Thursday, September 20, 2012

RANDOM SHOTS - ObamaCare Tax Penalties For 6 Million Middle Class Americans, Fast and Furious Report, And More!


FIRST SHOT!

ObamaCare Tax Penalty Is Coming To 6 Million Uninsured Middle-Class Americans!

Pay Up, Or Face Liens And Possible Prison Sentence!

All of those folks out there who are uninsured and thought that they were going to get something for free are about to find out that there is no such thing as free stuff.

Someone has to pay for it, and now the Bill for ObamaCare is coming due!

It was reported on September 19th that nearly 6 million Americans - and yes, most of them in the Middle Class - will be facing strict tax penalties for not carrying medical coverage.

Yes, once President Obama's health care overhaul law is fully in place and goes into effect, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysts say it estimates at least 6 Million Middle Class Americans will be hit with fines and penalties of about $1,200.00 per person.

That's right, the average penalty: about $1,200 in 2016. That's what Obama's Free Health Care will cost 6 Million Middle Class Americans.

President Obama's Care "Inconvenient Fact" that the Administration did not want to go public before the Election.

Gee, I wonder why?

The new estimate amounts to an "inconvenient fact" for the administration, a reminder of what critics of Obama's over-reaching super expensive federal program see as more broken promises.

The numbers from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office are significantly higher than a previous projection by the same office in 2010, shortly after the law was passed.

The earlier estimate found 4 Million people would be affected by ObamaCare tax Penalties. The difference -- 2 Million Americans - represents a 50% increase. And yes, maybe I do have a suspicious mind - I simply can't believe that the Obama administration forgot to include 2 Million Americans in their math.

The Obama administration may try to play the 6 Million figure down but saying that that's still only a sliver of the population, given that more than 150 Million people currently are covered by employer plans.

But friends, it still goes to the heart of the question as to whether he or his administration has been telling Americans the truth at all about anything.

In his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise Taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000. Well guess what? He lied!

The Budget Office analysis found that nearly 80% of those who will face penalties or liens or possible prison time would be Americans who make up to or less than five times the Federal Poverty Level. That currently means that that would work out to $55,850 or less for an individual, and $115,250 or less for a family of four.

So if you are making $55,850 or less, and you don't have Medical Coverage, expect to be hit with a huge Tax Penalty. And yes, the average penalty is about $1,200 a year.

Yes, that's not a one time penalty. It is yearly! It is an average penalty of about $1,200 yearly starting in 2016.

Average Tax Penalty is $1,200 a Year.

"The bad news and broken promises from Obamacare just keep piling up," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who wants to repeal the law.

Not surprisingly, there was no immediate response from the administration. It is a Tax, and yes, it comes with

The Budget Office said most of the increase in its estimate is due to changes in underlying projections about the economy, incorporating the effects of new federal legislation, as well as higher unemployment and lower wages.

Starting in 2014, the new health care law requires virtually every legal resident of the U.S. to carry health insurance or face a tax penalty.

The Supreme Court upheld Obama's law as constitutional in a 5-4 decision this summer, finding that the insurance mandate and the tax penalty enforcing it fall within the power of Congress to impose taxes.

The Obama administration is trying to say that the IRS is not responsible for collecting the ObamaCare Tax Penalties, but friends please don't believe that lie. The penalties will be collected by the IRS, just like all Taxes.

Obama knew he needed ways to fund it.

Why would anyone be shocked that there is a price tag attached to it?

The Budget Office said the penalties will raise $6.9 Billion to help fund his program when it's fully in effect in 2016 - proving once again, there is nothing Free about ObamaCare. .

SECOND SHOT!

Al Qaeda, Former Gitmo Prisoner Was In On The Killings Of 4 Americans In Libya

I wonder how Obama and the Justice Department feels knowing that one of the ex-Gitmo Prisoners that they released went on to kill Americans?

It's now being reported that Intelligence sources are convinced that the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was directly tied to Al Qaeda - and yes, a former Guantanamo prisoner is  involved.

That revelation comes on the same day a top Obama administration official actually called last week's deadly assault what it really is: "a terrorist attack".

Today is the first time the attack has been described that way by the Obama administration after claims it had been a "spontaneous" act over some goofy YouTube video.

The whole let's blame a YouTube video didn't pass the sniff test from the get go. It was the usual Obama Blame Game, but it didn't work because they couldn't cover-up the fact that it was what it was - a terrorist attack.

