One of the more controversial elements of ObamaCare is the mandate for most individuals to purchase insurance beginning in 2014. There is really no precedent for a federal mandate of this scale requiring individuals to purchase a product or service. So not surprisingly a number of state Attorney Generals have indicated they will be filing suit questioning the constitutionality of this provision.

Of course the individual mandate is also very risky from a political standpoint, as the Democrats who orchestrated the passage of this bill are mandating not only that the young and healthy obtain insurance, but also that even their most fervent liberal constituents must purchase this coverage from the “evil”, private insurance industry.

Republicans for their part have focused on the fact that this mandate will be enforced via threat of a financial penalty (or tax), with the added assumption that it is the dreaded IRS which will be enforcing this. And sure enough, it’s already been reported that the IRS anticipates hiring possibly in excess of 15,000 additional personnel to deal with the collection of the individual mandate, and other tax related provisions within the bill.

However, it turns out that the Democrats who crafted this bill significantly – and I mean significantly – hamstrung the ability of the IRS or any other federal agency to enforce or collect on this mandate. Here is what the federal Joint Committee on Taxation had to say about this issue in a report released earlier this week:

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Today, in 1940, Nancy Pelosi was born. Also today, in 1929, Tom Foley, another Speaker of the House, was born. Hmm…that’s kind of weird.

From Mediaite:

Remember the last time Andrew Breitbart was on MSNBC? His fiery exchange with David Shuster ended up in a lot of shouting and not a lot of discussing.

Well he was back on today with Dylan Ratigan – and Breitbart tells us he introduced the world to a whole new Andrew.

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The deed has been done.  In one of the most shameful episodes in American History, the Obama Administration has signed into law a not-so-gradual government takeover of the health insurance system- a takeover that simultaneously subverts our Constitution and governs against the will of the American people.  The near total disconnect between the political rhetoric employed by the Obama Administration to promote and pass this legislation with how it will actually affect your most private health care decisions is an offense against freedom loving Americans who want no part of government run health care.

Prior to last weekend’s disgraceful scene within the House Democratic Caucus, I had stated that our forthcoming Special Election on April 13th could potentially have implications for the Obamacare vote if the Democrats failed to come up with the necessary votes before our special election.  In light the law’s signing by President Obama, our special election now becomes the first referendum on this egregious power play.   The Obama administration and the Democratic Congress may have had the power to accomplish what they did with our healthcare system, but they assuredly did not have either the constitutional right or the public’s consent to pass such a law.   The good news is that we don’t have to wait until November to make the Democrats feel the blowback for such a naked sellout of our country.

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Listen here.

Debate, discuss, live-blog in the comments.

Convicted felon Robert Creamer, who wrote the blueprint for the Democrats’ health care reform campaign, attended official health care signing celebrations in Washington, D.C. yesterday. He was joined by numerous activists and “community organizers” who have had their sights set on nationalizing health care and have finally achieved it. Creamer’s spouse, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, was one of the bill’s most vociferous proponents.

Creamer’s attendance was leaked by a fellow partygoer who blogged: “I just got back from the post-signing ceremony celebration at the Interior Department. It was like a family reunion–young Obama staffers mixing with warriors from the ’93-’94 health care fight. I sat next to Bob Creamer, with whom I had been attending organizing meetings back to the early 1980s on passing national health reform.”

Let us leave aside for the moment the question of why federal departments are spending taxpayer dollars to throw parties celebrating the largest expansion of government in two generations, or why felons who failed to pay federal taxes are on the guest list. The real question is how America could have allowed itself to be led to this point, and what can be done to stop it from traveling further down the road to self-destruction.

Even from a sincere lefty point of view–if I can think myself back into the mindset of my teenage years–the bill is a travesty.

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Time Magazine:

Andrew Breitbart sits in an Aeron chair at an iMac computer gazing out the sliding glass door of his Los Angeles home office. On the patio, a hula hoop and a portable basketball rim await his children’s return from school. Breitbart, 41, dressed on this late-winter day in his standard work uniform of a dirty oxford-cloth shirt and grungy khaki shorts, looks more like a surf bum than one of the most divisive figures in America’s political and culture wars. Then his BlackBerry rings.

The woman at the other end of the line, conservative fulminator Ann Coulter, is among Breitbart’s staunchest allies, and they soon are engaged in a spirited attack on liberals. “Their entire structure is writhing in diseased agony on the side of the road, and they don’t even realize it,” Breitbart says. But the left isn’t the only object of disdain. “I’m sick of this effete GOP nothing sandwich,” he adds, growing more animated. “As long as everyone is so pristine and socially registered, we’re going to lose.” Shortly before signing off, Breitbart says, “The second I realized I liked being hated more than I liked being liked — that’s when the game began.” (more…)

After being the target of false accusations last week, the Freedom Alliance did the proper thing: they published all the details that any skeptic would want to see regarding the charity.  This is what one would expect from any person, or entity, that is falsely accused.  They open their books because they have nothing to hide.

