| |
On ObamaCare and the 2014 Elections: |
|
| |
"After dozens of delays of various aspects of ObamaCare, Democrats are still facing a tsunami of voter anger this fall in midterm elections that are looking more and more like a disaster for the president’s party. The administration’s answer to their plight is simple: delay more implementation of the president’s unpopular and misnamed Affordable Care Act. ...
"The political motivations for this move are obvious. Prior to the rollout of ObamaCare last fall, Democrats drew a line in the sand on any delay of the president’s signature health care law. Rather than push back the implementation of the legislation a single day, they allowed the government to be shut down for weeks causing untold suffering to the American people. That was a political masterstroke. The mainstream media blamed the GOP for the fiasco since their demands for delaying or defunding the law seen as unreasonable and unrealistic. What a difference a few months makes." |
|
| |
— Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary Magazine Senior Online Editor
|
|
|
— Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary Magazine Senior Online Editor
|
|
Posted March 05, 2014 • 08:12 AM
|
|
|
| |
On Recalling Lois Lerner to Testify Before Congress Regarding the IRS Scandal: |
|
| |
"Americans still awaiting the full truth about the Obama administration's IRS targeting tea party groups for excessive scrutiny during the 2012 election cycle should applaud House Republicans' efforts to compel testimony from a woman at the center of that scandal. ...
"With the Obama administration still defending the indefensible, recalling Lerner to testify shows that Mr. Issa and his committee aren't backing down in their efforts to document the full extent of politically motivated IRS abuses — which the American people have every right to know." |
|
| |
— The Editors, The Tribune-Review
|
|
|
— The Editors, The Tribune-Review
|
|
Posted March 04, 2014 • 08:10 AM
|
|
|
| |
On the IRS as a Regulator of Political Speech: |
|
| |
"The United States already has a rather good regulation regarding government oversight of political speech, which is that there isn’t to be any. The First Amendment ought to be the last word on the subject. ... Congress has the authority to rewrite the rules about who qualifies as a tax-exempt nonprofit, should it choose to do so, but the IRS plainly does not have the power to regulate away political speech where it is explicitly authorized.
"The IRS has willfully and intentionally misled Congress and the American people about the scope and nature of its actions targeting political opponents of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. ...
"The IRS does not inspire confidence as a practitioner of self-regulation, much less as a regulator of political speech." |
|
| |
— The Editors, National Review Online
|
|
|
— The Editors, National Review Online
|
|
Posted March 03, 2014 • 07:44 AM
|
|
|
| |
In Opposition to Proposed IRS Rules Restricting 501(c)(4) Nonprofits: |
|
| |
“The rule proposed by the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service would effect a stunning and unprecedented restriction on core political speech by thousands of nonprofit organizations. The proposed rule would sweep broad categories of previously exempt activities into a newly-created category called ‘candidate-related political activity’ (‘CRPA’), which would not be considered tax exempt ‘social welfare’ activity. By this one bold stroke, the proposal would flout the mandate of Congress in numerous respects, effect an inappropriate partisan agenda, and impose restrictions on protected First Amendment activities more pervasive and intrusive than ever considered, to our knowledge, by any Congress or any federal agency. The apparent assumption that ‘anything goes’ in restricting political speech in exchange for a tax exemption is seriously mistaken. The proposed rule must be withdrawn and abandoned.” |
|
| |
— Comments filed by CFIF, American Commitment and American Encore, Inc.
|
|
|
— Comments filed by CFIF, American Commitment and American Encore, Inc.
|
|
Posted February 28, 2014 • 07:39 AM
|
|
|
| |
On the White House and the IRS Targeting of Conservative Groups: |
|
| |
"The mainstream press has justified its lack of coverage over the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups because there's been no 'smoking gun' tying President Obama to the scandal. This betrays a remarkable, if not willful, failure to understand abuse of power. The political pressure on the IRS to delay or deny tax-exempt status for conservative groups has been obvious to anyone who cares to open his eyes. It did not come from a direct order from the White House, but it didn't have to. ...
"In 1170, King Henry II is said to have cried out, on hearing of the latest actions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' Four knights then murdered the archbishop. Many in the U.S. media still willfully refuse to see anything connecting the murder of the archbishop to any actions or abuse of power by the king." |
|
| |
— Bradley Smith, Center for Competitive Politics Chairman and Former Federal Election Commission Chairman
|
|
|
— Bradley Smith, Center for Competitive Politics Chairman and Former Federal Election Commission Chairman
|
|
Posted February 27, 2014 • 07:46 AM
|
|
|
| |
On the Recent CMS Report of ObamaCare Costs: |
|
| |
"In a colossal 'oh by the way' revelation, last Friday afternoon the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (that would be the executive branch run by President Obama), quietly released a report exposing the fact that under Obamacare, two-thirds of Americans who work at small businesses will see their insurance premiums increase. So this report – which is more than two years late – says over 11 million American workers will have higher health insurance premiums because of Obamacare. ...
