This and That...

[Ross]

21 Of the Best Comments Posted By Frustrated Americans on the Official Obamacare Facebook Page

October 4, 2013 by Michael Snyder

The launch of Obamacare has been a complete and total nightmare so far.  The "online exchanges" are constantly crashing, there are endless glitches and delays, and many of the people that actually have been able to successfully register for an account are discovering that health insurance premiums under Obamacare are far higher than what they are used to paying.  In fact, as I wrote about the other day, some Americans that have had their old policies canceled by their insurance companies are discovering that their health insurance costs will double or even triple under Obamacare.  What a great "success", eh?  Under Obamacare, Americans are going to pay more for health care, they are going to have more limited health care options, they are going to be subjected to much more paperwork, and if they choose not to participate in the system they are going to be hit with very punitive fines.  What's not to like?

But despite all of the negatives, a lot of Americans were actually looking forward to October 1st.  Millions of Americans rushed to the "healthcare exchanges" to get signed up for health insurance.  But what they discovered was that the websites were not ready and were constantly crashing.

The system has been so bad that very few people are actually signing up for Obamacare.  So far, less than 1 percent of all visitors are actually signing up for health insurance.  In California, the rate is 0.58 percent.  In Connecticut, the rate is 0.59 percent.

One television station in Tennessee was not able to find a single person who successfully signed up for Obamacare.

Needless to say, there are a whole lot of very frustrated and very disappointed people out there right now.  The following are 21 of the best comments that have been posted on the official Healthcare.gov Facebook page so far...

21. "I am so disappointed. These prices are outrageous and there are huge deductibles. No one can afford this!"

20. "Good grief. Day three of trying and still can't get on this website. The government KNEW about this thing going live for two years. TWO YEARS! And this is the best they could do? I shudder to think what's going to happen once they are in control of my healthcare. They can't even get their website functioning properly. If my business had rolled out a piece of crap that worked like this I'd be out of business."

19. "How is it that Facebook, which is a non-essential social networking web site, can reliably handle BILLIONS of electronic interactions per second, but the Healthcare.gov site, which is literally the very heart of the Obamacare program wasn't ready for the obvious millions of visitors that you had to know it would be receiving?"

18. "i'm just going to stop even bothering for a couple weeks or so... once the fervor dies down, hopefully I'll be able to actually create an account!"

17. "The Federal Gov't has ruined everything it has gotten involved in, does anybody really expect this healthcare disaster to be any different? Sorry, I'll take the asinine fine."

16. "And yet another day and several tries I once again keep getting nothing but a completely blank page after I log in. The top tab says 'Successful URL'. Oh how ironic."

15. "Didn't these Feds ever have mothers that told them not to lie? Maybe they were raised in the wild. This system is trash. I can't verify my identity or upload documents. Also what's with Experian verifying ID's? Don't care for that at all."

14. "I am a single mother of two, in school and working full time, living 75% below the poverty level and I DO NOT qualify for a healthcare subsidy"

13. "the website can't verify my identity...the people at the experian verification number can't verify my identity either....i tried to upload a scan of my driver's license, and that won't work either......very annoying process.......I've wasted 3 days on this junk."

12. "if you're stupid enough to put all your banking information in to the federal governments computers you are definitely part of the problem"

11. "Where the HELL am I supposed to get $3,000 more a year to pay for this "bronze" health insurance plan!?!??? And I DO NOT EVEN WANT INSURANCE to begin with!! This is frightening."

10. "I have one question. What happens if I can't afford the Affordable Health Care that you are cramming down my throat? I just ran your calculator, and if it is even close to accurate, I will have a choice.....I can pay my rent and buy groceries, or I can pay the health care premiums, move out into the streets and live under a bridge somewhere, and go hungry! Can I please get one of those exemption things that the President and Congress got?"

9. "I've been stuck at the security questions since 9am on October 1st"

8. "Death Panels. Yes. The red plan. It's affordable. And painless!"

7. "Here in Austin, TX have gotten to login screen three times today, wait is getting shorter, but am still getting a blank screen after getting a quick 'authenticating, please wait' message at top left of screen, then nothing but a blank white page and no indication that the browser is waiting for the server to do anything. Attempts to refresh the screen sends me back to the please wait screen."

