Is Trump Stupid or Insane?

It's all the rage for national Democrats and members of the lamestream media to claim Donald Trump is dangerous to the nation and to question his intelligence and sanity.

Below are a collection of policies from the Obama administration and, where appropriate, Trump's reaction. After reviewing the list, you tell me who is/was a danger to America. You tell me who is stupid and possibly mentally incompetent.

• Obama and the national Democrats passed the unconstitutional Obamacare law virtually destroying one-sixth of the economy while lying about the costs and benefits. 
• Trump - With little help from congressional Republicans, Trump is making attempts to rollback Obamacare and return the nation's healthcare back into the hands of the people.
• Obama oversaw a dramatic expansion of federal government regulation to the tune of a 96,000 page Federal Registry.
• Trump has reduced the Registry by 35% in one year!
• Obama reigned over a stagnant economy with lethargic wage growth and companies fleeing the United States for more tax and regulation-friendly countries
• Trump pushed for and signed a new tax law, which appears to reverse both.
• Obama handcuffed the military with ridiculous rules of engagement.
• Trump removed them.
• Obama and the Democrats are advocates for open borders and amnesty for illegal immigrants.
• Trump wants to "build a wall" and restrict immigration despite opposition from national Republicans who are beholden to the Chamber of Commerce, low wage lobby.
• Obama apologized for America.
• Trump promotes America.
• Obama told us to get used to the new normal.
• Trump told us that we can make America great again.
• Obama endorsed policies whereby men who identified as a woman could use woman's bathrooms.
• Trump opposes that policy.
• Obama destroyed the reputation of The Justice Department by appointing two of the most corrupt people to ever hold the position of Attorney General - Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch.
• Trump is trying to restore the agency's honor by appointing Senator Jeff Sessions to the post.
• Obama appointed two affirmed left-wing, judicial activists to the Supreme Court - Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
• Trump appointed a constitutional constructionist Neil Gorsuch.
• Obama said he would move the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
• Trump is actually doing it.
• Obama expanded welfare to increase dependence on the federal government.
• Trump has plans to reduce welfare and add work requirements to recipients.
• Obama was a strong advocate for gun control.
• Trump is a strong advocate for the Second Amendment.
• Obama constantly made excuses for radical Islamic terrorists.
• Trump does not.

What about some of these from Obama's Greatest Hits:

• He visited 57 states.
• He laughed off Mitt Romney's suggestion that Russia was a formidable geopolitical foe. A few short years later Russia had invaded Ukraine and was fully embedded in Iran and Syria.
• Benghazi
• Uranium One
• The Arab Spring
• Libya
• Bundy grazing rights standoff.
• The Iran deal.
• Called Fort Hood shooting "workplace violence."
• The Trump Dossier

Media Malpractice

Despite no evidence (as of this writing), the lamestream media continues to pound the table endlessly with accusations that President Trump colluded with the Russians to win the election.

This is the same media that ignored:

• The Monica Lewinsky scandal and made excuses for Clinton’s impeachment
• The weaponizing of the IRS, the EPA, the Bureau of Land Management, the NLRB, etc
• The Benghazi scandal and cover-up
• The Fast and Furious scandal
• The Obamacare lies
• The dreadful economy
• The burgeoning national debt under Obama
• The corruption of Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch
• Hillary’s indictable federal offenses
• Witness tampering by Bill Clinton with his tarmac meeting with Lynch during the Hillary investigation
• Obama's ransom paid to Iran for hostages
• The illegal international donations and the quid pro quo emanating from the Clinton Foundation
• Butcher Abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell
• The swelling welfare rolls
• The influence of Valerie Jarrett
• The real unemployment rate
• The idiocy of Joe Biden
• Obama’s Executive Orders
• The first ever credit downgrade of the United States
• The high unemployment rate among African-Americans
• The thousands of business-killing regulations
• Crony capitalism
• Van Jones
• The promise that if the Stimulus Bill was passed, unemployment would never climb above 8%.
• Jeremiah Wright
• "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."
• Bill Ayers
• The worst economic recovery since the Great Depression
• Kill lists
• The drop in real median income
• Backdoor amnesty for illegal immigrants
• Obama claiming to have visited 57 states during his 2008 campaign
• George Soros influence over the Democratic Party
• The Gibson Guitar raid
• General Motors bondholders getting screwed in the bailout
• The closings of GM dealerships owned by donors to the Republican Party
• The National Labor Relations Board’s treatment of Boeing
• The voter intimidation case against New Black Panthers
• The lowest labor participation rate in decades
• “Shovel ready wasn’t as shovel ready as we thought”
• Teen unemployment over 70%
• The pathetic GDP growth
• Obama’s speech advocating that we should “be our brother’s keeper” while his brother lives in a hut in Africa.
• Donna Brazile's feeding of debate questions to Clinton
• Rezko
• "After my election I have more flexibility"

