Tag Archives: Obama

SENATE GOES NUCLEAR

28 Nov

declaration signingMark Caserta: Nuclear option provides Dems fundamental change

Nov. 28, 2013 @ 12:00 AM

Democrat leadership won’t allow anything to impede President Obama’s progressive agenda.

Last week, Senate Democrats “progressively” altered our representative form of government by invoking the so-called “nuclear option” for judicial nominees.

The act’s conviction was appropriately characterized by Vice President Joe Biden while speaking last week to a group of immigration activists.

“As my father would say, come hell or high water, we’re going to win this.”

Folks, this administration is painstakingly committed to fundamentally changing America.

In a partisan 52-to-49 vote, Democrats used a rare parliamentary procedure to change the rules and making it possible for Congress to confirm most judicial and executive nominees with just 51 votes as opposed to the supermajority of 60 votes previously required.

Following the split decision, senate leadership retreated to their respective corners.

“It’s a sad day in the history of the Senate,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters following the vote, calling the move a Democratic “power grab.”

But Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., thumbed his nose at the Republican outcry, declaring it was time for the Senate to “evolve” beyond parliamentary roadblocks.

“The American people believe the Senate is broken, and I believe the American people are right,” he said, adding: “It’s time to get the Senate working again.”

After the vote, President Obama told reporters at the White House that Republicans had turned nomination fights into a “reckless and relentless tool” to grind the gears of government to a halt and noted while “neither party has been blameless … today’s pattern of obstruction … just isn’t normal; it’s not what our founders envisioned.”

Excuse me, Mr. President, but our representative form of government known as a “Republic” is “exactly” what the founders intended! And what you refer to as “obstruction,” Republicans call protecting Americans from your socialist agenda.

Additionally, Mr. President, do you recall in 2005, as an Illinois State senator, how you lamented over Republicans considering the nuclear option for President Bush’s nominees?

“I sense that talk of the nuclear option is more about power than about fairness … I believe some of my colleagues propose this rules change because they can get away with it rather than because they know it’s good for our democracy.”

If not, perhaps you recall what your Senate majority leader said during the same controversy.

“The threat to change Senate rules is a raw abuse of power and will destroy the very checks and balances our founding fathers put in place to prevent absolute power by any one branch of government.”

Why the double standard, Mr. President?

It’s clear the current system of checks and balances prevent Barack Obama from achieving his “fundamental change” for America “legislatively.”

His only hope for pursuing his socialist agenda is to nominate and have confirmed more liberal judges in our nation’s judicial system. And the Senate rules just didn’t provide enough votes to confirm activist nominees.

But Americans aren’t fools, Mr. President. They’ve become quite astute to the progressive mindset and very weary of this liberal adventure.

And the 2014 mid-term elections aren’t that far away.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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THE PRESIDENT WHO “COULD NOT TELL THE TRUTH?”

26 Nov

Mark Caserta: Obama falls short on promise of transparency

Nov. 22, 2013 @ 09:59 AM

The day after his inauguration, President Obama promised a new era of “openness in government.”

“We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration,” he wrote in one of his first memos to federal agencies. “Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”

Well, five years into the Obama presidency, Americans are balking at their willingness to take this president at his word.

Among a laundry list of examples contributing to this sentiment is the administration’s lack of forthrightness in the terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012.

A recent survey, commissioned by “Secure American Now,” and conducted by pollsters John McLaughlin and Pat Caddell, revealed that 63 percent of Americans believe the president and his administration are covering up the facts of the siege that killed information officer Sean Smith, former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty and Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Those following the tragedy’s timeline remember the Obama administration attempted to blame the pre-meditated attack on an obscure video mocking Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, but later was forced into admitting the storming of the consulate was indeed a calculated terrorist attack thanks to a pursuit of truth by a few patriotic Americans.

Subsequent investigations disclosed there were survivors who were present the night of the onslaught who could possibly shed light on the events that transpired during the senseless massacre.

For example, why did the Obama administration falter in providing military support for the ambassador and his aides and who issued the “stand down” order? Also, why did the administration attempt to downplay terrorist involvement in the attack and why the obvious resolve to prevent testimony from surviving eye witnesses?

For more than a year since the attack, Congress has tried repeatedly to gain access to these survivors, with little success — until now.

