Quadrangle
The Pentagon, shamefully, has yet to rescind anachronistic personnel guidelines that prohibit openly transgender people from joining in the military, labeling their condition a “paraphilia,” or perversion. The policy has forced thousands to serve in silence, repressing an essential part of their identity. (New York Times editorial, 6/4/2015)
Yes, there are "thousands" of transgenders in the Pentagon. You didn't know that did you? In fact, transgenders are everywhere and you probably don't even realize it. That might be a transgender sitting next to you at Starbucks. You could be living next door to a transgender. You could be living WITH a transgender! You yourself could, in fact, be a transgender and not even know it.
Pitiful
Just a few years ago, lawmakers in this left-leaning state viewed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act as little more than a pit stop on the road to a far more ambitious goal: single-payer, universal health care for all residents.
Then things unraveled. The online insurance marketplace that Vermont built to enroll people in private coverage under the law had extensive technical failures. The problems soured public and legislative enthusiasm for sweeping health care changes just as Gov. Peter Shumlin needed to build support for his complex single-payer plan. Finally, Mr. Shumlin, a Democrat, shelved the plan in December, citing the high cost to taxpayers. He called the decision “the greatest disappointment of my political life.” (New York Times, 6/4/2015)
When the New York Times is writing about the Vermont health care debacle, it cannot be good. And no matter how bad they say it is, remember this: it is worse.
Intrusive
The Obama administration on Thursday announced what appeared to be one of the largest breaches of federal employees’ data, involving at least four million current and former government workers in an intrusion that officials said apparently originated in China. (New York Times, 6/5/2015)
It needs to be pointed out that had this happened when George Bush or Scott Walker were president, the New York Times, Washington Post and MSNBC would personally blame the (Republican) president.
Obama is president....crickets.
Substantially
The Obama administration on Friday unveiled data showing that many Americans with health insurance bought under the Affordable Care Act could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans.
....
“Consumers should shop around,” said Marilyn B. Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the federal insurance exchange serving three dozen states. “With new options available this year, they’re likely to find a better deal.” She asserted that the data showed that “the Affordable Care Act is working.” (New York Times, 11/14/2014)
So apparently, a "better deal" and "working" describe a situation wherein Americans pay substantially more for health insurance. Got it.
Checked Out
“We’re really making sure the website works super well before the next open enrollment period. We’re double- and triple-checking it.” President Obama
...
The health insurance marketplace opened for business on Saturday and performed much better than last year, but some consumers reported long, frustrating delays in trying to buy insurance and gain access to their own accounts at HealthCare.gov. (New York Times, 11/15/2014)
Quadruple-check?
Dysfunctional
Vermont is the only state that requires purchase of any individual health care insurance policies through the state exchange. Yes, that’s the same exchange that isn’t functioning. Shumlin has turned health care in Vermont into a Kafka-like cartoon: you must buy through the exchange and the exchange doesn’t work. (Stuart Stevens, thedailybeast.com, 11/13/2014)
Wonderful article which describes how corrupt and arrogant Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is and how he nearly blew the recent election to an almost unknown Republican, Scott Milne. Speaking of Vermont Health Connect, here is a recent e-mail:
"You are receiving this email because you have chosen email as your communication preference. Usually this email would include a link to your account, but at this time account log-ins and online payments are unavailable due to a period of extended maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Got it.
Identity Crisis
The Democrats’ widespread losses last week have revived a debate inside the party about its fundamental identity, a long-running feud between center and left that has taken on new urgency in the aftermath of a disastrous election and in a time of deeply felt economic anxiety. (New York Times, 11/14/2014)
So after fifty-two thousand articles on how the Republican party is being torn apart by the Tea Party the Times concedes that Democrats face their own rifts. Got it.
Wonderful
Sometimes we wonder if President Obama has even the vaguest idea how a private economy works. (Wall Street Journal, 11/14/2014)
We just liked this line.
Get Closer
Obama Moves Close to Calling Russian Action in Ukraine an Invasion (New York Times headline, 11/16/2014)
Months after Putin invades Ukraine, Obama threatens to accuse Putin of......invading Ukraine. Vlad must wake up every day and pinch himself thinking about how lucky he is to have Obama.
Vermont Healthcare Efficiency
From Vermont Health Connect October 6, 2014:
Hello! We are writing to let you know that you have a new notice regarding your bill for health care benefits from Vermont Health Connect. To view your notice, please click on the link below and log in to your account.
From Vermont Health Connect October 7, 2014:
Hello! We are writing to let you know that you have a new notice regarding your bill for health care benefits from Vermont Health Connect. To view your notice, please click on the link below and log in to your account.
From Vermont Health Connect later in the day on October 7, 2014:
Hello! Earlier today and yesterday, some Vermont Health Connect customers received an email that referenced invoices and online payments. We apologize for this incorrect email and any confusion or inconvenience that it caused.
We have mailed you a paper invoice this week that correctly describes your two current payment options:
1) Phone...
2) Mail...
Not to worry, all will be better when Vermont adopts single payer!
Weakly
A corollary point, surely not lost on Mr. Putin, Ayatollah Khamenei and other rogues is that they have a free hand at least until January 2017. The conclusion: If ever there was a time to revise their regional orders in ways more to their liking, better to do so now, when there’s a self-infatuated weakling in the White House. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 10/13/2014)
Obama's withdrawal creates a vacuum that the bad guys willingly exploit.
Obviously
It’s not too soon to state the obvious: At this point, the war against the Islamic State can be seen only as failing. (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 10/13/2014)
When Obama loses Eugene Robinson you know it is over for our novelty president.
Measured
(The Iranians) have taken the measure of Obama. He lacks menace. Menace is essential in a world leader if he (or she) is going to be feared as well as admired. (Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 10/13/2014)
Liberals are finally catching on: the world's bad actors will only behave if they fear America's power. Unfortunately, no one fears Obama.
Safety
He’s called America a country founded on guns, and explained that firearms are just in the nation’s DNA. The 50-year-old also said he doesn’t feel safe without a gun in his house when he’s home with his wife and children. (Dailycaller.com, 10/14/2014)
Who is this fifty year old gun advocate? Why it's none other than Hollywood uber Liberal Brad Pitt! Proving again that when Liberals are threatened they turn to automatic weapons...which they would deny to others!
Just Because
The president thinks people are depressed because they don't understand how good the economy is. Actually right now they are depressed because he is president. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 9/18/2014)
Loyal readers know that RedStateVT holds Ann Coulter in high esteem for her brilliant political analysis and superb wit. Here she gets a run for her money from Peggy Noonan.
Great Moments from the Obama Presidency
If you like your health plan you can keep it
The 1980s wants their foreign policy back
There is not a smidgen of scandal at the IRS
Tell Vladimir I will have more flexibility after the election
I did not set a red line on Syria
ISIS is a JV team
We do not have a strategy yet
No boots on the ground
Shutdown
Nearly a year after its bungled rollout subjected thousands of Vermonters to a state mandated health insurance marketplace that was more expensive, nearly impossible to navigate and never fully functional, Governor Shumlin today announced that Vermont Health Connect will be shut down for repairs until after the November elections. (VTGOP.org, 9/16/2014)
In the private sector, you get fired for this level of incompetence. In Vermont, Burger Boy Shumlin will get re-elected.
Declaration
Gov. Peter Shumlin declared $721,445 in income on the 2013 federal income tax return he filed last spring. Nearly half the money came from real estate income. Shumlin also released a list of $10.3 million in assets that includes 16 properties valued collectively at $3.86 million. (Burlington Free Press, 9/19/2014)
Another Liberal 1%er!
Occupy Shumlin!
Unsettling
...the climate lobby should return to the climate science and explain the hiatus in warming that has now lasted for 16, 19 or 26 years depending on the data set and which the climate models failed to predict even as global carbon dioxide emissions have climbed by 25%. Their alibi is that the new warming is now hidden in the oceans, an assertion they lack the evidence to prove. (Wall Street Journal, 9/22/2014)
To which climate liars (i.e. the opposite of climate deniers) say...what?
Swipe-Out
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took a swipe Friday at those calling for her to resign over the botched ObamaCare website rollout, suggesting that Republican efforts to delay and defund the law contributed to HealthCare.gov's glitch-ridden debut. (Foxnews.com, 10/26/2013)
Just to be clear, we had a Republican-led government shutdown over the issue of defunding Obamacare.
Which was unsuccessful in defunding Obamacare.
And which now - according to Sebelius - is a reason that the website does not work. Not a surprise really coming from the administration which is accountable for NOTHING. Meanwhile there appears to be plenty of money to run prime time commercials urging everyone to sign up for health care.
Pusher
In the months ahead, Mr. Obama is expected to push for Congress to pass an immigration overhaul in the face of conservative skeptics who doubt that the government can secure borders or verify the status of all workers. He has said he will push to create a Web-based system to rank colleges and universities, with the intention of eventually linking $150 billion in student aid to the results. (NYT, 10/27/2013)
Choose the RedStateVT response:
A) Having proven we can do technology.
B) For my next trick.
C) What could go wrong?
Non-responsive
RedStateVT happened to catch Mark Larson, Commissioner of the Department of Health Access in Vermont, on local radio last night participating in a softball interview talking about healthcare in the state. One exchange caught our attention, however. Asked if Vermonters who liked their current health plan would be able to keep it, Larson launched into a description of the eighteen plans now available to residents. (Since there are only two providers in Vermont offering plans that vary primarily by the deductible amount, the claim that there are eighteen plans is a stretch. A big stretch.)
The question called for a simple yes or no answer which, of course, was not forthcoming.
Because the answer is no.
Larson has learned well from the Obama administration that in service of the greater good - Obamacare - evasion is the proper course when faced with inconvenient truths. See the following:
Though the news coverage is still not accurate...the story of middle class Americans losing the health insurance they were happy with, and promised they could keep, is finally starting to break through in the mainstream media. Hundreds of thousands who were perfectly happy with their health plans, and took Obama at his word, have already been blindsided by cancellation notices. Soon, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the same will happen to millions. Basically, millions are and will be herded into government-approved, one-size-fits-all plans that are more expensive, have higher deductibles, and might not allow them to keep their doctor (another Obama broken promise). (Breitbart.com, 10/28/2013)
Unknown
The account suggests President Barack Obama went nearly five years without knowing his own spies were bugging the phones of world leaders. (WSJ, 10/28/2013)
Quick, what scares you more? That the Obama administration was spying on allies or that Obama did not even know.
Partly
In the 2008 campaign, he said he believed “that part of my job is to make government cool again.” His campaign sometimes talked about creating an “iPod government” that is user-friendly and efficient. (NYT, 10/27/2013)
Who was it that said Obama has succeeded in creating a Commodore 64 government?
End of Times
Finally, for consumers, the era of legalized medical marijuana has meant an expanded market and often cheaper prices. Buyers here gaze over showcases offering a rich assortment of marijuana, promising different potencies and different kinds of highs. Cannabis sativa produces a pronounced psychological high, a “head buzz,” while cannabis indica delivers a more relaxed, lethargic effect, a “body buzz.” (NYT, 10/27/2013)
Ain't life grand? Liberals should be ashamed of themselves. They aren't, of course, because they have no shame.
