A Federal Judge Finally Exposes the Lies at the Heart of Obamacare

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A federal judge in Texas has brought long-overdue clarity to our interminable debate over health care reform. On Friday, District Judge Reed O’Connor struck down Obamacare in its entirety, arguing that the individual mandate—the part of the law that forces American to buy insurance or pay a penalty—is unconstitutional. Because O’Connor ruled that the mandate can’t be separated from the rest of the health care law, he invalidated the whole thing.

It’s about time. No serious person has ever doubted that the individual mandate was unconstitutional, because no possible reading of the Commerce Clause could support such an outlandish scheme. As the late Justice Antonin Scalia noted during oral arguments before the Supreme Court in 2012, if the government can force you to buy health insurance under the Commerce Clause, it can also force you to buy broccoli, or a car, or pretty much anything. Allowing the individual mandate under the Commerce Clause powers would give Congress unlimited authority to regulate almost every aspect of our lives.

In his majority opinion for that case, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declared rather straightforwardly that, “The Federal Government does not have the power to order people to buy health insurance.” But then Roberts did something not straightforward at all. He construed the penalty—the Orwellian-sounding “shared responsibility payment”—as merely a tax, and therefore permissible under the federal government’s taxing power. By this rather crude rhetorical legerdemain, Obamacare survived.

Of course, the individual mandate penalty was never a tax, and everyone knows it. When Congress passed last year’s tax bill, it set the penalty to zero, beginning next year. That one move exposed the cynical heart of Obamacare for what it is. If there is no penalty, and no revenue being brought in for the federal government, then the penalty isn’t a tax. And because the individual mandate violates Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause, the mandate must be struck down, along with the rest of the law. . .

All of this underscores the blunt reality that Obamacare was always at heart a bad-faith proposition. The basic operation of the law, never stated or acknowledged by its authors, was to force younger, healthier people to subsidize health insurance for older, sicker people. It was a redistribution scheme, plain and simple. (Read more from “A Federal Judge Finally Exposes the Lies at the Heart of Obamacare” HERE)

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Mission Accomplished: Christopher Steele Admits He Was Hired to Cast Doubt on the 2016 Election Results

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By Townhall. Christopher Steele, a former spy from Britain and the author of the Trump-Russia dossier, admitted in court that Democratic law firm Perkins Coie hired him in preparation for Donald Trump winning the presidency in 2016. His goal was to help Hillary Clinton challenge the results of the presidential election.

According to The Washington Times, three Russian bankers – Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan – in London filed a defamation lawsuit agains Fusion GPS which handled Steele.

“Fusion’s immediate client was law firm Perkins Coie. It engaged Fusion to obtain information necessary for Perkins Coie LLP to provide legal advice on the potential impact of Russian involvement on the legal validity of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election,” Steele said in a sealed Aug. 2 declaration.“Based on that advice, parties such as the Democratic National Committee and HFACC Inc. (also known as ‘Hillary for America’) could consider steps they would be legally entitled to take to challenge the validity of the outcome of that election.”

The three men filed the lawsuit because Steele claimed their bank, Alfa Bank in Moscow, paid cash bribes to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those claims were made in his 17-page dossier. . .

Steele faces another libel lawsuit in London, filed by Russian entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, owner of XBT Holdings. He provides computer services to thousands of clients. In the dossier, Steele claimed Gubarev hacked the Democrats’ computers under orders from the Russian intelligence community. Gubarev said the claims are false. He’s also suing BuzzFeed, who posted the dossier in its entirety last year. (Read more from “Mission Accomplished: Christopher Steele Admits He Was Hired to Cast Doubt on the 2016 Election Results” HERE)

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Christopher Steele: I Was Hired to Help Hillary Clinton Challenge the 2016 Election Results

By Breitbart. Christopher Steele, the former British spy who prepared the Russia “dossier” that has led to more than two years of investigations into President Donald Trump’s campaign, has told a London court that he was hired to provide a basis to challenge the legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election in the event that Trump won.

The Washington Times reported Monday (original links):

He said the law firm Perkins Coie wanted to be in a position to contest the results based on evidence he unearthed on the Trump campaign conspiring with Moscow on election interference.

His scenario is contained in a sealed Aug. 2 declaration in a defamation law suit brought by three Russian bankers in London. The trio’s American attorneys filed his answers Tuesday in a libel lawsuit in Washington against the investigative firm Fusion GPS, which handled the former British intelligence officer.

