NebraskaPatriot

Deja Vu?

Nebraska Democrats are scrambling to find someone to run for U.S. Senate . . .

Former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey (D) is pondering whether to run for the Senate seat currently held by Ben Nelson.

Senator Nelson told everyone in late December that he will not seek re-election in 2012 and that left Democrats in Nebraska and Washington scrambling to find someone to run in November.

Interestingly enough, the search left Nebraska and headed east, way east to an address in New York City.

It appears that Mr. Kerrey is very interested and I guess the fact that he doesn't live or have a home in Nebraska doesn't seem to matter to Democrats.

He's a warm body with name I.D. in Nebraska and would immediately be a credible challenger for the Republican candidate.

The question for Nebraskans is just who is this version of Bob Kerrey.

Kerrey has always been a bit of a free spirit; kind of a Jerry "Governor Moonbeam" Brown want-a-be. What's interesting is that since he left the U.S. Senate, he has spent his time in New York City, in fact he lives and works in New York City. Now, I love visiting New York City but its leftist political environment is another thing.

You remember that salsa commercial where the cowboy looks at the jar and then he says, "New York City?" in complete disdain and disbelief?

Well, I think Nebraskans may come to say the same thing if Kerrey actually decides to run.

Here's a taste of uber-New Yorker Bob Kerrey per our friends at American Crossroads:

                 

Oops Goes ObamaCare

we need to pass this bill to see what's in it . . .

Did any of you hear that big thud late Friday?

Probably not because the Government controlled media isn’t about to tell you about the latest development in the on-going national reality show also known as “ObamaCare”. 

On Friday, the Administration quietly announced that it cancelled The CLASS Act, a key component of ObamaCare. In fact so key that this provision’s financial gimmickry is what allowed supporters of ObamaCare, i.e. one Ben Nelson of Nebraska, to claim ObamaCare would save us money; reduce the deficit and bring nirvana to all.

The program known as The CLASS Act was a noble idea to help keep older citizens out of long-term care facilities. However, one columnist described The CLASS Act as “the least known but most dangerous provisions” of ObamaCare. 

Here’s how this utopian idea was set to negatively impact all of us.

Obama’s own federal agency, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service reported that the Federal Government would have withheld up to $240 per month or over $2800 per year from each of our paychecks to pay for our future participation in The CLASS Act. Much in the same way that Social Security is automatically deducted without our consent.

The interesting twist is that you could not begin to receive benefits until you paid for five (5) full years. Why you may ask?

Well, Senator Nelson and his fellow Democrats had to “ponzi scheme” the numbers from The CLASS Act in order to take that 5 years worth of taxes and apply them to the overall cost of ObamaCare in order to make it look like ObamaCare saved money.

The problem is that the five year pool of money would be wiped out in short order and then the program would run massive yearly deficits. Does this surprise any of us? 

Fortunately, as reported in the Wall Street Journal on-line, former Republican Senator Judd Gregg got inserted into this section of ObamaCare, a provision that required that if Health and Human Services (HHS) could not provide “an actuarial analysis of the 75-year costs of the program that ensures solvency throughout such 75-year period,” The CLASS Act could not be legally implemented.

So basically on Friday, HHS said it couldn’t create any kind of long term care program to meet these standards which – are you ready! - demanded that expenditures match revenues for 75 years.

Stunning, asinine, insanity run amok or any other sour word not printable.

This my fellow Nebraskans is how the entire ObamaCare law was constructed.

Shoddy, haphazard, thrown together, ill logical social engineering absent of any and all common accounting standards. And this is Senator Nelson’s proud legislative achievement?

Be prepared to hear Nelson say the Obama Administration merely committed an act of good government on Friday by cancelling the program. Only problem is that the Obamaites would not have cancelled the program if it wasn’t for them running the risk of violating the law via Gregg's amendment.

Who in Washington would have thought that a program should actually cash-flow! Obviously our good friend Senator Nelson didn't think it necessary.

Boy, can’t wait for the next shoe to drop on Nelson’s ObamaCare.

ObamaCare is the gift that just keeps giving and in particular, giving headaches to those inside the Nelson re-election campaign . . .

 

Senator Nelson Heeds Nancy Pelosi's Advice

As Scooby-Doo would say, "Ruh-roo".

Or translated for you non-Scooby fans, "Uh-oh"

It appears that Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson is following through on former Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi's advice to her fellow Democrats when she said:

"We have to pass the bill (ObamaCare) so that you can find out what is in it."

