Travel Plans

Rahm Emanuel laid into POLITICO’s Mike Allen on Wednesday when Allen revealed the Chicago mayor’s plans to vacation in Cuba with his family over the holidays, angrily saying, "I really don't appreciate that." (POLITICO, 12/2/2015)


Ino Gómez, who fled Cuba in 1970, caught (New York City Mayor Bill) de Blasio off guard during their interview on WADO 1280 AM when he shifted the conversation from housing and education to the Dem’s visit to Cuba in 1991 for his honeymoon.(nypost.com, 9/27/2013)


After Vermont senator Bernie Sanders announced his run for president, Britain’s Guardian newspaper pawed through old archives in his home town of Burlington, Vermont where he served as mayor in the 1980s. They discovered that Sanders really did practice the socialist solidarity he preached about rhetorically. During Bernie’s mayoral tenure, Burlington formed an alliance with the Soviet city of Yaroslavl, 160 miles northeast of Moscow. When in 1988 he married his wife, Jane, the mayor decided it would be a perfect place for his honeymoon. (nationalreview.com, 6/24/2015)

Why is it that rabid right-wingers are always accusing Liberals of being pinko Commies?

Oh, maybe because it's true....

Winding Down

Lonely
Michael G. Grimm, the Republican Party’s lone congressional representative in New York City, announced late Monday night that he would resign effective Jan. 5, two weeks after he pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion. (New York Times, 12/30/2014)

When Republican politicians misbehave they are forced to resign. Not so with Democrats (see Rangel, Charlie). Sometimes these Democrats even become the revered senior statesmen of their party (see Clinton, William).


Squandered, Defaced & Shredded
Mr. de Blasio isn’t going to say it, but somebody has to: With these acts of passive-aggressive contempt and self-pity, many New York police officers, led by their union, are squandering the department’s credibility, defacing its reputation, shredding its hard-earned respect. (New York Times editorial. 12/30/2014)

The New York Times editors never once explain in this editorial exactly why the NYPD is angry with Mayor de Blasio, so we are left to wonder. What did the mayor say or do? Readers with any information are urged to comment so that we can get to the bottom of this perplexing mystery. 

Your Christmas Round-Up

Attention Deficit
Last week, in a reversal that deserves more attention, Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin announced that Vermont would no longer create America’s first statewide single-payer health system. Vermont was seeking a waiver from the Affordable Care Act to abolish what’s left of the nominally private insurance market by 2017, but Mr. Shumlin’s budget gremlins concluded the plan was too expensive and would damage the state economy.
...
Then again, maybe Vermonters are smarter than their politicians. Republican Scott Milne ran for Governor against single payer this fall and lost by 2,095 votes. Had Mr. Shumlin disclosed the true costs before the election, he’d have been turned out. (Wall Street Journal, 12/22/2014)

What about the front page article in the New York Times on the death of single payer in Vermont? Oh wait, that didn't happen!

Of course the Legitimate Media smothered the embarrassing news of the collapse of single payer in Vermont. In a year of disastrous news for Liberal bright ideas about health care there was simply no way to spin it. So they ignored it. 

Good point also that Shumlin would have been defeated if he was honest before the election about what he announced after the election. Has Vermont had a more corrupt governor?


History
At the same time, officials cautioned that the gunman had a history of mental health problems.

Mr. de Blasio took care on Monday to describe the gunman as a “very troubled individual,” urging vigilance among New Yorkers who might encounter threats against officers. (New York Times, 12/22/2014)

Liberals discover the possible connection between shootings and mental illness, but only when a cop is murdered.


Pros and Cons
The demonstrations sparked by the exoneration of the officers who killed Brown and Garner were pro-accountability, not anti-police. As I’ve pointed out many times, no one better appreciates the need for an active, engaged police presence than residents of high-crime neighborhoods. But nobody should be expected to welcome policing that treats whole communities as guilty until proved innocent — or a justice system that considers black and brown lives disposable. (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 12/22/2014)

So according to our friend Eugene Robinson, the demonstrations are pro-accountability, not anti-police. Presumably this also includes the demonstrations in which the chant: "What do we want? Dead cops!" was heard. That was pro-accountability. Also, pro-accountability were the demonstrations in which two cops were assaulted. We are sure glad that we have Robinson to clarify things for us.

