News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
A Tribute To 9-11 ....Never Forget - There She Stands
A patriotic photo montage set to Michael W. Smith's song "There She Stands", Dedicated to heroes of 9/11 Tags:9-11, Michael W. Smith, tribute, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, Editor: The below referenced article was titled: "Lincoln's Last Earmark" based on a Wall Street Journal article. But in fact, Sen. Lincoln is still in office and may well do more damage in a both the pre-election and post election Lame Duck Session. Thus, this post reflects the title: "Blanche Lincoln's Latest Earmark." Lincoln has become a master at Plantation Politics (helping to enrich those in power) especially when it has come to enriching her own coffers via farm subsidies. I will offer more comments after the following posted article about Lincoln.
by Ted Abram, Freedom Works: Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas has been attempting to change an agriculture insurance law to allow corporate agribusinesses to retroactively extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from the US Treasury. The total cost is $1.5 billion.
Senator Lincoln is the most endangered Democratic Senator in the upcoming November elections. Ardently, she has attempted to attach her “earmark” to a series of bills. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Mrs. Lincoln's claim is preposterous enough that she can't persuade even her fellow Democrats to pony up the cash. First she suggested tapping TARP for the money. When that didn't fly, she tried unsuccessfully to add an earmark to a war funding bill, and then to the small business bill that Congress will take up after Labor Day. Her colleagues keep saying "no."
Ah, but the President must help a collaborator in need. The WSJ continues:
Enter the White House. In an August 6 letter, deputy budget director Robert L. Nabors II pledged that "the Administration is committed to providing [the disaster] assistance consistent with your legislative proposal by the end of the month." The White House says it can do so under a Depression-era law allowing tariff funds to be used for farm emergency payments.
Will the amounts received by the agribusinesses be published? Apparently, not.
Coincidentally—or not—the USDA has chosen this moment to stop publishing the names of farm subsidy recipients and how much they receive. As EWG (Environmental Working Group) puts it: "This policy effectively shields from disclosure subsidy benefits going to multiple, and often absentee, owners of large, agribusiness farming operations." The USDA says shutting down the data base will save money. Welcome to the new era of transparency in government.
According to the WSJ the insurance program has merit, and this raid will destroy the program.
If Mrs. Lincoln gets her $1.5 billion, the White House will have eviscerated the one laudable farm subsidy reform in years. Congress will revert to raiding the Treasury every year to enrich its wealthiest constituents. All of this in a last ditch, and probably futile, effort to help Mrs. Lincoln retain her Senate seat.
Tragically, this is politics as usual in DC. Democracy and Power 103: The politician transfers money from productive people, to mostly favored special interest groups.
Or as Walter Williams states: Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let's make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there's no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person's property to give it to another to whom it does not belong – in effect, legalized theft.
Well, there it is in a nutshell. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been receiving Farm subsidies via her corporation for years. We reported about this three years ago. Under the Obama administration, she voted out of committee the infamous take over of the healthcare industry which establishes the forced purchasing of medical insurance by all Americans. Her reward, the Chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee. Subsequently, the USDA headed by an Obama appointee decides that they need to save money by reducing transparency (not farm subsidies) thereby stopping the reporting names of farm subsidy recipients and the amounts they receive. This action thus shields Sen. Blanche Lincoln from further disclosure of the farm subsidies she or her corporation(s). trusts or family and friends receive.
Lincoln wants to be re-elected and even brags about her chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee as being good for Arkansas. Well, her prior membership on and her now chairmanship of the Senate AG Committee combined with selling out Arkansans has provided successful access to money and power for herself and her liberal elite friends. Lincoln has played Plantation Politics to hilt. It is time for Sen. Blanche Lincoln to receive the just rewards for abusing of power. It is time for her to be forced retired in November.
Unfortuantely, she will still be able to receive her already excessive Congressional retirement at her Virgina home. I have no doubt, there are already other plans for Lincoln. She played the game on the behalf of Big Government and limiting freedoms of Americans. Just a guess, but her buddies Clinton, Biden, Reid and Obama may even give her the key to Plantation Management Center - the USDA.
In conclusion, I leave you with this interesting items. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which seldom offers negative comments about any democrat in office stated in a recent editorial: "What’s remarkable about Blanche Lincoln is not only her insatiable appetite for ever more perks for agribusiness - for any senator from a rural state like Arkansas might share it. What’s remarkable is her pose as a defender of the little guy as she prepares to turn her senatorial campaign into another exercise in class warfare against those evil grabby Republicans. It’s the hypocrisy of it that rankles most, not just the wretched excess." Tags:Blanche Lincoln, USDA, pork, farm subsidies, transparency, reduced transparency, Ag Committee, plantation politics, 2010 electionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Sarah Palin Endorses Christine O'Donnell, Delaware Candidate for U.S. Senate
Sarah Palin and even Sean Hannity endorses Christine O'Donnell, Delaware candidate for US Senate. Palin also spoke about the economy, the proposed (currently canceled, maybe on again) Koran-burning, the congressional races, and more on Sean Hannity's radio program.
Tags:Sarah Palin, endorsement, Christine O'Donnell, Delaware, candidate, US Senate, Sean Hannity, radio show, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Herman Cain: Join Tea Party Patriots in St. Louis under the Arch at Noon Sunday 9-12 for Tea Party Across America! There are also big Tea Party Patriot rallies in Sacramento CA and Washington DC. Go to TeaPartyPatriots.org for more details. [Video]
Tags:Herman Cain, Video, promo, Tea Party 9/12To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
After hearing President Obama's speech today, it seemed only appropriate to issue this Public Service Announcement and to provide readers with a sign to post in public areas or places you think are appropriate. Please provide copies to friends.
President Obama & His 'Stimulus' Plan: "That's Our Entire Agenda"
While President Obama Promises To Tout His Failing Economic Policies, Numbers Show That He Has Little To Boast About
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH): At a White House press conference today, President Obama said that “there is no doubt that everything we’ve been trying to do…is designed to stimulate growth and additional jobs in the economy. I mean, that’s our entire agenda.” But, as the president’s economic proposals this week show, the sum of his “entire agenda” is nothing but more ‘stimulus’ spending that has failed to create jobs and piled more debt on the backs of our kids and grandkids. Month after month, Americans have been asking “Where are the jobs?” President Obama offered no answers today, instead promising that, between now and November, he will “remind the American people” that policies he has put into place “have moved us in the right direction.” With all due respect, the American people do not need more empty rhetoric and politically-driven spin from the White House, they need real solutions. And, according to these economic indicators, that is clearly not what the White House is offering:
Increase in Federal Domestic Spending in 2009: A record 16 percent
Projected Number of Foreclosures in 2010:More than three million (Note: a 30 percent increase from two years ago)
BETTER SOLUTIONS. Earlier this week, House Republicans called for bipartisan action this month on a two-point plan to help our economy get back to creating jobs by cutting unnecessary government spending and stopping the looming tax hike on families and small businesses. This plan will be followed in the coming weeks by a more comprehensive governing agenda built around the feedback Republican Members of Congress received at town halls across the country, held under the America Speaking Outproject, during the month of August. Americans can review, debate, and vote on the proposals that have been offered, and will continue to be offered, on AmericaSpeakingOut.com. Tags: President Barack Obama, Stimulus plan, lost jobs, unemployment, debt, foreclosures, America Speaking out, John Boehner,To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
"Don't Allow the Public to Read the Bills," Harry Reid, is running a campaign that refuses to hold public events and meet Nevada voters. Video
NAME / Source:Harry Reid, secret campaign, video, NevadaTags:INSERT TAGSTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Sen. Jim Demint, The Washington Times: Even though they failed to create jobs, stimulate the economy or make health care affordable, President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi want a raise.
Based on their recent voting record, it could be a $3.8 trillion raise. That's how much new money Washington will take from American workers and families over the next decade if all the Democratic tax increases are enacted next year. And despite being in control of Congress since 2007, Democrats have done nothing to stop any part of this tax explosion. Rather than admit they want to give the government a raise, the Democrats claim the government "can't afford" to keep taxes low. The truth is that Americans can't afford the European-style, socialist government the Democrats want to create.
After voting four times a few weeks ago to raise taxes on every American taxpayer, Democrats are facing the wrath of voters and scrambling to hide their record. Democrats claim they only want businesses and upper-income taxpayers to pay for their raise, but Americans have caught on to this class warfare, and they know every new tax on employers means more jobs will disappear.
Most people get raises for jobs well done. The Democrats want a tax raise because they haven't done their jobs. Instead of working to reduce the national debt, they've added trillions to it. To pay it down, they prefer to take another cut from Americans' paychecks rather than cut government spending.
This is how Washington thrives at America's expense. Remember how self-serving members of Congress got every pork-barrel project they ever wished for in Mr. Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill? That bill produced thousands of earmarks, but not jobs. The Obama administration and the Democratic Congress haven't solved any of the problems that led to the financial collapse. They've used the economic meltdown as an excuse to steer tax dollars to political allies, donors and pet projects with their bailouts and takeovers.
Such me-first thinking by people who, in the words of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, didn't want to "let a serious crisis to go waste" plunged the economic crisis that began in 2008 into a deep, long-lasting recession. Increasing taxes now would be like tying an anchor around the flailing economy's neck.
. . . . People who vote for incomprehensible bills shouldn't be given another $3.8 trillion to waste on their bad ideas. Increasing taxes will only fuel their out-of-control, big-government agendas.
Those who say we "can't afford" current tax rates care more about pumping up government programs than the prosperity of the American people. Citizen entrepreneurs, small-business owners and workers should not be forced to cut back on their plans in order to fund more spending programs dreamed up by Washington politicians and bureaucrats.
Spending is the problem, so cutting spending should be the solution. If there's anything that's unaffordable, it's the policies of Mr. Obama, Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi. Given the high unemployment rate and record levels of debt and deficits, they certainly don't deserve a raise. [Full Article] Tags:Jim Demint, Democrats, President Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, raise, Washington, D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: The Obama Administration’s approach to foreign policy requires a passionate embrace of moral equivalence. Nowhere is that approach more demonstrably corrupt than in the administration’s actions on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Obama State Department recently sent the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which is essentially a human rights audit that all UN members must conduct every four years. The 30-page report touts all the steps the administration has taken to help America become “a more perfect union,” by which the administration means steps it has taken to help America become more like Europe. The administration pats itself on the back for Obamacare, for its “stimulus” spending and for its efforts to end so-called “unlawful interrogations” of terrorists.
But then it discusses all the ways in which human rights are supposedly violated in America: our discrimination against gays, racial minorities and Muslims; unequal pay for women; the Arizona immigration law; the death penalty and the still-operational Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Clearly Obama thinks of human rights quite differently than you and I do. And the administration left off of its list any mention of the actual human rights violations that occur in America (abortion-on-demand, left-wing voter fraud, etc.). To this administration, America’s most egregious sins include laws that prevent men from marrying other men and statues that allow border-state police officers to enforce immigration law.
