tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5137111172775994020..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Netanyahu lies and distorts - we will see who pays the priceDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54341644893279506462015-03-05T04:59:09.384-05:002015-03-05T04:59:09.384-05:00Obamacare is so unconstitutional, it’s absurd. It ...<i>Obamacare is so unconstitutional, it’s absurd. It delegates legislative powers that Congress cannot delegate. It creates a permanent super-legislature to supplement — and when conflicts arise, to supplant — Congress. It tries to amend the Constitution via statute rather than the amendment procedure of Article V.<br /><br />Obamacare proves economist Friedrich Hayek’s axiom that government direction of the economy threatens both democracy and freedom. After decades of failing to deliver high-quality, low-cost health care through Medicare, Congress struck upon the “solution” of creating a permanent super-legislature — or worse, an economic dictator — with the power to impose taxes and other laws that the people would reject.<br /><br />Fortunately, one Congress cannot bind future Congresses by statute. If the Supreme Court fails to strike down Obamacare, Congress should exercise its power to repeal IPAB — and the rest of Obamacare with it.</i><br /><br />http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/ipab-obamacares-superlegislature<br /><br /><br />Death Panel? Call it what you like. Whatever else it is it is one more example of this administrations contempt for the constitution and one more example of Congress' willingness to willingly give up the duties they were elected to carry out.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-38791235029245217102015-03-05T04:55:01.292-05:002015-03-05T04:55:01.292-05:00In effect, Obamacare gives IPAB the power to raise...In effect, Obamacare gives IPAB the power to raise taxes, spend money, place conditions on federal grants to states, and exercise other powers the Constitution reserves solely to Congress. If the Supreme Court upholds Obamacare’s mandated Medicaid expansion, states may soon see IPAB imposing similar mandates on states. And if President Obama fails to appoint any IPAB members, all these powers fall to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.<br /><br />As if all this weren’t bad enough, we discovered a heretofore unreported feature of Obamacare. According to the statute, if Congress fails to repeal IPAB during that short window in 2017, then in 2020 Congress loses any and all power to restrain these super-legislators.<br /><br />The Congressional Research Service and others have reported that Congress will always retain some (limited) power to block IPAB’s edicts, but they misread a crucial part of the statute. They thought they saw the word “or” where the statute actually says “and.” The difference is dramatic.<br /><br />As we explain in our new report, under the statute as written, if Congress fails to repeal IPAB in 2017, the secretary must implement IPAB’s edicts even if Congress votes to block them. Nancy Pelosi was right: We needed to pass Obamacare to find out what was in it. We’re still finding out.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52349326730642357732015-03-05T04:53:06.189-05:002015-03-05T04:53:06.189-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-83598113658570309662015-03-05T04:51:07.349-05:002015-03-05T04:51:07.349-05:00That makes IPAB more than an advisory board. It’s ...<i>That makes IPAB more than an advisory board. It’s a super-legislature whose members are more powerful than members of Congress. If eight members of Congress propose a bill, all that’s necessary to block it is a majority of either chamber, or one-third of either chamber plus the president.<br /><br />Worse, Obamacare forbids Congress to repeal IPAB outside of a brief window in the year 2017 — and even then requires a three-fifths supermajority in both chambers plus a presidential signature. Under Obamacare, after 2017 Congress could repeal Medicare, but not the board it created to run Medicare. Congress and the states could repeal the Bill of Rights — but not IPAB.<br /><br />What kind of laws will these super-legislators impose? Obamacare supposedly prohibits these super-legislators from raising taxes or rationing care. Yet those restrictions are unenforceable and meaningless. For instance, the statute lets IPAB define “rationing” and protects that definition — along with the secretary’s implementation of IPAB’s edicts — from administrative or judicial review. The prohibition on raising taxes is likewise toothless. IPAB can raise taxes as surely as it can cut Medicare spending.</i>Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-63277520450931740692015-03-05T04:49:58.575-05:002015-03-05T04:49:58.575-05:00.
