Holder is Subpoenaed

The U.S. Attorney General has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee.

The Committee wants all the communication concerning Fast & Furious that occurred in the upper level of the Department of Justice.  The subpoena also requests communication with the White House.

Previous documents given to the Oversight Committee had been heavily redacted.

Obama's Job Bill Dies

Source

Well, the Senate ended up voting on President Obama's Jobs Bill (despite Reid's shenanigans earlier).

And thus the bill died, in the Senate, despite Obama's heavy campaigning on its behalf.

This was to be expected, given the 1.5 trillion dollar tax increases in the bill.

Of course, Obama is expected to blame this on the Republicans.  Yet, it was the lack of support from Democrats in the Senate that led to this bill's demise.

The Senate Terrorized by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

 

Last week, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) unilaterally changed the rules in the Senate.

It's really sorta complicated, but basically the Republican minority was going to force an amendment which would then force a vote on Obama's Jobs Bill.

This is fairly common parliamentary maneuver to see how the wind is blowing on a bill.

In this case, the amendment would have failed (to have a vote on Obama's bill)---but it would have indirectly shown which Democrats opposed Obama's Jobs Bill and who supported it.

Reid, of course, was mortified about having a vote on Obama's bill--BECAUSE IT WAS GOING TO FAIL.

So he just changed the rules.

Uh Oh, Is Holder in Trouble?

Attorney General Holder wrote a 5 page letter last week to Congress about Fast &Furious.

Holder blames Congress for Fast & Furious, stating that they won't fix loopholes that allow guns across the borders.

Of course, the DOJ (through its department of Alcohol, Tobacco &Firearms, also called "ATF") actually sold guns across the border--hard to fix THAT loophole.

Holder also blames the "politics" of Congress as contributing to Fast & Furious, as well as poor, not-strict-enough gun control laws.

He then again says he knew absolutely nothing about Fast & Furious until this year--despite the memos he received back in 2010.

Holder refers to Fast &Furious as a "regrettable incident". 

In the meantime, more guns have been discovered in the hands of Mexican drug lords.

****************************************************

The Congressional Oversight Committee, headed by Representative Issa (R-California), has now replied to Holder.  Here are some excerpts:

"It appears your latest defense has reached a new low."

"The facts simply do not support any claim that Fast and Furious did not reach the highest levels of the Justice Department. Actually, Fast and Furious did reach the ultimate authority in the Department - you."

"Unfortunately, the Department's cooperation to date has been minimal. Hundreds of pages of documents that have been produced to my Committee are duplicative, and hundreds more contain substantial redactions, rendering them virtually worthless."

 "Mr. Attorney General, you have made numerous statements about Fast and Furious that have eventually been proven to be untrue. Your lack of trustworthiness while speaking about Fast and Furious has called into question your overall credibility as Attorney General."

Read the whole letter here.

Okay, Okay!

I have soooooo much to write about!
But I have three papers due tomorrow!
I promise, info soon on various and sundry issues, including Obama's green boondoggle and non-starting jobs bill.

Something for Attack Watch?

Do you think this needs to be turned in to AttackWatch.com?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBOMjZU-aCE

FLOTUS Travels

The First Lady's trip earlier this year to Africa cost a little more than $424,000 for the flights alone.

This cost doesn't include any other expenses---such as food, lodging, ground transportation or security.

Twenty-one family and staff also went to Africa.

Mrs Obama's daughters were listed as "Senior Staff".

This information was discovered by Judicial Watch only after filing a lawsuit based on the Freedom of Information Act.

The First Lady spoke on education and health on stops at several cities.  The trip then ended with a private safari for the family. 

Was there Pressure On Ford over Commercial?

Yes, according to the Detroit News.  Maybe not a direct order, but subtle "questioning".  Read the story and decide yourself.

Umm, Excuse Me, Holder Knew About Fast & Furious Waaaayyyyy Before This Year

Documents released Friday show that AG Holder was informed about Fast & Furious in July 2010.

In his May 2011 testimony to Congress, Holder stated he had only learned of Fast & Furious in the last few weeks prior.

In short, he lied.

