Reid Shuts Down Government!

ARRA News Service - The "non-essential" portions of the Federal Government is Now officially closed on October 1, 2013 at 12:01 AM Easter Standard Time. Senate Harry Reid refused to allow the Senate to negotiate after receiving several House Republican led proposals.  Reid has adjourned the Senate but the House is still in session.  The House Speaker has called for basic fairness with equal treatment for all under Obamacare and the House has repeatedly voted to keep the Government open.  It was the Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid who have closed  the Government "for political purposes."

Makes one wonder how much we could save by not opening several of the non-essential parts of of the Federal Government.

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If President Signs the Bill, Military Safe From Government Shutdown

Update: 10:00 PM: President Obama signed HR 3201. This ensures that active duty military members of the U.S. military and U.S. Coast Guard will be paid during a government shutdown. In addition, civilians and contractors with the departments of Defense and Homeland Security who support active-duty troops and guardsmen, will still be paid during the temporary cessation of most government activities.
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Today, while rejecting the House's Continuing Resolution twice, the Senate did approve by unanimous consent House bill HR 3201 that would pay the military during a government shutdown. The House passed the bill yesterday 423-0. With passage by 100% of both the House and Senate, the only thing standing in the way of paying the military is the PResident's signature. It should be noted that the military are paid on the last day of the month, so they were paid today. With this bill, the military and their families can expect to see their pay checks at the end of next month regardless of what happens regarding the current Continuing Resolution.

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Tags: U.S. Military, pay, benefits, Hr 3201, Continuing Resolution To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

ObamaCare Do-gooders Don't Care

Herman Cain & Dr. Bill Smith
ARRA News Service File Photo.

by Herman Cain: I have often described the liberals' tactics as S.I.N. When they can't justify what they want to do with logic or facts, which is basically always, they shift the subject, ignore the facts, and name call.

Well, our cup of liberal S.I.N. has runneth over lately amidst the ObamaCare implementation debate? Three years after passage of ObamaCare, with the impending formal rollout of a key feature of the legislation - the Health Care Exchanges - liberals are still in straight-face denial of the facts that have unfolded, and they have resorted to some of the most vicious name-calling in recent times.

The overwhelming amount of evidence about ObamaCare suggests that it is not ready for rollout and implementation, and that some of the underlying assumptions will produce unintended (yeah right) and unsustainable consequences. But the liberals don't care. They are singularly focused on government control of health care, and not the health care of the people.

If they did care, they would heed the voices of the many people who have already received notices from their insurance companies indicating large increases in their premiums for the same coverage. If they did care, they would heed the voices of those who cannot keep their insurance or their doctor as promised by President Obama. But they don't care.

If the do-gooders did care they would listen to the people on Medicare who are now finding out that certain medications and procedures are being denied because of their age, or because of changes in Medicare coverage that most people don't even know about. If they did care, they would heed the voices of the thousands of doctors who are no longer accepting new Medicare patients because they cannot afford to do so, or are phasing out some of the Medicare patients they already have. The do-gooders are not listening, because the truth might get in the way of their mission.

And let's not forget the many exceptions and delays the administration has tried to keep quiet about. The employer mandate has been delayed a year because the systems to determine if employers are complying with the new law are not ready. Yet the administration, so far, has not agreed to delay the individual mandate. Some of the health care exchanges are not ready for business, including the one for Washington, D.C.

These continuing revelations about the negative impact on the economy, businesses, families and individuals do not matter to liberals and the Democrats in Congress. Their goal is simply government control of our health care and cost system, while they continue to pretend to be health care do-gooders.

ObamaCare do-gooders do not care about the facts. And of course, there are plenty of things to shift the media narrative to such as Syria, Iran, the national debt, the debt ceiling, gun control and global warming.

And, the name-calling has reached a new low! Anarchists by Harry Reid. Legislative arsonists by Nancy Pelosi. And extortionists by the president himself. These are just a few of the choice descriptions they have used. One senator called Senator Ted Cruz of Texas a fraud for his filibuster to speak on behalf of the people.

The liberals' S.I.N. tactics will continue, because that's all they have as they try to continue deceiving a partially gullible public. And for those Democrats who continue to be in denial about Obamacare, maybe some of them will wake up when they experience "ObamaShock" for themselves.

Then again, many of them will not wake up to the facts and the name-calling, because they don't care either.

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Tags: liberal tactics, S.I.N., shift the subject, ignore the facts, name call, Obamacare, do-gooders To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Are Americans Stupid?

Alan Caruba, Contributing Author: On the conservative side of the political spectrum, we frequently refer to liberals as “low information voters”, a nice way of saying they are stupid. From their point of view, however, we are the stupid ones. And not merely stupid, but evil.

The divide between conservatives and liberals can be seen in the outcomes of the many polls and surveys that are announced on a daily basis. The numbers are depressingly the same; ranging from 40-40% or 50-50%, depending on how many respond that they don’t have an opinion. There is, moreover, what I call the “thirty percent syndrome” of reliable liberal responses no matter what the issue may be. They are the hard core.

There is, however, a critical difference between stupidity and ignorance. All of us are ignorant about something or many things. I surely am. I am in awe of people who can make things or fix things. I appreciate it when someone demonstrates expertise that informs me about a topic.

If you Google “Americans + stupid” you will discover that the subject of whether Americans are stupid generates a significant number of news items and articles. For example, in late February, Reuters reported on a speech Secretary of State John Kerry gave to students when he was visiting Berlin. While discussing America’s virtues, such as tolerance of other points of view, he said, “The reason is, that’s freedom, in America you have a right to be stupid.”

Kerry, who I have always regarded as a dim bulb, inadvertently spoke a truth about the way those currently in high office, the President, his Cabinet members, and staff regard Americans. Those who oppose their policies and legislative agenda are “stupid” and, if the President is to be taken at his word these days, Republicans are “extremists” and other pejoratives. He is a master of the propaganda technique of repeating a lie often enough until it becomes “truth.”

I find it depressing to find that so many of our elected representatives display their ignorance on a daily basis. It is depressing to know that officials appointed to positions of great responsibility in our government see it only has an opportunity to impose some ideology or agenda that is disconnected from science or from any facts that support their machinations.

Let me say that I have long regarded Barack Obama as stupid. His incompetence manifests itself daily. He cannot speak without the assistance of a Tele-Prompter. He has zero experience with the way people make a living or run a business. He has zero experience regarding military affairs and appears to have no knowledge of history. His lack of knowledge about economics has left the nation with the highest debt and deficit in its history, and millions unemployed.

