Helpful Hints for Increasing Your Carbon Footprint

Challenging
(Obama) also challenged black men to do better themselves, and said they must not make excuses for their failures or blame society for the poor decisions they have already made. (New York Times, 2/28/2014)

Good comment from Obama, but it is not the message that he has been sending for the first five years of his presidency. His message has been that America is inherently unjust, that any group or individual who can claim minority status is not to blame for their situation, and that government through its "tender mercies" will administer relief.


Anticipation
Parsing Governor Peter Shumlin's comments on the latest round of job losses in Vermont (IBM - 100 or so jobs), as reported in the Burlington Free Press, 2/28/2014:

Later in the day Thursday, Shumlin said he had anticipated even worse news.

Shumlin: Great news! It could have been worse. (Only in Vermont is success defined as not going backwards as fast...)

He said he heard from IBM last night and early this morning. “I made clear that when they shared what they were doing with me that I had a responsibility to communicate what I know with Vermonters.”

Shumlin: See how transparent my administration is. I could not - in good conscience - keep this bad news from the public.

The IBM layoffs came up Thursday morning as Shumlin addressed a gathering of Vermont grocers and retailers in the Statehouse....Shumlin told the group that Vermont’s economy is on the rebound. Several in the audience said they didn’t share his optimism, noting the IBM layoffs as well as the announced closing last week of Plasan Carbon Composite in Bennington and pending job losses when Vermont Yankee closes at the end of the year. Several said they were worried about the accumulative impact of legislation in the works to raise the minimum wage, require paid sick leave and adopt a government-funded health care system.

Shumlin: I don't care what anyone says, things are going just swimmingly here in the People's Republic of Vermont. And once we begin collecting taxes on legalized marijuana, just watch out. We may even be able to fund single-payer. 


Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare from the New York Times (3/1/2014)
The Obama administration said Friday that it would allow some people to receive federal subsidies for health insurance purchased in the private market outside of health insurance exchanges. The sudden shift was the latest in a series of policy changes, extensions and clarifications by federal officials trying to help beneficiaries and minimize political damage to Democrats in this election year.

Even one of Obamacare's biggest cheerleaders admits that the whole thing has now been politicized.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that four-fifths of people buying insurance through exchanges will qualify for subsidies, with the government spending an average of $4,700 for each “subsidized enrollee” this year.

Obamacare is Obamacaid. Eighty percent of buyers will receive government aid.

The health law fix this week comes after the administration delayed the requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to employees; extended the deadline for people to sign up for coverage starting on Jan. 1; delayed the opening of online marketplaces for small businesses; and asked insurers to extend individual health care policies that had been canceled for not complying with the new federal law. 

Harry Reid may think that there are no individual health care horror stories, but he is not looking hard enough. The whole law is a horror story. 


The Deep
In unscheduled remarks at the White House Friday afternoon, President Obama said the United States is "deeply concerned" about military movements by the Russian federation inside Ukraine, and warned that "there will be costs for any military intervention." (Washington Post, 2/28/2014)

We'll know that Obama is really really serious if he says "red line." Of course Krauthammer gets it right again:

Putin fully occupies vacuums. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 2/27/2014)

...Obama being the empty space. 


Behind Every Fortune a Crime
After nearly 20 months of celebrity theater and an incalculable amount of effort and courtroom expense, the misdemeanor trial of Kerry Kennedy ended on Friday in breakneck fashion, as jurors took one hour to find her not guilty of driving under the influence of a drug: a sleeping pill that she said she took by accident. (New York Times, 3/1/2014)

As they have for decades, the Kennedy clan runs roughshod over the American judicial system.

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.

The Corners of the Evening

Hark the Herald
For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details, they are finding that the deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs are often much higher than what is typical in employer-sponsored health plans. (NYT, 12/8/2013)

Here is the bottom line on health insurance costs. If you were a responsible person, previously had health insurance and do not qualify for subsidies under Obamacare: YOU. WILL. PAY. MORE.


Bronze Age
The average individual deductible for what is called a bronze plan on the exchange—the lowest-priced coverage—is $5,081 a year, according to a new report on insurance offerings in 34 of the 36 states that rely on the federally run online marketplace.