Last week, three CIA security officers who were present during the attack testified in a closed-door session before the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The men were described by sources as former Navy SEALS, Army Special Forces and Marines, under contract to guard CIA agents on the consulate grounds.

Their identities and information regarding their testimony have not been released.

However, information obtained recently by Fox News revealed that at least five CIA personnel, including government contractors, were asked to sign “non-disclosure” agreements regarding the Benghazi attack. While such agreements are standard protocol, it’s unclear why these individuals were asked to complete a second agreement following the incident.

Why does it always appear the Obama administration seems to be working harder trying to hide the truth than it does pursuing it?

It’s entirely possible that while the allegory of presidents portrays George Washington as “unable to tell a lie,” Barack Obama could go down in history as the president “unable to tell the truth.”

While this administration falls way short of delivering its promise of transparency, more Americans are clearly beginning to see through this president.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.
CLOUD

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EXPECT THE NUMBERS TO BE COOKED

11 Nov

one bill at at time
Who counts as an Obamacare enrollee? The Obama administration settles on a definition.

By Sarah Kliff, Updated: November 11, 2013

(Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

The fight over how to define the new health law’s success is coming down to one question: Who counts as an Obamacare enrollee?

Health insurance plans only count subscribers as enrolled in a health plan once they’ve submited a payment. That is when the carrier sends out a member card and begins paying doctor bills.

When the Obama administration releases health law enrollment figures later this week, though, it will use a more expansive definition. It will count people who have purchased a plan as well as those who have a plan sitting in their online shopping cart but have not yet paid.

“In the data that will be released this week, ‘enrollment’ will measure people who have filled out an application and selected a qualified health plan in the marketplace,” said an administration official, who requested anonymity to frankly describe the methodology.

The disparity in the numbers is likely to further inflame the political fight over the Affordable Care Act. Each side could choose a number to make the case that the health law is making progress or failing miserably.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said insurance companies have received about 50,000 private health plan enrollments through HealthCare.gov. Even combined with state tallies, the figure falls far short of the 500,000 sign-ups the administration initially predicted for both private sign-ups and those opting for the expansion of Medicaid.

In recent weeks, administration officials have warned that the enrollment figures for October would be low, given the tumultuous launch of the health Web site.

The administration plans to use this count of enrollees because that’s where their interaction with the healthcare.gov site ends, the administration official said.

Addressing the Wall Street Journal’s report, Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters said: “We cannot confirm these numbers. More generally, we have always anticipated that initial enrollment numbers would be low and increase over time. . . . The problems with the Web site will cause the numbers to be lower than initially anticipated.”

States that have so far released enrollment data also tend to use this wider definition. The 14 states running their own insurance marketplaces have reported 49,000 enrollments in private health insurance plans, according to an analysis released Monday by consulting firm Avalere Health. They have also enrolled many thousands more into the Medicaid program, which the health-care law expanded.

“The idea that people are going to do layaway purchasing three months out goes against the American way,” Rhode Island exchange director Christine Ferguson said in late September, shortly before the health law’s rollout.

Different definitions of enrollment lead to vastly different estimations of who will gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In the District of Columbia, for example, health insurance plans reported signing up five people during the health law’s first month.

But the city’s exchange, DC Health Link, estimates that 321 people in the District have dropped a specific health insurance plan into their shopping cart. Of those, 164 have requested an invoice for their first month’s premium from the insurance carrier.

“We recognize that most people do not have the luxury of paying for coverage in October, months before a bill is due,” exchange spokesman Richard Sorian said Friday. “I hope that all consumers here in the District remember that they have until Dec. 15 to finalize their selection by paying their first month’s premium in order to have coverage on Jan. 1, 2014.”

© The Washington Post Company

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GOP should return to health care message

3 Nov

insuranceOct. 31, 2013 @ 12:00 AM

As the shortcomings of Obamacare emerge, now is the time for the GOP to get back on message regarding its plan to provide accessible, affordable healthcare to all Americans.

Folks, if Obamacare is such a great proposition for America, why the need to force individuals to purchase it or be penalized financially? It’s very simple. Without everyone’s participation, it wouldn’t be financially viable. Government-run healthcare epitomizes the socialist ideology of Barack Obama. The president is simply executing his “inadvertently” expressed intention when he told Joe the Plumber, “…when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Unfortunately, that’s socialism.

The push for increased government involvement in healthcare dates back over 100 years, when presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning on the Progressive Party ticket, called for the establishment of a national health insurance system modeled on what had already been established in Germany.

But in America we deserve and demand a choice.

Indeed, rising healthcare costs have had a catastrophic impact on Americans and our economy. But the choices legislators have made in regulating the industry have not helped in providing affordable healthcare. And political “jousting” has depreciated the narrative far below the interests of most Americans.

It should be objectionable to all Americans that the first path Democrats chose to reform healthcare was to provide the government power to “mandate” its purchase without first pursuing other options to improve its accessibility and affordability.

The U.S. Census Department says about 15 percent of Americans needed health insurance prior to Obamacare. Logic suggests first attempting to make insurance more affordable for those Americans before revamping the entire healthcare system!

Early on, the GOP offered some viable solutions which would help make quality healthcare affordable and accessible for everyone including those with pre-existing conditions.

It begins with allowing Americans who like their healthcare coverage to keep it while giving all Americans the freedom to choose the health plan that best meets their needs and ensuring all medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors — not government bureaucrats.

Eliminating the barriers of purchasing health insurance across state lines would create healthy market competition. Individuals and families who reside in one state would be able to purchase affordable health insurance from another. Likewise, health insurance plans would be able to sell their policies in all states, just as other companies do in selling a wide variety of goods and services.

Comprehensive medical liability reform is needed to reduce the costly, unnecessary defensive medicine practiced by doctors trying to protect themselves from overzealous trial lawyers.

The tax code should be adjusted to fairly extend tax credits to those who do not have employer-provided insurance but purchase health insurance on their own. The deduction would be equivalent to the cost of an individual’s or family’s insurance premiums.

These are but a few of the options the GOP once clearly articulated.

It’s time now for Republicans to return to focusing on real healthcare solutions and allow Obamacare to be exposed.

By 2016, many more Americans will be listening intently to your message.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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SINGLE QUESTION “CHECKMATE” ON OBAMACARE FOR PROGRESSIVES

25 Oct

OBAMACAREFor everyone who comes across someone who supports Obamacare. Just ask one simple question:

“If it’s such a good deal, why MAKE people buy it or be fined? Why not just make it available?

And if, perhaps, they’re smart enough to say, “Because unless everyone purchased it, there wouldn’t be enough money to subsidize the program.”

Respond: “That’s exactly right. It’s what Obama called “spreading the wealth around” and it’s socialism.”

If they still try to argue, dust off your shoes and walk away. They’re a hopeless progressive who gets what they deserve.

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Obamacare a signature failure for president

24 Oct

images

Oct. 24, 2013 @ 06:33 AM

MARK CASERTA

The irony of politics is often too rich for words.

Despite a failed Republican offensive aimed at Obam­acare, ultimately resulting in a government shutdown, it would seem the admin­istration’s incompetence in managing the i mplementat ion of the president’s signature health­care law is a much greater threat.

And now, the Affordable Care Act is self-destructing without any help from Repub­licans .

While the government’s website, “Healthcare.gov.” proclaims “The Health Insur­ance Marketplace is Now Open,” and despite the fact Obama and his liberal minions have had well over three years to prepare for open enroll­ment, reports indicate that enrollment has been one huge, embarrassing catastrophe.

The Washington Post reported the failure of the website is even worse than previously suspected: “Even when consumers have been able to sign up, insurers sometimes can’t tell who their new customers are because of a separate set of computer defects.” And large numbers of Obamacare applications reportedly didn’t provide enough verifiable information to enroll people in their plans.

Initial claims by the admin­istration that problems were the result of “heavy traffic” also appear to be inaccurate. Computer experts say the problems with the site, which reportedly cost the taxpayers $634 million, are the result of structural flaws in the system’s architecture which could take months to repair.

So, the federal government expects Americans to trust them managing health care for millions of people, when it can’t even manage a simple website?

But problems loom way past the ineptitude of the website’s mechanics.

The Chicago Tribune, the president’s hometown paper, conducted an analysis last week on the costs of plans offered for that state’s resi­dents .

