Happy Thanksgiving!

Sharply
Federal health officials are reporting a sharp increase in unprotected sex among gay American men, a development that makes it harder to fight the AIDS epidemic. (NYT, 11/28/2013)

With no vaccine to prevent AIDS yet available, treatment is an effective way to slow the epidemic because it reduces the risk that an infected person will spread the virus to others. (NYT editorial, 11/27/2013)

We are not sure if the New York Times realized the unintentional irony of their article and their editorial. We will ask the simple and obvious question: What would be another way to slow the AIDS epidemic?


Highly
Despite the highly touted Iranian nuclear deal announced by the Obama administration over the weekend, the two sides still can't seem to agree on what it is they agreed to. 

The aftermath of the deal struck early Sunday in Geneva has been marked by confusion. According to Iranian media, the country's Foreign Ministry is now claiming that the White House put out an invalid fact sheet about the agreement. (Foxnews.com, 11/27/2013)

After stunning success with Libya, Syria, and Russia, Obama now pivots to Iran. 

With similar results. 

To call his foreign policy efforts incompetent is an insult to incompetence. 

Cure All

Overwhelmingly
White House officials, fearful that the federal health care website may again be overwhelmed this weekend, have urged their allies to hold back enrollment efforts so the insurance marketplace does not collapse under a crush of new users. (NYT, 11/27/2013)

So the message from the Obama administration is as follows: 

--As promised, Healthcare.gov will be fixed by November 30th.
--Please do not use the website on November 30th as it may crash.
--Nonetheless, we have fixed the website as promised.
--Trust us.


Elemental
The Obama administration is expected to announce on Wednesday a one-year delay in another major element of the new health care law, which allows small businesses to go online and get insurance for their employees through the website of the federal marketplace.
...
The announcement of the delay, just before Thanksgiving, is reminiscent of the way the White House announced, just before the Independence Day weekend, a one-year delay in the requirement for larger employers to offer health insurance to employees. (NYT, 11/28/2013)

Obama pardons turkey, announces delay in Obamacare. There has GOT to be a joke in here. 

How about: Obama pardons Obamacare. 

Or maybe: Another Obamacare turkey.

Perhaps: Sign up for health care; get a turkey.

Readers are invited to submit entries.

Meanwhile, while this news was breaking, RedStateVT checked in with MSNBC. They were doing a story on Guantanamo. 

We are not kidding. 

Echo Chamber

Merely
But the mere fact that after 34 years of estrangement, the United States and Iran have signed a diplomatic accord — even if it is a tactical, transitory one — opens the door to a range of geopolitical possibilities available to no American leader since Jimmy Carter. (NYT, 11/25/2013)

And we all remember well what a raging success the Carter presidency was when it came to foreign policy involving Iran...

For Mr. Obama, resolving the threat of Iran’s nuclear program might be worth taking that chance. (NYT, 11/25/2013)

But the point is that Obama has not resolved the threat. He has emboldened Iran by proving what they suspected all along; that they could easily trick a naive president into a deal.

The agreement allows Iran to preserve most of its nuclear infrastructure, and along with it the ability to develop a nuclear device, while the United States keeps in place the core oil and banking sanctions it has imposed. (NYT, 11/25/2013)

So Iran preserves its ability to develop a nuclear bomb. What does a successful accord look like to Obama?


Toxicity
These days the word is particularly toxic at the White House, where it has been hidden away to make the Affordable Care Act more palatable to the public and less a target for Republicans, who have long accused Democrats of seeking “socialized medicine.” But the redistribution of wealth has always been a central feature of the law and lies at the heart of the insurance market disruptions driving political attacks this fall. (NYT, 11/24/2013)

“Americans want a fair and fixed insurance market,” said Jonathan Gruber, a health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who advised Mr. Obama’s team as it designed the law. “You cannot have that without some redistribution away from a small number of people.” (NYT, 11/24/2013)

This comes as no surprise to Republicans who took Obama at his word when he told Joe the Plumber during his first presidential run that spreading the wealth around was a good thing. 

The Democrat electorate will eventually learn that Obama's redistribution plans include them...and they will not like it either. 


Friends and Mice
In energy-friendly Wyoming, oil and gas companies are getting a clear message: Drill, baby, drill — but carefully.

Last week, state regulators approved one of the nation’s strongest requirements for testing water wells near drilling sites. The measure is intended to address concerns that groundwater can become contaminated from drilling activities.

