End Obamacare Exemption

End Obamacare Exemption : Sen. David Vitter’s bill 

Art credit: Sodahead.com

Next week, on June 17 at noon, patriots across the country will visit and call their representatives to demand that they no longer enjoy an exemption from Obamacare. For far too long, the "Ruling Class" politicians have lived above the law while the American people suffer. Help end that special Obamacare exemption.

For the 60-second ad being run across the country, go here (scroll down; it’s on the left-hand side). For more info, go to Sen David Vitter's website here. 

Mark your calendar for Weds., June 17 at noon. Find the office of your representative at this map. Plan to visit or call.

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King vs. Burwell and Obamacare

Art credit: crooks and liars.com

The King vs. Burwell case is expected to be decided by the Supreme Court at the end of June. The SCOTUS could strike down Obamacare subsidies in 34 non-exchange states. Here is an interactive map showing the status of each state and its health care exchanges. Ohio is one of seven states categorized as “Federally facilitated marketplace; state conducting plan management.”

Last week, Betsy McCaughey identified the potential winners and losers if SCOTUS strikes down the subsidies:

If Supremes slap ObamaCare, it’s health insurers who lose

. . . the Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell, expected this month . . . will determine the fate of these subsidies in 37 states.

Without subsidies, ObamaCare buyers in those states will have to pay the actual — and unaffordable — sticker price of ObamaCare. And you — taxpayers — will not have to fork over hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize insurers over the next decade.

But the dirty secret is that insurers stand to lose the most from King v. Burwell.

The Affordable Care Act compels the public to buy their product, and forces taxpayers to subsidize it. What a sweetheart deal.

The giant players — United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, Anthem and Humana — have seen stock prices double, triple, even quadruple since the law was passed in 2010. The coming ruling threatens to put an end to their gravy train.

Democrats are predicting disaster if the court rules against President Obama.

Republicans will “rue the day” they let millions of people lose their subsidies, says Nancy Pelosi. That’s crazy talk.

No one will lose their coverage immediately, the poor will be unaffected and the biggest losers will be insurance companies.

Employers, job-seekers and taxpayers actually stand to win here.

In addition, most Republicans in Congress are inclined to compromise with the president to provide some type of financial help for insurance buyers. If the Supremes gut ObamaCare, there will be many more winners than losers. Here’s how it shakes out:

The Affordable Care Act says subsidies will be provided only in states that set up their own exchanges. But only a handful of states (including New York) did.

In 37 states that didn’t, people use the federal healthcare.gov Web site instead. The Obama administration handed out subsidies to these people anyway, playing fast and loose with the law — and your money.

If the justices rule that the Obama administration can’t do that, some 7.7 million people will eventually lose their subsidies.

. . .

Insurance companies are lobbying furiously for a congressional fix.

Meanwhile, outside Washington, DC, a ruling nixing the subsidies will benefit employers and job-seekers.

Any of the 37 states that want to can set up an exchange and immediately qualify for the subsidies. But most are controlled by the GOP and won’t do it.

Without subsidies, the employer mandate is toothless, because employers are only fined if their uninsured workers go to an exchange and get a subsidy.

Employers who have been struggling to keep their workforce under 50 (where ObamaCare kicks in) and use part-timers (who aren’t subject to ObamaCare) won’t have to worry any more. Nullifying the employer mandate is likely to ignite a hiring boom.

According to the US Chamber of Commerce, that looming mandate has caused 21 percent of small businesses to reduce workers’ hours, 41 percent to delay hiring and 27 percent of franchises (such as fast-food restaurants) to replace full-timers with part-timers.

People facing a penalty for being uninsured will also come out ahead. Without subsidies, most will be exempted from the penalty, saving them $2,000 on average next year.

Despite Democrats’ dire warnings, the poor won’t be hurt. An amazing 89 percent of people who are newly insured because of ObamaCare are on Medicaid, which won’t be affected.

Ignore the alarmist rhetoric. A loss for the Obama administration in King v. Burwell will be a win for most Americans.

Read the entire article here.

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71st anniversary of D-Day

Photo credit: Conservative Treehouse

Today marks the 71^st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of the Normandy beaches. ConservativeTreehouse has the video of Pres. Reagan’s commemorative speech delivered on the 40th anniversary. 

A previously undiscovered German bunker was discovered on Juno Beach only two days ago. That report is here. 

My late father was the skipper of LCT (Landing Craft Tank) number 2454, which landed troops and equipment on Utah Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. 

A salute to all those who served to turn the tide against the Nazis.

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End Obamacare Exemption

Join us on June 17 @ Noon at Your Local Congressional Offices

End Obamacare Exemption

Join us at noon on Wednesday, June 17^th at one of your Senator’s or Representative’s local offices to demand that they abide by the laws that they force on the rest of us. Congress refuses to end their own Obamacare subsidies.

In Obamacare, it clearly states that Members of Congress and their staffs must abide by the law. However, they are ignoring the law in order to avoid its harmful effects which allows them to continue receiving their generous tax-payer funded subsidy. Which NO ONE else in the country enjoys!

Help us petition our elected officials to stop breaking the law. It’s time we put an end to the privileged, ruling class so that they too can feel the harms of Obamacare. Then we may be able to finally repeal this awful law!

Find your legislators on the interactive map.

Click on a Location to RSVP.

Download all of the tools you’ll need.

Join your fellow patriots on June 17th.

Interactive map for this event is here. 

Three key legislator offices in Cuyahoga County are:

Senator Sherrod Brown

Cleveland Office

801 West Superior Ave., Suite 1400

Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 522-7272

Representative Marcy Kaptur

Lakewood Office

16024 Madison St., Suite 3

Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 767-5933

Representative Marcy Kaptur

Parma Office

5592 Broadview Rd., Room 101

Parma, OH 44134

(440) 799-8499

For other locations, go to the interactive map here and find a legislator near you.