That is 42% higher than the average deductible of $3,589 for an individually purchased plan in 2013 before much of the federal law took effect, according to HealthPocket Inc., a company that compares health-insurance plans for consumers. (WSJ, 12/8/2013)

Another Obamacare lie: If you like your deductible you can keep it.


The Plague
The technology troubles that plagued the HealthCare.gov website rollout may not have come as a shock to people who work for certain agencies of the government — especially those who still use floppy disks, the cutting-edge technology of the 1980s.
...
It turns out, however, that the Federal Register employees who take in the information for publication from across the government still receive some of it on the 3.5-inch plastic storage squares that have become all but obsolete in the United States. (NYT, 12/6/2013)

Obama administration officials offered two explanations as to why government agencies were still using floppy disks: 1) Republican budget cuts and, 2) it's George Bush's fault. 


Grand Larson-y
Last Monday, Mark Larson, commissioner of the state department overseeing the insurance website, had bad news for these employers. They would be unable to complete their transactions because of continuing problems with the premium processing and payment functions, he said. Instead, their current insurance carriers would automatically extend their 2013 plans for three months. This affects 3,500 workers, Lunge said.

“The small businesses I deal with are really upset at this latest state of affairs,” reported Cathy Lamberton, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of Vermont. Those contractors who stuck with trying to sign up for insurance on the website devoted a lot of time — for nothing, she said. (BFP, 12/8/2013)

We are guessing that Mark Larson will give his stock excuse: All of these problems will disappear once Vermont enacts a single-payer system.

The Vast Majority

One Trick President
Now that Healthcare.gov has been fixed (you heard that it's fixed, didn't you?), Obama and his media sycophants can pivot to the next issue: economic inequality. Which was his issue for the past five years as well. Yes, class warfare is back. 


Staked Out
“Now that the website is working for the vast majority of people,” Mr. Obama added, “we need to make sure that folks refocus on what’s at stake here, which is the capacity for you or your families to be able to have the security of decent health insurance at a reasonable cost through choice and competition on this marketplace, and tax credits that you may be eligible for that can save you hundreds of dollars in premium costs every month, potentially.” (NYT, 12/5/2013)

Who would not want health insurance that is subsidized by other people?


Only You
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of Obamacare's architects and staunchest supporters, is also the only top congressional leader to exempt some of his staff from having to buy insurance through the law's new exchanges. (CNN.com, 12/4/2013)

Remember our last post? When we talked about the corruption surrounding Obamacare?


The Waiting
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed for reporters Monday that President Obama has yet to sign up for Obamacare, saying “I know he will and has said that he will… but I don’t have an update.”

When asked what the President was waiting for and whether the White House would announce when the President did sign up for Obamacare, Carney laughed uncomfortably and could only respond, “I’ll get back to you on that.” (Washington Free Beacon, 12/2/2013)

Actually, the truth is that Obama tried to sign up, but has been placed in one of those waiting queues...


Lesser
Most important, Mr. Dorn said, younger enrollees, who also tend to be less affluent, will receive tax subsidies. If premium prices spike, the government will absorb that cost, ensuring they do not flee the exchanges. (NYT, 12/5/2013)

So the young who are needed to enroll in Obamacare in great numbers to offset the high medical costs of the old and sickly will receive tax subsidies from the government to pay for their premiums...which are needed to offset the high medical costs of the old and sickly. Does any of this make sense to you?

Not to worry, if premiums go up the government will "absorb that cost." Government will absorb that cost in one of two ways: either through tax revenue collected from taxpayers or from the Magic Money Machine.


Entirely
A fellow very friendly to the administration, a longtime supporter, cornered me at a holiday party recently to ask, with true perplexity: “How could any president put his entire reputation on the line with a program and not be on the phone every day pushing people and making sure it will work? Do you know of any president who wouldn’t do that?” (Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 12/3/2013)

Certainly not George Bush and certainly not Bill Clinton. 


The Toker
More than 20 years after saying he "didn't inhale," Bill Clinton is setting the record straight about his youthful pot smoking. “I didn’t say I was holier than thou, I said I tried. I never denied that I used marijuana," Clinton told Fusion TV's Jorge Ramos in an interview aired Tuesday night.

