Report: Obama Will Shed More Tears to Get Policies Enacted

Eager Beavers
Eager to maximize coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration has allowed large numbers of people to sign up for insurance after the deadlines in the last two years, destabilizing insurance markets and driving up premiums, health insurance companies say.

The administration has created more than 30 “special enrollment” categories and sent emails to millions of Americans last year urging them to see if they might be able to sign up after the annual open enrollment deadline. But, insurers and state officials said, the federal government did little to verify whether late arrivals were eligible.

That has allowed people to wait until they become ill or need medical services to sign up, driving up costs broadly, insurers have told federal health officials. (New York Times, 1/10/2016)

There has got to be a secret plan underlying Obamacare, right? Nothing this screwed up could ever be devised. Now we think we have a possible answer. Democrats purposefully created an unworkable law as a segue-way to what they really wanted: single payer. They will say: "Well, we tried to come up with a solution that utilized the private sector, but it was just unworkable. This is why we need a healthcare system run by government."


Monsters Ball
Four teenagers suspected of taking turns raping an 18-year-old woman at gunpoint at a Brooklyn playground after ordering her father to leave her side were taken into custody on Sunday, the police said.

The brazen attack on Thursday night, which the police said was carried out by the four teenagers along with another young man who remains at large, set off waves of fear and uncertainty in the Brownsville neighborhood where it happened. Elected officials also questioned whether the police notified the public quickly enough after the attack, a suggestion that the Police Department strongly contested.

Two teenagers, ages 14 and 15, were turned in to police custody by their parents; the two others, ages 15 and 17, were apprehended by the authorities, the police said. Charges against them were pending. (New York Times, 1/11/2016)

Prediction. Ten years from now Al Sharpton will succeed in getting these monsters released from prison. He will say there was a "rush to judgment." They will sue the city of New York and be awarded millions of dollars. Remember then that you read it here at RedStateVT first.

Boots on the Ground

Kicked to the Curb
The stocks of Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger spiked again after the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings last month. They also moved sharply in advance of President Obama’s announcement on Tuesday of measures to curb gun violence. (New York Times, 1/5/2016)

Rumors persist that Smith & Wesson is preparing to name Obama its Salesman of the Year. No one is responsible for more gun sales in America. No one.


Spin Control
Liberal spin can’t disguise that the law is failing on every level other than expanding coverage—as if anyone ever argued that a new entitlement couldn’t reduce the uninsured rate. The huge premium increases and other disruption in the health-care markets that the critics predicted explain why the law continues to be so unpopular with the public six long years after passage. (Wall Street Journal, 1/5/2016)

"...as if anyone ever argued that a new entitlement couldn't reduce the uninsured rate." Exactly the point. Obama and Democrats offered people free or heavily subsidized insurance and then take a victory lap over the success of Obamacare. 


Life Sentence
Apparently, all it takes to get Muslims to sign up for a life of terrorism is one speech by a wealthy reality-show star who holds no office. I mean, joining ISIS is no small commitment; it’s not like changing your vote come Election Day, or registering for a different party. The political and media elites really want us to believe that all it takes to get Muslims to devote their lives to ISIS is a speech by Donald Trump. (David Cole, 12/31/2015, Taki's Magazine) 
http://takimag.com/article/donald_trump_carnage_recruiter_david_cole/print#ixzz3wb3dwFIc

Ann Coulter linked to this great article in her recent column. Why is it that Americans - who have suffered terrible atrocities at the hands of self-proclaimed Muslim zealots - have to walk on eggshells for fear of offending Muslims?


Imposition
For eight years, Barack Obama has imposed failing economic policies on the country, even as he has brilliantly exploited the results for political gain. Democrats produced stagnating wages, rising prices, economic insecurity and failed antipoverty programs—and then somehow blamed the resulting inequality and fear and destitution on conservatives. (Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal, 1/7/2016)

Explanation? Obama owns nothing. Not Russian aggression. Not Middle East chaos. Not skyrocketing health insurance premiums. Certainly not economic malaise. Three-quarters of the media and half of the country do not hold him accountable. 


Dog Eat Dog
The State Department provided an “inaccurate or incomplete” response when a watchdog group asked in 2012 whether Hillary Clinton had used any alternate email accounts, saying it had no relevant records, even though dozens of top officials knew that she relied on a private email address for official communications, an independent investigator reported Thursday. (New York Times, 1/7/2016)

Cynical yet?


Elitists
Since at least the early 1990s, a lot of the public has been intimidated into keeping its mouth shut and head down about subjects in the political and social life of the country that the elites stipulated as beyond discussion or dispute. (Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 1/6/2016)

Good column by Henninger about how Donald Trump and Ben Carson have confronted political correctness.