NOW Holder states he didn't understand the question.  He insists that the memos didn't give him any details of the Fast & Furious operation--apparently only the name of the operation was mentioned.  Holder is adamant that he didn't know anything (AT ALL) about what was going on back in 2010.

' “He’s either incompetent or he’s misleading Congress,” responded....the press secretary for the House Oversight Committee, which is chaired by Issa.'

Meanwhile, reporter Sharyl Atkisson, who covers the White House, has been reporting on Fast & Furious.  She states that the White House and the Department of Justice has been "screaming" and "cussing" at her for trying to cover this story.

Apparently they feel that she is "not being reasonable" and is "unfair and biased".  They would like her to "be reasonable" like the NY Times, the LA Times, and the Washington Post.

Wow, this sounds a bit like the Ford commercial that wasn't well-liked by the Obama Administration.

Hey! More on Fast & Furious

More info on Fast and Furious came out last Friday.

To wit: The newly released documents show lots of emailing back and forth between the ATF Agent-In-Charge and a White House National Security staff person, which also show that phone calls occurred.

These two also shared a chart showing where the guns came from (in Arizona) and ended up (all over Mexico). 

Developed by Arizona Gun Runner Impact Team, the chart is pretty explicit in showing the extent of gun-running:



Source: CBS News via Big Government

  And, don't forget that Attorney General Holder innacurately reported to Congress that he did not know of Fast & Furious until April 2011.

Holder also denies authorizing and/or knowing of Fast & Furious when it began.

Which either points to 1) His duplicity, or
                                  2) His incompetence.

                                                     

Basically, both the White House and the DOJ are saying, "I know nuthink....I know nuthink...."

Suspending Elections: A Joke? I Think Not...

Benedict Arnold
Source

North Carolina governor (Democrat) Beverly Perdue has stated "it was only a joke" when she proposed suspending congressional elections for two years until Congress can get the country economically back on track.

Uhh, I don't think so.

What do you think?  Does this sound like a joke?  Here's the quote from Governor Perdue:

"You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."

Maybe Governor Perdue wants to extend the moratorium on elections to North Carolina, seeing as how her campaign is under criminal investigation, hmmm?

She sounds a lot like President Obama's former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, who wrote an article on "Why We Need Less Democracy":

To solve the serious problems facing our country, we need to minimize the harm from legislative inertia by relying more on automatic policies and depoliticized commissions for certain policy decisions. In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic.

More on "Fast and Furious"

Okay, let's look a bit more at "Fast and Furious", the more than 1,400 2,000 2,500 guns that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Department of Justice, allowed to "walk" across the border to Mexico.

The guns included "dozens of .50 caliber sniper rifles".

The operation is responsible for at least 200 deaths, including two federal agents.

The operation whose budget has exploded (pun intended) and is partially funded by Stimulus money.

The operation that everyone in the Obama Administration forgot to mention to Mexico.

So, who knew about Fast and Furious?  Who's responsible?  Who let this get so out-of-control?

"Not me," said President Obama.

"Not me," said Attorney General Holder.

"Not me," said Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano.

Let's start with some of the latest information about "Fast and Furious".  As you know, it was started to track guns illegally taken across the Mexican border.  Well, it seems that BATF (which is part of the Department of the Treasury) and the DOJ merely needed to question their fellow compatriots over at the DEA and the FBI---both of which are part of the Department of Justice. 

You see, it was an FBI informant that was taking the guns across the border to the Mexican drug cartels.

Basically, "Fast and Furious" could have been closed long ago.

But it should have been closed down long ago.  Even a year-and-a-half ago (January 2010), "Fast and Furious" guns had been found at the sites of at least 6 serious crimes. That was before the death of Agent Brian Terry. 

Yet Attorney General Holder continues to deny any culpability, despite a slew of recent resignations and transfers of people involved in this scandal.  These include the Obama appointee U.S. Attorney in Arizona (Dennis Burke), the Assistant U.S. Attorney General (Emory Hurley), the Acting Director of the ATF (Kenneth Melson) and two more ATF administrators. 

Holder has also thus far refused to provide information to the Congressional investigation headed by Representative Issa and Senator Grassley.  Holder denies that the DOJ underlings consulted with him or his office in this internationally-sensitive gun-running operation.

Acting Director of the BATF Melson, BTW, was transferred to the Washington D.C. DOJ office as the "senior adviser on forensic science" (whatever that is) ---- but AFTER he had moved all the folks involved in "Fast and Furious" on to other assignments on orders from his superiors in the DOJ, who ALSO ordered him not to mention "Fast and Furious" to Congress as the reason for the shuffling.

On a further note, emails have surfaced revealing that officials in the White House knew about "Fast and Furious".  Emails concerning the gun-running operation went to Kevin M. O'Reilly (director of North American Affairs for White House national security); Dan Restrepo (the president's senior Latin American advisor), and Greg Gatjanis (a White House national security official).  According to the White House, no one else in the White House knew of these emails.

Two more items I'd suggest you look at:

#1 The letter from the Congressional investigation team to the DOJ--very interesting reading.  It's here.

#2  How this is affecting the family of Agent Brian Terry--very sad reading.  It's here.

AND, congrats to Issa and Grassley for continuing to check out this fiasco.

Back into Blogging: Furiouser and Furiouser



Source

It's time to get into blogging again, so let's start with something close to home--my home, Texas.

Such as the so-called "Fast and Furious" federal initiative, which has greatly affected border states.

A brief review:

Brian Terry, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, was shot in 2010 by rifles found to have been sold to Mexican thugs in an operation (run by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Department of Justice) called Project Gunrunner, or "Fast and Furious".

"Fast and Furious" guns have also been implicated in the death of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata.

"Fast and Furious" consisted of selling assault guns to known intermediates who would in turn sell these weapons to Mexican drug cartels.  In fact, these guns were sold over the objection of Americans who ran legally-operated gun shops.  (You SHOULD read this article here.)

The purpose? Well, this operations was begun in 2005 under President Bush as a BATFE endeavor to stop illegal gun trafficking across the Mexican border.  It was to work with the Mexican government by monitoring undercover gun sales.

Under President Obama's administration, the gunwalking operation (then known as "Project Gunrunner") continued to expand rapidly, despite warnings that the tracking methods just weren't working well.  Guns were finding their way into the hands of Mexican narco-terrorists without being tracked OR intercepted.

The BATFE has lost track of over 1,400 assault weapons in Project Gunrunner, if you're interested in exactly how negligent they've been.

The Obama administration also greatly increased Project Gunrunner's (aka Fast and Furious) budget, giving it $10 million dollars in Stimulus Money.  Hard to believe, but true.

So how is Mexico reacting to all this?  Not well.  Especially since Mexico hadn't been informed of the project.

And even more especially since the lost guns are turning up in crimes committed in Mexico, including murders and kidnappings. 

Some Mexican officials are not at all happy; some are now demanding the extradition of BAFTE and DOJ officials who are involved in Fast and Furious.

So, exactly who in the BATFE and DOJ ARE involved?  Tune in next time.........

Job Growth: A Big, Fat Zero

As in "None", "Nada", "Zip".

Source

President Obama's policies have now shown their full effects.

Obama Just Doesn't Get It---No More Taxes!

President Obama insists on new sources of revenue--another phrase for TAXES.

Speaker Boehner, and Republicans, say no.  Absolutely no taxes.  As Boehner says, "The president is emphatic that taxes have to be raised. As a former small businessman, I know tax increases destroy jobs."

Obama blames Republicans on this impasses, but offers no concrete plan of his own.  Instead, Reid kept the Cut, Cap and Balance Act off the floor of the Senate and didn't allow any discussion or vote on it.

Obama blames Republicans on the looming default, when the government will not default.  There's enough money to pay our debts.

Obama blames Republcans for the possibility of senior citizens not getting their Social Security checks, when it will be his decision whether or not those checks will be mailed.

Obama blames Republicans for the possible lowering of our credit rating, when the problem is not the possibility of default (see above) but the out-of-control spending under his governorship.

CALL your senators and representative, and everyone else you can think of.  This is a representative democracy!

Stop the RINO's!

Source

Call your Senators and Representative.  (Use the "Vote" button to find the number.)

Tell your Senators you are FOR the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act (which was passed yesterday in the House) and against McConnell's plan and the Gang-of-Six plan.

Thank your Representative if they voted for the Cut, Cap and Balance Act.  If they didn't, tell them about your displeasure.  (Find out here how everyone voted.)

