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 . . .

 

Nelson's ObamaCare Morfs Into Tax Dollar Black Hole

"Do you realize that the new health care law is projected to actually reduce the budget deficit? It’s true." 

Those are the first two sentences from a column that is posted just over a year ago by Senator Ben Nelson on August 2, 2010 on his U.S. Senate web site.

Senator Nelson is so confident in his beliefs that he even entitled his column:  

Some Facts About the New Health Care Law  

I'm just so glad that our Democrat U.S. Senator thinks that ObamaCare is just so gosh darn great.

Here are some real facts about ObamaCare from the Republican Senate Committee:

 

Does Senator Nelson Still Believe Abortion not in ObamaCare?

well isn't this interesting . . .

Let's flash back for a moment shall we to January 6, 2010 and my blog entry entitled, "Nelson Bewildered by Nebraskans Anger"

The basis for this entry was an interview that Senator Nelson did with the Fremont Tribune in which he is quoted as saying:

"I cannot understand the level of anger and frustration aimed at me because this language that I put together does ban (federally funded abortions). It absolutely bans it,”

I also wrote the following:

Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following statement on 12-23-09 after Ben Nelson performed his supposed magic on the Obamacare bill in the Senate:

"Federal funds will help subsidize, and in some cases a federal agency will facilitate and promote, health plans that cover elective abortions."

And finally there is Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of Nebraska's Right to Life and a long time vocal supporter of Senator Nelson. Schmit-Albin writes the following on NRL's blog:

"Senator Nelson had a chance to ensure that the longstanding principle of the Hyde Amendment against federal funding of abortion with narrow exceptions, would be placed in the Senate healthcare legislation. He dashed any hope of that with his late-night agreement with Senators Reid, Boxer and Schumer on unacceptable language that he claimed would address pro-life concerns."

So now let's fast forward to Monday, August 1, 2011 and an announcement that ran in all the various news outlets from our lady of Kansas, Health and Human Services Secretary and former Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius. Here's is The Daily Caller's on-line report:

"Pro-lifers are horrified at the announcement Monday that the Obama administration has approved a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to guarantee full health insurance coverage for birth control, including the so-called “morning-after” pill, under the Affordable Care Act.

The new guidelines, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) labeled “historic,” will require new health insurance plans to include women’s preventive services including FDA approved contraceptives, breast feeding support, and well-women visits — all without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible — beginning August 1, 2012."

Senator Nelson, you are in large part responsible for getting ObamaCare passed into law. So I challenge you, Senator Nelson, to explain how the "morning after" pill is not a form of abortion.This should be interesting to hear . . . 

 

Oh Wait, Another Flaw in ObamaCare Discovered

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

~Nancy Pelosi, former Democrat Speaker of the House of Representatives

Yes folks it's time to ponder yet another Oops in the flawed world of ObamaCare, Senator Ben Nelson's greatest legislative achievement. And this one will be disastrous for many middle class families in Nebraska and across the country.

Julian Pecquet writes in on-line blog The Hill:  

"A major provision of the healthcare reform law designed to prevent businesses from dropping coverage for their workers could inadvertently leave families without access to subsidized health insurance."

She continues on,:

"The problem is a huge headache for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, because it could leave families unable to buy affordable health insurance when the healthcare law requires that everyone be insured starting in 2014."

Pecquet then quotes Jocelyn Guyer, deputy executive director at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, who says:

"It’s going to be a massive problem if it comes out that families have to buy really expensive employer-based coverage.”

“If they don’t fix this — and by 'they' I mean either the administration or Congress — we’re going to have middle-class families extremely unhappy with [healthcare] reform in 2014, because they’ll basically be facing financial penalties for not buying coverage when they don’t have access to any affordable options.”

“If you’ve got employer-based coverage that’s affordable for the employee only,” Guyer said, “the family is expected to take the employer coverage even if it's totally unaffordable and no one in the family is eligible for the exchange subsidies.”

Pecquet reports that:

"The glitch is causing heartburn for advocates who worry that it could leave thousands of children and spouses uninsured and subject to penalties for not having insurance."

"One new study, by the Employment Policies Institute, estimates that changing the policy could cost taxpayers $50 billion per year. But if the administration leaves the policy as is, “millions of families will be stuck in a no-man’s-land without affordable coverage through their employer or the exchange.”

The more we hear the worse it gets and it's almost sensory overload. What a mess and unfortunately, ObamaCare will effect every one of us. Yippee.

As someone once said "That's the penalty we have to pay for our acts of foolishness, someone else always suffers for them."

 

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?

Even Dickens Saw The "Bleak House" in Large Government

some times when you dust off an old book, it's amazing the wisdom found inside . . .

Charles Dickens once wrote, "We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us."

In a way, that's what we have done in the country since the Great Society initiatives in the 60's. We've spent billions on poverty, education, housing, etc., and yes, I'm sure when you throw billions upon billions of dollars at something, it just has to make some difference but in reality, as Dickens wrote, we "got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us."

There just comes a time when we have to look in the mirror and realize it's up to us and stop waiting for people or Government to "make up their minds" how much "to give us".

And that leads me into a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal On-line by Martin Feldstein, who was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan.

Mr. Feldstein opens with something that become quiet obvious to many of us in this country:

"The policies of the Obama administration have led to the weak condition of the American economy. Growth during the coming year will be sub par at best, leaving high or rising levels of unemployment and underemployment."

He then adds some specifics:

"After a temporary rise in March, the economy began sliding again in April, with declines in real wages, in durable-goods orders and manufacturing production, in existing home sales, and in real per-capita disposable incomes. It is not surprising that the index of leading indicators fell in April, only the second decline since it began to rise in the spring of 2009. The data for May are beginning to arrive and are even worse than April's. They are marked by a collapse in payroll-employment gains; a higher unemployment rate; manufacturers' reports of slower orders and production; weak chain-store sales; and a sharp drop in consumer confidence. How has the Obama administration contributed to this failure to achieve a robust and sustainable recovery? The administration's most obvious failure was its misguided fiscal policies: the cash-for-clunkers subsidy for car buyers, the tax credit for first-time home buyers, and the $830 billion "stimulus" package."

As for that wonderful Stimulus package that our very own Democrat Senator Ben Nelson helped craft to assure passage in Feb. '09 in the Senate. Well Mr. Feldstein said:

"President Obama allowed the Democratic leadership in Congress to design a hodgepodge package of transfers to state and local governments, increased transfers to individuals, temporary tax cuts for lower-income taxpayers, etc. So we got a bigger deficit without economic growth"

Mr. Feldstein also gives the President and his party credit for creating all the uncertainty that businesses now face:

"A second cause of the continued economic weakness is the president's emphasis on increasing tax rates. Although Mr. Obama grudgingly agreed to continue the Bush tax cuts for 2011 and 2012, his budget this year repeated his call for higher tax rates on upper-income individuals and multinational corporations. With that higher-tax cloud hanging over them, it is not surprising that individuals and businesses do not make the entrepreneurial investments and business expansions that would cause a solid recovery. A third problem stems from the administration's lack of an explicit plan to deal with future budget deficits and with the exploding national debt. This creates uncertainty about future tax increases and interest rates that impedes spending by households and investment by businesses. The national debt has jumped to 69% of GDP this year, from 40% in 2008. It is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to reach more than 85% by the end of the decade, and to keep rising after that. The reality is even worse since ObamaCare alone will cost more than $1 trillion in its first 10 years."

In the end, Mr. Feldstein acknowledges that we can turn this ship around but he doubts Obama has any intent on making the required changes:

"The economy will continue to suffer until there is a coherent and favorable economic policy. That means bringing long-term deficits under control without raising marginal tax rates—by cutting government outlays and by limiting the tax expenditures that substitute for direct government spending. It means lower tax rates on businesses and individuals to spur entrepreneurship and investment. And it means reforming Social Security and Medicare to protect the living standards of future retirees while limiting the cost to future taxpayers. All of these things are doable. But the Obama administration has not done them and shows no inclination to do them in the future."

As Dickens said, "We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it". Maybe it's time to spend more wisely and demand more individual responsibility from the person that we see each day in the mirror . . .