Jimmy Kimmel, Pre-Existing Conditions, and the Federal Government

Jimmy Kimmel did us a favor by recently bringing up preexisting conditions when discussing his new-born son's recent heart procedure. He opened the door to having a conversation. The conversation goes something like this:

We live in a constitutional republic.

We have a operations manual that explains how the republic is to be run.

That manual is called the Constitution.

The Constitution granted a very limited set of powers to the newly created federal government. All other powers were left to the states.

None of the powers granted to the federal government included health insurance or health care.

Therefore, the federal government should not be involved in health insurance or healthcare. Period! End of story!

What is the alternative?

One alternative is to amend the operations manual through the constitutional amendment process.

Another alternative is for the individual states, if they so choose, to enter the healthcare game. 

Instead we have one of the two major political parties (the Democrats) whose sole purpose appears to be the attainment of as much power and control over the electorate as possible by granting them government handouts. The handouts are then use to garner votes by claiming that the Republicans are going to take them away.

Add to this a feckless, establishment national Republican Party that makes no effort to reign in the excesses of the Dems and we have a great country governed by a dysfunctional federal government.

The result is an unending list of unconstitutional powers accumulating in D.C. and less and less liberty for 300 million people.

Back to addressing Jimmy Kimmel: what are some market-driven, non-federal government intervention solutions? How about . . . .

• Guaranteed issue insurance policies.
• Policy portability.
• Tax deductible health savings accounts.
• Medical malpractice tort reform.
• Allow people to buy health insurance as a part of a group.
• Remove the 2,100 state mandates imposed on health insurance companies which will facilitate a la carte purchasing of insurance.
• Tax deductibility at the individual level of health insurance premiums paid.
• Encourage the purchasing of low-cost catastrophic policies.
• Allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines.
• Eliminate some of the regulations, licensing, and education requirements to become a medical practitioner. 
• Create high risk pools at the individual state level for people with pre-existing conditions.
• Allow doctors to deduct from their income taxes any pro-bono work they provide during the course of each year.

Any legitimate discussion about healthcare in America must NOT include the federal government!

In Response to Foul-Mouthed Ignorant Canadian

Dear Canadian Natalie-Ann,

Down here in the United States we have this document called "The United States Constitution" which helped a group of backwoods farmers create the most powerful country on the planet in less than 200 years. This document is based on maximum freedom, maximum liberty, and minimal government interference in the lives of its citizens.

For over a 100 years progressives have worked tirelessly to minimize our freedom and liberty and to increase the power of the government. Unfortunately for them, a slight majority of Americans know that the government is the problem not the solution.

See the thirteen colonies got together and created our federal government. In so doing, they granted said government with a few (what we call "enumerated") powers. Most of them had to do with foreign affairs and the military. Beyond those few powers, the states were free to do whatever the hell they wanted including offer healthcare to their citizens.

The beauty of this is, if your state is taken over by a bunch of whack-jobs who are hell-bent on bankrupting the state by buying votes through wealth transfers schemes (see California, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts) you could move to another state. However, if the federal government starts messing around in areas of the economy or in social issues in which they have no power, most Americans cannot afford to leave the country.