Obama is currently campaigning to make the low information voters believe that Republicans in Congress want to “shut down the government” and this is patently untrue. Speaker of the House, John Boehner, now daily repeats that Republicans in the House do not want to shut down the government, but are addressing whether to defund Obamacare. There’s a difference, but Obama and his minions will repeat and repeat and repeat the lie. In truth, most Republican leaders in Congress know that defunding is a fool’s dream.

The single greatest example of stupidity in America today is the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—a law that is increasing unemployment, forcing others into part-time, unemployment, and denying physicians the right to practice medicine while stripping patients of their privacy, and will ultimately deny care to some judged ineligible due to age or a previous condition.

On September 17, Jonathan Jacobs, the director of the Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics and chairman of the Department of Philosophy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was published in The Wall Street Journal. “As Education Declines, So Does Civic Culture.”

Noting the “laments from graduates” that emerge with student loan debt and “wondering if their studies have prepared them for jobs and careers” Jacobs expressed the opinion that “A less familiar but even more troubling problem is that their education did not prepare them for responsible civic life.”

That is a very nice way of saying that, by the time many reach college, they are poorly prepared for that level of “higher” education and too often pick up a diploma because colleges and universities these days are frequently just giant sausage factories that exist to process students through while squeezing every dollar out of them. The problem begins, however, in kindergarten with a thoroughly dumbed-down educational system.

Jacobs acknowledges this saying, “The trouble begins before college. Large numbers of high school students have faced so few challenges and demands that they are badly unprepared for college.”

“Even after three or four years of undergraduate education, many students,” said Jacobs, “still cannot recognize reasoning when they encounter it.”

Reasoning is a cognitive function that employs facts and analysis. Much of what passes for political discourse from the White House and Democratic politicians these days is based on emotion no matter what the issue may be; whether it is gun control or invading Syria.

Conservatives are denigrated for actually pointing to the Constitution and suggesting that what is being proposed is forbidden by it. If, however, the intended audience has never read the Constitution and has a warped or inadequate understanding of American history, that kind of demagoguery works.

“A great many graduating students have little idea of what genuine intellectual exploration involves,” said Jacobs. They have passed through all phases of the educational system lacking the capacity to think through, not just the issues of the day, but have failed to acquire the most basic skills. He noted that employers frequently discover that “many college graduates can barely construct a coherent paragraph and many have precious little knowledge of the world—the natural world, the social world, the historical world, or the cultural world.”

These college graduates are often the sons and daughters of a generation of college graduates who likewise were regurgitated into the world with a comparable lack of knowledge and skills.

How many times has Jay Leno gone onto the street to ask people questions about events and personalities, only to demonstrate how abysmally ignorant they are? This kind of street theatre is repeated all the time in YouTube videos. A recent one asked people to sign a petition to have Karl Marx run for office!

“The cost to America of failing to reverse the trend toward trivializing education will be more than just economic,” said Jacobs. “It will be reflected in social friction, coarsened politics, failed and foolish policies, and a steady decline in the concern to do anything to reverse the rot.”

The late comedian, George Carlin, once said, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” I thought of that when I heard that Barack Obama had been reelected.
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© 2013 Alan Caruba. Alan is a writer by profession; has authored several books, and writes a daily column, "Warning Signs" disseminated on many Internet news and opinion websites and blogs. He is a contributing author at ARRA News Service.

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Tags: Americans Stupid?, Barack Obama, Alan Caruba To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The House Has Acted On Continuing Resolution - Senate Democrats Balking

Today in Washington, D.C. - Sept. 30, 2013:
Faced with a Government shutdown, Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid delays reconvening until 2 PM today.

When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) calls up the modified continuing resolution (CR), H.J. Res. 59, he has the ability to hold a quick vote, since the bill is returning to the Senate as a House message. Under the rules, that means he can move to table the House amendment by a simple majority vote, concur with the House amendment, which could take 60 votes, or amend the House amendment, which could also take 60 votes.

On Friday, the Senate voted 79-19 to invoke cloture on H.J. Res. 59, and 68-30 to waive budget points of order against the bill. All Democrats then voted to strip language defunding Obamacare, while all Republicans opposed the move. The Senate then voted 54-44 to pass the modified bill and send it back to the House.

Saturday night, the House voted 248-174 to modify the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59 by repealing Obamacare’s medical device tax and 231-192 to modify the Senate amendment with a one year delay of Obamacare. The House also voted 423-0 to pass H.R. 3210, which would ensure military pay in the event of a government shutdown. The House also passed H.R. 3204 [Voice Vote] - To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to human drug compounding and drug supply chain security.

The House reconvened at 10 AM.  As far as the Continuing  Resolution, the House is in standby mode awaiting Senator Reid actions based on what the White House tell him to proceed. On the House floor this morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) challenged Democratic leaders in the Senate to listen to the American people – who don’t want a government shutdown and don’t want ObamaCare – and pass the House’s plan to delay the president’s health care law and repeal the medical device tax:“Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, as I travel around my district and around the country, the American people are worried about their job, they’re worried about their incomes rising, because they’re all under pressure. The economy's not growing.  Why isn't it growing?

“One of the issues that’s standing in the way is ObamaCare.  The fact that nobody knows what the rules are, employers scared to death to hire new employees, cutting the hours of many of their current employees, and for what reason?

“This law is not ready for prime time.  The House has done its work.  We passed a bill on Saturday night - sent it to the United States Senate - that would delay ObamaCare for one year, and would eliminate permanently the medical device tax that is costing us tens of thousands of jobs that are being shipped overseas.
“Senate decided not to work yesterday.  Well my goodness, if there’s such an emergency, where are they?  It's time for the Senate to listen to the American people just like the House has listened to the American people and to pass a one-year delay of ObamaCare and a permanent repeal of the medical device tax.”
While waiting on the Senate, the House is moving ahead on the following legislation today:
H.R. 3174 — "To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to obligate funds for emergency relief projects arising from damage caused by severe weather events in 2013, and for other purposes."
S. 1348 — "To reauthorize the Congressional Award Act."

The Obama administration plans to open health care exchanges set up by Obamacare tomorrow, but polling shows Americans remain concerned and deeply skeptical of the president’s health care law and news reports show bureaucracies across the country struggling to get the exchanges working in time.

NBC News reports today, “On the eve of open enrollment to buy health insurance under the law, and as Republicans threaten to defund [Obamacare], the Kaiser Family Foundation/NBC survey found an anemic level of enthusiasm about the program among ordinary people and splits among party lines. Just over half said they were worried, while slightly less said they were confused. Twenty-nine percent said they were angry about the ACA, compared to just 24 percent who described themselves as enthusiastic. ‘It's how many thousands of pages and taller than most people,’ said Lauren Cathis, 49, of Canton, Ohio, adding that she is relieved she is covered by Medicare and doesn't have to navigate the purchase of insurance in the coming months. ‘It's so complex, how can I believe any of the numbers I've been given?’ Those numbers are the source of much of the angst surrounding the biggest change in health care in years. Nearly three-fourths of those surveyed said they were very or somewhat worried that they would have to pay more for their health care or health insurance and that their income would be outpaced by rising costs.”

The poll further found that “[n]ot even half of Democrats -- 44 percent -- describe themselves as enthusiastic about Obamacare. But compare that to the Republicans: a mere 5 percent. Even among Independents, enthusiasm is scarce at 18 percent.”

Meanwhile, with the administration demanding the exchanges open tomorrow, reports continue to suggest they’re not ready for primetime. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, “Obama administration officials scrambling to get the health law's insurance marketplaces ready to open on Tuesday keep hitting technical problems, while government-funded field workers across the country say they aren't fully prepared to help Americans enroll in the program. . . . Nonprofit groups and brokers that will help enroll consumers in the marketplaces, known as exchanges, say they haven't yet had a chance to preview the systems. Technical problems have limited certification for some nonprofit workers involved. . . . The exchange software that determines whether people get the subsidies was returning accurate determinations about two-thirds of the time late Friday, up from less than 50% earlier in the week, one person familiar with the development said. . . . The people who are supposed to help enroll Americans if the computer systems don't work properly aren't fully ready either.”

Reporting from Oregon today, The New York Times< writes, “Rocky King, the executive director of Oregon’s new health insurance exchange, has done everything in his power to tamp down expectations for its opening on Tuesday. He rejected the idea of a flashy downtown news conference that morning. He postponed a series of ads meant to drive customers to its Web site, coveroregon.com. In fact, Mr. King is not even allowing people to sign up for health coverage online without assistance at first; they will have to go through an insurance agent or a community group until at least mid-October. Tuesday is the long-awaited kickoff of President Obama’s signature health care law, when millions of Americans can start signing up for new insurance options. Yet across the country, officials are issuing warnings that despite fevered efforts, their new insurance exchanges . . . will not be fully operational for weeks or even months. . . . ‘I have no idea what this thing’s going to look like on Oct. 1,’ Mr. King said one afternoon last week as dozens of tense-looking programmers, scattered through the exchange offices outside Portland, rushed to finish testing and fix problems. ‘We could crash and burn and have to close it down.’”

The Times reminds readers, “Last week, the District of Columbia’s exchange announced that it would not immediately be able to determine online whether people qualify for Medicaid, which about half the states are expanding under the law, or for a federal subsidy to help cover the cost of private coverage. In Colorado, for the first month, people who want to know if they are eligible for a subsidy will have to call a customer service line. In Nevada, home to a large Hispanic population, a Spanish-language version of the exchange Web site will not be ready until mid-November. And in Maryland, small businesses will not be able to buy insurance for their employees through the state exchange until January. Federally run exchanges are having similar problems.”

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday, “[A]s Senator Moynihan used to tell us, data is the plural of anecdote. There are just too many stories about the impact of Obamacare – far too many to be dismissed with the wave of a hand. Ironically, the same day the President was painting more rosy scenarios in Maryland, the Administration announced yet another delay in this law’s implementation. . . . You might be able to take any one of the many Obamacare problems in isolation and explain it away, say it doesn’t matter, call it just an ‘anecdote.’ But what we’re getting here is a constant drip-drip, paired with the effects we’re seeing on jobs and health care and the economy. And it all adds up to one thing: a law in trouble. A law that needs to be repealed. That’s the goal of every member on this side. We’re united on the need to repeal Obamacare. We want to replace it with sensible, bipartisan reforms that will actually work. . . . The problem here is that we can’t get that done unless some of our friends on the other side are prepared to step up and work with us on this issue. That doesn’t mean we’ll give up the fight if they don’t. We won’t. . . . So I’m calling for Democrat Senators to put the middle class ahead of the President’s pride. I’m calling for them to help us pass a delay for everyone. We’ve already filed legislation that would do just that. A bipartisan majority of the House supports it. Let’s work together to do it. Then, once we get that done, let’s keep working to get rid of this law and replace it with real reforms.”

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Tags: Continuing Resolution, US House, US Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

A Very Angry America

Alan Caruba, Contributing Author: I have been trying to remember when there was so much anger between the Democrats and Republicans. Or maybe I should say between liberals and conservatives? Or maybe I should say between the Tea Party and the Republican Party? Or maybe I should say those who find the President of the United States a contemptible liar who has diminished a once great superpower to an object of disrespect?

There is plenty of anger to go around. The mood of the nation is one of anger from one end of the political spectrum to the other.

What is one to make of a White House senior advisor, Dan Pfeiffer, who compared Republicans to arsonists, hostage-takers, and suicide bombers? The Majority Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, told Republicans that “There’s no need for conversations” telling them to send over a continuing resolution without defunding Obamacare. He has called Tea Party members of the House “anarchists.”

Meanwhile, Republicans who do not want to see the government shut down are labeled “RINOs” (Republicans in Name Only). Instead of keeping the spotlight on the Democrats who foisted Obamacare on us, we have been watching the Republican Party tear itself apart.

As the Wall Street Journal columnist, Kimberly Strassel put it, “The tragic reality is that this vote isn't shaping up to be all that perilous for the owners of the law. Nobody is even talking about Democrats. Nobody has put an iota of pressure on them for months. Every camera, every microphone has been trained on the GOP.”

Her colleague, Daniel Henniger, described the fratricide arising from the dispute over defunding Obamacare, saying, “This effort has not, for some time now, been about victory. It has become as RedState’s Erick Erickson put it with his usual eloquences, about shining a light on the ‘cockroaches’ in the GOP. Ted Cruz has spent months berating his own side as ‘appeasers’ who care only about ‘being invited to all the right cocktail parties in town.”

The result has been a GOP in meltdown while the President happily joined in on Friday calling the Tea Party members in Congress—though not by name-- “extremists.”

All this has brought to mind Barry Goldwater’s declaration to the Republican Party when he accepted their nomination to run for President in 1964. “Let me remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” He lost by a landslide to the incumbent, President Lyndon B. Johnson.

I understood what Goldwater meant, but extremism has never played well in American politics. Indeed, the Constitution is constructed so that any form of extremism can be thwarted by the checks and balances that slow any rush toward ill-considered legislation. That, however, did not work when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and imposed Obamacare on everyone.

Those who believe that, even with a Republican majority after the 2014 midterm elections, President Obama would not veto a bill to repeal Obamacare are deluding themselves.

Hating Obama is not enough. Understanding how our republic works is essential.

Tea Party came about initially as a protest against Obamacare and then grew has a grassroots political movement that elected a number of those it supported to the House. It is this bloc of votes that Speaker John Boehner has struggled to work with. In the Senate, Tea Party members include Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Tom Coburn, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey.

Obama has many faults, but he has proven himself a master manipulator. The current struggle over Obamacare has played into his hands. That is unfortunate because what the GOP must do between now and the 2014 midterm elections is to focus on defeating those Democrats up for election who have supported Obama.

The general anger against Obamacare will gain in momentum, but if the GOP is seen as a bunch of crazies, it will affect the outcome. That’s the way it played out in 1964.

At this writing the possibility of a government shutdown is fifty-fifty. It will be over quickly, but by then the GOP will have dealt itself a disservice.

Until the GOP secures control of the Senate, the House, and the White House Obamacare will remain the law of the land. That is very bad news for all Americans and the future of America. Meanwhile, it is a good idea to remember that many bad laws have been reversed and repealed.
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© 2013 Alan Caruba. Alan is a writer by profession; has authored several books, and writes a daily column, "Warning Signs" disseminated on many Internet news and opinion websites and blogs. He is a contributing author at ARRA News Service.

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Tags: angry America, Alan Caruba To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Renewable Fuel Standard is Another Taxpayer-Funded Bailout

Ken Blackwell, Contributing Author: We’re all paying more at the pump. It’s hurting consumers and dangerous for the fragile economy. And, it’s because of a Washington handout to corn farmers and big Wall Street banks – all disguised as a measure to promote renewable energy and clean-burning fuels.

The Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) mandates an ever-increasing floor of ethanol be mixed with gasoline. The bill, which was expanded under President Obama, ensures a baseline level of demand for ethanol, distorting the market and sending the price of corn substantially higher. That’s because gasoline refiners have to purchase ethanol, regardless of the price.

So, corn prices tripled, which has factored its way into the prices of other agriculture products. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the impact of the RFS is so broad that ethanol subsidies account for 10-15 percent of the rise in overall food prices. In terms of the overall economy, the RFS is expected to cause a decline of $770 billion in GDP in 2015 alone. That’s real economic activity, which translates to real jobs and incomes for Americans throughout the country.

And, hardly anyone in Congress or the Obama administration thinks the current law is working. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is run by leftist environmentalists, said that it does not “foresee a scenario in which the market could consume enough ethanol […] and/or produce sufficient volumes of non-ethanol biofuels to meet the volumes of total renewable fuel and advanced biofuel as required by statute for 2014.” So, in other words – Washington has once again imposed unachievable burdens on the private sector.

But what may be worse than this indirect subsidy to corn farmers is the way that big Wall Street banks are exploiting it at the expense of consumers. That’s because if a gasoline refiner cannot meet the demands of the RFS, it can purchase credits, called renewable identification numbers (RINs), in a “marketplace.” But unlike transparent marketplaces like Amazon, the market for RINs is opaque and dominated by speculators with no interest except driving the price higher.

The New York Times recently reported that, “the price of the ethanol credits skyrocketed 20-fold in just six months.” A credit that went for 7 cents at the start of the year traded for $1.43 in July, according to Bloomberg. And that price is simply passed along to consumers at the pump – a large factor keeping gas prices above $3 per gallon nationwide for 1,000 consecutive days.

But Congress has approached the RFS from a weak position, intimidated by powerful lobby groups who like these handouts. Though the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Fred Upton (MI), has assigned four members to find a solution, just one – Rep. Steve Scalise (LA) – has called for full repeal. The others – Reps. John Shimkus (IL), Lee Terry (NE) and Cory Gardner (CO) – are calling for “reform.” Such reform could even get attached to the must-pass bill that will raise the debt ceiling. According to recent reports, that could even include a one-year delay to the RFS mandates.

While a one-year delay will certainly help the stagnant economy, it does little but push the can down the road. As long as the RFS exists, it will damage the economy. Congress is just debating the degree to which they will let that happen. Conservatives in Congress need to stop trying to save the RFS – and repeal it in its entirety. Doing that will relieve some of the pain at the pump, stop the increase in food prices and save Americans $770 million in economic activity in 2015.
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Ken Blackwell is a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, an undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a former Ohio Secretary of State and State Treasurer, and former Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council and a contributing author to the ARRA News Service.

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Tags: RFS, Renewable Fuel Standards, mandates, Taxpayer-Funded Bailout, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, ethanol mandates, repeal, Ken Blackwell To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

House Votes to Keep Government Running & Stop ObamaCare

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement calling on the United States Senate to approve the House’s plan to keep the government running, delay the president’s health care law for all Americans, and repeal the law’s medical device tax:
“The House has again passed a plan that reflects the American people’s desire to keep the government running and stop the president’s health care law. Repealing the medical device tax will save jobs and delaying the president's health care law for all Americans is only fair given the exemptions the White House has granted to big businesses and insurance companies. We've also voted to ensure that our troops will receive their paychecks no matter what. Now that the House has again acted, it’s up to the Senate to pass this bill without delay to stop a government shutdown. Let's get this done.”------------
Note: The House passed the this second Continuing Resolution with a vote of 231-to-192. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in his typical tyrannical manner has said that the legislation will not pass the Senate. If a Continuing Resolution is not settled and signed before midnight on Monday, the U.S. government will shut down for the first time in 17 years. In 1995, the government closed for 21 days. The most important things still got done. Soldiers and other members of the military who help protect America are still keeping us safe. The Post Office still delivers the mail. Air traffic controllers are still working and helping planes land safely at airports. And the elderly and disabled will still get their "Social Security checks." Non-essential services will stop temporarily. National Parks will close.

Public Schools, Colleges and your local services like police, fire and 911 still operate because they are paid for by local revenue not the federal government. Unfortunately, the President, Vice President, Congress and others will still get their pay even after failing to do their primary jobs.

As one example, the U.S. House in July, 2013 passed the 2014 Defense Appropriations bill which would have begun on Oct 1, 2013. A Senate Defense Panel passed the Bill on July 30. 2013. Democrat Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid has not allowed debate or a vote on the this appropriations bill. If Reid had allowed the Defense Appropriations bill to have been voted on it most likely would have passed and the Department of Defense, and our military, would not have even notices that the Government has shutdown. The same is true for all the other appropriation bills.

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Tags: U.S. House. second continuing resolution, passed, appropriations bills To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Just A Minute . . . Guns!

Don't you (unless you're a liberal) just love logic! Here is some interesting logic related to thosewho believe in the all of the Constitution which includes the 2nd Amendment.

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Tags: guns, 2nd Amendment, muslims, liberal message, letter to the editor To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

ObamaCare and the Danger of 'Let It Fail'

Norvell Rose, Liberty News TV: With all the budget-battling, back-stabbing and general brouhaha on Capitol Hill about funding/defunding ObamaCare, there are those who say, "Let it fail." Commentator Norvel Rose responds, "That's a very risky strategy...and could be a trap for O-Care opponents."

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Tags: Obamacare, Dangers of Let It Fail, Norvell Rose, Liberty News TV, video To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

#FairnessForAll: One Year Delay Protects All Americans from ObamaCare

Speaker John Boehner's Office: In advance of today’s votes on keeping the government open, paying our troops, and stopping as much of ObamaCare as possible, our latest video – “Fairness For All” – underscores why Senate Democrats should follow our lead and delay the president’s health care law for all Americans – not just big businesses. For example:

It’s driving up costs.
The president said his law would save the typical family $2,500 – in reality, millions of Americans face rate shock as premiums soar. In fact, according to Forbes, analysis shows “Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent.” [SEE MORE]

It’s hurting our economy.
Democrats said the law would be a boon for our economy, but “small- and medium-sized businesses are not hiring because of” the president’s health care law, reports CNBC. Some companies have “threatened to cut payrolls to below the 50-employee threshold, or switch some full-time workers to part time,” says the Star-Ledger. And the law’s medical device tax – which the House will vote today to permanently repeal – could ship an estimated 43,000 American jobs overseas. [SEE MORE]

It’s jeopardizing access to care.
The president said if you like your plan you can keep it, but “a growing number of workers won’t get to keep their employer-provided coverage,” says POLITICO. Many firms are simply dropping coverage. “Consumers could see long wait times, a scarcity of specialists and loss of a longtime doctor,” says the LA Times. [SEE MORE]

The American people don’t want it.
Americans’ views of the president’s health care law “are as negative as ever,” according to a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center survey. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey finds that the majority of Americans (52 percent) believe the president’s health care law “will result in their health-care costs increasing.” Even Democrats who supported the law are turning against it.

Even the president admits it isn’t ready for prime time.
Not only has the president signed seven bills repealing or defunding parts of his law – he’s delayed several provisions, including mandates on big businesses. As Speaker Boehner has said, “How are we going to give big businesses in America a break, without giving individuals and families the same break?”

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Tags: ObamaCare, Jobs, Economy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

House Will Vote on Plan to Keep Government Open, Stop ObamaCare

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released the following joint statement:

“The American people don’t want a government shut down and they don’t want ObamaCare. That’s why later today, the House will vote on two amendments to the Senate-passed continuing resolution that will keep the government open and stop as much of the president’s health care law as possible.

“The first amendment delays the president’s health care law by one year. And the second permanently repeals ObamaCare’s medical device tax that is sending jobs overseas.

“Both of these amendments will change the date of the Senate CR to December 15th. We will also vote on a measure that ensures our troops get paid, no matter what.

“We will do our job and send this bill over, and then it’s up to the Senate to pass it and stop a government shutdown.”

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Tags: Speaker John Boehner, U.S. house, stop Obamacare, keep Government open To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Tying Debt Limit to Cuts & Reforms Has Public Support, Bipartisan History

In the Weekly Republican Address, House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) detailed the bipartisan history of coupling an increase in the debt limit with spending cuts and economic reforms – a common-sense policy with broad public support.
Transcript of Rep. Rodgers Comments:Right now, we have a golden opportunity to fix the problems coming out of Washington.

By an overwhelming margin, Americans believe any debt ceiling increase should be coupled with solutions that help solve our debt and grow our economy.

Republicans have put forward a plan that does just that. It contains cuts and real reforms to build a 21st century economy – from approving the Keystone pipeline and fixing our outdated tax code to delaying the president’s health care law.

Our bill also increases the debt limit. The best way to preserve the full faith and credit of the United States is by strengthening it – which is what our plan does.

Coupling an increase in the debt limit with efforts to rein in spending is common sense – so much so that it’s been used by presidents from both parties.

President Reagan did it in 1985 when he signed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction bill.

Five years later, President Bush reached a budget deal with a Democratic Congress that included a debt limit increase.

President Clinton reached a similar agreement with a Democratic majority in 1993, and with a Republican majority on the balanced budget agreement of 1997

Finally, President Obama himself worked with Republicans on a large deficit-reduction deal tied to the debt limit in the summer of 2011. It has its flaws – including the ‘sequester’ the president devised and insisted on – but it has cut spending.

Unfortunately, the president is now demanding that we increase the debt limit without engaging in any kind of bipartisan discussions about addressing our spending problem.

He wants to take the easy way out – exactly the kind of foolishness that got us here in the first place. As we know, it’s hardworking people like you who would ultimately pay the price for business as usual through higher taxes, higher prices, and fewer jobs.

To reiterate, every major deficit reduction effort of the last 30 years has been tied to the debt limit. This time should be no different. If anything, it’s more important than ever if we’re serious about getting people working again and protecting our children’s future.

Thank you for listening.

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Tags: Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Representative, Washington, Weekly Republican Address, debt Limit, Spending Cuts To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Is America Partisanship Good Of The People? If So, What Happened?

by Drs. David Corbin and Matthew Parks, Contributing Authors: After watching Wednesday’s Obamacare debate, we aren’t surprised to learn that 60 percent of Americans, according to the latest Gallup survey, believe the federal government is too powerful. In fact, it has now been more than eight years since fewer than half of Americans wanted to reduce the power of government.

And yet, since 2005, federal spending has grown 58 percent, the federal bureaucracy has added more than 100,000 to its ranks, and the cost of complying with its regulations has increased 59 percent – and all this before the full implementation of Obamacare.

That means in a period when more than half of Americans thought the government was too powerful, it has grown much more powerful still.

How does this happen in a republic? A momentary poll result can perhaps be safely ignored, but a sentiment sustained over eight years, through four congressional elections and two presidential contests? Plainly, something is wrong when the direction of the government and the sentiments of the people diverge to such an extreme degree.

In fact, several things are wrong. As we argued in an earlier essay in this series, the American governing class has become a “super-faction,” pursuing its good at the expense of the American people, as Congress’s special Obamacare deal illustrates. At the head of that group is President Obama, implementing a Progressive program that is purposefully and inherently divisive, the work of a faction-builder-in-chief.

