Health care fix spares insurance hike for Congress

By JOSH LEDERMAN / Associated Press / August 2, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under a forthcoming fix from the Obama administration, American taxpayers will continue paying for most of the health benefit costs for members of Congress and their aides who are being marshaled into new insurance exchanges.

Lawmakers and congressional staffers have been sounding the alarm that they could be forced to pay thousands more, picking up the tab themselves. In the past, the federal government chipped in about 75 percent. That sparked concerns that the best and the brightest might flee Capitol Hill rather than losing a benefit on which they and their families depend.

Under new regulations the Obama administration will release next week, the government will keep paying its share and that scenario will be averted, the White House said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it was important to resolve the issue before the August congressional recess because the exchanges open Oct. 1. She said her own staff had told her there could be a problem with ‘‘brain drain.’’

‘‘They are a tremendous intellectual resource, people who could, shall we say, be better compensated financially outside’’ of government, Pelosi said wryly. ‘‘Happily they enjoy the psychic rewards of public service — at least for a while.’’

The latest hitch in the rollout of the health care law was actually prompted by an amendment from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley that forced senators, representatives and congressional staffers to buy insurance through new exchanges, rather than the federal benefit system most government employees use. The idea was to force lawmakers backing the bill to have a personal stake in the outcome.

But until now, there was no clear mechanism for the government to contribute its part of employees’ premiums through the exchanges.

The fix came at the request of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the White House said. But officials have declined to say how deeply Obama was involved.

‘‘I just don’t have details on the president’s private meetings,’’ White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday in response to senators’ claims that Obama was personally working to resolve the dispute. ‘‘I can tell you that Congress wrote and passed the Affordable Care Act, and the law lays out details of how people will get insurance.’’

Lawmakers and staffers won’t be eligible for tax credits that low-income Americans can get to purchase insurance through the exchanges, designed to get millions more Americans enrolled in health care. Obama will start getting his insurance through the exchanges, the White House official said, adding that the administration also supports requiring Cabinet secretaries and White House staff to enroll.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

BEING GREEN


Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the 'green thing' in our day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart butt young person...

We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off...especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart butt who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

CNN reports CIA cover up on Benghazi

A bombshell from CNN today regarding Benghazi.  According to the cable news network there is in fact a massive cover-up by the CIA to hide what “dozens” of CIA agents were doing on the ground in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.  It was the night of the 11th when Al Qaeda backed militants raided the U.S. compound in Benghazi, killing 4 Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

According to the report from CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper:
“Sources now tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground that night, and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret. CNN has learned the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.”

There are many questions we still do not have answered but this latest revelation continues to expose the attempted cover up by State Department officials who repeatedly claimed that a YouTube video was the reason for a spontaneous “uprising”. 
 
That was clearly not the case, so what was really taking place in Benghazi?

The secret is being held so closely that CIA agents are reportedly being subjected to repeated polygraph tests to determine if they are talking to members of the media.  In addition, agents are having their careers threatened and say they are under intense pressure to protect not just themselves but their families.

So here we are.  Another government agency demanding secrecy from agents, secrecy that likely has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with a lack of accountability to the American people.

BEING GREEN

 

 

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the 'green thing' in our day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.  Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the "green thing" back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart butt young person... We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off...especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart butt who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

EAD the whole thing - and then click over to where it shows that our Authoritarian-in-chief has decided and personally pushed through an exemption for all Government employees so that can keep their current insurance instead of participating in the exchanges like the rest of us! Take the rosy scales off your eyes folks - the ACA was to level the playing field, right? We would ALL have to use the same access and receive the same healthcare right? Correct me if I'm wrong, please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is Washington as normal - preferential treatment for the elite cronies of Obama.  His own Democrats were rebelling against the very bill that they "had to pass in order to know what's in it".  Mme Pelosi and Mr. Reid have laid out the wasteland that will be what's left of the middle class.  If congressional staffers who are paid about as much as the avg middle class workers.  However - the horror! - they will not be able to afford it on the salaries that they have and - GASP - might leave for better opportunities!!! So where does that leave the middle-class? They've figured it and won't impose it upon their own - BUT the regular American taxpayer will be left to take care of it on their own!

Authoritarian-in-chief, my friends.  the step lower than socialism. That's the first step - running the office as your personal decision making machine, where all the rulings come out of, instead of our balanced three part process.  If one person makes all the decisions in a party that's not Democracy - that's somebody on the way to becoming a thug dictator just like the Vietnam official that he praised for his policies during the war. o_O

Check out the histories of Castro, Chavez, Pinochet, Fujimori, Santander, Balmaceda, Blanco, Torres, Mendez, and Diaz.  And let's not forget Juan Paublo Peron.

http://benswann.com/premiums-skyrocket-198-congress-exempts-themselves-from-obamacare-provisions/