Between a Rock and Hard Place

            Last week Senators Susan Collins (R-MA), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sided with Democrats in voting to keep Obamacare. Their votes made liberals happy, but they may have put all members of Congress and their staffs between a rock and a hard place.

            President Donald Trump is not happy that Republicans are dragging their feet on repealing and replacing Obamacare. After the latest repeal failure, the President sent out a tweet that included a threat – one that should get the attention of every member of Congress.

If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will send very soon!

            This tweet was followed a couple of days later with a second tweet questioning why members of Congress and their staff live under different rules than other Americans. He asked a question that knowledgeable Americans have been asking for years.

If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn’t it hurt the insurance companies & why should Congress not be paying what public pays?

            Under the original rules of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, congressional members and their staffs had the same rules as other Americans. They must have realized that they would have to live under this terrible law because they decided to make special conditions for themselves. The Obama administration’s Office of Personnel Management granted an exemption to them by allowing them to be treated as if they were a small business with less than 50 employees.

            Since the exemption was made by Barack Obama, it can be taken away by Donald Trump. Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal says that the President could force Congress to focus on Obamacare if he follows through on his threat. He continues with a good explanation of the law and a small history lesson.

Such action by Trump, some political observers speculate, could spur Democrats to come to the bargaining table over the fate of Obamacare….

Not a single Republican voted to pass Obamacare. Under a subsection of the Affordable Care Act, Democrats voted Congress out of its own employer-sponsored Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The provision required members and House and Senate staff to enroll in the new health insurance exchanges created for other Americans under the law.

Obamacare subsidies are capped so that no one with income higher than $48,000 gets a subsidy. Members of Congress earn $174,000 annually.

On Aug. 7, 2013, the OPM – which administers the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program – determined that members of Congress and staff still could enroll in the program through the SHOP Exchange, a health insurance exchange set up to provide special insurance subsidies for small businesses in Washington, D.C., with fewer than 50 employees….

In February 2015, then-Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, unsuccessfully sought documents pertaining to Congress and the exemption.

But documents that later surfaced reportedly showed administrators asserted Congress had a combined total of 45 employees. Congress itself has 535 members.

As of 2014, there were 4,180 Senate staffers and 9,175 House staffers, according to reports by the Congressional Research Service.

            These figures clearly show that Congress members and their staff do not qualify under the small business rule. This exemption was made for their benefit, while leaving average Americans suffering under Obamacare. Since Barack Obama had no statutory authority to give the exemption, Donald Trump should follow through on his threat and simply take it away. This would leave Congress between a rock and a hard place and could force them to deal wisely and honestly with the problem of Obamacare.

Obamacare Problems

                I have intentionally avoided Obamacare because I am simply tired of the subject.  I am grateful that other people have the fortitude to continue the fight.  Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said “we have to sign it in order to know what is in it,” and we are continuing to find out what is in the terrible program called Obamacare.

                Jeffrey H. Anderson of the Weekly Standard  reported on one problem of Obamacare – a bailout of the insurance companies.  “Robert Laszewski – a prominent consultant to health insurance companies – recently wrote in a remarkably candid blog post that, while Obamacare is almost certain to cause insurance costs to skyrocket even higher than it already has, `insurers won’t be losing a lot of sleep over it.’  How can this be?  Because insurance companies won’t bear the cost of their own losses – at least not more than about a quarter of them.  The other three-quarters will be borne by American taxpayers.

                “For some reason, President Obama hasn’t talked about this particular feature of his signature legislation.  Indeed, it’s bad enough that Obamacare is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to funnel $1,071,000,000,000.00 (that’s $1.071 trillion) over the next decade (2014 to 2023) from American taxpayers, through Washington, to health insurance companies.  It’s even worse that Obamacare is trying to coerce Americans into buying those same insurers’ product (although there are escape routes).  It’s almost unbelievable that it will also subsidize those same insurers’ losses.”

                Alyene Senger at The Heritage Foundation reported on two additional problems:  “Yes, Obamacare has raised premiums, caused people to lose their health coverage, raised taxes, and more.  But on January 1, Obamacare started digging in for the long haul:  putting down the deep roots of entitlement programs.

                “Entitlements – like the big three of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid – are the biggest causes of America’s spending and debt crisis.  And Obamacare creates a new entitlement program while expanding another.”

                Senger explained that the new entitlement is “Taxpayer-funded subsidies for millions of Americans.”  “Obamacare created insurance exchanges to sell and subsidize government-approved health care plans.  Most of those who attain coverage through the exchanges will have their costs partially subsidized by federal taxpayers….”  I recently read a new bulletin that 80 percent of Alaskans who have insurance through Obamacare qualified for subsidies! 

                After discussing the subsidies, Senger moved on to explain that the expansion of Medicaid is the expansion of a broken entitlement program.  “Thanks to Obamacare, the already failing Medicaid program will receive an influx of millions of new enrollees in 2014 and beyond.

                “Before Obamacare’s blanket expansion, Medicaid traditionally covered low-income moms and kids and low-income disabled and elderly.  If every state expands its program, as many as 25 million additional people could enroll in Medicaid by 2021 – most of them childless adults….” 