Call Senator McConnell's office and tell him his plan is absolutely the wrong one for America.
Phone: (502) 582-6304 (Kentucky office) or (202) 224-2541 (D.C. office)

Call Senators Chambliss (phone 202-224-3521), Crapo (phone 202-224-6142 for the D.C. office or 208- 334-1776 for Idaho office), and Coburn (phone 202-224-5754 in D.C. or 918-581-7651 for the Tulsa office) and tell them the same thing.  State your support for Cut, Cap and Balance.

Now, Who Are the Other Nefarious RINO's? Or, Who are the Gang of Six?

Source



What about the plan by the Gang of Six?

First of all, who are they?  Senators, including
***Republican RINO's Tom Coburn (Oklahoma), Saxby Chambliss (Georgia), and Mike Crapo (Idaho).
***Democrats Warner (Virginia), Durbin (Illinois), and Conrad (North Dakota)

Basically, the plan is ONE TRILLION DOLLARS in NEW REVENUES (read Tax Increases)

plus some as-yet-unidentified spending cuts and spending caps.

Good deal, huh?

Ditch Mitch! As Well as Other Nefarious RINO's

Source

Senator Mitch McConnell, along with Senator Harry Reid, have proposed a plan that Moody's (which assesses debt ratings) would not approve.

This plan, which Heritage calls the "Just-Borrow-More" plan, simply allows the President (who, IMHO, doesn't have the Constitutional mandate to borrow money--that's one of the functions of the Legislature or Congress) to borrow money as he wishes.

This plan would require a 2/3 majority of Congress to STOP the Presidential borrowing. 

Thus, the end result of McConnell's plan is to raise the debt ceiling.  Period.  Without any cuts in spending.

Moody's has said that the U.S. credit rating will suffer if
1) The federal government defaults on its payments; and
2) The federal government doesn't stop spending so wildly.

McConnell's plan does NOTHING to stop spending.

Thus his plan will lead to a downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, which will lead to higher interest rates, which will further increase the U.S. debt and depress the economy.....

and so on and so on and so on......

New Campaign: DITCH MITCH!

Senator Mitch McConnell is apparently pushing his idea (basically, to allow the President, by law, to have control of raising the debt limit) to Democrats as well as other not-so-conservative Senators.

RINO's!!!! One and all who go for this.

Thus the new campaign:
Ditch Mitch!

Social Security Games

President Obama has warned threatened that there won't be enough money to pay Social Security checks if Republicans don't agree to new taxes AND continued spending.

Which is patently false.

Moreover, it is the Executive Branch (Obama) who makes the decision whether or not to pay out Social Security checks.  Let's say this one more time:  If folks don't get Social Security checks in August, it's Obama's decision.

Oh, and by the way, I thought all the money was socked away somewhere, ready and waiting to be paid out to Social Security recipients?



Political Chicken

President Obama has threatened to withhold Social Security checks if he doesn't get the Debt Ceiling raised AND new Tax Increases (on top of all the tax increases that begin next year under Obamacare.)
And to withhold Medicare & Medicaid checks as well as those to our Armed Forces.

It seems that Obama doesn't really care much about We, the People, since it is a fact that the federal government has enough money at present (without an increase in the Debt Ceiling!!!) to pay interest on government loans, Social Security, Medicare and Defense costs.

Remember that President Obama earlier to consider a bill (proposed by Republicans) ensuring that the armed forces would continue to be paid even if the federal government shut down?

In fact, Obama promised to veto this bill.

Unemployment Up--But That's OK--We don't Understand those Numbers Anyway!

 

Unemployment rose to 9.2%.

Not only that, but the number of jobs was decreased by 25,000 for April and 217,000 in May.  So those months were worse off, job-wise, than previously thought.

Manufacturing added only 6,000 jobs; professional and business service jobs rose by 12,000 jobs; education and medical jobs added no jobs.  Construction jobs and financial service jobs fell.

According to President Obama, We, the People, aren't able to understand these numbers and shouldn't worry about them anyway.

It's the job of the professional politicians according to Obama,  "Well, let me distinguish between professional politicians and the public at large.  The public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury option goes.  They shouldn’t."

