Hundreds of Thousands of Public Sector Workers Face Cutbacks from #ObamaCare

Hey, what about no one being harmed by this Democrat-collectivist monstrosity?

At the New York Times, "Public Sector Cuts Part-Time Shifts to Bypass Insurance Law."

Commentary from Jonathan Tobin, "New ObamaCare Losers: Public Employees":

[Kathleen] Sebelius was as wrong about the question of ObamaCare’s impact on employment as she was about the rollout of the law’s website. But the problem for the administration isn’t just a credibility gap that was already as big as the Grand Canyon. It’s that the ranks of ObamaCare losers are now growing and being filled by people that are the backbone of the Democratic Party. That means the real myth about ObamaCare is the assumption that once it goes into effect it will be transformed from an unpopular law to a beloved national institution like Social Security.

The findings of the Times report validate the conclusions of the Congressional Budget Office study released earlier this month on the impact of ObamaCare on employment. Though administration figures like Sebelius have been orchestrating a campaign seeking to deny these facts, the Times story illustrates the futility of this effort. Municipalities and public institutions around the country have been cutting the hours of their workers in order to avoid paying for their health care. Thus even though the point of the Affordable Care Act was to get more people covered, the unintended consequence of its passage was to cut the pay as well as deprive a significant population of public-sector workers of their chance to get insurance from their employer.

As the article notes, public workers are being especially hard hit because municipal employers can’t pass along the increased costs of the insurance mandates to consumers the way private companies can try to do. Instead, they must cut down on the number of those they employ. But rather than reduce the ranks of those public employees getting expensive benefits and pensions that often are far more generous than those received by the taxpayers who pay their salaries, the people losing out in the ObamaCare squeeze are those at the bottom end of the wage scale.

These findings once again point out the problem with the administration’s belief that their ObamaCare troubles are merely the result of a rough rollout and will soon disappear. It is true that millions of Americans who are either poor or have pre-existing medical conditions will be net winners as a result of ObamaCare. But unlike government entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, ObamaCare has also created a vast number of net losers who are losing coverage, losing jobs, or getting their hours and possible benefits cut.

The fact that a large number of those losers are members of a demographic that is a key element of the Democratic base is a potential political disaster for the president’s party. Rather than going away as the midterms approach, if the Times is to be believed, it is getting worse. In this case, the Democratic focus on income inequality appears to be pertinent. But rather than being able to blame the plight of low-income workers on the wealthy or the Republicans, it is President Obama’s signature accomplishment that is to blame.

Yeah, Democrats are wrong alright. And they'll stop at nothing to destroy critics of this monumental failure of far left-wing ideology.

Vicious Leftists Attack Julia Boonstra as 'Not Really Harmed by #ObamaCare'

Well, that didn't take long at all, less than twenty-four hours, to be precise.

Indeed, right on cue: "How Long Until Democrats Demonize Leukemia Patient Julie Boonstra for Excoriating #ObamaCare?"

It turns out WaPo's Glenn Kessler ran a fact-check on the Americans for Prosperity ad featuring Boonstra, who lost her health insurance under ObamaCare, was terrorized and traumatized by the initial problems with HealthCare.gov, and is now stressed out by the dangerous variability of her out-of-pocket expenses. As noted at the Detroit Free Press a couple of weeks ago:

Boonstra was diagnosed with leukemia five years ago and relies on daily oral chemotherapy. In October, Boonstra was among an estimated 225,000 Michigan residents who received notices the health insurance they purchased on the individual market would be discontinued for not meeting new standards under the law. She said she was covered under a Blue Care Network private plan with a $1,100-a-month premium but low out-of-pocket costs.

Boonstra was dogged by technical difficulties on the federal health care exchange website and panicked she would be unable to keep her University of Michigan doctors and lifesaving treatment. Ultimately, she enrolled in a new Blue Cross Blue Shield plan through an agent where her premiums were cut in half at $571, but she pays higher out of pocket costs. She’s still seeing her U-M oncologist.

“I just want my plan back, I really do,” said Boonstra, 49, a mother of two. “It was extremely expensive and there are things as far as oral chemotherapies that need to be done to reduce the cost. ... But I was covered and I made having a great health plan a priority for me and that was taken away from me.”

Ms. Boonstra liked her existing coverage. She believed the president, who (falsely and repeatedly) said she'd be able to keep her plan. She was lied to. And she was terrorized by the bureaucratic nightmare of the ObamaCare website rollout.

But none of this matters to the despicable Democrat-collectivist healthcare trolls, most prominently the brainless Mother Jones derp Kevin Drum, who uses Kessler's sleazy attack on Boonsta's nightmare experience to blanket-slur Republicans for their opposition to the president's ObamaCare clusterf-k: "Has Anyone in America Actually Been Harmed by Obamacare?" (via Memeorandum):

Boonstra herself is naturally unavailable for comment, and the best an unctuous AFP spokesperson could do to defend this ad is to point out that Boonstra's costs are a little more variable than in the past. Instead of paying a flat $1,100 per month plus low out-of-pocket costs, she sometimes pays more in a single month until she hits her annual out-of-pocket max. That's it.

This ad implies that Boonstra flatly can't afford coverage anymore. It implies that she could no longer see her old doctor. It implies that Obamacare is killing her. None of this is true. Boonstra's care is better and cheaper than it was before. The only downside is that her payments are slightly more erratic than in the past.

So here's my question: if this is the best AFP can do, does that mean that no one is truly being harmed by Obamacare? Hell, I'm a diehard defender of Obamacare, and even I concede that there ought to be at least hundreds of thousands of people who are truly worse off than they were with their old plans. But if that's the case, why is it that every single hard luck story like this falls apart under the barest scrutiny? Why can't AFP find someone whose premiums really have doubled and who really did lose her doctor and who really is having a hard time getting the care she used to get?

If this is happening to a lot of people, finding a dozen or so of them shouldn't be hard. But apparently it is. So maybe it's not actually happening to very many people at all?

This is wrong --- and vicious --- on so many levels. It's not just ridiculous. It's reprehensible.

Forget Kessler's idiotic fact-check. The reality is that Boonstra may well pay so much more in a single month as to make her medications unaffordable, just as the ad indicates; and yet the ghoulish Drum pounces on this woman with the incredulous, "That's it!??" "How dare you Boonstra refuse to sacrifice for the collective?!!"

You see, leftists simply won't tolerate citizens who resist being violently coerced into government programs they don't need, programs that impose hardships and inconvenience, and that take away individual choice and self-sufficiency. We can't have that under the Obama regime. These Democrat collectivists will say, "You will have ObamaCare and you will like it, or else!"

I mean, seriously. The RealClearPolitics polling average for the last month has public support of ObamaCare at 38.4. (Just over half --- a simple majority --- oppose this statist healthcare monstrosity.)

But for radical leftists, you must sacrifice for the social good!

See the idiot tool Ron Chusid's lame defense of this Obamanation, "If Obamacare Is So Bad, Why Can’t The Right Wingers Find Real Losers Under Obamacare?":

While a small minority of us are paying more, a tremendous number of people are now able to obtain coverage who could not obtain it in the past because it was too expensive or insurance companies would not cover them due to per-existing medical conditions. I have patients in this situation who could not obtain coverage in the past but have been covered since January. With all the bogus complaints about people losing their coverage, the significant number is that zero people can now be dropped by their insurance because they become sick, and zero people have to fear losing their insurance should they stop working.

On top of all these benefits, the Affordable Care Act will help the economy. The recent Congressional Budget Office Report, frequently distorted by Republicans, shows that the Affordable Care Act will reduce unemployment, help decrease the deficit, and allow more people to leave large corporations to start small businesses. The effects of this freedom from the “insurance trap” cannot be scored in a CBO report, but should provide a tremendous boost to the economy.

Right.

"Bogus complaints" of millions of Americans ("a small minority") whose existing coverage was ripped out from under them by this disastrous legislation. And look at the pile of lies Chusid heaps on in that second paragraph quoted above: No, the CBO report wasn't "distorted by Republicans"; no, ObamaCare will not "reduce unemployment"; no, more people will not "leave large corporations to start small businesses"; and no, there is no such thing as an "insurance trap." God, this Chusid clown's a shameless liar.

But then again, I predicted that leftists would demonize Ms. Boonstra, especially so since the "evil" Koch brothers are the financial backbone behind AFP's political advertising, and here it comes:

This lady is a liar. The numbers don't add up and her medication is covered. This is a scam This is a disgusting attempt at getting her "10 minutes" of fame all based on a GOP lie. Rep. Walberg, the Koch Brothers, and Ms. Boonstra should be ashamed for this charade. There is enough in the ACA to ridicule without making up lies and stories for sympathy. A liar is a liar. How do you look in the mirror each morning ??