                Obamacare continues to roll forward and destroying everything in its path – much like a huge boulder rolling down a mountain.  Our nation “is already facing a fiscal crisis, largely due to existing entitlements.”  Our health system does need to be reformed to help the poor, needy and vulnerable in our society, but there are good reforms and bad reforms.  The more I know about Obamacare, the more I worry about the results of it.

More Problems with Obamacare

                Problems with the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, continues to surface.  The law was billed as blessing to Americans, especially the needy.  The law is a monster that is destroying America whether or not it was meant to do so.  Instead of being compassionate toward those Americans who had no health insurance and affordable to those of low or modest incomes, Obamacare is proving to be anything but compassionate and affordable.

                Chris Jacobs at The Heritage Foundation suggested two ways that Obamacare traps people in poverty.  Throughout history, Americans have known that there were two very important and well proven ways to become successful in America.  The first way is to work hard for success; the second way is to get married and to stay married. 

                Jacobs claims that Obamacare “includes disincentives for individuals to marry and for Americans of low and modest incomes to work.  Discouraging work and marriage will only perpetuate poverty and income inequality, not alleviate them.”  Here are her explanations.

                “Discouraging Work:  The way Obamacare calculates federal premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies includes several `cliffs.’  A person might qualify for a hefty subsidy at his current income, but if he gets a raise and makes a little more, that Obamacare subsidy disappears.  At these cliffs, individuals and families will actually benefit more by working less because additional earnings could cause them to lose thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies.

                “Families facing these kinds of poverty traps may ask the obvious questions:  If I will lose so much in government benefits by earning additional income, why work?

                “Rather than encouraging hard work, initiative, and entrepreneurship.  Obamacare instead undermines these essential American values.

                “Discouraging Marriage:  Obamacare contains not one, but two penalties on marriage – one for families with low and moderate incomes and another for families with higher incomes.  By continuing failed policies that undermine the institution of marriage, Obamacare will accelerate a root cause of income inequality in the United States.

                “Here’s an example.  A 50-year-old non-smoker making $35,000 per year would qualify for a sizable insurance subsidy, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s insurance subsidy calculator.  The individual’s premium would be capped at 9.5 percent of income, resulting in an insurance subsidy of $2,065 paid by the federal government.

                “However, if this 50-year-old is married to another 50-year-old who also makes $35,000 per year, the couple would receive no insurance subsidy at all.  This couple would incur a marriage penalty of $4,130 in one year – equal to the $2,065 that each individual could have received if they were not married.

                “As Urban Institute fellow Gene Steuerle has said:  `Our tax and welfare system thus favors those who consider marriage an option – to be avoided when there are penalties and engaged when there are bonuses.  The losers tend to be those who consider marriage to be sacred.’”

                If our leaders in government were interested in strengthening our nation, they would encourage Americans to continue these traditional values.  The fact that they pass laws that undermine these values says to me that they are not interested in a strong America.  By discouraging “work, initiative, and entrepreneurship,” the government is essentially guaranteeing that those particular Americans will never achieve the American Dream.  By discouraging marriage, the government is destroying stability in families and thus destroying the stability of our society.

Destroying America

                I do not like the idea that the President of the United States is actively working to destroy our nation.  I prefer to think that we have an incompetent President, but I do not really believe this to be the case.  I have come to the conclusion that Obama is not only competent in what he does but also successful.  I found it very interesting that the following cited articles appeared on the Internet on the same day.

                In an article entitled “Theunspoken success of ObamaCare,” Doug Hagmann presents his case for Obama accomplishing exactly what he told us he would do – fundamentally transform America.

                Hagmann began his article:  “Despite what you are being told, the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), commonly known as ObamaCare, is already proving to be a resounding success.  The problem, however, is that the majority of Americans don’t fully understand the objectives of this plan, or the roles of its architects and its defenders.  Even the vast majority of conservative pundits in all venues don’t seem to `get it’ and, consequently, are leading their readers and listeners astray by focusing on the wrong issues.

                “First, it is vital to understand that the ACA is not now, nor never was, about providing affordable health care.  It is merely disguised as such.  Rather, it is the vehicle that is being covertly used to conduct the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that this nation has ever experienced.  It is being done methodically and for a specific purpose.  It is the vehicle that will ultimately disassemble and destroy significant parts of the United States Constitution and further enslave United States citizens.

                “Presently, all eyes are on the ostensible failures of the internet gateway or ACA website.  This is precisely where the Obama regime and globalist handlers want our focus to be.  The reason is that they want us to get caught up in the minutia and not see the bigger picture.  But it’s a failure, you might say, and ascribe the failure to incompetence, graft, and so on.  While generally true, we are being forced to examine only one tentacle of the octopus, while the rest of the creature is being hidden from view.

                “Perhaps this will become clearer if you stop for a moment and ask yourself just one question.  How is it possible that the United States government can build, implement and manage the most intricate surveillance apparatus in the world, using a complex array of computers to amass data on people not just in the U.S., but all across the world, yet fail miserably on a less complex health care portal, exchange or web site?  Put aside everything you’ve been told by the government and the media, both proponents and opponents of the ACA, and think for yourself.  Does this make sense?  If you are being truly intellectually honest, you must conclude that it does not.”  [Consider the claim of three young men in their twenties from the San Francisco area that say they “created a much simpler and cost-effective version of the site in just a few days while the Obama administration has been supposedly working on it for three years.”] 

