Confused Castor Emerges

We have kept asking where in the world is Rep. Kathy Castor on Obamacare? We finally found her on the commentary page of the Tampa Tribune today. She must have written from her deep dark bunker from which she rarely emerges from. Her column today is Kathy Castor: Keep eye out for insurance rebates, but beware new unregulated rates where she joyfully tells us:

In Florida, almost 1 million consumers are expected to receive $42 million in rebates — the most of any state.

Then Castor, knowing health insurance premiums are going up, tried to blame Governor Scott and the Republican legislature for the higher premiums in her editorial.

The governor and Legislature effectively washed their hands of protecting consumers against excessive rate hikes.  

Remember this when new insurance rates are announced soon.

... 

Here, once again, the ideology and deliberate actions of the governor and Legislature are another roadblock for working families.

What about Castor's ideology and the deliberate actions by her and the rest of the Democrats in Congress?  She and her fellow Democrats rammed Obamacare through Congress on a totally partisan basis using a corrupt process of lies, back room bribes and special procedures. Floridians have always OPPOSED Obamacare. 

U.S. Representative Kathy Castor

Now we have chaos as we predicted.  We told Castor that would happen with such bad policy attempting to take over 1/6 of our economy.  But she's out touting a few lucky folks who overpaid and will get a few bucks back.

Where has Castor been as we've witnessed the train wreck and chaos she helped create since she voted for Obamacare? 

Where was Castor last year when the lie of the year "you can keep your healthcare period" was exposed as hundreds of thousands of Floridians were kicked off their insurance plans?

Where was Castor as President Obama unilaterally and arbitrarily took away HER authority in Congress, overreached and decided to change and delay parts of the law he didn't like?

Where was Castor as Floridians lost their doctors, saw their premiums go up, their co-pays go up and their deductibles go up?

Where was Castor as employers dumped their healthcare coverage? 

Where was Castor as employers were afraid to hire due to the chaos and uncertainty created by Obamacare?

Where was Castor as employees hours were cut to part-time because Obamacare arbitrarily decided to redefine what full time employment means?

Where was Castor during the disastrous Obamacare rollout that's cost taxpayers a small fortune to even make workable?

Where was Castor as hackers have already hacked Obamacare and created fraud?

Where was Castor as Obamacare was rolled out without controls in place and the ability to verify those receiving subsidies actually should be receiving them?

Where was Castor as so many enrolling in Obamacare are ending up in a broken Medicaid system which is hammering state budgets while studies show Obamacare has NOT reduced trips to the emergency rooms?

Where was Castor as the "risk pools" are actually inverted so that who enrolled are older and sicker which will mean higher premiums in the exchanges?

Where was Castor who voted for a bill that specifically stated one can ONLY get a subsidy when enrolling in a State exchange which has now created more chaos?

Where was Castor as Obamacare was unconstitutionally forcing those with religious beliefs to go against those beliefs?

Where was Castor when many originally told her Obamacare was a tax and that has now been confirmed by the Supreme Court?

Where was Castor as Obamacare carve outs have been made for special exemptions and waivers for various groups?

Where was Castor when Obama unilaterally delayed the employer mandate when the law she voted on specifically stated a date the mandates must start?

Where was Castor as the employer mandate was delayed but the individual mandate was forced on us?

Where was Castor as seniors were kicked off of their Medicare Advantage plans?

Where was Castor as younger folks the risk pools were relying on did not sign up because they would rather pay the penalty that has little way of enforcement anyway?

Where has Castor been since her town hall meeting in 2009 where a packed room told her they did not want Obamacare?

Loss of ones job, loss of existing health insurance, loss of doctors, cut in working hours, higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles resulting from Obamacare - aren't they considered "roadblocks for working families"?

Where has Castor been as all the issues have been swirling around Obamacare? 

Missing in Action and given a free media pass.

But getting a small rebate and attempting to blame the Republican legislature for premium increases - now that's newsworthy and worthy for Castor to emerge from her bunker.

Media Neglect While Obamacare Implodes

Today’s Federal Appeals Court ruling that Obamacare subsidies can only be provided through state exchanges has created another train wreck. The law very clearly stated that Federal subsidies are available to those who buy their plan from “an Exchange established by the State”. It took a lawsuit to confirm the very language the Democrats rammed through with the bill. Thirty-six states, including Florida, use the Federal exchange, the infamous Healthcare.gov.

Federal Appeals Court Ruling on Obamacare Subsidies

Americans knew that Obamacare was a fraud and a train wreck from the beginning. Democrats had to lie (in fact the biggest lie of last year - you can keep your healthcare period), use special procedures, bribe special interests like insurance companies who were promised tons of new customers, and use back room bribes within their own party to pass Obamacare.

Then when Obama even decided he didn’t like parts of it, he arbitrarily and unilaterally decided what to enforce, what to delay, what to waive for special groups so that the Obamacare that’s implemented today looks nothing like the actual law that was passed. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians got kicked off their existing healthcare plans last year. Many lost their doctors and those who did have insurance saw premiums, deductibles and co-pays go up.

Again, as these Obamacare issues swirl and Obamacare begins to implode, where in the world are Senator Bill Nelson and Rep. Kathy Castor who voted for it? MIA and in hiding on this issue.

Obamacare Imploding?

As we previously posted here, here, here and other posts as well, our local media has continued to give these two representatives who voted for Obamacare a free media pass.

The Hotair.com post linked to above states:

As Pelosi once famously said, they had to pass the law to find out what’s in it. Now they know.