Mark your calendar for June 17 at noon. If you can go to the location, that is the best. But if you can’t take off work, then plan to make a few phone calls between noon and 1pm.

Bonus: Take the opportunity to express your support for the Ohio Health Care Compact.

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Another one announced today

Today's giggle via bookwormroom.com.

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Memorial Day thoughts

Here is an extract from The WashingtonPost: 

I’m a veteran and I hate ‘Happy Memorial Day.’ Here’s why.

By Jennie Haskamp May 22 at 11:02 AM

. . . I’m angry. I’ve come to realize people think Memorial Day is the official start of summer. It’s grilled meat, super-duper discounts, a day (or two) off work, beer, potato salad and porches draped in bunting.

But it shouldn’t be. It’s more than that.

Nearly 150 years ago, Memorial Day— first called Decoration Day— was set aside to decorate the graves of the men who’d recently died in battle. America was still reeling from the Civil War when Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a proclamation in 1868, according to a PBS account of his decision.  “The 30th of May,” he declared, “would be an occasion to honor those who died in the conflict.”

He chose the date because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

Here’s how it was outlined in General Orders No. 11, Washington, D.C., May 5, 1868:

The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

How is it then, some century and a half later, after more than a decade of war in two countries that claimed the lives of some 6,861 Americans, we are collectively more concerned with having a barbecue and going shopping than pausing to appreciate the cost of our freedom to do so?

A friend reminded me that plenty of people use the weekend the way it was designed: to pause and remember the men and women who paid the price of our freedom, and then go on about enjoying those freedoms.

But I argue not enough people use it that way. Not enough people pause. Not enough people remember.

I’m frustrated by people all over the country who view the day as anything but a day to remember our WAR DEAD. I hate hearing “Happy Memorial Day.”

It’s not Veteran’s Day. It’s not military appreciation day. Don’t thank me for my service. Please don’t thank me for my service. It’s take the time to pay homage to the men and women who died while wearing the cloth of this nation you’re so freely enjoying today, day.

Read the rest here. 

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Fox editorial on the Health Care Compact

A second chance to get America's health care right: Give authority to our states

By Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. James Lankford

Published May 15, 2015 on FoxNews.com   

Health care reform has dominated our nation’s political and social conversations for the past six years. After the implementation of ObamaCare, it is clear the law brought radical change and real pain to our nation’s families, economy, and health care system. The promised "affordable health care fix" made things worse.  

The pending King v. Burwell case reveals another interesting legal problem with the policy and text of the Affordable Care Act. As written, the federally controlled subsidies and employer mandates are not allowed, unless a state chooses them. Now the Supreme Court debates, behind closed doors, the question of state responsibility and textual intent to determine the direction of health care in America. The resulting Supreme Court opinion could dismantle the structure of ObamaCare and give America a second chance to get health care reform right.  

Ironically, the issue of state responsibility could take ObamaCare down and lift individual citizens up.

States are generally more effective regulators than the federal government. Allowing states to assume responsibility and maintain authority moves people from numbers on a spreadsheet to neighbors down the street.

The Constitution gives states the power to regulate health care within their state and voluntarily compact with other states, but the federal government has attempted to preempt state action by assuming centralized control. What is needed is clear legislation that affirms the right of states to compact with one another to return authority for health care regulation to states that choose to participate.

Interstate compacts have been used on more than 200 occasions to establish agreements between and among states. Mentioned in Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution, state compacts provide authority and flexibility to administer government programs without federal interference. In the Compact structure, federal health care tax money and responsibility is returned to a state when they expand their existing Healthcare Authority structure.  Congressional consent is extended when states enter into a legally binding compact. It is similar to a multitude of other grants made by the federal government to states and local entities.

Complexity empowers big government, simplicity empowers families and local leaders. Giving health care authority to states is simple and beneficial because they are able to enact accountability, efficiencies and tailor their system to fit the exact needs of their population. One size does not fit all – ObamaCare proves that. The health challenges and population needs of Vermont or California are not the same as Texas or Oklahoma.  

Why should bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. manage all health care systems the same way?

Health care is large, complex, and challenging to manage at the federal level. With a federal system that impacts over 300 million people, $2.3 trillion spent annually and almost 3,000 pages of regulations for Medicare and Medicaid, federal management of our health care system is inefficient and virtually occluded from individualized input. The Medicare fraud rate has hovered around 10 percent for decades, with over $50 billion in annual lost tax money.  Big systems allow massive financial loss and make individual citizens small.  

States are generally more effective regulators than the federal government. Allowing states to assume responsibility and maintain authority moves people from numbers on a spreadsheet to neighbors down the street. Rural health care struggles to get the attention of federal agencies, but they would have the consistent ear of state agencies. 

Some people assume only people in Washington, D.C. care about the health needs of people across the nation, but we can assure you that state leaders and state agencies deeply care for their neighbors and want to find ways to help them. In fact, before the Affordable Care Act passed, our states had already initiated systems to care for those without health care. Unfortunately, the state solutions were forced out when ObamaCare took over.

The Compact is an option that ensures the people of each state will have a choice. States can opt in to the Compact – or not.  To date, the Health Care Compact has been formally requested by 9 states – Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah – and several other states are considering it.  

As Congress works towards solutions to the problems created by the top-down approach of ObamaCare, we want to let states innovate to serve their citizens’ health care needs. When the Supreme Court rules on King v. Burwell in favor of state responsibility, we want to let states innovate ways to serve their citizens’ health care.

Republican John Cornyn represents Texas in the United States Senate where he serves on the Judiciary Committee. He is a former state attorney general.

Republican James Lankford represents Oklahoma in the United States Senate.

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