#ObamaCare's Redistribution Scheme Exposed

One of the very best recent commentaries I've read.

From Holman Jenkins, Jr., at WSJ, "How the GOP Should Fix ObamaCare":

Let's understand: The stumbling block to fixing Mr. Obama's broken promise is Democrats clinging to the central redistributive scheme embedded in ObamaCare. There is no reconciling the two.

Americans are beginning to understand that the essence of the Affordable Care Act is that millions of people are being conscripted to buy overpriced insurance they would never choose for themselves in order to afford Mr. Obama monies to spend on the poor and those who are medically uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions. Both Mr. Obama and Republicans are blowing smoke in claiming that the damage done to the individual market by the forced cancellation of "substandard" plans (i.e., those that don't meet the purposes of ObamaCare) can somehow be reversed at this point. It can't be.

What can be done is Congress creating a new option in the form of a national health insurance charter under which insurers could design new low-cost policies free of mandated benefits imposed by ObamaCare and the 50 states that many of those losing their individual policies today surely would find attractive.

What's the first thing the new nationally chartered insurers would do? Rush out cheap, high-deductible policies, allaying some of the resentment that the ObamaCare mandate provokes among the young, healthy and footloose affluent.

These folks could buy the minimalist coverage that (for various reasons) makes sense for them. They wouldn't be forced to buy excessive coverage they don't need to subsidize the old and sick.

If this idea sounds familiar, it was proposed right here three years ago, after the 2010 elections in which Democrats lost the House due to public disquiet over ObamaCare.

Continue reading.

#ObamaCare Rollout is 'Lasting Mess' for Freaked-Out Democrats

Oh, this is harsh.

At the Hill, "Obama hits new low with Dems":

President Obama’s relationship with congressional Democrats has worsened to an unprecedented low, Democratic aides say.

They are letting it be known that House and Senate Democrats are increasingly frustrated, bitter and angry with the White House over ObamaCare’s botched rollout, and that the president’s mea culpa in a news conference last week failed to soothe any ill will.

Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.
“Here we are, we’re supposed to be selling this to people, and it’s all screwed up,” one chief of staff ranted. “This either gets fixed or this could be the demise of the Democratic Party.

“It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen it,” the aide said of the recent mood on Capitol Hill. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”

Meanwhile, at a recent caucus meeting with Senate Democrats and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, one senator stood up and asked for a political point of contact at the White House.

“There’s been an increase in frustration because people feel like they are continuing to be blindsided,” said one Democrat who attended the caucus meeting, adding that there’s a “check-the-box” mentality at the White House in dealing with lawmakers.

Democrats around Capitol Hill say there are lots of people to blame for the debacle that has engulfed them. But increasingly the anger is directed at one person only: Obama.

“Is he even more unpopular than George W. Bush? I think that’s already happened,” said one Democratic chief of staff.

Senior administration officials say they understand the frustration and anger on the opposite side of Pennsylvania Avenue and they realize Democrats are the ones who continue to take a hit.

But the senior officials say the most important thing the White House can do right now is to get the implementation of the healthcare law right. The feeling in the West Wing corridors lately is that once the rollout is fixed, the public will see all the positives behind ObamaCare.

“The policy will take care of the politics,” one senior administration official said.

But not everyone agrees with that sentiment — particularly those Democrats in both chambers who are up for reelection in 2014.

“They’re freaking out, as they should be,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide, adding that the rollout continues to be “a lasting mess.”

It's so bad House Dems won't be seen with Obama on the campaign trail. Talk about toxic, man.

Still more bad news at the link.

A Gold-Plated Insurance Exchange for Members of Congress

Man, a lot of people are going to be steaming if this becomes a political hot potato (or, another political hot potato).

At NYT, "Perks Ease Way in Health Plans for Lawmakers":

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress like to boast that they will have the same health care enrollment experience as constituents struggling with the balky federal website, because the law they wrote forced lawmakers to get coverage from the new insurance exchanges.

That is true. As long as their constituents have access to “in-person support sessions” like the ones being conducted at the Capitol and congressional office buildings by the local exchange and four major insurers. Or can log on to a special Blue Cross and Blue Shield website for members of Congress and use a special toll-free telephone number — a “dedicated congressional health insurance plan assistance line.”

And then there is the fact that lawmakers have a larger menu of “gold plan” insurance choices than most of their constituents have back home.

While millions of Americans have been left to fend for themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through their options and enroll.

