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The true cost of Obamacare

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September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
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Author Topic: The true cost of Obamacare  (Read 29198 times)
Kilika
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« Reply #90 on: September 25, 2013, 01:57:20 pm »

Quote
The companies aren’t giving any previews of their plans before the federal government discloses details Oct. 1

Looks like the federal government just made that disclosure...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/prices-set-health-care-exchanges-040600393.html

Quote
Prices Set for New Health-Care Exchanges

The Wall Street JournalBy Louise Radnofsky
| The Wall Street Journal – 14 hours ago

hemselves. Fourteen states are operating exchanges on their own.

The Obama administration called the rates a good deal for consumers.


Good deal? Not for patients. It's great for business. All those new patients that are being forced into the system, each paying an office visit fee just for showing up. And of course a new patient will likely need some tests, you know, a chest x-ray or something. That may well be right down the hall at their "sister company" imaging center.

Deductibles. Who is talking about the cash out of pocket that each plan requires before coverage kicks in? I've seen deductible numbers in the $6,000 range, which means you pay that amount out of your pocket before the insurance will pay say 80 percent. Where is the mentions of that financial reality?

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« Reply #91 on: September 26, 2013, 11:50:45 am »

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/25/politics/shutdown-showdown/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
9/25/13
Surprise! Obamacare foe Cruz votes with Democrats on spending plan

Washington (CNN) -- He spent more than 21 straight hours railing against any government funding for Obamacare. Then Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas joined the other 99 senators from both parties in voting Wednesday to move ahead on a spending plan expected to do just that.

The rare 100-0 vote on a procedural step means the spending measure that would avoid a partial government shutdown next week now can be amended by Senate Democrats to restore funding for President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms, which had been eliminated last week by House Republicans.

Cruz led a group of tea party conservatives in trying to block Senate consideration of the spending legislation because Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid made clear his caucus would remove the provision that defunded Obamacare.

However, Cruz came under strong criticism from fellow Republicans for that strategy, which called for GOP senators to filibuster the House measure that -- in its original form -- would defund programs under the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

The confusion of Cruz's strategy was apparent Wednesday when he voted with Democrats for the Senate to take up the measure less than two hours after his marathon speech against it that began Tuesday afternoon and continued overnight and through the morning.

An aide to Cruz told CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash that the senator always intended to allow formal consideration of the House measure, adding that Cruz would vote against it once Senate Democrats restored the Obamacare funding.

However, nothing in Cruz's words or actions preceding the vote indicated that was his intention. Instead, he had urged his colleagues to unite against the spending plan, saying voting for it was tantamount to supporting Obamacare.

"Any senator who votes (to move forward with debate on the House measure) is voting to give Harry Reid the authority to fund Obamacare," Cruz told Bash on Monday.

After Wednesday's vote, Cruz told reporters that his long night sought to unite Republicans to block any funding for Obamacare.

"Coming into this debate we clearly were not united," he said. "There were significant divisions in the conference. I hope those divisions dissolve; that we come together in party unity" with all 46 Republicans preventing a final vote on the spending plan once Democrats amend it to fund Obamacare.

Cruz and other tea party conservatives wanted to prevent the Senate from taking up the spending measure passed last week by the GOP-controlled House that makes continued government funding contingent on denying any money for Obamacare.

How this affects you

While his drawn-out floor speech did not constitute a filibuster, it was intended to rally opposition to the state goal of Senate Democrats to restore the Obamacare funding.

However, Cruz lacked support for his tactics from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other influential veterans including Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee.

In the end, Cruz voted with them to open the spending plan to revisions by the Democratic-led chamber.

Reid called Cruz's all-night speech a "waste of time" as the nation faced a possible partial shutdown of the government if Congress fails to authorize government spending beyond Monday, when the current fiscal year ends.

To Reid, the tactic reflected a perspective that a "bad day for government" amounted to a "good day" for tea party conservatives.

Earlier Wednesday, Corker told CNN that a better idea would be to get the bill back to the House as soon as possible so the Republican majority there can offer a compromise.

"House members are already talking about how they might respond if the defunding component ends up being stripped out," Corker said, adding he hoped that the Senate would "give the House some time to respond in a thoughtful way."

With Obamacare markets for the uninsured set to open on October 1, which also begins the new fiscal year, GOP opponents consider this their last best chance to undermine or amend the health care reforms.

A possible GOP counter-proposal floated by Corker would delay its full implementation for a year. He noted that Obama already postponed another component affecting business implementation of health care reforms for a year.

Under the process planned by Reid, a final Senate vote on the revised spending plan would occur over the weekend to leave the House a day at most to reconsider it. However, Reid said Wednesday he wanted the Senate to complete its work on the measure as soon as possible.

Cruz, as he approached the conclusion of his overnight speech, thanked the Senate staff and others "who have endured this Bataan death march."

When he began at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, Cruz said he intended to "speak in support of defunding Obamacare until I am no longer able to stand."

He filled the ensuing hours with a blend of political rhetoric and emotional pleas for Republicans like Corker to unite in opposition to Obamacare.\

Darth Vader, Sean Connery, Chinese gooseberries and other highlights

Conservative colleagues including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, David Vitter of Louisiana and James Inhofe of Oklahoma joined him at times to assume the main talking duties and allow Cruz to rest his vocal chords.

'Green Eggs and Ham' gets a reading

On Tuesday night, he read the Dr. Seuss children's classic "Green Eggs and Ham" to his daughters.

As he reached 18 hours of holding the Senate floor on Wednesday morning, Cruz compared his anti-Obamacare effort to the "Star Wars" films.

Referring to having heard someone use the phrase "rebellion against oppression," Cruz said those words "conjured up to me the rebel alliance fighting against the empire. The empire being the Washington, D.C., establishment."

"And indeed immediately on hearing that phrase I wondered if at some point we would see a tall gentleman in a mechanical breathing apparatus come forward and say in a deep voice, `Mike Lee, I am your father.' "

Cruz said his effort "is a fight to restore freedom to the people. This is a fight to get the Washington establishment, the empire, to listen to the people. And just like in the 'Star Wars' movies the empire will strike back. But at the end of the day I think the rebel alliance, I think the people will prevail."

Later, he called for Senate Republicans to show the same courage as their party colleagues in the House in making a stand to defund Obamacare.

He alluded to the risks faced by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, noting they were mostly wealthy landowners who faced hanging for treason for their actions.

What's Ted Cruz's deal?

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Cruz was alone on the floor, except for the presiding officer, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin.

Durbin and Cruz engaged in some hostile exchanges, with the Illinois Democrat accusing Cruz of trying to deny health care coverage for tens of millions of currently uninsured Americans while enjoying the benefits of a federal health care program.

Cruz responded that Obamacare was flawed and hurting the country, and the focus should be on a better solution instead of continuing on with a failed system.

What you need to know about the possible shutdown

Two sides battle it out on social media

Earlier, Cruz sought to define his battle as purely about principle, saying: "This fight is not about any member of this body. This fight is not about personalities."

"Look, most Americans could not give a flying flip about a bunch of politicians in Washington," he said. "Who cares? Almost all of us are in cheap suits with bad haircuts! Who cares?"

Supporters cheered him on through social media, and #StandWithCruz became one of the most popular hashtags on Twitter.

But supporters of the health care law made themselves heard as well. On Wednesday morning, the two sides were battling it out in the top trending topic in the United States: "Obamacare."

5 strange things about debt ceiling politics

Key Republicans critical of Cruz strategy

Cruz also has been the target of criticism by some top Republicans.

GOP infighting over how best to prevent a government shutdown while defunding Obamacare escalated Tuesday as McConnell publicly dismissed Cruz's more confrontational strategy.

Cruz's GOP critics believe his strategy is politically suicidal, arguing there is no way to stop Obamacare as long as Democrats maintain control of the Senate and Obama is in the White House.

They believe that trying to do so by forcing a shutdown -- or preventing an increase in the debt ceiling next month -- will backfire by harming the economy and damaging the Republican brand.

What happens in a government shutdown

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the debt ceiling -- which is the amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills -- must be raised by October 17 to prevent a possible default.

House Republicans say they will propose a package of measures that includes a one-year delay in full implementation of Obamacare to a proposal to extend the debt limit for a year. House Republican leaders met Wednesday evening to discuss the policy priorities they plan to attach.

But there are signs leadership is running into resistance from conservatives, some of whom do not want additional borrowing. Others want to add new items while others still question the strategy of taking up the debt bill in the middle of fight over spending and a possible government shutdown.

The White House rejects negotiations on the debt issue, saying something as fundamental as ensuring the good credit of the United States must be above politics.

The last debt ceiling fight in Congress in 2011 caused the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating and Obama and top Democrats warn playing politics with the issue now will cause economic harm amid the still fragile recovery.
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Kilika
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« Reply #92 on: September 26, 2013, 05:06:21 pm »

In other words, he just made a mockery of the whole process.  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #93 on: September 27, 2013, 01:07:03 pm »

Senate voting on amendment to remove House provision defunding Obamacare from spending bill - @thehill live video
http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/325139-watch-live-senate-votes-on-continuing-resolution-


US Senate strips defunding of Obamacare from bill averting government shutdown - @AP
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUDGET_BATTLE_OBAMACARE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Sen. Cruz, R-Texas, on Senate passage of spending bill: 'I think it's unfortunate Senate Republicans were not united this time around' - @mpoindc

No Senate member of either party broke ranks on vote to approve a short-term spending plan and send it back to the House - @washingtonpost
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/live-updates-the-shutdown-showdown/
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« Reply #94 on: September 27, 2013, 01:17:49 pm »

Senate votes to avert federal shutdown; duel with House will extend at least into weekend

A potential federal shutdown hurtling ever closer, the Senate dealt an emphatic defeat to a core of rebellious young conservatives Friday and approved legislation preventing government agencies from closing on Tuesday.

The 54-44 vote, however, hardly spelled an end to Washington's latest down-to-the-wire budget drama. It remains unclear whether the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-run House will be able to craft a compromise and rush it to President Barack Obama for his signature before the government has to tell hundreds of thousands of federal workers to stay home.

The fight was certain to spill into the weekend at least. House GOP leaders were still struggling Friday to win over restive conservatives and concoct a new version of the bill that would be able to win approval in their chamber — and clear the Senate too.

The high-stakes showdown was playing out in a climate of chaos, unpredictability and GOP infighting that was extraordinary even by congressional standards. Reflecting the building drama, Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Friday's session with a prayer that included, "Lord, deliver us from governing by crisis."

Before final approval, the Senate voted 79-19 to reject an effort by some Senate conservatives to block final passage of the legislation.

Led by first-term GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, the band of conservatives has wanted to derail the shutdown bill. They argued such a move would have prevented Democrats from removing a provision blocking money for Obama's health care law and forced Democrats to negotiate on reining in that 2010 overhaul, which conservatives and many Republicans despise.

Yet Republican lawmakers opposed the conservatives' tactics, worried that it was doomed to failure and would only enhance the chances of a government shutdown for which the GOP would be blamed by voters.

The lopsided margin of the vote against the conservatives underscored the opposition they stirred in their own party. Twenty-five GOP senators voted against them, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and the Senate's other two top Republicans, John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota.

"It is not easy to disagree with your political party," said Cruz. "But at the end of the day, what we're doing here is bigger than partisan politics. What we're doing here is fighting for 300 million Americans," who, he asserted, widely oppose Obamacare.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., barely concealed his scorn for the conservatives' effort.

"Today, the Republican Party has been infected by a small and destructive faction," he said. Noting the increased risk of a shutdown that he said they had caused, Reid continued, "A bad day for government is a good day for the anarchists among us."

Even in the House, some Republicans were unhappy with Cruz's and Lee's efforts.

"I think that a government shutdown is counterproductive to our message in 2014, because we transfer the public's attention perhaps away from Obamacare and instead put it on the pain that will be inflicted, that is still to be determined, on the effects of a government shutdown," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.

The House had previously approved a version of the shutdown bill that included the language — demanded by conservatives there — stripping Obamacare money.

That House bill would keep agencies working Tuesday, when the government's new fiscal year begins, through Dec. 15. The Senate bill shortened that date to Nov. 15 in hopes of prodding congressional committees to quickly complete spending bills bearing details of agency budgets.

GOP disunity over what to include in a separate debt limit measure forced leaders to indefinitely delay that legislation, which is aimed at preventing a damaging, first-ever federal default that the Obama administration has warned could otherwise occur by Oct. 17.

At one point Thursday, GOP divisions burst into full view on the Senate floor as Cruz and Lee forced the Senate to wait until Friday to approve its bill preventing a shutdown.

"The American people are watching this" but expected the vote Friday or Saturday, said Lee, who asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to not hold the roll call on Thursday.

rest: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/225463132.html
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« Reply #95 on: September 28, 2013, 05:34:22 am »

Thanks To Obamacare, Employer-Based Health Insurance Is Becoming An Endangered Species

Barack Obama promised to fundamentally transform America, and when it comes to health care he has definitely kept his promise.  Thanks to Obamacare, health care spending is up, health insurance premiums are up, the number of hours Americans are working is down and employer-based health insurance is becoming an endangered species.  Of course employer-based health insurance will not disappear completely any time soon, but it has been steadily shrinking for over a decade, and Obamacare will greatly accelerate that decline.  If you go back to 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance.  That was pretty good.  Today, only 54.9 percent of all Americans are covered by employment-based health insurance, and now thousands upon thousands of U.S. employers are considering reducing the scope of the health plans they offer to employees or eliminating them altogether due to Obamacare.  If you are thinking that this sounds like a potential nightmare for millions of Americans families, you would be exactly right.
 
There have already been widespread reports of companies dropping health insurance, but nobody knows for sure how widespread the carnage will be.  According to Businessweek, the surveys that have been done up to this point have come up with widely varying results...
 

A Deloitte study last year suggested 10 percent of employers would stop offering group health plans. A widely criticized McKinsey report from 2011 put the number as high as one-third. The Congressional Budget Office’s latest projections suggest 8 million fewer people will be covered by employer plans five years from now under the ACA than without it. Many of them will get policies through health insurance exchanges instead.
 