                Hagmann continues his article by explaining what he believes is being done by the “right hand” of the Obama regime while the “left hand” is furthering the work of systematically destroying America.  It is a very interesting article that should be read by every American.

                After reading the Hagmann article, I turned to another web site found an article entitled “What Obama andI learned at Columbia:  How to destroyAmerica from within” written by Wayne Allyn Root who supposedly graduated from Columbia with Obama.  “America’s decline under Obama isn’t due to mistake, ignorance, or incompetence at the hands of a community organizer.  It’s a purposeful, brilliant plan hatched at Columbia University to destroy capitalism, American exceptionalism, Judeo-Christian values, and the American Dream.

                “I never met Obama at Columbia.  We were both Political Science majors, both Pre Law.  We graduated on the same day.  There were perhaps 100 to 150 of us in the Political Science department.  And I thought I knew all of them.

                “As the token big-mouthed conservative patriot, I know they all knew me.  But not Obama.  I never met him, saw him, or even heard of him.  Not one of my friends at Columbia ever met him either….

                “What matters is what Obama learned and experienced at Columbia.  My classmates hated America.  They spoke with glee about one day `taking the system down.’  They blamed America for `unfairness, racism, inequality, and lack of social justice.’ 

                “Recognize those words?

                “My classmates proudly called themselves socialists, communists, and Marxists.  Even though almost all of them came from wealthy families (or perhaps because of it), they hated the rich and despised business owners.  They talked about how the `white power structure’ had to be dismantled, business owners bankrupted, and capitalism destroyed.  Everything in their minds was based on `social justice.’  …

                “But, there’s more.  We were all taught a simple, but brilliant plan.  My classmates discussed it 24/7.  It was their `American Dream.’

                “It was called `Cloward-Piven,’ after former Columbia professors Richard Cloward and Frances Piven.  To bring down America and our capitalist system, they were taught to overwhelm the system with massive spending, entitlements and debt.  That would cause the economy to collapse, wipe out the middle class, and bring Americans to their knees, begging government to save them.

                “It’s the exact plan Obama has been implementing.  The centerpiece is Obamacare.

                “Obamacare isn’t about health care.  It’s about bankrupting the middle class and addicting it to government dependency.  It’s about redistributing wealth from the middle class and small business to Obama’s voters (the poor and unions).  Its goal is to wipe out the last vestiges of middle class America, creating a two-class society:  the super rich and the poor (both beholden to Obama.

                “Obama learned well, it’s working to perfection….”

                This is another interesting article that should be read by all Americans.  I find it very upsetting to learn that American universities are teaching ways to destroy our nation!  I found it fascinating that both writers came to the same conclusion but for different reasons.  Conservative sources such as The Heritage Foundation began in 2010 to warn Americans about the many problems caused by Obama care.  The Tea Party came about in opposition to the ACA.  We all hoped the Supreme Court would strike down the law as unconstitutional but were disappointed.  Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and the Republicans in the U.S House of Representatives tried to stop the ACA by defunding it but did not have the support of the RINOs in the Senate.  It appears that Obama has successfully launched the center piece of his plan to destroy the United States.  We must keep our eyes and ears alert and not be fooled by all the hoopla about the site while the regime continues to march forward with their plan.  Above all, we must pray for God to bless America!

Problem with ObamaCare

                The problem with Obamacare is much bigger than the problems involved with a website.  The entire law is the problem.  Conservatives have been calling attention to this fact for more than three years.  Finally enough Americans awoke to this fact and caused the lame stream media to start reporting on it.  The Affordable Healthcare Act that carries the name of Barack Obama is a bad law that should have been repealed long ago.  Obama and the Democrats knew that it was a bad law, and yet they willingly caused a partial shutdown of the federal government in order to protect it.  Our President has lied to us many times, and Americans are finally awaking to the truth.

                Speaker of the House John Boehner listed several reasons why the President’s health care law is the problem.  1) “The problem with ObamaCare isn’t just the website.  It’s the whole law,” a law that was sold on “a pack of lofty promises” that were not true.  2) “Consumers are suffering from sticker shock” as they are looking at higher premiums because of the new healthcare law.  3) “You don’t get to keep your premiums.  You don’t get to keep anything” under ObamaCare.  4) The President lied and told a real “whopper.”  Four years ago Republicans were warning about the bill, but the President said “if you like your doctor or your health care plan, you can keep it.”  5) Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius told Congress that the ObamaCare “website has never crashed” – even as the site was not accessible.

                The Heritage Foundation has been highlighting the problems with ObamaCare for some time and has collected testimonials from individuals and families about the problems they faced in trying to deal with this law.  “Justin Hadley, a North Carolina man who, after learning his insurance policy was being canceled due to Obamacare, logged on to HealthCare.gov and found a big surprise – the eligibility information of another family in a different state.”

