News of the Week for November 10th, 2013
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Obama Scandals
Chief tech officer at HHS resigns — after failing to sign off on security for Healthcare.gov in September
When the news broke last night that he was leaving, I figured he’d been pushed out as a sacrificial lamb in lieu of firing someone more important like Sebelius or Marilyn Tavenner. After reading this, I wonder if I’ve got it all wrong. Was he pushed out or did he resign in protest because they insisted on launching a site that he knew wasn’t secure?
Gun Rights
Mom says she’s banned from Georgia school over Facebook pic of CCW permit (VIDEO)
A mother is furious after being banned from a Hepzibah, Georgia elementary school several weeks ago, which she says stemmed from her posting a picture on Facebook of her concealed weapons permit
Guns & Ammo Editor Pens Editorial Supporting Gun Control
In the December issue of Guns & Ammo, editor Dick Metcalf uses his Backstop column to argue that the rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment can be infringed.
Appellate Court Affirms Unconstitutionality of California Ammunition Controls
To follow up on an earlier NRA report, on November 6, California’s Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision invalidating a California law that threatened to limit access to, and compel recordkeeping for, ammunition sales.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Who are the true denialists?
People have the nasty habit of giving their opponents names. Those who are convinced that humans are wrecking the world by burning fossil fuels call those who don’t believe them “denialists.” It implies that they are close to the Holocaust deniers, and so are clearly beyond the pale.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Obamacare and the Kenobi Axiom
When I was a kid, the movie RETURN OF THE JEDI was a favorite. Not only was it a great film, but the following dialogue exchange truly fascinated me. “Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” really resonated with me. For years, I have referred to this as “the Kenobi Axiom.” (I know, I’m a geek.) I was reminded of the Kenobi Axiom this past week, hearing defenders of Obamacare deflect criticism of the Act.
Congrats America, you are subsidizing health insurance for Ivy League Ph.D’s who choose to paint
Hey, remember when Nancy Pelosi triumphantly predicted that Obamacare would allow artists to have health insurance without worrying about their day jobs?
The Humanitarian Shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act
Web problems can be fixed, Obamacare cannot.
You Also Can’t Keep Your Doctor
I had great cancer doctors and health insurance. My plan was cancelled. Now I worry how long I’ll live.
49-State Analysis: Obamacare To Increase Individual-Market Premiums By Average Of 41%
One of the fundamental flaws of the Affordable Care Act is that, despite its name, it makes health insurance more expensive. Today, the Manhattan Institute released the most comprehensive analysis yet conducted of premiums under Obamacare for people who shop for coverage on their own. Here’s what we learned. In the average state, Obamacare will increase underlying premiums by 41 percent. As we have long expected, the steepest hikes will be imposed on the healthy, the young, and the male. And Obamacare’s taxpayer-funded subsidies will primarily benefit those nearing retirement—people who, unlike the young, have had their whole lives to save for their health-care needs.
Obamacare ‘War Room’ docs: We’re concerned next media story is some consumers getting on website and finding fewer options, higher prices
Officials expressed concern that the next shoe to drop in the evolving story about the Affordable Care Act would be disappointment from consumers once they are able to get on the troubled HealthCare.gov website – disappointment because of sticker shock and limited choice, according to a new document obtained by CNN.
Tom Harkin Admits: “Better Coverage” In Obamacare is a Redistributive Tax
He said this about 20 minutes ago, in the Health Care hearing.
Doctors say Venezuela’s health care in collapse
Evelina Gonzalez was supposed to undergo cancer surgery in July following chemotherapy but wound up shuttling from hospital to hospital in search of an available operating table. On the crest of her left breast, a mocha-colored tumor doubled in size and now bulges through her white spandex tank top.
Rule lets unions avoid ObamaCare tax
The Obama administration sneaked in a rule that would let some labor unions off the hook for an ObamaCare tax.
Pro-Obamacare team trains reporters on covering Obamacare website problems
Reporters with the Society of American Business Editors and Writers received “training” on how to cover Obamacare’s rollout from a policy expert who works with President Obama’s former health information technology adviser.
House GOP tweaks Obama, schedules vote on Keep Your Health Plan Act
House Republican leaders announced Wednesday the lower chamber will vote next week on a bill that would allow people to keep their health insurance plan if they like it.
