Top Diplomat Testified That Obama Admin, Not International Community, Orchestrated Ukraine Prosecutor’s Firing

A top U.S. diplomat and expert on Ukraine testified to Congress yesterday that the Obama administration — with former Vice President Joe Biden as its point man — orchestrated the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating a company connected to the Biden family, sources familiar with the testimony told The Federalist.

The testimony of George Kent, a State Department official who works on the agency’s Ukraine portfolio, directly contradicts claims that the Obama administration was merely following the lead of the so-called international community in demanding the firing of Viktor Shokin, a controversial Ukrainian prosecutor who was reportedly investigating Burisma, a global energy company long suspected of corruption and money laundering. In 2014, Burisma paid Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, tens of thousands of dollars to sit on its board despite the younger Biden’s complete lack of expertise or professional experience running a multi-national oil and gas concern.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/16/top-diplomat-testified-that-obama-admin-not-international-community-orchestrated-ukraine-prosecutors-firing/

The politics of pressure: Citizens' Mandate demands Congress honor 2014 electoral mandate to stop radical transformation of America

TOWNHALL, January 25, 2015:
The Citizens Mandate: Time for Mainstream America to Get a New Attitude!


Stop the Fundamental Transformation of America
Citizens’ Mandate from November 2014 Election
For Release - January 15, 2015
CITIZENS' MANDATE

UFO SIGHTING IN USA

Video published March 19, 2014:

The 2014 campaign brings a fresh focus on candidates with fervently held, evidence-free beliefs

The Top 10 Liberal Superstitions

A hallmark of progressive politics is the ability to hold fervent beliefs, in defiance of evidence, that explain how the world works—and why liberal solutions must be adopted. Such political superstitions take on a new prominence during campaign seasons as Democratic candidates trot out applause lines to rally their progressive base and as the electorate considers their voting records. Here’s a Top 10 list of liberal superstitions on prominent display during the midterm election campaign:

1. Spending more money improves education. The U.S. spent $12,608 per student in 2010—more than double the figure, in inflation-adjusted dollars, spent in 1970—and spending on public elementary and secondary schools has surpassed $600 billion. How’s that working out? Adjusted state SAT scores have declined on average 3% since the 1970s, as the Cato Institute’s Andrew Coulson found in a March report.

No better news in the international rankings: The Program for International Student Assessment reports that in 2012 American 15-year-olds placed in the middle of the pack, alongside peers from Slovakia—which shells out half as much money as the U.S. per student.

Someone might mention this to North Carolina Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who is knocking State House Speaker Thom Tillis for cutting $500 million from schools. Per-pupil K-12 spending has increased every year since Mr. Tillis became speaker in 2011, and most of what Ms. Hagan is selling as “cuts” came from community colleges and universities, not the local middle school. Mr. Coulson’s Cato study notes that North Carolina has about doubled per-pupil education spending since 1972, which has done precisely nothing for the state’s adjusted SAT scores.

2. Government spending stimulates the economy. Case in point is the $830 billion 2009 stimulus bill, touted by the Obama administration as necessary for keeping unemployment below 8%. Result: four years of average unemployment above 8%. Federal outlays soared in 2009 to $3.5 trillion—a big enough bump to do the Keynesian trick of boosting aggregate demand—but all we got was this lousy 2% growth and a new costume for Army Corps of Engineers mascot Bobber the Water Safety Dog. Every Senate Democrat voted for the blowout, including the 11 now up for re-election who were in Congress when it passed.

3. Republican candidates always have a big spending advantage over Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor recently to deride the Koch brothers as “radical billionaires” who are “attempting to buy our democracy.” Yet the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has raked in $127 million this cycle, about $30 million more than the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Democrats have aired more TV ads than Republicans in several battleground states, according to analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. Meanwhile, Mr. Reid’s Senate Majority PAC has raised more than $50 million. As this newspaper has reported, between 2005 and 2011, labor unions—linchpins of the Democratic Party—spent $4.4 billion on politics, far outstripping any conservative rival.

4. Raising the minimum wage helps the poor. The president wants to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from $7.25, with the tagline “Let’s give America a raise.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the hike would cost 500,000 jobs, one blow to the low-wage earners it claims to help. Employment aside, only 18% of the earnings benefits of a $10.10 hike would flow to people living below the poverty line, according to analysis from University of California-Irvine economist David Neumark. Nearly 30% of the benefits would go to families three times above the poverty line or higher, in part because half of America’s poor families have no wage earners. Minimum-wage increases help some poor families—at the expense of other poor families.