For yet more news on pro-accountability see below:

A police officer in suburban St. Louis fatally shot a man who pointed a gun at him outside a gas station on Tuesday night, the authorities said..... After the shooting, a large crowd gathered at the station. Chief Belmar said there were three instances of explosives, likely fireworks, being set off, and bricks or rocks that were thrown at police. At least two officers were injured, and four people were arrested on charges of assaulting an officer. (New York Times, 12/23/2014)


Mostly
With his slicked-back hair, Queens accent and entourage of mostly white, male union lieutenants, Patrick J. Lynch moves through New York as the rough-around-the-edges, unapologetic labor leader for more than 22,000 street officers. (New York Times, 12/23/2014)

New York police union chief's biggest sin is not that he drew a line between the mayor's rhetoric and the death of two cops. No, it is that his entourage is not "diverse" enough.....


Scraps
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it would scrap a decades-old lifetime prohibition on blood donation by gay and bisexual men, a major stride toward ending what many had seen as a national policy of discrimination.

However, the agency will continue to ban men who have had sex with a man in the last year, saying the barrier is necessary to keep the blood supply safe, a move that frustrated rights groups that were pushing for the ban to be removed entirely. (New York Times, 12/23/2014)

So only celibate gay men can donate blood?

Question: Which is more important, safeguarding the nation's blood supply or making gay men feel better about themselves?


Charged
Mr. Bush — who announced this month that he was “actively exploring” a presidential bid — left office in 2007 after two terms. In those eight years, the state government in Tallahassee had been transformed by his hard-charging and driven style.

Jeb Bush's positions on immigration and education won't endear him to the Republican Party's conservative base, but those concerns may be overrated. Mr. Bush supports Common Core standards in education that are unpopular with some Republicans. And while he did not slash the number of state employees by half, he did privatize thousands of public jobs. The email forecasting that move is one of hundreds of thousands from two accounts — one a government address, the other personal — sent during his time in office and obtained by The New York Times through a public records request. (New York Times, 12/24/2014)

There is nothing more important for the New York Times to do over the next six months than soften up Jeb Bush. Hence they begin a massive effort to troll through his e-mails, much as they once did to Sarah Palin. Now if they could only get a hold of Hillary Clinton's e-mails on Benghazi.......


Once and Future
Law and Order Issues, Once G.O.P.’s Strength, Now Divide the Party (New York Times headline, 12/24/2014)

The headline says it all. There is dissension in the Republican party. And that conflict is between law and order Republicans....and Rand Paul. Apparently the New York Times has determined that Rand Paul is the party's leader. 

Report: Obama to Stay in Hawaii for Balance of Term

Beans
Last week, in the side room of Java Joe’s coffee shop here, the liberal group MoveOn.org took the first step to propel Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, on a similar path, holding a rally to encourage her to get into the 2016 race. (New York Times, 12/20/2014)

When Chris Christie announces for president we will get a thousand word article from the New York Times detailing the Bridgegate "scandal", Christie's brusque "unpresidential" demeanor and a thousand other sins. Meanwhile, if you want to learn about any of Lizzie Warren's baggage you will have to read Howie Carr's columns. Just as a reminder, Warren is a multi-millionaire who decries the 1%; who lied about being native American in order to get a teaching position at Harvard; and, who claimed to be the "intellectual" godmother of the Occupy movement. 


Suggestion
If, as all signals suggest, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and brother and son of presidents, is about to get in, the race quickly intensifies. (New York Times, 12/21/2014)

Question: How long until the New York Times runs an article citing unnamed sources talking about an alleged Jeb Bush extra-marital affair? 

Answer: Six months, tops.


Irrespective
Moreover, when two of the six people who “allegedly” attacked two cops on the Brooklyn Bridge a week ago Saturday night turn out to be, respectively, a CUNY professor and an organizer for a union that placed five one-time senior union leaders in top de Blasio ­administration posts, it’s clear that New York isn’t dealing with bearded Bolsheviks living in caves. (Bob McManus, New York Post, 12/21/2014)

Good to know....