I rest my case.

How to Tell You're Having a Heart Attack?

News you can use, at CBS This Morning, "Heart health: Breaking down myths and reality."

Is a Boycott of Israel Just?

From the letters to the editor, at the New York Times:

Regarding “In boycott, a political act or prejudice?” (Page 2, Feb. 12): It’s galling that in a piece on the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (B.D.S.) movement, launched in 2005 by Palestinian civil society in response to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, Jodi Rudoren frames her story in terms of B.D.S. echoing the anti-Semitic boycotts of Nazi Germany, quoting several Israelis harshly critical of B.D.S. and just one Palestinian supporter. Ms. Rudoren even seems to endorse allegations that B.D.S. is anti-Semitic and directed at Jews rather than Israel and Israelis, writing, “Avoiding a coffee shop because you don’t like the way the boss treats his employees is voting with your wallet; doing so because the boss is Jewish — or black or female or gay — is discrimination.” Contrary to what Ms. Rudoren and the quoted B.D.S. critics suggest, the movement does not target Jews, individually or collectively, and rejects all forms of bigotry and discrimination, including anti-Semitism. B.D.S. is, in fact, a legal, moral and inclusive movement struggling against the discriminatory policies of a country that defines itself in religiously exclusive terms, and that seeks to deny Palestinians the most basic rights simply because we are not Jewish.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Ramallah, West Bank

The writer is a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and head of the P.L.O. Department of Culture and Information.

Yes, of course Hanan Ashrawi would deny BDS anti-Semitism. She's an Israel-loathing, Jew-hating terror-apologist of the first order. And that's to say nothing of her organization, the P.L.O, one of the bloodiest terrorist organizations in the history of the Middle East.

Screw Ashrawi and the stinking camel she rode in on.

More letters at that top link, FWIW, the assholes.

Hi Donald Douglas: You Have a New Stalking Troll-Rights Follower Harasser @Repsac3 on Disqus

A few weeks back, fresh off Roy Edroso commenter Selwyn Hollis' workplace harassment, I received this notification from Disqus: "Repsac3 is now following you on Disqus."

Right. My stalking troll rights harasser --- no, my lying stalking troll rights harasser who lies constantly about his ghoulish obsession with me and this blog --- adjusted his Disqus settings to follow my every single comment posted to the Disqus system.

Nope, no sick obsession there. You see, Disqus lets users follow any commenter at the system through the dashboard settings. So, any and all comments I make, no matter where I make them, would be aggregated among Repsac's follows at the system. And why? Well, despite denying that he's sick psychopath intent to inflict harm, harassment and evil on his political enemies, Repsac3 was no doubt hoping to find some off-color comments by me to forward to my place of employment in one more pathetic attempt to have me fired. He's done it before with his sponsorship of workplace harassment at American Nihilist. So this is just one more episode of systematic and criminal workplace intimidation and political recrimination.

Recall, as Robert Stacy McCain wrote in January, "Portrait of a Stalker Troll: @Repsac3, Also Known as Walter James Casper III":

Professor Donald Douglas has spent years fighting one particularly obsessed troll, Walter James Casper III, who might actually out-rank Bill Schmalfeldt in the Stalker Hall of Shame, because Casper has been cyberstalking Douglas for more than five years.

Among the significant characteristics of cyberstalkers is the disproportionality of their obsessions. Professor Douglas is not an academic celebrity or influential media personality. He’s a professor of political science at Long Beach City College in California. It is not as if he’s at Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Yale or some other big-money “prestige” school, and yet the fact that Professor Douglas is (a) conservative and (b) a blogger is sufficient to justify in Casper’s sick mind the most insane forms of stalking behavior.

Another characteristic of cyberstalkers is their resort to psychological projection: They are not obsessed with you — no! — you are obsessed with them, and don’t you dare accuse them of harassing you — of course not! — you are instead harassing them.

This kind of “accuse the accusers” tactic serves two purposes for the troll: First, it is a psychological rationalization by which he justifies his behavior and, second, it serves to obfuscate the situation in the eyes of law enforcement or other authorities.

Something else: The conflict between Casper and Professor Douglas is not about politics, nor is it about Professor Douglas.

That is to say, Casper’s espousal of left-wing political ideas is not the reason for his behavior, but simply a pretext, and if he weren’t harassing Professor Douglas, he’d be harassing some other target, selected more or less at random ... despite such clear evidence that no one else shares his obsession, Casper continues doing what he does, apparently with no other purpose except to annoy the target of his weird fixation.

Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta fly. Stalkers gotta stalk.

And remember, no one knows more about psychopathic leftist Internet trolls than Robert Stacy McCain. Don't miss his update yesterday on the Kimberlin lawsuit, "In Which @AceOfSpadesHQ Becomes a First Amendment Cause Célèbre."

In any case, as you can see with this deranged Disqus following situation, Repsac's still gotta stalk --- the f-king perverted homo-loving loser. Oh, and did I say Israel-loathing, Communist-loving, ObamaCare-shilling hack partisan dirtbag? Yeah, well that too. Walter James Casper III's got it bad --- which is why he's been ridiculed and repudiated across the entire conservative blogosphere. He's universally reviled, in fact. It's an impressive feat.

Oh, and and just in case Repsac's harassing you, here's this on blocking the f-ker on Disqus: "Disqus publicly launches its new private profiles feature," and "Making your activity private."

Fish gotta swim...

Petra Nemcova Now Lives in Haiti

She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit in 2003.

She's got a foundation going nowadays, Happy Hearts Fund, and she lives in Haiti, of all places.

Venezuelan Beauty Queen Genesis Carmona Shot and Killed in Anti-Government Protests

At Mirror UK, "Beauty queen Genesis Carmona killed by gunmen in violent anti-government protests in Venezuela."

And Blazing Cat Fur, "Venezuelan beauty queen among six killed in continuing protests."

Venezuelan beauty queen among six killed in continuing protests http://t.co/DQ7IyVGLw7 pic.twitter.com/nUuNs6yQnp
— RT America (@RT_America) February 20, 2014

How Long Until Democrats Demonize Leukemia Patient Julie Boonstra for Excoriating #ObamaCare?

Ms. Boonstra is featured in this ad from Americans for Prosperity, via the Weekly Standard, "Ad: Obamacare 'Jeopardized My Health'."



Remember, when cancer survivor Edie Sundby took to the Wall Street Journal in November to slam ObamaCare after her insurance was cancelled, the devilish ghouls of the radical left, led by the despicable monsters at the Soros-backed White House mouthpiece Think Progress, viciously attacked her like wolves on an injured rabbit.

How long until the monstrous left goes after this woman, who is literally fighting to survive after the ObamaCare monstrosity eviscerated her existing healthcare coverage? Never forget: There's no depths to which leftists won't sink to demonize and destroy those who would dare resist their evil agenda.

More thoughts from Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, "Democrats stuck in stage 3 of ObamaCare grief?"

The Left Wing Can't Contain Its Fantasies

Here's Russ smith, at Spice Today, taking down Michael Tomasky's enthusiasm, at the New York Review, for Elizabeth Warren and Democrat Party "populism" in 2016.

(This "populism" is just a euphemism for more of the same far left-wing socialist claptrap the left's been pushing forever now, but with an even greater urgency since President Obama's increasingly generating ire among hard core leftists for his inability to further advance the socialist's agenda.)

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina Beaten by Cossacks in #Sochi

They're now former members of the band Pussy Riot, having been kicked out for gaining too much popularity and media exposure.

And they're not falling out of the limelight, it turns out. At the Washington Post, "Whip-wielding Russian Cossacks attack Pussy Riot members near Sochi Olympics."

More at the Other McCain, "Olympic Pussy Riot."

Bwahaha! British High Court Rules Against Glenn Greenwald's Criminal Mule David Miranda

Well, they're criminals, as I reported earlier, "Glenn Greenwald Launches 'The Intercept' in Pathetic Diversion Against Impending Criminal Charges of Fencing Stolen Intelligence."

See Telegraph UK, "David Miranda loses 'illegal detention' fight":

Partner of journalist who exposed secret information leaked by Edward Snowden was held for nine hours at Heathrow under anti-terror laws.

The partner of the journalist at the centre of the Edward Snowden spying leaks has lost his High Court challenge that he was detained unlawfully last year.

Brazilian David Miranda was held for nine hours at Heathrow airport last August under counter terror laws after police discovered some 58,000 documents from the Snowden leaks cache.

His partner, Glenn Greenwald, was the writer who exposed the secret information stolen by the CIA contractor Snowden and published in the Guardian newspaper.

The articles, revealing information on the US National Security Agency and the UK’s GCHQ, caused a political storm and led to accusations that the leaks had put national security at risk.