(Read more from “Christopher Steele: I Was Hired to Help Hillary Clinton Challenge the 2016 Election Results” HERE)

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Mexico Has a Plan to Deter Illegal Aliens From Flocking to the United States. Here’s What It Entails.

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Over the next five years, the Mexican government plans to spend $30 billion on Central American development. Their goal is simple: to keep illegal aliens from heading north towards the United States border, USA Today reported.

According to Mexican Foreign Ministry Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico “will change its migration policies to respond to the needs required in the south of our country and Central America,” although it’s unclear exactly how those funds will be spent.

“We’re going to guarantee that the rights of migrants in our territory are respected,” Newly-elected Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado told reporters on Dec. 5. “About how to resolve the problem, we’re putting together a proposal to invest in productive projects and job creation. And, not only that, in work visas as well for Mexican and for the United States.”

The decision comes after multiple migrant caravans filled with illegal aliens made their way across Central America, through Mexico and to the United States-Mexico border. Those on the caravan hoped to file for asylum but quickly found out they would have to wait months to have their case heard. Now, they’re sitting in Mexico, waiting. (Read more from “Mexico Has a Plan to Deter Illegal Aliens From Flocking to the United States. Here’s What It Entails.” HERE)

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The Perfectly Legal Corruption No One Cares About

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The buzz this week in the news was all about corruption. OK, it was about one very specific type of corruption – the President paying women to not go public with allegations of affairs they say happened 12 years ago. But this is Washington, DC, sex scandals are only the tip of the corruption iceberg. Only, unlike anything involving Donald Trump, most of them are perfectly legal and the media has little to no interest in reporting on them. . .

There have been more than 260 settlements costing more than $17 million, paid for by you and me, so our elected Members for Congress can avoid being held responsible for things they’re now clutching their pearls over the President having done with his own money.

But as sleazy as that is, there’s something worse, something much more corrupt happening every election cycle. And, since Congress is the body that sets the rules, it’s perfectly legal.

Two reports this week showed how Members of Congress, safe Members who have had no risk of losing their reelection bids, shoveled money to members of their families for “work” they do for their campaigns. . .

People who face no real challenge on Election Day still raise a lot of money too. Some of it is for commercials to remind people to vote, some is passed around to other campaigns to raise the stature and influence of the Member, and some is used to pay staffers for a campaign that is, for all intents and purposes, unnecessary and non-existent. (Read more from “The Perfectly Legal Corruption No One Cares About” HERE)

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U.S. Takes a Stand Against Global Compact on Refugees, Promotion of Abortion at the United Nations

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By Townhall. The United States took a lonely stand Monday against the United Nation’s General Assembly in a vote on the Global Compact on Refugees and on concerns about language related to abortion.

Hungary was the only country to join the United States in voting against an annual resolution on the work of the U.N. refugee agency which included approval of the compact on refugees. The resolution was approved with 181 countries voting in favor and three abstaining.

The U.S. explained its opposition to the compact, arguing that it represents “an effort by the United Nations to advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right of States to manage their immigration systems in accordance with their national laws, policies, and interests.”

Reuters noted on Monday that the U.S. also “unsuccessfully tried to remove two paragraphs from a General Assembly resolution on preventing violence and sexual harassment of women and girls. It was the only country to vote against the language, while 131 countries voted to keep it in the resolution and 31 abstained.” (Read more from “U.S. Takes a Stand Against Global Compact on Refugees, Promotion of Abortion at the United Nations” HERE)

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US Left Isolated at UN Over Stance on Abortion and Refugees

By The Guardian. The United States has found itself isolated at the 193-member United Nations general assembly over Washington’s concerns about the promotion of abortion and a voluntary plan to address the global refugee crisis.

Only Hungary backed the United States and voted against an annual resolution on the work of the UN refugee agency, while 181 countries voted in favor and three abstained. The resolution has generally been approved by consensus for more than 60 years. . .

The US also failed in a campaign – which started last month during negotiations on several draft resolutions in the general assembly human rights committee – against references to “sexual and reproductive health” and “sexual and reproductive health-care services”.

It has said the language has “accumulated connotations that suggest the promotion of abortion or a right to abortion that are unacceptable to our administration”.

