Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts

Monday, June 16, 2014

McCain Knew!

Remember the Building 18 scandal?

DickRichardCYoung.com: No? Well refresh your memory here. We’re talking 2007, and the target is Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. I remember the mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, Walter Reed horror story like it was yesterday, and I am not even a U.S. senator like John McCain or Bernie Sanders, the crack duo who introduced the new veterans health package Tuesday. That’s Tuesday 2014, keep in mind.

I remember the Walter Reed national disgrace in part because of all the publicity Don Imus gave the disgraceful conditions at Reed. And who was a frequent Imus radio guest back in the old days? Well, John McCain. Imus has a legendary kids ranch in Arizona where McCain is, of course, senator. So the two had plenty to gab about on air. Suffice to say, the black mold foulness and overall wretched conditions at Walter Reed were well known to Senator McCain. I do not want to be unfair or unpleasant about a national war hero and a man who ran a strategy packed campaign for president of the United States not long ago but…

OK, so better late than ever, right? Not really. As you may have read, the current national disgrace centers on another VA facility, which happens to be based, darn it, in Arizona, John McCain’s home state. This time we’re talking about a little bit more than belly-up cockroaches and mouse droppings. It is alleged that as many as 40 veterans may have died while waiting for an appointment at the Phoenix hospital.

Seven long years have passed since the nationwide Walter Reed VA scandal before the U.S. Senate wakes up. And who rings the wakeup bell? Why, John McCain. Our American Federal Republic form of government is broken. It is that simple. Europe is in the same fix but multi-party systems in countries like France and England have given voters a way to speak out, and speak out they have as witnessed in the recent European parliament elections. It is long past time we Americans had a similar option.

Related Video: Sanders, McCain Announce Bipartisan Veterans Bill 

VA Chief: 100,000 Vets Were On FAKE WAIT LISTS

Friday, January 31, 2014

Obamacare Architect Retires

Weekly Standard: Representative Henry Waxman is retiring.  Waxman has been in Congress a long time. He got there in the aftermath of Watergate, back when disco was still cool, and he hung around, building seniority and an attachment to certain causes. Among them, health care and the environment.

Since he was one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, he considered it his duty to stick around and:

… make sure the landmark health reform law is implemented in the best possible way because the decisions over the coming years will impact millions of American families. 

The supreme environmental issue is, of course, global warming and Waxman was saying, just a month or so back, that he intended to remain in Congress in order to devote himself to this cause, declaring with fetching modesty that:

I am leading a coalition in the House of Representatives that is focused on reducing the risk posed by climate change.  I’ve been deeply involved in this issue for many years and recognize it won’t be resolved by 2014.  But given the devastating consequences climate change has for our country and our planet, I intend to continue this fight.

Now, he has changed his mind.  One would not be going too far out on a limb in speculating that he has decided that the Democrats most likely will not regain control of the House in 2014 leaving him as merely a (very) long-serving member in the minority.  No committee chairmanship.  

Leaving the planet to look after itself.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

ISSA Warns Sebelius That She Could Face Perjury Charges Over Obamacare Testimony - Rep Trey Gowdy

 

Video: ISSA Warns Sebelius That She Could Face Perjury Charges Over Obamacare Testimony - Rep Trey Gowdy

Washington Examiner: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius could face perjury charges over her congressional testimony on Obamacare, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., warned in a letter calling for Sebelius to correct the record.

“Witnesses who purposely give false or misleading testimony during a congressional hearing may be subject to criminal liability under Section 1001 of Title of 18 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits ‘knowingly and willfully’ making materially false statements to Congress,” Issa wrote in a Wednesday letter. “With that in mind, I write to request that you correct the record and to implore you to be truthful with the American public about matters related to Obamacare going forward."

Issa focused on Sebelius' testimony about launching the healthcare.gov federal exchange website despite the existence of technical problems that marred the Obamacare rollout.

“Providing false or misleading testimony to Congress is a serious matter,” Issa writes. “Documents and testimony obtained by the Committee, including information provided by Teresa Fryer, the Chief Information Security Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the MITRE Corporation, a contractor hired by HHS to conduct security assessments of healthcare.gov, show that your testimony was false and misleading.”

HHS promised to respond to the letter. "Regarding the issues raised in the partial transcript excerpts referenced in the letter—as we have said repeatedly, including when these issues were first reported several weeks ago—the HealthCare.gov components that are operational have been determined to be compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act, based on standards promulgated by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology," Joanne Peters, the national press secretary for health care at HHS, told the Washington Examiner in an email.

Sebelius' claim that MITRE conducted "ongoing testing" of the Obamacare website was false, Issa said, citing Fryer's testimony to committee staff that the company only did testing by rounds, with the last pre-launch round taking place on Sep. 20. The next round did not begin until Dec. 10.

