Yeah, you're probably right. Or...

Quote :

"ACA customers are actually visiting emergency rooms more than patients with more traditional insurance plans, driving up medical expenses for the insurer. Those higher costs led Blue Cross to file for another rate increase – 18.8 percent for 2017, on top of the 32.5 percent rate increase approved for 2016."

5/31/2016 2:11:42 PM

"We can't afford all of these new customers" said the company that can't get its billing straight or even send proof of insurance to a significant number of its current customers.

5/31/2016 2:25:21 PM

George Leef - The Obama Administration's Disrespect For The Rule Of Law Hits A New Low

http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2016/05/31/the-obama-administrations-disrespect-for-the-rule-of-law-hits-a-new-low/#55fb4b623c18

6/1/2016 6:39:33 AM

http://www.gao.gov/assets/200/195921.pdf

The comptroller has allowed the wiggle room around the MRA since 1993, and it's been used quite often since then. Why didn't this Pope foundation dweeb catch that, instead reserving two paragraphs to name drop Alinsky?

It's garbage. Opinion piece in a conservative oriented mag? Ya better fact check it to the T, cause there's a 90% chance they are twisting the facts.

6/1/2016 7:26:50 AM

I will send him your comment and link and request a response.

6/1/2016 7:29:02 AM

Please do.

But I'm guessing I'll just be dismissed as an "Alinskyite."

6/1/2016 7:34:59 AM

Before sending, I quickly perused the comptroller letter. Can you please explain how you interpret that letter as allowing "wiggle room" around the MRA?

6/1/2016 7:37:21 AM

It suggests that the MRA only applies if the government actually RECIEVES the money. If government lawyers negotiate a settlement recommending a contribution to charity for reduced money, then the government never actually RECIEVES the money.

I don't really like that interpretation, as it's clearly lawyers mutilating language as they always do, but let's not act like this was all the Obama Admin's idea. If the author had made the argument: "we need to update the MRA," I'd have been all ears. Instead he uses the tactic of "we should impeach Obama for these Alinsky tactics."

Very different approaches.

6/1/2016 7:53:14 AM

Did a little googling and understand now how this letter was interpreted. I will post any response I receive from Mr. Leef.

Quote :

"Well, what if the government never “received” the money at all? Could we avoid triggering the prohibition of the Miscellaneous Receipts Act if there was no “receipt?” The answer is yes. Let’s go back to our hypothetical $100 million financial fraud case from last post. The MRA says that once the $100 million is turned over to the enforcement agencies, it cannot be spent on anything; it must be deposited in the Treasury. This is the reason that the DOJ could not fund a community service project with $10 million that IT HAD ALREADY RECEIVED. But what if the defendant, anticipating a $100 million penalty, first offered to spend $10 million on community projects, and in return the enforcement agency granted the defendant a penalty reduction? The government would never “receive” the $10 million. Neither would the government ever spend it. The defendant would do all the spending, and it would be spending its own money. All the government would do is grant a sentence reduction, pursuant to its prosecutorial discretion. Would that violate the MRA? No. It would not. And it does not. This is precisely what the Comptroller General was saying. And it is precisely what the DOJ has now been doing for over 20 years."

6/1/2016 7:55:20 AM

There are only a handful of US Presidents who shouldn't have been impeached at some point.

6/1/2016 8:56:11 AM

The slave-owning ones?

[Edited on June 1, 2016 at 9:11 AM. Reason : People just respected the constitution back then. Like allowing all "people" to pursue happiness]

6/1/2016 9:08:32 AM

https://theringer.com/barack-obama-2016-election-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-7f130c7a08f0#.wtenbbj85

6/1/2016 3:40:55 PM

will be interesting to see if obama pardons the clintons in january

6/2/2016 7:24:14 AM

Keep fucking that chicken.

6/2/2016 7:39:30 AM

^^ what's the bet they'll even require such a thing???

[Edited on June 2, 2016 at 8:44 AM. Reason : Crazy racist grandpa post]

6/2/2016 8:44:23 AM

^what's up with proggies and personal attacks? so intolerant, and childish

dont want to muck up the obama thread with the clinton's crimes

[Edited on June 2, 2016 at 10:49 AM. Reason : s]

6/2/2016 10:46:17 AM

Dude can't speech worth a damn without that teleprompter. And people made fun of Bushes speeches...

[Edited on June 2, 2016 at 3:26 PM. Reason : Yes, I said speech]

6/2/2016 3:26:42 PM

^https://youtu.be/mSxo9-Z5Ki0

trump makes his brain skip

6/2/2016 3:37:01 PM

I don't really care how a president speaks. But I just want to point out that this guy isn't perfect either.

I take that back I do care how Trump speaks. I don't think Trump hasn't spoken in generalities since he started his campaign, and it really worries me that so many people follow him when he hasn't given hardly any specifics whatsoever.

6/2/2016 3:42:57 PM

Trumps lack of policy details is by design:

Quote :

"A source familiar with Trump’s thinking explained that the billionaire businessman was reluctant to add new layers of policy experts now, feeling it would only muddy his populist message that has been hyperfocused on illegal immigration, trade and fighting Islamic extremists. “He doesn’t want to waste time on policy and thinks it would make him less effective on the stump,” the Trump source said. “It won’t be until after he is elected but before he’s inaugurated that he will figure out exactly what he is going to do and who he is going to try to hire.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-administration-transition-222944#ixzz4ASGiWLC6 Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook"

Trump is running his campaign the same way he ran Trump U, trying to sucker gullible people into supporting him.

6/2/2016 4:14:57 PM

Quote :

"Dude can't speech worth a damn without that teleprompter. And people made fun of Bushes speeches..."

nobody can. that's why TelePrompTers exist.

and who brought up TelePrompTers when Bush was in office?

it was all about content and lack of expertise with the English language

[Edited on June 2, 2016 at 4:28 PM. Reason : just watched the video that was posted. that's what made the lightbulb over your head light up?]

6/2/2016 4:22:46 PM

You cannot criticize a speech for content. I doubt any president since Lincoln wrote his own speeches. There are some Obama speeches where I feel like he should have kicked it back to the writers and said WTF, redo.

I guess maybe Bush went impromptu more often which is why his grammar was off at times. Obama's speeches always come off condescending to me. Clinton's and Bush's speeches didn't really seem that way.

6/2/2016 4:28:45 PM

who do you think gets the final edit of a speech?

and Obama is known to make many edits/make speeches his own

Quote :

"You cannot criticize a speech for content"

this is one of those statements that hurts my brain trying to figure out how in the world a person can have an opinion that dumb

[Edited on June 2, 2016 at 4:31 PM. Reason : .]

6/2/2016 4:30:08 PM

don't like the black guy talking down to you, huh?

6/2/2016 4:30:42 PM

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in TSB before how I couldn't stand Cruz because of the way he sounds condescending in his speeches.

6/2/2016 4:46:24 PM

so you're just not going to address any point I made?

6/2/2016 5:10:14 PM

President Obama: Restructure Puerto Rico's Debt

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/11/weekly-address-addressing-puerto-ricos-economic-crisis

United States Supreme Court: Puerto Rico Can't Restructure It's Debt

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-233_i42j.pdf

6/13/2016 10:59:41 AM

Nice try, but you didn't read past the headlines.

6/13/2016 11:18:07 AM

BUT BUT BUT LOOK AT THAT FUNNY PICTURE!!!

6/13/2016 11:38:27 AM

Worst mass shooting in U.S. history. On his watch and influenced by the "JV squad", whom he refuses to even mention. Why can't he even prevent a terrorist attack by the JV squad? Pretty weak.

In all seriousness, it looks like this could have been prevented if there weren't massive oversights in the intelligence agencies. This falls directly at his feet.

6/13/2016 3:13:51 PM

how could this have been prevented?

6/13/2016 3:19:47 PM

There were several FBI investigations into this guy. Someone is a thread suggested better communication between federal and local agencies. I don't know if this is a realistic option, but this is why we elect people. To figure these things out. As POTUS, his first priority is keeping his constituents safe. He has failed on numerous occasions.

6/13/2016 3:35:02 PM

but none of those investigations led to charges, so how could they have stopped this? convict him of thought crimes? do you have evidence that he committed crimes before this? Both the FBI and his employers background checks didn't find any crimes.


they don't have the power to prevent him from buying guns, even if he is on a watch list, which is due to your party

[Edited on June 13, 2016 at 4:07 PM. Reason : .]

6/13/2016 4:06:33 PM

always funny to me that those who tend to be against him would like for him to be able to read peoples minds, as if they then wouldn't call him out for being the thought police

6/13/2016 4:29:04 PM

I never said anything about convicting him. But this guy was investigated by the FBI twice, recently flew to Syria, has a history of domestic abuse, attends a mosque known to teach radical teachings and has a father who ran for president of Afghanistan and is a Taliban supporter. So when a guy like that suddenly buys a gun, maybe that should have raised some flags with the FBI.

I am never going to support Trump or his ban on Middle Eastern immigrants. But he is right that we have to be a lot smarter with how we deal with Radical Islamic terrorism.

6/13/2016 9:46:05 PM

Quote :

"So when a guy like that suddenly buys a gun, maybe that should have raised some flags with the FBI."

What does that mean, though? 24-Hour surveillance on the guy? That's probably the only thing that could have prevented it without violating his Constitutional rights.

6/13/2016 9:51:14 PM

Sure, why not. Listen, I'm not going to pretend like I am an expert in national security or counter-terrorism or constitutional law ( unlike some of you keyboard geniuses). But the POTUS needs to be. And so when his only suggestion is to limit how we can defend ourselves, instead of discussing the real issue (which is radical Islamic terror), then the dude is not doing his job.

6/13/2016 10:02:13 PM

The taliban thing with his dad is a red herring.

hindsight is always 20/20 even if this stuff raised a red flag, denying the sale would require tangible evidence. Maybe if they had the complaint from his coworker and maybe if his ex wife had the wherewithal to report him for abuse, then maybe he could have been stopped.

and if he really had a Grindr profile, would anyone thought he would have shot up the gay club?

It's starting to look like this might be more homophobia than Islamism anyway.

I wonder what Isis will say if it's confirmed he was secretly gay...

6/13/2016 10:03:35 PM

Quote :

"But this guy was investigated by the FBI twice, recently flew to Syria, has a history of domestic abuse, attends a mosque known to teach radical teachings and has a father who ran for president of Afghanistan and is a Taliban supporter. "

#1 the dude flew to Saudi Arabia, twice, not Syria. And yeah he was investigated by the FBI and they closed their investigation a couple years ago. And the ex-wife has said he was abusive recently, but I don't see any convictions or even charges against him for it, so I'm not sure what you mean by a "history of domestic abuse" vis-a-vis our federal government. Like I said in the other thread:

Quote :

"i'm as pro [more] gun control as the next guy, and probably more, but that's dumb. just like prohibiting no-fly list members from buying weapons is. the standard to meet isn't high enough."

I'd like to know exactly what you're proposing here.

Quote :

"'m not going to pretend like I am an expert in national security or counter-terrorism or constitutional law"

But yet here you are with your complaints.

Quote :

"I wonder what Isis will say if it's confirmed he was secretly gay."

Well they've already called him an ISIS warrior or something...so not sure they can retract that. Given the reports of him being a customer who complained about his dad's stance on all things homo, this seems less and less motivated by religion (just like his dad said!).

6/13/2016 10:05:13 PM

HCH is allowed to vote

6/13/2016 10:15:05 PM

His presidency will probably now be defined by his weak national defense and God awful foreign policy. Even more so than his failed Obama-care. And that's with 20/20 hindsight.

6/13/2016 10:24:14 PM

Synapse is another keyboard genius. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

Quote :

"But yet here you are with your complaints."

This is the 2nd terrorist attack in the past 6 months. I think we can reasonably criticize POTUS at this point.

Quote :

"#1 the dude flew to Saudi Arabia"

Oh, my bad. That's completely different. Saudi Arabia is known for their acceptance and tolerance of the western world. I can't think of a single terrorist to come from SA.

[Edited on June 13, 2016 at 10:39 PM. Reason : 1]

6/13/2016 10:33:23 PM

Or your could actually respond to the points instead of going into insult mode.

[Edited on June 13, 2016 at 10:39 PM. Reason : and you've always criticized this POTUS. Don't play.]

[Edited on June 13, 2016 at 10:46 PM. Reason : ^ Oh is ISIS in Saudi Arabia? Tell us more! Dumb comparison is dumb. Surely you know what a Hajj is right?]

6/13/2016 10:37:39 PM

Hes done lot that's easy to be critical of.

You're missing the forest for the trees. My point is that there was clearly an oversight in communication between the federal and local law enforcement. Perhaps before we go scorched earth and ban all immigrants or take away constitutional rights from law abiding citizens, we can fix the clear problems in the system. Clearly, Obama can not.

[Edited on June 13, 2016 at 11:02 PM. Reason : A]

6/13/2016 10:52:23 PM

When keepin it real overusing MLA quotes and guidelines goes wrong

6/13/2016 10:52:31 PM

^^ what was the oversight? The FBI investigated and didn't find anything.

You keep saying that there should have been a red flag, but how would that even have helped? Even if the FBI found a red flag, what difference would that make of the guy hasn't committed a crime? What is the president supposed to do? They don't even have the power to prevent him from.buying a gun even if he was on a no fly list. What specific action should the president have taken that would have prevented this?

6/14/2016 6:15:05 AM

We need precogs a la Minority Report.

Add a larger watchdog government that will make sure that we're put on surveillance if we say something bad on the Internet.

Assume we have an unlimited amount of resources to pull this off and it won't cost the country anything but higher taxes and the loss of privacy.

Where do I sign up?

6/14/2016 9:40:26 AM

A bit late, but still very relevant.

Quote :

" The U.S. economy only added 38,000 jobs in May, according to the Labor Department. It was the worst monthly job gain since 2010. It's also well below April's meager job gains of 123,000. Job creation in the last two months has been markedly below the average of 200,000 jobs created per month over the past couple years. "

Not surprising considering Obama's war on small business.

And before anyone argues that the unemployment rate dropped, so everything is peaches:

Quote :

"Why did unemployment rate drop: Not for good reasons. More Americans stopped looking for work and fell out of the workforce. That means they aren't counted in the labor force and that brings down the jobless rate. In recent months, more Americans had been coming back into the job market. Now the trend appears to be hitting a plateau. "

6/14/2016 11:09:10 AM

does this mean you understand your error on your last point?

6/14/2016 11:17:15 AM

There is no error. Obama's first priority is to protect his citizenry. He can't do it. The rest of the conversation was just going in circles and frankly got stale. So moving on.

6/14/2016 11:32:31 AM