Tag: Obamacare

Mr. Cruz Goes to Washington

On By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

tedcruzThere is a fight going on for America. It has been going on for quite a while now. Those who walk the Halls of Power with impunity want to turn this Constitutional Republic, founded by men seeking freedom from tyranny, and the freedom to practice their Faith as they so chose, into a soulless Socialist State, with the Government ruling over average Americans’ everyday lives, as the old Soviet Union did the Proletariat.

And, that totalitarianism is not only limited to the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is most certainly being practiced on Capitol Hill as well.

Within the past week, as the deadline for Obamacare nears, America has witnessed our so-called Public Servants close ranks, steeling themselves for the unleashing of a monster of their own making.

One man has stood head and shoulders above his sniveling colleagues, in his resistance to the implementation of the ruination of the finest Healthcare System in the entire world.

That man is Senator Ted Cruz.

Cruz, since his election, has launched a one-man Crusade for the purpose of defunding Obamacare. He has never changed his message, unlike some of his fellow Republicans.

And, now that the Senate has begun their deliberations, in regard to the Defunding Bill, which the House has already passed, he finds himself wondering who has his back.

Well, he does not have to wonder about Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin…

Some day I’m actually going to tell America what I really think about GOP elephants that would actually turn on a senator who is fulfilling his campaign promise, the same promise that so many GOP candidates made and that was to defund and repeal and replace with something more sensible and economic, to repeal Obamacare. We finally have a tool to be able to take those steps to repeal and that’s unfunding Obamacare and that’s what Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and others want to do.

Now, these GOP elephants that would turn on someone whose trying to fight for the will of the people, for liberty and for economic justice, if you will, to have those turn on him, is extremely disappointing. It’s not surprising, though. What is surprising, though, is my dad, who is a science teacher and natural history teacher. Dad, if you’re watching this morning, if you’re out of moose camp already and you’re home, you are a teacher and you never told me that elephants were cannibalistic. I wish i would’ve known and then we would have a different tactic in the way that we do campaigns.

As usual, Sarah is right. There are Senators, who refer to themselves as Republicans, who are siding with the Democrats, and knifing Cruz in the back, every chance that they get,

And, the president of the “Let’s Shuddup Cruz” Club is Sarah’s former President Campaign Partner John McCain.  McCain has let it be known among his peers that he “!@#king can’t stand the guy.”

No doubt, because Sen. Cruz is everything that Juan McAmnesty is not.

Cruz is actually a Conservative…and, an honest man.

McCain is a back-stabbing Liberal Republican, who will “reach across the aisle” at the drop of a hat.

pelosigavelYou see, while 92% of Americans feel that Congress should have to participate in the wonders of Obamacare, Democrats and the GOP Establishment, would rather keep their current Cadillac Health Insurance Plan, thank you very much.

Congress is so out-of-touch with Americans, that we should drive up beside their limos and ask them if they have any Gray Poupon.

If, as Obama and the Democrats told us when they passed it, that Obamacare is going be the greatest thing since sliced bread, they why are they not turning in their Cadillac Plan to be covered by it?

Gosh. Could it be that they all lied to us?

You betcha. Check out this information from, believe it or not, the New York Times:

Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama’s health care law. But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers.

From California to Illinois to New Hampshire, and in many states in between, insurers are driving down premiums by restricting the number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans.

When insurance marketplaces open on Oct. 1, most of those shopping for coverage will be low- and moderate-income people for whom price is paramount. To hold down costs, insurers say, they have created smaller networks of doctors and hospitals than are typically found in commercial insurance. And those health care providers will, in many cases, be paid less than what they have been receiving from commercial insurers.

Some consumer advocates and health care providers are increasingly concerned. Decades of experience with Medicaid, the program for low-income people, show that having an insurance card does not guarantee access to specialists or other providers.

Consumers should be prepared for “much tighter, narrower networks” of doctors and hospitals, said Adam M. Linker, a health policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, a statewide advocacy group.

“That can be positive for consumers if it holds down premiums and drives people to higher-quality providers,” Mr. Linker said. “But there is also a risk because, under some health plans, consumers can end up with astronomical costs if they go to providers outside the network.”

Didn’t Scooter say that we could keep our doctors, if we wanted to?

Joe Wilson was right, all those years ago. He lied.

And, apparently, so do a lot of Congresspeople.

So, good Luck, Senator Cruz.  We are with you. If we go down, let’s go down fighting.

Until he Comes,

KJ

Obama’s Banana Republic: Daylight Come and Me Wanna Go Home.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

obamamyworkThere is no question that Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) is the most petulant President we have ever had in United States History.

If whatever Machiavellian Scheme he is working on at the time is foiled by the Republicans, usually because they have been forced to actually act on behalf of the American People, Obama’s modus operandi is to act like child who has been told to come in for supper on a school night. He usually throws a temper tantrum, surrounded by human props and/or shields, designed to distract the public from what an immature, shallow schmuck “the smartest man in the room” actually is.

A prime example of this petulance is the memorable tantrum/speech he gave after Congress voted down his Gun Control Bill, in which he attempted to take advantage of the massacre of American Children by a psychopath in Newtown, CT.

Obama, using some of the childrens’ parents as props, blamed everyone but himself for the failure of his attempt to deprive Americans of our Second Amendment Rights.

Now, the president’s petulance is showing again, as yesterday, after the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government until Mid-December, but not Obamacare, the Manchurian President lashed out at Republicans during a speech at a Ford plant in Liberty, Mo., on Friday afternoon,

…So what Congress is doing right now is important. Unfortunately, right now the debate that going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle-class families. It’s just they’re not focused on you. They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on trying to mess with me. They’re not focused on you. They’re not focused on you.

…Defunding Affordable Health Care would rob 25 million Americans of the chance to get health care coverage. It would cut basic health care services for tens of millions of seniors on Medicare already. That’s what House Republicans are fighting for.