The same cannot be said for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).  It’s Executive Director, Bill Faith, has repeatedly denied requests for COHHIO to open its books for examination.

Yet while purporting to be an advocate for low-income citizens, the Center for Consumer Freedom has discovered that Faith’s coalition includes some organizations without phone numbers, organizations that are listed multiple times, and organizations that have confirmed they have not supported the group’s position against payday lending.

Then there’s the little problem about salaries, of which Faith receives six figures, far above the median pay of $54,000 for executive directors of non-profits. COHHIO spent less than one-third of its revenue on actual programs, far below the 65% recommended by Give.org. Doesn’t sound to me like a terribly efficient advocate for the homeless. Sounds more to me like a way to line Faith’s pockets and pursue his ulterior motive.

That motive likely lies in Faith’s link to the corrupt Center for Responsible Lending. Self-Help, the credit union behind CRL, and therefore behind Bill Faith, stands to gain by picking up customers from defunct payday lenders.

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“They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it.” That’s the rationalization House leaders gave skittish Democrats to get them to walk the plank on Obamacare Sunday night.

But one of the first things millions of Americans will “see” is an effective 40 percent tax hike on the over-the-counter medicines – from an antihistamine such as Claritin for allergies, pain relief medicine such as Tylenol or Excedrin, Pedialyte to prevent their kids from becoming dehydrated when they are sick, and even prenatal vitamins if they are expecting another one.

All of these items have two things in common.  One is that they are classified as “over the counter” (OTC) medicines and available without a doctor’s prescription. The other is that if you pay for any of these items with money in your flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA) – and according to this guide from FSA administrator Benesyst , all of these are eligible expenses  — you will face an effective tax increase of up to 40 percent on these items in the health care bill that President Obama recently signed.

The bill restricts individuals with these pre-tax accounts to buying a “medicine or drug only if such medicine or drug is a prescribed” one. And ironically, this tax that will raise health care costs substantially by creating incentives for the use of more expensive prescription drugs even when OTC drugs are just as safe and effective.

And while the tax on “Cadillac” plans for union members was delayed in the reconciliation bill until 2018, no such luck for HSA and FSA account holders, many of whom are self-employed and entrepreneurs.

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The “Perfect Storm,” described by author Sebastian Junger in his 1997 best-selling novel by the same name, referred to a confluence of weather conditions that produced a monster hurricane off the coast of New England.  Today the term is commonly used to describe any combination of circumstances that drastically aggravate any given situation. For example, an exponential increase in the number of retired elderly Americans who require more health care being supported by a declining number of young Americans who provide the funds to cover those health care costs. With over 70 million baby boomers about to retire we, indeed, have the conditions for a perfect storm.

The President and Congress seem to have no trouble grasping the logic that the more people who share the cost of health care the less the cost per capita will be.  In fact, the very cornerstone of their health care program is that everyone be required to pay into the system with which we manage the nation’s health care.  That same logic, however, seems to elude them when it comes to sharing the growing cost of government.  They consistently propose that we compensate for the ever-diminishing number of American taxpayers by simply increasing the taxes on those who already pay the most.  Their mantra for every expansion of government programs is that the wealthy should pay their fair share. How can you argue with that? Shouldn’t everyone pay his or her fair share, whatever that is?

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Pete Kesterson always seems to be talking to somebody about why he’s running for Congress in California’s 36^th District against the richest woman on Capitol Hill.

The day after the House – abetted by stealth liberal Democrat Jane Harman – voted to impose health care socialism, Pete is at it again.  This time, he’s introducing himself as a conservative Republican – he always makes sure to emphasize the word “conservative” – to the young woman at the Starbucks counter who just handed him his venti coffee.

“And thanks for helping pay for my medical insurance,” he says, smiling.  “Because that’s what this health care reform law means – young people like you are going to be paying for older folks like me.”  The barista thinks about it for a moment.  “Really?” she asks, not thrilled at the prospect.  But Pete offers her some hope even as she hands over his change.  “Yeah, but we can do something about it,” he answers.

Pete’s not polished like a professional politician, but his years in sales and in the one-on-one financial planning business gave him a head start in learning how to make personal connections with voters.  Later that day, at his campaign headquarters a block from the Pacific Ocean, within the space of a few minutes he makes his case to three different walk-in voters.  “I believe in free enterprise, in a strong defense, a balanced budget and freedom,” he tells them.  They like what they hear and leave with lawn signs.

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As I have said over and over and over, the left has one trick that it will use again and again when its back is in the corner: shout ‘racist’ in a crowded country.

On Saturday, during the peaceful and patriotic tea party protest at the Capitol, the Democrats staged a series of symbolic acts meant to manipulate the media to do its bidding. The Congressional Black Caucus pulled the Selma card and chose to walk through the crowd in the hopes of creating a YouTube incident. This is what it looked like:

and this:

There is no reason in 21st century America on an issue that is not a black or white or a civil rights issue to have a bloc of black people walk slowly through a mostly white crowd to make a racial point. The walk in and of itself — with two of the participants holding their handheld cameras above their heads hoping to document “proof” — was an act of racism meant to create a contrast between the tea party crowd and themselves. (more…)

In watching this year’s NCAA tournament, one finds it hard to miss the hip commercials for the 2010 Census. Invariably, the emphasis of these ads is on people gaining “representation” in the form of their piece of the public funding pie. Personally, I find the whole parasitic charade sickening.

The Founders must be turning over in their graves knowing how much something as simple as the Census has been twisted as a result of a government that has so obfuscated the General Welfare clause that it has deemed the Constitution worthless. Where the Census was created with the purpose of representative apportionment, with the parties in power in the states unfortunately gerrymandering districts so as to solidify their political strongholds and marginalize their opponents, reflecting the transformation of our country, this time around the focus of the Census is on ensuring the proper allocation of $400 billion of public money.

Where are we as a nation when it becomes the patriotic thing to do to fill out a form for the purpose of sticking our paws in a $400 billion honeypot? The commercials would be far more honest if they merely stated, “Make sure to fill out the Census so you can feed at the collectivist trough.” What kind of message does it send to immigrants and the poor when we say that the key to improving one’s lot is to make sure one gets one’s fair ration of taxpayer money?

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“The constitution was thus conceived as a protection of the people against all arbitrary action, on the part of the legislative as well as the other branches of government. A constitution which in such manner is to limit government must contain what in effect are substantive rules…It must lay down general principles which are to govern the acts of the appointed legislature.”

So wrote Friedrich Hayek in The Constitution of Liberty a half century ago. He went on to say that: “A group of men normally become a society not by giving themselves laws but by obeying the same rules of conduct. This means that the power of the majority is limited by those commonly held principles and that there is no legitimate power beyond them.”

It is sad that Congress celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hayek’s work by ignoring any pretense that its power is limited. It is clear the Obama administration and the Democrat majority in Congress does not feel that the temporary majority is to be bound by any general principle other than “do you have the votes.” The 2000+page health care bill goes so far beyond what this country was founded on that it is difficult to know where to begin.

The bill is meant to involve the federal government in every nook and cranny of American life. Employers are told by their government what benefits they must provide employees. If we accept the proposition that the majority may tell employers and employees what their benefit package is, then where is the limitation that restricts this to health care?

If the auto insurance companies have sufficient lobbying power, then we will be told that our benefit package must include auto insurance as well. And why not require employers to provide membership in health clubs, or country clubs? I personally would prefer season tickets to University of Michigan basketball games.

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From today’s New York Times:

The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing recession have hurt jobs, home prices and now Social Security.

This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary of theSocial Security Administration, said that while the Congressional projection would probably be borne out, the change would have no effect on benefits in 2010 and retirees would keep receiving their checks as usual.

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Remember as you read this: There is nothing the democratic-media complex will not do to lie about the tea party patriots or to prop up these horrid leftists who are transforming our country into some kind of quasi-socialist state.

On Sunday night several members of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition held a prayer vigil at Russ Carnahan’s office for the millions of babies that will be slaughtered under the democrat’s pro-abortion health care bill. We also prayed for the handicapped and the elderly who will be turned away as they face the death panels created by this bill. And, as we stood outside his office in the rain, we prayed for our country and for the democrats in Washington DC who were stealing away our freedom at that very moment.

We brought a coffin with us to represent the millions of Americans who will suffer from inadequate treatment and perish under Obamacare.

(KSDK Photo)

Local reporters from KSDK News Channel 5 showed up to interview myself and others after our prayer service.

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Let’s play a quick word game, folks. Who said this?

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness – a certain audacity – to this announcement. I know I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

That’s right – none other than Barack Obama, Dear Leader himself, on February 10, 2007, while announcing his intentions to run for president.

And, as I point out in my brand-new book, OBAMA ZOMBIES, the promise to shake up the established political order if elected was a laser-targeted message that Barack Obama, David Axelrod, and Daivd Plouffe used to lobotomize an entire generation.

But why let your staple campaign promise of “change” get in the way of a government takeover of health-care?

Take it away, Robert Gibbs:

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Democrats and the leftist media are all atwitter about alleged threats of violence against Congressmen who voted for ObamaCare. We doubt these threats are actually real and, certainly wouldn’t condone them. But, here’s a tip: Hey Democrats, if you are worried about an angry public, how about not passing a sweeping government expansion opposed by 70% of the public. Just a thought.

Hand-wringing today in Politico:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is warning that some of his Democratic colleagues are being threatened with violence when they go back to their districts — and he wants Republicans to stand up and condemn the threats.

The Maryland Democrat said more than 10 House Democrats have reported incidents of threats or other forms of harassment about their support of the highly divisive health insurance overhaul vote. Hoyer emphasized that he didn’t have a specific number of threats and that was just an estimate.

TheFederal Bureau of Investigation, Capitol Police and sergeant at arms briefed Democrats behind closed doors today about the incidents of violence — the most high profile of which have been toward Democratic Reps. Thomas Perriello of Virginia, Steve Driehaus of Ohio and Louise Slaughter of New York.

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