The sad truth is that even with this irrefutable evidence that Obamacare is and will be a disaster, the Kool Aid drinkers will still believe this plan is good for them.
PROMISE #1: ‘If You Like Your Plan, You’ll Be Able To Keep It’
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “The law could leave more than half of employers without a grandfathered plan in 2013, the draft estimated. Its worst-case assumption is that 80% of small-employers will lose grandfathered rights by 2013. New plans would have to comply with all the bill’s requirements; grandfathered plans could avoid elements such as limits on cost sharing.” (“Draft Health Rules Set Hurdles,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/12/10)
PROMISE #2: ‘I Will Protect Medicare’
More Than $200 Billion In Cuts To Medicare Advantage
“Medicare Advantage Payments… -131.9 [Billion Dollars].” “TITLE III—Improving The Quality And Efficiency Of Health Care; Subtitle C—Provisions Relating to Part C; Medicare Advantage Payments… 2010-2019… -131.9 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Pelosi, P.13, 3/18/10)
CBO: The Law Will Increase Premiums On Families By $2,100 Per Year
CBO: “Average premiums per policy in the nongroup market in 2016 would be roughly $5,800 for single policies and $15,200 for family policies under the proposal, compared with roughly $5,500 for single policies and $13,100 for family policies under current law. The weighted average of the differences in those amounts equals the change of 10 percent to 13 percent in the average premium per person…” (Emphasis In Original; CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Bayh, P. 6, 11/30/09)
CMS: ‘Expenditures Under The Health Reform Act Would Increase By A Total Of $311 Billion’
CMS ACTUARY RICHARD FOSTER: “[W]e estimate that overall national health expenditures under the health reform act would increase by a total of $311 billion (0.9 percent) during calendar years 2010-2019…” (CMS Actuary Richard Foster, Memo, P.4, 4/22/10)
HHS Regulations ‘Would Force Practically All Employers, Including Many Religious Institutions, To Pay For Abortion Inducing Drugs’
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN: “…on January 20, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a decision to issue final regulations that would force practically all employers, including many religious institutions, to pay for abortion inducing drugs, sterilizations, and contraception.The regulations would provide no protections for our great institutions—such as Catholic charities, hospitals, and universities—or for the individual faithful in the marketplace. The regulations struck at the heart of our fundamental right to religious liberty, which affects our ability to serve those outside our faith community.” (Archbishop Dolan, Letter To U.S. Bishops, 2/23/12)
Related:
St. Louis County Executive Calls Obamacare Protestors “Nothing But Haters”
Last week, Slay offered his support for Nasheed in her bid to jump from the state House to the state Senate. The endorsement is notable for a few reasons. In 2007, Nasheed — than a fiery community activist — was leading the spirited if impractical attempt to recall Slay from office. But Nasheed has come a long way from her “No Justice, No Peace” days — her prime office space in the state Capitol reflects a savvy ability to work across the aisle. Read more…
Her second sell out is her support for charter school advocate and 79th district candidate Martin Casas. The former “no justice no peace” community activist is supporting Casas (who is Hispanic or White, depending on his audience) over former legislative aide Michael Butler. Nasheed has donated$200. Other St. Louis Black elected officials donating to Casas were Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed ($550) License Collector Mike McMillan ($150) Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett ($50) Alderman Jeffrey Boyd ($150).
We wholeheartedly endorse citizens engaging themselves in the political process. America remains great when its citizens hold their government accountable. But doesn’t this take it too far?
“Hit[ting] Eugene Doaks where it hurts” could mean something entirely different to a psychopath. How irresponsible is it to post the home address of a man with three children under 5 years of age? These “patriots” are so informed, that they have Mr. Dokes running for Congress when in fact, he’s really running for state representative.
The New York Times writes today, “Republicans on Capitol Hill have put together a highly coordinated two-week renewed assault on the health care law, seizing on the legislation’s second anniversary and the next week’s oral arguments before the Supreme Court concerning its constitutionality. On Monday, Congressional Republicans took to the floor of both chambers to denounce the law . . . . Republican members are also holding sessions on Twitter, making videos and scheduling television interviews day and night, with one veteran lawmaker, Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, appearing on Fox News on Monday. On the Senate floor on Monday, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said, ‘The reason I ran for the United States Senate was primarily because of this law.’”
In an op-ed for Politico today, two of the Senate’s doctors, Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) write, “Based on our combined 50 years of practicing medicine, we warned [two years ago] that his health care law would be bad for patients, bad for providers and bad for taxpayers. The law focused on some of the symptoms in our health care system but failed to address the underlying disease. As the Obama administration began implementing its overhaul, we continued examining the data and the conclusions of nonpartisan experts, including the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Research Service. We have compiled our findings into a new oversight report about the law’s negative side effects. We found fewer choices, higher taxes, more government and less innovation. . . . We found that American families are paying higher premiums than they did when the law passed. If all this were not enough, the law’s costs continue to soar. Expanding health insurance coverage will cost at least $1.76 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the CBO. That’s double what the president said his entire program would cost. The president and Democrats in Congress made specific promises to sell their health care plan. Over the past two years, the evidence in our report shows they have not kept their word.”
They conclude, “As physicians, we know firsthand that we cannot go back to the system we had before. We believe that we can — and we must — fix what was not working in our health care system. However, an honest solution cannot be built on a failing law. Real reform starts with repealing the health law and then replacing it with solutions that really lower costs, increase coverage, empower patients and reduce government interference. Only then can Congress help Americans receive the care they need, from the doctor of their choice, at a price they can afford.”
A new Rasmussen poll shows the Democratic incumbent trailing all three of her potential Republican opponents. According to the poll, Sarah Steelman, a former state treasurer who ran for governor in 2008, boasts a 10-point lead. A month ago, Public Policy Polling had the senator and Ms. Steelman running even.
Since Ms. McCaskill voiced her support last month for the mandate, the conservative super PAC American Crossroads has been running ads slamming her “for following the president over a cliff to champion policies that hurt Missouri families from ObamaCare to wasteful stimulus spending to special-interest bailouts. Now, she’s joining him to insert government into our private lives.” Read more…
St. Charles County Republican Central Committee Chair Eugene Dokes
Photo credit: Dan Gill for The New York Times
Statement from the SCCRC:
The St. Charles County Republican Central Committee would like to address a few of the problems at this weekend’s county Caucus meeting at Frances Howell North High School. Two issues that were a concern to caucus goers were the prohibition of recording devices and the selection of the caucus chair.
Regarding the prohibition of recording devices at the caucus: This was a house rule adopted by the county party to insure that official business of the caucus could not be disseminated to members of other political parties and, to ensure that the voting preferences of individual caucus goers stayed within the confines of the venue. Privacy is a basic tenet of our electoral system and the Committee’s well meaning intention was to preserve that fundamental right only. However house rules were to only remain in effect until a permanent chair was selected.
The second issue was the selection of the caucus chair which St Charles County GOP Chairman Eugene Dokes addressed:
“It was not our intention to disenfranchise anyone from exercising their free speech rights,” said Chairman Dokes. I deeply apologize for any confusion during the process. We worked hard to follow Robert’s Rules of Order. We put together house rules, and conducted a voice vote. Adding to the confusion was the fact that many people were handed copies of rules before the caucus that were not approved by the rules committee. Many became aggressive and belligerent when asked to follow house rules. At one point, a woman’s hat was ripped off of her head and thrown on the floor and at least 5 people rushed the podium. We would have continued the meeting after the selection of the chair but the police
asked us to shut it down.”
Dokes also declared his intention to ensure St Charles County is fully represented throughout the process: “I am working with the state party and with all the campaigns to find a solution to make sure that St. Charles County is represented at the congressional, state, and national conventions. It is my highest priority to make sure that we will not lose any delegates.”
Cong. Carnahan on National Healthcare: “Now Is Our Time” (2009)
This Friday will mark the second anniversary of President Obama signing his unpopular health care bill into law after Democrats in Congress pushed it through both houses. Republicans have been saying for two years now that this law needs to be repealed and replaced with commonsense reforms that don’t put the government in between doctors and patients.
From the beginning, Republicans warned that Obama’s law would not live up to the promises he and Democrats in Congress made about it, and would in fact make things worse. Two years later, Politico writes, “President Barack Obama promised over and over during the health care debate that ‘if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.’ It turns out that, for a lot of people, that isn’t true. A Congressional Budget Office report issued this week says that 3 million to 5 million people could move from employer-based health care plans to government-based programs as the Affordable Care Act takes effect. And in the worst-case scenario, it could be as many as 20 million. For Obama, it’s an inconvenient truth at a really inconvenient time — coming less than two weeks before the Supreme Court begins oral arguments on the law and just as the administration touts the law’s early benefits on its second anniversary. And it’s not the only hard truth Obama and the law’s supporters are facing. No matter what they said about rising health care costs, those costs aren’t actually going to go down under health care reform. The talk about the law paying for itself is just educated guesswork. And people aren’t actually liking the law more as they learn more about it . . . .”
Politico summarizes “four inconvenient truths” about the law: “Some people won’t get to keep the coverage they like,” “Costs aren’t going to go down,” “It’s just a guess that the law can pay for itself,” and “‘The more they know, the more they’ll like it’ isn’t happening.” Since President Obama signed the law, reports have come from all over the county of health care policies being dropped or eliminated, meaning there are many people who may like their plan but won’t be able to keep it. The Obama Administration’s own Medicare actuary says that costs will go up and issued a report the AP said “found that the law falls short of the president’s twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 year.” On spending, Politico notes, “The Obama administration insists that the health care law will actually reduce the deficit — which sounds like a fantasy to many people, since the law will clearly increase spending through insurance subsidies and an expansion of Medicaid.” And polls have consistently shown that Americans don’t approve of this law, and an overwhelming majority consider the mandates in it unconstitutional.
Just today, ABC News reports, “Two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. Supreme Court should throw out either the individual mandate in the federal health care law or the law in its entirety, signaling the depth of public disagreement with that element of the Affordable Care Act. This ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that Americans oppose the law overall by 52-41 percent. And 67 percent believe the high court should either ditch the law or at least the portion that requires nearly all Americans to have coverage.” In fact, ABC emphasizes, “The law has never earned majority support in ABC/Post polls – and this update . . . finds a strong sense its critics are dominating the debate. Seventy percent of Americans report hearing mainly negative things about the law lately; just 19 percent say the buzz has been positive. Even among its supporters, 53 percent are hearing more negatives than positives. Among opponents this soars to 88 percent. Intensity of sentiment is more negative as well: Forty-one percent strongly oppose the law, while only a quarter strongly support it.”
The liberals have been on a mission lately to squelch people’s free speech rights. First Rush Limbaugh and know this:
“We know that if we get enough signatures, and we get on the ballot that we’re going to win,” said Molly Fleming-Pierre of Communities Creating Opportunities, the group behind the interest-rate cap petition. “We know that voters in Missouri are sick and tired of triple-digit interest rates.”
But Fleming-Pierre and other say that opponents of the measure are working to confuse voters with similar-sounding petitions that would, in fact, limit the ability of the state to regulate the payday loan industry. The first petition would cap interest rates at 360 percent.
“We think that’s a major attempt to confuse voters, because we’re trying to cap them at 36 percent, not 360 percent,” said Fleming-Pierre. “But as a voter, if you read that quickly you might not notice.”
A spokesman for Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity in St. Louis told FOX 4 that his group isn’t trying to confuse voters, saying that their petitions are just as legitimate as their opponents. Read more…
WTF??? They’re angry because another group is trying to cap the interest rate 10 times more than they are?
Missourians for Dokes announced today that St. Charles County resident and Republican activist Matt Ehlen will run the day to day operations for the campaign. Matt was born and raised in the St. Louis area. He graduated from high school in 1998 and received a dual BA in History and Economics from Hillsdale College in 2002, graduating Cum Laude. He received his MBA from Maryville University in 2005. Matt has worked for The Boeing Co since 2000.
Matt and his college sweetheart Elizabeth, along with their three children, have lived in St. Charles County since 2004. Matt currently serves on the St. Charles County Planning and Zoning Commission, treasurer of the St. Charles Young Republicans and president of the Lewis & Clark Pachyderm Club.
The campaign also announced three more additional endorsements from Sen. Tom Dempsey, Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, and former state representative Jon Bennett. Mssrs. Dempsey, Schoeller, and Bennett join an impressive list of previously announced endorsements:Cong. Blaine Leutkemeyer, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, Sen. Scott Rupp, House Majority Leader Tim Jones, Rep. Sue Allen, Rep. Kurt Bahr, Rep. Kathy Conway, Rep. Mark Parkinson, Rep. Crissy Sommer, Former State Rep. Honorable Allen Icet, Former State Rep. Honorable Joe Smith, Hon. Nancy Methany, St. Charles County Council , Dave Evans, President – Lewis & Clark Pachyderms.
“I am excited to have Matt join our campaign and to have these additional endorsements from these respected officials. This proves that our campaign is on the move to give residents of the 70th district the best representation they deserve.”
Bloomberg News writes today, “The surge in gasoline prices now squeezes middle-income families again as President Barack Obama approaches the election. Gasoline prices are up almost 17 percent, or 54 cents, this year through March 14, according to the American Automobile Association. . . . While gasoline accounted for just 3.8 percent of consumer spending in January, fuel prices have a disproportionate impact on both the psychology and actual finances of middle- and lower- income families. . . . The national average retail price of unleaded regular gasoline climbed to $3.821 a gallon on March 14, according to a daily survey by the American Automobile Association. That’s 7.5 percent higher than a year ago, according to AAA’s survey. Recent polls show public unhappiness with the president over energy costs. Americans by 65 percent to 26 percent disapprove of how Obama is handling the price of gas, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted March 7-10. . . . Thirty-six percent of Americans say the increase in gasoline prices has been a ‘serious hardship’ and 48 percent of those earning less than $50,000 per year say so, the same poll found.”
And according to USA Today, “Nearly one-third of the nation’s drivers now fork out $4 or more for a gallon of gasoline. After a 31-cent jump in the past month, regular gasoline averages $3.82 nationwide. But price analysis of major metropolitan areas and 10 states — home to more than 65 million of the nation’s 210 million drivers — shows even more pain at the pump, especially in heavily populated California, New York and Illinois.”
Little wonder, then, that following President Obama’s combative speech on energy yesterday, National Journal wrote, “President Obama is in full crisis-control mode as gasoline prices continue to rise. On Thursday at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md., he gave his third speech on energy in two weeks . . . . The problem is that for many voters, Obama’s more detailed, nuanced, long-term message on energy is harder to wrap their heads around than the GOP’s short, simple idea that more drilling equals lower prices. So Obama is using repetition in hopes of drilling his own message home. . . . Don’t expect the messaging to let up: The writing is on the wall that high gas prices are hurting Obama. Historically, presidential approval ratings have fallen as gas prices have climbed, and the trend is playing out now as it has in the past.”
And yet the president continues to encourage policies that are making things worse. He rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would have allowed the U.S. to get more oil from Canada instead of Saudi Arabia (the latter of which seems to be Sen. Chuck Schumer’s [D-NY] preferred solution), created 20,000 jobs, and allowed more American oil to get to refineries.
The president can lecture others by saying, “a lot of politicians talking a lot but not doing much,” but the facts speak for themselves and this White House’s energy policies are making things worse.
