Devastating News for ObamaCare Backers

 

Within the White House, within the Democratic chambers in Congress and among the (overwhelmingly liberal) health policy community there was considerable anguish last week. The reason: a new study finds that (as far as physical health is concerned) there is no difference between being in Medicaid and being uninsured.

It’s hard to exaggerate what a blow this is to the people who gave us the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). Everything about ObamaCare—from the money we are spending to the damage being done to the labor market to the hassles the whole nation is going through—depends on one central idea: that enrolling people in Medicaid will give them access to better health. (Tens of thousands of lives will be saved every year, the president told us.)

It gets worse. Beginning next year, ObamaCare is expected to newly insure about 34 million people. About half of these will enroll in Medicaid. The other half are supposed to get their insurance in health insurance exchanges, where most will qualify for generous premium subsidies paid for by federal taxpayers. If the Massachusetts health reform is precedent, however, these people will be in health plans that pay doctors only about 10 percent morethan what Medicaid pays. Think of these plans as Medicaid Plus.

Yet, if Medicaid doesn’t make people any healthier than they were when they were uninsured, that implies that the entire ObamaCare program could be one huge waste of money.

More @ The Independent Institute

North Carolina's WBTS Sesquicentennial -- North Carolina's Sovereignty

 

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial

www.ncwbts150.com

“The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission”

“……That North Carolina Should Not Lose Her Sovereignty as a State”

“North Carolina emerged from the Revolution imbued with a strong particularistic spirit. Emphasis upon and interest in State matters absorbed the energies of political leaders. 

The result was that the State took little interest in the affairs of the Confederation.  When the Congress invited the States to send delegates to Philadelphia in 1787 for the purpose of revising the Article of Confederation, the General Assembly appointed a delegation of five to represent the State.

The North Carolina delegation represented the views of the conservative minority in the State which desired a strong central government….[but it] was not representative of the views of the majority of North Carolinians who were apparently well-satisfied with the government provided by the Articles.

It is not to be supposed that the North Carolina delegates, though they desired a stronger Union, favored a genuine national government rather than a confederation of States. 

Although they favored strengthening the powers of the central government, they did not intend that North Carolina should lose her sovereignty as a State.

Upon completion of the new Constitution, provision was made for its ratification by conventions in the States. The anti-federalists, led by Willie Jones in the northeast, Timothy Bloodworth in the southeast, Judge Samuel Spencer, Joseph McDowell and Thomas Person in the central and western counties, campaigned vigorously.

They denounced the federal judiciary, declared that the poor would be burdened with taxation, pointed to the lack of provisions guaranteeing the rights of individuals, and criticized the failure to protect the rights of the States. Public opinion crystallized on the issue of ratification.  The anti-federalists were successful and elected a large majority of delegates to the convention. The farmers of North Carolina looked upon the Constitution as an instrument designed to aid the commercial interests.

In the debate over the clause making the Constitution, the laws of the United States, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States the supreme law of the land, Timothy Bloodworth….declared that the new Constitution “would sweep off all the constitutions of the States,” would be “a total repeal of every act and constitution of the States,” and would produce “an abolition of State governments.”

On this point the Federalist leaders adhered to sound State sovereignty doctrine, holding in general that the new Constitution was a compact between the States. 

Both William R. Davie and Richard Dobbs Spaight, members of the Philadelphia convention, declared that the new government intended a stronger Union without destroying the sovereignty of the States.”  Read more at -- http://www.ncwbts150.com/Test1.php

(The Secession Movement in North Carolina, Joseph Carlyle Sitterson, UNC Press, 1939, pp. 23-25) 

Flies

Via Ninety Miles From Tyranny

A few goodies from Ol' Remus

 

 Ol' Remus

I see no reason why many of America's high schools should remain open.
Chris Matyszczyk at news.cnet.com

What was the fate of the guards and KAPOs when the Nazi camps were liberated? Really want to know? Photos here at CODOH Forum. 

 By effectively capping most students' future financial obligations from student debt, this plan would remove the last vestiges of price sensitivity from the college tuition market.  Colleges can now raise tuition to infinity, knowing that the bulk of it will get paid by the taxpayer some time in the future. Just as the college price bubble looks ready to burst, this is the one thing that could re-inflate it.
Warren Meyer at coyoteblog.com 

Boston bomber lockdown - During the entire 24 hours manhunt the news media was kept at bay so shootouts were not videoed. Even police video cameras were turned off.
Willy Scanlon at opednews.com

The market may be hitting new highs thanks to traders' games, but the real economy is contracting sharply. This is precisely what happened during the market peaks before the Tech Crash and the 2008 Collapse. We are getting precisely the same warnings this time around. If you are not already preparing for a potential market collapse, now is the time to be doing so.
Graham Summers at gainspainscapital.com

Benghazi Allegations: We're running out of dirt to draw a line in.

 

 Ol' Remus

VERBATIM

In the mid-1800s essayist Thomas de Quincey unknowingly summed up our current administration quite nicely:

If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begun upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop. Many a man has dated his ruin from some murder or other that perhaps he thought little of at the time.
--Thomas de Quincey via en.wikiquote.org (Hat tip: Paul Shlichta at americanthinker.com)

The administration hasn't come to the point of incivility, but startling allegations are being made about the Benghazi murders and the unraveling coverup. One of the more plainly put, if sensationalist, summaries comes from Dave Hodges at the fundamentalist right Common Sense Show in this article, They Came, They Murdered, They Covered It Up:

When General Hamm received his "stand down" orders from Panetta on behalf of Obama, he defiantly made plans to go ahead with the rescue and was arrested within minutes of contravening the order by his second in command, General Rodriquez.

Out to sea, Admiral Gayouette, the commander of Carrier Strike Group Three, was preparing to provide intelligence and air cover for General Hamm's rescue team in violation of his standing orders and he was promptly relieved of command for allegations of inappropriate leadership judgment.

Both men are being held today in undisclosed locations. As an aside, if there is any kind of a silver lining in these very dark clouds it appears that much of the senior military leadership has had enough of the traitorous Obama and his den of corrupt criminals and some of them are willing to risk career in the name of actually serving the American people.

Mr. Hodges reminds us Hillary Clinton has been connected to a string of suspicious and suspiciously convenient deaths in the past. We also recall former president Bill Clinton is accused by some of handing military secrets to China while in office, and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's public involvement with a self declared Marxist organization, and president Obama's alliances with terrorist revolutionaries and malodorous race supremacists.

 

Mr. Hodges's version of the Benghazi event is volatile stuff. It describes near-treason if not treason itself. If the allegations centering on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are substantiated, and if principals in the administration are shown to be complicit, they betrayed their oath and their countrymen on behalf of an active belligerent. It's alleged elsewhere untraceable foreign accounts are a substantial source of their political funding, which may speak to the question of embedded duplicity on a more quantitative basis.

What difference at this point does it make?
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Ms. Clinton needs to understand, deeply and abidingly, "it" makes a difference at this or any other point. The nation should not accept the "mistakes were made" brushoff this time, nor apologies and resignations, nor even outright terminations. We're running out of dirt to draw a line in. If all or most of this is true, it warrants aggressive and decisive legal proceedings to remove co-conspirators from office on an emergency basis, and bulldog prosecution for all involved, top to bottom and side to side.

Greed at root of $100 million farm fraud in Eastern NC

Via Cousin John

 WNCT | 9 On Your Side Greenville NC

With spring arriving, farmers across Eastern North Carolina feel a sense of hope as crops begin to rise from the soil.

"Springtime for me, it makes your heart pump a little faster -- the excitement of getting over winter, starting a crop," said John Weaver, a farmer in the Johnston County community of Kenly.

His hope is his green tobacco leaves provide a different kind of green -- cash. Weaver has worked toward being successful the honest way -- something not all of his fellow farmers can say.