Let the Heeling Begin
Yet on the heels of the police deaths, the long-simmering tensions between Mr. de Blasio and the department he has pledged to reshape have reached an extraordinary nadir. Officers, led by union leaders, turned their backs on the mayor and Commissioner William J. Bratton on Saturday night as the two walked through a hospital to address the public about the deaths. 
...
Even when trying to defend officers, the mayor has, at times, been criticized by them. After reports of an attack on two police lieutenants during protests on the Brooklyn Bridge on Dec. 13, union leaders lamented that the mayor’s statement condemning the episode included the qualifier that police were “allegedly assaulted.”(New York Times, 12/22/2014)

How dishonest is the New York Times? Plenty! Does anyone think for a nanosecond that police officers were turning their backs on Police Commissioner Bratton? Of course not. By all accounts he is beloved by fellow officers. The Times purposefully softens the intended rebuke to de Blasio by mentioning Bratton.

Furthermore, the Times never says that the December 13th assault on police officers was captured on video. This turns it from an "alleged assault" to an "actual assault." Liberals only consult the video when it serves their purpose. 

And finally, a random thought..... where is the Liberal outrage over gun control when two cops are shot?

Obama Searches for New Strategy as Kumbaya Fails with Russia, Middle East

Poland 1939
Our apologies for failing to note the 75th anniversary on September 1st of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. It is a time to reflect again on the dangers of the failure to recognize evil and of the use of appeasement to avoid hard choices. The proud Polish people have persevered notwithstanding and remain one of America's greatest allies. 


Close Encounters
Obama and Wasserman Schultz have rarely even talked since 2011. They don’t meet about strategy or messaging. They don’t talk much on the phone. Instead, the DNC chairwoman stakes out the president of the United States at the end of photo lines at events and fundraisers. “You need another picture, Debbie?” Obama tends to say, according to people who’ve been there for the encounters. (POLITICO.com, 9/18/2014)

This is just too funny!


Skeptical
Emails sent by liberal activists and obtained by The Hill reveal significant dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. The critical messages about the former first lady show that she has a long way to go to assuage skepticism from influential voices on the left. (thehill.com, 9/18/2014)

Our Liberal friends are endlessly talking about how good Republicans need to distance themselves from the "extremist" views of the Tea Party. Of course our view is that good Republicans need to become more like the Tea Party. Now with Hillary 'Maybe-Not-So-Inevitable' Clinton readying herself for 2016, the question is how she will reconcile with the Far Left moonbat constituency of the Democrat party. Liberals would not be floating novelty candidate names like Elizabeth Warren (she's a fighter!) and Colonel Bernie Sanders (Vermont's crazy old uncle in the Senate) if all was well on the Left. 


Handy
President Obama will take a hands-on approach to the United States airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State and will personally sign off on bombing targets in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. (nationalreview.com, 9/16/2014)

As with Obama personally picking which Islamic terrorists would get his drone cure, we find this a little creepy. Why not let the military do its job?


From Yesterday's WSJ
Economist Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed" (1995):

Among the many other questions raised by the nebulous concept of "greed" is why it is a term applied almost exclusively to those who want to earn more money or to keep what they have already earned—never to those wanting to take other people's money in taxes or to those wishing to live on the largess dispensed from such taxation. No amount of taxation is ever described by the anointed as "greed" on the part of government or the clientele of government. . . .


Transformation
Lawrence J. Ellison on Thursday announced his retirement as chief executive of Oracle, a company he founded in 1977 that has transformed the way businesses use technology and made him one of the world’s richest people. (New York Times, 9/19/2014)

Giving proof to Thomas Sowell's quote above we looked at the comments section of this New York Times article on Larry Ellison and found this from NYT reader Pancho: "Definitely a robber baron. Obscene wealth..."

Remind us Pancho, what have you created?


Freebies!
The municipal identification cards that New York plans to start issuing next year in an effort to make life easier for undocumented immigrants will come with an added benefit so enticing that many others may sign up for them too: an offer of free tickets or discounts at 33 of the city’s leading cultural institutions. (New York Times, 9/19/2014)

Sub Commander Bill de Blasio continues the Liberal War on America. Namely, turning America over to illegal immigrants. Next up: government pensions for the 'undocumented.'

Liberals are destroying America. 