Papa John Was Right
Marking the first anniversary of the 29-hour workweek.
Kathleen Sebelius announces new mental health parity requirements for health insurers
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday said that new requirements imposed on insurance companies by Obamacare will require those companies to treat mental illness and addiction that same as physical illness, creating “the largest behavioral health expansion in a generation.”
Access shock a bigger problem for Obama than lost insurance
President Obama has spent the past two weeks on the defensive as millions of Americans are receiving cancellation notices from their insurers as a result of changes made by his health care law.
OBAMACARE CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE LOSES IN THE 7TH CIRCUIT.
“We hold that the plaintiffs — the business owners and their companies — may challenge the mandate. We further hold that compelling them to cover those services substantially burdens their religious-exercise rights. Under RFRA the government must justify the burden under the standard of strict scrutiny. So far it has not done so, and we doubt that it can.”
War & Terror
Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly
The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include records like car registrations and employment information.
Navy Secrets Purchased With Hookers and Lady Gaga Tix
Unusual accusations are unfolding in a federal court case in San Diego -accusations that involve a gregarious Malaysian businessman, Leonard Francis (aka Fat Leonard), military secrets, prostitutes and Lady Gaga tickets. Prosecutors in court papers say Francis, who is well known among U.S. Navy commanders in the Pacific for having serviced warships for 25 years, obtained military secrets by bribing a U.S. commander with prostitutes and Lady Gaga tickets.
Pentagon Inflicts White Guilt Brainwashing
The most destructive weapon in the leftist arsenal is the concept of white privilege, a euphemism for white guilt. You are weakest when you are turned against yourself; consequently progressives employ this race-based version of original sin to convince members of the white majority that they have no right to hold their heads high, much less to defend their interests.
China Deploys New Bomber with Long-Range Land Attack Missile
Congressional report also reveals China’s armed drone copied from US Reaper UAV
White Privilege Commissars
We have written many times before about the “white privilege” industry, a collection of self-perpetuating activists and academics who, not being able to demonstrate racism to justify their salaries and conferences, invent it.
Pentagon training manual: white males have unfair advantages
A controversial 600-plus page manual used by the military to train its Equal Opportunity officers teaches that “healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian” men hold an unfair advantage over other races, and warns in great detail about a so-called “White Male Club.”
National
Southern Poverty Law Center Blames “Patriots” for LAX Shooting
Tell me, are you at all surprised? Via Hot Air, here’s the comically titled “Hatewatch Exclusive” that blames “Patriot Conspiracy Theories” for the actions of a lunatic.
Teacher Calls Parent ‘Neo-Nazi’ for Criticizing Eighth-Grade Project
A Pennsylvania father objected when his daughter’s middle-school history teacher assigned a project about a New York Times article blaming Republicans for the government shutdown. His complaint apparently made him the target of an orchestrated response by faculty at Camp Hill Middle School, and an English teacher named Cydnee Cohen left a voicemail message for one of the parent’s Facebook friends
Conn. Dem: ‘You’re Not Gonna Re-Order One-Sixth of the Economy Without Winners and Losers’
A Connecticut Democrat said today they’re not worried about the lack of young people signing up on the Obamacare exchanges — a cornerstone of the program working as intended — because kids are procrastinators.
A Same-Sex Domestic Violence Epidemic Is Silent
Typical framing of partner abuse as a heterosexual issue—with men abusing women—does a disservice to victims in abusive homosexual relationships.
Coming soon: The Chris Christie/Ted Cruz alliance?
A smart point by Ramesh Ponnuru. If it doesn’t happen in the primaries, I hope it happens in a rollicking action-adventure buddy cop movie after they’ve both quit politics. Cruz is the thin southern gentleman who’s mastered the rules, Christie’s the beefy pugnacious northeasterner who doesn’t take sh*t from anyone. Together they’re cleaning up the mean streets of D.C. and annoying the hell out of each other. Coming to theaters in 2024: “The Grandstanders.”
Feds Come After Trans Fat
Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is finishing the job.
UC Berkeley Student Government Bans Term ‘Illegal Immigrant’
The UC Berkeley student government has banned the term “illegal immigrant” from its discourse, deeming the phrase racist, offensive, unfair and derogatory.