This was the first-ever report the U.S. has submitted to the council. That’s because President Bush refused to be part of a “human rights” organization whose membership includes Cuba, Pakistan, Libya and China. The UN Human Rights Council is a farce. Its Muslim members regularly sponsor “defamation of religions” resolutions, which are essentially global blasphemy laws to protect Islam from criticism. And 80% of the council’s resolutions condemn the only true democracy in the Middle East, Israel.
By joining last year, the Obama Administration gave the council unwarranted credibility, not to mention nearly a quarter of the council’s annual budget at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. It is unlikely that countries such as China and Cuba will do much hand-wringing over their UPR reports. According to Freedom House, each country essentially writes its own report. And we know how reliable the information is coming out of Cuba and China.
Real human rights abuses rarely get discussed at the council. During a meeting in March, the U.S. tried to confront Iran over its deadly repression of domestic opposition. But Iran used the opportunity to launch an attack at the United States and our treatment of Muslims. Iran’s foreign minister shouted, “Muslim communities in Western countries in particular have been the target not only of massive propaganda campaigns, but outright social castigation and open violence, all under the pretext of freedom of expression.”
In May, the council voted to add Libya, Angola, Malaysia, Qatar and Uganda as new members. Keep in mind, to get voted onto the council, 80% of U.N. members most vote for you.
In April, the Obama Administration helped arrange a deal in which Iran agreed to abandon its attempt to join the Human Rights Council in exchange for a seat on the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women. No joke. This is the same country whose government is deliberating over whether to stone a woman for adultery, or whether merely to hang her. In spring 2009, when the U.S. joined the council, Susan Rice, the Obama Administration’s ambassador to the UN, justified the decision, saying that America had the duty to “stand up and lead.”
Sadly, with Obama at the helm, the U.S. has not led on human rights, from inside or outside the UN. It’s forgotten about spreading and advocating for religious liberty abroad and stifled the most basic human right—life—through its promotion of abortion. Things got off to an ominous start back in February 2009, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in China, “Our pressing on those [human rights] issues can’t interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate-change crisis and the security crisis.”
Then in October, the State Department ended funding for the Iran Human Rights Watch Documentation Center, which tracks the abuses of the Iranian government. “If there is one time that I expected to get funding,” said the Center’s Executive Director, Rene Redman, “this was it.”
The administration has been at pains to defend its approach to human rights as “nuanced.” Last December, Clinton said, “we must be pragmatic and agile in pursuit of our human rights agenda, not compromising on our principles, but doing what is most likely to make them real.” The upshot of that approach, however, is that words like “freedom,” “human rights” and “democracy” rarely make appearances in Obama’s speeches. Meanwhile, recalcitrant regimes the world over have felt emboldened to Obama’s inattention to human rights.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both gave Obama mixed reviews in recent reports. “He has created a false choice between having to speak out forcefully on human rights or being pragmatic and getting results on other issues,” Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox told Reuters.
Indeed engagement and condemnation are not mutually exclusive. During the Cold War, for example, the United States discussed arms control agreements with the Soviet Union while it used the Helsinki process to advocate for political dissidents. Reagan had no trouble calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire.”
America has always married advancing democratic values with national economic and security goals. In choosing to speak softly (when he speaks at all) about human rights, President Obama projects a weakness that infects all areas of his foreign policy. The Obama Administration should not treat human rights as an impediment to a successful foreign policy, but rather as a cornerstone of it.
------------- Gary Baueris is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of theCampaign for Working Familieswhere his articles are shared. This article also appeared in Human Events. Bauer was a former Republican presidential candidate and served as President Ronald Reagan’s domestic policy adviser. Tags:President, Barack Obama, UN, Human Rights Council, bow, Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working FamiliesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Another Broken Promise On Obamacare: Costs Going Up, Not Down
Repeal ObamaCare
Apparently one broken promise on health care deserves another. Following yesterday’s reports that health insurers are planning on raising premiums in response to the mandates in Democrats’ health care law, despite Democrat promises premiums would be lowered, today reports are that health care costs will still rise, despite Democrat assurances that it would lower costs.
The AP puts it bluntly: “The nation's health care tab will go up — not down — as a result of President Barack Obama's sweeping overhaul.” The Wall Street Journal reports, “The health-care overhaul enacted last spring won't significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, according to government figures set to be released Thursday. The report by federal number-crunchers casts fresh doubt on Democrats' argument that the health-care law would curb the sharp increase in costs over the long term, the second setback this week for one of the party's biggest legislative achievements.” And once again, this is a study from an agency within the Obama administration’s own Health and Human Services Department. “In February, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projected that overall national health spending would increase an average of 6.1% a year over the next decade. The center's economists recalculated the numbers in light of the health bill and now project that the increase will average 6.3% a year, according to a report in the journal Health Affairs. Total U.S. health spending will reach $4.6 trillion by 2019, accounting for nearly one of every five U.S. dollars spent, the report says.” The Los Angeles Times adds, “Before passage of the law, the United States was projected to spend $4.5 trillion on healthcare in 2019, up from about $2.6 trillion this year. The overhaul is expected to push up the nation's 2019 healthcare bill to $4.6 trillion. That translates to an average annual growth rate of 6.3% over the next decade, far outpacing the economy-wide inflation rate.”
