From: Gary L. Bauer
U.S./Israel Dodge A Bullet
We dodged a bullet over the weekend. An attempt by the Obama Administration to broker an agreement with Iran that would have eased economic sanctions while allowing Iran to go forward toward an eventual nuclear weapon hit a road block at the last minute.
The Obama White House was hoping to make a big announcement, no doubt hoping in the process to shove Obamacare off the front pages. Instead Secretary of State Kerry had to head back to the United States to face a Congress increasingly angry that Obama is selling out Israel and other U.S. allies.
How bad was the draft deal? So bad that it was left to the French foreign minister to call the possible agreement a “con job” and a “fool’s game.” An angry Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu also publicly lambasted Obama’s proposed sellout.
The deal Obama/Kerry wanted — and still want — would put Israel’s back to the wall and virtually guarantee a major war in the Middle East. Obama and Kerry deny this, of course, but we already know that they eased sanctions on Iran months ago to grease the skids and have lied repeatedly about their intentions.
Reaction in Washington to Obama’s appeasement crossed party lines. There was criticism from liberal New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez to conservative Texas Senator Ted Cruz. In fact, many senators from both parties are calling for a strengthening of sanctions against Iran.
But as I write this, U.S. negotiators are still in Geneva bargaining with their Iranian counterparts. Obama wants to claim the “peacemaker” mantle, drive his poll numbers back up and isolate Israel in the process. The danger of a disastrous deal remains high.
Obamacare Misses Big
When the Obamacare rollout crashed and burned in early October, President Obama and other top administration officials actually tried to blame it on the program’s popularity. Obama claimed that so many people were trying to sign up that they crashed the system. But like so many of Obama’s promises, it seems that explanation wasn’t true.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “private health plans have received enrollment data for 40,000 to 50,000 users of the federal marketplace.” In addition, Reuters writes that “States with functioning exchanges have signed up 49,100 people ”
At best, maybe 100,000 people have signed up for Obamacare. But the administration had predicted 500,000 people would sign up by the end of October.
Moreover, the Washington Post notes that administration officials are still fudging the numbers by defining people as “enrollees” for merely having selected a plan, even if they have yet to actually pay for their policy.
It seems that the American people just aren’t that into Obamacare. Indeed, Gallup has polled uninsured Americans and found that only 22% of uninsured adults plan on getting health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges.
So maybe 100,000 people have signed up for Obamacare, while 3.5 million people have lost their current coverage because of Obamacare.
More “Glitches”
The Obama Administration will likely have to walk back those enrollment figures. It turns out that a glitch caused 8,000 residents of Washington State to receive inflated figures for the tax credits they thought they would be getting to purchase health insurance. As a result, the policies they bought will cost them more. Some may decide that extra cost is too much and may cancel.
Yesterday CBS News reported on a far more serious issue. Henry Chao, the chief project manager for Healthcare.gov at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recently gave nine hours of testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Among his responsibilities was the site’s security, and Chao approved Healthcare.gov’s October 1st launch date.
But for some reason Chao did not see a crucial memo warning that “the (security) threat and risk potential (to the system) is limitless.” Tony Trenkle, who wrote that memo, resigned last week.
How severe are these risks? According to CBS News, “Chao testified security gaps could lead to identity theft, unauthorized access and misrouted data.”
Navigators Or Con Artists?
Obamacare has more security risks than just a bad website. James O’Keefe, who famously exposed the corrupt practices of ACORN, has conducted an undercover investigation of Obamacare navigators in Texas. As you may recall, the so-called “navigators,” paid for with your tax dollars, are supposed to help individuals sign up for Obamacare in person.
O’Keefe filmed navigators telling people to file false tax information to get larger subsidies — more of your money. He also found a connection between the navigators and a purely partisan effort to register more liberal voters in Texas.
During her congressional testimony last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that there were no federal regulations requiring backgrounds checks for the Obamacare navigators. When asked whether these individuals, who are obtaining Social Security numbers and other personal financial information, could be convicted felons, Sebelius replied, “That is possible.”
From O’Keefe’s undercover investigation, “possible” seems like an understatement.
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