Barack Obama Proclaims Religious Liberty for National Day of Prayer

To commemorate the 62nd annual National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday in May, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation.  The text of Mr. Obama's 2014 proclamation touted religious liberty and those being persecuted for their convictions.

Those are noble sentiments, if only they were observed.  Dennis Miller has quipped that citizens who disagree with Mr. Obama are often treated worse then his enemies.  The Obama Administration has been adamant about enforcing the Contraception Mandate upon religiously oriented organizations (but not churches themselves) which find abortifacients abhorrent.  

The U.S. Supreme Court  may decide on the constitutionality of this Contraception Mandate when it rules on Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby in June.   Nonetheless, Dr. James Dobson of Family Talk (and previously the founder of Focus on the Family), used his remarks at the 2014 National Day of Prayer to underline how deeply he finds Obama's abortion mandate offense and that he will fight for his religious freedom.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops will be sponsoring their third Fortnight for Freedom from June 21st to July 4th.  This year, the Fortnight for Freedom  will focus on the freedom to serve the poor and vulnerable in accord with human dignity and the Church's teaching.  But living one's faith outside of the doors of the Church requires religious liberty.  

If we relied upon words alone, one might conclude that the Obama White House has experienced a metanoia and respects religious liberty.  But in the real world, actions speak louder than words. 

Obamacare Countdown?

Didn't the George Orwell dystopian novel nineteen eighty-four  begin with the ominous phrase "It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. That's not military time or being an Euro poseur.  The clock's thirteenth stroke indicates an event which calls into question everything previously believed.

Or it could just be extra-legal Obamacare extensions by the Executive Branch electoral whimsy. When Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) made motions do delay things, he was vilified.  When President Obama and his HHS minion Kathleen Sebilius do the same thing, the Cocktail Party nomenklatura and the lapdog Lamestream Media let is pass without comment.

It's not just that the  Obamacare (ironically officially titled the Affordable Care Act) is not just bad law which does not accomplish its alleged objectives.  This capriciously changing countdown to Obamacare is instilling a culture of lawlessness in our governance and consolidates Executive Power at the expense of the will of the people embodied in the legislative branch and the states.

"Reid Between the Lines" Anti Papist Bigotry at MSNBC

When MSNBC was reporting on the Hobby Lobby which was going to be argued before the US Supreme Court, Joy Reid's video package included some naked Catholic bigotry.

Rather than settle for arguing the merits of Sebilius v. Hobby Lobby  for the State (as is MSDNC's wont) on whether corporate personhood can include religious convictions, Joy Reid impeached the credentials of two thirds of the nation's highest court based on religion.

While Reid's legal analysis might acknowledge the  Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, she is blissfully ignorant of Article VI paragraph 3 of the Constitution regarding no religious test.

Catholic Supreme Court Justices 2013-2014 session

To think that an originalist like Associate Justice Antonin Scalia or natural law jurist like Associate Justice Clarence Thomas would vote en bloc with their wise Latina co-religionist Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor is drinking liberally spiked Kool-Aid around the ugly fever swamp.

Jeff Dunetz observed that MSNBC is hypersensitive about racial implications.  So if court commentators hypothetically opined about three African American judges voting together, this would be condemned as racism.  Dunetz, who writes Yid with Lid, noted: "However because Joy Reid was questioning Catholic judges, it’s no big deal.  In the world of the  mainstream media it’s only bigotry when directed toward certain groups, blacks, women, Muslims, Hispanics, etc.".  Yet liberals are quick to condemn conservatives for supposedly judging people because of their race or creed.

It is sad that unwarranted accusations against certain groups of faithful, such as Roman Catholics or Latter Day Saints (Mormons) are accepted by progressive posses but judging the actions and expressed intentions of Salaphist or Jihadist Muslims is quickly condemned as "racism".

Ms. Reid's read of the Catholic cabal on the Supreme Court proved to be quite mistaken.  Arguments before the high court had Justices gravitating their questions from ideological and gender groupings, not from shared creed.

Sketch of Solicitor General Donald Verrelli arguing Sebelilius v. Hobby Lobby at US Supreme Court 

In fact, based upon early reporting, the more overt allusions to applications of faith to legal hypotheticals was a question from Associate Justice Samuel Alito , who queried Solicitor General Donald Verrelli (arguing the Obama Administration's case) whether halal or kosher butchers could be banned if legislators passed an animal cruelty law like Denmark.  Verrelli's answer was that they could get standing with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but they better get their cases to court by raising claims on behalf of their customers using the First Amendment.

While CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Verrelli's two hours of arguments a "train wreck" for the Obama Administration, other liberal commentators dissented.

Let us hope that in late June when the contraception cases are likely to be issued that the Lamestream Media can contain their contemptible secularist biogotry against the faithful.  But that is expecting a minor miracle from the media.

h/t:  Hot Air
      Yid with Lid
      SCOTUS Blog
    WSJ Washington Wire

'Tis the Season For Good Jeer of Obamacare

The roll-out of Obamacare has been an alluvia of incompetence, outrage and immaturity that is is difficult to discern what is real and what is satire.  Unfortunately, even the serious stuff is eminently jeerable. 

For example, the "Under the Mistletoe--Thanks Obamacare" graphic ad is a Yule Tide parody of a real Colorado pro-Obamacare ad aimed at the convincing the young invincibles to sign up for Obamacare.  If the parody seems outrageous, consider one of the authentic original ads "Shot-ski".

This series of ads earned the nickname "Bros and Hoes".  No joke.

Another part of the Obamacare outreach was a Healthy Young America contest sponsored by  Kathleen Sebelius HHS. The top video which shared in the $30,00 in prize money  was Erin McDonald's filque of Jessica J's 2011 hit "Price Tag" which was titled "Forget About the Price Tag".

The song may not have easily singable lyrics but there is some truth in advertising in "Forget About the Price Tag".

Some in the media have made merry with the foibles of Obamacare.   At the Country Music Awards in November, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley opened the show with a rendition of "Obamacare by Morning"  which echoed a tune by George Strait.

On Mike Huckabee's show on Fox News Channel weekends, the Jolly Holiday Caroling Company put a political spin on a Christmas classic "The 12 Days of Obamacare".

While Comedy Channel's Stephen Colbert may not cotton to the repetitious comedy stylings on Huckabee, the faux conservative comedian also offered some seasonal satire of Obamacare. 

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive

While one may not agree with the public policy of Obamacare, it is an abomination to all Americans that it is now an expensive joke. In the spirit of National Lampoon "That's not funny, that's sick!".

Revealing Politics-- The Crook

Karl Marx claimed that: "History repeats itself..first a tragedy, then as a farce."  in reference to Napoleon I and Napoleon III of France.  Astute political observers can appreciate the irony of that aphorism in American politics today considering President Richard M. Nixon's  deceptiveness and the untruthful antics of President Barack H. Obama.

Yet there is disparate treatment by the Lamestream Media.  Nixon was hounded by a hostile media about the subterfuge and political corruption, leading to his resignation just before the House impeached him.

 In the run up to the passage of the so called "Affordable Care Act", Mr. Obama's often repeated a promise to sell the legislation:

"We will keep this promise to the American people. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.”

But it has been recently revealed that the Obama Administration knew this would not be the case soon after the passage of Obamacare.   Moreover, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius interpreted the law to nix private employer health care policies which make any changes.

And after there was hue and outcry from the public, President Obama unilaterally changed the ACA (again) with a questionable "Administrative Fix" which allowed insurers to maintain cancelled plans, if they wanted to do so.  But only for a year, when workers would have to step up to a better model, like a new car with seatbelts. 

During the 1960 campaign, there was a slogan against then Vice President Nixon seeking the highest office of the land "Would you buy a used car from this man?"

Has history repeated itself again in a very expensive farce?

Bet you can get set up with quite a deal on a Volt from Government Motors too.

Rose Garden Shamwow

Three weeks after the launch of Obamacare open enrollment, President Barack Obama held an event in the Rose Garden regarding the so called Affordable Care Act. 

With all of the reports of problems with the Obamacare launch, there was some expectation in the Lamestream Media that no drama President Obama would get mad about what Time called "His Broken Obamacare Website". Maybe the President would act like a leader and fire those in charge of the bureucratic bungle, such as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.   

Unfortunately, the press availability in the Rose Garden seemed like an extended  25 minute Shamwow commercial. The only element missing was the pitch line "But wait, there's more."

The big news per Jake Tapper at CNN is that the website malfunctions were not called glitches but were upgraded to kinks.   So after funneling $500 million to Quebec's CGI to set up the fatally flawed web portal Healthcare.gov, President Obama suggested using the call center, or letting health navigators assist them in signing up for the mandatory coverage lest they be taxed. 

Despite the $54 million which HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has earmaked for health care navigators , they had no  background checks and the staffing contracts were awarded to Seedco in Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee and New York.  Seedco  is the same company which settled a civil fraud lawsuit in 2012 for faking at least 1,400 of 6,500 job placements under a $22 million federal contract. 

Signing up for Obamacare involves revealing all sorts of personal information that is rife for identity theft.  There are already reports by Watchdog.org in Tennessee that scam artists are posing as navigators who coax medicare recipients for their information.   But there also shady characters who are designated as ACA Navigators.  Rosilyn Wells, the only Obamacare navigator in Lawrence, Kansas had an outstanding warrant for check kiting and has a $1700 state tax deficit.  This makes USIS's flawed background checks on Wikileaker Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis look thorough. 

Sadly, Sebelius does not have any time to testify before Congress  about the flawed Obamacare roll-out, but could attend the inaugural Kennedy Center forum the night before.  Perhaps to quell the blow back from this P.R. faux pas, Senate Majority Leader Dick Durban (D-IL) went on Sunday talking head shows to insist that Sebelius will ultimately testify.  Presumably, it will be before the Senate so there is a choreographed kabuki show where Democrats chastise Sebelius more in sorrow than in anger.

Vince Offer (a.k.a. Shlomi)

But such factual side shows take the focus away from the center stage in the Rose Garden rally.  One of the stalwart arguments against Tea Party Conservatives efforts to attach defunding Obamacare to the Continuing Resolution was the mantra that "It's the law".  Listening to the Celebrity-in-Chief's sales pitch, he soft peddled the kinks but felt compelled to sell stories to the American people of why it was a good deal for you.  If Obamacare were a good deal, the White House stenographers pool known as the elite liberal media (a.k.a. the Lamestream Media) would have plenty of positive stories to buttress the ACA.  Instead, Mr. Obama had to try to channel the spirit of Billy Mays or imitate Vince Shlomi,  the Shamwow Guy, to sell his already passed public policy.

If that was not enough, it just so happened that a person prop in back of President Obama fainted and the President caught her.

This was a phenomenon quite prevalent when candidate Obama was running for President in 2008.  It seemed to have mostly disappeared during the first term, but made some reappearances while on the hustings for his Re-Election campaign in 2012.

Considering the content of the Presidential high pressure pitch for "the law" despite its evident early shortcomings, fainting seemed apropos for the Rose Garden feint. 

  

Some of Dr. Dean's Delayed Diagnosis of IPABs

Although  former Vermont Governor and 2004 Presidential Candidate Howard Dean (D-VT) has been out of the practice of medicine for a number of years in lieu of politics, the Doctors delayed diagnosis of IPABs is right on the money.

Recently, Howard Dean wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in which he prognosticated:  "The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them."   For those who did not thoroughly study the 2,700 pages of legislation that comprised the ironically titled "Affordable Care Act", otherwise know as Obamacare, IPABs are the 15 member Independent Payment Advisory Board which the HHS Secretary Sebilus appoints that decides the amount that the government will reimburse physicians for medical procedures. 

This was  supposedly intended as a cost control mechanism for Medicare, but in reality will act as a rationing board.  The IPAB name implies that these opinions are advisory, but those opinions become the reality.

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Instead of cajoling vulnerable senior citizens to just "take a pill", the patient is cut out of the process by "Advisory Boards" which make certain treatments financially unviable, depending upon one's status.  When Sarah Palin labled IPABs as "death panels", she was roundly criticized as a scare monger who was stupid, don't cha know?  

A couple of years later,  Dr. Dean  diagnosed IPABs as rationing boards,  it makes  more sense, right?

Howard Dean suggested that: "Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on."  Obviously, the former DNC chair has not gotten with the program to think that Obamacare is about improving healthcare in America.  It seems that it more about control.

Unless Tea Party House Republicans are successful in defunding Obamacare from the FY2014 budget, all Americans will be mandated to participate in the program or pay a tax.  Nevertheless, the IRS will be in charge of collections and monitoring all of the health information.  Recent reports have indicated that health records will be vulnerable to hackers and scammers.  In addition, the IRS has shown political partisanship in vetting Tea Party tax exempt applications and for surrepticiously sharing this information.  Why couldn't the Obamacare cost cutting extend to denying treatment to political opponents?

Allow me to dispense a rhetorical palliative to Obamacare opponents– as P.J. O’Rourke put it: “If you thought that health care is too expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”  Alas, the Affordable Care Act is doubling many peoples’ rates and may cost some their hides. 

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