It is the latest of several groundbreaking regulations related to energy production issued by Wyoming, which in 2010 became the first state to require disclosure of some of the chemicals used in the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

“I am not going to accept the question of do you want a clean environment or do you want energy,” said Gov. Matthew H. Mead, a Republican who championed the water-testing regulation. “The fact is that in Wyoming, we want and need both.” (NYT, 11/22/2013)

Above you have an explanation of how a Republican governor goes about the business of safely developing an important energy source which makes America less dependent upon foreign oil.

Here is how the discussion takes place in Vermont: Enviro-capitalist Bill McKibben shows up in Montpelier. He says Vermont should not frack. He gets a standing ovation from the Vermont legislative mice who then vote to outlaw fracking. 

You decide. 


Fixed
In response, the administration rolls out ObamaCare delays or stopgap fixes just a month after Republicans were labeled extremists for proposing delays and fixes. (Pete du Pont, WSJ, 11/25/2013)

Democrats respond by saying...nothing. 

Human Concerns

Stated
White House officials acknowledged that each state had to make the decision that was best for its consumers.

“States have different populations with unique needs, and it is up to the insurance commissioner and health insurance companies to decide which insurance products can be offered to existing customers next year,” the administration said in a statement. (NYT, 11/21/2013)

Translation: It is now not Obama's fault if states choose not to allow insureds to keep their plans. 

Clarification: "White House officials acknowledged that each state had to make the decision that was best for its consumers on this temporary issue. On all other health care issues, President Obama will decide what is best for consumers."


Shared
Democrats have been sharing “Affordable Care Act success stories” of ailing constituents getting health coverage for the first time, people being allowed to keep their adult children on their insurance, or consumers finding markedly cheaper insurance plans on the exchanges. (NYT, 11/21/2013)

Let's be absolutely clear. The one and only reason that anyone is going to find "cheaper insurance plans on the exchanges" is because they will qualify for a subsidy. 

That is it. 

Period.


Bailed
After spending more than a decade behind bars for the murder of a teenage girl in Greenwich, Conn., Michael C. Skakel was ordered free on bail on Thursday. (NYT, 11/21/2013)

The (Kennedy) War on Women continues.....


Flowed
Ponder, though, a partial list of the public-policy decisions that have flowed steadily out of the Obama administration and directly into a job-starved U.S. economy:

The no-decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and its union jobs; the 2,000-page regulatory law draped in 2010 across the entire financial sector; the shutdown in 2010 and then the slow-walking of offshore oil drilling; siccing the EPA on the utilities industry and the National Labor Relations Board on all industry; a 2010 FCC decision to regulate Internet growth; a significant tax increase this year; support this month for jacking up the federal minimum wage to over $10, certain to smother new jobs; the Justice Department's $13 billion looting of J.P. Morgan JPM +1.43%  bank; and of course Hurricane ObamaCare.

Barack Obama has the U.S. economy on lockdown. It's the worst thing this president has done. (Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 11/20/2013)

Henninger reminds us that Obamacaid is only part of the story of this disastrous presidency. It's a good point. There is so very much more.


Charged
Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) has announced that he will take a leave of absence from office and will donate his salary to charity. Radel had pleaded guilty to a cocaine charge and was sentenced to one year of probation earlier Wednesday. (Washington Post, 11/21/2013)

Not good enough. Resign.

RedStateVT will not tolerate bad behavior from Democrats or Republicans. 

In Flux

Lines of Sand
Ms. Sebelius, who was in Florida on Tuesday, said the website would improve, but she appeared to lower expectations and to play down the significance of a Nov. 30 deadline set by the White House to fix it.

“The 30th of November is not a magic go, no-go date,” Ms. Sebelius told The Associated Press. “It is a work of constant improvement. We have some very specific things we know we need to complete by the 30th, and that punch list is getting knocked out every week.” (NYT, 11/20/2013)

First Obama did not set a "red line" in Syria. Now - apparently - he did not set a November 30th "deadline" for Healthcare.gov. 

Despite what everyone heard him say, that is. 


Profiles in Liberal Journalism
No responsible cable news host would call for defecating on a public figure. That’s just beyond the pale, right? But that’s exactly what Bashir did on his MSNBC show, while spewing venom at Sarah Palin.
...
MSNBC rightfully suspended Alec Baldwin for two weeks for hurling an anti-gay slur at a photographer.
...
MSNBC once suspended Ed Schultz for calling Laura Ingraham a “right-wing slut.”
(Howard Kurtz, Foxnews.com, 11/18/2013)

Just another day at America's Liberal News Network.
(And we haven't even talked about Al Sharpton!)