A federal probe discovered dozens of farmers in Eastern North Carolina, primarily in Wilson County, defrauded the federal crop insurance program for a staggering $100 million.

The federal program is intended to protect farmers against the loss of crops due to natural disasters.

But a number of Eastern North Carolina farmers, insurance agents, claims adjusters and brokers have cheated the system. Essentially, some filed claims of false losses to get insurance money and then sold the crops they had "hidden" from the government for more cash.

It took advantage of an insurance program that farmers find essential to balance their risk. Weaver, for example, said he pays about $40,000 a year in crop insurance.

"We can't afford to farm without crop insurance," Weaver said.

Weaver called the fraud "greed."

"I mean, that's all it is," he said.

More @ WNCT

Syria blames 'murderer' Erdogan for bombings: Russian TV

Video via LH

                      Turkey': Protesters Blame Erdogan and FSA for Bombings in Reyhanli 
The people of Antakya blame Erdogan terrorist supporting foreign policy for the bombings in Reyhanli

Syria's information minister has blamed Turkey's government for deadly car bombings near the Syrian border and branded Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a "murderer", state-run Russian TV company RT reported on Monday.

The bombings took place as prospects appeared to improve for diplomacy to try to end the war in Syria, after Moscow and Washington announced a joint effort to bring government and rebels to an international conference as soon as possible.

"All responsibility for what has happened lies with the Turkish government and Erdogan personally," RT quoted Omran Zubi as saying in an interview with its Arabic-language channel.

"I demand his resignation as a murderer and an executioner. He has no right to build a political career on the blood of the Turkish and Syrian people," RT quoted Zubi as saying.

It said he repeated a denial of Syrian involvement in car bombings that killed 46 people on Saturday in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli. Turkey has accused a group with links to Syrian intelligence of carrying out the attacks.
                                                                      More @ Reuters

The Hazards Of A Militarized Police Force

Via southwind

 

At PoliceOne.com, one genius SWAT team member makes this remarkable argument.

Tactical teams seeking their terrorist prey in the greater Boston area did so in great numbers — numbers that would make military commanders in Afghanistan envious. Video footage showed the American law enforcement warrior looking for a fight.
Citizens cheered as the second terrorist was captured, jubilation spread across the country. We American Law Men were especially proud as our brothers in the Boston area took the fight to the terrorist. These men and women are true American Patriots — a testament to the “Warrior Spirit” in law enforcement — as tactical teams and uniformed officers brought swift justice and victory.

Warrior.  Marine Corps training seeks to seed the warrior spirit, but rather than see themselves as peace officers in the finest tradition of colonial constables, SWAT team members now see themselves as “warriors.”  And note the utterly heroic terms he uses to express the recent travesty of justice in Boston.  “Looking for a fight” … “proud” … “cheered” … “jubilation” by the people.
But I’ve addressed this issue of the fact that they will never be as trained, qualified, or reliable as a well trained military.

More @  The Captain's Journal

Credit card reader companies discriminate against gun buyers and sellers

Via avordvet
 

 

A change to the Square seller’s agreement now forbids “payments in connection with … sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury,” the iOS/Android payment processing device company announced on its website last week.

“[B]efore the change, Square was happy as a clam to be used for face-to-face firearms sales,” The Truth About Guns blog noted. “But now, they don’t even want to be used if all you’re buying is something as innocuous as a new pair of grips for your 1911. All deals involving firearms are no longer allowed to be processed through Square.”

“Apparently Square is joining several other payment processors and financial institutions and are now refusing to do business with anyone who has anything to do with guns, ammo or other weapons,” the Guns Save Lives blog observed, adding “Paypal has long had a standing policy of refusing to business with any gun related business, including for things as innocuous as gun magazines. GE Capital, one of the largest lenders in the US recently announced they would no longer work with the gun industry as well.”

“We may decide not to authorize or settle any transaction that you submit to us if we believe that the transaction is in violation of this Agreement,” Square warns its users.

