct. 31
By Chris Stirewalt
Buzz cut:
· Frightful poll sends Dems screaming
· Deadline day for ObamaCare exemptions
· Holy See (and hear?)
· Cruz vows no tricks for fellow Senate GOPers
· All the eggs and toilet paper in Fargo…
CRASHES, CANCELLED POLICIES FRACTURE DEMS
As millions of Americans receive notices that their insurance policies are being cancelled because of new ObamaCare regulations, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will offer her own bill that will allow Americans to keep their existing plans. When news broke this week that the president for years led voters to believe they could keep their coverage under his insurance overhaul despite knowing otherwise, Republicans pounced offering legislation to block the Obama rules banning low-post, bare-bones coverage. Landrieu, facing a tough re-election fight in a Republican state, is jumping the line with a bill of her own. “The promise was made and it should be kept,” Landrieu told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “And it was our understanding when we voted for that, that people when they have insurance, could keep what they had. So, I’m going to be working on that fix.” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is also preparing his own legislation that would delay by a full year the imposition of ObamaCare fines for those who don’t buy insurance.
Scary stuff - It was a dire WSJ/NBC News poll that drove Republicans to the exits on the partial federal shutdown three weeks ago. Now it’s the Democrats turn for a fright. The president’s tanking poll numbers and the surge in concern over the beleaguered ObamaCare rollout will push more moderate Democrats to conclude that their best path is away from the president and his law. Shutdowns are temporary. ObamaCare is forever.
DEADLINE FOR DEMS ON OBAMACARE EXEMPTIONS
Will top Democrats in Congress choose to exempt their staffs from ObamaCare? Today is the deadline for lawmakers to decide whether to grant a hugely valuable exemption to the staffs of congressional committees. House Republicans have all opted to submit themselves and their staffs to the costly provisions of the law. But as today’s deadline approached, Senate Democrats appeared split on the issue. The choice could become a big issue in next year’s elections. With Sen.Rand Paul, R-Ky., and some Republicans pushing a constitutional amendment forbidding Congress from exempting itself from any laws it passes, the stakes are high. As Washington Examiner reports, an embarrassing moment in the testimony of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, in which she repeatedly and wrongly claimed it would be “illegal” for her to enroll, exemptions are proving to be a hot topic. Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike Emanuel has the story.
Top Tweet of the Morning from @laurenashburn - @NewsNinja2012 Gotcha! Kathleen Sebelius captured on hot mic telling her assistant “Don't do this to me” http://bit.ly/1bEwl3h
[Lauren Ashburn of “#MEDIABUZZ” tracks the Twitterverse every day inTop Twitter Talk.]
TOP HOSPITALS OPT OUT OF OBAMACARE
Despite claims by the Obama administration that insurances companies will be competing for consumer dollars under ObamaCare, a new survey by watchdog.org shows many of America’s top hospitals will accept insurance from only one or two companies. U.S. News and World Report has more.
SECURITY QUESTIONS STILL SHADOW HEALTH SITE
During Wednesday’s hearing on ObamaCare’s Web site, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., pointed to a Sept. 27 memo to Medicare administratorMarilyn Tavenner from her staff warning of “inherent security risks” stemming from inadequate testing. “You accepted a risk on behalf of every user . . . that put their personal financial information at risk because you did not even have the most basic end-to-end test on security of this system,” Rogers said.“It was a theoretical problem that was immediately fixed,” Sebelius responded, acknowledging there was a security flaw that did open the door to hackers. Spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Julie Bataille, said the site was still undergoing security testing, but maintained consumer information remains safe. WaPo has more.
“I’ll tell you, one of the things we’re very concerned about is the security of information that individuals post on that website, knowing that in fact they’re changing the lines or changing some of the information that’s out there literally every single day.” – Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, “On The Record withGreta Van Susteren.” Watch Here
Morale killer? - Buzzfeed looks at how frustration over the disastrous rollout is causing morale to drop among the programs’ frontline volunteers and coordinator’s in “Obamacare’s Grassroots Army Is Starting To Get Burned Out”
Geek squad - “Neither he [President Obama] or I are technology geeks and we assumed it was up and ready to run…The president tried to get online, my daughter tried to get online, I did not because it was clear that I wasn’t getting online.” – Vice President Joe Biden to Headline News.