Philadelphia voters elect a Whig to public office
Voters in Philadelphia have elected a Whig to public office for what the victor believes may be the first time in nearly 160 years.
Dad ‘unfit parent for refusing son McDonald’s’
A Manhattan dad is not lovin’ McDonald’s right now. Attorney David Schorr slapped a court-appointed shrink with a defamation lawsuit for telling the judge deciding a custody battle with his estranged wife that he was an unfit parent — for refusing to take his son to the fast food joint for dinner.
Coats speaks on Senate Floor about ENDA bill and religious freedom
White Guy Wins Election By Making Voters Think He Is Black
The result of this election is amusing. Bruce Austin is the 24 year incumbent board member of the Houston Community College System. He is a black guy. Dave Wilson is an anti-gay Right Wing Republican white guy. They ran in a predominantly black district for the board position.
Same-Sex Marriage, Religious Liberty Collide in Case Presented to Supreme Court
Gay rights, religious liberty, and free speech collide in a case offered this morning to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the justices take this case, it will be a defining case on American’s freedom to speak and act according to their religious beliefs when those beliefs include that marriage is between a man and woman.
Lieutenant governor race will be one to watch Nov5 by Thomas Mitchell
This could get interesting. A month ago Mark Hutchison, the governor’s hand-picked candidate for lieutenant governor, spoke to the Nevada Republican Men’s Club. On Monday his Republican primary opponent Sue Lowden — though there may be others yet to announce — spoke to the same group. Shall we say, the two have some differences?
Why the Left Opposes School Choice
Could it be because they believe black people aren’t capable of making decisions for themselves? It sure would be easy to get that impression from watching this video, featuring reprehensible, dare we say “racist”, comments from Racine (WI) Unified school district Superintendent Anne Laing.
“[African-American parents] don’t know how to make good choices for their children. They really don’t. They didn’t have parents who made good choices for them or help them learn how to make good choices, so they don’t know how to do that.”
Oklahoma rejects same-sex couples’ tax forms
The Oklahoma Tax Commission has returned payments to fewer than 10 same-sex couples, rejecting amended tax forms that had claimed married status.
Economy
& Taxes
Student debt to stall millennial retirements
Thanks to hefty student loan debts, many millennials will have to wait until 73 to retire, a recent study found. That’s 12 years later than the current average retirement age, 61.
Adam Smith explains quantitative easing Nov4
So you want to know how QE1, 2 and 3 work?
Is Downton Abbey the Future of the US Economy?
Two pieces this week offered a fascinating look into the future of American jobs. The Times profiled Jon Steinsson and Emi Nakamura, two up-and-coming economists who have taken “hiring help” to the extreme. In an effort to maximize the time they spend on tasks essential to their career, Steinsson and Nakamura, a couple, outsource many duties, chores, and activities to third parties
International
‘There is no need to be tolerant to the intolerant’: MEPs discuss the limits of free speech
Have a look at this document, recently debated by the Civil Liberties committee of the European Parliament. It’s a good example of how well-meaning people, convinced that they are standing up for the underdog, can end up doing enormous damage to freedom, to equality before the law and, perversely, to the minorities on whose behalf they presume to speak.
Lieberman Warns South African Jews to Immigrate to Israel Before ‘It’s Too Late’
Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged South African Jews to immigrate to Israel on Sunday, following incendiary comments by that country’s international relations minister.
The Dutch Rethink the Welfare State
When the Netherlands’ newly coronated king made his first annual appearance before parliament, he turned some heads when he addressed the deficiencies of the Dutch welfare state. “Due to social developments such as globalisation and an ageing population, our labour market and public services are no longer suited to the demands of the times”, the king said in a speech written by Liberal prime minister Mark Ruttes cabinet. “The classical welfare state is slowly but surely evolving into a ‘participation society’”, Willem-Alexander continued. By this he meant that the public systems should start encouraging self-reliance over government dependency.
Swedish Archbishop: Why Pick Jesus over Muhammed?
Sweden is the gift that keeps on giving – to Islam. In recent weeks, for those of you who are keeping score at home, Swedish feminists mounted a nationwide “hijab campaign” in “solidarity” with a Muslim woman whose veil may or may not have been yanked off her head in a parking garage, and the government announced its intention to grant automatic permanent residency to refugees from Syria. Now comes the news that the Church of Sweden has chosen as its new leader a woman who, judging from recent statements, does not care to recognize much of a difference between Jesus Christ and Muhammed.
