Constipated G.O.P.

Anyone Tired of all the Winning Yet?

It's been a busy week for the new President.

If you followed Trump, even a little bit, in the two years leading up to last week - nothing he did should be a surprise to you. That is, unless you took him and his rhetoric metaphorically. Or even figuratively.

Apparently, no one took him literally.

ObamaCare D.O.A. - new plan TBD.
Federal hiring freeze.
But not the military. That's going to get bigger.
A whole pile of State Department folks quit/fired ... it was a race to the door.
Tears at the EPA, PBS and NPR.
No more regulations. Or, you can have a new one, but you have to take 2 away.
No more abortion talk for global health assistance groups.
TPP is just T.P. (that's Toilet Paper for you folks not into acronyms) now.
Green light for the Dakota and Keystone Pipelines.
Domestic Steel for those pipes.
Green light for new manufacturing facilities.
Sanctuary Cities are on notice, but it won't matter too long...
He's going ahead with the wall. Yes, that's a physical wall.
And there's "Extreme vetting" - in case you made it over the wall. Maybe in an airplane?

That last one might be the brick too far for some folks. There's still a judiciary branch of the government, but apparently it's no longer a page in the White House.gov's website. There's a few other pages missing now. Some people noticed these omissions.

And no one has noticed how busy the Pentagon has been this week... And they've been really busy.

It's been a good week of fundraising at the ACLU and Planned Parenthood though. And folks who make signs for protesters. A banner year. Pun unexpected.

Judge Throws a Strike Against Healthcare

Strike Two.

Federal Judge Rules Health Care Law Violates Constitution

A federal judge in Pensacola, Fla., ruled that the entire health care overhaul enacted last year was void because one provision, requiring nearly all Americans to obtain health insurance, was unconstitutional.

A previous decision in a Virginia case found that the mandate provision was unconstitutional, but did not say that it necessarily affected the whole law's validity. In two other cases tried so far, the law passed muster.

As in the Virginia case, the judge in Pensacola stayed his decision pending an appeal, which could take more than a year to decide, so the law remains in effect for now.

Constitutional studies Ilya Shapiro praises Judge Vinson's ruling today, writing that it "represents the latest and most significant victory for federalism and individual liberty."

Nat'na Healt', Gubna'

How's that national health working out again? X-ray delay cancer patient dead, 18,500 X-rays not carried out.
-BBC

Just sayin' - it's preposterous!

Healthcare Setback

I gotten around to mentioning that the first major wound has been administered to the ObamaCare legislation - but it's kind of interesting that someone agreed with me about the Commerce Clause in the Constitution - but also because they used it on the Republican provision.

Federal judge Henry Hudson declared in his 42-page opinion that the law’s requirement for most Americans to obtain health insurance was unconstitutional:

“Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market.”

To simplify this argument - Imagine Congress passed a law that required EVERY American to buy a gun. Soak that in for a moment.

Hudson also wrote that allowing Congress to exercise such authority “would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers.”

Full repeal by the Republicans would be a long, difficult fight - and no doubt, they're not up for that kind of challenge. This ruling gives them a boost of wind to that sail, should they accept the challenge. The individual mandate was the lynchpin upon which the entire health care law stood. It's what Hillary and John McCain campaigned on - and what the Insurance Companies demanded, and Obama caved into agreeing upon.

A significant portion of the funding was to come through the fines that were to be collected from those who fail to purchase insurance - enforced by the IRS. The rational behind requiring insurance companies to accept those with pre-existing conditions was predicated upon a requirement that all people are required to be insured, otherwise people will simply sign up for insurance once they get sick -- which I happen to believe as well. The old, I'll just call Allstate right after I rear-end the school bus argument.

So if the foundation of this legislation was built on a swamp - how soon 'til this whole thing just rots away or falls in on itself? How much collateral damage will be done first before the dust settles?

Click here to read Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's analysis.

Problems with Obama-care

I love the word Obamacare -- you know the Democrats came up with that first, because it ever so slightly sounds like Obama Cares. He doesn't. Neither do his cronies in the House and Senate.

Folks are (finally) taking a second look at that nonsense that whipped up the Tea Parties in to existence in the first place... here's some take aways to have at your next wine tasting party to, you know, play devil's advocate.

- The bill does not decrease health care costs for the government. That's why Democrats were ordered not to say that anymore on the campaign stumps. According to Medicare's actuary, it will increase costs. The same is likely to happen for privately funded health care. Surprise. Not free.

-Elective abortions are covered, contrary to promises that it wouldn't, but these will likely be tied up for years in litigation, and in the end may not survive the court challenge. And that's a good use of everyone's time and money, isn't it?