  And boy did Ben Nelson do just that, first by being the deciding vote the got ObamaCare passed into law and now, he's looking at what is actually ObamaCare and apparently, there are parts for which he is not fond.

On Senator Nelson's own Senate web site, it states:

"July 15, 2011 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson announced he is introducing legislation that would save $13 billion and would commit those savings to national debt reduction, by fixing a glitch in the new health care law to make sure only lower-income Americans receive Medicaid."

We all need to make sure we let Senator Nelson know how glad we are that he is finally READing THE DETAILS of ObamaCare. God forbid he do it when it was being thrown together.

Oh by the way, this is nothing, I'm waiting for when Senator Nelson gets to sections where his ObamaCare law cuts MEDICARE. As I wrote previously:

"I should point out that ObamaCare which Senator Nelson is personally responsible for getting passed into law imposes "record breaking payment cuts for Medicare providers" according to a study by the Heritage Foundation.

Nelson's ObamaCare does this through an "unelected board of bureaucrats empowered to lower provider payments" with the consequence being the "rationing of care" for older Nebraskans."

and

"As the Heritage Foundation reports:

"ObamaCare imposes record-breaking payment cuts for Medicare providers—plus an unprecedented hard cap on Medicare spending to be enforced by the newly created Independent Payments Advisory Board, an unelected board of bureaucrats empowered to lower provider payments to preordained levels indexed to inflation and economic growth. This will ensure rationing of care through provider payment cuts."

That is what Senator Ben Nelson has hoisted onto the backs of older Nebraskans through his undying support of ObamaCare."

This truly is one of those "Ruh-roo" moments Senator Nelson. Kind of had a lot of those since a certain person entered the White House. Coincidence?

Drowning in Hope and Change

                             “We need to pass it so the public can find out what’s in the bill”

                                                                                            Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Remember those famous words. It’s been just over a year and you have to give it to old Nancy. We, “the public” also known as the tax payers footing the flipping trillion-dollar bill for ObamaCare, are getting more and more details. And there is yet to be one piece of news on ObamaCare over the past year that has been good. In fact, it’s all been mind numbing.

So here’s the latest. A newly found provision in the over 2,000 page ObamaCare law allows more than 3-million middle class Americans to qualify for Medicaid. The President is silent so far on this provision and in fact, no Democrat has been willing to say why this provision was inserted into the bill. And that includes our Nebraska U.S. Senator Ben Nelson, ObamaCare’s pivotal vote for Senate passage last year.

Medicaid is the state run program that is causing major fiscal problems in every state in this country. Medicaid is also the program for which Senator Ben Nelson got Nebraska that sweetheart deal during the ObamaCare debate. Remember, the Cornhusker Kickback? Well, that was the goodie that was offered to Nelson in return for his support of ObamaCare.

So one has to ask, did Senator Nelson know this provision to add middle class retirees to the Medicaid rolls was in ObamaCare? If so, is that why the Cornhusker Kickback involved $100 million in federal relief for Medicaid in Nebraska?

Right now, no one is talking in Washington on this one. NO ONE. So did a staffer slip this provision into the over 2,000 page bill and only that staffer knew it was there? Or did Democrats do it on purpose to get middle class retirees sucked into the government feeding trough?

So, here we are, one year later. We are 14-trillion dollars and counting in debt; we’ve got this massive new ObamaCare program that is going to cost billions upon billions each year with a multiplying factor built in. We have thousands of politically connected groups and companies being granted waivers FROM ObamaCare because they have now determined it’s too expensive for them to implement; we have courts seriously questioning whether it’s even constitutional and we have more and more social engineering provisions coming to light each week. Man, we are drowning in all this Hope and Change.

Am I the only one that wonders how in the world Obama and Nelson can even think of standing for re-election in 2012?

ObamaCare Strikes Again

ah heck, so some moms and dads lose jobs . . .

The latest casualties of ObamaCare are employees at Abbott Labs. The pharmaceutical company announced that it will be cutting 1,900 jobs as part of a restructuring.

In a statement from Abbott, it said Abbot must slash jobs "in response to changes in the health care industry, including U.S. health care reform and the challenging regulatory environment."

Abbott Labs has a facility in Omaha. I'm sure our ObamaCare supporter and facilitator, Democrat U. S. Senator Ben Nelson will be available to help any employee that loses his/her job at the Omaha facility or for that matter nationwide . . . oh that's right, he too busy trying to save his own job.

I'm sure to President Obama and Senator Nelson losing your private sector job is just one of the consequences of their nobel efforts to reign in those evil drug companies.

If I recall, the President's State of the Union address focused on JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. Well, who knew he meant for more jobs to go, go, go.