But there is a less comfortable reality we can’t afford to ignore: the role that we, the people, have played in normalizing the politics of faction.

The authors of the The Federalist Papers hoped and believed that a republican people would welcome an honest assessment of its vices insofar as the exercise produced a healthy re-examination of its political choices and, ultimately, promised greater security for its rights and liberties. Since, in James Madison’s words, faction is “sown in the nature of man,” we cannot wisely consider ourselves free from its temptations.

Near the end of Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that “a democratic government . . . increases its prerogatives by the sole fact that it endures.” Time brings about increased centralization of power – even in a society where most people want a small and limited government.

Again: how could this be? With his usual keen insight into democratic peoples, de Tocqueville identifies the problem [emphasis from the author]:

“Democratic centuries are times of attempts, innovations, and adventures. There is always a multitude of men engaged in a difficult or new undertaking that they pursue separately, without bothering themselves about those like them. They do indeed accept for a general principle that the public power ought not to intervene in private affairs, but each of them desires that it aid him as an exception in the special affair that preoccupies him, and he seeks to attract the action of the government to his side, all the while wanting to shrink it for everyone else.”

What de Tocqueville suggests is that there is something missing from the Gallup poll’s results. Most people think that government is too powerful – but not in the areas where they benefit from special programs, favorable regulations, or tax law carve-outs. Most people want a smaller government – except where a little more power might shift resources in their direction.

Meanwhile, the government always wants more power. So it gladly obliges as many individuals and groups as it can – and is always ready to oblige more when resources allow. Over time, therefore, the government always wins – and we pay a big price for our small hypocrisy.

The American people might be forgiven for some of this failure. For too long, the establishment leaders of both major parties have ignored, excused, and sometimes encouraged factious behavior for their short-term political benefit. Instead of making an appeal to the American people as a whole, they carve us up into various groups (economic, ethnic, religious, etc.), peddling focus-group-tested proposals and slogans that scratch where each group itches. When the smooth operators behind the candidates calculate that the next president will be determined by three counties in Ohio, there is no end to the particular appeals calculated to please the winners of this political lottery.

Once upon a time in America, our political leaders took a different approach. Their campaigns were still rough, their differences still sharp, but in the spirit of Federalist 10 they sought, at least on their best days, to “refine and enlarge the public view” by pointing the American people to a common good above all particular interests.

Consider that after co-authoring the Federalist, a work that condemns factious behavior, Alexander Hamilton and Madison founded the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, respectively. These parties were at odds with one another.

Had they forgotten their earlier admonitions against faction?

No. Both Hamilton and Madison pursued policies (tending to the young nation’s fiscal health and political stability on the one hand, and working to preserve the republican character of its politics on the other hand) that they thought would best secure the American people’s God-given liberty. And neither man swerved from his belief that this required an “impartial and exact execution of the laws.”

In other words, Hamilton and Madison were partisan in the best sense of the word: advancing a particular program aiming – not in pretense, but in fact – to achieve the good of all.

American politicians in our day pursue policies with a very different aim. Too often we are tempted by the prospect of personal gain to go along with it. We may go along with today’s pseudo-Hamiltonian state builders because we think the government’s strength is our security. We may go along with today’s pseudo-Jeffersonian equalizers because we think that others’ good luck or hidden corruption too often limit our success.

But instead of the best of these two American traditions, we get the worst: the unholy marriage of Hamiltonian means with Jeffersonian ends called for by Progressive giant Herbert Croly, an “alliance between two principles” that Croly rightly understood and hoped would “not leave either of them intact.”

Through a coordinated effort by elites from both political parties, the media and the academy, the Progressives succeeded in their effort to reinterpret, and thereby remake, the first principles of American politics. But there have been exceptions to their rule that give us hope.

Calvin Coolidge, at the height of the Progressive ascendancy, reminded Americans that self-evident truths don’t expire. He led a dramatic reduction in government spending from its Woodrow Wilson-era high. He called upon the American people to work and save – and they responded, producing an extended period of growth and prosperity. A powerful people, rather than a powerful government.

Coolidge’s example reminds us that a trans-factious politics is possible to the degree both sets of political actors – statesmen and citizens – are willing to consider every policy, law, regulation, or governmental activity on the basis of whether it furthers the common good or benefits individuals seeking their own advantage.

We will not thrive as a healthy and prosperous political community unless modern-day Coolidges take on the entrenched interests of Washington culture and the enormous state that feeds them. But just as surely, these statesmen will not be successful in this effort unless they can draw upon the reserves of an American people no longer willing to buy in to a faction-driven politics that has left us divided and broke with a government more powerful than ever.
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Dr. David Corbin is a Professor of Politics and Dr. Matthew Parks is Asst Professor of Politics at The Kings College (NYC). The both earned their Ph.D.s in Political Science at Boston University. In addition to numerous publications they are the co-authors of The Federalists Today  (Facebook - Twitter and a contributed this article to the ARRA News Service. The article first appeared in The Blaze.

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Tags: Founders, Our Republic, warnings, federal spending, federal bureaucracy, Calvin Coolidge, Federalist 10, America Partisanship, Obamacare, David Corbin, Matthew Parks To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Understanding The Federal Budget And Appropriations Process

What if Congress passes and the President signs 5 of the 12 bills? Are they included in a shut down or a CR? The answer to that is "no". ~ Randy Neugebauer

U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer

by Randy Neugebauer: As a continuation of our ongoing series about Congress, I would like to discuss the federal budget and appropriations process. In recent years, this process has been somewhat disjointed and unreliable. In other years, it has worked quite smoothly. In this email, I will try to explain how the process was designed to work and why, in recent years, we have had so many problems.

The federal budgeting process starts each year when the President outlines his vision for federal expenditures in a budget document submitted to Congress. There is no requirement for Congress to use this document or its priorities, but it gives the President an opportunity to make his spending preferences known.

As you know, however, it is Congress that has the power to control how America's tax money is spent. In the spring of each year, the House drafts a budget resolution. This is a document which outlines the Congressional priorities for spending. It focuses less on specifics of individual programs and more on overall spending levels. To compare to a family's budget, it might provide for $12,000 per year for housing, $10,000 a year for food, $2,500 a year for clothing and $1,500 for an annual vacation. The federal budget resolution might allocate $100 billion for defense programs, $50 billion for transportation projects and $10 billion for education. Of course, this is a simplified example as the actual budget resolution has thousands of priorities and provides an overall blueprint for how the money would be spent for each of them.