But what everyone does agree on is that employer-based health coverage will continue to diminish.
 
And we are already watching this happen right in front of our eyes.  Just this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the largest security guard firm in the United States is dropping health coverage for 55,000 employees...
 

The nation's largest provider of security guards plans to discontinue its lowest-cost health plans and steer roughly 55,000 workers to new government-sponsored insurance exchanges for coverage next year, in the latest sign of the fraying ties between employment and health care.
 
The U.S. arm of Sweden's Securitas AB is among more than 1,200 employers that offer the kind of bare-bones health plans that must be phased out beginning Jan. 1 under the health-care law. Nearly four million people are enrolled in these so-called mini-med plans, which cap benefits to participants, sometimes at as little as $3,000 a year.
 
"The mini-meds go away and we're not replacing them," said Jim McNulty, a spokesman for Securitas's U.S. operation. "Their option is to go to the exchanges."
 
Other big employers, including Darden Restaurants Inc., Home Depot Inc. and Trader Joe's Co., say they will stop offering health insurance to part-time workers, and will direct those employees to the state exchanges. Darden, Home Depot and Trader Joe's previously offered mini-meds to their part timers.
 
Speaking of Trader Joe's, I wrote about how they are eliminating health coverage for part-time workers the other day.  Instead of providing health insurance for their part-time workers, Trader Joe's will be writing them a check and pushing them on to the Obamacare exchanges...
 

Trader Joe's, the grocer once lauded for providing health care coverage to its part-time workers, is about to push those employees off its plan.
 
According to a memo obtained by the Huffington Post, the company will stop covering employees who work less than 30 hours per week.
 
The change is set for the start of 2014. Instead of insurance, workers instead will get a check for $500 in January.
 
"Depending on income you may earn outside of Trader Joe's, we believe that with the $500 from Trader Joe's and the tax credits available under the [Affordable Care Act (ACA)], many of you should be able to obtain health care coverage at very little if any net cost to you," said Trader Joe CEO Dan Bane in the memo.
 
And this is a huge reason why the shift from full-time work to part-time work in America has accelerated this year.  Obamacare creates an incentive for companies to have more part-time workers and less full-time workers.  In fact, almost all of the jobs that have been "created" by the U.S. economy in 2013 have been part-time jobs.
 
But it is incredibly difficult to try to support a family on a part-time job.  Sadly, the quality of our jobs continues to decline rapidly and only 47 percent of all adults have a full-time job in America today.  This is only going to continue to get even worse under Obamacare.
 
As a result of these trends, more Americans are going to be forced to go out and buy health insurance "on the individual market".  When they do, they are likely to be in for a really nasty surprise...
 

Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Ky. and their two boys are just the kind of people who should be helped by ObamaCare. But they recently got a nasty surprise in the mail.
 
"When I saw the letter when I came home from work," Andy said, describing the large red wording on the envelope from his insurance carrier, "(it said) 'your action required, benefit changes, act now.' Of course I opened it immediately."
 
It had stunning news. Insurance for the Mangiones and their two boys,which they bought on the individual market, was going to almost triple in 2014 --- from $333 a month to $965.
 
The insurance carrier made it clear the increase was in order to be compliant with the new health care law.
 
Are you ready to have your health insurance premiums potentially double or triple?
 
In other cases, families are discovering that health insurance companies are simply cancelling their health insurance plans...
 

Across the country, insurers are sending out ObamaCare-induced health plan death notices to untold tens of thousands of other customers in the individual market. Twitter users are posting their ObamaCare cancellation notices and accompanying rate increases:
 
Linda Deright posted her letter from Regency of Washington state: "63 percent jump, old policy of 15 yrs. cancelled." Karen J. Dugan wrote: "Received same notice from Blue Shield CA for our small business. Driving into exchange and no info since online site is down." Chris Birk wrote: "Got notice from BCBS that my current health plan is not ACA compliant. New plan 2x as costly for worse coverage." Small-business owner Villi Wilson posted his letter from HMSA Blue Cross Blue Shield canceling his individual plan and added: "I thought Obama said if I like my health care plan I can keep my health care plan."
 
In fact, this even happened to one member of Congress.  U.S. Representative Cory Gardner had purchased health insurance on his own because he wanted to experience what his constituents were going through, and he recently got a letter informing him that his old plan had been "discontinued"...
 

"After my current plan is discontinued," he wrote last week, "the closest comparable plan through our current provider will cost over 100 percent more, going from roughly $650 a month to $1,480 per month." He now carries his ObamaCare cancellation notice with him as **** proof of the Democrats' ultimate deception.
 
Is this what Obama was talking about when he promised that we could keep our old health insurance plans if we were happy with them?
 
In the end, millions upon millions of us are going to get pushed on to the Obamacare health insurance exchanges.
 
We were promised that there would be lots of competition and that prices would be reasonable.
 
Unfortunately, in some areas of the country it turns out that the "exchanges" are turning out to be "monopolies" where consumers will only have one company to choose from...
 

“Although seven insurance companies currently operate in North Carolina, under the new Obamacare exchanges, those options will dwindle down to one in the majority of counties,” Ellmers said Thursday following the disclosure of figures by federal health officials showing that more than 60 percent of North Carolina counties will have only one insurance provider option under Obamacare: Blue Cross Blue Shield.
 
“The whole point of an online marketplace was to provide options, so North Carolinians could go online, compare prices, and choose plans from different companies. That is how competition is supposed to work!,” Ellmers said.
 
Beginning October 1 under Obamacare, Blue Cross Blue Shield will be the only health insurance provider serving the entire state of North Carolina in the new Obamacare exchanges, serving all 100 of the state’s counties. Its competitor Coventry Health Care, which is owned by Aetna, will only reach 39 counties.
 
That leaves 61 counties, or 61 percent of all the state’s counties, in a Blue Cross Blue Shield-only zone.
 
Not only that, but a lot of these exchanges are not even going to be ready to function properly on October 1st.  For example, according to the Washington Post, the D.C. "health marketplace" is a complete and total mess at this point...
 

Just days away from launch, the District of Columbia's health marketplace is announcing a pretty significant delay.
 
While the D.C. Health Link will launch a Web site on October 1, shoppers will not have access to the their premium prices until mid-November. The delay comes after the District marketplace discovered "a high error rate" in calculating the tax credits that low- and middle-income people will use to purchase insurance on the marketplace.
 
The insurance marketplaces, if working as plan, are supposed to spit out an estimate for a tax credit after a shopper enters in some basic information about where she lives and how much she earns. In the District, that won't happen next month. Instead, the eligibility determination will be made "off-line by experts" by early November.
 
So who is going to benefit from this new system?
 
Well, it turns out that the health insurance companies will greatly benefit.  Health insurance companies helped write Obamacare, and their stock prices have absolutely soared since Obamacare was signed into law.  If you doubt this, just check out the amazing charts in this article.
 
Not that they were hurting under the old system either.  They have been raking in gigantic mountains of cash for years while trying to provide as little health care as possible.  For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled "50 Signs That The U.S. Health Care System Is A Gigantic Money Making Scam".
 