RedStateVT: Cloud-Based Solutions to Fight Liberals

Scalia
“The court’s decision reflects the philosophy that judges should endure whatever interpretive distortions it takes in order to correct a supposed flaw in the statutory machinery.” 

"...this Court’s two decisions on the Act will surely be remembered through the years. The somersaults of statutory interpretation they have performed (“penalty” means tax, “further [Medicaid] payments to the State” means only incremental Medicaid payments to the State, “established by the State” means not established by the State) will be cited by litigants endlessly, to the confusion of honest jurisprudence. And the cases will publish forever the discouraging truth that the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites."


More Scalia
“These justices know that limiting marriage to one man and one woman is contrary to reason; they know that an institution as old as government itself, and accepted by every nation in history until 15 years ago, cannot possibly be supported by anything other than ignorance or bigotry.” 


Pseudo-Conservative Roberts
“The court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are?”


More Pseudo-Conservative Roberts
“Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us. Under the Constitution, judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be.” 


Some Alito
“It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”

The conservatives on the Supreme Court argue positions based on logic. Liberals argue based on emotion.

Among the next cases to come before the Court:

- A man wants to marry his cat.
- Gay couple sues priest for refusing to perform church wedding.

Not if, when. 


Meanwhile Back in Corruptland
The State Department said on Thursday that 15 emails sent or received by Hillary Rodham Clinton were missing from records that she has turned over, raising new questions about whether she deleted work-related emails from the private account she used exclusively while in office. (New York Times, 6/27/2015)

OK, here's the thing. We don't think Hillary Clinton should be president for the following reason:

She is always losing things. We cannot have a president who is so careless. First it was the Rose Law firm billing records. Now it is the Benghazi e-mails. 

Presidents should be more organized.

RedStateVT: Your Source for All Things Transgendered

Quadrangle
The Pentagon, shamefully, has yet to rescind anachronistic personnel guidelines that prohibit openly transgender people from joining in the military, labeling their condition a “paraphilia,” or perversion. The policy has forced thousands to serve in silence, repressing an essential part of their identity. (New York Times editorial, 6/4/2015)

Yes, there are "thousands" of transgenders in the Pentagon. You didn't know that did you? In fact, transgenders are everywhere and you probably don't even realize it. That might be a transgender sitting next to you at Starbucks. You could be living next door to a transgender. You could be living WITH a transgender! You yourself could, in fact, be a transgender and not even know it.


Pitiful
Just a few years ago, lawmakers in this left-leaning state viewed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act as little more than a pit stop on the road to a far more ambitious goal: single-payer, universal health care for all residents.

Then things unraveled. The online insurance marketplace that Vermont built to enroll people in private coverage under the law had extensive technical failures. The problems soured public and legislative enthusiasm for sweeping health care changes just as Gov. Peter Shumlin needed to build support for his complex single-payer plan. Finally, Mr. Shumlin, a Democrat, shelved the plan in December, citing the high cost to taxpayers. He called the decision “the greatest disappointment of my political life.” (New York Times, 6/4/2015)

When the New York Times is writing about the Vermont health care debacle, it cannot be good. And no matter how bad they say it is, remember this: it is worse.


Intrusive
The Obama administration on Thursday announced what appeared to be one of the largest breaches of federal employees’ data, involving at least four million current and former government workers in an intrusion that officials said apparently originated in China. (New York Times, 6/5/2015)

It needs to be pointed out that had this happened when George Bush or Scott Walker were president, the New York Times, Washington Post and MSNBC would personally blame the (Republican) president.

Obama is president....crickets.

Obama: Turns Out I Am An Emperor!

Broadly
But accusations of a presidential abuse of power appear to have gained traction in recent days, as a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found just 38 percent support for Mr. Obama’s executive actions even as there was broad support for a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. In the poll, 48 percent said they opposed Mr. Obama’s actions. Even a few Democrats have expressed concern about the propriety of the president’s actions. (New York Times, 11/21/2014)

Actually - if only 38% of the country supports Obama - he has lost more than "a few" Democrats. We wonder how many Democrats are quietly saying: "this guy is going to hurt our brand for years...." 


Zoned Out
I don’t know how ObamaCare will go, but it won’t last as it is. If the White House had wisdom, they’d declare that they’d won on the essential argument—health coverage is a right for all—and go back to the drawing board with Congress. The only part of the ObamaCare law that is popular is its intention, not its reality. The White House should declare victory and redraw the bill. But the White House is a wisdom-free zone. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 11/21/2014)

Another score for Noonan!