Issa also said that Sebelius' claim that MITRE recommended HHS proceed with the launch of the website was also false, because MITRE says it was never consulted.

The Republican investigator also disputes Sebelius' statement that “no one… suggested that the risks outweighed the importance of moving forward."

"[Fryer] was very concerned about the problems raised by MITRE during its security testing of the system," the letter states.

Issa also quotes from a Sep. 24 memo written by Fryer, who concluded that the health care website "does not reasonably meet the CMS security requirements," adding that "there is also no confidence that Personal Identifiable Information will be protected."

"There have been no successful security attacks on Healthcare.gov and no person or group has maliciously accessed personally identifiable information," Peters countered in her email. "An independent security control assessor tested each piece of the Healthcare.gov system that went live Oct. 1 prior to that date with no open high findings. All high, moderate and low security risk findings listed on the SCAs for the portions of the website that launched Oct. 1 were either fixed, or have strategies and plans in place to fix the findings that meet industry standards."

Related:

Is This the Alarming Reason Kathleen Sebelius Hasn’t Been Fired?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Kathleen Sebelius Senate Hearing Obamacare 11.6.2013, Sebelius Admits: It Is possible for convicted felons to become Obamacare navigators

Greg GutFeld: “There have now been more hearings on ObamaCare than people who have signed up for the program”

Below is the full hearing 3 hours - skip to 25 min 55 sec and that’s when the hearing beings.

Enzi questions are shortly before Cronyn.

Cornyn is speaking at 1:53 asking about the navigators possibly being convicted felons. Sherrod Brown follows.   At 1:59:40 is Thune ‘ who explains it is flawed legislation based on the outcome so far.  Predicated on promises which are broken.

She goes into a response that is evasive and misdirecting his question.

Most Americans would forgive it if you said you didn’t tell the truth.Just before 2:05 minutes you see her sitting there very thoughtful looking at her hands. This is a response not seen before – whether someone was talking in her ear or she had a small dose of conscience who knows?

Senator Roberts from Kansas, Sebelius’ home state, asked her to resign.

Video: Kathleen Sebelius Senate Hearing Obamacare 11.6.2013

That’s right folks… ObamaCare navigators could be convicted felons who would access to your personal information…

Video:  Kathleen Sebelius: It's possible for convicted felons to become Obamacare navigators

Video: Kathleen Sebelius Refuses To Answer Whether Obama's Keep Your Plan Promise Was True Or False

Video: Thune at Finance to Sebelius: You've Been Misleading the American People

Video: Senator Roberts Calls For Secretary Sebelius' Resignation in Finance Committee Hearing

Obama Now "Lying About Lies”

Obamacare, Deconstructed [video] 

The Dirty Secret Behind ObamaCare No One's Talking About

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sebelius, ObamaCare and More Spin…

Probably the most disappointing part of the entire Congressional Committee Hearing on the PPACA (ObamaCare) Implementation Failures was when HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was questioned, more than once, about if it were possible for her to drop her first class federal healthcare coverage and go into the exchanges under ObamaCare, would she… She refused to answer directly… She refused to say, “Yes”. Like the restaurant where the owners, chef, workers and their families refuse to eat… but now you are forced to…

The Blaze: Things didn’t go well for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during a congressional hearing Wednesday, and it became pretty clear when she was caught muttering, “Don’t do this to me”:

It’s unclear the exact context of the remark. Washington’s CBS station says it was said to an aide, but it’s unclear if she was speaking to the aide or about someone else.

Sebelius’ unscripted comment came immediately after an intense exchange with Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) who repeatedly asked her if she planned to enroll in the health care law she oversees.

The secretary avoided answering the answer head-on, saying she would “take a look at it.”

She also stated that it would be illegal for her to enroll in Obamacare because of her status within the federal government. This is inaccurate; Sebelius is eligible to enroll, she just is not eligible for specific subsidies.

When Sebelius muttered, “Don’t do this to me,” it was after conferring with one of her colleagues. It seems pretty clear she wasn’t addressing Long, but it’s unclear what, exactly, was said to prompt her flustered muttering.  You can here the entire exchange HERE

Video: Mike Rogers Slams Secretary Kathleen Sebellius At Obamacare Hearing - 10/30/13

10/30/13 - On his radio show this afternoon, Rush Limbaugh criticized the Republicans for what he believed to be a lackluster performance during Wednesday morning's hearing with Health & Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius. "It's very frustrating for me," Limbaugh said. "[Sebelius] was clearly the punching bag" but "I don't know that the Republicans did much damage. It's like they're afraid to. It's like there's still a fear of going after Obama."

He wondered whether there is instruction "from on high" within the GOP instructing Republican committee members to "not be mean" and not tear into Sebelius.

"That's such a mistake," he lamented, "because with every day of chaos, Obama and the Democrats are getting closer to what they want and that is single-payer."