According to the Tribune, “21 of the 22 lowest-priced plans offered on the Illinois health insurance exchange for Cook County have annual deductibles of more than $4,000 for an individual and $8,000 for family coverage. … Plans with the least expensive monthly premiums — high­lighted by state and federal officials as proof the new law will keep costs low for con­sumers — have deductibles as high as $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families.” Even with federal subsidies, few Americans will bother to buy insurance with a $4,000 to $12,700 deductible. And millions won’t even be eli­gible for the subsidies.

Another indicator that Obamacare is “stumbling out of the gate” is the administration’s refusal to reveal sign-up rates. They claim they don’t know.

But a private-sector analy­sis showed that during the first week, less than 1 percent of those who entered the reg­istration site actually enrolled. London’s Daily Mail reported that the total sign-ups during the opening week of enroll­ment were just 51,000 people.

The “fly in the buttermilk” for the president is, according to the Congressional Budget Office, he needs at least 7 million people to join the exchanges for Obamacare to be financially viable.

So, despite the stated original goal of providing “affordable healthcare” for all Americans, the Democrat’s revised goal is now “survival” of Obamacare.

Hindsight being 20/20, Republicans should now step back and begin illuminating the failures of what may be destined to become Barack Obama’s signature failure — Obamacare.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regu­lar contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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MOMENTUM IS CHANGING – TIME TO GET BACK ON MESSAGE

23 Oct

one bill at at time
Only those more committed to preserving the legacy of Barack Hussein Obama than to the American people, would continue to deny that Obamacare is and always will be a failure. It was designed to fail in lieu of a single payer system.
Ask Harry Reid.
And I assure you, the very legacy of this “failed progressive experiment” is at stake.
So how far with Obama and his liberal minions go to preserve their legacy?
I predict, they will stop at nothing.
Failures are NEVER Obama’s fault. And successes are ALWAYS his.
True leaders accept responsibility and defer credit for wins to those below them. That’s Leadership 101. Anything less is a sign of insecurity.
Barack Obama is too insecure to be a leader.
He’s too arrogant to admit he’s wrong.
And I couldn’t care less if he was black, purple or green!
Failure has no color, only consequences.
Period.
The momentum is shifting. Winners close the win. There are no moral victories.
REPUBLICANS HAVE GOT TO GET BACK ON MESSAGE!!! Obamacare is self-destructing and now is the time to offer solutions!
Get to it! Now! Focus on ways to provide affordable insurance by allowing interstate commerce and by addressing tort reform.
Quit being stupid GOP.
There’s a hole so big a truck can drive through it. Call the play and take it in for the win.

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THE CLOWARD – PIVEN – OBAMA STRATEGY

15 Oct

obamaclypsehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/politics/congress-budget-debate.html?_r=0

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OBAMACARE FUNDS ABORTION WITH YOUR TAXES

13 Oct

ABORTIONXObamacare funds 111,500 Abortions per Year with your Taxes. Take action!

The Obamacare (Un)Affordable Care Act has begun paying for an estimated 111,500 abortions per year with your tax dollars, reports National Review.

“An analysis by the Charlotte Lozier Institute published this week suggests that the number of abortions that will be heavily subsidized via federal premium tax credits and Medicaid expansion is likely to be between 71,000 and 111,500 per year. This approaches one in ten abortions performed in the United States.

“The number is split roughly 50-50 between abortions subsidized by Abortion-Subsidizing Plans in states that have not barred them from their exchanges and abortions newly reimbursable under Medicaid expansion in states that use their own taxpayer funds to underwrite them.

“Social conservatives are rightly alarmed about the impact of Obamacare on abortion subsidies and reimbursement.”

Watch! Dr. Chaps’ 7-minute commentary on why Obamacare pays for 111,500 abortions per year with your tax dollars–>

[Dr. Chaps’ comment: This is now the third way Obamacare funds abortion:

1. Section 18023 of the (Un)Affordable Care Act states: “Abortions for which public funding is allowed. The services described in this clause are abortions for which the expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services is permitted.”

2. The HHS Mandate authorized by Obamacare was enacted by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and forces Christian business owners (like Hobby Lobby’s Green family) to pay for abortions with their own private insurance dollars.

3. Now the Medicaid expansion listed above forces 1/2 of all state insurance plans to offer abortion service that will kill up to 111,500 children per year with YOUR taxes.

