The Real State Of The Union, What Americans Think, Part 3: Obama Care Stinks, Congress Stinks, Job Creation Stinks, This Presidential Administration Stinks

This is the third and final post we are doing relative to what Americans think about the state and direction of the country. It is next to impossible to ascertain where the country is today and what is really going on since we know now that this Presidential administration has been lying and deceiving us for years, this President was awarded the worst lie of 2013 by the Washington Post, and the mainstream media, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum, present only the positive news on their political allies.

Thus, we have decided to go to Gallup, Pew, and other respected public opinion survey authorities to find out what is really going on with ordinary Americans. As we have seen in the first two discussions we have had in the past two days on this topic, Americans are not happy, they are not optimistic, and they are very angry about where the country is, where it is likely going, and those in Washington that got us where we are.

Those pessimism and anger undertones are likely to continue today:

1) A recent poll of a cross section of Americans revealed how unhappy they are with this Presidential administration, one year into its second term. The poll was conducted by the highly regarded magazine, The Economist, in cooperation with YouGov.com. Their findings included the following details:

• 71% of Obama voters said they regret voting for the President in the last presidential election.
• An amazing 55% of self identified Democrats also regret voting for him. 
• 84% of women and 61% of men surveyed regret voting for him.
• The poll also simulated the last Presidential election and found that Romney would have won if the election was run today, with 55 million votes vs. 52 million votes for Obama.

Two points to be made here. Americans are fed up with this administration as the major problems of our times still exist while the many promises and vows of this President have not come close to realization and resolving any of the major issues of our times. Second, as the level of disillusionment grows with this Presidential administration, the quicker it grows into a lame duck status, making it less and less effective going forward, as if that was even possible.

2) Quinnipiac University’s new poll verifies these findings above and how Americans’ opinions relative to Obama are at an all time low:

• A majority of those surveyed characterize Obama as “incompetent,” “a weak leader” and oblivious to individuals’ real problems and needs.
• 39% have a negative view of his handling of the economy.
• 36% have a negative view of his handling of health care.
• 40% have a negative view of his handling of foreign policy.
• 39% have a negative view of his handling of Iran.
• Over three quarters of those surveyed believe the economy is “poor,” while only 28% believe the economy is getting better.

Strong negative views and opinions on how the President is doing his job, a realistic view of our sickly economy, and the lies finally catching up with the President. Yep, sounds about right.

3) According to a recent Marist/McClatchy, when asked how they would grade they would give elected officials in Washington:

• 31% of registered voters (41% of Independent registered voters) rated them an “F”
• 31% (30% of Independents) rated them a “D”
• 27% (23% of Independents) rated them a “C”
• 10% (5% of Independents) said a “B”
• A whopping 1% (the same percentage of Independents) said an “A.”

Thus, only about 11% of America think that the Washington political class is doing a good or better job. Pathetic ratings for a  pathetic performing set of people.

4) The Economist recently surveyed a set of Americans and asked them whether President Obama, Republicans in Congress and Democrats in Congress were doing enough on job creation:

• 68% of adults said the President was not doing enough, 21% said he was and 11% weren’t sure. 
• 76% of adults said Republicans in Congress weren’t doing enough, 13% weren’t sure and 11% said they were. 
• 74% of adults said Democrats in Congress weren’t doing enough, 14% said they were and 12% were unsure.

Thus, failing grades all around for job creation.

5) A whole slew of polling firms and polls track the President’s approval rating:

• A recent survey by RealClearPolitics found that the President’s latest job approval rating was 42.3% while his disapproval rating was 53.0%.
• The Economist poll found a 42% approval rating and 53% disapproval rating.
• The Ipsos/Reuters poll found a 40% of approval rating (26% of Independents) and 54% disapproval rating (66% of Independents). 
• The Marist/McClatchy poll found a 42% approval rating among registered voters (35% of Independent registered voters) and 52% disapproval rating (58% of Independents).
• The Gallup poll found a 41% approval rating and a 51% disapproval rating. tracks President Obama’s job approval on a weekly basis. 
• The interesting trend is at this time last year the numbers were basically reversed according to Gallup: 52% approved and 42% disapproved.
• The Rasmussen poll found a 49% approval rating and a 50% disapproval rating. Similar to Gallup, last year at this time, the President’s approval was 54% and his disapproval 45%.

With an approval rating below 50% across all independent tracking polls and opinion surveys, and trending downwards, and having basically been named political liar of the year by the Washington Post for 2013, the lame duck status continues to be a real possibility in the eyes of the country with almost three years still left in this administration.

6) About the only good news for the President is that his approval ratings are higher than the approval ratings of Congress, a classic “queen of the pigs” situation:

• The recent RealClearPolitics poll found that Congress had an approval rating of 12.3% and a disapproval rating of 81.7%.
• The Economist poll found a 7% disapproval rate and 71% disapproval rate.
• The Gallup poll found a 12% approval rate and an 83% disapproval rate

You have to really try to be viewed so negatively across all of the polls. This is a clear example of how the political class has hijacked our election processes since with these approval ratings, and their dismal actual legislative performance, not a single incumbent Washington politician should ever get reelected if basically nine out of ten Americans think they are doing a lousy job.

7) As to whether of not the country is heading in the right direction:

• The recent RealClearPolitics poll found that 29.6% of those surveyed think the country is headed in the right direction while 63.6% think it is headed in the wrong direction
• The Economist poll found that 30% think the country is headed in the right direction while 59% think it is headed in the wrong direction. 
• The Ipsos/Reuters poll found that 23% of adults (11% of Independents) think the country is headed in the right direction and 62% (78% of Independents) think it is headed in the wrong direction
• The Marist/McClatchy poll found that 33% of registered voters (26% of Independent registered voters) think the country is headed in the right direction and 64% (72% of Independents) think it is headed in the wrong direction.
• The trend is not good when the about two out of three Americans on average think the country is not headed in the right direction. Makes if very difficult to change the mindset and reality of the country starting on such a negative note. 
• Of course, given the low approval ratings of the President and Congress it is not a surprise that the country thinks we are heading in the wrong direction when we think very little of those that should be leading the country in the right direction.

