How is Obamacare on its fourth birthday?

President Obama’s signature accomplishment passed four years ago today. It was partisan - all Democrats; not a single Republican voted for it.

Remember what congressmen said at the time CNS News.

"My heart is heavy with grief tonight at this turning point for the nation," then-Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) said in remarks on the House floor four years ago today, as the U.S. House of Representatives prepared to end debate and pass the lenthy, complicated legislation that established Obamacare.

"This vote will define the America we will have in the future: massive tax burdens, rationed care, and intrusive bureaucracy," Davis continued.

"Democrats are thwarting the will of the American people, taking them on a headlong rush toward socialism. This is based on a false premise that every need a person could have on Earth can be met by government. … "It raises taxes, violates your privacy, is policed by the IRS, intrudes on free choice, and hurts seniors.

- ex-Rep. Geoff Davis (R,KY) 

Now what do we have? It takes months to sign up. And when you have signed up sometimes you have not! And if you sign up for a plan, but then find you don’t need it you can’t cancel it, because that part isn’t built yet.

Millions have their medical insurance cancelled because it is not legal under Obamacare. “If you like your doctor…” promise broken. “If you like your insurance…” promise broken. Hospitals are excluded from plans. Cancer patients cannot get the medication that keeps them alive.

The poor rise in America - the immigrants

The poor can never rise in American? Wrong.

Amy Chua, the “tiger mom,” has a book w her husband Jed Rubenfeld about how people are successful, titled The Triple Package. They say the study that claimed the poor cannot rise made a huge error; it did not include immigrants. They are many large cases of rising from poverty to wealth - in the US - now! Their triple for success is:  superiority complex, insecurity and impulse control.

The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America

Thomas Sowell at Townhall.

Testing MarsEdit

I used Ecto for my blog for years, but it got in a strange error loop. And support never answers. I paid for it!! Goodbye.

I am using MarsEdit to post this. Developed by Red Sweater.

For testing I included a photo from my 2003 bike ride from Elliot Bay in Seattle to Cut Bank, Montana - a one-day ride past the east entrance to Glacier National Park. 803 miles and I enjoyed every one.

Now that I again have productivity s/w for my blog I will be making more entries.

Celebrate Pi Day

Today is Pi Day = 3/14 not= 3.141592…. It is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  It is an irrational number, meaning it is not the ratio of two numbers. When written it is a never ending sequence with no pattern ever found in it.

Congress has recognized it. 

Indiana found it was too inconvenient, so the Legislature proposed to redefine it, but fortunately there was a math professor present. He pointed out that the Legislature lacked the power to define mathematical truth. Wikipedia 

Celebrate it by - doubling your celebration at 1:59 pm.

- Remember it is also Albert Einstein’s birthday. See more ideas at Wikihow.

See also Pi Day. And buy a Pi T-shirt.

Graphic found at Breibart.com.

Silence: Iran caught shipping missiles to be used against Israel

The news media are too busy with ignoring Obamacare and minimizing the US situation with Ukraine. They are quiet about:

A shipment of arms bound for Gaza was stopped by Israel on March 5 in the Red Sea. It includes Syrian-made M-302 rockets and there is clear evidence they came from Iran. The missile containers have aluminum tags saying IRICA, which is Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Authority. They were hidden under bags of cement and the crew didn’t know there were aboard, they say.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif “Our nuclear weapons program is peaceful.”) says the Israeli’s timed the capture to coincide with some conference. But his country sent the shipment, as we can see, and controlled the timing.

Claudia Rosett is covering this at Forbes. And at PJ Media.

The images are from Twitter. Bottom is the IRICA Iran customs tag. Click to enlarge.

Amazing fact about African immigration to the US

Dennis Prager says: "That is why more black Africans have come to America voluntarily than came to America as slaves -- a statistic that virtually no college student is allowed to know.”

Where “that” is that the US is the best place for Africans to immigrate to.

AND another about the origin of the slaves: "Here in Cameroon, as elsewhere in Africa, the knowledgeable guides who lead tours of the slave centers note that Africans were deeply involved in the slave trade, and that without them, the slave trade could not have existed. If only this fact were taught as readily in American universities as it is here in Africa -- not in order to minimize white complicity, but because universities should teach truth.?

(I have to fact check this.) Dennis Prager at Townhall

Mexico befriends Castro and Venezuela

New President Pena Nieto of Mexico has made friendly with Communist dictator Castro(s) of Cuba and he is ignoring the brutal repression of dissent by Maduro in Venezuela.

He went to Havana in January where he gave Castro nearly $500 million (forgave the debt) and praised Castro as “Cuba’s political and moral leader.”

Why? Apparently he is afraid of leftist union backlash to the reforms he has put in place. And that Castro and/or Venezuela could influence the unions to cause him problems in the Congress or in the streets.

He calls this pragmatism. Kissing Castro? That’s not pragmatic; it's embracing Communism - literally.

I hope Mexico gives more thought about who are their friends.

Andres Oppenheimer in Miami Herald. Graphic: Plaza de la Constitucion, Mexico City. Source: unknown.

Obamacare provides Christian Dior glasses for kids

Another “one size doesn’t fit all” Obamacare debacle. There is no limit to the expense of providing eye care to kids under 18 with Obamacare for certain employers in Washington. In Walla Walla, WA, optometrists discovered this to their shock. So kids are walking out with $700 glasses, including $500 designer frames. Adequate glasses run $200 to $300.

For children in Washington, Group Health, Premera and Regence insurance companies — at least — have interpreted the “no out-of-pocket” limit for this essential benefit to mean they will pay “100 percent of billed charges of regular or deluxe glasses” on some workplace-based insurance plans, he said.

According to a side bar, this applies for businesses with less than 50 employees. In 2016 it will expand to those with up to 100 employees. This sounds backwards. Usually increased benefits hit large companies first and small ones later.

