Monday, April 7, 2014

Barker's Newsbites: Monday, April 7, 2014


Mickey Rooney died yesterday... bummer.

 Rest in peace.


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3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20140406/DAD0NOP00.html

At the prodding of "business organizations," House Republicans quietly secured a recent change in President Barack Obama's health law to expand coverage choices...

(*RAISING ONE EYEBROW*)

* I PUT THE QUOTES AROUND "BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS. ARE WE TALKING WALL STREET OR MAIN STREET...? OBVIOUSLY THE AP IS TRYING TO MANIPULATE READERS... "QUIETLY SECURED"... BUT I'M KEEPING AN OPEN MIND.

Democrats describe the change involving small-business coverage options as a straightforward improvement of the type they are eager to make...

(*NOW RAISING THE OTHER EYEBROW*)

...and Obama signed it into law.

* WOW. WE'RE BACK TO CONGRESS MAKING LAW?

(*SMIRK*)

No member of the House GOP leadership has publicly hailed the fix, which was tucked, at Republicans' request, into legislation preventing a cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients.

* SCUMBAGS...

It is unclear how many members of the House rank and file knew of it because the legislation was passed by a highly unusual voice vote without debate.

* TOTAL SCUMBAGS...!

The provision itself was relatively minor. It eliminated a cap on deductibles for small group policies offered inside the law's health care exchanges as well as outside; the cap was set at $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families.

* I... er... GUESS... THAT'S OK...

Republicans said they sought it so small businesses can offer high-deductible plans that could be purchased by individuals who also have health savings accounts.

* MAKES SENSE...

The health law contains no deductible caps for individual plans or those offered by large employers...

* OK... SO THEY'RE SIMPLY CREATING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD... (AT LEAST THAT'S HOW IT SOUNDS...)

... and the Department of Health and Human Services already had waived them for small businesses through 2015.

* ABSENT ANY LEGAL/CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY... (BUT THAT'S ANOTHER ISSUE!)

The legislation means they will never go into effect.

April 7, 2014 at 11:02 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/04/05/students-rally-to-support-teacher-accused-in-wild-fistfight-caught-on-cell-phone-video/

A video showing a teacher and wrestling coach at Santa Monica High School fighting with a student that was captured on cell phone video has gone viral.

While the teacher and coach has been placed on leave, scores of students took to social media on Saturday to support him.

In a letter to parents, Sandra Lyon, the superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, said the altercation happened in a classroom Friday morning.

“A deeply disturbing incident involving a teacher and student occurred in a classroom at Santa Monica High School, resulting in the Santa Monica Police Department being called to the campus. A number of videos capturing at least a portion of the incident are circulating, and I can tell you that what I witnessed on one of those videos is utterly alarming,” Lyon wrote.

Lyon added, “Based on what I have viewed, the kind of physical restraint used by the teacher is unacceptable. I have placed the teacher on leave pending the outcome of an independent investigation.”

* FOLKS... UTILIZE THE ABOVE-PROVIDED LINK TO CONNECT TO THE NEWS REPORT AND VIDEO. THIS SUPERINTENDENT IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE PLACE ON LEAVE! IN FACT, THIS SUPERINTENDENT SHOULD BE FIRED!

On Friday KCAL9’s Bobby Kaple reported that witnesses said the incident unfolded because the student was openly holding a bag of marijuana.

(*SNORT*)

When the teacher, who students identified as science teacher Mark Black, tried to confiscate it, the student got physical.

* AND THE SUPERINTENDENT BELIEVES THAT THE TEACHER IS THE PROBLEM...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

On Saturday, KCAL9′s Cristy Fajardo said there was an outpouring of support for Black. On Facebook, a page backing Coach Black has thousands of “likes.”

[M]any students and parented fired off angry emails saying that Lyon acted hastily. There were also calls from many of these students for Lyon to resign. They also said it was clear the teacher was defending himself.

Parent Michelle Cardel said, “The coach has the entire community behind him. I think an investigation should be done before anyone rushes to judgement.”

The coach’s supporters vow to pack the next school board meeting (scheduled for the first week of May, due to spring break.)

On Saturday evening, Lyon sent Fajardo an email explaining her decision to put Black on leave.

She wrote, “I want to emphasize that placing the teacher who was involved in this incident, on leave pending completion of an investigation is a matter of standard policy and practice. It in no way prejudices the outcome of the investigation. No decision has been made, nor will any decision be made, before gathering and reviewing all the information.”

* GIVE ME A FRIGGIN' BREAK! YOU COULD HAVE HELD A PRELIMINARY HEARING WITHIN DAYS OF THE "INCIDENT" (A GRAND JURY OF SORTS) AND THEN IF NEED BE A FULL FORMAL HEARING WITHIN A WEEK OR TWO - MAX - OF THE "INCIDENT."

* THIS SUPERINTENDENT IS A TOTAL INCOMPETENT WHO SHOULDN'T BE INVOLVED WITHIN A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

April 7, 2014 at 11:36 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/07/committee-staff-report-no-progressive-groups-were-targeted-by-irs/

IRS agents testified before Congress that the agency’s political targeting did not apply to progressive groups as Democrats and the media have claimed, according to a bombshell new staff report prepared by the House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa.

IRS agents testified before Oversight that ACORN groups were scrutinized because the agency thought they were old organizations applying as new ones. Emerge America was scrutinized for potential “improper private benefit.” No evidence exists that the IRS requested additional information from any Occupy Wall Street group.

“Only seven applications in the IRS backlog contained the word ‘progressive,’ all of which were then approved by the IRS, while Tea Party groups received unprecedented review and experienced years-long delays.

While some liberal-oriented groups were singled out for scrutiny, evidence shows it was due to non-political reasons,” according to the Oversight staff report, which was obtained by The Daily Caller.

“[T]he Administration and congressional Democrats have seized upon the notion that the IRS’s targeting was not just limited to conservative applicants,” the report states. “These Democratic claims are flat-out wrong and have no basis in any thorough examination of the facts.

* IN OTHER WORDS... THE DEMS AND THEIR MEDIA ALLIES LIED... AGAIN...

Yet, the Administration’s chief defenders continue to make these assertions in a concerted effort to deflect and distract from the truth about the IRS’s targeting of tax-exempt applicants.”

* ONE MORE TIME...

“[T]here is simply no evidence that any liberal or progressive group received enhanced scrutiny because its application reflected the organization’s political views,” the report stated.

April 7, 2014 at 4:27 PM

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