Lawmakers and the employees who work in their “official offices” will receive coverage next year through the small-business marketplace of the local insurance exchange, known as D.C. Health Link, which has staff members close at hand for guidance.

“D.C. Health Link set up shop right here in Congress,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the delegate to the House from the nation’s capital.

Insurers routinely offer “member services” to enrollees. But on Capitol Hill, the phrase has special meaning, indicating concierge-type services for members of Congress.

If lawmakers have questions about Aetna plan benefits and provider networks, they can call a special phone number that provides “member services for members of Congress and staff.”

On the website run by the Obama administration for 36 states, it is notoriously difficult to see the prices, deductibles and other details of health plans.

It is much easier for members of Congress and their aides to see and compare their options on websites run by the Senate, the House and the local exchange.

Lawmakers can select from 112 options offered in the “gold tier” of the District of Columbia exchange, far more than are available to most of their constituents.

Aetna is offering eight plan options to members of Congress, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield is offering 16. Eight are available from Kaiser Permanente, and 80 are on sale from the UnitedHealth Group.

Lawmakers and their aides are not eligible for tax credit subsidies, but the government pays up to 75 percent of their premiums, contributing a maximum of $5,114 a year for individual coverage and $11,378 for family coverage. The government contribution is based on the same formula used for most other federal employees...

Yeah, it must be rough.

The Washington elite against the rest of us. Republicans should be ashamed they're getting special treatment, but at least they didn't vote for the monstrosity. They can at least partially redeem themselves by getting that clusterf-k repealed. ASAP.

Still more at that top link.

#ObamaCare Forced Mom Into Medicaid

Now this is just downright sad.

From Nicole Hopkins, at WSJ:

My mother is not one to seek attention by complaining, so her recent woeful Facebook post caught my eye: "The poor get poorer." It diverged from the more customary stream of inspirational quotes, recipes and snapshots from her tiny cottage in Pierce County, Wash.

The post continued: "I just received a notice: 'In order to comply with the new healthcare law, your current health plan will be discontinued on December 31, 2013.' Currently my premium is $276 and it is a stretch for me to cover. The new plan . . . are you ready . . . projected new rate $415.20. Now I can't afford health insurance."

The unaffordable ObamaCare-compliant plan that her insurer offered in a Sept. 26 letter is not what makes my mother's story noteworthy. Countless individually insured Americans have received such letters; many are seeing more radical increases in premiums and deductibles.

But most of these people are still being offered the chance to choose what health-care insurance they will receive, or to opt out before they are automatically enrolled in a state program. Not so my mother, Charlene Hopkins, as I soon discovered when I called after seeing her Facebook post.

Since she couldn't afford the new plan offered by her insurer, she told me she was eager to explore her new choices under the Affordable Care Act. Washington Healthplanfinder is one of the better health-exchange sites, and she was actually able to log on. She entered her personal and financial data. With efficiency uncommon to the ObamaCare process, the site quickly presented her with a health-care option.

That is not a typo: There was just one option—at the very affordable monthly rate of zero. The exchange had determined that my mother was not eligible to choose to pay for a plan, and so she was slated immediately for Medicaid. She couldn't believe it was true and held off completing the application.

"How has it come to this?" she asked in one of our several talks over the past few weeks about what was happening. When she was a working mother and I was young, she easily carried health insurance for our whole family. "How have I fallen this far?"

In 2011, she had to give up her real-estate license; as a newer agent, she did not stand to earn enough in the tough market to justify the fees to renew. She has since managed to eke out a living as a substitute para-educator in the Central Kitsap School District. "I'm not on the couch, watching TV," she said. "I'm out trying to find more work every day."

Unable to secure employer-sponsored health care, she had, until this fall, chosen to pay $276 a month for bare-bones catastrophic coverage. "I think that we should be able to take care of ourselves and to earn enough money to pay for basics, and health insurance is one of them," she told me. For two years she had paid out of pocket for that plan, but now she is being told that the plan isn't good enough for her.

The Sept. 26 letter from my mother's insurer promised that the more expensive plan "conforms with the new health care law"—by covering maternity needs, newborn wellness and pediatric dental care. My mother asked: "Do I need maternity care at 52?" In addition to requiring her to pay an extra $1,677 annually, the plan would have increased her deductible by $1,500.

But she had at least been presented with an option that she could turn down, unlike on the state exchange...

Continue reading.