In a nutshell, most Americans do NOT want to end up like you Canadians or like the western European quasi-socialistic nations that attempt to pander to every malcontent demanding free shit from the government. Nope! Most Americans (or at least the 60 million that voted for that dastardly man named Trump) believe in self-reliance, pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, ending government interference in every aspect of our economy (i.e. healthcare) and allowing the free markets go to work. Then when a little boy in Albuquerque needs open heart surgery or an elderly man in Nebraska needs heart medication, their respective health insurance policies - one that they or their family purchased in the free market, across states lines; one that meets their individual needs; one that they owned and paid on for many years; one that was not tied to an employer - might actually cover some or all of those expenses.

Two Nails in America's Coffin - FBI Director John Jim Comey and Chief Justice John Roberts

First we had Chief Justice John Roberts essentially re-writing  the Obamacare law in order to discover a way not to find it unconstitutional. Now we have the FBI Director John Comey re-writing 18 U.S. Code § 793 by inserting "intent" to a statute that does not contain it in order to discover a way not to recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton.

Honest Debate and the Confederate Flag

Every tragedy does not require a knee-jerk public policy response such as further limitations on gun rights or the demonization and banning of a flag. Honest people should have the ability to engage in honest debate. Unfortunately the political environment in which we currently find ourselves pits us against each other rather than encouraging interaction and the sharing of ideas.

The Confederate flag controversy is yet another example of how advocacy in America is now accomplished. There is little or no tolerance for an intellectually honest debate. There is little or no consideration for the other side of an argument as advocates would rather shut down debate through name-calling, smearing, and insults.

Consider the following:

• If you think the Confederate flag controversy is overblown, you are labeled a racist and pro-slavery.
• If you don’t buy into the global warming propaganda, you are a denier, a dissenter, and/or you are pro-pollution.
• If you believe marriage is defined as between one woman and one man, you are intolerant, a homophobe, and/or a Christian zealot.
• If you believe the life of an unborn baby requires some consideration in the abortion debate, you are waging a war on women, telling women what to do with their own bodies, and/or encouraging back-alley abortions. Note: I never hear pro-lifers claim that pro-choicers are waging a war on the unborn!
• If you oppose throwing more good money after bad in our public school system, you are opposed to educating the children and/or a teacher-hater!
• If you want to repeal Obamacare, you want to deny healthcare to others and/or you are an “evil-monger”.
• If you oppose affirmative action, you are a bigot.
• If you want to reform Social Security, you are depicted in television advertisements as pushing grandma over a cliff in a wheelchair.
• If you are opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants or you want the border enforced, you are a racist and/or a xenophobe.
• If you believe in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, you are cold-blooded.
• If you are a member of the Tea Party movement, you are an obstructionist, an anarchist, a radical, and/or a racist. According to Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters, you are also damned to eternal damnation as she once eloquently said, “The Tea Party can go straight to hell!”
• If you are opposed to going to war, you are an isolationist.
• If you are an advocate for going to war, you are a war-monger!
• If you oppose raising the debt ceiling, you hate cops, firefighters, and teachers!
• If you oppose raising the minimum wage, you are heartless!
• If you are an advocate for welfare reform, you are callous and cruel!

Back to the Confederate flag: The flag is known as “the rebel flag” NOT “the pro-slavery flag”! It represents the rebellion of the southern states’ against the northern states which was waging war against the South in order to force them to remain in the union!

I will concede that if you asked 100 people, "what is the first thing that comes to mind when they see the confederate flag?", it is likely that “slavery” ends up as the #1 response. However, I am willing to bet that you would likely see “rebel flag” or "rebellion" as a close #2. Other responses might include “Kid Rock”, “Alabama”, “the Civil War”, “the South”, “pick-up truck with a gun rack”, “redneck”, etc. (Click here to read a recent CNN/ORC poll.)

How about we try taking a breath and starting a dialogue with each other rather than resorting to name-calling reminiscent of the fourth grade playground?

See page 65 of my book Pritical Thinking for more.

Three Reasons Why State Expansion of Medicaid Should be Avoided at All Costs

Excerpts from: http://www.federalisminaction.com/resources/studies/study-4/#sthash.PuLhqT6q.ltVUmL2p.dpuf 

Three reasons states should avoid expanding Medicaid via Obamacare:

#1 – Public Sector Growth Crowds Out the Job-Creating, Wealth Creating Private Sector and Stymies Future Economic Growth

#2 – There is Significant Positive Correlation Between Per Household Personal Income with the Size of the Private Sector!

#3 – How Could Any State, in Good Conscience, Justify More Dependence on the Federal Government? The National Debt is $18-Trillion and Medicare is Already a Bankrupt Program!

----------------------------------

#1 - Public Sector Growth Crowds Out the Job-Creating, Wealth Creating Private Sector and Stymies Future Economic Growth

Incremental job growth, new income and new wealth is only accomplished through the private sector. Jobs created in the public sector are not a net gain to the economy as the salaries are paid by taxpayers. When the public sector competes with the private sector, it crowds out the job-creating sector. “Only the private sector can generate new income and wealth in an economy. Government spending, on the other, is the redistribution income first extracted by taxes. Yet, the very process of redistribution comes at a very high economic cost.”

Only the private sector creates new income. The public sector, in contrast, can only redistribute income through taxes and spending. More specifically, public sector spending consists of personal current transfer receipts (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc.) and government employee compensation (federal, state, and local).

This does not necessarily mean the elimination of existing household income or jobs. It does mean that future income increases and job creation will be lower than they would be in the absence of higher taxes and spending.

Growth of the public sector grows through:

• Taxes taken from the private sector or
• Printing of money which causes inflation for private sector or
• Selling of bonds which must be paid back in the future by the private sector! In the meantime, the increased interest payments must be paid by someone . . . so you raise taxes or print more money!

#2 - There is significant positive correlation between per household personal income with the private sector share of personal income. The bigger the private sector, the greater per household personal income. A 1% decrease in the size of the private sector yields a decrease in per household income of approximately $3,208.

Consider the difference between Maine and New Hampshire as Maine pursued policies to increase  public sector spending and their personal income eroded when compared to New Hampshire which shied away from such vast public sector growth policies.

#3 - The fix is in finding local solutions to fix healthcare, not on a federal one-size-fits-all approach. Instead of looking for more federal funding, states should find ways to reduce government programs instead of programs that leave the state more dependent on a federal government that is already broke.

Why the Smart Money Rejects Federal Funds for Medicaid Expansion

Big government types constantly insist that states that refuse the federal funding associated with Obamacare's Medicaid expansion are neglecting the poor residents of their states leaving them with no health insurance.

The following paragraph from a recent New Republic story demonstrates the extent of the demagoguery:

But the state officials who have blocked expansion aren’t simply depriving some people of health insurance. They are depriving the entire state of federal funds. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government picks up 100 percent of the expansion cost for the first three years, then scales back its support to 90 percent.  At that point, states will have to find the money to cover that remaining 10 percent. It’s real money. But it’s tiny compared to what they get in return. The federal money goes is a huge influx of cash, which goes first to providers and suppliers of health care. That money, in turn, generates additional economic activity. 

Notice how responsible legislators are depicted as depriving people of insurance! But it is worse than that; they are depriving the entire state of much needed money provided by the benevolent federal government. These funds will, of course, stimulate the states' economy. It's the same old, tired liberal playbook!

First of all, the individual states are under no obligation to follow unconstitutional dictates from Washington, D.C. Obamacare is unconstitutional! The federal government does not have the power to dictate to the American people how or if they buy a product. Period! The only reason it passed was due to countless lies told to the American people by Obama and the Democrats. The law will be repealed and the states that refused to get in bed with the federal government will be much better off financially. 

Secondly, the claim that federal dollars redirected to the states serves to stimulate the economy has been roundly discredited. If this actually worked, The Great Depression would have ushered in a 25-year boom like the Reagan years did and the hundreds of billions of dollars in Obama's Stimulus Bill would have pulled the economy out of The Obama Recession.

The New Republic continued:

Conservatives like to point out that the federal dollars don’t materialize out of thin air—they come from the federal treasury. That’s true. But there’s a net transfer of money here, from the very rich (who pay higher taxes under the health care law) to the poor and middle class (who get either Medicaid or tax credits for buying private insurance). That’s perfectly consistent with a program that fosters growth, particularly at a time of low demand, since it’s taking money from rich people (who might otherwise save it) and puts it right back into the economy.

The level of economic ignorance on display in this paragraph is remarkable. Rather than addressing the root cause of the problem, looking at the big pictures and considering some alternative, free-market solutions, they rely on the same shallow class warfare, Robin Hood "take from the rich, give to the poor" redistribution of wealth rhetoric that they have been spewing for 100 years.

The bottom line with liberals and progressive is their answer to every problem is a bigger centralized government and/or more government spending. They never look at the results of their previously failed policies such as the War on Poverty, bankrupt liberal programs such as Medicaid, and Medicare, and Social Security. They never acknowledge that the problems with the healthcare system prior to Obamacare were almost all due to government interference with the free-market.

They never acknowledge that discouraging "rich people" from saving and investing and replacing it with "taking money from rich people" is detrimental to the economy. Saving and investing equates to buying, building, expanding, and hiring. In other words, a growing economy! Taking that money and "giving" it to the poor provides disincentives for all of these activities. In other words, a perpetual recession, with lower wages, lower median incomes, low labor force participation rates, and high unemployment. You get the picture. 

But I guess if you write for the New Republic, you are always preaching to the choir. The strength and validity of your argument will always go unchallenged as long as you are attacking small government constitutionalists.


http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120049/obamacare-medicaid-expansion-economic-cost-states-saying-no

100% Failure Rate - Part III

Back in 2009, I published my first blog proving 100% failure rate of the federal government. In it I highlighted such things as:

• Social Security
• The United States Post Office
• Amtrak
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• The War on Poverty
• The Stimulus Bill
• Cash for Clunkers

In 2010, I published 100% Failure Rate - Part II which highlighted the latest news about the insolvency of Social Security. 

Now, with almost six years of the Obama Administration under our belt, I thought it was time to update the federal governments absolutely heinous record of doing anything right. How about these?

• Veteran's Affairs
• Obamacare
• The Secret Service
• Fast and Furious
• The Ebola outbreak
• ISIS
• Benghazi
• The economy
• The national debt
• The IRS scandal
• Welfare
• The Obamacare website
• Enforcing our borders

Much, much more is outlined in my book, Pritical Thinking-The Lost Art of Critical Thinking and Common Sense in Politics and Public Policy.

State Sucession

Short of a Convention of the States that institutes real reform and real limitations on the federal government's power, secession is the only other recourse we, the people, have from the overreaching federal, now national, government.

The findings of this Reuters/Ipsos poll are not surprising. The growth of Washington's power and wealth is easy to see. It grows regardless of which party is in power. We sit breathlessly each June waiting to hear what 9 lawyers deem constitutional. We allow 20% of our economy to be turned over to the feds despite the fact that socialized medicine produces worse results than our current system. Our national debt is approaching $18 trillion. Bush was "irresponsible and unpatriotic" for taking it from $5 trillion to $9 trillion. Our education system is a disaster. The list of federal failures and corruption is as long as the list of federal agencies: Postal Service, Fannie Mae, Social Security,  Medicare, Medicaid, Freddie Mac, Amtrak, Veteran's Affairs, the IRS, Obamacare, etc.

BEFORE A STATE CAN SERIOUSLY CONSIDER SECESSION, IT MUST WEAN ITSELF FROM DEPENDENCE ON THE FUNDS IT RECEIVES FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and, of course, its citizens must wake up and demand change. Until then, we will get more of the same and worse.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-usa-secession-exclusive-idUSKBN0HE19U20140919

Obamacare Citations from Pritical Thinking

Below is a list of citations used in the Obamacare chapter from Pritical Thinking:

• No They Can’t!, John Stoessel
• Why John Roberts is Wrong About Obamacare, Senator Mike Lee

• Cato Institute: Why Healthcare Costs Too Much
• Patient-Centered, Market-Based Healthcare Solution
• Eight Biggest Myths of Obamacare
• The Prescription for Conservative Consumer-FocusedHealth Reform-
• Democratic Congressman John Conyers: “Read the bill?”
• Biggest Myths of Obamacare
• South Carolina’s Efforts to Nullify Obamacare
• Obamacare to Cost Average Family $20,000
• The Use of Reconciliation to Pass Obamacare: Abuse ofPower
• The Young Won’t Buy Obamacare
• Congressional Budget Office – Effects of Tort Reformon Healthcare Costs
• Doctors Going Broke
• How U.S. Healthcare Really Stacks Up
• National Center for Policy Analysis – Healthcare
• Rationing of Care in the U.K.
• BritainPlans to Decentralize Health Care (2010)
• Long Waits Cost Canadians Millions
• U.S. Government Accountability Office: Medicare andMedicaid Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
• Portland Doctor Stops Accepting Insurance; PostsPrices Online
• Family Physician Posts Prices on Website
• Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime

New! Ten Small-Scale Reforms For Pre-existing (Chronic)Conditions

Washington Redskins and American Politics

What do the Washington Redskins have to do with American politics and public policy? 

Just like with gay marriage, Obamacare, minimum wage, national debt, welfare reform, social security reform, gun control, balanced budget amendment, abortion, gun control, illegal immigration, energy policy, and voter ID laws, the (silent) majority allows themselves to be drowned out by a loud and often obnoxious, vitriolic minority.

Read the ESPN.com story here. Learn more about the other topics here.

The Obama Slippery Slope

Since the Democrats have no problem with Obama using his pen and his phone to trample the Constitution by making dozens of changes to the Obamacare law, rewriting immigration law, using the EPA to regulate us to death, and cover up scandals that would make Nixon blush - IRS/Tea Party, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, NSA (to name a few), I am looking forward to the day when the next unprincipled, narcissistic, radical, agenda-driven, thin-skinned, asshole Republican President takes over the White House.

We can assume that Democrats will have no problem when the new GOP President uses his pen and phone to:

• Reverse dozens of Obamacare provisions.
• Cut all welfare payments for able-bodied recipients after 90 days.
• Outlaw all abortions.
• Cut the corporate income tax to 11%.
• Fire the Federal Reserve Chairman and appoints someone who will stop the perpetual quantitative easing.
• Abolish the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Commerce, HHS, the TSA, the EPA, the IRS, Homeland Security, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the USDA.
• Order the military to the southern border.
• Increase military spending by 50%.
• Reverse whatever amnesty executive order Obama is about to hand down. 
• Cut the budgets of all remaining government agencies by 20%.
• End the practice of employers' withholding of income taxes. 
• Privatize Social Security.
• Sell 75% of all federal land owned in western states.
• Fund the drilling for oil and natural gas in all 50 states.
• Abolish the federal minimum wage.
• Implement a flat tax. 
• Withhold payment to the United Nations.
• End all foreign aid with the exception of Israel and African nations.

House of Lies

Obamacare passed because the Democratic Party sold the country out in pursuit of the progressives' unconstitutional dream of taking over the country's healthcare system. Despite the fact that the majority of Americans opposed the law, they passed it anyway without a single vote by the Republicans and without a single legislator reading the bill.

Below is a list of the Top 10 lies stated by Obama in order to pass this monstrosity. Don't forget to check the record of your favorite Democrat who is up for reelection in 2014. What did they have to say in the months leading up to the vote. I bet you can find several instances where they uttered one or more of the following:

Promise #1: “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period.”[2]

Reality: Millions of Americans have lost and will lose their coverage due to Obamacare.

Promise #2: “[T]hat means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period.”[6]

Reality:  Many Americans might not be able to keep their current doctor without paying extra.

Promise #3: “In an Obama administration, we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.”[9]

Reality: Premiums for people purchasing coverage in the individual market have significantly increased in a majority of states.

Promise #4: “[F]or the 85 and 90 percent of Americans who already have health insurance, this thing’s already happened. And their only impact is that their insurance is stronger, better and more secure than it was before. Full stop. That’s it. They don’t have to worry about anything else.”[12]

Reality: Obamacare imposes certain new benefit mandates on those with employer-sponsored coverage—a majority of Americans.

Promise #5: “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.”[15]

Reality: Obamacare contains 18 separate tax hikes, fees, and penalties, many of which heavily impact the middle class.

Promise #6: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits—either now or in the future.”[18]

Reality: Obamacare’s new spending is unsustainable.

Promise #7: “[W]hatever ideas exist in terms of bending the cost curve and starting to reduce costs for families, businesses, and government, those elements are in this bill.”[21]

Reality:  Health spending is still rising and is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.8 percent from 2012 to 2022.[22]

Promise #8: “I will protect Medicare.”[24]

Reality:  Obamacare cuts Medicare spending.

Promise #9: “I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American.”[27]

Reality:  Millions of Americans will remain uninsured.

Promise #10: “So this law means more choice, more competition, lower costs for millions of  Americans.” [29]

Reality: Obamacare has not increased insurer competition or consumer choice.

Interested in reading the entire report with references? Click on the link below:

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/12/10-broken-obamacare-promises?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

What Can We Learn from Ted Cruz's Homecoming Reception

Senator Ted Cruz's recently received a hero's welcome when he returned home to Texas following his efforts to defund Obamacare. For weeks he has been roundly criticized by Democrats, the mainstream media, and many establishment Republicans. Despite the mounting pressure and criticism, he has repeatedly stated that one of the reasons the people in Texas elected him was to defund Obamacare. That is exactly what he is going to try to accomplish.

Put Cruz's position in perspective: Under Article I, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, two senators from each state were elected by the legislature of each state. Under this scenario, senators represented the states essentially as ambassadors to the federal government while members of the House represented the local voters in their district. In 1913, Progressives called for the election of senators by voters in each state; thus the Seventeenth Amendment was born!

Why was this a watershed moment in our country's history? Because what Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution accomplished was to provide state governments with a means to influence congressional lawmaking without taking away the federal government's enumerated powers. The states appointment of senators was another check and balance against the centralized federal government. Instead of our senators conferring with their respective legislatures for guidance and advice on potential votes, they are beholden to Washington lobbyists, consultants, donors and advocacy groups. Simply put, United States Senators are not concerned with the sovereignty of states from which they come because "the states" have very little influence over them. Consider the Obamacare vote: how many Democrat Senators would have voted for this monstrosity if their state legislature could recall them at any time?

Fast-forward to today and ask yourself what means of influence the states currently have over the federal government? The answer is "very little if any" as Washington controls the purse-strings - gasoline tax for highway improvements runs through D.C., Washington distributes money to the states for education spending and welfare programs. Most states are beholden to the federal government for their economic existence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ted-cruz-returns-to-texas-as-a-hero-who-is-reshaping-the-state-republican-party/2013/10/23/449c5a76-3b6a-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html

Look into the Future

Want to look into the future of Obamacare? Of healthcare administered by The State? Of rationing of care? Of death panels? Look no further than Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' callous response to an appeal for a change in the national organ donor rules in order to save the life of a 10-year old girl.

As you listen to Sebelius say, "someone lives and someone dies", carefully consider the fact that the 2,000+ page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) grants vast discretion to the HHS secretary to implement and interpret the law.

Now fast-forward 5 or 10 years from now, when the law is fully implemented, when your aging mother or grandmother or infant niece needs aggressive medical care but is being denied by Washington. What do you do? Go crawling and begging to your Congressman?

This is what happens to a society that puts God in a backpack rather than a pedestal. We forget that everyone is made in His image and we allow a secularist minority to run the country.

It is very sad and very troubling.

Pushing an Agenda

How do you gain and maintain power when your agenda conflicts with the majority of the population and you cannot win the debate on its merits? You lie, cheat, intimidate, and bribe.

Lies: Benghazi cover-up. Obamacare is not a tax, your premiums will go down, and it will lower the deficit. Global warming. Claim your opponents are racists, bigots, and homophobic. Fast and Furious. Consequences of sequester cuts. 

Cheating: IRS scandal. Voter intimidation. Illegal voter registrations. Recess appointments. Chrysler bondholders during the GM bailout. 

Intimidation: Gibson Guitar raid. NLRB and Boeing. Occupy Wall Street. Union thuggery. EPA regulations. Fox News reporter James Rosen. Releasing the names of Romney donors on Obama reelection website (some were also audited by the IRS).

Bribery: Record numbers of people on disability and food stamps. Millions receive perpetual welfare payments, housing subsidies, and cell phones. Corporate welfare and bailouts. Crony capitalism.

America’s Purposeful Downfall

Cloward and Piven are mentors of sorts to President Obama. They hate America and taught that America could only be destroyed from within. Their plan called for overwhelming the system with debt and hooking the majority of citizens on government handouts. Under the weight of the debt, the system would implode and the economy would collapse. Dependent and scared citizens would then turn toward government to save them – just like they did during the Great Depression when FDR gladly began his massive government expansion programs. Does any of this sound familiar?

Consider the facts:

• Over 50 million Americans are on food stamps (20% of all eligible adults).
• Fourteen million are on disability.
• Millions more are on welfare, unemployment, housing allowances, aid to dependent children, or 100 other free government  programs.
• Obamacare alone will bankrupt the Treasury. It will make every American poorer via higher insurance premiums. And it will make thousands (maybe millions) of Americans criminals if they do not comply. 
• 22 million government employees drain our economy as tax-payers' dollars are spent on non-productive activities.
• Record-setting numbers of Americans are emptying their retirement accounts to survive leaving them short-handed when they do retire and, thus, dependent on the government. 
• Record levels of student loan debt financially strap the next generation of leaders.
• Over 16 million Americans live in poverty making them dependent on the government. 
• Every day the private sector (which is where new jobs originate) shrinks, while the government grows. Every dollar sent to the government hurts the private economy!
• Thousands of new regulations from government agencies stunt all efforts the economy makes toward recover.
• Social Security is essentially bankrupt as is Medicare.  

It is glaringly obvious what is going on. Time to wake up America!

The Silent Majority No More

America is a country run by a group of minorities. The cycle goes something like this: the majority voices their opinion through legislation, public policy or through tradition and the minority runs to the court system in search of the most activist jurist to ram their policies down the throat of the majority. The majority never takes a strong stand on any one issue and we end up with a fractured society ruled by laws that no longer reflect the views of the majority of Americans.

Below are a few examples:

• The majority of Americans believe in God, yet atheists and apathetic bureaucrats block the inclusion of God in public at every turn.
• The majority believe in limited government and maximum freedom, yet we now live in a society where the federal government dictates everything from the food and drugs we can consume, the kind of cars we drive, how fast we can drive them, the light bulbs we can buy, and the drinking age. If you really want to see how grotesque the federal government is, read about the "Federal Registry" or the "IRS tax code". Guess how large those two documents are!!!!
• The majority is pro-life, yet the Supreme Court found an “right to privacy” in the Constitution and then applied this previously unmentioned right to a woman’s right to terminate the life of their unborn child. Fast forward 40 years and we have now terminated over 30 million lives. That’s 10% of our current population!!!! Depending on what state you live in, you can abort late into a pregnancy even via the Obama-supported procedure known as partial birth abortion. Federal dollars flow to Planned Parenthood to pay for the infanticide of our next generation. All efforts to slow down this trend – sonograms, adoption, education, are squashed by, what can only be described as a pro-murder industry and the Democratic Party.
• The majority believe in traditional definition of marriage as evidenced by the over 30+ states that have passed laws clearly defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Gay rights activists are not content with pursuing tax policy and public policy changes to give them the “rights’ they desire. They feel compelled to change the thousands-of-years-old definition of marriage via activist judges.
• The majority is opposed to Obamacare. Prior to its passage, the disapproval rate was over 50% and, now that the lies regarding the law have been exposed, the impact on our pocketbooks is clear, and the crushing impact on the economy is evident, the percentage is even higher. No wonder they had to pass the bill by bribing Senators and using a budget reconciliation procedural vote to pass it.
• The majority of Americans believe in the power of prayer, yet the Left has purposefully removed it from the public square because it "might offend someone".
• The majority believe in balancing the federal budget, yet under President Bush the national debt and the annual budget deficit grew by 294% and 73% respectively. So far under Obama those figures are 200% and over 60%. How is this sustainable? 
• The majority support school vouchers and school choice, yet the Democratic Party (local, state and national) squash all efforts to implement such programs due to the influence of teachers unions on that party. One of President Obama’s first acts as President was to kill an extremely popular and successful school voucher program in a poor area of Washington, D.C.
• The majority of Americans believe in freedom of religion, yet activist atheists and agnostics want "freedom from religion".
• The majority believes in voter ID laws, yet activists and liars squash most efforts to implement them.