The Hangman Fumbles With The Noose

Liberal Story Template (Whenever a Black Teenager is Shot by a Cop)
In (city) last night an unarmed black teenager named (name) was shot by police. The teenager was unarmed. Witnesses said that the unarmed victim had his arms up and was surrendering. An autopsy will determine whether he was shot in the back (while unarmed). It is not known if the officer who shot unarmed (name), possibly in the back, was racist. Many people interviewed on the street said he probably was. To protest the violent death of unarmed (name) by an apparently racist patrolman, protesters began robbing liquor stores. 

Friends of (name) described him as a peaceful person who only wanted to help others. They said that his passions included helping out at the local homeless shelter, saving stray cats and Bible study. 

Holy men Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton flew into town together and held a joint service at the (name of church) church. While alternately praising each other's peaceful ministry, they called for calm and for an investigation into police racism, and in particular, the lawless shooting of unarmed black teenagers by racist cops. Attorney General Eric Holder said: "This just proves what I have been saying all along, this is a racist country."

Meanwhile in Chicago last night there were (number) deaths attributable to black-on-black violence. 

(Just kidding about that last part, it is true but not reported.)


Swept Away
Yet at home, Mr. de Blasio, who swept into office on the promise that New York City could be governed from the left, is discovering that liberalism has its limits.

The mayor who shot to fame denouncing stop-and-frisk tactics and luxury condominiums is now defending hard-nosed policing and cutting deals with developers, bowing to the realities of leading an unruly city but also angering an activist left that propelled his rise to the Democratic elite. Impatience with the mayor is now spilling into outcry.
...
“More and more, every day, they find this was a lot more complicated than they thought,” Bertha Lewis, a longtime friend of the mayor and the former chief executive of Acorn, said of the de Blasio administration. (New York Times, 8/20/2014)

Another Liberal disappoints!

(And yes indeed. Liberalism does have its limits!)


Unsolved
But Mitchell Moss, who teaches urban studies at New York University, said the mayor was wise to be cautious.

“Inequality is not something that a mayor of New York can solve, but public safety is,” he said. “You can never make the liberals happy. Because when you ask them what they want, the answer is always: M-O-R-E.” (New York Times, 8/20/2014)

Teacher of the Year!


Erosion
Comity has been eroding for years in Washington, a gridlocked swamp of a city where the 113th Congress is on track to become one of the least productive in history and the president is alienated from his own party. (New York Times, 8/19/2014)

As reported by the New York Times yesterday, Democrat senators and representatives cannot stand Obama. 

Heart and Hand Accomplished

Rigor
Supporters of President Obama’s health care law had predicted that expanding insurance coverage for the poor would reduce costly emergency room visits because people would go to primary care doctors instead. But a rigorous new experiment in Oregon has raised questions about that assumption, finding that newly insured people actually went to the emergency room a good deal more often.
...
The findings cast doubt on the hope that expanded insurance coverage will help rein in emergency room costs just as more than two million people are gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act. And they go against one of the central arguments of the law’s supporters, that extending insurance to large numbers of Americans would reduce emergency room use, and eventually save money. (New York Times, 1/3/2014)

Well it is just all falling apart, isn't it? 

If you can't keep your doctor, and you may not be able to keep your hospital, and you pay more (unless you get a government subsidy), and it does not reduce emergency room visits, and it will not reduce health care costs, isn't it time for a time-out? What brave Democrat out there will stand up and say that the president should suspend Obamacare unless and until these issues are resolved? That Democrat could practically be guaranteed re-election.


Lab Rats
Liberals across the country are looking to Bill de Blasio, who was sworn in as mayor early Wednesday, to morph New York City’s municipal machinery into a closely watched laboratory for populist theories of government that have never before been enacted on such a large scale. (New York Times, 1/1/2014)

Detroit. What is it that Liberals don't understand about Detroit?


Deflection
Democratic Party leaders, bruised by months of attacks on the new health care program, have found an issue they believe can lift their fortunes both locally and nationally in 2014: an increase in the minimum wage. (New York Times, 12/29/2013)

It's "Wag the Dog" time for Democrats. Look for them to ramp up their usual grab bag of fringe issues as the 2014 elections near. Next thing you know, they'll declare that Republicans are engaging in a "War on Women."