8) Regarding the state of the economy and jobs:

• The Gallup “Economic Confidence Index” recently dipped to -18 for the week ending Feb. 9 — the lowest weekly reading so far in 2014. 
• According to the Economist, 37% think the economy is stuck in neutral, 36% of adults think the economy is getting worse and 22% think it is getting better.
• President Obama approval rating on the economy and jobs is only 41% as measured by The Economist and also 41% as measured by the Marist/McClatchey poll. 

9) And finally, what the latest survey from The Economist find out about Americans view on Obama Care:

• 44% of adults think the law should be repealed; 28% think it should be expanded; 17% are not sure what should be done; and 11% think it is should be kept as is.
• 25% think Obama Care is a complete failure, 22% think it is more of a failure than a success, 19% think it is equal parts a success and a failure, 13% think it is more of a success than a failure, 13% think it is too early to tell and 2% think it is a complete success. Thus, about three out of four Americans have some sort of a negative view with almost 50% having a rather strong view that it is a failure.
• 37% think the Obama Care has hurt the economy a lot, 22% think it has helped the economy somewhat, 17% think it has hurt the economy somewhat, 13% are unsure and 11% think the Affordable Care Act has helped the economy a lot.
• 49% of uninsured adults, the target market for the legislation, are not sure the individual mandate will compel them to buy health insurance, 28% said they are more likely to pay the fine, 15% said they are likely to buy insurance and 9% have already bought insurance because of the mandate.
• 55% of adults think employers will cut jobs or reduce hours because of the employer mandate, 24% are unsure and 21% say employers will not cut jobs or reduce hours.
• 41% of adults approve of the President’s handling of the situation.

Thus, it appears from these poll results that just about everything the current political class is involved in, health care, jobs, leading the country, etc., is being done in a lousy manner by both the President and Congress. There is no leadership, there are no strategic plans, there is decreasing HOPE, and there has been no CHANGE, just the same old, selfish ineffective politics.

We spend trillions of dollars every year via taxes and never see any resolution of any issues, never mind the major issues of our times. We have a set of people in Washington that are out of touch with reality and the issues facing Americans, a set of people who are only concerned with their own self enrichment and perpetual reelection to jobs that the are very poor at executing.

This is what passes for leadership in Washington today and that is why we see the negative results in every poll that is taken. And that is why we need you to join the cause for term limits now at the following site because, really, given our opinions and feelings about Washington incumbents, how much worse could it get if we dumped them all out of office after one term:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

The Real State Of The Union,Part 2: What Americans Think

Today is the second in a three part series where we are reviewing the latest opinion polls of Americans in an attempt to get a bearing on what ordinary Americans think about where the country is, where it is going, and whether or not the political leadership has a chance in doing any kind of positive things. Yesterday’s first post in this series can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-real-state-of-union-part-1-what.html

During that review, we reached the following conclusions about where Americans’ heads are:

1. Americans think the economy and the nation are heading in the wrong direction.
2. Americans do not approve of the President’s overall job performance and his performance on most major issues.
3. Americans do not find the President trustworthy, honest, or caring.
4. Americans faith in the economic direction of the country is declining.

Today we will review some other current polls and see if those four conclusions are still valid:

1) A recent Gallup poll from mid January, 2014 found that:

• President Obama’s overall job approval rating is now only 39%.
• His disapproval rating is 53%.
• This is an epic failure since back in February, 2009, the same poll found his approval rating to be about 70% while his disapproval rating was about 10%.

Thus, in five short years, the President has either proved to the country that he has no idea how to positively lead the country or over 40% of the country turned into racists.

2) Another recent Gallup poll, called the “Mood of the Nation,” conducted in mid-January found the following results:

• A plurality Americans, 42%, say they are financially worse off now than they were a year ago. 
• This is a reversal of the trend over the past two years where Gallup found this negative opinion decreasing.
• Only a third or so of the poll’s respondents said their financial situation had improved from a year ago.

3) Consider a different kind of poll that was conducted by YouGov.com, in association with the Times of London:

• The poll was a worldwide survey about public figures and their admiration rate around the world.
• Americans surveyed by the poll said their “most admired” people were Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Pope Francis. 
• Hillary Clinton, who’s highly likely to run for President in 2016, came in a poor 27th.
• She actually trailed actress Angelina Jolie and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Former President George W. Bush, evangelist Billy Graham and pundit Rush Limbaugh, came in higher than Clinton, as well.
• Interestingly, President Obama was favored better in France, than in the U.S.

Given that Clinton will be heavily favored to win the Democratic Party nomination for President and will have well financed, high powered political cronies and backers behind her, it appears that America has a good chance of being stuck with another politician in the White House who is viewed as ineffective, much like where we are today with the current resident in the White House, at least according to this poll. 

4) A Quinnipiac University survey from late last year asked whether or not Americans think that Obama “deliberately mislead” the country about the facts concerning the fatal attack on the U.S, consulate in Benghazi which resulted in the unnecessary deaths of four Americans including the ambassador, Chris Stevens:

• Overall, 52% of the respondents said that the President did indeed mislead the country about the facts concerning the attack.
• Only 37% said he shared the facts.
• While only 17% of Democrats believe Obama misled the country, 80% of Republicans believe he misled and nearly 60% of Independents believe the President lied about Benghazi.

