This and That...

[Ross]

On Friday, the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution that defunded ObamaCare.

Now it's up to the grassroots to turn up the pressure on the Senate and urge my colleagues to stand firm in regards to defunding ObamaCare. On Friday, the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution that defunded ObamaCare.

Now it's up to the grassroots to turn up the pressure on the Senate and urge my colleagues to stand firm in regards to defunding ObamaCare.

That's why it's crucial you sign your No Funding for ObamaCare petition IMMEDIATELY.

And if you could, please forward this email to a friend.

In Liberty,

Rand2016
http://www.rand-2016.com/defund_oc.aspx?pid=0923

That's why it's crucial you sign your No Funding for ObamaCare petition IMMEDIATELY.

And if you could, please forward this email to a friend.

In Liberty,

Rand2016

[Warph]

ObamaCare Countdown: More Layoffs Across America
Because of Government's Expensive Health Care Mandates,
Huge Rate Hikes Looming.

The ObamaCare kick-off is growing closer... the expensive, decreased-care, let's-ram-it-down-Americans'-throats health care plan that the White House and Congress embrace and have mandated, but are relieved that they themselves don't have to participate in it like the rest of the nation is being forced. Even Obama's sock puppet press secretary Jay Carney is exempt.

Not only will the cost to the average American for the nightmarish ObamaCare be far, far higher than any Democrat politician wanted the American public to know until it was too late to do anything about it, but with the growing number of medical professionals leaving the health care industry by choice or because of job layoffs (renamed "workforce reduction strategies"), the fate of Americans' health care is dismal. ObamaCare is predicted to cost most Americans a mind-boggling increase in out-of-pocket costs, while providing far less medical services and making getting that reduced service more difficult to get.

Illegal aliens, however, need not worry. Lower-class and middle-class American citizens should worry plenty. No telling how many families will plunge over a financial cliff into bankruptcy, lose their vehicles and homes, because of the demands of Obama's misnamed "Affordable Care Act." God forbid if any members of these families should actually get sick.

This is what Democrats are smugly calling "health care reform." Reform that will make health care in America much worse than it was for the majority of Americans.

Reported by Ben Swann, PRESTIGIOUS CLEVELAND CLINIC CUTS $300M, LAYOFFS LOOM CITING OBAMACARE:

Indiana schools are being forced to reduce their workforce.  Wendy's and other fast food restaurants are reducing their workforce as well. "I never thought it would impact me directly," said Sullivan, a college professor. "I was stunned when I got the email... I love teaching at St. Pete College but that is a significant cut." The Florida college is being forced to reduce her pay in half. UPS recently dropped thousands from their benefits package, which made headlines around the country. All have one thing in common. They cite Obamacare as the catalyst.

[...]

The Cleveland Clinic just recently announced that they will trim more than $300,000,000.00 from their operating budget and offer early retirement to many employees. Those who do not accept the package will be laid off.

More American workers have lost their jobs or are about to lose them because of ObamaCare — add to the list Pres. Obama's congressional home state of Illinois and Ohio, both of which voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential races.

You reap what you sow, Democrats...

From Money US News, Countdown to Obumacare:
The Penalties for Uninsured Americans:

Effective Jan. 1, 2014, Obamacare requires all eligible individuals, including children, to have health insurance. Failure to be insured can trigger a penalty fee of $95 per adult and $47.50 per child in 2014. If you have individual coverage but your dependent children aren't insured, you can still face penalties on them.

No one knows how many Americans will be without health insurance in 2014. A 2012 estimate by the Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 30 million Americans will not have insurance in 2016, and roughly 6 million of them will face penalties. The penalties for individuals are expected to increase each year, and the uninsured will have to pay either a fee or percent of household income (whichever is greater).

In 2014, the fee is $95 per adult or 1 percent of household income.

In 2015, the fee is $325 per adult or 2 percent of household income.

