Massive Outrage Over Democrats' #ObamaCare Lies

Look, wall-to-wall coverage, 24-7.

When the big national dailies are hammering your lies, you've got problems.

Here's WaPo, "Obama accused of breaking promise to consumers as health plans cancel policies:

A new controversy over the president’s health-care law is threatening to overshadow the messy launch of its Web site:

Notices are going out to hundreds of thousands of Americans informing them that their health insurance polices are being canceled as of Dec. 31.

The notices appear to contradict President Obama’s promise that despite the changes resulting from the law, Americans can keep their health insurance if they like it. Republicans have seized on the cancellations as evidence that the law is flawed and the president has been less than forthright in describing its impact.

“The real problem is that people weren’t told the truth,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Tuesday on “CBS This Morning.” “You can remember, they were told that they would be able to keep their policies if they liked them. Now you hear hundreds of thousands of people across the country being told they couldn’t.”

Administration officials say the canceled insurance will be replaced by better policies. But the new line of attack comes as the administration continues to grapple with its problem-plagued Web site, HealthCare.gov.

On Tuesday, the administration official directly responsible for the rollout of the Web site apologized, promising at a congressional hearing to fix problems that have prevented many consumers from signing up for coverage under the health law. Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also defended her agency’s management of the project and blamed some of the setbacks on the main contractor, Fairfax-based CGI Federal.

If the accusations of broken promises stick, they could ultimately be more damaging than the glitchy Web site. Although some people are signing up and benefiting from federal subsidies to buy private insurance, the number is unknown because the administration has not revealed enrollment figures.

Meanwhile, insurance companies have sent hundreds of thousands of termination notices in recent months to previously insured Americans, telling them that their health insurance plans are changing to meet the requirements of the health-care law. Under the Affordable Care Act, beginning Jan. 1 insurers must offer renewal policies that cover a core group of essential health benefits, such as maternity care and prescription drug coverage. Policies that don’t offers such benefits can’t be sold after this year.

As a result, many insurers are discontinuing policies that do not comply with these new standards. If insurers discontinue a policy, they are required to give the policyholder 90 days’ notice and offer the option of enrolling in an alternative policy.

While Republicans are insisting that the president misled the public about the effects of the law, others who are sympathetic to the administration said the seeming contradiction shows the difference between political talking points intended to sell a controversial law and the intricacies of the health policies that underlie it.

Continue reading.

More, "Administration official Marilyn Tavenner apologizes for HealthCare.gov problems."

Breaking Barack: #ObamaCare Lies — And Obama's Lies

Via Reliapundit, "OBAMACARE - AND OBAMA'S LIES ABOUT IT - ARE THE OPIATES OF THE MASSES."

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: 'Obama Is Disengaged'

The world is closing in on this president.

The final crush will come at election time.

Be sure to stay at the clip for Brit Hume's commentary as well. It's all good.



More from John Steele Gordon, at Commentary, "A President Who Only Cares About Politics."

Obama's Empty Words on Syria

Obama's, and Secretary Kerry's.

Read it all at WaPo, "Mr. Kerry’s empty words on Syria."

#ObamaCare Sucks Democrat Donkey Balls

From Scott Pelley's report on last night's CBS News This Evening:



More, "Policy cancellations, higher premiums add to frustration over Obamacare."

Valerie Jarrett Blames Insurance Companies for Millions of Cancellations Under #ObamaCare

See Mary Katharine Ham, at Hot Air, "Valerie Jarrett: Obamacare doesn’t force you off your plan; your insurance company does, by complying with Obamacare!"

At at Twitchy, "Incredible: Valerie Jarrett parrots ridiculous line that ‘nothing in Obamacare forces people out of their health plans’."

Teachable moment: Be very skeptical when anyone associated with this WH asserts anything as FACT. They lie breezily & without remorse.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 29, 2013

2010 IRS Bulletin Predicted Up to 67 Percent of Insurance Plans Would Terminate Under #ObamaCare

At Weasel Zippers, "Exclusive: IRS Bulletin That Shows Admin Knew You Couldn’t Keep Your Plan In 2010":

Obama Knew Millions Would Lose Their Health Insurance

Things are getting so bad for the administration that White House lies are being piled on top of shameless concessions to reality.

The question is, as always, how big a hit Democrats will take? Normally I wouldn't be optimistic, but when the nightly newscasts start sounding like the regular coverage on  Fox News, leftists should be worried.

At the Weekly Standard, "Obama Team Knew Many Would Not Be Able to Keep Their Health Care Plans."

And also at Lonely Con, "NBC News: Obama Admin Knew Millions Would Lose Their Health Insurance." (Via Memeorandum.)

#ObamaCare Lady Disappears!

At Twitchy, "Woman on front page of healthcare.gov disappears."

'Saturday Night Live' Rips #ObamaCare Website Fiasco

At Nice Deb, "Video: SNL Mocks Sebelius and ObamaCrash."

Lou Reed, 1942-2013

At the New York Times, "Lou Reed, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 71."

Rolling Stone posted the news earlier today, but the write up was really sloppy (at Memeorandum).

And from Bob Belvedere, "Lou Reed, Requiescat in pace – Sweet Jane (Live)."

Here's another version, recent and good quality:



And don't miss Matt Welch, at Reason, "How Lou Reed Inspired Anti-Communist Revolutionaries and the Rest of Us."

The New Health Insurance Marketplace Is Open!

An awesome cover at National Review.

And here's Mark Steyn, "Obamacare’s Magical Thinkers."

Obama's 'Entire Presidency' Riding on Healthcare.gov

Man, that Cornell Belcher dude's like a freakin' robot. And A.B. Stoddard nails it:

“It’s a fundamental, structural issue. They needed a great start. You could have had glitches later. You needed to get people pouring into the system, because the sick are pouring into the exchanges; for the first time they can get covered when they couldn’t before. Now you need young, healthy people to balance out the risks and to actually keep it affordable. Without those whose consumers, it’s not affordable anyway.”

Ross Douthat claims Obama's entire presidency is riding on the need for young people to sign up to this monstrosity. It ain't happening.

Leftist Media Mounts Coordinated Attack on Obama's Claim to 'Greater, More Competent Government'

Look, criticism of the administration's disastrous rollout of the ObamaCare monstrosity has been amazingly bipartisan. We've seen leftist media coverage piling on this clusterf-k, and Senate Democrats up for reelection next year are begging the White House for a delay of the law's implementation.

You do have diehard progressives, however, like Martin Longman at the idiot Boom Tribune, who remain deep in denial on the failure of this legislation, convinced that it's just a matter of time before the website's up and running and consumers start saving money with government-run insurance. Right. That's at the same time Californians are giving that Obamanation the big FU. Hey, must be fun in La La Land.

Meanwhile, the big-guns of the Obama-media are highlighting how the failed website launch is highlighting Obama's longstanding and outrageously bogus claims that progressivism would bring about better, more competent government.

From Dan Balz, for example, at the Washington Post, "HealthCare.gov doesn’t help Obama’s argument for greater government":

LOL! Martin Longman (@BooMan23) loves him some #ObamaCare #Fail! Yeah, dude, it's gonna "lower premiums." Bwahaha!!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 27, 2013

Hey tweeps, Martin Longman, a.k.a. @BooMan23, is an #ObamaCare troofer, lol! "It's a temporary glitch, man." Bwahaha! http://t.co/Enw1ieBJKy

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 27, 2013

President Obama has faced a persistent challenge in office. The advocate of big, bold actions to address large and seemingly intractable problems, he has struggled to convince the public that government is equipped to carry out such transformational changes.

The rollout of the Affordable Care Act has highlighted that challenge, and the administration’s response has no doubt set the president back. He and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were slow to acknowledge the scope of the problems with HealthCare.gov, and overall the administration has hardly lived up to its pledge to be the most transparent in history.

Administration officials insist that the health-care law is sound, even if the Web site has proved a nightmare to navigate. But the questions raised by the botched rollout go beyond whether the Web site Obama touted so positively is merely plagued with technological glitches or is flawed in more fundamental ways. The whole episode points to the broader debate that the president has yet to win about the role of government.

When he was reelected last November, Obama and his advisers took the results as a mandate to continue or even accelerate the kinds of changes he had started during his first term. Democrats looked at the coalition that gave Obama a second term and saw the makings of a new progressive era after decades of conservative ascendancy.

But exit polls underscored the degree to which he had lost ground on the core debate about the government’s role. After four years of Obama as president, voters showed a smaller appetite for government to do things than they had when he was first elected.

On Election Day 2012, just 43 percent of those who voted said they wanted government to do more to solve problems, while 51 percent said government was doing too many things that were better left to the private sector or individuals. Four years earlier, in November 2008, the exit polls showed just the opposite: 51 percent said they wanted government to do more, while 43 percent said it should do less.

More at the link.

And here comes the New York Times, "Health Site Woes Undermine Obama’s Vow on Government":

WASHINGTON — The implicit promise of Barack Obama’s presidency, delivered during the 2008 campaign and again repeatedly since then, was that government would not face a debacle like the recent malfunction of the technology behind the president’s new health care marketplaces.

