Friday, February 26, 2016

Another ObamaCare Surprise: Estate Recovery

Another ObamaCare Surprise: Estate Recovery
"Sofia Prins and Gary Balhorn were about to sign applications for free coverage under Washington State’s Medicaid program — recently expanded under ObamaCare — when Sofia began reading the fine print:
If you’re over age 55, the state of Washington will bill your estate for your health expenses when you die.
So much for “free.”
Prior to ObamaCare, state Medicaid programs (enacted in 1965 and expanded in 1993) offered help to poor people who couldn't afford health coverage but required states to recover their health costs from their estates when they died.
However, state exemptions for personal goods and residences meant that such “estate recovery” efforts were modest as most people either had no other assets or had “spent down” those that they had to a minimal level.
But with the expansion under ObamaCare, more and more people will qualify for Medicaid without realizing that the coverage is really not free, but instead a hidden secured loan whose terms aren't explicit. 
As Carol Ostrom, the Seattle Times health reporter, explained:
The way Prins saw it, that meant health insurance via Medicaid is hardly “free” for Washington residents 55 or older.
It’s a loan, one whose payback requirements aren't well advertised.
And it penalizes people who, despite having a low income, have managed to keep a home or some savings they hope to pass to heirs, Prins said..."

AM Fruitcake


History for February 26

History for February 26 - On-This-Day.com:
Victor Hugo 1802 - Author, Levi Strauss 1829, William "Buffalo Bill" Cody 1846 - Frontiersman, showman 


John Harvey Kellogg 1852, Jackie Gleason 1916, Johnny Cash 1932 - Musician 


1907 - The U.S. Congress raised their own pay to $7500.


1919 - In Arizona, the Grand Canyon was established as a National Park with an act of the U.S. Congress.


1929 - U.S. President Coolidge signed a bill creating the Grand Teton National Park.


1930 - New York City installed traffic lights.


1933 - A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Crissy Field for the Golden Gate Bridge.


1952 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed an atomic bomb.


1993 - Six people were killed and more than a thousand injured when a van exploded in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. The bomb had been built by Islamic extremists.


1998 - A Texas jury rejected an $11 million lawsuit by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey for price drop after on-air comment about mad-cow disease.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Obama Lifts Ban On Diseased Refugees... Here's Who He's Dumping Into Your Town

Obama Lifts Ban On Diseased Refugees... Here's Who He's Dumping Into Your Town:

"If it’s a day that ends in y, you can bet that Obama’s administration is doing something to make Americans less safe from refugees. This time, he’s loosening a ban on who can come to this country with serious diseases.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the administration is set to end the ban on people immigrating to the United States with chancroid, granuloma inguinale, and lymphogranuloma venereum, three venereal diseases."



The Subprime Auto Loan Meltdown Is Here

The Subprime Auto Loan Meltdown Is Here:
Uh oh – here we go again.  
Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown during the last financial crisis?  
Well, now a similar thing is happening with auto loans.  
The auto industry has been doing better than many other areas of the economy in recent years, but this “mini-boom” was fueled in large part by customers with subprime credit.  
According to Equifax, an astounding 23.5 percent of all new auto loans were made to subprime borrowers in 2015.  
At this point, there is a total of somewhere around $200 billion in subprime auto loans floating around out there, and many of these loans have been “repackaged” and sold to investors.  
I know – all of this sounds a little too close for comfort to what happened with subprime mortgages the last time around.  
We never seem to learn from our mistakes, and a lot of investors are going to end up paying the price.
Everything would be fine if the number of subprime borrowers not making their payments was extremely low.  And that was true for a while, but now delinquency rates and default rates are rising to levels that we haven’t seen since the last recession.  
The following comes from Time Magazine
People, especially those with shaky credit, are having a tougher time than usual making their car payments.
According to Bloomberg, almost 5% of subprime car loans that were bundled into securities and sold to investors are delinquent, and the default rate is even higher than that. 

