Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA): The Amnesty Uncle Tom

It shows complete ignorance for anyone to compare President Obama granting amnesty for immigrants illegally entering our country on their own volition with President Lincoln's freeing of slaves forcefully brought into this country and sold into servitude.

But for black Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) to diminish the horrors of slavery in our country and make this comparison - would make him an "Amnesty Uncle Tom."

Whereas illegal immigrants are often given in-state tuition, slaves were often given a rope from the limb of a tree.

Below is a great article by Kevin Fobbs calling out Rep. Johnson on trying to equate President Obama granting amnesty for illegal immigrants to President Lincoln's ending slavery in our country.

From Communities Digital News --

CLEVELAND, November 15, 2014 — Under the category of unbelievable or perhaps delusional liberal gaffes, a Democratic congressman is comparing President Obama’s threatened unilateral action on immigration to Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., announced this week that Obama, who did nothing to push through immigration reform when he and the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, is the second coming of Abraham Lincoln, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A memo was leaked by the White House that strongly suggests that Obama intends to announce a ten-point immigration reform executive order which will allow millions of illegal immigrants to live and work legally in the United States. Rep. Johnson apparently has avoided the legal fact that these same millions of illegal immigrants are breaking the law.

Instead, the congressman insists that Obama will be regarded with the same historical standing as Lincoln, who freed millions of black slaves who were held in servitude for nearly 200 years.

They’re protecting an economic order that makes its living off of cheap labor, just like slavery. You entice people from across the border to come here and you pay them sub-wages and you keep them in an underground economy and you refuse to let them out. Those people work hard. They have played by the rules. They have built this country. …

One day there will be movies written about this episode in American history. There will be a president who issues an executive order like the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed 3 to 4 million slaves with the signing of a pen. There will be some bold leaders in the Congress trying to move those who try to cling to the status quo. …

In the end of the movie Congress will — there will be some bold action in Congress by congressional leaders to force the others to do what is right. And it may take a little bit more time, but I’m proud to stand here with those who have been fighting for a long time and those who have the strength to continue to fight until we get this done.

I also want to say to President Obama: We have your back. Don’t worry about it. Do the right thing. Let’s make it happen.

Far from being celebrated, the action that the president is considering may lead to a new American insurrection.

Already there are pitched outcries from conservative and Republican ranks, as well as disappointment from blacks who increasingly feel insulted and betrayed by Obama’s lack of action on problems and concerns in the black community.

Rep. Johnson seems to have forgotten that his own native state of Georgia actually is suffering from the worst unemployment in the nation. The facts are startling. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, which was the highest rate of all 50 states.

Obama has issued no executive order to end joblessness in Georgia’s urban centers, or even in his own home city of Chicago.

The commander-in-chief has been missing in action. That is why many blacks in Georgia and in other minority communities around the nation have openly challenged his commitment to the black community, whose ancestors Lincoln actually did free.

Has the congressional representative forgotten the throes of anguish that Lincoln endured as he worked fervently to end to a Civil War that nearly destroyed a nation to insure freedom from slavery? The illegal immigrants made a choice to break the law to enter the United States; they were not brought here against their will. They are not slaves and are free to return to their true homes.

Unlike Lincoln, Obama shows no anguish as he makes his decisions. No heart- or soul-searching is apparent in the process of emancipating the illegal immigrants from what Rep. Johnson believes is the bondage of the law. Johnson said, “One day there will be movies written about this episode in American history.” He added, “There will be a president who issues an executive order like the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed three to four million slaves with the signing of a pen.”

The voters of Johnson’s congressional district should demand a recount or a revote, because the Hollywood version of his fantasy ends with the Congress taking bold action initiated by congressional leaders. Supposedly inspired by the President, these Capitol Hill leaders will be forced to “do what is right.”

Now is the right time to introduce Johnson to reality; once the congressman’s dream phase has ended, he will realize that the congressional leadership will most certainly do the right thing, and that is to deny Obama funding for his actions or move for articles of impeachment.

Either way, Johnson’s version of the Obama movie saga will have to end up on the cutting room floor.

Cleveland Tea Party Calls for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil To Step Down

With the complete election day failures of the Democrats in Ohio thanks to soon to be outgoing Ohio Democrat Party (ODP) Chairman Chris Redfern & his anchor of a candidate for Governor, Ed FitzGerald, that helped bring the whole statewide ticket down, the battle lines are being drawn for control of the Ohio Democrats. 