Of course, this is not what Democrats promised during the debate over their bloated, unpopular health care bill. In fact, a year ago today President Obama gave an address to a Joint Session of Congress, where he declared, “The plan I’m announcing tonight … will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), who strongly backed the bill, said, “[H]ealth-care reform that is focused on reducing cost is not only the smart way to go; it's the only way to go.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said that assertions that the bill would raise costs were “false.” And during the health care summit at the White House in February, Vice President Joe Biden said, “Unless we bend that cost curve, we're in trouble.”
No wonder majorities of Americans continue to disapprove of this multi-trillion dollar mistake. A recent CNN poll showed 56% still oppose the law. Not only that, Time’s Kat Pickert wrote recently on the Swampland blog that the “emerging conventional wisdom” is that “Democrats grossly underestimated the political damage of pushing through health care reform and that the issue is a primary reason Democrats are set up for big losses come November.” This isn’t the reform Americans were looking for, and for months the public said loud and clear that Congress should stop and start over. But Democrats charged ahead anyway. In less than two months, Americans will get to render their verdict on this course of action. November is Coming! Tags:Obamacare, higher costs, repeal ObamacareTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, Editor: As retired Air Force who served during the Vietnam War as both enlisted and as an officer, I just had to share this public interest story. Many good men lost their lives serving our country in Laos and other "undisclosed" places. The truth of their service has been denied, hidden with false reports or classified because the leadership in Washington, D.C did not want it known that American military were serving in various foreign locations. This Medal of Honor for CMSgt Richard Etchberger is long overdue. I was a young airman when Etchberger died but I recall several senior grade sergeants who kept me in line, trained and prepared me and then pushed me on to a successful Air Force career. This award also recognizes many others who faithfully served in "undisclosed" locations!
Airman Killed in Laos to Get Medal of Honor
Richard Etchberger, CMSgt, USAF
Reported by Military.com: Richard Etchberger died in Laos in 1968, saving fellow Americans at a top-secret radar station overrun by North Vietnamese commandos.
Etchberger, who grew up north of Reading, Pa., was nominated that year for the Medal of Honor. But there was a problem: The United States was not supposed to have troops in Laos. President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to award the medal.
On July 7 of this year, Etchberger's son, Cory, received a phone call. "Will you please hold for the president?" a woman asked. President Obama then told Cory Etchberger that his father would finally receive the Medal of Honor. "It's been a long time coming," Obama told Etchberger, 51, of Schwenksville, Montgomery County. Cory Etchberger, who recounted the conversation with Obama, was 9 when his father died at Lima Site 85, which directed bombing missions into North Vietnam and Laos.
Richard Etchberger, a chief master sergeant in the Air Force, was selected to work at the radar station and was converted into a civilian employee of Lockheed so his presence in Laos would not technically violate that country's neutrality. The radar station directed 507 strike missions against North Vietnamese targets from November 1967 until March 11, 1968, when enemy soldiers engaged the facility in a fierce battle, according to the Air Force.
Under withering fire, Etchberger loaded wounded comrades into slings to be raised into a rescue helicopter before coming aboard himself. He was mortally wounded by an armor-piercing bullet that had ripped through the chopper. He was 27.
Etchberger was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross in a secret Pentagon ceremony. His family, except for his parents, who were sworn to secrecy, was not told what really happened. The mission was declassified years later, but Etchberger was not eligible for the Medal of Honor because of a time limit. In 2008, Congress approved a waiver.
His family will attend a White House medal ceremony on Sept. 21. Tags:Medal of Honor, Airman, CMSgt, USAF, Air Force, Vietnam War, Richard Etchberger, Laos, heroTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
“PARTY OF NO” WEB VIDEO SCRIPT OBAMA: If I said the sky was blue, they’d say no.
CHYRON: THAT’S RIGHT. THEY DO.
CHYRON: (ACTUAL DEMOCRAT CAMPAIGN ADS)
DEM COMMERCIAL 1: I’ve had to say no far more than I’ve said yes.
DEM COMMERCIAL 2: [That is] why I voted against all of the bailouts.
DEM COMMERCIAL 3: And why I voted against the three trillion dollar budget.
DEM COMMERCIAL 4: You saw it when he voted against health care.
DEM COMMERCIAL 5: Against bailouts, against stimulus spending.
DEM COMMERCIAL 6: And voted against Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax.
OBAMA: If I said the sky was blue, they’d say no.