Mr Miranda was stopped on August 18 at Heathrow as he travelled from Germany to Brazil.

More.

And be sure to check Louise Mensch's feed:

David Miranda and Glenn Greenwald, @ggreenwald, were of course a couple of shabby little cowards and liars throughout this affair.

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) February 19, 2014

Greenwald, @ggreenwald, lied about Miranda through the pages of the @guardian who conspired with him - like printing "denied a lawyer".

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) February 19, 2014

David #Miranda went on CNN and lied through his teeth that he had no idea what he was carrying - then told @BuzzFeed it was all his idea.

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) February 19, 2014

My original argument, carrying GCHQ info to "influence a govt" = Terrorism under the Act was completely correct. @carlgardner @jackofkent

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) February 19, 2014

And of course, the pitiful groveling at Greenwald's, who some day, God willing, will rot in jail:

My reaction to the court's ruling: On the UK’s Equating of Journalism with Terrorism https://t.co/WHuWktKnb8

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 19, 2014

Dear Daily Beast: "lover"? Has someone told you that it's not 1989 any more http://t.co/n3jmOSbyRV

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 19, 2014

The Guardian with some interesting reaction to the UK decision equating journalism and terrorism http://t.co/zQ5UIqTISv

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 19, 2014

'Republique' in Los Angeles Defends #ObamaCare Surcharge

Expect to be seeing lots more of this.

At Eater, "LA's Republique Defends Its 3% Health Care Surcharge."

And from Hot Air, "Video: L.A. restaurant now tacking on an extra three percent to cover its new ObamaCare costs."

What Republique’s really charging here is an uncertainty tax, just in case the administration reverses course yet again. Thank your president for it.

'Subpar': Anti-Obama Street Art Covers Santa Monica

Heh, at far left-wing Santa Monica at that. You gotta love it.

At Instapundit, "'The artwork, which features images of Obama golfing with the message, can be found on trashcans, in Porta-potties, and on street benches'."

Providence College Black Studies Program Issues the Trayvon Martin Award for Social Justice

At Weasel Zippers, "College to Award Annual Trayvon Martin Award for Social Justice to “Eliminate Racism”…"

All award nominees will be receive honorary PCP-like Watermelon Lean beverages as part of their participation in the program (to "eliminate racism").

Thailand Policeman Foot Blown Off by Protesters' Grenade

The dude's f-ked up.

At the Mirror UK, "Video: Horrifying moment riot officer tries to kick grenade away and has his foot blown off."

Watch it at the link, in slow motion.

Dozens Dead in Kiev Clashes

At NYT, "25 Deaths Are Reported in Fierce Clashes in Kiev."

Sandra Bullock and Alfonso Cuarón on 'Gravity'

I liked this interview of the pair at the Los Angeles Times, "How Alfonso Cuarón pulled Sandra Bullock into his field of 'Gravity'."

I saw this film over the holiday weekend as well. I just didn't have a chance to blog it before I saw "The Wolf of Wall Street," which was a riot.

More at CBS News This Morning, yesterday morning:

Severe Turbulance on United Airlines Flight Causes Injuries

At USA Today, "Passengers recount fears after turbulent United flight":

One woman hit the ceiling so hard it cracked the panel above her, passenger said.

Kerri Mullins had just taken a picture of the clear blue skies over Montana moments before she says she experienced the scariest 25 seconds of her life.

Mullins, from Arvada, Colo., was aboard United Airlines Flight 1676 from Denver to Billings when it hit turbulence so severe that people were tossed from their seats. Three flight attendants and two passengers were injured.

"I thought 'Wow! Yeah, this is it,' " Mullins said. "It's the most helpless feeling ever — to just be sitting there and not have any control over anything."

Mullins said the plane turned sharply to the right and started plunging.

"Everything flew out of everybody's hands," she said. "It was quite surreal."

More.

Worst of all is a woman lost hold of her baby, which flew into another seat but was unharmed. At London's Daily Mail, "Extreme turbulence throws child from mother's arms and woman hits plane roof as five are hospitalized in United landing."

Kate Upton for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2014

Outstanding!

Via Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 News Special Report: Kate. Upton. In. Space!"



More at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit on Twitter.

President Climate Change Plays Golf on Water Guzzling Desert Courses Amid California Drought

I just love that headline, at the inimitable Jammie Wearing Fools.

"Change bitches!"

Via Memeorandum.