For the rest of us, Obamacare is going to be even worse than the old system.  A 2013 Health Care Survey that polled 200 top health care professionals discovered the following about what they believe Obamacare will bring...
 

-- 53 percent, “Quality of health insurance policies will suffer.”
 
-- 51 percent, “Quality of care will go down.”
 
-- 49 percent, “The law is overly complicated.”
 
-- 42 percent, “Insurance exchanges will be poorly managed.”
 
-- 37 percent, “The law still allows insurance companies to be the middleman.”
 
-- 32 percent, “Too complex for businesses.”
 
-- 19 percent, “Americans will die earlier.”
 
So Americans are going to pay more, get worse care, have more paperwork and a more complicated system, and they are likely to die younger too?
 
Wow, that sounds like a great deal.
 
Where do we sign up?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/thanks-to-obamacare-employer-based-health-insurance-is-becoming-an-endangered-species
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« Reply #96 on: September 28, 2013, 11:52:50 am »

House considering delaying Obamacare for 1 year in exchange for funding the government - @politico

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-budget-strategy-government-shutdown-97496.html
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« Reply #97 on: September 28, 2013, 12:00:01 pm »

H-1B workers in line for Obamacare work

IT requirements of the Affordable Care Act are being met under state contracts that allow, in their silence, the use of temporary visa workers


Some state governments are willing to hire offshore IT service providers to work on healthcare IT projects under controversial contracts that don't bar use of temporary foreign labor, or workers on H-1B visas.

Two multimillion-dollar government healthcare IT projects, one in Illinois and the other in the District of Columbia, illustrate what's going on.

In Illinois, Cognizant was awarded a $74.1 million contract in June to upgrade the state's Medicaid systems to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

In January, the District of Columbia awarded Infosys a $49.5 million contract to develop a health benefit exchange and replace its Medicaid and eligibility systems.

H-1B visa holders may already be working on municipal computer systems in Washington. In Illinois, state officials say that no H-1B workers are working on its project -- for now.

Illinois said that Cognizant has assigned 13 workers, all U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents with Medicaid experience and expertise, to work on the project. Seven of the staff members are former state of Illinois employees with extensive knowledge of the state's Medicaid system, according to spokeswoman Kelly Jakubek, communication manager for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Cognizant has submitted paperwork to hire 60 or more visa holders to work on the project -- a proposal that the state wasn't aware of, Jakubek said.

Computerworld sent Illinois officials emails with copies of the paperwork that Cognizant filed with the U.S. Department of Labor to hire 60 senior system analysts at a pay rate of $76,814. The documents, known as Labor Condition Applications (LCA), are part of the H-1B approval process and are used in salary determinations. As a general rule, though, the filing of an LCA doesn't mean that a visa worker in on the way.

The state controls the hiring process for the project, said Jakubek, though she could not say whether it will require the contractor to exclude temporary visa workers from the effort.

Asked about the paperwork filed with the Labor Department, Cognizant said it would take on visa workers if needed.

"Due to the shortage of qualified talent in many parts of the U.S., we routinely file LCAs when we anticipate a large contract to ramp up," Cognizant said in a statement. "Our first course of action is always to seek out qualified U.S. workers to fill these positions. We file LCAs as a fallback measure in the event that we are not able to find qualified U.S. workers."

Ron Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a researcher who studies tech immigration issues, said that Cognizant "is able to piggyback off of the false claims of a dire shortage of U.S. IT workers," adding that "Microsoft and others are providing cover to firms like Cognizant by making broad-based claims of IT shortages."

Cognizant, which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has operations worldwide and conducts a major share of its work overseas, has been one of the largest users of H-1B visas, getting more than 9,000 approvals last year, according to government records.

Bangalore, India-based Infosys received 5,600 approvals last year.

The hiring of temporary visa workers "isn't due to a shortage of U.S. IT workers, but instead for the simple fact that those H-1B workers can be paid less than the market wage," said Hira.

Hira argued that governments should use their IT budgets to hire U.S. workers, and said government contracts "have also long been the sources of seed money to support workforce development and human capital development in technology areas."

"Innovation and education are the primary sources of economic growth in a knowledge economy, so policymakers should steer precious tax dollars to fostering innovation and education here, not overseas," said Hira.

The paperwork that Computerworld emailed to Illinois state officials wasn't a secret.

rest: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242648/H_1B_workers_in_line_for_Obamacare_work
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« Reply #98 on: September 28, 2013, 01:21:44 pm »

So if I understand this correctly, part of Obamacare is bringing in IT contract workers from other countries like India?
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« Reply #99 on: September 28, 2013, 01:26:17 pm »

So if I understand this correctly, part of Obamacare is bringing in IT contract workers from other countries like India?


YES!!!  Cheesy Obama outsourced Obamacare...

President Obama's To-Do List for Congress: Reward American Jobs, Not Outsourcing
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/08/president-obamas-do-list-congress-reward-american-jobs-not-outsourcing
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« Reply #100 on: September 28, 2013, 01:38:54 pm »

House Republicans' new spending bill calls for 1-year delay on ObamaCare

House Republicans emerged from behind closed doors Saturday with a new temporary spending bill that calls for a one-year delay in ObamaCare and a repeal of the law's medical-device tax.




The plan appears almost assured of being rejected by the Democrat-controlled Senate and forcing a temporary government shutdown Monday night. But leaders of the Republican-led House struck a defiant tone upon emerging from the one-hour meeting.

“ObamaCare is not ready, and the delay is essential,” California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs, said before lashing out at a reporter. “How dare you assume this will be a failure. How dare you.”

House leaders said the proposal will fund the federal government – except for ObamaCare – through December 15. It  now goes before the chamber’s rules committee, and a full floor vote is expected by Saturday evening.

The House plan will also have a separate bill that funds the military in the event of a shutdown.

The medical device tax is one of the Obama administration’s primary revenue sources for ObamaCare.

The House earlier this month sent a spending bill to the Senate that called for defunding President Obama’s health-care law.

On Friday, the Senate passed a temporary spending bill that re-inserted the ObamaCare funding and funds the government through Nov. 15.

The Senate returned the funding despite efforts by Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz -- a conservative, Tea Party-backed lawmaker – to block that effort.

Failure to pass a short-term funding bill by Monday night would mean the first partial government shutdown in almost 20 years.

The Senate's 54-44 vote was strictly along party lines in favor of the bill, which would prevent a shutdown of nonessential government services.

That tally followed a 79-19 vote to cut off a filibuster by Cruz, which exposed a rift among Republicans eager to prevent a shutdown and those, like Cruz, who seem willing to risk one over derailing the health care law.

All 52 Democrats, two independents and 25 of 44 Republicans voted in favor. That included Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of the GOP leadership.

Cruz was whipping up House conservatives to continue the battle over heath care, urging them to reject efforts by Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders to offer scaled-back assaults on the law like repealing a tax on medical devices as the House response.

Some conservatives were taking their cues from Cruz rather than GOP leaders like Boehner hoping to avoid a shutdown, especially one that could weaken Republicans heading into an even more important battle later in October over allowing the government to borrow more money.