"When you want to hide something in Washington, you release it on a Friday afternoon – but this latest Obamacare revelation is too big to ignore." |
|
| |
— Ed Rogers, Washington Post Contributor
|
|
|
— Ed Rogers, Washington Post Contributor
|
|
Posted February 26, 2014 • 07:58 AM
|
|
|
| |
On the Obama Administration's Spin Control: |
|
| |
"Losing a job is freedom from job lock. A budget deficit larger than in any previous administration is austerity. A mean right-wing video caused the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi. Al-Qaeda was long ago washed up. The Muslim Brotherhood is secular. Jihad is a personal journey. Shooting people while screaming Allahu akbar! is workplace violence. Unaffordable higher premiums and deductibles are the result of an Affordable Care Act. Losing your doctor and your health-insurance plan prove you will never lose your doctor and your health-insurance plan — period! Being a constitutional lawyer means you know how to turn the IRS and the FCC on your enemies. Failure is success; lies are truth.
"President Obama’s polls are creeping back up again. They do that every time the latest in the series of scandals — the IRS, AP, NSA, Benghazi, and Obamacare messes — recedes into the media memory hole. The once-outrageous IRS scandal was rebranded as psychodramatic journalists being outraged. The monitoring of AP reporters and of James Rosen is mostly 'Stuff happens.' The NSA octopus was Bush’s creation. You can keep your doctor and your health plan — period — begat liberation from 'job lock' and the ability to write poetry because you don’t have to work.
"There will be more momentary outrages on the horizon, as a president who would fundamentally transform America continues to circumvent the Constitution to do it." |
|
| |
— Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and Nationally Syndicated Columnist
|
|
|
— Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow and Nationally Syndicated Columnist
|
|
Posted February 25, 2014 • 08:05 AM
|
|
|
| |
On Proposed IRS Rules Governing Non Profit Groups: |
|
| |
"This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is voting on a measure that would prohibit the IRS from implementing its proposed new regulations on tax-exempt groups for one year.
"This will give Congress the ability to continue its investigation into the IRS targeting scandal and long-term oversight over the agency.
"Sadly, this is just the latest in the never-ending saga of Obama’s executive overreach and use of the federal government to punish those with whom he disagrees.
"Public engagement and the Republican resolve are critical to fighting it. Together, we can stop this government abuse." |
|
| |
— Congressman Tom Price, M.D.,(R-GA), House Budget Committee Vice Chairman and House Ways and Means Committee Member
|
|
|
— Congressman Tom Price, M.D.,(R-GA), House Budget Committee Vice Chairman and House Ways and Means Committee Member
|
|
Posted February 24, 2014 • 07:59 AM
|
|
|
| |
On the Effect of ObamaCare on Public Sector Jobs: |
|
| |
"WASHINGTON — Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say.
"The cuts to public sector employment, which has failed to rebound since the recession, could serve as a powerful political weapon for Republican critics of the health care law, who claim that it is creating a drain on the economy. ...
"The American Federation of Teachers lists on its website three dozen public colleges and universities in 15 states that it says have restricted the work assignments of adjunct or part-time faculty members to avoid the cost of providing health insurance." |
|
| |
— Robert Pear, The New York Times
|
|
|
— Robert Pear, The New York Times
|
|
Posted February 21, 2014 • 07:51 AM
|
|
|
| |
On New Reports of Job Losses Under ObamaCare: |
|
| |
"A new report from a top health care industry trade organization contradicts Kathleen Sebelius' recent claim that no job loss will occur under Obamacare.
"Obamacare’s medical device tax has already created a job loss of 33,000 in the medical device industry and 132,000 more job losses are expected, according to a new report from the industry trade group the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), obtained by the Daily Caller.
"'There is absolutely no evidence, and every economist will tell you this, that there is any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act,' Sebelius said Monday in Orlando. ...
"But AdvaMed’s report, for which it surveyed all of its medical device and technology member companies in late 2013, paints a much different picture." |
|
| |
— Patrick Howley, The Daily Caller
|
|
|
— Patrick Howley, The Daily Caller
|
|
Posted February 20, 2014 • 08:00 AM
|
|
|
|