6. "I finally got past the security question problem, got my account, my verification email, and when I went to log in, it said the information was invalid."

5. "I want to know how I am expected to pay $300+ for this and still pay my bills when the only income is $710 a month from my husband's SSI? Am i supposed to lose my home and water and electricity or go to jail because I can't afford this?"

4. "Government forces people to pay a new tax.  People click on website to see how much this new tax will cost them.  Website crashes in the first hour. Government calls it a huge success."

3. "I work a minimum wage job...how the heck can I afford health insurance and if the company doesn't give full time? I am so angry right now.... I share housing with others because I can't afford my own place... how do you expect people to afford Obamacare if they barely get by from paycheck to paycheck?? I can't afford a fine either! I think you are obligated to give the American people an answer and an explanation!"

2. "Y'all can kiss my butt. You got that? You want my bank account? I'll close it. You put a lien on my house? Take it...and the mortgage too. Some things are worth fighting for, and freedom is one of them! I am sick and tired of the redistribution strategies of this socialist country and having my wages STOLEN to pay for them!"

1. The best comment was posted by a man named Will Sheehan with type 1 diabetes who was initially very excited to sign up for Obamacare.  But what he discovered while trying to sign up was absolutely horrifying...

I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 "Silver Plan" and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I "opt-out" and chose to continue along with no insurance.


I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the "REPERCUSSIONS PORTION" for "non-payment" of yearly fine. First, your driver's license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with "Non-Payment" and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy "Automatically withdraw" your "penalties" weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is "Free" or even "Affordable."


You can see a screenshot of his comment below...

100413_2014_21OftheBest1.png

Is what Mr. Sheehan saying actually true?

I don't know.  This is not the way that we were told things were going to work, but when was the last time our politicians actually told us the truth about anything?

Meanwhile, most of the people who go to these websites can't even get to the point of being able to sign up for health insurance.  Just check out what happened when a CNN reporter attempted to sign up for Obamacare...

BROOKE BALDWIN: So you guys hit a wall. We're here in Georgia. What about other states? Similar issues?


ELIZABETH COHEN: The CNN medical team branched out. We tried in about 20 different state states. In 12 of them we hit glitches. Sometimes it made it impossible to sign up. There were error messages or that little annoying kind of twirly thing.


BALDWIN: I hate the twirly thing.


COHEN: Hate it, hate it, right? In many cases, you just couldn't sign up.


And there have already been reports of personal information being compromised.  Just check out what happened in Minnesota...

Minnesota insurance broker Jim Koester was looking for information about assisting with Obamacare implementation; instead, what landed in his inbox last month was a document filled with the names, Social Security numbers and other pieces of personal information belonging to his fellow Minnesotans.


In one of the first breaches of the new Obamacare online marketplaces, an employee of the Minnesota marketplace, called MNsure, accidentally emailed Koester a document containing personally identifying information for more than 2,400 insurance agents, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. MNsure was able to quickly undo the damage because Koester cooperated with them, but the incident left him unnerved.


"The more I thought about it, the more troubled I was," Koester told the newspaper. "What if this had fallen into the wrong hands? It's scary. If this is happening now, how can clients of MNsure be confident their data is safe?"


The Obama administration has had a couple of years to get ready for the launch of Obamacare and this is the best that they could do?

That is frightening.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/10/21-best-comments-posted-frustrated-americans-official-obamacare-facebook-page/

[Warph]

President Bashar Assad tells Der Spiegel
US President Obama offers only "lies," and
civil war is more complex then it appears.

(So Weasel Obuma will negotiate with this guy with lies
but not the truth with Republican party?  Sick, sick, Clown)

Via JPost:
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Assad-admits-to-mistakes-in-Syrian-civil-war-327947

[A]ssad said that US President Barack Obama had "not even a whisper of proof" that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons.

The Syrian president continued to uphold his claim that his regime had not used chemical weapons.

"This is a misstatement. So is the picture you paint of me as a man who kills his own people," he told the magazine

"He has nothing to offer other than lies," said Assad, contrasting Washington's stance with that of the Russians, who he viewed as "real friends".