In 2016, the fee is $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of household income.
It's not clear how aggressive the government will be in collecting penalties from individuals. The emphasis today is not on enforcing penalties, but rather on convincing people to get insurance, particularly younger and healthier people who have opted to forgo insurance in the past. When enforcement does occur, it will be carried out by the Internal Revenue Service, which will collect 2014 penalties by making adjustments on 2014 individual tax returns that will be due in April 2015.

"The amount of the shared responsibility payment will be included on the annual Form 1040 starting with the 2014 return taxpayers file," Eric Smith, an IRS spokesman, told U.S. News. "It will offset any refund that would otherwise be due or will add to any balance due."

"As is always the case with a tax return," Smith adds, "if there is an amount due, individuals generally pay this amount either by check or by electronic funds transfer. Insurers will be required to provide everyone that they cover each year with information that will help them demonstrate they had coverage beginning with the 2015 tax year."

The penalties for children are half that for adults. And there is a cap on the penalties, regardless of income, which is the annual cost of a basic health insurance policy on a state health insurance exchange. That ceiling is not likely to be a factor this year, but it could come into play when the penalties get steeper.

[Warph]

RINO Rep. Peter King Continues To Attack Ted Cruz:
He's A "Fraud," People "Think He's Crazy"

(This is the second time today King Media Whore has attacked Ted Cruz,
proving once again that he will say just about anything
as long as it gets him on TV)

Via Mediaite:
Congressman Peter King has been one of the strongest Republican voices opposing Ted Cruz's fight against Obamacare, frequently calling him a"fraud." On CNN Wednesday night, King continued hammering Cruz, telling Anderson Cooper that despite how much Cruz may view himself as a conservative "folk hero" the majority of the country is rallying behind, "those I've spoken to think he's crazy."

King likened this to the Charge of the Light Brigade and said Cruz is a "kamikaze pilot," ultimately finding his tactics to be destructive to the Republican party. He continued to call Cruz a fraud and a "medicine man selling goods he knows are phony goods."

Cooper asked why King is taking the "unusual" step of being so critical of a member of his own party. King said he has no loyalty to Cruz, adding that Cruz was trying to intimidate Republican members of Congress" in the past few months to vote his way "with explicit threats of primaries."

[Warph]

 

CNBC offers a reality check for drones,
progressives and other miscreants:
"Prepare for a New American Revolution"

I don't know who this Peter J. Tanous is, but I commend him:

...I believe that one of the most important reasons the Fed is determined to keep interest rates low is one that is rarely talked about, and which comprises a dark economic foreboding that should frighten us all.

Let me start with a question: How would you feel if you knew that almost all of the money you pay in personal income tax went to pay just one bill, the interest on the debt? Chances are, you and millions of Americans would find that completely unacceptable and indeed they should.

But that is where we may be heading.

Thanks to the Fed, the interest rate paid on our national debt is at an historic low of 2.4 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Given the U.S.'s huge accumulated deficit, this low interest rate is important to keep debt servicing costs down.

But isn't it fair to ask what the interest cost of our debt would be if interest rates returned to a more normal level? What's a normal level? How about the average interest rate the Treasury paid on U.S. debt over the last 20 years?

That rate is 5.7 percent, not extravagantly high at all by historic standards... [But if] we were to pay an average interest rate on our debt of 5.7 percent, rather than the 2.4 percent we pay today, in 2020 our debt service cost will be about $930 billion.

Now compare that to the amount the Internal Revenue Service collects from us in personal income taxes... In 2012, that amount was $1.1 trillion, meaning that if interest rates went back to a more normal level of, say, 5.7 percent, 85 percent of all personal income taxes collected would go to servicing the debt. No wonder the Fed is worried.

Some economists will also suggest that interest rates may go much higher than 5.7 percent largely as a result of the massive QE exercise of printing money at an unprecedented rate. We just don't know what the effect of all this will be but many economists warn that it can only result in inflation down the road.

As of today, interest rates are rising, and if this is a turning point, it is a major one... Rates in the U.S. peaked in 1980 (remember the 14 percent Treasury bonds?) so if we are at the point of reversing a 33-year downward trend, who wants to predict how this will affect the economy?