Law-Abiding
Judge Rules N.S.A. Phone Surveillance Is Lawful in Case Filed by A.C.L.U.
A federal judge in New York on Friday ruled that the National Security Agency’s program that is systematically keeping phone records of all Americans is lawful, creating a conflict among lower courts and increasing the likelihood that the issue will be resolved by the Supreme Court. (New York Times, 12/27/2013)

Here is a good rule of thumb for RedStateVT readers: If the A.C.L.U. is arguing a position, it is usually something that is bad for America. 


Compounded
The September 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans was led by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was accelerated in part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam. (New York Times, 12/28/2013)

The single biggest issue that could haunt a Hillary Clinton run for president is Benghazi. First, Hillary investigated herself and found that she was not at fault. However that did not make Benghazi go away, what with those pesky journalists at Fox News. Now the Hillary Clinton for President campaign office at the New York Times steps in to squash the concern. And so we are back to: It was the video all along!

This is truly pathetic. 

Avoid Disappointment and Future Regret!

Snow Day
Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community. (New York Times editorial, 1/2/2013)

And so the New York Times finally comes clean and reveals itself as not just far Left, but as anti-American. Edward Snowden engaged in traitorous acts and the Times declares that "he has done his country a great service." Accordingly, with the moral relativism that only Liberals can conjure, the Times suggests for Snowden a slap on the wrist...and a parade.


Beastly
President Clinton, who swore in the new mayor, deregulated the financial industry, and possibly helped to unleash the animal spirits that led to the recent Great Recession. (New York Times, 1/2/2013)

The far Left New York Times says it so it must be true. 

George Bush and will now accept all apologies.


Kinship
More broadly, the new mayor’s speech underlines that those conservatives who cast a querulous eye and accuse New York City of floating closer to Europe than to North America are not entirely mistaken. It can seem more akin to a Social Democratic nation-state than to a typical American city. (New York Times, 1/2/2013)

Prediction? By the time Sub-Commander Bill de Blasio is done, it will be - New York City: meet Detroit. 


Grandiose
Mr. de Blasio’s hopes are grand. “When I said we would take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities, I meant it,” he said. “And we will do it.” (New York Times, 1/2/2014)

Sub-Commander Bill needs to go back and read his Dickens. The two cities of his novel were London and Paris, the latter depicted during the time of the French Revolution which overthrew the monarchy. Undoubtedly de Blasio likes the analogy of the people taking power from the elites. After all that is essentially what his campaign was all about. Read (or re-read) the book to learn of the horrors that occurred AFTER the revolution when the people controlled the jails...and the guillotines. 


High Times
They lined up before dawn and in the snow on Wednesday, baby boomers from Nebraska, retirees from Denver and a young man who had driven all day from Ohio. Some were longtime marijuana users. Some had been arrested for marijuana possession.

They were among the hundreds of tourists and residents across Colorado who eagerly took part in the country’s first-ever sales of state-regulated recreational marijuana. (New York Times, 1/1/2014)

And so, little by little America dies.


Silver Lining
Ms. Hornbach, who has had breast cancer and retired early from the technology industry, said that insurance companies in Arizona had refused to cover her until about two years ago, when she got a policy with monthly premiums of $285 and a deductible of $5,500 a year. Last month, using the federal insurance exchange, she bought a midlevel silver plan with lower premiums and deductible. (New York Times, 1/2/2014)

We wish Ms. Hornbach nothing but the best.

We also note that she bought a silver level plan which makes her eligible for generous government subsidies. The New York Times does not explore this because to do so would undermine the puff piece they wanted to write on the wonders of Obamacare.

Stones of the River

With and Without
Millions of people facing the cancellation of health insurance policies will be allowed to buy catastrophic coverage and will be exempt from penalties if they go without insurance next year, the White House said Thursday night.

The New York Times headline should read: 
OBAMA ALLOWS MILLIONS TO BUY JUNK POLICIES FROM BAD APPLE INSURERS!

Will MSNBC's hosts react with outrage? After all, they said over and over again that these policies were evil. What will they say now? If history is any guide, they will ignore the issue entirely and run stories on Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz.

The Times is good enough to remind us of previous, ahem, delays:

On July 2, the White House abruptly announced a one-year delay, until 2015, in a provision that requires larger employers to offer coverage to their workers or pay penalties. 

On Nov. 27, it deferred a major element of the law that would allow small businesses to buy insurance online for their employees through the federal exchange.

Earlier, in April, the administration said that the federal exchange would not offer employees of a small business the opportunity to choose from multiple health plans in 2014.

And in October 2011, the administration scrapped a long-term care insurance program created by the new law, saying it was too costly and would not work. (New York Times, 12/19/2013)


Slip Sliding
But Mr. Obama must decide whether such a recalibration would unreasonably increase the risk of terrorists slipping through the surveillance net. For all of his campaign speeches, that was a risk he was not willing to take once in office. Yet in recent months, he has discussed eventually ending the war on terrorism. (New York Times, 12/20/2013)

War ends when one side surrenders. 


Inheritance
Mr. Obama came into office having run against Mr. Bush’s first term but inheriting his second. Before leaving office, Mr. Bush had already moderated his counterterrorism program in hopes that it would survive his presidency. He stopped waterboarding, emptied secret C.I.A. prisons, transferred many prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and secured bipartisan legislation on detention, interrogation and surveillance. (New York Times, 12/20/2013)

The Times looks back kindly and nostalgically on W. 
After spending years savaging him. 
Hypocrites.


Softie
President Obama, expanding his push to curtail severe penalties for drug offenses, is expected on Thursday to commute the sentences of eight federal inmates who were convicted of crack cocaine offenses. Each inmate has been imprisoned for at least 15 years, and six were sentenced to life in prison. (New York Times, 12/19/2013)

Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not soft on crime. 
Liberals are not.....


Trust
In every one of these mass shootings, there was someone in a position to say before the attack, "Trust me, this person is a psycho." Try getting Jared Loughner or James Holmes through any mental illness hearing in which they're required to speak. (Though both might end up being offered their own shows on MSNBC.) 
...
Democrats absolutely will not address the one thing that was screaming out from all of the mass shootings: a crazy person committing the crime. We can't medicate them and we can't lock them up because the ACLU has handcuffed society's ability to deal rationally with the mentally disturbed. 

Not only will Democrats refuse to address the problem of the mentally ill on their own, but they will fight to the last ditch to protect any crazy person's right not to take his medication. (AnnCoulter.com, 12/18/2013)

The great Coulter takes up RedStateVT's cause celebre: mental illness, Democrats and mass shootings.


Deliverance
Trying to harness the widespread electoral and celebrity support that delivered him to City Hall, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on Thursday unveiled his newest campaign, to win a tax on high-earning New Yorkers to vastly improve the city’s prekindergarten and after-school programs. (New York Times, 12/20/2013)

Despite numerous long-term scientifically controlled studies showing absolutely no long term benefit to early education, Comrade Bill and his Liberal cohorts push on. They are so invested in their own moral superiority that they ignore the facts.

Visions and Revisions

Ebb and Flow
A Westchester County (New York) attorney with a practice focused on estate planning for high net worth individuals tells us something fascinating: the high-end real estate market in the wealthier suburbs of Manhattan is booming. Why? Wealthy New Yorkers are fleeing Manhattan to get away from the city's mayor-elect, Comrade Bill de Blasio who makes absolutely no secret of his plan to tax the rich to pay for his universal pre-K socialist dream...among other schemes. Which proves once again that as long as we have some semblance of a capitalist economy money will flow to the areas where it can be used most efficiently by the individual...and not the government.


To Err
Insurers said that they had found many discrepancies and errors and that the government was overstating the improvements in HealthCare.gov. (NYT, 12/15/2013)

Insurance companies who chose to partner with Obamacare in the hopes of reaping the spoils are finding that they made a Faustian bargain. They will continue to be Obama's whipping boy when things go badly and they will be forced to deal with the mess that Healthcare.gov has made of the enrollment process. See the following as well:

The government’s overriding message to insurers is: Do whatever you have to do to maximize enrollment and to provide coverage by Jan. 1 to anyone who wants it. Federal health officials have told insurers that they can sort out the details and work out financial arrangements with the government later. (NYT, 12/15/2013)

Translation: make Obama look good on the enrollment numbers and Obama will make you whole. Insurers should believe it at their own risk.


Liberation
Events this week beg the question: where among the 1.56 billion Muslims is our Mandela? Where is our Mahatma? Where is our Mandiba? Where our liberator?

Instead of rearing a Mandela, someone who could bring people of different faiths together to build a more peaceful world, Muslims attempt to assassinate a Malala before maturity. We are undeserving of such great souls and yet the need has never been greater. (Qanta Ahmed, Foxnews.com, 12/13/2013)

Wonderful column which echoes a point that RedStateVT has made in the past. Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?


Rolling
In explaining the disastrous rollout of Obamacare, President Obama told Chris Matthews he had discovered that “we have these big agencies, some of which are outdated, some of which are not designed properly.”

An interesting discovery to make after having consigned the vast universe of American medicine, one-sixth of the U.S. economy, to the tender mercies of the agency bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 12/12/2013)

Nobody can dissect Obama quite like Krauthammer. This may be his best column yet on Obama's failures.

Speaking of Matthews, we were recalling his recent nauseating interview with the president. Recall that he said: "I'm going to put you on the spot now." One could see Obama visibly tighten thinking he might actually get a real question (in violation of the rules of engagement no doubt worked out in advance between MSNBC and the Obama press people). The question Matthews asked was this: "Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden?" There was NO way that Chris Matthews was going to ask a question which might jeopardize his invitation to the White House Christmas party. 


School Days
School property taxes may be going up even more than first expected.

The Vermont Department of Taxes warned lawmakers last month that they would need to raise the statewide property tax rate by 5 cents this coming year to meet rising school costs. (WCAX.com, 12/13/2013)

Just one of many tax increases that will be brought to you by Vermont Progressives (Motto: There is NO amount of social re-engineering that we cannot accomplish together ... with your tax dollars!)


Selective
Federal health officials announced on Wednesday that some 1.2 million people selected plans on federal or state exchanges during the months of October and November. That included 803,000 people who applied to the exchanges and were found eligible for Medicaid or a related Children’s Health Insurance Program that provide public insurance for the poor — in addition to nearly 365,000 people who chose private plans. (NYT, 12/16/2013)

It's Obamacaid.

Liberals blew up American health care for all citizens in order to provide free health care to some. A typical Liberal solution to a problem.

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. 

Ghostly Galleon

Lhota’s Years Working for the Dolans (New York Times headline, 10/29/2013)

Next up from the Times: de Blasio's Years Working for the Sandinistas

(Just kidding!)


Today's Funny Brought to You by Healthcare.gov 
However, insurers said they saw the problems as more significant, affecting 25 percent to 30 percent of enrollments. In some cases, they said, the government lists a dependent as the head of a household, with the result that a 10-year-old child is shown as having three or four dependents and is identified as the policyholder for a family. (NYT, 10/29/2013)

Which reminds us again that Saturday Night Live - that bastion of coastal Liberalism - is having a field day with Obamacare. 

Meanwhile over on MSNBC yesterday they were focused on ..... Dick Cheney. Yes, Dick Cheney. Some Liberal writer has written a book about Cheney and MSNBC convened a panel of Liberals to discuss. The majority of the time was spent snickering about the former Vice-President, a frail old man with severe health problems. They even managed to say "Darth Vader." This is the level of professionalism of MSNBC. 


Take Aways
Take away 620 jobs with an average salary of $100,000 at a company that pays $1.15 million a year in local taxes and it’s going to hurt.

Windham County needs help weathering that as the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant shuts down by the end of next year, several local leaders said Monday at a meeting with two legislative committees. (Burlington Free Press, 10/28/2013)

Vermont Progressives, politicians and the media, have just woken up to the economic realities of closing Vermont Yankee. 

OK geniuses, what's the plan?


Contrarians
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer conceded to reporters today that Democrats knew people would not be able to keep their current health care plans under Obamacare and expressed qualified contrition for President Obama’s repeated vows to the contrary.

“We knew that there would be some policies that would not qualify and therefore people would be required to get more extensive coverage,” Hoyer said in response to a question from National Review.

Asked by another reporter how repeated statements by Obama to the contrary weren’t “misleading,” Hoyer said “I don’t think the message was wrong. I think the message was accurate. It was not precise enough…[it] should have been caveated with – ‘assuming you have a policy that in fact does do what the bill is designed to do.’” (Nationalreview.com, 10/29/2013)

Everybody satisfied with that explanation?