Another leadership opportunity and another leadership opportunity blown, according to the feelings and perceptions of the American public.

5) The latest IBD/TIPP poll from early January found that:

• Obama’s favorability rating in that poll had dipped to 38%.
• This is a full five points plunge from his polling level in November, 2013 of 43%. 
• Among Democrats, he fared even worse, losing 10 points since the November polling. His Presidential Leadership Index is at an all-time low of 42.6%.
• Amazingly, despite overly favorable press coverage from the mainstream media, at 42.6%, Obama’s Leadership Index is lower than President George W. Bush’s rating in the wake of his administration’s poor handling of Hurricane Katrina.
• At one point in his Presidency, Obama’s leadership index was over 70%.
• Regarding the President’s signature legislation, Obama Care, the same survey found that 55% of respondents oppose the legislation, the highest disapproval rate since IBD/TIPP started asking this question in 2010. 
• Only 37% support Obama Care, matching a record low.
• The Obama Care disapproval rate is trending strongly upwards while the approval rate is trending strongly downwards.

It cannot be a good omen for the country when the top leader in the country has a rating below the disgrace that was the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

6) The Associated Press-GfK survey published in January, 2013 found that:

• Sixty three percent of respondents believe the country is heading the wrong way.
• Only 35% said it's heading in the right direction. 
• Forty percent said they were "not very confident" the federal government "will make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014." 
• Another 30% said they're "not at all confident" in the government.
• State governments did only slightly better, with a combined 53% saying they had little or no confidence that state governments will fix things in 2014.
• Forty one percent said that the state of American democracy "needs a lot of changes." 
• A dire 10% said it needs a complete overhaul. 
• Forty-two percent said democracy in the U.S. "works well but needs some changes."
• In the "big government vs. small government" section of the poll, 50% of respondents said less government is better, while 48% said the government should be involved in more things, indicating a serious dichotomy within the country.

These latest poll results indicate that what we learned yesterday are also true today, based on a different set of polls asking the same types of questions:

1. Americans think the economy and the nation are heading in the wrong direction.
2. Americans do not approve of the President’s overall job performance and his performance on most major issues.
3. Americans do not find the President trustworthy, honest, or caring.
4. Americans faith in the economic direction of the country is declining.

And given the shallow, lackluster Obama state of the union message and the lackluster and absence of leadership and creative ideas from the rest of the Washington political class, the situation and these polls results are likely to get worse before they get better. Einstein once said:

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

But if you believe these poll results, Americans are not seeing the different types of thinking and approaches that are needed to resolve our problems. We feel the nation and the economy are heading in the wrong direction, we do not trust this President, and we do not approve of the job that the President and this Congressional set are doing.

Until the current political class heeds Einstein’s advice or are thrown out of office, either by the voting booth, the imepachment process, or criminal courts, we will still have the same problems, addressed by the same ill equipped politicians, with the same lame remedies, and the same negative poll results.

Tired of the same old same old? Consider taking Einstein’s advice and join our drive for term limits at:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Because, really, how much worse could it get?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

The Real State Of The Union, Part 1: What Americans Think

It is no secret that for most Americans, the state of the nation, regardless of what Obama said in his recent state of the union message, is not good:

• Over 20 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. 
• The national debt has already broken through the $17 TRILLION barrier, currently at about $17.3 TRILLION, burdening current and FUTURE American generations with an enormous debt load. The per person debt load for every Americans is well over $50,000 today and growing.
• Economic growth after the last recession has been the most anemic post recession growth in the past century.
• Our foreign policy has been a total failure to contain the bad guys and support the good guys around the world.
• Obama Care is endangering individual American’s health, lives, economic opportunities, and job prospects without resolving the problem of high health care costs in this country.
• Crony capitalism is alive and well and growing quickly as a result of a corrupt Washington political class.
• That same political class has shown no ability, will, or intelligence to attack and resolve the major issues and problems of our times.

But, hey, that is just my opinion. What does the rest of America think about the state of the union? Over the next three days we will take some time to review the latest opinion polls from various sources and see if I am right or if most Americans are happy about the direction of the country.

1) The fabulous Bankrupting America website recently looked at a current opinion poll that was fielded by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, timed to coincide with Obama’s state of the union address. This is what they found relative to how Americans feel about the state of the nation:

• The 63% of respondents who currently think the nation is going down the wrong track attained a peak among the months in which Obama has delivered his state of the union addresses in the past. 
• Only 28% think the nation is on the right track, less than half that think it is on the wrong track.
• In an open-ended question within the survey, NBC News/WSJ found that Americans offered more negative than positive descriptors about the direction of the nation (62% negative, e.g. “down hill” or “disaster” or “hard times” vs. 27% positive, e.g. like “hopeful” or “improving”).
• 71% of respondents said that they are “somewhat” or “very” dissatisfied with the direction of the nation’s economy. 
• This compares to 64% in June 2013.
• 48% of the respondents feel that Obama Care is more of a bad idea than 34% who think it is a good one. 
• In fact, 42% strongly say it’s a bad idea.
• For the first time ever in a state of the union month, more Americans were seen disapproving than approving of the President's job performance, 51% vs. 43%.
• These comparisons of approval vs. disapproval have swung negative by 13 percentage points in the past 12 months.
• 39% of respondents said that the country is worse off than when President Obama took office vs. 31% said we are better off and 29% said we are in the same place.
• Ninety-one percent of respondents said that it is an “absolute priority” for the Obama administration and Congress to create jobs. 
• Also ranking high, 74% said that reducing the federal budget deficit is also an “absolute priority.”

Unfortunately, given what Americans’ priorities are, job creation and reducing deficit spending, have been two of the major failures of this administration and the political class. Their economic ignorance has been on full display over the past five years and it is not pretty in either theory or the reality of anemic economic and job creation performance.