On Monday, Washington unsuccessfully tried to remove two paragraphs from a general assembly resolution on preventing violence and sexual harassment of women and girls. It was the only country to vote against the language, while 131 countries voted to keep it in the resolution and 31 abstained. (Read more from “US Left Isolated at UN Over Stance on Abortion and Refugees” HERE)

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11-Year-Old Boy Dressed in Drag Dances at Gay Bar, Gets Dollar Bills Thrown at Him

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On December 1, an 11-year-old boy dressed in drag danced on stage in a sexual manner at a gay bar in Brooklyn, NY, called 3 Dollar Bill. The child, Desmond Napoles, was dressed as a Gwen Stefani-lookalike — full drag make up, a blonde wig, and crop top included — as he bounced around onstage to No Doubt’s “Like a Girl” and collected dollar bills from male adults viewing the number. . .

“Only in New York… a nightclub that makes you go WHOA!!!,” reads the promotion. “FEATURING: Upcoming Legend from Television and the Runway: DESMOND IS AMAZING!!! PERFORMING LIVE! … This stage, this dance floor, this house… is ours as long as we protect it.”

The promotional ad notes that 3 Dollar Bill bar is “queer owned & operated and we foster a safe space from love. We respect all human persons as long as those human persons are also respectful to the ones around them.”

“I left after seeing a child dance on stage for money at nighttime. This was on Saturday night and I have been feeling disturbed ever since,” wrote a one-star reviewer of 3 Dollar Bill on December 3 via Yelp. . .

“The club has a weird no cell phone policy, but we we [sic] wanted to have a good night, so we went along with it. The club put our phones in these locked sleeves, which we could tire around the club. Upon entry, they stamped our hands and write our phone check/cost check numbers in our wrists in permanent marker,” said one reviewer. (Read more from “11-Year-Old Boy Dressed in Drag Dances at Gay Bar, Gets Dollar Bills Thrown at Him” HERE)

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Poll: People Care More about High Health Costs Than about Pre-Existing Conditions

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Now they tell us! A Gallup poll, conducted last month to coincide with the midterm elections and released on Tuesday, demonstrated what I had posited for much of the summer: Individuals care more about rising health insurance premiums than coverage of pre-existing condition protections.

Of course, liberal think tanks and the media had no interest in promoting this narrative, posing misleading and one-sided polling questions to conclude that individuals liked Obamacare’s pre-existing condition “protections,” without simultaneously asking whether people liked the cost of those provisions. . .

The Gallup survey asked the public whether it viewed each of four scenarios as a major concern for them. Among those: “Your health insurance plan will require you to pay higher premiums or a greater portion of medical expenses,” and “you or someone in your immediate family will be denied health insurance coverage for a pre-existing medical condition.”

Ironically, a majority of 57 percent said the denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions did not constitute a major concern for them, with only 42 percent agreeing with the statement. Lest one believe that the relative insouciance over pre-existing conditions came because Democrats won a majority in the House, therefore “protecting” Obamacare, Gallup conducted the survey from November 1–11, meaning more than half the survey period came before the American people knew the election outcome.

By comparison, more than three-fifths (61 percent) of respondents viewed rising premiums as a major concern, with only 37 percent not viewing it as such. Not only did premiums register as a bigger concern by 19 percentage points overall, it registered as a larger concern in each and every demographic group Gallup surveyed. (Read more from “Poll: People Care More about High Health Costs Than about Pre-Existing Conditions” HERE)

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Top Republican Predicts Flynn’s Guilty Plea Will Be Tossed. Here’s Why.

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By The Blaze. A top congressional Republican predicted Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s case against Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who pled guilty to lying to the FBI, will soon be thrown out of court. . .

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who is retiring from Congress next month, explained on Fox News Sunday that it is his belief, and indeed that of a federal judge, that FBI investigators “violated” Flynn’s Miranda rights when they interrogated him. It’s that “misconduct” that Issa alleged would lead a judge to toss Mueller’s case against Flynn.

“I would not be surprised a bit that the conviction of Flynn is overturned because of the Justice Department and the FBI’s misconduct,” Issa said.

He further explained: “Judge Sullivan has made it pretty clear that they, in layman’s terms, violated his Miranda rights, tricked him into not having a lawyer, when, in fact, he was not only a suspect, but a target, and they had transcripts, this kind of conduct, we haven’t seen in a long time.” . . .

