Flap’s Links and Comments for March 6th from 16:00 to 18:56

These are my links for March 6th from 16:00 to 18:56:

• ObamaCare: Number of healthcare reform law waivers climbs above 1,000 – The number of temporary healthcare reform waivers granted by the Obama administration to organizations climbed to more than 1,000, according to new numbers disclosed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

  HHS posted 126 new waivers on Friday, bringing the total to 1,040 organizations that have been granted a one-year exemption from a new coverage requirement included in the healthcare reform law enacted almost a year ago. Waivers have become a hot-button issue for Republicans, eager to expose any vulnerabilities in the reform law.

  In order to avoid disruption in the insurance market, the healthcare overhaul gives HHS the power to grant waivers to firms that cannot meet new annual coverage limits in 2011. The waivers have typically been granted to so-called "mini-med" plans that offer limited annual coverage — as low as $2,000 — that would fall short of meeting the new annual coverage floor of $750,000 in 2011.

  "We don't want to take away people's health insurance before they have some realistic other choices,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview with The Hill earlier this year.

  Republican lawmakers have seized on the waivers as proof that the law they want to see repealed is flawed, and they have accused the administration of giving them waivers as gifts to union allies. The administration has rejected both claims as Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked HHS for in-depth details about every waiver decision and request.

  ++++++++

  Crony ObamaCare for their pal union buddies.

  Repeal this bad law – repeal it all.

• Wisconsin Union protests: Why conservatives are having mixed luck getting video of angry, violent liberals. – Even the protesters outside Wisconsin have figured this out. FreedomWorks' Tabitha Hale, who was shoved by an unidentified Communication Workers of America protester as she filmed him outside the organization's Washington offices, recounted the scene at RedState.com. She had a new, key detail: "The concern from a bystander was that 'You'll get on the news, stop it!' Unfortunately for him, he did not know who he was dealing with. I will ensure that this happens."

  The shove did make the news, and the video of it is lurching toward 300,000 views on YouTube. It confirmed, for conservatives, that union thugs were fighting back over Wisconsin. Every reasonably solid video of a shove or insult made it to Breitbart.tv. They just haven't broken into the narrative about the protests the way that 2009 videos of rebellion at congressional town halls did, or even Hartsock's Palm Springs video did. (This week, some congressional Republicans called for an investigation of Common Cause because the group had organized the event where those activists embarrassed themselves on camera.) There hasn't been any dip in support for unions; there has been a dip in support for Scott Walker.

  The videographers have not given up. FreedomWorks activists are on the ground in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah "this weekend through the next two weeks," according to the group. They want to supplement the FlipCam videos they've already been getting. They want documentary evidence of union anger out there so powerful that the media can't avoid it. But who doesn't know that he's venturing into the view of tiny cameras every time he attends a rally? Who trusts the media? Who wants to wind up as the face of Violence Breaking Out and wrecking his cause? The new age of protests is bringing on more self-consciousness and more détente.

  ++++++++++

  Journolister Weigel has it wrong.

  Didn't he check the Wisconsin weather vs. the Koch Protests in Palm Springs?

  It is tough to do anything with it cold and snowing.

  Of course, the LEFT and Unions knew they were being filmed and this is why their type of Saul Alinsky protests will have to be re-worked to be effective.

  The Union thuggery/ridicule days are indeed over – at least while someone is paying attention.

• California Budget: Tax vote a worry for GOP – Republican lawmakers say they don't want a set of tax extensions to go before California voters in a June special election.

  While lawmakers say that's because voters rejected a nearly identical slate of taxes two years ago, making another election a waste of time and money, some Republican legislators and strategists say there's another reason: because voters might approve the taxes this time.

  "I think it's going to be a much closer vote than the last one," said Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa.

  Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan calls for solving the state's $26 billion budget deficit by cutting spending, taking money from special government funds and extending a set of tax increases approved by the Legislature in 2009. Specifically, the proposal calls for extending increases in sales tax, income tax and the vehicle license fee – some of those increases lapsed on Jan. 1 – for five years, raising about $11 billion this year.

  In May 2009, voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to extend those tax increases by two years. But despite that, Cook and others say there's good reason to believe the tax measure could pass.

  "It depends on the different special-interest groups and how much they buy in to this election," Cook said. "Right now, I think they're all in. You're going to see a lot of money."

  Republicans are specifically concerned about public employee unions, which would likely offer plenty of money and support to pass the tax

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  Read it all

  The California GOP should stand form and not let Jerry Brown have his election in June.

  But, as usual, somebody will sell out – much to the demise of the California economy.