Fire Departments Voice Concern Over Role of Volunteers Under ObamaCare

Photo Credit: BARLETTA.HOUSE.GOV

Photo Credit: BARLETTA.HOUSE.GOV

Fire departments and other emergency squads say they are still waiting to learn from the IRS whether they will have to pay for volunteers’ medical insurance under ObamaCare and that having to cover such costs would really hurt many small-budget operations.

President Obama’s signature health-care law requires businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance for them. However, whether the IRS considers volunteers full-time employees remains unclear, in part because some receive a stipend or other financial incentives.

“At this point, it’s pretty much wait and see,” Michael Berg, president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad in Virginia, told The Daily Progress. “We’re an all-volunteer organization. …. There’s a lot of speculation.”

Volunteer groups around the country — which operate in more rural areas and rely largely on fundraisers and donations to buy fire trucks and other rescue equipment — have gotten some bipartisan help from Capitol Hill.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Pennsylvania Rep. Lou Barletta, a Republican, have sponsored legislation to exempt volunteer fire, medical and rescue personnel from full-time status.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama says US May Take Further Military Action to Protect Americans in South Sudan

Photo Credit: AP/U.S. AIR FORCE

Photo Credit: AP/U.S. AIR FORCE

President Barack Obama told Congress Sunday that he may take further military action to protect Americans trying to evacuate violence-plagued South Sudan.

In a letter to Congress, Obama said that about 46 U.S. troops were deployed Saturday to help evacuate Americans. That’s in addition to another 45 troops deployed to reinforce the U.S. Embassy in Juba.

Four U.S. troops were injured in the evacuation mission Saturday when gunfire hit three military planes in Bor. All four are in stable condition, the White House said.

It remains unclear how many Americans are still stranded in Bor and other rural towns.

Obama is on his annual vacation in Hawaii, but he said in the letter to congressional leaders that he’s monitoring the situation. Earlier Sunday, Obama was briefed by advisers on events in South Sudan following a meeting that his national security adviser, Susan Rice, held with national security aides and U.S. personnel still in South Sudan.

Read more from this story HERE.

NY: Man Throws Son before Jumping from 60th Street Building (+video)

Photo Credit: CBS 2

Photo Credit: CBS 2

A man and his 3-year-old son died Sunday after plummeting from a building near Lincoln Center.

Police on Sunday night were still investigating exactly what happened. But as 1010 WINS’ Gary Baumgarten reported, sources said the father — identified as Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35, may have tossed the boy — Kirill Kanarikov, 3 — off the balcony and then jumped to his own death.

As WCBS 880’s Ginny Kosola reported, a 911 call was made about noon Sunday, for what was initially reported as a jumper from the 52-story South Park Tower rental apartment building at 124 W. 60th St.

Some tenants were traumatized by what they saw, CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported.

“I’m horrified. I’m so horrified,” said tenant Chris Prengman. “I’ve never seen anything.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Combat Veterans for Congress’ Statement Endorsing Joe Miller for U.S. Senate

Picture_Joe_Standing_By_Tank21c4daThe Combat Veterans for Congress announced its endorsement of Joe Miller for the U.S. Senate. The group released the following statement in part:

The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to endorse Combat Veteran and fiscal conservative Joe Miller for the US Senate from Alaska. A patriot, not a politician, former Captain Joseph Miller, Esq., USMA ’89, USA (R-AK-Senate) https://joemiller.us of Fairbanks, Alaska served in the U.S. Army on active duty from June 1989 to September 1992, during which he deployed to the Middle East for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He is seeking the Republican nomination to the US Senate for the opportunity to run against Alaska’s Democratic Senator Mark Begich, who marches in lock step with Harry Reid’s tax and spend policies. 

Begich voted for the Stimulus Bill, the flawed Obama Care Health Bill, and supported the Obama/Reid big government agenda ninety-one percent of the time. Joseph Miller was born and raised inSalina, Kansas; he grew up in a working class family, his father was a minister, and his parents ran a bookstore. Joe graduated from Salina Central High School in 1985. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point, New York where he was a member of the Officers Christian Fellowship; Cadet Miller graduated in June 1989 with honors, received a Bachelor of Science Degree, and majored in American Political Science. He subsequently earned a JD, Law Degree from Yale Law School in 1995 and an MS in Economics from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in 2008.

In June 1989, upon graduation from the US Military Academy, Cadet Joseph Miller was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army.  Second Lieutenant Miller previously went thru advanced summer training while a Cadet at West Point and was awarded the Parachute and Air Assault Badges.  Following graduation from West Point, Lieutenant Miller attended Armor Officer Basic Course and the Scout Platoon Leader Certification Course at Fort Knox; he was subsequently assigned to the First Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. 

In December 1990, Lieutenant Miller, an armor officer, deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm with the First Infantry Division. He was subsequently involved in combat action and participated in the liberation of Kuwait. In May 1991, Lieutenant Miller returned to the United States with the First Infantry Division. Lt. Miller was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation as well as numerous other service and campaign medals for military service and combat action. In 1997, Cpt. Miller was released from the Individual Ready Reserve and received an Honorable Discharge for his honorable service in the US Army. 
 
Because of his love of the outdoors, in 1994 Joe Miller headed to the Last Frontier. After graduating  from Yale Law School, he accepted a position in a prestigious law firm in Anchorage, then, in 1998, at age 30, he was appointed a State Magistrate (the youngest then serving in Alaska) in the little village of Tok, as well as a Superior Court Master of the Fourth Judicial District. Four years later, further honors followed when Judge Miller was appointed an Acting State District Court Judge and, shortly thereafter, U. S. Magistrate Judge in Fairbanks. Again, he had the distinction of being the youngest then serving Federal Judge, not only in the state, but also in the entire nation. He was also the only judge in the United States, at that time, serving at both federal and state levels simultaneously.

In 2004, Judge Miller stepped down from the bench to run for State Representative. He overwhelmingly won the contested Republican primary and nearly pulled off an upset in the general election, receiving 48% of the vote against the Democratic incumbent, in a traditionally Democratic district; that was the closest re-election campaign the officeholder ever faced. Joe returned to the successful full-time practice of law in his own firm.  He has represented clients (including local government as both a part-time employee and on contract) in a wide variety of cases, a number of which have gone all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court.  
 
In April 2010, Joe Miller decided to run for the US Senate and pulled off a stunning upset victory in the US Senate Republican primary, narrowly defeating incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski. During the race, Joe received many high profile endorsements including Gov Sarah Palin, Gov Mike Huckabee, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Alaska Right to Life, as well as from numerous state and local officials and tea party groups. His experience in the military, as an attorney, and as an Alaskan State Magistrate and Federal Judge prepared former Cpt. Miller to become the voice of the people; he always worked to protect and defend the US Constitution and intends to rein in the out of control spending of the Obama/Reid agenda. 

[Miller] will also work diligently to join like-minded constitutional conservatives Senators to take control of the Congress from the hands of the inept Democratic leadership, and return it to the hands of the American people. [He] is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (life Member), the NRA, Benefactor, and the Friends Church (nondenominational) in Fairbanks. He currently lives with his family in Fairbanks where he practices law. His wife, Kathleen, of 21 years, serves on the Alaskan Judicial Council, a commission that makes recommendations to the Governor concerning Alaska judicial nominees; they have 8 children, including a son who is currently a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point.

The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to endorse former Captain Joseph Miller, Esq., USA who will bring to Congress private sector skills and wisdom to better solve problems in government and represent the Alaska and the Republic. If you review Joe Miller’s positions on his website, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement. We look forward to working with Joe Miller, and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for the US Senate. If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in Alaska, kindly pass this E-mail on to them, and ask them to support Joe Miller by working in his campaign, providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign. The military is one of the few remaining institutions producing the caliber of men and women needed to restore this nation to the greatness our Founding Fathers envisioned. 

We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress that General George Washington would have approved of.  He is a Veteran who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Repeals ObamaCare (+video)

Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

By The Wall Street Journal.

It seems Nancy Pelosi was wrong when she said “we have to pass” ObamaCare to “find out what’s in it.” No one may ever know because the White House keeps treating the Affordable Care Act’s text as a mere suggestion subject to day-to-day revision. Its latest political retrofit is the most brazen: President Obama is partly suspending the individual mandate.

The White House argued at the Supreme Court that the insurance-purchase mandate was not only constitutional but essential to the law’s success, while refusing Republican demands to delay or repeal it. But late on Thursday, with only four days to go before the December enrollment deadline, the Health and Human Services Department decreed that millions of Americans are suddenly exempt.

Individuals whose health plans were canceled will now automatically qualify for a “hardship exemption” from the mandate. If they can’t or don’t sign up for a new plan, they don’t have to pay the tax. They can also get a special category of ObamaCare insurance designed for people under age 30.

So merry Christmas. If ObamaCare’s benefit and income redistribution requirements made your old, cheaper, better health plan illegal, you now have the option of going without coverage without the government taking your money as punishment. You can also claim the tautological consolation of an ObamaCare hardship exemption due to ObamaCare itself.

These exemptions were supposed to go only to the truly destitute such as the homeless, bankrupts or victims of domestic violence. But this week a group of six endangered Senate Democrats importuned HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to “clarify” that the victims of ObamaCare also qualify. An excerpt from their Wednesday letter, whose signatories include New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen and Virginia’s Mark Warner, is nearby.

Read more from this story HERE.
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Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare’s Insurance Mandate, ‘Unaffordable’ Exchanges

By Avik Roy.

It’s hard to come up with new ways to describe the Obama administration’s improvisational approach to the Affordable Care Act’s troubled health insurance exchanges. But last night, the White House made its most consequential announcement yet. The administration will grant a “hardship exemption” from the law’s individual mandate, requiring the purchase of health insurance, to anyone who has had their prior coverage canceled and who “believes” that Obamacare’s offerings “are unaffordable.” These exemptions will substantially alter the architecture of the law’s insurance marketplaces. Insurers are at their wits’ end, trying to make sense of what to do next.