                “Obamacare is more than just a website – and its flaws go well beyond the security violations we exposed this weekend.  The violations to Americans’ personal freedom and well-being are widespread”:  1) “Violates Obama’s Promises” about being able to keep their insurance and doctors.  2) “Violates Families’ Pocketbooks” by “raising premiums for many Americans.”  3) “Violates Principles of Freedom” by forcing “Americans to buy a product…. Americans don’t just have to buy health insurance – they have to buy government-approved health insurance.”   4) “Violates Americans’ Consciences” by forcing “many employers to offer, and individuals to purchase, coverage that violates the core tenets of their faith regarding the protection of life.”

                “Obamacare is a deeply flawed law, and its flaws have become more apparent with each passing day.  It’s not just that people’s personal data has become insecure due to government bungling – their financial security and the security of their deeply held beliefs are likewise at stake.  The American people need relief from this inherently unworkable law.”

                The Heritage Foundation stated:  “The abject failure of the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, is proving quite the analogy for Obamacare itself – with good reason.”  Their article then quoted from a CNN report:  “Experts say the major problems with the Obamacare website can’t reasonably be solved before the end of 2013, and the best fix would be to start over from scratch.”  Heritage agreed:  “the best fix for health care in America would be to scrap Obamacare and start over from scratch.”

                CNN then reported some facts about Healthcare.gov, and Heritage noted that there are parallels to the entire law.  1) “We don’t even know where all of the problems lie.”  2) “The sheer size of healthcare.gov is indicative of a major rush job.”  3) “The Obamacare website has bigger problems than simply getting people registered for health care.”

                As Heritage emphasized, we should pay attention to the problems with healthcare.gov. Even Democrats are now calling for a delay of the law.  If only they had done so before the government shutdown!  We should get rid of the entire law before it causes more pain in our nation and pass a new law that would really correct the health care problems for Americans – and not simply make the federal government bigger and more powerful.  Of course, many of us know that Obamacare was never about health care insurance; it was always about more governmental control.  We need more leaders like Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee who are not afraid to stand on firm principles and protect our freedoms. 

ObamaCare Fight

                The federal government shut down all non-essential work on October 1, 2013.  This brings many questions to my mind, and the first one is:  If these workers are so “non-essential,” why do they still have jobs in our government?

                The shutdown took place because the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House could not come to an agreement over how to fund and government and what to do with ObamaCare.  Democrats of course want to fund Barack Obama signature program and insist that the Republicans fund it.  Republicans have apparently heard enough from their constituents to stand tough; they are more than willing to fund the federal government but insist that some changes need to be made to Obamacare.  Mr. Obama and the Democrats act as though they have been insulted because the Republicans are acting contrary to what they are “expected” to do.

                Rich Lowry of the New York Post wrote of the irony:  “Even if Democrats deflect efforts to defund or delay the law in coming weeks, the fight will go on. Republican opposition is for the long haul, and it should be.  Even as the exchanges for individuals to purchase insurance get up and running, ObamaCare is still in play.  It has a legitimacy problem.  It had one before it passed, when it was kept afloat through gross special deals, and it has one still, when it is manifestly failing to live up to the president’s salesmanship on its behalf.  There’s a reason that usually we don’t pass major social changes lacking popular support on party-line votes – it is a formula for conflict rather than consensus.

                “Having done the deed, Democrats now expect Republicans to salute smartly, accept `the law of the land’ and suggest minor improvements that Democrats will, in their wisdom, decide whether or not to adopt.

                “In other words, they recommend the acquiescence of surrender.”

                Lowry is not the only one who sees irony in how the Democrats shut down the government.  Chris Salcedo is “the left’s worst nightmare – a free thinking conservative with a no holds barred radio show.”  Sacedo apparently believes that there would be no “partial government shutdown” if the “Senate Democrats actually believed in doing work for a living….

                “Three times the House GOP tried to fully fund the government.

                “First the GOP wanted to defund Obamacare.  Harry Reid and Resident Obama wouldn’t negotiate.  Then the GOP sought to give all of us the same delay that Mr. Obama gave corporate America.  They also sought to remove the dreaded medical device tax.  Reid and Obama refused to negotiate.

                “Then the GOP sent a third compromise.  This time they fully funded government and Obamacare but insisted that those in government endure the same pain we will all feel under Obamacare.  In a stunning vote, Democrats said they believe that they, their families, and their staffers are superior to `We the People.’  Democrats voted to keep the ability to shield themselves from Obamacare while insisting that we all shoulder Obamacare’s burden.

                “This is typical of the extremist left-wingers who now run government.  `Justice for me, and not for thee,’ replaces `Hope and Change’ in the era of Obama.

                “Harry Reid and Resident Obama have demanded 100 percent of what they want while simultaneously complaining that the GOP won’t bend to their demands….

                “Let me state for the record that the House GOP is under no obligation to give Harry Reid and Resident Obama 100 percent of what they want.  The GOP compromised three times; Resident Obama and Harry Reid refused to negotiate or even talk with Republicans.  We saw further evidence of this arrogance when Republicans pleaded with Senator Reid to follow the Constitution and send conferees to hammer out the differences on the continuing resolution between the two parties.  Reid refused yet again.

                “The record is clear.  The Republican Party was working while the Democrat Party was sitting on their collective _____ hoping for a government shutdown.  And they got it.”