More @ Examiner

David on ABC concerning IRS Audit

Via The Way

 

NC PATCON April 27 - 29 2012

I imagine he wished Obama had been left out of it though.:)  The sacrifices we must make!

Judge Jeanine "Fact Blasts" Hillary/Obama Administration on Benghazi & No Witch Hunt

No Witch Hunt: Benghazi Whistleblower Voted For Obama

Nitinol paperclip

Via Ornery Bastard

'NO POSSIBLE JUSTIFICATION': ASSOCIATED PRESS LIVID AFTER DOJ SECRETLY OBTAINS 2 MONTHS OF ITS PHONE RECORDS

Via avordvet

 

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and home phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.

More @ News Vine

IRS X4

Murdoch: IRS ‘Out of Control’

 Pro-Israel Groups: IRS Targeted Us Too

Gingrich: ‘Madness’ to Rely on Abusive IRS for Obamacare

===================================

Via Billy

Alabama tea party groups targeted by IRS

Stuff Happens and so do Leaks

 

Charles Carroll Society

VERBATIM

What good can be taken away from Benghazi Libya attack, Gosnell and IRS targeting the President’s enemies? There are Patriots everywhere. These Patriots, silent existing in government offices are the only reason we know any of this.

High ranking military people were pissed that for the first time in my memory the military was ordered to leave men behind. ( Disgraceful!) And we did. Shame. On. Us. It does not matter if the ambassador was a sodomite and was gang-raped before he was killed, murdered and then gang-raped again. You do not murder Americans without losing your life.

On the IRS hunting down Patriot groups to protect this President for re-election. The only way this was known because a “report” was coming out. People talked, people were pissed. The White House needed to get ahead of this, so they tried. Remember not a single person lost his or her job. Also remember because of Obama Care, the IRS will now have complete access to your health records. Amazing.

Gosnell, the witch-doctor was finally found guilty. Great. If you pull live babies out of their mothers and cut their spinal column someone in this nation says “…well that is not good.” Really? The freakin’ witch doctor kept a jar of baby feet on his desk. And people don’t like it when I call these people demon worshipers?

In each case though, people talked, people said “…this is wrong…” Remember that. The silent Patriots buried deep in the machine could be the most important people in the future. Thank the Lord they are there.

Reenactment: From the diary of a war reporter, May 1942

 Aus dem Tagebuch eines Kriegsberichter

More @ Foto6x7

Obama, Dems misfire on guns

Via avordvet

 

The owner of a small gun shop here sits on a wooden stool behind a glass-topped counter filled with handguns. The only thing folks talk about when they come into this store is what Washington will do next to attack gun owners, says the man, dressed in a crisp white shirt, dark blue pants and a ballcap from a local paint store. 

“The story that is not being told is how afraid folks really are,” he says, refusing to have his name published. He has lived through the turbulent '60s and '70s and served in Vietnam, he says, but none of that compares to the fear he sees in today's customers. 

“When you have not one, not two, but dozens of women well over 70 come in here to buy a gun, something is going wrong out there,” he says. “It's not just little old white women — it's young people, white and black, affluent and struggling, who are worrying about the (government's

More @ Trib Live

======================

 

 

Traitor.

Dems Shoot Themselves in the Foot Again On Guns

Despite suffering the most humiliating rejection of his presidency, President Obama and the liberal establishment are determined to revive their failed gun control scheme. That’s a good thing. The Republicans should remember Napoleon’s warning that you should never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake. This mistake will cost the Democrats dearly in 2014.

We need to understand that the motivation behind the gun grabbing campaign has always been more than just naked political calculation. Certainly, liberals think it will help motivate their base and maybe shore up the squishy suburban mom demographic for 2014, but this is really a campaign fueled by emotion.

That emotion is hate.

More @ Townhall

Bill Gates, Jeb Bush, Oprah, Warren Buffett and Michael Bloomberg meeting at SC island

Via avordvet

Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and one of the richest people in the world, is spending time in the Lowcountry.

