Important headlines for October 16th:
Bottom Line: These are the stories you don't want to miss (but probably would if I didn't find them for you)...
Trump Faithfully Executes Unraveling Obamacare Andrew McCarthy, National Review
Excerpt: It’s ironic. Notwithstanding the many outrageous, mendacious things the president says and tweets, the press is aghast that his “fake news” tropes against mainstream-media stalwarts resonate with much of the country. Well, if you want to know why, this latest Obamacare coverage is why. What Trump has actually done is end the illegal payoffs without which insurance companies have no rational choice but to jack up premiums or flee the Obamacare exchanges. The culprits here are the charlatans who gave us Obamacare. To portray Trump as the bad guy is not merely fake news. It’s an out-and-out lie. Which is to say: It’s about as honest as the Democrats’ labeling of Obamacare as the Affordable Care Act.
This hits on most of the high points in a concise way. First, if the law did what we were told it would do (make healthcare more affordable) we wouldn't be having this conversation. Second, these insurance payments are to the insurance companies not individuals. Third, existing policies and those for next year wouldn't be impacted. Fourth, and oh by the way, the payments are currently illegal. Without any specific funding mechanism for how insurance companies get a bunch of your cash for subsidies for some exchange based policies - a federal court in May of 2016 deemed them to be illegal. The Obama administration chose to ignore the courts (anyone see the irony? Imagine if that were Trump) and kept the payments going. The Trump administration earlier this year decided to keep them going rather than rocking the boat at that point as they were hopeful for comprehensive healthcare reform which never happened.
Here's another way of stating this...The leftists are outraged because President Trump has decided not to make illegal payment to insurance companies...let the reality of that one soak in for a minute...
Behind Trump's Moves, a Return to Constitutional Government F.H. Buckley, NY Post
Excerpt: Obama kept the Affordable Care Act looking healthy via an extra-constitutional grant of $1 trillion to health-insurance companies. That required congressional approval, and Obama’s decision to bypass Congress was held unconstitutional by a federal court. President Trump’s decision Thursday to halt the bailout makes the litigation moot and represents a return to constitutional government.
The same can be said of Trump’s Friday decision to throw the Iran deal back to Congress, by refusing to certify that Iran is in compliance with the deal.
Recall that this was a treaty that should never have been adopted without two-thirds approval in the Senate, as required by the Constitution. That didn’t happen — because a compliant Republican Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which provided that the president certify to Congress every 90 days that the suspension of sanctions against the regime is “appropriate and proportionate” with respect to its illicit nuclear program. And that’s what Trump didn’t do. He didn’t tear up the treaty, or even decertify anything. Rather, he failed to certify, and simply told the truth. Iran isn’t permitting the nuclear inspections the treaty contemplates, and the Revolutionary Guard, which controls much of the government, is a terrorist organization.
Now again, here's the thing when you've got a complicit news media. They'd have you think that President Trump is the outrageous one. The one who's acted outside of the Constitution. The unpredictable threat. But time and again on the biggest issues - it was President Obama who acted unlawfully. Without a media holding him accountable - most hadn't a clue. And as we've seen with Weinstein, this isn't anything new. Sexual predator? No problem. We'll bury the stories and allow you to continue to victimize at will. Illegal payments to insurance companies? We'll just not report it and no one will know you're stealing taxpayer money to buy off the support of insurance companies. Making a nuclear pact with a terrorist sponsoring country? What Congress? Got you covered boss.
It's all a reminder of what an ignorant public combined with a complicit news media can do. And then the extra special effort to make it look like Trump's the bad guy in all of this...
Signs Liberalism's Slow Suicide Is Finally Complete Robert Tracinski, The Federalist
Excerpt: Campus protests against the ACLU are a sign that American 'liberalism' is being destroyed by the forces it unleashed and its own inherent contradictions.
This topic has been another that has been buried by the media. What's really going on with regard to leftists on college campuses and in the media. Since Charlottesville, I've had the ACLU on my radar. For decades the ACLU has been closely aligned with leftists and gleefully supported by the politically and in the media. Charlottesville wasn't the first sign that true liberalism was dead on the left but it stands as the clearest example to date. The President was time and again hailed as a racist for suggesting there were decent people within the ranks of the white supremacists in Charlottesville. As first glance, I like many, questioned that statement that appeared to be potentially reprehensible. Upon review the ACLU rallied for free speech at that rally. Since that time, I cited on numerous occasions that unless you think that the ACLU are as bad as the NAZI's out there the President was right. Once again, a complicit media has buried those facts. More startling recently is the revelation that the ACLU isn't being tolerated by leftists anymore. They as well are being shouted down on college campuses and in other settings. Where's the media on this one? Hard leftists are anything but open-minded these days. They're as close-minded as they come.
Until tomorrow...