Free to Be
President Barack Obama is bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom on more than a dozen prominent Americans 50 years after the death of the award's founder, President John F. Kennedy.

Obama is honoring former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and leaders in sports, science and public service in a White House ceremony on Wednesday. (Huffington Post, 11/20/2013)

Yes, it is true. President Obama today gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former President Bill Clinton. Readers may recall that Bill Clinton conducted numerous extra-marital affairs during his time as governor of Arkansas. He went on to become president where he coerced a White House intern young enough to be his daughter to service him sexually. On multiple occasions. He then lied about his behavior under oath and impeachment proceedings were brought against him. His law license was eventually revoked.

Today we honor Bill Clinton - Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient - for his service to America. 

Ruminations

Two Friends
A friend who works in the field reminds us that underage use of alcohol and illicit drugs in Vermont is the highest in the nation. Focusing in on this problem Governor Peter Shumlin and fellow Progressives acted decisively...to legalize marijuana. There are no issues for which Liberals cannot find the wrong solution.

Another friend, one with European socialist leanings, tells us of a recent meeting with his accountant. Through incredibly hard work and perseverance, this individual has spent the past half dozen years building an enormously successful consulting practice. Now, as his efforts have begun to yield monetary rewards, his accountant gives him the news that the government is standing ready to collect their (large) share of his payday. "It's enough to make me a Republican," he says. 


The Sealer
To the Israeli government, the preliminary deal with Iran that the Obama administration is trying to seal this week is a giveaway to a government that has spent two decades building a vast nuclear program. It enshrines the status quo — at a time when the Iranians are within reach of the technical capability to build a bomb — and rewards some unproven leaders with cash and sanctions relief.

President Obama and his top aides see the same draft deal in sharply different terms. (NYT, 11/18/2013)

What you need to know about Obama and Iran:

--Having seen Obama sell out America's ally Poland on missile defense, the Iranians know that he will sell out Israel as well.

--Whatever deal is struck, Iran will cheat and continue its nuclear weapon development program.


At Risk Behavior
The McKinsey report found that the effort was at risk because of issues including “significant dependency on external parties/contractors,” as well as “insufficient time and scope of end-to-end testing,” and “parallel stacking of all phases,” all predictions that have turned out to be accurate. Briefings on the report were held in the spring at the White House and at the headquarters of the Health and Human Services Department and for leaders at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, congressional investigators said. (NYT, 11/19/2013)

So the White House knew "in the spring" that the Obamacaid website was a mess. Now does that mean that Obama lied when he says that if he had known there were problems he would have never gone out and touted it?


Are You (Positively) Experienced?
... specialists plowing through an initial list of more than 600 software and hardware defects remain worried about whether they can meet the administration’s goal of enabling four in five users to enroll through the online federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, by Nov. 30. One person said a more realistic goal was that four out of five people “have a positive experience,” which could include being redirected to customer service agents. (NYT, 11/19/2013)

This is so unintentionally funny that you will roar!


On the Clock
Within 24 hours of Timothy F. Geithner’s announcement on Saturday that he would join Warburg Pincus, the private equity firm, a parade of naysayers emerged, almost like clockwork, to criticize the former Treasury secretary’s move as a prime example of the evil of the government’s revolving door. (Andrew Ross Sorkin, NYT, 11/18/2013)

Sorkin takes those to task for criticizing Geithner's move to the private sector - something which we have no objection to. However, he ignores RedStateVT's point that Geithner heads to the very industry that Democrats spent one year and $1 billion smearing in their attacks on Mitt Romney. 

Remember?

Free to Roam

Equations
A renowned Liberal blogger ceaselessly defends Obamacare by equating it to Romneycare in Massachusetts and to a conservative Heritage Foundation proposal involving the individual mandate. Allow RedStateVT to debunk these comparisons once and for all. 

Romneycare was a bipartisan solution enacted in a Liberal state. Of course Obamacare was passed without a single vote of support from Republicans and is a national plan. Interestingly, after Romneycare no other state chose to pass similar legislation. 

The Heritage proposal was never endorsed by the Republican party. Pinning it on Republicans would be akin to Democrats owning every kooky idea that comes from the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. (Note to Dems: You do not want to go there.)

Democrats insist on ideological purity among Republicans, but are quick to forget that Mormon Harry Reid is pro-life. (For those who do not remember Harry Reid is the Democrat head of the U.S. Senate). All of which reminds us of something that the aforementioned Rev. Al once said about Mormons:

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation." 

Oh well.


Uncommon
Even as Americans struggle with the changes required by health care reform, an international survey released last week by the Commonwealth Fund, a research organization, shows why change is so necessary.

The report found that by virtually all measures of cost, access to care and ease of dealing with insurance problems, Americans fared poorly compared with people in other advanced countries. The survey covered 20,000 adults in the United States and 10 other industrial nations — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain, all of which put in place universal or near-universal health coverage decades ago. (New York Times editorial, 11/17/2013)

This was inevitable. In the midst of an Obamacare meltdown we get a report telling us how terrible health care is in the U.S., how much better it is elsewhere and how the president's plan will raise our care to the level of (pick it) say, New Zealand. Of course the inquisitive minds on the New York Times editorial board fall for it hook, line and sinker. These reports are written by people with anti-U.S. biases and are flawed to the point of laughability. You have seen them before. "Infant Mortality in the U.S. Lags Botswana." And then you find out that Botswana does not report infant deaths in the first three weeks. 

People tend to vote with their feet and the wealthy Canadians hoofing it across the border for U.S. health care reveals plenty. When was the last time you heard about a Saudi billionaire jetting to Norway for cancer treatment?

Missing Colors

Ain't it Funny
Government screws up Healthcare.gov and the first call that goes out is to the private sector for help. Is there anything to be learned here?


Off to the Races
It seems that every time Obama gets into trouble (usually of his own making, we might add) one or more of his sycophants hauls out the race card. So Charles Blow of the New York Times writes one of his race-obsessed columns and Oprah, the wealthiest and most successful black woman ever, darkly hints of racism. The Tea Party did not sabotage Healthcare.gov, nor did it cause Obama to repeatedly lie about Americans keeping their insurance plans. Yet despite absolutely no tangible proof somehow there is racism in the hearts of those who oppose Obama. Meanwhile we remind readers of what two of Obama's biggest supporters said. Joe Biden called Obama "clean." Harry Reid said that Obama "does not speak with a negro dialect unless he wants." 

Now there's some racism for you!


Formerly
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, one of the architects of the federal government's rescue of the financial system, is joining private-equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC. (WSJ, 11/16/2013)

Democrats are aghast that Geithner is now going into private equity. "We just successfully exposed Mitt Romney as a vulture capitalist, willing to kick American workers to the curb in the quest for obscene wealth, now one of our own is going down this dark path," a prominent Democrat opined. "We would be hypocrites if we did not speak out and object loudly" another Democrat said.

(We made all that up. Democrats had nothing to say.)

Render unto Caesar

Breaking News! Obama Permits Americans to Keep Junk Policies Issued by Bad Apple Insurers!

More Obama Health Care Lies
President Obama - who likely never read an insurance policy in his life - continues to lie about how insurance works. He said today that the policies that he would prefer to see cancelled contain fine print about high deductibles that insureds would not see until they tried to file a claim. This is pure and unadulterated nonsense. Pick up any insurance policy and the first thing you will notice is a Schedule of Benefits/Declarations Page which summarizes your coverage including benefits and deductibles. Even a former community organizer could understand what the coverage is. You just have to read it. If you cannot understand it, an insurance agent would be more than happy to explain it to you.

The next lie from our fearless leader is that people in the individual market have their insurance cancelled because they file claims. More hogwash. Insurers cannot cancel a policy because a legitimate claim is filed. The only time a policy can be cancelled (besides non-payment of premium) is for fraud or if the insurer decides to no longer offers that policy in the state, in which case it is cancelled for all covered under that class. Insurers cannot selectively cancel policies for insureds covered by the same policy form. 

Finally, President Misspoke talked again about people going bankrupt because their coverage was exhausted, referring to the Lifetime Benefit Maximum, often around $1 million. We wonder how many people in the U.S. have gone bankrupt because they have exhausted their policy's $1 million cap. None? OK, four, maybe five? The sweet irony of this complaint, however, is that the president wants this cap lifted, but at the same time wants to rein in the amount of money spent on health care for seniors. Hence, the Obamacaid directive that doctors should discuss "end of life" decisions with the elderly. Obama is fretfully concerned about the infinitesimal number of people who go or might go bankrupt due to a medical catastrophe, but views as rounding error the 5 million people with high deductible health policies that his legislation outlaws.


