Big Government Failures Continue To Plague Us

Hillary: Turn over your personal e-mail server to the
proper authorities and allowing them to examine it.

Editor, ARRA NJews Service - Today in Washington, D.C. - July 24, 2015
The House is not in session today. The will reconvene ar Noon on Monday, July 27.

Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 1599 (275-150) — "To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to food produced from, containing, or consisting of a bio-engineered organism, the labeling of natural foods, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3009 (241-179) — Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act: "To amend section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny assistance under such section to a State or political subdivision of a State that prohibits its officials from taking certain actions with respect to immigration."

The Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (H.R. 3009), legislation was introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA). The bill would deny funding for states or local governments that fail to enforce immigration laws that protect Americans. Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) discussed the bill and called on the Obama administration to follow the House’s lead and crack down on so-called ‘sanctuary cities’: "The recent shooting of a young woman in California highlights a serious problem in our immigration enforcement system. Because while terrible people do terrible things, this tragedy was preventable.

"And the fact is, some cities decide to ignore our laws, and not only is that wrong, but it’s clearly dangerous as well. The House is acting today to put state and local officials on notice that we’ll no longer allow them to decide how and when to enforce our nation’s laws. And I call upon the Obama administration to follow suit, to stop covering up for these ‘sanctuary cities,’ and enforce the laws that are there to protect the American people."

Today, Speaker Boehner addressed reports that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails on her private unsecured server contained classified information, despite her past claims to the contrary. Boehner said, "Two inspector generals appointed by President Obama have now called on the Justice Department to investigate Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of classified email. If Secretary Clinton truly has nothing to hide, she can prove it by immediately turning over her server to the proper authorities and allowing them to examine the complete record.

"What these reports demonstrate is the inherent risk of conducting our nation’s diplomacy and foreign policy on your home email and personal server. Secretary Clinton has repeatedly claimed that the work-related emails on her private home server did not include classified information, but we know that is not true. She has claimed she is well-aware of what matters are classified and what are not, and yet she set up a personal email server to discuss matters of national security despite guidance to the contrary from both her State Department and the White House. Her poor judgement has undermined our national security and it is time for her to finally do the right thing."

Former Secretary Clinton has repeatedly claimed that her email did not include classified information. For example, on March 10, 2015, she said: “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. So I’m certainly well-aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.”

Boehner response: "If Secretary Hillary Clinton truly has nothing to hide, she can prove it by immediately turning over her personal e-mail server to the proper authorities and allowing them to examine the complete record. It's time for her to finally do the right thing!"

The Senate reconvened at 9 AM today and resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill. Senators then voted 51-26 to agree to the motion to proceed to the bill.

[Where were the other 23 votes? The editor's opinion on the bill a little later. . .]

On Sunday, the Senate will begin voting on amendments to the highway bill. First will be a vote on an amendment offered by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, followed by a vote on an amendment offered by Leader McConnell to repeal Obamacare.

On July 31, the Highway Trust Fund’s authorization will expire. The fund has long been unsustainable, containing large diversions for mass transportation and other wasteful projects. The Senate is currently seeking to pass a $40 billion bailout, 3-year extension of the fund. Then we have the added burden of ome Senators are seeking to attach an amendment to the bill that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.

Most grassroots conservatives, except for maybe those influenced by the Chamber of Commerce and Big Business, had hoped the Export-Import Bank would finally be dead. Now they have a Republican Senator willing to support its re-authorization. If the conservative Republican Senators who are running for The GOP nomination are absent from the Senate on Sunday, we could see the rebirth of this program which uses American money to fund overseas competitors. The Ex-IM Bank needs to remain unfunded and dead.

As for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), some are rightfully asking, "What happens if the HTF runs out of money? Won’t the U.S. face a transportation crisis?"

No, this situation is not like National Defense. Gas tax revenues will still flow into the HTF and be paid out for transportation projects. The U.S. Department of Transportation would simply have to slow down payments to the states.

Lawmakers are fond of sounding the alarm bells about what will happen to the national transportation infrastructure if states have to face a reduction in federal funding. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx has said states will see on average a 28 percent cut in funding from the HTF. This figure is shockingly misleading, however, as the overwhelming majority of highway funding comes from state and local governments, not the federal government. The 28 percent figure has missing context and indicates a 28% cut in the federal proportion of highway funding.

The “crisis” reduction Obama and many Congressmen are threatening about amounts to a 7 percent cut in overall transportation spending. This will not devastate the country’s surface transportation, and states will reserve autonomy to prioritize which projects are essential and which have been forced on them by the federal government.

If Congress does not act, will the federal interstate shut down? No. The federal interstate will be open for travel, and construction will largely continue although plans for some additional projects may be scaled back.

Is there any opportunity for real reform?
Yes. If the Senate stops doing business as usual in authorizing Federal Government overreach. It is time to take away the need for periodic highway bills completely. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) will likely introduce again in the 114th Congress a new way forward in the Transportation Empowerment Act. This bill would return the highway program to local control, empower local and state governments to carry out projects that best serve their interests, and
enhance the efficiency of how money is spent on the nation’s transportation.

The federal fuel tax would be reduced from 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline to 3.7 cents, and from 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel to 5 cents, over a five-year period—limiting the user fee to fund only appropriate federal activities and forcing an end to governmental waste and ineptitude.

States and localities would be free to set whatever transportation policies they deem necessary and pay for projects in a way that works best for them without the costly and cumbersome hurdles imposed by the federal government.

Recommend you encourage their members of Congress to resist the business-as-usual bailout of the Highway Trust Fund. This system has been broken for far too long and the nation’s motorists have suffered as a result. Conservatives should insist that the HTF live within its means in the near-term and that Congress pass the Transportation Empowerment Act to introduce real reforms to future transportation policy.

Warning, what may happen this Sunday (a day they these Senators would be better off fasting and praying) way be the re-advent of two major rip-off programs: The Federal Highway Program and the Export-Import bank.

Obamacare continues trending in the news:
The Wall Street Journal reports, “Anthem Inc. agreed to buy Cigna Corp. for $48.4 billion in a transaction that, along with a previously proposed combination of rivals, could reshape the U.S. health-insurance industry.

“The deal, . . .,  combines the second- and fifth-largest health insurers by revenue and merges two companies with a huge footprint in commercial insurance, the type of coverage provided to employers and consumers. . . .

“The tie-up of Anthem and Cigna follows by about three weeks Aetna Inc’s agreement to buy Humana Inc. for $34 billion and further accelerates the rapid-fire reconfiguration at the top of the U.S. managed-care industry. The biggest companies are seeking more cost efficiency and scale as the health-care landscape changes because of the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] and other factors.”

Last week, in an op-ed for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Senate Majority Leader McConnell wrote, “[T]he announced sale of Kentucky-based Humana, a health insurance company, reveals yet another pitfall of the law. The sale is the inevitable result of Obamacare's push toward consolidation as doctors, hospitals, and insurers merge in response to an ever-growing government. And the resulting consolidation means less competition among insurers, which could leave consumers with even fewer choices and lower-quality care.

“For insurers, Obamacare has made it much more expensive to do business in the health care market. The many layers of regulation spawned by the law mandate less choice and reward bigger scale over more competition. It's also unleashed an avalanche of new requirements for insurers to deal with. Merging into bigger firms, which are better able to absorb the costs of Obamacare and comply with the maze of regulations, has become the answer.

“Such mergers may satisfy an overzealous government bureaucrat, but they don't necessarily help consumers . . . . What's worse, when there are fewer players in the health insurance market, there is less drive to innovate.”

Speaking of bureaucrats, they seem to be the Obama administration’s answer to whatever problems the law hasn’t tried to fix with mandates or regulations. Now that it’s become clear that insurers in states all across the country are asking for large rate increases for 2016, the administration is leaning on state regulators to try to stop companies from increasing rates they say they need because of the expenses caused by Obamacare’s mandates.

CNBC notes, “HealthCare.gov's leader wants to put his ‘stamp’ on Obamacare health insurance prices next year—and that's raising suspicion he's worried they'll be too high otherwise.

“Kevin Counihan, CEO of the federal health exchange, this week wrote a letter to state insurance commissioners who are reviewing proposed rate changes for Obamacare plans, suggesting they keep in mind several factors which, not surprisingly, could support arguments for approving only moderate overall price increases. . . .

“Counihan's unusual missive comes amid concerns that some — if not most —Obamacare customers will be hit with double-digit percentage price increases being sought by a number of insurers nationwide for 2016. Insurance commissioners will soon approve the final rates that will be charged customers both on government-run Obamacare marketplaces, and those who buy individual plans off those exchanges through brokers or the insurers directly. . . .

“Despite HHS' arguments to the contrary, several insurance experts said Counihan's letter reflects legitimate worry that many 2016 rates will be significantly higher than now.

“Kev Coleman, head of research and data for insurance comparison site HealthPocket.com, said the letter suggests, ‘The government is very concerned about the proposed rate increases, and the government is trying to aggressively arm state insurance commissioners with data to help them defend pushbacks on these proposed increases.’

“Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, said, . . .  “‘There is a problem . . . ‘Not every carrier in every state but there is a clear pattern of the largest carriers with the most data having unacceptable financial results under the Affordable Care Act and responding with very large increases.’

“‘By sending this letter the administration is clearly saying they have a problem,’ he said. ‘But jawboning in the face of hard data showing unacceptable results is going to have very little impact.’ . . . ‘These numbers are simply not sustainable.’”

CNBC adds, “Counihan's letter comes on the heels of a number of news stories highlighting some of the larger proposed rate hikes. CNBC reported last month that one insurer, Texas Blue Shield, was seeking a nearly 20 percent price increase for Obamacare plans after losing $400 million last year insuring customers in those plans. . . .

“One recent HealthPocket.com analysis detailed by CNBC.com found that premiums for individual plans in major U.S. cities would rise by an average of 12 percent in 2016 if the newly proposed prices are approved.”

With Obamacare’s failures mounting, senators are going to have the opportunity over the weekend to vote on repealing this unpopular law. This vote should demonstrate that there are majorities in both houses of Congress that believe Obamacare should be repealed and replaced. Unfortunately, President Obama and Democrats in Congress are determined to defend the law at all costs, so the missing component is still a president who would sign legislation repealing and replacing Obamacare into law.

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