And also brings this up

Michael Cannon, who spearheaded today’s lawsuit, arguing that this also means the individual mandate penalty no longer applies in the 36 states covered by the federal exchange.

Such a ruling would free nearly 1 million Floridians and more than 1.5 million Texans from the individual-mandate tax. In 2016, it would free families of four earning as little as $24,000 per year from an illegal tax of $2,085.

The Obamacare train wreck is literally being pulled apart piece by piece. More lawsuits are winding through our courts. Is it about to implode from within? The chaos and uncertainty this bill has created and is creating is why there was such a push to defund it last fall. How prescient that was as Obamacare continues wrecking havoc on our lives.

Will the Tampa Tribune or Tampa Bay Times ever confront Nelson and Castor? Will they ever hold them accountable for the Obamacare mess and chaos they helped create? Both media have certainly gone after other elected officials about much smaller issues. What are they afraid of?

Inquiring readers want to know where Nelson and Castor stand on Obamacare, what do they propose to do about it, but instead all we get is journalistic and media neglect.


Sharon Calvert

CD 13 issue is Obamacare: Vote Jolly

The Eye looks at the importance of CD 13 special election in Pinellas.   Why is this race so important?  Obamacare!  Obamacare has become the #1 job killer in our country. 

There is no more stark difference in this race than on the Obamacare issue. 

Jolly wants to get rid of Obamacare because it's hurting Americans and those in Pinellas and Sink supports Obamacare.

What's key to Jolly winning?  Turn out, Turn out, Turn out!

David Jolly

If you live in Pinellas - VOTE and get 5 others to Vote too!

Anyone in the Tampa Bay area can help at either of the 2 Jolly campaign offices in Pinellas:
Clearwater:  (727)490-9324
St. Petersburg:  (352)584-7284

----------------------------------------------------
Sink says the race is not about Obamacare.  If that was true, why did she reject doing a national TV debate? Sink was on Baynews9 Political Connections recently:

Some points of reference from the Sink interview.

• Sink says national forces may think the race is about Obamacare but she only goes by what she "hears" from residents in the District.  This is a reminder that it's only been about 2 months since Sink has been "hearing" anything from Pinellas residents.  Pinellas has over 920,000 people and almost 616,000 registered voters.  How many residents of Pinellas does she know much less has she "listened" to in that time frame?  Did she not hear residents in Pinellas say jobs are the priority?

• When asked whether the CBO report that Obamacare will destroy 2.5 million jobs was devastating, Sink cheerfully replied  "Absolutely Not".   

• Sink echoes Rep. Nancy Pelosi by happily telling us that Obamacare gives us more freedom and choice (so someone else can pay for their healthcare - small detail left out).  Sink sees Obamacare as an "Exciting Prospect".   Does anyone in Pinellas county think the Obamacare train wreck is an exciting prospect?    

• In between her gleeful support for Obamacare, Sink indicts Obamanomics, the Obama economy, by stating how horrible the economy has been for the last 5 years.   Has Sink informed the Democrat party how bad the economy is that they have created?  

The #1 issue of Americans today is JOBS.  It is impossible to support a pro-jobs agenda and support the job destroying Obamacare.

The choice cannot be more clear in Pinellas.  

Vote Jolly!

Send a message that the only exciting prospect for Obamacare is its repeal!  

Orwellian? Job-lock or Dependency

Last week Democrats and their media megaphone churned out the term "job-lock". Why? Because the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that Obamacare will kill 2.5 million jobs by 2024.  The Hill reported

The new healthcare law will cost the nation the equivalent of 2.5 million workers in the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in a report released Tuesday. 

The nonpartisan agency found the reform law’s negative effects on employment would be “substantially larger” than what it had previously anticipated. 

It said the equivalent of 2.3 million workers would be lost by 2021, compared to its previous estimate of 800,000, and that 2.5 million workers would be lost by 2024. It also projected that labor force compensation would be reduced by 1 percent from 2017 to 2024 — twice its previous estimate.

In addition to killing jobs, the CBO director Douglas Elmendorf admitted Obamacare creates a disincentive to work.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer reports that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney's response will be "emblazoned on the tombstone of Liberalism":

“Opportunity created by affordable, quality health insurance allows families in America to make a decision about how they will work, or if they will work (emphasis mine).”

Avik Roy at Forbes adds this

CBO projects that economic growth will be more sluggish than they had previously projected. 

CBO projects that from 2014 to 2023, the federal government will receive $1.4 trillion less in tax revenue than it had projected last year. As a result, “CBO now estimates that the cumulative deficit for the 2014-2023 period…would be about $1.0 trillion greater (emphasis mine) than it projected in May [2013].”

CBO Long Term Spending Projections

The CBO report is just more proof of the devastation of Obamacare.  Therefore, Obama, the White House and the Democrats went into full panic spin mode immediately.  With their media echo chamber, Obama and the Democracts began telling us Obamacare cures this problem called "job-lock".

Democrat House minority leader Nancy Pelosi smilingly told us that Obamacare "represents Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"?  Most Americans do not believe our Founding Fathers expected us to pursue our happiness by forcing someone else to pay for it. We guess Pelosi forgot or ignored the fact that she lost her Speaker position in 2010 on the very issue of Obamacare.  But facts don't matter….they just get in the way of the truth.

Progressives always put a name on everything so now it's "job-lock".  What is job-lock?  Wikipedia describes it

The term job lock is used to describe the inability of an employee to freely leave a job because doing so will result in the loss of employee benefits (usuallyhealth or retirement related).