                I feel great compassion for the many people who will suffer because the government failed them; however, I am grateful that someone finally stood up to the tyrant who is presently living in our White House.  Obama, Harry Reid, and many other Democrats show so much arrogance in their behavior that they need to be brought down a notch or two.   I hope that enough of the American people are watching with open eyes to see just what happens.  I hope we can keep the House Republicans in the hot seat longer for them to do some good.  Will the Republicans stand firm on good principles?  Will the Democrats remember that they work for `We the People’?  Just how will this political dance end?  Can we trust any of our leaders in Washington?  We must take names and let them face the consequences of whatever choices they make!

Heritage on Obamacare

                The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is slowly being implemented in our nation.  As the various dates near for implementation of specific parts of the law, changes have been made.  Another change took place recently when the Obama Administration decided to delay the mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements for a year – until after the 2014 elections.  Their reason: they have been “engaging in a dialogue with businesses” and “have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively.”

                The Heritage Foundation published an article entitled “Obamacare’s Dirty Dozen Implementation Failures” in which we are warned against being fooled by the Administration’s “reason” for the latest postponed implementation.  “Even Democrats have admitted the law has turned into a massive `train wreck,’ with delays, glitches, and problems aplenty.”  The article then listed “a dozen more Obamacare implementation failures.”

1.  The CLASS Act was a long-term care entitlement was actually a Ponzi scheme according to one Democrat.  The Department of health and Human Services (HHS) admitted in the fall of 2011 that this program “could not be implemented in a fiscally sound manner;” Congress later repealed the program.

2.  Exchanges:  Most states chose to let the federal government run the required insurance exchanges, and the federal government have missed the deadlines for implementing the exchanges.

3.  HHS mandate for employers to “fund products they find morally objectionable or pay massive fines.  This mandate is under legal challenge by “many employers,” and its implementation has been delayed.

4.  Small business plan choices has been delayed until next year – “a delay that liberal blogger Joe Klein called `a really bad sign’ of `Obamacare incompetence.’”

5.  Child-only plans:  This part of the law has “unintended consequences” because insurers in 17 states “are no longer selling child-only health insurance plans.”  The insurers “fear that individuals will apply for coverage only after being diagnosed with a costly illness.”

6.  Basic health plan has been delayed and is being criticized by at least one Democrat.

7.  High-risk pools:  This is a program for those individuals who have pre-existing conditions; but it is facing “higher costs and lower enrollment than advertised.”

8.  Early retiree reinsurance:  This program is “broke” because it ran out of money “two years ahead of schedule.”

9.  Waivers were given to employers – “more than half the recipients of those waivers were members of union health insurance plans” – because Obamacare’s “new mandates would raise costs so much that employers would drop coverage rather than face skyrocketing premiums.”

10. Co-ops:  “Congress blocked additional funding to this Obamacare program in January.”

11. “Employee free choice:  Under this provision “certain workers” “would have been allowed … to use contributions from their employers to buy exchange health plans.”  It was repealed in April 2011 because “businesses considered it too complex and unworkable.”

12. Medicaid expansion:  This provision was “rejected by many states” under the Supreme Court ruling that it was “optional.”  The states recognized that an expansion of Medicaid would “saddle them with additional, unsustainable costs.”

                These twelve “implementation failures” prove that the Affordable Care Act is actually unaffordable for any of us.  It is a total disaster should be totally defunded and then repealed in its entirety.  It was passed by a Democrat-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled House without any Republican votes.  Republicans should refuse to bail out the Democrats and simply vote for de-funding and repealing.

ObamaCare Decision

                    The Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled on June 28, 2012, that ObamaCare was constitutional by a vote of 

5-4.  I was in shock when I first read about the ruling; I could not believe that the Justices would consider it constitutional for the federal government to force Americans to purchase insurance or pay a fine!  When I learned that Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices to pass the ruling, I became very confused and wondered:  What in the world is happening in our country?  Has the world turned upside down?  Are we living in an alternative universe?

                    I read news articles and various opinions; I listened to several different conservative talk show hosts.  Everyone seems to be confused as to just what happened and why.  Some people called Roberts a traitor; other people called him a genius; still others called him a hero.  Rush Limbaugh said that he turned the Constitution upside down and caused it to hang by a thread.

                    CBS News reported that Roberts first sided with the conservative justices but later switched his vote.   "Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of President Obama's health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations.

                    "Roberts then withstood a month-long, desperate campaign to bring him back to his original position, the sources said.  Ironically, Justice Anthony Kennedy - believed by many conservatives to be the justice most likely to defect and vote for the law - led the effort to try to bring Roberts back to the fold.

                    "… But this time, Roberts held firm.  And so the conservatives handed him their own message which, as one justice put it, essentially translated into, `You're on your own.'

                    "The conservatives refused to join any aspect of his opinion, including sections with which they agreed, such as his analysis imposing limits on Congress' power under the Commerce Clause, the sources said.

                    "Instead, the four joined forces and crafted a highly unusual, unsigned joint dissent.  They deliberately ignored Roberts' decision, the sources said, as if they were no longer even willing to engage with him in debate."

