Thursday, January 01, 2015

A Reminder for those who forgot or for many that didn't know.......

A reminder for those who forgot or for many that didn't know


Here is what will happen on January 1, 2015 :

Top Medicare tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%  

Top Income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%  

Top Income payroll tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%  

Capital Gains tax went from 15% to 28%  

Dividends tax went from 15% to 39.6%  

Estate tax went from 0% to 55%  

Remember this fact:  

These taxes were all passed only with democrat votes, no republicans voted for these taxes.  

These taxes were all passed under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

If you think that it is important that everyone in the U.S. should know this,  pass it  on. If not, then delete it.


41A97E97F01044F5A1CB88BB97FB5F2D

Sunday, July 06, 2014

MSNBC Shocked: Nearly 90% of Americans Support Consitutinal Carry! By Dean Garrison July 6, 2014.

MSNBC Shocked: Nearly 90% of Americans Support Constitutional Carry


For those who wonder why MSNBC has lost nearly half of its viewers, this might serve as yet another example. A poll, hosted on MSNBC.com, asked a simple question:
Do you think people should be allowed to carry guns in public?

People were given three options for answering and, with 90,000+ votes cast, here are the current numbers (as of July 6, 2014):
This result does not fit in with the network's leftist narrative or agenda. To listen to MSNBC you would think that 90% of Americans are begging to turn in their guns so that they can receive the proper state protection.
I would not look for these poll results to be featured on any network shows in the near future. Remember, this is the same network that defended Rhode Island State Senator Josh Miller after he told a gun rights activist to, "Go F*ck Yourself."
The truth is that American people are listening to the reports of violence and they are taking notes. But they simply do not agree with the proposed solutions given by the government or main stream media. They do not trust either source and it is beginning to show in both polls and media ratings.
The solution is to arm and protect yourself. People are not quite as stupid as MSNBC, et al, tend to assume. When we see stories of mass shootings and violence our first instinct is not to turn in all of our guns.
This is America and we believe in the right to protect ourselves.
We all know that bad guys are going to find gunsswordsbombs or whatever it takes to kill innocent people. No policy of gun confiscation will change that. We certainly can't trust the police to defend us. In a hostile situation, there is no time to call 911. And let's not forget that, in some cases, the cops are the bad guys.
The truth is, contrary to reports from Bloomberg and Obama, even the left is very much in support of the Second Amendment. It's only the very vocal extremist left that says otherwise.
They pretend to speak for all of America when they do not even represent the majority will of their own party.
Somehow the argument of, "There are bad guys everywhere. You must turn in your guns so we can protect you…" doesn't yet wash with Americans. The brainwash is seemingly incomplete.
People are beginning to make the connection and see the media for what it is. Every media outlet has an agenda. Some just refuse to admit it.
I'd be very surprised if MSNBC doesn't rip down this poll at some point.
For now, however, this is the most truth to come from MSNBC in a long time.

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/07/msnbc-shocked-nearly-90-americans-support-constitutional-carry/#plbKtB7Qlkmb6e61.99

Monday, December 02, 2013

HOWARD DEAN: Employers Have No Right to Make Health Decisions, but Government Does! by Susan Jones Dec. 2, 2013.

Howard Dean: Employers Have No Right to Make Health Decisions, But Gov't Does



Screen Shot 2013-12-02 at 2.11.28 PM

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a liberal Democrat, says decisions about health care should rest with the federal government, not with individual employers who pay for their workers’ health insurance.
“So, you know, this is one country,” Dean told CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley on Sunday. “We all have to live by a set of things that are passed in Washington and agreed to by the court. We’ll see what the court does, but I don’t think a particular employer has a right to decide what kind of health care their employees are going to get. That’s now in the hands of the federal government, and that’s where it should be.”
Dean was talking about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear Hobby Lobby’s challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s birth control-abortion-sterilization mandate. The store’s owners are devout Catholics who argue that the government cannot compel them to violate religious beliefs.

CHRISTIANITY... http://thetruthwins.com

IF YOU DIDN"T KNOW WHAT RELIGION THE PRESIDENT WAS... AFTER READING THIS WHAT RELIGION MIGHT YOU THINK THAT HE BELONGS TO??