Do Democrats ever think about root-cause? Let's step back in time and understand when and why our healthcare benefits got tied directly to our employment.  According to the Madison Project 

In 1942 during WW11 under FDR, Congress passed the Stabilization Act, which instituted wage controls in the workforce. Like every other deleterious government intervention, the wage controls led to unintended consequences. In order to compete in the labor market, employers began to look for other means of compensation to attract talent and reward productive employees. This gave rise to the tax exemption for employer-provided health insurance officially created by a 1954 IRS ruling. Concurrently, labor unions began engaging in collective bargaining for fringe benefits in addition to wages.

The truth is government created this so called job-lock of tying healthcare benefits to employment.  We don't expect to get our property insurance or our automobile insurance through our employer or through the government.  

Instead of fixing job-lock, Obamacare was built on it as a complicated, costly, bureaucratic attempt to take over 1/6 of our economy. Common sense steps would help divest our healthcare benefits from our employer: fixing the tax issue, enabling the purchase of policies across state lines, tort reform and providing a safety net for those with pre-existing conditions and low income.  

Does Obama and the Democrats actually want to fix this government created job-lock? Then cure our anemic, stagnant economy by getting the government out of the way so our free market economy can start driving job creation. Begin by repealing and replacing Obamacare with market driven reforms, reform our tax code and reign in our spending. Obamacare will never "cure" job-lock but a growing, robust economy will.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, from Nevada where high unemployment remains, jumps on the job-lock bandwagon and adds that with Obamacare "we're all free agents".  

It allows people to get out of a job they’re locked into, because of — they have healthcare in their job.”

Reid tells us that as free agents people can do what they want.  Did he say that in the same vane as he stated that the US income tax is “voluntary”?  According to Websters Dictionary

Free agent is a person who is able to act freely without being controlled by someone else

Obamacare is a federal one size fits all bad policy of mandates, taxes, and penalties that has already caused higher premiums, higher co-pays and deductibles and limited access.  Obamacare isn't about people doing what they want, it's about the government forcing people to do what it wants. Only an aging, out of touch Senator Reid would call that being a free agent.

Today, employer-sponsored insurance is the leading source of health insurance.  By mid-year when the delay expires, we anticipate employers will start canceling their employees healthcare coverage due to the cost of complying with government dictated insurance.  We've heard rumblings that because of the mid-term election, Obama may again delay this mandate. Obama meant it when he said he'd use his phone and pen to unilaterally advance his political agenda.

Combining George Orwell's  "doublethink" and "newspeak" from his book 1984, published in 1949, came the term "doublespeak". 

language used to deceive usually through concealment or misrepresentation of truth

Lies and deceit were the foundation of Obamacare. The negative consequences of Obamacare are becoming more apparent everyday.  Now the Democrats wants to swap their government created job-lock for more government created dependency. They tell us less work is good. 

Transitioning into an Orwellian society - we'll all be "free" agents forced into Obamacare!  

Tribune fixated on the wrong Senator

Welcome to the New Year! The Tampa Tribune has a new format and has added a new column called "The Right Stuff", hosted by columnist Tom Jackson, to supposedly present a conservative voice to Tribune readers. But what about it's front page?

The Tribune's fixation with Senator Rubio continues with yesterday's article titled Rough 2013 didn't sink Rubio's prospects, GOP insiders say. The article starts off with the negative narrative that Rubio had a so-called "bad year". Halfway through this article is something that actually relates to the title. The last third of this article meanders around and ends with  regurgitating some mainstream talking points about divisiveness within the GOP (as if the Democrat party has none), including:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the latest establishment GOP-oriented organization to plan a campaign to prevent extremist (emphasis mine) GOP candidates from winning the party’s primaries, according to a Wall Street Journal report. A Chamber spokesman wouldn’t confirm or deny that.

We will also meander and digress for just a moment.  While some Chamber spokesman would not comment, it wasn't difficult to find this information regarding some challenges from the Chamber/business community:

Kentucky House primaries 2014: Rep. Tom Massie may be challenged by Steve Stevens

However, the potential challenge to (extremist?) Rep.Tom Massie in Kentucky didn't last long.  Senator Rand Paul endorsed Tom Massie and on January 4th CHAMBER PRESIDENT WILL NOT CHALLENGE MASSIE

Now back to Tribune article - this is front page news?

But the real question at the Eye is what's up with William March and the Tribune's constant fixation with Rubio?  Reporting about some Rubio polls is Tribune front page news; Nelson misinforms lies to his constituents about Obamacare and the Tribune ignores.

What's really newsworthy is the Senator who really had the bad year. Senator Nelson.   

Nelson voted for the Obamacare train wreck and he voted to raise federal flood insurance rates. Americans and Floridians are personally feeling the realities of Obamacare that Nelson voted for - cancelled policies, sticker shock with higher premiums, deductibles and co-pays and loss of access to doctors and hospitals. And that's in addition to the chaos Obamacare created in 2013 for the insurance companies and for businesses, especially small business. 

Senator Bill Nelson

Tom Jackson's first Right Stuff column is titled Confronting New Realities in 2014 and begins with "the latest permutation" of the Obamacare lie of the year - "if you like your plan you can keep your plan." However, that lie was told not just by Obama but also by all the Democrats who voted for it. 

As we have posted before, Senator Nelson sent letters to his constituents in 2012 specifically stating:  

"there has been a lot of misinformation out there about exactly what the new law does…." 

"if you have health insurance now you can keep it"  

"And members of Congress did not exempt themselves from any part (emphasis mine) of the law. And in fact members of Congress and their staffs are specifically required by this new law to purchase their health insurance through the state based exchanges beginning in 2014."