(Depending on who’s counting, delinquency is up to three or four months behind in payments; default is what happens after that). 
At just over 12% in January, the default rate jumped one entire percentage point in just a month. 
Both delinquency and default rates are now the highest they’ve been since 2010, when the ripple effects of the recession still weighed heavily on many Americans’ finances. 
Read on and sharpen your pitch forks!

Venezuela Is Out of Food: Here's What an Economic Collapse Really Looks Like

Venezuela Is Out of Food: Here's What an Economic Collapse Really Looks Like
Venezuela is out of food.
Venezuela foodAfter several years of long lines, rationing, and shortages, the socialist country does not have enough food to feed its population, and the opposition government has declared a “nutritional emergency.” This is just the most recent nail in the beleaguered country’s slow, painful economic collapse.
Many people expect an economic collapse to be shocking, instant, and dramatic but, really, it’s far more gradual than that.
It looks like empty shelves, long lines, desperate government officials trying to cover their tushes, and hungry people.
For the past two years, I’ve been following the situation in Venezuela as each shocking event has unfolded.
Americans who feel that our country would be better served by a socialist government would be wise to take note of this timeline of the collapse.
A quick review:

  • Why Venezuela Is Out of Food

Read on

TheTruth - The Common Truth

TheTruth - The Common Truth:

"Ted Cruz works in Washington DC but he is not an establishment insider. He is not the GOP’s poster boy and the fear of him winning is tangible by both the Democrats and the old guard republicans. Ted Cruz scares the heck out of them because he is steadfast to conservative values that represent us but the old guard surrenders every day.

Ted Cruz stands for the constitution and upholding the laws with no exceptions. The old guard finds exceptions to everything and if a deal is to be made, they want a guy who will deal. They want someone who will tell you it is “good for the people” as they roll the constitution into a ball and toss it in the trash. They have that with Marco Rubio but they could never get that from Ted Cruz."

Chelsea Clinton: I Left the Church When I Was 6 Because It Opposed Abortion

Chelsea Clinton: I Left the Church When I Was 6 Because It Opposed Abortion | LifeNews.com
"In a new interview, Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of pro-abortion presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, says she left the Baptist Church at the age of 6 because it has a strongly pro-life position opposing abortions.
Clinton made the comment at a recent fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in an attempt to address evangelicals who question her mother’s faith in God.
She said she was upset when teachers in a Sunday School class talked about the wrongness of abortion.
“I find it quite insulting sometimes when people say to my mom, my dad or me . . . that they question our faith,’ said Chelsea.
“I was raised in a Methodist church and I left the Baptist church before my dad did, because I didn’t know why they were talking to me about abortion when I was 6 in Sunday school — that’s a true story.”
“My mother is very deeply a person of faith,” Chelsea said.
“It is deeply authentic and real for my mother, and it guides so much of her moral compass, but also her life’s work...”

Is this a GREAT country, or what?-----Woman puts vulgar posts about ex-friend on Facebook, faces felony, police say

Woman puts vulgar posts about ex-friend on Facebook, faces felony, police say | MLive.com:
"BAY CITY, MI — A Bay City woman is in hot water for allegedly posting some nasty comments about a former friend on Facebook.
On Monday, Oct. 19, a Bay County Sheriff's deputy responded to a 45-year-old woman's harassment complaint. The woman told the deputy a former friend of hers, 35-year-old Rene K. Kolka, was posting derogatory comments on Facebook, court records show.
The complainant provided the deputy with copies of the Facebook posts, court records show.
In them, Kolka referred to the other woman as a "slut," said "We all know her skanky ways," referred to her as a "skinny tall coke head" and advised others "Don't catch an STD" from her, court records show.
Kolka also posted the woman's phone number, court records show.
The complainant told police she has since received numerous calls from unknown men inquiring about her, court records show... "

Lunch video-----Banned Speech at the Hyatt: Pamela Geller, "Truth is the New Hate Speech"

Noon-toon

American Patriots Make Epic Move That Has CAIR In Full Panic Mode

American Patriots Make Epic Move That Has CAIR In Full Panic Mode:

"The Center for Security Policy this week launched a monumental campaign, CounterJihad, with the sole purpose of battling the rise of radical Islam occurring both here and abroad.

