Monday, April 23, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Monday, April 23, 2012


And now that I've offended everyone with a tattoo...

(As if I give a flying fu... er... fig...)

...let's engage in some good ol' fashioned political incorrectness!

God bless our 50's forefathers...!!!
 
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10 comments:

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/an_billion_trick_ImTBFfz7MeuZLJY7JzXEIJ

Call it President Obama’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President — [CREEP] - a political slush fund at the Health and Human Services Department.

Only this isn’t some little fund from shadowy private sources; this is taxpayer money, redirected to help Obama win another term. A massive amount of it, too — $8.3 billion.

Yes, that’s billion, with a "B".

Here is how it works:

The most oppressive aspects of the ObamaCare law don’t kick in until after the 2012 election, when the president will no longer be answerable to voters.

(More “flexibility,” he recently explained to the Russians.)

But certain voters would surely notice one highly painful part of the law before then — namely, the way it guts the popular Medicare Advantage program.

For years, 12 million seniors have relied on these policies, a more market-oriented alternative to traditional Medicare, without the aggravating gaps in coverage.

But as part of its hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts, the Obama one-size-fits-all plan slashes reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage starting next year — herding many seniors back into the government-run program.

Under federal “open-enrollment” guidelines, seniors must pick their Medicare coverage program for next year by the end of this year — which means they should be finding out before Election Day.

* THE KEY WORD BEING "SHOULD."

* TO BE CONTINUED...

April 23, 2012 at 9:31 AM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Nothing is more politically volatile than monkeying with the health insurance of seniors - who aren’t too keen on confusing upheavals in their health care and are the most diligent voters in the land. This could make the Tea Party look like a tea party.

Making matters even more politically dangerous for Obama is that open enrollment begins Oct. 15, less than three weeks before voters go to the polls.

It’s hard to imagine a bigger electoral disaster for a president than seniors in crucial states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio discovering that he’s taken away their beloved Medicare Advantage just weeks before an election.

This political ticking time bomb could become the biggest “October Surprise” in U.S. political history.

But the administration’s devised a way to postpone the pain one more year, getting Obama past his last election; it plans to spend $8 billion to temporarily restore Medicare Advantage funds so that seniors in key markets don’t lose their trusted insurance program in the middle of Obama’s re-election bid.

* REPEAT:

But the administration’s devised a way to postpone the pain one more year, getting Obama past his last election; it plans to spend $8 billion to temporarily restore Medicare Advantage funds so that seniors in key markets don’t lose their trusted insurance program in the middle of Obama’s re-election bid.

* OH... READ ON... IT GETS WORSE!

The money is to come from funds that Health and Human Services is allowed to use for “demonstration projects.” [T]o make it legal, HHS has to pretend that it’s doing an “experiment” to study the effect of this money on the insurance market. That is, to “study” what happens when the government doesn’t change anything but merely continues a program that’s been going on for years.

* THAT SON OF A BITCH OBAMA...!!!

Obama can temporarily prop up Medicare Advantage long enough to get re-elected by exploiting an obscure bit of federal law. Under a 1967 statute, the HHS secretary can spend money without specific approval by Congress on “experiments” directly aimed at “increasing the efficiency and economy of health services.”

Past demonstration projects have studied new medical techniques or strategies aimed at improving care or reducing costs.

The point is to find ways to lower the costs of Medicare by allowing medical technocrats to make efficient decisions without interference from vested interests.

Now Obama means to turn it on its head — diverting the money to a blatantly non-experimental purpose to serve his political needs.

* BASTARD...!

A Government Accounting Office report released this morning shows, quite starkly, that there simply is no experiment being conducted, just money being spent. Understandably, the GAO recommends that HHS cancel the project.

Congress should immediately launch an investigation into this unprecedented misuse of taxpayer money and violation of the public trust, which certainly presses the boundaries of legality and very well may breach them.

If he’s not stopped, Obama will spend $8 billion in taxpayer funds for a scheme to mask the debilitating effects on seniors of his signature piece of legislation just long enough to get himself re-elected.

Now that is some serious audacity.

April 23, 2012 at 9:33 AM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/us/politics/shift-on-executive-powers-let-obama-bypass-congress.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

One Saturday last fall, President Obama interrupted a White House strategy meeting to raise an issue not on the agenda. He declared, aides recalled, that the administration needed to more aggressively use executive power to govern in the face of Congressional obstructionism.

