Imperial Presidency

Obamacare will hurt young people most

"Younger, healthier people, many of whom voted for Mr. Obama in droves, will see their insurance premiums climb sharply as Obamacare demands that insurers provide them with more medical coverage than they want or need. Older Americans and retirees already are seeing a steep rise in their insurance bills, too. Businesses great and small are either curtailing their employee health care plans or dropping them entirely in anticipation of rising costs. Many seniors who have supplemental policy plans — which cover 20 percent of the medical bills that Medicare does not — have seen their premiums rise this year." Continue reading →

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Tea Partier Rand Paul Shows Up Obama on Drug Policy

"Despite President Obama's youthful flirtation with drugs, the Obama administration has repeatedly refused to acknowledge America's turning tide in the so-called war on drugs. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that a majority of Americans now support legalizing marijuana use. This has become a more mainstream position in recent years as states began to decriminalize the drug, despite federal statute, and as more members of the medical community have affirmed the drug's medicinal benefits, particularly for those battling chronic or terminal ailments." Continue reading →

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Creator of drone casualties visualization hopes data will ‘shock’ people

"Wesley Grubbs of Pitch Interactive told HuffPost Live on Tuesday that he created an interactive graph of the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan to highlight civilian causalities. 'We want to shock people,' he explained. 'What we tried to do though with this was not just shock people with the number of casualties, but to shock people with the amount of information that we really don’t know.' The data visualization illustrates the number of casualties from drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and 2013, categorizing the victims as either children, civilians, alleged combatants, or high-profile targets." Continue reading →

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One Man Blocking Arizona Anti-NDAA Bill

"Arizona has the chance to become the first state in America to enact real protections for its citizens against the NDAA. HB 2573, introduced by Rep. Carl Seel, passed Committee 6-2 last month, and passed the Rules Committee yesterday. Yet, one Representative does not see the tide turning to liberty. Representative Andy Tobin is currently blocking HB 2573 from receiving a full House vote. He is willing to kill protection for the people of Arizona, and allow the Federal government to trample the rights of his constituents." Continue reading →

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George W. Bush the costliest former US President at $1.3 million per year

"George W. Bush is costing taxpayers $1.3 million a year, the most of any ex-President, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Meanwhile, taxpayers are forking over nearly $3.7 million total to pay for the four remaining presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, George W. and Bill Clinton. That figure includes their $200,000 annual pension, compensation and benefits for a small staff, and funds for travel, office space, and postage. But it doesn't include the additional money spent on Secret Service protection, which is not made public, CNN wrote." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorge W. Bush the costliest former US President at $1.3 million per year

Actuarial study: Obamacare law to bring double-digit percent increases to insurance premiums

"Medical claims costs — the biggest driver of health insurance premiums — will jump an average 32% for Americans' individual policies under the Affordable Care Act health care law, according to a study out Tuesday by the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts. While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report prepared by the Society of Actuaries concluded that the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingActuarial study: Obamacare law to bring double-digit percent increases to insurance premiums

Obama Admin. Ignores Nullification: Federal Agents Will Enforce ObamaCare

"President Obama will not wait on states to enforce ObamaCare. The Obama administration has announced its intent to disregard state laws and state constitutional amendments prohibiting the enforcement of ObamaCare. Federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services will assume absolute control over states’ health insurance industry and regulation in states that refuse to comply with the federal healthcare mandates." Continue reading →

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Bauman’s Little Black Book of Buffoons

"Public servants who no longer serve the best interests of the public should always follow Sir Anthony Eden’s example and resign on moral grounds. And here in the U.S., the list of useless officials in our government is shocking and even demoralizing. Resign! What follows is just a small sample of them, albeit the top five in my little black book of who should fall on their swords – all of them buffoons." Continue reading →

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Poll shows huge support for Rand Paul’s filibuster stance on drone attacks

"When Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) filibustered for nearly 13 hours two weeks ago, he had the American people on his side. A new Gallup poll shows a huge majority of Americans — 79 percent — supported Paul’s position that drone strikes should not be used on American soil against Americans suspected of terrorism. Just 13 percent say it would be okay. Americans also don’t support drone strikes against any suspected terrorist on American soil (25 percent support, 66 percent oppose) or against U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism abroad (41 percent support, 52 percent support)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoll shows huge support for Rand Paul’s filibuster stance on drone attacks

Syrian Insurgent Provocations: Going For Endgame?

"After creating the chaos in Syria through his policy of arming and training the insurgents, President Obama said last week in the Middle East that he is 'very concerned about Syria becoming an enclave for extremism because extremists thrive in chaos, they thrive in failed states, they thrive in power vacuums.' The US created the very instability by empowering radicals that it now seeks to mitigate, first by the CIA fool's errand of supporting 'moderates,' when it is clear that only the radicals are capable of actually fighting. It would be interesting to see the criteria for determining who is eligible for CIA assistance. Beards are, after all, quite easy to shave..." Continue reading →

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