Nelson tells constituents they can keep their healthcare

Then at a Congressional hearing on Obamacare in November, Senator Nelson said this:

"The so-called (emphasis mine) cancelation," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), "they're going into a policy that is going to give them protections."

Really now.. Think it was "so-called" to the hundreds of thousands of Floridians and millions of Americans who got cancellation notices? Nelson's comment is a disgrace but it reflects the arrogance of the Democrats who passed this disastrous bill because "they" think they know what's best for you and your family better than you do.

According to this Wall Street Journal article, Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin is filing a lawsuit Over the Obamacare Exemptions for Congress. 

The law states that as of Jan. 1, 2014, the only health-insurance plans that members of Congress and their staffs can be offered by the federal government are plans "created under" ObamaCare or "offered through an Exchange" established under ObamaCare. 

Congress established that the only subsidy available to them would be the same income-based subsidy available to every other eligible American accessing insurance through an exchange. This was the confidence-building covenant supporters of the law made to reassure skeptics that ObamaCare would live up to its billing. They wanted to appear eager to avail themselves of the law's benefits and be more than willing to subject themselves to the exact same rules, regulations and requirements as their constituents.

Why did Senator Nelson send letters stating we can keep the insurance we have? Nelson knew millions of Americans were going to get cancellations in 2010. Why did he refuse to address this problem in 2010 when the Republicans attempted to fix it? Why did Senator Nelson send letters specifically saying Congress is not getting any special exemption? Now reality hits and Nelson's "misinformation" that includes the biggest lie of the year is exposed. Isn't this newsworthy? Especially with the rumors still swirling that Nelson may jump into the Governor's race….is the Tribune trying to "protect" Nelson from the Obamacare mess he helped create?

We expect in 2014 for the realities of Obamacare to continue hammering individuals, families, businesses and our economy. There is only one Senator in Florida to hold responsible for the Obamacare mess - Senator Nelson. Where's the Tribune front page story about that? The Tribune's fixation is on the wrong Senator!

Crist rolls dice on Obamacare like placing bets on a craps table

Here's Charlie!  Which Charlie Crist showed up in Tampa at a fundraiser this weekend? The Tribune reported today it was the Crist who

urged a crowd of Democrats to stay behind President Barack Obama, dismissing the problems with the startup of the Affordable Care Act. 

“The president’s is going through a tough time right now. Everybody’s on his back about a website,”

So Crist "dismisses" the problems with the website but doesn't he know or won't he acknowledge all the other issues swirling around Obamacare, especially in Florida? Hundreds of thousands of Floridians and millions of Americans have had their current health plans cancelled, are experiencing sticker shock with higher premiums, higher deductibles and co-pays and losing their doctors. What about the job destroying economic impact? But the Crist response according to the Tribune:

“Well whatever,” he said. “Stuff happens."

Wow! Does that sound eerily familiar? Like another answer excuse we heard from Hillary Clinton on Benghazi?   

What Difference Does it Make?
(that four Americans were killed in Benghazi)

Crist  appears to display the Obama hubris (foolish amount of pride or confidence).  From the Miami Herald: 

 “The hug killed me,” Crist said. “Now it could save me.” 

 Crist hugs Obama in 2010
for Obama stimulus (debt) dollars 

But on the critical issue of Obamacare, it's hard to decipher a Crist position. Crist was against Obamacare before he was for it, against it before he was for it and on and on. 

According to this Broward/Palm Beach New Times article, Crist tweeted in early 2010 condemning Obamacare:

To Crist -- yes, the other Crist -- enacting ObamaCare would only constitute "the beginning." He said "Americans deserve better than this." He launched a petition to stop "health care secrecy" and vowed to send Washington "a message."

Since 2009 when Crist was governor, his positions on Obamacare have taken on a life of their own. As a Senate candidate in 2010, Marco Rubio described a half dozen opportunistic positions Crist has taken on Obamacare. Even the left leaning Politifact agreed

We agree he has made conflicting statements about his views on the health care bill -- once it only took him two hours to contradict himself. But generally his positions can be summarized in three ways: he was opposed and wanted to repeal the law, he said he would have voted for the law, and he wants to modify the law

Now Crist is rolling his dice supporting Obamacare like placing his bet on a craps table. Crist is taking the DNC's political intellectual Debbie Wasserman Shultz's advice and running for Governor of Florida on support of Obamacare…

Today Floridians not only know what is in Obamacare, Floridians are now experiencing the reality of the pain, suffering and literally the "expense" of Obamacare. But with his "well whatever" attitude at the fundraiser, Crist touts his support of Obama and Obamacare as the Tribune reports

"But he’s got a good plan. And now’s the time you need to show him what a friend you are. 

It’s easy to be with him when he’s rolling along but when it’s tough the tough get going.”

And Crist knows all about rolling along when it gets tough.  When Florida was going thru a "tough" financial downturn, Crist rolled off to run for Senate and abandoned running for a second term as Governor.

Things got tough and Charlie Crist got going….

Tribune Tiptoes around Obamacare lies

We've seen the Tribune Obamacare Op-Ed lamenting here, here, and here. The Tampa Tribune lamenting of ObamaCare continues with their Op-Ed today:  
Obamacare: a state of chaos.  Or perhaps we'll say it's "sort of" lamenting because their article starts out with this statement about Obama's "press conference fix out of thin air" announced Thursday:

President Barack Obama’s temporary fix to his health care law doesn’t really fix much at all. In fact, it will certainly lead to more chaos and may very well result in higher premiums for all consumers.