* OBAMA'S NEW PLATFORM - "FTC". IT STANDS FOR... "F__K THE CONSTITUTION!"

“We had been attempting to highlight the inability of Congress to do anything,” recalled William M. Daley, who was the White House chief of staff at the time. “The president expressed frustration, saying we have got to scour everything and push the envelope in finding things we can do on our own.”

* IN OTHER WORDS... "FTC."

For Mr. Obama, that meeting was a turning point. As a senator and presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting the role of Congress. And during his first two years in the White House, when Democrats controlled Congress, Mr. Obama largely worked through the legislative process to achieve his domestic policy goals.

* NOTE THAT LITTLE BOW TO REALITY OF "LARGELY."

(*SMIRK*)

* REMEMBER "DEEMING" LEGISLATION TO HAVE PASSED...???

But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress. Branding its unilateral efforts “We Can’t Wait,” a slogan that aides said Mr. Obama coined at that strategy meeting, the White House has rolled out dozens of new policies...

* THAT BY ANY REASONABLE READING OF THE CONSTITUTION VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION!

Each time, Mr. Obama has emphasized the fact that he is bypassing lawmakers.

* AND BECAUSE REID AND SENATE DEMOCRATS CARE MORE ABOUT PARTISAN POWER THAN UPHOLDING THEIR OATHS OF OFFICE TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES... (*SIGH*)... OBAMA IS GETTING AWAY WITH IT.

* TO BE CONTINUED...

April 23, 2012 at 10:03 AM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

When he announced a cut in refinancing fees for federally insured mortgages last month, for example, he said: “If Congress refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.”

* FOLKS... BLATANTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL! AND YET...

(*SIGH*)

Aides say many more such moves are coming.

* FOLKS... THIS IS THE NYT REPORTING THIS! EVEN THE LIBERALS ARE GETTING SPOOKED!

Mr. Obama has issued signing statements...

* SOMETHING CANDIDATE OBAMA - SENATOR OBAMA - CRITICIZED BUSH FOR ENGAGING IN!

The Obama administration started down this path soon after Republicans took over the House of Representatives last year.

* IN OTHER WORDS, NEITHER THE CONSTITUTION NOR THE POPULAR WILL CAN DETER OBAMA FROM ENGAGING IN SUCH BEHAVIOR.

In February 2011, Mr. Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages, against constitutional challenges. Previously, the administration had urged lawmakers to repeal it, but had defended their right to enact it.

* IT'S... A... LAW...!!! THE PRESIDENT TAKES AN OATH TO DEFEND... THE... LAW...!!!

In the following months, the administration [misused] ...environmental regulations, gave states waivers from federal mandates if they agreed to [his] education "overhauls," and refocused deportation policy in a way that in effect granted relief...

* IN EFFECT PARDONS - ABSENT THE "POLITICALLY CHARGED" CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS OF LEGAL PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS!

...to some illegal immigrants...

Each step substituted for a faltered legislative proposal.

* BUT AS WE ALL KNOW... THE CONSTITUTIONAL DOESN'T ALLOW FOR SUCH "SUBSTITUTION!"

Earlier this year, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, delivered a series of floor speeches accusing Mr. Obama of acting “more and more like a king that the Constitution was designed to replace” and imploring colleagues of both parties to push back against his “power grabs.”

* YEAH... AS IF THE DEMOCRATS HAD INTEGRITY. (*SMIRK*)

Democratic lawmakers have been largely quiet...

* AS I WAS SAYING... (*SMIRK*)

For their part, Republicans appear to have largely acquiesced. Mr. Grassley said in an interview that his colleagues were reluctant to block even more bills and nominations in response to Mr. Obama’s “chutzpah,” lest they play into his effort to portray them as making Congress dysfunctional.

“Some of the most conservative people in our caucus would adamantly disagree with what Obama did on recess appointments, but they said it’s not a winner for us,” he said.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... REPUBLICANS ARE LARGELY SCUMBAGS TOO! THE REALITY IS THAT AMERICA IS NO LONGER A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC GOVERNED BY THE RULE OF LAW.

April 23, 2012 at 10:03 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-17-23/mf-global-roundup-so-far-great-escape-teflon-don-corzine-bankruptcy-shenaniga

* JON CORZINE.

