Tuesday, February 11, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Obama Does It Again
Late yesterday afternoon, the Obama Administration announced that it had delayed Obamacare’s employer mandate yet again. That is the second time in a year that the employer mandate has been delayed. Reports indicate that the delay came as a result of pressure from the business community to “peel back the law’s … requirements.”
Think about that. The administration is providing breaks to big businesses that it refuses to give to individuals and families. It is also a tacit admission that Obamacare’s mandates are job killers.
And here’s the proof: To take advantage of this delay, a business with more than 100 employees “may not reduce the size of its workforce or the overall hours of service of its employees.” If the company feels it needs to lay off workers, it must certify its business decisions with the IRS.
Hundreds of companies and local government entities have already instituted layoffs and cutbacks as a result of Obamacare. As more heavy-handed regulations take effect, the administration knows there will be more layoffs and lost hours. So, the dead hand of government is interfering yet again.
Talk about the radical expansion of big government. What’s next: IRS “commissars” in every Human Resources department?
Marc Thiessen of the American Enterprise Institute labeled this latest regulation “insane.” Thiessen said, “We have a free market economy, not a command economy. …the government creates a false incentive to lay off workers and then punishes you on pain of perjury, a criminal offense, for doing what the incentive leads to you to do… I mean, it is just insane.”
Members of Congress should be outraged over this latest executive action. Not only is Obama changing the law in direct contradiction of the actual text, he is giving the IRS veto power over the business models of private companies!
Reporter Has Awakening — Late
While many reporters are little more than mouthpieces for the political left, dutifully spouting their talking points from Media Matters, National Journal’s Ron Fournier has maintained his journalistic integrity. A liberal to be sure, Fournier nevertheless rips the administration in his latest column for its brazen political expediency, incompetence and deceit. Consider these excerpts: “It’s getting difficult and slinking toward impossible to defend the Affordable Care Act. The latest blow to Democratic candidates, liberal activists, and naïve columnists like me came Monday from the White House, which announced yet another delay in the Obamacare implementation. …
“Not coincidentally, the delays punt implementation beyond congressional elections in November, which raises the first problem with defending Obamacare: The White House has politicized its signature policy. …
“It spurred advisers to develop a dishonest talking point — ‘If you like your health plan, you’ll be able to keep your health plan.’ And political expediency led Obama to repeat the line, over and over and over again, when he knew, or should have known, it was false.
“Defending the ACA became painfully harder when online insurance markets were launched from a multi-million-dollar website that didn’t work, when autopsies on the administration’s actions revealed an epidemic of incompetence that began in the Oval Office and ended with no accountability. Then officials started fudging numbers and massaging facts to promote implementation…
“Finally, there are the ACA rule changes — at least a dozen major adjustments, without congressional approval. …But the law may be getting stretched to the point of breaking. Think of the ACA as a game of Jenga: Adjust one piece and the rest are affected; adjust too many and it falls.”
Pushing A Radical Agenda
Liberals constantly tell conservatives that they have no right to “impose their values on society.” I am sure you have noticed that virtually every day this administration is pushing the homosexual agenda on the entire country, while the popular culture throws it in your face.
The Supreme Court has already struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the left believes it has five votes on the high court to force same-sex marriage on every state in the union. Over the weekend, the attorney general announced another set of new rights for same-sex couples, irrespective of whether voters like you in those states voted against same-sex marriage.
This week a college football player who came out as gay was immediately heralded by the media. A Google news search for Michael Sam yields 134 million results. In contrast, a search for Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen who is locked up in an Iranian jail, turns up just 1,360 results. Priorities, anyone?
The first lady of the United States made it a point yesterday to say how proud she was of Michael Sam, tweeting, “You’re an inspiration to all of us, @MikeSamFootball. We couldn’t be prouder of your courage both on and off the field.” So all a man has to do is tell the country that he is sexually attracted to other men and Michelle Obama is proud of that. What a country we are becoming!
Speak Up For Family Friendly TV
In a recent report, I told you that I was honored to partner with the Inspiration Network to produce an ad that promotes solid moral character in our nation’s youth. How many networks would be willing to do that?
Unfortunately, DIRECTV recently dropped the Inspiration Network from its channel lineup. Worse, DIRECTV is misleading its customers, telling them that the Inspiration Network simply chose not to renew its contract. That is false.
Here are the facts: DIRECTV carries a lot of questionable and offensive programming, some of which is pornographic and violent. Believe it or not, DIRECTV actually pays those networks for their programming.
For example, industry reports indicate that DIRECTV may well be paying more than $25 million a year to carry Al Jazeera. The Inspiration Network had high ratings and did not charge a license fee. The Inspiration Network cost DIRECTV nothing, yet it was dropped.
TAKE ACTION: Please call 1-844-438-4677 and ask them to reinstate the Inspiration Network. If a DIRECTV representative tries to tell you that the Inspiration Network decided not to renew its contract, tell them you know the Inspiration Network is free and has always been free to distributors like DIRECTV.
Then go to iwantmyisnp.com and fill out the petition to DIRECTV.
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