                    Rick Moran referenced the CBS article, particularly the questions about why Chief Justice Roberts changed his vote.  Does Roberts really see things the way he wrote or was he swayed by outside pressure?  Even though some of the justices do not read or listen to news items while issues are pending at the court, "Roberts pays attention to media coverage."  Did "Obama stare him down?"  Did he "buckle to the liberal pressure?" 

                    Moran followed his reference by writing, "This has always concerned me about this case:  Why is it `judicial activism' to uphold the principles of the Constitution -- even if, as in this case -- the legislation could be upheld based on precedent alone?  Conservatives were arguing not for activism, but for restraint on the government.  If the Court had a liberal majority, you can bet that the commerce clause would have been used to justify upholding the mandate.  This is the very definition of `judicial activism' in that the Court would have vastly expanded the definition of `commerce' just to uphold the law. 

                    "It is Congress that overreached, and the Court's job -- as most of us see it -- was to rein in that power and define the limit of that power as it related to the commerce clause.  Setting limits on power is not activism, it is the primary job of the Court."

                    Mytheos Holt at The Blaze  took a different view.  "Ever since the shocking ruling by the Supreme Court today that labeled Obamacare's highly controversial individual mandate a `tax' was handed down, conservatives have been reacting with a mixture of depression and cold fury, especially toward the man who made it possible, Chief Justice John Roberts.  Branded a `coward' in some corners, and a traitor by many, Roberts has been relentlessly criticized for a decision which many see as eroding the last obstacle to an overpowered government, and which certainly has the potential to do just that if the political philosophy that has so dominated the current administration continues unabated.

                    "However, sympathetic though we are to these admittedly weighty fears of increased state power, we think one fact may have been a bit obscured by this response - this is still a decision by John Roberts.  And John Roberts is still a Bush appointee, with a judicial philosophy that makes hardcore judicial liberals cringe, albeit a little less now.  As such, since the decision was released, a steady drumbeat of commentary has gone up from everyone from Reason Magazine to Charles Krauthammer to Erick Erickson to George Will to even Ken Cuccinelli, one of the people who lost in the case, claiming the decision might be a sleeper victory.  With a list of people like that believing they've secretly won, we figure we owe it to them to at least try to sum up the case for the Obamacare case being a success.  Here are the top five reasons we can see why the Obamacare case might come back to haunt the Left and make the Right cheer:  1) Mitt Romney now will have a much easier time defeating Barack Obama; 2) This deflates Occupy Wall Street's biggest cause; 3) Roberts actually set up a limit on the Commerce Clause; 4) The liberal judges inadvertently brought Federalism back; 5) It made taxation the panacea for constitutional questions."  For more information on these five reasons check out the story at The Blaze.  

                    Christopher Chantrill believes that Chief Justice John Roberts handed President Obama a "poisoned chalice."  "What in the world was Chief Justice Roberts trying to do by voting with the liberals on ObamaCare?  Conservative opinion is all over the map, but conservative talk show hosts were clear … that the ball was in the voters' court.

                    "Whatever you think of Roberts' decision, his message was unequivocal.  If you don't like ObamaCare then you'd better vote it down in November.  In this he gives conservatives real clarity.

                    "If the Supreme Court conservatives had voted down ObamaCare by a vote of 5 to 4 the liberals would not have accepted it, any more than the pro-life movement accepts Roe v. Wade.  There was only one way in 2012 to make a Supreme Court decision to invalidate ObamaCare stick, and that would have been for Justice Kagan to join the conservative majority in a 6-3 decision…. 

                    "Good luck with that.  So the only way to make liberals accept a repeal of ObamaCare is by the brute force of political power, the mandate of the voters expressed at the ballot box, just as Chief Justice wrote in the majority decision.

                    "Chief Justice Roberts did his level best [to] `nudge' the voters.  First of all, he ruled that ObamaCare is constitutional because it is really a tax.  This means that Mitt Romney and a dozen Super PACs can tell the voters that President Obama has raised taxes on the middle class.  Secondly, Roberts ruled that the federal government cannot penalize states that don't accept expanded Medicaid.

                    "These two poison pills hand the president a poisoned chalice.  `Tell it like it is,' Howard Cosell used to say:  a tax is a tax.  Forget using Medicaid as a bludgeon to force the states to enroll the near poor."

                    I do not understand the ruling or how it will affect our freedom, independence, and liberty, but I am not concerned.  I believe that everything will work out for the good of our country in the long run.  Why?  Soon after I learned the ruling, I knelt in prayer to learn what Heavenly Father knows about the ruling.  I have been pleading with God for months to please inspire the justices of the Supreme Court to make the right decision, the one that is best for the United States of America, the one that will protect freedom.  I simply asked God if the decision was the one that He wanted, and I received a comforting feeling that the ruling is according to God's desire.  Was Chief Justice inspired by God to change his vote?  I believe that he could have been inspired by the Spirit to see the bigger picture.  I know that God inspired the Framers of the Constitution to write it, and I know that He still wants the United States of America to remain a free and independent nation.  I know that our future is in the hands of God after all we can do!

Good Laws

                    The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the fact that laws can be found constitutional without being considered to be good laws and good, well-intentioned laws can be found unconstitutional. 