Opinion Journal Video

Assistant Editorial Page Editor Kate Bachelder debunks the biggest liberal myths of this midterm election cycle. Photo: Getty Images

You won’t hear that from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who in September lived on $79 for a week to show his public-relations solidarity with minimum-wage earners. Keep in mind: Only 4.7% of minimum-wage earners are adults working full-timetrying to support a family, and nearly all would be eligible for the earned-income tax credit and other welfare programs.

5. Global warming is causing increasingly violent weather. Tell that to Floridians, who are enjoying the ninth consecutive season without a hurricane landfall. The Atlantic hurricane season in 2013 was the least active in 30 years. Oh, and global temperatures have not increased for 15 years.

Still, something must be done! On Monday, the Hill reported that an internal memo circulating among five environmental groups detailed plans for spending to support candidates “who want to act” to combat climate change. “We are on track to spend more than $85 million overall including more than $40 million in just six Senate races,” the memo said. The beneficiaries include Sen. Mark Udall (D., Colo.), who got $12.1 million, and Rep. Bruce Braley (D., Iowa) with $7.2 million.

6. Genetically modified food is dangerous. Farmers have been breeding crop seeds for 10,000 years, but the agricultural innovation known as genetic modification makes liberals shudder. Not a single documented illness has resulted from the trillions of meals containing “genetically modified organisms,” or GMOs, that humans have consumed since the mid-1990s. The technology has been declared safe by every regulatory agency from the Food and Drug Administration to the European Commission.

But insisting on labeling food containing GMOs has turned into a liberal cause. The California Democratic Party platform in 2012 added a demand for GMO labeling; more recently the Oregon Democratic Party climbed aboard. In May 2013, self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced a farm-bill amendment that would allow states to require GMO labeling for food; co-sponsors of the amendment, which failed, included Sens. Mark Begich (D., Ala.) and Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.).

7. Voter ID laws suppress minority turnout. More than 30 states have voter-ID laws, which the left decries as an attempt to disenfranchise minorities who don’t have identification and can’t pay for it. Yet of the 17 states with the strictest requirements, 16 offer free IDs. The Government Accountability Office this month released an analysis of 10 voter-ID studies: Five showed the laws had no statistically significant effect on turnout, four suggested a decrease in turnout (generally among all ethnic groups, though percentages varied), and one found an increase in turnout with voter ID laws in place.

The Democratic Senate candidate in Kentucky, Alison Lundergan Grimes, has nonetheless been running radio ads in urban areas claiming that “Mitch McConnell and the Republicans are trying to take away our right to vote,” based on a 2007 voter-ID amendment the minority leader introduced.

8. ObamaCare is gaining popularity. President Obama said in a speech earlier this month that fewer Republicans were running against ObamaCare because “it’s working pretty well in the real world.” Yet the law’s approval rating hovers around 40%, and 27% of people told Gallup this month that the law was hurting them, up from 19% in January, while only 16% reported it was helpful.

Don’t even ask doctors about it: 46% of physicians gave the Affordable Care Act a “D” or “F”, according to a recent survey by the Physicians Foundation, and less than 4% of respondents gave it an “A.” Yet some Democrats are die-hards: 36% of their House candidates have voiced support for ObamaCare on the campaign trail, according to a recent analysis by the Brookings Institution.

9. The Keystone XL pipeline would increase oil spills. Let’s check out what President Obama’s State Department had to say: In 2013 pipelines with a diameter larger than 12 inches spilled 910,000 gallons. Railroad tankers spilled 1.5 million gallons. Yet pipelines carry 25 times the oil that tankers do, as environmental analyst Terry Anderson has noted in these pages. Blocking Keystone and forcing more oil to be shipped by rail guarantees more harm to the environment. But on the campaign trail emotion often overrules the facts, and so we have Rick Weiland, the Democratic Senate candidate in South Dakota, adamantly opposing Keystone (“If I lose because of this issue, so be it,” he told the Nation magazine last week). Colorado Sen. Mark Udall is running for re-election after having voted against Keystone in the energy committee in June.

10. Women are paid 77 cents on the dollar compared with men. The mother of all liberal superstitions, this figure comes from shoddy math that divides the average earnings of all women working full-time by the average earnings of all full-time men, without considering career field, education or personal choices. When those factors are included, the wage gap disappears. A 2009 report commissioned by the Labor Department that analyzed more than 50 papers on the topic found that the so-called pay gap “may be almost entirely” the result of choices both men and women make.