WCBD  confirmed the American business magnate is at the Sanctuary on Kiawah Island.

Suspicion was raised when nearly 20 very expensive jets were seen lined up at the Charleston International Airport on Johns Island.

Officials with the Beach Company confirmed to WCBD that other big names such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, TV host Oprah Winfrey and Billionaire Warren Buffet flew into the Charleston Executive airport on Johns Island Wednesday night.

Other prominent people said to also be staying there this weekend are  Jeb Bush and Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 The famous guests were attending a two day long conference led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

*Officials say the meeting was about the foundation Gates and his wife Linda run.

*Yeah, right.  Got any more good ones........?

More @ WBTW

FSA Insurgent Eats Heart of Syrian Soldier

Via LH

"We've got the (MB) Bro'hood in the White House, the State Dept, DHS, everywhere. This is what they do best, cause terror, the same folks (animals) that killed everyone in Benghazi." 

"Another brutal war crime by the Obama's heroic insurgents."

Benghazi: The floodgates will open this week, and by the end of business Friday, the scandal will be full blown.

 

By their second term “inside the bubble,” presidents have completely lost touch with reality: Aides and confidants conspire to keep the chief executive insulated from the real world — the bad news, the worse press coverage. They think it’s their job, and lounging on the Oval Office couches, they nod along with the president’s every musing.

But this presidency has taken OOCS to new heights. Mr. Obama has only a few trusted aides, and occasional leaks from the West Wing show a paranoid president suspicious of nearly everyone around him. Supremely confident, convinced by the fawning minions at his feet that he is untouchable, the president dismisses all controversy as partisan attacks by an overzealous opposition. A pliant press corps of stenographers follows in lockstep.

Not surprisingly, every president in the past 60 years has had a major scandal in Term 2: Dwight Eisenhower had the U-2 “incident”; Richard Nixon had Watergate; Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra; Bill Clinton had Monica (literally); George W. Bush had Katrina (and let’s not forget those WMDs that never turned up); and now, this president has Benghazi.

Make no mistake: Benghazi is a major scandal. Benghazi is a scandal before, during and after the terrorist attack that left four Americas dead, including an ambassador.

For months before, there were warnings about weak security at the U.S. Consulate in Libya; no one paid attention. During the attack, when Americans were begging for help, the White House ignored their pleas, sent no help.

And after? That’s when the Obama scandal falls into the predictable second-term pattern his predecessors all learned the very hard way. Faced with a crisis, the Obama White House panicked.

More @ The Washington Times

Game-changing Russian missiles 'already in Syria'

 

A Russian convoy of game-changing S300 missile batteries reached Syria last week, claimed Arab intelligence sources speaking to WND.

Israeli security sources said there is no information to support the Arab claim.

The information comes as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times  reported Israel relayed a message to the Obama administration describing as imminent a Russian deal to sell the advanced anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria.

The S300 missile batteries are able to intercept manned aircraft and guided missiles.

More @ WND

AK47 mags for $12: 5 or more

Get AK47 mags for $12!

Use coupon code 5AK12 during checkout to receive the discount. Click here for the direct product page.

 

Coupon valid until 5/19/13.  A minimum of (5) magazines must be ordered to redeem coupon. 

While you're there, check out the other merch we have for sale.

NYT's Maureen Dowd: Obama's Benghazi Decisions 'Unworthy of Greatest Power on Earth'

The Obama administration's decisions during and after the deadly terror attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi last Sept. 11 were "unworthy of the greatest power on earth," writes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in a scathing Sunday column.

Dowd's opinion piece follows one a few weeks ago that declared Obama "still has not learned how to govern," and takes shots at the edits that were made to the Benghazi talking points.

She also criticizes efforts to rewrite events in order to make Hillary Clinton – a presumptive presidential candidate in 2016 – appear to be leaving a legacy turn at the State Department.