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?

Medicare At Risk in Nelson's Own ObamaCare?

the more we find out the worse this gets . . .

Remember recently when I wrote that our Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson was trying to scare older Nebraskans into thinking that Republicans wanted to in Nelson's words, "cut health care benefits for the elderly".

So since the Senator started down this road, I figured 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.

So the question becomes, who is this faceless "unelected board of bureaucrats" that will have control over the lives of older Nebraskans?

In a recent article in the National Review on-line, Andrew Stiles writes about this 15-member panel appointed by the President. It's officially called the Independent Payment Advisory Board or IPAB.

It appears that as more light gets shined on this board, the more the rats scurry. In fact, the chorus is growing louder and louder every day from across the political spectrum again this very board's existence.

For example, the LIBERAL organization the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare or NCPSSM was a staunch supporter like Senator Nelson for the passage of ObamaCare. But NCPSSM now stands vehemently opposed to this "unelected board of bureaucrats".

It's executive vice president Max Richtman explains in the National Review article:

"the board would be able to impose “dramatic cuts” to Medicare, which would inevitably lead to restricted access to care for seniors. “It’s not going to address the problem in a way that doesn’t end up hurting the program,” he said. “The way the board is constituted is really not the right way to make those decisions.”

And those, my friends, are words from a SUPPORTER of ObamaCare!

If you would like to read the entire article, please click here for it.

Suffice it to say, this is yet another example of the complete and utter mess that awaits us with Senator Nelson's ObamaCare.

Ben Nelson Just Loves ObamaCare

you live in a dream world long enough and you will believe anything . . .

So today is the first day of the second year under ObamaCare. Gosh, I just feel so warm and fuzzy all over knowing that Obama is there to make sure that Government makes my life better:

Speaking of ObamaCare, in today's Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson is quite frankly, well giddy with delight that ObamaCare has become one year old. O-W-H reporter Robynn Tysver writes, "Sen. Ben Nelson says that the benefits of the new health care law are starting to be felt across Nebraska and that more and more people are becoming comfortable with it."

Really?

Isn't that interesting.

Hey, Senator Nelson that's like me saying I'm "becoming comfortable with" my annual prostrate examine!

I have to say that it would have been nice if the O-W-H reporter had actually done her job and asked Senator Nelson questions about ObamaCare. It appears to me she just wrote down what ever came out of good old Ben's mouth.

So let me lend a hand and throw out some questions you might use next time:

• Under Section 1501, ObamaCare states that individuals will be assessed a monetary penalty if they do not purchase a health Insurance plan that meets the federal definition of "minimum essential benefits". Please explain to me how that is NOT a violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution?
• IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Steven Miller recently said mass auditing of Americans was not envisioned but that the IRS would withhold tax refunds if persons could not demonstrate that they purchased federally approved levels of insurance coverage. Senator, you know how people feel about the IRS and how intimidating the IRS can be. How do you feel about the IRS being the enforcer of ObamaCare? Tell me why we should not be concerned when an IRS official says this?
• A Heritage Foundation study indicates that ObamaCare contains 18 separate tax increases that will cost the American taxpayer over $503 Billion between 2010 and 2019. Explain how this is good for the economy and job growth?
• In just one year, ObamaCare's insurance mandates have increased the price of insurance and caused companies selling child-only policies to exit the market? Explain how these real life results are so different than what you promised when you passed ObamaCare one year ago?
• you promised that ObamaCare would bend the cost curve down but you, Senator Nelson forgot to mention that you double counted the Medicare changes as both income and an expense. Explain your math to Nebraskans?
• ObamaCare has over 6,500 pages of regulations written so far and the President has granted waivers from ObamaCare to over 1000 organizations and businesses. AARP and most Unions have been benefactors of those waivers from ObamaCare. If you say ObamaCare is so great and so good for Nebraskans, then please explain why the friends of Obama have or are seeking waivers from ObamaCare? What do they know that we in Nebraska do not know about the impact of ObamaCare?

So there are a few questions that any reporter can take and ask Senator Nelson.