Wanted
People who wanted market-driven health care now have it in the Affordable Care Act (Alice M. Rivlin, Washington Post, 11/20/2014)

Completely dishonest analysis from Rivlin. Liberals do this all the time. They impose draconian rules and then talk about free markets. 


Inflation
President Barack Obama's much-touted 8 million Obamacare enrollment number was inflated by 1.3 million, the Obama administration now admits. "The mistake we made is unacceptable," tweeted Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell. "I will be communicating that clearly throughout the department." (Breitbart.com, 11/23/2014)

Is there anything that the Obama administration will not lie about? Answer: no. 


At Least
President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year. (New York Times, 11/21/2014)

Hey, don't get us wrong we think fighting the terrorists on their home turf is a good idea. But where is Code Pink? Where is the condemnation by the New York Times editors? Where is the rambling incoherent speech by Harry Reid on the Senate floor? Where is the reminder of how many soldiers have died already? Oh, and where are the apologies to George Bush and Dick Cheney?


Holy Holy Holy
McAllister points out that the usual separation-of-church-and-state crowd has been remarkably quiet about the president’s invocation of the Old Testament, that bloodiest and most patriarchal part of holy writ. “No scathing posts. No statement from the Freedom From Religious Foundation. Oh, right,” she says, “this is a Democratic president, so it’s okay.”(Ian Tuttle, nationalreview.com, 11/21/2014)

Killer point! Recall the endless criticism any time a Republican politician invokes religion. Liberal secularists are mute when Obama quotes scripture. 

Coming Soon from Democrats: The Republican War on Children!

Bernie Sanders: Keystone XL 'makes no sense to me' (Washington Examiner, 11/18/2014)

RedStateVT: Bernie Sanders 'makes no sense to us' (RedStateVT, 11/18/2014)


Currently
In the current Democratic-controlled Senate, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, has long refused to bring a Keystone bill to a vote for fear that it could hurt the re-election chances of environmental-minded Democrats who might have voted against a project that is popular with many voters. (New York Times, 11/18/2014)

So to fellow bloggers who write endlessly of Republican obstructionism we forward the passage above. Turns out Harry Reid's Senate (which never passed a budget either, by the way) may have doing some obstruction of their own! Also nice to hear that the Keystone pipeline is "popular with many voters." We are guessing that said voters like jobs and low gas prices. 


Starkly
President Obama is poised to ignore stark warnings that executive action on immigration would amount to “violating our laws” and would be “very difficult to defend legally.”

Those warnings came not from Republican lawmakers but from Mr. Obama himself.

For years, he has waved aside the demands of Latino activists and Democratic allies who begged him to act on his own, and he insisted publicly that a decision to shield millions of immigrants from deportation without an act of Congress would amount to nothing less than the dictates of a king, not a president. (New York Times, 11/18/2014)

For any of you cynics out there, remember: Republicans flip flop, Democrats evolve.


Mutually
But since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, the relationship between the Obama administration and insurers has evolved into a powerful, mutually beneficial partnership that has been a boon to the nation’s largest private health plans and led to a profitable surge in their Medicaid enrollment. (New York Times, 11/17/2014)

During the Obamacare debate, Charles Krauthammer once famously said: "I care not a whit about the insurance companies." We agree. They sold their souls to Obama for short term profits but given the opportunity Obama will sell them out in a heartbeat.


Surely
As headlines go, “ Obama Moves Close to Calling Russian Action in Ukraine an Invasion,” from a weekend story in the New York Times , must surely rank among the year’s most revealing. The Obama presidency has long been at odds with the obvious. Once this was called hope.

Now it is generally recognized as farce. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 11/17/2014)

Bret Stephens picks up on RedStateVT's recent point!


Extensively
Mr. Gruber wrote a 2011 cartoon book called “Health Care Reform” that aimed to explain the federal law. A note about the author says Mr. Gruber “consulted extensively with the Obama administration and Congress during the development” of the law. (Wall Street Journal, 11/17/2014)

Of all the egregious sins that Gruber has perpetrated, surely this is the worst: he wrote a cartoon book on Obamacare. 


And Then This
Here comes the tea party of the left. (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 11/17/2014)

Honest column from Milbank. Yes, the Dems have a tea party too.

"Stupid" Americans Face Large Health Insurance Price Hikes

Substantially
The Obama administration on Friday unveiled data showing that many Americans with health insurance bought under the Affordable Care Act could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans. 
....

“Consumers should shop around,” said Marilyn B. Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the federal insurance exchange serving three dozen states. “With new options available this year, they’re likely to find a better deal.” She asserted that the data showed that “the Affordable Care Act is working.” (New York Times, 11/14/2014)

So apparently, a "better deal" and "working" describe a situation wherein Americans pay substantially more for health insurance. Got it.