Limbaugh also suggested the Republicans are "afraid of success" and perhaps "talk themselves out" of being more aggressive "because they don't think they can win."

Video: Rush Limbaugh: Republicans Seemed 'Afraid' to Go After 'Punching Bag' Sebelius

 

Video: Full Congressional Committee Hearing - "PPACA Implementation Failures: Answers from HHS Secretary Sebelius" Oct 30, 2013 (3:34:01)

Obamacare Website Company CGI Federal Contributed to Obama Campaign

The fun just doesn’t stop… not only did the contract for the $634 Million Dollar website ObamaCare website that doesn’t work go to a non-American company (guess we don’t need the jobs?) and a sorority sister of Michelle Obama’s (cronyism) that was already under investigation… but now we find out that they also contributed to Obama’s campaign…

Freedom Outpost: Have you heard of CGI Federal? It's the company that received a $678 million no-bid contract to develop the disaster that is healthcare.gov. It is also the company whose officials are now coming under scrutiny for the roll out of the Obamacare exchange web portal. But it also seems like those officials are also buddy-buddy with the Obama administration.

According to The Daily Caller, Toni Townes-Whitley, a senior vice president at CGI Federal, is a Princeton classmate of First Lady Michelle Obama. Townes-Whitley and Mrs. Obama are both members of are both members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni.

hn_healthcare_102213-590x332As reported by the Washington Examiner in early October, the Department of Health and Human Services reviewed only CGI's bid for the Obamacare account. CGI was one of 16 companies qualified under the Bush administration to provide certain tech services to the federal government. A senior vice president for the company testified this week before The House Committee on Energy and Commerce that four companies submitted bids, but did not name those companies or explain why only CGI's bid was considered.

According to Federal Election Commission Records, Toni Townes-Whitley gave $500 in 2011 and 2012 to Obama's reelection, and another $1,000 to the Obama Victory Fund.

The Washington Examiner reports that senior officials at CGI Federal had White House access. Before being granted the no-bid contract, CGI Federal officials attended several invitation only addresses by President Obama. White House visitor logs show that "CGI Federal President Donna Ryan visited the White House six times prior to her company being selected to do the IT design work behind the high-profile website."

Two of the meetings attended by CGI executives were with Vivek Kundra, Obama's chief information officer. Kundra was a key figure in Obama administration information technology initiatives across the government.

Ryan met Kundra on June 21, 2010, in the latter's Old Executive Office Building office, according to the White House visitor logs.

In addition to the $88 million contract awarded to CGI Federal for the health-insurance exchange website, the company has received a total of $422 million in contracts related to Obamacare since the legislation was signed into law, according to Bloomberg News.

Fox News reported a number of occasions in which the company had failed to meet deadlines or experienced botched launches similar to that seen with the launch of healthcare.gov.

"In projects stretching from Canada to Hawaii, parent company CGI Group and its subsidiaries ran into complaints about its performance," Fox reported.

"The morning I heard CGI was behind [Healthcare.gov], I said, my God, no wonder that thing doesn't work," said James Bagnola, a Texas-based corporate consultant who was hired by the Hawaii Department of Taxation (DOTAX) in 2008, to Fox News.

Bagnola suggested that CGI has been shrewd politically, giving to both Democrats and Republicans at both the state and federal levels. In the case of Hawaii, Bagnola said the company was able to continue to work on the DOTAX contract despite repeated complaints from management and a "corrosive" environment in which government employees felt pitted against CGI staff. This was noted in the final 2010 audit.

"I don't have an ax to grind here, except I was just trying to do my job for this team and stop the state of Hawaii from being ripped off," he said.

According to campaign records at OpenSecrets.com, CGI Group contributed $345,600 to federal candidates and parties — both Democratic and Republican — during the 2011-12 cycle. Some $147,000 went to the Republican Governors Association; and $35,000 to the Democratic Governors Association. The company spent $400,000 in lobbying expenditures between 2011 and 2012.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

ObamaCare… Like a Restaurant Where the Owners, Chefs, Workers and Their Families Refuse to Eat…

I Won't Eat My Vegetables Royalty Free Stock Photos - Image: 19746098

ObamaCare… Like a Restaurant Where the Owners, Chefs, Workers and Their Families Refuse to Eat…

By Marion Algier – Ask Marion

Would you really eat in a restaurant, trusting their food or service, where the owners, chefs, workers and their families refuse to eat?  Of course you wouldn’t.  Nobody would, but that is what the Democrats, some GOP establishment career politicians and the Obama administration and their staffs are asking you to do.

They are asking, no mandating, that you to sign up and subject yourself and your family’s health, and in many cases losing better coverage, for healthcare coverage that they refuse to sign up for and be covered by themselves.