Christianity 
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You are about to read some of the most shocking quotes that Barack Obama has ever uttered in public. A few of these have been widely circulated, but most of them are very obscure.

Even though he claims to be a Christian, throughout his political career Obama has repeatedly attacked traditional Biblical Christianity and he has a very long history of anti-Christian actions.

In public speeches he has repeatedly cast doubt on the Bible, he has repeatedly stated that he does not believe that Jesus is necessary for salvation, and he has consistently said that he believes that all “people of faith” believe in the same God.

At the same time, Obama has always referred to Muhammed as “the Prophet”, he has always expressed great love and respect for Islam, and he has even removed all references to Islam from terror training materials used by federal government agencies.

So what in the world does “the leader of the free world” actually believe? Read the quotes below and decide for yourself…

20 Quotes By Barack Obama About Islam

#1 “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”

#2 “The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer”

#3 “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country.”

#4 “As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam.”

#5 “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

#6 “Islam has always been part of America”

#7 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

#8 “These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.”

#9 “America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

#10 “I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam.”

#11 “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

#12 “So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed”

#13 “In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.”

#14 “throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”

#15 “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality”

#16 “The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’”

#17 “I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.”

#18 “We’ve seen those results in generations of Muslim immigrants – farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and build our cities, the Muslim innovators who helped build some of our highest skyscrapers and who helped unlock the secrets of our universe.”

#19 “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

#20 “I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.”

20 Quotes By Barack Obama About Christianity

#1 “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation”

#2 “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.”

#3 “Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?”

#4 “Even those who claim the Bible’s inerrancy make distinctions between Scriptural edicts, sensing that some passages – the Ten Commandments, say, or a belief in Christ’s divinity – are central to Christian faith, while others are more culturally specific and may be modified to accommodate modern life.”

#5 “The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage nevertheless are opposed to a Constitutional amendment to ban it. Religious leadership need not accept such wisdom in counseling their flocks, but they should recognize this wisdom in their politics.”

#6 From Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope: “I am not willing to have the state deny American citizens a civil union that confers equivalent rights on such basic matters as hospital visitation or health insurance coverage simply because the people they love are of the same sex—nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount.”

#7 Obama’s response when asked what his definition of sin is: “Being out of alignment with my values.”

#8 “If all it took was someone proclaiming I believe Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins, and that was all there was to it, people wouldn’t have to keep coming to church, would they.”

#9 “This is something that I’m sure I’d have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and prostelytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell.”

#10 “I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.”

#11 “I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.”

#12 “I’ve said this before, and I know this raises questions in the minds of some evangelicals. I do not believe that my mother, who never formally embraced Christianity as far as I know … I do not believe she went to hell.”

#13 “Those opposed to abortion cannot simply invoke God’s will–they have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths.”

#14 On his support for civil unions for gay couples: “If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount.”

#15 “You got into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them.

And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

#16 “In our household, the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology”

#17 “On Easter or Christmas Day, my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites.”

#18 “we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own”

#19 “All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra — (applause) — as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, peace be upon them, joined in prayer. (Applause.)”

#20 “I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.”

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2013/October02/021.html#99JIoXe5dZ34m7v2.99

http://www.sierrawave.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/symonsambulance.jpg

Posted: 30 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST

symonsambulance.jpgFor the past two years, Symons Ambulance of San Bernardino and Bishop was named by Inc. Magazine in its “List of 5,000″ as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation with revenue this year listed at $3.9 million. Also this year, Symons has failed to pay the City of Bishop $13,000 for several months of ambulance dispatch services, failed to negotiate a new contract which expired in July, failed to cooperate with financial documents and discussions. Now the City faces the possibility of termination of dispatch service for Symons. This does not mean an end to ambulance service, but it could mean an end to the Bishop Police Department dispatching ambulances.
In a press release issued by the Bishop Police Department, officials say, “At the regularly scheduled City Council meeting ofDecember 9th, Police Chief Chris Carter will ask the Bishop City Council to consider discontinuing providing dispatch service to Symons Emergency Specialties (Ambulance) effective January 1, 2014.”  The press release goes on to say that “This request from Chief Carter comes after several months of negotiations with Symons in an attempt to renew an existing contract.”
Symons Ambulance originated in Bishop with founder, Judd Symons. Now, it is a major company with millions in revenue, according to Inc. Magazine. The Symons Ambulance website says the company is the ambulance provider for Southern California areas, including a newly opened Loma Linda University Medical Center in Murrieta. The site also says Symons Ambulance raced the first ambulance in the Baja 1000 on November 18th and recently opened a division in Henderson, Nevada. So why the lack of response and payment to the City of Bishop?
We called Dr. Jeff Grange, President and CEO of Symons Ambulance. When asked about the delinquent payments to Bishop, Dr. Grange said he has been out of the country and needed more information before he could comment. We placed a call to Judd Symons. He did not return our call.
Two days later, Dawn Downs of Symons Ambulance emailed to Sierra Wave Media a brief response to the Bishop Police press release. It is one paragraph and available, along with the Bishop press release, at the end of this story. The Symons ambulance response, signed by Judd Symons, did not answer why payments have not been made nor a contract negotiated. The statement did say that the company has its own dispatch center in San Bernardino but had an agreement in Bishop for such services and has been renegotiating the contract. The statement claims it has insurance reimbursement problems but says they will continue to provide service in Bishop. It was unstated if Symons will pay the City or what dispatch services they will use.
The Police Department has continued to provide dispatch services in spite of non-payment and an un-renewed contract. The Bishop press release says Symons Ambulance had asked the City to reduce their charges, “citing low reimbursement rates and financial difficulties.” The release says Chief Carter brought this request along with proposed contract changes to the City Council in October. The release says, “At that time the City Council was willing to consider the requested changes, however also asked that Symons produce a financial statement verifying the need to reduce the amount the City charges Symons for providing this service.” At news time, Symons had not provided that documentation.
In spite of repeated requests to bring their account current, Symons has failed to pay the City since February and owes $13,000. The press release says initially, Symons Ambulance officials found the terms of the dispatch contract to be “reasonable and fair”. The release says, “While the City of Bishop recognizes and appreciates the valuable service to the public that Symons provides, we cannot ignore the fact that Symons is a private, for-profit business. As such, they are not entitled to have their operation funded with taxpayer monies.”
The press release says all of this does not mean that Symons will cease operations in Bishop. The Police Department, however, would not be responsible for dispatching ambulances to where they are needed. That responsibility would fall on Symons to determine.
The final paragraph of the Police Department press release says that “Chief Carter and the City of Bishop have gone to extraordinary measures in attempts to work with Symons in order to settle the matter and continue to assist Symons in providing services to our citizens. Unfortunately,” says the City, “it appears that an agreement will not be forthcoming.”
 BISHOP POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE:
City Council to Consider Termination of Dispatch Service to Symons
Emergency Specialties (Ambulance)
At the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting of December 9, 2013, Chief Chris Carter of the Bishop Police Department will ask the Bishop City Council to consider discontinuing providing dispatch service to Symons Emergency Specialties (Ambulance), effective January 1, 2014.  This request from Chief Carter comes after several months of negotiations with Symons in an attempt to renew an existing contract.
In July of 2012, Symons Ambulance and the City of Bishop entered into a contract whereby the Police Department would dispatch Symons ambulances throughout the greater Bishop area.
That contract expired in July of 2013 and the Police Department has continued to provide dispatching of ambulances while attempts to renegotiate the contract were ongoing.   During the negotiations process Symons Emergency Specialties, which is based out of San Bernardino, had made a request for the City to reduce their charges, citing low reimbursement rates and financial difficulties.  Chief Carter brought this request along with other proposed changes to the contract before the Bishop City Council in October.  At that time the City Council was willing to consider the requested changes, however also asked that Symons produce a financial statement verifying the need to reduce the amount the City charges Symons for providing this service.
As of today, Symons Emergency Specialties has not responded to the City’s request to provide documentation of financial hardship.  Additionally, Symons owes the City approximately $13,000 and has not remitted payment for services to the City of Bishop since February of 2013, despite repeated requests that they attempt to bring their account into balance.
When the contract was originally constructed, a representative of Symons met with Chief Carter and City Administrator Keith Caldwell.  The terms and conditions of the contract were determined to be reasonable and fair and thereafter agreed to by all parties.  While the City of Bishop recognizes and appreciates the valuable service to the public that Symons provides, we cannot ignore the fact that Symons is a private, for-profit business.  As such, they are not entitled to have their operation funded with tax payer monies.  Even where one Government Agency is providing similar service to another, the costs for those services must be covered.  Currently the Town of Mammoth Lakes Police Department contracts with Mono County for law enforcement dispatching services.  The Town of Mammoth Lakes is contractually obligated to pay Mono County for this service.
This does not mean that Symons will cease operations and there will be no ambulance service, it only means that the Bishop Police Department will not be responsible for dispatching ambulances to where they are needed.  This responsibility will now fall back upon Symons and they will determine how best to accomplish this task.
Chief Carter and the City of Bishop have gone to extraordinary measures in attempts to work with Symons in order to settle the matter and continue to assist Symons in providing service to our citizens.  Unfortunately, it appears that an agreement will not be forthcoming.  Should the Bishop City Council agree to Chief Carter’s request, the Police Department will discontinue service effective January 1, 2014.
SYMONS AMBULANCE STATEMENT:
Symons Ambulance remains committed to providing the residents of Bishop with the highest quality ambulance service.   Symons Ambulance has it own dispatch center in San Bernardino, however, in order to provide better service to the local community, Symons had an agreement with the Bishop Police Department for dispatch services.  Due to increasingly decreased reimbursements for emergency services, Symons has been in the process of renegotiating the dispatch contract and already made the first payment for services rendered.   The residents of Bishop can continue to rely upon Symons Ambulance to provide them with timely, compassionate, high quality medical care.
Judd Symons

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

More Icy Fun, A Sierra Wave Story.. Nov. 26, 2013..

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 02:23 PM PST
icerinkThe Mammoth Ice Rink is an outdoor facility located in the Town of Mammoth Lakes offering public skating sessions, pick-up hockey, lessons and special events. The Mammoth Ice Rink is scheduled to open for the 2013/14 season on Friday, November 29, 2013. Get your skates on!  (TOML Press Release)
Check out the Winter ScheduleSpecial Promotions, NEW Friday Night Lessons, and Winter Rates. You can also call (760) 934-2505 during operating hours or the Recreation Department Office at (760) 934-8989 ext. 222 for additional information.
You can also call (760) 934-2505 during operating hours or the Recreation Department Office at (760) 934-8989 ext. 222 for additional information.
WE ASK FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND CONSIDERATION DURING EFFORTS TO RE-OPEN THE FACILITY AFTER A WINTER STORM.
Amenities
Amenities include skate sharpening, skate rentals and snack and beverage services. The Mammoth Ice Rink is a drug, tobacco and alcohol free facility. Kids 4 and under must skate with an adult, and children 10 and under must be supervised by an adult at all times. The Mammoth Ice Rink is owned and operated by the Town of Mammoth Lakes through a partnership with the Mammoth Unified School District and Mono County Office of Education. The Town of Mammoth Lakes is committed to providing the most enjoyable outdoor ice-skating experience possible.
Location
The Mammoth Ice Rink is located at 416 Sierra Park Road adjacent to the new Mammoth Lakes Library and opposite the Mammoth High School near the corner of Meridian Boulevard and Sierra Park Road. Please consider taking the Main Lodge – Village/Vons – Snowcreek Shuttle (Red Line) or the Mid-Town LIFT (Purple Line) or Old Mammoth LIFT (Gray Line) to the Ice Rink as parking is limited.
Review the Mammoth Ice Rink Map or find us on Google Maps.

Inyo/Mono/Alpine Tri County Fairgrounds Still Under Investigation Nov. 26, 2013, by Sierra Wave News.