So, folks, don't worry.  Your professional politicians (something our founding fathers were totally against!!) are taking care of things!

A True Fourth of July Story

A few weeks ago, Dearest Husband was flying back to Dallas.  As he was getting his ticket, he observed an older gentleman insisting that a young Marine take his 1st-class ticket and busily making arrangements to trade seats with the Marine.

When DH got on the plane, he found himself sitting next to this gentleman in the back of the plane.  As they began to talk, my DH commented on the older gentleman's kindness and generosity in trading his first-class seat for the Marine's coach accomodation.

"You know why I did that?" the older man asked.  "I love this country."

He went on to explain that during World War II, his parents, living in war-ravaged Europe, subsisted on rations provided by the U.S. Army.  His father would point out the empty ration boxes and tell him, "You should love America.  They kept us alive.  If America hadn't helped us, you wouldn't be alive today."

The gentleman never forgot his father's words.  Later in life, he immigrated to America, became a prosperous business man, and has been active in American life and politics.

Why?  "Because I love this country."

Happy Birthday, America!

And More News: Third-Year-In-A-Row Trillion Dollar Deficits!

The deficit is almost a trillion dollars right now, with 2 and a half months to go.

And if you look at the figures, it's not lack of income to the U.S. Treasury (as some Democrats are claiming).  Revenue is actually up. 

The problem is SPENDING. 

Democrats are now pushing another stimulus package to work on infrastructure, along with new Tax Increases. 

Woo, Hoo! Electricity Costs Set to Skyrocket!

Source

This news just in time for the Fourth of July.

Then-Senator Obama, in a January 2008 interview, promised that his policies would send electricity rates soaring:  "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

Likewise, Obama vowed to "bankrupt" coal-fired electrical plants: "So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them."

With Cap and Trade (aka Cap and Tax) regulations voted down in Congress, President Obama has used the EPA to come up with multiple new regulations that will stifle coal-burning electrical power plants.

There are about 600 coal facilities in the U.S. which produce about half our electricity.

American Electric Power, one of the largest producers of coal-generated electricity, states it will close 25% of its coal-burning plants and spend billions upgrading other plants. 

Prices of electricity are estimated to rise 40-60% by 2014. 

President Obama wants to look at other sources of clean energy--for example, electricity for cars. 

My question:  Exactly where will that electricity come from?

Just wonderin'....

The Economy and the President

President Obama used to receive daily economic reports.

No more.

He quit worrying receiving those a while back.

The Arab Spring: It's Sprouting Nazis

Recently, the Nazi Party re-emerged in Egypt.

A group, claiming that the Nazi Party was operational though underground,during Mubarek's tenure in office, has come forward to announce its revival.

The Middle East has a long history of collaboration with the World War II Nazi regime.  During WWII, Muslim religious leaders accepted money and help from Nazi Germany.  After WWII, many Nazis fled to Egypt and hid there, often becoming devout Muslims.  Others became active in the Palestinian Liberation Organization, helping with military training. 

A 1953 commemorative letter from Anwar Sadat to Hitler praised Hitler for his fight against Jews.  In 1999, Hitler's Mein Kampf was translated into Arabic and disseminated by the PLO.

This is the Middle East that President Obama has extolled as becoming more democratic. 

This is the Egypt that President Obama would forgive $1 billion dollars in debt and give out $1 billion more in economic aid.

This is the Middle East whose barbaric slaughter of protesters, "virginity checks" on women in the streets, and rape of an American reporter Mr. Obama paints as mere aberrations, stating "that at times our friends in the region have not all reacted” in accordance “with the principles that I've outlined today."

This is the Middle East that President Obama compares favorably to our American Revolution.

D-Day

Today is the 67th anniversary of D-Day.

Source

On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 men--Allied troops from America, Great Britain and Canada--landed on the coast of Normandy, France to begin the fight to defeat Nazi Germany.

Five thousand ships and 13,000 planes joined in this attack.

Due to their, and many other thousands and thousands of brave men's and women's, bravery, the evil forces of Nazism were broken.

Yes, it WAS evil.  The Nazi leaders were against free speech, freedom of religion, and so many of the liberties we here in America hold dear.  They were racist, without mercy, and violent.  Hitler and his regime needed to be vanquished.