* WHY ISN'T HE IN JAIL?

* WHY DO WE HEAR NOTHING (WELL... EXCEPT FOR THIS NEWSBITE) ABOUT THE FORMER DEMOCRATIC U.S. SENATOR AND FORMER DEMOCRAT GOV. OF NEW JERSEY - STILL A MAJOR OBAMA "BUNDLER" TO THIS DAY?

* FOLKS... DO YOU REALLY THINK IT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE THAT THE CORZINE SCANDAL IS BEING SCRUBBED FROM THE NATION'S CONSCIOUSNESS?

April 23, 2012 at 10:49 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50998

Planning a vacation this summer to Miami’s Biscayne Bay for a little fishing?

Think again, because the National Park Service wants to set aside a large swath of the pristine area as a marine reserve zone, so you might have to leave the fishing poles at home. And the boat.

Perhaps horseback riding is more your speed and the family plans to ride through California’s Sequoia or Kings Canyon National Parks? Sorry, but all of the permits were pulled for those activities this summer.

Or maybe you just want to lounge on the soft sands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and read a novel, fly a kite with the kids, toss a Frisbee to the dog, and watch dad catch some fish?

No, no, no and no.

Beachcombers along specific stretches of those legendary shores are seeing signs telling them to leave their kites and pets at home, and to watch where they step.

“Leave no footprints behind. Walk in water where footprints wash away,” read the signs posted in February by federal officials.

Beaches that once welcomed fisherman to drive up to the water’s edge are also off-limits to the vehicles, and so is fishing.

These vacation destinations are all national parks that once encouraged such recreational uses and enjoyment but their new “no trespassing” attitudes...

* REPRESENT AMERICA 2012 - YEAR FOUR OF THE AGE OF OBAMA.

* FOLKS... DAY IN AND DAY OUT I BUST MY ASS WITH THESE NEWSBITES...

(*SIGH*)

* I HOPE YOU'RE PASSING THIS BLOG'S EXISTENCE ON TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOKS. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AND THE SAD FACT IS... (*PAUSE*)... MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE. MOST PEOPLE DON'T READ. MOST PEOPLE ARE IGNORANT.

Roping off national parks to the public and limiting opportunities for recreation, which in some cases were at the request of environmental groups, is a growing trend...

(*PURSED LIPS*) (*GRITTING MY TEETH*)

In California, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes says that by eliminating horseback rides to the backcountry, the National Park Service has essentially blocked the only access that many Americans, including those with disabilities and the elderly, have to wilderness areas. The new restrictions are the result of a lawsuit brought by environmentalists who say the activity may be a threat to nature.

Losing the permits means that at least 15 companies that provided horseback rides are out of work this summer, along with an estimated 500 employees.

* YOU THINK THIS IS A FUCKING JOKE, PEOPLE?! IT'S NOT A FUCKING JOKE! PEOPLES LIVELIHOODS ARE BEING STOLEN FROM THEM!

John Couch, who owns the Red Drum Tackle Shop in Buxton, N.C. and is president of the Outer Banks Preservation Association, said the community supports protections for the birds and turtles, but that the park service is being unreasonable and “heavy-handed” by cutting off miles and miles of access to the beaches and the recreation it provides.

“Experiences that visitors expect are now closed off because of hugely excessive and unprecedented buffer zones that just closes off the beach,” Couch said. “These are immense obstacles.”

Couch says the restrictions have already proven to be bad for the tourism industry.

“These overzealous restrictions have taken a heavy toll on the tackle shop; business is off by 30%-50%. It’s bad,” Couch said.

“It’s fine and dandy to protect the environment, but at the same time we have a mandate to provide protection of resources, as well as enhance the future and present recreational opportunities. But that’s not what’s going on. Now it’s a single mandate which is to protect the environment,” Couch said.

April 23, 2012 at 11:03 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-04-20/news/31371888_1_voter-fraud-ballot-boxes-john-mccain

John McCain's 2008 campaign staff allegedly had evidence that Democrats stuffed ballot boxes in Pennsylvania and Ohio on election night, but McCain chose not to pursue voter fraud, according to internal Stratfor emails published by WikiLeaks.