Yet here’s Colorado’s Sen. Udall: “It is simply unacceptable for businesses to pay women less than men doing the same work,” citing his support for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which might be better titled the Trial Lawyer Paycheck Act. One irony: The Washington Free Beacon did a little number crunching and discovered that women in Sen. Udall’s office earn 86 cents on the dollar compared with men. Whoops.

Kate Bachelder

Assistant editorial features editor, The Wall Street Journal.

Kate Bachelder is an assistant editorial features editor for The Wall Street Journal. She joined the Journal in 2013 as a Robert L. Bartley Fellow after graduating from Hillsdale College with a bachelor’s degree in Political Economy. She is a graduate of the college’s Herbert H. Dow II Program in American Journalism

Here's an easy way to tell who to vote for!

Just read this...ALL of it.

No brainer, right?

And for 2016, just stock up on these!

5 Ways Washington Would Change If Republicans Win the Senate

By JOHN FEEHERY, WALL STREET JOURANL:

1. Congress would focus on job creation, not wealth redistribution.

2. Joint oversight of the Obama administration.

3. The nomination train will stop.

4. Appropriations would make a comeback.

5. Ending the Reid “pocket veto.”

READ MORE

ALLEN WEST WILL VOTE DEMOCRAT!

10. I’ll vote Democrat because I can’t wait for college football season to be delayed or cancelled because the student athletes are union employees.

9. I’ll vote Democrat because I believe oil company’s profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.



8. I’ll vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.



7. I’ll vote Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.



6. I’ll vote Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves. I am also thankful that we have a 911 service that get police to your home in order to identify your body after a home invasion.



5. I’ll vote Democrat because I’m not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive and comfy.



4. I’ll vote Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits, and we should take away the Social Security from those who paid into it.



3. I’ll vote Democrat because I believe that businesses should NOT be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit.



2. I’ll vote Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.



And the Number One reason I’ll vote Democrat is:



THIS!

Two New Studies Raise Red Flags on Obamacare

The Fiscal Times:

When the next round of premium increases hits over the summer, and the market for employer-provided health insurance undergoes the same kind of massive disruption as the individual market did over the last six months, the debate over the honesty and integrity of the Obama administration may hit new levels of intensity.

READ MORE

Intelligence service sounds the trumpet of warning

I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry. (Jer 4:19)

SENTINEL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, LLC

LYLE J. RAPACKI, Ph.D.

____________

CONSULTANT AT:

Protective Intelligence and Assessment

Behavioral Analysis and Threat Assessment

Private-Sector Intelligence Analyst                                                                 Lyle@Sentinelintelligenceservices.com

______________________                                                                               ______________________

Saturday –                                                                                    NOT EMBARGOED –

March the 8^th, 2014

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The content of this commentary is deliberately intended to stimulate thought and discussion.  Informational analysis comprising National Security of the United States of America, economic forces as a dimension to national security, culture, freedom in human rights, defense of the Rule of Law are considered within the framework of this commentary.  The content is also intended to bring an educational dimension into view, as well as to sound the trumpet of warning to the church at-large of the coming assault, and to prepare God’s people for the same in accordance with Ezekiel 33: 7-9.

PREFACE:

Trevor Loudon is a patriot to America more than some who were born and raised within the shores of the United States of America.  A “kiwi” from Christchurch, New Zealand, Trevor Loudon is one of the world’s leading experts on the radical left, including those in America who have loyalties to Marxism.  His writings and public presentations accomplish the job very few in the media ever even attempt; namely, exposing the anti-capitalists, anti-U.S. Constitutionalists, anti-America Democrats, Republican progressives, Socialists, most organized Labor and Environmentalists, and those who shout “Peace” while they go about attempting to dismantle the Constitutional Rule of Law, America’s founding principles and rich heritage, and the very freedoms that afford them the privilege to protest, shout, and disrupt in the first place!

A formidable researcher, Trevor Loudon spent over twenty-five years digging through copious book stacks and paper trails even in out-of-the-way libraries and back alley bookstores, reading mind-numbing journals, reports, the minutes and writings from conferences organized by various radical and subversive groups. He chased down little known manuscripts meant only for the eyes of those in the “movement” to dismantle all things America; including our Judeo/Christian foundation. 

It was during a dinner that turned into a five hour meeting, this article was born.  I want to make certain the credit for the model contained herein is given to Trevor Loudon.  While Trevor and I massaged the idea you are about to read, and the two of us engaged in wonderful acts of critical thinking coupled with banter as how to make the hypothesis mentioned here spread across the public; to begin forming a national discussion on the subject-matter, the birth of this concept comes from the ever working mind of Trevor Loudon.  I am humbled he asked me to put his idea into words and assist in spreading the message – a message of “America Reborn” by developing a Team of Leaders to lead America away from the dark and dangerous slope we are quickly sliding down.

So…thank you, Trevor, for this privilege to help create a national conversation that will prayerfully build momentum all across the American fruited plains; from every wonderfully rich and uniquely created region; from coast-to-coast and into the deserts of the Southwest, to the Rockies of the West and the beautiful Smoky Mountains in the Southeast; from the soothing warm beaches of Hawaii to the spectacular glaciers of Alaska; through the magnificent and mysterious bayou of Louisiana up to Bangor, Maine…let the conversations begin!   

COMMENTARY AND PERSONAL REMARKS –

America is engaged in a Civil War, and it will surely intensify if we continue on the present path of destruction we have been traveling, especially these past five years.  This Civil War is by and between two groups; those who are working diligently to bring about a Statist government and country shaped much similar to that of Europe, and those who are growing in desire to return our Nation to the principles in which we were birthed and developed unchallenged the first fifty or sixty years of our existence.  Another group could be added by sweeping those who just want ALL shackles of propriety removed so they can do whatever they wish in any manner they want.  Still a minority, this latter group is quite vocal and without hesitation to launch their behavior and acts of rebellion at a moment’s notice.  The Statist’s are those whose ideology currently is most visible in numerous elected offices at the federal level regardless of political party, and who have every intention to impose their Socialist (and worse) political philosophies upon a nation never, ever, intended to host such horrible beliefs of population bondage and ruination.  Heck, our Founders fought a war against such a tyrannical mind-set.   

So did another giant in our country’s history…Abraham Lincoln.  As Mr. Lincoln was preparing to leave Springfield, Illinois for Washington three days earlier on February 8^th, 1861, seven seceding states meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, adopted another constitution and named Jefferson Davis president of their confederated states.  Mr. Lincoln fully grasped the significance of his words: “A house divided cannot stand.”  He fully realized he was assuming the presidency of a country under threat of being annihilated; shredded and destroyed from the principles our Founders fought to establish, and gave their every measure to build a nation unique and exceptional; a country where the people influenced government, and not the government and a few ideologues dictating to the people. 

Mr. Lincoln also recognized there may come a time when, WE THE PEOPLE may be forced to take such collected action to defend and preserve the very land on which we walk.  The Declaration of Independence was not merely a formal theory of rights in Lincoln’s eyes, but an instrument of democracy.

I listened as Trevor put forth his idea; not a definitive plan, an idea. Trevor and I began a conversation over a plan that is clearly outside the box of conventional thinking, but then again these are not conventional times, and I think Mr. Lincoln, if he were with us that evening at the dinner table, would soundly agree. 

It is time WE THE PEOPLE take back our beloved country from those who mean us harm; who have no respect for the ideals and principles that made America exceptional, and the envy of tens of millions around the globe;  American freedoms and structure that has even allowed those now trying to ruin this Nation the opportunities in the first place to sit in positions of power and authority which they have used so corruptly for their own benefit, and to implement their own radical anti-American ideological agenda. 

We need to bring forth bold ideas embracing the original foundation and corner-stones laid by the Founders; freedom from fear of a centralized tyrannical government; limited government and return to local home rule; promotion of the individual and of business and industry, of commerce and trade.  Tap the natural resources our country has been so blessed to have received, eliminate energy dependency on other nations, especially those who intend to do us harm.  Promote sound education and technological advances that made us the envy of the world, and caused many of our enemies to send their kids to America in the first place for educational and technological instruction.  Strip the myriad of federal regulations, policies, and rules intended to stifle business, and we as a sovereign people.  Embrace the inalienable rights of a free people formed in the image of God free to worship, or not, as we choose WITHOUT the imposition of beliefs by others, or attempting to kidnap our judicial system, our culture, our beliefs and values as a society and as a nation!  It is time to bring forth bold ideas by beginning a nation-wide conversation, and enjoying thinking outside the box for a change, rather than being dictated to by career politicians andpower brokers telling us critical thinking is not acceptable; that they know what’s best for us, and just leave the decision-making to them.  It is time for us to tell the political power brokers in both parties that they no longer are acceptable!

Let’s put together a TEAM OF LEADERS FOR THE REBIRTH OF AMERICA!  Let us begin now to reach-out to the conservative wing of the Republican Party, to the Tea Party itself including dimensions within the Tea Party.  Let us reach-out and invite Evangelical Christians into this discussion, and a growing number of Constitutional Patriot groups.  Let us, all who care deeply about the direction our country is headed, come together and begin thinking outside the box with a conversation that will rock the nation and the Statists and Marxists who intend to eliminate any and all conversation.

Are you ready to demand leadership that places the national interest above personal ambition?  Are you ready to stop the Washington and Belt-way insiders from choosing the nominee?  Are you ready to stop the Washington and Belt-way insiders and special interest groups from choosing the cabinet?  Are you ready to push back the “conventional wisdom” of the Left?

Are you ready to begin the conversation?  Here goes:

FOR PRESIDENT:  Senator Ted Cruz

FOR VICE PRESIDENT:  Former Congressman Allen West

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY:  Senator Rand Paul – Carte Blanche on the IRS!

SECRETARY OF ENERGY:  Former Governor Sarah Palin – Drill Baby Drill!

SECRETARY OF LABOR:  Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin – Right to work nationwide!

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE:  Herman Cain – Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate!

SECRETARY OF STATE:  Former Ambassador John Bolton – Strengthen our relationship with allies and put our enemies on notice that we shall not be held hostage by their aggression!

AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS:  NO ONE…NOPE…NOT HAPPENING.  We are finished with that Marxist hotbed of universal control and meddling!

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES:  Dr. Ben Carson!

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION:  David Barton – Home Schooling Protected…Common Core, GONE…quality based education, RETURNED!

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR:  Senator Mike Lee of Utah – Open the Federal Lands back to the people and the states!

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES:  Mark Levin

This team is announced sooner than later; the team begins traveling our country (not as a group) discussing a coordinated and well thought-out platform to bring America back to the shining light on the hill we once were, and this program is shared with the people, now and often!  The citizens get the opportunity to ask away of each member on the team; to bring forward their concerns and wait for the answers from that team member, or combination of team members, that will rid you of your worry.  STOP the political dialogue!  STOP the political power broker scripted talking points!  Each team member must also lay-out in writing a simple, easy to understand, method they will use in their area of responsibility on how they intend to help reduce government size, promote private citizens and enterprise, and help propel our Nation back to greatness and strength. 

Selected members of Congress who already have demonstrated shared beliefs as briefly outlined will be tasked to advise this team, and will be free to share with the citizens their views and how well they were received.  No

longer, will the Executive Branch Departments of Government be allowed to run rogue over the many, including the People’s Representatives – the Congress!

Another giant in our Nation’s history put together a team, a couple of times as a matter of fact:  George Washington knew a thing or two about bringing a team together to protect and serve the people; to act as a watchman so, a-centralized all-powerful federal government could not get away with what we are seeing before our eyes in the present.  How President Washington and the other Founders would be appalled at the current sight of what had been their gift to us.  They gave us a Republic if we would only keep it.  The Republic has been all but taken from us.  We either stand once again for freedom or fall for slavery; bondage in every sense, save the chains and shackles, and President Washington would agree I am quite certain.

I also am assured President Washington, who faced terribly serious challenges in his day, and developed a team comprised of Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, among others, proved that moving a nation into greatness requires a team of talented and selfless individuals willing to place country first, resume and future elections second.  Today we need a team who can guide America into a rebirth to the “shining light on the hill” greatness we all have known. 

What Trevor Loudon began as a conversation with me needs to go much, much further!  Our conversation now needs to be public.  Our conversation now needs to begin a nation-wide discussion among all who sincerely care about the loss of our Nation.  We do not need another debate.  We need a serious conversation on how we intend to right the wrongs being forced on us as a people, and collapsing our beloved Nation.  If you will not encourage this discussion, then who will?  If you will not engage, yourself, in this discussion, then when will it occur?  Begin now; we have very precious little time remaining, as we are being heinously pushed down a slippery slope of no return.

(END OF COMMENTARY)

Lyle J. Rapacki, provides intelligence and threat assessment briefings to elected and law enforcement officials nationally, as well as security professionals on matters associated with Border Security and loss of sovereignty.    He also writes articles for the Christian community through The Olive Branch Report.com. 

Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. (Ezekiel 33:4)

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken a major step toward rationing medications to the elderly.