One thing is clear: Based on CBO projections, if interest rates just rise to their 20-year average, we will have an untenable, unacceptable interest rate bill whose beneficiaries are China, Japan, and others who own our bonds.

And if Americans find out that the lion's share of their income tax payments are going to service the debt, prepare for a new American revolution.

[Warph]

The President's Open Letter to the NRA

(Dear President Barack Obuma,
We will send you the forementioned baseball caps, pullover sweaters, and pens when we figure out how to fit them all in one giant suppository.
....Warph)

[Warph]

Media Whore Chuck Schumer "Appalled" Ted Cruz Read
"Green Eggs And Ham"

(He was so appalled that the CLOWN had to run to the nearest
news cameras and tell them all about it)

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he couldn't believe his ears when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) read the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham aloud during his 21-hour talk-a-thon that kicked off Tuesday afternoon on the Senate floor.

Cruz said the children's book is one of his favorites, and he read it in its entirety as part of his effort to delay action on a bill to defund Obamacare. Cruz supports defunding Obamacare, but was trying to drag out debate to prevent Democrats from killing the bill.

But Schumer said Cruz completely missed the point of the story.

"I was appalled," the New York senator told reporters Wednesday. "Green Eggs and Ham has a moral: Don't criticize something, don't reject something, until you actually try it. Sam said he didn't like green eggs and ham for a long time. And then when he finally tried it, he liked it."

[Warph]

Thousands of Syrian Rebels Break From US-Backed SNC And
Join Forces With Al Nusra Front, Call For Opposition To
Be Reorganized Under Islamic Framework

(And this is on top of the the two FSA brigades that recently defected to al-Nusra Front and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda with all of Obuma WEAPONS!)

(Reuters) – Thousands of Syrian rebels have broken with the Western-backed coalition to form a new Islamist force that may pressure President Bashar al-Assad but also undermine the West's hopes of putting its friends in his place.

Ever more divided on a battlefield where Assad's better armed troops have been gaining ground, allies of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were among 13 disparate rebel factions to disown the exile leadership and support an Islamic alliance that includes the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, commanders said on Tuesday.

Details of the numbers of fighters involved and of how they would cooperate remained unclear. But, in an online video, a leader of the Islamist Tawheed Brigade said the bloc rejected the authority of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and the Western- and Saudi-backed exile administration of Ahmad Tumeh.

It is a setback for foreign leaders trying to bolster more secular rebel groups and to reassure voters skeptical of deeper involvement in Syria's civil war. Some may think again about help for the fighters, which ranges from weaponry from the Gulf to non-lethal aid from Europe and the United States.

The 13 groups signed a statement calling for the opposition to Assad to be reorganized under an Islamic framework and to be run only by groups fighting inside Syria. Signatories range from hardliners like the Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham to more moderate groups such as the Tawheed Brigade and Islam Brigade.

"These forces feel that all groups formed abroad without returning to the country do not represent them, so the forces will not recognize them," said the statement read online by Abdulaziz Salameh, the political leader of the Tawheed Brigade.

"Therefore the National Coalition and its supposed government led by Ahmad Tumeh do not represent them and will not be recognized," he said.

More on the groups joining forces:

Abdelaziz Salame, the highest political leader of the Tawhid Brigade in Aleppo, has issued a statement online where he claims to speak for 13 different rebel factions. You can see the video or read it in Arabic here. The statement is titled "communiqué number one" – making it slightly ominous right off the bat – and what it purports to do is to gut Western strategy on Syria and put an end to the exiled opposition. [...]

The following groups are listed as signatories to the statement:

Jabhat al-Nosra
Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement
Tawhid Brigade
Islam Brigade
Suqour al-Sham Brigades
Islamic Dawn Movement
Islamic Light Movement
Noureddin al-Zengi Battalions
Haqq Brigade – Homs
Furqan Brigade – Quneitra
Fa-staqim Kama Ummirat Gathering – Aleppo
19th Division
Ansar Brigade

Who are these people?