The bill does not allow employees or most small businesses to keep the coverage they have and like. As 69 percent of employees, 80 percent of small businesses, and 64 percent of large businesses will be forced to change coverage, probably to more expensive plans.

- Get ready for an increase insurance premiums -- in some places, it already has. Insurers, suddenly forced to cover clients' children until age 26, have little choice but to raise premiums, and they attribute to mandates of 1 to 9 percent increase. Mr. Obama's only method of preventing massive rate increases so far has been to threaten insurers. And Pelosi's on point as that attack dog.

-Seasonal employers -- especially the ski and amusement park industries -- to pay huge fines, cut hours, or lay off employees.

- States are forced to guarantee not only payment but also treatment for indigent Medicaid patients. With many doctors now refusing to take Medicaid (because they lose money doing so), cash-strapped states could be sued and ordered to increase reimbursement rates beyond their means. Ooops. Wonder why the 10th Amendment is being brought up?

- Huge nonmedical tax compliance burdens are placed on small business. It will require them to mail IRS 1099 tax forms to every vendor from whom they make purchases of more than $600 in a year, with duplicate forms going to the Internal Revenue Service. Like so much else in the 2,500-page bill, our senators and representatives were apparently unaware of this when they passed the measure. Oh, is that a problem?

- The IRS is ordered to confiscate part or all of your tax refund if you do not purchase a qualified insurance plan. The bill funds 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure Americans stay in line. This is what tea people, and everyone should be complaining about - this IS the expansion of government, and not in a 'I'm here to help' kind of way

If you don't know why people are upset, or wonder why the Democrats are scared stupid of the November 2nd referendum on their job to 'fix everything the Republicans broke' - print this handy guide out. Email it to your friend the journalist, and see if they can defend it as well as they did before it passed.

Healthcare Update: Health Law Risks Turning Away Sick

The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured. Wait, what? Let me get some popcorn.

Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the program sunsets and health plans can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

Administration officials insist they can make changes to the program to ensure it lasts until 2014, and that it may not have to turn away sick people.

Officials said the administration could also consider reducing benefits under the program, or redistributing funds between state pools. But they acknowledged turning some people away was also a possibility. Now this is getting good.

“There’s a certain amount of money authorized in the statute, and we will do our best to make sure that that amount of money insures as many people as possible and does as much good as possible,” said Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “I think it’s premature to say [what happens] when it’s gone.”

The administration has not discussed asking Congress for more money down the line if the $5 billion runs out before Jan. 1, 2014. Uninsured sick people could start applying for participation in the high-risk insurance pools on Thursday. Hell, three people could burn through that, depending on how they get billed.

Healthcare experts of all stripes warned during the healthcare debate that $5 billion would likely not last until 2014. Millions of Americans cannot find affordable healthcare because of their pre-existing conditions, and that amount would only cover a couple hundred thousand people, according to a recent study by the chief Medicare actuary. Isn't that what I just said?

Republicans continued to hammer that point on Thursday, asking HHS officials to brief them about the program. I'm surprised they're not screaming this point on the roof tops yet. Eh, give them a couple more weeks.

But remember, it's mandatory. So even if they can't cover you, you're still required to buy it.

Tell you what, just walk it off or have an aspirin. And don't call the doctor in the morning. There might be enough left in the bucket for a hearse to stop by and remove your remains.

Confused Americans, "Where's My Free Stuff!?"

Just two weeks after the big f*ckin' deal health care overhaul became law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states.

McLean said the call center had been inundated by uninsured consumers who were hoping that the overhaul would translate into instant, affordable coverage. That widespread misconception may have originated in part from distorted rhetoric about the legislation bubbling up from the hyper-partisan debate about it in Washington and some media outlets, such as when opponents denounced it as socialism.

"We tell them it's not free, that there are going to be things in place that help people who are low-income, but that ultimately most of that is not going to be taking place until 2014," McLean said.

Adults with pre-existing conditions are frustrated to learn that insurers won't have to cover them until 2014 (though those under 18 will be protected in late September); then they become both hopeful and confused upon learning that a federal high-risk pool for them will be established in the next few months. "Health insurance is so confusing. You add this on top of it and it makes it even more confusing," McLean said.

The Obama administration is embarking on a years-long public education campaign about the overhaul, including a Web component. However, much of the guidance will depend on Department of Health and Human Services regulations that are still being developed.

So once again the American public supported a massive, sweeping, law that they neither read nor understood. I'm not shocked. The law not only doesn't do anything to get costs under control it forces insurance companies to offer more coverage thereby driving cost up. If you can't afford these higher premiums then the government is going to tax you 2% of your income... and throw you in jail.

Uh, just shut up and just tell me when I'm getting my free sh*t?