Leftists will say they're making the woman better off. But she liked her plan, because it preserved her dignity. ObamaCare robbed her of it. We're all caught in the maw of the vicious Democrat healthcare tyranny. Only complete repeal --- and the utter decimation of the menacing Democrat Party --- will begin to turn things around, and restore some dignity.

Dems Calling for #ObamaCare Repeal?

From Megan McArdle, at Bloomberg, "Wishful Thinking Can't Hold Obamacare Together":

The Obamacare story is as much a political story, and a media story, as it is a policy story. If people think that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act won’t work, then it probably won’t; the politicians will start passing “fixes” that undermine the functionality of its interlocking parts, and companies and consumers will abandon the fledgling markets. If people think that Obamacare will work -- well, it might not work anyway, because the real world does not always deliver rhetorically pleasing symmetry. But it certainly has a much better shot.

Of note, then, is one development you saw over the weekend: People are starting to talk about repeal. In early October, most people -- including me -- would have ranked this as wishful Republican thinking, along the lines of “repeal the Fed.” But the weekend brought us the National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar suggesting that Democrats might begin calling for repeal if things don’t get better soon...

Lots more at the link.

New AFP Ads Target Democrats on #ObamaCare

From Americans for Prosperity.



Make those f-kers eat it.

Dream Angels Holiday 2013

These babes are wild.



And it's just over three weeks now until the fashion show. Lovely.

Deep Danger for Democrats in 2014

From Stan Veuger, at the National Interest, "Obamacare Reforms Could Doom Dems in 2014":

Things aren’t exactly looking up for President Obama these days. The rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s central feature, the exchanges where people without employer-provided health insurance are meant to purchase plans, has been disastrous, marked by IT problems and astonishingly low enrollment numbers. The President’s promise that “If you like your plan, you can keep it” has been shown to be knowingly false. The number of people losing coverage is so far rapidly outpacing the number of people gaining coverage. And the administration’s haphazard fixes may only be worsening the situation, promising even deeper political trouble down the road.

First the administration delayed the employer mandate, which, now starting in 2015, will force employers with more than fifty quasi-full-time employees to provide health insurance or pay a new tax. The administration’s decision to delay the mandate, welcome as it may have been to businesses that gained an additional year to deal with the new regulations and obligations they will face, will almost surely lead to political damage at a very unhelpful time. Right before the 2014 midterm elections, about half of all employer plans would have to be canceled or replaced. This would show an immense number of Americans, more than ten times as many as those who are now receiving individual-market cancellation notices, that the administration’s promises that you can keep your doctor were false, and it will show them this in a direct, personal manner. It seems unlikely that congressional Democrats would be willing to deal with the political fallout from such unpleasant news right before facing reelection.

Having delayed the employer mandate, the administration then had to deal with the individual mandate, and the exchanges on which individuals were supposed to purchase health insurance policies to comply with it. All was working wonderfully well in the President’s mind until October 1, when the glory of Kayak, the beauty of Amazon Prime, and the convenience of Uber would converge, creating Healthcare.gov, a website that would win the Internet instantly and put Facebook and Google to shame. That didn’t happen, and after initially downplaying the problems with the infrastructure sustaining the exchanges the administration announced that it had finally found a shovel-ready project: by December 1, the website should be working for 4 out of every 5 people looking for health insurance—a pretty high bar, given how things have gone so far. The problem, of course, is that millions of people will now have only a two-week window to ensure that they have health insurance starting on January 1. And quite a few of those people will find that the prices and policies available to them are not particularly wonderful, especially those who had individual coverage already.

Ah yes, the people who had managed to navigate the individual market before the exchanges came into being! A lot of their plans got canceled. After attempts to spin their loss as a victory for Western civilization failed, President Obama saw himself forced to introduce yet another potentially damaging fix. During an impromptu press conference, he announced that in his infinite benevolence he would give insurance companies the chance to uncancel canceled insurance policies. This was certainly not planned for, and involves the following risk: if relatively healthy people choose to stay on their preexisting plans, and relatively unhealthy people join the exchanges, insurers will have to deal with a much costlier group of people buying new ACA-approved policies. And that will inevitably lead to rising premiums and significant sticker shock… again, right before the 2014 elections.

Continue reading.

IMAGE CREDIT: iOWNTHEWORLD.

Time to Ditch #ObamaCare and Move On

From Liz Peek, at Fiscal Times, "Time to Ditch Obamacare — a Plan to Rob Taxpayers":

Where do we go from here? With 57 percent of Americans now opposing the Affordable Care Act according to an ABC/Washington Post Poll, and with a steady drip of bad news likely to further undermine the president’s signature law – is it time for Obama and the Democrats to admit failure and throw the law out? Maybe.

If Republicans campaign on overturning Obamacare and win the Senate in 2014 – not an impossibility – it is conceivable that the bill could be jettisoned. It won’t be easy, since President Obama has promised to veto the measure. However, with the bill being hacked to bits by a White House frantic to salvage some vestige the deal, arguing its merits becomes even tougher, and tossing it overboard may become easier.

Continue reading.

Here Comes the Second Wave of #ObamaCare Cancellations

At Fox News, "Second Wave of Health Plan Cancellations Looms":

A new and independent analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall -- right before the mid-term elections.

The next round of cancellations and premium hikes is expected to hit employees, particularly of small businesses. While the administration has tried to downplay the cancellation notices hitting policyholders on the individual market by noting they represent a relatively small fraction of the population, the swath of people who will be affected by the shakeup in employer-sponsored coverage will be much broader.

An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, shows the administration anticipates half to two-thirds of small businesses would have policies canceled or be compelled to send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges. They predict up to 100 million small and large business policies could be canceled next year.

"The impact I'm mostly worried about is on small young, entrepreneurial firms that will suddenly face much higher health insurance premiums if they want to offer health insurance to their employees," said AEI resident scholar Stan Veuger. "I think for a lot of other businesses ... they can just send their employees to the exchanges or offer them a fixed subsidy every month to buy health insurance themselves."

Under the health care law, businesses with fewer than 50 workers do not have to provide health coverage. But if they do, the policies will still have to meet the benefit standards set by ObamaCare.

As reported by AEI's Scott Gottlieb, some businesses got around this by renewing their policies before the end of 2013. But the relief is temporary, and they are expected to have to offer in-compliance plans for 2015. According to Gottlieb, that means beginning in October 2014 the cancellation notices will start to go out.

Then, businesses will have to either find a new plan -- which could be considerably more expensive -- or send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges.

Following the links takes us to Forbes, "Thousands Of Small Businesses Will Also Start Losing Their Current Health Policies Under Obamacare. Here's Why."

Wham! #ObamaCare Creates 'Two-Tier' Health System as Insurers Restrict Choices to Cut Costs

And you know what, this isn't a bug. It's a feature.

All is proceeding just as the Democrats planned.

At the Washington Post, "Insurers restricting choice of doctors and hospitals to keep costs down":

As Americans have begun shopping for health plans on the insurance exchanges, they are discovering that insurers are restricting their choice of doctors and hospitals in order to keep costs low, and that many of the plans exclude top-rated hospitals.

The Obama administration made it a priority to keep down the cost of insurance on the exchanges, the online marketplaces that are central to the Affordable Care Act. But one way that insurers have been able to offer lower rates is by creating networks that are far smaller than what most Americans are accustomed to.

The decisions have provoked a backlash. In one closely watched case, Seattle Children’s Hospital has filed suit against Washington’s insurance commissioner after a number of insurers kept it out of their provider networks. “It is unprecedented in our market to have major insurance plans exclude Seattle Children’s,” said Sandy Melzer, senior vice president.

The result, some argue, is a two-tier system of health care: Many of the people who buy health plans on the exchanges have fewer hospitals and doctors to choose from than those with coverage through their employers.

A number of the nation’s top hospitals — including the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and children’s hospitals in Seattle, Houston and St. Louis — are cut out of most plans sold on the exchange.

In most cases, the decision was about the cost of care.

Continue reading.

.@MSNBC Race-Baiter Michael Eric Dyson Attacks Matt Lewis for 'White Privilege'

The funny thing is Dyson really believes he's being treated like a "boy" rather than being called out, rightly, for his idiot race-baiting. Behold the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the radical left.

At NewsBusters, "WATCH: Conservative Writer Takes on Race-Obsessed MSNBC Contributor Michael Eric Dyson."

New Emails Show White House Knew #ObamaCare Could Crash on Launch

At Politico, "White House email chain shows launch fears":

Top White House and health officials feared that HealthCare.gov wouldn’t work correctly and would set off a wave of bad publicity, according to emails shortly before the disastrous rollout of the Obamacare enrollment website.

The emails, released Wednesday evening by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, included a picture of an error message that has become emblematic of the launch debacle. They were dated Sept. 25 — less than a week before the enrollment portal opened and immediately created a crisis for the White House.

“When Todd Park and Marilyn [Tavenner] was here yesterday one of the things Todd conveyed was this fear the WH has about hc.gov being unavailable,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Deputy Chief Information Officer Henry Chao wrote to a few dozen staff and contractors. He was referring to White House Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

“Todd does have a good point and I think we should have a more comprehensive answer as to how we will ensure high availability,” Chao continued.

Later on in the email chain, Chae wrote to two colleagues: “… can you think about a better way to convey to the public when the site is not available? I am picturing in my mind all the major print and online publications taking screenshots of what is below and just ramping up the hyperbole about hc.gov not functional.” Attached is picture of an error message which says, “The System is down at the moment.”

Also at Fox News, "Email shows White House had 'fear' ObamaCare site wouldn't work before launch."

Some Afternoon Alice Goodwin #Rule5

I might be able to get a little blogging in tonight, so might was well start it out with a bang.

At Egotastic!, "Alice Goodwin Return to Barely There Lingerie Glory."

Oh My! Obama Dive-Bombs to 37 Percent Approval in Latest CBS News Poll

Yeah, because it's just a matter of time before the ObamaCare kinks are worked out, or something.

At CBS, "Obama approval sink to new lows":

President Obama's job approval rating has plunged to the lowest of his presidency, according to a new CBS News poll released Wednesday, and Americans' approval of the Affordable Care Act has dropped it's lowest since CBS News started polling on the law.

Thirty-seven percent now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, down from 46 percent in October -- a nine point drop in just a month. Mr. Obama's disapproval rating is 57 percent -- the highest level for this president in CBS News Polls.

Obamacare issues erasing Democrats' political advantage from gov't shutdown
A rocky beginning to the opening of the new health insurance exchanges has also taken its toll on how Americans perceive the Affordable Care Act. Now, approval of the law has dropped to 31 percent - the lowest number yet recorded in CBS News Polls, and a drop of 12 points since last month. Sixty-one percent disapprove (a high for this poll), including 46 percent who say they disapprove strongly.

Republicans are nearly unanimous in their disapproval of the law, and now more than two-thirds of independents agree. Almost six in ten Democrats continue to support the law, but their support has dropped 16 points from last month - from 74 percent in October to 58 percent today. Support has dropped 11 points among independents and five points among Republicans.

Via Memeorandum.

Greta Van Susteren Exposes Murderous Black Thug 'Knockout Game'

It's long past time for black leaders to speak out and denounce this vicious "game" that's popular with America's black thug youth.

At Greta Van Susteren's blog, "VIDEO: “Knockout Game” hits another victim in D.C."

From last night's show, "What did you think of my OFF THE RECORD commentary tonight?"

Also, "WATCH THIS VIDEO: WHERE IS THE MEDIA?? THIS SHOULD BE SPARKING OUTRAGE COAST TO COAST! WHY ISN’T EVERY NEWS OUTLET COVERING THIS? (CBS LOCAL IS!) THIS IS NOT A GAME AND IT IS NOT FUNNY – THIS IS MURDER."

When someone dies from this cruel KNOCK OUT game (and it is not funny nor a game), it is MURDER. If the victim does not die, it is assault with intent to kill. It is mean. It is cruel. It also is terrible for the many good people in a community trying to live their lives and raise their families. They are scared.

Unhinged Leftists Freak Over Big-Game Hunter Melissa Bachman — Again!

The hunt was completely legal --- and ethical.

From Katie Pavlich, at Townhall, "Ignorant Anti-Hunters Freak Out Over Woman Who Legally Killed a Lion."

Just read it all at the link.



Yeah, by now this is pretty routine, the damned leftist ghouls.

Remember previously, "Big-Game Hunter Melissa Bachman Cut From National Geographic's 'Ultimate Survivor Alaska' After Environmental Fascists Mount Boycott at Change.org."

Repeal of 1988 Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act Portends Danger for #ObamaCare

Look, when front-page coverage at the New York Times raises the specter of ObamaCare repeal, you know things are hitting rock-bottom on the left.

See, "Lesson Is Seen in Failure of Law on Medicare in 1989":

WASHINGTON — Angry Americans voice outrage at being asked to pay more for health coverage. Lawmakers and the White House say the public just doesn’t appreciate the benefits of the new health law. Opponents clamor for repeal before the program fully kicks in.

The year was 1989, and the law was the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, which was supposed to protect older Americans from bankruptcy due to medical bills. Instead it became a catastrophe for Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who learned the hard way that many older Americans did not want to be helped in that particular way.

Seventeen months after President Ronald Reagan signed the measure with Rose Garden fanfare, a series of miscalculations and missteps in passing the law became painfully evident, and it was unceremoniously stricken from the books by lawmakers who could not see its demise come quickly enough.

The tortured history of the catastrophic-care law is a cautionary tale in the context of the struggle over the new health law, the Affordable Care Act. It illustrates the political and policy hazards of presenting sweeping health system changes to consumers who might not be prepared for them. And it provides a rare example of lawmakers who were willing to jettison a big piece of social policy legislation when the political risks became too grave.

“It has often been said that if you get an entitlement on the books, you can never get rid of it,” said Bill Archer, who pushed to repeal the 1988 law as a senior Republican, from Texas, on the House Ways and Means Committee. “That is an example of a time we did get rid of it.”

Backers of the Affordable Care Act say comparisons to the catastrophic-care debacle are flawed. They say that the new law fills a major health insurance void and that despite its current problems it will never meet the same fate as that undertaking in 1988.

“It is enormously different,” said Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, a liberal consumer advocacy group, who supported both the new health law and the catastrophic-care program. “You had a benefit totally paid for by 40 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries, who overwhelmingly thought there was not a benefit there for them. It is understandable they were upset.”

Others involved with the passage and repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act see clear parallels with the current situation, in which a very vocal segment that views itself as harmed by the new law has joined with highly organized political operations to rally opposition to it.

“When I saw this massive thing, I said, ‘Boy, if this is anything like catastrophic, they are going to be in trouble,’ ” said Brian J. Donnelly, who led the 1989 repeal effort as a Massachusetts Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. “It is a very good analogy.”

Continue reading.

And flashback to 1989, at NYT, "Retreat in Congress; The Catastrophic-Care Debacle - A special report.; How the New Medicare Law Fell on Hard Times in a Hurry":

Rarely has a Government program that promised so much to so many fallen apart so fast.

Yeah, well.

I guess people actually got a chance to see what was in it --- and they weren't happy.

PREVIOUSLY: "#ObamaCare's on Life Support."

@MSNBC's Disgusting Martin Bashir Apologizes to Sarah Palin

At Freedom Eden, "Martin Bashir Apology to Sarah Palin (Video)."

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Martin Bashir apologizes for disgusting attack on Sarah Palin."



And ICYMI, the background's at BCF, "Martin Bashir Suggests Someone Should Defecate in Palin's Mouth and Urinate in Her Eyes."

Philippines Survivors Begin Odyssey for Families

At the Wall Street Journal, "Typhoon Haiyan Survivors Begin Odyssey to Find Their Families":

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Just after nightfall, three men jostled with hundreds of other people for spots aboard a rust-stained ferry leaving this port for an island where they hoped to find loved ones alive—or prepare to bury them.

Typhoon Haiyan ripped across the Philippines a week earlier, focusing much of its wrath on Samar Island. A few hundred of those on the Cebu dock found their way aboard the Samar-bound 34-year-old ferry, the Blessed Stars.

The Blessed Stars' passengers—and thousands of others boarding ferries on the docks during a tropical downpour—were part of a mass migration of people from the Philippines and beyond who are converging on their devastated home islands.

As the engine kicked in and fumes mixed with the salty breeze, stars began to emerge. Passengers lighted cigarettes and, as the 15-hour journey began, told of the people they were traveling to find.

One was Angel Cillo, who boarded with his wife to find out whether his family in his hometown was alive, including his 75-year-old mother. He last spoke to them by phone just before the typhoon hit, and his brother had sounded nonchalant. Calls now always produced one response: "The person you are trying to call is out of the coverage area."

Another, Rayanaldo Casas, knew his 22-year-old son, an apprentice on a cement ship, died when the storm surge hit off the Samar coast.

His body was in a mass grave, Mr. Casas said. He wanted to return the remains to his home on another island.

"I will bring him home, but I don't know how," he said.

Passenger Eduard Amanigos, a worker in Kuwait, lost touch with his wife, son and daughter when the typhoon hit their home along the eastern Samar coast. The last thing his wife said before the phone went dead: "The water has risen to the ceiling in just five minutes."

He said he later saw her alive on television, but he didn't know much about her situation.

Continue reading.