These Are The People Who Will Run Health Care
Jul 2, 2010 Political
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is in charge of the new health care takeover that was recently signed into law. The Democrats say it will save money and “bend the cost curve” but new figures from the CBO (figures arrived at using all the specifics) show this is not the case. Don’t worry though, the crack, fiscally responsible bureaucrats will watch our money like hawks.
Or will they?
The same DHHS that will oversee the health care takeover wasted millions of dollars in a program designed to pay for heating and air conditioning for the poor. There was no oversight and the “hawks” ended up paying for the needs of dead people, people in prison and folks living in million dollar homes. One person who received the assistance lives in a 2 million dollar home in a ritzy part of Chicago. Oh, and she drives a Mercedes.
A federal program designed to help impoverished families heat and cool their homes wasted more than $100 million paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions, according to a government investigation.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spent $5 billion through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2009, doling out money to states with little oversight of the program. Some states don’t verify applicants’ identifies or income. For example, the program helped pay the electric bill of a woman who lives in a $2 million home in a wealthy Chicago suburb and drives a Mercedes, according to the yet-to-be released report obtained by The Associated Press. AP via Yahoo News
Compared to the health care system in this country this energy assistance program is relatively small and yet the people who are supposed to be responsible with our money allowed millions of dollars in waste.
How on Earth will they manage a health care system estimated to cost in the trillions of dollars?
Medicare is already fraught with waste and abuse and, it too, is small compared to the entire health care system.
If the government is not capable of managing our money responsibly in these smaller programs what makes anyone think it will be responsible with the huge sums of money their takeover of health care will cost?
This is what happens when government gets involved in things, especially when it grows too big.
On the heels of the disclosure that California welfare ATM cards are being used at casinos, a new report indicates they are also being used at strip clubs. And don’t get me started on the waste involved during Katrina (which continues to this day).
The California waste is at the state level and the energy assistance program is at the federal level and the similarities are striking. In neither case did the government have proper oversight of our money. This happens when an entity has control of money it does not have to earn. If the money came out of their pockets they would actually be watching it.
It is just a matter of time before the health care takeover gives us stories like this on a regular basis.
But don’t worry. Government will tell us it needs more money and more oversight (which it sorely lacks all the time) and then push for greater control and more revenue to fix a problem that it created.
Government spends a lot of time working to fix problems that it creates.
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: dhhs, energy assistance, fraud, health care, wasyed money
Obama Admits He Was Lying
Jun 21, 2010 Political
Obama, through actions by his regime, has admitted that he was lying but exactly when he lied is a matter of how things are interpreted. Obama either lied when he was campaigning or he lied when he was ramming the health care bill through and the regime is making the case that Obama actually lied BOTH times (which is what I believe).
First some background. During the campaign Barack Obama said he would not increase taxes on the middle class. Those making below a certain amount of money (the exact amount is really unknown because it changed regularly but it is anywhere from $120,000 to $250,000 per year) would not see their taxes increased. That is the first important item to know, Obama promised not to increase taxes (not one dime) on the middle class.
The second thing to know is that during the health care debate Obama vehemently defended the individual mandate and said that any fine levied against those who did not buy insurance was not a tax. Obama was even very condescending to George Stephanopoulos of ABC when George brought up the issue and said it was a tax. Obama chastened him about looking up a word in the dictionary and proclaimed that the individual mandate was absolutely not a tax regardless of what Stephanopoulos or anyone else said.
By God, Barack Obama has decreed it is not a tax now just shut up about it George and move on.
So the health care bill passes and Obama signs it into law and almost immediately a number of lawsuits are filed questioning the Constitutionality of the mandate. The arguments have been made on this point and I will not rehash them here except to say that many scholars believe that Congress overstepped its bounds by claiming it could regulate a person who engaged in NO commerce under the commerce clause.
Evidently, the Obama regime thinks there is something to this argument, which if successful would derail the legislation and the bogus claims of low costs and deficit reduction. The regime is trying to have the case against the health care law dismissed. Now this is nothing unusual because parties try to do that all the time. If it works they do not have to defend the issue but in this case I cannot imagine a judge throwing it out because of the magnitude of the issue.
In any event, the fact that the regime is trying to get it dismissed is not unusual but the grounds they are using for the dismissal are.
The regime is arguing that the law does not allow for suits regarding the assessment or collection of TAXES.
Late last night, the Obama Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the Florida-based lawsuit against the health care law, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction and that the State of Florida and fellow plaintiffs haven’t presented a claim for which the court can grant relief. To bolster its case, the DOJ cited the Anti-Injunction Act, which restricts courts from interfering with the government’s ability to collect taxes.
The Act, according to a DOJ memo supporting the motion to dismiss, says that “no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed.” The memo goes on to say that it makes no difference whether the disputed payment it is called a “tax” or “penalty,” because either way, it’s “assessed and collected in the same manner” by the Internal Revenue Service. [all emphasis mine] The American Spectator
Uh oh. Looks like there is trouble right here in River City my friends. The Obama regime is now saying that the fine for failing to buy insurance is a TAX even though the almighty Barack Obama scolded George Stephanopoulos and flat out told him that this was not a tax.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama said it was not a tax when he wanted it to pass and he is saying that it is a tax now that it needs to withstand judicial scrutiny. Obama either lied to get it passed or he is lying to keep it out of court. Obama knew that calling it a tax would make members of Congress uneasy in an election year and he now knows that unless he calls it a tax it will have a tough time withstanding the court challenge. He is a liar and he will say or do anything to get what he wants.
Remember, if it is such a good thing they would not need to lie about the costs and they would not need to lie about how it is funded. All of the lies and manipulations clearly show this is a bad piece of legislation.
This is the kind of dishonest person Obama is and the kind of dishonesty that he expects when he is playing politics as usual, another thing he promised he would not do and, as it turns out, another broken promise.
There is one other unusual thing going on here. If Obama succeeds in portraying this as a tax and the court rules in his favor then he will have broken a huge campaign promise. Keep in mind that this mandate will affect the middle class the most. The poor will receive subsidies but the middle class will be forced to buy insurance more than any other and that means Obama will have imposed a huge tax increase on them. If he wins the argument that this is a tax then he will be admitting that he raised taxes on the middle class, something he said he would not do. Or as the cited article puts it:
Put another way, the administration is now arguing in federal court that Obama signed a massive middle-class tax increase, in violation of his campaign pledge.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Obama’s own words about this not being a tax were used against his regime and the court ruled that Obama said it was not a tax so he can’t call it one now? Wouldn’t it be even more bizarre if he lost that argument, lost the case and still had to answer to the public as to why he deceived them by saying it was not a tax and then argued that it was?
Obama is a liar and a thief. He will steal money from those who make it and give it to those who do not. He leads the party of parasites (tolerant ones at that) and he is more than willing to continue to suck the life-blood out of our country in order to fulfill his dream of making it a Socialist nation.
How much more do people need to see to understand that Obama is a hack, an inexperienced man-child, a person who is automatically the least experienced of any person in a room he enters and that he is more interested in playing golf, partying, spending tax dollars on his parties, and working to bang through a Socialist agenda?
How much more do you people need to see that this guy is an inexperienced poser who can’t lead?
This incident should awaken you. He will say and do anything to get what he wants.
How is that hope and change working for you now?
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: hack, health care, lies, Obama, political games, tax increases
This Will Be America In The Near Future
Jun 2, 2010 Political
The Democrats forced their health care reform through against the will of the people. The lies they told about saving money have now been exposed as study after study, studies using the actual information and not the cherry picked items sent by the Democrats, shows that the law will cost much more than advertised and will not result in cost savings. Greater than 60% of Americans want the law repealed but their wishes will be ignored like they were when this law was jammed down their throats.
Make no mistake, this will cost a fortune and will lead to rationing of care and resources. The Canadians, long touted as the model we should emulate, are finding this out now as we proceed on the path they took. Despite what supporters say about how wonderful and cost effective the Canadian system is, the reality is that it is costing a fortune and there will be tough choices along the way.
Canada has seen a 6% increase in the cost of its system each year and it is spending more than it takes in to cover the costs. This is leading to new and increased taxes (look for that here), rationed care, more out of pocket expenses, and new methods to raise revenue as health care consumes about 40% of provincial budgets.
This is an unsustainable program and portends our future. We are behind them in establishing a socialist program for a reason but now that Obama and his Socialist Democrats have rammed this through we will be well on our way to increased taxes and another bloated, underfunded program that is poorly run.
When you give stuff away more people will get in line for it. If they do not have to pay they always want more.
But it will not be long before everyone has to pay, and pay a lot.
Just ask Canada, the model for Socialized medicine.
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: budget buster, canada, cost over runs, estimates, health care, lies, socialized medicine, taxes
From The I Told You So File
May 19, 2010 Political
First up, the health care takeover. Barack Obama promised people that if they liked their insurance and their doctors, they could keep them. This is not the case as the way the law is set up companies have determined they would be better off dropping employees and paying the fines. Companies can save upwards of a billion dollars:
Even with penalties in place for employers who decline to provide health insurance, documents showed that Caterpillar could reduce its health care costs by as much as 70 percent and AT&T could save as much as $1.8 billion by shifting their employees into public programs. Reason.com
In addition, the law will end up costing more than we were told and will end up costing us money, not saving any as Barack Obama said.