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, attempted Saturday to move the debate to next budget-battle deadline -- Oct. 17 when Congress must increase the government’s borrowing limit or risk defaulting on its debt.

Republican want spending cuts as part of the deal, but the White House has said it engage in extortion negotiations.

 “The president is now demanding that we increase the debt limit without engaging in any kind of bipartisan discussions about addressing our spending problem,” Rodgers said. “By an overwhelming margin, Americans believe the debt-ceiling increase should be coupled with solutions that help solve our debt and grown our economy. … Coupling an increase in the debt limit with efforts to rein in spending makes common sense, so much so that it’s been used from presidents from both parties.

GOP leaders had yet to announce a plan heading into the emergency meeting Saturday. A vote on the as-yet-unwritten measure seemed most likely on Sunday, leaving little time for the Senate to respond on Monday.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned that the Senate will not accept any House measure that contains provisions opposed by Democrats. And he knows better than anyone that any single senator could slow down the Senate's ability to return yet another version to the House.

"This is it. Time is gone," Reid said. Republicans "should think very carefully about their next steps. Any bill that continues to play political games will force a government shutdown."

Obama criticized conservative Republicans on Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, arguing that even many GOP senators and governors were urging their House colleagues to "knock it off."

"Republicans in the House have been more concerned with appeasing an extreme faction of their party than working to pass a budget that creates new jobs or strengthens the middle class," the president said.

Late Friday, more than five dozen conservatives rallied behind an amendment by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., to delay ObamaCare through the end of next year. That's a nonstarter with the Senate.

If lawmakers miss the deadline, hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal workers would have to stay home on Tuesday, though critical services like patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

Also on Tuesday, ObamaCare insurance exchanges would open, a development that's lent urgency to the drive to use a normally routine stopgap spending bill to gut implementation of the health care law.

"I'm more concerned about the impact of this law on the American people than I am about my re-election," said freshman Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.

But veterans like Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a former head of the House GOP's campaign arm, warned that the political risk of a shutdown is simply too great.

"I think anybody who doesn't think it's high risk is not playing with a full deck," Cole told reporters. "Our numbers ... are getting better. There's every reason to believe the midterms will be favorable. They're playing defense in the Senate. You don't want to disrupt that pattern of events."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/28/house-republicans-meet-to-plot-next-move-as-shutdown-deadline-nears/
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« Reply #101 on: September 28, 2013, 01:50:17 pm »

YES!!!  Cheesy Obama outsourced Obamacare...

President Obama's To-Do List for Congress: Reward American Jobs, Not Outsourcing
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/08/president-obamas-do-list-congress-reward-american-jobs-not-outsourcing

Well, not that I endorse Lou Dobbs(at least to me, he came off as a gatekeeper), but remember he warned about outsourcing a lot during the Bush Jr years.
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« Reply #102 on: September 28, 2013, 02:07:23 pm »

House bill delays 'Obamacare' 1 year, pays troops

The Associated Press has learned that House Republicans will unveil a new bill for preventing a government shutdown on Tuesday that would also delay implementing the rest of President Barack Obama’s health care law for one year.

Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California told the AP that the new bill also would repeal a new tax on medical devices in the Affordable Care Act. Republicans also will try to pass a bill that would get paychecks to members of the military on time if a shutdown occurs.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the Senate will not pass any bill keeping the government open past Monday that would alter the health care law.

http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/09/28/house-bill-delays-obamacare-year-pays-troops/wXnYClaF9maK6AcxtYZqdI/story.html
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« Reply #103 on: September 28, 2013, 02:13:54 pm »

The days ahead are going to be something to watch for...looks like they're doing this all by design.
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« Reply #104 on: September 28, 2013, 02:51:55 pm »

Senate Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev.: To be absolutely clear, the Senate will reject both 1-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax - @seungminkim

Senate Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev., says Senate will quickly reject House Republican changes to funding bill - @thehill

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/325315-reid-senate-will-reject-gop-changes-to-cr

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« Reply #105 on: September 28, 2013, 03:54:36 pm »

ObamaCare Employer Mandate: A List Of Cuts To Work Hours, Jobs

ObamaCare's impact on jobs is hotly debated by politicians and economists. Critics say the Affordable Care Act, with its employer mandate to provide health insurance, gives businesses an incentive to cut workers' hours. This year, report after report has rolled in about employers restricting work hours to fewer than 30 per week — the point where the mandate kicks in. Data also point to a record low workweek in low-wage industries.
 
In the interest of an informed debate, we've compiled a list of job actions with strong proof that ObamaCare's employer mandate is behind cuts to work hours or staffing levels. As of Sept. 25, our ObamaCare scorecard included 313 employers. Here's our latest analysis, focusing on cuts to adjunct hours at nearly 200 college campuses. The ObamaCare list methodology is explained further in our initial coverage; click on the employer names in the list below for links to supporting records, mostly news accounts or official documents.
 
We'll continue to update the list, which we encourage you to share and download into a spreadsheet to sort and analyze. If you know of an employer that should be on the list and can provide supporting evidence, please contact IBD at jed.graham@investors.com.


list: http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/092513-669013-obamacare-employer-mandate-a-list-of-cuts-to-work-hours-jobs.htm?fromcampaign=1
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« Reply #106 on: September 29, 2013, 04:43:03 am »

Quote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the Senate will not pass any bill keeping the government open past Monday that would alter the health care law.

One person of 100 senators, and he has last say? I didn't realize that it's the "Harry Reid Senate". I thought it was the US Senate, operated by representatives of the people that are by law required to do what the public wants, not what politicians demand.

Harry Reid is one of the first individuals that should be in handcuffs.
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« Reply #107 on: September 30, 2013, 12:56:09 am »

Psalms 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/will-obamacare-hurt-job-creation-and-marriage-2013-09-27?link=mw_home_kiosk
Will Obamacare hurt job creation and marriage?

Commentary: Families and employers pay the price

9/27/13

At one time, getting a job was not that much of a problem. Neither was getting married. But the Affordable Care Act appears to create substantial disincentives both to hiring and marriage, potentially changing the fabric of American society in serious ways.

Let’s first look at hiring.

The Affordable Care Act is partly responsible for the slow jobs recovery. If employers with 50 or more employees do not offer the right kind of health insurance, and at least one employee gets subsidized coverage on the exchange, they are faced with penalties of $2,000 per employee per year. Since the first 30 workers are exempt from the penalty, moving from 49 to 50 workers can cost an employer $40,000 a year.

No wonder that many small businesses are opting to stay at 49 workers. If they decide to expand, they can use temporary workers or contract employees.

Bob Funk, president and founder of Express Employment Services, the fifth-largest employment agency in America, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published last week, “Obamacare has been an absolute boon for my business…We’re up 8% this year. But it’s just terrible for the country.”

Funk continued, “Firms are just very reluctant to hire full-time workers. So they are taking on more temporary help, which is what we do.”