"They understand much better what this is really about here... The Russians are much more independent than you in Europe, where you all orientate yourselves so much towards the United States."

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is more determined than ever to support us... He knows from his own fight against terrorism in Chechnya what we are going through here."

[Warph]

COPS – National Park Service Edition

[Warph]

Stupidy at its Finest

Take a look at this photo.  It was taken in Washington, D.C., this morning, 9:10 AM Eastern time:

This is a scenic overlook on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Washington, D.C.  The GW is one of the most scenic routes around the nation's capital. Scenic overlooks are unmanned places where motorists can pull in, park for a couple minutes, look around, maybe snap a photo, and then move on with their day.  There are no amenities.  It's just a small parking lot.

The truck belongs to the National Park Service.  Note the logo on its door.  It's this logo:

It doesn't cost a cent to leave the scenic overlooks unmanned.  But it does cost money, pay, fuel, the cost of the obstacles... to send National Park Service personnel out with Barrycades to block them off.  Sick!

[Ross]

The Truth About the Health Care Bills


Posted August 12, 2009




            Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.

            To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.

            The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.

            However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.

            The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.

            This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.

            If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed "acceptable" to the "Health Choices Administrator" appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a "tax" instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the "due process of law.

            So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn't stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;" The 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.

            I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation" to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

            For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

            And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

            There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Michael Connelly

Retired attorney,

Constitutional Law Instructor

Carrollton, Texas

mrobertc@hotmail.com

http://michaelconnelly.jigsy.com/entries/general/the-truth-about-the-health-care-bills

[Ross]

ATF tries to block whistleblowing agent's Fast and Furious book

1st Amendment battle over 'gun-walking' expose

EXCLUSIVE:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is blocking the main whistleblower in the Fast and Furious case from publishing a book, claiming his retelling of the Mexico "gun-walking" scandal will hurt morale inside the embattled law enforcement agency, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times.

ATF's dispute with Special Agent John Dodson is setting up a First Amendment showdown that is poised to bring together liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and conservatives in Congress who have championed Mr. Dodson's protection as a whistleblower.

The ACLU is slated to become involved in the case Monday, informing ATF it is representing Mr. Dodson and filing a formal protest to the decision to reject his request to publish the already written book, sources told The Times, speaking only on the condition of anonymity.

The battle also could have repercussions on Capitol Hill, where the two lead investigators who helped uncover the Fast and Furious scandal, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, Calif. Republican, had written a foreword to the book, the sources said.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/6/atf-tries-block-whistleblowing-agents-fast-and-fur/#ixzz2h2RRhbCM
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

[Ross]

'2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts' Offensive Hillary Buttons Reportedly Spotted at GOP Convention
Very funny in my opinion. Politics has always been dirty.

[Ross]

Is this yet another bailout coming our way?

Worsening Debt Crisis Threatens Puerto Rico

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

While Detroit has preoccupied Americans with its record-breaking municipal bankruptcy, another public finance crisis on a potentially greater scale has been developing off most Americans' radar screens, in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico has been effectively shut out of the bond market and is now financing its operations with bank credit and other short-term measures that are unsustainable in the long run. The biggest concern is that the territory, which has bonds that are widely held by mutual funds, will need some sort of federal lifeline, an action for which there is no precedent.

In a meeting with bond analysts in New York on Monday, the president of the Puerto Rican Senate, Eduardo Bhatia, said officials in the United States Treasury and White House had been analyzing the situation carefully, "wondering how they can help Puerto Rico send a very strong signal of stability right now."

"We are waiting for some sort of an announcement from the Treasury and the White House," he said without clarification. He also complained that analysts and investors did not appreciate the tough austerity measures that Puerto Rico pushed through in recent months.

Read the rest of the story at: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/worsening-debt-crisis-threatens-puerto-rico/?_r=0

[Warph]

Obama Needlessly Scares Seniors:
Social Security Checks and the Debt Limit

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/10/07/obama-needlessly-scares-seniors-social-security-checks-and-the-debt-limit/

[Habitual liar] Obama is needlessly scaring seniors by suggesting that their Social Security benefit checks may not arrive on time if the U.S. runs out of borrowing authority at the debt limit. The 57 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits should know that their benefits will not be affected—unless President Obama and the Treasury deliberately choose not to pay them.