CHYRON: WITH POLICIES THIS BAD, WHO CAN BLAME THEM? Tags:Party of No, Barack Obama, democrats, ad, RNCTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Despite Contrary Press Reports, President Claims That Health Law “Stops Insurance Companies From Jacking Up Your Premiums”
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “That’s Why We Passed Health Insurance Reform That Stops Insurance Companies From Jacking Up Your Premiums At Will.” (President Obama, Remarks, Parma, OH, 9/8/10)
“WHOPPING RATE INCREASES ARE COMING SOON”
“Health Insurers … Have Asked For Premium Increases Of Between 1% And 9% To Pay For Extra Benefits Required Under The [Democrat Health Care] Law.” “Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections. Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators.”(“Health Insurers Plan Hikes,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/8/10)
“Aetna, One Of The Nation's Largest Health Insurers, Said The Extra Benefits Forced It To Seek Rate Increases For New Individual Plans Of 5.4% To 7.4% In California And 5.5% To 6.8% In Nevada After Sept. 23. Similar steps are planned across the country, according to Aetna.” (“Health Insurers Plan Hikes,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/8/10)
WASHINGTON STATE: “Whopping Rate Increases Are Coming Soon For Many People With Individual Health-Insurance Policies. Most insurers offering individual policies in the state have asked for and been granted rate increases, effective Oct. 1, according to the state's insurance commissioner. Regence BlueShield's rate increase an average 16.5 percent was one of the highest. It was topped by Asuris Northwest Health, a Regence subsidiary, with an increase of 23.7 percent. Group Health Cooperative, the fifth-largest insurer of individuals, was considerably lower, asking for an 8.2 percent increase. But its newer program, Group Health Options, asked for a 22 percent increase. By reducing benefits and making other changes, the plans trimmed increases to 7.8 and 13.8 percent, respectively. A lot of angry customers are asking why.” (“Steep Rate Hikes On Way For Individual Health Insurance,” The Seattle Times, 9/7/10)
Tags:fact check, President Obama, insurance, health premiumsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Another Broken Health Care Promise: We Are Getting Higher Premiums
Throughout the debate on President Obama’s unpopular health care bill, Democrats promised that the massive law would reduce health insurance premiums. In December last year, Obama announced, “We [Senate Democrats and the administration] agree on reforms that will finally reduce the costs of health care. Families will save on their premiums.” In a press release that same month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “[W]e can reduce the costs of premiums for Nevadans and all Americans. This is one more reason why we need to pass health insurance reform now, protecting patients and making health care affordable.” And on the Senate floor, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), a key architect of the bill, proclaimed that “for all Americans -- all Americans -- premiums will be lower.”
But once again, news reports show that this is another broken promise on health care. The Wall Street Journal writes today, “Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections. . . . These and other insurers say Congress's landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a brutal fight, is causing them to pass on more costs to consumers than Democrats predicted.”
Indeed, insurance companies across the country are indicating that these rate increases are coming as a direct result of the Democrats’ health care plan. “Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators. . . . Aetna, one of the nation's largest health insurers, said the extra benefits [mandated by the law] forced it to seek rate increases for new individual plans of 5.4% to 7.4% in California and 5.5% to 6.8% in Nevada after Sept. 23. Similar steps are planned across the country, according to Aetna. Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon said the cost of providing additional benefits under the health law will account on average for 3.4 percentage points of a 17.1% premium rise for a small-employer health plan. . . . . In Wisconsin and North Carolina, Celtic Insurance Co. says half of the 18% increase it is seeking comes from complying with health-law mandates.”
Ironically, the WSJ points out, “In addition to pledging that the law would restrain increases in Americans' insurance premiums, Democrats front-loaded the legislation with early provisions they hoped would boost public support. Those include letting children stay on their parents' insurance policies until age 26, eliminating co-payments for preventive care and barring insurers from denying policies to children with pre-existing conditions, plus the elimination of the coverage caps. Weeks before the election, insurance companies began telling state regulators it is those very provisions that are forcing them to increase their rates.”
Of course, this isn’t the first indication Americans have had that Democrats’ promises about lowering premiums wouldn’t come true. As early as November 2009, press reports were noting that the CBO warned that many Americans’ premiums would increase if the bill passed. After the bill was signed, even the President’s own Health and Human Services Department estimated in May that Democrats’ highly touted provision to let young adults remain on their parents’ insurance would increase premiums for families on employer health care plans.
This flawed, bloated, and unpopular health care bill needs to be repealed and replaced with commonsense ideas to actually lower costs.
Things are heating up as President Obama flew again to Ohio today to bully Rep. John Boehner for calling out the President's failed spending programs. Ohio is on the verge of defeating Democrats and sending more new Republicans to Congress. Out in Colorado, The Hill reports that Democrat Senator Michael Bennet is back tracking on the president who flown to Colorado to endorsed Bennet. Bennet is "facing a tough reelection, rejected the $50 billion public works program proposed by Obama earlier this week. 'I will not support additional spending in a second stimulus package,' Bennet said in a statement. The statement is a sharp pivot for Bennet, who voted for the initial $787 billion stimulus plan favored by Obama in February of 2009. . . . a reflection of the tough political environment facing Democrats this fall. . . . Recent polling suggests that Republican candidate Ken Buck is leading Bennet. Tags:Barack Obama, broken promises, ObamaCare, health care, insurance premiums, Ohio, ColoradoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Virginia Crossland-Macha, Guest Editorial: Have you ever heard of "divide and conquer"? With 10 brothers and sisters, I am very familiar with this technique! All successful strategies in WARFARE have been successful because of the TROOPS coming together at the appropriate time and bringing the hammer down when the critical moment arrives. Memories of my brothers talking me out of my dessert springs to mind!
Yes, a finely tuned BATTLE plan can steer you to victory if your LEADER is steady and the mission is clear. I am describing how Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and how the American people have been able to stop or at least slow down the Left from transforming our country until reinforcements arrive.
Lately I have watched the Left try to divide and conquer ever successful organization that bleeds conservatism, moral obligation, or anti big government. Let's review: there are TEA parties, Americans For Prosperity, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and on and on!
One of my friend has asked me to comment on John Martin's (the Happy Conservative) article on Outraged Patriots in which he addresses how the enemy is now within and alleges that that Americans For Prosperity is not who they say they are because AFP has not commented on immigration. Mr. Martin alludes to Joseph Farah of the World Net Daily Radio Show who discusses the infiltration of this enemy within and never included or named Americans For Prosperity. Martin's approach seems disingenuous or maybe Mr. Martin is suffering from what we all may be feeling - Frustration.
