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Religious Liberty is America’s First Freedom

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photo credit: fibonacci blueHigh Court to Weigh Limits of Religious Liberty in O-Care Case

By Ben Goad.

President Obama’s signature healthcare law is headed back to the Supreme Court in a high-stakes case that could redefine the limits of religious freedom in the United States.

The high court on Tuesday will hear challenges to ObamaCare’s contentious “birth control mandate,” which requires companies to offer contraceptive services to workers as part of their insurance coverage.

If successful, the challenge could peel away a significant portion of the mandate, potentially affecting preventive health coverage for millions of women and striking a major blow to the law itself.

But the court’s ruling could also have far-reaching implications for religious liberty by allowing companies to claim First Amendment rights that the government says are reserved for individuals.

“It’s pretty huge,” said Laurie Sobel, a senior women’s policy analyst at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s hard to overstate the possible implications.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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If the contraceptive mandate passes, it will ruin a core U.S. ideology

By Rick Warren.

Does our Constitution guarantee the freedom of religion, or does it merely allow a more limited freedom to worship? The difference is profound. Worship is an event. Religion is a way of life.

Specifically, does the First Amendment guarantee believers of all faiths the freedom to practice their ethics, educate their children and operate family businesses based on their religious beliefs, moral convictions and freedom of conscience? Do Americans have the freedom to place our beliefs and ethics at the center of our business practices — or must we ignore them when we form a company?

These questions will be brought before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The outcome of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby will affect every American because any religion allowed to be practiced only inside a house of worship, and not in the day-to-day business of life, is a worthless faith.

Since I wrote “The Purpose Driven Life” 12 years ago, I have received more than 500,000 letters and e-mails from people trying to live in ways they believe honor God. For millions of Americans, faith is something you live by. It colors every decision and action, both at home and at work. It is personal, but it is not private.

David and Barbara Green are one example of a purpose-driven family leading a purpose-driven business. From the time the Greens started Hobby Lobby in their garage, building picture frames with their sons, they committed themselves and their company to one simple purpose: “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating our company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Pelosi is No Longer Even Trying to Appear Sane… (+video)

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Photo Credit: SS&SS / Creative Commons By Sam Rolley.

Cue up the laugh track. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivered some real gut-busters Thursday as she talked to reporters about President Barack Obama’s record and explained the finer points of his healthcare overhaul.

Pelosi has claimed that midterm voters will support Democratic candidates because November leaves time enough for them to reap the benefits of Obamacare and look past damning headlines from earlier in the year.

She doubled-down during her press conference, telling reporters that it simply isn’t true that Democrats are running away from Obamacare.

“This isn’t about politics. This is about the health of America,” she said. “We don’t weigh its value as to what it means politically. We weigh its value as to what it means to the health, well-being, economic and health security of America’s families. Just because people say, I don’t want to repeal it, but I do want to fix it, doesn’t mean they’re walking away from it.”

She also went off on a reporter who called the healthcare law Obamacare, contending that it was a derogatory moniker designed to make Americans forget that the coverage is affordable.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Pelosi: Stop calling it ObamaCare. It’s the Affordable Care Act. Affordable, affordable, affordable.

By Erika Johnsen.

Maybe if you just keep saying it, it will actually come true.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘LIBERTY TAX’: White House, Media Attack After Drudge Pays ObamaCare Opt-Out Penalty

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Associated PressA White House aide set off a stampede of liberal media criticism for Internet news pioneer Matt Drudge over Obamacare – but his critics don’t seem to understand how small businesses pay taxes.

The brouhaha started when Drudge tweeted, “Just paid the Obamacare penalty for not ‘getting covered’… I’M CALLING IT A LIBERTY TAX.”

Jesse Lee, the Director of Progressive Media at Barack Obama’s White House, responded that that was a “Flat lie, no fee for previous year,” adding, “Scary how much influence he once had.”