NSA HACKED GOOGLE, YAHOO
The National Security Agency has broken into the highly secure data centers where Google and Yahoo store vast troves of data on their users by hacking an unencrypted weak point in the data pipeline linking the enormous centers, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowdento the WaPo. Fox News has more.
Holy See (and hear?) - Italian magazine Panorama reports that the NSA monitored calls from the residence where cardinals stayed before the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. An agency spokeswoman said the agency “does not target the Vatican.”
Any references? - AP reports “[A] lawyer for former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, says his client has found a technical support job at a Russian website.”
The Judge’s Ruling - Judge Andrew Napolitano blasts the pervasive nature of the NSA’s spy program for Fox News Opinion in Spying on the President: “The president claims he can start secret foreign wars using the CIA, secretly kill Americans using drones, and now secretly spy on anyone anywhere using the NSA. Is the president an unwitting dupe to a secret rats’ nest of uncontrolled government spies and killers? Or is he a megalomaniacal, totalitarian secret micromanager who lies regularly, consistently and systematically about the role of government in our lives?”
ADMINISTRATION BLOCKS ACCESS TO BENGHAZI SURVIVORS
The State Department has again denied a request from lawmakers to interview survivors of the Sept. 11, 2012 raid by Islamists on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya. In letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the agency refers to “significant risks” and “serious concerns about having the survivors of the attack submit to additional interviews.” Graham has been asking since last year for the FBI’s transcripts of interviews with State Department and CIA survivors. He and other Republicans are warning the White House they will blockade Federal Reserve nominee Janet Yellen if the administration does not provide the details. Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge has more.
[Watch Fox: Rep. Darell Issa, R-Calif., head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, appears in the 10 a.m. ET hour]
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
George Will looks at how campaign finance decisions are changing the shape of American political discourse in The judiciary and free speech: “Brick by brick, judges are dismantling the wall of separation that legislators have built between political activity and the First Amendment’s protections of free speech and association. The latest examples, from Mississippi and Arizona, reflect the judiciary’s proper engagement in defending citizens from the regulation of political speech…Liberals who love the regulatory state loathe Citizens United. You can understand why.”
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? EmailFoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 43.9 percent//Disapprove – 51.6 percent
Direction of Country: Right Direction – 20.1 percent//Wrong Track – 70.9 percent
CRUZ STAYING OUT OF GOP PRIMARY FRAY
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told his Republican colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he would not intervene in 2014 GOP primary fights or fundraise for the Senate Conservative Fund, according to the Dallas Morning News. The controversial outside group, founded by former Sen.Jim DeMint, R-S.C., recently announced its support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s challenger, Matt Bevin, and has gone after Sens. Lindsey Graham R-S.C., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in attack ads. “The senator has made clear for a while that he’s not going to get involved in incumbent primaries….The senator is simply clarifying what has been true all along,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the paper.
[Matt Bevin releases a new ad today accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of funding ObamaCare by brokering a deal to end the government shutdown, The Louisville Courier-Journal has more]
LESS READY FOR HILLARY
As former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ramps up her political activity her public support is ramping down. The latest WSJ/NBC pollshows her favorability rating has hit a new low. Just 46 percent of those surveyed view Clinton favorably, her lowest rating since 2009, when she was first named Secretary of State.
[A new book claims President Obama asked then Secretary of StateHillary Clinton to stay on another year: she refused]
CUCCINELLI GETS LATE BOOST FROM GOP BIGS
Conservative stars will converge on Virginia to stump for Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the closing days of the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race. Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., will rally supporters Saturday in Spotsylvania and Prince William counties. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will headline two events in Northern Virginia Monday. Libertarian firebrand former Rep.Ron Paul, R-Texas, will also speak at rally Monday in Richmond. Libertarian-leaning voters may make the difference as the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvissitting on a cache of votes more than twice the size of Cuccinelli’s 3-point deficit to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
YOU HAVE A SEAT ON THE PANEL
On Wednesday’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” All-Star Panel, Bing Pulse saw Republicans, Democrats, independents and women all agree with Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that the ability for consumers to keep their existing insurance is an “extremely important element” of ObamaCare and that it was key to its passage. Krauthammer’s remark also drew the highest viewer response, with 43,000 votes per minute. Viewers across the political spectrum disagreed with Juan Williamswhen he called the 5 percent of Americans losing their insurance under ObamaCare a small amount of people.
