Friday, October 25, 2013

Friday, October 25, 2013

You Can't Keep Your Plan 

The Obama Administration yesterday attempted to deflect the bad news from the congressional hearings on the failed launch of Obamacare by releasing the latest enrollment figures for the program. According to an administration spokeswoman, approximately 700,000 applications have been received from Obamacare's state and federal exchanges.

That may sound impressive, but it doesn't tell us very much. To begin with, an application does not mean that anyone has actually signed up for Obamacare. According to one analysis, the vast majority of these applicants are not going to buy insurance policies in the exchanges. Instead, they are signed up for Obamacare's expanded Medicaid coverage, which is essentially "free." 

Meanwhile, there's more grim news today for Americans who buy their own health insurance. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is cancelling 76,000 plans in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. because of Obamacare. 

But that's a drop in the bucket compared to what is happening in New Jersey. According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, 800,000 Garden State residents are losing their current policies.

Wednesday Speaker John Boehner predicted that by end of this month more people would lose their existing polices because of Obamacare than would sign up for Obamacare. He may be right! 

In addition to the New Jersey cancellations, 300,000 people in Florida, 160,000 people in California and thousands of people in North Carolina and other states across the country are losing their existing coverage. 

Time To Counterattack 

Obama repeatedly promised that no one who liked their current insurance would have to give it up. With each passing day it becomes more evident that was wrong. 

Conservatives in Congress should act now to prevent the cancellation of insurance policies simply because they do not meet Obama's big government mandates. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is planning to introduce a bill next week called the "If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep It Act."

I predict that a vote in the House would be overwhelming to rollback these cancellations. I think many Democrats would support such legislation. Then there should be a full-court press on the Senate. Hit this issue every day. The people impacted by Obama's false promise are furious and millions of other Americans are rightly worried that they will lose their coverage too. 

Incompetence Or Intentional? 

As one Obama idea after another unravels when it is confronted by reality, there is a growing debate among conservatives about whether the failures are intentional. Some believe, for example, that Obama pushes economic ideas that don't work because he wants the U.S. free enterprise system to fail. 

Now as Obamacare falls flat on its face, some are suggesting this failure is intentional since we all know that what the left really wants is for healthcare to be completely run by the government -- the so-called "single payer" system of pure socialized medicine. I have no doubt that is the ultimate goal. Obama and Harry Reid have said as much, and I have quoted them in previous reports. 

But I am skeptical that this current fiasco could possibly lead anyone to conclude that the solution is even bigger government.

Yesterday Rush Limbaugh came up with an interesting explanation. As he explained, Obama knew Obamacare would only make our healthcare issues worse, thus providing an excuse for a full-fledged government takeover. But for that strategy to succeed, Obama would have to convince the public that the cause of the failure was due to insurance companies and greedy doctors. 

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy is getting in the way. His administration appears so incompetent that it can't even design a functioning website! This fiasco is increasing public skepticism that government can do anything right. 

Speaking of government, the arrogance of power was on full display yesterday when HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was asked to respond to calls for her resignation over Obamacare's disastrous rollout. Sebelius said, "The majority of people calling for me to resign I would say are people who I don't work for…" 

Harry Wants Higher Taxes 

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other congenitally optimistic Republicans have suggested recently that with the government shutdown behind us now is the time to negotiate a grand bargain on taxes and spending. With Republicans controlling only the House of Representatives, I don't understand this optimism. 

Well, guess who agrees with me? Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid. During an interview yesterday, Reid claimed that "everybody" wants to pay more taxes. But those darned conservatives in Congress just won't let them. When asked about the chances of Congress and the White House reaching a grand bargain on taxes and spending, Reid said: 
 

  • "You keep talking about Medicare and Social Security. Get something else in your brain. Stop talking about that. … There is not going to be a grand bargain… [Conservatives] have their mind set on doing … nothing more on revenue, and until they get off that kick, there's not going to be a grand bargain on -- there's not going to be a small bargain."

Folks, let me remind you that Obama and Reid raised taxes at the end of last year and that Obamacare is full of tax increases. In fact, that was the only way the Supreme Court agreed to uphold the constitutionality of Obamacare -- as a tax.

Christian Persecution . . . In The Military? 

It's happened again. Last week soldiers at Fort Hood -- the same base where a jihadist killed 14 people -- were told that evangelical Christians, pro-life activists and supporters of the Tea Party movement were extremists "tearing the country apart." 

Soldiers forced to sit through this "ideological reeducation" were stunned. "My first concern was if I was going to be in trouble going to church," one soldier said. "Can I donate to Christian charities? What if I donate to a politician who is a part of the Tea Party movement?" 

The material for that briefing came from the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center. That's the same radical group whose "hate map" inspired a homosexual activist to attack the Family Research Council. 

I am part of a coalition that is actively fighting the political and religious intimidation of our men and women in uniform. I'm pleased to report that the Secretary of the Army has ordered an end to these briefings -- for now at least. 

My friends, I know many of you are frustrated with our culture and want to give up. But whether it's Obamacare's assault on conscious rights, the IRS targeting the Tea Party movement or the Pentagon slandering Christians, the left will not leave us and our children alone. 

The culture war is real and only one side can prevail. Men and women of faith must not abandon the good fight for faith, family and freedom! 

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