Well, folks, another week...
(*GRIN*)
Looks like I'm gonna be on WTBQ radio 93.5 FM/1110 AM tomorrow morning between ten and eleven; tune in if you can!
Anyway... tomorrow is tomorrow... today is today... so let's get some Monday newsbites on the board!
8 comments:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/thousands-to-be-questioned-on-eligibility-for-health-insurance-subsidies.html?_r=0
Of the eight million people who signed up for private health plans through insurance exchanges under the new health care law, two million reported personal information that differed from data in government records, according to federal officials and Serco, the company hired to resolve such inconsistencies.
* OOPS...
Federal subsidies for the purchase of private insurance are a cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act.
* THE WHOLE POINT IS TO ENLARGE THE WELFARE STATE... TO ENLARGE GOVERNMENT...
More than eight out of 10 people who selected health plans through the exchanges from October through mid-April were eligible for subsidies...
* AND YOU WONDER WHY THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY WENT ALONG WITH OBAMACARE? CRONY CAPITALISM, FOLKS! SCREW THE TAXPAYERS WHILE ENRICHING THE OLIGARCHS AND FURTHER EMPOWERING GOVERNMENT!
For months, Republicans have asserted that the administration was lax in verifying the income and eligibility of people who applied for insurance subsidies.
* DOES ANYONE... ANYONE AT ALL... DOUBT THAT THE REPUBLICAN CLAIM IS TRUE...? (RHETORICAL QUESTION - THIS ARTICLE DEMONSTRATES THE TRUTH OF THE CHARGES!)
[S]upporters of the health care law worry that some of its chief beneficiaries will be upset if they find next spring that their tax liability is greater than they expected.
* HOW'BOUT ME...?!?! I'M UPSET THAT I'M PAYING MY OWN BILLS WHILE SUBSIDIZING THE BILLS OF OTHERS!
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that subsidies this year will average $4,400 for each person who receives a subsidy.
Subsidies depend on household income and the number of people in a family seeking assistance. But internal memorandums from the Department of Health and Human Services say that the insurance exchanges had no way to verify family size.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
The government has also had difficulty checking information about employer-sponsored insurance. The Obama administration delayed until 2015 a requirement for employers to inform the government of insurance that they provide.
* THINK ABOUT IT, FOLKS... WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? (RHETORICAL!) THEY'D DO THAT SO THAT THEY'D BE ABLE TO INITIALLY SIGN UP GREAT NUMBERS OF BENEFICIARIES SO AS TO CLAIM "SUCCESS" WHILE IGNORING COST. IT'S ALL A SCAM... SMOKE AND MIRRORS.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/federal-tax-revenues-set-record-through-may-feds-still-running-436b
Federal tax revenues continue to run at a record pace (in inflation-adjusted dollars) in fiscal 2014, as the federal government’s total receipts for the fiscal year closed May at an unprecedented $1,934,919,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement.
* AND YET...
Despite record revenue, the federal government still ran a deficit of $436.382 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2013 and will end on Sept. 30, 2014.
In the month of May alone, the federal government ran a deficit of $129.971 billion - bringing in $199.889 billion in revenue while spending $329.860 billion.
* FOLKS... ALL OF THIS BORROWING IS IN OUR NAMES. WE SHOULDER THE BILLS... THE INTEREST PAYMENTS... THE LOST OPPORTUNITY COSTS...
The White House Office of Management and Budget has estimated that in the full fiscal 2014, the federal government will collect $3.001721 trillion in taxes...
* AND SPEND...
...$3.650526 trillion, running a deficit of $648.805 billion.
* FOLKS... THERE SHOULD BE LOTTERIES. EACH MONTH A DEFICIT IS RUN, 10% OF THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS (PARTY PROPORTIONAL!) AND 10% OF SENIOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE RANDOMLY PICKED VIA LOTTERY AND... SHOT. PUT AGAINST A WALL AND FRIGGIN' SHOT.
When adjusted for inflation (to constant 2014 dollars), the second-greatest federal tax haul through May was in fiscal 2007. By the end of May that year, the federal government took in approximately 1.908 trillion in total receipts in constant 2014 dollars.
* AND YET THE NATION HAS NOT RECOVERED. WHILE TECHNICALLY WE'RE NOT IN RECESSION, BASICALLY WE ARE IN RECESSION AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT. LIKE DRUG ADDICTION THE DEFICIT SPENDING GENERATES AN EVER LESSENING FEELING OF EMPHORIA WHILE SLOWLY KILLING US.