The CATO Institute explains IPAB at length bu.... <br /><br />The CATO Institute explains IPAB at length but in simple terms.<br /><br /><i>he individual mandate isn’t Obamacare’s only unconstitutional provision, or even its most unconstitutional provision. That distinction belongs to the Independent Payment Advisory Board. A heretofore unreported feature of this super-legislature makes it even more authoritarian and dangerous than anyone knew.<br /><br />IPAB consists of up to 15 unelected government “experts.” Its stated purpose is to restrain Medicare spending. If projected spending exceeds certain targets, Obamacare requires IPAB to issue “legislative proposals” to reduce future spending. Those proposals could include drastic cuts that jeopardize seniors’ access to care, leading some critics to label IPAB a “death panel.”<br /><br />But the really dangerous part is that these are not mere “proposals.” Obamacare requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to implement them — which means they become law automatically — unless Congress takes certain steps to head them off. Congress may replace the Board’s proposal with its own cuts, at least initially. But Obamacare requires a three-fifths vote in the Senate to pass any replacement that spends more than the Board’s proposal. In other words, to override IPAB’s proposal completely, opponents must assemble a simple majority in the House and a three-fifths majority in the Senate and the president’s signature...</i><br />Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60016050774869687862015-03-05T04:47:30.624-05:002015-03-05T04:47:30.624-05:00.
IPAB, under the current rules, becomes basicall....<br /><br />IPAB, under the current rules, becomes basically a 4th branch of government after 2017, basically immune to either Congress the Executive, or the public for that matter as none of its members is elected. It is like a new FED except that unlike the FED it can't be audited.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-28116640895783963332015-03-05T04:33:01.996-05:002015-03-05T04:33:01.996-05:00.
IPAB? What's IPAB? Is that one of them th....<br /><br />IPAB? What's IPAB? Is that one of them there dea.. Shut your mouth! <br /><br />What is IPAB?<br /><br /><i>The Independent Payment Advisory Board was one of the most controversial parts of the Obamacare legislation — mainly because it puts 15 unelected strangers in charge of health decisions for most Americans...<br /><br /> At a time when many Americans have been unsettled by abuses at the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department, the introduction of a powerful and largely unaccountable board into health care merits special scrutiny...<br /><br /><b>The board, which will control more than a half-trillion dollars of federal spending annually, is directed to “develop detailed and specific proposals related to the Medicare program,” including proposals cutting Medicare spending below a statutorily prescribed level. In addition, the board is encouraged to make rules “related to” Medicare.<br /><br />The ObamaCare law also stipulates that there “shall be no administrative or judicial review” of the board’s decisions. Its members will be nearly untouchable, too. They will be presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed, but after that they can only be fired for “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”<br /><br />Once the board acts, its decisions can be overruled only by Congress, and only through unprecedented and constitutionally dubious legislative procedures—featuring restricted debate, short deadlines for actions by congressional committees and other steps of the process, and supermajoritarian voting requirements. The law allows Congress to kill the otherwise inextirpable board only by a three-fifths supermajority, and only by a vote that takes place in 2017 between Jan. 1 and Aug. 15. If the board fails to implement cuts, all of its powers are to be exercised by HHS Secretary Sebelius or her successor.<br /><br />The IPAB’s godlike powers are not accidental. Its goal, conspicuously proclaimed by the Obama administration, is to control Medicare spending in ways that are insulated from the political process...</b></i><br /><br />(continued...)<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62129284999118869642015-03-05T04:19:20.789-05:002015-03-05T04:19:20.789-05:00.
How's those death panels treating you?
Who....<br /><br /><i>How's those death panels treating you?</i><br /><br /><b>Who ya gonna call? When...</b><br /><br /><i>Such "insurance" from Obamacare not only fails to provide access to doctors, but research in the top medical journals such as Cancer, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation and Annals of Surgery, show that Medicaid beneficiaries suffer worse outcomes than similar patients with private insurance ... all at an added cost of another $800 billion by CBO estimates to taxpayers after the decade...<br /><br />==================================<br /><br />Indeed, unless one has the financial resources or power to skirt the new system, many of America's top doctors and hospitals are no longer available.</i><br /><br /><b>More government-dominated care</b><br /><br /><i>Obamacare has forced Americans onto a far more government-dominated health care pathway than in the past. Coupled with population aging, the 107 million under the government's Medicaid or Medicare insurance in 2013 will rapidly increase to 135 million just five years later, a growth rate tripling that of private insurance.<br /><br />By the end of the decade, a full 140 million Americans will have their health care access directly controlled by government insurance, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.<br /><br />More doctors than ever already refuse Medicaid and Medicare due to inadequate payments for care, and that will only accelerate as government lowers reimbursements. Less appreciated is that inadequate payments to doctors by government insurance substantially increase private insurance premiums.<br /><br />Back in 2008, a shortfall of over $88 billion of payment from Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries added more than $1,500 extra per year in premiums and $1,800 extra in total out-of-pocket costs to every family of four with private insurance.<br /><br />As the government increases its role as insurer, it increases its hold on payments to doctors and hospitals, so it will be able to reduce reimbursements and dictate access to limited networks of doctors and hospitals. And with increasing enrollment into government insurance, private premiums will undoubtedly rise even more...</i><br /><br />http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/opinion/atlas-obamacare-poor-middle-class/index.html<br /><br /><b>Call IPAB, the Independent Payment Advisory Board.</b><br /><br /><i>The Independent Payment Advisory Board. The new Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), composed of 15 members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, was created by the PPACA to enforce a per capita spending growth target in Medicare. If spending exceeds the set threshold, the board’s recommendations will automatically go into effect unless Congress passes legislation that equally reduces growth in spending. Otherwise, IPAB’s decisions will bypass congressional approval and require a two-thirds majority of Congress to override them.</i><br /><br />http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/comparative-effectiveness-research-under-obamacare-a-slippery-slope-to-health-care-rationing<br /><br />.<br /><br />Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69371857207228708332015-03-05T02:33:11.169-05:002015-03-05T02:33:11.169-05:00.
ALLIES WATCH: Today it's Saudi Arabia
The....<br /><br />ALLIES WATCH: Today it's Saudi Arabia<br /><br /><b>The Saudi king gave a prize to an Islamic scholar who says 9/11 was an ‘inside job’</b><br /><br /><i>Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman awarded a prestigious prize to Zakir Naik, a televangelist and religious scholar from India, heralding him as “one of the most renowned non-Arabic-speaking promulgators of Islam.” Naik, a trained doctor, founded the Peace TV channel, which supposedly reaches an audience of 100 million English-speaking Muslims.<br /><br />=======================================<br /><br />The preacher is not short of controversy. His orthodox, Wahhabist views — affiliated closely with the Saudi state — are polarizing in India, which is home to a diverse set of Muslim traditions and sects. His conservatism has led him to make statements endorsing the use of female sex slaves and allegedly expressing sympathy for terrorists.<br /><br />==================================<br /><br />In a 2008 video, he claimed President George W. Bush was behind the Sept. 11 attacks. “Even a fool will know that this was an inside job,” Naik said. Years before, he appeared to offer tacit backing to terrorist masterminds such as Osama bin Laden.<br /><br />“If [Bin Laden] is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him,” he said in one video. “Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”<br /><br />========================================<br /><br />In a video in 2007, he talked about how “Jews are controlling America.”<br /><br />In 2010, Britain’s government barred his entry into the country on grounds of “unacceptable behavior.”</i><br /><br />===========================================<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/04/the-saudi-king-gave-a-prize-to-an-islamic-scholar-who-says-911-was-an-inside-job/?hpid=z10<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34348802812895032822015-03-05T01:47:53.914-05:002015-03-05T01:47:53.914-05:00.
I don't know. None of the rooms have windo....<br /><br />I don't know. None of the rooms have windows.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58514953640596205072015-03-05T01:45:38.557-05:002015-03-05T01:45:38.557-05:00.
What was the other question?
..<br /><br />What was the other question?<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30562097619517212702015-03-05T01:44:42.631-05:002015-03-05T01:44:42.631-05:00.
Hunkered down and doing well.
..<br /><br />Hunkered down and doing well.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-22580737596066609062015-03-05T01:13:28.845-05:002015-03-05T01:13:28.845-05:00Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, UAE vs. Iran,...Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, UAE vs. Iran, Shia Iraq, parts of Syria, Yemen, parts of Lebanon<br /><br />Does this sound about right ?Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69376672258791076832015-03-05T01:02:33.176-05:002015-03-05T01:02:33.176-05:00Who can't agree with Quirk ?