Anybody satisfied with that explanation?


Highlights from the Suddenly Engaged Liberal Media
President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years. (NBCnews.com, 10/29/2013)

...the Republicans understated the number of issues on which the president has claimed to be in the dark. A compilation by the Republican National Committee titled “The Bystander President” cited the NSA spying on Merkel, the Obamacare rollout and an investigation of the IRS’s targeting of political groups (the White House counsel knew of the inquiry but said she didn’t inform Obama). The RNC also mentioned the failure of clean-energy company Solyndra, which had received government funding (Carney had said Obama read about it in “news accounts”), and the attempts to go after reporters’ phone and e-mail records (which the president also found out about from reading the news, Carney said).

The RNC didn’t mention that Obama had allegedly known nothing about an FBI investigation of an affair involving David Petraeus that led him to resign as CIA director. Neither did it mention two other claims that conservatives often question: Obama’s ignorance of a guns-on-the-border sting operation called “Fast and Furious” that went awry, and his unawareness of requests for additional diplomatic security in Libya before a U.S. outpost in Benghazi was attacked. (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 10/28/2013)

Something went wrong. People could not sign up. Why? Not sure. Who’s at fault? Apparently no one. An act of God. Something that could never have been foreseen. Another president might have had someone in the White House calling every day — no, twice a day — to make sure the program was going to work. But no, it was a shock to everyone, and when the White House rolled out its gigantic cake — maestro, some music please — no one jumped out.

Pathetic. (Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 10/28/2013)

Occasionally journalism happens.

All Government Shutdown; All the Time

Beneficial
(Health insurance exchanges) are a central part of Mr. Obama’s health care law, which was passed in 2010 to extend coverage to those who do not get insurance benefits on the job. (NYT, 10/5/2013)

This lie, unchallenged, has been retold a million times: Before Obamacare, it was impossible for individuals to buy health insurance. 

Baloney! 

RedStateVT stands alone in setting the record straight. In fact, prior to Obamacare here is what you had to do if you wanted insurance and did not get it through an employer:

Call up an insurance company and have them send you an application. Fill out the application and send it in with your premium.   

That's it. You're covered.

Some insurance companies even provided information and applications on something called a computer. Millions of Americans have computers and hence could apply using that same computer. This was called an "on-line application."

History, however, has already been written: Obamacare has allowed uninsured Americans to buy health insurance.


Swing Set
The recent revelation that New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio supported Nicaragua's Sandinista military government in the 1980s is a reminder of the high cost Latin America pays for being the playground of the American left. It should also further enlighten New Yorkers as to the politics of the man who is the front runner in the race.
...
In an interview with a New York radio station last month, however, some hints emerged when he was asked about his decision to honeymoon in Cuba in 1994. (Mary Anastasia O'Grady, 10/6/2013)

New York City's next mayor. 

Note to residents: You have been warned. 

What if They Shut Down the Government and Nobody Noticed?

Appreciation
"I do appreciate the hardship that an increased monthly premium will be for your family." (Mark Larson, Commissioner, Department of Vermont Health Access when it was pointed out that monthly premiums would triple for some Vermonters given the unavailability of high deductible health insurance plans in the state.)

Larson goes on to explain that the solution will come when Vermont implements a single payer health care system. 

Yeah, that will solve the problem.


Stop and Think
New York City voters want to keep Raymond W. Kelly as police commissioner. They want more charter schools. And nearly half of them support the Police Department’s use of the stop-and-frisk tactic.

But the city’s voters, by an enormous margin, are planning to support Bill de Blasio for mayor next month, despite the fact that Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, opposes each of those positions, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Friday. (NYT, 10/3/2013)

Just like those who voted for Obama despite opposing his policies, NYC voters will get what they deserve. 


Fear of Flying
On Thursday night, the president canceled the last of his scheduled destinations in a trip he had planned for Asia, saying the government shutdown had made it impossible to travel to a Pacific Rim economic conference in Indonesia or an East Asian security conference in Brunei next week. (NYT, 10/3/2013)

The good news for the president? Now he can golf!