Lead story in the New York Times: JPMorgan's Fruitful Ties to a Member of China's Elite

(Second place goes to : Democrats Threaten to Abandon Obama on Health Provision)

In fact, hundreds of thousands of Americans have received cancellation notices from their insurers because their health care coverage does not meet the minimum standards dictated by the new law. (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Fox News reported last night a figure of 5 million people who have lost their health care coverage because of Obamacaid. 

So it is somewhere between "hundreds of thousands" and 5 million...

White House officials said they recognized the need for Democrats to vent their frustration about the health care problems. Mr. Carney said that the dissatisfaction felt by Democrats on Capitol Hill “is similar to the frustration that the president feels.” (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Really, the president is frustrated? What exactly is he frustrated about? Is he frustrated that he lied when he told the American people that they could keep their health insurance? Is that what has got him so doggone frustrated?

"No one is more frustrated then me that I told you that you could keep your health insurance."

“This has been a complete embarrassment,” Representative Patrick Murphy, Democrat of Florida, said. “It doesn’t matter what party you are. The focus needs to be how do we get this right.” (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Well actually, it matters a whole lot what party you are when you pass legislation that does not garner a single opposition vote. Not one. 


Lunch Bell
“There’s no free lunch. The healthier have to pay more to make the law work,” said MIT economics professor Jon Gruber, who advised the White House on ObamaCare.  “If you keep the promise for younger and healthier people to keep their current plans, you break the promise to provide affordable coverage to many more millions of people.” (NYPost.com, 11/14/2013)

At last, an honest Democrat.


Penalty Flag
Once an NFL wide receiver and local hero with a $5 million contract, Sam Hurd was reduced to being a convicted felon in orange jail scrubs pleading with a judge to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.
...
His biggest regret was starting to smoke marijuana, an addiction he said he picked up in college at Northern Illinois and that grew once he got to the pros. (NYPost.com, 11/14/2013)

Governor Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont who decriminalized marijuana?

What say you?

Beast at Bay

Run Away
If Sen. Bernie Sanders runs for president he could have support from former Gov. Howard Dean.

Dean says right now he is backing Hillary Clinton if she decides to run in 2016. But he said if Sanders got in the race, he'd have to consider supporting the home state candidate.

Sanders says he is 99 percent sure he would not run, but has left the door open, saying there needs to be more focus on the disappearing middle class. (WCAX.com, 11/12/2013)

Oh come on now, Bernie, run! Do not deny the American people the circus that would be a Sanders presidential bid. 

Of course, Dean's motivation is suspect. No doubt he wants to lose the label he now has of "that moonbat candidate from Vermont."


Miami Heat
President Obama appears to have remained overnight in Miami – incurring extra costs for taxpayers – just to play golf in the Florida sunshine.
...
There are no official events on his schedule today, golf seemingly his primary duty. He’ll depart Miami for Washington at 3:25 pm.

This marks the 150th time Obama has played golf as president, and the 39th time this year. (Whitehousedossier.com, 11/9/2013)

Not to worry, Obama has ordered a "tech surge" to fix Healthcare.gov. Thereby freeing himself up to hit the links!

(Great website, by the way.)


Due and Unpaid
All told, about 210,000 people have signed up, about 155,000 for Medicaid and 55,000 others for private insurance plans. Those numbers include people who have picked a plan but have not necessarily paid their first premium, which is not due for another month.

In addition, Oregon has signed up more than 70,000 people for the Medicaid expansion through a “fast-track” program that does not rely on the exchange. And Maryland will automatically enroll more than 80,000 newly eligible people in Medicaid in January. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

It's really Obamacaid, not Obamacare, isn't it?


Side Split
The split between lawmakers and the White House reflects the dilemma the president finds himself in as he seeks to follow through on last week’s acknowledgment about his incorrect promise on health care coverage. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

New York Times Style Book: Republicans flip-flop, Democrats evolve; Republicans lie, Democrats make incorrect promises.


Personal Beliefs
“I personally believe even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,” Mr. Clinton said in the interview, published by Ozy, a web magazine. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

RedStateVT told you - just a week or so ago - that Bill Clinton would get his payback for Obama's slights. We had no idea, however, that it would happen so quickly!


Derivations
Many of the rigged rules derive directly from the Wall Street wing of the (Democrat) party, personified by Robert Rubin, former head of Goldman Sachs who served as Clinton’s economic guru and Treasury secretary. Rubin peddled the bankers’ creed: financial deregulation, fiscal austerity, capital gain tax cuts, corporate globalization, flexible (read anti-union) labor markets, combined with public solicitude for the poor, trumped always by limited budgets. Celebrated during the Clinton years, the combination proved a toxic brew that led directly to the financial wilding that blew up the economy. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 11/12/2013)

Liberals have been telling us for years - years! - that it was George Bush (and maybe Mitt Romney) who were responsible for blowing up the U.S. economy. Now one of their own 'fesses up: it was Bill Clinton. This is earth-shattering news. 


