Giving it away is the only way

Three years ago, on the eve of Obamacare’s implementation, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that President Obama's centerpiece legislation would result in an average of 201 million people having private health insurance in any given month of 2016. Now that 2016 is here, the CBO says that just 177 million people, on average, will have private health insurance in any given month of this year—a shortfall of 24 million people.

Indeed, based on the CBO's own numbers, it seems possible that Obamacare has actually reduced the number of people with private health insurance. In 2013, the CBO projected that, without Obamacare, 186 million people would be covered by private health insurance in 2016—160 million on employer-based plans, 26 million on individually purchased plans. The CBO now says that, with Obamacare, 177 million people will be covered by private health insurance in 2016—155 million on employer-based plans, 12 million on plans bought through Obamacare's government-run exchanges, and 9 million on other individually purchased plans (plus a rounding error of 1 million).

In other words, it would appear that a net 9 million people have lost their private health plans, thanks to Obamacare—with a net 5 million people having lost employer-based plans and a net 4 million people having lost individually purchased plans.

None of this is to say that fewer people have "coverage" under Obamacare—it's just not private coverage. In 2013, the CBO projected that 34 million people would be on Medicaid or CHIP (the Children's Health Insurance Program) in 2016. The CBO now says that 68 million people will be on Medicaid or CHIP in 2016—double its earlier estimate. It turns out that Obamacare is pretty much a giant Medicaid expansion.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/article/2001732

14th Amendment protection

The Obergefell decision last June recognized for the first time a 14th Amendment protection for the exercise of religion, said Michigan lawyer David A. Kallman of the Great Lakes Justice Center. In an interview with WND, Kallman pointed out that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion in the marriage decision concluded the 14th Amendment protects self-identity. “He specifically links to our rights as enunciated in the Bill of Rights,” Kallman said. “So if you find your identity in Christ … we would argue, Justice Kennedy has created another layer of protection.”

Two experts with the Great Lakes Justice Center, William Wagner and John S. Kane, wrote a letter to the ABA regarding a rule change that would make it ethical “misconduct” for a lawyer to consider “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in the attorney-client relationship. “To be sure, the Obergefell decision stated that for some individuals ‘personal identity’ may come from a person’s intimate sexual orientation and the court then ruled accordingly,” they wrote. “The court’s ruling clearly comprehends that an individual’s ‘personal identity’ could come from the person’s intimate religious faith orientation, i.e., his or her ‘beliefs.’” That means, they explained, that the Supreme Court “determined that this new fundamental constitutional liberty right of personal identity is found in, and protected by, the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/03/experts-marriage-ruling-protects-religious-expression/#OO7LR8ysyRAz8hRh.99

I wonder if Justice Kennedy knew this is what his ruling would do?

My first 100 days

I heard John Kasich talking about what he would do in his first 100 days in office, so I started thinking about what I would do in my first 100 days if I were elected president (which won't happen):

1. I would propose six amendments to the Constitution. The first would establish under law that the right to life begins at conception and cannot be taken away except through due process (just like everyone else). The second would establish that in the United States, marriage is a lawful union between a man and a women. The third would establish that nothing in the Constitution prohibits Congress from passing laws to criminalize desecration of the American flag. The fourth would establish that Representatives would be limited to five terms in office and Senators would be nominated by state legislatures, ratified by the citizens of the state, and limited to two terms. The fifth would establish that Supreme Court Justices would serve 18 year terms with one justice being replaced every two years (this amendment would also deal with other federal judges who are appointed to life terms). The sixth would clarify what constitutes natural born citizenship and would eliminate the concept of "anchor babies."

2. I would ask the Joint Chiefs to give me a 3-month plan for obliterating ISIS.

3. I would appoint Ben Carson to construct a detailed plan to replace Obamacare based on his proposal for individual health accounts.

4. I would appoint Chris Christie as Attorney General and have him conduct an immediate investigation into (among other things) the killing of Miriam Carey by Capitol police and the Secret Service in October 2013.

5. I would propose legislation that would give every undocumented person within the borders of the US six months to come forward (maybe three months). If a person has overstayed a visa, that person will be subject to a fine or deportation (a judge can evaluate the circumstances). I would also make clear that any person who has overstayed their visa but does not come forward and is caught will be immediately deported and will forfeit any opportunity to re-enter the US at any time in the future. Anyone who crossed the border illegally and comes forward may, after police and FBI clearances, be granted a temporary work visa. This visa will be good for 3 to 5 years and may be renewed if the person pays their taxes and does not commit any crimes. Anyone who does not come forward and is caught shall be immediately deported and will forfeit any opportunity to re-enter the US at any time in the future. Of course, this proposal will include effectively sealing the border, establishing an effective system for keeping track of those here on visas, and bringing severe penalties on employers who hire undocumented aliens. I would also make very clear that no person who has entered our country without going through proper channels will ever be granted the privilege of becoming a US citizen.

6. I would invite Vlad Putin to Camp David and try to discern if there is any hope for the US and Russia getting on the same page.

7. I would suspend the Iranian deal and demand that it be re-negotiated. Of course, this would probably result in no deal at all. I would tell the Iranians they have 3 months to agree to a better deal or we will begin re-instituting sanctions. I would also let the Israelis know that they are free to do whatever they believe to be in the best interests of their survival as a nation. They will be no push back from the US.

8. I would privatize all VA hospitals.

9. I would propose legislation to break up the "too big to fail" financial institutions so that none of them are too big to fail.

10. I would propose legislation that would eliminate all federal income tax and replace it with a flat tax on goods at the wholesale level. Whenever an item is purchased at the retail level, the receipt would be required to show the amount of the purchase price that was tax. This legislation would also require each state to make an annual federal payment based on population (and perhaps other factors). The state would be free to raise this payment any way it chooses. It would also authorize the federal government to assess either states or individuals with a temporary "war tax" as needed to pay for the cost of going to war. This way we all have a stake in it.

11. I would begin a process for eliminating the Federal Reserve.

There might be more I would do, but that would be the start.