Posts from — March 2010

The Mandate: UNPRECEDENTED in History of the Unied States of America. It MUST BE uncconstitutional. And by the way, Obama opposed it during the 2008 campaign.

According to the Congressional Budget Office CBO, the federal government has never before mandated that Americans buy any good or service. In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan formulated by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, the CBO studied the plan’s provision that would have forced individuals to buy health insurance and determined it was an unprecedented act.

The CBO stated: “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.”

via CNSNews.com – Rep. Burgess: Government Can Force Us to Buy General Motors Products If Obamacare Mandate Upheld in Court.

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Germany will press today to end weeks of European haggling over an aid package for debt-laden Greece, seeking new rules to impose fiscal discipline on countries using the euro to buttress the faltering currency. Asserting Germany’s clout as the European Union’s largest economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out an aid decision at today’s EU summit in Brussels, pushing for the International Monetary Fund to be part of any rescue, and called for tougher penalties on future deficit violators.

via Germany Asserts Clout to Impose Conditions on EU Aid to Greece – Bloomberg.com.

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Ominous News: The IRS will grow in power as a result of Obama’s health care law.

Subcommittee on Oversight ranking member Charles Boustany R-La. said the IRS provision in the bill “dangerously expands, in an ominous way the tentacles of the IRS and it’s reach into every American family,” he said today during a press conference. “This is a vast expanse of power,” he said.

Boustany said the bill would allow the IRS to confiscate refunds if there are penalties for not buying health care. Lawmakers have questioned whether the IRS can handle the increased workload to oversee, administer and collect penalties for people who don't buy health insurance.

via Republicans assail IRS provision in health care bill – The Hill’s On The Money.

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It was every businessperson’s nightmare.

Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. “They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff.

The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff’s on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was … 4 cents.

Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv's with an obligation of $202.35.

via Bob Shallit: IRS visits Sacramento carwash in pursuit of 4 cents – Sacramento Business, Housing Market News | Sacramento Bee.

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Fine Print: IRS to Collect Your Health Care Premiums. You heard right: IRS will garnish your wages; taxman will knock on your door.  This really is Socialism. Does the IRS also intend to take a collection fee on the premiums the PRIVATE health insurance companies are charging?

“Never has the federal government said any American had to buy anything. Now, [you] have to buy insurance. If you don’t buy insurance, pay the IRS more money,” said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) during the Senate’s floor debate in November.

Grassley is correct in that the mandate would be enforced at tax time. If you can’t prove you’re covered, you’ll pay a penalty.

via Anyone Remember What’s In The Health Care Bill? : NPR.

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Obamacare Will Pay Health Insurers $336 Billion. So Why Is the President Calling Them Evil Profiteers?

“Health Insurers will keep on doing this for as long as they can get away with it. This is no secret,” the president said. “They’;re telling their investors this – ‘We are in the money. We are going to keep on making big profits even though a lot of folks are going to be put under hardship,’” the President told supporters at a stop in Pennsylvania today.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, meanwhile, wrote to insurance company executives demanding that they justify premium hikes.

Neither mentioned that the Senate health reform bill, which is the basis for Democrats’ last best chance at comprehensive reform, would give the insurance companies millions of new customers required by law to buy health insurance. It would also require insurers to cover everyone, regardless of age, gender or pre-existing condition.To help pay for the new insurance requirements the government would give to people money to buy insurance – $336 billion over the next ten years. That money, ultimately, would have to go to… drum roll… insurance companies.

via A Complicated Enemy: Obama Seeks to Vilify Health Insurers, Give Them $336 Billion Check – The Note.

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Olle Johansson, a scientist at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, submitted testimony saying that “very serious biological changes” that include cancer risks have been noticed for years from exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields like those emitted from cell phones.

via The Associated Press: Maine panel weighs cell phone cancer warning.

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We have to stop the borrowing…

…Arizona’s Jon Kyl, the Senates second-ranking Republican, supported Mr. Bunning’s right to raise the cost issue. “Every time we pass one of these bills, we are adding to the deficit, and we are not creating jobs,” Mr. Kyl said. “And it’s a legitimate point for Republicans to make.”

…Mr. Bunning says he favors the unemployment-benefits extension but wants it to be paid for. The current bill would add to the deficit. “If we can’t find $10 billion to pay for something we all support, we will never pay for anything on the floor of this U.S. Senate,” Mr. Bunning said.

via One Senator Holds Up Bill, in New Level of Gridlock – WSJ.com.

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“Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic.” – Al Gore

via Op-Ed Contributor – We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change – NYTimes.com.

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