The single largest source for the federal government’s record tax receipts in the first eight months of FY 2014 was the individual income tax, which brought the Treasury $903.024 trillion. The second largest source was what the Treasury calls “Social Insurance and Retirement Receipts,” which includes the Social Security payroll tax, the unemployment insurance tax and other retirement taxes. This accounted for $694.268 billion in tax revenue.
* MONEY THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE SEPARATE... MONEY THAT IS SUPPSED TO BE SAVED... INVESTED EVEN... BUT WHICH IS INSTEAD SQUANDERED. THERE IS NO LOCK BOX FOLKS. (WELL... TECHNICALLY THERE IS... BUT ALL IT HAS IN IT ARE IOU's - AND IF GOVERNMENT CAN MEET OPERATING EXPENSES HOW COULD IT EVER PAY OFF THOSE IOU's...???)
The third largest source of federal revenue in the first eight months of fiscal 2014 was the corporation income tax, which brought in $164.840 billion.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://thefederalist.com/2014/06/16/lacking-curiosity-lacking-credibility-the-medias-irs-scandal-problem/
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced that the IRS is claiming to have "lost" years of emails between former IRS official Lois Lerner and outside agencies and groups.
Lerner, who resigned under pressure for her role in the IRS targeting scandal, was also the woman who planted a question about the scandal in the audience at an American Bar Association tax meeting in May 2013. She has proclaimed her innocence and also taken the Fifth and been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about the role she played in the scandal.
The IRS is asking people to believe that the emails can’t be retrieved because Lerner’s computer crashed.
* UM... BACK-UPS...?! (THE IRS IS CLEARLY LYING.)
While the House oversight committee had requested copies of her emails for a year, they were only notified of this claim on Friday.
* AND NOT EVEN "GOOD" LIARS!
(*SNORT*)
The IRS provided some copies of emails that others in the IRS had been copied on to or from Lerner, but any emails between Lerner and officials at the White House, Treasury Department, Department of Justice, FEC, or Democrat offices, have not been provided.
* AND YET NO ONE IS LOCKED IN A JAIL CELL...
(*SHRUG*)
And yet the media don’t seem terribly interested in finding out more.
(*SMIRK*)
As of early Monday morning, there is no indication of the latest news on the scandal on the home page of CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and MSNBC, to name the first four sites I checked.
And in the case of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and MSNBC, there are no news stories about the lost emails anywhere on their site.
If you get your news from these media outlets, you literally haven’t heard word one about this latest update.
Covering up salacious scandal updates is appropriate behavior for public relations firms or house organs, perhaps, but it’s journalistically indefensible.
* AHH... BUT HERE'S THE PROBLEM: WITH THE MEDIA ACTING AS JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER... THEY DON'T REALLY NEED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.
[As to the Washington Post, that paper has no original content about the scandal, instead posting two AP reports online.
* UNFRIGGIN'BELIEVABLE...
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
The Washington Post, as its name suggests, is based in the nation’s capital, which is also where the IRS and the White House are based. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the paper’s not going to win a Pulitzer for coverage of this scandal.
(*SNORT*)
The only Politico story about the lost emails has this headline: "IRS, Republicans clash over Lois Lerner emails"
* GEEZUS...
There are two issues here. One is that this is perhaps the least important angle about a scandal involving targeting of political enemies. But another is that this is the only Politico story. Consider what becomes big news and what doesn’t and how that happens. To which I’ll note that a search for “Todd Akin” at Politico shows 39 results in the 24 hours after he made his stupid remarks. Finding 39 different angles to discuss a Missouri politician was easy-peasy. But what to say about a dog-bites-man story like “Whoopsie, one of the federal government’s most powerful agencies is embroiled in scandals targeting political opponents and just claims it lost two years of all the emails needed to determine how big of a scandal it is. Oh yeah, and they didn’t mention it for a dozen months after promising to provide said documents. Is that a problem?”
Great work, team.
As the scandals mount, they all seem to follow something of a pattern.
Reluctant Revelation: First you have the reluctant revelation of the scandal. It’s not that the media go digging for some dirt. Usually something incontrovertible comes up unrelated to media curiosity – like a U.S. Border Patrol agent ends up being killed by a gun the U.S. put into the hands of dangerous Mexican drug cartels or the IRS publicly admits that it had targeted Obama’s political enemies or it turns out that the Justice Department had secretly seized the phone records of more than 100 AP reporters.
Slow Roll: Then the Obama administration does the slow roll. Agencies and officials claim they’re unable to release relevant information to the media or Congressional overseers. FOIAs are thwarted or delayed. The administration might claim executive privilege or, if you can believe it, computer crashes.
Politics: The media then frequently analyze the scandal in terms of politics.
Old News: Finally the administration dismisses the scandal as old news (e.g. “Dude, this was, like, two years ago.“) and the public, for its part, gets fatigued by the sheer number of scandals and just gets overwhelmed.
This is not the sign of a healthy republic.
http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/06/16/the-world-ignites-on-obamas-watch/
[T]here is little doubt that the U.S. and our allies are less secure today than we were on January 20, 2009, when President Obama was sworn in.
American foreign policy isn’t going very well right now — not in Afghanistan, not in the Middle East, not in North Africa, not in the Russian borderlands, not where China seeks to extend its reach.
* NOT ON OUR FRIGGIN' SOUTHERN BORDER - WHERE WE'RE LITERALLY FACING AN INVASION OF OBAMA'S MAKING!
As Islamist jihadis like Boko Haram murder and kidnap their way across Nigeria and Mali in pursuit of what they somehow convince themselves is a noble purpose, as Iraq and Syria writhe in the flames of an insurgency gone into hyperdrive, as the Taliban licks its chops over the future of Afghanistan, and as the smoke rises over Karachi’s airport, Washington is still trying to pretend that the global war on terror is a thing of the past.
[T]he jihadis apparently aren’t getting the memos and the position papers!
* THE CHINESE ARE WAGING ACTIVE CYBER-WAR AGAINST US AND ARMING OUR ENEMIES WHILE CHALLENGING OUR FRIENDS IN JAPAN, SOUTH-EAST ASIA, AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC!
* FOLKS... OBAMA DID THIS. OBAMA... AND HILLARY... AND PANETTA. (BUSH DIDN'T LEAVE OUR PEOPLE TO DIE IN BENGAZI.)
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/06/16/New-Use-of-Force-Restrictions-Placed-on-Border-Patrol-Agents
U.S. Border Patrol will put in place new policies to restrict the use of force by agents.
* MEANING OBAMA APPOINTEES... THE POLITICAL MASTERS OF THE ACTUAL BORDER PATROL OFFICERS...
The new rules come amid the revelation that illegal immigrants are entering the U.S. at record rates and overwhelming federal resources.
* WHICH IS EXACTLY THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S GOAL; TO CAUSE THE PROBLEM, TO REFUSE TO FIX IT, AND THEN TO CLAIM THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO.
Under the new restrictions, Border Patrol agents will be required to avoid situations where deadly force may be used. "Examples include refraining from blocking moving vehicles' paths...
* NEXT TIME A COP "LIGHTS YOU UP" TRY IGNORING HIM AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS...
* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS ON THE SIDE OF THE LAW BREAKERS - NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT.
...or firing at rock-throwers...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
...unless in imminent danger, the Huffington Post reported. "Additionally, agents will be trained on how to carry and use lighter weapons, while also facing restrictions on taser use."
* BUT TASERS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LIGHTER WEAPONS!
Placing tight restrictions on Border Patrol agents could hinder their ability to protect the border or their own lives.
* "COULD...?!?!"
Shawn Moran, Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) told Breitbart Texas that Border Patrol agents put their lives at risk every day. Leaving them few options to defend themselves could put their lives in further jeopardy. "The lives of Border Patrol agents should not be pawns in the political games of Washington, D.C. and this administration is literally risking our lives," Moran said.
The new restrictions may hinder the ability of agents to effectively curb illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border.
* NOT "MAY." WILL!
Taylor thinks that Washington and the media should focus on the root of the problem, which in his view is border security, instead of allowing Border Patrol agents to be vilified. He said, "It's time for the U.S to get serious about immigration. We can start by taking away their incentives to be here. All benefits: medical, food stamps, public housing, education, everything. ...Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay."
* FOLKS... OUR OWN GOVERNMENT IS THE ENEMY HERE! "FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE" MEANS FUNDAMENTAL DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE AS WELL AS ECONOMIC CHANGE. IT ALWAYS HAS!
Earlier this month, NBPC's Moran echoed that sentiment on Fox News' "The Kelly File." "Right now we have an immigration system designed to fail and our agents the border patrol agents nationwide – they’re stuck in the middle. Our agents are doing the best they can with the resources they have. Border Patrol is under siege."
* AGAIN... THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MAKES NO BONES ABOUT IT; THEY'RE OPENLY CONSPIRING WITH THE LAWBREAKERS AND DOING EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO STIFLE LAW ENFORCEMENT!
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.humanevents.com/2014/06/10/the-endless-invasion-of-america/
How goes the Third World invasion of the United States?
According to a May report of the Center for Immigration Studies, of the 36,000 criminal aliens who, while awaiting deportation, were set free by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 193 had been convicted of homicide, 426 of sexual assault, 303 of kidnapping, 1,075 of aggravated assault, 1,160 for stolen vehicles, 9,187 for possession or use of dangerous drugs, and 16,070 for driving drunk or drugged.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
Those 36,000 criminal aliens are roughly equivalent to three-and-a-half [military] divisions of felons and social misfits released into our midst.
(And this does not include the 68,000 illegal aliens against whom ICE declined to press criminal charges last year, but turned loose.)
According to the AP, the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector made 148,017 arrests from Oct. 1 to May 17, while 62,876 were caught in the Tucson sector, the second-busiest crossing point.
That is almost 211,000 illegal aliens caught in just over half a year in just two sectors of the border. And that figure only tells us how many were caught, not how many got in, or how many of those caught were released and now reside among us.
Among those caught crossing into Texas these last seven months were 47,000 unaccompanied children. Border Patrol estimates that by Sept. 30, apprehensions of children and teenagers in this fiscal year could reach 90,000.
According to Gov. Jan Brewer, the feds have begun shipping illegal aliens, adults as well as children, from Texas to Arizona, “dumping” them into her state. “This is a humanitarian crisis and it requires a humanitarian response,” says Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski of the surge in children from Central America across the U.S. border.
* NO. THIS IS AN INVASION. IT REQUIRES A DIPLOMATIC - AND IF THAT DOESN'T WORK - MILITARY RESPONSE.
Attorney General Eric Holder has risen to the crisis. The U.S. will now provide lawyers for children who enter illegally, to fight their battle in U.S. courts to stay.
(*HEADACHE*)
“We’re taking this historic step,” says Holder, “to protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society. How we treat those in need — particularly young people who are fleeing violence, persecution, abuse or trafficking — goes to the core of who we are as a nation.”
* BUT THEY'RE NOT PART OF OUR SOCIETY! THEY'RE FOREIGNERS! IF THEY ARE UNHAPPY WITH CONDITIONS IN THEIR COUNTRIES THAN SHOULDN'T THEY FIX THEIR COUNTRIES...???
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
Somehow the core contention of James Burnham’s “Suicide of the West,” out 50 years ago this year, comes to mind.
“Liberalism,” wrote Burnham. “is the ideology of Western suicide.”
* YEP...
America and the West must face up to what is happening to our countries and our civilization. ... Treating with contempt U.S. and European laws, peoples from failed states of the Third World are steadily filling up our countries and reducing our native-born into slowly shrinking national majorities.
* WHY DO DEMOCRATS HATE BLACK AMERICANS? (SHOULDN'T WE BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT BLACK AMERICANS... AND BROWN AMERICANS... THAN BROWN FOREIGNERS...?
If this continues over many more decades, Western nations as we knew them will disappear forever, and be remade in the image of those who have newly arrived, and the countries whence they came.
* MANY OF OUR BLUEST STATES ALREADY GOVERN AS THEY DO IN THE THIRD WORLD... FRAUD AND CORRUPTION RAMPANT...
When, ever, did Americans vote for this?
* WITTINGLY...? IN 1996 AND AGAIN IN 2012.
What would constitute a pro-American immigration policy? A moratorium on all immigration until unemployment among U.S. citizens falls below five percent?
* SOUNDS REASONABLE... WITH VERY LIMITED EXCEPTIONS OF COURSE TO PROVIDE FOR EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE IT'S CLEARLY IN AMERICA'S BEST INTEREST TO GIVE SOMEONE CITIZENSHIP.
A 15-foot security fence from San Diego to the Gulf, with Border Patrol outposts every 10 miles?
* SOUNDS EXPENSIVE... BUT I "GET" THE CONCEPT...
Fines and community service for businessmen who hire illegal aliens.
* JAIL TIME!
Europe is facing the same crisis. This past weekend, 5,200 migrants were caught on boats crossing from Africa to Italy. Spain and Greece, too, are major crossing points from sub-Sahara Africa and the Arab and Islamic world into the heart of Europe. Yet as we saw in the May European parliamentary elections, the peoples of Europe are not going quietly into that good night that their elites have prepared for them.
They want to preserve the unique countries that they once were. Frenchmen want France to remain France, as the Brits want to remain British.
* THE PEOPLE... NOT NECESSARILY THE ELITES...
The Republican establishment of Jeb Bush, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the Senate hierarchy is prepared to collaborate with Barack Obama on a halt to deportations and partial amnesty. If so, we shall find out whether the Republican Party still has a heart and soul, or whether, in the last analysis, it comes down to the money.”
* THE MONEY. (AT LEAST FOR THOSE NAMED...)
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