Showing the establishment Democrats & the establishment Republicans are equally sleazy when it comes to backroom deals and rigging the process, Senator Sherrod Brown's recent endorsement of his lobbyist friend Denny Wojtanowski as next ODP Chair was immediately squashed.

But this post is not to revel in the inner-party fighting of the Democrats in Ohio. 

This post is to serve the purpose of calling for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil to immediately step down from the Ohio Supreme Court.

While every citizen, elected official & party activist has the right to voice their opinion - judges and judicial candidates are bound by the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct.  

Recently weighing in on the inner-party fight of the Ohio Democrat Party, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil, a Democrat, posted the following rants over the last several days....

O'Neil's above Facebook rants go way beyond the allowable activity for a sitting judge under the Ohio Code for Judicial Conduct.

Under Canon 2 Rule 2.4 (Pg 22) of the Ohio Code for Judicial Conduct it states.... (Emphasis Added)

RULE 2.4 External Influences on Judicial Conduct

(A) A judge shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism.

(B) A judge shall not permit family, social, political, financial, or other interests or relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.

(C) A judge shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.

[1] An independent judiciary requires that judges decide cases according to the law and facts, without regard to whether particular laws or litigants are popular or unpopular with the public, the media, government officials, or the judge’s friends or family. Confidence in the judiciary is eroded if judicial decision making is perceived to be subject to inappropriate outside influences.

From O'Neil's above rants it clearly shows that his political interests and relationships can effect his decision making process which can easily be perceived that he is subject to outside influences.

Further crossing the line of allowable activity, O'Neil's comments are in direct conflict with allowable political & campaign activity allowed under Canon 4 Rule 4.1.... (Emphasis Added)

RULE 4.1 Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates

[1] Though subject to public election, a judge plays a role different from that of a legislator or executive branch official. Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of each case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free and appear to be free from political influence and political pressure. Canon 4 imposes narrowly tailored restrictions upon the political and campaign activities of all judges and judicial candidates.

Participation in Political Activities

[3] Public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary is eroded if judges or judicial candidates are perceived to be subject to political influence. Although judges and judicial candidates may register to vote as members of a political party, they are prohibited by division (A)(1) from assuming leadership roles in political organizations.

[4] Divisions (A)(2) and (A)(3) prohibit judges and judicial candidates from making speeches on behalf of political organizations or publicly endorsing or opposing candidates for public office to prevent them from abusing the prestige of judicial office to advance the interests of others.

In O'Neil's Facebook rants he talks about his speaking out on the Democrat Party fight for control of Ohio as a "matter of honor."  

"As a sitting Ohio Supreme Court Justice," stated Ralph King co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots, "in reverence to the honor of serving on Ohio's highest court & integrity of the judicial process which he is to uphold, as a 'matter of honor' - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil should very quietly, politely, stand up and resign his seat."

Labor Day Special: Democrats Support of Illegal Immigrants is War on U.S. Workers!

As we routinely hear how the Democrats support U.S. workers, in the below article & video link, a former liberal clearly shows the Democrats desire of amnesty for illegal immigrants is clearly a War on U.S. workers.  (Click to watch video)

From The Daily Caller -- 

As Labor Day looms, President Obama’s immigration policy looks to become a war on American workers. Without prioritizing who’s allowed to come to America, former liberal Ann Corcoran says “the American worker loses. The numbers are too high. We can’t assimilate this many people.”

Marylander Ann Corcoran, who says she was “tea party” before the movement existed, has written a daily blog, as a volunteer activist, at Refugee Resettlement Watch for the last seven years to inform and engage citizens.

Refugee Resettlement Watch is a small but growing daily blog focused on how the government has resettled over 3 million refugees since 1975. Without any financial backing, she is doing what the media and Congress have failed to do – tracking how a federal program is functioning. Corcoran, who has published over 2,500 posts now, says “the open border left wants no borders.” And those involved with resettling refugees with the U.N. and Washington want no scrutiny of this program.

American-bound refugees are selected by the U.N. Then the State Department and the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, are tasked to operate with nine major federal contractors who monopolize the program and contract work to 300 subcontractors to place refugees throughout the nation. According to Corcoran, HHS has now identified growing “pockets of resistance.” Ever vigilant, HHS sends another contractor, “Welcoming America,” to set communities’ “minds right.”

In this 22 minute video interview, Corcoran discusses what might surprise most citizens about this federal program. Specifically, she discusses how church groups are being paid lucratively — by refugee — to do charitable work, the U.N.’s dominant role in our refugee program and the lack of substantive consultation with states and cities about these immigrants. (Click here to watch video)

With all the persecution of Christians going on in the world today, you would think the largest Christian contractor would ask the government to only allow Christians for a time period. Yet, Corcoran says she was “shocked to hear the representative for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops testify at the State Department for more Burmese Muslims next year.”