Companies can get around the penalty by hiring part-time workers, because they do not owe the $2,000 penalty on those who work fewer than 30 hours a week. Many companies such as SeaWorld /quotes/zigman/14150718/quotes/nls/seas SEAS -1.05%  , Wal-Mart /quotes/zigman/245476/quotes/nls/wmt WMT -0.35%  , and Lands’ End /quotes/zigman/95136/quotes/nls/shld SHLD -2.20%  , are substituting part-time for full-time workers.

As well as effects on hiring, the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act, could increase the incentive to divorce and discourage marriage.

Under the Act, if workers have affordable single-family coverage from an employer — coverage that by law workers are obligated to accept — their family members will not be eligible for premium subsidies on the exchanges. This can make the cost of insurance for some low- or middle-income families unaffordable. But if they divorce, they get the subsidy
.

Without subsidies, low-income families will not be able to afford to buy insurance on the state exchanges. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that family plans will cost $20,000 (in after-tax dollars) a year by 2016. Anyone under 400% of the poverty line, currently $94,000 for a family of four, qualifies for a subsidy — unless a family member has employer-provided insurance.

In a 2011 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper , Cornell University professor Richard Burkhauser, Indiana University professor Kosali Simon, and Cornell PhD candidate Sean Lyons showed that in 2014, when the law will take full effect, 13 million low-income Americans may be unable to get subsidized health insurance through new state health care exchanges because one family member has employer-provided coverage for that person only.

Perversely, the only way for other family members to get subsidized coverage would be for the spouses to get divorced. Then the spouse without coverage and the children could get coverage on the exchange.

This provision of the Act also discourages marriage. Say that Jeff, who receives health insurance from his employer, wants to marry Jenny, who is buying her subsidized health insurance from the state exchange. If they married, Jenny would no longer qualify for subsidized coverage.
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« Reply #108 on: September 30, 2013, 02:02:54 am »

Quote
As well as effects on hiring, the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act, could increase the incentive to divorce and discourage marriage.

I agree. If I weren't married, I would qualify for state medical.

Quote
Under the Act, if workers have affordable single-family coverage from an employer — coverage that by law workers are obligated to accept — their family members will not be eligible for premium subsidies on the exchanges.

Since when is that the case? My wife has insurance offered at her job, but it's far from affordable, and carries a $10,000 deductible. It's a joke of a plan. Needless to say, there was no way we were going to pay for that. Can't afford it anyway. I'd like them to clarify just when an employee is required to get their employers medical coverage.

This thing is SO messed up! One of the biggest government disasters ever.
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« Reply #109 on: September 30, 2013, 12:14:34 pm »

Problem. Reaction. Solution.

http://www.infowars.com/government-shut-down-wont-actually-shut-down-government/
‘Government Shut Down’ Won’t Actually Shut Down Government
9/30/13

Vast majority of federal activity will continue as normal

Paul Joseph Watson
 Infowars.com
 September 30, 2013

It turns out that the ominous “government shut down” isn’t so apocalyptic after all since it won’t actually shut down government because the vast majority of federal services and activity will continue as normal.

In addition, the same thing has happened – without dire consequences – no less than 17 times over the past three decades.

The dispute over Obamacare means it is “99.9%” certain that the US government will “shut down” on October 1st because lawmakers have failed to pass legislation that will authorize the government to spend money to fund its operations from the beginning of the new fiscal year.

However, as the Washington Post highlights, the same “shut down” has occurred 17 times since 1977. Most of the previous shut downs lasted from a few hours to a few days. The longest ran for 21 days from December ’96 to January ’97 during the presidency of Bill Clinton.

Obama supporters and Democrats have attempted to portray a potential government shut down as something approaching a doomsday scenario, most notably Democratic Senator Tom Harkin, who hyped the prospect of it “as dangerous as the breakup of the Union before the Civil War.”

In reality, key functions of the government will continue to operate as before even in the event of a “shut down”.

- Federal air traffic controllers will continue to monitor take offs and landings;

- The TSA will still be screening passengers in US airports;

- The US military will stay on duty and many credit unions and banks will cover their Oct. 15 paychecks if they are delayed;

- Embassies and consulates overseas will continue to provide services to American citizens;

- The mail will continue to be delivered;

- Federal courts will continue to operate;

- The US Supreme Court will continue to operate as normal when it resumes on October 7;

- Taxes will continue to be collected;

- Sales taxes will continue to be collected

- Garbage will continue to be collected;

- Visa services for people traveling to the United States will continue to operate;

- US passport applications will continue to be processed normally;

- Green card applications will continue to be processed normally;

- Social Security and Medicare benefits will continue to operate normally;

- The vast majority of Homeland Security employees will stay on the job;

- The vast majority of Coast Guard employees will stay on the job;

- The vast majority of Border Patrol agents will stay on the job;

- The vast majority of Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers will stay on the job;

- Schools will stay open;

- The National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center will continue to issue natural disaster warnings and track storms;

- The Mars Rover will continue to explore the red planet and the International Space Station will continue to operate;

- The District of Columbia passed a $144m contingency fund on Friday to ensure all its services would continue to operate normally;

- Most services managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue.


The most damaging consequence of a government shut down will be that non-essential federal employees will be furloughed (given temporary unpaid leave) and see their paychecks delayed. That’s a bummer if you work for the government, but it’s hardly a doomsday scenario.

In addition, previous “government shut downs” have not caused any kind of sustained panic in the financial markets.

As Ron Paul writes today, “Despite all the hand-wringing heard in DC, a short-term government shut down (which doesn’t actually shut down the government) will not cause the country to collapse.”

Indeed, all the hype about civil wars and doomsday scenarios if the Obama administration doesn’t get its way on Obamacare and force Republicans to cave on legislation to fund the government sounds an awful lot like the brazenly alarmist rhetoric about martial law and a new great depression that was used to ram through the 2008 bailout.
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« Reply #110 on: September 30, 2013, 02:28:23 pm »

Senate defeats House move to delay Obamacare

Reuters
 Sep. 30, 2013 11:28AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Monday killed a proposal by the Republican-led House of Representatives to delay Obamacare for a year in return for temporary funding of the federal government beyond Monday.

By a partisan vote of 54 to 46, the Democratic-controlled Senate defeated the Obamacare delay and a House amendment repealing a medical device tax that were attached to an emergency spending bill.

The straight-forward funding bill that would run through November 15 is aimed at averting a government shutdown. It now goes back to the House, where its fate is unknown.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/senate-defeats-house-move-to-delay-obamacare
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« Reply #111 on: September 30, 2013, 11:14:00 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/congress-misses-deadline-averting-shutdown-040303946--politics.html
9/30/13
Congress misses deadline for averting shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has missed the deadline for averting the first partial government shutdown in 17 years.

As the clock struck midnight Monday, House Republicans were demanding that the Senate negotiate their demand for a one-year delay in making millions of people buy health insurance under President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law. Minutes before midnight, the White House ordered a shutdown.

The Democratic Senate on Monday twice rejected GOP demands to delay key portions of what has become to known as Obamacare as a condition for keeping the government open.