2) Not to be outdone prior to the state of the union speech, a poll of Americans from the Washington Post and ABC News found that:

• 63% of Americans have either little no confidence Obama will make the right decisions.
• 49% of respondents answered that Obama is trustworthy and honest and but a whopping 48% answered that the President of the united States is NOT honest and trustworthy.
• 52% of the respondents said that Obama does not understand the problems of people like them, a finding that is up substantially from just two years ago.
• 51% indicated that they felt Obama is not a strong leader. 
• Obama’s disapproval rating came out at 50% with 41% of respondents disapproving strongly.
• Only 23% of the respondents said they support him strongly. 
• Overall, 50% of Americans have an unfavorable impression of the President.

What is amazing is that when Obama took office, his approval and likeability levels were in the unheard of 70-80% range. To have fallen so far and accomplished so little, especially since his party controlled Congress for the first two years of his Presidency, is also unheard of but not unexpected, given the state of the union and the economy.

3) Well, we now know that Americans think the country is on the wrong track and are not real happy about the President’s performance and role in that wrong track perception. But what do Americans think about the economy? According to the latest monthly consumer sentiment poll from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey:

• U.S. consumer sentiment slipped in January, mostly caused by lower expectations among lower- and middle-income families.
• The overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 80.4, down from 82.5 in the December survey.
• Not only was it down, it was below the median forecast of 83.5 among economists polled by Reuters.
• The survey's tracking measure of current economic conditions fell to 95.2 from 98.6 and was substantially below a forecast of 98.5.
• The survey's gauge of consumer expectations slipped to 70.9 from 72.1 and below a forecast of 74.2.
• According to survey director Richard Curtin: "Upper-income households benefited from continued strong gains in income as well as increases in stock and home values. Low- and middle-income households were mainly concerned about lackluster growth in employment and income, and anticipated less improvement in long-term prospects for the economy."

So not only do we not like the direction of the country and the leadership of the President, we are not really crazy where the economy is and where it is going.

4) A Quinnipiac University opinion survey from early January found the following detailed results, and negative findings, relative to the Obama Presidency:

• 53% of respondents disapprove of the President’s performance while 41% approve.
• 49% of women disapprove of his performance while 44% approved and 58% of men disapprove while only 36% of men approved.
• Across all income brackets and across all age brackets more respondents disapprove of Obama’s performance than those that approve of his performance.
• Only 9% of Republicans approve of his performance, only 35% of Independents approve with 58% disapproving, while 81% of Democrats approve of his performance.
• 49% of respondents said the President is not honest and trustworthy while 46% somehow said he was.
• 51% of respondents said the President was not a strong leader while 46% said he was.
• 50% of respondents said the President does not care about their needs and problems while 48% said he does.
• He received a negative 61% negative rating for his handling of Obama Care, a negative 58% rating on his handling of the economy, a 60% negative rating for his handling of the Federal budget, a negative 51% for his handling of foreign policy, and in the one bright note, a positive 52% rating on his handling of terrorism.

That will do it for today, we will continue with the mood of the country tomorrow. But so far we know that, in general:

1. Americans think the economy and the nation are heading in the wrong direction.
2. Americans do not approve of the President’s overall job performance and his performance on most major issues.
3. Americans do not find the President trustworthy, honest, or caring.
4. Americans faith in the economic direction of the country is declining.

Otherwise, the state of the nation and our moods and hopes are in great shape.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

February, 2014 The Unfolding Disaster That Is Obama Care, Part 6: Young Americans Are Knuckleheads, Democrats Laugh Off The LIes and Suffering and Moree

Okay, I knew I promised yesterday would be the last post this month on the unfolding disaster that is Obama Care but a few more disasters and acts of idiocy came up that cannot wait until next month. The first update on the Obama Care disaster can be viewed for this month at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-2014-unfolding-disaster-of.html

I absolutely promise this is the last Obama Care post until the middle of next month as the train wreck known as Obama Care rolls on.

1) First Lady Michelle Obama was recently interviewed by Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight show. Rather than talk about the virtues of Obama Care, she took the opportunity to insult young Americans with the following quote: “Well, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, young people can stay on their parents’ insurance until they are 26. But once they hit 26 — they’re on their own. And a lot young people think they’re invincible. But the truth is, young people are knuckleheads. They’re the ones who are cooking for the first time and slice their finger open, they’re dancing on the bar stool.”

A few problems with this:

• You should not insult the future of America and those that pay for your husbands salary, you lavish life style and the taxes that fund the government by calling them knuckleheads. It is not very Presidential or lady like.
• Insulting someone by calling them names and insults is not a very effective way to convince them to do something you want.
• This is just another example of the “Hunger Games” condescending attitude of those in Washington, they convince themselves that they know what is best and you must be an idiotic if you do not blindly follow their dictates.

The best response I found to this type of insult was in the comments section of an article that ran this quote: “Young People aren't knuckle heads, they simply don't want to pay outrageous prices for Obama Care! They don't want to carry the burden for those that are sick or older but not old enough for SS or Medicare! I don't blame them, I wouldn't sign up either!?

This American obviously sees the situation and disaster that is Obama Care much clearer than any true knucklehead would.

2) Speaking of “Hunger Game” analogies and the current attitudes in Washington, consider a recent meet and greet that three Minnesota Democratic politicians, and supporters of Obama Care, held in their home state. When questioned why the President’s claim of saving every American family $2,500 a year on the health care costs did not come true, they laughed. They actually laughed at another broken promise of Obama Care and this President.

Given that between five and six million Americans lost their current health insurance because of Obama Care, I would bet that thousands of Minnesotans who lost their policies are not laughing.