School forbids kindergarteners from touching at recess
Granted the month is still young, but this sounds like it will be high on the list for the month’s dumbest ideas hatched at a school: An elementary school in Canada has decided to forbid kindergarten students from touching each other at recess as a way to prevent injuries from, well, playing. Say goodbye to tag.
Norway: Gender equality creates new school boys
Boys in primary school talk about their feelings and hold hands. And they are very, very concerned about their bodies and appearance
Opinion
Sarah Hoyt on our Cultural Narrative
These narratives weren’t questioned openly, though of course no one but the youngest school children took them literally – no? Read any books written at the time. They had as many doubts as we have about the purity and heroism of the past. They just didn’t obsess on them, and elevate them above the “narrative.”
The Democrats’ prescription for slavery has always been the same: “Get over it. It’s the law.”
Obamacare fails at so many levels it’s hard to count them. It fails because it’s the only piece of significant legislation in American history to be passed on strict partisan lines, using procedural tricks and bribes, and with a majority of American people disapproving of it. It fails because its implementation violates American religious freedom insofar as it forces people of faith to fund abortion and birth control. It fails because the administration knowingly used lies to pass it, a tactic that has a legal name: fraud.
Puppycide
A surprising number of dogs are shot by cops. A new documentary looks at the problem.
ENDA Threatens Fundamental Civil Liberties
All citizens should oppose unjust discrimination, but the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 is not the way to achieve that goal. ENDA threatens fundamental First Amendment rights. It creates new, subjective protected classes that will expose employers to unimaginable liability. Furthermore, ENDA would increase government interference in labor markets in ways that could harm the economy. Yet ENDA’s damage is not only economic: It would further weaken the marriage culture and the freedom of citizens and their associations to affirm their religious or moral convictions, such as that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that maleness and femaleness are not arbitrary constructs but objective ways of being human. ENDA would treat expressing these beliefs in an employment context as actionable discrimination.
Where will it all ENDA?
Today, the Senate is expected to vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill to “prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Whatever the Senate does, the House almost certainly won’t pass the legislation.
ENDA, Moral Bankruptcy, and Failed Senate Leadership
Over the past few years of defacto Democrat supermajority control of the Senate, we have pointed out that legislative battles are won or lost long before the vote is cast. When Democrats stay unified on an issue and relentlessly pick off Republican votes for radical initiatives as GOP leaders remain silent, they will win every time. Hence, that is why we need a voice, not just a vote to represent our concerns in Washington.
Maybe Pain Will Teach You Millenials Not To Vote For Your Own Serfdom
You Millenials voted for Obama by a margin of 28 percent, which will make it a lot easier for me to accept the benefits you will be paying for. We warned you that liberalism was a scam designed to take the fruits of your labor and transfer it to us, the older, established generation. Oh, and also to the couch-dwelling, Democrat-voting losers who live off of food stamps and order junk from QVC with their Obamaphones.
The coming Cuomo-de Blasio war
New York awoke Wednesday morning to find a new frog in the Democratic political pond. How will the old one take it?
Pick One: Marriage Culture Or Government Culture
Voting patterns reflect how women’s incentives change with their marital status.
Primer from a Conservative Winner
Future candidates can take a page on “women’s issues” from Barbara Comstock’s playbook.
The GOP Is in Better Shape Than You Think
Independents favor the GOP on handling the economy by a whopping 46%-30% margin.
ENDA: A Government Identity Crisis
If you are an advocate of unlimited government expansion, ENDA is your man, so to speak.
My enlightening dinner with Blue State liberals
I had the opportunity the other day to dine with a collection of Blue State liberals. It was enlightening, not because I actually learned anything from them, but because I learned about them. It was also a reminder of how far I’ve traveled ideologically, because I used to be one of them. Looking at them, I don’t regret my journey.
Some people don’t deserve a living wage
I met someone today who doesn’t deserve a living wage. I’m often told such people don’t exist, so maybe I hallucinated this encounter. From what I could see he wasn’t deserving of a job or a wage. At some point in his life, he might be. Perhaps next week. But today? No.
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