The Congressional Budget Office now reports that the law will require an additional $115 billion in previously unreported (and yet unpaid-for) discretionary spending. Medicare’s actuary has reported that total medical spending in the U.S. will actually go up and that crucial cuts to Medicare—cuts being used to pay for the law’s new entitlement spending—aren’t likely to happen, but that Medicare benefits are likely to be reduced. And in Massachusetts, the state whose 2006 health care overhaul served as the model for ObamaCare, insurers have gone to war with the governor, and the state treasurer is warning that the program could drive the state into bankruptcy. Reason.com
In addition, more and more doctors in Texas are not taking Medicare patients because the reimbursements do not cover costs and doctors are losing money. Doctors in other states have decided not to take them as well and this trend will only continue with Obamacare.
Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.
Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren’t taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year. Chron
It is not hard to see that this will begin to affect the elderly and though the left despises the term “death panel” the reduction in doctors taking Medicare will lead to the same outcome.
Perhaps this is why the regime is accelerating the better parts of the law (though they have their own drawbacks). The more appealing things in the law (appealing according to the Democrats) were front loaded and the bad things like the mandates were pushed well past the 2012 elections in order to allow Democrats (particularly Obama) to be reelected before they have to answer for what they have done. Now Democrats are speeding up the front loaded items in hopes they can save seats in November.
This will not work.
Finally, the left likes to blame the economic problems we are having on the Bush tax cuts. The tax cuts did not cause the problems and, contrary to popular myth, Bill Clinton did not have a multi-trillion dollar budget surplus. He had one year with a budget surplus (not zero deficit) which means that the amount the government took in was less than it spent. A budget surplus is not necessarily a surplus. Budgetary tricks and moving things off budget can give the appearance of surplus when one does not exist. However, there was never trillions in surplus:
First, that $5.6 trillion surplus never actually existed (the budget surplus peaked at $236 billion in 2000). Instead, $5.6 trillion represents the cumulative 2002-2011 budget surplus that was projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in early 2001. Instead, the United States is now projected to run a $6.1 trillion deficit over those 10 years — an $11.7 trillion swing. Washington Times
The Times article is interesting and shows how the budget numbers are manipulated and lied about. The federal government has never really had a budget surplus anywhere other than on paper. Unfortunately, what is written on the paper is often not reality.
But let us suppose there was a 4 trillion dollar surplus when Bush took office (to be sure there absolutely was not but let’s pretend) . That means the government took in 4 trillion dollars more than it needed in by way of taxes. If this was the case then Bush did nothing more than give the money back to its rightful owners. The government should not be generating more than it needs and if it does it needs to give the money back. It is ours and if they get more of it than they need they find ways to spend it.
Another myth is that the tax cuts were for the rich and hurt the poor. This myth is dispelled in the article which also points out that the sun-setting of the Bush tax cuts will further hurt the poor and middle class whose taxes will go up higher than for those who make more money.
These are things I have discussed in the past and which have been denied by the drones on the progressive left. They did not go for it then and they will not go for it now even though the information is there in black and white.
Never surrender, never submit.
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A Look Around
Apr 12, 2010 Political
Looks like a great video here. Before the liberals get their panties in a wad, yes I know it is a parody and it is funny. This is nothing like the video of Peggy the Moocher who wanted Obama to take care of her. Watch this video and see why parody is funny (because there is an element of truth to it).
Gallup says Obama has hit a new low with 48% of the people disapproving of the job he is doing. I wonder what happened to that big bump Bubba Clinton said he would get. Remember, Clinton told Obama he had to pass health care or he would lose big. Bubba said that is why he lost so many seats when he was prez, didn’t pass health care. Bubba Clinton is not a dumb guy and has to know that this is not the truth so do you suppose he is setting Obama up for failure so Hillary can take the nomination in 2012?
Stimulus II (renamed the “Jobs Bill”) has hit a bit of a snag. The Congress cannot pay for it because Republicans and a top Democrat do not want to take “leftover” bailout (TARP?) money to pay for it.
Democrats have no money to pay for the program. That’s because both Republicans and the Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee objected to taking money left over from the fund that bailed out banks, automakers and insurers and using it for the jobs bill. My Way News
This will strike a blow to Obama and his supposed concern for jobs because this is an election year and it will look like he is not doing enough to get people back to work. This would not have worked just like the first Stimulus did not work but it would have made it look like he was doing something.
Obama broke protocol on Saturday and left the White House without the press corps (or as Obama would say, CORPSE) in tow. The press was told to be there at one time and Obama left about 2 hours earlier. It was reported that he went to watch one of his daughter’s soccer game. Evidently, this is some kind of big deal because the press is supposed to be there to cover every move a president makes for the “historical” record. I don’t care if we hear about his kid’s games or them going out for ice cream but it looks like the press does. In any event, maybe we will get lucky and he will break protocol and leave the Secret Service behind and just keep walking…
That’s all for now. The question for today is; “Should Congress (our government) be allowed to make you purchase something?”
Please answer in the comment section and explain why.
Never surrender, never submit.
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