A recent “Investor’s Business Daily” article provided very
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Obamacare Rollout Failure
Do we need another government entitlement program? Can we pay for another government entitlement program? Unfortunately, the answer is no. At the center of Obama’s wealth redistribution strategy is his Affordable Care Act. Meant to help the uninsured, it has already begun to decimate the economy. With no way to pay for it, our taxes have been increased, insurance company premiums are rising and our contributions to our health expenditures are escalating. To make matters worse, Obamacare is an abject failure that epitomizes the failure of Big Government.
“We foresee a train wreck,” one insurance executive working on Obamacare IT said in February. “We don’t have the IT specifications. The level of angst in health plans is growing by leaps and bounds. The political people in the administration do not understand how far behind they are.”
The comments mirror those made in April by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) who helped craft Obamacare. At the time, Baucus said Obamacare was “a huge train wreck coming down.”
Now, the companies that bagged millions to build the Obamacare digital architecture are scurrying to avoid public ridicule and scrutiny. “Worried about their reputations, contractors are now publicly distancing themselves from the troubled parts of the federally run project,” reports the Times.
Development Seed President Eric Gundersen told the Times his company built the busted HealthCare.org website but “had nothing to do with what happened after a user hit the ‘Apply Now’ button.”
Progressive Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein, a strong Obamacare supporter, wrote on Monday that “So far, the Affordable Care Act’s launch has been a failure. Not ‘troubled.’ Not ‘glitchy.’ A failure.”
Obamacare will cost taxpayers $2.6 trillion over the next ten years.
People Paying More–Again!
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.”
Hospitals are Laying off Employees
“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.
Obamacare Packets Are In!
Wise words by George Carlin
“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.
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Republican Traitors
There were 25 Republicans who betrayed their principles and voted for cloture, giving Democrats the power to implement this terrible law.
This is a disappointing loss, but the bill now goes back to the House where Republicans must hold their ground and refuse to fund Obamacare.
Here are the 25 Senate Republicans who voted to allow Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Democrats to fund Obamacare today:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
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John Cornyn (R-TX)
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Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
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Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
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John Barrasso (R-WY)
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John Hoeven (R-ND)
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Roy Blunt (R-MO)
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Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
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John Boozman (R-AR)
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Mike Johanns (R-NE)
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Richard Burr (R-NC)
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Ron Johnson (R-WI)
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Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
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Mark Kirk (R-IL)
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Jeff Chiesa (R-NJ)
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John McCain (R-AZ)
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Dan Coats (R-IN)
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Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
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Tom Coburn (R-OK)
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Lisa Murkowksi (R-AK)
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Thad Cochran (R-MS)
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John Thune (R-SD)
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Susan Collins (R-ME)
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Roger Wicker (R-MS)
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Bob Corker (R-TN)
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LEADING THE SURRENDER
There were a lot of people who worked against us in this fight, but nobody worked harder to fund Obamacare in the Senate than Mitch McConnell(R-KY), the Republican Leader.
Mitch McConnell pressured several Republicans to withdraw their names from the letter pledging to oppose Obamacare funding, he falsely accused conservatives of supporting a government shutdown, and he actively encouraged Republicans to support cloture this week so the Democrats could fund Obamacare.
If Mitch McConnell had not opposed this effort, there is no question that we would have won the vote today. He showed that he has clout in Washington. Unfortunately, he used it to hurt millions of American families.
Obamacare Commercial
If you haven’t seen it, I’ve posted the new anti-Obamacare commercial. It’s obviously geared to scare the younger generation. However, it is lackluster and lacks substance. So I get what they are trying to say, but after watching it I wanted to go to Burger King.
Sadly, I found the commercial lacking any true substance, and it was more comical than impactful. Thus, I fear it will not create the kind of backlash that it was intended to do. A great chance to help turn public opinion against Obamacare was definitely lost.
Remember the Harry and Louise commercial? Remember the impact it had on the Clinton health plan? The reason why is that this commercial had substance and created a gut-wrenching response when viewed. It played to everyone’s economic fears and financial uncertainty. Even now when I watch it, I take a deep breath when it’s over. Below is the clip. Watch it in comparison to the above commercial and you will se my point.
Happy Constitution Day
Happy Constitution Day! 220 years ago the brave pioneers who founded our country signed the Constitution–a document that would forever change the world. A document that set a checks and balance system, letting no branch of government become too powerful or tyrannical. A document that freed us from a monarchal rule. A document that has been emulated throughout the world. A document that that stands for freedom and the upholds the right of the individual.
Now in the 21st century this heartfelt view of this great document is under attack. No longer in schools do they teach the wisdom and bravery of our founding fathers. No longer is the picture of President George Washington on the wall. (I’ve been to almost 20 back to school nights for my kids and have yet to see his picture hung with reverence in a single classroom) Now that document is under attack and viewed as fluent by the liberals. No longer are the men who signed it revered and held sacred. No longer is the American heritage taught with admiration.
History has been changed. The love of our country has been taken out of schools and the media. And now they want to take God out of the Pledge. The above picture is just the latest example of how liberals want to change history and our Constitution. Read Amendment Number 2. Now remember what it supposed to say:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed
This travesty to the truth can be found in United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination.
As absurd as it may appear, the liberals are changing the Constitution one Amendment at a time. As Americans we must not only preserve our history but we must also cherish it. The day we forego our national heritage is the day our country ceases to by the USA. I fear that day may be closer than we all think.