From General Eisenhower's speech:
"I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Obamacare: Obama Solicitor General Tells You How to Avoid Mandates

Neal Kumar Katyal, the acting solicitor general for President Obama, under questioning by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, revealed how individuals can escape mandates (or being forced to buy health insurance).

Just make less money.

Of course, the real question is whether Congress has the power to make you purchase something.  The SG's argument is that everyone will eventually use health care; thus, Congress has the right to force you (mandate) to buy health insurance.  THEIR health insurance.

The judges kept asking the Solicitor General Natyal where is the line or boundary that separates congressional mandate from willy-nilly interference in every aspect of your life.

The answer, of course, is that with Obama's idea of governmental powers, there are no boundaries to keep the federal government out of your private life.

The Economy----AGAIN

Corrected

Unemployment has risen---It is now 9.1%.

The stock market is falling.

Housing prices have fallen to 2002 prices.

Is this President Obama's idea of a "Summer of Recovery"?

Tsk, tsk, from the Brits...Bad Manners, Mr. President

Source

British newspapers slam President Obama for playing golf----after the traditional laying of the wreath at Arlington Cemetery----on Memorial Day (the second Memorial Day that he has played golf), stating, 

"The president’s actions smack of poor taste, as well a lack of empathy and support for the US military, hardly the kind of leadership the White House should be projecting at a time of war."

In contrast, the First Lady quietly visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.

The President and the Law: Libya (AKA Libya, Where Art Thou?)



Have you heard much about Libya?

No?

Well, let's fill in the blanks:

If you don't remember, President Obama, under pressure from European allies, ordered air attacks on Libya as a "humanitarian effort." 

Obama ordered these attacks under the War Powers Act (or WPA).

Now, many,many people feel that the WPA is unconstitutional, as it allows the President to declare war, which under the Constitution is reserved to Congress.

But, WPA is the law of the land at the moment.

However, WPA limits the President's power to order out troops.  He may only instigate combat if  there is a "national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” 

That doesn't seem to fit in Libya.

The WPA also said that the President can start a war under the direction of Congress, i.e., if there is (1) "a declaration of war {by Congress}, or (2) "a specific statutory authorization" {again, by Congress' authority}.

Furthermore, Obama KNOWS that this is illegal, as he said in 2007, “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

Now, to add insult to injury, the WPA also specifies that the President must ask Congress for approval to continue combat, OR withdraw the troops he's ordered out.

That deadline was May 21st.

So, did President Obama ask Congress' permission?  In a word, NO.

Obama is acting against the law of the land. 

Sending our men and women into harm's way in a totally unlawful and unconstitutional war.

Furthermore, Congress has said nothing about this flagrant abuse of power.  Nada.  Zilch.

They are as derelict as Obama.

Unexpectedly, the Economy is Worsening

Unexpectedly again.

The U.S. added only 38,000 new jobs in May, showing "that job growth is also weakening."

Lay-offs are rising.

Manufacturing fell sharply in May.

Housing "prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight," due to the huge numbers of  "houses for sale, foreclosures, tight credit and weak demand."

And to top it off, oil prices remain above $100 a barrel as the American dollar looks to weaken.

Taxes: What Do Democrats Want?

A top tax rate of 62%, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Today's top tax rate is 35%.

President Obama wants to raise Medicare payroll taxes, raise taxes on those making more than $250,000, end a number of income tax deductions, and end the cap on Social Security taxes (which can add up to 10% to your taxes.)

Obamacare has already put in place a 0.9% Medicare tax on people making $200,000 a year ($250,000 for a couple)--

plus Obamacare institutes a 3.8% investment tax starting in 2014.

Democrats are also looking at raising other investment taxes, such as capital gains tax--from 15% up to 23.8%, and dividend taxes--from 15% up to a whopping 45%.

On Medicare----"That's What Democrats Stand For"

Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat-NY) has proposed that doctors receive a flat fee for Medicare.

That is, if Grandpa has a heart attack, the doctor would only get a certain fee, regardless of whether his case was straightforward---or if Grandpa has complications that needed extra care.

Under Schumer's plan, Grandpa only gets routine, one-size-fits-all medical care.  There would be no money for individualized or innovative health care.

THE DEMOCRATS FORGET that doctors must make money in order to stay in business. 

So either Grandpa gets less care or must find someone who can afford to offer charity care.

EXCEPT, under current Medicare rules, doctors CANNOT offer free care. They must file and accept Medicare for all medical care for seniors. 

SO, SCHUMER'S PLAN = RATIONING.  Period.

Remember

Oops: How Not to Behave at a Memorial

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43802

Medicare: What are the Options?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The basic problem: Currently, seniors (on average) receive far more in health benefits than they have paid into the system.

And with a worsening economy and baby-boomers reaching retirement, there are fewer employed Americans paying into the Medicare system.

Add to that the Congressional pilfering of the Medicare coffers and you have an economic disaster.

 

Many older Americans rightfully insist that they have paid into the Medicare system and deserve medical care.  And, basically, they can only get medical insurance through Medicare. 

 

But Medicare is going broke.  So what to do?

 

President Obama proposes cutting Medicare spending by raising taxes, limiting reimbursement to caregivers, and rationing health care. 

 

Rationing, you say?  Yes, through the IPAB (otherwise known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board) which will have the authority to restrict payments on certain medical procedures, which equals to rationing. 

 

Oh, and by Obamacare calculations, Obamacare will stave off Medicare bankruptcy by three years.  Oh, yeah, that helps....

 

So let's look at another plan, proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan.  He proposes that citizens over age 55 will continue to have traditional Medicare coverage.

 

If you are under 55, you will get money to purchase your own health care coverage.  You can choose what is best for you.  The free market system will help keep costs down and quality high.  Senior will have lots more choices!

 

Personally, I'm glad I'm under 55.

Medicare WILL Change with Obamacare

Perhaps you've heard or seen that advertisement showing Paul Ryan (or somesuch Republican) pushing dear old granny off the cliff--literally--by reforming Medicare.  (PS, go watch the video, it's pretty interesting to see some people' idea of rational discussion.)

But the dirty little secret is that Obamacare has ALREADY changed Medicare.

Let's see----

• Well, first of all, Obamacare has cut over a half-a-trillion dollars from the Medicare budget.  Now, that's a BIG change.  For the worse, with all the baby boomers retiring and hitting Medicare age.

• Next, Obamacare has replaced traditional fee-for-service with 30% cuts in physician re-imbursements.  This, by the way, is why doctors are dropping out of Medicare and why your older relatives can't find a doctor to take care of them.  Doctors will be losing money seeing Medicare payments.  And believe it or not, doctors have bills to pay (such as rent and employee salaries) and can't lose money on patients!

• Finally, Obamacare created the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, which will be a group of 15 UNELECTED people in charge of making sure Medicare spends less money.  If this unelected and unaccountable (to We, The People) board can't cut Medicare down to size, then the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to do whatever is necessary to cut costs, without Congressional approval.

So, you see, things WILL change, and probably not for the better.

Who's really pushing Grandma off the cliff?

Medicare's Demise

 

 

 

 

 

Medicare is going broke, at a faster rate than previously thought.

 

The Medicare Trustees warned that Medicare Part A will be insolvent by 2024 (five years sooner than previously thought), while another report from the Office of the Actuary paints an even gloomier forecast.

Promises, Promises

A Memo from President Obama:  "My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government."

The Reality:
1)  President Obama promised to release White House visitor logs.  Only 1% of the first 8 months of these records have been released.

2)  President Obama promised to show congressional negotiations on C-Span.  But he refused to allow healthcare discussions to be televised.

3)  President Obama promised to whittle the influence of lobbyists on his Administration.  So instead of meeting with lobbyists at the White House (where visitor records could reveal these meetings), Administration officials meet with lobbyists across the street in the Caribou Coffee house.

4)  President Obama promised that ex-lobbyists would not work for the White House (again, to decrease lobbyists' influence on his Administration).  He even wrote out executive orders restricting their hire.  Yet over 40 ex-lobbyists now work for him, including Cabinet secretaries Vilsack and Sebelius, Attorney General Holder, VP Chief of Staff Klain, CIA Director Panetta, and various other Chiefs of Staff, Deputies and Assistants and Associates and what-not.