ObamaCare's $273 Billion Bonanza For Paper Pushers

Fiscal Times

BY BRIANNA EHLEY,

The Fiscal Times

May 28, 2015

Since Obamacare took effect, roughly 16.5 million more people have gained health insurance. And while the health care law is objectively succeeding in its key goal of expanding access to coverage to millions of Americans, those gains come with enormous costs to taxpayers — including inordinately steep ongoing administrative costs, according to a new study.

The analysis, published in Health Affairs this week, found that Obamacare will add about $273.6 billion in administrative costs between 2014 and 2022, including $172.2 billion in higher private insurance overhead — bringing the total spent on administering government health programs and private insurance overhead to nealry $2.76 trillion for that period. 

Read More

Thank You Ms Ehly and Fiscal Times

Federal Judge Not Impressed With DOJ Attempts To Get Lawsuit Against Obamacare Thrown Out

townhall;

Katie Pavlich | May 29, 2015

Since Obamacare was passed in 2010, dozens of changes have been made to the legislation by executive fiat, not through Congress. One of those changes includes the Obama administration going around Congress to issue payments from the Treasury Department directly to health insurance companies. Another change is President Obama's February 2014 action to delay the Obamacare employer mandate, which requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance under the law. By implementing the delay, the administration effectively altered the law without a vote from Congress. 

In November 2014, the House of Representatives sued over the changes coming directly from the White House. Liberal George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley has been hired by the House to lead the lawsuit against the administration. The administration wants the lawsuit thrown out.

Yesterday the case was argued in front of U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, who seriously questioned the administration's actions of going around Congress to fund parts of Obamacare that the legislative body rejected. She also scolded DOJ attorney Joel McElvain for failing to provide a legitimate argument about why the lawsuit should be tossed. From Reuters: 

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, appointed by Obama's predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, repeatedly interrupted U.S. Justice Department lawyer Joel McElvain during the hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Justice Department lawyers argue that the House lacks standing to sue, citing a section of U.S. law that means the House would have to prove it has been directly harmed.

"So it is your position that if the House of Representatives affirmatively voted not to fund something ... then that vote can be ignored by the administration, because after all, no one can sue them?" she asked.

McElvain argued that the merits of the case were not being discussed at the hearing, and that any perceived injury was "abstract."

"I'm not asking you to give me your brief. I want you to explain ... why it's not an insult to the Constitution?" Collyer said.

McElvain argued that the House could pass new legislation if it disagreed with the administration's changes, which he said were legal under "pre-existing permanent appropriation."

At another point, Collyer admonished McElvain: "You can't just shake your head and not deal with the question."

Collyer will make a decision about whether the lawsuit from the House against the administration can proceed within the next few weeks.

Thank You Ms Pavlich and Townhall.

Govt. Owning Your Internet: FCC Chair Plans To Expand "Obama Phone" Program To Internet

weaselzippers;

After seeing how well it's working with Govt. seizing your Healthcare to give you Free Stuff, . . .

Oh, how nice…

Via CNS News:

(CNSNews.com) – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler announced on Thursday that he intends to expand Lifeline, popularly known as the “Obama Phone” program, to the Internet. 

“I am circulating new proposals to “reboot” Lifeline for the Internet age,” Wheeler wrote in a blog post on the FCC’s Website. He said the reboot would include “establishing minimum standards of service for voice and broadband,” in addition to subsidies for low-income consumers. 

Lifeline is a government benefit program that provides a monthly subsidy of $9.95 on telephone service for those at or below 135 percent of the poverty line so they can connect to the nation’s communications networks, find jobs, access health care services, connect with family and their children’s schools, and call for help in an emergency. 

The money comes out of the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is funded through fees paid by consumers on telephone service. The fee is generally itemized on customers’ monthly telephone bills and is currently assessed at a rate of 16.1 percent of the bill. 

The size of the Lifeline program has doubled since 2008, increasing from $819 million to $1.6 billion in 2014. It reached a high of $2.19 billion in 2012 amid allegations of fraud and abuse.

The USF, meanwhile, has increased from $7.2 billion in 2008 to $10.34 billion in 2014, with Chairman Wheeler’s staff estimating a level of $12.1 billion in 2016. However, that estimate does not account for prospective Internet subsidies. 

In his post, Wheeler said, “30 percent of Americans still haven’t adopted broadband at home…. While more than 95 percent of households with incomes over $150,000 have broadband, only 48 percent of those making less than $25,000 have service at home.”

Keep Reading…

Thank You CNS and Mr Stone.

As Obama Removes Cuba From Terrorism List, Castro Brothers Arrest 164 Activists and Artists

Gateway Pundit

Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, May 29, 2015, 11:50 AM

It’s an Obama world.
While President Obama pandered to a group of Cuban-Americans in Miami this week who openly questioned his new policy towards Communist Cuba, the Castro Regime was taking a different approach towards those who openly disagree with their policies, arresting them.