An estimated 800,000 federal workers faced furloughs though many were told work a half day Tuesday. Critical functions like air traffic control and military operations will continue. Social Security benefits will be paid. National parks and most federal offices will close.
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« Reply #112 on: October 01, 2013, 06:42:24 am »

im surprised they actually did it. I was really expecting Boehner to show his liberal side again.
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« Reply #113 on: October 01, 2013, 08:28:28 am »

I think it's at least in part because of the serious financial mess we are in. Don't know how much, but each day it's "shut down", they are saving some serious cash outflow. As it's been done in the past, they can delay this thing for a few days and save some major cash.
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« Reply #114 on: October 01, 2013, 04:10:19 pm »

im surprised they actually did it. I was really expecting Boehner to show his liberal side again.

Not really - it's just more political puppet show on their part - besides, they've been pushing socialized medicine for a long, long, long time. Teddy Roosevelt wanted it, as did Franklin(and I think Harry Truman). Richard Nixon tried to push for it, as did Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan(despite him warning about it years before he became President), passed some kind of public health care bill that involved emergency rooms and lower income people. "Conservatives" in Congress like Jim DeMint wrote Bush Jr a letter in 2007 saying we needed some kind of public health care. And then Romneycare in MA ultimately become the testing ground for Obamacare.

And let's not forget "conservatives" like Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove endorsed Obamacare too.

Ultimately(and this is just my honest opinion) - this whole government shutdown deal is probably another puppet show on their part to push more globalist agendas(ie-remember they're still discussing the debt ceiling and immigration bill).
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« Reply #115 on: October 01, 2013, 05:29:20 pm »

Yep - more political puppet show...

http://news.yahoo.com/government-shutdown-day-one-142635628.html
Republicans want to fund parts of the government, but that wouldn't end the shutdown
10/1/13

House Republicans are planning no new proposals on the first day of a shutdown to fully fund the government, but they will introduce three small bills that would continue funding for veteran benefits, national parks and museums, plus another measure that would allow the District of Columbia to continue operating using its own revenue.

Although the move wouldn't end the budget impasse, the measures would ease some of the pain while lawmakers continue to try to find a path out of the standoff, and House leaders were preparing for votes Tuesday evening.

Senate Democrats, however, rejected the new offer outright. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday afternoon insisted, as he has throughout the entire process, that the Senate would accept nothing short of a bill that funds all government operations.

"The government is shut down," Reid said on the Senate floor. "And if they think they're going to nit-pick us on this, it won't work."

Earlier Tuesday, the morning of the first federal government shutdown in 17 years, the political brinkmanship reached a stalemate when the Senate rejected a House request for a conference committee to take up a proposal to fund the government through Dec. 15 and delay a key part of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.

The Democrat-controlled Senate voted to table the House bill passed overnight that proposed the committee. The House bill also included language that would prohibit congressional staff members from receiving subsidies for their health care plans and delay Obamacare’s individual mandate to buy health insurance for one year.

By transitioning to a conference committee, the House and Senate would each appoint members to work out a deal to fund the government and end the shutdown. But appointing a committee would take the talks from public view to closed-door negotiating rooms where lawmakers and staffers could hash out their differences in private.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor joined members of the chamber's appointed conference committee in a meeting room where they called on Senate lawmakers to join them for negotiations.

"We invite Senate Democrats to come and join us and resolve our differences," Cantor said.

Democrats continued to decline alternative offers until the House passes a full funding bill.

Meanwhile, Obama blasted Republicans on Tuesday in a Rose Garden statement for using a mandatory spending bill to dismantle the health care law, the president's landmark legislation.

“They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans,” Obama said. "This, more than anything else, seems to be what the Republican Party stands for these days."

This week's shutdown came after House Republicans refused to pass a bill to set federal spending levels unless the federal health care law was defunded or delayed. Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama repeatedly said they would not accept any spending bill that tampers with the law.

Last week, the House passed a bill to completely defund the health law. When the Senate rejected it, the House passed another version that would have abolished a tax on medical devices and delayed the law for a year. When the Senate rejected that, House Republicans passed another bill that would have delayed the individual mandate and revoked health insurance subsidies for congressional staffers. After the Senate said no to that, the clock ran out and the government shut down. That’s when the House asked for private negotiations — surprise, the Senate turned that down — and that’s where the parties stand now.

**Well, it's October 1, and Obamacare exhanges opened today. Again, all of this is nothing put a Hegelian Dialectic puppet show.

The back-and-forth between the parties will continue throughout the day, as House Republicans recalibrate their strategy and Senate lawmakers huddle for partisan meetings this afternoon.

Unless they can find a compromise, the government will remain shut down until further notice.

The Republican strategy of coupling anti-Obamacare legislation with the threat of a government shutdown is unpopular, according to a national Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. American voters oppose the GOP's tactic by a ratio of 72 to 22 percent, according to the poll.
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« Reply #116 on: October 01, 2013, 09:23:10 pm »

And the Hegelian Dialectic continues to play out...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/01/the-10-house-republicans-who-are-ready-to-give-up-obamacare-fight-in-order-to-end-government-shutdown/
10/1/13
The 12 House Republicans Who Are Ready to Give Up Obamacare Fight in Order to End Government Shutdown

While some Republican members of the U.S. House are standing firm in the spending negotiations (or lack thereof) with Democrats, there are reportedly at least 12 GOP House members who are ready to fully fund Obamacare to end the partial government shutdown.

In order for Senate Democrats to get their way and get a “clean” continuing resolution passed by the House, only five other Republicans would have to defect, or a total of 17. A clean CR would leave Obamacare in tact and fund the rest of the government in full.

The Huffington Post is keeping count and provides a current list of GOP congressmen ready to fully fund Obamacare and give up the spending fight that resulted in the first partial government shutdown in 17 years [emphasis added]:

Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.): “At this point, I believe it’s time for the House to vote for a clean, short-term funding bill to bring the Senate to the table and negotiate a responsible compromise.” [Press Release, 10/1/13]

Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.): “Time for a clean [continuing resolution].” [Official Twitter, 10/1/13]

Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.): “Enough is enough. Put a clean [continuing resolution] on the floor and let’s get on with the business we were sent to do.” [Burlington County Times, 10/1/13]

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.): A Fitzpatrick aide tells the Philadelphia Inquirer the congressman would support a clean funding bill if it came up for a vote. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/1/13]

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.): Barletta said he would “absolutely” vote for a clean bill in order to avert a shut down of the government. [Bethlehem Morning Call, 10/1/13]

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.): King thinks House Republicans would prefer to avoid a shutdown and said he will only vote for a clean continuing resolution to fund the government, according to the National Review Online. [NRO, 9/30/13]

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.): The California Republican told The Huffington Post he would ultimately support a clean continuing resolution. [Tweet by The Huffington Post's Sabrina Siddiqui, 9/30/13]

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.): “I’m prepared to vote for a clean [continuing resolution].” [The Huffington Post, 9/29/13]

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.): A Wolf aide told The Hill that he agrees with fellow Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell (R) that it’s time for a clean continuing resolution. [The Hill, 10/1/13]

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.): A Grimm aide told The Huffington Post that the congressman supports a clean continuing resolution. [10/1/13].