Here’s how we got to where we are. As many as six million Americans who purchase health coverage on their own have seen their plans canceled, because they don’t comply with Obamacare’s newly-imposed regulations. On the other hand, the bungled rollout of the law’s healthcare.gov website has meant that only tens of thousands of Americans have been able to enroll in new coverage under the law. This means that by January 1, 2014, less people will have health coverage under Obamacare than before.

The White House has been working hard to fix the problems with the exchanges, with modest success. Henry Chao, the deputy Chief Information Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, testified to Congress in November that 30 to 40 percent of Obamacare’s exchange software had yet to be constructed. Most critically, the systems needed to pay insurers—and thereby enroll people in coverage—had not yet been built.

Read more from this story HERE.

Widow of American Teacher Gunned Down in Benghazi has Surprising Message for Husband’s Attackers (+video)

Screen-Shot_SmithThe widow of the American teacher who was slain in Benghazi says she forgives the attackers that gunned down her husband earlier this month.

“I just envision the black Jeep driving up to him and I don’t know their faces,” Ronnie Smith told CNN. “I just want them to know that God loves them and can forgive them for this,” Anita Smith tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview.

With a quavering voice, she continued to explain how she can forgive her husband’s attackers.

Read more from this story HERE.

New York Times *Finally* Tells its Readers: Obamacare is Awful for the Middle Class

Photo Credit: Adam Jeffery

Photo Credit: Adam Jeffery

The New York Times is starting to get a bit nervous about this health care law thing.

Ginger Chapman and her husband, Doug, are sitting on the health care cliff. The cheapest insurance plan they can find through the new federal marketplace in New Hampshire will cost their family of four about $1,000 a month, 12 percent of their annual income of around $100,000 and more than they have ever paid before.

Even more striking, for the Chapmans, is this fact: If they made just a few thousand dollars less a year — below $94,200 — their costs would be cut in half, because a family like theirs could qualify for federal subsidies.

So much so that they’re now gingerly starting to tell their readers what you and I already know: “While the act clearly[*] benefits those at the low end of the income scale — and rich people can continue to afford even the most generous plans — people like the Chapmans are caught in the uncomfortable middle: not poor enough for help, but not rich enough to be indifferent to cost.” I welcome this sudden decision by the New York Times to join us here in Reality Non-Unicorn, and hope that they enjoy their visit. Indeed, the Old Grey Lady is more than welcome to settle here permanently.

Read more from this story HERE.

Warren Buffett Reaps Crony Capitalist Billions from Gov Bank Bailouts

Photo Credit: FrontPageMag

Photo Credit: FrontPageMag

Let’s start this with a great quote from Obama’s 2nd favorite billionaire backer after George Soros.

“In terms of simple profitability, an average investor could have done just as well investing in the stock market if they bought during the panic period,” Buffett told the Journal on Saturday. “You make your best buys when people are overwhelmingly fearful.”

Of course the ordinary investor didn’t have the comfort of knowing that the Federal government would use taxpayer money to insure his deals.

As he admitted on CNBC at the time, “If I didn’t think the government was going to act, I wouldn’t be doing anything this week.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Harry Reid: Boehner Will Cave In On Immigration Reform Next Year (+video)

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) believes Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will negotiate on comprehensive immigration reform next year, despite his declarations to the contrary.

The Democratic leader argued that Boehner has a new willingness to confront Tea Party groups and this, in turn, gives Reid confidence that he will not have to break up the Senate immigration bill to negotiate a series of piecemeal reforms with the House.

“I think that John Boehner will conference with the Senate. Why wouldn’t he? He’ll have a lot of pressure from his members now that the election is getting closer,” Reid said in an interview with The Hill.

“Some of his members are in very marginal districts where they need to do something on immigration,” he added.

Boehner has vowed he will not let the Senate bill, which spans more than 1,200 pages, reach the negotiating table. The most controversial element of the package is a provision granting a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

Read more from this story HERE.

CBO Shows Top 40% Pay More than 100% of Taxes

Photo Credit: Human Events

Photo Credit: Human Events

This article originally appeared on heartland.org.

The Congressional Budget Office has published a study, The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010, which shows that the top 40 percent of income earners paid 106.2 percent of total federal income taxes, while the bottom 40 percent paid -9.1 percent. This isn’t the study’s headline, so you have to dig a bit to get that information, but look at Table 3 on page 13 of the study to find that information.

The Table shows that the top 20 percent of income earners paid 92.9 percent of total income taxes in 2010 (the latest year available), and the next-highest 20 percent paid 13.3 percent of total income taxes, so the top 40 percent paid 106.2 percent.

Refundable Credits = Negative Tax Liability

Because of refundable tax credits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, the bottom 20 percent got more money refunded to them than they paid in taxes, so they paid -6.2 percent of total taxes. The next-lowest 20 percent paid -2.9 percent, so the bottom 40 percent paid -9.1 percent of total income taxes. More than 9 percent of total income tax payments go toward paying out money directly to people who get more back than they paid in.

Read more from this story HERE.