Since the new regime set up shop in Washington, D.C., AFP has spent more money to provide information and venues to inform the public on issues. National and AFP state chapters must operate with limited budgets which is even more limited during an election cycle. With so many issues, AFP has to chose what is most relevant and what issues are coming up for a vote. REMEMBER, staying focused and on message is the key strategy to stopping bad legislation. Americans For Prosperity has been highly successful in rounding up the troops to thwart the Left wing agendas by staying focused and on message. As a result, they have been able to inform the public who in turn has expressed their feelings to their elected officials. AFP actions along with the actions of other organizations has focus on the issues which has slowed down the voting on major pieces of the liberal transformation process.
Now, the Left is fighting back trying to divide AFP and its followers in order to overcome AFP's success. Consider the Left's madness. Recently, AFP was focused on nationally when Barack Obama gave his Seal of Disapproval to Americans For Prosperity. The President wants to know who contributes funds to AFP. Why? Because, AFP is focusing on the Obama administration's agenda. AFP's founders David Koch and Charles Koch have been elevated by the Left as questionable characters. Sound familiar; Villains and Secrets and Bears, Oh MY!
So, who is AFP? AFP is composed of Americans who turn out at rallies; Americans who give donations no matter how small or big; Americans who man phone lines; and Americans who helps get the message out to their friends and neighbors. Belief in limited Government, fiscal responsibility, and free market principles define most Americans so it is easy for most Americans to identify with AFP!
Who are the Koch brothers? To the Left, they are villains, but to Kansas (an America) they should be Heroes. First, there is their contribution to the American economy by providing private sector jobs. Jobs paid for by the private sector; jobs that are not dependent on the taxpayers. The Koch family has lived the American Dream and their efforts to preserve that dream for the many generations to come is commendable. Yes, they support organizations like AFP that promote transparency and limited government. As an American, I say Thank you God for giving us two Patriots that would suffer public scrutiny in order to preserve Freedom! To find out more, go to Koch Industries and search the site using the word "contributions" to learn about the myriad of the contributions made by the Koch family.
Yes, Mr. Martin's warning about the enemy within is all too real, but he missed the mark in condemning AFP? To the informed and involved AFP supporters, the accusation finger may well point back to Mr. Martin! Buying into generalities of the "Lame Stream" Media or misquoting Mr. Farah to make a point seems desperate at best. My suggestion to Mr. Martin is to support groups like FAIR who address illegal immigration as their focus. Put your money where your heart is. There are many one issue organizations that could use funding. But, everything you write or read, please fact check it. If you have the real facts on your side, you will be successful at the debate. But, leave the emotion at home. If the answers to your questions are not satisfactory, GO to the top! I am sure that if Mr. Martin would have contacted Tim Phillips, President of AFP, as to why AFP is not addressing illegal immigration, he would received an explanation. I have written Phillips numerous times and he has always responded. I do not doubt Mr. Martin's patriotism or conservatism; sometimes we all have hit the wall of frustration when patience runs out and our pen becomes the only outlet left! ---------- Virginia Crossland-Macha resides in Kansas and is an citizen activist. She is not an officer or employee of Americans for Prosperity. However, she has joined with hundreds of thousands of people who support the American for Prosperity message of limited government and free enterprise. In 2009, Virgina even traveled to Arkansas to assist the ARRA Editor, at a TEA Party rally, in sharing information on the pending National Health Care Law which now requires citizens to buy medical insurance or to subject to fines and imprisonment. Note: For those interested or mostly interested in illegal immigration or immigration reform, a list of potential organizations addressing these issues may be found by clicking here. Tags:Americans for Prosperity, AFP, friend, not foe, I am AFP, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Can You Imagine the Lame Stream Media's Reaction had this Maniac been a TEA Party member? The lame street media and the government have been giving Eco Terrorists a break for years. Maybe the left leaning elitists in their heart concur with these eco nuts.
----------- by William Warren: Tags:William Warren, political cartoon, Al Gore, Discovery Channel Terrorist, Eco Terrorist, Mainstream Media, TEA Party MovementTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: If you think today is just the day after Labor Day, you’re wrong. This also marks the first day of the campaign season – the day when most Americans historically begin tuning into elections. First, the good news. The polling is tremendously encouraging for Republicans, as this Politico column notes. But the bad news is that Democrats won’t be caught off guard like they were in 1994.
It is difficult to overstate the resource advantage Democrats have. While conservatives were demoralized after 2006 and 2008, the Left experienced a fundraising bonanza. As a result, Democrat incumbents in many of the most critical races have huge bank accounts. They will use this cash to dominate the airwaves, “carpet bombing” their conservative challengers with negative ads from now until November 2nd.
Moreover, it was recently reported that two labor unions – the AFL-CIO and the SIEU – will spend “a combined $88 million or more” in the elections. That’s just two organizations among the myriad of left-wing groups! The Left’s strategy is clear.
Liberals can’t campaign on their own record. From the stimulus to healthcare “reform,” they have failed miserably. In fact, one analysis of campaign ads found “it appears that no Democratic incumbent — in the House or in the Senate — has run a pro-[ObamaCare] TV ad since April, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ran one.”
Democrats are going to do to every conservative candidate what they have done to Sarah Palin – they want voters to forget about all the failures of the liberal agenda, and they will try to convince you that conservatives are stupid, extremists, wacky, racist, etc. Don’t fall for it. Our country can’t afford two more years of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime.
ACTION ITEM: In the days ahead, we will be asking for additional financial support. But here’s something that won’t cost you a dime. Talk to your friends and family members, especially younger voters.