And now they’ve gone beyond just holding Congress hostage, they’re holding the whole country hostage. One Republican senator called shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.” I agree with him. But that’s the strategy they’re pursuing. House of Representatives just voted on it today.

Now, I tell you what, Missouri. The American people have worked too hard for too long, digging out of a real crisis just to let politicians in Washington cause another crisis.

This is the United States of America. We’re not some banana republic. This is not a deadbeat nation. We don’t run out on our tab. We’re the world’s bedrock investment. The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable. We can’t just not pay our bills. And even threatening something like that is the height of irresponsibility.

So what I’ve said is I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States. I am not going to allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation. I’m not going to allow them to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just so they can make an ideological point.

[Republicans in Congress] Just do your job. Don’t be the other guy, be the guy who’s doing your job. No obstruction. No games. No holding the economic hostage — economy hostage if you don’t get 100 percent of what you want.

Nobody gets 100 percent of what you want. You guys know that in your own lives, in your own families. I don’t know how many people are married here, but you know you better learn not to expect getting 100 percent of what you want. Otherwise you’ll be divorced real quick. Especially you men, I’m telling you.

So you should expect the same thing — same common sense out of Congress. You should expect some compassion. You should expect some compromise. You should expect the conviction of leaders who wake up and go to work every day, not to tear something down, but to build something better; not just for today but for the world we want to leave our kids.

We are the greatest country on Earth…in spite of you, President Obama.

Earlier this past week, Reuters.com reported that

The number of U.S. residents living in poverty edged up to 46.5 million last year, the latest sign that an economic recovery marked by a stock market boom has not trickled down to ordinary Americans.

The figures from the Census Bureau on Tuesday highlighted the lingering scars from the 2007-2009 recession and added fresh fuel to debates over government austerity and widening income inequality. It could also renew calls to raise the minimum wage.

Although the number of people in poverty went up from 46.2 million in 2011, the national poverty rate was unchanged at 15 percent, the annual report said. The poverty threshold in 2012 was an income of $23,492 for a family of four.

“Today’s data underscore that it is time for Congress to pivot from a focus on austerity to an agenda emphasizing jobs and shared economic growth,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington.

The recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s has been marked by a jump in stock prices to record highs, aided in part by the Federal Reserve’s ultra easy monetary policy.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 16 percent on a total return basis last year, including reinvested dividends, the Census Bureau report showed median household income slipped to $51,017 from  $51,100 in 2011.

The economy has struggled to sustain growth rates of more than 2.5 percent since the recession ended.

Although the bulk of the more than 8 million jobs lost during the downturn have been recouped, many of the jobs have been in services industries such as retail and restaurants that typically do not pay well.

Belt-tightening in Washington to slash the government’s budget deficit has significantly shrunk the social safety net.

About 16.1 million children and 3.9 million people aged 65 years and older were living in poverty last year.

Since you have taken office, Mr. President, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars of American Society: self-reliance, self-discipline, and self-responsibility.

From the moment you took office, with your stated philosophy that “spreading the wealth around is good for everyone”, average Americans, such as myself, have found themselves out of  their job, with their home and car getting foreclosed and repossessed.

More and more Americans have decided that the American Tradition of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps (with God’s help) and getting on with your life, just isn’t worth all the hassles.

In other words, Pookie does not want to get up off the couch. 

Why should she be responsible for herself? She’s simply following the example of her president. 

When things have gone wrong (and, plenty has) during your watch, Mr. President…you have blamed on someone else: Bush, Congress, or us “Bitter Clingers”, with our Bibles and guns.

And now, once again, one of your Machiavellian Schemes, Obamacare, is on the verge of falling apart….and you are on the verge of another temper tantrum.

I can’t wait to see if Senator Ted Cruz launches a filibuster against your Socialist Healthcare System.

If he does, your temper tantrum should be one for the ages.

You mad, bro?

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obamacare: Covering Some Americans, Some of the Time

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

obamadoctorOn September 9, 2009, President Barack Hussein Obama spoke before a Joint Session of Congress concerning his marvelous plan for state-run Healthcare in America. He said,

Now, if you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans who don’t currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. (Applause.) If you lose your job or you change your job, you’ll be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you’ll be able to get coverage. We’ll do this by creating a new insurance exchange — a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It’s how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it’s time to give every American the same opportunity that we give ourselves. (Applause.)

Now, for those individuals and small businesses who still can’t afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we’ll provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. And all insurance companies that want access to this new marketplace will have to abide by the consumer protections I already mentioned. This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right. In the meantime, for those Americans who can’t get insurance today because they have preexisting medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill. (Applause.) This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it’s a good idea now, and we should all embrace it. (Applause.)

Now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those — especially the young and the healthy — who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. There may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers by giving them coverage. The problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money. If there are affordable options and people still don’t sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for these people’s expensive emergency room visits. If some businesses don’t provide workers health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workers get sick, and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. And unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek — especially requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions — just can’t be achieved.

And that’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. (Applause.) Likewise — likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still can’t afford coverage, and 95 percent of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. (Applause.) But we can’t have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part.

And while there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe — (laughter) — I believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan I just outlined: consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance.

Regarding that whole promise of Universal Healthcare…Obama lied.

Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that

A new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that 56 percent, or nearly six in ten of the people who don’t have health insurance today may be able to get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace for less than $100 per month.

Beginning on October 1, individuals and families will have a new way to shop for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. They’ll be able to compare their options using side-by-side information about price, quality and benefits. With one application they’ll be able to see if they qualify for premium tax credits or Medicaid that lower the costs of coverage right away. Coverage through the Marketplace starts as early as January 1, 2014.