In his biggest and most important speeches, the president often talks with passion about a “smarter, more effective government.” He has called on Congress to embrace and pay for a “21st century government that’s open and competent.” And he has vowed to work to “rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government.”

But in the pursuit of that lofty goal, Mr. Obama faces determined opposition from conservatives who view government as the problem, not the solution. And to succeed, he must win over an increasingly skeptical public whose trust in government has eroded over decades. A survey last week by the Pew Research Center found that just 19 percent of Americans trust government to do what is right just about always or most of the time.

The breakdown of the federal HealthCare.gov Web site could emerge as a test of Mr. Obama’s philosophy, with potentially serious implications for an agenda that relies heavily on the belief in a can-do bureaucracy. Michael Dimock, the Pew center’s director, said that the longer the problems persist, the more they could bolster what he called the “almost American value that government is inefficient.”

“There is a lingering kind of effect,” he said. “It matters not only because the public may have an inherent skepticism. It puts the ball on the tee for your critics and the late-night comics.”

Continue reading.

It's going to be a long, hard year for Democrats. Talk won't be about big new government initiatives, despite attempts by the White House to turn the page to immigration reform and who knows what else? Congressional Democrats are going to be playing the CYA reelection games, dodging ObamaCare right up to November 2014. And it's going to be an ugly bloodbath for the law's supporters.

Make the f-kers eat it.

Martin Longman too.

Lawsuits Could Unravel #ObamaCare

Awesome.

At LAT, "More legal trouble for Affordable Care Act":

WASHINGTON— If computer glitches are not enough of a problem, President Obama's healthcare law also has a legal glitch that critics say could cause it to unravel in more than half the nation.

The Affordable Care Act proposes to make health insurance affordable to millions of low-income Americans by offering them tax credits to help cover the cost. To receive the credit, the law twice says they must buy insurance "through an exchange established by the state."

But 36 states have decided against opening exchanges for now. Although the law permits the federal government to open exchanges instead, it does not say tax credits may be given to those who buy insurance through a federally run exchange.

Apparently no one noticed this when the long and complicated bill worked its way through the House and Senate. Last year, however, the Internal Revenue Service tried to remedy it by putting out a regulation that redefined "exchange" to include a "federally facilitated exchange." This is "consistent with the language, purpose and structure … of the act as a whole," the Treasury Department said.

But critics of the law have seized on the glitch. They have filed four lawsuits that urge judges to rule the Obama administration must abide by the strict wording of the law, even if doing so dismantles it in nearly two-thirds of the states. And the Obama administration has no hope of repairing the glitch by legislation as long as the Republicans control the House.

This week, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, a President Clinton appointee, refused the administration's request to dismiss the suit. Instead, he said the challengers had put forward a substantial claim, and he promised to issue a written ruling.

"This is a problem," said Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University. "This case could have legs," although "it was never the intent of Congress to establish federal exchanges that can't do anything. They were supposed to have exactly the same powers."

Michael Carvin, the Washington lawyer leading the challenge, says the wording of the law is what counts. "This is a question of whether you believe in the rule of law. And the language here is as clear as it could possibly be," he said.

This is excellent no matter what happens. Chances are good the ObamaCare monstrosity could wind back up at the Supreme Court --- and next time, perhaps John Roberts won't be in such a generous mood.

More at that top link.

BONUS: At the comments:

Do you really think Obama cares if what he does is legal? Let me clear this up for you, he does not give a damn! He wants what he wants, and if it means doing by means that are unconstitutional he will not hesitate to do so! He has so demonstrated over and over again! He sees himself as an entitled, king like entity! HOW DARE ANYONE QUESTION HIM OR ANY DIRECTIVE THAT COMES FROM HIM! In actuality he is a "despot"!!

Unhinged Democrat Wants Obama to 'Shoot Every Republican Dead...'

Man, they don't mask their intentions any more, do they?

At Director Blue, "PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING: New York Times commenters urge Obama administration to kill Republican lawmakers."

Haim

At LAT, "It's home for Haim: The red-hot band is happy to hit L.A.'s memory lanes":

Their debut album entered the chart this month at No. 6. In England the record sold more copies than the latest by Justin Timberlake. Reviews have been nearly uniformly ecstatic, as has praise from fellow artists such as Katy Perry and Mumford & Sons.

To the uninitiated, Haim's success might resemble the overnight variety.