Dog Days
Call of Duty: Ghosts, developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC, is rated M (Mature, for players 17 and older) for throat knifings, profanity and a dog that feasts on human necks. (NYT, 11/6/2013)

Just keeping readers up-to-date on the latest in video games. 

Repeat after us: video games do not lead to violence, video games do not lead to violence....


Possibilities
Lady Gaga said she was addicted to marijuana in an interview with Elvis Duran on the Z100 Morning Show on Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, and that she decided to speak about it so young people are aware that addiction to the drug is possible. (WSJ, 11/13/2013)

Uh, Governor Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont whose signature legislative accomplishment is the decriminalization of dope?

Dime Dancing

Egged On
The more honest Obamacare advocates are, in effect, admitting that to make this omelet you have to break 8 million eggs — roughly the number of people with individual plans who are expected to lose them. Obama, however, goes on as if he can conjure omelets out of thin air.

This rather bizarre belief in the unlimited power of the speech arises from Obama’s biography. Isn’t that how he rose? Words. It’s not as if he built a company, an enterprise, an institution. He built one thing — his own persona. By persuasion. One great speech in 2004 propels him to the presidential level. More great speeches and he wins the White House.

But then comes governance. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 11/4/2013)

Krauthammer nails it. Obama is an empty suit with a teleprompter and a so-so speechwriter. He has proven monumentally inept at governing. His signature legislative accomplishment was passed solely because at one brief moment in time he had full control. Now it turns out to be a national joke that even Democrats are running from. 


Emitted
Developing countries want the West — historically responsible for emissions, for the most part — not only to take the lead in reducing the use of fossil fuels, but to put up huge amounts of money to help poorer countries adapt to climatic changes that have already become inevitable. Western governments, which in some cases are already starting to consider their own adaptations to climate change, agree in principle that they should help poor countries. (NYT, 11/12/2013)

And so now we have it in writing. The whole climate change nonsense is nothing more than a wealth transfer scheme. It is designed to work on a large scale as described above and an individual scale (see McKibben, Bill). 


Consumed
Americans are growing more comfortable with marijuana, with 58 percent favoring legalization, according to the latest Gallup poll. At the same time, some researchers believe they have identified a side benefit to increasing availability of the drug: It could lead to decreased consumption of alcohol among young people. (New York Times editorial, 11/3/2013)

Sheer brilliance from the geniuses at the Times. Legal dope will result in fewer drunk teens. 

(Of course, there will be more stoned teens....)

Mad Dog Surrender

HAPPY VETERANS DAY TO OUR BRAVE TROOPS - PAST AND PRESENT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.


No Pay
Up to seven million people may be able to get health policies without paying any premium at all. (NYT editorial, 11/10/2013)

This news has the editors at the Times just giddy with excitement - more people getting things from the government for free. It is, they believe, the way the world should work. 

Do the Math
For instance, a family of four making $59,000 a year could face a choice between a $387 penalty the first year or, in a typical “silver” or midpriced policy offered on the California exchange, a premium of nearly $4,800 after the federal subsidy, with a $4,000 deductible, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation subsidy calculator. There is variation from plan to plan, but the deductible typically would not apply to doctor visits, preventive care, lab tests or generic drugs, although some regular co-payments would apply. (NYT, 11/11/2013)

So for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that the items in the last sentence above cancel out. Ergo, a family of four making 59k would have to incur OVER $700 PER MONTH of medical expenses before it would have made sense for them to have insurance. 

A smart consumer would pay the $387 penalty. If a family member gets sick, they can apply for insurance then. Remember: You cannot be turned down because of a pre-existing condition!!!


Exceedingly
A study set for publication in the December issue of Pediatrics confirms what some of Hollywood’s sharpest critics have suspected: The level of gun violence in the top-selling PG-13 movies has been rising, and it now exceeds that in the most popular R-rated films. (NYT, 11/11/2013)

Here's a question. In light of this study, will the U.S. political party that has received hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars from Hollywood now act to sanction the film industry? Will Hollywood executives be called to testify before Congress?

You know the answer. 

And the next time that there is a mass shooting, that same political party will decry the Second Amendment. 

Another Unpublished Letter to the New York Times!