She also blames the lack of response to the attacks, plus the initial denial that al-Qaeda operatives were involved, on Obama's presidential ambitions and Clinton's possible future ones.

"In the midst of a re-election campaign, Obama aides wanted to promote the mythology that the president who killed Osama was vanquishing terror. So they deemed it problematic to mention any possible Qaeda involvement in the Benghazi attack," wrote Dowd. "Hillaryland needed to shore up the mythology that Clinton was a stellar secretary of state."

But Dowd also noted that the most critical voices, led by Karl Rove in early attack ads against Clinton, "cloud a simple truth: The administration’s behavior before and during the attack in Benghazi, in which four Americans died, was unworthy of the greatest power on earth."

But Dowd reserves her strongest, most scornful words for the entire Obama administration, including the military and its lack of response in the eight hours the Benghazi attack spanned.

"In this hottest of hot spots, the State Department’s minimum security requirements were not met, requests for more security were rejected, and contingency plans were not drawn up, despite the portentous date of 9/11 and cascading warnings from the C.I.A.," Dowd writes. "Hillary Clinton and Ambassador Chris Stevens (who was killed in the attack) were rushing to make the flimsy Benghazi post permanent as a sign of good faith with Libyans, even as it sat ringed by enemies."

More @ Newsmax

IRS scrutiny went beyond Tea Party, targeting of conservative groups broader than thought

Via Billy

 

An IRS campaign to apply additional scrutiny to conservative groups went beyond targeting "Tea Party" and "patriot" groups to include those focused on government spending, the Constitution and several other broad areas.

The additional guidelines created by the agency were part of a timeline, obtained by Fox News, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which is looking into the controversial IRS practice. IRS officials apologized Friday for the scrutiny, but new information suggests senior leaders were apprised of the effort as early as 2011 despite public denials from the top.

Republican lawmakers have vowed to investigate and hold hearings, calling the revelations deeply troubling.

"The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups," Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers told "Fox News Sunday." "I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. It needs to have a full investigation.

More @ Fox

The NC LS Political View

With little over a month left in the current "Long" Session of the North Carolina General Assembly, we see some signs that we can be heartened by, but also some troubling patterns for the future.  Given supermajorities in both the House and the Senate, the GOP has moved to pacify its core constituencies in the business and religious community.  A lessoning of regulations as well as a potential overhaul of the State tax code gives the business community much to be happy about.  Whether or not a total elimination of the State income and corporate taxes comes to fruition remains to be seen.  The Republicans have also moved to pass further restrictions on abortion, including a ban on sex-selection abortions.

Perhaps the greatest thing we can be happy for is the coming passage of Voter ID.  Despite much howling from the usual suspects, the GOP and some moderate Democrats in the House have passed the bill which is now pending Senate approval.  The McCrory administration has also joined with the General Assembly in rejecting the Medicaid funds from the federal government as part of Obamacare.  North Carolina is the closest of the 2012 battleground States to outright reject the funds, and Florida is poised to do so  as well.

Disturbingly though the Republicans in the General Assembly are using their power to dictate to municipalities how to run their affairs. 

While partisan Republicans normally take heart at seeing Democrat-led cities being dressed down, the precedent being set cannot leave true State-rights conservatives too eager for the days the Democrats take control of the legislature again.  Eminent domain reform was a battle-cry for the Republicans when they first took control on Jones Street. 

But this has also led to the legislature dictating to cities and counties how to manage their municipal elections, how to run their airports, and how to conduct land deals.  This trend brings back memories of the big government "conservatism" of the George W. Bush era, and we know how that turned out.

These are heady days to be a Republican in Raleigh, but fundamental change has yet to come about in State government even with total control of all three branches in Republican hands.  Things are moving in a better direction than the days of Perdue and Basnight, but the Old North State still is not being run in the truest conservative tradition of Nathaniel Macon.

NC LS Legislative Affairs

Introducing TF-X: Terrafugia's Vision for the Future of Personal Transportation

Via Cousin Colby

Website