But ends with this:

Obamacare has at its core a noble premise: affordable and good health care for all Americans.  

Once the full rollout has occurred next year, and the full consequences are known, the public will have a better sense of where fixes are needed, or whether the entire law needs to be jettisoned. After that, Congress can act accordingly.

Does the Tribune do a 180 from the beginning to the end of their Op-Ed? Earth to Tribune - you can not have it both ways. Does the Tribune believe Obama can unilaterally make all these changes to laws he signed?

How about some historical and common sense perspective regarding Obamacare?

First of all ObamaCare was rammed thru on a totally partisan basis through a corrupt process of back room bribes and special procedural maneuvering. As Jonah Goldberg points out in his recent article in National Review Online, 

"Dems have only themselves to blame for Obamacare quagmire. 

Moreover, even though the legislation may go by the moniker “Obamacare,” the fact is the president didn’t write the law. Congress did, specifically congressional Democrats, with virtually no Republican input."

The Tribune needs to stop the masquerade for who is to blame for the Obamacare train wreck, chaos and mess. There's only one party responsible - the only party that voted for it - the Democrats. 

Since 2009, the Democrat mantra has been that "if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan" as Goldberg points out:

Senate majority leader Harry Reid insisted that the Affordable Care Act “means making sure you can keep your family’s doctor or keep your health care plan, if you like it.” His number two, Senate majority whip Dick Durbin, said, “We are going to put in any legislation considered by the House and Senate the protection that you, as an individual, keep the health insurance you have, if that is what you want.” Senator Patty Murray, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said it too: “If you like what you have today, that will be what you have when this legislation is passed.” Democratic senators Chuck Schumer, Max Baucus, Jeanne Shaheen, Jay Rockefeller, Bob Casey, and many, many other Democrats spouted the same talking points. 

Heck, Nancy Pelosi’s website still says that under Obamacare you can “Keep your doctor, and your current plan, if you like them.”

This Washington Examiner article tells us:

In fact, the keep-your-coverage pledge was key to some Democrats' decision to support the Affordable Care Act.

For many Democrats, the keep-your-coverage pledge was not a throwaway line; it was a fundamental part of their case for Obamacare.

The article continues with this list of "you can keep your healthcare" quotes from 27 Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office has compiled a list of 27 Democratic senators who pledged that Americans could keep their coverage under Obamacare. The list includes the entire Democratic leadership in the Senate as well as Democrats facing tough re-election races in 2014, like Mary Landrieu, Mark Begich, and Kay Hagan.

And our own Senator Nelson repeated the same mantra as he sent out letters like I received in November  2012 stating:  "Let's be clear, if you have health insurance now, you can keep it."

Letter from Senator Nelson on Obamacare

Republican Senator Enzi proposed a resolution in September 2010 to block the HHS narrow grandfather rule causing the cancellation chaos.  Every single Democrat, including Senator Nelson, voted against legislative fixing this issue they knew about in 2010. 

In addition, Eric Cantor brought up the same issue at Obama's "infamous" February 2010  Healthcare Summit at Blair House.  Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Nelson all knew back in 2010 their mantra was not true but they kept repeating it.  Senator Nelson kept sending letters out like above and Pelosi continues the false mantra on her website - as if they believe that simply stating it and having the media repeat it for them - it's true and Americans will believe it. 

Senator Nelson, who has been MIA on the Obamacare issues for months, addresses this issue through a Press Release Thursday:

“Congress enacted health care reform to help uninsured Americans get coverage, and it was not intended to take away from folks policies they're happy with,” Nelson said.

We could not find a public comment from Representative Kathy Castor.  She's been MIA on Obamacare publicly since her August 6, 2009 Healthcare Townhall, where this video caught Castor stacking the audience deck with her Obamacare and Union supporters who came in through the back door before the doors were opened to the general public.

And then Castor proceeds to blame insurance companies, one of the most regulated industries in our country, and says Obamacare will bring healthcare security to all. We've seen how that has worked out with 5 million Americans who have gotten cancellation notices, more on the way and hundreds of thousands of workers hours reduced to part time.

I was at Castor's town hall standing near the front of the line to get in and the door was blocked by a union thug. When the doors finally opened for the public and I quickly got in,  almost all the seats were already taken and I had to stand against the wall. Apparently, the intent of Castor's Healthcare town hall was to be a RAH RAH event with her supporters.

So there you have it.  Nelson was AGAINST codifying the law so you could actually keep your insurance BEFORE he was FOR an Obama unilateral squishy fix created out of thin air that creates more chaos. We assume Castor could care less about making a statement.

While we appreciate the Tribune's recent laments, where were they in 2009 and 2010 when Republicans and conservatives were predicting this Obamacare mess? Sorry but noble premises resulting in bad policies that hurt Americans is wrong.

The Democrat's failed attempt to take over 1/6 of our complex economy, our entire healthcare system, was always opposed by a majority of Americans and Floridians.  Common sense says if you want to fix a problem - first do no harm.  If you want to fix a problem affecting 10-15% of Americans, you don't harm the other 85-90%.  The media refused to tell the truth and allowed the lies and fraud to perpetuate.  

Eventually reality bites and bites good and hard. Obamacare was passed on deception, fraud and lies and a ponzi scheme requiring the young and healthy to buy overpriced health plans they don't want or need. This particular mantra is just the beginning and tip of the iceberg. Not only were Americans told they could keep their current plan, we were told we could keep our doctors, households would save $2500 a year and Obamacare will bring DOWN our healthcare costs and premiums. Instead what we are seeing are the majority of Americans signing up for Obamacare are going on Medicaid, very few signing up in the exchanges, Americans with existing plans getting cancellation notices, sticker shock on premiums, deductibles and co-pays and Americans not being able to keep their doctors.  According to this Reuters article

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Obamacare guts Medicare Advantage and Medicare to pay for Obamacare.  The beginning of the chaos has just begun. We would not have been in the mess if the media had done their job, told the truth and challenged the lies. 