The Miami New Times reports that anti-Communist protester and artist, Tania Bruguera, was arrested in Havana, Cuba while protesting by publicly reading a book on totalitarianism for 100 hours. The Castro Regime also arrested 163 other artists and activists the same day.

Meanwhile, Obama removed Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism on Friday – not because they changed their behavior or policies… Just because he felt like it.
The Miami Herald reported:

For 33 years, Cuba has occupied a spot on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism — a place reserved for nations that repeatedly provide support for international acts of premeditated, politically motivated violence against non-combatants.

It was placed on the list during the Cold War, an era when there was still a Soviet Union and Cuba was accused of supporting and arming leftist insurgencies in Latin America and Africa.

But 45 days ago Friday, as part of his opening toward Cuba, President Barack Obama informed Congress he intended to remove Cuba from the list that also includes Syria, Iran and Sudan. In his report, he said Cuba hadn’t provided any support for international terrorism in the previous six months and had provided assurances it wouldn’t support such acts in the future.

With no attempt by Congress to override his recommendation in the 45-day period, the president’s directive now takes effect as soon as it is published in the Federal Register.

“We are just two days away,” Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, told reporters in Havana on Wednesday during a visit to the island. “There has not been a vote in the Congress so that’s going to stand. I think it will be a matter of weeks when we have restored diplomatic relations.”

At the conclusion of the fourth round of normalization talks in Washington last Friday, the two sides said they were very close to reaching agreement on renewing diplomatic ties and opening embassies. Cuba has long contended it should never have been on the list and getting off it has been a key element in the Cuban delegation’s negotiating stance since the talks began.

Thank You Mr Hoff and Gateway Pundit. 

While Baltimore Burns, Obama Meets With AG Lynch Following International Soccer's FIFA Arrests

weaselzippers;

Obama does have a soccer foreign policy, thanks to ESPN.

[Or as one of the authors at Redstate described her, Eric Holder in drag.]

Via The Hill

President Obama will meet Friday with Attorney General Loretta Lynch following a blockbuster indictment of nine officials from FIFA, international soccer’s powerful governing body.

The arrests Wednesday brought Lynch worldwide attention just one month after she was sworn in as Obama’s top law enforcement official.

Lynch played a central role in the years-long investigation. It was spearheaded by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, which Lynch led for five years before being tapped as attorney general.

The meeting also comes as Obama looks to Lynch to defend two major pieces of his domestic legacy from legal threats.

The president’s deportation relief programs face an uncertain future after a federal appeals court declined to lift a court order blocking them from taking effect.

In a sign the administration is resigned to a lengthy legal battle, the Justice Department decided not make an emergency request to lift the order. Instead, it will focus on appealing the legal merits of the injunction, a process that may take longer but the administration believes will result in a more certain legal outcome for the programs.

Keep reading

Thank You The Hill and Dapandico. 

Open and Transparent Obama Wants Patriot Act Extended To Track "The Lone Wolf"

weaselzippers;

A ‘Draw Mohammed’ event would smoke out the ‘lone wolves”.

[Ed; With the bases loaded, Dapandico steps up to the plate, swings, and puts it over the back wall.]

Via Washington Examiner

President Obama and other administration officials put on a full-court public press Friday to get the Senate to extend expiring provisions of the Patriot Act.

While citing specific benefits of two provisions, they said the “lone-wolf” provision facilating surveillance of individuals unaffiliated with known terror networks was critical even though it has never been used.

“Sunday at midnight, a whole bunch of authorities that we use in order to prevent terrorist attacks in this country expire,” Obama told reporters from the Oval Office after meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The House-passed USA Freedom Act “not only continues authorities that currently exist and are not controversial — for example, the capacity of the FBI or other law enforcement agencies to use what’s called a ‘roving wiretap’ …Those authorities would be continued.”

“What the USA Freedom Act also does is it reforms the bulk data collection program of significant concern and that I promised we could reform,” Obama said, without mentioning the benefits of the lone-wolf provision.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed the lone-wolf provision had never been used, echoing the intelligence community and lawmakers who support the USA Freedom Act, he said that as the potential grows for unaffiliated people egged on by the Islamic State and other radical Islamic groups to launch attacks, the authority is needed.

Keep reading

Thank You Wash Ex and Dapandico. 

Great News! US Economy Contracted 0.7% In The First Quarter

weaselzippers;

This is one amazing economic recovery!

Via CNS News:

(CNSNews.com) – Initial estimates of positive economic growth in the first quarter of 2015 have now turned negative.

The U.S. economy actually shrank in the first quarter of 2015 as real gross domestic product (GDP) declined at an annual rate of 0.7 percent, according to the Obama administration’s second look at the numbers.

The 0.7 percent decline in first-quarter real GDP was revised from the previously reported gain of 0.2 percent, which was the advance estimate put out at the end of April by the Commerce Department and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Real GDP is adjusted for inflation and represents the value of the production of goods and services in the United States.

Real GDP of -0.7 percent in the first (January-March) quarter was lower than the real GDP estimate of 2.2 percent in the fourth (October-December) quarter of 2014. It was also lower than the third quarter 2014 estimate of 5.0 percent.

“The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from exports (imports increased more), nonresidential fixed investment (purchases of nonresidential structures and equipment and software), and state and local government spending that were partly offset by positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures, private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment,” states BEA. “Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”

Keep Reading…

Thank You CNS and Mr Stone.

DOD Employees Charged Millions At Strip Clubs, Casinos Using Govt. Credit Cards

weaselzippers;

Government employees are such wonderful people…

Via Judicial Watch:

In the latest of many flagrant examples of how tax dollars are wasted, government-issued credit cards were used by Department of Defense (DOD) employees to make more than $4 million in personal charges, including at casinos and strip clubs.

During a one-year period the agency charged 20 million transactions for $3.4 billion on government credit cards, according to a DOD Inspector General report issued this month. About $3.2 million of it was spent at casinos and nearly $1 million on personal expenses, including about $100,000 at strip clubs by 646 card holders. The casino charges were made through 4,437 transactions by 2,636 charge card holders, according to the report which breaks down expenditures by military branch.

The U.S. Air Force is by far the biggest offender, outspending other branches and civilian DOD employees with government-issued credit cards. In the year analyzed by investigators, the Air Force charged more than $400,000 in personal expenses at casinos and nearly $40,000 at strip clubs. The Army came in second by spending almost $350,000 at casinos during the same period and nearly $35,000 at “adult entertainment establishments.”

As an example the report lists a member of the Naval Special Welfare Group who made a dozen transactions on a government credit card for a total of $1,116 at adult entertainment venues during a business trip to El Paso, Texas. The same sailor also charged $648 in food, drinks and bank withdrawals at other establishments during the El Paso trip, according to the inspector general report. “While in El Paso, the cardholder spent more than six times his total [allotted money for expenses], which included Dreams Cabaret, Jaguars Gold Club, Tequila Sunrise, and Red Parrot Gentlemen’s Club,” the report states.

Keep Reading…

Thank You Judicial Watch and Mr Stone.

Baltimore Riots: Marilyn Mosby Wasn't In Favor Of Giving 'Space To Destroy' When it Came To Her Own Property In Appearance On Judge Judy

weaselzippers;

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made the phrase famous by stating that she was giving rioters ‘space to destroy’when they rioted on April 27th. Police claimed she held them back, among other claims was that she said,”it’s just property”. Millions of dollars in damage and 100 injured cops followed this foolishness.

While Rawlings-Blake was giving rioters space to destroy, Marilyn Mosby was actually cheering them on, in such speeches as after her Freddie Gray announcement where she encourages them, saying, “our time is now”.

But back when Mosby was 20, she took more of a dim view of looters and property destroyers, when a man broke into her college apartment, occupying it while she was away and causing damages. She went on ‘Judge Judy’ to mediate the dispute and won, as you can see in the video above.

Thank You Nick.

Too Funny.

Baltimore Riots Will Cost The City AT LEAST $20 Million, . . . And They Want 75% of It Paid By American Taxpayers

Nurses, Keepers of Healthcare's Dirty Little Secrets?

fiercehealthcare;

Staffers spill about preferential treatment for VIPs, bets on patients

May 13, 2015 | By Leslie Small

In order to uncover what the healthcare industry wants to keep hidden, simply ask the tight-knit, hard-working professionals who experience the highs and lows of hands-on patient care every day--nurses.

That's the theory of author Alexandra Robbins, who in a recent Politico piece detailed some of the healthcare industry's glaring truths gleaned from interviews with countless nurses for her new book about the profession.

For example, nurses told Robbins about the five-star treatment certain celebrities and VIPs receive in hospitals around the country, often unbeknownst to rank-and-file patients who receive treatment at the same hospitals. Rich or influential patients often receive larger rooms, big-screen TVs, lush furnishings, better food and even separate floors, a practice one nurse told Robbins she and her colleagues "are disgusted by."

The practice is more than distasteful, though, as some nurses also indicated that resources allocated to VIP treatment can detract from the quality of other patients' care. In one case, a nurse said it was common at her hospital to move critical patients away from the nursing station to make way for VIP patients who actually required less observation.

Nurses are also well-acquainted with the healthcare industry's well-known "July Effect," which describes the uptick in medical errors associated with a new crop of medical residents every summer. And when newly minted doctors fumble, it is nurses who often have to correct errors and pick up the slack, according to the article.