Thanks to Obamacare: READ MORE

Understatement of the year

HillBuzz: "Republicans can still blow it..."

Warning: Stocks Will Collapse by 50% in 2014

Money News: It is only a matter of time before the stock market plunges by 50% or more, according to several reputable experts.

4 dead international bankers in 6 days...what's going on? UPDATES

UPDATE #2: - New York Post - Rash of finance-pro suicides baffles experts

Top officials from JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and the Federal Reserve have all turned up dead over the course of six days!

READ MORE

UPDATE - Canada Free Press - Missing WSJ financial reporter plus SEVEN dead bankers since New Year, 2014:

"It is an insult to the public intellect that the media so readily pushes the official line that the deaths were all suicides given the unusual circumstances surrounding nearly all of those listed..."

Exposing what lies beneath the bodies of dead bankers and what lies ahead for us

"Although the trail of mysterious and bizarre deaths detailed below begin in late January, 2014, there are others. Not only that, there will be more, according to sources within the financial world. Based on my findings, these are not mere random, tragic cases of suicide, but of the methodical silencing of individuals who had the ability to expose financial fraud at the highest levels, and the complicity of certain governmental agencies and individuals who are engaged in the greatest theft of wealth the world has ever seen."

CALIFORNIA: OBAMACARE TURNING CANCER PATIENTS AWAY

There are two reasons patients will be turned away: one that President Barack Obama hid, and one that he lied about.

READ MORE

“Barack Obama has gone from blaming George W. Bush to plagiarizing George W. Bush.”

Mark Thiessen, lead speechwriter for George W. Bush's 2007 SOTU address, tells Megyn Kelly he recognized parts of Obama's speech tonight that he had written!

Saving The Republic has the video here.

Obamacare, the vision, is now beyond rescue - UPDATE

By Megan McArdle
Jan 21, 2014

Last Wednesday, Scott Gottlieb and I debated Jonathan Chait and Douglas Kamerow on this proposition: “Resolved: Obamacare Is Now Beyond Rescue.” I was feeling a little trepid, for three reasons: First, I’ve never done any formal debate; second, the resolution gave the “for” side a built-in handicap, as the “against” side just had to prove that Obamacare might not be completely beyond rescue; and third, we were debating on the Upper West Side. Now, I grew up on the Upper West Side and love it dearly. But for this particular resolution, it’s about the unfriendliest territory this side of Pyongyang.

Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed the debate. I’m not ashamed to admit that the other side had a lot of powerful moments. Kamerow, a doctor who is also a former assistant surgeon general, made good points about the problems with the previous status quo. In the other seat, Chait was as passionate, witty and well-reasoned in his arguments as ever. (You can read his account of the debate here.) Given the various difficulties, we went in assuming that we would lose, so we were pretty surprised and pleased when we won.

READ MORE

UPDATE: POWERLINE COVERS THIS DEBATE HERE.

And, it is "Update #17" here.

Death spiral

OBAMACARE:

A death spiral - the insurance pool equivalent of bankruptcy - occurs when too many older and sicker people sign up for insurance relative to the number of younger, healthier people, Goodman explained, forcing everybody’s premiums up. But as premiums rise, even less young people sign up for coverage.

READ MORE

Two things you must know about the Left's chosen political issue for 2014

The Heritage Foundation: What You Need to Know About the Left's Big Issue for 2014

Wall Street advisor recommends guns, ammo for protection in collapse

A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a “bug-out bag” that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.

David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, “Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.”

READ MORE

In the REAL world...

Let’s just take a real-world example. An uninsured 31-year-old male living in Los Angeles and earning a salary of $32,000 would only qualify for $1 per month in subsidies through Obamacare, according to a search on the California exchange. Because he is 31, he wouldn’t be eligible for cheaper catastrophic insurance. Thus, the most inexpensive plan available to him would be a “bronze” L.A. Care plan costing $178 per month, or $2,136 per year, with a $5,000 annual deductible.

If he chooses to remain uninsured, he’ll be subject to the mandate of 1 percent above the tax filing threshold, meaning around $220.

In contrast, let’s say there is a 31-year-old male in California who earns $100,000 per year. He had insurance through United Healthcare, but his plan was canceled once the insurer decided to leave the California market. Under the HHS rule change, he would have the option of purchasing a plan for $148 per month, or about 17 percent less than the lowest option available to the man earning less than a third of his income. Additionally, the higher-income individual would have the option of skipping insurance altogether without being subject to a fine.

***

The way it treats almost everyone else is unfair: 

READ MORE