“We are a movement of American citizen-activists dedicated to safeguarding the country from the danger posed by Islamic Supremacists,” the CounterJihad website announced.

The site mentioned the barbarity of the Islamic State group and other terror organizations, but made a point to highlight the greater threat that lies within American borders."

Obama Orders Pentagon, Generals and Admirals to Make Climate Change Job One

Obama Orders Pentagon, Generals and Admirals to Make Climate Change Job One | Somewhat Reasonable:
Military triumphs and catastrophes have often hinged on how well (or luckily) armies and navies employed, avoided or benefited from weather and other natural events.
Severe storms helped the British navy defeat Spain’s Armada in 1588.
George Washington knew horrid weather meant the Hessians would not expect an attack across the Delaware River on Christmas 1776.
Napoleon captured Moscow before leading his Grande Armée’s exhausted, starving, freezing remnants back to France through a bitter 1812 Russian winter.
Hitler’s army never even reached Moscow; it was decimated by disease, starvation, bullets and frigid cold at Stalingrad 140 years later.
Eisenhower’s Normandy invasion plans anticipated a full moon that would illuminate bomber targets and bring low tides to expose German mines and obstacles along the beaches. Instead, overcast skies limited Allied air support – but persuaded the Nazi high command that no invasion would occur for several days.
So senior officers stayed in Germany, leaving their army unprepared for D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Throughout history, commanders discovered that trying to predict the weather – or their enemies’ resolve – was fraught with peril.
Even today, accurate weather forecasting is a highly uncertain science, even a few days in advance, especially for hurricanes or winter blizzards in Mid-Atlantic states where winds, storm tracks, temperatures and moisture are affected by the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic.
But now President Obama wants to compound his social experimentation with the military, by ordering the Pentagon brass to focus not on imminent weather events surrounding battle plans – not on threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, ISIL, Hamas and other real hot spots – but on climate change years or decades in the future. 
He wants to replace Remember the Alamo with Remember the Climate!
Mr. Obama has issued an executive order directing the Department of Defense (and all other federal government agencies) to make preparing for global warming impacts a top priority, and treat climate change as our most serious national security threat.
He even warned 2015 Coast Guard Academy graduates that “denying” climate change is a “dereliction of duty.” 
You can’t make this stuff up.
The EO directs the Pentagon to order all military commanders, down to battle planning levels, to include climate change analyses in combat planning, training exercises, intelligence gathering, weapons testing and procurement, fuel types and use, and practically every other aspect of military operations. 
This could include restrictions on the type and duration of training flights, amphibious landings and tank maneuvers..."

RACIAL SEGREGATION IS BACK

Instapundit » Blog Archive » RACIAL SEGREGATION IS BACK, Brendan O’Neill writes in the Australian: What we’re witnessing, no…:
RACIAL SEGREGATION IS BACK, Brendan O’Neill writes in the Australian:
What we’re witnessing, not only in Australia but in other Western nations too, is the reawakening of the segregationist mindset. Segregationism has been given a makeover, turned from something that once made us wince — try looking at photos of an American “Coloured Drinking Fountain” without feeling horrified — to something that is treated as acceptable, even good: a “special measure” that can benefit certain groups.

The fashion for PC segregation is especially strong on Western campuses. In the US, students who think of themselves as decent, right-minded, left-of-centre people are openly demanding segregated spaces.

At Oberlin College in Ohio, student protesters are agitating for “safe spaces” for “Africana-identifying students”. At New York University, a student campaign is underway to create “an entire floor of the mixed-use building… to be dedicated to students of colour.” Students at UCLA want a floor of the student union building to be made African-American-only, on the basis that there needs to be a “safe space for black students”.

* * * * * * *

So now we’re expected to treat people as “racial/cultural beings”. We’re expected to “acknowledge” a person’s race. This grates against the great, progressive gains of the late twentieth century, especially of the American civil-rights movement, which encouraged us *not* to treat people as racial beings, and to *refuse* to acknowledge race.

Indeed, Martin Luther King’s great vision was a world in which his children, and everyone else’s, would “not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character”. That dream is being demolished. Now people are elevating colour over character, seeing others as racial beings rather than simply beings.
O’Neill’s column is headlined “Segregation staggers back to life,” but it’s not that new a trend.  
On American college campuses, segregation was revived by the left concurrent with political correctness as far back as the 1990s; as I’ve stated before, Michael Graham spotted these trends nearly 15 years ago in Redneck Nation. 
But as with PC itself, thought dead by the late 1990s – certainly immediately after 9/11 – Democrats’ return to embracing segregation in academia and rejecting the notion of a colorblind society has accelerated dramatically over the last decade."

Hmmmm....wonder who will fix this.........Duggan: Will weigh legal action against Detroit bankruptcy team for $491M pension shortfall

Duggan: Will weigh legal action against Detroit bankruptcy team for $491M pension shortfall - Crain's Detroit Business:
"Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Tuesday that he will look into a lawsuit against the city's bankruptcy consultants for using what he said were outdated data that have left Detroit with a $491 million pension fund shortfall.
Duggan revealed the shortfall during his third State of the City address in front of an estimated 2,500 people at Second Ebenezer Church -- more than a year after the city emerged from the largest and most expensive municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history."

Police Unions Band Together Across America... Hit Beyoncé With BRUTAL News

Police Unions Band Together Across America... Hit Beyoncé With BRUTAL News:

"Police across the country have a message for singer Beyoncé Knowles, and while she might not like it, she shouldn’t be surprised by it one bit.

After Tampa and Miami police said that they wouldn’t tolerate the singer’s anti-cop messages and would boycott her performances in those towns, more police have joined in to deliver a similar message to Beyoncé."

Morons deal with the devil....and tax payers on the hook again-----Van Buren Township lawsuit against Visteon Corp. dismissed

Van Buren Township lawsuit against Visteon Corp. dismissed - Crain's Detroit Business:
Van Buren Township is closer to financial pitfalls after a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled against the township last week in a bond payment battle with its largest corporate resident, Visteon Corp.
The suit, filed in August, alleged the multinational auto supplier breached its contract over bonds tied to the construction of Visteon’s 263-acre campus near Ecorse Road and I-275.
The small, rural township claims Visteon is legally obligated to cover the projected shortfall between bond payments and tax revenue from its corporate headquarters.
That shortfall is currently projected at $29 million by 2019 and that city services and residential taxes are at stake, said Linda Combs, township supervisor.
Visteon contends it isn’t obligated to cover the shortfall.
Judge Muriel Hughes agreed, in part, because a shortfall doesn’t currently exist, Visteon isn’t obligated to cover it. 
Judge Hughes dismissed the case without prejudice on Feb. 18.
“We felt the case was not ready to be heard, and the judge agreed,” Jim Fisher, director of corporate communications for Visteon, said in a statement to Crain’s.
...Van Buren Township agreed to pay $22 million toward the project using proceeds from 30-year tax increment financing bonds.
The total bonds issued for the project were $29 million.
On its end, Visteon agreed to spend $270 million toward the Visteon Village build-out.
The company initially expected Visteon Village to be home to more than 4,000 employees. 
Visteon employs fewer than 1,000 at the site currently.
The township projected the assessed value of the property to be $300 million with a taxable value of $150 million.
But by 2006, tax revenues from the property were already failing to meet bond payments.
Further complicating the matter, Visteon sold its headquarters in 2012 to the New York real estate firm Sovereign Partners LLC for $81.1 million.
In September 2013, Van Buren Township asked Visteon to begin negotiations toward a shortfall payment.
The shortfall payment, the payment-in-lieu of tax the company ultimately offered, was just $6,125.06.

AM Fruitcake

History for February 25

History for February 25 - On-This-Day.com:
Pierre Auguste Renoir 1841 - Impressionist artist, Zeppo Marx 1901 - Comedian (Marx Brothers), Jim Backus 1913 - Actor (voice of Mr. Magoo, "Gilligan's Island", "Rebel Without a Cause")


Bobby Riggs 1918 - Tennis player, Carrot Top 1967 - Comedian, Sean Astin 1971 - Actor ("The Goonies", "The War of the Roses", "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring")


1836 - Samuel Colt received U.S. Patent No. 138 (later 9430X) for a "revolving-cylinder pistol." It was his first patent.


1901 - The United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.


1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized a graduated income tax.






1919 - The state of Oregon became the first state to place a tax on gasoline. The tax was 1 cent per gallon.






1933 - The aircraft carrier Ranger was launched. It was the first ship in the U.S. Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier.


1837 - Thomas Davenport patented the first commercial electrical motor. There was no practical electical distribution system available and Davenport went bankrupt.


1986 - Filippino President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule after a tainted election.


2005 - Dennis Rader was arrested for the BTK serial killings in Wichita, KS. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 life prison terms.


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

LIBERTY REVIEW

LIBERTY REVIEW:

http://www.libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2016/02/shackles-and-chains-by-tammy-derouin.html

Shackles and Chains

By Tammy Derouin

This past week began with much shock and disbelief, followed by somber moments of reflection.  The realization of such a loss stirs up feelings of uncertainty and fear.  Coming to terms with an unexpected loss can be a difficult process.  But, coming to terms with a loss, which could have been prevented, is a different kind of grief. 

The unexpected and highly suspicious death of Justice Scalia is a tragedy.  On a personal level, a family lost a father, a husband and a brother.  Many lost a friend and colleague.  On a national level, everyone lost a defender of freedom.  This was an individual who upheld the U.S. Constitution and he didn’t back down.  Many will not realize how important Justice Scalia was, even if they did not agree with him, until it’s too late. 

Our nation is in crisis.  We are sinking to depths I never thought possible.  In the reality in which we now live, a great divide has taken place.  If you love and support the United States, the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. flag along and the traditions and values which once made us a great and powerful nation, you are now a racist, an extremist, and an oppressor.  You have become the enemy; the target of the executive and his administration. 

The behavior of the Left is quite unsettling.  This is a movement, a political party, with a very disturbing agenda.  They create problems where few existed and create a false reality to confuse the masses.  Those who are unwilling to look beyond the surface are herded like sheep as complimentary blinders are secured into place.

Come one, come all!  Sign up for every entitlement available.....

Why do we allow this?!!-----VA Hid Failed Hospital Chief In Manila

VA Hid Failed Hospital Chief In Manila | The Daily Caller
"Rima Nelson disappeared from public view after the St. Louis Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital she managed potentially exposed 1,800 patients to HIV, was closed twice for serious medical safety issues and ranked dead last in patient satisfaction.
But Nelson wasn’t fired.
Her VA superiors hid her literally on the other side of the Earth in 2013 at the department’s only foreign facility, a seldom-used clinic inside the palatial U.S. Embassy in the Philippines capital city of Manila.
She resides in a government-provided condo and gets the same $160,000 salary she made in St. Louis, which allows her to live like royalty in a country where the average person makes only $2,500 a year..."

Hillary Clinton is an old-hand when it comes to stealing documents

Hillary Clinton is an old-hand when it comes to stealing documents | Power Line
"On a couple of occasions during this election season, I’ve written in detail about Hillary Clinton and the Whitewater/Castle Grande scandal.
Although the events in question took place 25 years (or so) ago, they are relevant today because at the heart of that scandal, insofar as Hillary is concerned, was the theft and/or wrongful destruction of documents. 
Such conduct is also a central issue in Hillary’s current email scandal, although this matter also raises concerns that she compromised national security.
Now, the invaluable Judicial Watch has obtained and published an April 1998 memo by the Office of Independent Counsel, called “HRC Order of Proof.”
It includes the names of 121 witnesses and a discussion of the evidence to be used at trial against the Whitewater/Castle Grande conspirators. 
The memo thus constitutes a road map to the Independent Counsel’s criminal case.
Ken Starr, the Independent Counsel, decided not to proceed against Hillary Clinton.
He did so, it is said, because he believed his team could not win the complicated, largely circumstantial case against such a high-profile figure.
It’s quite possible that, in addition, political calculation came into play.
In any event, the evidence against Clinton was substantial, as the newly released “HRC Order of Proof” confirms. 
Here are some of the items the memo shows the Independent Counsel had the testimony needed to establish:
* Carolyn Huber, a Clinton aide, received a call from Mrs. Clinton on the night of March 7, 1992, instructing her to get certain records at the Rose Law Firm (Hilary’s former employer) and deliver them to the Clinton presidential campaign.
* That night, Rose Law firm documents were passed to a campaign aide in the firm’s parking lot.
* Rose Law Firm billing records were taken out of storage in February/March 1992 and not returned.
* During this same period, there was a furious Clinton effort to locate documents and shut down witnesses...
...This is just part of the Independent Council’s case described in the memo.
If you read the whole thing in conjunction with my earlier post, I think you will conclude that Hillary Clinton deserved to be indicted and might well have been convicted.
You probably will also agree with me that document theft or destruction is nothing new for Hillary Clinton.
Lots more proof here.
Read on!

POWERFUL Meme Reveals HARD TRUTH About Muslims and Islam | The Federalist Papers

POWERFUL Meme Reveals HARD TRUTH About Muslims and Islam | The Federalist Papers:

"There’s a persistent taboo on the Left which demands that every incident of terror be attributed to American foreign politics … [b]ut Islamists aren’t killing cartoonists because the U.S. invaded Iraq. And ISIS isn’t exterminating the Yazidis because of America’s sordid relationship with Saudi Arabia.

… [I]f you think ISIS is merely a reaction against U.S. foreign policy, you’re dangerously misguided.

… Their hatred of infidels and their belief in martyrdom and armed Jihad have a scriptural basis, and it’s dishonest to pretend otherwise."

Must see video!--Is the end near?-----Why So Many Millennials Are Socialists

Why So Many Millennials Are Socialists
Since when did socialism become en vogue?
It seems like only a few years ago being called a socialist in American politics was an insult.
Today, however, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders—a self-avowed socialist—is quickly rising in the polls, and millennials are largely driving his support.
The Iowa caucus entrance poll found Sanders garnered an overwhelming 84 percent of the 30 and under vote. 
Exit polls from New Hampshire found 85 percent support for Sanders among voters ages 30 and younger.
What is going on?
Millennials are simply not that alarmed by the idea of socialism.
For instance, a national Reason-Rupe survey found that 53 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds view socialism favorably, compared to only a quarter of Americans over 55.
A more recent January YouGov survey found that 43 percent of respondents younger than 30 viewed socialism favorably, compared to 32 percent thinking favorably of capitalism.
In fact, millennials are the only age cohort in which more are favorable toward socialism than unfavorable.

Clinton Spox Says Judge’s Decision on Email Scandal Is Part of Right-Wing Conspiracy — Then News Anchor Drops Inconvenient Fact | Video | TheBlaze.com

Clinton Spox Says Judge’s Decision on Email Scandal Is Part of Right-Wing Conspiracy — Then News Anchor Drops Inconvenient Fact | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said a federal judge’s ruling that Clinton and her top aides should be questioned under oath about the candidate’s private email server is part of the ring wing’s effort to hurt her chances of becoming president — he was then confronted with an inconvenient fact."

Lunch video-----What is Crony Capitalism?

Noon-toon