Obama can't hide the fact that this was the second successful terrorist attack on Americans to take place on his watch! 

First it was Army Major Nidal's attack at Fort Hood. A terrorist attack that the Obama administration repeatedly try to play down as "work place violence."

"Yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy," Matt Olsen, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, said during a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Olsen echoed administration colleagues in saying U.S. officials have no specific intelligence about "significant advanced planning or coordination" for the attack.

However, his statement goes beyond White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and U.N Ambassador Susan Rice, saying the Sept. 11th attack on the U.S. Consulate was "spontaneous" because of the YouTube video.

Olsen is the first top administration official to call the strike "an act of terrorism."

Sufyan Ben Qumu is thought to have been involved and even may have led the attack. Qumu, a Libyan, was released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2007 and transferred into Libyan custody on the condition he be kept in jail.

He was released by the Qaddafi regime as part of its reconciliation effort with Islamists in 2008. So much for agreements with Muslim nations.

Sufyan Ben Qumu's Guantanamo files also show he has ties to the financiers behind the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. The declassified files also point to ties with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a known Al Qaeda affiliate.

So please, tell me again why he was released? If he was found guilty enough for his involvement to the World Trade Center towers on 9/11/2001, whereas he was transferred into Libyan custody on the condition he be kept in jail - then why wasn't he simply hanged for killing Americans?


Olson, repeating Wednesday that the FBI is handling the Benghazi investigation, also acknowledged the attack could lead back to Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called Wednesday for an independent review of the attack.

"A State Department Accountability Review Board to look into the Benghazi attack is not sufficient," Collins said. "Given the loss of the lives of four Americans who were serving their country and the serious questions that have been raised about the security at our Consulate in Benghazi, it is imperative that a non-political, no-holds-barred examination be conducted."

As much as the Obama wants to sweep this under a rug, I'm sure that there will be more to follow. The Obama administration always seems to divert responsibility for what takes place in their administration.

THIRD SHOT! 

Department of Justice Officials Quits, Fast & Furious Report Slams Feds For "Disregard For Public Safety"

It was reported that a report was released on Wednesday regarding Operation Fast and Furious.

The report faulted a range of Federal Agencies for the Gunrunning Operation and accused officials in charge of a "disregard for public safety."

In the wake of the report, already one Justice Department official has resigned and another has now retired.

The report by the Department's Inspector General is the most comprehensive account yet as to what took place during that deadly operation which allowed over 2,000 weapons to be smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Instead of working on a small scale, say a half dozen weapons, the Department of Justice used over 2,000 weapon which resulted in hundreds of firearms turning up at crime scenes in both countries so far.

The report says Attorney General Eric Holder was not made aware of potential flaws in the program until February of last year. But the report cites 14 other department employees - including Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer - for potential wrongdoing, recommending the department consider disciplinary action against them.

The report marked Jason Weinstein, the deputy assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, as the highest-ranking DOJ employee in a position to stop the program. Weinstein, who disputes the findings, is resigning in the wake of the report.

Another official who was criticized for not asking enough questions about the Federal gunrunning operation is former ATF acting director Kenneth Melson. He retired after the report came down.

The huge nearly 500-page report was completed after investigators reviewed 100,000 documents and interviewed 130 people.

The report slams both the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney's Office for not taking action.

The program caught the attention of Congress and the rest of the country after weapons from Operation Fast and Furious were found at the crime scene of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

"Indeed, no one responsible for the case at either ATF Phoenix Field Division or the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona raised a serious question or concern about the government not taking earlier measures to disrupt a trafficking operation that continued to purchase firearms with impunity for many months," the report said.

"Similarly, we did not find persuasive evidence that any supervisor in Phoenix, at either the U.S. Attorney's Office or ATF, raised serious questions or concerns about the risk to public safety posed by the continuing firearms purchases or by the delay in arresting individuals who were engaging in the trafficking.

"This failure reflected a significant lack of oversight and urgency by both ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix, and a disregard by both for the safety of individuals in the United States and Mexico," the report said.

The office said it "identified serious failures" by ATF leaders in supervising the operation.

The report faults both Breuer and Weinstein for not notifying superiors about a prior Bush-era program called Wide Receiver when questions about Fast and Furious arose. The report also said Weinstein knew about Operation Fast and Furious from discussions with an ATF official in early 2010 and his review of wiretaps that year.

The inspector general's report cites a conversation Weinstein had with ATF official Bill McMahon in April 2010. At the time, the department was trying to bring indictments in the Wide Receiver investigation. Weinstein said he was so upset to learn that ATF walked guns that he met with McMahon and others. After the meeting, McMahon told Weinstein about another operation, describing it to McMahon as "the opposite of Wide Receiver" and insisting it didn't involve gun-walking, according to Weinstein. That was Fast and Furious.

Months later, according to Weinstein, McMahon told Weinstein that some ATF officials in Phoenix felt wiretap applications were moving too slowly and the delay was having an effect on the investigation, so Weinstein helped push that along. Weinstein says he only read the cover sheets of wiretap applications. But the IG report says Weinstein was in a position to stop the program.

The report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz found the ATF and U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona shared equal responsibility for the gun-walking programs.

It also said senior leaders did little immediately after Terry's death to inquire about Operation Fast and Furious.

It faulted ATF headquarters for insufficient oversight of the program. And it cited the "inappropriate" effort to encourage dealers to sell firearms in transactions they knew were unlawful for weapons they did not intend to seize.

Further, the report said that an erroneous claim in a February letter to Congress that the department did not knowingly let guns walk was the result of officials relying on inaccurate information in the letter-drafting process.

DOJ officials Monty Wilkinson and Gary Grindler were also criticized for failing to inform Holder that two guns connected to Operation Fast and Furious were found at the Brian Terry murder scene.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who along with Sen. Charles Grassley led the charge on Capitol Hill to investigate the operation, said Wednesday that the report "confirms" congressional findings "of a near total disregard for public safety" in the program.

"Contrary to the denials of the Attorney General and his political defenders in Congress, the investigation found that information in wiretap applications approved by senior Justice Department officials in Washington did contain red flags showing reckless tactics and faults Attorney General Eric Holder's inner circle for their conduct," he said.

In an interview with Bret Baier on 'Special Report' Wednesday, Issa said that the report was good overall, but questions remain about a cover-up.

"The Terry family wants the answer for the initial failure and for the cover-up," he said.

"[Today's resignation] is only the tip of the iceberg. [Weinstein] should have been gone a year and a half ago and only resigned when the report pointed at him specifically."

Issa told Fox News that there is "no question" that there needs to be "real reform" in the Justice Department.

"We owe it to the Terry family to fix the system," he said. "We don't know, or will never know, why such a reckless or foolish tactic was done, continued and covered up."

Issa called on Obama to "provide accountability" for those "who failed to do their jobs."

To me, there are a few big question that need answering:

First, why did President Obama feel it necessary to evoke Executive Privilege when the Congressional Committee headed by Representative Issa asked for documents from Attorney General Eric Holder?
Second, because of President Obama evoking Executive Privilege, does President Obama have something to do with this operation?

And lastly, if he didn't have anything to do with running over 2,000 guns into Mexico that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people on both sides of our Southern border, then why evoke Executive Privilege? What's Obama hiding?

FOURTH SHOT!

GM Pushes US Government To Sell Shares


The Obama administration is resisting a push by GM to sell its 26.5 percent stake in the automaker hoping to hold out and recoup more of the $50 billion it sunk into the company during the bailout, The Wall Street Journal Reported.

The way it goes is this, should the government divest itself of the 500 million shares it holds, it would lose about $15 Billion.

While the current GM stock price would have to more than double to $53 a share for the government to break even on the deal, Treasury might be willing to start selling if stock prices were in the $30s.

The Journal also reported there are politics at work here. Republican Mitt Romney opposed the auto bailout. If the federal government takes a big loss on the deal, it might harm the re-election chances of President Barack Obama by making Mitt Romney look like he was right after all.

GM officials are also pressing for the sale for other reasons. First they want to end government intervention in such things as executive pay and the use of corporate jets and such. Second, they want to lift the stigma of being known as "Government Motors," the Journal reported.

The auto bailout amounted to $85 billion that went to GM, Chrysler, and some suppliers. Chrysler is free from government control, having taken out a loan to pay the government back, the Journal reported.

I can't help but wonder if GM is doing better because of restructuring their management, or if they're doing better because they are saving money on things like not having to pay UAW workers for not being there?

FIFTH SHOT!

Analysts see Democrats holding the Senate


Republicans hope to take control of the Senate, but a few analysts say that that may not happen.

Analysts are now projecting that the Democrats will hold on - but with a reduced majority, the Atlantic Wire reports.

Both Nate Silver, author of the FiveThrityEight blog, and Electoral-Vote.com show the Democrats holding on with a one-vote margin.

“In one of the most closely watched and hardest fought races, Democrat Elizabeth Warren has opened up a lead on Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts,” the Atlantic Wire writes.

“FiveThirtyEight gives her a 64 percent chance of winning at the moment. A Michigan Senate race that was thought to be competitive earlier this year is now looking like a blowout for Democrat Debbie Stabenow, and Missouri's Claire McCaskill is pulling away from everyone's favorite rape pregnancy expert Todd Akin.”

Right now there are 51 Senate Democrats who are joined by two independents, Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders. Though Joe Lieberman is retiring and his seat may turn red, independent Angus King is likely to take Maine Senate seat from the Republicans.

If Obama wins, at least we'll still have a House of Representatives that can hold him to account for the Bills that he'll try to get through.

The problem that the American people have with Obama is that he likes to bypass Congress, both the House and the Senate, by doing things through Executive Order. And they can't be repealed unless by an incoming President.

If Romney wins, as I hope happens, then he will have to rescind Obama's Executive Orders and battle with the Senate to get anything done to help the country.

It's a tough road ahead of us, with a Republican Senate would definitely make life easier after we get Obama out of the White House. Republican control of the entire Congress would be a blessing!


LAST SHOT!

Contrast 10 Quotes on Islam from Obama with 10 Quotes on Christianity

We all saw the floor of the Democratic National Convention erupted over a move to restore to the Democrat platform a reference to "God" and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Democrats were hardly in agreement over the reversal.

As could be plainly heard, a very large and very loud group of delegates shouted "No" as convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, called for the vote.

Villaraigosa had to call for the vote three times before ruling that the "ayes" had it. Many in the crowd booed after he determined the language would be restored. Many listening knew that the "nays" were as loud if not louder than the "ayes" but that didn't matter.

It is said that their platform battle over whether to restore to a reference to "God" and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was the biggest platform fight in years.

It signaled that Democrats were worried that their platform language could have been politically damaging in a tight election year.

Lately because of President Obama lack of concern with what's happening in the Middle-east, his non-involved attitude has many wondering why?
Why doesn't he care about the Muslim protests? Why it bother him so little that he doesn't attend his National Security Intelligence Briefings?

Of course the big question is: Why does he side with Muslim after they have killed Americans?

I started reading a few of President Obama's quotes regarding Islam to try to find clues as to how he looks at the Muslim faith, Islam. I then tried comparing this to his quotes about Christianity, Christians, and the Bible.

I really believe they reveal a lot about Obama's faith and allegiance.

Here Are 10 Quotes By Barack Obama About Islam:

#1 "Islam has always been part of America"

#2 "we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities"

#3 "These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings."

#4 "America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings."

#5 "So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed"

#6 "Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality"

#7 "As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith."

#8 "I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month."

#9 "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."

#10 "I also know that Islam has always been a part of America's story."

Now let's do a little contrast and comparison to what Barack Hussein Obama says about Christians and Christianity as a whole.

Here Are 10 Quotes By Barack Obama About Christianity:

As you read his words, you'll see great examples of his absolute contempt for Christianity, Christians, and the Bible.

#1 "Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation"

#2 "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation."

#3 "Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?"

#4 "Even those who claim the Bible's inerrancy make distinctions between Scriptural edicts, sensing that some passages - the Ten Commandments, say, or a belief in Christ's divinity - are central to Christian faith, while others are more culturally specific and may be modified to accommodate modern life."

#5 "The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage nevertheless are opposed to a Constitutional amendment to ban it. Religious leadership need not accept such wisdom in counseling their flocks, but they should recognize this wisdom in their politics."

#6 From Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope: "I am not willing to have the state deny American citizens a civil union that confers equivalent rights on such basic matters as hospital visitation or health insurance coverage simply because the people they love are of the same sex - nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount."

#7 "I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can't imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That's just not part of my religious makeup."

#8 "Those opposed to abortion cannot simply invoke God’s will--they have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths."

#9 On his support for civil unions for gay couples: "If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount."

#10 "I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people."

In Islam, it is believed that the indoctrination of child is an absolute. It is their belief that by the age of 10, a Muslim child will always be a Muslim child.

Even if Barack Obama is not a Muslim, his indoctrination as a Muslim when he was a child may have taken effect as it was meant to do.

Maybe this is one reason that Obama has a problem with Christians, Christianity and the Bible, while having no problem whatsoever with the teachings of the Koran or the violence being done by Muslims?




Story by Tom Correa