The time for lamenting and masquerading who is responsible for Obamacare by the Tribune is over.  Obamacare cannot be fixed because it was built on a foundation of fraud. Instead of lamenting, theTribune should be screaming to end the chaos and repeal and replace ObamaCare with common sense, incremental solutions targeted at the 10-15% who were unable to buy insurance.

The Tribune must hold Nelson and Castor accountable. What are they afraid of?
The Truth!

Tribune short-circuits ObamaCare history

Here at the Eye we have previously written about the ObamaCare train wreck, including Where in the World is Senator Nelson on ObamaCare now and other Eye posts here and here.  We continue to wonder why our local media refuses to interview or question those who voted for the predicted ObamaCare mess, including Senator Nelson.  

Today's Tampa Tribune includes their own editorial Obama short-circuits his own health plan 

The continuing troubles with the Affordable Care Act’s enrollment website rest squarely on President Obama’s shoulders.

If the problems persist, Obama needs to extend the enrollment period beyond the March 31 deadline, or exempt people from the penalties associated with failing to have insurance. After all, big businesses were granted an extension when they complained about a lack of time to prepare for a reporting requirement in the new law.

Therefore, we must assume that the Tribune believes that Obama and the Executive branch can arbitrarily and unilaterally pick and choose what parts of a law the President signs to enforce and when. On what basis, do they believe the President has that power? What precedent does that set? Will the Tribune support that same position in the future if there is a Republican President with the Democrats having a majority of one or both houses of Congress?  

We agree there needs to be a delay of the individual mandate.  In fact, in July, as ABC news reported:  House Votes to Delay Employer and Individual Mandates by One Year

The House of Representatives voted this evening not only to delay the employer mandate by one year, but also to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate by one year as well.
“This is about basic fairness,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said during a news conference Wednesday. “If the president believes that the employer mandate is too much for the employer community, how about basic fairness for American families and individuals?”

These votes passed with Democrat support in the House. Nowhere in the Tribune Op-Ed states this fact that the House went thru the proper legislative process to pass two bills to delay both the employer and individual mandates. The House sent these bills over to the Senate.  Senate majority leader Harry Reid refused to address them or acknowledge them. Senator Reid did not want to force Senate Democrats, especially those vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in 2014, to have to vote on bills that would provide fairness to all Americans regarding ObamaCare.  

As far we know, the Tribune never even asked Senator Nelson for his opinion regarding these two bills passed by the House. 

Yet, the Tribune continues to report on Senator Nelson's request to delay raising federal flood insurance rates and refuses to report that it was Senator Nelson who voted FOR the Biggert-Waters bill last year raising the rates while Senator Rubio voted AGAINST the bill last year.  Senator Nelson's request for a do-over for his flub vote last year is almost comical as the Tribune regurgitates from an email Nelson sends to the Associated Press: 

"My legislation to fix this is being blocked right now by partisan politics and those who continue to oppose the existing health care law," Nelson wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

The truth and facts about ObamaCare is that a majority of Floridians always opposed ObamaCare. We knew back in 2009-2010 that the government trying to take over 1/6 of our economy would be a disaster. Yet Senator Nelson voted for it anyway, against the position of his constituents. Accountability for the ObamaCare train wreck starts with who rammed it thru a totally partisan corrupt process of back room deals, and special legislative maneuvering procedures that enabled a "tax" and spending bill that originated in the Senate to get passed when the House Constitutionally owns the purse strings. 

One of the reasons for the website complexity is because this Administration insisted that those looking to enroll would NEVER see the actual cost and price tag of the policies offered - how transparent is that? Oh wait  - we keep being told Obama Claims Administration Most Transparent in History so it must be true.....

The website, which we now know was not thoroughly tested, requires personal financial information be input to determine the subsidy first and then provides the subsidized premium. The Democrats and Senator Nelson put their faith banking on enough Americans  becoming dependent on the unsustainable Obamacare subsidy entitlements and there will be no turning back. Remember the subsidy is NOT free, someone else is paying for it. Again, accountability begins with who starts and creates the mess. There's only one party that passed ObamaCare in 2010 who is responsible for the train wreck they created -  the Democrats and that includes Senator Nelson. 

Requires superhuman mastery to work 

The Tribune implies these technical "glitches" implementing ObamaCare is somehow "new" news.  Where have they been?  We'll help them out going back three years to 2010.

In practice, they will likely prove difficult to design and implement, and may ultimately undermine the country’s quality of care

Verifying eligibility for these subsidies means developing a rapid-response welfare apparatus that has the ability to instantly create detailed, accurate applicant profiles. Fast, accurate income verification presents a particularly serious difficulty.

technical concerns haven't garned the same level of attention as, say, they Supreme Court challenge to the law, but they've been around for a while, and they're fairly serious

The CEO of Aetna, meanwhile, told CNBC that testing of the system has been done on the fly, and that health insurers—who are connected directly to the exchange systems—didn’t get the code to connect their systems until a month before the exchanges opened.

The Tribune continues their ObamaCare lamenting today with an Op-Ed by Michael Gerson Obamacare is in bad need of a doctor.  While Gerson admits 

Obamacare is a multiyear, multifaceted fiasco.