The so-called tea party Republicans, who are following their constituents wishes, but have now pretty much backed away from all their demands about the budget and upcoming debt ceiling raise, in what seems like their 20th compromise when the left has refused to negotiate or compromise on anything, were willing to pass and extend the budget and debt ceiling negotiations for several months with a clean bill, except for one provision… The Republicans attached the Vitter amendment (DeSantis bill in the House) which would demand that the House of Representatives, the Senate, the White House and their staffs and federal appointees would have to sign up for and live under the same ObamaCare bill that we all will have to suffer under, without any extra provisions or exemptions.  The Democrats’, RINOs’ and administration’s response:  NO…!

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) (KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom)

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) (KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom)

The Vitter Amendment on Obamacare: Senate Liberals’ Curious Complaint

The Foundry:

Last week (mid-September) Senator David Vitter (R–LA) proposed an amendment that would end exemptions for White House political appointees and stop illegal taxpayer subsidies for Congress and staff enrolled in Obamacare’s new health insurance exchanges. In other words, political appointees, Members of Congress, and their staffs would receive the same coverage and be eligible for subsidies available to every other American enrolled in the exchanges. No special deals.

On September 17, Senator Dick Durbin (D–IL) charged that Vitter’s proposed amendment was “unfair” because it would eliminate the employer payment for Members of Congress and 16,000 congressional staffers.

But this is a curious complaint. In 2010, Senator Durbin and all other Senate Democrats voted—lockstep—for final passage of Obamacare, which included Section 1312, which ended Members’ access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and instead placed them into the Obamacare health insurance exchanges. Without access to employer coverage, there is no employer subsidy—not for Congress and not for any other worker dumped out of job-based coverage into the exchanges. That’s the law.

Durbin also tries to use Vitter’s vote for an amendment (Amendment No. 3564) offered by Senator Chuck Grassley (R–IA) during debate over Obamacare to undermine his current efforts. Yes, Vitter voted for the amendment. The amendment would have put the President, his appointees, Congress, and staff into the exchanges but would have preserved the government contributions for Congress and staff in the new exchanges.

Here’s the catch: Senator Durbin voted against the Grassley amendment, as did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV), Senator Barbara Boxer (D–CA), and 53 other Senate Democrats. (See The Congressional Record, March 24, 2010, p. S1996.) In other words, these Senators voted to protect the President and his appointees from their own law but also voted to remove the employer contribution to Congress and their staff. Yet these Senators now oppose it.

Senate liberals say they like Obamacare. If that’s the case, it is only reasonable for them to want to make sure they get what they like on the same exact terms and conditions as every other American enrolled in the exchanges, as put forth by Senator Vitter.

So why wouldn’t the Democrats from both Houses of Congress (as well as the Establishment RINO GOP) vote for the Republican’s compromise and embrace ObamaCare on the same terms the American people are getting… the terms they voted for?  And if they aren’t why should the American people?

Why?  Because our politicians know it is a bad plan, bad coverage, certainly worse and more expensive if you compare apples to apples, than they have now, and it opens them up to the same IRS mandates and access into all their records and information.  It also opens them up to having a non-medically trained review board tell them which services they will and will not get… essentially death panels.  But although they don’t want it, it is good enough for the rest of us in their book.  After all what better advertisement for his signature program would there have been than President Obama and Vice President Biden signing themselves and their families up for all to see for the ObamaCare exchanges the day the program opened on October 1st?

Don’t be fooled by the propaganda being fed us through the mainstream media. ObamaCare was never about healthcare, and definitely not about better healthcare, it was always about ideology and control… about the federal government controlling you… all of us!

Just like President Obama and Harry Reid’s refusal to negotiate with the Republicans has nothing to do with what is good for the country or even the budget, or even the truth for that matter, it is about demonizing the Republicans so that the Progressive Democrats win the next election… so they can maintain their control of you!!

Do your homework and then you be the judge… But in my kitchen, the cook eats his own food and no matter how the present shutdown ends... Our politicians still don't want to eat theirs!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

America: SHUTDOWN is Here… Congress Fails to Reach Agreement by Midnight Deadline - Updated

Ask Marion | October 1, 2013 at 9:25 am – WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — Congress has missed the deadline for averting the first partial government shutdown in 17 years.

SHUTDOWN: Washington, D.C. Unable to Reach Agreement Before Midnight Deadline

shutterstock.com

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo just before midnight on Monday instructing agencies to “now execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations.”

Agencies “should continue to closely monitor developments, and OMB will provide further guidance as appropriate,” the OMB announced.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said it was a “sad” day for the country as he announced the news on the Senate floor after midnight.

As the clock struck midnight Monday, House Republicans were demanding that the Senate negotiate their demand for a one-year delay in making millions of people buy health insurance under President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law. Minutes before midnight, the White House ordered a shutdown.

The Democratic Senate on Monday twice rejected GOP demands to delay key portions of what has become to known as ObamaCare as a condition for keeping the government open.

An estimated 800,000 federal workers faced furloughs though many were told work a half day Tuesday. Critical functions like air traffic control and military operations will continue. Social Security benefits will be paid. National parks and most federal offices will close.

Watcher’s Council Forum Thoughts Earlier in the Day:  Will There Be A Federal Government shut down,And Do You Approve Or Disapprove?

The Razor: I used to get worked up about these things, but they’ve happened so many times and become such a Washington DC insider sport that I’ve lost interest. I neither know nor care whether the federal government will shut down. As far as I’m concerned the less it functions the better. I hate to sound cynical but seriously, how many times have we gone through this?

The Independent Sentinel: I do believe there will be a shutdown and I also believe the media will successfully put the blame on Republicans. As much as I don’t want a shutdown or see Republicans blamed, I believe it is the right thing to do. The Republicans are trying to do the right thing. They are doing what most of their constituents want, not just the Tea Party as the Democrats would have us believe.

The reason I feel the way I do is because I see ObamaCare as irrevocably damaging this country. I listened to Bill O’Reilly the other day talk about how melodramatic people are about ObamaCare. This isn’t about melodrama, it’s about our freedom. Our Founding Fathers didn’t sacrifice all that they sacrificed to have us turn around and sell ourselves to the highest bidders in government.

Some of the things ObamaCare does:

  • ObamaCare gives the government the right to tax the people as much as they want on anything they want. This law should never have been declared constitutional.
  • The Affordable Care Act was supposed to give the people in this country access to affordable healthcare. The CBO says, however, that 30 million will be without healthcare under ObamaCare.
  • The CBO also said it was unsustainable. Mr. Obama said that premiums would go down by as much as 3000% but they are skyrocketing in some cases.
  • Mr. Obama assures us there will be subsidies, but who pays these subsidies? Roughly, 41% of the country will pay for the other 59%. If that’s his idea of justice, I want no part of it.
  • Worst of all, we are losing the 40-hour work week. My guess is that Obama will make some concessions to unions and this could be one of them, but then who pays for that? Someone has to pay for this free healthcare.
  • Many believe that healthcare should not be profit making. However, instead of the insurance companies profiting, the government will profit. We can’t sue the government – there will be no judicial recourse. There is also the problem of doctors profiting. If they don’t make a profit, we will see the end of private practice and we will only get our health services through clinics and hospitals. The service will be lacking and the lines will be long.
  • ObamaCare will ruin our healthcare system.
  • ObamaCare isn’t ready for prime time and a lot of people will be hurt by it.
  • People who are opposed to paying for abortions will be forced to pay for them. That is unconscionable.
  • Kathleen Sebelius gets to decide who lives and who dies. What was that she said – some live, some die?
  • An IPAB comprised of non-medical, unelected bureaucrats will operate as a rogue government and decide the fate of the elderly and handicapped by limiting payments to doctors and hospitals. The IPAB operates independent of Congress and only the Executive controls it. IPAB can probably levy taxes. That is too much power in the hands of one branch of government.
  • Our healthcare records will not be secure and we could easily be subject to tyranny of government agencies and rogue employees.
  • The bill is almost 20,000 pages. That can’t be good.
  • ObamaCare is about the government taking over 18% of the economy.

Every doctor I know thinks this is an awful bill. It was written in secret by special interests. There is a lot of money and influence involved. We are giving our health over to a small number of elite.

We will eventually be stuck with a single payer system and most freedom-loving Americans don’t see that as a good thing. The non-profit co-ops subsidized by the government and the many demands placed on insurance companies will force them out of business.

The White House is rewriting this bill, not Congress. They have amended it 19 times without going through Congress.

If this bill goes through as is, we won’t be the country we were.

The Republicans finally look like the party of Lincoln. It wasn’t easy for him and his party then and this won’t be easy now.

GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD: Shut it down. Keep the Gov out of our hair for a while. Besides, they can’t harm us while they’re out of biz.

JoshuaPundit: I think the chances of a shutdown are 65-35 that it will happen. I see it, overall, as a positive thing.

For five years, we’ve been governed by a dysfunctional, arrogant demagogue and his enablers engaged in the looting of the treasury to reward their political cronies, Chicago-style. It’s the height of irony to see a president and his allies who wasted a trillion taxpayer dollars on a bogus ‘stimulus’ that did nothing but enrich their political cronies, who have made an art out of ‘digitizing’ money that doesn’t exist now raging about ‘political terrorists’ and fiscal responsibility merely because someone finally said no, we’re not going to raise the amount of your credit line again unless we can negotiate over some things we want to happen.

This president has a long history of governing by diktat and executive order, including his de facto imposition of the Dream Act congress rejected three times and modifications to ObamaCare (the name ‘Affordable Care Act’ is an unintended joke on the country). Both of these acts are illegal under U.S. law along with other actions by this president.

I’d remind everyone exactly why ObamaCare is the train wreck it is – because this president, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi shoved it through with Republicans literally locked out of the room and without the normal negotiations and deliberations with the Senate. They did it because Republican Scott Brown won a special election in Massachusetts and would have been a vote not to end debate, holding ObamaCare up indefinitely. So they pushed the bill through with even reading it Now they, or rather the American people are stuck with this mess. President Obama and the Democrats own it.

So all in all, it’s high time an attempt was made to have this president do something he’s consistently refused to do – negotiate with Republicans. Whether the House Republican leadership will hold steady is, of course, another matter. If they don’t, if they cave, I doubt the GOP will survive as a party.
The Glittering Eye:Yes, the federal government will shut down. Default is also possible. No, I do not approve of it. I think it’s an abrogation of responsibility on the part of our elected leaders and there’s plenty of blame to spread around. Refusing to fund the PPACA was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Whatever Congressional Republicans’ views of the program, shutting down the federal government to poke a thumb in the eye of the Senate Democrats and the president is just irresponsible.

However, the Senate Democrats are irresponsible, too, in refusing to deal with the legislation passed by the House and the president has been decidedly unhelpful by refusing outright to negotiate with House Republicans. Sometimes I fear for the republic.

Bookworm Room: No, there won’t be a government shutdown, because Republicans always blink. And without regard to the shutdown, I disapprove of Republican’s blinking problem. As for the shutdown itself, I think it would be a useful exercise for all Americans to see what happens if the federal government is reduced to its essential services. It will shake people up, one way or another.

I was reminded of a mini-government shutdown just today when I found myself at San Francisco’s beautiful Marina and Chrissy Fields. Looking out at the Bay and at Alcatraz, I was truly saddened when I thought that the sequester means that, for the first time in 25 or so years, there won’t be a Fleet Week event in San Francisco. When the sequester hit, the Pentagon didn’t trim waste (and there’s lots of waste in our wonderful military). Instead, it immediately punished the American people. The Pentagon is, after all, first and foremost a bureaucracy. The loss isn’t just emotional, it’s financial. Fleet Week is a very profitable weekend for the towns that host it. In addition to sailors and Marines, Fleet Week brings in about 100,000 tourists and their money. Nevertheless, the important thing to remember is that, in the grand scheme of things, life goes on. A government service was cut and it’s no biggie.

Well, there you have it.

*If you look at the fact that the stock market is up today, the shutdown appears to be no biggie to them! Charles Payne said today on Cavuto that perhaps the shutdown will show us that we don’t need nearly as many government workers and non-essential services that we now have. It could actually backfire on the big-government Progressives now in power?!?

Some of the Government Shuts Down

The federal government will officially shut down after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a short-term resolution to fund the government by midnight Monday, when the current funding resolution expired. Harry Reid and the Senate rejected the House’s compromise proposal to avoid a shutdown again, just hours before the deadline.

The House of Representatives led by Republicans made a final offer to fully fund the entire government with a light lift compromise to delay just a couple provisions within ObamaCare that most Americans do not want. And the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, held out his hand again to sit down and negotiate with both the Senate and/or the President at Midnight last night; but neither stood-up to do their job and negotiate.

Instead, President Obama’s response was no compromise and no negotiation followed by giving the most divisive and un-presidential speech I have ever heard in my lifetime! And Harry Reid continues to vilify anyone who stood up for their and their constituents’ convictions. Shame on both of them! Ronald Reagan would have been on the phone with all parties last night and would have averted this shutdown promoting unification instead of causing greater division! Their (Reid and Obama’s) lack of interest in negotiating really gives legs to the view that this battle is only a symptom of a much larger fight, The Battle Between Good and Evil.

And then there is always the thought that this shutdown is exactly what Obama and his cronies wanted all along to divert attention from the problems and disastrous rollout of ObamaCare that began today.

You be the judge…

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Fighting For Us [video]

Video:  Fighting For Us

New House GOP Bill Delays ObamaCare By 1 Year – Approves Plan to Fund government, Delay ObamaCare by One Year! 9-28-2013 –Updated

New House GOP Bill Delays ObamaCare By 1 Year–Updated

Video:  New House GOP Bill Delays ObamaCare By 1 Year

House Passes GOP Plan to Delay ObamaCare

The Blaze: Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

UPDATE 12:44 a.m. Sunday: The Republican-run House has voted to delay President Barack Obama’s health care law. The House also lifted a tax on medical devices as another condition for averting a federal government shutdown, CNN reports.

Since the White House has promised the overall legislation will be vetoed, that means the two sides are edging closer to a shutdown of many federal services Tuesday morning, with no obvious solution in sight.

The House sent the legislation to the Democratic-run Senate early Sunday by 231-192.

The bill would delay much of the 2010 health care overhaul for a year. It would also repeal a tax on medical devices that helps finance the health care law.

The shutdown bill may never reach Obama because the Senate’s majority leader, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, says his chamber will reject the measure first.

Original story below:

The House Saturday night began debating Republican-backed amendments to delay ObamaCare for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices, continuing a standoff that threatens to force a government shutdown, CNN reports.

Locked in a deepening struggle with President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled House pushed legislation toward passage Saturday night requiring a one-year delay in parts of the nation’s new health care law and repeal of a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown in a few days’ time.

CNN: House Debating Amendments to Spending Proposal That Would Include Changes to Obamacare

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., arrives for a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans as the House of Representatives works into the night to pass a bill to fund the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. (Credit: AP)

Senate Democrats pledged to reject the measure even before the House began debating it, and the White House issued a statement vowing a veto in any event. Republicans are pursuing “a narrow ideological agenda” that threatens the nation’s economy, it said.

Undeterred, House Republicans pressed ahead with their latest attempt to squeeze a concession from the White House in exchange for letting the government open for business normally on Tuesday.

“I think we have a winning program here,” said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, after days of discord that pitted Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and his leadership against tea party-backed conservatives.

Another Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, reacted angrily when asked whether he would eventually support a standalone spending bill if needed to prevent a shutdown. “How dare you presume a failure? How dare you? How dare you?” he said.

Apart from its impact on the health care law, the legislation that House Republicans decided to back would assure routine funding for government agencies through Dec. 15. A companion measure headed for approval assures U.S. troops are paid in the event of a shutdown.

The government spending measure marked something of a reduction in demands by House Republicans, who passed legislation several days ago that would permanently strip the health care law of money while providing funding for the government.

It also contained significant concessions from a party that long has criticized the health care law for imposing numerous government mandates on industry, in some cases far exceeding what Republicans have been willing to support in the past.

GOP aides said that under the legislation headed toward a vote, portions of the health law that already have gone into effect would remain unchanged. That includes requirements for insurance companies to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and to require children to be covered on their parents’ plans until age 26. It would not change a part of the law that reduces costs for seniors with high prescription drug expenses.

Instead, the measure would delay implementation of a requirement for all individuals to purchase coverage or face a penalty, and of a separate feature of the law that will create marketplaces where individuals can shop for coverage from private insurers.

By repealing the medical device tax, the GOP measure also would raise deficits — an irony for a party that won the House majority in 2010 by pledging to get the nation’s finances under control.

The Senate rejected the most recent House-passed anti-shutdown bill on a party-line vote of 54-44 Friday, insisting on a straightforward continuation in government funding without health care-related add-ons.

That left the next step up to the House — with time to avert a partial shutdown growing ever shorter.

For a moment at least, the revised House proposal papered over a simmering dispute between the leadership and tea party conservatives who have been more militant about abolishing the health law that all Republicans oppose.

It was unclear whether members of the rank and file had consulted with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has become the face of the “Defund ObamaCare” campaign that tea party organizations are promoting and using as a fundraising tool.

In debate on the House floor, Republicans adamantly rejected charges that they seek a government shutdown, and said their goal is to spare the nation from the effects of a law they said would cost jobs and reduce the quality of care. The law is an “attack and an assault on the free enterprise and the free economy,” said Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.

Democrats disagreed vociferously. “House Republicans are shutting down the government. They’re doing it intentionally. They’re doing it on purpose,” said Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland, as Republican lawmakers booed from their seats on the floor.

In the Senate, there was little doubt that Reid had the votes to block a one-year delay in the health care program widely known as “ObamaCare.” He said the same was true for the repeal of the medical device tax, even though 33 Democrats joined all Senate Republicans in supporting repeal on a nonbinding vote earlier in the year.

The 2.3 percent tax, which took effect in January, is imposed on items such as pacemakers and CT scan machines; eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids and other items are exempt. Repealing it would cost the government an estimated $29 billion over the coming decade.

If lawmakers miss the approaching deadline, a wide range of federal programs would be affected, from the national parks to the Pentagon.

Some critical services such patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

The new health insurance exchanges would open Tuesday, a development that’s lent urgency to the drive to use a normally routine stopgap spending bill to gut implementation of the law.

This is a developing story; updates will be added.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Senator Jim DeMint Heritage Action Keynote Address - Defund ObamaCare Rally

defundtourslide

Jim DeMint addresses a capacity crowd at the Heritage Foundation’s Action for America, Defund ObamaCare Rally

Full Video: Jim DeMint’s Keynote Address at Heritage’s Action for America Defund ObamaCare Rally

A Time For Choosing: Take action, call your members of Congress and demand they vote to defund ObamaCare immediately. Remind them it’s easy to fully fund the government, while NOT spending a dime on this disastrous “heath care” bill.

Click here to learn more about what the Heritage Foundation is doing to stop ObamaCare.

Texas Attorney General [and gubernatorial candidate] Greg Abbott has called ObamaCare an “unconstitutional tax,” and “not right for Texas.”

Democrat Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi infamously said about ObamaCare that, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Congresswoman Pelosi was right, and now Texas and the rest of America are beginning to see the consequences – from rising healthcare costs to businesses being forced to lay off employees.

Greg Abbott knew this was a bad law from the beginning. So on the day ObamaCare was signed into law, he filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. The Supreme Court agreed with General Abbott that Congress illegally tried to seize the states’ Medicaid systems. Although, the Supreme Court upheld other onerous parts of ObamaCare, General Abbott has not given up the fight. He continues to challenge this unworkable law and the unprecedented tax it imposes on Americans.

We must stop this law that Sarah Palin has called “downright evil” and democrat Max Baucus, one of the law’s creators, has called “a train-wreck” from moving forward and further harming the American people.

Video courtesy SarahNet

Governor Sarah Palin: Don’t Fund Obamacare!, Update: Senator Cruz Responds: 

Forced enrollment in Obama's "Unaffordable Care Act" is weeks away. This beast must be stopped -- by not funding it. Today, Todd and I joined with many of our fellow citizens to urge those in the U.S. Senate to not fund Obamacare.

We The People must continue to make our voices heard and hold those elected to serve this great nation accountable. Those in the Senate and those seeking to serve ther...e must stand strong against this devastating program before it reveals its true face now recognized by both sides of the aisle as the bureaucratic and economic beast that will deny our families, our businesses, and our sick the ability to access health care.

The time for rhetoric and ceremonial votes in Congress is over. The time to take serious action to stop Obamacare is now. Join us in urging Senators -- Don't Fund Obamacare! Just remember -- if you fund it, you own it!

- Sarah Palin

P.S.: Click here to join us in signing this petition: http://www.dontfundobamacare.com/

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h/t to Gary P Jackson and of course to SaraPac  -  Cross-Posted at AskMarion

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Americans petition Congress to Defund Obamacare

Americans petition Congress to defund Obamacare

Can't see the message below? Click here.

BOOM!! "Don't Fund It" PetitionThat's the sound of tens of thousands of Americans crashing into the Don't Fund It website to help stop the implementation of Obamacare.  We launched the nationwide petition last Saturday and thanks to your support over 150,000 people have already signed it.  Please help us send a message to Washington it can't ignore. If you have't signed the petition yet, please do so today. If you've already signed it, please forward this email on to your family and friends so they can join us. 

NEXT BEST OPTION Chris Jacobs, Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation, wrote a paper this week explaining why defunding Obamacare is the next best option to full repeal. Jacobs says,   The list of Obamacare’s failures grows by the day. It is not that portions of the law are unworkable -- the entire law is unworkable. Absent the law’s complete repeal, only full defunding would ensure that the American people are not subjected to any of these destructive policies. Congress can do its part in remedying these failures by using its all-important “power of the purse” to set a very clear line in the sand: not one single dime to fund Obamacare.

Read more... NO FUNDING PLEDGE There are now 13 senators who have signed the letter circulated by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) pledging to oppose Obamacare funding.

  • Mike Lee (R-UT)
  • Ted Cruz (R-TX)
  • Rand Paul (R-KY)
  • Marco Rubio (R-FL)
  • Deb Fischer (R-NE)
  • Jim Risch (R-ID)
  • Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
  • David Vitter (R-LA)
  • Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
  • Jeff Chiesa (R-NJ)
  • John Thune (R-SD)
  • Mike Enzi (R-WY)
  • Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Please contact these senators and thank them for taking a stand. They will come under enormous pressure to back down and they need to hear from people all across the country who support them. We will keep you updated on this important fight for our nation's future. Best regards,

 

Matt Hoskins Executive Director Senate Conservatives Fund Like Obamacare Petition Explodes on Facebook share on
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Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) Calls On GOP To Defund Healthcare Law (ObamaCare) At Any Cost 

Frightening ObamaCare Diktat – a Huge HHS Data Base For Federally Funded ‘Community Organizers’ 

House Launches Investigation Into Obama’s Blatant Political and Illegal Delay of ObamaCare 

Remember When Democrats Promised " No Death Panels” in ObamaCare… Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean Now Says Sarah Paling Was Right… 

The Petition for "Mandatory Euthanasia" for Senior Citizens Under Obama Care!

McCaughey: Obamacare is About Funding Democrats 

Obamacare Desperation: Meeting With Celebs Who’ll Never Use It To Push It