Checked Out
 “We’re really making sure the website works super well before the next open enrollment period. We’re double- and triple-checking it.” President Obama
...

The health insurance marketplace opened for business on Saturday and performed much better than last year, but some consumers reported long, frustrating delays in trying to buy insurance and gain access to their own accounts at HealthCare.gov. (New York Times, 11/15/2014)

Quadruple-check?


Dysfunctional
Vermont is the only state that requires purchase of any individual health care insurance policies through the state exchange. Yes, that’s the same exchange that isn’t functioning. Shumlin has turned health care in Vermont into a Kafka-like cartoon: you must buy through the exchange and the exchange doesn’t work. (Stuart Stevens, thedailybeast.com, 11/13/2014)

Wonderful article which describes how corrupt and arrogant Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is and how he nearly blew the recent election to an almost unknown Republican, Scott Milne. Speaking of Vermont Health Connect, here is a recent e-mail: 

"You are receiving this email because you have chosen email as your communication preference.  Usually this email would include a link to your account, but at this time account log-ins and online payments are unavailable due to a period of extended maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Got it.


Identity Crisis
The Democrats’ widespread losses last week have revived a debate inside the party about its fundamental identity, a long-running feud between center and left that has taken on new urgency in the aftermath of a disastrous election and in a time of deeply felt economic anxiety. (New York Times, 11/14/2014)

So after fifty-two thousand articles on how the Republican party is being torn apart by the Tea Party the Times concedes that Democrats face their own rifts. Got it.


Wonderful
Sometimes we wonder if President Obama has even the vaguest idea how a private economy works. (Wall Street Journal, 11/14/2014)

We just liked this line.


Get Closer
Obama Moves Close to Calling Russian Action in Ukraine an Invasion (New York Times headline, 11/16/2014)

Months after Putin invades Ukraine, Obama threatens to accuse Putin of......invading Ukraine. Vlad must wake up every day and pinch himself thinking about how lucky he is to have Obama.

Defeated, Democrats Urge Compromise

Darkness
The next Senate was just elected on the greatest wave of secret, special-interest money ever raised in a congressional election. (New York Times editorial, Dark Money Helped Win the Senate, 11/9/2014)

Republicans defeated Democrats and won the Senate. Ergo, it was "dark money" that did it. When Democrats win elections it is because of their superior "ground game."  


RedStateVT Poll
Who were you most happy to see defeated in the recent election?
a) Martha Coakley, perennial loser
b) Sandra Fluke, destitute former law student unable to afford condoms
c) Wendy Davis, partial birth abortion advocate


Topped Off
Four years ago, Arkansas had a congressional delegation that was five-sixths Democratic, a Democratic governor, a Democratic-controlled legislature and an all-Democratic slate of statewide officials. It will now be Republican from top to bottom. (New York Times, 11/6/2014)

Great to see the home state of Mitt Romney back in Republican hands. What? Not Mitt Romney's home state? Oh, that's right, Bill Clinton's home state. 


Allegations
On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court issued a writ of certiorari in King v. Burwell, one of several cases in which plaintiffs allege that the Internal Revenue Service violated the PPACA when it issued a directive making ObamaCare subsidies available for insurance policies purchased on the federal exchange. That is counter to a provision of the law limiting the subsidies to policies purchased “through an Exchange established by the State.” Most states have not established exchanges. (Wall Street Journal, 11/10/2014)

True story...listening to a Liberal dingbat today on NPR talking about this very issue. Her contention is that "state" means the same thing as "federal." It is impossible to argue with these people. 

Goddard College Announces 2015 Commencement Speaker: ISIS Beheader Jihad Johnny

Speaks for Itself
In a statement, Goddard College Interim President Bob Kenny said the college holds 20 commencement ceremonies annually to provide personalized graduation ceremonies in each degree program.

"As a reflection of Goddard’s individualized and transformational educational model, our commencements are intimate affairs where each student serves as her or his own valedictorian, and each class chooses its own speaker," Kenny said in a statement. "Choosing Mumia as their commencement speaker, to me, shows how this newest group of Goddard graduates expresses their freedom to engage and think radically and critically in a world that often sets up barriers to do just that." (foxnews.com, 10/1/2014)

This is what happens when Liberals are unconstrained.


Shop Til Ya Drop
President Obama said healthcare costs are rising for Indiana steel workers because employers are not “shopping” correctly for insurance plans during an event at Millennium Steel Service in Princeton, Ind., on Friday. (freebeacon.com, 10/3/2014)

Well RedStateVT's must REALLY be shopping incorrectly. Our premiums tripled!


Bananas
By the weekend, Typhoid Barry will be blaming the epidemic on YouTube videos, like he did with Benghazi. Or he’ll claim it’s not a disease, it’s “workplace violence.”

Other African countries have closed their airports to flights from Ebolaland. But not the U.S. – we are now out-banana-republicing the banana republics. Obama has gotten his wish. The nation is fundamentally transformed, and we don’t even have the fiasco of amnesty yet. (Howiecarr.com, 10/5/2014)

Every once in a while we think that Howie Carr spends too much time beating the drum on illegal aliens. Then we realize...he is right and we are wrong. 


Remains of the Day
Adolescents also try to truncate arguments by saying that nothing remains of any arguments against their arguments. Regarding the ACA, Obama said the debate is “settled” and “over.” Progressives also say the debate about catastrophic consequences of man-made climate change is “over,” so everyone should pipe down. And they say the debates about the efficacy of universal preschool, and the cost-benefit balance of a minimum-wage increase, are over. Declaring an argument over is so much more restful than engaging with evidence. (George Will, Nationalreviewonline.com, 4/23/2014)

Apologies for recycling this old point from Will. On second thought, no apology necessary!

Thanks for Waiting

Cold Day
In Cold War Echo, Obama Strategy Writes Off Putin (New York Times headline, 4/20/2014)

As others have noted, Candidate Obama got off a (rehearsed) line during the last campaign at Mitt Romney's expense saying something to the effect of 'the eighties wanting its foreign policy back.' And so - adding to a list which includes George Bush and Dick Cheney - Obama now owes an apology to Romney. Of course, all three are smart enough to know that they will never get one. 


Runaway
Even as Mr. Obama announced that eight million Americans had enrolled in the program and urged Democrats to embrace the law, those in his party are running from it rather than on it, while Republicans are prospering by demanding its repeal. (New York Times. 4/20/2014)

And why is this? Can some Democrat please explain why the party's candidates are running away from its signature legislative accomplishment?


Bent
That’s daunting enough, but here’s the key finding: The world has only about 15 years left in which to begin to bend the emissions curve downward. Otherwise, the costs of last-minute fixes will be overwhelming. “We cannot afford to lose another decade,” says Ottmar Edenhofer, a German economist and co-chairman of the committee that wrote the report. “If we lose another decade, it becomes extremely costly to achieve climate stabilization.” (New York Times editorial, 4/21/2014)

Climate change deniers (yes, that includes RedStateVT) have a ball with these predictions of impending doom, particularly when they come with a specific date attached. Back in 2006, Al Gore (remember him?) predicted that the end would come in ten years. And so the ever clever Rush Limbaugh took the Gorey One up on it and posted a countdown clock on his website. It is still there today and reminds us that - according to Gore - we are down to the final two years!


Over and Over
In his opening statement, Obama asserted that "the repeal debate is and should be over. The Affordable Care Act is working." He said the same thing on April Fool's Day, though the repetition is beginning to feel like "Groundhog Day." The assertion, and especially the reassertion, that the debate is over is self-refuting, for it is simply a statement of Obama's position in the debate. (James Taranto, Wall Street Journal, 4/18/2014)

Liked this one from Taranto. In essence, if the debate is over, why is Obama still talking about it? RedStateVT has a similar observation that when Liberals are unwilling to debate an issue any longer (usually when they are losing that debate!) they simply declare the debate to be over. It's settled science!


RIP
Weeping before a polished wood coffin at her wake this past Saturday, they described Ms. Onyango, the half sister of the president’s father, as “the spirit of the Obama family” and talked about raising money to send her body back to Kenya. Mr. Obama helped pay funeral expenses and sent a condolence note, Ms. Onyango’s family members said, but the president did not attend, as he was golfing. (New York Times, 4/23/2014)

The New York Times declares that Obama's relations with his extended family are, well, "complicated." We will have to research how the Times described Ronald Reagan's relations with his children. We do not recall them saying "complicated."

Spear in Hand

Baseless
Yet the culture of the professional Left, enthusiastically aided by the establishment media, is going bonkers in pushing active homosexuality (or any one of several exotic variants thereof) as an absolute virtue. One can hardly turn around these days without facing, in fiction or in real life, what amounts to homosexual chic. From the amount of primetime air time afforded to gay Americans, one would think they constitute at least a large minority of the population, rather than the 3 to 5 percent they actually do..... At base, the problem isn’t homosexuality, but public sexuality. There was a time, a better time, when the sex lives of strangers were nobody’s business. (Quin Hillyer, Nationalreviewonline.com, 2/24/2014)

Great article that deserves to be read in its entirety endorsing the RedStateVT doctrine on sexuality: Stop talking about it.


Willful
In the ongoing saga of the Affordable Care Act, oddly referred to by Democrats as the law of the land even as it is amended at will by presidential fiat... (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 2/13/2014)

Krauthammer devastates with a mere phrase.


Bemoaner-in-Chief
In his address, Obama bemoaned the fact that over the past four years, “average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.” Put aside for a moment the fact that Obama is describing the economy after five years of his economic stewardship. (Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, 2/10/2014)

Ouch!


At Fault
A co-founder of Greenpeace told lawmakers there is no evidence man is contributing to climate change, and said he left the group when it became more interested in politics than the environment.

Patrick Moore, a Canadian ecologist and business consultant who was a member of Greenpeace from 1971-86, told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee environmental groups like the one he helped establish use faulty computer models and scare tactics in promoting claims man-made gases are heating up the planet. (Foxnews.com, 2/26/2014)

Repeat after us: "Climate change is settled science, climate change is settled science, climate change is....."


Story Time
Harry Reid spoke about the Obamacare "horror stories" on the Senate floor this morning. He said that "all are untrue." (Weeklystandard.com, 2/26/2014)

A family member has been trying to sign up for insurance in New York for a month. So far, no luck. Does that qualify as a "horror story?"

Drastic Measures

Taxing
In the budget proposal that Mr. Hickenlooper released Wednesday, his office said the state could collect about $134 million in taxes from recreational and medical marijuana for the fiscal year beginning in July. He proposed to spend $99 million on programs including substance-abuse treatment, preventing marijuana use by children and teenagers, public health and law enforcement. (New York Times, 2/21/2014)

Only Democrats could come up with this: legalize dope; collect $134 million in taxes on dope: spend $99 million on anti-dope programs. It defies common sense, but that is what Dems do.


Limiting
Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say. (New York Times, 2/20/2014)

Wonder why this was not the front page headline of every paper and website? 

Answer: When the public sector mimics the private sector it is not good news for Democrats.


Lesser
President Obama will drop from his latest budget request a plan to use a less-generous measure of inflation when calculating Social Security cost-of-living increases, according to White House officials. (Washington Post, 2/20/2014)

How serious are Democrats about entitlement reform? 

Answer: Not at all.


Ruler
A Nebraska judge ruled Wednesday that the state violated its constitution when it allowed the governor to approve the route of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a decision that could significantly delay the $5.3 billion project. (Washington Post, 2/19/2014)

Liberal judges ruining America. Gives Obama cover though, doesn't it?


Discord
The United States informed its NATO allies this month that Russia had tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, raising concerns about Moscow’s compliance with a landmark arms control accord. (New York Times, 1/29/2014)

Why did Putin stick it to Obama? 

Answer: He knows him.


Flex
The Obama administration said it would postpone enforcement of a federal requirement for medium-size employers to provide health insurance to employees and allow larger employers more flexibility in how they provide coverage. (New York Times, 2/11/2014)

Next in line for an Obamacare delay: employers in-between "medium-sized" and "larger."


Untimely
For Obama, now is not the time for defensiveness. His current difficulties owe less to Obamacare’s early problems than to a broader alienation fostered by the Republicans’ ability to block government efforts to ease widespread economic stress. (E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, 1/26/2014)

Question for Dionne. How out-of-touch does an op-ed writer have to be to say that Obama's low popularity is NOT the fault of Obamacare, but rather is the fault of Republicans?

An honest writer might say the following:

It is not only that the president’s political support is diminished; it is diminished, in large part, because of his main political achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Because of the way the law was sold — “you can keep your plan” — Americans have questions about Obama’s credibility. Because of the way it has been implemented — “the system is down at the moment” — they have questions about his competence. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, a plurality of American voters doubts that Obama is “honest and trustworthy,” and a majority believes the Obama administration is not competent at running the government. (Michael Gerson, Washington Post, 1/27/2014)


Finding
Former Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans was found guilty on Wednesday of accepting payoffs for city contracts, becoming the first leader in the city’s history to be charged and convicted of corruption. (New York Times, 2/12/2014)

President George W. Bush will now accept your apologies for all criticism directed at him in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Centrifugal Force

Taking it to the Streets!
...the Obama administration take to the streets on behalf of the president’s most important domestic initiative. The nationwide effort is modeled on Mr. Obama’s successful voter turnout machines in 2008 and 2012, but in this case the task of finding Americans without health insurance and signing them up is a painfully slow grind.
...
Planned Parenthood, one of the most aggressive groups, has raised millions of dollars for the effort. (New York Times, 2/19/2014)

We can only assume that, in the process of signing up people for Obamacare, Planned Parenthood will remind everyone of the free birth control and free abortions.


Reflective
Historians call the Affordable Care Act the most ambitious new social program in a generation. But the debate over the law reflects the tension behind a century of attempts to mandate universal health care. Many Americans are uncomfortable with programs they believe substitute government largess for personal responsibility. (Wall Street Journal, 2/18/2014)

Yes, that is it exactly.


Another Red Line!
President Obama said Wednesday that the Ukrainian government would face "consequences" if it crosses the line in cracking down on protesters in Kiev. (Washington Post, 2/19/2014)

The Ukrainian government is not the least bit disturbed by Obama's warning. They know who he is.

The Random is at Work

Gates Of Delirium
Then came an exchange that is seared into my memory. Biden said he was ready to move forward, but the military "should consider the president's decision as an order."

"I am giving an order," Obama quickly said.

I was shocked. I had never heard a president explicitly frame a decision as a direct order. With the U.S. military, it is completely unnecessary. As secretary of defense, I had never issued an "order" to get something done; nor had I heard any commander do so. Obama's "order," at Biden's urging, demonstrated the complete unfamiliarity of both men with the American military culture. (Robert M. Gates, Wall Street Journal, 1/12/2014)

The Legitimate Media, providing 24 hour coverage of Conegate in New Jersey, missed this gem from Robert Gates's new book. Actually, they did not miss it, they just ignored it. To our ear, it should go down as one of the all-time most memorable Obama quotes along with "They cling to guns and religion", "You can keep your plan", and "I did not set a red line." 

Speaking of Conegate or Bridgegate, here's a good one on the difference between Christie and Obama:

Accountability update: More heads have rolled over ‘Bridgegate’ than the IRS scandal, Benghazi and botched Obamacare rollout combined (Doug Powers, MichelleMalkin.com, 1/9/2014)


Victim Alert!
To spend time alone with the man she married four months ago, Ebony Fisher, 25, drives nearly three hours through the flat cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta until she pulls into a gravel lot next to the state’s rural penitentiary.

She joins her husband, who in 2008 began serving a 60-year sentence for rape, aggravated assault and arson, in a small room with a metal bunk and a bathroom. (New York Times, 1/13/2014)

The Times bemoans the end of conjugal visits for prisoners in Mississippi. What exactly did Fisher's hubby do? Well the article explains: 

"He is serving time for molesting his former wife’s daughter..."

OK, got it.


Tendencies
People signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal and state marketplaces tend to be older and potentially less healthy, officials said Monday, a demographic mix that could cause premiums to rise in the future if the pattern persists. But officials expressed optimism that more young people will sign up in the months ahead, calling it “solid, solid news” for the health care law. (New York Times, 1/13/2014)

We are confused. Less younger, healthier people sign up, but it is "solid news." Reading on we learn: 

So far, 24 percent of private plan enrollees are ages 18 to 34, a percentage that is lower than what officials had hoped for this group. 

Where is the "solid news?" Perhaps it is this:

Nearly 80 percent of those who selected a plan qualified for federal subsidies to reduce their premiums, officials said.

That MUST be it! Eighty percent of enrollees getting government goodies certainly qualifies as "solid news" for Liberal redistributionists.


Declare Victory
Despite the treasured right-wing talking points, it’s increasingly clear that Obamacare is a success. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 1/8/2014)

There is delusion. And then there are Liberals. And finally there is Meyerson.


Minimalism
The next item on Gesture Liberalism’s agenda is to raise the minimum wage for the 23rd time. Less than 3 percent of the workforce earns the minimum; more than 60 percent of those who do earn it get a raise within a year; more than half of minimum-wage earners are students or other part-time workers from households with average incomes of $53,000. Never mind. Raising the minimum is a gesture of devotion to “equality.” (George Will, Washington Post, 1/8/2014)

Will reveals more facts about the minimum wage. Which Liberals will ignore. So they can paint opponents as uncaring. This is getting old. 


Strictly Speaking
With the United States and Iran about to embark on a critical phase of nuclear talks, President Obama is waging an intense rear-guard action to prevent Senate Democrats from supporting strict new sanctions that could upend his diplomatic efforts.

Sponsors of the bill, which would aim to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero, have secured the backing of 59 senators, putting them within striking distance of a two-thirds majority that could override Mr. Obama’s threatened veto. Republicans overwhelmingly support the bill. So far 16 Democrats have broken with the president, and the bill’s sponsors hope to get more. (New York Times, 1/14/2014)

Obstructionist Democrats! 

Let Us Go Then

Wonderin'
Why did MSNBC's Chris Matthews fail to ask President Obama to grade himself on his five years in office? Last time Obama was asked he gave himself a B+. What does he think he deserves now?