The evidence is overwhelming that many young people who voted for Obama are rethinking that choice, as the New York Times reports. If you’ve got a young person in your family who can’t get a job, who thinks unborn babies deserve to be protected by the law, who wants to see America free, strong and prosperous, approach him or her about those issues.
Talk about how high taxes and government regulation kill jobs. (Even Obama’s former budget director now says all the Bush tax cuts should be extended.) Explain how Obama’s record deficit spending threatens their future standard of living. Remind them that America is a force for good in the world and that our values are worth defending.
This is important, friends. The Democrat National Committee is spending $50 million to re-connect with first-time votes who backed Obama in 2008. In many cases, they are college graduates now entering the work force and facing a future that is less hopeful than the one they were promised two years ago. We can win their votes in 56 days. ------------- Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. He submitted the above in an email to the ARRA News Service Editor. Bauer was a former Republican presidential candidate and served as President Ronald Reagan’s domestic policy adviser. Tags:2010 election, campaign season, elections, Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working FamiliesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
New Polls Find Americans Fed Up With The Democrats Economic Policies
In a must-read editorial this morning, The Wall Street Journal writes, “[T]wo months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he's rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy. . . . [T]he effort itself is a tacit admission that his earlier proposals have flopped.”
Discussing the Obama administration’s previous $814 billion stimulus bill, the WSJ points out, “[Obama economic adviser Larry] Summers promised this would have a 1.5 ‘multiplier’ effect on GDP growth, and White House economists Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein famously predicted the spending would keep the jobless rate below 8%.” The editors explain, “[N]ever before has government spent so much and intervened so directly in credit allocation to spur growth, yet the results have been mediocre at best. In return for adding nearly $3 trillion in federal debt in two years, we still have 14.9 million unemployed.”
However, President Obama used a Labor Day speech in Wisconsin to call for even more stimulus spending. According to The New York Times, “President Obama, looking to stimulate a sluggish economy and create jobs, called Monday for Congress to approve major upgrades to the nation’s roads, rail lines and runways — part of a six-year plan that would cost tens of billions of dollars and create a government-run bank to finance innovative transportation projects. With Democrats facing an increasingly bleak midterm election season, Mr. Obama used a speech at a union gathering on Labor Day . . . to outline his plan. It calls for a quick infusion of $50 billion in government spending that White House officials said could spur job growth as early as next year — if Congress approves.”
Obama declared, “[T]he bottom line is this, Milwaukee — this will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul.” And “Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told NBC’s Today program the proposal ‘will put people back to work immediately,’” writes McClatchy. But Obama and Solis seem to be the only people in the administration under that impression. As McClatchy notes, “White House aides conceded, however, that the proposal, which still would have to be approved by Congress and then implemented, is not likely to start creating jobs until next year. “We’re not like trying to put out an idea today that, in October 2010, this is going to create a lot of jobs,” said a senior administration official . . . . ‘This is not what this is.’” And the AP writes, “Even if he can get the plan through Congress, at a time when lawmakers and voters are worried about federal deficits, the transportation spending plan envisioned by President Barack Obama wouldn't create jobs right away. Senior administration officials say the initial projects would lead to new jobs over the course of next year.”
As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday, “After the administration pledged that a trillion dollars in borrowed stimulus money would create 4 million jobs and keep the unemployment rate under 8 percent, their latest plan for another stimulus should be met with justifiable skepticism. After failing to deliver on their economic promises for more than 18 months, the administration wants to do it again--this time with higher taxes for even more new spending. . . . A last-minute, cobbled-together stimulus bill with more than $50 billion in new tax hikes will not reverse the complete lack of confidence Americans have in Washington Democrats' ability to help this economy.”
Abysmal new polls for Democrats released today bear that out. The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 57% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy and more now say the President’s economic policies are making things worse, 33%, than better, 30%. And NBC News writes that the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll “puts Obama’s approval rating at 45 percent, which is down two points from the last poll in early August. What’s more, only 39 percent approve of his handling of the economy — his lowest mark on this question.” These numbers follow a Saturday CNN poll showing 59% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, while only 40% approve, “a new low for the president in CNN polling.”
Describing its poll, NBC writes, “Americans are deeply pessimistic about the state of the economy. Only 26 percent think the economy will improve in the next 12 months . . . and just 26 percent believe their wages will increase in the next year.” And Politico’s Mike Allen points out, “In the ABC/Washington Post poll, an astonishing 92 percent of respondents described the state of the nation’s economy as bad, compared with 8 percent who said it was good.”
In the face of all this President Obama’s solution is more government spending and more tax increases! Now it is his own administration admitting his proposal won’t put people back to work quickly. Do You trust the Washington Democrats asking for more of their money? Where are those ‘shovel-ready’ jobs they were promised more than a year ago? Tags:democrats, economic policies, unemployment, no jobs, stimulus failure, Obama Administration, pollsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
There’s the actions of union thugs at town hall meetings, beating and intimidating average citizens who want to be heard or just sell a flag.
There’s the amazing amount of waste in the Stimulus bill, including money for “coked-up stimulus monkeys.”
There’s Jersey Shore.
But without a doubt, the most outrageous thing in America right now is the fact that American land in under control by foreign drug smugglers and human traffickers and the federal government has done nothing about it but put up signs telling Americans to stay out.
I know I have written about this before. But it is so amazing to me that this is going on and no one in Washington is outraged about it that I feel it has to be brought up again.
Consider how outrageous this is.
