Obama’s legacy

Obamacare failed both financially and medically. "“This was the first time life expectancy in the U.S. has declined two years [2015, 2016] in a row since declines in 1962 and 1963,” the NCHS, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement." Obama's legacy. Obama's signature legislation--forcing Americans to buy an insurance product under threat of jail or fine.

Some of this decline was in part due to rising drug deaths, which started before Obamacare was implemented, yet President Obama stopped what might have been the biggest drug investigation [8 years by DEA, Project Cassandra] in history-- Hezbollah and its billion dollar criminal drugs, weapons and money laundering--so he could complete his deal with Iran. For shame! He wasn't leading from behind--he was out front leading our enemies.

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/

"But as Project Cassandra reached higher into the hierarchy of the conspiracy, Obama administration officials threw an increasingly insurmountable series of roadblocks in its way, according to interviews with dozens of participants who in many cases spoke for the first time about events shrouded in secrecy, and a review of government documents and court records. When Project Cassandra leaders sought approval for some significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests and financial sanctions, officials at the Justice and Treasury departments delayed, hindered or rejected their requests." 

And now Hezbollah, emboldened by our former President's behavior and help, is leading the fight against Trump and recognition of the obvious for 70 years--Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Of course, in October the Arab/Muslim press was saying war was inevitable. But our so-called allies in the UN fell for these protests, just as the American people fell for the hope and change promises of Obama.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/world/middleeast/hezbollah-nasrallah-jerusalem.html

Democrat party values

I do wonder about the values of the Democrats. They say Republicans are awful, vicious, and uncaring for wanting to undo Obamacare, the only federal social plan that didn't get a single Republican vote. The social safety net is ca. 70% of the federal budget and it's bi-partisan--about $60,000 for a family of 4. The 123 wealth transfer programs support huge bureaucracies (part of the deep state) and if Trump suggests streamlining (as did Obama and Bush) the media call it taking a hatchet to the safety net, starving people and putting them on the street.

But what is worse than forcing the poor to buy a product which makes millions for the wealthy investors and face a fine and jail if they don't buy it? What is worse than destroying the health and safety network of millions just so everyone can have a form of Medicaid? Strange values indeed. All yammered by the media to mislead and get Democrats another term in office.

The Democrats' idea of helping the poor is to take as much from you in the form of taxes--income, excise, death, phone, gasoline, sales, pass through (in over under around and through), VAT, etc. then pass it back to you in grants to your states, your educational institutions, your non-profits, your interstates, your transportation bailouts and subsidies, even your churches, all with handsome salaries along the way.

The #1 way to reduce childhood poverty in the U.S.A. is marriage, and not the reinvented kind. With married parents, a child has only about 8% chance of being raised in poverty. A better house, or a better education doesn't do it. Lunch programs from USDA distributed by church volunteers doesn't make a dent. Social justice workshops and summits at your church don't either, except maybe to tamp down a little liberal guilt if the Bible falls open to Matthew 25. You can address guns, cuts in food stamps for illegals, hunger, obesity or education. Where is your concern about marriage, the number one solution?

Repeal and replace

The Democrats are going berserk over the proposed insurance bill. You'd almost, if you'd been asleep for 8 years, think anything had improved for the poor and low income during the Obama reign. The poverty rate in 1983 was 12.8% and in 2015 was 13.5%. We have 123 wealth transfer programs, 83 of which overlap. The ACA was collapsing in 2016 so Democrats could reach their goal--make way for single payer, so the federal government could control more of our lives. Meanwhile millions went without any insurance or lost theirs. The ACA took away peoples' choices for doctors and networks and encouraged others to just pay a fine until they needed it, which if you were poor, would be the smart thing to do.

Failure bought on the party plan

 

Only Republicans considered Obamacare a failure--and all the people who lost their network and their cardiologist, ophthalmologist, oncologist, rheumatologist, pediatrician, etc. and who were forced to purchase from a carrier that covered abortion because there was only one available. Democrats called it a success because it was so bad they thought with Obama 2.0 (Clinton) they'd dump it and go for single payer. Otherwise they would have just come up with a plan in 2009 that covered people who needed it--something without jail and fines.

It's not over yet.  But Democrats designed this to snake through multiple laws and regulations making it extremely difficult to undo. They were determined that it fail so they could shrug and say only single payer would work.

Repeal and replace

 85% of Americans had health insurance in 2008 either through private employers, federal and state employers, Medicare, Medicaid, VA, BIA, SCHIP. Some people didn't want insurance; some were young and thought they didn't need it; some didn't apply for what was available. Then the heavy hand of government came up with a plan that forced every citizen to purchase a product, threatened them with fine or jail if they didn't, and violated the religious values of many. [For those calling Trump a fascist, what do they think this was?] I doubt that Obamacare was ever intended to work, it was so flawed and so expensive. October 2016 prices released during the campaign showed an increase of 22% for midlevel plan. The rates were artificially low at the beginning to lull Americans into accepting more government control.

Kay, a CPA friend, reminded me: "Democrats want the billions of tax write offs that businesses get for providing insurance, and the additional billions in taxes that the rest of us don't pay because it's a non-taxable feature of employment. In Obama’s eyes and his party of socialist/progressives, all those taxes belong in Washington to be redistributed after bureaucrats and lobbyists get their share. "

 I believe the latest figure is 11% are uninsured. The main reasons low income people do not buy it is they say it is too expensive.  All that to go from 15% to 11%.  Big whoop.  With all those smart people and policy wonks, you would think that they could have found a way to insure those who needed it. . . except that wasn't the purpose.  It was power.

 

Obama vs. Jefferson

 

When President Jefferson arranged for the Louisiana Purchase he assured the Nuns of the Order of St. Ursula that the principles of the Constitution and the government of the United States would be sacred and inviolate for them, and that they would be permitted to govern themselves according to their own voluntary rules without interference from the civil authority. He praised them for their wholesome purpose of training up the younger members in the way they should go, and that his office would protect them. "I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect." Letter to Ursuline Nuns of New Orleans, July 13, 1804. 

All Christian churches taught against contraception until about the 1930s, when one by one they followed the lead of the Anglicans. But the Catholic church has never wavered. President Obama knew that when he railroaded the ACA through Congress with no Republican support. It's too bad that President Obama, who has sued Little Sisters of the Poor for not violating their religious beliefs, can't assure 21st century nuns of the same protection of the Constitution and his office that President Jefferson did.

What went wrong with Obamacare?

What went wrong? The rate of increase in health care costs was decreasing under Bush. Now it's increasing again.

"Health care is unaffordable for most Americans. To have any hope of affording even minor medical procedures, Americans rely on health insurance or public coverage to pay much of the cost. About 88 percent of medical bills are paid for by an entity other than the patient. As a result, health insurance has also become unaffordable. The average employer plan costs American families $17,545 per year. A Bronze plan from the exchange for the average middle-age family costs $12,000 per year with combined annual deductibles of $8,000 to $13,000. Provider networks are so narrow that any major procedure is surely to result in out-of-network charges that can be astronomical."

 http://healthblog.ncpa.org/the-obamacare-health-care-gold-rush-is-bankrupting-america/#

Yukking it up about the insurance

Charlie Rose was interviewing three of Obama's speech writers. They were asked about some of the significant things they'd had a chance to say/write. One said, "If you like your insurance you can keep it," and hilarious laughter insued. Really? Do they have a clue about the pain and dollars Obamacare's lies have cost millions of Americans, and still there are over 25 million uninsured. Lovett looks like he is 12 years old, but he fooled millions. All three very young and lady-like.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkqn6wsrUfs