“In fact, we go potentially all the way to Supreme Court with new protections when the FBI and the Department of Justice lies to somebody and tricks them into making statements, and then charges them with a lie that they entrapped them in,” Issa explained.

(Read more from “Top Republican Predicts Flynn’s Guilty Plea Will Be Tossed. Here’s Why.” HERE)

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Where Is the Flynn 302?

By National Review. . .My purpose in this post is not to rehash the column. It is to highlight something I address in the middle: the missing FBI report of Flynn’s interview on January 24, 2017 — i.e., the Flynn 302. As I write in the column:

It was only after Mueller was appointed in May 2017 that the investigation of Flynn appears to have picked up steam and a false-statements plea was finally negotiated in late November.

There are many peculiarities about this. Pressing at the moment, for example, is the special counsel’s release yesterday of the FBI report (the “302” form) pertaining to Flynn’s interview. Media reports had said that even though Flynn was interviewed on January 24, 2017, the 302 documenting the interview was not completed until August 22, 2017, seven months later. Clearly, this raises the possibility that the interview report was drafted not when the agents formed their initial impressions, but months later when the special counsel was squeezing Flynn and there was a motive to make the interview appear more deceptive than it seemed at the time.

To my eye, the situation is even more disturbing than the press reporting suggests. It appears that there is no 302 of the Flynn interview. The 302 dated August 22, 2017, which Mueller submitted to the court, documents an interview of Peter Strzok, not of Flynn. It appears that this interview of Strzok took place on July 19, notes of the interview were drafted the next day (July 20), and the 302 was approved and entered into the FBI’s files on August 22. The question obviously arises: Where is the Flynn 302? FBI procedures would have called for a report within a few days of the interview. It is not that there wasn’t one for seven months. For now, it looks like none has been produced at all.

(Read more from “Where Is the Flynn 302?” HERE)

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Middle Schooler Arrested for Having Too Many Absences

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A junior high student in Oklahoma was put in handcuffs and taken to an intervention center… because the school believed he had missed too many days of class.

The student’s mother is outraged, but the Muskogee Public School system says it’s all perfectly legal. . .

Stephanie – who doesn’t want to use her last name – says she’s upset her son, a student at Alice Robertson Junior High, was treated like a criminal. . .

And taken to the community intervention center – or CIC – located behind the Muskogee County Jail Wednesday for missing too many days of school.

Muskogee Public Schools says they can’t comment on specific cases, but Braun says on the fifth absence, a citation is issued and parents must sign, which he says they typically do. (Read more from “Middle Schooler Arrested for Having Too Many Absences” HERE)

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Hillary Clinton Writes Condolence Letter to Third-Grade Girl Who Lost Class President Election to Boy

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By The Blaze. Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to an 8-year-old Maryland girl to console her for losing a class president election to a boy by just one vote, the Washington Post reported.

“As I know too well, it’s not easy when you stand up and put yourself in contention for a role that’s only been sought by boys,” Clinton wrote.

Clinton became the first woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

The girl who received Clinton’s letter is Martha Kennedy Morales, a third-grader at a private Quaker school in College Park, Maryland, according to the news outlet. The third-grader campaigned to become class president during a unit on the U.S. government for a combined third- and fourth-grade class. . .

Six ballots in the classroom election were declared invalid because they were not correctly filled out. In the end, Martha lost by a single vote. She was named vice president instead. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton Writes Condolence Letter to Third-Grade Girl Who Lost Class President Election to Boy” HERE)

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Hillary Clinton Writes to an 8-Year-Old Who Ran for Class President and Lost to a Boy: ‘As I Know Too Well, It’s Not Easy.’

By The Washington Post. . .

Dear Martha:

I learned from your father, Albert’s post on Facebook about your election experience running for Class President at . . . . Congratulations on being elected Vice President!

While I know you may have been disappointed that you did not win President, I am so proud of you for deciding to run in the first place. As I know too well, it’s not easy when you stand up and put yourself in contention for a role that’s only been sought by boys. The most important thing is that you fought for what you believed in, and that is always worth it. As you continue to learn and grow in the years ahead, never stop standing up for what is right and seeking opportunities to be a leader, and know that I am cheering you on for a future of great success.

(Read more from “Hillary Clinton Writes to an 8-Year-Old Who Ran for Class President and Lost to a Boy: ‘As I Know Too Well, It’s Not Easy.'” HERE)

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