Isn’t abortion horrible enough without our tax money paying for it? Let’s defund Obamacare and petition Congress to hold the line:

SELECT HERE TO SIGN FAX PETITION, AND WE WILL FAX ALL 535 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE AUTOMATICALLY (saving you time!) TO REPEAL OBAMACARE, STOP FUNDING ABORTION AND DEATH PANELS Free option here.

Ted Cruz’s dad: Obamacare includes Suicide Counseling

Senator Ted Cruz’s father, Pastor Rafael Cruz, ripped into the 25 “Republican in name only” senators who broke with his son’s budget brinksmanship, endorsing primary challenges against them, during a speech Friday night in Colorado, reports Politico.

In a speech in Colorado, the Republican senator’s dad (who fled Cuba as a teenager and now lives in a Dallas suburb), also said Obamacare “rationed” care for the elderly and includes “suicide counseling.”

If you have just 8 minutes, you really, really should watch here Pastor Rafael Cruz’ personal story about growing up under socialism in Cuba.

I attended the Cruz rally in Colorado Springs last weekend, and WOW was I inspired. [See Dr. Chaps and Pastor Rafael Cruz, pictured right–>]

Do you want free Obamacare? Move to Cuba.

Did you know Cuba gives free health care? But the cost of that socialism has bankrupted businesses, so the average salary in Cuba is $19 per month.

Socialism destroys businesses, and makes private heatlh care impossible to afford.

Congressman Todd Rokita (R-IN) now calls Obamacare the “Unaffordable Care Act.”

4.9 million working class Americans have lost their health insurance since President Obama took office. 83% of doctors consider quitting their practice because of Obamacare. $716 Billion has been taken away from Medicare (Senior Citizens who earned care) to fund Medicaid (young people who do not work) by Obamacare.

Obamacare became law without one Republican vote. Let the Democrats try to fund it without one Republican vote. Sign our petition today:

SELECT HERE TO SIGN FAX PETITION, AND WE WILL FAX ALL 535 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE AUTOMATICALLY (saving you time!) TO REPEAL OBAMACARE, STOP FUNDING ABORTION AND DEATH PANELS Free option here.

Boehner stands Firm. But how Soon will his Backbone turn to Jello?

I must admit I’m surprised by the courage and backbone recently shown by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who did not yet cave in to fund Obamacare, despite President Obama’s threat to shut down the government on his radio show last weekend.

Speaker Boehner had been expected by many, right and left, to cave-in to the President’s threats and fund Obamacare, out of fear that Republicans would be blamed by the main stream media.

Yes, Republicans have been falsely blamed by the media, but No, it is not Boehner or Ted Cruz who shut it down. In truth, Republicans in the House voted 228 – 201 to pass a bill that funded the ENTIRE government, except Obamacare.

Harry Reid and all Democrat Senators shut down the government rather than defund Obamacare. Now Reid is offering budget conferees, in other words he will ask Democrats to actually pass and negotiate a real budget, which is their job that for years they failed to perform.

Watch! Dr. Alan Keyes’ breathtaking interview defending Personhood, defeating Obamacare, and why we must shut down funding of Planned Parenthood–>

Thanks to Senator Ted Cruz’s leadership, the Republicans could NOT cave in right away, and were forced by the American people’s support for Ted Cruz to stand firm.

For now.

But the countdown to compromise is on. How long can Boehner wait until he is entirely “villified” by the press? Actually such villification is a badge of honor. My respect for the Speaker grows, the longer he endures the slings and arrows of their outrage.

If you agree with me, that Obamacare should be defunded, sign our petition to Congress. Let’s demand Speaker Boehner keep his backbone.

SELECT HERE TO SIGN FAX PETITION, AND WE WILL FAX ALL 535 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE AUTOMATICALLY (saving you time!) TO REPEAL OBAMACARE, STOP FUNDING ABORTION AND DEATH PANELS Free option here.

21 Hours: Ted Cruz says he could have talked longer. Help him stop Obamacare!

The heroic Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) took an historic stand to defund Obamacare (which I call Obamasick, since socialism takes care away from more than it helps).

Cruz spoke Tuesday and Wednesday for 21 hours after his promise to speak on the Senate floor “until I am no longer able to stand” in opposition to President Obama’s health care law, reports WBIR. He could have gone longer, he said, but was stopped by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a procedural agreement.