Lee’s response to Drudge set off a firestorm in the liberal media, with many mainstream media and left-wing reporters countering him on Twitter and in their own articles to claim he does not have to pay Obamacare’s Individual Mandate tax until next year. The individual mandate went into effect Jan. 1 of this year, and most people paying their taxes right now are paying taxes for 2013…

Drudge indicated in his followup tweets that since he is self-employed as the proprietor of The Drudge Report, he files as a small business. According to the IRS’s website for self-employed individuals, they are required to pay taxes quarterly.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ellen Speaks for America: Obamacare ‘Doing Very, Very Well…I Think Everyone’s Very Grateful You Did This’

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Photo Credit: YouTubeEllen DeGeneres was a completely slavish toady to President Obama as he appeared on her show to sell Obamacare — not to young people, but to mothers.

The president made his pitch to “especially all the moms out there who may have young people – 26, 27, do not have health insurance, but they think they’re invincible and nothing’s ever going to happen to ‘em – what we’ve said is you never know what life is going to throw at ya.” For example, a president who lies about keeping your plan and keeping your doctor. You didn’t see that coming! But DeGeneres said “everyone’s very grateful” for Obamacare:

DEGENERES: It’s doing very, very well…you’ve got 5 million people signed up so far. [Applause] An enormous number of people have signed up, so it’s successful….Well, for people who are starting to applaud here, I think everyone’s very grateful that you did this. And I think it is important for people to sign up. It’s just better to be covered. You just never know.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Administration Spends $17 Million a Month on Advertisement

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Photo Credit: APThe New York Times reports that between January and March of this year, the Obama Administration is and will spend $17 million a month advertising for ObamaCare.

From January until the end of March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the HealthCare.gov site and administers the Affordable Care Act, will have spent $52 million on paid media, officials said. Conservative opponents of the law have concentrated their spending on ads focusing on Democratic candidates and sowing doubts about the viability of the law.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner Obamacare warning: Even Superman got sick from kryptonite

By Paul Bedard.

In its 11th hour bid to sign people up for Obamacare, the administration is warning younger Americans that their feeling of invincibility is ending and that, like Superman, they could soon be devastated by “kryptonite,” leaving them broke if they don’t have health insurance.

“When I was in my 20s, I didn’t think I needed health insurance. I was healthy. I felt like I was Superman,” wrote a blogger on the Health and Human Services website Tuesday. “Now that I’m 32, I don’t feel like Superman anymore. I realize that anything can happen to me — or to anyone — at any time. I’m active and like to lift weights, but what if I injured my shoulder? What if I got seriously sick?”

The bottom line: “You may feel invincible, but even Superman has a weakness. Don’t let your kryptonite leave you with super-sized debt, or worse. Coverage is easy and affordable, but there’s no time to delay.”

I’m no Superman: My #GetCovered Story

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama to Hispanics: We Won’t Deport Relatives If You Enroll in ObamaCare

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Photo Credit: Geoff LivingstonPresident Obama on Tuesday sought to assure legal immigrants that they can sign up for ObamaCare without worrying that “the immigration people” will come for family members who are in the country illegally.

In an interview with Univision Deportes, a Spanish-language sports radio show, Obama said immigration officials won’t have access to the personal information that consumers provide when signing up for healthcare on the new exchanges.

“Well, the main thing for people to know is that any information you get, you know, asked with respect to buying insurance, does not have anything to do with … the rules governing immigration,” Obama said. “And you know, you can qualify if you’re a legal resident, if you are … legally present in the United States.

“You know, if you have a family where some people are citizens or legally here, and others are not documented, the immigration people will never get that information.”

Adolf Falcon, the senior vice president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, told The Hill that Hispanic families are wary of Obama’s assurances because of his record on deportations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ouch: ‘Affordable’ Care Act Leaves Man Owing $407,000 In Medical Bills

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Photo Credit: Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-JournalBy Jennifer Robison.

The hospital bills are hitting Larry Basich’s mailbox.

That would be OK if Basich had health insurance. But he doesn’t.

Thing is, he should be covered. Basich, 62, bought a plan through the state’s Nevada Health Link insurance exchange in the fall. He’s been paying monthly premiums since November.

Yet the Las Vegan is stranded in a no-man’s-land where no carrier claims him, and his tab is mounting: Basich owes $407,000 for care received in January and February, when his policy was supposed to be in effect. Instead, he’s covered only for March and beyond.

Basich has begged for weeks for help from the exchange and its contractor, Xerox. But Basich’s insurance broker said Xerox seems more interested in lawyering up and covering its hide than in working out Basich’s problems. Nor is Basich the only client facing plan-selection errors through the exchange, she added.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueReport: Premiums rising faster than eight years before Obamacare COMBINED

By Sarah Hurtubise.

Health insurance premiums have risen more after Obamacare than the average premium increases over the eight years before it became law, according to the private health exchange eHealthInsurance.

The individual market for health insurance has seen premiums rise by 39 percent since February 2013, eHealth reports. Without a subsidy, the average individual premium is now $274 a month. Families have been hit even harder with an average increase of 56 percent over the same period — average premiums are now $663 per family, over $426 last year.

Between 2005 and 2013, average premiums for individual plans increased 37 percent and average family premiums were upped 31 percent. So they have risen faster under Obamacare than in the previous eight years.

Read more from this story HERE.

Health Insurance Premiums Up 56% Under ObamaCare

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock ImageBy Paul Bedard.

Americans buying health insurance outside the new Obamacare exchanges are being forced to swallow premiums up to 56 percent higher than before the health law took effect because insurers have jumped the cost to cover all the added features of the new Affordable Care Act.

According to a cost report from eHealthInsurance, a nationwide online private insurance exchange, families are paying an average of $663 a month and singles $274 a month, far more than before Obamacare kicked in. What’s more, to save money, most buyers are choosing the lowest level of coverage, the so-called “bronze” plans.

The firm provided the costs to Secrets through their new online price index, which gives the averages of what people are paying for insurance sold through their system. In California, for example, some families are paying a high of $2,604 a month and in New York, $1,845.

The shocking surge in prices show what Americans not in Obamacare or covered by their employer are paying as they seek lower premiums. Typically, they are not eligible for the subsidies Obamacare offers those with low incomes.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: National Review One-Third of Uninsured Don’t Plan to Buy Obamacare – Regardless of the ‘Deadline

By Kyle Becker.

Despite any “hardship” that the uninsured might have, they have no plans to buy into Obamacare, regardless of the deadline.While the White House denies that it is delaying the individual mandate, the ambiguity being created by the constant delays and illegal changes to the law certainly is signaling to prospective enrolles that there’s no rush to get insured.

Even if it is 2014, and the March 31st deadline is fast approaching. As Fox News reported:

Two weeks out from the ObamaCare enrollment deadline, a new survey shows about one-third of uninsured American have no plans to buy insurance — despite the law’s requirement to do so. And despite the administration’s aggressive campaign to spread the word about the health care law, the same survey shows a startling percentage of people still don’t know about the Affordable Care Act’s basic provisions.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sshhh… ObamaCare’s Secret Mandate Exemption

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Photo Credit: APObamaCare’s implementers continue to roam the battlefield and shoot their own wounded, and the latest casualty is the core of the Affordable Care Act—the individual mandate. To wit, last week the Administration quietly excused millions of people from the requirement to purchase health insurance or else pay a tax penalty.

This latest political reconstruction has received zero media notice, and the Health and Human Services Department didn’t think the details were worth discussing in a conference call, press materials or fact sheet. Instead, the mandate suspension was buried in an unrelated rule that was meant to preserve some health plans that don’t comply with ObamaCare benefit and redistribution mandates. Our sources only noticed the change this week.

That seven-page technical bulletin includes a paragraph and footnote that casually mention that a rule in a separate December 2013 bulletin would be extended for two more years, until 2016. Lo and behold, it turns out this second rule, which was supposed to last for only a year, allows Americans whose coverage was cancelled to opt out of the mandate altogether.

In 2013, HHS decided that ObamaCare’s wave of policy terminations qualified as a “hardship” that entitled people to a special type of coverage designed for people under age 30 or a mandate exemption. HHS originally defined and reserved hardship exemptions for the truly down and out such as battered women, the evicted and bankrupts.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama: The Average Person Will Lose their Doctors Under Obamacare (+video)

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Larry DowningPresident Obama now says that his health law will lead the “average person” to switch doctors.

“For the average person,” Obama conceded in an interview with WebMD, “many folks who don’t have health insurance initially, they’re going to have to make some choices. And they might end up having to switch doctors, in part because they’re saving money.”

Read more from this story HERE.