Stephen Martino

Obama proves again that our Constitutional Democracy is dead. In yet another executive order, he bypassed our elected Congress and decided unilaterally to create new legislation. To paraphrase our glorious Vice President: we’ll bypass Congress to ensure the success of our new climate program. (Wait, that’s unconstitutional and in fact both he and Obama should be thrown out of office for such an action!)

Under the title Preparing the United States for the Impact of Climate Change, Obama’s executive order seeks to pour more federal funds into controlling the weather. Now, he wants to put the federal government in charge of actions that could affect the weather. As Fox reported, “President Obama on Friday used his executive powers to elevate and take control of climate change policies in an attempt to streamline sustainability initiatives – and potentially skirt legislative oversight and push a federal agenda on states.”

— Hold back money to communities unless they meet new standards on various items and agendas set by the federal government. For example, using new policies that will encourage communities to rebuild to pre-disaster standards instead of stronger ones.

— A possible mandate to bring sweeping new changes to land use and resource policies.

— More control and refocus of climate change data and use of it to push a new agenda into every priority of the federal government.

— Create the need for a new internal organization for coordination efforts during a government sequestration and possible future shutdowns.

— Create laws whereby the government can seize a private citizen’s properly, levy exorbitant fines to homeowners who do not comply to the new mandates and dictate every aspect of a person’s home life.

Welcome to the New America. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Has the NSA no shame? Do they know no boundaries? With recent revelations, the answer to both is a resounding NO.

The National Security Agency spied on the future Pope Francis before and during the Vatican    conclave at which he was chosen to succeed Benedict XVI, it was claimed on Wednesday.

A recent “Investor’s Business Daily” article provided very

Yet again the consumer gets hit with the bill as big government and big insurance rape the American public. As most everyone has seen, the burden of medical cost is now shifting to the consumer as we all pay more for our healthcare. Unfortunately, instead of reforming healthcare, Obama has created an even greater financial abyss to which our entire healthcare system is falling:

The practice of upfront payment for non-emergency care has been spreading in the U.S. as deductibles rise. Now, the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to accelerate that trend.

Many of the plans offered through the law’s insurance exchanges have low initial premiums to attract customers, while carrying significant deductibles and other out-of-pocket cost sharing. The second-lowest tier of Obamacare plans in California, for example, carries a $2,000 annual deductible.

Hospitals say they need to charge patients prior to treatment because Americans are increasingly on the hook for more of their own medical costs. And once care is provided, it’s often difficult for hospitals to collect.

“It used to be taboo to look like you were looking for money at a time when you were supposed to be focused on patient care,” David Williams, president of Boston-based consulting firm Health Business Group, said. “It’s not taboo anymore.”

Employers are following suit as they push workers to share more financial responsibility for health care. The percentage of insured workers with a deductible of $1,000 or more for single coverage jumped to 34 percent in 2012 from 12 percent in 2007, according to a study  by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

Overall, the number of people with high deductible plans rose to 15.5 million in 2013 from 1 million in 2005, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s lobbying group in Washington. The Internal Revenue Service largely defines high deductible health plans as those with an annual deductible of $1,250 or more for individual coverage.

“We expect the trend toward high deductibles to continue,” said Ceci Connolly, managing director of PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute in Washington. “There’s nothing in the law that curbs high deductibles and we very much expect more and more employers to move to high-deductible plans.”

                                      “You think I care if I destroy the country’s economy?”          

In order to pay for Obamacare, Medicare cuts have begun to decimate the hospitals’ bottom lines throughout the country. It is like a Domino effect. First we see businesses laying off people or reducing working hours. Next, we see the failed rollout of this atrocious health program. Now we learn that in order to pay for Obamacare, the Us government is removing funding from Medicare. And so the next Domino falls:

Hospitals, a reliable source of employment growth in the recession and its aftermath, are starting to cut thousands of jobs amid falling insurance payments and in-patient visits. So far this year, the health care sector has announced 41,085 layoffs, the third-most behind financial and industrial companies.

Total private hospital employment is down by 8,000 since April and more staff reductions are expected into next year. This month, Indiana University Health laid off about 900 workers as part of a move to trim its budget by $1 billion over five years. Vanderbilt plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs by year-end to help shave operating costs 8% a year. And the Cleveland Clinic is offering buyouts to 3,000 employees as it shaves its annual operating costs by $330 million.

Let me ask one intelligent question. Has Obamacare done anything positive for our country or economy? Has the tax issued to those not wanting to purchase it yielded any negligible financial benefit to the country? The answer is a definite no. Plus, the aftershocks of the rollout will prove more detrimental by the day. Now you realize why Senator Cruz is fighting do hard to defund it. If people would just wake up and learn what Obama is doing, we could defund this financial disaster.

“I do this real moron thing, and it’s called thinking. And apparently I’m not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions.”
– George Carlin

George Carlin’s quote recently had me thinking while reading the news about the government shutdown. First of all not many people understand the facts about why the government shut down or really what it means. When I looked at different news channels this morning,  all I saw was how the Republicans want to be obstructionists or how they have shut down government. Well, it’s not true. First of all it’s more of government slimdown. Essential services and the military are still up and running without any interference. Those services deemed non-essential like the parks have shut down. The news makes it seem as it we will be living in anarchy and the world will collapse with this shutdown. That’s not true. The only collapse will be with those people who think we cannot live without total governmental rule.

Secondly, the Republicans don’t want to shut down government. They just want to fund everything but the Affordable Care Act. It’s the Democrats who won’t sign a budget unless this totalitarian law is funded. Plus, the House has every right not to fund this law. It is the basis for the checks and balance system. If the executive branch becomes out of control, like with Obama, it can defund all those laws which are deemed not worthy of taxpayer money.

If the media actually told the truth, people would understand why we are in the predicament we are in.