The Senate then voted 100-0 to fund the government through 15 Nov, returning the debate to the House of Representatives.

“Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, have led the defund effort despite criticism from Senate Republicans who view their tactics as short-sighted because there is no chance of passage up against a Democratic-led Senate and Obama’s veto pen.

“Despite the Republican senators’ efforts, the chamber is on track to clear a key procedural hurdle Wednesday to ultimately advance a stopgap spending bill that leaves intact President Obama’s health care law.

“Filibusters stop people from voting, and we are going to vote tomorrow,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Tuesday. Cruz took to the Senate floor at 2:41 p.m. EST Tuesday (and was still speaking well after midnight Wednesday), but under Senate rules Reid will be able to hold a procedural vote to take up the stopgap spending bill around noon Wednesday no matter how long Cruz intends to speak.

“Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Reid, posted on Twitter that Cruz and Reid had pre-negotiated the terms of Cruz’s floor time.”

[Dr. Chaps’ comment: Friends, my sources say Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn, two Republican leaders, plan to vote to fund Obamacare and will NOT support Sen. Cruz. But if all Republican House members stand together, we can stop this funding cold.]

Let’s petition all 435 Congressmen to DEFUND Obamasick:

SELECT HERE TO SIGN FAX PETITION, AND WE WILL FAX ALL 535 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE AUTOMATICALLY (saving you time!) TO REPEAL OBAMACARE, STOP FUNDING ABORTION AND DEATH PANELS Free option here.

God Bless you, in Jesus’ name,

Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, PhD

P.S. Prefer to donate by mail? Please mail paper check or money orders to: The Pray In Jesus Name Project, PO Box 77077, Colorado Springs, CO 80970.

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Mark Caserta: Pull plug on IRS’ role in Obamacare

12 Oct

Mark Caserta: Pull plug on IRS’ role in Obamacare

06/27/2013 – The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON – Open enrollment in our nation’s Health Insurance Marketplace begins Oct. 1, 2013. Yet many Americans still don’t realize the Internal Revenue Service will be the government’s enforcement arm for the Affordable Care Act.

The IRS has indeed been empowered to enforce Obamacare’s mandates, taxes, penalties, reporting and other administrative requirements relative to the president’s health care program.

And it certainly makes sense to charge the most controversial tentacle of government with oversight of what many have called the “largest tax increase in our nation’s history.”

Even U.S. Treasury officials acknowledge that huge problems lie ahead.

“It is unprecedented in recent history, the amount of responsibility the IRS is being given in an area that most people don’t think of as an IRS function,” Treasury inspector general J. Russell George told the House Appropriations Committee in March. “Americans will have more questions about their taxes because of health care penalties or credits, flooding already busy call-in and walk-in help centers. This is going to lead to problems, sir,” he testified.

But, it gets even better.

While IRS officials and Americans sort through the massive amounts of red tape and undiscovered consequences of the Affordable Care Act, who do you suppose will be at the helm collecting the revenues for the federal government?

Incredibly, the very same official who was in charge of the tax-exempt organizations during the period of time the IRS reportedly targeted tea party groups will now oversee the IRS office responsible for Obamacare.

Sarah Hall Ingram, who served as commissioner of the office responsible for vetting tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012, is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, according to multiple sources.

Was this her reward for a job well-done?

Understand, these politically motivated policies took place in the years leading up to the 2012 election. Inordinately denying tax exemption status to groups considered antagonistic to Obama’s liberal agenda is, well, tyrannical in its scope and may have influenced the outcome of the presidential election.

The recent series of events have Republicans outraged.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has even introduced a bill, the “Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013,” which is aimed at prohibiting the IRS from enforcing the Affordable Care Act.

“Now more than ever, we need to prevent the IRS from having any role in Americans’ health care,” Cornyn stated. “I do not support Obamacare, and after the events of last week, I cannot support giving the IRS any more responsibility or taxpayer dollars to implement a broken law.”

Americans must carefully weigh the recent revelations of our government’s actions.

We’re now certain the government has been secretly accumulating personal information on a wide spectrum of Americans via internet technology.

We also know a powerful arm of the government has already been used to unfairly target segments of the population who disagree with the policies of the current administration.

Is this the president’s idea of “moving America forward”?

We should pull the plug on the IRS’ role in Obamacare, now — before it’s too late.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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