After the budget resolution priorities are set, the appropriations process begins. There are 12 appropriations bills broken into various categories. There are Defense Appropriations, Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations, Agriculture Appropriations and Military Construction Appropriations bills, just to name a few. Each of these bills are considered within the Appropriations Committee and they actually fund the individual priority programs within each bill. For example, while the Budget Resolution says that we will spend $100 billion on defense programs overall, the Defense Appropriations bill actually breaks down the individual programs and priorities and decides how much money each will get. The B-1 Bomber might get $100 million for its operations, while the F-16 gets $150 million. The numbers I am referencing are only examples for the purpose of this discussion.

Congress and the Appropriations Committee set spending priorities for each of the 12 bills and for all of the programs that fall within each category. Once a bill has been voted on by Appropriations Committee Members, it is passed from the Committee and sent to the House Floor for all members to vote on. Members have an opportunity in committee or on the House Floor to offer amendments to each bill if they have a priority or program they would like to see funded differently. Once each bill passes the House, it is sent to the Senate where they make changes. If there are differences, the bill could either be sent back to the House for a new vote with the Senate's changes or it could be sent to a House-Senate Conference Committee which would be formed to work out the differences.

As you may know, Congress must complete its work on the 12 appropriations bills by the September 30th deadline. When this work is complete, the federal government is fully-funded and all of the priorities are set at funding levels that make most everyone happy. More likely, however, is the case that only some, or even none, of the bills are finalized by the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. This is most likely to occur when the House and Senate are led by different party leadership and there is no agreement on spending priorities. We have seen a lot of this in recent years, particularly since the House has been regularly completing its business on Appropriations bills while the Senate has been failing to consider them at all.

When the appropriations bills are not completed in time for the September 30th deadline, there are a couple of options. First, Congress can pass what is known as a Continuing Resolution or a "CR". Generally, a CR continues the same funding levels from the previous year for a period of time into the next fiscal year, this is commonly known as a "clean" CR. However, different funding levels can be chosen in a CR if all of the parties ultimately agree. The most recent CR that was signed into law in March 2013 which is set to expire in a couple of days, locked in reduced federal spending levels. Alternatively, spending levels can be increased. These changes are unusual in a CR, but can and do occur. Ultimately, if Congress cannot agree upon a CR or finalize the 12 annual appropriations bills, then the government will shut down and there will not be funding for these programs until a CR or the 12 bills are passed and signed into law.

You might wonder, what if Congress passes and the President signs 5 of the 12 bills? Are they included in a shut down or a CR? The answer to that is "no". If Congress passes and the President signs into law the Defense Appropriations bill, then even if the rest of the bills are not finalized, defense programs will be funded at the levels outlined in the law. During government shutdowns in the 1990s, this occurred. Several of the appropriations bills were finalized as a part of the regular appropriations process before September 30th. Those programs went on unaffected during the shutdowns. However the programs in the remaining bills that were not completed were impacted and government services were closed in those categories until a new agreement in a CR or a finalized appropriations bill were reached.

In recent years, it has been less and less common for the House, Senate and the President to finalize appropriations bills because the spending priorities are so far apart. As you know, the President and many Democrats are unconcerned about skyrocketing federal deficits. In general, they want more spending for programs like ObamaCare. Republicans want to bring federal spending levels down dramatically to improve our country's finances for current and future generations. In most past years, Congress and the President have been able to eventually come together to find common ground and find spending levels that are acceptable enough to be signed into law. In recent years, as you know, this has been increasingly difficult. This weekend, as the September 30th deadline nears for 2013, we are approaching one of those times when common ground has yet to be reached.

One additional term that has been used frequently in recent years is the debt limit. The debt limit is not formally a part of the federal budget process, but it has received so much attention recently that I thought I would explain it here. The debt limit is similar to a family's credit card limit. Like some families, America is spending more money than it earns. When a family reaches its credit card spending limit and wants to spend more, it has to call the credit company and ask for permission. Our national debt limit is no different. When the Treasury Department/Administration are nearing the national limit on what they are allowed to spend, they must reach out to Congress and notify Members that we are nearing our credit limit. Congress may then act to allow Treasury to borrow more or it may say "no". When you hear of Congress and the President negotiating over the "debt limit", we are essentially negotiating over whether or not and/or by how much to increase America's credit card limit.

You might wonder why has this has become such an issue recently; if you are like most Americans, up until the past few years, you had probably never even heard of the debt limit. The reason for this is because in most of the recent decades our spending hasn't been out-of-control. During the early 1990s, there were even some years the federal government ran a surplus. So, there was no need to raise the debt limit. And when there was, it took years and years to spend enough to need an increase. However, in recent years, our government has been running huge $1 trillion deficits annually. Because of these spending levels, we are exceeding our credit limit much, much faster than we have ever done so before.

Like you, I am deeply concerned about how we spend money in America right now. I believe that we need to run our country like families and businesses and live within our means. We should not use CR's to fund the government, but instead we should get our budget and appropriations bills done on time so we can set spending priorities that make sense for the long term. We should keep our borrowing and spending under control so we do not need to increase our credit card limit every few months. My pledge to you is that my colleagues and I will continue to fight this President and Democrats in Congress to get our federal spending back under control. Our nation deserves nothing less and neither do our children and grandchildren.
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Randy Neugebauer is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 19th congressional district, having served since a special election in 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes a large swath of West Texas, including Lubbock and Abilene. According to a 2011 survey by the National Journal, Neugebauer is "the most conservative" member of the House.

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Tags: Randy Neugebauer, Federal Budget, Appropriation Process, appropriation process, continuing resolutions, debt limit  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Rafael Cruz At The NFRA 2013 Convention Prayer Breakfast

NFRA - Rafael Cruz, father to Ted Cruz, spoke at the 9-15-13 prayer breakfast at the NFRA (National Federation Of Republican Assemblies) Convention. This is a must see, must share video addressing the failure of the Church to stand on issues.  He address the Constitution and the decline in America.

At several points he addresses Dr. Jerry Johnson, president of Criswell College, sitting in front of him.

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Tags: NFRA, NFRA 2013 Convention, Dallas, Texas, National Federation of Republican Assemblies, Prayer Breakfast, Rafael Cruz To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Five Ways Obamacare Could Impact You in Five Days

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The Government - Spending - The Final Episode

Bankrupting America:

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Tags: government spending, spending, the government, spend it or loose it, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Senate Dems Add Funding For Obamacare to Continuing Resolution And Returns It To The House

Today in Washinton, D.C. - Sept. 27, 2012
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of H.J. Res. 59, the House-passed continuing resolution (CR).