Nurses themselves are not immune from questionable practices, however, as many told Robbins that hospital staffers commonly make bets about patients' conditions, injuries or even surgical outcomes. For example, nurses often can be found making small wagers to guess a patient's blood-alcohol level.

Along similar lines, many nurses describe widespread bullying and hazing among their peers, often carried out in accordance with time-honored hierarchies. The practice likely adversely affects patient care, and some experts suggest it may drive nurses away from the profession.

To learn more:
- read the article

Related Articles:
Nurses say peer bullying is rampant--and patients pay the price
The future of nursing: An industry in flux
To improve healthcare outcomes, empower nurses
Study: Nurses overworked, understaffed and stressed
6 ways nurses can reduce patient suffering
Nurses, emergency department workers often targets of violence

Thank You Ms Small and FierceHealthcare.

Unfortunately, this article misses the punchline.

Hospitals Report Only 1% Of Patient Harm Events


http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/4

Obama Whines About Global Warming On Twitter While Flying On Air Force One To Attend DNC Fundraisers In Miami

waselzippers.us

Obama departs aboard carbon-spewing Air Force One:

While en route “Barack Obama” warns about dangers climate change:

see also;

Obama At U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement: Denying Climate Change "Dereliction Of Duty"

State Depts First Ever "LGBTI Envoy" Seeking Global LGBTI Rights During 15 Country Tour

weaselzippers;

The State Dept, post H Rod. Never mind the Middle East, and ISIS. We have more important issues.

What the …?

LGBTI in not a misprint, the new “I” stands for intersex.

Via CNS News:

(CNSNews.com) – Randy Berry, the State Department’s first envoy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, said on Tuesday he is leaving on a 15-country, five-week trip to encourage foreign governments to include protection for homosexuals in their constitutions. 

Speaking at the United States Institution of Peace in Washington, D.C., ahead of a panel of gay rights activists from around the world, Berry said gay rights and human rights are “issues we hold very, very dear.” Civil conflict around the globe that leads to constitutional change offers a “unique opportunity” to advance those rights, he added.

“Constitutional change has provided a unique opportunity for groups to mobilize for their members’ rights and for recognition,” Berry said. 

He did not say which countries he will be visiting.

“Constitutions and constitutional courts are powerful tools to protect rights of members of minority groups,” Berry said, adding that some foreign governments are “addressing the rights of members of the oppressed and marginalized populations through the context of their constitutional drafting processes.”

Keep Reading

Thank You Mr Stone and CNS. 

Feds Drop $52,293 To Reduce Discrimination Against LGBT Schizophrenics By Convenience Store Clerks

weaselzippers;

Via CNS News:

The National Institutes of Health through its National Institute of Mental Health has awarded $52,293 in taxpayer funding to the Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to study how to reduce discrimination of lesbian, gay and transgender people with schizophrenia by members of the community they are in frequent contact with, like the “convenience store clerk.”

“Inquiry will extend from individuals with schizophrenia to include family members and service providers of participants as well as community members with whom they are in frequent contact (e.g., convenience store clerk),” the grant, titled “Defining Community for LGBT People with Schizophrenia,” stated.

“Sexual and gender minority individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are amongst the most marginalized individuals in North American society,” the grant stated. “They face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that compound the effects of having a major mental illness, hampering recovery and frustrating efforts to meaningfully participate in our communities.”

“Our work will lay the groundwork for our developing a better understanding about how we can reduce that discrimination in community contexts and develop interventions to facilitate community participation among sexual and gender minority individuals with severe mental illness,” it stated.

Thank You CNS and Zip.

And of course, this initial 52K will open the door - since it won't produce any satisfactory answers for the Diversity Mob - to blow it into an ongoing 20 year funding sink costing hundreds of millions, with still no satisfactory answers for the Diversity Mob.

Except, of course, to demonize the convenience store as a hate monger, and target them for future Diversity Mob violence.

Look at the pic again. Don't you think convenience store owners already have enough crap to deal with?

The fault isn't theirs. The fault is the Diversity Mob's, and their Psychiatric Stigma and Brain Damage peddlers.

But then again, this is what the Diversity Mob wants.

Demonize the Store Owner/Worker, Socialism's never ending, 24/7 Class Warfare.

We're seeing it happen to Police Depts already. The method is to set everybody at everybody else's throat, declare them incompetent, and have the Federal Govt. move in and take over.

“Our work will lay the groundwork for our developing a better understanding about how we can reduce that discrimination in community contexts and develop interventions to facilitate community participation among sexual and gender minority individuals with severe mental illness,” it stated."

Bullshit. 

Their Work will be more of the same 100% Incompetent Crap the 'Mental Health' con artists have been inflicting on the world since their inception.