The alleged signatories make up a major part of the northern rebel force, plus big chunks also of the Homs and Damascus rebel scene, as well as a bit of it elsewhere. Some of them are among the biggest armed groups in the country, and I'm thinking now mostly of numbers one through five. All together, they control at least a few tens of thousand fighters, and if you trust their own estimates (don't) it must be way above 50,000 fighters.

[Warph]

Poll: Obuma's Approval Rating Among Democrats
Tanks 13 Points Since Winning Re-Election

"AAhh...mmmmm... what can I.. aaaa...say...ummm... aaa..."

(It appears a few libs forgot to have their Hope and Change
full-frontal lobotomies tuned up)

Via Newsmax:
President Barack Obama's job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since 2011, reflecting the public's disapproval of his clashes with Congress on spending and a growing opposition to Obamacare, two new polls have found.

According to the Bloomberg National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Sept. 20-23, the president has a 45 percent job-approval rating, while a Gallup survey of 11,259 adults taken Sept. 1-22 gives him 44 percent.

The Gallup survey showed that the president is rapidly losing support within his own party.

While 78 percent of Democrats still give him a positive job-approval rating, he's lost 13 points from a high of 91 percent in the month after his re-election.

"Loss of support from a president's core supporters is an ominous sign, as they are typically the last group to abandon the president when things go sour," Gallup said in a statement.

"Obama still enjoys the support of the vast majority of Democrats, 78 percent, but that is down 13 points from the end of last year and is 6 points below his average 84 percent approval rating from Democrats throughout his presidency."

[Warph]

Barry Tries To Save Face, White House Says He's
"Not Disappointed"
Iran's President Refused To Meet With Him At UN

(Hmmmmmm..... So Obuma likes being humiliated on the global stage?)

Via Washington Examiner:

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that President Obama was not disappointed that a proposed meeting withIranian President Hassan Rouhani was rejected by Tehran.

"The president is not," said Carney when asked by a reporter if Obama was "disappointed."

"He was open to the possibility of an informal encounter with President Rouhani," he added. "He remains open to that."

Both Obama and Rouhani spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, raising speculation that the two leaders might speak or interact. Rouhani, a moderate, was recently elected Iran's new president, and made a number of diplomatic overtures to the U.S., claiming he would not build nuclear weapons and calling for "constructive" dialogue.

"The president believes that the most important issues when it comes to Iran's relationship with the international community, including the United States, are ones that need to be resolved over negotiations over substantive matters over Iran's nuclear weapons program," he said.

"We should not over interpret that the Iranians decided against having an encounter," he added.

[Warph]

Anti-Conservative Arson: Ronald Reagan Statue
in Californication Set on Fire by Leftist Vandals

This report of vandalism in Temecula, California of the bronze statue of Pres. Ronald Reagan comes on the heels of the vandalism of the Ten Commandments stone monument in front of a Christian outreach center in Washington, DC.

The leftist, anti-Christian, anti-liberty progressives have been hard at work with their criminal thuggery and destruction.

The life-sized statue of Pres. Reagan was torched at Ronald Reagan Sports Park last week.

From LAist, Someone Torched A Life-Size Statue Of Ronald Reagan:

Ronald Reagan's been dead since 2004, but someone still really doesn't like the former Commander in Chief: Someone set a life-size bronze statue of the Gipper on fire last week.

The statue, which is only a year old, sits in the Ronald Reagan Sports Park in Temecula, which was created after a non-profit raised $100,000 to honor the late president and former actor. It depicts a laughing Reagan with a shovel in one hand and a cowboy hat in the other.

The fire didn't do much damage to the bronze figure, but it did melt the layers of paint it once sported. The blackened statue seemed to have been cleaned up by the time CBS news crews arrived on the scene.

Tiles on the wall behind the statue, which features a quote from Regan about Temecula, were also damaged. In 1983, Reagan praised the city for raising the money to develop the park without help from taxpayers.

Back in 2011, another Reagan bronze statue was vandalized in Newport Beach, California: