In the above video we see Obama saying the following:
“IF you are already getting health insurance on your job, then, that doesn’t change. Health insurance reform passed was passed six months ago. I don’t know if anybody here has gotten a letter from their employer saying, ‘you have to go on government health care’….”
This statement is just false. I have posted in the past on this topic of companies dumping their plans because it will be cheaper for them just to dump their employees onto the government plan. Here is a recent example exemplified over at HotAir – 3M to dump retirees from medical coverage:
Remember when Barack Obama repeatedly promised that no one’s current coverage would have to change if Congress approved the health-care overhaul he demanded? When the ObamaCare bill passed, the Associated Press suddenly discovered that the change of tax law that would supposedly generate billions of dollars to pay for the costs of the bill would also drive companies to dump retirees from their existing drug coverage and push them into Medicare. Minnesota-based 3M became one of the first large corporations to do just that — and push retirees off of all their plans as well:
3M Co., citing new federal health laws, said Monday it won’t cover retirees with its corporate health-insurance plan starting in 2013.
Instead, the company will direct retirees to Medicare-backed insurance programs, and will provide reimbursement for that coverage. It’ll also reimburse retirees who are too young for Medicare; the company didn’t provide further details.
The company made the changes known in a memo to employees Friday; news of the move was reported in The Wall Street Journal and confirmed Monday by 3M spokeswoman Jackie Berry.
The ObamaCare bill created a fund to subsidize employers who didn’t dump their retirees, but the WSJ notes that it simply wasn’t enough to change the negative incentives created by the government interventions:
The changes won’t start to phase in until 2013. But they show how companies are beginning to respond to the new law, which should make it easier for people in their 50s and early-60s to find affordable policies on their own. While thousands of employers are tapping new funds from the law to keep retiree plans, 3M illustrates that others may not opt to retain such plans over the next few years. …
Democrats that crafted the legislation say they tried to incentivize companies to keep their retiree coverage intact, especially until 2014. The law creates a $5 billion fund for employers and unions to offset the cost of retiree health benefits. More than 2,000 entities, including many large public companies, have already been approved to submit claims for such reimbursement. 3M did not apply.
How did Democrats come up with the $5 billion figure for subsidies to protect retirees from losing their plans? From the looks of it, they simply made it up. They also didn’t do much calculation to determine whether the subsidies would actually incentivize employers into rejecting this strategy for cost savings. To some extent, they may not have been able to make that calculation, because thanks to the massive amount of ambiguity in the bill, no one can really say for sure what the future costs would be. And of course, that’s why 3M chose now to dump the retirees.
3m has 23,000 retirees, many of them likely to be living in Minnesota. They’re also likely to vote in the upcoming midterms, perhaps even more likely now than ever. That won’t be good news for House Democrats in the Minnesota delegation hoping to win a new term in four weeks.
We already know we will not know the ultimate costs… and going off of experience, we know all government programs are always more than what we are told:
This is a concern for the Dems and will be a losing issue (among the many others). Here are a couple examples of the impact this ridiculous bill has had on business:
The Washington Examiner has a great short interview with Walter “Tank” Mondale. He thinks Obama relies on these teleprompters too much. Not that it carries much weight, but I think that as well.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale said on CNN that President Obama relies too much on teleprompters — which Mondale called “idiot boards” — when speaking to the American people.
In a discussion of whether Obama projects empathy in his speeches, the 82 year-old Mondale said the president “has got to connect with the American people.” When CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked why Obama has not shown more empathy, Mondale answered, “I’ve seen places where he’s done it. The Milwaukee speech, I thought was terrific. I think some of these backyard events are terrific. But I think he — he’s very bright — as a matter of fact, brilliant. And I think he tends to — and he uses these idiot boards to read speeches on television and I think he loses the connection that he needs emotionally with American voters.”….
HotAir has some great input on Ed Schultz that makes me laugh at the audacity of dope:
Remember how leftists were accusing Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck of being a polarizing figure after and especially before his “Restoring Honor” rally? He was too outspoken, not nuanced enough. Well, how about this?
MSNBC’s Ed Schultz at “One Nation”: “We must fight the forces of evil – the conservatives.”
He went on to say that:
They want it for them, they don’t want it for the people. They talk about the Constitution, but they don’t want to live by it. They talk about our forefathers, but they want discrimination. They want to change this country.
If that’s not “polarizing,” I don’t know what is. “They want discrimination”? Really? Strange, I’ve never heard, say, a Tea Party speaker advocate reintroducing segregation. In fact, if memory serves me well, Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally featured several prominent African American speakers, who demanded an end to Obama’s “divide-and-conquer”-politics. If conservatives “want discrimination,” why is it that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, Alveda King, was happy to accept Beck’s invitation to speak at his event, that stressed moral values such as honor, honesty and respect?
While estimates for Beck’s rally are 300,000 (really more like 500,000 — but to go with the major news orgs, 300,000), much less came for the One Nation Rally, period. Politics and World News has this post on the event:
The One Nation Rally which transpired on Saturday is the talk of the political circles. After the Glenn Beck rally, it only made sense that the liberal demographic would stage their very own event. However, it appears as if the attendance figures for the one nation rally are actually far less than Glenn Beck’s rally attendance.
Now, there will be people that argue until they are blue in the face. However look at the photograph here – one of the photos were taken at Beck’s rally and the other was taken at this weekend’s One Nation rally. Tell me which crowd appear larger?
However, no one is releasing totals on the attendance of the One Nation rally. One non-partisan satellite imagery company issued an estimate of 87,000 for Beck’s rally attendance, although he claims more like 500,000 attended. The One Nation organizers claim that 175,000 to 200,000 came to their rally.
The politics are heated, and therefore we won’t have a concrete total from the rally. Whose rally was better, Beck’s or One Nation? It all depends on who you ask.
What attendance do you think was better – one Nation or Glenn Beck?
One of my favorite commentaries comes from Protein Wisdom, and PW sums up the speakers presentations:
If you can stand more than ten minutes of dreck — the Left farce known as “One Nation” march on D.C. A group consisting of the usual Progressive groups — from SEIU, AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood to Socialist Democrats of America and the American Communist Party.
I’ve listened to the opening “march reasons” which included (quotes as I heard them)
We march against in resegregation from Arizona to Atlanta.
We march against when a handful of Senators can block progress and keep tax cuts for the rich.
And now the first speaker is the deranged, demented Ed Schultz.
“The conservatives voices of America want to keep you down. They don’t believe in your freedom.”
What a fucknut among other fucknuts.
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“We need to value people over profits” … For pity’s sake, does the Left ever go beyond its old, moldy, risible slogans of the past?
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“Go back to the slums of our Northern cities knowing this must change.” Does the little proggie mouthing that line even stop to consider the worst city slums are in cities that have been run exclusively by Democrats according to Progressive “values”?
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What is striking so far is the lack of enthusiasm in the crowd. I’m not hearing much in the way of applause and reaction to the speeches. I wish there were more crowd shots; there seems to be a lot of milling around, large groups of people wearing the same t-shirts (union affiliation?)
Seems this rally is being phoned in as well as it was bused in.
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“If my gender is respected but other genders are pushed to a life of seclusion … things are not right” Eddie Flores (?) from Los Angeles.
Um…just how many genders are there and which one is being “pushed to seclusion”? Interesting line from an East El-Lay cholo who described himself as a 23 year old who has a “lifetime of pursuing social justice.”
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SEIU rep now takes the podium and tries to get the crowd to chant.
Fail.
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We had the muzak version of Lennon’s lame “Imagine” and interpretive dance at the beginning, now we get Black Ice, a hip-hop poet.
Oh, lord.
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Van Jones! “It’s our turn now.”
Whoops…quick crowd shot and they are just not paying attention!
“We have a Saudia Arabia of solar power beaming down on us right now.” [facepalm]
Now Van is talking about wind power “You’ve never heard of a ‘wind slick’ or ‘wind spill’.”
“We care about red states, too. We have some real answers for them.” I bet you do, Van; I bet you do.
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More credibility for this rally: here’s Al Sharpton!
Little Proggie college coed who doesn’t want to connect Federal interference in higher education and the explosion of tuition fees. Kinda says how economics is taught, eh?
Sharpton pulls the race card. Yawn.
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Another crowd shot … lots of empty chairs shown.
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Some greyhaired “Native American” comedian (sic) [Charlie Hill?] who, if the crowd reaction is any indication, is a reject from open-mic night. Where’s that giant hook when you need it?
He slams Beck, Palin and others then says “Now is the time of healing.” Oky, doky …
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Barbara Elliot, union organizer: “We don’t just need jobs, we need jobs for justice.” Um, anyone want to take a stab at translating that one?
Larry Cohen is now slamming Xerox. Oh yeah… “One Nation” demanding an immediate one million jobs. Just what tree do they think those jobs grow on?
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Shot of professionally printed signs. Yep, this is really a “grassroots” rally.
Now time for some more Progressive union demogoguery.
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Dick Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO: “If you watch TV you’d think we were a nation full of hate.” heh
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Yikes … I needed to take a break for a while and return to see Jesse Jackson on stage!
Oh, an illegal alien college student who is saying “It wasn’t MY fault I’m here … pay me.”
JJ: “When Michelle Obama speaks of obesity in children, she is on the right side of history.” Wow, I’m inspired, aren’t you?
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“The terrorism in the modern work place.” Excuse me?
Victoria Rowell is now saying it is impossible for any person to be represented by any one else but another person of the same melanin-level or sexual orientation. Indeed, this sneering little collectivist makes clear that individuals are to be judged by their group they are assigned to and by the actions/words of the leaders of that group.
Sorry, Vicki, but that is antithetical to America.
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Beau Sia, Siam Poet — Coming next to an over-priced, free-trade coffee shop near you.
Um…. he finishes a poem talking about how wonderful and valuable teachers are, then the bump music as he leaves the stage from Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall ? “Hey, Teacher, leave those kids …” and the snippet cuts off. Hilarious.
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Shot of sign “Hillary Clinton: Lady MacDeath”
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Darlene Nipper continuing the celebration of identity politics.
The crowd is thinning out and not interested.
Rep Luis Gutierrez, 4th district D-Ill shilling for illegal alien blanket amnesty
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Whoa!! Speakers are still at the podium and the cameras swung to the crowd. I snagged this screenshot:
No one left the Restoring Honor Rally early. This was supposed to rival that.
Astroturf ain’t just what it is all cracked up to be, eh, Proggies? Even Soro’s money and Union-financed buses couldn’t keep the paid butts in those seats.
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The Proggie chick speaking is saying that the government must provide a “safety net”, but what she really wants is a hammock.
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“We are tired being represented by the so-called Tea Party. We are the real America.”
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George Clinton introduced with “…here to perform one of the 500 most important songs in America.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA …. I’m sorry, but the unintended comedy is hilarious ….
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ouch… GC is really pathetic trying to play to empty chairs. This is embarrassing. Just when I thought this thing couldn’t go any lower ….
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1:36 PDT the rally is mercifully over … there were some speakers left on the roster, but even the rally organizers couldn’t keep putting them on before an audience that was consistently apathetic and started bailing out much earlier.
Primetime liberal comedians have it made. All they need to do is spend a few hours with a politically correct minority and — voila! — they’re transformed into instant congressional experts. Democrats invited Stephen Colbert to drape himself in the more-compassionate-than-thou mantle last week on behalf of illegal alien migrant workers. But not all “people of color” are equal.
[….]
Althea Rae Shaw, of Los Angeles, wrote an outraged open letter to Colbert after last week’s Capitol Hill circus. She is the aunt of 17-year-old Jamiel Andre’ Shaw II, a young black high-school student who was gunned down by an illegal alien gang member in 2008 amid brown-on-black violence in southern California. The Shaw family has spearheaded efforts to repeal dangerous sanctuary policies in Los Angeles that protect criminal illegal aliens and handcuff local law enforcement. “It truly breaks my heart that so many people in positions of power and authority continue to make light of illegal immigration,” Shaw wrote to Colbert.
“Are you aware of, and/or concerned with, the fact that American citizens and legal immigrants are murdered every day by illegal aliens? Have you ever spent one second thinking about that?” the grieving aunt asked the smirky comic. “What if your mother was shot in the head by an illegal alien? Do you think you could make that funny? What about your children? ”
In her letter, Shaw recounted the horrific case of Cheryl Green for Colbert. She was a 14-year-old Los Angeles girl murdered by illegal alien gang members in 2006, along with another young resident who had witnessed the gang’s violence. Cheryl’s crime? Being black. Her killers were Latino gangbangers Jonathan Fajardo and Daniel Aguilar. Recently, they were convicted of first-degree murder in a hate-crime trial where one of the Hispanic gang members testified bluntly: “Basically, we’re against all black people.”
No, not all illegal aliens are murderers. But neither are all illegal alien migrants harmless workers. And as too many families who will never get Colbert’s attention or sympathy have come to understand.
In Houston, 14-year-old Shatavia Anderson was gunned down last month by a twice-deported illegal alien from El Salvador who simply waltzed back into the country. Shatavia’s grieving uncle, Joe Lambert, lambasted open-borders policies that send a signal that illegal aliens “can do whatever they want. What you’re doing is giving them a green light telling them, ‘Hey, you can do whatever you want.’” Lambert is lobbying for tougher immigration enforcement. “I would like to see what they’re doing in Arizona done here.”….
My favorite though is that CSPAN didn’t like the meager crowd size, so they used a photo from the Glenn Beck rally. Love It! Below is some same old characters.
(Photo is gone), so I will post this instead:
CSPAN is airing the leftist “One Socialist Nation” rally today in Washington DC.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a good crowd shot of the turnout… So they used a photo from a Glenn Beck tea party rally.
Notice the Gadsden flags in the background. Hat Tip Ed
The actual crowd is a little sparse at the One Nation rally today.
Despite the free rides and T-shirts the leftists just couldn’t match this crowd. This photo is from the Glenn Beck rally last month.
What a surprise, many of the same people (see Peace Rallies My Ass!) that came out for the anti-war/anti-Bush rallies were here at this “One Nation” march. Here is a video top make the point:
