The Man Who Wasn't There

When did Barack Obama lose his ability to understand, to identify with and to inspire huge groups of people?  In 2008 Barack Obama was a master communicator.  His campaign appearances drew tens of thousands and motivated millions more.  He swept Hillary aside in the primary election, easily who the Presidency and even won the Nobel Peace Prize. He quite literally inspired the entire world.

Somehow he lost that ability.  It's been gone for a few years.  It faded away slowly and we didn't really notice at first.  But it's completely gone now. Maybe the Presidency has worn him down. Maybe he is so isolated that he has simply lost touch with the people.

Obama has done some very bold and courageous things. None may be more important or have more of a lasting impact than his warming relations with Cuba, reopening the Embassy and relaxing travel.  This was long overdue and it will, in fact, be a major part of his legacy.

But then he completely mishandles his reaction to the Terrorist Attack in Brussels.  Obama actually DID NOTHING WRONG, HE SIMPLY DID NOTHING.  He reacted badly, coldly, even callously.  When people needed comfort, warmth and support he offered...... well. he offered nothing.  He completely mishandled the optics of the tragedy.  He appeared uncaring, aloof, out-of-touch.

A baseball game and a Tango didn't help.  

I think we all miss the Barack Obama of 2008.  I think the world needs that Obama and not the sad, isolated shell of the once great man that we are presented with today.

Ebola Infects the Presidency

Three Short Ebola Observations:

• We American citizens were over confident and, well, downright smug about the ability of our vastly superior Health and Medical Structure to combat Ebola if it ever invaded our country.  Now, as it turns out, our strengths have proven to be our weakness.  In small African nations, the population is very poor and relatively stationary making it easy to locate and quarantine the infected people.

Here in the United States, people are relatively wealthy and extremely mobile, taking trips constantly by plane, train, bus and even vacations on cruise ships.  In Africa an Ebola victim generally can only infect family, friends and very close neighbors.  Here anyone EXPOSED can jump on a plane, train or ship and expose hundreds or even thousands of people.  Our wealth and independence make controlling the disease both more difficult and vastly more expensive.

• President Obama's extremely poor management style where no one is ever held accountable for anything, has created a massive bureaucracy of sheer incompetence throughout the Federal Government.  Never in our history has our government been less prepared to face a crisis.  As error after error piled up on the gross mishandling on the first Ebola patient, no one from the CDC ever did so much as issue an intelligent guideline, let alone provider hands-on direction to health care workers.  

The hospital did not even have the correct protective gear for doctors and nurses for days.  The CDC never issued guidelines on how to handle the infection.  CDC Director Thomas Frieden, no matter how intelligent or educated he might be on infectious diseases, is a grossly incompetent manager. Worse, he is an ineffective spokesperson.  Many Democrats as well as virtually all Republicans are calling for his resignation.


Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal "The administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis continues to be marked by double talk, runaround and gobbledygook. And its logic is worse than its language. In many of its actions, especially its public pronouncements, the government is functioning not as a soother of public anxiety but the cause of it."

• Only a President as totally unprepared for his job, a President who seemingly has learned nothing over six years, could possibly appoint someone as thoroughly unqualified as Ron Klain to the EBOLA CZAR.  Klain has not one second of medical experience and not one second of experience in handling an epidemic.

To be certain Mr. Klain will have, as his primary job, communicating with the press and public.  Since he cannot credibly answer a single question, the press will eat him alive and the public will further lose confidence in the Obama Administration.

You would think at least on person advising the President would have said, "Sir, you know this appointment of a political manager is going to look very bad and will reflect poorly on your continued handling of this crisis.  This IS NOT a political crisis, Sir, it's a medical crisis." 


Perhaps it was said. Perhaps the President chose not to listen.

Ebola: Coming to a City Near You

Zsuzsanna Jakab, the European Director of the World Health Organization warned today that Ebola is certain to spread throughout Europe.  He stated it was "quite unavoidable."

This warning was tempered in a way that he hoped would not frighten Europe but enable them to prepare for the certainty that people in their countries, and perhaps their cities would contract the disease. 

It's not easy to contract Ebola, but it is difficult to provide the necessary isolation to keep the disease from spreading.  Fear is our very worst enemy.  People will lie to both avoid isolation and to seek treatment.  It's a dangerous brew.

Jakab's warning should have been made for the United States as well.  As it spreads through Europe it will invade the USA increasingly often.  And we lack practical methods of prevention, reasonable methods of isolation, and we have zero efforts at education.  

I'm frankly more worried about the impact on our economy even more than our national health.  Even a relatively minor outbreak will frighten most citizens.  And frightened citizens do desperate things.  The cost of prevention will be astronomical.

As has been the case under President Obama, virtually every threat has been underestimated, minimized or dismissed by the administration.  Ebola is no different.  We need a national health response plan now and our citizens need to be educated and informed to avoid panic.  

America's Genocide

No teenager, black, brown or white should ever be murdered by a police officer.  Not ever.

Fortunately, it actually is a very rare occurrence, in spite of what you might "feel" after listening to the non-stop television reports and the rantings of certain pundits.  In  fact, it makes the national news because it is so rare.  We can spend hours upon hours concentrating on the events in Ferguson, Missouri because not one other similar event (white officer, black victim) happened since that date.  I am thankful for that.

But events in Ferguson further distract us from the real American Genocide happening EVERY SINGLE DAY WITHOUT EXCEPTION all across America.  Not one of these stories make national news. Not one of these genocidal murders ever gets the attention of President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, or any leaders in the Black community.

None-the-less, black teenage males are being murdered at an alarming rate, every day.  The dead numbers in the thousands just this year.  When do we make this a priority? When do we step in to save lives? When do we stop the Genocide?

Thirteen year old Nizzear Rodriguez was shot and killed Sunday in Atlanta by three black men (ages 17 to 24) as he slept in bed during a home robbery to steal his Play Station.

Nine year old Antonio Smith was shot and killed execution style, shot four time, just minutes after he ran outdoors to play. in his Chicago South Side neighborhood.  

The shooter or shooters have not been identified and the crime may never be solved. The Chicago Tribune has an excellent story here: Parents Visit the Block Where Antonio Was Killed

I could go on...... I have over seventy more stories in just over the last ten days......

We cry for justice for Michael Brown, exactly as we should, but we ignore the American Genocide of young black men happening right before our eyes.

"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that"

"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."

Assuming you've seen the Sprint "Framily" commercials you recognize that line, spoken by the father (alright, he is a hamster living in a plastic ball) in response to his rather dim witted son Chuck's comment at the dinner table with "Grandpa." Here is a link to the commercial in case you somehow missed it ---> Dinner with Grandpa

Dad's frustrated punch line in the commercial, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that," mirrors my frustration with the inexplicable behavior of our virtually absent Commander in Chief, who appears to be nearly totally uninterested in world events in Gaza, the Ukraine or Libya, the border crisis here in the United States or even his own plummeting poll numbers.  He seems to be blissfully ignoring them all.

Surely President Obama is not as dim witted as Chuck in the above mentioned commercial.  So what is he doing?  It's a great mystery to nearly everyone.

Frustration among Democrats is starting to boil over as President Obama faces criticism from many members of his own party in Congress who simply don't understand why he is so unengaged, detached or oblivious to events swirling around him.

He demonizes Republicans at every chance (mostly at fundraisers), but never attempts to actually engage them. He claims to have a "pen and a telephone" but the telephone is never used.  He never calls John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan in an attempt to broker a deal, reach a compromise and reduce tension.  He quite literally has no friends or allies in Congress or anywhere on the world stage.

The entire nation, indeed the entire world, simply "doesn't know where to go with that."  No one alive today has ever seen the President of the United States simply abdicate his role in world affairs.

Yesterday, spokesmen from the White House suddenly gave credence to the wildly speculative talk of possible Impeachment.  I simply must say, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."  It's almost as if they wish Republicans would engage in that behavior as it might actually raise the President's approval rating much as it did for President Clinton. Perhaps they believe talk of impeachment would help turn out Democrats in the fall elections.

However, curiously, two polls about his possible impeachment were released yesterday.  It's laughable to read CNN's downplaying the fact that their own poll indicated an astonishing 35% of Americans favor impeachment.  That number is huge and more than a little scary.

The media downplayed a Fox News Poll, also released yesterday, that showed a nearly identical 36% favor impeachment.

I don't believe that impeachment is even a remote possibility today. House Speaker John Boehner says it's "off the table."

But.... If Barack Obama continues his absentee role as President and his approval rating continue to fall.... and more Democrats continue to criticize him... well, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."

--------------------------------

Perhaps because I spent a good part of my career in Advertising I really appreciate the genius of the new Sprint "Framily" commercials. They have become a cultural phenomena.  Virtually everyone I meet, both friends and random acquaintances seem to know virtually every line from every commercial in the series.  It is a client's dream and I'm sure Sprint loves that this series of commercials has gone viral.

The voice of Dad, also known as Tom Frobinson (the hamster), is voiced by Andrew Dice Clay.  The part of Mom, or "Tacos" Mollie Frobinson in the commercials is played by brilliant Judy Greer  The son "You can also text" Chuck is played by Kyle Mooney. And the part of "It's pronounced Gor-don" is played  fantastically by Justin Michael.

The series of commercials, referred to in the industry as "The Frobinsons" was created by Figliulo & Partners and is their first campaign for Sprint.  The campaign was created in partnership with DigitasLBi and MediaVest and designed to promote a rather unique cellular telephone plan now called the Sprint Framily Plan.  Under Sprint's concept you get to decide exactly who you consider to be members of your "Framily." It can be actual family, friends, acquaintances, roommates or even hamsters.  The more members of your "Framily" the lower the bill for each member.

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,"

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," is probably the most famous quote by any President in our lifetime.  President Bush's praise of FEMA Director Michael Brown during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 illustrated to ALL the American public exactly how out of touch the President was concerning the unfolding disaster in New Orleans.  The public was watching the disaster unfold, live, on television.  President Bush, briefed badly by incompetent advisers simply had no idea what was happening.

Bush rallied and by all impartial accounts did a masterful job in directing the efforts in the aftermath of Katrina, making over a dozen grueling trips and personally overseeing every aspect of the recovery*, but he is always remembered for that one quote.

Because we are now so used to President Obama lying about absolutely everthing, his stating that he's “not interested in photo ops" in defending his decision to not visit the border even one time will never receive the legendary status of the Bush "Brownie" quote.  Never-the-less it does illustrate exactly how horribly out of touch he is concerning the current border immigration crisis.

Fortunately ABC NEWS is covering the situation in depth.  Their report Here's What Obama Would See If He Visited the Border is frightening.  Be certain to read and watch the entire story at the link above. Below is a tiny portion of the report.

Children, wrapped only in Red Cross blankets, sleep on cement floors. Hundreds of young children apprehended at the border are crowded into sanitary but impersonal detention cells, their faces pressed listlessly against the glass.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told ABC News that the president risks looking “detached,” calling the optics “horrible.”

“If you go down to the border, he has to see the kids that I’ve seen, young girls, young boys, you know, that have come through very difficult situations. It is a humanitarian crisis, and he can either do two things,” Cuellar said. “One, as a leader, he can be defiant and say I’m going to roll up my sleeves and see the humanitarian crisis. Or he can look detached, appear detached and say I’m doing everything long distance.”

Today it is certainly Barack Obama who is out of touch.  And, unlike President Bush during Katrina, Obama isn't doing a damned thing to alleviate the situation,  Instead he demonizes Republicans.  He makes speeches calling Republican's evil.  He doesn't even try to win over popular public support. He seems more interested in making enemies than allies. He has yet to appeal to the American Public, who would, most assuredly, rally to the cause.

Today it is Glenn Beck of all people who is doing the right thing for all the right reasons.  It is Beck who is illuminating the crisis and it is Beck who is appealing directly to the American People for support, tolerance and understanding.  

The President ought to ask Glenn Beck for a ride and join him on the border.  The President ought to appeal to the public for donation, support and a willingness to take in refugees in their local communities.  The President ought to pretend, for just a few hours to be a leader.  Frankly, Obama needs a photo-op.

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* See and read how President Bush handled the aftermath of the Katrina Crisis in Jonathan Tilove's New Orleans Times-Picayune article written in October 2009. 

A Nation Cries out for a Leader

For five and one half years we've had, as President, a man who loves the trappings of the office, but dislikes and avoids any of the real responsibilities of the job.  Barack Obama is a gifted orator, perhaps the greatest to even hold the office of President. He is a visionary and a man who, at least at one time, had a real feel for the pulse of the people.

He has vision, but lacks virtually any ability.  He is not a leader and he is not, most certainly, a politician.  He cannot negotiate and is completely unwilling to compromise.  He rails daily against Republicans for not bending to his will, but never works with them to achieve a mutual advantage.  Mutual being the operative word.

Slowly, but surely, the press and the public have turned against him. Today most people (a surprisingly large majority) wish they had elected Mitt Romney president. Add me to that column, because today we really need a President. And we don't have one.

Because he has no ability to manage the office, Barack Obama has checked out. Republican's claim Obama has chosen to become an "Imperial President," acting on his own as if he were a king.  Even that is not true, he simply has embarked on a two and a half year retirement tour doing the only thing he knows how to do, give speeches to dwindling and increasingly hostile crowds.

Have we ever had a President have complete breakdown in office?  Rumor has it that Woodrow Wilson did.  Wilson's wife managed much of the last years of his Presidency.

Today the border and immigration problem has reached crisis proportions.  The administration is furtively hiding tens of thousands of illegal immigrants all over the country, many of them children.  Even Congressmen and Governors are being kept on the dark, not allowed to visit immigrants or encampments or even allowed to know the locations where illegal immigrants are held. Rumors are rampant.

Rich Lowrey (yes, I know he is a partisan Republican) has written a brilliant essay in The New York Post, The President's Man Caused Disaster. Below are some key points, rearranged and abbreviated by me. Be certain you follow the link above and read his original and complete essay.

The first rule in a crisis for any executive is put on his windbreaker and boots and get out on the ground. President George W. Bush didn’t do it soon enough after Hurricane Katrina and, politically, could never make up for it.

Obama’s bizarre resistance to visiting the border on his fundraising swing out West fueled talk of the influx as Obama’s “Katrina moment.”

The president didn’t have any depressing visits to frightened ranchers, overwhelmed border agents or desperate migrants on his itinerary.

Obama’s policies are responsible for the influx of immigrants from the border. It is, in the argot of his administration, a “man-caused disaster.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the number of immigrants younger than 18 who were deported or turned away from ports of entry declined from 8,143 in 2008 to 1,669 last year. There were 95 minors deported from the entire interior of the country last year.

At the same time, the number of unaccompanied alien children arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras exploded from less than 4,000 several years ago to 40,000 since last October.

The White House brushes off criticism that Obama is avoiding the border as mere “optics,” in contrast to its highly substantive focus.

But it’s still not taking the crisis seriously. In a letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett downgraded the erstwhile “humanitarian crisis” on the border (the president’s words) to an “urgent humanitarian situation.”

When pressed on the shift in verbiage, ever-judicious White House press secretary Josh Earnest explained that it is both a crisis and a situation. Yes, it’s that bad.

The real question is can President Obama "Man Up" and accept the responsibilities of President?  We really need a leader.  Actually we really need several leaders.

In 1974 it was a trio of Republicans in Congress who grew to accept the challenge and face down another "Imperial President," Richard Nixon.  It would have been impossible for a Democrat, a member of the opposition, to carry the hard facts to President Nixon.  If the crisis in leadership in 1974 was to be solved, it had to be done by members of the President's own party.

It was Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, House Minority Leader John J. Rhodes and Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, who had both the integrity and courage to face President Nixon with the news that he must resign for the good of the country.

It is quite interesting that just a few days ago Barack Obama named Richard Nixon as one of the Republicans he most admires [LINK: Obama's speech in Austin Texas]. 

Let's hope President Obama does not have to resign. Let's hope he can become the President our country so desperately needs.

Can Americans Ever Work Together Again?

This morning I watched Bob Schieffer's Face the Nation, as I often do. Bob's calm and disciplined look at politics and political issues is a refreshing break from the hyperbole found on the highly partisan cable news networks.  People are not yelling at each other but actually talking with each other.

One of Bob's guest commentators this morning was Todd S. Purdum, author of a new book about the passing of the landmark civil rights legislation during another time of great political partisanship, An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964

After discussing the book, Bob Schieffer wondered if we would ever see this type of cooperation between the political parties again.  Please keep in mind that is was a coalition of a majority of Republicans with only some Democrats who actually passed the Civil Right's Bill.

The answer to Schieffer's plaintive plea is actually in the book.  The answer in 1964 was President Lyndon B. Johnson's incredible style of management of the political process. Johnson never once even imagined, let alone threatened that would "bypass Congress" or usurp the Constitution to accomplish his difficult task.  Instead Johnson masterfully worked across the aisle to win support.

Lyndon B. Johnson picked up the phone, quite literally all day, every day and talked with supporters and opponents of the bill.  He wanted to understand, genuinely understand, the reasons so many in Congress opposed the bill.  He wanted to learn  how he could win the support of those who wavered.  He used the power of persuasion and politics.  He horse-traded. He cajoled. He begged and he promised.  And he enacted what is one of the single most contentions pieces of legislation even enacted in our nation's history.

I genuinely believe President Barack Obama could get immigration reform passed if he could just bring himself to stoop down to the level of one of the greatest politicians in our nations's history, and one of our greatest statesmen, Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Racism in Gun Violence Reporting

It's been a tough, demanding news week. Between the Sunni led invasion and revolution in Iraq that genuinely threatens to topple the government and the controversial Bergdahl - Taliban prisoner exchange and the stunning Tea Party election victory over Republican Eric Cantor in the Virginia primary, it's amazing that anything broke into the news stream.

But one huge controversy did break through and occupied significant time on MSNBC, Fox News and CNN: A group called Everytown for Gun Safety released what they thought was a definitive list of all the school shooting since Sandy Hook, a stunning seventy-four examples of gun violence in or around school.

Immediately nearly everyone tore the list apart, claiming it was fatally flawed with non-school shootings, unrelated crimes and events like suicides that should not be included in the list.  However, Liberals and Gun Control Advocates trumpeted the list demanding increased gun laws and stricter licensing requirements.  After all, seventy-four school shootings is a nightmare.

Now, admittedly the list is a huge exaggeration.  CNN recompiled the list into actual school shootings and it only came up with ten (10).  But ten is still terrible.  And, regardless, the news cycle was dominated by statistics about past events, not a current event at all.

The real question is "Why?"  The answer is obvious. School Shootings are horrific. They are easy to visualize. I bet you can see it now ---> Innocent children mowed down by a machine gun wielding rambo-like maniac.  Of course we need gun control.

But maybe these school yard shootings get the press and publicity, public outcry and notoriety for another reason.  The victims are virtually always white.  So are the shooters.

You remember Sandy Hook In Sandy Hook twenty-seven were shot.

Last weekend, Father's Day Weekend, twenty-five (25) people were shot in south and west Chicago. One as young fifteen, another seventeen. By the way, the fifteen year old lived, the seventeen year old was killed. And this happens most weekends. A Sandy Hook every week.

No one reports this, but if they did, no one would talk about it. Why?

Is it because because most of the victims and shooters are black?  Is it because Chicago already has the toughest gun laws in America, laws that are rarely if ever enforced?

There is just no milage in discussing America's Genocide. No one can profit. No one can raise money. No one can lobby for tougher laws.

And no one wants to even brooch the real issues of societal breakdown behind the gang related violence.

We Liberals love to blame guns because they are inanimate objects.  People? Not so much.

The Stunning Stupidity of The (Totally Unaffordable) Affordable Care Act

This is my promised follow-up to my April 28th essay, The Unfolding Nightmare of The (Totally Unaffordable) Affordable Care Act.

Capitalism is the most amazing engine of innovation the world has ever known. Capitalism finds the tinest nook of a need and leaps in, unfettered, to fill this miniscule of a void.

For example, did you realize there over ONE MILLION different vehicle combinations for sale in America today! There are hundreds of brands and models of cars, and even more models of trucks, and hundreds more motorcycles. Then you add the choices of commercial vehicles, ambulances, heavy duty haulers, delivery trucks, oil tankers, grain trucks, trash and refuse trucks.... Well, you get the idea and I'm not including airplanes and railroad vehicles.

Need a vehicle? You have over one million choices.  There is one just perfect for you.

Need health insurance? You have exactly one choice.  Just one. Only one. Period.  There is no innovation. There is no variety. There are no options. There is no competition.  One size fits all.

To make matters one hell of a lot worse, the one single, solitary Health Insurance Plan was written by a committee. A committee of politicians and special interest lobbyists.  The politicians included many things that are totally unnecessary, designed only to garner votes.  They included little gifts (worth hundreds of millions of dollars) to their friends.  They actually did not care if the damned plan worked.  

They purposely kept out any little remnants of capitalism.  They expressly forbid competition across state lines.  And they forbid any innovation.  Every aspect of the exact nature of the Health Care Insurance was spelled out to the tiniest detail in the 2,000 page bill and the tens of thousands of pages of regulations.

Although Insurance companies are required to provide the product and administer its implementation, they were forbidden to sell it.  Advertising was run only by the government and sales were accomplished by untrained, unqualified "Navigators."

The stunning power of capitalism that gives you hundreds of versions of the Ford F-150 Truck, and gives you brilliant "Madison Avenue" advertising to explain all the features and benefits of the truck was forbidden by the legislation.  Nope, government knows best.

When I purchased my Ford I had the benefit of dozens of competing dealerships with well trained salesmen and full service garage mechanics from which to chose.  And the dealers all fought for my business and competed to offer me the lowest price.  Of course the government outlawed such competition for my Health Care dollars. 

Thanks to the complicated Affordable Care Act, I am allowed to buy ONE complicated, unworkable, nightmare of an insurance product, from an untrained "navigator" or, worse yet, for a non-working "Internet Website." 

Why did this happen?

Well Democrats, and many of my fellow liberals and progressives, hate capitalism.  To them, Capitalism is public enemy number one.   They believe, as they sip on their Starbuck's Latte and text on their iPhone, that Capitalism is a nightmare of oppression. Capitalism is not to be trusted. Capitalism must be controlled, regulated, managed and, ultimately, neutered.

The Democrats, who designed the Affordable Care Act without input from a single Republican, decided patient choice would no longer be available to Americans. You can chose your car, your coffee, your chicken sandwich, but not your health insurance.  Your 85 year old Aunt Mary, your two year old nephew Phillip and the high wire acrobat in the circus all get the same plan.  And all pay the same basic rate

In the place of choice you get mandatory services provided to each and every customer whether they’re wanted or needed or not.  

This is what has led to the insane price increases combined with massive deductible increases virtually all American's are now encountering.  And this one size fits all policy is also the cause of the elimination of many doctors and hospitals from most people's plans.  ObamaCare actually forces narrower networks and fewer doctors to care for (potentially) more patients.

ObamaCare doesn't work because it basically cannot work.

I like my Ford F-150 Truck.  I like the color blue.  I like the gas milage.  I like the long bed for hauling my four-wheeler.  And I like that fact that, unlike my ObamaCare Insurance Plan, my Ford will NOT cost me $10,000.00 every year in deductibles and premiums.

The government does regulate some aspects of my truck.  The EPA sets gas milage targets that Ford must meet.  And there are safety standards, air bags, seatbelts and more.  Had government taken the same approach to health insurance, I would be choosing from dozens of plans, with competitors from all around the nation.

We Liberals must learn to embrace what works and discard what doesn't.  Government can do a good job of regulation.  They should then have let the marketplace develop the products, advertise and sell them.  Liberals must learn to harness the horsepower of capitalism, not lock it away in the barn.

The Unfolding Nightmare of The (Totally Unaffordable) Affordable Care Act

It is possible to write a thousand essays about the failings of the Affordable Care Act, each covering a different aspect of this ill conceived and horrifically executed piece of legislation.

Then one could write a thousand more about the damages done to America and the American citizens at the hands of ObamaCare and the mindless bureaucrats charged with implementing this nightmare of a healthcare system.

Everytime I go to write a blog entry about ObamaCare I'm despondent I haven't written more and sooner.

But today the "other shoe" dropped for the small business where I work.  The insurance provider (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) was unable to renew the current policy and replaced it with a new policy that complies with the absurd requirements of The ACA (affordable Care Act or ObamaCare as it is unpopularly known).  The new play is a "silver level" plan

Here's the good news - the premiums only increased 15%.  The Board of Directors quickly decided to absorb all of the cost increase, passing NONE of it on to the employees.

But the bad news is devastating,  Deductibles and copays have skyrocketed.  Effectively employees who face a major (but far from life threatening) illness or injury to a member of their family could face copays and deductibles of over $12,000 or more!! Previously, under similar circumstances an employee would have paid under $2,000.00.

Likewise prescription co-pays skyrocketed, from $9.00 for a generic drug to $40.00.  Brand Name drugs jump to $120.00 or more under certain circumstances.

Co-Pays and Deductibles cover every conceivable procedures individually, so they multiply exponentially for a hospital stay, where x-rays, ct-scans or MRI's might be needed before surgery.

My good friend Steve keeps singing the praises of Obamacare in his blog here. Sadly I don't believe his experience is the same as younger, lower to middle income workers.

Middle class Americans can raise a family of four (especially if they are married with a working spouse), but little is left for savings.  But even with a middle class income of $40,000.00 to $65,000.00 annually, they cannot afford to get sick with the co-pays and deductibles they face under the new ObamaCare compliant insurance policies.  Even a minor illness or accident with place the average employee into deep debt our total bankruptcy.

Can you imagine an illness striping you of 1/3rd our your annual take home pay.  Name one middle class person who could afford that cost.

Based on this astonishingly bad news, the Directors of the company where I work are looking at ways to increase employee coverage to the "Gold" or even "Platinum" level of ObamaCare.  But even Platinum will increase deductibles and co-pays over the old plan. If the decision is made to upgrade the level of the plan then monthly premiums will skyrocket.  There are no good options.

In spite of President Obama's dishonest effort to delay the implementation of ObamaCare plans for employers and corporations until after the November election, the insurance companies will roll out the new plans on a company's annual renewal date.  

This may be the first story you read, but it won't be the last.  Look for hundreds more over the next few months.  As this rolls out it seems unlikely any Democrat can be re-elected.

I'll be covering exactly why this is happening in an upcoming blog entry..

President Obama Has My Full Support (and he should have your's)

I understand politics.  I know Republicans are positioning for the mid-term elections, as well they should.  I personally hope they take control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House.

I also realize Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and even Governor Mitt Romney are positioning themselves for a possible run for the Presidency in 2016.  I respect all these men and believe any one of them is capable of becoming a good President.

But I was deeply distressed by Senator Cruz comments today that I felt attacked President Obama in a personal and very derogatory manner.  I find this upsetting.

Cruz said, in summary, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russians were "Openly Laughing at President Obama" and he went on to imply that President Obama's weakness was a valid cause for the Russians to belittle the President.  Here is a link to the story:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/ted-cruz-the-russians-are-openly-laughing-at-obama/article/2546343

I hope, when and if Senator Cruz becomes President he is given substantially more support than he has shown President Obama today.

I would have respected Senator Cruz much more if he had instead warned President Putin that America stood strongly behind President Obama and that Putin was making a tragic mistake to think for even a moment that America was weak or lacked the determination to stand by our principles, our allies and our President.

Had Cruz given that tough speech he would, quite literally, be a shoo-in for President in 2016.  America does love a strong leader who places principle above politics.  Playing petty politics in the face of Vladimir Putin is a mistake Senator Cruz and others should not make.

What Grade Would You Give Barack Obama?

What grade would you give President Barack Obama for 2013?  If it's an "A" you'll really enjoy the thoughtful and detailed blog article by my friend Steve over on the peripateticblogger.com

Sadly I can't agree with Steve. My reply is printed below:

Whoa! I'm shocked to say the least.  It's one thing to be an Obama supporter and a strong and unyielding supporter of the Liberal agenda, it's quite another to give Obama any marks for success.

His signature accomplishment, The poorly named Affordable Care Act (to which he contributed absolutely nothing beyond overblown sales hucksterism) should be an F---.  The program will leave more people uninsured than ever before, will destroy the middle class (who will carry the financial weight of the program) and will quickly collapse into dust.  Unfortunately it may also destroy the actual health care system as it collapses.  Let us hope that doesn't happen.

Over the next four years it will be largely replaced.  Unfortunately the program is so tainted it might result in a rebound toward the Republican models rather than the single payer plan we all originally envisioned.  It certainly will cost Democrats control of the Senate in 2014.

Barack Obama is ill suited to be President and has been proven unable to accomplish the job.  None of this had to happen.  It was all avoidable and a more able politician and manager could have given us the Affordable Health Care Act we all desired and deserved.

Anecdotal Evidence

ObamaScare
by SCOTT SCHABLOW

So far, my experience with The Affordable Care Act provides me with ZERO confidence that any part of it will ever produce anything other than chaos. I am hereby renaming the plan ObamaScare, because frankly it frightens the hell out of me. Friends tell me stories about premiums rising 1000%, A friend called the Alabama Insurance Department and the spokesperson there said the average Alabamian may see a 300% increase in premiums. That is IF ANYONE EVER GETS TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS! I spent a couple hours filling out the online application. The section before the identity verification kept losing my information each time I logged off, even after repeated saves. Each time I logged back in I had to re-enter the same information. This game I repeated SIX TIMES at about 30 minutes each. I FINALLY got to the end of the section and I was ready to embark on the ID verification process and present the submitted application tfor verification.

But wait, after I submitted the information for the ID verification process I got an error saying that my ID could not be verified online. I needed to call the Healthcare Marketplace. Where is this cool sounding marketplace? Near the Wharf in SanFran? Or maybe PepperPlace in B'ham? Nope it's nowheresville. I place the call. After waiting on hold a short while I heard, "Hello this is the hellfiredamgeplace whatdjks;aieh kdsljf". Assuming that the inaudible mumbling I just heard actually confirmed I had called the correct place, I proceeded with, "Yes, hello, I am trying to fill out my application at Healtcare.gov (I really wanted to say I'm battling ObamaScare Gallactica!) and I got to the part where I need to verify my identity and I got an error saying to call this number."

She says "OK." Silence. . . more silence. . . not a word. Me: "Hello, is anyone there?' She: "yes." Then more silence, but this time I can hear someone in the background whispering, "Ask him mumble mumble blah blah." More silence (even the mysterious whispers have stopped). Then, like someone jumping out of a closet in front of an unsuspecting kid feeling this way through a dark hallway, "SIR, WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?" Well by now I'm thinking, you can get me one of those portable de-fib units they have at public spaces - and set that phaser to stun 'cause you just gave me a heart attack! I recomposed myself and essentially repeat the same, "the web site told me to call you" blurb. Then I added is this the right number?" She assures me it is and that some other people have had trouble in that spot." BINGO, SCORE WE HAVE A WINNER, she knows what I'm talking about! Smooth sailing ahead! I wait with great anticipation for forthcoming wisdom; an action plan to set this thing into motion!

She says, "Umm, just a minute" and puts me on hold. Tick tock, tick tock. Another blanket of silence has covered this corpse of a customer service call. And this has officially, at this very second, shredded my hope of ever seeing my family alive again. Oh, sorry, It just felt that way. She returns again, this time at a normal volume level and the mumbling is understandable. But it's not exactly professional, or semi-professional or even business casual. It's an insulting combination of slang phrases and one word sentences that has no place in an private office conversation, much less in a customer service center. Things like "do wut," uh-huh, gonna, naw, nuttin', ain't and more. Aside from the slacker talk, the bottom line is the system wouldn't work for me, nobody could fix it, tell me why or what's wrong or anything. Oh, except I needed to write down my name, address, telephone number, and MAIL it with a copy of my driver's license, social security card, a lock of my hair, a DNA swab, a urine sample, fingerprints, a retinal scan, a psychological evaluation and my Facebook password. I asked her if she could just get a copy of the stuff she's needin' from the NSA, because they've been following me for years. Silence. Me: "I'm just kidding, I'll send the stuff, gimme the address. " She does and proceeds to tell me it would take 3 to 8 weeks to get verified. I'm no math whiz but I know there is not 8 weeks left in the year. "Ma'am, if it takes 8 weeks, what am I supposed to do for health insurance in the meantime. She: "I dunno" I hang up, resolved to find a real solution.

Today a friend tells me the new web site actually works. But she also says that I better get back in there quick because she had to start over. I login tonight and the application resumes on STEP NUMBER ONE. All the information I have entered again and again is gone. Along with it is a popup message saying that I need to remove, delete and destroy the old application and start all over again. Lucky number seven, right? Well tonight, I aint' doin' nuttin' like 'at. Gonna chill away from ObamaScare and dream of a better time.

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Scott Schablow is a long time friend. He is the Director of Digital Marketing & Social Media for The Hip Brand Group in Birmingham, Alabama. This essay originally appeared on Scott's Facebook page and is reprinted here with his permission. 

My Reply to Steve

Thoughtful, calm, intelligent and reflective are qualities that my friend Steve has possessed the entire time I've know him.  It's likely he's been this way all his life.  And, he has great balance in his life, able to separate politics from his family and personal life.  He keeps things in balance.  I urge you all to read his blog, The Peripatetic Blogger.  He generally posts only once a week,and only after great reflection and analysis.  He loves the Oklahoma Sooners and the Dallas Cowboys.

He wrote a blog this week which, in part, chastised some Democrats for breaking ranks with the President over the Affordable Care Act.  He feels they should "all hang together."  Indeed I'm tempted to agree with him, especially on the "hanging" part.  But, hey, I don't want to be accused of pulling a Martin Bashir, so please disregard that last comment.

I wrote a short response to Steve that I felt deserved repeating here.  In short I don't ever feel that Party Loyalty should ever interfere with good judgement.  Here is my response to Steve:

Dear Steve, 

I believe the President Obama had the very best of intentions.

And I know that our Congress is badly broken and that caused The ACA to be written in back rooms and passed late at night by a Congress that never read the bill or had the time needed to resolve potential defects.

And, even though not a single Republican voted for the act, they deserve equal blame for the dysfunction that forced Pelosi and Reid to act in a hurried and secretive manner.

Regardless of all this, the bill is nothing short of a disaster. Forget the website as that will get fixed. It’s not the problem anyway. As a result of the ACA more people, not fewer, will be uninsured. Most people will pay substantially more for insurance, not less. The blow to the middle class, financially, will be nearly unimaginable. Meanwhile the rich, who had Cadillac Plans to begin with, will be virtually unaffected.

This will all get fixed, eventually. But, in the meantime, the ACA doesn’t deserve the support of any self respecting Democrat (or Republican). Let’s admit our mistakes, avoid placing blame, and get on with the job of repairing the system.

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Here is just one of the first (and certainly the most ironic) examples of the financial disaster awaiting the middle class: Woman Hailed by President as Obamacare Success Story Now Can't Afford Obamacare

Destroying the Very Fabric of the American Healthcare System

I wish that the politicians in Washington weren't so busy building sound bites for the 5 o'clock news that they could actually get together and save America's Health Care System, but, alas, they are incapable of compromise or even intelligent analysis.

Group "A" are so determined to save the reputation of the President they will never admit they made a (gigantic) mistake or compromise to find a solution.

Group "B" is so determined to bring down the President a notch or two that they cannot offer intelligent or reasonable compromises that just might solve the problem at hand.

And the public is so caught up in the political rhetoric, many do not see the tsunami on the horizon about to drown us all.  

But make no mistake about it, the entire Health Care System in the United States, unarguably the finest health care infrastructure in the history of mankind, is months away, a year at most, from complete and utter destruction.

And it's all being caused by The Affordable Care Act, the single worst piece of legislation ever passed by the United States Congress.

About 200 million Americans will lose their current Insurance.  The replacements, if they can be found, will be significantly more expensive for most Americans (about 4/5th will pay several thousand dollars more annually) and they new insurance will have significantly higher deductibles and may well (or most certainly will) force Americans to change their doctors and hospitals.

The hospital infrastructure will collapse.  Some hospitals will be forced to close.  Others will greatly curtail services.  A few, perhaps fifty or less nationwide, will become hospitals for the super rich, those able to afford completely private care.

Sarah Palin's Death Panels of non-medical actuaries will decide on care and payments, effectively making the best care treatments unavailable except to the super rich.

The total economy is mere months away from a total collapse into recession or depression.  The ACA (or ObamaCare) is a nothing more than a hidden super-tax that will drain hundreds of millions of dollars out the middle class taxpayer's wallets, through increased (and unaffordable) premiums and deductibles. 

It's happening every day now.  Moments ago REUTERS reported that insurer UNITED HEALTH CARE is being forced to drop thousands of doctors form Medicare patients programs due to Barack Obama's ego driven theft of millions of dollars from Medicare to fund his ObamaCare albatross.

This was one hundred percent foreseeable and avoidable. Many Republicans and many pundits and analysts and blogger like me have been correctly forecasting this for three years.  But we are all branded by Democrats and media not willing to actually read the ACA bill, as anti-Obama haters.  Alas, that was never true, we were and are the lookouts, warning the people of the on-rushing waves of health care and economic destruction, begging you to save yourselves and get to higher ground.  

Every day a few more are swept away and a few more listen.  I fear it's too late.

Bon Voyage, Titanic!

ObamaCare is destroying the American health care system.  One side casualty is the Democratic Party.  As of today not one single Democrat Senator can possibly be re-elected, regardless of how Blue his or her state may be.

And the intelligent Democrats know it.  And none is sharper or more savvy than former President Bill Clinton.  So President Clinton did what only a true elder statesman of the party can do. He politely told President Barack Obama to get his head out of his ..... and do everything necessary to fulfill his promises to the American people.

See CBS NEWS: Bill Clinton says Obama should honor health care promise

To be certain, former President Bill Clinton is also trying to protect future President Hillary Clinton.  Bill Clinton understands the politics. He understands the people.  He reads the dynamics.

He also would like the health care system to actually work.  We're at over FIVE MILLION INSURANCE POLICY CANCELLATIONS right now, on our way to nearly ONE HUNDRED MILLION!!!  The impact on people will be horrific.  The impact on the health care system itself will be catastrophic. Hospitals will close. Doctors will be forced out of work. People will suffer and some, perhaps many, will die.

And Democrats who lacked even the intelligence to read the bill before passage will all be forced out of office.  Today, they cannot be re-elected. They all need Bill Clinton. 

We all need Bill Clinton.

"Nobody's madder than me,,."

As The Affordable Care Act disintegrates before our very eyes, Barack Obama has spoken nearly every day this week proclaiming "Nobody's madder than me about the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should," and other variations of the same message.

Sadly, it just isn't true. If President Barack Obama were really mad that an incompetent staff had nearly destroyed his signature achievement he would have demanded and received the resignations of those responsible, those who betrayed the President. For a man who rests his entire Presidential legacy on this one act, this particular failure is unforgivable.

If President Barack Obama was genuinely mad, he would demand to know why a "no bid" contract for over $400,000,000.00 was issued to a third rate Canadian company to build his signature website after he proclaimed in his election campaign that no bid contracts would end forever. He would most assuredly want to know why there were no penalties written into the contract for failure to produce the work. This, too, is a personal betrayal of the President and he should take it personally.

If President Obama were truly mad he would want to know who issued regulations that turned his oft repeated proclamation "If You like your insurance, you can keep it," into a complete falsehood.  If we assume President Obama meant what he said, he would demand this egregious error in regulation writing be corrected, fixed, and fixed immediately.

If President Obama were blazingly mad that a woman with cancer was being thrown off her insurance, the very act ObamaCare was designed to stop, he would explode in anger at the regulations written by bureaucrats into his law that forced this to happen.  He would have called the woman on the phone and guaranteed her he would fix this error.  He WOULD NOT have sent his minions out to attack the woman on Twitter, making her the villain simply because she told her story.

President Obama is not mad, except, perhaps, at me for writing this blog.

Halloween, All Tricks and No Treats

As my very good friend Steve says, "This could be funnier."

Have a Happy Halloween.

One President's Halliburton is Another President's CGI Federal

One of the many things that made President George W. Bush one of the most hated Presidents ever among Democrats and others on the left was the use, and we felt THE ABUSE, of NO BID CONTRACTS going to friends, classmates, crony's and lobbyists who had an inside track into the Bush Administration.

Investigations into the NO BID CONTRACTS were a staple of the nightly news on the major networks, articles in The Huffington Post, blog entries in The Daily KOZ and conversations everywhere.

Ultimately the issue of no bid contracts became so large it was a major campaign issue for candidate Barack Obama.  There is no doubt in my mind that his promise to "END NO BID CONTRACTS FOR GOOD" was a major factor leading to his election.

The generally left leaning BUZZ FEED has even put up a montage of Obama's many speeches promising to end NO BID CONTRACTS.  Click on the link above to see them all or just check out the one I've republished below:




Of course now we find that Kathleen Sebelius' Health and Human Services Department awarded a four hundred million dollar ($400,000,000.00) to CGI Federal, a Canadian company with close ties to Barack and Michelle Obama and the Obama Administration with absolutely NO BID. 

What's worse, especially after listening to Barack Obama's speech above, there were actually four other companies who attempted to submit bids for the ACA (ObamaCare) contract and those bids were never opened or reviewed by the Administration. CGI Federal got exactly the kind of insider sweetheart deal given behind closed doors that candidate Obama PROMISED to end forever if he were elected President. 

But, as it turns out, CGI Federal is used to getting no bid contracts with a license to siphon off federal funds. The AP is reporting today about a major failure on the part of the government to distribute funds to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. 

Congress allocated $1.7 BILLION for Hurricane Sandy Relief and hired CGI Federal, without any bidding, as a consultant to aid in the allocation of the funds. Although 24,000 family is desperate need have filled out the applications for aid, only a paltry 1.2% of the money has ever been distributed. Everyone else is still waiting. 

In this case, the government and CGI Federal are a bigger disaster than the hurricane itself. 

Of course no one is ever held accountable in the Obama Administration. When quizzed, they all, from Barack Obama on down, admit "mistakes were made." But then they quickly add the important thing is to "look forward" and "fix the problem."  

Looking forward is Washington code for "spend even more money." 

Barack Obama is no where near our worst President ever. But he easily is the President who has consistently told the most outright lies when campaigning for office or campaigning for his pet projects. 

It's his own little version of a "no bid contract."