Gerson also states, as if fearful:

And it could become an intellectual crisis for modern liberalism.

And ends his column

So maybe the problem is not Obama or Sebelius but rather a government program that requires superhuman technocratic mastery.

Taking over 1/6 of our economy does take superhuman mastery which proves the government  cannot successfully do it. The majority of Americans who have always opposed ObamaCare knew this.  A government that tries to control our entire healthcare system in the name of "helping" the 10-15% of Americans who were uninsured requires hurting the 85-90% of those who were already insured. Does Senator Nelson believe this is good? Is this what Senator Nelson wants?

We understand bills are to be initiated in the House (again) and the Senate to delay the individual mandate. It is now being reported that 300,000 Floridians are getting notified by Florida Blue they are losing their existing health policies. So much for Floridians getting to keep their existing healthcare coverage.

Will Senator Nelson support delaying the individual mandate now?  And will anyone in the local media bother to ask him?

What we have here is a teachable moment but the Tribune has a lot to learn.

Media Sycophants for the Dems

As issues swirl around ObamaCare, the Eye has wondered where in the world Senator Nelson is on Obamacare now and whether Nelson can handle the truth about the train wreck.  Why?  Because Nelson has been silent and MIA on Obamacare.

But why have we only heard "crickets" from our sitting Senator who voted for Obamacare and helped create the mess? Because our local media has given him a free pass on Obamacare by refusing to ask Nelson ANYTHING aka NOTHING about any ObamaCare issue, including asking about Nelson's own special exemption Obama created. 

Now the media stenographers for the Democrat party did report that Nelson requested a delay in raising the federal flood insurance rates. But wait. According to this Tampa Bay Times article, Nelson voted FOR the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012 last year to raise the rates.

But today's Tampa Bay Time's Op-Ed is a poster child example of our local media's hypocrisy.   

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio had plenty of time this weekend to rail against the Affordable Care Act. But when it came to safeguarding hundreds of thousands of Floridians facing dramatically higher flood insurance rates starting today, he has been largely silent.  

Yet Rubio can't seem to find time to care.

So let's set this stage. Senator Nelson votes to raise federal flood insurance rates last year while the same Tampa Bay Times reported Senator Rubio voted against it and yet the Times attacks Rubio. Make sense to you?

Now Senator Nelson fears raising the flood insurance rates will cause havoc in Florida to 2% of Floridians affected and Nelson wants a do-over on Biggert-Waters law.  But Nelson refuses to publicly acknowledge ANY issues with ObamaCare.  He says nothing about giving the majority of Floridians and Americans a do-over on the job destroying ObamaCare train wreck that will affect ALL Floridians. In fact, the only public thing we've heard from Nelson on ObamaCare is he's now whining that the "dispute" over ObamaCare is keeping him from his do-over on raising federal flood insurance rates.

Maybe the TBT editorial board doesn't read their own paper. Maybe someone forgot to tell them that Rubio voted against Biggert-Waters Act last year while Nelson voted for it.  Or maybe they're faking they don't know how our Senators voted last year so they write a hit piece editorial on Rubio - on the very day the Democrats shutdown the government over what Nelson calls a  "dispute" on ObamaCare. But the lack of our media to question, ask, report, engage, anything Senator Nelson on the ObamaCare issue is appalling, reeks of bias and lacks any sense of balanced journalistic reporting. 

The media disingenuously has focused daily news reports on the GOP, as if the Democrats were spectators to the spectacle they created, allowing the Democrats to sit on the sidelines.  The Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Tribune and all the rest of our local media have given Senator Nelson a free pass on ObamaCare. But the Eye refuses to and we want Senator Nelson to answer the following questions regarding ObamaCare:

1. Where is Nelson on the special exemption below that Obama created out of thin air for him, Congress and their staff? 

   

   Obama created special exemption for Congress and their staff

2. Is it fair that he and other special groups get waivers and exemptions that the rest of Americans do not have access to?
3. Does Nelson believe the President can unilaterally and constitutionally delay portions of a bill he signed such as Obama delaying the employer mandate?
4. If the employer mandate is being delayed, why not delay the individual mandate, especially in light of so many implementation issues identified?
5. What does Nelson now say to those who are losing their current health insurance because they are being dropped or have had their current policies cancelled? Obama promised that under Obamacare all Americans would be able to keep their current health insurance. Does Nelson believe that is true now?
6. What does Nelson now say to those who recently received a notice that their premiums are going up, some more than doubling like this premium notice below? Obama promised that Obamacare would REDUCE our healthcare premiums and costs. 

   

   Click to enlarge - ACA compliant Policy doubles monthly Premium

7. What does Nelson say to those employees that have had their hours cut to below 30 hours a week due to ObamaCare?
8. Why did ObamaCare change what we have known for decades as the traditional full time work week from 40 hours to 30 hours?
9. Does he agree with re-defining the full time work week?
10. What does Nelson say to businesses who are not hiring or laying off employees because of ObamaCare?  Cleveland Clinic, the model Obama touted in 2009, is laying off thousands.
11. What Does Nelson say to the analysis below from Forbes magazine that ObamaCare will raise family healthcare spending $7450 between 2014 and 2022? Again, Obama told Americans their healthcare costs would be reduced by $2500 a year.  Do you believe that is true now?

    

    ObamaCare adds to Family healthcare costs

The local media refuses to hold Senator Nelson accountable for Nelson's own hypocrisy - he wants to delay raising federal flood insurance rates while appearing to fully support the ObamaCare train wreck. Until our local media demands some answers from Nelson on ObamaCare, we will assume Nelson can't seem to find the time to care.