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 08:50 AM PST
fairgrounds.jpgThe California Highway Patrol Investigative Services Unit continues to look into reports that an embezzlement may have taken place within operations at the Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgrounds. The CHP took over the investigation since the Fairgrounds are State facilities.
San Bernardino CHP Officer Filemon Verdi said he is handling the case. He said, “The investigation is still ongoing. We are putting together a report to present to the District Attorney at this point,” he said. Officer Verdi did not have a time frame on closure of the investigation.
It was in late August that word surfaced that money may be missing from Fairgrounds accounts. Sam Dean, President of the Fair Board, had earlier said the Board did not know how much money was missing. He said, “Investigators have our paperwork.”
More recently, Dean said that investigators have contacted officials for clarification on details. Said Dean, “I think they are close to sending the case to the District Attorney.”
At the same time reports circulated about a possible embezzlement, Fair officials placed employee Rebecca Bragdon on administrative leave. Again, the case is still pending and no charges have been filed.
Meanwhile, Sam Dean said he has assumed the responsibility of oversight of Fair operations at this time.

Mammoth Arrests: Alleged Assault, Drugs.. Nov. 26, 2013, by Sierra Wave News.

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 08:54 AM PST
mlpd_3-23-10.jpgUPDATE: Press Release from MLPD -
Victim in Mammoth Lakes ‘Bonged’ on the Head
On Sunday November 24th at about 5:30 pm, Mammoth Lakes Police Officers and Mono County Paramedics responded to 362 Old Mammoth Rd for a report of a physical fight, one of the suspects was armed with a knife and someone had been cut.  Upon arrival, officers contacted the victim, who was bleeding from wounds to his face.  The victim told officers that during a heated argument with his roommate, Cole Martin, Martin allegedly brandished a knife and moved toward the victim.   The victim retreated behind a table and flipped it up toward Martin.  The victim said Martin tossed the knife, and grabbed a glass marijuana smoking ‘bong’ from a nearby table.   He said Martin then broke the bong and used it as a weapon, cutting the victim’s lips.  Martin left the scene prior to officers’ arrival.  The victim refused treatment.
MLPD Officers telephoned Martin on his cell phone and requested that he come to the Mammoth Lakes Police station to be interviewed.  After the interview, Officers arrested Cole William MARTIN, 20, of Mammoth Lakes for 245(a)(1) PC, Assault With a Deadly Weapon.  He was transported to the Mono County jail and is currently being held on $30,000 bail.
Officers responded to the same residence a total of three times that evening. On the third response, Officers heard a subject yelling and throwing objects inside.  They were let inside by a roommate who told them the victim from the prior call was destroying the residence and was “..out of control”.  Other roommates at that location told officers that the victim was pounding on their door with a skateboard and had kicked a door off the hinges. They said he was convinced Martin was still in the residence, although he had already been taken to jail.  Mammoth Lakes Police officers ultimately arrested the victim from the prior call, Conner MORRIS, 19, of Mammoth Lakes. for 11550 H&S, Being Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance.  After being treated at Mammoth Hospital, he was also booked into the Mono County jail and later released on his own recognizance with a notice to appear.
(Sierra Wave earlier story)
According to Mammoth Police, on Sunday, Nov 24 at approximately 6:30 pm, Cole Martin, age 20, and his roommate, Connor Morris, age 19, got into a verbal argument in their residence on Old Mammoth Road. The argument escalated and Martin took a swing at Morris while holding a broken glass bong resulting in Morris receiving a cut lip.
Morris fled to his room and Martin fled the scene. MLPD officers responded and obtained information from Morris. Martin was contacted via his cell phone and he voluntarily responded to the police station where he was arrested for Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Meanwhile, Morris began damaging his residence resulting in additional calls from another roommate. Morris was subsequently arrested for being Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance.
Both Martin and Morris were transported to Mono County Jail and booked.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Obama considers costly unilateral "fix" of Obamacare Subsidies... By Karl HotAir.com.

Obama considers costly unilateral “fix” of Obamacare subsidies

POSTED AT 3:01 PM ON NOVEMBER 9, 2013 BY KARL

  
When the going for Obamacare gets tough, the Administration considers throwing more money at the problem. To quote the Allahpundit, “Shocka“:
The Obama administration is considering a fix to the president’s health care law that would expand the universe of individuals who receive tax subsidies to help buy insurance, an administration source told The Huffington Post.
***
According to the administration source, the White House is “looking at an administrative fix for the population of people in the individual market who may have an increase in premiums, but don’t get subsidies.”
Even liberal pundits like Paul Waldman wonder how the Administration does this without Congress. True, Obama has not considered the Constitution to be much of a constraint in other situations. On the other hand, exploding the projected cost of O-care subsidies from $458 billion to $1.2 trillion in just the first six years might be difficult to pull off with a wave of the administrative wand.
Yet the most interesting thing about this trial balloon is the extend to which it does not fix what you would think the Left would consider the problem with O-care subsidies. The proposal could be a purely unserious political feint which tries to put the GOP in opposition to decreasing O-care’s pain (per Waldman’s suggestion), or — like Obama’s “sorry, not sorry” this week — to avoid supporting broader legislative fixes. If not, the Administration may have deeper political concerns in mind.
The policy landscape is fairly well-understood, even across ideological lines. As Avik Roy and the Manhattan Institute crew show, health care premiums are set to increase significantly on average under Obamacare, even after the subsidies are included in the calculations. Moreover, there will be distinct winners and losers under this scheme. Men, particularly young men, will tend to be losers. Young women and those approaching retirement age will tend to benefit. TNR’s Jonathan Cohn does not directly dispute much of this analysis. Rather, he relies on experts suggesting O-care will produce more winners than losers, “as long as you account for subsidies, Medicaid, and the ability of young adults to enroll in special catastrophic plans or stay on their parents’ policies,” particularly the Medicaid expansion. These are important qualifiers, as we we will see later.
Cohn continues with perhaps the most salient point:
Of course, the debate about how premiums is just one piece of the story. The ultimate question is whether, under Obamacare, people buying insurance on their own think they are getting a good deal. And the answer to that question will depend on a bunch of factors—not just how much people pay up front in premiums, for example, but also what kind of out-of-pocket costs they face if and when they get sick. And what’s affordable to one person may not seem so affordable to another.
Indeed. Accordingly, it is useful to look at a couple of several examples provided by heath industry consultant Robert Laszewski, based on fairly typical figures from California for the mid-range “Silver” plans to which subsidy levels are tied:
A single person making $22,980 per year would face a premium, net of subsidies, of $121 per month. That’s pretty good.
However, the point most people have been missing is that same person would also face a $500 deductible and up to $2,250 in out-of-pocket costs for things like co-pays. If the individual were sick, that looks like a pretty good deal. If they were healthy, would they spend what is perhaps 10% of their monthly take home income for a plan with an upfront $500 deductible?
***
For so many individuals and families, 10% of their take home income is a huge issue. This is the marginal income left at the end of the month, after taxes, rent, and car payments that is so critically important to them. As purely an insurance value, it’s a good deal. But the notion that hard earned and important dollars would be spent for something they aren’t going to get any measureable short-term value for is another matter entirely.
***
A family at 300% of the federal poverty level will make $71,000 and have to pay out 9.5% of their income for premium, or $6,700 a year for that second-lowest cost Silver plan. How many families making even this much have an extra $558 a month in their budget to buy a plan with a $2,000 per person deductible?
At The Guardian — no right-wing outlet — Marc Rubin notes the same problem with respect to the low-end “Bronze” plans:
The cost alone of these “low end” policies are producing sticker shock when people see them. It gets worse when people see what the insurance companies are actually offering for these premiums. That’s when they get the second shock.
Many uninsured are finding that the bronze or lowest end policies are being priced in the range of $250 a month and up on average and that they come with $6,000 yearly deductibles(pdf) to be paid out of pocket before they get full coverage. Until then, they pay 40% in co-pays until the $6,000 out-of-pocket is reached in addition to the monthly premiums. And again, this is for the bottom tier polices for a single person, not a family. Costs to a family are higher.
It doesn’t take Warren Buffet’s financial savvy to figure out that young, healthy uninsured Americans, who are largely uninsured because they cant afford health insurance in the first place, are not going to be flocking to buy these policies for the privilege of having a health insurance card in their wallets that requires another $6,000 out-of-pocket before their expenses are fully covered and includes co-pays of 40% of all initial costs until that $6,000 is reached. What most of them will do is what they have been doing – live without insurance and go to an emergency room if they need medical care where the law says they have to be treated whether they have insurance or not.
As Laszewski notes, the problem with the subsidies results in part from the fact that the Democrats wanted to price Obamacare at below $1 trillion for political reasons. We have already seen the establishment media begin to report on the degree to which the implementation of O-care — though Healthcare.gov — was compromised by political considerations. We have yet to see much revisiting the degree to which politics warpedthe creation of the policy itself. Jay Cost has been tweeting about it, and the many times progressives have done it in the past.
Politics also would appear to be the motivating factor behind the Administration’s latest trial balloon. As Byron York noted earlier this week, “[t]he key to Obamacare’s success or failure — provided the administration can actually learn to operate the system — is whether it helps more people than it hurts, or hurts more people than it helps.” I would slightly amend that argument. The key is whether the Administration, and Democrats in general, have a net gain politically.
Progressives see a net gain, but not just on the subsidized voter — they rely on those getting Medicaid (to the extent Medicaid actually helps) and young people staying on their parents’ plans. But the younger and poorer population is also less likely to vote than the older, healthier and wealthier. Providing subsidies to people with incomes higher than 400% above poverty may help stabilize a risk pool currently being filled mostly by the Medicaid expansion. However, as subsidizing the more affluent does nothing for the people in the examples described above, one might be forgiven for suspecting the Administration is looking to buy off more likely voters who will feel the pains of O-care.
  

Friday, October 25, 2013

Air Force Academy is Considering Dropping God's Name from it's Oath.. "Vision to America", Oct 24, 2013

Air Force Academy Is Considering Dropping God’s Name From Its Oath


Among the many virtues that flow from recognizing God’s existence is humility. Without God, every man begins to think of himself as his own little deity, leaving him free to set his own rules and, if his rules call for it, to hold the power of life and death over others. For that reason, Americans are singularly fortunate that the vast majority of troops in our military hew to traditional Judeo-Christian religious principles that see them subordinating themselves to a Higher Power’s dictates about morality, justice, and grace.
If the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (“MRFF”) has its way, though, the Air Force Academy is going to kick God out of its precincts. The MRFF, founded and controlled by the fanatically anti-Christian Mikey Weinstein, is up in arms about the fact that the Air Force Academy’s current oath invokes God: “We will not lie, steal or cheat nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and live honorably, so help me God.”

Read more at http://visiontoamerica.com/16117/air-force-academy-is-considering-dropping-gods-name-from-its-oath/#uUom2KLKwtTr7Hzy.99

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BS Ranch Perspective:

Seems that this is something that they haven't quite decided on just yet, or it would not read considering, however if they have considered it, then they might be putting it in the works to go that route.

Now if you are giving an oath, that means you are promising something to someone, that someone was God! Now who would they be giving there Promise to, the President of the United States??  If that is the case he is No God, Never will be... The fact is that this country was founded on God's Word, the form of our government was taken from the Bible, the Constitution was written and derived from Scripture, again God's Word, so it only made sense that in the last 237 years we gave an oath to God, the one True God, that gave us our way of life, our Freedom, which was given not in the 5th amendment, but the first amendment!!

Now they are going to consider taking God out of the Oath, then to me that oath that they are given from that point on, is an Oath that super weak!! The Oath To God is given because of the consequences that are passed on to one's Soul, and not to his soul in this lifetime, but the lifetime that he gets after this life.. IF that oath is broken it is between his soul and our Father God!!

This to me is a sign that should not be taken lightly, because it is truly that sign that the end of time's is near... better get your life in order and prepare to travel to the Heaven's when those Horsemen come calling!!

BS Ranch