Your recent editorial Insurance Policies Not Worth Keeping seeks to excuse President Obama's seeming deception regarding the ability of citizens to retain their high deductible health insurance plans (he "misspoke" your editors concede) by disparaging these plans as "sub-standard." In effect, the president may have not been entirely accurate, but he can be forgiven because such catastrophic coverage plans are so terrible. Leaving aside the question of the president's truthfulness, characterizations of these plans has been blatantly deceitful. 

Let's start with the fact that such plans have been offered for sale for years. Insurance companies selling such plans were required to file the policy details with each state insurance department which then approved the plans for sale. We are now to believe that suddenly, because of the bright light of the Affordable Care Act, the dirty business of high deductible plans has been exposed. What of those state insurance commissioners who approved such plans in the first place? How many have been asked to explain how they could have repeatedly allowed such "sub-standard" plans to be offered for sale? How many have been called upon to resign? The truth, of course, is that such plans were entirely legal and filled a demand in the market. 

In the debate over the ACA the argument was made that in the same way that individuals are obligated to buy auto insurance, the requirement to buy health insurance cannot be seen as an overreach by the government. Whether or not one believes such a comparison has merit, it is undeniably true that auto insurance policies can be purchased with a wide range of deductibles for loss or damage. An auto policy with a high $1000 collision damage deductible is no more "sub-standard" than a health insurance plan with a $10,000 deductible. What both have in common is that they were approved for sale by insurance regulators and freely purchased by individuals who weighed the trade-offs between price and exposure to loss. 

RedStateVT

Central Planning

Ill Will
The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.

The rules, which will apply to almost all forms of insurance, will have far-reaching consequences for many Americans. In the White House, the regulations are also seen as critical to President Obama’s program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders. (NYT, 11/8/2013)

So Obama and fellow Liberals have decided that the cause of mass shootings is now lack of insurance coverage for mental illness. Apparently Holmes, Loughner and Lanza could not get their insurance companies to pay for treatment. 

Here's another thought. Perhaps all should have been involuntarily confined at the first sign of problems (there were plenty of "first" signs) and forcibly medicated. Unfortunately, Liberals would never go for that, hence society is at risk. 


Bow Down
President Obama bowed Thursday night to mounting criticism that he had misled the American people about the health care law, apologizing to people who were forced off their health insurance plans by the Affordable Care Act despite “assurances from me.” (NYT, 11/7/2013)

The President Apologizes for 'Misleading' the American People! 

If you thought this stunning news would be the lead story in the New York Times you would be wrong. It comes after a story on new Obama administration regulations on how insurers cover mental illness, after a story on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run, and after a story on how Mormons are really OK with gays. 


Rich and Beautiful
Mr. Katzenberg, who joined Mr. Geffen and Steven Spielberg in arranging a $1.3 million fund-raiser for Mr. Obama at Mr. Geffen’s Beverly Hills estate in February 2007, also said he planned to throw his weight behind Mrs. Clinton the next time around.

“If Secretary Clinton makes the decision to run, I expect she’ll have near-unanimous support here,” Mr. Katzenberg wrote in an email. “Hillary represents our best chance to win in 2016, build upon the successes of the Obama administration, and keep the country moving in the right direction.”

The shift reflects enthusiasm about Mrs. Clinton’s prospects for winning the election, but it also highlights the less rose-colored view of Mr. Obama now held by some of his most loyal supporters. “The Hollywood community really came together in the last election and raised an awful lot of money and supported him,” said Felix Schein, a Los Angeles-based political strategist. “I wouldn’t say that’s gone, but the mood is sour.” (NYT, 11/7/2013)

Obama is a lame duck. The Democrat party has moved on.

Also, just a reminder to fellow bloggers - make that Liberal bloggers - that Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen are the Democrat party's Koch brothers. You have your billionaires, we have our billionaires. 

Preconditions

Blame Game
Obama is blaming the insurance companies for discontinuing policies that he made illegal. (At least he isn't blaming the cancellations on a guy who put a movie trailer on the Internet this time.) 
...
The best we can hope for is that influence-peddlers and government bureaucrats make wise decisions about our health care, just as they did with Solyndra, Social Security, public education and the Amtrak food service. Oops! (Only the government could lose billions of dollars with a monopoly.) From the people who brought you the Postal Service ... here's Obamacare! (AnnCoulter.com, 11/6/2013)

Actually, first Obama called them junk policies, then he criticized insurers for sending cancellation notices!

