• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 1st on 19:03

    These are my links for April 1st from 19:03 to 19:31:

    • Uncovered: New $2 billion bailout in Obamacare – Investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee have discovered that a little-known provision in the national health care law has allowed the federal government to pay nearly $2 billion to unions, state public employee systems, and big corporations to subsidize health coverage costs for early retirees. At the current rate of payment, the $5 billion appropriated for the program could be exhausted well before it is set to expire.

      The discovery came on the eve of an oversight hearing focused on the workings of an obscure agency known as CCIO — the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. CCIO, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, oversees the implementation of Section 1102 of the Affordable Care Act, which created something called the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. The legislation called for the program to spend a total of $5 billion, beginning in June 2010 — shortly after Obamacare was passed — and ending on January 1, 2014, as the system of national health care exchanges was scheduled to go into effect.

      The idea was to subsidize unions, states, and companies that had made commitments to provide health insurance for workers who retired early — between the ages of 55 and 64, before they were eligible for Medicare. According to a new report prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services, "People in the early retiree age group…often face difficulties obtaining insurance in the individual market because of age or chronic conditions that make coverage unaffordable or inaccessible." As a result, fewer and fewer organizations have been offering coverage to early retirees; the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program was designed to subsidize such coverage until the creation of Obamacare's health-care exchanges.

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      Read it all.

      Just repeal ObamaCare already…..

    • Sen Rand Paul Rankles Harry Reid on Libya – Reid Adjourns the Senate – Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), a Tea Party favorite, has boxed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) into a corner. After a quiet day of quorum calls and speeches, Reid abruptly adjourned the upper chamber Thursday and postponed votes until Monday. According to numerous Hill staffers, Paul deserves some credit for the impasse.

      Here’s the back story: On Wednesday, Paul, with little notice, attached an amendment to the small-business re-authorization bill. The amendment, which chastises President Obama for his actions in Libya, urges members to adopt the president’s own words as “the sense of the Senate.”

      To make his point, Paul quoted, in the legislative language, from Obama’s 2007 remarks on the subject: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” According to Paul’s office, “the measure aims to put the Senate on record affirming Congress as the body with constitutional authority on matters of war.”

      GOP sources tell National Review Online that Paul’s proposal flummoxed Reid, who does not want his members to have to weigh in on Obama’s dusty quote about congressional authority, even if the vote is only to table the measure.

      ======

      Dingy Harry has met his match for sure….

      And, where is Cindy Sheehan?

  • David Prosser,  Joanne Kloppenburg,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    Video: Backlash Against Wisconsin Supreme Court Attack Ad?

    Remember Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser being accused of refusing to prosecute a pedophile priest?

    Well, in response the victims of the pedophile priest have gone  “on air” defending Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser – being victimized again. See the video above.

    Organized labor has pulled out all of the stops to defame the incumbent Justice so that they can elect their hand-picked minion, Joanne Kloppenburg and repeal Scott Walker and the Wisconsin GOP’s public employee collective bargaining reforms.

    Will there be a backlash by the voters of Wisconsin against the union’s lies.

    I guess we will see next Tuesday.

  • Michele Bachmann,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    BREAKING: President 2012: Sarah Palin Set to Endorse Rep. Michele Bachmann for President

    Activists hold a sign as Congresswoman
    Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaks at the Tea Party Patriots “Continuing
    Revolution” rally on Capitol Hill
    in Washington March 31, 2011

    Well, maybe – eventually.

    But, you see I am taking a dental continuing education course at USC, eating lunch in the student lounge, watching fox News and was just sayin’.

    April Fool – everyone.

    I have no idea, if this may be prophetic though.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 1st on 05:13

    These are my links for April 1st from 05:13 to 05:31:

  • Collective Bargaining,  Polling,  Public Employee Unions

    Poll Watch: Americans Support Unions Rather than Governors in State Budget/Collective Bargaining Disputes?



    Yes, according to the latest Gallup Poll.

    With political battles over state budgets and collective bargaining still playing out to varying degrees in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Maine,and several other states, 48% of Americans say they agree more with the unions in these disputes, while 39% agree more with the governors. Thirteen percent favor neither side or have no opinion.

    And, how do the numbers break down by groups?

    I am not really surprised as Americans generally support the little guy, the average American rather than a budget balancing POL.

    But, isn’t this why the states and the federal government have run up massive amounts of debt? The fact is the political pressure from voters is always to accommodate and say yes to more salaries/benefits and government spending.

    So, what does this mean?

    Previous Gallup research about the issues involved in these debates revealed some ambivalence among Americans toward the labor unions’ positions. While Americans polled in February were generally opposed to reducing state workers’ pay, benefits, and collective bargaining rights, they were even more widely opposed to raising taxes. Also, Americans were evenly divided over whether government unions are more helpful or harmful to states.

    Today, neither the governors nor the unions appear to have a strong advantage in the court of public opinion nationally, but the unions do have the slight edge, 48% to 39%. This is in keeping with decades of Gallup polling finding Americans generally approving of labor unions.

  • David Prosser,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    Video: Wisconsin Reforms in Peril – The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 5th

    On Tuesday, April 5, Supreme Court Judge Dave Prosser — the swing vote on the court — is up for re-election in Wisconsin. If he loses, the Walker reforms on collective bargaining and education reform die with him. The liberals are in the lead with ads saying Prosser=Walker and phony allegations that he did not prosecute a child molestor. We need to get involved, active, and engaged to save Prosser!

    So, if you live in Wisconsin vote and if you do NOT, then go here and contribute a few bucks.

    “Citizens for Impartial Justice” was formed to insure that the Wisconsin Supreme Court remains impartial and does not become an activist court. Our independent PAC is committed to support the voters in recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of David Prosser, and returning him to the Court for another 10 years. He has established a record of strict construction and adherence to well developed precedent. Justice Prosser does not work to expand the court’s role in our lives; he rejects extreme positions.

    Prosser’s fair and impartial service on the Wisconsin Supreme Court over the past 12 years is a credit to Wisconsin’s long tradition of scholarly and well balanced development of the law. He works to instill collegiality on a Court in the face of an aggressive and manipulative bloc of Justices intent on rendering decisions based on personality and power aggrandizement. He deserves reelection!

    His record is impressive:
    – 12 years –Supreme Court appointed in 1998 by Governor Tommy Thompson
    – 2 years Wisconsin tax Appeals Commission
    – 18 Years Wisconsin State Assembly; 2 years as Speaker.
    – Outagamie County District Attorney
    – United States Department of Justice Attorney
    – Staff of the Honorable Harold Froehlich during the Nixon Impeachment

    A vote for Prosser is a vote for fair and impartial justice with no gimmicks
    and no personal agenda.

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  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 31st on 19:18

    These are my links for March 31st from 19:18 to 19:30: