Waxman and ObamaCare

Campaigning for office for the first time in decades, Congressman Henry Waxman rallied behind the Affordable Care Act, which he claimed would bring down the costs of health care while expanding access without taxing anyone.

The Supreme Court upheld the law as a tax. Premiums are sky-rocketing throughout the country. Leading Democrats who had supported this bill are calling it “a train-wreck” which will create a “third-world”experience for providers and patients. Because of Obamacare’s prolixity, California faces an unprecedented doctor shortage. Insurance companies are limiting coverage or abandoning the industry altogether. Business refuse to hire workers or they are cutting hours.

How much longer will voters tolerate Waxman’s unrepentant ignorance about the consequences of his own legislation? Obamacare’s incompetent, uninformed micromanaging fully exposes that political elites like Waxman care only about power, not the people they represent. “We the People” must not permit him another elected term in office.

Waxman's Latest Screed against Financial Reponsibility

Congressman Henry Waxman is prepping for his next election, apparently.

He still sends out intermittent emails to inform campaign supporters from the 2012 election about current developments in Washington.

In his latest email blast, Waxman blasts Paul Ryan's latest budget proposal. His screed is full of distortions and talking points. All the while he continues to jab at Republicans, conservatives, and the many independent and conservative Democratic values of balancing budgets and securing this country's future, he provides no plan's beyond "Not this one."

While I have provided the letter in italics, I have also provided the truth and the full account which verifies, clarifies, or repudiates Waxman's remarks. Comments afterward will touch on the proper course of action which our government should take to tackle the debts and deficits dooming this country.

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago, the House of Representatives adopted the Ryan Budget Plan. The Ryan Budget is a replay of the unbalanced and ideologically driven approach to deficit reduction that we’ve seen before: 
 
Medicare – The Ryan Budget would break our promise to seniors by converting Medicare into a voucher program. Under the plan, seniors would get a lump sum to buy private insurance without any guarantee that insurers would provide them with the coverage they need at a cost they can afford.

The current government is already breaking promises to seniors, youth, and future generations by promising funds which will not be there as long as the federal government continues to spend money which it does not have. The deficit spending is twice the level of Bush 43's eight years in office, and President Obama has promised nothing to reduce the deficits and debt, or even the gridlock, which is preventing anything from getting done.

Affordable Care Act – The Ryan Budget would repeal the Affordable Care Act, the law which will give nearly 30 million Americans access to affordable health insurance. It would also allow insurance companies to return to past practices, such as denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and charging women higher rates for coverage.

One has to wonder what color is the sky in Congressman Henry Waxman's make-believe world of universal access and healthcare

Medicaid – The Ryan Budget would force deep cuts in Medicaid and convert the cash-starved program into block grants for the states to administer. 

By turning Medicaid into a block grant, the program could sustain deep cuts without diminishing the amount of relief which Americans have already paid in and expect to receive in their retiring years. Block grants were a great idea to Democratic President Bill Clinton. He turned welfare programs into block grants, so that the states would administer them more effectively. Does Congressman Henry Waxman really entertain such a low opinion of state governments?
  
Investments in Our Future – The Ryan Budget would make deep cuts in education, student financial aid, food assistance, transportation, scientific and medical research, food safety, clean energy, national parks, and other key investments.

This condemnation is misleading. The federal government should not be investing in these programs in the first place.

Tax Breaks for Top Earners and Corporations – The Ryan Budget would lower the top tax rate for individuals and corporations at a cost of $6 trillion, and it says it would pay for these tax cuts by closing unidentified loopholes in the tax code. It fails to close a single special interest tax break to help reduce the deficit.

Loopholes are bad. Across the board tax cuts are better. Businesses are hurting under the current President's policies. ObamaCare taxes are anathema to Democrats and Republicans.

Jobs -The Economic Policy Institute estimates that the Ryan Budget would cost 2 million jobs in 2014 in addition to the 750,000 job losses already expected to result from this year’s across-the-board budget “sequester.” 

The "sequester scare" is not working. Liberal and conservative governments have enacted drastic cuts, and businesses thrived, employment climbed up, and investment and opportunity rebounded.
           
I’m working as hard as I can with President Obama and our congressional allies to ensure that our deficit reduction plan uses a balanced approach that reflects public priorities and requires shared sacrifice.

How does Congressman Henry Waxman plan on balancing anything if there are no cuts? He wants the "rich" to pay "their fair share". Even if "the rich" paid 100% in taxes, all of that tax revenue would not make one dent toward alleviating the country from the heavy national debt which weighs all the  more heavily on this country.

Furthermore, Waxman has offered nothing substantial in response to Congressman Paul Ryan's budget. The US Senate finally passed a budget after four years, which does not even balance, let along bring down the cost of doing business in Washington or throughout the country.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman

There is nothing sincere about Henry Waxman's cheap attacks against any responsible legislator who refuses to ignore the looming "Jackass" in the middle of the room: the unsustainable entitlement mentality which demands more from the government yet refuses to tell the voters the clear and unvarnished truth.

Keystone is Going Through, Congressman!

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-04-10/republicans-seize-what-they-see-as-keystone-momentum

Keystone is a winner for Republicans and all business interests, whether left or right leaning.

Unions want the pipeline. They want the jobs which come with the construction of the pipeline.

The environmental interests may be clashing with the Obama Administration on this issue, but unions are more politically aligned, and they can aggregate their populist power more efficiently than any green interests.

Climate Change activists cannot change the employment concerns which are weighing on voters in this country.

People do not want to be dependent, Congressman, whether on foreign oil, which is getting more expensive. Gas prices are rising to prohibitive levels, twice the cost that motorists had to pay during George W. Bush's presidency.

People do not want to be dependent, Congressman. The citizens of the United States want jobs, they want more access to cheaper fuel for their cars, and they want to keep the green in their wallets.

Keystone is going through, Congressman! Stop complaining about the "dirty oil". Washington leaders need to get their dirty hands off of business interests, corporate investments, and broken promises, all of which have made a sluggish economy slow down further, and imperil people to depend on the state, which itself needs a handout.

Keystone needs to go through, Congressman. The Gulf Coast has more than recovered from the BP oil spill of 2010, and the tourism industry has rebounded. An energy expansion is now due for the people living and seeking to thrive once again in the Gulf states.

Let Keystone go through.  Bloomfield supported it, and so should you.

Voters Should Expect More of Congressman Henry Waxman

According to last week’s edition of The Argonaut, Congressman Henry Waxman was “expected to appear at community meeting on Santa Monica Airport”. His inattention to pressing environmental concerns should not surprise anyone. Congressman Waxman was also invited to comment on the LPG Storage Tanks in San Pedro, a long-neglected section of the Congressman’s new Congressional district, which stretches from Agoura Hills and Malibu all the way throughout the Santa Monica Bay. He didn’t come.

Businesses are suing the EPA for overbearing regulations which are frustrating their investments and profit margins. To this day, Waxman has done nothing to amend the Clean Water Act, which the Supreme Court has curtailed or struck down in part because of unclear and unconscionable overreach.

Waxman’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, is becoming unaffordable and unsustainable, even if the Supreme Court ruled that the 2, 500 page law was “constitutional”. The state of California is facing an unprecedented doctor shortage, followed by premium hikes, which even the Los Angeles Times reported. The United States Senate has already voted to repeal the medical device tax, and one of the law’s co-authors has termed the law “a train wreck” because most small businesses have no idea what to expect when the law’s full implementation comes to effect on January 2014.

What was Congressman Henry Waxman expecting when he forced Obamacare through Congress?: Lower premiums, greater access, and no higher taxes. The exact opposite has occurred, nothing at all what the voters or our leaders were expecting.

I think that the voters should expect more from their Congressman than "no-shows" and broken promises.

Co-Author and Supporters of Obama-WaxmanCare: "It's a Train Wreck!"

Might Not Be Smiling for Much Longer

Despite Congressman Henry Waxman's insistent drumbeat for his signature legislation, the "Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare, or which I "affectionately" refer to as "Obama-WaxmanCare" (OWC) is enduring reports roaring across the mainstream media which indict the law as a taxing logjam of confusion and crushing obligations which are damaging this country's economy and diminishing access to health care.

US Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) recently commented that OWC is a "train wreck." Small businesses have no idea what to expect from the legislation, aside from the massive tax increases, which the Obama administration had promised would never happen, that there were no taxes in the bill. The nation's largest movie chain, Regal Entertainment Groups, is cutting back hours for workers because of the potential health care costs of OWC. Red Lobster and Olive Garden backed off of cutting hours because of political activism and costumer dissatisfaction with the businesses' concerns about the law. However, the law's prolix and progressively more ponderous regulations are preventing businesses from balance budgets, defraying costs, or paying the higher medical bills and health insurance mandates which OWC is forcing on businesses. Just to survive, businesses are pushing employees out of full-time status.

Democratic activist and frequent "This Week" guest commentator Donna Brazile shared the following on Twitter about her health insurance premiums:

What's on your menu? Just got off the phone with my health care provider asking them to explain why my premium jumped up. No good answer!

Of course there is no good answer, certainly for her, because the President whom she loves and adores, along with the party which she cheer-leads on a weekly (now "weakly") basis, forced this legislative monstrosity on the country. No matter what hopes and dreams and change that President Obama offered to the American people in 2009, the law which carries his name is carrying down the health care industry, quality access, and may very well carry down his party in 2014.

The LA Times has indicated that an unprecedented doctor shortage is hitting California. Of course, the diminished access to professional care is hitting everyone in the United States. OWC was supposed to expand access to affordable health care. The law has made it harder to access healthcare, or has made it unaffordable for a rising number of Americans. The LA Times reported on its front page that premiums rates are jumping, and states which backed the law and established Medicare exchanges are worrying about the higher costs, a key component trotted out at length for OWC, which claimed that costs would decline. More recent reports suggest that some insured will see a 30% increase in their premiums.

Along with a prolonged movement for states to reject implementing the confusing medicare exchanges, now organized labor is openly criticizing OWC. The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers have called for an outright repeal of OWC because the programs will force up fees and force workers off their health insurance. The AFL-CIO is petitioning for employee subsidies because following the passage of the law, their premiums have increased. The Washington Times has also reported on labor unions' massive exemptions from the "Unaffordable Care Act." The same editorial urges full repeal, or at least delay of enactment for one more year.

Not just unions, but now members of Congress have been seeking exemptions from OWC, yet Democratic leaders have attempted to backpedal from the move since the media exposed this brazen backroom deal. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell snuffed complete disapproval with the underhanded attempt by Beltway elites to push this ill-conceived law. McConnell affirmed Baucus's concern about the OWC "train wreck" bill. The Senate minority leader continued: "I agree with him. This is not some grand revelation to Republicans. We have been saying this from day one."

OWC remains unpopular with voters, likely due to the fact that the law and its consequences remain unclear to voters three years after its passage. Unions do not like it. Congressional leaders hate it. Republican leaders have rightly warned the country about it, and President Obama must fess up and repeal it. Obama-WaxmanCare is a "train wreck" which must be stopped.

OWC has been dead on arrival, from the moment the bill was (ill)-conceived, to the hundreds of speeches which diminished voter appreciation for the bill, to the backroom deals and empty legislative shenanigans which passed this terrible law. Chief Justice John Roberts concurred with critics that the law imposed a "tax", one which looms ever larger over cash-strapped Americans. OWC must be repealed.

Once Congress puts this law down for good, they can go back to the drawing board with informed health care reforms which will institute market mechanisms, like rescinding cluttered license requirements for doctors, expanding health savings accounts, permitting insurance clients to purchase health plans across state lines, allowing doctors to form their own private co-ops with colleagues, and removing unworkable union-bureaucratic regulations from hospitals and medical clinics. Until then, the "train wreck" of Obama-WaxmanCare is heading straight for us, and President Obama's trailing job approval and dismal progress may sink his party for a generation.

Henry Waxman and Moonbattery

Moonbattery went after Henry Waxman once again for his stance on gun control.

Of course he would favor removing the guns from law-abiding citizens.

As a progressive who advances faith in the government and state-sponsored force at the expense of the individual citizen and individual liberty.

How strange and disturbing all at once that one Democrat, Thomas Jefferson, would champion an American's right to own a firearm, while another Democrat would go out of his way to take away the right for those who fear government tyranny from owning a firearm.

Congressman Henry Waxman has advanced, approved, and enabled massive government encroachment at the expense of the states and the people.

As overreaching Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Waxman investigated steroid abuse in baseball and lead in toys, yet all the while he ignored the plight of tens of thousands

His Cap and Trade bill would have killed millions of jobs, yet would have done absolutely nothing to reduce carbon pollution. 30,000 plus scientists have disputed or discredited the outrageous, extravagant, and ultimately useless policy. A Ponzi Scheme which would mimic the Housing Crisis instead of diminishing greenhouse gases, Henry Waxman was merely showing his true corporatist colors.

Obama-WaxmanCare instituted a massive expansion of the federal government, one-sixth of the nation's economy. Insurance companies are raising premiums or diminishing access or getting of the health insurance industry altogether. The state of California is facing an unprecedented doctor shortage. Even Democratic strategist Donna Brazile shared on Twitter that her health insurance premiums have increased, yet she could not say why (?!)

Henry Waxman has never connected fear, government, people, or individual liberty,  unless he champions instilling fear in other people so that he can expand the federal government at the expense of everyone else.

Indiana, Tennesee, Virginia -- what about California?

 The Indiana State Supreme Court just upheld former Governor Mitch Daniels’s signature legislation, which has expanded a state-sponsored school voucher program. Protests from legal opponents argued that the voucher program was providing state funds to private religious institutions. Not so, countered the ruling majority, which correctly pointed out that the parents directly receive the funding, which they then invest in the school of their choice.


Now, the Governors of Virginia and Tennessee have advanced a similar program, in which students in struggling schools can enroll in a better school, regardless of the zipcode in which the family lives or where the school resides.

If Tennessee, Virginia, and Indiana have instituted school choice, why can’t California legislators follow their brave example? Democrats, who claim to care about equity and fairness, must extend “open enrollment” to all California students.

Contact your state legislators. Tell them to support SB 451 (statewide open enrollment).