Not me.Who can't agree with Quirk ?<br /><br />Not me.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-87047935483145164692015-03-05T00:25:58.932-05:002015-03-05T00:25:58.932-05:00That seems to be from Dubai, United Arab Emirates....That seems to be from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.<br /><br />And it's Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Iranian Shia militia that are doing much of the fighting.<br /><br />Haven't seen anything yet in the American media.<br /><br />I'll believe it when Q, who is hunkered down at the Double Horn Bordello in Mosul, confirms.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34090641508469787402015-03-05T00:13:31.916-05:002015-03-05T00:13:31.916-05:00Hey Quirk, you know that duck tail hairdo look is ...Hey Quirk, you know that duck tail hairdo look is supposed to be in the back, not the front, nitwit.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76433925970315464772015-03-05T00:12:07.502-05:002015-03-05T00:12:07.502-05:00U like waddlin' wimmin, Noble Ash ?
The fatso...U like waddlin' wimmin, Noble Ash ?<br /><br />The fatsos that will pay attention to any old potato ?<br /><br />!<br /><br />ar ar arCharltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58761008906449452042015-03-04T21:42:25.847-05:002015-03-04T21:42:25.847-05:00.
:o)
..<br /><br />:o)<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-89513896183928505102015-03-04T21:37:42.679-05:002015-03-04T21:37:42.679-05:00nahnahRufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-77070834432046236912015-03-04T21:34:34.131-05:002015-03-04T21:34:34.131-05:00More from Al-Masdar News:
The Iraqi Security Forc...More from Al-Masdar News:<br /><br />The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) – in cooperation with local militias – took advantage of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) weak defenses at the Al-‘Alam District by assaulting the latter’s positions at the villages of Siha and Mazra’at Al-Raheem. <br /><br />Following their attack on the two villages, the ISF and their allies declared Siha and Mazra’at Al-Raheem under full government control, killing 12 ISIS militants in the process. <br /><br />With the success in the imperative city of Tikrit flooding the news from the frontlines, the Iraqi Minister of Defense revealed that 97 areas have been officially liberated from ISIS’ control in the Salaheddeen Governorate.<br /><br />To coincide with their offensive at Tikrit, the ISF has launched a new offensive just south of Al-Ramadi at the city of Al-Houz.<br /><br />The offensive at Al-Houz is already under way, with the ISF and the Badr Brigades (Liwaa Al-Badr) advancing past ISIS’ frontline defenses inside the city on Wednesday. <br /><br />As the ISF continues to press ISIS around the country, the latter is on the verge of being cutoff completely from eastern Iraq; this is due in large part to the ISF’s successful campaigns in the Diyala and Salaheddeen provinces.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-security-forces-rolling-tikrit-new-offensive-launched-near-al-ramadi/" rel="nofollow">bizzy, bizzy, bizzy</a><br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27310938856001329172015-03-04T21:02:01.705-05:002015-03-04T21:02:01.705-05:00U r messed up dude!U r messed up dude!Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73784316144343315342015-03-04T20:57:16.068-05:002015-03-04T20:57:16.068-05:00Oh, chickenOh, chickenAshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-92047541366548647512015-03-04T19:22:05.619-05:002015-03-04T19:22:05.619-05:00I don't like her either.
But she's got th...I don't like her either.<br /><br />But she's got the female body parts.<br /><br />Looking quite dumpling like these days, but she's got the female body parts.<br /><br />She, though, has started to waddle walk, has anyone but me noticed?<br /><br />It is not pretty to watch......Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-77584828100545401722015-03-04T19:19:32.336-05:002015-03-04T19:19:32.336-05:00?
Congratulations.
You have made a 'leap of ...?<br /><br />Congratulations.<br /><br />You have made a 'leap of comparison' there that no one here could possibly follow, not even you.<br /><br />You've been drinking, again.<br /><br />Fell off the wagon......Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43517064027037591582015-03-04T19:17:48.523-05:002015-03-04T19:17:48.523-05:00Gator is like snake - not much taste. Actually, N...Gator is like snake - not much taste. Actually, No taste. Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.com