Walla Wall Union-Bulletin

Smile. You are paying for it.

Israel gives medical care to Syrians

Israel is treating injured Syrian civilians who ask to cross the border. Israel has a field hospital a there. They say they were injured by Iranian missiles.

Did Iran send a hospital for them? No, they say, just terrorists and bombs.

Who is good here? Acting good? Is anyone here evil? Acting evil?

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tells more in his Cpac talk. Powerline Blog

Green buildings use more energy

In Washington, DC, with great fanfare everyone is proud of building energy-effiient buildings by the LEED standards; it is required by the city. BUT the new Green buildings use more energy. Not less. More!

Daily Caller

Take the Green Building Council’s Washington headquarters. Replete with the group’s top green-energy accolade, the platinum LEED certification, the USGBC’s main base comes in at 236 EUI. The average EUI for uncertified buildings in the capital? Just 199. 

Certified buildings’ average comes in at 205 EUI, still less efficient than that didn’t take home the ultimate green trophy.

My method of policy implementation: 1. Plan. 2. Build/implement. 3. Measure the results of the program. 4. Correct: If it fails either kill it or fire everyone involved and find a way to do it right. This one looks like it needs to be ended.

Will the greenies admit their errors?

USA is dropping in economic freedom

The USA is dropping in economic freedom. The US got passed by Canada two years ago. Canada is more free!? We always used to be in the top five. This year we dropped out of the top 10 and became #12 and dropping. Countries overall are gaining, but the US is dropping.

Who cares?

Prosperity is closely related to economic freedom. I want prosperity for everyone; I care!

What is it?

Heritage measures four areas: - rule of law,
- regulatory efficiency,
- limited governments,
- and open markets.

The United States dropped due largely to deteriorations in property rights, fiscal freedom and business freedom. The government takeover of health care weighs on the economy and restricts what individuals and companies can do. The 2300-page Barney Frank financial regulations increased government control, but didn’t fix the problems, because it increased, rather than ending, “too big to fail.” Heritage

More on North America at Heritage.

More on the Index at Heritage with interactive charts.

Mardi Gras floats mock Obamacare

Some of the parade floats for Mardi Gras in New Orleans have already been unveiled. And at least three of them mock our president's signature accomplishment - Obamacare.

Breitbart News has the details:

One features a giant Obama head wearing a mask and an old-style doctor's head mirror, in his hands are giant bags of money. Emblazoned on the head mirror are the words "BUY or DIE." 

Other placards on the float include, "DEATH PANEL," and "BEND OVER." 

A second entry appears as a store front-like edifice with sayings painted in the windows and on the chimneys. One says "keep your doctor," another says "keep your plan." A painting of a woman on a computer sits steaming while her computer screen shows, "try back later." Another window says, "loading, loading, loading," while on yet another is written, "user error." This one also has the words "death panels." 

Opposite the painting of the woman on a computer is an Obama figure holding a giant stickpin and wearing a glitzy top hat and tails, the hat saying "Dr. Prez." Dr. Prez has a word bubble next to his head saying, "This is gonna hurt" and he holds a voodoo doll that says "patients" on it awaiting Dr. Prez' giant stickpin. 

So here is some rueful, dark Cajun humor for Mardi Gras 2014.

Graphic found at FireAndreaMitchell. Click to enlarge.

China's racial insults to Gary Locke

China, tell us how classy you are. On former Washington Governor Gary Locke's departure as US Ambassador, China's government newspaper said "Good bye" with racial insults.

China News Service called Locke a “rotten banana,” a guide dog for the blind and a plague. And, yes, it is an arm of the government. It also blamed him for Beijing's smog. This is interesting, because during his term the US Embassy daily posted the smog level, which is unhealthy every day and sometimes dangerous. He was showing their dirty laundry. Good for him! But how did he cause it!?

Seattle Times

Holder recommends breaking oath of office

The chief law enforcer tells other law enforcers to break their oaths of office. How about the oath he swore to? Yes. Eric Holder works for Obama.

But Holder’s job is to uphold our laws. So Holder is not doing the job he swore to. He only defends the laws he likes. And, even worse, he tells other law enforcers to act criminally also.
CNS News

Holder told a gathering of state attorneys general in Washington that they will face no opposition from the Justice Department if they ignore their states’ statutory or constitutional bans on recognizing same-sex marriages because the laws do not “advance the values that once led our forebears to declare unequivocally that all are created equal and entitled to equal opportunity.” 

… “Eric Holder apparently isn't satisfied with refusing to carry out his own oath to defend the Constitution, he wants to see state attorneys general do the same,” responded Carrie Severino, chief counsel to the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN). 

“But in a country under the rule of law, where the executive doesn't have free rein to declare laws unconstitutional by default, attorneys general should provide the same zealous defense all lawyers do. That means they defend their client even if they disagree, unless there is no viable argument to be made,” Severino, a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pointed out.

It is childish to only eat desert. Come on, become an adult. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like BECAUSE it is your job. And you promised to do your job. (Of course.) It is adult to resign if you refuse to do your job.

The Obama Nobel prize for journalism

Why is it necessary to have done anything in order to get an award for what you have done?

President Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize when he had been president for only nine months. Absurd.

A young guy named Ronan Farrow this week received the Murrow Prize for journalism after 3 days on the air. Correction: 2 days. Three days! Absurd. But… he might be the son of Frank Sinatra. His mother doesn’t know who his father is. That seems to be reason enough for the journalism poobahs.

Breitbart 

Pinocchios to Obama on 7 million added

President Obama told governors last week that 7 million people have been added to Medicaid due to  Obamacare going

into effect.

Glenn Kessler the so-called fact checker dug into the claim. It’s not easy. Obama’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mixed all sots of applicants for Medicaid, even people who were already enrolled! The sources he trusted most found 1.1 million to 2.6 million added.

Four pinocchios to Obama (the maximum).