Back in 1992, in the midst of his first presidential campaign, Clinton famously equivocated when asked about his drug use, saying that during his days as a Rhodes Scholar in England, "I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it, and didn’t inhale, and never tried it again." (Yahoo.com, 12/4/2013)

Permit RedStateVT to set the record straight:

Technically Clinton did not deny smoking dope (depending upon what the definition of "deny" is). 

He did, however, deny having an adulterous sexual relationship with an employee, a White House intern young enough to be his daughter. 


Imagined
Mr. Bush was more of a reader than many Americans imagined — he had reading contests with Karl Rove, his top political adviser, measured not just by the number of books finished, but the cumulative number of pages and even square inches of text. He was particularly drawn to Lincoln, reading 14 books about the Civil War president while in office. (NYT, 12/5/2013)

We are not sure what the average American thought about how many books George Bush read. The only thing we do know is that the Liberal media relentlessly depicted Bush as an intellectual lightweight. Bush who was America's first MBA president. 


Day in the Park
...Chicago parks workers, whose unfunded pension liability grew from $77 million in 2003 to $550 million in 2012, a 615 percent increase. (NYT, 12/5/2013)

Coverage shifts from Detroit to Chicago, now facing its own pension time bomb. What floored us here was the one-half billion dollar pension shortfall for park workers! Not for all Chicago public employees....for park workers alone! How many "park workers" can Chicago have? What kind of pension promises were made to them? One-half billion dollars...? We will say it again: this is what happens when Democrats buy votes from public sector unions. 

Regret and Abide

Stoned
“It is impractical to negotiate with a stone wall,” was how the judge referred to the unions’ reticence to make concessions on the pension issue. (NYT, 12/4/2013)

Will unions learn from the Detroit bankruptcy? Better yet will Democrats who have ruled the city for decades learn? (Answer below.)

No.


Imposition
The notice published on Monday includes proposals on several other issues. Certain health plans sponsored by labor unions would be exempted from new fees imposed on insurance companies and on many self-insured group health plans.

Labor unions have been lobbying for such an exemption, saying the fees could be “highly disruptive” to Taft-Hartley plans administered jointly by labor and management representatives in construction, entertainment and other industries. (NYT, 12/3/2013)

Why do Republicans hate Obamacare? Yes, it's the enlargement of the entitlement state, it's the top-down government control, it's the lies told to sell it. It's all those things. But it is also something else. It's the crass corruption that surrounds the entire endeavor, such as giving waivers to political supporters.


Tone Deaf
In the White House briefing room, too, there was a change in tone. The death watch for Obamacare had been suspended and the conversation turned to other possible problems: Will HealthCare.gov be ready for a surge in enrollments later this month? Why hasn’t the administration started a campaign to direct more people to the site? (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 12/2/2013)

Milbank - who is like a yo-yo on Obama, up one day, down the next - declares the problem solved. Now the only issue will be managing the wonderfulness that is Obamacare. (Oh, and never mind that 40% of the system isn't even built.)


Talk Around Town
'Private sector velocity and effectiveness." "An Amazon-like shopping experience." Suddenly Team Obama is talking up capitalist enterprise as the model for how Healthcare.gov ought to work. After five years of assailing "millionaires and billionaires" and extolling the virtues of "collective action," this is progress. (Bret Stephens, WSJ, 12/2/2013)

Good one from Stephens, but be forewarned: Team Obama will think nothing about bashing the capitalist model five minutes from now if it is convenient for them to do so. 

The Rule of Immobility

Metallurgy
In any case all four tiers are scrap-metal grade, because the rules ObamaCare imposes to create a supposedly superior insurance product are resulting in an objectively inferior medical product. The new mandates and rules raise costs, so insurers must compensate by offering narrow and less costly networks of doctors, hospitals and other providers in their ObamaCare products. Insurers thus restrict care and patient choice of physicians in exchange for discounted reimbursement rates, much as Medicaid does. (WSJ, 11/30/2013)

Others have already noted this, but get ready for the next Obamacare blow-up: "You can keep your doctor."


High Times
Vermont’s 2014 health insurance premiums are among the highest in the country. The rates are well above the national average, and health care economists link more expensive premiums to less competition.
...
HHS compared the premiums of the second-lowest cost silver plan, the lowest cost silver plan and the lowest cost bronze plan for every state in the country except for Massachusetts and Hawaii.  On all three levels, Vermont has the fifth-highest premium rates in the country. (VTDigger.com, 11/19/2013)

Not to worry, Vermont's Progressive thought-leaders have assured us that things will get a whole lot better once the state adopts a single-payer system. 


All the News
As RedStateVT readily admits, the New York Times will occasionally commit a random act of journalism (and whoever coined that phrase should be knighted!). 

Here are highlights from their November 30th investigative piece on Healthcare.gov: 

HealthCare.gov, the $630 million online insurance marketplace, was a disaster after it went live on Oct. 1...

Out of that tense Oval Office meeting grew a frantic effort aimed at rescuing not only the insurance portal and Mr. Obama’s credibility, but also the Democratic philosophy that an activist government can solve big, complex social problems. Today, that rescue effort is far from complete.

...it still suffers sporadic crashes, and large parts of the vital “back end” that processes enrollment data and transactions with insurers remain unbuilt.

..an insular White House that did not initially appreciate the magnitude of its self-inflicted wounds...

...a new accusation: that he had lied about whether people could keep their insurance.

...a deeply dysfunctional relationship between the Department of Health and Human Services and its technology contractors, and tensions between the White House chief of staff and senior health department officials. 

...errors in the software code written to stitch the Oracle product into the online system and improperly configured hardware trapped users in endless technological loops. It would take eight days to resolve just that one bottleneck.

...insurance executives were alarmed. Almost no one was buying their products.

The website had barely been tested before it went live, so a large number of software and hardware defects had not been uncovered.

“The extent of the problems is pretty enormous. At the end of our calls, people say, ‘It’s awful, just awful.’ ”

..a site Mr. Obama once promised would be as easy to shop on as Amazon.com — went dark for 10 to 12 hours, unheard of in the online business world.

During a trip to Tennessee by Ms. Sebelius on Nov. 1, a state senator would add insult to injury by presenting her with a copy of “Websites for Dummies.”

Mr. Obama, meanwhile, is trying to turn the page.

And finally, our two favorite quotes!

On the eve of the rollout, Ms. Sebelius, a onetime Kansas governor and former insurance commissioner who had logged countless miles promoting the health law, was ebullient.  “We’re about to make some history,” she said.

...the meeting was called, in part, to give Democrats a chance to publicly criticize the president — a message that Vice President Biden delivered to Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic whip, in a separate meeting with several freshman Democrats.

“Just attack us,” Mr. Biden said, according to one person present. “Blame us.”


Grade Inflation
The White House announced on Sunday that it had met its goal for improving HealthCare.gov so the website “will work smoothly for the vast majority of users.”

In effect, the administration gave itself a passing grade. (NYT, 12/2/2013)

Heck, Obama once gave himself a B+ for his first year in office. 

What intrepid journalist has the stones to ask Obama to grade Year 5?


Pushy
This task has taken on new urgency given the Democratic Party’s push to the left, away from the centrist politics with which the Clintons are identified. (NYT, 12/1/2013)

Inconceivable! The Democrat party has moved to the left? This is heresy. Only Republicans can move and then, only to the right. 

Cure All

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

So the message from the Obama administration is as follows: 

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


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

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

How about: Obama pardons Obamacare. 

Or maybe: Another Obamacare turkey.

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

Readers are invited to submit entries.

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

We are not kidding. 

Echo Chamber

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

You decide. 


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

Democrats respond by saying...nothing. 

Human Concerns

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

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

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

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


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

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

That is it. 

Period.


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

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


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

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

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

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


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

Not good enough. Resign.

RedStateVT will not tolerate bad behavior from Democrats or Republicans. 

In Flux

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

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

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

Despite what everyone heard him say, that is. 


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

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


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

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

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

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

Ruminations

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

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


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

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

What you need to know about Obama and Iran:

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

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


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

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


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

This is so unintentionally funny that you will roar!


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

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

Remember?

Free to Roam

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

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

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

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

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

Oh well.


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

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

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

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

Render unto Caesar

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

At last, an honest Democrat.


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

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

What say you?

Beast at Bay

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

(Great website, by the way.)


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

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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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

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


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

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