And why should we ever believe or care about anything else that our local media writes or reports about?  Maybe that's why the Tampa Bay Times recently added a firewall you have to pay for to get to their content.  Who wants to pay for this?

Can Nelson handle the Truth about ObamaCare?

We have all been wondering Where in the world is Senator Bill Nelson on ObamaCare Now?   We've heard crickets from him as issues swirl all around it's implementation. Apparently our local media isn't curious either but we know you are.

Well, in November 2012, Senator Nelson sent out this letter that stated

Let's be clear:  If you have health insurance now, you can keep it. 

Members of Congress did not exempt themselves from any part of this law. 

Senator Nelson response re: ObamaCare

Fast forward to 2013 and today.  

We have watched Obama unilaterally and unconstitutionally decide what parts, and when, of the ObamaCare law Obama signed he will enforce. We have watched as special interests and special groups, as well as Congress, carved out their own ObamaCare exemptions.  We have watched as UPS dropped 15,000 spouses from their employer healthcare.  We have watched as employees of Walgreens and other companies, as well as retirees of IBM, will no longer have the healthcare plans they currently have, but will be moved into healthcare exchanges.  We have watched company after company after company reduce employee hours to part time 29 hours a week to avoid the pain of ObamaCare.  We have watched as our economy is now turning into the ObamaCare economy of part time workers.  Even the unions are mad as they see ObamaCare is destructive to their own self-interests and what Americans have always understood as a normal full time job - the 40 hour work week.  We now know Nelson's statement in 2012 that those who currently have health insurance can keep it with ObamaCare is absolutely false.  What does Senator Nelson say to those who are losing the health insurance they currently have?  Does he care?

And yes the political elites in Congress and their staff did get their own exemption as Senator David Vitter explains 

“As you have no doubt read, President Obama recently issued a special rule for Congress only. Under it, Congress and congressional staff get a special subsidy to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare Exchange unavailable to every other American at similar income levels,” he said. “That special subsidy is worth approximately $11,000 per family."

and Vitter graphically exposes.

ObamaCare exemption for Congress

A majority of Floridians have always opposed ObamaCare. In fact, a greater percentage oppose it today since we now know what's in it than when the totally partisan ObamaCare bill passed in 2010 (thru a corrupt process of back room deals). But where is Senator Nelson now?  He's Missing In Action on ObamaCare!

Recently Nelson aide Lisa Marshall in Nelson's Orlando office adamantly said Nelson believes "Everything is ready for October 1".  Really?  Is ObamaCare even ready for Prime Time?  Americans are worried about the security and privacy issues with the ObamaCare implementation and this Weekly Standard article confirms our worries.

An ObamaCare exchange employee in Minnesota accidentally sent out an email containing 2400 American's Social Security numbers.

“Users of the exchange will need to provide sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, that will be sent to a federal hub to verify such things as citizenship and household income…. 

“All states and the federal government, which also is setting up exchanges for some states, are scurrying to get the complex system running in less than three weeks. 

“‘The people who believe in this are so driven that there’s a subcontext of “Just let us do our job and get as many people signed up as possible, and we’ll pick up the debris later,”’ said Steve Parente, a University of Minnesota finance professor who specializes in health IT issues. 

“Parente testified on Capitol Hill earlier this week, urging caution in pushing the federal hub online before it has been thoroughly tested.The Star Tribune reports that the recipient of the mishandled privacy data was applying to become an Obamacare “navigator."

And get this - there's no validation in place for eligibility for the subsidies so we're all on the honor system....really....no waste, no fraud there I'm sure. 

So what is going to happen in Florida to health insurance premiums?  According to this AP article

Florida's insurance officials are predicting that health insurance rates will rise 5 to 20 percent for small businesses and 30 to 40 percenin the individual market through the state's new exchange.  

Wait, Hold on....Obama promised us that Americans would save families $2500 a year.   But Forbes wrote this today:

the experts working for Medicare’s actuary have (yet again[1]) reported that in its first 10 years, Obamacare will boost health spending by “roughly $621 billion” above the amounts Americans would have spent without this misguided law.

Between 2014 and 2022, the increase in national health spending (which the Medicare actuaries specifically attribute to the law) amounts to $7,450 per family of 4.

ObamaCare cost per family

In addition, the Cleveland Clinic, the very model that Obama touted in 2009, is cutting it's budget by $300 million due to ObamaCare - that means thousands of jobs lost too. What does Senator Nelson say to those losing their jobs, about company layoffs or companies not hiring simply because of ObamaCare?  Does he care? 

We speculate Senator Nelson and the Democrats are quietly sitting on the side lines anxiously waiting for the taxpayer subsidies to start flowing, hopeful that once they flow they will never stop.  Senator Nelson is being allowed to sit quietly because the media refuses to confront him about the ObamaCare train wreck he helped create. But with $17 Trillion of direct debt, our other entitlements Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security approaching life support, health insurance premiums going up, do you think the ObamaCare subsidies are even sustainable?  

But lo and behold federal flood insurance rates are going up just like health care premiums.  Federal flood insurance affects about 2% or 2 million Floridians while ObamaCare affects all 20 million of us in Florida. And guess who wants to delay any increase in federal flood insurance rates?

None other than Senator Bill Nelson.  Now the Tribune did catch up with Nelson to report on his position on flood insurance rates.  

But where in the world is Senator Nelson on ObamaCare now?  Don't you think it's about time our local media asked him?  Nelson's constituents want to know.  

Or is Nelson getting a "free media pass" on ObamaCare?