Saturday, October 5, 2013

Gov. Rick Perry on difference between TX and CA: “We don’t judge success” by number of welfare cases

“Jerry Brown is very capable, thoughtful fellow,” he said. “He just has a different outlook than I do.” - SF Chronicle

“California has substantially more liberal public assistance programs,’’ said Perry, considered a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate, in a wide-ranging interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. “This is a state that’s going bankrupt. You have huge debt out here..and part of that is driven by these very expensive, very rich programs.”

“We judge success by the number of people that have a job,’’ said Perry, who has been a vociferous critic of the Affordable Care Act.

He said working Texans are free to “go buy (health) insurance, or be in a company that delivers that health care for them. That’s the real future of America.”

Perry made the comments in an interview with the Chronicle after a press conference touting Americans for Economic Freedom, a program aimed at raising what he called a “blue state, red state” conversation to address the migration of jobs.

Two Liberal Media Giants Call Obama Administration ‘Most Closed, Control-Freak, Manipulative, And Secretive’ Ever Covered

A New York Times reporter called our transparent president the “most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered.” Add paranoid. Government employees are forced to take lie detector tests to ensure they’re not talking to reporters. - Andrea Ryan/Gateway Pundit

Big Lib, Bob Schieffer, of CBS News agreed. But he used the words the “most manipulative and secretive administration“ he’s ever covered.

Leonard Downie, who once worked as the executive editor of the Washington Post and wrote a novel about Washington corruption and the Iraq War, finds a bigger and non-fictional problem in the successor to George W. Bush. Downie gives the Post a preview of his report from the Committee to Protect Journalists which outlines the Obama war on reporters and their sources: - HotAir
“A memo went out from the chief of staff a year ago to White House employees and the intelligence agencies that told people to freeze and retain any e-mail, and presumably phone logs, of communications with me,” Sanger said. As a result, longtime sources no longer talk to him. “They tell me: ‘David, I love you, but don’t e-mail me. Let’s don’t chat until this blows over.’ ”

Sanger, who has worked for the Times in Washington for two decades, said, “This is most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered.”

FEDS TRY TO CLOSE THE OCEAN BECAUSE OF SHUTDOWN

Just before the weekend, the National Park Service informed charter boat captains in Florida that the Florida Bay was "closed" due to the shutdown. Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown. - Mike Flynn/Breitbart

The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban... of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business.

This is governing by temper-tantrum. It is on par with the government's ham-fisted attempts to close the DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day. By accessible I mean, you walk up to it. When you have finished reflecting, you then walk away from it.

Fifty shades of Big Government - John Hayward/RedState

Today’s installment of Shutdown Theater includes the Obama Administration trying to rope off the ocean, as charter fishing boat captains and tour guides were informed by the National Park Service shock troops of His Imperial Barricading Majesty that Florida Bay is closed for the duration of the current “budget crisis.” (Disclaimer: no actual “budget,” or anything remotely resembling one, will be involved in its resolution.)

Given that we’re talking about over a thousand square miles of prime fishing ground, this sounds like one of those shutdown situations where it might require more manpower and money to close the area than it would to keep it open. The World War II memorial in Washington, DC stands as the most visible symbol of this vindictive lunacy, an open-air monument that isn’t normally attended by rangers 24 hours a day when it’s open, but requires squadrons of guards and tons of barricades (now wired shut to hold the heroes of Normandy and Iwo Jima at bay) to keep it closed. Quite a few of these Shutdown Theater productions are occurring on sites owned largely by state governments, or funded with private money.

...The modern Democrat voter is someone very comfortable with mediocrity, provided his beloved leaders do a good job of making some faceless rich bastards, religious fanatics, and Tea Party “anarchists” bleed....

Most of the time, liberals encourage their marks to view the government as a vast fluffy bunny of benevolence, tossing free cell phones and EBT cards from his overflowing Easter basket, with no limit to the goodness he could provide… if only mean old Republicans weren’t trying to make hasenpfeffer out of him. The standard line from ObamaCare defenders is that critics are motivated entirely by a sinister desire to snatch health insurance away from people and watch them die. Anyone who talks about costs, benefits, opportunity costs, and respect for liberty is just trying to distract us while they kill the wabbit.

But sometimes the mask slips, and liberals will more openly concede that, you betcha, government equals force, and they can’t wait to deploy that force against people they don’t like. ...read the rest at the link.

THE MONEY QUOTE

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006 - Atlas Shrugs

‘It’s quicker this way’: Police officer pushes John Ondrasik out of Jefferson Memorial





Forget about civil disobedience inside the “Barry-cades.” According to Ondrasik’s account, civil obedience is also frowned upon. - Twitchy





Unbelievable: Police prevent drivers from pulling over and viewing Mt. Rushmore - Twitchy

UNBELIEVABLE: Police force Vietnam veterans to vacate Vietnam Veterans Memorial



The police came and forced both Vietnam veterans and the general public to leave the Vietnam Veterans Memorial after veterans went through the barricades: - The Right Scoop

After one group of veterans went around the barricade, “the park ranger told them the wall was closed,” NBC’s Mark Seagraves reported. “Later another group of vets showed up and moved the barricades. At that point, the memorial filled with vets and tourists. That’s when police came and moved everyone out.” - WEEKLY STANDARD

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is a black granite outdoor wall on which the names of the 58,272 service members who died or were unaccounted for during the Vietnam war are inscribed.

It takes more manpower and costs the government more money to close down an outdoor wall than to let people walk past it and pay their respects.

The Obama administration has been very selective in devoting resources to shutting down memorials.

Battle of the Barrycades – Vets storm Vietnam Memorial, U.S Park Police called in - William A. Jacobson/Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

The barrycades at the WWII Memorial and Lincoln Memorial have received most of the attention.

But on Friday a group of Vets decided to storm the barrycades erected by the Obama administration at the Vietnam Memorial, as reported by the local NBC News station (via The Patriot Perspective)

Yesterday, the Obama administration had the road to the #IwoJimaMemorial barricaded to prevent any entry to the site by vehicle... today, there's a happy ending:

Iwo Jima Memorial Closed, Barricades Erected (Update: Vets Break Through) - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

Another open-air memorial in the Washington area is closed and barricaded off: the Iwo Jima Memorial, just across the bridge from D.C. in Rosslyn, Virginia.

"There has been no coverage of Iwo Jima being closed and it is a routine stop for Honor Flight visitors."

WEEKLY STANDARD UPDATE: I'm told, "The Syracuse Honor Flight just knocked down the barrier and a couple hundred of them are at the Memorial now."


If the Japanese at Iwo Jima couldn't stop them, well...

Video: Meet Vets who moved “water-filled barriers” to get to Iwo Jima Memorial - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

We have located the group of 64 Honor Flight Vets, and they are from Syracuse, NY. Their trip was paid for, in part, by money raised by Syracuse University students.

Obamacare site will be down in weekend 'off hours' to fix glitches

"To make further improvements to the system, we will be taking down the application part of the website for scheduled maintenance during off-peak hours over the weekend," HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters announced Friday in an email release. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner @philipklein

Peters said Healthcare.gov has received 8.6 million unique visitors. She did not say how many individuals had successfully enrolled in a plan through the website.

"Obama is the First President to…Lock Veterans Out of Military Cemeteries"

Apparently the current administration has the funds to keep, say, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial (and other military cemeteries) open to the public. But…they won’t. - Townhall
Feds lock Normandy cemetery despite having $85 million on hand for monuments - Joel Gehrke/Washington Examiner @joelmentum

$63B Spent, $26B Taxed, $1.6B Borrowed in First 2 Days of 'Shutdown'...

Drudge:
Towns, States Rally to Reopen National Parks...
Memorial 'circus' outrages visitors...
Feds attempt to close ocean - Mike Flynn/Breitbart

Just before the weekend, the National Park Service informed charter boat captains in Florida that the Florida Bay was "closed" due to the shutdown. Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown.

The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban. Of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business.

This is governing by temper-tantrum. It is on par with the government's ham-fisted attempts to close the DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day. By accessible I mean, you walk up to it. When you have finished reflecting, you then walk away for it.

"I think the American people expect if we’re going to raise the amount of money we can borrow we ought to do something about our spending and the lack of economic growth in our country.”

--House Speaker John Boehner

Friday, October 4, 2013

California: Zero Obamacare enrollments so far



And in all fairness to state officials, they’ve only had three-and-a-half years since passage to train navigators and launch a functioning website. That they failed to execute either task is a side note; Californians should rest assured that the government will administer their healthcare in a professional, prompt and competent manner. - Guy Benson/HotAir's Green Room



Is Obamacare's First Enrollee Bogus?
HACKED! Website Now Selling NFL Jerseys, Ugg Boots, Armani Fragrances...
99% of applications hit wall ...
Down for repairs...
DEAD CAN SIGN UP IN KENTUCKY...
FACEBOOK Page Erupts with Citizens Shocked at Cost of Premiums...
REPORT: Leukemia Patient To Lose Insurance...
'WARNING: No Explicit or Implicit Expectation of Privacy'...

McAfee: Obamacare is a 'hacker's wet dream'

Many of these plans will charge enrollees an “abortion surcharge,” a minimum of $1 per month, which pays into an abortion slush fund. The regulations also contain a “secrecy clause” to conceal the existence of the “abortion surcharge” until the moment of enrollment. This surcharge is only disclosed in the fine print, without itemization in the monthly premium, and is never disclosed again

There is no war on women - Politico

Earlier this week, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, cried wolf once more regarding a “war on women” because House Republicans voted on Saturday to delay Obamacare for a year. She argues that “a narrow group of Republican leaders in the House are pushing to shut down the entire federal government over women’s access to birth control, cancer screenings and other basic health care.”

If the only issues on the table were non-controversial services like cancer screenings and immunizations, then there would be no debate, but that’s not the reality.

LEAKS REVEAL: Obama Preparing to Destroy the Separation of Powers

Consider the most terrifying thing I've heard all week: on Fox News Special Report, Amy Stoddard -- the left wing writer for Roll Call -- said the following: - Doug Ross
There is a report out that says the President believe he's going to "reorder" the [balance of] power in Washington between the branches with this exercise.
Such an act would be an unprecedented high crime against the Constitution. No less an authority than the left-leaning Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard describes it as such in no uncertain terms.
Professor Tribe ... rejected the idea, saying it was proposed by ''otherwise very sensible law scholars'' who in this case had concocted ''a prescription for a free-for-all that abandons the rule of law.''

''We have no metric for comparative lawlessness,'' he said.
Obama: “I Won’t Violate The Constitution, Unless You Make Me…” - Terresa Monroe-Hamilton/Trevor Loudon/New Zeal cross-posted at Right Wing News

If Obama violates the Constitution so blatantly, it will be political suicide. But does he care? I don’t think he does. I don’t think he has a problem with putting the Constitution aside and doing what he thinks is best for the country, the collective and for Progressive Marxists. He is the ultimate wife beater and is telling America: “I Won’t Violate The Constitution, Unless You Make Me…”

Bachmann: When Are Obamas, Sebelius, Roberts, and IRS Chief Signing Up For Obamacare?

“What I want to know is when are we going to see the photo -- President and Michelle Obama signing up for Obamacare?” - CNS

“When are we going to see the photo of [Chief Justice] John Roberts and Mrs. Roberts sign up for Obamacare?” said Bachman. “When are going to see Kathleen Sebelius and her husband signing up for Obamacare?”

“When are we going to see the head of the IRS signing up for Obamacare?” Bachmann asked.

“That’s what the nation wants to see,” Bachmann said. “But the dirty little secret is they have no intention of signing up for Obamacare.”

The FairTax Plan is on its way to the Ways and Means Committee for a vote!

Friend, this is the fight we've been waiting for and I want you to send the lobbyists and the IRS a message that we will not be shut down -- they will! - Cynthia Canevaro, Executive Director, Americans for Fair Taxation
What is the Fair Tax? FAQs - FairTax.Org
How the Fair Tax works... - FairTax.Org

“We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

Barack Obama is having a lot of fun using the government shutdown to squeeze the public in imaginative ways. The point of the shutdown game is to see who can squeeze hardest, make the most pious speech and listen for the applause - Wesley Pruden/Washington Times

The Park Service appears to be closing streets on mere whim and caprice. The rangers even closed the parking lot at Mount Vernon, where the plantation home of George Washington is a favorite tourist destination. That was after they barred the new World War II Memorial on the Mall to veterans of World War II. But the government does not own Mount Vernon; it is privately owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The ladies bought it years ago to preserve it as a national memorial. The feds closed access to the parking lots this week, even though the lots are jointly owned with the Mount Vernon ladies. The rangers are from the government, and they’re only here to help.
“It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

MILITARY PRIESTS FACE ARREST FOR CELEBRATING MASS IN DEFIANCE OF SHUTDOWN

Our government is out of control. - Catholic Vote

This is outrageous. It is a violation of the First Amendment. It is a prohibition of the free exercise of religion to order priests under penalty of arrest that they cannot volunteer their time to offer Mass to the faithful on base. This cannot be allowed to stand.

Their premium came back as $597 per month, with an almost $14,000 annual deductible! And when the person clicked the “opt out” option, they shortly received an e-mail stating that their fine would be $4,037, and could be attached to their annual tax return

Obamacare Reality Shock Sets In – Facebook Posts Reveals The True Horrors Of Obamacare - Before It's News

An alleged comment on the Affordable Care Act FB page states that a person had signed up online, under the $45-55,000 income range, pre-existing condition of type I diabetes. They chose the “Silver” plan…

Their premium came back as $597 per month, with an almost $14,000 annual deductible! And when the person clicked the “opt out” option, they shortly received an e-mail stating that their fine would be $4,037, and could be attached to their annual tax return and if you don’t have the $4,037 on time, then the repercussions for non-payment begin with your drivers license being suspended until the fine is paid, and if it goes 24 months without payment, a tax lien is placed on you property. It gives you the option to provide your bank info so your penalties can be withdrawn weekly, or biweekly, etc.

OBAMACARE FACEBOOK ERUPTS WITH CITIZEN STICKER SHOCK - Wynton Hall/Breitbart

"I am so disappointed," wrote one woman. "These prices are outrageous and there are huge deductibles. No one can afford this!" The comment received 169 "likes."

"There is NO WAY I can afford it," said one commenter after using the Kaiser Subsidy Calculator. "Heck right now I couldn't afford an extra 10$ [sic] a month...and oh apparently I make to [sic] much at 8.55/hour to get subsidies."

...A single mother of two said she is in school and working full-time while living "75% below the poverty level." She said she was shocked to learn she did not qualify for a healthcare subsidy. "Are you F'ing kidding me????" she wrote on the government's Obamacare Facebook page. "Where the HELL am I supposed to get $3,000 more a year to pay for this 'bronze' health insurance plan!?!??? And I DO NOT EVEN WANT INSURANCE to begin with!! This is frightening," she wrote.

STAND with the House GOP as they continue to fight the Democrat’s government shutdown!


SIGN our pledge and SHARE to help tell Senate Dems to negotiate! - Republican National Committee
__________________

The GOP’s Argument In Ten Points: What The Key Republicans Need To Be Saying Everywhere, All The Time - Hugh Hewitt/Townhall

1. Article One of the Constitution makes the Congress a separate-but-equal branch with the president. The president is not a king and cannot dictate terms. The House, especially, is the People's House, elected most often to most closely represent the views of the people.

2. We understand the president has had a horrible year, that he lost his big battles with Congress and lost a lot of face and self-confidence in the surrender to Syria and Russia, and we understand he is desperate for a win.

3. Acting like a schoolyard bully who got beat up and then looks for someone to pick on will not work with a separate but equal branch of government.

4. We have long known the president lacks basic skills when it comes to negotiating, but we aren't going to negotiate away our Article One duties and authority because the president is throwing a childish fit because Vladimir Putin embarrassed him.

5. We know most of the MSM is with the president and protecting his childishness from full scrutiny. We know they are doing the same for Harry Reid, though Senator Reid's infortunate melt-down with Dana Bash showed that not even the MSM can fully protect Senator Reid all the time. We believe the public already knows or will soon learn the score, and that we don't need the Manhattan-Beltway media elite to cheerlead for us since we have the Constitution on our side.

6. The real situation is this: The Republicans want the NIH opened to sick children and everyone served by it. We want the VA open to take care of veterans. We want the national parks and memorials open to everyone. We are appalled that the president has deemed the cemetery at Normandy non-essential. The last resting place of the men who saved Europe was essential in '44 and it is essential now. Recall Tom Hank's Captain John Miller's last words in that movie "Earn this"? Well, we won't be earning it if we surrender the Article One powers given us because the president demands we do, because he is throwing a fit, because he won't negotiate.

7. There are lots of solutions and combinations of solutions here, and we have often seen the Legislative and the Executive branches sit down at such moments and craft such solutions. Never before has a president said he would not negotiate with a separate but equal branch of government. The Speaker is the single man representing the People's House, and the president should be working with him, not taunting him in public; should be trying to offer solutions, not further dividing an already divided country.

8. So, again, we want to be crystal clear: The House is going to keep sending over to the Senate bills as particular needs arise to fix those needs, and Leader McConnell will keep trying to bring those solutions up for a vote. We think Harry Reid should take them up and ease the pain on Americans. We think the cemetery at Normandy should be open, just like the World War II Memorial and the Martin Luther King Memorial and especially the Lincoln Memorial should be open. We think the NIH and CDC should be functioning, and FEMA as hurrican season approaches. And we think we need to take serious steps to reform entitlements, repeal the widely recognized and disastrous Medical Device Tax, and treat Members of Congress an their staffs and members of the White House staff just the same as every other American by either bringing them under Obamacare or delaying the individual mandate one year. That is all on the table. Perhaps the president has other ideas though his only argument has been my way or the highway, the rule of one, the prerogatives of a king.

9. We don't do kings, Mr. President. Certainly not a year after a close election, a close election in which your opponent got 60 million votes and in which the People's House remained firmly in Republican hands. The country votd for divided government, for negotiations, for shared responsibility, not for you to dictate terms.

10. There will be no "clean CR" and a "straight debt limit hike." Period. That's what the president is demanding and that won't happen. The president is trying to scare markets and they should be scared because if he truly intends to bring about economic panic he is doing a fine job by demanding that the House abdicate its Constitutional role. We won't do that. The Constitution is more important than the CR, or the debt limit. The president is trying to reshape the Constitution at this moment of economic peril, using the media as his hammer, and threats and bullying as his saws. But it won't happen. And if the president does not change his rhetoric and his approach, the crisis that follows will be 100% on his head, and the American people will know it, and history will record it.

What a coincidence: Single ObamaCare success story is … OFA volunteer

Allahpundit told the story yesterday about how our intrepid national media searched high and low in this nation of 330 million people to find someone, anyone who could figure out how to actually buy coverage through the ObamaCare exchanges. - HotAir

After putting out an SOS, the Washington Post finally found Chad Henderson, and so did the Wall Street Journal, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, the Huffington Post, and even “POLITICO!“, as Henderson himself announced later yesterday. That had Mediaite’s Noah Rothman a little suspicious:
It turns out Henderson’s knowledge of OFA was not the result of his astuteness or political acumen. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a current OFA volunteer. Maybe those many media outlets who spoke with him will make note of this seemingly relevant fact.
OFA? You mean Organizing for America, which spent the last year stuffing e-mail inboxes with an avalanche of missives about just how easy and wonderful ObamaCare would be? That OFA?

OBAMACARE STUNNER: EXCHANGE POSTER BOY NEVER ACTUALLY ENROLLED IN OBAMACARE BUT CLAIMS ‘I HAVE NOT MISLED ANYONE’ - The Blaze

the 21-year-old self-confessed supporter of President Obama whose story about signing up for Obamacare the very first day has been widely publicized — with the shocking news from an interview his father gave saying Henderson, to his knowledge, never actually purchased an Obamacare plan.

Turns out that’s absolutely true.

The latest installment in the Legend of Chad:

Fake Obamacare buyer Chad Henderson locks down Twitter account; Should have taken his own advice - Twitchy



This week Twitchy told you about Chad Henderson, the ◼ OFA volunteer who became the face of Obamacare’s “success” thanks to ◼ fawning White House staffers and the ◼ drool-bucket media. Chad was quickly exposed as a fraud who had ◼ lied about enrolling in an Obamacare insurance plan.

Goodbye, cruel Twitter: Lying dad of Obamacare fraud Chad Henderson goes dark - Twitchy

Boehner: This Isn't Some Damn Game!

WIRED SHUT: BARRYCADE AT WWII MEMORIAL REINFORCED WITH OBAMA-WIRE



On Tuesday morning, seven National Park Service employees were seen erecting and tending to a barricade around the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. One NPS employee was operating a forklift. There usually aren't any NPS employees working at the World War II memorial.

A couple hours later, when an Honor Flight of World War II veterans arrived, accompanied by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, the fences blocking the memorial were easily moved away, allowing the veterans to enter.

But the barriers are still at the memorial, and they've been reinforced. This morning, I walked by the memorial and noticed that wires had been used to tie the fences together...

Who is ordering the National Park Service to go to such great lengths to shut down the open-air World War II memorial that is usually unguarded?

BarryCade Smoking Gun - AJStrata
Twist ties we can believe in: WWII Memorial barricade strengthened - Doug Powers/Michelle Malkin

If veterans show up again, that reinforcement probably wouldn’t prove too difficult for men who made it through German fortifications on D-Day and Japanese defenses on Iwo Jima.

Barry-cades wired shut: Rep. Stockman slams ‘double down on curb-stomping elderly veterans’ - Twitchy

Obama Illegally Shuts Down Hundreds of PRIVATELY FUNDED Parks - capitalisminstitute.org

Democrats’s Shutdown Is Refusal To Face The American People - Dana Loesch/Red State

Even previous presidents Clinton and Carter once in awhile emerged from their echo chambers to negotiate. Obama won’t because to do so is to face the American people.

How are things working in the country today? Almost all voters -- 88 percent -- say “the government is in charge of the people.”

That includes 83 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of independents and 94 percent of Republicans.

Only 8 percent feel “the people are in charge of the government.”

CRAZY: OBAMA'S STALKING ME


Woman in DC chase may have thought Obama was stalking her, sources say

The woman who led authorities on a chase from the White House to the Capitol before she was killed by police may have thought that President Barack Obama was stalking her, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

The sources said that the woman, Miriam Carey, had a history of mental health problems.

Here are the DRUDGE headlines:
Mother: Daughter in Capitol Chase Was Depressed...
'Suffering From Postpartum Depression'...
Questions Mount On Why Police Opened Fire On Unarmed Mother...
'Fired From Job Over Argument On Using Handicapped Parking Spot'...
Was Sued By Condo Association Over Fees...
REPORT: Schizophrenia meds, antidepressants found in woman's apt... Developing...

Thursday, October 3, 2013

SOWELL: Who shut down the government?

Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the question of who shut down the federal government, there are diametrically opposite answers, depending on whether you talk to Democrats or to Republicans. - Thomas Sowell/Rare Commentary

There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going — except for ObamaCare.

This is not a matter of opinion. You can check the congressional record.

As for the House of Representatives’ right to grant or withhold money, that is not a matter of opinion either. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which means that congressmen there have a right to decide whether they want to spend money on a particular government activity.

Whether ObamaCare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House of Representatives have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion....

Since we cannot read minds, we cannot say who — if anybody — “wants to shut down the government.” But we do know who had the option to keep the government running and chose not to. The money voted by the House of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for ObamaCare.

The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for ObamaCare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that he wants a “clean” bill from the House of Representatives, and some in the media keep repeating the word “clean” like a mantra. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?

SIGN UP: 1-800-FUCKYO (Seriously)

Need health insurance? The Obama administration has you covered. Simply dial 1-800-FUCKYO to reach the next available health-care provider. - Katie McHugh/Daily Caller

Far from being a mistype, that’s the official number that Health and Human Services wants Americans to dial when seeking health care. Obamacare’s national call center really did list its number as 1-800-318-2596, helpfully spelling out President Barack Obama’s tendency to blatantly flip the bird in plain view.

Screwed? Confirmed! Don’t miss hilarious national Obamacare phone number - Twitchy

Obama threatens to withhold Social Security Checks

Obama Just Played His Big 'Trump Card' On The Debt Ceiling - Business Insider

Iran/Libya appointed to the U.N. disarmament committee...

Iran will join UN weapons disarmament committee chaired by unstable Libya - Washington Free Beacon

The appointment was made shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN’s General Assembly to warn the world that Iran is only months away from having the capabilities to build a nuclear weapon.

The disarmament committee is chaired by Libya, an unstable country where weapons have freely flowed to al Qaeda fighters following the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

IRAN'S ROUHANI BOASTS: I REJECTED OBAMA FIVE TIMES - Joel Pollak//Breitbart
Iran’s cyber chief killed in ‘internal dispute,’ Israel speculates - the Times Of Israel
Iranian cyber warfare commander shot dead in suspected assassination - the Telegraph

Error 404

Grocery stores on Army bases closed, Obama's golf course open...

Yosemite National Park, the Crown Jewel of nation's park system, is a "Ghost park" because of government shutdown - Fresno Bee

Feds shut down D-Day beaches, cemetery in Normandy - AP/New York Post

Barrycades: Try to Close Privately Owned Mount Vernon “Deliberate effort by Obama to hurt the public” - Infowars

The National Park Service erected barricades to shut down parking lots surrounding Mount Vernon despite the fact that the tourist destination is privately owned, another example of how the feds are deliberately worsening the government shut down.

Mount Vernon is the former plantation of George Washington and is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, which doesn’t receive any government funding. The attraction’s official website reads, “NO SHUTDOWN HERE – The Federal government may be shut down, but Washington’s home remains open. Mount Vernon has remained a private non-profit for more than 150 years.”

Philly tavern frequented by Founding Fathers shuttered

Lodge with 12 rooms closes on Cape Cod - Cape Cod Online

Monuments, memorials stayed open during last shutdown - Daily Caller

Grocery stores on Army bases closed, Obama's golf course open - Bloomberg

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

See if you can keep track of how many times CNN's Erin Burnett slams the GOP in this interview with Rand Paul



RAND PAUL CALLS OUT CNN ANCHOR AFTER SHE DECLARES OBAMACARE A GOP ‘OBSESSION’ AND ASKS WHY THIS OFFER FROM DEMOCRATS ISN’T ‘ENOUGH’ - The Blaze

Paul, calling out the CNN host in a very respectful way, responded by explaining why government is “so messed up.” He also reminded her that Congress controls the “power of the purse.”

He said government shut down because “we aren’t doing appropriations bills.” If Sen. Reid had “done his job,” he would have brought a number of appropriations bills to the floor and passed them to fund more of the government during the partial shutdown.

“Their intransigence really is keeping the government shut down,” Paul said.

Closed companies forced to buy the Barrycades -- "We are like prisoners of war who have to pay for our prison."

BREAKING: White House Ordering Hundreds of Privately Run, Privately Funded Parks to Close - Ed Driscoll/PJMedia
- Bryan Preston/PJMedia

Mr. Meyer emails: It’s official. They are shutting all of us down ASAP. Marching orders straight from the White House.

Dr. Ben Carson: ObamaCare Being Imposed On Americans Like The "Soviet Union"

BARRYCADES: Park Service workers erect fences...
Quite possibly the saddest photo I've ever seen. And the most damning.


Park Service Workers Erect WWII Barricade - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

For no other reason than spite, Barack Obama ordered the open-air World War II Memorial park closed and barricaded. In doing so, he intentionally shut the door on veterans visiting -- for perhaps the last time in their lives -- under the "Honor Flight" program. - Doug Ross

Now, for those who aren't aware, this memorial is in an open-air park, it was paid for with private funds, and it is unattended. According to its website, it is open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

That is, until the Obama administration doesn't get its way.

As a whiff of fascism blows through the nation’s capital, the president is demonstrating to the whole world how revoltingly out-of-control the hyper-bloated U.S. government is. Obama is doing petty, irritating things like needlessly shutting down national parks in order to rankle voters in the hope they’ll blame Republicans for the ongoing government shutdown. Liberals, in typical fashion, predict apocalypse because of the shutdown. In reality, Americans are barely noticing that Uncle Sam is taking a nap. - Matthew Vadum/Front Page Magazine

...This approach is called the “Washington Monument Strategy.” The theory is that such minor annoyances amplify the consequences of budget cuts, or in this case, of the government shutdown. The goal is to force congressional Republicans to surrender their principles and agree to fund Obamacare — and in the process look wimpy and lose the support of their grassroots.

The Washington Monument Strategy just as easily fits into the world of community organizing. Anyone familiar with the methods of modern-day leftist agitators could have seen all of this coming.

California's health insurance exchange vastly overstated the number of online hits it received Tuesday during the rollout of Obamacare.

State officials said the Covered California website got 645,000 hits during the first day of enrollment, far fewer than the 5 million it reported Tuesday. - LA Times

The state exchange had cited the 5 million figure as a sign of strong consumer interest and a major reason people had so much difficulty using its $313-million online enrollment system.

Dana Howard, a spokesman for Covered California, said the error was the result of internal miscommunication.

"Someone misspoke and thought it was indeed 5 million hits. That was incorrect," he said.

BIG BROTHER IS SPEAKING


President Obama is taking a page out of George Orwell’s “1984″. Just like Big Brother in Orwell’s famous novel 1984, Obama uses words to mean the opposite. - Betsy McCaughey/Human Events

On Monday, when House Speaker John Boehner proposed a conference to bring the parties together, both Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused.

Worse, they called the House Republicans “anarchists” and “extremists.” These insults from a president who, four days earlier, pledged “mutual respect” in his ongoing talks with Iran’s president, the world’s leading exporter of terror.

The difference between Reagan and Obama is this: Reagan knew who the enemy was. He told the Russian president, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” But he dealt reasonably with fellow American Tip O’Neil. Sadly, Obama cowtows to the world’s villains, including Vladimir Putin and Rouhani, but refuses to sit down with Boehner.

Already Obama is spinning another Orwellian tale about the coming need to hike the debt ceiling. He claims that attaching conditions to raising the debt ceiling “has not been done in the past,” and “is not how our constitutional system is designed to work”. Untrue. In fact, that is so blatantly false that The Washington Post slapped the president with four Pinocchios for his debt-ceiling tale. But say it often enough, and maybe the public will believe it.

In truth, the House has the constitutional authority to delay any debt-ceiling hike or attach conditions to it. A president able to borrow freely, the framers understood, would have too much power. “An elective despotism is not what we fought for,” wrote Madison in Federalist 62.

Guess how many people have enrolled in Louisiana’s largest Obamacare plan?



Not One - Twitchy
Obamacare website glitches leave Blue Cross of Louisiana without new enrollees after first day - NOLA.com

Since the marketplaces opened to much fanfare Tuesday (Oct. 1), many of the state’s potential customers have been stalled on the website, unable to move past the portion of HealthCare.gov that instructs them how to set up their profile.

Allen West on Obamacare and the Shutdown

"Let me take a few moments to simply explain what has happened in Washington DC. Once the President signs something into law, it is supposed to apply to everyone, unless that president is Obama. He has granted waivers, exemptions, and delays to his cronies and allies. House Republicans asked that if delays, waivers, and exemptions to this "fantastic" law were good for some, they should be good for all Americans. But Obama, Reid, and Pelosi said no. House Republicans asked that a specific 2.3% medical device tax, which is causing jobs to ship overseas, be repealed. Again, Obama, Reid, and Pelosi said no. And now Obama is threatening to veto a measure to support veterans program spending. Obama, the liberal media, and Democrats are lying to you America. They don't give a damn about you, just power. Obamacare is not a law, according to our Constitutional Republic, because laws apply to everyone. But not in King Obama's empire."

Obama’s ACORN Pals Cashing In on Obamacare Enrollment

President Obama’s old friends in the ACORN crime syndicate have decided to get a piece of the big-money Obamacare action. United Labor Unions (ULU) Local 100 in New Orleans, which is run by ACORN founder Wade Rathke, announced on its Facebook page that it’s gearing up “to do mass enrollment and help navigate people into the marketplaces in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas under the Affordable Care Act!” - Matthew Vadum/American Spectator

Be afraid. Wherever Rathke goes, lawlessness follows.

...“Local 100’s role as a Navigator, suggest[s] the program is less about health care and more about building a new progressive infrastructure,” says longtime ACORN-watcher Mike Flynn of Breitbart.com.

Among the other left-wing groups hopping on the Obamacare navigator bandwagon are the Democrat-friendly Planned Parenthood, National Urban League, and Virginia Poverty Law Center Inc.

Other left-wing groups have signed up with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as “Champions of Coverage.” They vow to promote enrollment by emailing their members, hanging posters, giving out fact sheets and brochures, holding conference calls, or promoting enrollment in other ways.

Among the Champions of Coverage are Families USA, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), NAACP, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

Enrollment will be a dangerous free-for-all because Obamacare “navigators” are barely regulated at all. By the way, the only reason there are any “navigators” is to help the left, as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has more or less admitted. Imposing rules would only interfere with community organizers’ ability to wreak havoc and spread the gospel of so-called social justice....

These community organizers will have access to “social security numbers and tax information” and HHS isn’t even planning on running background checks before sending them out into the field. “Besides the obvious identity theft concerns, this is a frightening development in light of the political activities and invasion of privacy, which the IRS and others have engaged in during the Obama presidency,” Jindal says.

But as we’ve learned in the Obama era, this kind of craziness is par for the course with community organizers.

Seedco: Obamacare's Fraud-Stained Navigators - Michelle Malkin/Townhall

Welcome to ObamaWreck! Americans nationwide spent Tuesday struggling with the much-hyped "Affordable Care Act" health insurance exchanges. Server meltdowns, error messages and security glitches plagued the federal and state government websites as open enrollment began. But when taxpayers discover exactly who will be navigating them through the bureaucratic maze, they may be glad they didn't get through.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius controls a $54 million slush fund to hire thousands of "navigators," "in-person assisters" and counselors, who are now propagandizing and recruiting Obamacare recipients into the government-run exchanges. As I warned in May, the Nanny State navigator corps is a serious threat to Americans' privacy. Background checks and training requirements are minimal to nonexistent. A history of fraud is no barrier to entry.

Case in point: the seedy nonprofit Seedco. This community-organizing group snagged lucrative multimillion-dollar navigator contracts in Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee and New York. The New York Post reports this week that the outfit "is partnering with dozens of agencies, such as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Food Bank for New York City and the Chinese American Planning Council, in each of (the Big Apple's) five boroughs." They'll have access to potential enrollees' income levels, birthdates, addresses, eligibility for government assistance, Social Security numbers and intensely personal medical information.

Anti-Boehner Protestors PAID to Show Up at World War II Memorial?

McDonald’s Employee Admits Being Paid $15 to Protest WW2 Veterans - Patrick Poole/PJ Media



It appears so. In fact, at least one disgruntled “federal worker” over at the National World War II Memorial today admitted on camera that he was paid $15 to show up and participate in what appears to be an anti-Republican demonstration. PJ Media caught the exclusive video: - Daniel Doherty/TOWNHALL

Incredible. So, here we have 20 or so protestors claiming to be furloughed federal workers, none of whom (a) could prove who they were or (b) had any federal identification cards to back up their claims. Interesting. Add to the mix a man who freely admitted he was paid to be there. I mean, one cannot help but question the veracity of the SEIU coordinator's story, right? Notice, too, that those in attendance were not even protesting “Congress” or “Washington politics” or “business as usual” either; they were explicitly protesting House Speaker John Boehner. That’s mighty curious, wouldn’t you say? I think so.

◼ FLASHBACK: Anthony Weiner Paying Actors, Interns To Pose As Campaign Supporters - HUFFINGTON POST

It appears that the Obama administration is violating the First Rule of Holes. Yesterday the administration looked awful when it “closed” and barricaded the World War II memorial on the Mall. - John Hinderaker/Powerline

The memorial is, by its nature, open. There is nothing to close. And the administration knows that every day, tour groups consisting of WWII vets, now mostly in their late 80s or early 90s, come to Washington to visit the memorial. So the administration couldn’t resist closing the WWII memorial by putting up barricades, as part of their effort to dramatize how terrible the government “shutdown” is.

Yesterday, as we noted here, the administration suffered a public relations disaster when a group of elderly vets from Mississippi, aided by one or more Republican Congressmen, pushed the barriers aside and visited the memorial. But the administration was still undeterred: a park service employee threatened to arrest any vets who may try to visit the WWII memorial in the future, while the shutdown is in effect.

The best thing the Obama administration could do is quietly remove the barricades around the memorial and forget the whole thing. But no: it happened again today. Fortunately, PJ Media was on hand to record the action...

And does that perhaps have something to do with Obama’s backing down on his vow not to talk with Congressional Republicans? Obama has now invited Congressional leaders to the White House for talks on ending the spending impasse.



Mark Levin to Obama: You lay one hand on WW2 vets and I’LL BRING HALF A MILLION PEOPLE TO THAT MEMORIAL! - The Right Scoop

Reid: Why Would We Want To Pass A Bill To Help Children With Cancer? (Video)



More stunningly bad optics for the Dems. When asked by Dana Bash at CNN why he isn’t willing to help even one child who has cancer, Reid responded “Why would we want to do that?” - Nice Deb

Deal With Harry Reid? Why Would We Want to Do That?

At a press conference earlier today, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Senate majority leader Harry Reid why he was opposing a bill that would authorize funding for the National Institutes of Health, an institution that had to stop experimental disease treatments this week because of the government shutdown.

Bash asked, “If you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?”

Harry Reid responded, “Why would we want to do that?”

After all, he would lose leverage, and there’s no political benefit in it for him.

House Vote on “Research for Lifesaving Cures Act” – LIVE - William A. Jacobson/Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Obamacare Fines to be Seized From Bank Accounts?

Man who attempted to sign up claims he was threatened with drivers license being revoked, federal tax lien on home - Paul Joseph Watson/Infowars

A man who attempted to sign up for Obamacare online was told that a fine of over $4,000 dollars a year for refusing to take out mandatory health insurance could be taken directly from his bank account, and that his drivers license would be suspended and a federal tax lien placed against his home, according to an entry on the HealthCare.gov Facebook page.

If true, the implementation of Obamacare is going to be a whole lot more draconian than Americans have been led to believe.

DRUDGE:
MASSIVE GLITCHES PERSIST AS GOV'T BLAMES HIGH DEMAND...
Less Than 1% of Visitors to CT Healthcare Exchange Signed Up...
CNN reporter can't sign up...
VIDEO: MSNBC anchor tries, fails...
Enrollment effort takes reporter to empty building...
25% plan to not buy insurance, pay fine...
What to know if you opt out...
LOWRY: Fight just beginning...
Law leaves Georgia's biggest hospital $45M short...

11 of our favorite Mother of the Bride looks from Hillary Clinton to Carolina Herrera.


◼ Take a break from hardcore news with this Slideshow from Town & Country

Many women don't realize it until they are faced with it, but being the mother of a bride or groom presents a rather delicate sartorial challenge. One needs to look glamorous but not overdone; distinct from the crowd but still appropriate. And, as with any occasion, a dress that is too tight, too short, or too flashy just isn’t going to work.

Read more: http://www.townandcountrymag.com/the-scene/weddings/mother-of-the-bride-dresses#ixzz2gb86m2Kw...

WWII VETS STORM DC MEMORIAL (With Update)


A new wave of veterans were forced to move barricades at the WWII Memorial in Washington Wednesday morning to gain access during the government slimdown, a spokeswoman from Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told FoxNews.com. - FOX

The WWII veterans, from Ohio, Kansas and Missouri, arrived at the memorial one day after another group relied on the assistance from elected officials to move the barricades to allow access. Parks police did not prevent the first group from entering, nor did they interfere with Wednesday's group.

The veterans are traveling as part of Honor Flight , a program that enables World War II veterans to partake in an expense-paid trip to view the memorial.

WAR VETERANS THREATENED WITH ARREST...
REPORT: WH rejected visit request...
PAUL: 'Goons' blocked landmark...
BARRYCADES: Park Service workers erect fences...
More guards than at Benghazi - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
NPS says Obama admin ordered closure - Mike Flynn/Breitbart
Reid blames Republicans...
Vets 'plan to storm Lincoln memorial'...
WWI mem closed 'except for 1st Amendment activities'...





World War II Veterans Prove Unstoppable, Entering Memorial - ABC News

Update: WWII vets return to South Mississippi in triumph - Sun Herald

Ninety-one World War II veterans were greeted at Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport with an enthusiastic welcome by their neighbors Tuesday evening. Water cannon plumes arched over the runway on their approach, and they received a salute by Marines and U.S. Navy personnel, city leaders and thousands of others at the terminal who came to the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport to welcome them home.

“In all the years I have worked with the National Park Service, first as a volunteer for six years in Richmond where I grew up, then as an NPS employee at the for eight very long years and now enjoyably as managing director for the last 32 years — I have never worked with a more arrogant, arbitrary and vindictive group representing the NPS. I deeply apologize that we have to disappoint you today by being closed but know that we are working while the National Park Service is not — as usual.”

Shutdown overreach: More guards at WWII memorial than Benghazi; Park Service closes park it doesn't run - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner

The National Park Service is sending so many officials out to shut down federal parks from visiting Americans that at this rate it might have to suspend furloughs if the government closure continues....

A Claude Moore Colonial Farm official said that the privately-funded staff is on the job Wednesday, but barred from letting anybody visit the historically accurate buildings or animals. Anna Eberly, the managing director, sent out an email decrying the decision and rude National Park Service staff handling the closure.

Pointing to Park Service claims that parks have to be closed because the agency can’t afford staff during the government closure, Eberly wrote: “What utter crap. We have operated the Farm successfully for 32 years after the NPS cut the Farm from its budget in 1980 and are fully staffed and prepared to open today. But there are barricades at the Pavilions and entrance to the Farm. And if you were to park on the grass and visit on your own, you run the risk of being arrested. Of course, that will cost the NPS staff salaries to police the Farm against intruders while leaving it open will cost them nothing.”...

WWII VETS THREATENED WITH ARREST: Petty Obama administration tries to bar Honor Flight veterans from access to the WWII Memorial in D.C.


The Obama government is small, spiteful, and petty. There are no other words for it. Case in point: The WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C., which is an outdoor memorial. There are no tickets sold, no doors to open or close, and no staffers. It is not an open air museum.... - Bookworm Room

It is, instead, a giant outdoor structure. It is scenery, pretty much like a drive by the Capitol or the White House. You just look at it – and the people most interested in looking at it are the ever-dwindling number of WWII veterans who fought in the war it commemorates.

The Obama administration knew that an Honor Flight was arriving in Washington, D.C., with the veterans on that flight scheduled to visit the war memorial erected in honor of their courage and sacrifice during WWII. With that in mind, the Obama administration went out of its way – and expended a great deal of federal employee time and money – to wrap tape around the Memorial so that the veterans would be denied access to it.

What the Obama administration forgot is that men who stared down the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese Army would be utterly unimpressed by some yellow tape strung up by a man who hates them almost as fiercely as the Nazis did. Aged though they were, the veterans stormed the WWII Memorial, tearing down and cutting away the tape – aided by help from Republican members of Congress.

DRUDGE:
WWII VETS THREATENED WITH ARREST - northwestohio.com
REPORT: WH REJECTED WWII VET REQUEST... - Daily Caller
RAND PAUL: 'Goons' blocked landmark... - Politico
BARRYCADES: Park Service workers erect fences... - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard
Vets 'plan to storm Lincoln memorial'... - Weasel Zippers
Closed 'except for 1st Amendment activities'... - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

UPDATES:
NPS says Obama admin ordered closure...
Reid blames Republicans...
New wave of vets move barricades...

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

DID YOU CATCH THE COMICAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE SNL SKIT THAT MOCKED OBAMACARE AND THE PRESIDENT’S ACTUAL SPEECH TODAY?

Apples and Oranges: President Obama compares Obamacare failures to Apple iPhone glitches - The Blaze

Life imitating art at its finest. - The Blaze

Watch this portion of the Saturday Night Live skit at the 3:10 mark:



Watch Obama’s real-life comments here:

The System is Down


It's all Bush's fault./

#HarryReidsShutdown

Reince Priebus statement re: #HarryReidsShutdown: I want to applaud Republicans in the House for working to ensure all Americans are treated fairly when it comes to ObamaCare,” said Chairman Priebus. “The latest Continuing Resolution ends special treatment for big business and special exemptions for Congress. President Obama awarded big business a delay from ObamaCare; it’s only right to give the same to hardworking middle class Americans. To object to that is to object to the basic principle of fairness.

“While Harry Reid and his Democrat colleagues pushed America to a government shutdown, the House Republicans have worked to do the will of the American people. The Democrats rejection of the latest continuing resolution to keep government running sends a clear message that they think they and their political allies are more important than average Americans.

“Americans didn’t want ObamaCare forced on them, and they don’t want a government shutdown either. Once again, Democrats are unwilling to listen.
__________________

Let Us Be Clear: Obama Deserves Chief Responsibility for Gov't Shutdown. - Reason Magazine

With great power - and Obama insists he has the unilateral right to kill anyone, even a U.S. citizen, that represents a national security threat - comes great responsiblity.

Instead, President Obama is indulging in incredible displays of peevishness such as this one yesterday during an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep. Asked what he might offer to House Republicans, who have called for, most recently, a delay in Obamacare's individual mandate and a bunch of other late-breaking proposals generally unrelated to how much the government will be spending over the next 12 months...

DRUDGE HEADLINES:
CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE...
WWII vets defy order...
Senate votes NOT to negotiate with House on compromise...
WOODWARD: 'On the president's head'...
Kerry still going on Tokyo/Bali trip...
Illegal to walk on National Mall?
FLASHBACK: Government has shut down 17 times since 1976...
Are the WH chefs 'essential'?

"I have awakened to a shut-down government. Will I notice?"

A question from Big Mike this morning in last night's "café" post, which is still the top post on the blog as I drag myself in here muttering "Am I supposed to talk about the government shutdown?" - Althouse

Stock Markets Rise Despite Government Shutdown Apocalypse - Daniel Greenfield/FrontPage Magazine

Maybe if the government stays shut down long enough, the economy can actually recover.





Monday, September 30, 2013

Pacific Legal Foundation: Obamacare protested on Senate floor, heading to court of appeals

‘Because the tax originated in the Senate and not the House, it violates the Origination Clause’ - examiner.com

...the case of Matt Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al, challenging the ACA, dismissed by the D.C. District Court back in June, is heading for the D.C. Court of Appeals with his opening brief due on Oct. 24.

Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), representing Sissel, is challenging the ACA with a new constitutional cause of action.

Sissle’s case was on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and 26 states challenge to the ACA.

In the NFIB case, the Supreme Court characterized the charge to Americans for failure to purchase health insurance as a tax rather than a penalty, so PLF’s amended complaint alleges the tax is illegal because it was introduced in the Senate rather than the House, in violation of the Constitution’s Origination Clause.

Obama Wants a Shutdown, He Got a Shutdown

President Obama delivered more remarks on the shutdown/spending/crisis governance war today. His remarks were, as usual, full of hyperbole and spin. - Bryan Preston/PJMedia

Other congresses have also fought over spending and attached conditions to debt ceiling hikes, going all the way back to the time of Eisenhower. Democrat congresses shut the government down under Reagan, about a dozen times. You’re not supposed to know any of that, though. Obama caters exclusively to low-information voters (and dishonest hacks in the media) with such remarks....

He chooses to lie about it and make people on the other side angry. That’s his schtick.

What can you do with such a dishonest man occupying the Oval Office?

Report: Reid Stopped Obama From Negotiating With GOP - Townhall
Reid’s strategy boils down to a few factors: If Democrats give even a few small concessions on a short-term stopgap funding measure, Republicans will demand even bigger concessions to avoid a debt default in mid-October. Since Republicans have been engulfed in an intraparty war over how far to take a shutdown threat, Reid and his top lieutenants are convinced that the political backlash from a shutdown would be devastating to the GOP, potentially costing them their majority in the House.
The culmination of Democratic dysfunction – #BlameHarryReid - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion
Rubio Statement After Senate Democrats Reject Budget To Keep Government Open

Remember the 15 Government Shutdowns Before 1995? Yeah, Neither Does Anyone Else. - IJ Review


A House-passed bill to ensure the military gets paid under any government shutdown was approved without dissent in the Senate on Monday — a rare bipartisan agreement as Congress stumbled toward midnight when the fiscal year ends and current appropriations expire

Government shutdown: Senate sends Obama military pay bill - Politico

The measure, now on its way to President Barack Obama’s desk, would also ensure continued pay for civilian employees of the Defense Department and Pentagon contractors whom Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel determines “are providing support to members of the Armed Forces.”

Put forward by House Republicans, the bill is considered good politics for the GOP, since analysts suggest the party could bear the brunt of the blame for any government disruption.

Following the bill’s passage, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took to the Senate floor to offer Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a backhanded compliment, praising the Nevada Democrat for not holding pay for service members “hostage.”

Bob Woodward: If Shutdown or Debt Ceiling Causes Economic Calamity, It’s On Obama’s Head - Newsbusters


REPORT: DNC 'nearly broke'...

As the government nears shutdown, the fundraising arm of the Democratic Party is having a budget crisis of its own. - CNN Money

There's another budget crisis in Washington, and it's unfolding inside the Democratic party. The Democratic National Committee remains so deeply in the hole from spending in the last election that it is struggling to pay its own vendors.

It is a highly unusual state of affairs for a national party -- especially one that can deploy the President as its fundraiser-in-chief -- and it speaks to the quiet but serious organizational problems the party has yet to address since the last election, obscured in part by the much messier spectacle of GOP infighting.

The Democrats' numbers speak for themselves: Through August, 10 months after helping President Obama secure a second term, the DNC owed its various creditors a total of $18.1 million, compared to the $12.5 million cash cushion the Republican National Committee is holding.

Meanwhile:
Anti-Obamacare' candidates shatter fundraising records - Breitbart

"Ted Cruz has finally shown the Republican establishment in Washington just how fed up voters are with the federal government and the notion that bureaucrats know what is best for patients," said one political consultant who advised the Cruz campaign. "That's why a guy knowledgeable about healthcare like Ben Sasse being in the Senate would be the most destructive thing to ever hit Obamacare."

Sasse's cash haul of nearly $750,000 from individual donors in his first quarter breaks Nebraska's previous record of $526,000 from individual donors, set in 2007 by Johanns while he was sitting U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Shane Osborn, former state treasurer who has been running for the senate seat for six months, raised just $234,000 in his first quarter, according to FEC records.

The Arms of Morpheus

Falling asleep shouldn’t be as hard as we often make it. - Peter Hannaford 9.30.13

News item: “Forty-million American have trouble getting to sleep at night.”

Seeing that, I thought about my experience after leaving the hospital following a back operation this summer.

On the first night home, without the various comfort devices of a hospital bed, I was worried I might have trouble sleeping. To ease the lingering pain of recovery, I turned to the bottle of prescription pills and took the two allowed, then found a position I hoped would be comfortable. I said to myself, but not aloud, “Now, I’m ready to fall into the arms of Morpheus,” summoning the god of sleep from Greek mythology.

After a while I heard a soft voice, “Did you say you wanted to fall into the arms of Morpheus?” “Huhh?” I mumbled. “If you’re looking for sex in my arms, you’ve come to the wrong place,” the voice said. “No,” I said. “That’s just a figure of speech. It means I want a good night’s sleep with pleasant dreams.”

“Ah,” said Morpheus, “That’s my business. The figure of speech is ironic, because I don’t have any arms, or any body for that matter. As a god, I can assume any form I like in your dreams: tall, short, fat, thin, black, white, yellow brown or a mix, but in reality I am a spirit. You might say I am nowhere and everywhere.

“You can climb up Mount Olympus looking for me and the other gods, all sitting on thrones, but all you’ll find is clear air, though we are there, resting. My job’s not easy. Did you know that nearly forty million Americans have trouble sleeping?”

“That sounds familiar,” I replied.

“Of course, not all of them summon me. In fact, many have never heard of me, but enough do to make my nights non-stop affairs. And, that doesn’t include the sleepless people in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. By the time I get home to Mount Olympus, I’m bushed and I sleep all day.

“It’s not the like the old days, when all I had to worry about was a few thousand people in Athens, Sparta and sprinkled about in towns in ancient Greece. In those days I had plenty of time to relax.”

“How do your powers work?” I asked.

“That’s classified information. Only the other gods have the clearance to know, but I can tell you this: When a restless person summons me because he or she is worried about some problem or the things that must be done the next day, I murmur, ‘Put those things aside. There is nothing you can do about them tonight. Relax and my powers will work for you.’ And they do. I have them dream about happy things in their lives: a new baby, a raise, flowers blooming in their garden — anything that has made them happy. Soon they are asleep and dreaming, and I’m off on my rounds again.”

“Thank you. That’s very inter…est…ing….” I tried to say, but was falling fast asleep.

I awoke seven hours later, after a sound and refreshing sleep. The aches and mild pains from the operation I could hardly feel.

Although I’ve long since put the pills behind me, I still summon Morpheus when I pull up the covers each night. His visits are brief and one evening he said, “Just call me Morph,” so I did. His magic has worked. First, I remind myself that tall the things in my life that need doing will still be there in the morning: writing, paying bills, running errands. There is nothing I can do about them tonight.

So, as I fall find myself falling away into dreamland, I say, “Thanks, Morph, and good night.”
__________________

Peter Hannaford is based in California where he finds Morpheus to be a wise and reliable friend.

FLASH: Senate Kills Bill to Fund Gov't... DEMS VOTE TO KEEP TAX ON MEDICAL EQUIPMENT...

The 54-46 vote officially tabled both proposals the House GOP passed early Sunday morning, one of which would have funded the government while delaying the health law for a year, and the other of which would have repealed one of the Affordable Care Act’s tax increases. - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bundled both of those proposals into a single vote, which made it easier to round up the support to kill them.

◼ BREAKING: House GOP will move bill delays individual mandate and cancels health-insurance subsidies for congress, administration