With a watchful eye on how communities are reacting to new refugees, Corcoran mentions in this interview Dover, NH; Salt Lake City, UT; Nashville, TN; Amarillo, TX; Springfield, MA; and Athens, GA.

Lastly, she gives advice on what citizens can do and shares her ideas on how to reform the program, such as ensuring communities can request economic and social impact statements along with public hearings.

Hypocrite Ed FitzGerald (P.O. #14) Conducts his own "War on Women"

From the phony cries of racism and voter suppression and now the so-called GOP War on Women - nobody owns being a hypocrite like the Ohio Democrat Party & Cuyahoga County Executive and Democrat candidate for Ohio Governor - Ed FitzGerald (AKA - Public Official #14 in the Cuyahoga County Corruption Scandal).

And consistent with FitzGerald paying women less then men, as we posted back in 2012, the Democrats have been conducting a War on Women for some time.

From Third Base Politics --

You’ll hear Democrats squawking quite a bit today about equal pay today. They love to quote that women make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.

Today is National Equal Pay Day. Did you know women still make just .77 for each $1 a man earns? RT to stand w/us in the fight for #equalpay
— Ohio Dems (@OHDems) April 8, 2014

Of course, many of us know that that figure alone does NOT reflect men and women doing the exact same jobs. There are many factors that go into that 77 cent figure, and it is far more influenced by factors such as the careers that women go into compared to men, plus the fact that women often take maternity leave.

But let’s pretend that 77 cent methodology, taking all workers across all careers and job types, is a valid one to consider. Let’s do what the Democrats are doing, and NOT consider the type of work or career, and only look at raw numbers, even if it is comparing apples to oranges.

How would they fair in their own hiring practices?

Third Base Politics has acquired the salaries of Ed Fitzgerald’s county executive staff through a public records request. Below is what the county provided.

Ed Fitzgerald has 7 men and 5 women on his staff.

He pays the men an average of $94438.
He pays the women an average of $71011.

The women on Ed Fitzgerald’s staff make 75 cents for every dollar that the men on his staff do.

This is the same standard and methodology that Democrats are using when they claim that there is a “war on women” because women earn 77% of what men do.

Heck, in Ed Fitzgerald’s office, it’s even worse than Democrats are saying about the national average!

So, Ed. Why are you discriminating against women this way? We’ll be waiting for the Ohio Democratic Party to criticize the pay discrimination going on in Ed Fitzgerald’s office.

Obama KNEW in 2010 that 93-million or more would lose current insurance due to Obamacare

From Insights, Issues & Istook --

In the fine print of Obama Administration documents from three years ago, it shows they knew Obamacare would outlaw far more than the 5% of policies which they now claim are involved. Instead, it’s 93-million Americans, including group and employer-based coverage as well as individual policies.

Obama has known all along that 93-million people would lose their current insurance due to Obamacare.

The White House is in full-blown cover-up mode, claiming President Obama has saved Americans from supposed second-rate, predatory, bad-apple or shoddy insurance companies.

Their crime? Offering affordable insurance that people wanted to keep. No, it didn’t cover everything like Obamacare does. But few can afford a policy that covers everything–just like flying first-class costs too much, or staying in luxury hotels.

In the fine print of Obama Administration documents from three years ago, it shows they knew Obamacare would outlaw far more than the 5% of policies which they now claim are involved. Instead, it’s 93-million Americans, including group and employer-based coverage as well as individual policies.

Obama lied to get votes, saying if you liked your insurance you could keep it. Now he’s lying to cover it up; so we can expect that his lying will never stop.

In FORBES, Avril Roy reveals an obscure Obama Administration report published in the June 2010 Federal Register.  

As he writes:

“The Departments’ mid-range estimate is that 66 percent of small employer plans and 45 percent of large employer plans will relinquish their grandfather status by the end of 2013,” wrote the administration on page 34,552 of the Register. All in all, more than half of employer-sponsored plans will lose their “grandfather status” and get canceled. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 156 million Americans—more than half the population—was covered by employer-sponsored insurance in 2013.

Another 25 million people, according to the CBO, have “nongroup and other” forms of insurance; that is to say, they participate in the market for individually-purchased insurance. In this market, the administration projected that “40 to 67 percent” of individually-purchased plans would lose their Obamacare-sanctioned “grandfather status” and get canceled, solely due to the fact that there is a high turnover of participants and insurance arrangements in this market. (Plans purchased after March 23, 2010 do not benefit from the “grandfather” clause.) The real turnover rate would be higher, because plans can lose their grandfather status for a number of other reasons.

How many people are exposed to these problems? 60 percent of Americans have private-sector health insurance—precisely the number that Jay Carney dismissed. As to the number of people facing cancellations, 51 percent of the employer-based market plus 53.5 percent of the non-group market (the middle of the administration’s range) amounts to 93 million Americans.

Will these canceled plans be replaced with better coverage?

President Obama’s famous promise that “you could keep your plan” was not some naïve error or accident. He, and his allies, knew that previous Democratic attempts at health reform had failed because Americans were happy with the coverage they had, and opposed efforts to change the existing system.

Now, supporters of the law are offering a different argument. “We didn’t really mean it when we said you could keep your plan,” they say, “but it doesn’t matter, because the coverage you’re going to get under Obamacare will be better than the coverage you had before.”

But that’s not true. Obamacare forces insurers to offer services that most Americans don’t need, don’t want, and won’t use, for a higher price.

In an earlier FORBES article, Chris Conover calculates a larger number of Americans will lose their current coverage, namely 129 million of us. You can read that article HERE; it includes his calculations.

A chart from it is below:

Michelle Obama - The First Lady of Crony Capitalism

Ignoring calls from within his own Administration that the implementation of Obamacare itself would be a train wreck, in mirroring his Presidency, the www.healthcare.gov website to sign up for Obamacare is turning out to be an abject failure as it appears this bullet train of a bust is having a hard time even leaving the Station.

Now with growing calls of concern over the website failures from the Democrats, and only after President Obama forced the government into a shut down to get his way, our petulant President is calling in the "best & brightest" to save the day!

But not before he allowed the First Lady of Crony Capitalism -- Michelle Obama - to allow her friends to feed at the federal trough....

From The Daily Caller --

First Lady Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the contract to build the failed Obamacare website.

Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $678 million Obamacare enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company.

Townes-Whitley and her Princeton classmate Michelle Obama are both members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni.

Toni Townes ’85 is a onetime policy analyst with the General Accounting Office and previously served in the Peace Corps in Gabon, West Africa. Her decision to return to work, as an African-American woman, after six years of raising kids was applauded by a Princeton alumni publication in 1998.

George Schindler, the president for U.S. and Canada of the Canadian-based CGI Group, CGI Federal’s parent company, became an Obama 2012 campaign donor after his company gained the Obamacare website contract.

As 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.

The Obamacare Meltdown

From A Line of Sight --

Amidst talks at the end of September about a government shutdown, the Obama Administration promised that the Affordable Care Act exchange websites would launch, as scheduled, on October 1st. The exchanges are the law's online marketplaces intended to enable consumers to sign up for the health insurance offered and regulated under the law.

In June of this year, critics of ObamaCare voiced their concerns that the exchange websites would not be ready by the October 1st deadline. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius dismissed those concerns, saying:

We have the next couple of months laid out with a very busy and engaged schedule to make sure that we're ready for the marketplace launch on Oct. 1, with open enrollment... It's a huge undertaking across the country, and I'm confident we're on track to get it done.

Despite Secretary Sebelius' confidence, the much-anticipated website's launch was nothing short of a disaster. Within hours of its launch, the site was unavailable in many states, with error messages asking people to check back in a few hours. Site visitors across the country complained they were unable to create accounts, set up passwords, or fill out the necessary web-forms. During an on-air demonstration in early October, MSNBC reporters attempted to sign up for ObamaCare, but gave up when it became clear the website was not functioning.

According to Millward Brown Digital, out of 3.72 million people who attempted to register in the first week, only 36,000 people were able to successfully complete enrollment.

The cost of the exchange website was originally expected to be $94 million, but in true big-government fashion, has ballooned to $292 million. Perhaps more shocking, it was revealed in mid-October that the websites were built using 10-year old technology. So, thanks to the expert planning of the Department of Health and Human Services, taxpayers have to pay nearly $300 million for glitch-prone, outdated technology.

Technical glitches aside, the real ObamaCare meltdown is with the law itself.

Even before full implementation, the law, like the website, is already crashing and burning. The law has failed to live up to any of the promises that Democrats made in 2009 and 2010.

One of the most glaring broken promises is that ObamaCare was a "jobs bill." Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi famously said in 2010 the health care bill would create 4 million jobs. Not only have those 4 million jobs failed to materialize, but now millions of Americans are witnessing the destruction of their 40-hour workweek or seeing their jobs disappear altogether. The law imposes higher fines for employers with 50 or more full-time employees, thus incentivizing businesses to scale back their hiring or move operations overseas.

When recently pressed about the destruction of the 40-hour workweek, Nancy Pelosi responded that the end of the 40-hour workweek is "a liberation" for the American people because they are now free to pursue their passions. Her "let them eat cake" elitism displays the profound disconnect between Washington, DC and the real world where Americans are struggling under ObamaCare.

Democrats also promised that ObamaCare would provide "universal" health insurance. In reality, even when fully implemented, the Congressional Budget Office expects approximately 30 million people will remain uninsured. That's a far cry from universal coverage.

Then there are the more serious broken promises, such as the ubiquitous promise that people would not lose their insurance. President Obama and Senate Democrats repeatedly made that claim when the bill was being debated in 2009. Just as many ObamaCare critics predicted three years ago, millions of Americans are now losing their insurance, either because their companies are dropping the plans and opting for the government-run exchanges, or because the plans are not "ObamaCare compliant" and the insurance companies are discontinuing them.

President Obama also promised early on that his signature health care law would reduce families' health insurance premiums by up to $2,500 per year. Many individuals who have managed to complete the exchange application have been shocked to learn that their premiums in the exchange would go up, in some cases as much as 300%. Those who are most affected, of course, are the younger, healthier people who will be forced to pay higher premiums to cover the costs of the chronically ill and older people.

It is no exaggeration to say that the exchanges are critical to the law's success. Without the exchanges, ObamaCare collapses.

The federal government, which was unable to build a functioning website – with three years and 300 million dollars – is the same government Americans are supposed to believe will be able to manage all aspects of their health care, from the insurance marketplace to setting prices for medical services.

Unlike the exchange website portals, which can be tweaked and improved, ObamaCare itself is an unmitigated disaster. The law is already wreaking havoc on America's economy, increasing health insurance prices, cancelling existing health insurance plans, and eroding Americans' job security.

Missed deadlines, blown budgets, and a failure to deliver. That describes more than the exchange websites; it is also true of the entire health care law's implementation. While the IT experts in DC scramble to get rid of the website's many bugs, serious reformers should recommit themselves to repealing this law before it does irreparable damage to the economy and health care industry.

------

Shonda Werry is a policy analyst and researcher in Washington, DC. She is a contributing editor to A Line of Sight.

Obama's TV Pitch on Obamacare: Overwhelming Questions, No Answers

From former Congressman Ernest Istook via Washington Times -- 

WASHINGTON, October 22, 2013 — President Obama flunked as a TV pitchman and as President Monday. Everyone understood why that lady fainted.

“Operators are standing by to take your Obamacare calls.” But they weren’t.

Let’s face it. Carrier pigeons, the Pony Express and snail mail (with real snails) are all faster than the Obamacare website. No wonder President Obama urged everyone to bypass it.

President Obama should have been serious and contrite about a major problem. Instead, Obama joked that now the website will be fixed…because he’d told people that the problem made him mad.

His personal feelings are not our measuring stick. Only three weeks ago, he was boasting that Obamacare was ready to rock and condemning those who proposed delay.

Monday we heard a gimmicky speech and a sales pitch for a product that doesn’t work. Not just a website that doesn’t work and an 800 number that didn’t work either, but a product that doesn’t work. Millions of insurance cancellation letters and premium increase letters are testimony that the product itself doesn’t work.

There is a reason why all the other TV pitchmen give demonstations. Ginsu knives. Sham-Wow. Snuggies. Vegomatic.

Poor Barack Obama didn’t dare show his product onscreen. Imagine Ron Popeil or Billy Mays telling their audience what Obama did, “That product is working. It’s really good. And it turns out there’s a massive demand for it.”

But no proof. No demonstration. No numbers. Nothing about 99% premium increases or doubled deductibles and high co-pays. Not even the number of customers.

McDonald’s once kept a running tally on their signs, starting at 5 billion served and updated until they surpassed 100 billion. Now it’s just “billions and billions served.” 

Obama will only tell us the traffic count, not the customer count: “So far, the national website, HealthCare.gov, has been visited nearly 20 million times.”

That’s probably a million people each trying twenty times to create an account. Iowa just proclaimed its first successful Obamacare customer. Edward Voss said it took him over 100 tries. In the Rose Garden, Obama was introduced by Janice Baker, Delaware’s first Obamacare enrollee. It took her seven hours and she had to bypass the website.

They should make a children’s book about people who somehow signed up for Obamacare. You could tell the kids, “See, there’s Waldo. But can you find the Obamacare enrollee?”

The White House keeps us confused about more than just numbers. What’s the difference between enroll, apply, sign up, register, and purchase when it comes to Obamacare? Is the process anything like signing up at Costco? Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius must think this is words with friends because they keep us guessing about each term. But they won’t answer questions.

For Obamacare, you have to create an account, be approved, submit financial data and find out whether you’ll get a taxpayer subsidy, all before you’re allowed to shop for a plan. Then you might put one in the cart to come back and buy later.

Keep it simple. Will they at least tell us the number of buyers? We might as well ask the launch codes for our nuclear arsenal.

The White House team play other tricks, too. For example:

• Blending state numbers with federal numbers. That lets them pretend the Obamacare exchanges are anything other than a bust.

• Pretending the only problems are computer glitches. Obamacare is inherently complex, costly and confusing. Just wait until we find out they’ve mis-allocated billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies. The website is not the real problem; it’s only a symptom. Obamacare itself is the problem.

• Claiming low premiums are the same as affordability. Or that a subsidized premium is a low premium. Premiums are only part of out-of-pocket costs under both individual and group policies, and both types are hit by Obamacare. Higher deductibles and higher co-pays are causing sticker shock, too; it’s not just the premiums. And Obama cherry picks abnormally-low examples to cite.

From the Rose Garden, Obama told us he would not sugarcoat the problem, then he proceeded to do just that. But one of the insiders who saw Obamacare put together, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, told an interviewer it could take three years to fix the programming.

This cannot go on. When President Obama told us, “Nobody’s more frustrated than I am,” hands shot up in living rooms all across America. He has a lot of competition for that claim.

Obama has put himself in a corner by making Obamacare the driver of the federal budget, the symbol of government activism, and his sword against Republicans. Even on small things, he seems incapable of admitting his mistakes. But on something this enormous? So he continues to bluster in his usual way.

We are not talking about a $19.99 Vegomatic here; we’re talking about one-sixth of the American economy. But according to Obama, the problem has only progressed from a glitch to a kink. What’s next? A wrinkle?

The selective and slanted information being spooned out by the Administration is propaganda; but the information they’re concealing is now into the realm of coverup.

And They Said There is No War on Coal!

This past Tuesday President Obama, again through regulation over legislation, unveiled new tighter rules for power plants that will include a push for more restrictive green building codes and costly restrictions on household appliances.

The economy of Ohio, the state that is America’s 4^th-largest user of coal, faces a grave threat from these proposed EPA regulations that would halt coal use in existing electric power plants and prevent the building of new coal-burning plants.

That’s a dangerous move with the economy still struggling to recover, especially in Ohio where an enormous share of our power – 78 percent – is generated with coal (nationwide, the share is 43 percent).

The rules will kill many of the 27,000 Ohio jobs dependent on the coal industry. Not to mention the devastating impact on jobs and the economy in other coal producing and coal dependent states. Business and residential utility customers will certainly face greater risk of electricity price spikes as we rely for power generation more on natural gas (with its historically volatile price) and less on coal (with its historically stable, lower prices).

While it is vital to the future of our country that we use our natural resources to diversify our energy portfolio, it is only prudent to allow the technology of these other sources to grow through free market investment by the private sector – not government mandates.

Advancing technology already allows utilities to burn coal cleaner than in the past. Soon, coal-fired power plants that emit virtually no carbon dioxide will be feasible. But with President Obama & his EPA continuing their War on Coal by trying to make air cleaner than God himself ever intended, that will never be allowed to happen.

For highlights of President Obama's new plan to cut carbon, click here.  For a PDF of the complete action plan (assault), click here.

Food Stamp Give Away to Illegal Immigrants Must be Stopped!

Already not having enough money to continue funding a signature program of Obamacare, medical coverage for pre-existing conditions, President Obama's Department of Agriculture is actively promoting and funding a program for illegal immigrants to get food stamps. 

In pushing healthy American citizens to the back of the bus and forcing us to pay to feed illegal immigrants while many Americans still go hungry, President Obama also sends a message to those Americans with pre-existing medical conditions that he would rather feed illegal immigrants over treating their health issues as he promised....

From The Washington Examiner -- 

With food stamp spending in the United States skyrocketing since the beginning of the recession, the Department of Agriculture is paying to promote food stamp usage to illegal immigrants for the sake of their American children, according to documents obtained by a government watchdog.

“The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as “SNAP” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA with a statement advising Mexicans in the U.S. that they do not need to declare their immigration status in order to receive financial assistance,” Judicial Watch announced today.

“Emphasized in bold and underlined, the statement reads, ‘You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.’”

Under President Obama's watch food stamp benefits have increased more than double each year. In addition, with the removing of a 1996 requirement that individuals receiving SNAP must have a job or be enrolled in work training and lowering the bar for SNAP eligibility - people receiving food stamps has increased to an all time high of 47.8 million people.

To find out how many people in your county are on food stamps, click here.

Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) have introduced a bill, "Streamlining the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SSNAP) Act" in attempts to stop this foolishness and reign in the rampant fraud, waste and abuse of an already out of control food stamp program....

The food stamp program may be cut when Congress moves to pass a farm bill this year. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., introduced a bill last week to cut $30 billion from the $760 billion the program is expected to spend over the next ten years.

“Since President Obama came into office, SNAP participation has increased at 10 times the rate of job creation, the annual spending on SNAP has doubled, and one in seven Americans now participates in SNAP,” Thune said in a statement on the bill. “This explosive growth in both the SNAP enrollment and federal cost of the program is alarming and requires lawmakers to take cost-effective legislative control measures.”

“We save taxpayers $30 billion and make sure that families in need still receive a helping hand,” Stutzman added. “This is a common-sense start for Congress’ Farm Bill discussions as we look for ways to tackle Washington’s nearly $17 trillion debt.”

This common sense bill will also protect and help assure that Americans that really do need these benefits will still receive them. 

This is important as the Obama Administration's progressive policies have clearly shown their repeated willingness to push Americans to the back of the bus. Most notably, it is the elderly, sick, less fortunate and low-income Americans - that Obama claims to protect - that most often suffer the undue hardships of these policies.

Please contact your Senator and Congressman and ask them to support Senator Thune and Rep. Stutzman's "Streamlining the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SSNAP) Act".

To read a one-page over view of the bill, click here.  

For contact info for your Senator - click here.  For contact info for your Congressman - click here.

Russian Bomber's Make Practice Runs On U.S. Missile Defense in Asia

In what President Obama defines as a "reset in relations" -- Russia views as weakness, indecisiveness and a Benghazi-type incompetence....

From The Washington Free Beacon --

A Russian bomber recently carried out simulated cruise missile attacks on U.S. missile defenses in Asia, raising new questions about Moscow's goal in future U.S.-Russian defense talks.

According to U.S. officials, a Russian Tu-22M Backfire bomber on Feb. 26 simulated firing air-launched cruise missiles at an Aegis ship deployed near Japan as part of U.S. missile defenses.

A second mock attack was conducted Feb. 27 against a ground-based missile defense site in Japan that officials did not identify further.

The bomber targeting comes as Russia is building up forces in the Pacific by modernizing submarines and building a spy ship specifically for intelligence-gathering against U.S. missile defenses. 

Officials said it was not clear why the Russians conducted the practice strikes. However, the simulations may indicate Moscow has targeted its offensive ballistic missiles on Japan or U.S. military bases in the region. More...

House Starts Talks on Debt Ceiling & 2014 Budget

From Tea Party Patriots --

Next week, the House Committee on Ways & Means is having two important hearings. Below are some basic details to be aware of:

First, on Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing for Members of Congress who have submitted or cosponsored bills in the 112^th and 113^th Congress that address spending prioritization if the debt ceiling is breached. From the Committee’s website:

Congressman Charles W. Boustany Jr., M.D. (R-LA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced the Subcommittee will hold a hearing examining the government’s ability to prioritize its obligations and continue operations should the U.S. Treasury reach its statutory debt limit. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.

Oral testimony at this hearing will be limited to Members of Congress who have introduced or co-sponsored legislation related to the government’s ability to continue operating when the debt limit has been reached during the 112^th or 113^th Congresses. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

While it is unlikely the debt ceiling will be breached, this could be a very informative hearing to see which Members of Congress have various ideas to prioritize spending.

On Thursday, another hearing is scheduled – the annual Ways & Means hearing with the Secretary of the Treasury. With the President’s budget scheduled to arrive on April 10, the hearing is being held the next day:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today announced that the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on President Obama’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2014.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, April 11, 2013, in 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.

BACKGROUND:

On April 10, 2013, the President is expected to submit his fiscal year 2014 budget proposal to Congress.  The proposed budget will detail his tax proposals for the coming year as well as provide an overview of the budget for the Treasury Department and other activities of the Federal government.  The Treasury plays a key role in many areas of the Committee’s jurisdiction.