In an email sent on November 7, 2008, and titled " Insight - The Dems & Dirty Tricks ** Internal Use Only - Pls Do Not Forward **," Stratfor vice president of intelligence Fred Burton wrote:

1) The black Dems were caught stuffing the ballot boxes in Philly and Ohio as reported the night of the election and Sen. McCain chose not to fight. The matter is not dead inside the party. It now becomes a matter of sequence now as to how and when to "out".

In an email sent two days earlier and titled "Insight - McCain #5 ** internal use only - Pls do not forward **," Burton wrote:

After discussions with his inner circle, which explains the delay in his speech, McCain decided not to pursue the voter fraud in PA and Ohio, despite his staff's desire to make it an issue. He said no. Staff felt they could get a federal injunction to stop the process. McCain felt the crowds assembled in support of Obama and such would be detrimental to our country and it would do our nation no good for this to drag out like last go around, coupled with the possibility of domestic violence.

The Nov. 7 email also contains allegations that Democrats made a "six-figure donation" to Rev. Jesse Jackson to silence him on the topic of Israel after an October 2008 interview in which he said Obama’s presidency would remove the clout of “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades.”

Burton, who appears to be friendly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote:

2) It appears the Dems "made a donation" to Rev. Jesse (no, they would never do that!) to keep his yap shut after his diatribe about the Jews and Israel. A little bird told me it was a "nice six-figure donation". This also becomes a matter of how and when to out.

The email also refers to an accusation that Obama's campaign took money from Russia, recalling memories of Bill Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign when the Justice Department uncovered evidence that China sought to make direct contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

Burton wrote:

3) The hunt is on for the sleezy Russian money into O-mans coffers. A smoking gun has already been found. Will get more on this when the time is right. My source was too giddy to continue. Can you say Clinton and ChiCom funny money? This also becomes a matter of how and when to out.

If true the allegations prompt questions of how the fallout has affected the politics of Obama's current administration and how it will effect this year's presidential election.

Interestingly, Mitt Romney is also facing allegations of voter fraud in Massachusetts as he cast a ballot for Republican Scott Brown in January 2010 in the special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy but didn’t own property in the state at the time.

Romney registered to vote listing his son’s unfinished basement as his residence, but the Romneys' former realtor told GOP consultant Fred Karger that they moved to California. Anyone found guilty of committing voter fraud faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Burton is a former Deputy Chief of the Department of State's counterterrorism division for the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). The DSS assists the Department of Defense in following leads and doing forensic analysis of hard drives seized by the U.S. government in ongoing criminal investigations.

* HAT TIP TO MY FRIEND BILL KULLS FOR BRINGING THIS MATTER TO MY ATTENTION!

April 23, 2012 at 3:00 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/us-defend-afghanistan-decade-drawdown-112505244.html

Washington has pledged in a newly agreed strategic pact to help defend Afghanistan militarily for at least a decade after the country formally takes control of its own security, an Afghan official said Monday.

* BY "WASHINGTON" THEY MEAN "OBAMA."

* DID CONGRESS VOTE ON THIS? HAS A TREATY BEEN SIGNED WITH THE APPROPRIATE CONSTITUTIONALLY MANDATED "ADVICE AND CONSENT" OF THE SENATE?

* FOLKS... AMERICA IS NO LONGER A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC.

The draft agreement signed on Sunday...

* FOLKS... AGAIN... CLEARLY AMERICA IS NO LONGER A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC! DID YOU HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE SUPPORT THIS? DID YOUR STATE'S TWO SENATORS SUPPORT THIS? PRESIDENTS SIMPLY DON'T HAVE THIS SORT OF UNILATERAL POWER UNDER THE CONSTITUTION!

The draft agreement on a long-delayed strategic partnership agreement ensures Americans will provide military and financial support to the Afghan people for at least a decade beyond the 2014 deadline.

* FOLKS... YOU'RE READING WHAT I'M READING. THE CONSTITUTION IS DEAD. AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THE LEGITIMACY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS AT THIS POINT NO LONGER A GIVEN.

* FOLKS... WHAT YOU'RE READING HERE AT NEWSBITES - DAY IN, DAY OUT... MONTH IN, MONTH OUT... YEAR IN, YEAR OUT - IS THE HISTORY OF A BLOODLESS COUP WAGED AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES BY A BIPARTISAN MAJORITY OF BOTH PARTIES.

The U.S. pledged in the agreement to continue to fund Afghan security forces after 2014.

* FOLKS... WE'RE BORROWING 43-CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR SPENT BY WASHINGTON. THIS IS INSANITY! WE'RE BORROWING MONEY FROM CHINA - EVER FURTHER INDEBTING OURSELVES TO THE COMMUNIST/FASCIST CHINESE - WITH PART OF THIS BORROWED MONEY NOW BEING PLEDGED TO GO TO THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT EVEN AFTER 2014!

U.S. officials have said they expect to pay about $4 billion a year to fund Afghan forces, but the funding would have to be approved by Congress.

* DO YOU WANT YOUR MEMBER OF THE HOUSE AND TWO U.S. SENATORS TO SUPPORT SUCH DIVERSION OF FUNDS...??? DO YOU WANT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO BORROW MONEY - IN YOUR NAME AND THAT OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN - IN ORDER TO SEND IT TO KARZAI AND HIS FELLOW DRUG RUNNING CRIMINALS...???

* FOLKS... THIS IS INSANITY!

U.S. officials have declined to comment on the document until it is signed, or to provide the original English text.

* FOLKS... AGAIN... THEY'RE BYPASSING NOT JUST THE SENATE AND THE CONSTITUTION... THEY'RE BYPASSING ALL PUBLIC SCRUTINY!

April 23, 2012 at 5:42 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.concordcoalition.org/press-releases/2012/0423/changes-trust-fund-balances-should-not-overshadow-dramatic-impact-aging-and

The Concord Coalition said today that the new annual report from the Social Security and Medicare Trustees underscores the unsustainable nature of both programs in their current forms...

* TELL US SOMETHING WE DON'T ALREADY KNOW!

(*SNICKER*)

Today’s report notes, for example, that Social Security’s negative cash flows add to the federal deficit despite the positive trust fund balance.

* THERE IS NO FUCKING "TRUST FUND." IT'S A BOOKKEEPING GIMMICK! IT'S A FRAUD...!!!

Social Security and Medicare had a total cash deficit of $403 billion in 2011, yet from a trust fund perspective they had a surplus of $36 billion.

(*GUFFAW*)

* FOLKS... A $403 DEFICIT IN 2011 ALONE! AND AS FOR THE "TRUST FUND SURPLUS," AGAIN, WHILE THE DEFICIT IS FACT - IS REAL - THIS SO-CALLED "SURPLUS" IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN UNFUNDED IOU FROM A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHICH BORROWS 43-CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR SPENT ON BASIC OPERATING COSTS TO ITSELF!

* JEEZUS, FOLKS... WAKE UP! IF THE GOVERNMENT COULD PAY OFF IT'S SOCIAL SECURITY "TRUST FUND" IOU'S THERE WOULD BE NO TRUST FUND DEFICIT - NOR FEDERAL DEFICIT AT ALL! CONGRESS AND THIS PRESIDENT ARE DIGGING US INTO A BIGGER HOLE EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY!

With thousands of Baby Boomers retiring and signing up for Social Security and Medicare benefits every day, the number of beneficiaries is rapidly expanding and will continue to do so throughout the next decade and beyond. Just from 2011 to 2012, Social Security will add 1.5 million beneficiaries, while Medicare will add 2 million. As the trustees explain, aging and this increase in beneficiaries “will be the largest single factor causing costs to grow more rapidly than GDP.”

* AND IF WE CAN'T MEET THE COSTS TODAY... (*SHRUG*)... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN 1.5 MILLION NEW SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES AND 2 MILLION NEW MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES ARE ADDED TO THE ROLLS...?!?!

Health care costs are also expected to grow more rapidly than the economy (GDP) even under the most optimistic assumptions...

(*SPINNING THE CHAMBER OF THE REVOLVER*)

April 23, 2012 at 6:09 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120423/AUTO0103/204230371/1148/auto01/GM-build-2013-Cadillac-XTS-China-year

General Motors Co. announced Monday at the Beijing auto show that it will begin building its all-new 2013 Cadillac XTS sedan in China this year and later will build the ELR luxury electric coupe in the country.

* SO... YA LIKE THAT, FOLKS...? NICE, HUH?! GOVERNMENT MOTORS SAYS "THANKS" TO THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS WHO BAILED THEM OUT.

* SUCKERS...

April 23, 2012 at 6:39 PM

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