The United States Supreme Court found the Affordable Care Act health care law (known as Obamacare) to be constitutional by a 5-4 vote; however, when Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, he wrote:  "We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies.  That judgment is entrusted to the Nation's elected leaders.  We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated this fact very clearly.  "What the Court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States, and that is, I will act to repeal Obamacare.  Let's make clear that we understand what the Court did and did not do.  What the Court did today was say that Obamacare does not violate the Constitution.  What they did not do was say that Obamacare is a good law or that it's good policy."

Romney also declared, "Obamacare was bad law yesterday.  It's bad law today."

Leaders of the United States House of Representatives have scheduled a vote to repeal the entire Obamacare law on July 11, 2012.  Now that the Supreme Court has deemed the mandate constitutional only as a tax, members of Congress will be forced to go on record as to whether to keep or repeal the largest tax increase in the history of our nation.

The fallout from the Supreme Court's decision about Obamacare will continue to be discussed and debated, but true understanding of the Act may never fully come.   I believe that Obamacare is a bad law even though it was found to be constitutional.

Supreme Court Looks at Obamacare

                    The long awaited time has finally arrived.  This week all nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court are listening to the oral arguments for and against Obamacare.  The Court set aside six hours over a period of three days to listen to oral arguments.  It is a very rare occurrence for the Court to allow this length of time to hear a case; it is also rare for them to hear a case that has this much potential to affect all Americans. 

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi famously claimed that "we have to pass the bill so that you will know what is in it."  She obviously knew that it would not pass if its contents were known.  Polls have consistently shown that the more information given to the American people about Obamacare, the more we do not want it to remain law.  If we - the American people - were voting on the health care issue today, we would strike it down in serious defeat.  Conservatives have been against Obamacare from the very beginning - remember the town hall meetings of the summer of 2009 - claiming that Congress does not have the authority to force Americans to purchase health insurance.  The majority of Congress did not listen to the American people and passed the bill; President Barack Obama signed the bill into law.  The fight against Obamacare went to the Judicial Branch of the government and has been making its way through the lower courts.  Now it is being heard by the Supreme Court.

The Justices have to look at the case from every possible angle before making their judgment and even appointed an attorney to argue a third point that neither of the other sides were taking.   Mike Brownfield at The Heritage Foundation explained, "The central issue before the Court is whether Congress has the power under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause to impose the individual mandate on the American people, forcing them to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.  If the Court holds that Congress was outside the bounds of its authority, it can strike down the individual mandate, leaving the justices to then decide whether all or part of Obamacare should fall along with it."

                    At the end of the second day of hearing by the Supreme Justices, liberals are proclaiming Obamacare to be a "train wreck for the Obama administration.  This law looks like it's going to be struck down.  All of the predictions including mine that the justices would not have a problem with this law were wrong" (Jeffrey Toobin/CNN).  Pete Williams/NBC said that Obamacare is "in trouble."

         Todd Gaziano, legal scholar at The Heritage Foundation, gave his recap of the second day of arguments in a video found here.  

         I believe that the health care law known as Obamacare must be declared unconstitutional in its entirety.  I believe that Obamacare is about more than obtaining affordable health care; I believe that it is an attempt to apply the final blow to destroy the United States Constitution.  Progressives and Communists have been working for the past fifty to one hundred years to change the Constitution in an effort to "fundamentally transform" the United States.  I believe that the 2000 page document was written long before Congress began debating its merits; I believe that this law was sitting somewhere in a desk drawer or file cabinet drawer awaiting a good time to bring it out in the open.

                    Believing as I do, I hope that the Supreme Court rules the whole law to be unconstitutional; however, I am asking our Heavenly Father - who is watching over this nation and all his children - to inspire the Justices to judge it according to the will of God.  I know that Heavenly Father sees the "big picture" and knows what is best for this nation and the world; I also know that my thoughts are not always in alignment with His thoughts.  Therefore, I am putting the matter in God's hands and asking Him to bless the United States and to inspire the Justices to make the right decision in order that Americans may retain our freedoms.  I invite all of you to join me in praying for the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, particularly for the next few months as they make their ruling on Obamacare.  Ask God to bless them that they might rule in favor of the Constitution and liberty and that the will of God may be done.  May God continue to bless America!

Attacks on Religious Freedom

                    The Obama Administration is attacking our First Amendment right of Freedom of Religion.  In some cases, it is just nibbling away, but in other cases, it is biting off huge chunks.  Some of the worst dangers to our freedoms come under the framework of ObamaCare.  Freedom of Religion is just the first casualty of ObamaCare, and more will follow.

                    Historian David Barton claims that President Obama is anti-Biblical, and he has compiled a list of all the ways the Obama Administration has shown hostility to Christians and Jews.  His article begins:  "When one observes President Obama's unwillingness to accommodate America's four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic.  But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years.  So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian.  But that, too, would be inaccurate.  He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular.  So perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor.  In fact, there have been numerous clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of his anti-Biblical actions."

                    Barton compiled his list in the following chronological order:  "(1) numerous records of his attacks on Biblical persons or organizations; (2) examples of the hostility toward Biblical faith that have become evident in the past three years in the Obama-led military; (3) a listing of his open attacks on Biblical values; and finally (4) a listing of numerous incidents of his preferential deference for Islam's activities and positions, including letting his Islamic advisors guide and influence his hostility toward people of Biblical faith."

We live in very perilous times, much like those the Apostle Paul said would come in the latter-days (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boaster, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.

"Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers [slanderers], incontinent [without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good,

"Traitors, heady [rash, reckless], highminded [puffed up, conceited], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:  from such turn away."

We must stand in defense of our religious freedom or lose our nation as we know it.  President John Adams made two different statements that should illuminate how bad our situation really is.  The first statement is interesting due to the fact that so many people in the world are fighting and dying for "democracy".  Adams said, "Democracy … while it lasts is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy].  Remember, democracy never lasts long.  It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.  There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide."  We should be very grateful to our Founders for setting up a Republic for us and giving us the Constitution in order to safeguard it.

The Founders were very concerned about our ability to keep our Republic as reflected in Benjamin Franklin's reply when a woman asked:  "Well, Doctor, what have we got - a Republic or a Monarchy?"  He replied, "A Republic, if you can keep it."  

   The second statement by President Adams applies directly to the importance of keeping religion and morality in our nation:  "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  This site has an excellent essay on this particular statement.  

President Calvin Coolidge was apparently as concerned as the Founders were about Americans' ability to remain religious and moral.  He made the following two statements about the importance of religion in the United States, and I believe his statements reflect Truth - eternal truths that never change. 

"The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country.  There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man.  Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all.  Peace, justice, humanity, charity - these cannot be legislated into being.  They are the result of divine grace."

President Coolidge also said:  "Our government rests upon religion.  It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality, and for the rights of mankind.  Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government.  There are only two main theories of government in our world.  One rests on righteousness and the other on force.  One appeals to reason, and the other appeals to the sword.  One is exemplified in the republic, the other is represented by despotism."

Other quotes of President Coolidge can be found at this site or this one.  

Like John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Calvin Coolidge, many people today are very concerned about American freedom, particularly freedom of religion and the necessity for Americans to remain religious and moral.  The Obama Administration is aggressively working to destroy our freedom of religion, and many Americans are unaware of these dangers because our lame stream media is working hand-in-glove with the administration.

One such organization is The Heritage Foundation, who is actively working to get this information out to the general public.  Mike Brownfield of Heritage wrote an article on the attack on religionon March 1, 2012. 

"Since 1791, when the Bill of Rights was formally adopted, America has enjoyed the legal protection of religious freedom, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.  Today, 221 years later, centuries of progress in the protection of religious and other liberties is at risk of being rolled back in one fell swoop.  The culprit:  Obamacare.

"As we all know, President Obama's health care law will mandate that religious hospitals, charities, and schools abandon the tenets of their faiths and provide their employees insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization.  This anti-conscience mandate is but the latest assault on liberty Obamacare has ushered in.  Its shock waves are reverberating across the country, waking Americans to the fact that our first freedom - religious liberty - will be the first to fall now that the federal government has unfettered control over the country's health care system."

A week later Brownfield wrote another article about this subject and began it with this statement:  "Call it what you want - a circus, a sideshow, or just plain old political rhetoric - but for the past week America has watched the media elite and some in Washington bend over backward to turn attention away from an issue that is fundamental to the future of this country:  ObamaCare attack on individual liberty.  While those who favor its mandates may think they have changed the debate and quelled opposition, they are sorely mistaken.

"It all stems from a decision by the Obama Administration to mandate that religious employers, including schools, hospitals, and charities, provide health care coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception despite the fact that such coverage is in total contradiction of many of these groups' core religious beliefs.  Some have attempted to make this a debate about other issues, but despite their efforts, the core complaint about this anti-conscience mandate remains.  The President's policy is an unprecedented attack on all Americans' rights as protected by the First Amendment.  And those who prize religious liberty aren't backing down."

No President of the United States has shown such contempt for the rule of law and particularly the Constitution, the Supreme Law of our nation, as has Obama.   We can expect more of this kind of treatment if Obama gets re-elected.  We know this by the very fact that the Obama Administration has declared war on the Catholic Church while at the same time campaigning for re-election.  I think it is fair to say that any person who casts a vote to re-elect Obama also chooses to destroy more freedom.  This President and his minions do not believe in obeying laws, only in doing what they desire - with or without legal means.  A wonderful essay on this subject can befound here.  

The following two statements by President Calvin Coolidge seem to be appropriate for this essay because they relate to the importance of religion and morality as well as the fight between good and evil.

"The only way I know to drive out evil from the country is by the constructive method of filling it with good."

"It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist.  Without the sustaining influence of faith in a divine power we could have little faith in ourselves.  We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love.  Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create.  Faith is the great motive power, and no man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is a part of an unending plan."

We must keep our faith in a Divine Being.  Religion and morality are important if we are to maintain our Republic.  We know that our Constitution works only when we the people have good morals and live by religious principles.  Our very liberties are at stake as the Obama Administration is painstakingly taking apart our Constitution and the rights it was meant to protect.  Now is the time for all freedom-loving Americans to come to the aid of this nation or risk losing life as we now know it.  If this nation falls to socialism/communism, there is no hope for the world because America really is the last great hope of mankind!