Washington Post  

Putin can't fool financial markets

Vladimir Putin is not dealing with John Kerry and Obama when he throws $ billions around. He has to convince the big finance people to trust him. Though not perfect, they are much tougher. His throwing billions to lure Ukraine causes the financial markets to pause and say “If Putin is throwing money around in political power plays, do we want to buy Russia’s bonds?"

Putin’s Achilles Heel at The American Interest

The cartoon from Kemo at ToonPool.com. Click to enlarge.

George Washington the indispensable man

Today we celebrate the birth of George Washington, the first among the founding fathers of the United States of America. He was the commanding general of the armed forces, presided over the Constitutional Convention and was our first president. By his character and actions he set a high precedent for leadership in the US..

At the Constitutional Convention he was the presiding officer, but he spoke hardly a word; he didn’t have to speak. Just his presence tempered the proceedings.

He could have been king, but refused such honors for the limited role of president.

See the book: Washington the Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexnor at Amazon. You can read a few pages there.

Powerline Blog has a good entry on him.

Wise state spending? Gov. Inslee?

Gov. Jay Inslee says he is considering to unilaterally raise the minimum wage for state employees to whatever level he wants. Why can he be dictator over state pay? Because the Legislature allowed him to in 2002. HB 1268 allowed government employees to unionize and took away the Legislature’s role in overseeing employee pay and benefits and gave it to the governor.

Is Inslee concerned about the state’s costs? Is he concerned that taxpayers get maximum benefit for the spending of their tax dollars?

He is not acting like it. He is very generous with other people’s money - yours. He can throw your money at entry-level state employees and receive their adulation. You? Heh...

Seattle Times

Washington Policy Center

Megan McArdle in Seattle Tuesday night

Megan McArdle is one of my favorite economic columnists; now at Bloomberg. She is consistently thoughtful and thorough. She will be appearing at Townhall in Seattle Tuesday night promoting her new/first book:

The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success - available at U Book Store

See Townhall for details. It is just east of I-5 on Seneca Street.

US drops in press freedom

The US dropped to 46th in the world in press freedom on World Press Freedom Index 2014, a considerable drop during the reign of our current president.

The index is based on seven criteria: the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship,
the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure. What happened?

Breitbart News

Investigative journalist James Risen believes the Index rightly shows the drop in American journalists’ freedoms due to crackdowns on reporters and whistleblowers and the efforts of the Obama administration and the National Security Agency to limit the amount of information America has concerning the “War on Terror” and other subjects. 

“I think 2013 will go down in history as the worst year for press freedom in the United States modern history,” James Risen said. 

Risen, who has reported for the New York Times since 1998, said he has personally felt some of the backlash of the guarded Obama administration and has seen some of his colleagues suffer repercussions as well.
Rather than pursue journalists, the Obama administration has focused on their sources—the two most scrutinized whistleblowers being Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. 

“We have an administration that came in claiming that it was going to be the most transparent in history when in fact it is one of the most secretive in history, and certainly the most aggressive anti-press administration in modern American history,” Risen said

Did President Obama claim his would be the most transparent administration? Read his words at The White House.

The graphic: from Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French). Click to enlarge; it's very large.

Americans succeed by failing - Megan McArdle

Megan McArdle says we Americans succeed by failing because we learn from failure and go and try again. She is a 30-ish business journalist who I have found to be a very worthy read over the past ten years. (Must be over 30.) This is her first book.

Read the review at Townhall

The best way ahead is to admit mistakes quickly, understand that you may well fail, but you can usually rebound and punish rule-breaking promptly and consistently but lightly. 

This book about people who fail is also a book about how a nation succeeds. The "American Bourgeois Synthesis," McArdle writes, is good but not perfect, promoting entrepreneurship but over-penalizing some mistakes. 

Americans -- and America -- can succeed, but only if people learn from their failures.

IRS commissioner apologizes - Obama says no corruption

President Obama said there is "not even a smidgen of corruption in the IRS" to Bill O'Reilly on Sunday.

Today IRS Commissioner John Koskinen apologized for the IRS targeting conservative organizations, as we heard about in the spring of 2013. He said it is/was intolerable and will not happen now or in the future. 

Who should we believe? A senior IRS official, Lois Lerner fell back on the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to avoid answering questions. Washington Post  That sure has the smell of corruption.

Breitbart News

Attorney Cleta Mitchell is representing several of the groups that were denied or greatly delayed. She testified to Congress yesterday about the abuse they endured. And the lack of action by the Obama administration.

Breitbart again

School gun-ban signs show... a GUN!

The sign announcing the ban on guns shows a gun. Violation! School administrators in Southland school district in Illinois are concerned people will be disturbed by the picture.

Some schools have expelled a student for a sign showing a gun. Will they treat the responsible administrator with the same punishment a student would get? (I admit I stretched it a bit. I don't know that THIS school district expels students for pictures, but some have done it.)

Chicago Sun Times

SOS Kerry threatens boycott against Israel

John Kerry, our Secretary of State, threatened Israel that an international boycott would take place unless Israel accepts his peace deal. It includes Israel giving up territory and allowing the expanded Palestinian state to have its capital in Jerusalem.

This is a bald threat. If it were a caution between friends he would have given it behind closed doors. He made the threat at a security conference in Munich, Germany.

Israel National News

One more federal jobs program

Rep. Susan Del Bene, new Congresswoman from Medina, Wa, has a big win. Another federal jobs program.

How many are there now? Who can count them? Find them? Mitt Romney said in 2012 that there are 49 that report to 8 different agencies. And even Politifact claimed his statement to be “Mostly True.” His error? Trivial. They found 47 programs in 9 agencies. How do they overlap?

She requested a $30 million program to train food-stamp recipients for work in the “Farm Bill” that passed the US House of Representatives last weeks. In a surprise of the legislative process she got 7 times more - $200 million. She based her request on a program Washington has called Washington State Basic Food Employment and Training (BFE&T). It’s for SNAP (food stamp) recipients, but only for those not participating in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) WorkFirst work program. Services are provided through community or technical colleges and/or community based organizations (CBO). And furthermore… It gets complicated, of course.

BFE&T’s homepage claims that over a 2-year period 72% got jobs with a median pay of $11.00 per hour. That sounds good to me. But why do we need yet another federal jobs program? Why? Because it would take time and effort to dig through the existing 47 to find which one is a close-enough fit.

Since Del Bene's is a federal program much of its benefits will go to middle class people who get paid to put on poorly focused classes and other services that the needy find hard to get access to.

Seattle Times

Retiring Demo can now tell the truth about Obamacare

Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia is known as a man who would always tell his opinion.… Now it appears he gave it when he was allowed to.

He voted for Obamacare. But now that he is retiring he is telling the truth - it is broken. He is quoted by Washington Times:

“I’m afraid that the millennials, if you will,” Mr. Moran tells Washington’s WAMU-FM radio, “are less likely to sign up. I think they feel more independent. I think they feel a little more invulnerable than prior generations. But I don’t think we’re going to get enough young people signing up to make this bill work as it was intended to, financially.” 

His analysis is spot on, but that’s small consolation. “I just don’t know how we’re going to [fix] it, frankly,” says Mr. Moran. “If we had a solution, I’d be telling the president right now.” Now he tells us.

Where was bold Moran in 2009, 10, 11, 12 and 13?

Obamacare was sold on the number of uninsured. But few uninsured are signing up. (The Healthcare Blog) And hundreds of thousands have had their insurance cancelled already with more coming later this year. Most of the sign ups are those who were cancelled running for some sort of cover(age). It is not doing what President Obama promised.

Wearing Seahawks blue and green

Boeing is serious about "wearing" Seattle Seahawks blue and green. They painted a 747-8 Freighter in blue and green and gave it a huge 12 on the tail.

Found at Flight Global.

It is also in rotation on their home page. Boeing

Click to enlarge

Are we snow wimps?

Are we snow wimps in Seattle and King County, Washington? Do we panic at one inch of snow? Well, two? Yes. A guy who calls himself atrubetskoy got the data on school closings. How many inches does it take to close school. He colors every county accordingly. We aren’t in the wimpiest category. No, in the second one - one to 3 inches. And we are the most northerly county in that category. Of course. Our marine climate: the salt water warms the winter and cools the summer.

Seattle Times

More from the creator at Reddit

And the map fans gather to share their work at MapPorn at Reddit

Graphic from atrubetskoy at the Reddit link above. Click to enlarge.

Thin defense of government coercion by Sen. Patty Murray

Our Senator Patty Murray came to the defense of government coercion in companies that provide health-care to their employees.

Obamacare requires companies to provide contraceptives - birth control - to their employees. Hobby Lobby’s owners say they cannot comply with Obama’s law because they would violate their consciences to do so. Sec. of HHS Sibelius is suing Hobby Lobby. The case will be decided by the Supreme Court. SCOTUSblog

Murray says Hobby Lobby wants to deny health care to their employees. Wrong. Hobby Lobby is not denying them health care, but is refusing to pay for one thing - contraception. They cannot stop an employee from stopping at Walgreens and buying a contraceptive or getting a prescription from her doctor. Murray says:

“Allowing a woman’s boss to call the shots about her access to birth control should be inconceivable to all Americans in this day and age, and takes us back to a place in history when women had no voice or choice,” according to Murray’s prepared remarks.

Honorable Senator Murray, hello? There is a difference between the employer not paying for something and denying it to the employee. They just don’t want to pay for it. Clearly you just can’t allow a difference of opinion. You have to force your choice on everyone.

Seattle Times 

Obama has his pen and his phone

Obama has his pen and his phone. And he will use them!

Cartoon from branco@reagan.com. (Yes. That's an email address.) Click to enlarge.

Visualize travel times

Technical leaders are building trial tools to visualize travel times by transit. Getting and formatting the data is much of the challenge. At U Colorado someone (don’t know who) has the tool and data together for Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Boulder, Colorado.

Click on Seattle on this map. Geoss at U Colorado

New York City has a trial tool.

Via Flowing Data.

The graphic: My screen capture at Geoss U Colorado. Click to enlarge.

Amazing Boeing 777 model built from manila file folders

A guy in India built a Boeing 777-300ER entirely from manila file folders?  You won’t believe the work he did. Everything is done in great detail - structural ribs, seats, lavatories, engines built with every fan blade, wheels and landing gear, cargo hold. (It looks like he is not finished with the painting.) Amazing.

It is 1/60 scale, so the fuselage is about 4 feet long.

Model 777 Project on Flickr

Photos (c)  Luca Iaconi-Stewart

.

Virtual paintout

Virtual painting? Painters find scenes on Google Earth’s street view. Then they base a painting on the “virtual scene.” They get together - virtually - to post their paintings at

Virtual Paintout

Many of the painters include a link to the location. Right now they have lots of paintings of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Graphics: Painting of Arnold's Lobster truck in Eastham, MA, on Cape Cod and the original GE street view it was based on. This is the link to the GE street view: LINK. But I can't link to the painting. Currently you can search the painter's name - Eileen Black - at the Virtual Paintout main page.

Europe is easing climate goals

The European Commission is easing up on climate goals. They have not rescinded their goals. But they are stopping tracking each country. The goals are total for all members. But if you don’t track each one individually, they know there is no visibility and the pressure is off.

Der Spiegel “Green fade out"

Furthermore, the EC is going easy on regulations on fracking. No stringent controls. Only minimum health and environmental standards. I am sure they have heard the worst-case fears. Maybe they looked at the science before this decision.

Senators censor NBC

Four Democrat US Senators have taken action to censor NBC. During the broadcast of the Golden Globes on Sunday actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was seen in the broadcast "smoking" an e-cigarette.

Senators Dick Durban, Sherrod Brown, Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey wrote to NBC to "take action to ensure that future broadcasts" don't make light of the health risks associated with tobacco. Uh… there is no tobacco in an e-cigarette.

US News on NBC News

Censorship is often misidentified. This is the real thing. Censorship is not editors deciding not to print something. It is the government making prior restraint of speech. That is, to prevent the speech from occurring by government force, as the four brave senators tried to do in their letter.

PJ Media has extended text of the letter.

Welcome Ben Shapiro to Seattle

We welcome Ben Shapiro to the Seattle airwaves - on KTTH AM 770, weekdays 3 to 6 PM. And streamed over the internet.

Ben gained national fame when he calmly took apart Piers Morgan on live CNN in January, 2013, over motivations of people after the Sandy Hook massive shooting. See Ben’s previous column at Townhall.

When you read more about young Shapiro you will see he has a remarkable track record of books and media appearances. MyNorthwest.com Also his own web site.

Democrats block restoring military pensions

Senate Democrats voted for illegal immigrants and against military retirees. Yes. They voted FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Thursday.

People who are in the US illegally were paid $4.2 billion - that’s $4,200 million - in Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). Why pay them? Ask Sen. Patty Murray. Ending that ridiculous loophole can restore the cut to military retirees. An audit by the Treasury Inspector General found that the credit was being claimed and paid for children not in the country! And it encourages more illegal entries. Yes.

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R, NH) proposed an amendment #2603 (or S. 1869) which would favor our military retirees over the illegals. Senator Marie Cantwell voted for the illegals.

Senator Barbara Boxer lead the opposition.

Free Beacon

Inslee unilateral low-carbon requirement would raise gas $1 per gallon

Governor Inslee is serious about carbon. He plans to unilaterally begin a carbon cap and trade system and low-carbon gasoline. Really? When asked to deny it he won’t. He promised other governors he would do this. Washington State Wire Of course, he won’t break his promise to his peers. His promise to the voters about taxes? Oh, the voters! He says it’s not a tax.

The cost: Inslee's new standards requiring low-carbon gasoline would raise the price by $1.00 to $1.20 per gallon. He doesn’t see why that would bother anyone.

“I find that very surprising,” he said when told of the lawmakers’ concerns. “We’ve had dozens of meetings over many months about these things, and not once has anyone come to me and said we have to make a choice between people getting to work every day and failing to deal with the problem of climate change.” Olympia Report

The legislature is trying to get a transportation package together and is talking about a gas tax increase of 10.5 cents per gallon. They know the voters will object to that. But Inslee is sure it will be worth pay $1.20 per gallon to end global warming, I mean, climate change. Not that it will make a difference in the whole world. But he wants to lead by example.

He can’t imagine a problem for his big dream.

Does the governor have the authority to do such a huge change all by himself?

See also Washington State Wire.

Gut Obamacare - Obama is doing it - then what?

Jennifer Rubin at Wash Post

Testing.

If you knew who was behind closing Gitmo

Who wants to close the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?

Fox News

On Saturday, January 11, a coalition of "Close-Gitmo" forces is expected to march on Washington to commemorate the 12th anniversary of detention and interrogation operations. Though the march from the White House to the National Museum of American History is purportedly about advancing "human rights" and "stopping torture," a closer look at the key participants reveals a more troubling, some might say hidden, agenda.

If more Americans knew who is behind this campaign, there would be nationwide outrage.
While everyone is for “human rights” and “stopping torture,” Americans should not be fooled by these false flags meant to damage U.S. power and prestige.

Just dig a little deeper into who has been driving the anti-Gitmo disinformation campaign these past 12 years, and we discover an international, fervently anti-American, far-left coalition attacking the nation through a savvy propaganda effort.  

Walmart health plan cheaper and offers more than Obamacare

Surprise! No? Walmart's health plan is cheaper and offers more than Obamacare.

Washington Examiner

Walmart furnished employee benefit information to the Examiner. Neither Obamacare advocate Families USA nor the United Food and Commercial Workers, which backs anti-Walmart campaigns, responded to Examiner requests for comment. 

Walmart offers its employees two standard plans, a Health Reimbursement Account and an alternative it calls "HRA High" that costs more out of employees' pockets but has lower deductibles. Blue Cross Blue Shield manages both plans nationally. 

Also offered is a Health Savings Account plan that includes high deductibles but allows tax-free dollars to be used for coverage. 

For a monthly premium as low as roughly $40, an individual who is a Walmart HRA plan enrollee can obtain full-service coverage through a Blue Cross Blue Shield preferred provider organization. A family can get coverage for about $160 per month.
Unlike Obamacare, there are no income eligibility requirements. Age and gender do not alter premium rates. The company plan is the same for all of Walmart's 1.1 million enrolled employees and their dependents, from its cashiers to its CEO. 

A Journal of the American Medical Association analysis from September showed that unsubsidized Obamacare enrollees will face monthly premiums that are five to nine times higher than Walmart premiums.

Method: Independent insurance agents affiliated with the National Association of Health Underwriters and health policy experts compared the two at the request of the Examiner.

Go to the article for an excellent graphic.

UW leads in arctic warming study

The University of Washington will now lead the US outside of Alaska in arctic research - and global warming? Seattle Times says it well "Arctic 101: UW degree to prep students for a melting world” UW has formed a new Future of Ice program, which will offer an Arctic Studies minor.

Is Australian Professor of Climate Change Chris Turney to be on the faculty? His Spirit of Mawson expedition was researching climate change and the loss of sea ice in Antarctica. Well, that was their stated intent. (Turney is known to be a warming scienist by his being a “carbon entrepreneur” according to The Australian registration required) But they found the increase of sea ice. Actually, the sea ice found them and made their host ship stuck in the ice.

Now their ship and the Chinese ice breaker sent to rescue them are waiting to be rescued by (ta ta!) the United States of America’s Polar Star icebreaker.

More details on the Spirit of Mawson - Clarice Feldman at American Thinker.

Antarctic - least ice melt ever recorded

Register UK

Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey say that the melting of the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf in Antarctica has suddenly slowed right down in the last few years, confirming earlier research which suggested that the shelf's melt does not result from human-driven global warming.

The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica and its associated sea ice shelf is closely watched: this is because unlike most of the sea ice around the austral continent, its melt rate has seemed to be accelerating quickly since scientists first began seriously studying it in the 1990s.

Many researchers had suggested that this was due to human-driven global warming, which appeared to be taking place rapidly at that time (though it has since gone on hold for 15 years or so, a circumstance which science is still assimilating).

However back in 2009 the British Antarctic Survey sent its Autosub robot probe under the shelf (famously powered by some 5,000 ordinary alkaline D-cell batteries on each trip beneath the ice, getting through no less than four tonnes of them during the research). The Autosub survey revealed that a previously unknown marine ridge lay below the shelf, over which the icepack had for millennia been forced to grind its way en route to the ocean. However in relatively recent times the ice had finally so ground down the ridge that the sea could flow in between shelf and ridge, freeing the ice to move much faster and warming it too.

As we reported at the time, this caused BAS boffins to suggest that the observed accelerating ice flow and melt seen since the '90s was actually a result of the ridge's erosion and sea ingress, rather than global warming.

Now, the latest BAS research has revealed that rather than accelerating, "oceanic melting of the ice shelf into which the glacier flows decreased by 50 per cent between 2010 and 2012".

The BAS goes on to explain:

Observations made in January 2012, and reported now in [hefty boffinry mag] Science, show that ocean melting of the glacier was the lowest ever recorded. The top of the thermocline (the layer separating cold surface water and warm deep waters) was found to be about 250 metres deeper compared with any other year for which measurements exist.

This lowered thermocline reduces the amount of heat flowing over the ridge. High resolution simulations of the ocean circulation in the ice shelf cavity demonstrate that the ridge blocks the deepest ocean waters from reaching the thickest ice ...

In January 2012 the dramatic cooling of the ocean around the glacier is believed to be due to an increase in easterly winds caused by a strong La Ninã event in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Dr Pierre Dutrieux of the BAS adds, bluntly:

"We found ocean melting of the glacier was the lowest ever recorded, and less than half of that observed in 2010. This enormous, and unexpected, variability contradicts the widespread view that a simple and steady ocean warming in the region is eroding the West Antarctic Ice Sheet."

The Science paper can be read by subscribers to the journal here. The BAS announcement of the results can be read here. Readers unfamiliar with the rules of the climate game should note that the term "climate variability" as used in those documents means for this purpose "climate effects not caused by humans".

Obama versus the Constitution #4 Privileges for Congress

Congress put itself under the same law causing misery to so many of us. Right? Up to a point.

Exemption of Congress from Obamacare.

A little-known part of Obamacare requires Congressmen and their staff to get insurance through the new healthcare exchanges, rather than a taxpayer-funded program. In the quiet of August, President Obama directed the Office of Personnel Management to interpret the law to maintain the generous congressional benefits.

Senator Vitter introduced a bill to end Congress's exemption. Then senators started shouting. The didn't want to show their faces on a vote to retain their privileges. So Obama told the OPM to reverse its ruling on the clear wording of the law to favor Congress. As John Fund reports at National Review online:

Under behind-the-scenes pressure from members of Congress in both parties, President Obama used the quiet of the August recess to personally order the Office of Personnel Management, which supervises federal employment issues, to interpret the law so as to retain the generous congressional benefits.

OPM had previously balked at issuing such a ruling. Even without OPM, Congress could have voted to restore the subsidies or ordered a salary raise to compensate for the loss of benefits, but that would have been a messy, public process, which everyone wanted to avoid.

Congress finding a way to exempt itself from laws it passes? In the dark? Who is surprised?

Via Ilya Shapiro at Forbes

Obama versus the Constitution #5 IRS violating Obamacare

The list of Obama's administration's violations of Obamacare is long. He doesn't even follow his own law!!

After Obamacare became law there were complaints. From his allies. So he said - Eh. Do whatever, to the IRS.

Expansion of the employer mandate penalty through IRS regulation. Or call it "IRS violation."

Obamacare grants tax credits to people whose employers don’t provide coverage if they buy a plan “through an Exchange established by the State”—and then fines employers for each employee receiving such a subsidy. No tax credits are authorized for residents of states where the exchanges are established by the federal government, as an incentive for states to create exchanges themselves. Because so few (16) states did, however, the IRS issued a rule ignoring that plain text and allowed subsidies (and commensurate fines) for plans coming from “a State Exchange, regional Exchange, subsidiary Exchange, and federally-facilitated Exchange.”

The IRS was following its boss. He probably didn't have to tell them to violate his own Obamacare law.

Ilya Shapiro at Forbes

Government waste - new C27J planes go directly to bone yard

The Air Force didn't want any more Alenia C27J aircraft. Ohio congressmen and senators forced the purchase into the budget. So the Air Force has to take them.

The new aircraft will go directly to desert storage near Tucson, Arizona.

Military.com

Obama violating the Constitution #6

President Obama claims he and his White House have nothing to do with it. But the tracks lead there. #6

Political profiling by the IRS

After seeing a rise in the number of applications for tax-exempt status, the IRS in 2010 compiled a “be on the lookout” (“BOLO”) list to identify organizations engaged in political activities. The list included words such as “Tea Party,” “Patriots,” and “Israel”; subjects such as government spending, debt, or taxes; and activities such as criticizing the government, educating about the Constitution, or challenging Obamacare. The targeting continued through May of this year.

Arvik Roy at Forbes

IRS employees didn't just "watch" the applications of these organizations. They blocked them. The IRS repeatedly asked for more data. Then again. USA Today

the Internal Revenue Service held up their applications for tax exemptions, harassed them with questions and leaked their donor lists to political opponents.

The questioning included requests for copies of Facebook postings, the content of prayers, political beliefs of members, résumés of board members and dealings with the media.

That was the testimony of six conservative groups to the House Ways and Means Committee,

Was it a coincidence that the IRS took so long on their filings that many just gave up? Gave up so they weren't involved in the 2012 election cycle. A coincidence? Hot Air

The Senate investigated. Hot Air

Cincinatti wash blamed, but tracks led to IRS headquarters in DC. ABC News

And recently: Obama responded to the IRS abuse of taxpayers by… adding more regulations for IRS employees to abuse. Mary Katherine Ham at Hot Air

Did Obama sign up for Obamacare?

President Obama says he signed up for Obamacare. Just because he said he did, you thought he really did? This time watch the magician:

Mark Thiessen's summary:

In other words, the president signed up for Obamacare coverage he does not intend to use,

- skipped the disastrous Web site he forced millions of Americans to navigate,

- had someone else do the paperwork for him,

- chose the cheapest possible plan to avoid the premiums he is imposing on others and

- waited until the last possible moment to decide whether he wanted to cough up $400 a month as a symbolic show of solidarity.

Washington Post

Obama ignoring the Constitution #7 Supreme Court arguments

President Obama's Justice Department under Eric Holder violating the US Constitution. #7

Outlandish Supreme Court arguments.

Between January 2012 and June 2013, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Justice Department’s extreme positions 9 times. The cases ranged from criminal procedure to property rights, religious liberty to immigration, securities regulation to tax law.

They had nothing in common other than the government’s view that federal power is virtually unlimited. As a comparison, in the entire Bush and Clinton presidencies, the government suffered 15 and 23 unanimous rulings, respectively over eight years.

For example

Requiring that the attorneys staffing a case have the same racial breakdown as the group petitioning. Legal Insurrection

Avik Roy at Forbes

Obama ignoring the Constitution #8 Appointments

President Obama swore to uphold the Constitution. Does he know what he promised? He taught Constitutional law at U Chicago, so of course he does. Then why does he continue to violate it? #8

Recess appointments.

Last year, President Obama appointed three members of the National Labor Relations Board, as well as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during what he considered to be a Senate recess. But the Senate was still holding “pro forma” sessions every three days—a technique developed by Sen. Harry Reid to thwart Bush recess appointments. (Meanwhile, the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, provides that authority remains with the Treasury Secretary until a director is “confirmed by the Senate.”) In January, the D.C. Circuit held the NLRB appointments to be unconstitutional, which ruling White House spokesman Jay Carney said only applied to “one court, one case, one company.”

Is the language not clear? The president is allowed to make recess appointments when the Senate is not in session. Honorable Harry Reid came up with a way to block President Bush from making appointments by arranging to have one senator present every three days to hold a pro forma session. That is, "Come to order," "Adjourn." So the Republicans did the same thing. No president, not even President Obama, can make a recess appointment dying a Harry-Reid pro-forma session of Congress.

Another violation of President Obama's oath of office.

Ilya Shapiro at Forbes

Obama ignoring the Constitution #9

Continuing with Obama's violations of the US Constitution: Number 9:

Assault on free speech and due process on college campuses.

Responding to complaints about the University of Montana’s handling of sexual assault claims, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, in conjunction with the Justice Department, sent the university a letter intended as a national “blueprint” for tackling sexual harassment. The letter urges a crackdown on “unwelcome” speech and requires complaints to be heard in quasi-judicial procedures that deny legal representation, encourage punishment before trial, and convict based on a mere “more likely than not” standard.

Due process and being presumed innocent until proven guilty are parts of the bedrock of our legal system. But President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder instructs colleges to deny legal representation to the accused and conviction on the very low standard of "more likely than not," while our standard is "beyond a reasonable doubt." See also the 14th Amendment. The Free Dictionary

Ilya Shapiro at Forbes.

Sea turtles hatching every day

During our recent sojourn in Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico, we saw baby sea turtles hatch almost every day! In our past five visits we have seen two mass hatches and the march to the sea. LINK But this trip surpassed all five previous ones.

On our first morning's sunrise walk we saw a group of people standing on the upper beach at the Solmar Beach Resort - the original Solmar resort. Sure enough a nest of eggs had hatched. A typical nest contains 85 to 110 eggs. They usually hatch just before sunrise. Resort employees (security employees are trained to watch for and handle the turtle hachings) gathered the hatchling turtles and stored them for release late. They choose a time when airborne predators are least likely to attack - sunrise or sunset. So we returned at sunset for the release. But, unfortunately the resort policy changed. In past years we were allowed to each take one turtle and launch him/her. Each one had a name! But this year they put up yellow police tape and wouldn't let us be involved.

The next day we saw a mass hatch at Playa Grande a couple hundred yards down the beach. Both these resorts face the Pacific Ocean; most Los Cabos resorts - both Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo - face the Sea of Cortez.

Another day there was no mass hatch, but we saw wandering tracks on the beach. Speaking to a woman nearby she said she had picked up five wandering babies and launched them in the sea. LOOKING FOR A PHOTO

The fourth of our first five days there we again saw wandering tracks. This time a resort employee was there. He looked around, then where the tracks were densest he put on gloves (¿Porque tienes guantes?) He dug in the sand and about 8 inches down found a turtle. It didn't move at first, but then he did. Hatches in unknown spots usually don't happen because when the mothers lay the eggs the resort marks where they are. And usually they move them to a common area to avoid disturbance.


One year we saw an adult sea turtle cross the very wide beach to the buildings. But we didn't check to see if it was a mother laying eggs; probably was.

Photos: My photos. First two are 2011 at Solmar Beach Resort, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. The rest are at Playa Grande in 2013. Adult is Playa Grande in 2010.

Ten days of Obama violating the US Constitution

Has President Barak Obama violated the US Constitution? Yes!! Let's count the ways.

I am going to focus one violation of the Constitution by President Obama per day for ten days. There are certainly more. Number 10:

Mini-DREAM Act. Congress has shamelessly failed to pass any sort of immigration reform, including for the most sympathetic victims of the current non-system, young people who were brought into the country illegally as children. Nonetheless, President Obama, contradicting his own previous statements claiming to lack authority, directed the Department of Homeland Security to issue work and residence permits to the so-called Dreamers. The executive branch undoubtedly has discretion regarding enforcement priorities, but granting de facto green cards goes beyond a decision to defer deportation in certain cases.

From: Cato's Ilya Shapiro at Forbes

Via Allah at Hot Air.

Don't bail out Obamacare

Obama has created a mess; everyone can see the evidence. Thursday he even added a hardship waiver for those who suffer the hardship of their insurance being cancelled by Obamacare! Get it? The hardship caused by Obamacare.

What's coming? Not next week, but coming. A bail out will be "needed." A bail out of insurance companies due to the crisis created by Obamacare.

Say no. Just say "no bail outs."

CNS News re Charles Krauthammer

Government waste in 2013

Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) provides a helpful focus on wasteful spending in the US government. He just released his annual Wastebook.

Wastebook (PDF)

At Politico a few top examples:

… 3. $17.5 million in brothel tax exemptions: Coburn says that through the tax code, $17.5 million has gone to brothels in Nevada that have claimed tax exemptions for everything from breast implants to “free passes” that were deemed part of promotional costs and eligible for deductions by the IRS.

4. $50 million “Google searches”: Coburn attributes $50 million to National Technical Information Services, an agency that charges for reports that often can be found for free through a Google search. Coburn calls NTIS, which is part of the Department of Commerce, antiquated, as it was created at a time when information wasn’t as readily available. He noted that about 74 percent of its reports had information available in public sources. Additionally, a CD-ROM for which the agency charges $79 contains information that is also available for free on the Internet.

… 7. $285,000 for rock ’n’ roll : For the first time, the federal government’s “trade arm” funded the music industry as the American Association of Independent Music received $284,300 this year from the International Trade Administration. The funding allowed 12 music label executives — joined by one government official — to travel to Rio to promote music in foreign markets. Coburn, calling it the “the Indie Rock Music Execs World Tour,” says the group also had a side trip to Sugarloaf Mountain.

8. $10,000 “Pole” dancing: Through a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a group called PowerUP Project features the linemen and electrical technicians of an Austin, Texas, power company who engage in performance art in a choreographed “ninety minute dance with bucket trucks, cranes and field trucks, and a set of 20 utility poles, all set before a live audience.”

North Korea slave-camp escapee asks Dennis Rodman

The only person to escape from a maximum-security slave labor camp in North Korea asks Dennis Rodman to think about the slaves suffering today.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born in Camp 14 in 1982. He knew nothing of life outside the camp - and of torture and killing on whim inside - until a high-level detainee was assigned to work with him. Shin's offense wash his father's brother escaping North Korea 25 years before he was born. The detainee told him of life outside and planned for both to escape. The electric wire surrounding the camp is designed, not to turn one back, but to kill. And it did kill the other detainee, but Shin climbed through over his body and got to China, then South Korea, then the US. His story is told in Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden.

Today Shin asks Dennis Rodman to look up Camp 14 on his phone to see it does exists. And to think about the slaves being starved and tortured there while he is partying with the dictator and his chosen few.

Seattle Times

Watch the pension crisis unfold

Unfunded pension liabilities have Puerto Rico near the edge and Detroit going over. Illinois is close and California has liabilities.

Fox News has a new news center bringing all the pension news into one place.

Fox: Pension Crisis: The gathering storm

(This is not a popcorn eating for policy nerds. It is one way to raise awareness on a problem we find easy to forget.)

But the tyrant gave us a great price - Ukraine

Ukraine, a former "republic" in the USSR, has been on the edge between the opportunities and risks of close relations with Europe versus the bear hug of Russia's emerging new empire.

Ukraine's President Yanukovich chose Russia. But huge crowds have been filling the streets in protest. So President-ex-President Vladimir Putin answered the charge of favoritism by granting favors. He announced this week a huge discount on natural gas with assured supply and loans of several billion $. Along with the benefits in energy and finance they got the overlordship of V Putin. He will treat Ukraine with all the respect given to every Soviet republic from 1918 to 1991 and the East Europe vassals from 1945 to 1989. That is none at all.

When you ride the tiger you go very fast. But you can't get off. You don't dare try.

Walter Russell Meade

China - smog has benefits

Everyone is so negative about smog. It is unhealthy and especially risky for kids, the elderly and those with asthma. It sometimes slows traffic and now is delaying flights in China. The American Interest

But look on the bright side. It protects a city from missile attack. And who doesn't need that? Reuters

In online commentaries on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV and the widely read tabloid the Global Times, published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, both tried to put a positive spin on China's smog problem.

Those are official sites of the government of China. But the claim has since been removed.

WA Obamacare debits accounts early

Washington's Obamacare system debited peoples bank accounts early. Would you like an $835 payment to hit two weeks early? Gov. Jay Inslees team did it.

KGW

Progress? Yes

There has never been a better time to be alive than now. By most measures everyone is better off than ten years ago. Than 100 years ago.

Cato has a new web site following the trends.

Human Progress

How many times did Obama promise?

"If you like your healthcare plan you will be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period."

Watching the cancellations climb into the millions - and more next year - that statement has been proven false. A lie. How many time did President Obama or his White House spokespeople say it?

PolitiFact has collected 37 instances from June, 2009 to September 26, 2013. 

PolitiFact

Hat tip to Powerline Blog