Viewer interaction was high during discussion of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ Congressional testimony. Williams drew strong and intense disagreement when he called the hearing “pure theater” and dismissed security concerns raised by Rep.Mike Rogers, R-Mich., with Democrats disagreeing more than Republicans. Bing Pulse measured 260,000 viewer votes during the discussion. Take a deeper dive in the data here and make sure your voice is heard.
CLUNKER FOR CLUNKERS
It turns out the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program was a clunker as a job creator, energy saver and emissions reducer according to a study by the liberal Brookings Institute. The 2009 $3 billion government sponsored car-buying voucher program cost $1.4 million for each job created, dropped gas consumption by only “about 2 to 8 days worth of current usage,” and resulted in minimal “emissions reduction.”
DIGGING DEEP: A COAL MINER’S PLEA
The impassioned plea of West Virginia coal miner David Green of Alpha Natural Resources for lawmakers to spare his industry from crippling new regulations is winning the Internet this week. Green, who is also the captain of the Coal River Mine Rescue Team, spoke before a pro-coal rally in Washington, talking of the pride he takes in his work underground: “It’s not a curse. It’s not a prison. It’s an honor.”
ALL THE EGGS AND TOILET PAPER IN FARGO…
A mother in Fargo, N.D., has decided to strike a blow against childhood obesity by giving children she deems too fat a letter of reproach to give to their parents. WDAF provides the text of the unidentified woman’s Halloween nastygram: “[Your child] is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season. My hope is that you will step up as a parent and ration candy this Halloween and not allow your child to continue these unhealthy eating habits.”
AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“I would say that what’s really at stake here, is that if this thing really goes south, if ObamaCare truly self-destructs, I don’t know that it’s certain but I would say right now it is more than likely, it would really set back American liberalism for a decade at least…That’s why I think the liberals are running scared…It’s not just one election, it’s the whole ideology that the government knows best.” --Charles Krauthammer on “The Kelly File.” Watch Here.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. To catch Chris live online daily at 11:30 a.m. ET, click here.
By Chris Stirewalt
Buzz cut:
· Frightful poll sends Dems screaming
· Deadline day for ObamaCare exemptions
· Holy See (and hear?)
· Cruz vows no tricks for fellow Senate GOPers
· All the eggs and toilet paper in Fargo…
CRASHES, CANCELLED POLICIES FRACTURE DEMS
As millions of Americans receive notices that their insurance policies are being cancelled because of new ObamaCare regulations, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will offer her own bill that will allow Americans to keep their existing plans. When news broke this week that the president for years led voters to believe they could keep their coverage under his insurance overhaul despite knowing otherwise, Republicans pounced offering legislation to block the Obama rules banning low-post, bare-bones coverage. Landrieu, facing a tough re-election fight in a Republican state, is jumping the line with a bill of her own. “The promise was made and it should be kept,” Landrieu told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “And it was our understanding when we voted for that, that people when they have insurance, could keep what they had. So, I’m going to be working on that fix.” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is also preparing his own legislation that would delay by a full year the imposition of ObamaCare fines for those who don’t buy insurance.
[Daily Caller - Report: White House exerting ‘massive pressure’ on insurance companies to keep quiet]
Crash drives Obama to new low - President Obama went to Boston to rally his supporters on behalf of his embattled law, but a new WSJ/NBC News poll shows that the failed launch of his signature law is proving a major drag with the public at large. His job approval rating skidded to 42 percent, the lowest-ever rating in the poll. That’s an 11-point drop from his job approval rating following his re-election and 5 points since last month. Disapproval for the health law shot up to 47 percent, 10 points ahead of approval, double the gap from earlier this month.Scary stuff - It was a dire WSJ/NBC News poll that drove Republicans to the exits on the partial federal shutdown three weeks ago. Now it’s the Democrats turn for a fright. The president’s tanking poll numbers and the surge in concern over the beleaguered ObamaCare rollout will push more moderate Democrats to conclude that their best path is away from the president and his law. Shutdowns are temporary. ObamaCare is forever.
DEADLINE FOR DEMS ON OBAMACARE EXEMPTIONS
Will top Democrats in Congress choose to exempt their staffs from ObamaCare? Today is the deadline for lawmakers to decide whether to grant a hugely valuable exemption to the staffs of congressional committees. House Republicans have all opted to submit themselves and their staffs to the costly provisions of the law. But as today’s deadline approached, Senate Democrats appeared split on the issue. The choice could become a big issue in next year’s elections. With Sen.Rand Paul, R-Ky., and some Republicans pushing a constitutional amendment forbidding Congress from exempting itself from any laws it passes, the stakes are high. As Washington Examiner reports, an embarrassing moment in the testimony of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, in which she repeatedly and wrongly claimed it would be “illegal” for her to enroll, exemptions are proving to be a hot topic. Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike Emanuel has the story.
Top Tweet of the Morning from @laurenashburn - @NewsNinja2012 Gotcha! Kathleen Sebelius captured on hot mic telling her assistant “Don't do this to me” http://bit.ly/1bEwl3h
[Lauren Ashburn of “#MEDIABUZZ” tracks the Twitterverse every day inTop Twitter Talk.]
TOP HOSPITALS OPT OUT OF OBAMACARE
Despite claims by the Obama administration that insurances companies will be competing for consumer dollars under ObamaCare, a new survey by watchdog.org shows many of America’s top hospitals will accept insurance from only one or two companies. U.S. News and World Report has more.
SECURITY QUESTIONS STILL SHADOW HEALTH SITE
During Wednesday’s hearing on ObamaCare’s Web site, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., pointed to a Sept. 27 memo to Medicare administratorMarilyn Tavenner from her staff warning of “inherent security risks” stemming from inadequate testing. “You accepted a risk on behalf of every user . . . that put their personal financial information at risk because you did not even have the most basic end-to-end test on security of this system,” Rogers said.“It was a theoretical problem that was immediately fixed,” Sebelius responded, acknowledging there was a security flaw that did open the door to hackers. Spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Julie Bataille, said the site was still undergoing security testing, but maintained consumer information remains safe. WaPo has more.
“I’ll tell you, one of the things we’re very concerned about is the security of information that individuals post on that website, knowing that in fact they’re changing the lines or changing some of the information that’s out there literally every single day.” – Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, “On The Record withGreta Van Susteren.” Watch Here
Morale killer? - Buzzfeed looks at how frustration over the disastrous rollout is causing morale to drop among the programs’ frontline volunteers and coordinator’s in “Obamacare’s Grassroots Army Is Starting To Get Burned Out”
Geek squad - “Neither he [President Obama] or I are technology geeks and we assumed it was up and ready to run…The president tried to get online, my daughter tried to get online, I did not because it was clear that I wasn’t getting online.” – Vice President Joe Biden to Headline News.
NSA HACKED GOOGLE, YAHOO
The National Security Agency has broken into the highly secure data centers where Google and Yahoo store vast troves of data on their users by hacking an unencrypted weak point in the data pipeline linking the enormous centers, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowdento the WaPo. Fox News has more.
Holy See (and hear?) - Italian magazine Panorama reports that the NSA monitored calls from the residence where cardinals stayed before the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. An agency spokeswoman said the agency “does not target the Vatican.”
Any references? - AP reports “[A] lawyer for former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, says his client has found a technical support job at a Russian website.”
The Judge’s Ruling - Judge Andrew Napolitano blasts the pervasive nature of the NSA’s spy program for Fox News Opinion in Spying on the President: “The president claims he can start secret foreign wars using the CIA, secretly kill Americans using drones, and now secretly spy on anyone anywhere using the NSA. Is the president an unwitting dupe to a secret rats’ nest of uncontrolled government spies and killers? Or is he a megalomaniacal, totalitarian secret micromanager who lies regularly, consistently and systematically about the role of government in our lives?”
ADMINISTRATION BLOCKS ACCESS TO BENGHAZI SURVIVORS
The State Department has again denied a request from lawmakers to interview survivors of the Sept. 11, 2012 raid by Islamists on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya. In letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the agency refers to “significant risks” and “serious concerns about having the survivors of the attack submit to additional interviews.” Graham has been asking since last year for the FBI’s transcripts of interviews with State Department and CIA survivors. He and other Republicans are warning the White House they will blockade Federal Reserve nominee Janet Yellen if the administration does not provide the details. Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge has more.
[Watch Fox: Rep. Darell Issa, R-Calif., head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, appears in the 10 a.m. ET hour]
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
George Will looks at how campaign finance decisions are changing the shape of American political discourse in The judiciary and free speech: “Brick by brick, judges are dismantling the wall of separation that legislators have built between political activity and the First Amendment’s protections of free speech and association. The latest examples, from Mississippi and Arizona, reflect the judiciary’s proper engagement in defending citizens from the regulation of political speech…Liberals who love the regulatory state loathe Citizens United. You can understand why.”
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? EmailFoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 43.9 percent//Disapprove – 51.6 percent
Direction of Country: Right Direction – 20.1 percent//Wrong Track – 70.9 percent
CRUZ STAYING OUT OF GOP PRIMARY FRAY
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told his Republican colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he would not intervene in 2014 GOP primary fights or fundraise for the Senate Conservative Fund, according to the Dallas Morning News. The controversial outside group, founded by former Sen.Jim DeMint, R-S.C., recently announced its support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s challenger, Matt Bevin, and has gone after Sens. Lindsey Graham R-S.C., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in attack ads. “The senator has made clear for a while that he’s not going to get involved in incumbent primaries….The senator is simply clarifying what has been true all along,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the paper.
[Matt Bevin releases a new ad today accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of funding ObamaCare by brokering a deal to end the government shutdown, The Louisville Courier-Journal has more]
LESS READY FOR HILLARY
As former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ramps up her political activity her public support is ramping down. The latest WSJ/NBC pollshows her favorability rating has hit a new low. Just 46 percent of those surveyed view Clinton favorably, her lowest rating since 2009, when she was first named Secretary of State.
[A new book claims President Obama asked then Secretary of StateHillary Clinton to stay on another year: she refused]
CUCCINELLI GETS LATE BOOST FROM GOP BIGS
Conservative stars will converge on Virginia to stump for Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the closing days of the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race. Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., will rally supporters Saturday in Spotsylvania and Prince William counties. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will headline two events in Northern Virginia Monday. Libertarian firebrand former Rep.Ron Paul, R-Texas, will also speak at rally Monday in Richmond. Libertarian-leaning voters may make the difference as the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvissitting on a cache of votes more than twice the size of Cuccinelli’s 3-point deficit to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
YOU HAVE A SEAT ON THE PANEL
On Wednesday’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” All-Star Panel, Bing Pulse saw Republicans, Democrats, independents and women all agree with Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that the ability for consumers to keep their existing insurance is an “extremely important element” of ObamaCare and that it was key to its passage. Krauthammer’s remark also drew the highest viewer response, with 43,000 votes per minute. Viewers across the political spectrum disagreed with Juan Williamswhen he called the 5 percent of Americans losing their insurance under ObamaCare a small amount of people.
Viewer interaction was high during discussion of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ Congressional testimony. Williams drew strong and intense disagreement when he called the hearing “pure theater” and dismissed security concerns raised by Rep.Mike Rogers, R-Mich., with Democrats disagreeing more than Republicans. Bing Pulse measured 260,000 viewer votes during the discussion. Take a deeper dive in the data here and make sure your voice is heard.
CLUNKER FOR CLUNKERS
It turns out the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program was a clunker as a job creator, energy saver and emissions reducer according to a study by the liberal Brookings Institute. The 2009 $3 billion government sponsored car-buying voucher program cost $1.4 million for each job created, dropped gas consumption by only “about 2 to 8 days worth of current usage,” and resulted in minimal “emissions reduction.”
DIGGING DEEP: A COAL MINER’S PLEA
The impassioned plea of West Virginia coal miner David Green of Alpha Natural Resources for lawmakers to spare his industry from crippling new regulations is winning the Internet this week. Green, who is also the captain of the Coal River Mine Rescue Team, spoke before a pro-coal rally in Washington, talking of the pride he takes in his work underground: “It’s not a curse. It’s not a prison. It’s an honor.”
ALL THE EGGS AND TOILET PAPER IN FARGO…
A mother in Fargo, N.D., has decided to strike a blow against childhood obesity by giving children she deems too fat a letter of reproach to give to their parents. WDAF provides the text of the unidentified woman’s Halloween nastygram: “[Your child] is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season. My hope is that you will step up as a parent and ration candy this Halloween and not allow your child to continue these unhealthy eating habits.”
AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“I would say that what’s really at stake here, is that if this thing really goes south, if ObamaCare truly self-destructs, I don’t know that it’s certain but I would say right now it is more than likely, it would really set back American liberalism for a decade at least…That’s why I think the liberals are running scared…It’s not just one election, it’s the whole ideology that the government knows best.” --Charles Krauthammer on “The Kelly File.” Watch Here.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. To catch Chris live online daily at 11:30 a.m. ET, click here.
Discovering the Salton's Sea Latest Curse | New Species Found in Australia's Lost World | Walking a Dino
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 Rotting Balls of Fish Flesh Invade Salton Sea's ShoresIn the Salton Sea's latest curse, thousands of balls of decomposed fish flesh washed up on shore. Read More » | |||||||
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 3 New Species Discovered in Australia's 'Lost World'During an expedition to a remote part of northeastern Australia where few humans had tread, scientists discovered three new species of vertebrates: an impressively camouflaged leaf-tail gecko, a golden-colored skink and a rock-loving frog. | |||||||
The Top Ten Obamacare “Tricks & Treats” of October
State Director of PolitiChicks South Carolina Sonya Sasser is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Clinical Dietetics, and Nutrition. She has worked in the hospital setting as a clinical dietitian,…
Remember during the 2010 healthcare debates when Nancy Pelosi told us, “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it”? Oh, yes…me too.
Well, now that the bill has become the “law of the land” (as Liberals and RINOs like to remind us), and in its very painful implementation process, many Americans (much to their dismay) are indeed, finally discovering all those “goodies” that Nancy Pelosi had promised in 2010.
In fact, since the October 1st rollout, more and more Americans have been finding all those (not-so very) “goodies” Mrs. Pelosi failed to mentionBEFORE Obamacare was forced down our throats (by Congress, the president, AND the Supreme Court). Here are the Top Ten Obamacare Surprises of October:
- Obamacare Is Skyrocketing Insurance Premiums. Remember when President Obama promised us that Obamacare would lower our health insurance premiums up to $2,500 per family, per year?
Well, it turns out that Obama’s “promise” wasn’t the truth at all.
In fact, for many Americans, insurance premiums are actually going through the roof. In particular, young people are being impacted by insurance increases. The Heritage Foundation reports,
Unsurprisingly, Obamacare brings increases across the board. The news is particularly bad for young people. In at least 11 states, the hike for a 27-year-old is more than 100 percent.
Our findings confirm that younger populations see larger percentage increases in premiums…A state that exhibits this clearly is Vermont, where the increase for 27-year-olds is 144 percent and the increase for 50-year-olds is still 60 percent, but far less. All states exhibit this relationship.
Avik Roy, contributor at Forbes also explains:
Obamacare’s bevy of mandates, regulations, taxes, and fees drives up the cost of the insurance plans that are offered under the law’s public exchanges. A Manhattan Institute analysis I helped conduct found that, on average, the cheapest plan offered in a given state, under Obamacare, will be 99 percent more expensive for men, and 62 percent more expensive for women, than the cheapest plan offered under the old system. And those disparities are even wider for healthy people.
That raises an obvious question. If 50 million people are uninsured today, mainly because insurance is too expensive, why is it better to make coverage even costlier?
Financial expert, Dave Ramsey, also recently described (on his syndicated talk show) how the Affordable Care Act would personally affect you.
“You are not exempt from math if you are a Democrat,” Ramsey said. “You are not exempt from math if you are a Republican. You are not exempt from math if you are Liberal. You are not exempt from math if you are a Conservative…Your insurance premiums are going to go WAY up…They have to!”
Watch his video for all the details:
- Many Americans Are Losing Their Healthcare Coverage: Remember when President Obama promised us, “If you like your healthcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthcare plan… period”?
Well, turns out that this Obama “promise” is not the truth, either. In fact, many Americans are now discovering that their insurance companies are dropping them at the end of this year. Fox News recently reported, “More Americans reportedly are being kicked off their insurance due to ObamaCare requirements than are signing up for coverage via the newly launched health care exchanges.” And from the Daily Caller:
The number of cancellation notices is far higher than the number who have filed applications for coverage on HealthCare.gov. The administration recently reported that number at 476,000. The number of individuals who have completed the enrollment process is still unknown, but would be lower than that…Meanwhile, Kaiser Health News reported that insurance company Florida Blue sent out 300,000 cancellation notices. As the Daily Caller reports that two different insurance carriers in California sent out a total of 279,000 of those notices.
In fact, National Review also just reported that at least 500,000 Californians may lose their health insurance next year — and that’s a conservative estimate with the Daily Caller adding, “The same pattern is playing out in other states.”
Before we “cheer” the fact that Obamacare appears to be collapsing, the current disaster may ultimately drive us directly into a single-payer system (full-blown socialized medicine)…which isexactly what President Obama has wanted all along. But don’t take my word for it—listen to the president himself:
- Looks Like You May Not Be Able To Keep Your Doctor After All: Remember when President Obama said this, “We will keep this promise to the American people… if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor…period”?
Hmm. Turns out that this Obama “promise” may also NOT be true. Besides Obamacare’s increased regulations (10,000+ pages of new mandates) that are driving up the cost of overhead (remember that many physicians are small business owners), and the decreased reimbursement rates that are driving many doctors out of business or into early retirement, insurance companies are now also firing doctors.
According to Fox Nation, “In the midst of major changes in health care, United HealthCare has sent thousands of pink slips to Connecticut doctors…Termination letters went to physicians caring for Medicare patients…Those letters were sent out to doctors caring for ‘Medicare Advantage’ patients.”
Dr. Shaun Carpenter, 41, a board certified emergency physician in the New Orleans area, hasn’t lost his job (yet) but he does describe Obamacare.
“As a physician I’ve been opposed to Obamacare from the get-go,” Carpenter says. “It doesn’t begin to fix the real problems with our health care system, and creates new problems. I see it from both the private practice side and the ER side. In fact, we knew that when patients came into the ER without insurance they would actually get better care because we knew we had to run every test imaginable on them or risk getting sued.” The problem isn’t lack of health insurance, he says, but lack of health care.”
Carpenter continues, “Just because you have insurance doesn’t mean you’ll get health care. Just ask anyone who has Medicaid how hard it is to get an appointment with a specialist. The wait can be several months, if you ever get in at all…That’s what Obamacare promised to make more accessible and more affordable.”
(Oh, and by the way, Dr. Carpenter is one of our fellow Americans who also just received the news that he and his family are losing their health insurance at the end of this year…)
- The Obamacare Website Is A Huge Data Mining Hub: Like your privacy? Then, Healthcare.gov may not be your cup of tea. In fact, according to Forbes, “Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping.”
It’s rather interesting that you are required to enter all your personal information (onto the website) BEFORE you can even begin shopping. In fact, your personal information may even be held against you in the future. According to an article in the Weekly Standard titled “Personal Data Can Be Used For ‘Law Enforcement and Audit Activities”, “The site does not specify if “appropriate authorities” refers only to state authorities or if it could include the federal government, as well. Neither is there any detail on what type of law enforcement and/or audit activities would justify the release of the personal information, or who exactly is authorized to make such a determination.”
And, why should we trust these Obamacare navigators, anyway? In fact, The Heritage Foundation writes:
While the data hub creates concerns that Americans could be subjected to electronic identity fraud, Obamacare’s “navigators” could subject Americans to in-person scams. HHS recently announced it was lowering by one-third—from 30 hours to 20—the minimum training time for navigators. As a result, individuals can be certified as navigators with fewer than three full days’ training—and few security checks. While guidelines regarding navigators released in July permitted states to establish “minimum eligibility criteria and background checks” for navigators, it did not require them to do so.
Because their job involves helping Americans figure out their insurance options, navigators will often have access to sensitive personal information—bank accounts, Social Security numbers, insurance identification, and more. Yet navigators will not be required to undergo background checks, and the process for filing complaints about unscrupulous navigators remains unclear at best. Even California’s insurance commissioner—a Democrat and strong supporter of Obamacare—raised concerns that navigators would put consumers at risk for scams: “We can have a real disaster on our hands.”
- The Obamacare Website Is A Complete Disaster. In fact, only 1% of Healthcare.gov Visitors Successfully Enrolled in Obamacare. According to the Heritage Foundation, “Just 36,000 consumers, or 1% of all those who attempted to register for the federal exchange, successfully enrolled in Obamacare.”
The disastrous website has led many experts to question whether or not it was purposely designed to create chaos when users log on. According to Forbes, HHS didn’t want users to see Obamacare’s true costs. Forbes recently reported:
A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping.
This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.
Translation: they want to obtain personal data from you before you go into Obamacare “sticker shock”.
- Hollywood Zombies are Now Being Paid To Sell Obamacare. From Frontpage Magazine:With the White House’s blessing, the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Norman Lear Center, which has something called a “Hollywood, Health & Society program,” has accepted a $500,000 grant from the left-wing California Endowment to help TV producers condition the masses into supporting Obama’s Soviet-style health care program.
USC will aim to keep producers, writers, and directors up to speed so they can incorporate the latest information into their storylines. It will also generate public service announcements to match the TV shows’ storylines.
- Obamacare Remains To Be A Job Killer: Obamacare continues to keep businesses from hiring and we are already aware that many employers have been cutting workers’ hours to stay under the threshold of the Obamacare mandates. This means that full-time jobs with health benefits are becoming fewer and farther between. Heritage Foundation writes, “This lines up with a recent Gallup survey reporting two-fifths of small business owners have held off on hiring because of Obamacare.” Or as Heritage expert James Sherk summarizes, “For the next several years, Obamacare will also make it harder for workers who want jobs to find them.”
Not just today—the “next several years.”
- President Obama Still Thinks Obamacare Is A Good Product. In his latest Affordable Care Act pitch, he claimed that his product “is a good product.”
First of all, that’s easy for him to say since he has exempted himself from it.
Secondly, he is completely ignoring the stories of individuals who are having their insurance premiums hiked or cancelled due to his apparently, not-so “Affordable” Care Act.
Dear Mr. President, I know that you are waivered from your own “good product”, but real people with real lives are being destroyed by it.
- If You Dare Criticize Obamacare, There Will Be Hell To Pay: Soon after the 2012 elections, President Obama’s White House advisor, Valerie Jarrett, said, “After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time. Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don’t forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded, the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve. There is going to be hell to pay.” Well, she certainly wasn’t kidding.
This administration’s wrath is nothing new to the Tea Partiers and other Conservative groups as they have certainly endured their fair share of hell for opposing the president’s policies (including Obamacare).
In fact, Dr. Ben Carson “coincidentally” found himself in the IRS’s crosshairs RIGHT after publically criticizing the president’s signature healthcare law.
Now, even Obamacare advocates are also being bullied for questioning the healthcare law. Liberal, Fox News contributor, Bob Beckel revealed that the White House “absolutely bludgeoned him”because of his remark that “it makes logical political sense to delay (Obamacare) a year.”
Also, an Obamacare website operator, Earline Davis, found herself fired from her job after telling talk show host, Sean Hannity the truth about Obamacare. Yes, she was fired for doing her job! (Sean Hannity has offered to pay Ms. Davis a year’s salary for her inconvenience.)
- October Is Simply A Taste Of What’s To Come…Remember that Obamacare implementation is still in its infancy stage, and it has already proven to be the “train wreck” of the century (well, some call it a “suicide attack”).
Every day, more and more stories are flooding in of how the new healthcare law is: hiking insurance premiums, cancelling insurance policies, destroying full-time jobs, driving doctors out of practice, and burdening Americans with more and more taxes and regulations. This is just the beginning.
So, if these October “treats” are what Nancy Pelosi promised us, then we want to return this “trick” product with a full refund!
Sonya Sasser
State Director of PolitiChicks South Carolina Sonya Sasser is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Clinical Dietetics, and Nutrition. She has worked in the hospital setting as a clinical dietitian, while actively and enthusiastically promoting fitness nutrition and weight loss (for over 10 years). Find Sonya’s Facebook page Breakthrough Nation.
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ReadrPolitiChicks.tv article here:http://politichicks.tv/column/top-ten-obamacare-surprises-october/#DwfmsTWGJ5TEE5aV.99
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