But the L.A. group — built around a trio of sisters — played its first show in 2007. Before that, the siblings performed in a band with their parents, doing Beatles and Prince covers at school functions and church fairs.

"It was fun to do," said bassist Este Haim, 27, "and it seemed normal to us."

PHOTOS: Haim brings 'Days Are Gone' to the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood

As a pop sensation, though, Haim is anything but the norm. The band — which also includes singer-guitarist Danielle, 24, and guitarist-keyboardist Alana, 21 — has an appealingly ungroomed look and a lived-in sound that forgoes the super-polished dance beats of Top 40 radio.

Sitting backstage at L.A.'s Fonda Theatre on a recent afternoon, the women were dressed in dark vintage clothes, their long hair hanging loose over their shoulders — more Joni Mitchell than Miley Cyrus. They were discussing their not-so-distant days growing up in the San Fernando Valley, including Este's job at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

"Alana would be at the mall with her friends, and she'd come by and I'd give them free French fries and soup," said the bassist, who worked at the Cheesecake Factory in the shopping center. "Then her friends started coming separately — they cut out the middleman."

"They didn't need me anymore," Alana agreed with a laugh. "Way harsh."

If the sisters seemed nostalgic, perhaps it was because they were home for the first time in months. Haim — the name rhymes with "lime" — has been on the road in the United States and Europe for the better part of 2013. (The group is rounded out by an unrelated drummer, Dash Hutton.) Last week the band's tour stopped in L.A. for a sold-out concert at the Fonda that served as a kind of hometown celebration of its hit debut, "Days Are Gone."

More at the link.

Plus, "Live review: Haim at the Fonda Theatre."

Oops! Californians Sour on #ObamaCare — LOL!

Obama took California by nearly 60 percent in 2012, but his signature healthcare monstrosity's not going over too well --- especially as folks get a real look at the thing, not the theoretical "affordable care" that was promised.

At LAT:

Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them — and many don't like what they see http://t.co/4xHJBAUJKC
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 27, 2013

NSA Spying on Angela Merkel Since 2002

Look, friends spy on friends, although even Merkel's cell phone was bugged.

She's obviously not pleased, and just reelected to a third term, she's got some political capital, and she aims to spend some of that against President Dronekiller.

At the New York Times, "Amid New Storm in U.S.-Europe Relationship, a Call for Talks on Spying":

BERLIN — While President Obama has tried to soften the blow, this week’s disclosures about the extent of America’s spying on its European allies have added to a series of issues that have sharply eroded confidence in the United States’ leadership at a particularly difficult moment.

The sharp words from Germany, France and others this week are part of a broader set of frustrations over issues like the Syrian civil war, the danger posed to the global economy by Washington’s fiscal fights and the broader perception that President Obama himself — for all his promises to rebuild relations with allies after the presidency of George W. Bush — is an unreliable partner.

This American administration is “misreading and miscalculating the effects” of its deeds in a Europe that is less ready than it once was to heed the United States, said Annette Heuser, executive director of the Bertelsmann Foundation, a research organization in Washington.

Early on Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France emerged from a meeting of European leaders to call for talks with the United States on new rules for their intelligence relationship. A statement from the European leaders said a “lack of trust” could undermine trans-Atlantic intelligence cooperation.

Earlier in the week the European Parliament had acted to suspend an agreement with the United States that allows it to track the finances of terrorist groups, citing suspicions that the United States authorities were tapping European citizens’ personal financial data.

The disclosures contained in the documents leaked by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden have crystallized a growing sense in Europe that post-Sept. 11 America has lost some of the values of privacy and accountability that have been the source of the world’s admiration for its version of democracy.

So fierce was the anger in Berlin over suspicions that American intelligence had tapped into Ms. Merkel’s cellphone that Elmar Brok of Germany, the chairman of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a pillar of trans-Atlantic exchanges since 1984, spoke Friday of America’s security establishment as a creepy “state within a state.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, he said, “the balance between freedom and security has been lost.”

And at the Verge, "US has been monitoring German chancellor Angela Merkel's phone since 2002, report says."

And at London's Daily Mail, "German officials set to travel to the U.S. 'shortly' to discuss spying allegations and whether Angela Merkel's phone was monitored by the NSA," and "U.S. monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone since 2002."

"I’m just amused at how quickly after the implementation of #ObamaCare the whole 'death panel' thing was transformed from a paranoid fantasy of that yokel, Sarah Palin, to an obviously good idea that all thinking people support..."

Yeah, me too.

At Instapundit, "WALTER HUDSON: The Twisted Morality of “Death Panels:” Breaking down Slate’s rationalization for letting government pick who lives and who dies."