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.): A local news anchor in Minnesota tweeted that Paulsen told him he would vote for a clean resolution if given the chance. [Blake McCoy Tweet, 10/1/13]

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.): A constituent of Wittman’s sent The Huffington Post an email she got from the congressman indicating he would vote for a clean funding bill but hasn’t had “an opportunity to do so at this point.” [10/1/13]
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« Reply #117 on: October 02, 2013, 12:32:56 pm »

Harry Reid’s Office Leaks Boehner Office Emails—And It Could Ruin Any Faith You Have in Washington

Lost faith in that years ago, BUT I am not surprised by this at all. I have not trusted Boehner at all, and fully believe that his is a Liberal in disguise


A series of leaked emails from House Speaker John Boehner’s chief of staff Mike Sommers shows Boehner may have coordinated with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to exempt Congress from Obamacare.
 
The emails were leaked Tuesday by Reid chief of staff David Krone, who actually has a history of this sort of thing.

The leaks, which are a major taboo in Washington, show Boehner (R-Ohio) worked behind the scenes earlier this year to address confusion over a provision in the Affordable Care Act that would force members of Congress and their aides into the exchanges. In fact, if one were to go by the leaks, which were first published by Politico, it appears that the offices of Boehner and Reid regularly coordinated to exempt Congress from the health care law.
 
But given that Boehner is now apparently against congressional Obamacare exemptions, the emails make him look inconsistent and hypocritical – which may have been the point of their leaking.
 
From Politico:
 

[B ]ehind-the-scenes, Boehner and his aides worked for months with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and others, to save these very same, long-standing [congressional Obamacare] subsidies, according to documents and e-mails provided to POLITICO. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was also aware of these discussions, the documents show.
 
One email even appears to show that Boehner’s office discussed how it would disguise a planned meeting on the subject with President Barack Obama as a meeting on immigration reform, National Review Online reported.

.
 
“We can’t let it get out there that this is for [Boehner] and [Reid] to ask the President to carve us out of the requirement of Obamacare,” Boehner chief of staff Mike Sommers wrote on July 17.
 
“This is a little bit more difficult because it isn’t a routing meeting because [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell won’t be there,” he wrote. “I am even ok if it is the President hauling us down to talk about the next steps on immigration.”
 
Republicans said the leaked emails completely mischaracterize the speaker’s actions.
 
A “senior lawmaker” told National Review Online that Boehner was the one who came up with the idea of using the Obamacare Hill exemption as an issue in the House’s budget battle with the Senate and the White House.
 
“The only memory I have of him talking about this is about how we could screw them with it,” the lawmaker said.
 
The email leak has obviously complicated the “high-stakes” negotiations between senior Democrat and Republican lawmakers.
 
“I’ve never seen anything like it before. I don’t know how David thinks anyone on either side of the aisle will ever be able to work with him again. I guess this is part of Harry Reid’s plan: He refuses to talk with Republicans so I guess his chief of staff figures he doesn’t need to be able to do so either,” a GOP aide told National Review Online.
 
“He’s a low-rent, self-dealing bagman,” another aide said.

In a statement to National Review Online, Krone defended himself: “Every time one of these anonymous Republican aides takes a look at their paycheck, I hope they remember it was Harry Reid who protected their employer contribution.”
 
“They and their bosses are welcome to return it if they’re so outraged. I took the action I did because I refuse to stand by and watch those who pressed for this ruling turn around and attack the very thing they asked for, simply because they don’t have the courage to stand up to a few whiners in their caucus. Integrity means owning in public what you advocate for in private,” Krone said.
 
TheBlaze reported in April that Congress was trying to figure out how to approach the provision of the Affordable Care Act, which was proposed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) during the 2010 debate over Obamacare, that would force members of Congress and their aides into the law’s health exchanges.
 
The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein noted: “It’s not clear that the federal government has the authority to pay for congressional staffers on the exchanges, the way it pays for them now in the federal benefits program.”
 
Oh, that meeting with the president Sommers discussed in an email? It never happened.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/02/harry-reids-office-leaks-boehner-office-emails-and-it-could-ruin-any-faith-you-have-in-washington/
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« Reply #118 on: October 02, 2013, 01:25:09 pm »

I know both political "parties" are compromised, but nonetheless there's been a big war b/w the GOP establishment and the Tea Party establishment. If anything, this is playing a big part in the Hegelian Dialectic process, in that it's to some extent taking the spotlight off of Obama and other globalist agendas like the immigration bill(that's to SOME extent, but nonetheless just enough to distract away). And not to mention too the more it drags out, the more it will get everyone to give into Obamacare.

With that being said - don't be surprised to see the 2014 midterm elections fixed for the Dems next year(b/c of all that is going on now b/w the "warring" of the GOP establishment and Tea Party) - if this happens, the Hegelian Dialectic game will be over, and this country will officially merge into 1 party.

But nonetheless, this puppet show is playing out the way the globalists are wanting it to.
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« Reply #119 on: October 03, 2013, 12:08:08 pm »

Again, I know both parties are opposition-controlled, but nonetheless Arkansas IS a *conservative* state...pt being that yet again, the Hegelian Dialectic, wear-them-out model is causing people to give in.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/55-000-people-ark-want-140716972.html
55,000 people in Ark. want to sign up for coverage

Ark. officials say 55,000 people want to sign up for private insurance through Medicaid

10/3/13

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- More than 55,000 low-income Arkansans have told the state they want to sign up for coverage under a recently approved plan to use Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance under the federal health care law, the Department of Human Services said Wednesday.

The department said it planned to begin mailing out letters to the 55,440 people instructing them on how to enroll in the state's "private option," approved by the federal government last week as an alternative to expanding Medicaid's enrollment under the federal health care law.

"This clearly shows there was a need for the unique approach that Arkansas took to help ensure the lowest-income Arkansans have access to quality health insurance," DHS Director John Selig said in a written statement.

Under the private option law, Arkansas will use federal money to buy private insurance for about 250,000 eligible low-income residents. The program allows people who earn up to 138 percent of the poverty line — or $15,415 per year — to buy subsidized private insurance through the state's insurance exchange.

The Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe approved the private option in April as an alternative to expanding Medicaid. Several other states have expressed interest in a similar program.

Open enrollment in the exchange began Tuesday and runs through March 31.

DHS spokeswoman Amy Webb said the department mailed letters to 154,420 people it had identified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as eligible for the private option. Through the letters, the state was also able to enroll 2,539 previously uninsured children in its ARKids First health coverage program.

The potential participants had to sign a form signaling their interest and acknowledging that the private option coverage could end at any moment. That acknowledgement was required under the state law setting up the expanded insurance program.

DHS announced the numbers the day after the state launched the insurance exchange, an online marketplace where consumers can compare policies and purchase insurance. About half of the 500,000 people expected to participate in the exchange are doing so under the private option.

The state Insurance Department said it didn't have figures yet on the number of Arkansans who have so far enrolled in the exchange. High demand on the federal website has prevented some Arkansans from applying online. Applying by mail and phone are also options.

A spokeswoman for the Insurance Department said more than 22,000 people visited the state's exchange website Tuesday, and 13,700 of those visitors went on to the federal site.
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