“The health care law is making health insurance more affordable,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “With more than half of all uninsured Americans able to get coverage at $100 or less, the health care law is delivering the quality, affordable coverage people are looking for.”

Of the 41.3 million individuals who are uninsured and eligible for coverage, 23.2 million (56 percent) may qualify for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or tax credits to purchase coverage for $100 or less per month. The amount an individual will save on premiums depends on their family income and size. Today’s report uses data about family income and size from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to estimate the number of uninsured individuals who will qualify for lower costs on monthly premiums.

Today’s report also shows that if all 50 states took advantage of new options to expand Medicaid coverage, nearly 8 out of every 10 people (78 percent) who currently do not have insurance could be paying less than $100 a month for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. While some states are expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014, other states are not doing so. Under the health care law, states can receive 100 percent federal funding in 2014 to expand their Medicaid programs to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $15,800 a year for an individual, or about $32,500 for a family of four.

With less than half a month before Obamacare officially starts making all of our lives miserable on October 1st, Obama’s unwanted socialization of the greatest Healthcare System in the World looks as confused as its creator.

Several states have refused to fund his precious Healthcare Exchanges.

Plus, the nation has found out that Sarah Palin was right all along, as a codicil was found in this monstrous law, which cuts off eligibility for Cancer Treatment at the age of 76. So, if you are an otherwise healthy 77 year old, you are S.O.L….and you know what that means.

And then, there’s the fact that your doctor will be forced to ask you about your sex life, and will record all the lurid details, for Uncle Sugar to read, like an old magazine found in a truck stop men’s room.

Finally, the majority of Americans still want no part of this stupidly conceived and written intrusion into our daily lives.

Nearly 7 out of 10 voters are concerned about their personal health care under the Affordable Care Act and a majority wants to take the health care system back to 2009, according to the latest Fox News national poll.

The poll, released Tuesday, finds that 68 percent of voters are concerned about their health care under the new system. That includes 43 percent “very” concerned and another 25 percent “somewhat” concerned.

The number feeling concerned is more than twice that of those who are unworried (31 percent).

Even a 56-percent majority of Democrats feels concerned (31 percent “very” concerned). By comparison, 72 percent of independents and 77 percent of Republicans feel that way. …

To summarize: On October 1st, Americans will be saddled with a Healthcare System nobody wants, and which is not even ready to be implemented, in the first place.

Heckuva job, Barry!

Until He Comes,

KJ

Congress: I’d Like to Buy ’em for What They’re Worth and Sell ’em for What They Think They’re Worth

On By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

clowncarThe only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets. – Will Rogers

I started writing daily, back in April of 2010, as a way to vent my frustrations with the Marxist Buffoon, who was and is living in OUR House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.. and all the chicanery found in the Halls of Congress. Of course back then, the Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress, and they we going ahead with Obama’s plan for radically changing America, regardless of the wishes of the majority of Americans.

Unfortunately, even with the valiant effort of American Conservatives, who voted en masse in 2010 to secure the House of Representatives for the Republicans, things have actually gotten worse.

What we did not count on was the entrenched Republican Elite, settled in the muddy bottom of the Congressional Cesspool, dangling power and prestige to Freshman Congresscritters, like an alligator snapping turtle wiggling his pink tongue like a worm to lure in an unsuspecting fish.

Total power corrupts totally….and, it did.

Now, in Obama’s second term, average Americans such as you and I, are watching in disgust as those whom we voted for , have turned on us like Rosie O’Donnell and Roseanne Barr fighting over the last fried chicken leg.

Instead of getting rid of the abomination known  as Obamacare, as they promised, Speaker John Boehner and Company seem perfectly pleased to stand by and wave at the monster, as “the parade” passes them by.

It’s bad enough when Dingy Harry Reid, shows no shame at all in telling us that our servants deserve to be exempt from Obamacare, because “that’s the way the law is written”.

I guess he finally read it, huh?

The Republican Elite, who are so much smarter than us inbred hicks from the Heartland (just ask them), have decided to delay Obamacare, not defund it, as they promised during the Midterm Elections in 2010 and the General Elections in 2012.

Back on August 23rd, the Washington Post reported that

Speaker of the House John Boehner (Ohio), in a call with his conference Thursday evening, told Republicans the best move would to be secure the sequester cuts in a continuing resolution rather than threaten to shut down the government, a source on the call told Right Turn. As for Obamacare, the House would seek to delay the individual mandate, not defund the president’s pet legislation, a move that effectively pulls the rug out from Senate hardliners threatening to shut down the government.

The source related that Boehner told his members, “The president is desperate to get rid of the sequester. . . . So desperate that he says he’ll shut down the government if

Congress follows the law and funds the government at the levels his sequester

mandates. The president’s threat to shut down the government if we implement his sequester is not a defensible position. The American people won’t stand for it, and we’re not going to be swayed by it.” According to the source, Boehner then said, “When we return, our intent is to move quickly on a short-term continuing resolution that keeps the government running and maintains current sequester spending levels. Our message will remain clear: Until the president agrees to better cuts and reforms that help grow the economy and put us on path to a balanced budget, his sequester — the sequester he himself proposed, insisted on and signed into law — stays in place.”

A senior GOP aide told me that no final decisions have been made on defunding Obamacare as it relates to the continuing resolution. However, Boehner clearly intends to thwart what many sober conservatives see as a suicidal plan to defund Obamacare.

Let’s face it. Obamacare is here…and the Republican Brain Trust hasn’t done squat about it.

But, then again, they also haven’t done anything about the economy, either.

Plus, several of them are siding with Obama and Secretary of State Kerry in their quest to pave the way for al Qaeda to ascend to the Presidency of Syria.

It is behavior like this that led Mark Twain to quip,

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.

Now, there are several fine Conservatives in Congress, like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and err…umm…well, I’m sure there are more fine Conservatives in there somewhere.

Anyway, the problem we have with Congress is an age-old addiction. President Ronald Reagan was quite familiar with it. He described Congress’ condition perfectly,

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

As all of us parents and grandparents know, babies are expensive and unruly…if you do not discipline them. 

As we head toward the 2014 Midterm Elections, it time for the Tea Party to reform. We need a complete Grass Roosts Effort  to remind the “dedicated (to themselves) public servants just exactly who pays for their salaries, perks, and pensions.

Being an American by Birth, and Southern by the Grace of God,my favorite play of all time is “Lil’ Abner”. One of my favorite scenes in the movie they made of it, which starred Petter Palmer as Abner, Stubby Kaye as Marryin’ Sam, and the great Billie Hayes as Mammy Yoakum, was when Senator Fogbound (what a great name) holds a meeting with the townsfolk of Dogpatch, to tell them that they had to evacuate, due to an upcoming “A-tomic” Bomb Test.

Sen. Fogbound: I know y’all have been wondering what I have been doing up there in Washington on your behalf.

Mammy Yoakum: We didn’t care…as long as you wuz up there…and we wuz down here!

That’s the way that Low Information Voters feel about Congress. However, we can not allow that ignorance any more.

It’s time to get involved. It’s time to once again, rise up, get organized and ready to go to the polls in 2014.

It’s time to prepare to take our country back.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Boehner Cries, “Stop! …Or I’ll Say Stop Again!

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

boehnercryingSpeaker of the House, Cryin’ John Boehner, held a Conference Call with the rank and file, yesterday.

During the call, he told his fellow Republicans that the upcoming continuing resolution will not be a do-or-die fight over Obamacare spending.

According to one person on the call, Boehner said,

Our intent is to move quickly on a short-term continuing resolution [CR] that keeps the government running and maintains current sequester spending levels.

Even though Boehner did not come right out and say that he was not going to use the CR for a Obamacare fight, other sources on the call said it was not going to make a definitive, final stand against it, either.

He didn’t rule it out, but indicated to members that defund through CR is not the best strategy. You see, after the Continuing Resolution lies a vote on a debt-ceiling increase that the president and the Dems are salivating over.

This vote comes around November or December, and Boehner envisions using it as leverage against Obamacare.

Here is what Boehner said during the Conference Call,

On the sequester:

The president is desperate to get rid of the sequester . . . so desperate that he says he’ll shut down the government if Congress follows the law and funds the government at the levels his sequester mandates. The president’s threat to shut down the government if we implement his sequester is not a defensible position. The American people won’t stand for it, and we’re not going to be swayed by it. When we return, our intent is to move quickly on a short-term continuing resolution [CR] that keeps the government running and maintains current sequester spending levels. Our message will remain clear: Until the president agrees to better cuts and reforms that help grow the economy and put us on path to a balanced budget, his sequester — the sequester he himself proposed, insisted on, and signed into law — stays in place.

On Obamacare strategy:

We will also continue to implement the plan to stop Obamacare that I outlined last month. The delays the administration has been forced to implement in the health-care law have given us a golden opportunity to talk about fairness: “If big business gets relief from the president’s health-care law, families and small businesses should, too.” This message strikes a chord with Americans. When people hear it, it resonates. The president has already signed seven bills delaying or repealing parts of his health-care law. We’re going to keep the pressure on the president and Senate to act on the delay bills that passed the House in July with significant bipartisan support. You may have seen Shelly Moore Capito do this in Saturday’s GOP weekly address. We’re going to keep holding votes that chip away at the legislative coalition the president is using to force Obamacare on the nation.

There are some problems with Cryin’ John’s strategy.

Quite frankly, this Conservative wouldn’t mind government shutting down for a few days. That would be a reprieve from Obama’s Marxist stupidity and irrational spending of OUR MONEY.

If Boehner thinks that, at this point, that Obama is scared of him, or anything that he might do, he overestimates himself. Obama has the overwhelming majority of the Main Stream Media puckered up to kiss his hindquarters, like a mule trying to eat crab apples through a chain link fence.

This wimpy, incremental, “hail fellow, well met”, reach-across-the-aisle garbage worked years ago, but not now. The “gentlemanly art” of politics has been replaced by daily steel cage matches on the House and Senate Floors. No holds barred.

Americans are looking for strong, Conservative Leadership. We have had it up-to-here with appeasement and acquiescence. The circular firing squad known as the Republican Congressional Leadership has proven ineffective in stopping Obama from doing whatever he darn well wants to.

Boehner keeps saying that he and his cronies want to stop Obamacare, but at the same time, he remains noncommittal and nonspecific about how to defund it.

Yesterday, America’s Anchorman, Rush Limbaugh, said the following during his radio program,

…My point is, because there is no opposition party that is opposing what’s happening and representing a majority of the American people, people are losing faith in their country, not in Obama. If Obama policies are so popular, if I’m wrong about this, why is there no robust happiness out there among the American people? Even Obama supporters are part of the forever angry crowd. There isn’t anybody robustly happy out there. Everybody’s on edge. Everybody’s unhappy. They’re broke. They can’t get a job. The only thing is they’re not blaming Obama. They’re losing faith in the country.

Again, it seems to me an ideal opportunity for a genuine alternative opposition movement or party, to make a connection with millions of Americans who happen to, by virtue of majorities, disagree with the status quo, meaning the Obama and Democrat Party establishment. The American people have spoken and are speaking, and they’re looking for representation in Washington. They’re looking for push-back. The American people, who oppose the Obama agenda, can’t find anybody or any representation in Washington that speaks for ’em. It’s not for a lack of looking. And, meanwhile, while all this is going on, the Republican Party is sending out fundraising notes and requests and this kind of thing, but people say, “For what?”

I don’t mean this as a typical rant against the Republican Party. I’m just giving you the lay of the land here. I find it amazing that the president still has to sell Obamacare. Most Americans don’t want it. I don’t know why there isn’t a political movement or party willing to connect to that opposition and go to town with it. Same thing on global warming. Same thing on amnesty. Most amazing. Now, of course we know the reason, it’s Washington, it’s not Republicans and Democrats, it’s Washington versus the rest of the country, ruling class, country class. I’m just giving you another illustration and way of thinking about it. But it is very frustrating.

As usual, Rush is right. Boehner and his “Brain Trust”, and I use that term loosely, have forgotten that THEY are supposed to be the Opposition Party, not a doppelgänger of the Democrat Party.

The ambiance of Capital Hill is a heady brew of perks, parties, privilege, and power. Once Freshmen Congresscritters experience the overwhelming intoxication of it, It seeps into their very soul, and the majority of them seem to forget that THEY are supposed to be OUR servants.

If the Republican Leadership does not sober up immediately, they will find themselves being forced to sober up in November of 2014, by the harsh reality of being voted out of office.

As I have quipped before,

I hope they have a trade to fall back on.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Congress Now Exempt From Obamacare. If It’s Good Enough For us…?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

pelosigavelA long time ago, within the hallowed Halls of Power, a bunch of self-serving politicians took a vote to decimate the greatest Healthcare System in the World. The vote, taken in the middle of the night, went the way they wanted, putting into effect a Government-run Socialized Healthcare System in a Constitutional Republic. Those that passed it were so proud of what they had done, that they paraded through the “unwashed masses”, holding their symbol of power, an over-sized gavel, smiling like jackasses eating yellow- jackets.

As reality struck their constituents, as to what the people who were supposed to represent their wishes had done, a groundswell movement began to form, taking upon themselves the name of “The Tea Party Movement, in honor of those revolutionaries, centuries ago, who expressed their displeasure with a tyrannical, over-taxing king, by tossing crates of English Tea off of a sailing vessel, into Boston Harbor.

Through this Groundswell Movement’s efforts, the minority political party in the nation, became the majority political party, sweeping the 2010 Mid-term Elections, on the promise of lower taxes and the appeal of the Government-run Socialized HealthcareSystem, which had become “affectionately” known as Obamacare.

As time went on, these public servants, elected to power by the acclamation of the over-taxed, seemed to steadily forget why they were elected to their Congressional Seats. They began to exhibit behaviors more in line with the Old Guard of their political party, instead of attacking the issues with the ferocity of Young Lions, as they promised to, if the voters would elect them.The reaching across the aisle and “bi-partisanship” of the two political parties, who are supposed to be political adversaries, has become so widespread, that they seem to be beginning to merge into one political party, much to to frustration and consternation of the voters who sent them to the Halls of Power to represent them, not themselves.

As now, as voters’ disillusionment with the whole dadblamed political system is at its highest, along comes the ultimate insult:

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers and their staffs will continue to receive a federal contribution toward the health insurance that they must purchase through soon-to-open exchanges created by President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The decision by the Office of Personnel Management, with Obama’s blessing, will prevent the largely unintended loss of healthcare benefits for 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives and thousands of Capitol Hill staff.

When Congress passed the health reform law known as Obamacare in 2010, an amendment required that lawmakers and their staff members purchase health insurance through the online exchanges that the law created. They would lose generous coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

The amendment’s author, Republican Senator Charles Grassley, argued that if Obamacare plans were good enough for the American public, they were good enough for Congress. Democrats, eager to pass the reforms, went along with it.

But it soon became apparent the provision contained no language that allowed federal contributions toward their health plans that cover about 75 percent of the premium costs.

This caused fears that staff would suddenly face sharply higher healthcare costs and leave federal service, causing a “brain drain” on Capitol Hill.

But Wednesday’s proposed rule from the OPM, the federal government’s human resources agency, means that Congress will escape the most onerous impact of law as it was written.

The OPM said the federal contributions will be allowed to continue for exchange-purchased plans for lawmakers and their staffs, ensuring that those working on Capitol Hill will effectively get the same health contributions as millions of other federal workers who keep their current plan.

In other words, the same idiots who foisted this travesty of a Government-run Socialized Healthcare System, called Obamacare on us, are now exempt from it.

So, Government Bureaucracy and Death Panels are good enough for us, but not for them?

I thought that the Republican Leaders in the House and Senate wanted to defund this monstrosity, not be exempt from it. Who are they working for…themselves?

If Cryin’ John Boehner and the rest of the Vichy Republicans don’ call the whole Congress out on this latest development, than they are no better than San Fran Nan Pelosi and the rest of the Marxist/Alinsky-ite Democrats

They are drinking from the same through of grape Kool-Aid.

Our Founding Fathers envisioned Congress as being filled with public servants, who would be elected by their community to represent them in our Federal Government, serve out their term, and then go back home and resume their normal lives.

Over the years, public service has degenerated into selfish avarice. The “citizen servant” has become the professional politician, running for office time and time again. until their literally keel over and die on the House or Senate Floor.

What started out as altruistic servitude, usually winds up being unbridled, self-serving corruption.

yes, there are still some “citizen servants”, but, at least in this day and age, the seem to be few and far between. It seemingly does not take very long for wide-eyed good-hearted freshmen Representatives and Senators, to become jaded, self-serving political hacks, who only seem to care about their constituency’s concerns when it is during their next campaign.

To those, like Ted Cruz, who seem genuinely concerned about defunding Obamacare…thank you for working on behalf of the American people.

To the Vichy Republicans, please follow up on your numerous promises to do the same.

It would behoove you to speak out about this double standard and continue to work on defunding Obamacare.

…as if your jobs depend on it.

Because they do.

Until He Comes, 

KJ

Greasing the Wheels: Obama Delays ACA Employer Mandate…Until After the Mid-Terms.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

obamadoctorObamacare, or, as the Liberals refer to it, the Affordable Care Act, is hanging over America like an F5 Tornado about to touch down, leaving a barren landscape, as far as the eye can see.

Mark J. Mazur is the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, in the U.S. Treasury Department. He is responsible for developing, analyzing, and coordinating Treasury’s and the Administration’s agenda, policies, and guidance on tax issues.

Yesterday, Mazur made the following announcement on the Treasury Department’s Blog:

Over the past several months, the Administration has been engaging in a dialogue with businesses – many of which already provide health coverage for their workers – about the new employer and insurer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively. We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action.

The Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. This is designed to meet two goals. First, it will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law. Second, it will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees. Within the next week, we will publish formal guidance describing this transition. Just like the Administration’s effort to turn the initial 21-page application for health insurance into a three-page application, we are working hard to adapt and to be flexible about reporting requirements as we implement the law.

Here is some additional detail. The ACA includes information reporting (under section 6055) by insurers, self-insuring employers, and other parties that provide health coverage. It also requires information reporting (under section 6056) by certain employers with respect to the health coverage offered to their full-time employees. We expect to publish proposed rules implementing these provisions this summer, after a dialogue with stakeholders – including those responsible employers that already provide their full-time work force with coverage far exceeding the minimum employer shared responsibility requirements – in an effort to minimize the reporting, consistent with effective implementation of the law.

Once these rules have been issued, the Administration will work with employers, insurers, and other reporting entities to strongly encourage them to voluntarily implement this information reporting in 2014, in preparation for the full application of the provisions in 2015. Real-world testing of reporting systems in 2014 will contribute to a smoother transition to full implementation in 2015.

Per a report completed by the Washington Council of Ernst & Young…

  • According to Treasury Notice 2011-36, any employer with 50+ full-time equivalents is considered a large employer. For each calendar month of the preceding calendar year, employers must:

1. Calculate full-time employees (including seasonal): (30+ hrs/wk/month)

2. Full-time equivalents: aggregate number of hours worked by non-full-time employees (including seasonal) ÷ 120

3. Add the number of full-time employees and FTEs calculated in steps (1) and (2) for each of the 12 months in the preceding calendar year.

4. Add the monthly totals and divide by 12. If the average exceeds 50 FTEs, determine whether the seasonal employee exception applies (see below).

5. Seasonal employee exception: If an employer’s workforce exceeds 50 FT employees for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 who were employed during that period of

no more than 120 days (four calendar months, for this purpose only) were seasonal employees, the employer would not be an applicable large employer.

6. If the seasonal exception does not apply, the employer is an applicable large employer for the current calendar year.

  • If a large employer does not offer coverage to their full-time employees and their dependents, employers face a penalty of:

$2,000 x the total number of full-time employees (FTE) if at least one FTE is receiving a premium assistance tax credit

  • If a large employer offers coverage to their full-time employees and their dependents but the coverage is unaffordable to certain employees or does not provide

minimum value, employers face a penalty of:

  • The lesser of $3,000 x the number of FTEs receiving a premium assistance tax credit or $2,000 x the total number of FTEs

We’re talking big money here.

So, what would trump the Federal Government’s well-known penchant for avarice?

Their all-consuming survival instinct.

Obama and the rest of the Democrats know what a train wreck this ironically-named “Affordable Care Act” is going to be.

And, if they dare allow it to unfold on schedule, there will never be another Democrat elected again for decades, even if they bring in millions of replacement voters from Mexico, as they are trying to accomplish with the Senate Gang of 8’s horrendous Amnesty Bill.

Even time.com had to tell the truth about this move:

The so-called individual mandate is unaffected by the rule change. That provision requires the vast majority of Americans to purchase insurance or pay a penalty, with tax credits provided to those who can’t afford coverage.

Republican former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin called the move “deviously brilliant,” by removing a potential electoral impediment from in front of congressional Democrats before the midterms.

“Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land,” Holtz-Eakin wrote. “Explaining away the mandate was going to be a big political lift; having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better.”

Uh huh.

So, by delaying this incredible tax burden aimed directly at the heart of our economy…America’s “Large” Employers…the men and women who actually provide us with jobs, the Democrats are hoping that American Capitalists have short memories, and absolutely no foresight.

Just as the Vichy Republicans believe that former illegal aliens will be so grateful for the passage of the Amnesty Bill, that they will actually vote for the GOP, so Democrats believe that America’s Businessmen will ignore the Employer Mandate that’s is hanging directly over their heads, like the blade of a guillotine.

I believe that both political parties are counting their chickeeeens….before they come home…to roost!

 

Pelosi: Celebrate Obamacare on Independence Day!

On By kingsjesterIn Uncategorized2 Comments

pelosigavelYesterday morning, during her weekly Press Briefing Former Speaker of the House and genuine nutjob “San Fran Nan” Pelosi had a suggestion as to how red-blooded Americans should celebrate the Fourth of July this year,

Pretty soon we’ll all be leaving for the Fourth of July recess. Next week when we celebrate Independence Day, we’ll also be observing health independence. This marks one year since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The Affordable Care Act offers just that: A healthier life, liberty [to] pursue [a] person’s happiness, to be free of constraint, the job locked, uhh, because they’re policy locked. So, if you wanted to be a cameraman, a writer, you want to be self-employed, if you want to start a business, if you want to change jobs — whatever is you want to do — you are free.

After I laughed, cried, hurled, and banged my head on my desk all at the same time, I came to, and realized that this idiot actually believed what she was saying. She actually wants Americans to celebrate the end of the greatest Healthcare System on God’s Green Earth, instead of celebrating the founding of the greatest nation in that same world.

Before America’s Congressional cowards passed the abomination now known as Obamacare in March of 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the American people that we would have to let them pass Obamacare so “that we will know what is in it”.  Here are three lies that Pelosi’s buddy, President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) boldly told us before they passed Obamacare and the truth uncovered about these three lies since then:

1)  LIE:  Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) said in an address to a joint session of Congress, to sell health care reform, in September 2009:

One more misunderstanding I want to clear up — under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.

And then:

Whitehouse.blogs.com 3/21/10 – Today, the President announced that he will be issuing an executive order after the passage of the health insurance reform law that will reaffirm its consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion.

While the legislation as written maintains current law, the executive order provides additional safeguards to ensure that the status quo is upheld and enforced, and that the health care legislation’s restrictions against the public funding of abortions cannot be circumvented.

The President has said from the start that this health insurance reform should not be the forum to upset longstanding precedent. The health care legislation and this executive order are consistent with this principle.

The President is grateful for the tireless efforts of leaders on both sides of this issue to craft a consensus approach that allows the bill to move forward.

TRUTH:  Later, news leaked out that The Health and Human Services Department was giving Pennsylvania $160 million for the establishment of a new high-risk insurance pool that will cover any abortion that is legal in the state.

2) LIE:   Also in September of 2009, Obama gave an interview to George Stephanopoulos, former member of the Clinton administration and now an anchor for ABC News.  Here is an excerpt from that interview:

By the way, was that a lateral career move?  But I digress…

STEPHANOPOULOS:  …during the campaign.  Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?

OBAMA:  Well, hold on a second, George. Here — here’s what’s happening.  You and I are both paying $900, on average — our families — in higher premiums because of uncompensated care.  Now what I’ve said is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you certainly shouldn’t be punished for that.  That’s just piling on. If, on the other hand, we’re giving tax credits, we’ve set up an exchange, you are now part of a big pool, we’ve driven down the costs, we’ve done everything we can and you actually can afford health insurance, but you’ve just decided, you know what, I want to take my chances.  And then you get hit by a bus and you and I have to pay for the emergency room care, that’s…

OBAMA:  No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.  Any…

STEPHANOPOULOS:  Here’s the…

OBAMA:  What — what — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say well, that’s not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…

TRUTH:  Under Obamacare, signed into law by Obama in March 2009, the majority of Americans will have to maintain “minimum essential coverage” starting in 2014. Many people will be eligible for federal subsidies to assist in paying their premiums.

In a brief defending the law, the Department Of Justice said the requirement for people to carry insurance or pay the penalty is “a valid exercise” of Congress’s power to impose taxes.

Congress can use its taxing power “even for purposes that would exceed its powers under other provisions” of the Constitution, the department said.

Of course,later, Chief Justice “”Benedict Arnold” Roberts and the Libs on the Supreme Court would agree with the president and the DOJ.

While Congress was working on the health care legislation, Scooter would not acknowledge that a mandate to buy insurance, enforced by financial penalties, was equivalent to a tax.

3)  LIE:  At a town hall event Aug. 15, 2009, in Grand Junction, Colo.,Obama said:

[i]f you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. Nobody is going to force you to leave your health care plan. If you like your doctor, you keep seeing your doctor. I don’t want government bureaucrats meddling in your health care. But the point is, I don’t want insurance company bureaucrats meddling in your health care either.

And he also said:

I expect that after reform passes, the vast majority of Americans are still going to be getting their insurance from private insurers.

Truth:  Perhaps, perhaps not. Recently, the Ohio Department of Insurance made an announcement that, based on the rates submitted by insurers to date, the average individual-market health insurance premium in 2014 will rise to around $420, “representing an increase of 88 percent” relative to 2013.

The rates that Ohio reported still have to be approved by the Department of Insurance.Out of proposed rates for 214 plans sent to the Department, projected costs from the companies for providing coverage for the required [by Obamacare] essential health benefits ranged from $282.51 to $577.40 for individual health insurance plans.

Congresswoman Pelosi needs to increase her senility medication. 

The Fourth of July is a celebration of American Freedom. It is not a celebration of the new American Proletariats’  [our] forced servitude to the new Politboro.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Storm Clouds Surround Sebelius

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

sebilius kissing obamaHealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finds herself at the center of two controversies today, as the truth about the Obama Administration slowly bubbles to the surface.

On May 13, 2013, wsj.com posted the following article…

Leaders in Congress are questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s solicitation of funds from private businesses and charities to help pay for public outreach on Obamacare to get prospective enrollees signed up for health exchanges.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, ranking Republican on the Senate Health committee, told the New York Times he plans to ask the Government Accountability Office to check the legality of Sebelius’s actions, done after Congress denied the administration funds for public outreach in the 2014 budget. The Washington Post also said that Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, top Republican on the Finance Committee, questioned the legality of the action.

The Times said Sebelius obtained $10 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and $500,000 from H&R Block for the effort. HHS officials said that Sebelius’s efforts would continue, after first denying they were soliciting funds for the effort. But a spokesman for Sebelius said a section of the Public Health Service Act allows her to encourage others to support those working to help carry out public health activities.

Sebelius reportedly has sought donations for Enroll America, a private non-profit group that is working to get the uninsured covered under the 2010 health-care law.

While that issue continues to percolate, Secretary Sebelius finds herself in the middle of another controversy.

Politico.com reports…

The plight of a dying 10-year-old girl in urgent need of a lung transplant has been taken up by some GOP lawmakers, and it’s shining a light on what critics say is a questionable policy that puts children further down the waiting list.

The family of the Pennsylvania girl, Sarah Murnaghan, has garnered the media spotlight, on cable news and in other outlets. And some GOP congressmen have joined the fray, quite literally “begging” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to intervene and save the girl’s life. Both Pennsylvania senators — a Democrat and a Republican — have also written on the child’s behalf.

“I’m begging you,” Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) told Sebelius at a House hearing Tuesday morning, asking her to suspend the transplant rules until they can be revisited. “Sarah has three to five weeks to live. Time is running out.” The child has cystic fibrosis.

At the hearing, Sebelius called the situation “agonizing” and said she had talked to the girl’s mother. She has ordered a review of the policy, which she acknowledged would take too long to have any impact on this girl’s situation, but said it wasn’t her place to pick and choose transplant recipients.

“I can’t imagine anything worse than one individual getting to pick who lives and who dies,” she said. Sebelius said putting Sarah next in line would disadvantage other young people who have also been waiting for transplants — including three in the same area. Helping one child could possibly hurt another.

Some experts agree that the lung allocation policy may need to be revisited; it has been for kidney and liver transplants. But they say no snap decisions should be made because of the media glare.

Remember when Sarah Palin warned Americans about the Death Panels that were coming with Obamacare?

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

That was posted on her Facebook Page on August 7, 2009. Yesterday, on her Facebook Page, Former Governor Palin wrote

The government will bend the rules left and right to harass targeted taxpayers, conservative patriots, selected journalists, etc., but it will strictly exercise inconsistent and subjective rules to deny a child a shot at life. And they called us liars when we spoke of “death panels” – faceless bureaucrats coming between you and your doctor to make life and death decisions about a loved one’s survival. It doesn’t sound so far fetched anymore, does it? – Sarah Palin

No, ma’am. It most certainly doesn’t.

Sec. Sebelius once remarked,

A healthy state encourages many voices – and lots of listening.

What she didn’t mention was the cold condescension and callous dismissal that follows “lots of listening”.

The members of this corrupt Administration have forgotten that they serve at our pleasure. It is time to remind them.

And, please…remember Sarah and her family in your prayers.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obamacare: The GOP Vs. the Death Panels

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics6 Comments

obamadoctorDo you remember when Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin warned us about the upcoming Death Panels in Obamacare?

She wrote the following on her Facebook Page on August 7, 2009,

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

All of “the smartest people in the room” laughed themselves silly, all the while assuring us that Gov. Palin was terribly wrong.

They lied.

The Independent Patient Advisory Board, a part of Obamacare, is set up to be a 15-member panel. Three members are to be chosen by the Republican leaders of the House and Senate, with the remaining three chosen by Obama and the executive branch. All of the members then have to be confirmed by the Senate.

The IPAB comes into play if Medicare costs are projected to go beyond economic growth plus an additional percentage point in any given year.

Evidently, San Fran Nan was right. Those idiots had to pass Obamacare so that they could see what was in it.

And now that they’ve seen it, Death Panels are perfectly acceptable, at least according to Anthony Mirhaydari, in an article he wrote for MSMMoney.com, posted on March 20th of this year:

If we’re going to end this slide into the fiscal abyss and stop the intergenerational heist, we need to address both the cost of care and the fact that so much goes to giving a few more days of low-quality life to the terminally ill. These resources could be better spent preparing the way for those just starting in life, while still providing our seniors with a more dignified end.

Bipartisan support does seem to be coalescing around means-testing for Medicare benefits, so that those who can afford it pay more. That’s great, but we also we need to encourage increased use of hospice care while discouraging repeated and outrageously expensive hospitalizations.

Think that’s inhumane? This heartbreaking New Yorker story by surgeon Atul Gawande about the current state of end-of-life care will change your mind.

And consider what you’d do if you had to pay those expenses out of pocket, as so many young families have to. Death is inevitable. Would you impoverish your family in an ultimately unsuccessful fight against it?

We need to celebrate our mortality, appreciate how delicate the balance between life and death is, and understand that a better life and a longer life aren’t necessarily the same thing — especially if it consumes resources desperately needed by the generations to come.

Didn’t I see that scenario in the classic movie “Lifeboat” (1944), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Talullah Bankhead and William Bendix?

In the movie, a chic writer, a stoker and others drift with the U-boat captain who has sunk their ship. Through cruelty and debasement, a deadly survival of the fittest scenario unfolds, until only a few are left to be rescued as the movie ends.

Is this what America is headed for? “A survival of the fittest”?

The Republican Leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives do not want to play that game.

Yesterday, Sen. McConnell and Speaker Boehner sent a letter to President Obama to inform him that they would not be participating in the nominations for the IPAB.

The following is an excerpt from the letter they sent:

In order to allow supporters to claim that the law’s Medicare cuts would be realized in the future, it tasked IPAB with reducing payments to providers or eliminating payments for certain treatments and procedures altogether. These reduced payments will force providers to stop seeing Medicare patients, the same way an increased number of doctors have stopped taking Medicaid patients. This will lead to access problems, waiting lists and denied care for seniors.

The unfortunate result is that decisions which impact America’s seniors will be made in the absence of the democratic process, without the system of checks and balances that would normally apply to important matters of public policy. Yet your recent budget called for expanding IPAB by tasking it with making even larger cuts to Medicare than those called for in the health law, even though the trustees of the Medicare program have told us that IPAB’s provider cuts would be “difficult to achieve in practice,” because of the denied care that seniors would experience.

You know, I had heard the Democratic Party called “The Party of Death” before, due to their heinous adoration of the murder of babies, still in their mothers’ wombs. However, it really hit home for me when they passed the monstrous legislation known as Obamacare.

Now, I am not saying that every single Democrat is a heathen, but why did the majority of them oppose putting references to God in their Party Platform at their 2012 Convention?

And, the cold, calculating rationale of those Liberals like Mirhaydari, just boggles the mind.

I know that it will never happen, but all those whose laughed when Gov. Palin warned us about the Obama Death Panels, owe that lady an apology.

And, Obamacare needs to be repealed…STAT.

Until He Comes,

KJ