I would bet that thousands of Minnesotans who lost access to their preferred doctors and hospitals bec ause of Obama Care are not laughing. 

I would bet that thousands of Minnesotans who are seeing their health insurance premiums and deductibles going through the roof because of Obama Care  are not laughing. 

I would bet that people in the middle of serious medical crises who have seen their health insurance cancelled or changed because of Obama Care are not laughing. 

But these “Hunger Games” Washington politicians are laughing, probably because they are not really affected by the increased costs and negative impacts of Obama Care. They and their Washington peers, in true “Hunger Games” fashion, made sure that they could continue laughing when such a serious topic is raised.

Their laughing can be seen at the following link:

http://conservativebyte.com/2014/02/caught-democrats-laughing-obamacare-nightmare/

3) Remember how this President promised that no one making less than $250,000 would pay more in taxes as a result of Obama Care? Well, it looks like that also is turning out to be a lie, one in a long string of lies, if you eat at a popular Los Angeles restaurant. The owner of the Republique restaurant is adding a 3% surcharge to all customers’ meals in order to fund his employees’ increase health care costs that is related directly to the Obama Care tenets: 

"Everyone [all of his employees] has the same [health insurance] policy that I do as the owners. And we offer it to everyone; (the) dishwasher, busboy, waiters, across the board,” according to the owner when quoted in news reports.

He is allowing his patrons to cross off the surcharge, for now, and not pay it but he does make a valid point: Obama Care will be putting an indirect tax on anyone who does business with any company or industry that is affected by the legislation, whether it is the restaurant industry, the medical device industry, tanning industry, etc. These companies and industries need to make a profit to survive and preserve jobs and any additional cost, in this case 3%, inhibits them from doing just this. This causes them to pass on those additional costs to their customers.

The owner of the restaurant seems a little disocuraged and lost because of what he has to do to his customers: “Even if this isn’t the perfect solution, it’s definitely a solution, and so far, there isn’t any other solution.” 

I give him credit and respect for being honest and upfront with his customers and with the reality of the situation, something that Washington politicians, including this President, have never been.

4) And finally, these parting words from former White House spokesman and Obama political ally, Robert Gibbs, speaking on the BBC during a recent interview: “I think it’s hard to overestimate the real damage that was inflicted for most of last year on health care. This was entirely in the control of the White House and yet still so badly bungled.”

Hard to OVER estimate the damage. Sounds about right. More next month as the unfolding disaster known as Obama Care marches on.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

February, 2014 The Unfolding Disaster That Is Obama Care, Part 5: Sebelius and Biden Out Of Touch With Reality, Small Businesses Start Losing Coverage, Ben Carson Says It Like It Is And More

This will be the fifth and last update on the unfolding disaster that is Obama Care this month, not because I have covered all of the disasters but I am getting too depressed reviewing how bad this law really is. For the past three years we have been reviewing how poorly thought out this legislation is, how poorly written it was, how the political class had no clue of the unintended bad consequences of its actions, and how Americans, their families, and the economy is suffering because of it. And the suffering is needless since at the end of the day, this law will not succeed in reducing the nation’s ever escalating health care costs.

1) Nancy Pelosi has always been a favorite politician of mine since her many out-of-this-world quotes and unreal takes on life provide great material for our regular political class insanity posts and almost always perfectly illustrate how out of touch she and most politicians are with the real world. But there is new competition in this area for Ms. Pelosi, namely the secretary of the Health and Human Services department, Kathleen Sebelius.

Ms. Sebelius is the overall leader of the ridiculously botched implementation of Obama Care from the failed website to the failed navigator programs to the inability to hit virtually every mandated date in the law. But the epitome of her failure and state of being out of touch with reality comes from her latest quote regarding Obama Care’s negative impact on the economy. She says there has been absolutely no negative impacts on the economy and jobs creation: “There is absolutely no evidence, and every economist will tell you this, that there is any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act. I know that’s a popular myth that continues to be repeated but it just is not accurate.” 

Huh? We reported back in October that were at least 300 companies, schools, and non profit organizations that gone forth and fired people, cut hours, and curtailed hiring as a result of Obama Care’s tenets. The complete list of those 300 plus organizations can be found at the following post:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-2013-obama-care-disaster-update_16.html

In addition, the Investor’s Business Daily, which has been tracking Obama Care related job. now lists 401 employers nationwide who have slashed thousands of worker hours and jobs due to Obama Care. 

But in Sebelius’s world, EVERY economist agrees with her that Obama Care has caused no negative impacts on jobs. Unbelievable. What the list of 401 companies does not include are those companies that have decided not to hire because of Obama Care and we know that is a reality since we have reported on business owner polls that showed a high number of businesses have curtailed hiring new employees in addition to the 401 who have cut employee staffs. I doubt every economist in this world would agree with her.

Given how inane this statement is, it makes you wonder:

• Is she truly that out of touch with reality?
• Does her staff feed her incorrect information to keep her happy?
• Is she trying some sort of mass hypnosis along the lines that if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the reality?

I don’t know but this quote is worthy of something Nancy Pelosi would state.

2) The Vice President got into the Obama Care act this week with the follOwing quote: "Initially we talked about by the end of this period having 7 million people lined up. We may not get to 7, but we're gonna get to 5 or 6, and that's a hell of a start."

He may be right but really, what are the chances that the first thing he gets right in his tenure as VP is this estimate. Unless enrollments go through the roof in the next moth or so, the enrollment level is not going to get anywhere close to seven  million…or five million or six million because:

• The administration only acknowledges that about 3.3 million people have indicated they want an Obama Care policy. There is no information violable or that has been provided that shows how many actually went through with the purchase, a number that could be substantially less than 3.3 million.
• As we have discussed previously, many consulting firms and subject matter experts have estimated that a large percentage of Obama Care enrollees are not incrementally insured Americans but people who had health insurance but lost it because Obama Care required their policies to be terminated. Thus, within that 3.3 million estimate is a lot of “churn,” and not a lot of new , incremental policy holders.
• Similarly, news reports are starting to put the estimated number of Americans who lost their insurance as a result of Obama Care is now closer to six million. Thus, even if the VP is right and Obama Care somehow, miraculously gets 6 million enrollees it will be a wash since now almost 6 million people have lost their present insurance.

I am sorry, that is not a “heck of a start.”

3) Dr. Ben Carson is a world renowned doctor and he has been an outspoken critic of Obama Care from within the medical establishment. In a recent speech he compared the establishment of Obama Care to the communist policies of Lenin. The Washington Times captured some of his remarks from his speech:

Dr. Carson further compared the new health care reform to policies envisioned by Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of socialism and communism.

“Socialized medicine is the keystone in the establishment of a socialist state,” Dr. Carson told the audience of some 2,000 supporters of traditional values.

Such a comment may seem paranoid to some, he said, “but I would say if you know anything about history, how could you not bring it up?”

When people in the executive and legislative branch don’t have to participate, but everybody else has to, “that’s not America, that’s Russia,” he added

He addition, within the same speech he stated: “It was NEVER about healthcare. It was about control.” 

Why do his words carry weight:

• He is an experienced health care professional, not a lobbyist or a politician. 
• He is African American so the he cannot stand accused of being a racists opposed to the policies of an African American President.
• After speaking out early on against Obama Care, the IRS showed up to audit him so he obviously hit a raw nerve within the Obama administration.
• And he is right. Control how you get health care insurance, control who provides your health care needs, control you via fines if you do not do what the Federal government tells you to do, control you via increased taxes, control you by restricting job growth, etc.

You can see him deliver his speech at:

http://www.capitalisminstitute.org/obamacare-is-slavery/

4) The National Center For Public Policy recently completed an analysis relative to America’s small businesses and their health employee health insurance situation. They recently issued a press release whose first paragraph summarized their findings:

"Unfortunately, the cancellation of small-group plans may not get the same widespread press coverage that the cancellation of individual policies received late last year," says National Center for Public Policy Research's David Hogberg in a new article in the American Spectator, "ObamaCare's Little Noticed Victims."

The press release goes on to estimate that 20 million Americans working in small businesses will lose their current health insurance coverage during 2014 since the Department of Labor has estimated that up to two thirds of small business group health insurance policies currently violate Obama Care's grandfather regulations and will be terminated. Since there are about 31 million Americans covered by small group health insurance policies, that translates into 20 million cancellation notices being sent out.

In a tragic piece of irony, employees who work at the National Center For Public Policy recently found out that their current and preferred employee health insurance policy would be terminated effective April 1 since it did not conform to Obama Care requirements. The Center had had the same policy and carrier since 1996 but that history and preferred situation is now less than sixty days from being blown up.

With the termination of their health coverage, the employees are now about to enter the stress induced problems that those people who had their personal health insurance policy cancelled because of Obama Care: are their preferred doctors going to be included in any new coverage, are their preferred hospitals going to be included in any new coverage, where their premiums and deductibles go up (likely yes), will covered medicines still be covered (possibly no), how to they transition current medical problems to the new policies, etc. 

If true, and 20 million people working for small businesses do lose their insurance coverage, than even if Biden is right and six million enrollees do sign up for Obama Care, that level would still be about 14 million short. Disgraceful.

5) We will close this post with a personalized story of one American. Emilee Lamb wrote about her trials and tribulations as a result of Obama Care n the February 3, 2014 edition of the New York Post. When we talk about six million people or 2-0 million people losing their preferred health insurance coverage and losing access to their preferred doctors and hospitals, it can be a little cold and distant, just numbers on a page.

But Ms. Lamb’s story is a real live, personal and sad case of what Obama Care is really doing to many individual Americans:

ObamaCare was supposed to help me.

That’s all I could think as I sat in the House of Representatives last Tuesday night as the guest of my congresswoman, only a few hundred feet away from President Obama as he gave his State of the Union address. Four years ago, I’d have been there cheering for ObamaCare’s passage. But the real ObamaCare has made my life a nightmare.

I suffer from a difficult chronic illness called lupus, an autoimmune disease with devastating symptoms that strike when you least expect them. At age 40, my life is filled with visits to doctors, specialists and the emergency room. While paying for this care is expensive, I have no other choice.

Prior to ObamaCare, I bought my health insurance through CoverTN, a program run by the state of Tennessee. The coverage was perfectly suited to my unique medical condition. It offered me low premiums, a low deductible and low co-pays for my regular trips to doctors and specialists. This plan was perfect for someone with my unique medical condition and limited financial means.

My plan was canceled last fall. According to the regulators behind ObamaCare, it was a subpar plan that should no longer be sold to consumers. Another 16,000 Tennesseans on the same plan were similarly dumped. Many, like me, liked their plans and wanted to keep them.

This wasn’t my insurer’s fault at all. CoverTN actually fought for me to keep my health care. After I received my cancellation notice, the folks at CoverTN requested that the federal government give them a waiver, which would let them grandfather my plan into ObamaCare. Their request was rejected.

This left me with no health plan and only one choice: Buy a plan through the ObamaCare exchanges.

After weighing my options, I settled on a “platinum” plan. This was the best plan that I could choose. A “bronze,” “silver” or “gold” plan all would leave me paying exorbitant amounts of money on my frequent, and expensive, trips to doctors and specialists.

But the platinum plan was the lesser of two expensive evils. My new plan costs me $373 a month, even after a small subsidy.