1,900 mothers and fathers will be losing their jobs because of Obama and Nelson. Senseless.

This is yet another proud moment in the legislative career of Senator Ben Nelson.

ObamaCare: Accounting That Scam Artists Would Be Proud Of

"We must not look to government to solve our problems. Government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan

Let the debate begin on ObamaCare. It's time that we really look at the future impact that ObamaCare will have.

First up is the fiscal impact.

In the House as the debate began this week, Republican Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin explained to fellow members the real cost of ObamaCare. This is an excellent dissection of the fiscal scam that is known as ObamaCare.

So Senator Ben Nelson, how do you explain that the CBO says ObamaCare will raise the DEBT when you have been telling us it will reduce the deficit? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm sure you have the answer because you are so adamant about your support of ObamaCare. So if you are so sure ObamaCare is the greatest thing since sliced bread, then you obviously have all the answers because how else would you be so solid in your support?

What Democrats did in manipulating the accounting on ObamaCare would get you and I arrested if we tried that in our businesses. Amazing . . .

Oh, Golly, ObamaCare is Going To Be Sooooo Good

The Secretary of HHS will now identify, as appropriate . . .

As the character Carol Connelly said in the 1997 movie As Good As It Gets:

"When I first saw you, I thought you were handsome. Then, of course, you spoke."

For those of us who have been against ObamaCare from Day 1, we didn't need to wait for it to speak to know it is something we did not like.

But for those who think it's the best thing since slice bread, well, here you go. Below is a chart from the Center for Health Transformation that shows 1,968 new and expanded powers given to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under ObamaCare:

I know it's unreadable but to get it on one page, you have to shrink it to 12.2% of it's size because that's how much room it takes to explain all the new powers HHS will have over our bodies and health care.

Hey, Senator Ben Nelson, so this is what you had in mind when you voted for ObamaCare - 1968 new powers given to HHS. Now, Nebraska voters, this is Senator Ben Nelson's vision of legislative transparency.

Webster's defines transparency as:

"readily understood; easily detected and seen through; free from pretense or deceit"

Yup, just look up again at the chart. That certainly describes the transparency of Mr. Nelson's legislative achievement ObamaCare.

This is only the start folks. More and more of these details are yet to come. Remember Nancy Pelosi's famous words:

ObamaCare is now speaking and it's ugly. Real ugly . . .

Federal Government Goes 0 For 2

maybe a light at the end of the tunnel . . .

ObamaCare passed last spring and the “Stimulus” program passed back in February ’09 have become faces of excessive Government intrusion and nanny-state governance. For many of us, they are prime, number one examples of why we desire a greater majority of government decisions being pushed back  down to the state and local levels.

On Monday (12-13-10), a federal district court judge in Virginia ruled that Congress “exceeded its authority” by imposing an individual mandate to purchase insurance. The website Hot Air points out the really important parts of the ruling in Virginia vs Sebelius:

“[Judge] Hudson rejected the government’s argument that it has the power under the Constitution to require individuals to buy health insurance, a provision that was set to take effect in 2014.”

Judge Hudson then wrote these two very interesting sentences:

“Of course, the same reasoning could apply to transportation, housing or nutritional decisions. This broad definition of the economic activity subject to congressional regulation lacks logical limitation”

As the folks at Hot Air were quick to point out, Judge Hudson’s two sentences described the progressive-liberal agenda and why the Constitution forbids it.

There is added significance in the ruling coming from this court as it is known as the “rocket docket” from which important cases are speedily launched to the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. The very backbone upon which ObamaCare is built is now rejected. This will be one to watch in the coming days and weeks ahead.

Now a moment of less dramatic impact but still insightful into the workings of our Federal Government.

For most of us, $141,000 is a good amount of pocket change (!), in fact, enough for a company to hire and pay a couple people to work.

Remember the Stimulus program passed back in February ’09? Remember how we had to quickly pass it because we had all these “shovel ready” projects just waiting to get started that would put Americans back to work? Remember how Vice President Biden was going to be the watchdog for abuse and make sure our almost 900-billion in tax dollars were spent appropriately? Remember President Obama telling us that “no one messed with Joe” [Biden]? Well, since that time, we found out just what Washington-speak for Stimulus is and it’s not pretty. One ideological wish list after another had money thrown at it. And now, we have yet another example of Stimulus money not going to produce jobs but someone’s pork project, this time at the National Science Foundation.

Here are the brief disappointing details. The National Science Foundation gave $141,000 in Stimulus funds to Montana State University to fund a six-week student trip to China to study dinosaur eggs and other fossils. Now, the trip on its own is a great experience for those students so I’m not questioning that, what I am questioning is the use of Stimulus money. How many jobs did that $141,000 Stimulate or create? I think we all know the answer and over the past two years, it’s become an all too familiar answer to Stimulus outlay after Stimulus outlay.

This is yet another example of why we need to get as much control back down to the state and local level. Trust me, if the State of Nebraska had taken state tax dollars that were meant for job creation and given it to one of the college or universities for a trip to China to study dinosaur eggs, I can guarantee you that phone lines and e-mails would be flooding into the State Capitol. It would be a very unpleasant time for state senators and the Governor and trust me, they would feel the heat. I’m very confident in saying that answers and a resolution would be forthcoming. Yet, no one in Washington seems the least bit concerned. Oh well, it’s just $141,000 no biggy. Well, here’s a dose of reality nuanced just for the elites in Washington.

This is yet another example of the complete ineptitude of the Stimulus program. Remember the Stimulus program was passed after our Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson stepped in and marshaled it past a filibuster and to a successful vote in the Senate. Yet another proud moment for Cornhusker Kickback Ben which I’m sure he will make into a real snappy campaign ad in 2012 (sarcasm)!  

Now there will be those that will debate that we giving tax cuts (soon I hope) and cost the treasury $800-billion over two years. I would remind everyone there is a big difference. First, Obama/Pelosi/Reid and Mr. Nelson sold the Stimulus as a job creator. Again, the phrase “shovel ready projects” was the mantra.   Second, the Stimulus has cost almost one-TRILLION dollars and produced how many jobs? And don’t give me the “it saved jobs” unless you have hard numbers which no one can produce because if we are going to go down that road then the Bush tax cuts after 9-11 saved thousands upon thousands of jobs. Are Bush’s detractors willing to say that? I think hell will freeze over first and cue the song “The Sound of Silence”.

Third and most important, the Stimulus took money from you and me in the form of taxes and redistributed it throughout the country on ideological wish lists that Democrats have for decades wanted but were unable to get passed through Congress. Conversely, the tax cuts that should be approved this week, will maintain the tax rate levels that we’ve had and will NOT take additional money from tax payers rather leaving it to families across the country to spend as they see fit. I know, novel concept allowing folks to decide how they want to spend their own money but hey, call me silly, it Stimulates me.

 

ObamaCare Strikes Again, This Time On Sick Children

will a penicillin shot rid us of ObamaCare . . .

Yup, this keeps on getting more interesting by the moment. As our great House leader Nancy Pelosi said about ObamaCare, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

Well ObamaCare just keeps on giving. The latest is that when everything got thrown into the stew that became ObamaCare, it appears that they ended up with a provision that will force families who have children with rare diseases to pay much higher drug costs.

Oh, I know, the good people who put this piece of garbage together had no intentions of hurting kids. I mean come on, certainly one wouldn't accuse these folks of being more focused on the politics and getting a bill passed at any cost including buying votes(see Nebraska Democrat Senator Ben Nelson, forever known for the Cornhusker Kickback) rather than on the content of the bill? 

How else do you explain, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."???

So to read more on this real gem of a screw up in ObamaCare, click here.

Gosh, we are barely a couple months into this wonderful piece of legislation and the "Oops" just keep rolling in . . .

 

Nelson Sitting Ok All Things Considered

two years is a lifetime in politics . . .

Nebraska Democrat Senator Ben Nelson got some good news and some bad news in a poll released. The Omaha World-Herald reports today that the State Republican Party commissioned a state-wide poll and it shows Senator Nelson's approval rating at 50 percent. If I'm Nelson, that's good news.

However, the poll also showed that if the election were held today, Republican State Attorney General Jon Bruning would beat Nelson by 15 percent. Now, that seems a bit odd considering that Nelson was at 50% approval but I think it actually just shows that Nebraskans are generally a people who are pretty easy going.

So I'm sure there are some in the survey who give Senator Nelson a passing grade but when it comes to re-election, they are not ready to go that far after his ridiculous performance and votes on ObamaCare.

As I've said before, I still don't think he will run for re-election. With Republicans in control of the House, as each new ObamaCare regulation is released, House Republicans will call  Obama officials up to the Hill to explain it in front of cameras. Considering how haphazard this bill was put together, there will be some real embarrassing regulations coming out. In addition, each time ObamaCare comes up, the Cornhusker Kickback is mentioned and that ties Nelson to one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed. Also, each of these hearing give sound bites that can become very powerful campaign ads that can be run in the 2012 Senate race.