Mexican drug cartels have set up base in the mountains of Arizona, which are, as much as liberals hate it, still part of the United States of America. They are controlling those mountains with weapons that are certainly illegal, and no member of the House of Representatives or Senate is standing on the floor of Congress demanding that something be done about it.
“What’s very troubling is the fact that at a time when we in law enforcement and our state need help from the federal government, instead of sending help they put up billboard-size signs warning our citizens to stay out of the desert in my county because of dangerous drug and human smuggling and weapons and bandits and all these other things and then, behind that, they drag us into court with the ACLU,” Babeu said.
The sheriff was referring to the law suits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the state’s new immigration law.
“So who has partnered with the ACLU?” Babeu said in a telephone interview with CNSNews.com. “It’s the president and (Attorney General) Eric Holder himself. And that’s simply outrageous.” . . .
“Our own government has become our enemy and is taking us to court at a time when we need help,” Babeu said.
While law enforcement is busy dealing with lawsuits and paranoid that some legitimate action they take will be warped and spun into an act of overt racism by the ACLU, the bad guys are running the border.
“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.
“This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”
For two and a half days after Andrade’s abduction, the kidnappers — including a man whom Andrade later said had been a friend — deprived their victim of food and water. Through the door of the closet where he was held, Andrade could hear the cries of other victims being tortured in the house, the report said.Meanwhile, Valencia had defied the kidnappers and called police, who listened to Andrade “scream and howl in pain” over the phone as the kidnappers tried to cut off his ear and a finger. The torture would continue until Valencia came up with the ransom, the kidnappers told her.
They were true to their word.
Andrade was pistol-whipped and beaten with a baseball bat and the butt of a rifle. The kidnappers tried to gouge out his eye and slashed open his left eyebrow. They burned his back as well — presumably, police said, with a blowtorch found at the scene. Read how the next door neighbors knew nothing of this
The blindfolded Andrade “could feel his pants and underwear being cut open by an unknown person,” he told police. He was told to bend over and was beaten when he refused.
“Jaime felt his legs being forced apart and heard Aldo say he was going to get his money,” the report said. The kidnappers then sodomized him with a broomstick, a pair of scissors and a wooden dowel used to hang clothes in a closet.
Where is the outrage?
Do we need to redefine the problem in terms that might actaully raise the hackles on the back of a liberals neck?
Ok, fine.
They have guns, liberals. Big ones. Perhaps we should send the ATF into take them.
They are destroying the environment. Maybe some members of the EPA and Greenpeace need to go up there and check out the damage being done the natural beauty of the American southwest.
And honestly, why is there no concern from this president or the liberal dominated Congress about human rights violations? There is human trafficking going on in these areas and they know it. They put it on the signs!
Why is nothing being done to end it? Why is it being allowed to continue? Politics?
You know that’s what it is.
Drug smugglers are being allowed to control parts of America, human beings are being trafficked into and out of those areas and people are being kidnapped and tortured and nothing is being done because we don’t want to alienate a protected class of voters who might choose to vote for the other guy.
This, my friends, is the most outrageous thing in America right now. What are you going to do about it?
Are you going to call your Congressman and tell him that he or she needs to do something about this? Are you going to call you Senator and demand they take some kind of action? Are you going to attend a town hall and bring this to the attention of everyone there?
What are you going to do? Because if we don’t do something, no one will. Tags:invasion, border control, crime, illegal immigration, securityTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
H/T Expose ObamaTags:Labor Day, economic crisis, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
POTUS New Negative Polling Record - Ouch Americans Not Happy With Obama
Rasmussen Reports in its Daily Presidential Tracking Poll (9/5/2010) gave President Obama his lowest Negative Approval rating ever; a -23 (24% of nation strongly approve; 47% Strongly Disapprove of Obama Performance as President. On a full-month basis, the Presidential Approval Index has stayed between -14 and -17 for eight of the past nine months.
National Voter Rating of Obama Performance as President:
Strongly Disapprove 47%
Strongly Approve 24%
Difference -23
Overall, all Voters on President's Performance:
42% of voters at least Somewhat Approve
57% Disapprove.
The Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Balance of Power shows Democrats with a 48-45 advantage for the US Senate while seven races remain Toss-Ups (California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin).
The Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard projects 27 Governorships for the GOP, 16 for the Democrats, and seven Toss-Ups (Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin). Tags:Rasmussen Reports, President Barack Obama, September 5, 2010, approval index, approval, disapproval, Congress, economy, repeal ObamacareTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
November 2010 is Coming, but the work begins
January 2011 and the picture won't be pretty.
Tags:cartoon, November is Coming, 2010 elections, January 2011, Democrats, RepublicansTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, Editor: Tomorrow is Labor Day on which we do not labor unless you are pregnant and delivering your baby - then you are in real labor. Today, many people went to Church. While the liberals want Christians to reshape the Church and their Christianity, they are not asking Buddhists to stop being Buddhists or the Muslims to not to be Muslims, etc. But, liberal progressives do want Christians to be "not too" Christian. After, all they don't want the Truth standing in their way. Compromise is want they want from those pesky traditional values Christians.
The following video produced by the Steve & Kathy Show is both funny and insightful . Discover a church that's all about you! Progressive-church.com is a hilarious spoof off Progressive Insurance Company that will leave you rolling in laughter! That is unless the truth hurts! [Video follows]
Tags:satire, confronting truth, Sunday, traditional values, progressive, Church, Progressive Church, TV commercial, Christian, Christianity,To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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