What happened to the "Republican War on Women" that we heard so much about during the last presidential election? Is it over? Who won?


Briefs
...charitable contributions made by the Jane Fonda Foundation. Grand total for the years 2007 to 2011: zero dollars.
...
Ms. Fonda isn't exactly the world's first cheapskate limousine liberal: Think of Bill Clinton claiming a tax deduction for donating his underwear, or the $353 Al Gore gave to charity in 1997. (Bret Stephens, WSJ, 12/16/2013)

Why are Liberals such cheapskates when it comes to charitable giving? Because they believe that the government should be responsible for charity through entitlement programs.


Valued
Politicians talk about family values but do almost nothing to help families. They talk about parental responsibility but do almost nothing to help parents. They talk about self-sufficiency but do precious little to make self-sufficiency a reality for those who must struggle hardest to achieve it.
....
...it was exciting last week to see Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut introduce the FAMILY Act, the acronym standing for their Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act. The bill would provide partial income for up to 12 weeks of leave for new parents and for other family demands, such as care for a sick family member, including a domestic partner. (E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, 12/15/2013)

So Dionne Jr. believes it is the duty of government to promote family values, apparently by giving families more government-mandated freebies. This is the essence of Liberal philosophy: illogical, contradictory, and bizarre. 

Did you drop out of school and get hooked on drugs? Did you get pregnant and then abandoned by your drug-addicted boyfriend? Do you have three children by three different men? Do you abuse your health through alcohol and fast food? Would you rather panhandle than clean toilets? Not to worry! Liberals will give you complete immunity and protect you from your bad decisions. It's Family Values!


Critical Care
In America’s health-care dialogue, emergency rooms have come to symbolize the system’s economic and medical defects. To critics, typical ERs are swamped by the uninsured, who — lacking a regular doctor or source of care — go where they will be treated. Performing routine medicine at high prices, ERs are crowded and costly. If the uninsured had insurance, these problems would recede. Better medicine at less cost.

Who could oppose that? Well, nobody. It was a selling point for the Affordable Care Act. The trouble is that the story is mostly make-believe. (Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, 12/11/2013)

Good article which we recommend to Liberal bloggers who continually cite the use of emergency rooms by the uninsured as a major reason why we need Obamacare. Maybe not....

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. 

Torrent of Darkness

Inferiority Complex
Ms. Tavenner said that existing insurance policies were, in many cases, inferior to the new policies they could get. In compliance with the health care law, she said, new policies will provide more benefits and pay a larger share of medical costs than many existing policies. (NYT, 10/30/2013)

Is a Hyundai inferior to a Mercedes? Well in many ways it probably is. And yet Hyundai sells millions of automobiles. Why? It is because educated consumers compare cost and features and make personal decisions as to which car they want to drive. Many people who can afford a Mercedes do not buy one. One of the great lies of Obamacare is that consumers will be able to get Mercedes healthcare insurance at Hyundai prices. 


Distortions
But in Massachusetts, Mr. Obama for the first time admitted that some people who have had what he called “substandard” insurance plans may have to choose another one now that the Affordable Care Act has gone into effect. He accused lawmakers in Washington of distorting that fact by failing to mention that the new plans they have will be more comprehensive and often come with cheaper premiums. (NYT, 10/31/2013)

This is the latest lie from Obama, that new plans will be cheaper. They will only be cheaper if you qualify for subsidies. Otherwise, premiums will double or triple. Obama can now be properly labeled a "serial liar."


Today's Funnies Brought to You by Healthcare.gov
Computer issues are not the only problem plaguing the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. A 228-page list of navigators — businesses and organizations that help people sign up for coverage — on New York State’s health exchange website has turned out to be littered with places whose owners and employees have no clue how to offer health insurance advice.

“I have no idea why I am in the list,” Patrick Wu, manager of the Bowery Pharmacy in Lower Manhattan, said on Tuesday. But he said he had received about 50 calls from people seeking insurance since the exchange went live on Oct. 1. 

Sa Sa Cosmetic and Skincare Spa, on East Broadway, is also listed, but a manager who answered the phone on Tuesday giggled as she explained the shop was “for skin,” not for insurance.

At the Style Management taxi garage on West 44th Street, a manager who gave her name only as Stephanie was asked why her employer was on the list. “I don’t even know, to be honest with you,” she said. (NYT, 10/30/2013)


The White House has issued a clarification. When the president said if you like your insurance plan you can keep it, what he meant was you can keep it if he likes it. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., WSJ, 10/29/2013)

RedStateVT has just had a mind-blowing revelation. Obamacare is really a way to improve the dismal employment numbers. If nothing else, it will put every wanna-be comedian back to work!