By the way, the mockery of Obamacare grows daily. First the late night talk show hosts, then Saturday Night Live and, last night, the Country Music Association award show... seen by millions. 


Zeroed Out
Millions of people could qualify for federal subsidies that will pay the entire monthly cost of some health care plans being offered in the online marketplaces set up under President Obama’s health care law, a surprising figure that has not garnered much attention, in part because the zero-premium plans come with serious trade-offs. (NYT, 11/3/2013)

Liberals love the news that more people are getting stuff for free from the government. It is, for them, proof positive that government is working and is compassionate and that as supporters, they are special people. Witness the recent joy in Vermont when Progressives determined that because of their largess, some 40% of all students in the state are getting free meals. Conservatives look at the same facts and say something is broken. 


Left Out
New York City voters stepped decisively to the political left on Tuesday, turning their collective back on two decades of Republican-backed mayoral rule. (NYT, 11/6/2013)

And so New York City will descend into chaos. Unleashed, unions will run roughshod; police will be prevented from doing their job; and New York's professional grievance-mongers will line up row upon row of victims to receive their spoils. The results will mirror those of the Dinkins years when befuddled incompetence reigned, now to be replaced by the destruction of Liberal activism. 


Gay Day
The Senate passed historic legislation Thursday to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace, another victory for the gay rights movement that has been gaining favor in the courts and electoral politics. (Washington Post, 11/7/2013)

Let the lawsuits commence!


Whether or Not
Brown University will investigate a protest last month that forced the cancellation of a speech by the New York City police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, and decide whether anyone should be disciplined, the university said on Wednesday. (NYT, 11/6/2013)

Count us shocked. Not that nit-wit Liberal students would shout down an ideological opponent (they do that constantly, all the while chanting: "Free speech, free speech"), but that the far Left administrators at Brown would investigate the incident. 

Tossed Upon Cloudy Seas

Barry v. Bill
Even after Mr. Obama named Mrs. Clinton as secretary of state, seemingly binding the wounds from their hard-fought 2008 primary campaign, the book says, he still could barely endure spending much time with the often-exhausting Bill Clinton. 
...
Mr. Obama succinctly expressed his view of Mr. Clinton to an aide after coming off the course at Andrews Air Force Base. “Obama grimaced and replied, ‘I like him ... in doses,’ ” the authors write.
...
“Clinton held Obama captive in the presidential limo” outside a fund-raiser at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, the authors write, grabbing Mr. Obama’s hand as he reached for the door. Instead of having a one-on-one meal together that night, as was planned, Mr. Obama, unable to “handle any more undiluted Clinton,” invited aides from both of their staffs to join the dinner and talked to them about their children, rather than talking about politics with his predecessor. (NYT, 11/1/2013)

Once Obama is no longer politically relevant (which could be any time starting now until the end of his term) Bill Clinton is going to avenge Obama's slights. It is going to be great fun to watch him unload with an exhaustive catalog of his advice and warnings, all of which were ignored by Obama. 


Road Trip
Abortion clinic owners and women’s health advocates said the decision would have catastrophic effects because as many as 13 of the 36 clinics providing abortions in the state would have to stop doing so immediately, forcing women in large swaths of Texas to travel several hours on at least two days to obtain abortions. (NYT, 11/1/2013)

People routinely travel several hours for surgery and other medical care. Liberals are upset because the Texas law makes it more difficult to site an abortion clinic on every corner. War on women!


The Best of Obamacare Funnies
“I don't think the website not being able to sign up six people is a problem with Republicans not liking Obamacare,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday on MSNBC. “It has to do with incompetency at HHS and a president who is totally aloof, doesn't know what's going on, and finds out his news at the same time you and I do. That's the problem.” (NBCNews.com, 11/1/2013)

... it is not politically insignificant that the largest recent expansion of government should exactly confirm the worst stereotypes of government. (Michael Gerson, Washington Post, 10/31/2013)

Gerson goes on to describe the Obamacare roll-out as a "face plant." 

That is a funny line!

“Obama lied and the individual market died.” (Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, 10/31/2013)

Also good!

Escape Plan
The (IPCC) report also finds other sweeping impacts from climate change already occurring across the planet, and warns that these are likely to intensify as human emissions of greenhouse gases continue to rise. The scientists describe a natural world in turmoil as plants and animals colonize new areas to escape rising temperatures, and warn that many could become extinct. (NYT, 11/2/2013)

Wow, plants and animals colonizing new areas! Those things have never happened before. 

Oh wait, yes they have.