President Obama threatened Social Security benefits last week, saying, "In a government shutdown, Social Security checks still go out on time.... In an economic shutdown, if we don't raise the debt ceiling, they don't go out on time."

Here are three reasons why President Obama and the Treasury can continue to issue Social Security payments at the debt limit:

1.The Full Faith and Credit Act. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 807, allowing the Treasury to pay all public debt obligations and Social Security benefit payments after the debt limit has been reached. If the President and his allies were truly worried about defaulting on the debt and about not being able to meet Social Security payments, they could quickly take up this bill and assure America's creditors and Social Security recipients that they need not worry.

2.The Social Security trust fund. Treasury could redeem Social Security trust fund bonds early to pay benefits at the debt limit. Treasury used this option in 1985 to meet Social Security payments at the debt limit, and a law from 1996 authorizes the Treasury to redeem Social Security bonds early for the purpose of "payment of benefits or administrative expenses." By making room under the debt limit from redeeming trust fund bonds early, Treasury is able to borrow additional funds from the public to make benefit payments.

3.Revenues. Treasury will collect more than enough revenue in fiscal year 2014 to meet all debt obligations and most non-debt obligations on an annualized basis. After prioritizing interest on the debt, the Treasury could fund $2.8 trillion in additional obligations with projected revenues. This would cover, for example, Social Security and disability payments ($848 billion), discretionary defense programs ($582 billion), Medicare ($505 billion), Medicaid ($298 billion), and $517 billion of all other obligations—in total, more than three-quarters of the non-interest budget.

While Social Security is in desperate need of reform, there are at least three reasons why Social Security benefit recipients should know that President Obama and the Social Security Administration are scaring them needlessly.

[Warph]

"Truckers For The Constitution" Plan To Shutdown D.C. Beltway October 11th

Monday, October 7, 2013,
http://ridefortheconstitution.org/

On October 11th, "Truckers For The Constitution" plan to shut down the Washington D.C. beltway.  The upcoming three day rally is called, "Truckers Ride for the Constitution" and protesters are demanding the police detain politicians who are an "accessory" to "treason," including the President himself.  This is the second rally announced for next week; the "Million Veteran March on Memorials" in D.C. is set to occur October 13th.

US News reported:
Earl Conlon, a Georgia trucker who is handling logistics for the protest, told U.S. News tractor-trailer drivers will circle the beltway "three lanes deep" as he rides with other participants to Congress to seek the arrest of congressmen for allegedly disregarding the Constitution.

The truckers circling I-495 will keep the left lane open for emergency vehicles, Conlon said, but "everybody that doesn't have a supporter sticker on their window, good luck: Nobody in, nobody out." The trucks will be going the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit.

D.C. commuters who wish to be allowed past the convoy must have "T2SDA" – an acronym for the event's original name, "Truckers to Shut Down America" – written on their vehicle, he said.

"It's going to be real fun for anyone who is not a supporter," Conlon said, "[and] if cops decide to give us a hard time, we're going to lock the brakes up, we're going to stop right there, we're going to be a three lane roadblock."

Zeeda Andrews, a former country music singer helping promote the protest, said last week participants would present demands to congressmen – including the impeachment of President Barack Obama – and give the congressmen an opportunity to agree to the demands in exchange for canceling the ride.

"We are not going to ask for impeachment," Conlon said. "We are coming whether they like it or not. We're not asking for impeachment, we're asking for the arrest of everyone in government who has violated their oath of office."

Conlon cited the idea of a citizens grand jury – meaning a pool of jurors convened without court approval – as the mechanism for indicting the officials.

"We want these people arrested, and we're coming in with the grand jury to do it," he said. "We are going to ask the law enforcement to uphold their constitutional oath and make these arrests. If they refuse to do it, by the power of the people of the United States and the people's grand jury, they don't want to do it, we will. ... We the people will find a way."