By comparison, my old plan only cost me $57 a month. And I now pay 25 percent co-insurance on all doctor visits until I reach my out-of-pocket maximum of $1,500. This is much higher than under CoverTN.

All told, I’m likely going to pay more than $6,000 more each year for my medical care.

I’ve had to take a second job in order to pay for my ObamaCare plan. Given my health problems, the physical and emotional drain that this puts on me is difficult to bear. It’s also made it much more difficult for me to care for my ailing mother, who depends on me for help.

For me, the impact of ObamaCare is a health plan that is both unaffordable and uncaring. For a law named “The Affordable Care Act,” this is both backward and perverse.

It’s also not what you promised me when I voted for you, Mr. President. When you were on the campaign trail, you promised that ObamaCare would help me with my medical problems. You promised that people like me with pre-existing conditions would be better off. And you promised that if I liked my health-care plan, I could keep it.

Mr. President, you’ve now broken all of these promises — and not just to me.

Emilie Lamb

That is the reality of Obama Care. Not the perverse out of touch world of Sebelius who denies the reality of massive job losses due to Obama Care. Not the reality of Joe Biden who thinks this thing is off to a heck of a start, a sentiment probably not shared by people like Ms. Lamb. It is the worst piece of Federal legislation that was passed by the worst set of politicians in the history of the country.

And next month, we will have to go through all of this again as I am sure the unfolding disaster that is Obama Care will continue to fold disasters.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

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http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

February, 2014 The Unfolding Disaster That Is Obama Care, Part 4: Closing Hospitals and Shredding the Constitution While Trying To Fix the Law

This is the fourth post this month that examines the unfolding disasters that are constantly coming out of Obama Care. For three years we have been correctly predicting that this will be a disastrous piece of legislation that will damage the economy without its intended purpose of reining in ever escalating health care costs.

Since August, 2013 we have usually had to dedicate upwards of six or seven posts a month to stay on top of the fiascos. Those in depth previous posts can be accessed by looking at the lists of posts each month to the right of this screen. The first post in this month’s series can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-2014-unfolding-disaster-of.html

Let’s get started with Day 4’s disasters below:

1) Obama Care was supposed to reduce health care costs, the President promised that the average American’s annual health insurance bill would decrease by $2,500. But the law was written so poorly that many doctors are retiring early because of the hassles within the law which will reduce supply and increase health care costs, not decrease costs.

Early results of looking at Obama Care health exchange policies show that the vast majority of policies are MORE expensive than previous policies that Americans could own but no longer can get access to. This too will increase health care costs. 

Many medicines that were covered by previous polcies are not covered by Obama Care policies, further increasing costs for Americans. Thus, there are many factors and unintended consequences of the law that are doing the exact opposite of what it is supposed to do, i.e. reduce costs.

To that list of cost increasers it looks like we now have to add the fact that many hospitals across the country, especially those serving poorer and more rural populations of Americans, are being forced to close because Obama Care is causing the Federal government to decrease the reimbursement levels that had previously, pre-Obama Care, had been in effect.

As an example, the fourth Georgia hospital in two years is closing its doors due to severe financial difficulties caused by the law’s payment cuts for emergency services. The Lower Oconee Community Hospital is a small rural hospital that is suffering from serious cash-flow problems, largely due to the area’s uninsured population. Federal law requires all hospitals to treat all people that come to their emergency rooms for treatment and later be reimbursed by the Federal government for the service.

This hospital serves a poorer population where about 23% of the population does not have health care insurance. Thus, the uninsured usage of the hospital is high and as the Federal government cuts the levels of reimbursement, these four hospitals and others across the country have to shut down, leaving these poorer, less fortunate Americans with less health care coverage, all because of Obama Care.

Apparently, the problem is the result of the Supreme Court decisions that validated most of Obama Care but allowed states to opt out of its Medicaid expansion. The law was written assuming that all states would be involved in the Medicaid expansion. When half of them opted out, it destroyed the financial integrity of the law’s business case and the reimbursement levels to these less affluent hospitals.

Thus, we will now see a lower supply (i.e. fewer hospitals) which will grow the costs of health care even more since there is less supply and competition, the exact opposite of what Obama Care was supposed to do.

2) It seems like every week or so for the past year, Obama has decided to change something in the health care law for a variety of different reasons. He, of course, had no right or legal standing to do so since the law was legally approved by Congress and turned over to the executive branch to execute and put into operation. Under our Constitution, the President has no authority not to implement the law as it was written, debated, voted, on and enacted. 

If any changes needed to be made, assuming the President actually accepted and believed in the Constitution, he would have gone back to Congress and worked with them to amend the law to account for unforeseen obstacles. That it was a democracy is all about, everyone gets to have their opinion heard and voted on. Apparently, that is merely a suggestion for the administration, not a centuries old tradition and legal precedent.

How many illegal unilateral changes has the President made? A recent Fox Business analysis on February 12, 2014 identified 28 major changes and counting:

1. November 6, 2012 Medicaid physician reimbursements: Increased reimbursements for primary-care physicians who treat Medicaid beneficiaries didn’t go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, as scheduled. 
2. January 31, 2013 Bundled Payments initiative: The Obama administration was late starting an experiment with changes to how doctors and hospitals are paid by Medicare, which was slated to take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
3. February 1, 2013 Medicaid funds and preventive care: Increased federal funding for states that eliminate Medicaid co-payments for preventive care didn’t really go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, as scheduled. 
4. February 6, 2013 Basic Health Program: The federal government announced a one-year delay for the “Basic Health Program.” 
5. February 20, 2013 Out-of-pocket costs: The administration announced that the law’s cap on out-of-pocket costs of $6,350 for individuals and $12,500 for families will not be enforced for some employer-based health insurance plans until 2015
6. April 1, 2013 Small Business Health Options Program: The federal government announced that the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) will be delayed until 2015. 
7. July 2, 2013 Employer mandate: The Obama administration announced that the employer mandate requiring employers with at least 50 full-time workers to provide them with coverage or pay a penalty will now be enforced starting in 2015, not 2014 as originally planned. 
8. July 2, 2013 Employer reporting requirements: The Obama administration announced that it is going to also delay, until 2015, associated reporting requirements relating to potential employer penalties. 
9. July 5, 2013 Verifying coverage status: The Obama administration announced that it has decided to roll back requirements for new state insurance marketplaces to verify health coverage status of people who apply for subsidized coverage. 
10. July 5, 2013 Verifying income: The Obama administration announced that it had decided to roll back requirements for new state insurance marketplaces to verify the income of people who apply for subsidized coverage. 
11. July 5, 2013 Electronic Medicaid notices: The Obama administration announced a delay in the requirement that state Medicaid agencies be able to use electronic notices to notify individuals of their eligibility for federal assistance. 
12. August 27, 2013 Finalizing federal exchange plans: CMS notified insurance companies that it would delay signing final agreements on plans for the new insurance exchanges. 
13. September 26, 2013 Online enrollment for small-business exchanges: HHS said employers with 50 or fewer workers will not be able to sign their staff up for insurance in federally operated exchanges until a month later, November 1, because of technical problems. 
14. September 26, 2013 Online enrollment in Spanish: The Obama administration announced that the Spanish-language version of healthcare.gov will not be equipped to handle online enrollments on Oct 1. 
15. October 23, 2013 March enrollment deadline: The Obama administration said that it would delay imposing penalties for six weeks on some consumers who might have been caught in a sticky timing problem for enrolling in coverage through the health law’s new insurance exchanges. 
16. November 14, 2013 Canceled insurance plans and minimum standards: The Obama administration announced that it is allowing insurers to extend existing individual and small group plans for one more year for current customers even if those insurance policies don’t meet the minimum standards set by the health reform law. 
17. November 22, 2013 Extra days to enroll for Jan. 1, 2013 coverage: Americans hoping to sign up for health insurance under health reform will have an additional eight days to do so for coverage to begin January 1, 2014. 
18. November 22, 2013 Health Insurance Enrollment for 2015: The administration pushed back the period during which Americans sign up for coverage under health reform in its second year of operation, a change that could reassure insurers while also avoiding the 2014 midterm elections. 
19. November 27, 2013 Online enrollment for small businesses: The Small Business Health Options Program, known as the SHOP exchange, will not offer online enrollment until November 2014, a one-year. 
20. December 12, 2013 Payment deadline delayed: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for the first time directed insurers to give consumers until Dec. 31 to pay their first-month premiums. 
21. December 12, 2013 High-risk insurance pools: About 85,000 people with a history of serious illnesses, who are enrolled in high-risk insurance pools created under the health reform law, will get a month’s reprieve before they lose that coverage. 
22. December 19, 2013 Delay of individual mandate for some: The Obama administration will not require the millions of Americans who received health-insurance plan cancellation notices to purchase a new policy next year. 
23. December 23, 2013 Extra day to enroll for Jan. 1, 2013 coverage: The Obama administration extended a deadline for health insurance under health reform, giving consumers shopping on HealthCare.gov in 36 states an extra day, until Dec. 24, to pick plans to kick in for coverage beginning Jan. 1.
24. January 14, 2014 High-risk insurance pools: About 30,000 people (down from 85,000 in October) with a history of serious illnesses, who are enrolled in high-risk insurance pools created under the health reform law, will get an additional two months -- until March 31 -- before they lose that coverage. 
25. January 18, 2014 Equal coverage rules: The Obama administration is delaying enforcement of a provision of the health reform law that prohibits employers from providing better health benefits to top executives than to other employees. 
26. February 10, 2014 Employer mandate for medium-sized employers: The Obama administration announced it would give medium-sized employers (businesses with between 50 and 99 employees) an extra year, until 2016, before they must offer health insurance to their full-time workers. 
27. February 10, 2014 Employer mandate coverage percentage: The Obama administration announced that they would phase in the percentage of full-time workers that employers with more than 100 employees need to offer coverage to from 70 percent in 2015 to 95 percent in 2016 and beyond. 
28. February 10, 2014 Measuring employees for employer mandate: The Obama administration announced that they are allowing companies that have close to 100 workers some discretion in whether they have to comply. 

A more detailed discussion and the entire article can be accessed at:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/02/12/28-delays-and-counting-to-health-reform/

A few of observations, beyond the illegality, unconstitutional, and probably impeachable offenses of making these changes to established law without getting approval of Congress and the people they represent, American citizens:

• First, how incompetent is this executive branch and administration if after three years, billions of dollars and probably tens of millions of man hours that they cannot put together an operation that now how has to be fixed by at least 28 major and different delays and changes? Answer: very incompetent.
• Second, I think we see another reason why this is such an amazingly bad piece of legislation. If you have to make 28 major changes to a law that you and your political peers wrote themselves, remember that no Republicans voted to enact this law, how badly was it written or how ignorant are you of reality that so many changes have to be made? Answer: very ignorant.
• Finally, how many of these decisions were made for the good of the country and the health of Americans and how many were done for political and political calendar reasons? I would venture a guess that the majority of these were done to minimize the negative impact on Democratic politicians rather than focusing on what is best for the country. That is what turns this President away form being a feraless leader and towards being nothing more than a typcial Chicago politician.

Okay, I thought we could get through all the disasters today but that was asking too much, especially when we start getting into obvious violations of the Constitution. Hopefully, tomorrow we can get through it all before more disasters unfold.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w