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Will Obamacare Bring Down Progressivism?

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Photo Credit: Heritage Foundation The implosion of Obamacare indicts not just the law itself, but the whole edifice of progressivism—a philosophy rooted in the belief that government, supposedly administered by “the best and the brightest,” can run things better than individuals. That idea is now, again, being proven incorrect.

The hubris in the progressive assumption was on display at the end of President Obama’s now infamous press conference of November 14. Without the aid of a TelePrompTer, the President who dared to overhaul one-sixth of the U.S. economy made this candid admission: “What we’re also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy.”

It was the Cinderella-at-midnight moment of the Obama presidency—the moment when the gold chariot turned into a pumpkin, the stallions into junkyard dogs, and the liveried carriagemen into mice. The follow-up question—one I hope will be answered in the affirmative—is whether the magic will wear off not just for the President but for progressivism.

Those on the left of the political spectrum started reviving the term progressivism in earnest about a decade ago, after they had thoroughly discredited the word “liberal.” (Liberal, incidentally, is a perfectly legitimate term rooted in the word liberty. In its original use—its present use on the other side of the Atlantic—it meant a dedication to free markets, exactly the opposite of what it now means here.)

Once it became associated with big government, high taxes, wasteful spending and crippling debt, “liberal” became a liability with voters. So the left adopted an old label—“progressives”—and set about to position themselves as political leaders who would throw off the antiquated ideas of the past and move the country forward. In the meantime, they did an excellent job of redefining conservatives as people who were stuck in the past, backward–looking, and too judgmental about new ideas and lifestyles.

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Trey Gowdy: Obama Deceived Women

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Photo Credit: APSpeaking out against the contraceptive mandate, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy accused the president of winning the election by misleading women voters.

“The president knows he is not going to win this case. But what he did win was an election. He won election in part by deceiving women and the so-called war on women,” Gowdy said Wednesday on Fox News’s “On the Record.” “He knows he is not going to win this in Supreme Court, but he won in 2012. That was his real objective.”

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Obamacare Coming After Your Guns?

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Photo Credit: WND Obamacare has provided rich fodder for jokes, even if they are a little grim, because of its failed website, cancellation notices and huge premium spikes.

One used-car dealer in Denver, Colo., even boasted, “At least our website works.”

So it’s no surprise websites such as ObamaGunCare.com would appear with the promise, “If you like your gun, you can keep it, period.”

And “If you like your gun, no one is going to ban it, period. Unless … ”

The parody is the brainstorm of the Second Amendment Foundation. “With a track record like Barack Obama has on health care, we don’t want the president getting involved in gun care or firearms safety,” the organization says.

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Boy with Cancer Loses Coverage After Obamacare Launch (+video)

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Photo Credit: WNDHunter Alford is the happy kid next door with a big grin who idolizes country music star Blake Shelton.

His parents call him a “wild, fun loving, zombie-killing boy who loves the military and police.”

He is normal in every way, except this 7-year-old already plays guitar and keyboards and has his heart set on learning to fiddle. Something else sets Hunter apart.

He was born with a rare form of cancer and lost his health insurance just after Obamacare went into effect.

Americans were told the health-care law was designed to help children just like Hunter, born with a deadly pre-existing condition and little means to pay for expensive treatments.

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Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Cases on Contraceptive Mandate – Hobby Lobby

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Photo Credit: AP By Jennifer Haberkorn

The Supreme Court has agreed to revisit Obamacare, this time to review the requirement that most employers provide contraceptive coverage in their employee health insurance plans.

On Tuesday, the court accepted two cases centered on the issue of business owners’ religious expression.

It’s another test for the embattled health care law, which is already struggling under the weight of a botched website and a political backlash after millions of Americans saw their current insurance plans cancelled for 2014.

The case could also rekindle the same clash that unfolded during the 2012 presidential campaign, when Republicans attempted to make the contraception rule an important issue. A ruling against the contraception coverage rule wouldn’t knock down the whole health law, but it would give more fuel to its opponents.

This is not Obamacare’s first trip to the high court. In 2012, the court ruled in favor of another controversial piece of the law — the individual mandate, which requires most Americans to have health insurance. Chief John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the court to uphold the mandate, a surprise move that kept a key piece of the law intact.

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Photo Credit: LifeNews By Steven Ertelt

Hobby Lobby’s battle against the HHS mandate is headed to the Supreme Court, as the high court today agreed to hear its lawsuit against the controversial provision in Obamacare. The Obama administration is attempting to make it comply with the HHS mandate that compels religious companies to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs for their employees.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to take up Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a landmark case addressing the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of business owners to operate their family companies without violating their deeply held religious convictions. This is good news to the Green family, who own the store.

“This is a major step for the Greens and their family businesses in an important fight for Americans’ religious liberty,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead lawyer for Hobby Lobby. “We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will clarify once and for all that religious freedom in our country should be protected for family business owners like the Greens.”

The Obama administration says it is confident it will prevail, saying, “We believe this requirement is lawful…and are confident the Supreme Court will agree.”

“My family and I are encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide our case,” said Mr. Green, Hobby Lobby’s founder and CEO. “This legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only: the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution. Business owners should not have to choose between violating their faith and violating the law.”

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CNN Poll – ObamaCare Is Sinking Obama: “The Numbers Are Ugly”

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Photo Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyA new CNN poll confirms what America’s collective gut has been saying for weeks: Obamacare is sinking its namesake.

The numbers are ugly: Just one in four respondents say President Obama is a competent manager of the federal government. For all the hand-wringing about comparing the HealthCare.gov site rollout to Hurricane Katrina, the bottom line is that this president, like his predecessor, has now suffered a signature event that has convinced a majority of Americans that he is unfit for the job.

Piling on, the president also scored his lowest marks on honesty and trustworthiness, with 53 percent of those surveyed responding that they don’t feel Obama is being straight with them. To put it in some context, Bill Clinton was widely viewed as shifty but competent, and Jimmy Carter as honest but hapless. Obama at the moment seems to have combined the worst of both worlds.

The CNN results amplify Obama’s political problem: The Affordable Care Act imbroglio is having an outsized effect on his entire presidency, with voters reassessing his basic qualifications. “This is serious,” says Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. “This is much more serious than I hear some Democrats saying publicly. This is not a temporary drop.”

Adds John Geer, an expert on public opinion at Vanderbilt University, “In a sense, the public was collectively willing to be patient. That reservoir of support among independents and moderates has evaporated.”

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Large Employers Cite Obamacare ‘Cadillac’ Tax in Reducing Benefits (+video)

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Photo Credit: ReutersFor 75 million Americans who get their insurance through large companies, the Affordable Care Act is a mixed bag. Experts tell NBC News the new healthcare law is only slightly increasing premiums next year, but causing some companies with the most generous plans to reduce their employees’ benefits.

Aaron Baker, 36, his wife Billie and their two young children are covered under a generous health insurance plan offered by the private Midwestern university where he’s worked for 10 years. When they opened their benefits notice this year, they were pleased to see their $385 premium is only up by four dollars next year. However, they were shocked to discover that instead of covering the first dollar they spend with no deductible, the Baker’s plan now includes a $1,000 deductible and a $2,500 out of pocket maximum. They also will still have small co-pays for services.

According to the enrollment notice, the changes are “to relieve future health plan trend pressure and to put the university in a position to avoid the excise tax that becomes effective in 2018.” The 40 percent excise tax—often called the “Cadillac tax”— is part of Obamacare and is levied on the most generous health plans. It’s designed to bring down overall health costs by making companies and workers more cost-conscious. The thinking is that if consumers have to pay more expenses themselves, through higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses, they’ll avoid unnecessary or overly costly procedures. And that is supposed to make care more affordable for everyone.

Billie Baker doesn’t think much of that concept. “I think that saying that your insurance is too good so we’re going to give you a penalty,” she said, “is sort of outrageous to me.”

Said Aaron, “You would think the government would want employers to offer good health care packages to their employees. It seems like that is not the case.”

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Telling the Truth About ObamaCare Can Get You Fired

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Are you afraid of the Obama White House? If you challenge the president’s beloved health care plan, maybe you should be. Consider the fate of William White, the Washington, D.C. Insurance Commissioner, who voiced skepticism about President Obama’s hastily assembled “fix” for the millions losing their insurance policies.

A day after suggesting that the new demands on insurers could destabilize the marketplace and lead to even higher premiums, White was canned.

Telling the truth about ObamaCare is risky.

Remember the manhandling of Congressional Budget Office head Douglas Elmendorf? When the supposedly neutral bean counters undertook the first analysis of ObamaCare ’s fiscal impact, their preliminary findings threatened to undermine the happy talk flowing from the White House. Elmendorf was summoned to a parlay with the president, who doubtless explained how the budget gurus might amend their analysis, as a patriotic duty…

Any surprise that the cost estimates from the CBO have made generous assumption — underestimating the number of Americans to receive subsidies and who will be added to Medicaid roles? I will guarantee that as this bill takes hold, costs will exceed those projected by the CBO.

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No Obamacare Subsidy for Some Low-Income Americans (+video)

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Photo Credit: Reuters/Jonathan BachmanOne of the basic tenets of Obamacare is that the government will help lower-income Americans — anyone making less than about $45,900 a year — pay for the health insurance everyone is now mandated to have.

But a CNN analysis shows that in the largest city in nearly every state, many low-income younger Americans won’t get any subsidy at all. Administration officials said the reason so many Americans won’t receive a subsidy is that the cost of insurance is lower than the government initially expected. Subsidies are calculated using a complicated formula based on the cost of insurance premiums, which can vary drastically from state to state, and even county to county.

That doesn’t change the fact that in Chicago, a 27-year old will receive no subsidy to help offset premiums of more than $165 a month if he makes more than $27,400 a year.

In Portland, Oregon, subsidies for individuals making just $28,725 a year phase out for those younger than 35 years old.

The subsidies situation is adding another layer of complications and calculations to the already-complex picture of Obamacare.

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GOP Congressman Serves Up a Steaming Plate of ‘I-Told-You-So’ over Obamacare and the Shutdown (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreCongressman Raul Labrador isn’t unrepentant for the Republicans’ role in the fight over Obamacare that lead to the government shutdown — especially since the White House has unilaterally delayed multiple portions of the law since its implementation.

“There wasn’t a single Republican that wanted to shut down the government,”Labrador said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller. ”We all knew that on October first there was a new healthcare law that was going to impact every American and that was the only opportunity we had to do a fight on Obamacare.”

Labrador mocked Democrats for fighting so savagely against GOP proposals only to clamor for the very changes that the GOP was requesting as soon as President Obama’s signature piece of legislation went into a tailspin.

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