In announcing this hearing, Chairman Camp said, “The Ways and Means Committee is committed to comprehensive tax reform that eliminates tax loopholes, simplifies the code, and lowers rates.  Tax reform that accomplishes these goals can strengthen our economy, create more jobs and allow American workers to start seeing an increase in their paychecks again.  This hearing will provide both the Committee an opportunity to review the President’s tax proposals and Treasury Secretary Lew the opportunity to describe how the Administration intends to work with the Committee and Congress to pass and enact comprehensive tax reform.”

While the President’s budget is mostly a formality in general, and especially since it’s over two months late, the hearing should be very informative as to whether or not we’ll actually have normal order for the budget process in Fiscal Year 2014. (I think it’s highly unlikely, given the major differences between the House and Senate budget resolutions, but it’s always possible.)

The function of these hearings is mostly to give Members the ability to create soundbytes for constituents and the media.  However, occasionally, good things come out of these hearings – Senator Cruz’s recent hammering of Attorney General Eric Holder is one example of this. Hopefully, the two hearings will be more like the latter, and less like the former.

National Debt over $16 Trillion; Feds Spend $423,500 Studying Condom Skills

Continuing to hear how the Sequester cuts will be so devastating to our country, the negative impact it will create for the poor and less fortunate among us, and how these Sequester cuts are putting thousands of federal workers out of work, we have previously posted on how the IRS spent over $60,000 on Star Trek & Gilligan's Island training videos, over $1.2 Million for studies on Snail Sex & Duck Penises, and $250 Million for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Now, with the National Debt over $16 Trillion, and with youth unemployment rate at 16.2% and the overall unemployment rate at 11.6%, we bring you a $423,500 study with Stimulus funds creating 0 jobs on the condom skills of young heterosexual men....

From The Weekly Standard --

The details of a stimulus grant awarded to Indiana University to study condom use have now been released on a government website. The study, titled "Barriers to Correct Condom Use," is now completed, according to the website, and the university received $423,500 of stimulus funds to perform the study.

The stimulus project yielded a total of 0.00 jobs created, according to the federal government. "No jobs created/retained," the form says under "Description of Jobs Created."
              
"Sexually transmitted infections (STI), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), pose significant health risks," a synopsis of study reads. "Consistent and correct use of condoms can be a highly effective method of preventing the transmission of HIV and many STIs, yet studies show that problems with condom use are common. This project is one of the first to examine under controlled conditions the role of cognitive and affective factors and condom skills in explaining condom use problems in young, heterosexual adult men."

It just begs to be asked does a study on condom skills now need to be conducted for middle-aged and elderly heterosexual men?  And since we are all about "fairness & inclusion" will a study need to be done about the condom skills of young and old gay & transgendered him/her's?

How about making a condom to protect us from the government transmitted disease of stupid spending!

NOTE: Due to the Sequester and lack of funds, the Cleveland Air Show & White House tours are still cancelled.

Obama Urges Lenders to Finance Bad Home Loans - Again!

Even though President Obama still tries to blame George Bush for his inheriting a failed economy, mainly due to the housing market crash that was caused by Democrat meddling, manipulating and forcing housing lenders to make poor loans in the name of fairness -- President Obama now wants to do the same thing.

And as the American public was forced to pay for this first "40 Acre's & a Mule"  failure, they will entice the second round of unsuitable buyers with tax-payer backed programs....

From The Washington Post --

The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place.

President Obama’s economic advisers and outside experts say the nation’s much-celebrated housing rebound is leaving too many people behind, including young people looking to buy their first homes and individuals with credit records weakened by the recession.

In response, administration officials say they are working to get banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers by taking advantage of taxpayer-backed programs — including those offered by the Federal Housing Administration — that insure home loans against default.

And as in part of the cause for the first housing market bust, lenders will be forced into lending to unsuitable buyers through veiled government coercion and veiled threats of discrimination lawsuits....

Housing officials are urging the Justice Department to provide assurances to banks, which have become increasingly cautious, that they will not face legal or financial recriminations if they make loans to riskier borrowers who meet government standards but later default.

Officials are also encouraging lenders to use more subjective judgment in determining whether to offer a loan and are seeking to make it easier for people who owe more than their properties are worth to refinance at today’s low interest rates, among other steps.

As this forced government lending failed the first time, the American public will again be forced to bailout another "too big to fail" Obama-induced boondoggle.