At 12:30 PM, the Senate will begin a series of four votes on H.J. Res. 59: a vote on cloture on the bill, a vote on waiving budget points of order against the bill, a vote on the Reid substitute amendment (which would remove Obamacare defunding and debt prioritization language) and then a vote on final passage of the bill. If the bill is amended before passage, wit will be sent back to the House for consideration.

The Senate voted 79-19 to end debate on a short-term spending measure and moved ahead towards final passage. The Senate passed a short-term spending bill Friday after voting 54-44 to restore funding for President Obama’s health-care law, sending the measure back to a fractured House just four days before a threatened federal government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said Democrats would reject any conservative add-ons that Boehner might attach to the funding bill.

The House reconvened at 9 AM today. They took up and passed the following bills:
H.R. 1412 (402-0) - Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2013
H.R. 3096 (403-2) — "To designate the building occupied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation located at 801 Follin Lane, Vienna, Virginia, as the "Michael D. Resnick Terrorist Screening Center"."

The House will adjourn early today and return tomorrow, Saturday, at 10 AM to address the Senate anticipated amended version of the House passed Continuing Resolution which funded the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 3095 (405-0) — "To ensure that any new or revised requirement providing for the screening, testing, or treatment of individuals operating commercial motor vehicles for sleep disorders is adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2600 (410-0) — "To amend the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act to clarify how the Act applies to condominiums."

During President Obama’s latest campaign-style rally yesterday to attack Republicans and promote Obamacare, the president said, “All right, let me just wrap up by saying this:  Like any law, like any big product launch, there are going to be some glitches as this thing unfolds.” And sure enough, as the administration scrambles to implement this unpopular law, there have been many prominent “glitches” this week.

In fact, just minutes after Obama wrapped up his rally, news came that the administration was announcing another delay due to problems with implementing the law. Reuters wrote, “The U.S. government on Thursday announced new delays in rolling out President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, saying small business and Spanish-language health insurance enrollment services would not begin on October 1 as planned.” BuzzFeed noted, “Small businesses that wish to enroll in the exchanges to purchase health insurance for employees will be forced to fax, call, or make purchases for their employees in person.” The AP adds, “In a potentially more significant delay affecting the law's larger insurance market for individuals, the administration quietly told Hispanic groups on Wednesday that the Spanish-language version of the healthcare.gov website will not be ready to handle online enrollments for a few weeks. . . . ‘Every step in the implementation process has seen delays and setbacks,’ Kevin Kuhlman, a top official of the National Federation of Independent Business, said in a statement. ‘This is starting to seem like a parody; unfortunately, it is extremely serious.’”

BuzzFeed noticed the absurdity of the whole situation and headlined its piece, “White House Delays Obamacare While Attacking Republicans For Trying To Delay Obamacare”

Of course, these newest delays aren’t the only problems that have popped up for Obamacare just days before the administration wants the exchanges to open. Reuters writes, “Earlier this month, health insurers complained of problems displaying basic information about the plans they will sell on federally run exchanges in 36 states. Among states that will run their own exchanges, Colorado, Oregon and the District of Columbia pared back their launches to address technical problems.” The “basic information” the exchanges can’t display? The costs to consumers of these new plans. As The Washington Post wrote about the District of Columbia exchange, “While the D.C. Health Link will launch a Web site on October 1, shoppers will not have access to the their premium prices until mid-November. The delay comes after the District marketplace discovered ‘a high error rate’ in calculating the tax credits that low- and middle-income people will use to purchase insurance on the marketplace.” The reporter, writing at Ezra Klein’s liberal blog for The Post, admitted, “This certainly is not good news for Obamacare, especially in the wake of the other reports on similar glitches at the federal level. The Obama administration has repeatedly promised that, starting on October 1, all Americans will be able to purchase insurance coverage on the new marketplaces. In the District of Columbia, that won't be true.”

Last week, a report in The Wall Street Journal suggested these problems could be widespread. The Journal wrote, “Less than two weeks before the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the federal health overhaul, the government's software can't reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage, according to insurance executives and people familiar with the program. . . . If not resolved by the Oct. 1 launch date, the problems could affect consumers in 36 states where the federal government is running all or part of the exchanges. . . . ‘There's a blanket acknowledgment that rates are being calculated incorrectly,’ said one senior health-insurance executive who asked not to be named. ‘Our tech and operations people are very concerned about the problems they're seeing and the potential of them to stick around.’”

As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said today, “I’m not sure if you’ve got a fax machine at home. Not many Americans do anymore. Neither do a lot of small businesses. So it seems a bit odd to tell small businesses they need to fax in – fax in – enrollment forms for Obamacare. But that’s just what the Obama Administration is now doing. Well, if I might paraphrase the President: The '80s called, and they want their health policy back.”

He continued, “Ironically, the same day the President was painting more rosy scenarios in Maryland, the Administration announced yet another delay in this law’s implementation. That’s about the time we found out about the fax machines. And all that follows the revelation of yet more exchange problems – this time with an exchange here in D.C. You might be able to take any one of the many Obamacare problems in isolation and explain it away, say it doesn't matter, call it just an ‘anecdote.’ But what we’re getting here is a constant drip-drip, paired with the effects we’re seeing on jobs and health care and the economy. And it all adds up to one thing: a law in trouble. A law that needs to be repealed. That’s the goal of every member on this side. We’re united on the need to repeal Obamacare. We want to replace it with sensible, bipartisan reforms that will actually work. And in a few minutes, each and every one of us will vote against funding Obamacare.

Leader McConnell concluded, “The problem here is that we can’t get that done unless some of our friends on the other side are prepared to step up and work with us on this issue. That doesn't mean we’ll give up the fight if they don’t. We won’t. There are a lot of other things we can do in the meantime. For instance, we can follow the Administration’s lead in offering an Obamacare delay for the American people. After all, the Administration seems to think businesses deserve a break from Obamacare. Doesn't the middle class deserve the same treatment? Republicans think so. And I think we might be able to convince enough Democrats to join us on that – to help us provide fairness to the middle class. Yesterday, one Democrat Senator already signaled his willingness to delay some of the worst aspects of the law as well. He called a delay for the American people ‘very reasonable and sensible.’ And he posed a question: ‘Don’t you think it’d be fair?’ . . . That’s a question for my Democrat colleagues – many of whom know how badly this law is hurting their constituents. Isn’t that just the fair thing to do? Of course it is. So I’m calling for Democrat Senators to put the middle class ahead of the President’s pride. I’m calling for them to help us pass a delay for everyone. We’ve already filed legislation that would do just that. A bipartisan majority of the House supports it. Let’s work together to do it. Then, once we get that done, let’s keep working to get rid of this law and replace it with real reforms.”

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Tags: US Senate, continuing resolution, Obamacare To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!