As of now, I am in control here, in the White House

Sunday Open Thread – November 17, 2013

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Let’s do this!

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198 Responses to Sunday Open Thread – November 17, 2013

  4. As the regulars here already know, I am currently residing someplace other than the US…far, far away. Today, there is a sporting event here where I live – many, many nations are represented. They hoisted the flags for these nations and today….I see Old Glory in all her splendor. I cried with happiness and humbleness. Believe me…”all this for a flag” is not nearly enough. “Oh say! Can you see?” May God have mercy on the USA snd May God Bless America!

    • God bless. I know what you mean. When you don’t see Old Glory at every corner gas station and pancake house, it makes a difference when she flies.

    • For many months after 9/11, our flag was everywhere. The flag was stuck in pickup truck windows, plastered on bumpers, on every utility pole, and proudly waving in millions of front yards across America. It was a silent, but tremendous sign of solidarity with our neighbors in NYC who bore the brunt of a sneak attack by Muslim terrorists.

      Today, we see the Gladson flag with the “don’t tread on me” motto, because we’re now under attack by our own government. Our government lies to us, steal our hard-earned money and assests to give to their friends, and treats us as backward children who are in need of supervison.

      Our government shrugs at reports of millions of Americans forced into part-time jobs, congratulates themselves because 50 million of us are too poor to feed their own families and has decreed that we don’t know how to feed our children.
      We’re in dangerous times, and the danger is from within.

    • On a news channel this morning there where two men that owned a buisness and flew the American Flag at their small establishment. One a retired fireman, the other retired policeman.
      They were cited for flying the flag outside. When they inquired about it with a lot of support from people in the area. Once the city saw All the support for the two men, They are demanding the citation to be thown out.

      • That is just the kind of thing that has gotten so out of hand. We are drowning in silly laws and regulations. I caught part of a Stossel piece about all the red tape these days. In particular, the “mountain man” who built his own buildings, lives off the land, etc, etc., who now has been cited for so many things. So sad that you can’t even do that anymore. Hope the government never goes to an Amish community. No, wait, they are already cited in some places for not having reflective signs on their buggies and diapers on their horses.
        Stossel piece here:
        http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/index.html
        (I think there is a longer piece there too, not just the intro)

    • Amen, Aileen. We’ll keep the home fires burning for your eventual return.

      “The glistening hope of that lamp is still ours. Every promise every opportunity is still golden in this land. And through that golden door our children can walk into tomorrow with the knowledge that no one can be denied the promise that is America…” – President Ronald Reagan.

  6. My pick of the day is $50 billion post Storm Sandy. Track a hurricane or storm, no problem – track money BIG PROBLEM. The exchange below is priceless. Well, not actually priceless, very expensive.

    -snip-
    After his testimony, Hackworth said he was unable to answer many questions about the city’s expected website to track Sandy spending.
    “Are you kidding me?” responded Councilman Domenic Recchia. “We didn’t come here today to hear, ‘I can’t answer that.'”
    http://news.yahoo.com/york-city-wrestles-track-superstorm-sandy-funds-004140001–business.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons

  7. Many years ago I was in Mexico City. I was walking down Reforma Blvd. I looked up and saw the flag at the Embassy. I stopped, stood to the side and said a prayer of thanks.

    In today’s Daily Caller there is an article that $4.4 billion has been spent on implementing Obamacare. Just image if that money has been spent on educating healthcare professionals.

      • Which begs the question. Why didn’t they just do that instead of all this other nonsense? Never mind, I know the answer, it didn’t serve BO’s communist and destructive agenda.

    • My two sons were placed in pre-school at early ages. The money I paid was well worth it. My two sons started reading before age of three, started learning math as well. Point being the money would have been well spent on our school system.

        • Again, an anecdote, but the DC schools had the highest per capita and my child was not taught multiplication tables–they said to do it at home, that they taught MATH nor arithmetic. One example. Parents also paid for the teacher’s assistant, the new playground covering, etc–and this was in the rich part of town (we lived in a tiny 1 br).

    • It’s early in the thread, but I’ll wager that is the most important observation of the day. Just imagine if the $4.4 billion going down the drain were actually spent improving healthcare in this country. It’s gone into someone’s pockets instead.

    • When I went to England I was truly touched to see the respect they have for America. Beautiful area in St Paul’s dedicated to
      those Americans who served and died in WW2. Behind it is a stained glass window with each pane depicting a different states.
      If I remember KS was a shaftof wheat. And a book that had all the names someone turns the page everyday.

  8. On the morning news they were discussing President Kennedy. I tried pulling up all his records from Harvard. There they were all his academic records! Since this is open thread. Can anyone give me the legal reason for the current President being able to withhold his documents. With all the news of this threw the years, I have not heard that he has the right to do so. Yes I do understand we have many other things to be concerned with, and I am exhausted trying to keep up with him.

    • The only reason for trying to hide something is that you have something to hide. Obama fools no one.
      Years ago, I read a little tidbit from the Obama File wherein his associates on the Harvard Law Review stated that he spent more time ‘working from home’ than he did at the Review. They rarely saw him on campus.

    • I love this topic. All the libbies talking about how just gosh darn smart Obama is compared to all those bitter gun clingers. Or variations on the theme like we don’t deserve him…we’re not worthy. My fav tactic is to ground the smartie pants on the scientific method: make an assumption and test against the data. If he’s so educated and gifted, where is the data? Typical liberal, conclusions based on emotion not facts.

    • Obama was never thoroughly vetted by the media or our govt. That’s my question “Why not ?”

      I’ve mentioned here several times about how thorough a background check I had to go through just for an entry level GS-2 position requiring a top secret clearance back in the 60’s. I had to provide the FBI with an original birth cert., all my school and financial records, also every address I lived at since birth.

      The media sure had no problems going after every piece of info on Sarah Palin in 2008. And most recently I saw an article that, gasp, Ted Cruz got drunk in college !!!!!!!

      • My SiL landed a sensitive job with NASA and the whole extended family went through a security check.
        The best (or dumbest question) “why did you cross the Canadian border when you visited NiagraFalls?” duh.
        That they even knew what we did was impressive, though. Or, some bigmouth in the family spilled the beans.

        • Your SIL probably spilled the beans when she filled out her application for a background investigation, srdem. I worked for NASA my first year out of high school and had to list every single visit I made to a foreign country. Being 18 years old, that wasn’t too hard to do at the time. Other than an occasional shopping trip to Juarez with my parents, my feet were firmly planted on American soil.

      • I held a TS clearance while in the Air Force, and they checked my history backward and forward.
        In fact, it took almost a year before it was granted to me.
        In answer to your question “Why Not ?”, because Pelosi and Reid were in charge and they saw a chance to finally pass the ACA down our throats against the will of the American People.
        Remember the oversized gavel and the big grin that Pelosi had on her face ?
        Disgusting.

      • Forget the high level clearance – even for a “regular” job these days, you have to get tested, checked, poked, stuck, and examined. Not belittling those high clearance jobs at all BTW. Just to work at GE a few years ago, they locked my purse in a cabinet, then used a key to lock the faucet and drain on the bathroom sink before the urine test. (They needn’t have bothered. There is no way I’m carrying a “sample” in my purse to substitute…. LOL) Even at my current employer, to qualify for lower insurance rates, they offer the Wellness Plan, which requires you to get bloodwork, etc – but that now includes a test to see if there is nicotine in your system. I’m pretty sure the Prez would not pass the nicotine test. LOL. Heck, he probably did not even have to pee in a cup to get his job!

        • “…but that now includes a test to see if there is nicotine in your system.”

          Isn’t that a hoot. Your employers are employing fascist tactics to make sure you aren’t lying about your smoking habits, yet so-called Obamacare navigators, at least the scumbags nabbed by James O’Keefe in Texas, are openly encouraging applicants to lie to the all knowing, all seeing government. What? No nicotine test for the welfare bums, but it’s fine and dandy for our shrinking work force?

          Where is all the fairness the sham-wow president has been preaching about for the last 5 years?

          • Exactly! I have often wondered what testing they go through at TSA and now the Navigators. Here’s the navigator test:
            1. Do you support Obama?
            A. Yes.
            Congratulations, you are now qualified as a navigator!

            I am sure there are lots of fine honest navigators out there. I’m pretty sure there were ads in my local paper months ago for Navigators, but it did not mention Obamacare or the word navigator. I found it odd. They wanted people excited about blah blah blah healthcare something or other.

    • The legal reason, Lee, is that Obama obtained a court order which sealed all of his personal records including educational and medical. I don’t know the duration of this sealing, in perpetuum or what. I doubt if any of us could get such an order, and I wonder if even the NSA has access.

  9. My topic is Nancy Pelosi–she was on MTP and look eye-rolling weird. Nothing she said made sense–for example, there was nothing in the bill (call it ACA, not Obamacare, she ordered Gregory) that meant people could not keep anything they had before 2010. Uh…regulations that narrowed that–it has come out, Nan. She also said “all we need now” is for ins cos to send letters saying if you keep your policy, you will lose x or y. Who says the cos will reinstate policies–that is up in the air. The woman has LOST it! Even Dave looks a little scared.

  10. Hey guys well I got some news my RX monthly rate doubled! Yippee I’m
    one of the screwed Cheetos for everyone of course now I’ll have to change a cover fee sorry:-( Srdem65 I will clean up I promise:-). Sound
    familiar?

      • Zing got me I’m still worried my Medicare Advantage hasn’t gone
        up got a letter. Probably means the other shoe out there is
        cancelation. (Insert ominous organ music).

      • Sympathies. In the PRNY, our insurance went up less than 10%. Why so little? NY has had 43 healthcare mandates and community rating for years. In other words, we’ve had Obamacare for years. Granted, don’t know how much my employer might have absorbed…but they don’t seem to want to do much.

        Still, not one word, tweet, twerk, peep, or character from the “left” coast family members on obamacare. I have Obamacarefreude trying to sort out the mental manipulations they must be going through staring down the reality of what they voted for.

        • I saw a map or a graph and NY and the other Northeastern states do have lower rates, much lower rates. Could it be that they are predominantly Democratic states, wink, wink?

        • Sorry to hear that. The obamacare sticker shock is obviously bad. Average Christmas spend is about $800. There are a lot of people sitting around now saying…so much for that. The next 90 days will be very telling as we find out if shoppers anticiapted cost increases and where they might make tradeoffs.

    • I had to promise my long-time doctor that I would make up the difference in what Medicare pays him. He and the other doctors in the group are no longer taking care of Medicare or Medicaid patients.

      • But your doc is still taking existing Medicare pts? This is what I found about docs who opt out…

        Is a physician or practitioner allowed to withdraw from the Medicare Program? (Revised 10/17/11)

        Yes, in some cases providers may opt out of the Medicare program. If a beneficiary sees a provider who has opted out of Medicare, the beneficiary will be asked to sign a contract before receiving any services from the provider. The contract makes the beneficiary responsible for full payment of the provider’s charges. By signing the contract, the beneficiary agrees not to submit a claim to Medicare. A beneficiary may not be asked to sign a private contract if facing an emergency or urgent health situation.

        Your doc bills Medicare and you? I am so confused.

    • There’s going be a freeze on pharmaceuticals starting Jan. 1.
      Big Pharma is jacking up their prices before the deadline. Expect generics to skyrocket.

  12. The Obama administration will consider the new federal insurance marketplace a success if 80 percent of users can buy health-care plans online, according to government and industry officials familiar with the project.

    The goal for how many people should be able to make it through the insurance exchange is an internal target that administration officials have not made public. It acknowledges that as many as one in five Americans who try to use the Web site to buy insurance will be unable to do so.

    SNIP

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/healthcaregov-goal-80-percent-able-to-enroll-for-insurance-through-web-site/2013/11/16/04fa02a2-4e1a-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_print.html

      • If you understand that Barack Obama is a Marxist, it makes perfect sense. An event that destroys the Democrat Party ends the Marxist dream of transforming America into a Marxist nation.

        As the resulting pendulum swing towards Conservative values would undo all of the Marxist victories. Marxist plan long term, they sacrifice their own personal ambitions to achieve what they believe is the greater good.

        So yes, if he had a justifiable and valid reason to suspect that the catastrophically failed implementation of Obamacare might devastate the Democrat Party, not just in 2014 or 2016, but for generations to come, he would sacrifice his legacy to save the Democrat Party.

        • Your 2nd paragraph states what I believe.
          The pendulum does swing back and forth and has for years.
          Prohibition was a law, and it was repealed.
          Obamacare has been deemed a law and so it can be repealed.
          Well said.
          I don’t think he cares about his legacy, rather he is more intent on taking this Country to Her knees.

        • Excellent piece, doriangrey1. IMO, Obama must know that his BIG LIE is going to do him in. His normal pattern for escaping his scandals is simply to let them die a natural death. This is not the case with Obamacare – it is not going away.. By throwing the blame onto the insurers as he did on Friday, he could be sending a message to let the chips fall where they may…he’s off the hook. He might as well play golf every day of the week.

          If the R’s make any bipartisan attempt to ‘fix’ Obamacare, I agree with you – they are the party of ‘Stupid’ – snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
          Round Two, the employer mandate, is coming up next year, How does he sleep at night?

  15. It’s official! The WH is worried about the “I” word: Impeachment.

    Obama lapdog and Watergate specialist, Bob Woodward, delivered the message this AM on the Chris Wallace show: “This is not Watergate. It is not Clinton and Monica Lewinsky”. He went on to say it was a ‘money problem.

    Woodward is correct. It’s not Watergate or MonicaGate – it’s 1000x worse. The “Big Lie” was construed to rob tens of millions of Americans of their world class ‘affordable’ healthcare in exchange for more costly sub-standard healthcare and death panels for all. The unintended consequences are catastrophic.
    Obamacare never would have been passed and Obama never would have been re-elected if the Big Lie had been exposed in 2010.

    If Obama was a ‘white’ Republican, impeachment proceedings would already be underway.

    .

    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/11/17/woodward-obamacare-isn-t-watergate-or-lewinsky-it-s-going-get-worse

  18. I like Scott Walker: he did a great thing in Wisconsin by standing up to the unions, but I see he’s repeating that meme that the Republicans need to nominate a governor or a former governor in 2016 and exclude all members of Congress. Not only does it look self-serving since he hasn’t ruled out running himself, but no way are the grassroots going to pick Christie or J. Bush over a conservative just because they were/are governors. I think the establishment is pushing that meme to head off Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Lee.

    • I think he is referring to electing someone with budget experience, and most governors have to deal with them. It makes allot of sense really. I’m not sure if he is looking towards the WH or not. Living here in WI he has really shaken up the unions and their previous control of the state government. He is not loved by the Dem’s, and teachers, but he campaigned on what he would do if elected and has kept his word. Some state and local services controlled by union workers have suffered, but all in all we have survived and balenceing the budget.

      • Well, as I said, I do like him, but I also think the establishment is pushing that meme to head off the conservatives in Congress. There are some GOP governors who are not managing their states well, and that includes Christie. NJ taxes are still at the top of the nation, and Kasich of Ohio, unlike Scott Walker, has sold out to the unions and Obamacare.

      • One more thing on governors. I think Jeb Bush is hanging back waiting for a coronation like Hillary Clinton. A potential candidate should get his hands down in the dirt on the issues, and he hasn’t. And he all wrong on immigration.

    • Don’t fret too much about who the establishment is pushing for the 2016 nomination, Julie. Scott Walker is up for reelection next year so he’s probably trying to stay in the good graces of the GOP. We all saw what they did to Cuccinelli when he wouldn’t play ball with them. Besides, it’s a long ways away, and we have to gear up for 2014 first!

  19. This is totally off-topic…but I received my auto renewal policy on Friday – up 30%/. Called my insurance agent and blurted out the words ‘Is this b/c of Obamacare???’ She reassured me it was not, lol.
    I have been with the same ins. co. for 25 years, have a perfect driving record (not counting pkg tkts), and have received discounts along the way. The only thing I can think of is my location – Kalifornia. Illegals are now allowed to get drivers licenses and, of course, they account for most of the hit and runs. Well, indirectly, I do blame this on Obama!

    • Girly, there is no such thing as off-topic on an open thread. You can say anything your heart desires. As for your topic, you’re right. I’m sure the auto insurance companies are increasing their rates on good drivers to cover their settlements from the bad ones. Everything, but everything, gets passed off to the consumer in the end.

    • Oh my, California. If anything, your car insurance should be very low considering how many cars are registered there.

      The last time I drove to CA (from AZ) was The. Last.. Time.
      It took 40 minutes to drive 5 miles on I-5….shudder…..

      Such a beautiful state, from North to South. Or it was?

      • Depending on the hour, it often takes 30 minutes to get to the 405 which is 3 miles from my house.
        When Obama is in town, we all stay indoors.

        And, yes, Julie – we are all paying the price for being responsible citizens. Waiting for the next shoe to drop – amnesty!

        • My sister and hubs just went to LA for the Marine Ball and were APPALLED at the freeways compared with AZ. My brother-in-law is a professional pilot and he could hardly manage.

  20. My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can’t believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do,,,,,,,Ru­sh64.C­ＯＭ

  21. Notice the Secretary of Education comments….. could one of you smarty pants folks here see the grammar error? I know you are smarter than a Department of Education Secretary — Arne Duncan…

    Duncan’s words were reported Saturday evening by The Washington Post:

    U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents Friday that he found it “fascinating” that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

    Yepper….Child is apparently an honorary plural and a school is now a plural…..which if you could do that we would have at least 2X as many schools. Yikes….. We are doomed.

    • Don’t we just love it when the Libs use racial insults to make a point? And if that wasn’t insulting enough, he implies that their children aren’t “brilliant”.
      A Repub who would make a comment like that would be relieved of his post, and villified in the MSM.

    • “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

      SNIP

      He’s missing a verb. And, unless those moms share one child, he should’ve said “children”. That would’ve solved the problem of using a plural verb for a singular noun. This has grown common as people have moved away from automatically assigning a masculine pronoun to its antecedent. I’m all for this movement, but it can lead to sloppy thinking and horrible grammar.

  22. […] Sunday Open Thread – November 17, 2013 All the libbies talking about how just gosh darn smart Obama is compared to all those bitter gun clingers. Or variations on the theme …. I've been lobbying for up/down arrows, thumbs, smiles, frowns, whatever for a couple of years now. Does anyone … Read more on White House Dossier […]

  23. […] Sunday Open Thread – November 17, 2013 … 2013 at 8:33 am. Yes, good artlcle ! I remember when Geraldine Ferraro said, during the 2008 debates, that Obama would have never been on that stage if he were white. She got in a lot of trouble for that, but she was right. It was the most racist … Read more on White House Dossier […]

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