Surprise: Obamacare Premiums To Spike 20.3% Overall

By William Teach November 2, 2015 – 7:20 am

Where’s the “affordable” part?

(Daily Caller) Obamacare premium costs will soar 20.3 percent on average in 2016 instead of the 7.5 percent increase claimed by federal officials, according to an analysis by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The discrepancy is because the government excluded price data for three of the four Obamacare health insurance plans when the officials issued their recent forecast claiming enrollees would face only a 7.5 percent average rate increase in 2016.

When data for all four plans are included, premium costs will actually rise on average 20.3 percent next year. The 2015 Obamacare price hike was 2.0 percent.

This is for the 38 States that refused to set up their own Exchanges, and instead have the federal government version. The price changes were only calculated for the Silver plans, not the Bronze, Gold, and Platinum ones. Now, in all fairness, the Silver plans are the most popular, with a supposed 62% of Obamacare enrollees choosing them. Of course, since Other Taxpayers are not only ponying up to pay a huge chunk of the premium, it looks affordable.

Hey, did you know that those on Silver plans, and Silver plans only, also get “cost sharing” assistance for their deductibles? That was a new one on me. It was done intentionally to get people to go up to the higher plans. Isn’t that discriminatory?

(Forbes) A new analysis of the rates published by the Obama administration shows the “average lowest silver plan in states with a federal exchange increased by 13 percent from 2015 to 2016, compared to 3.2 percent from 2014 to 2015,” according to Avalere Health, a consulting and research firm tracking the health law. There are 38 states using the federal exchange and monthly premiums for silver plans are generally between $350 and $450, according to Avalere’s analysis here.

The idea of implementing measures that allow all citizens to have health insurance and keep it affordable is a good one: the implementation is the problem.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Surprise: Obamacare Premiums To Spike 20.3% Overall »

Posted in Healthcare | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach November 1, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…are shells from sea life that died when the oceans turned to acid in the future, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Not A Lot Of People Know That, with a post on sea rise hysteria by the BBC.

It’s Bond Girls week, and I was required by law to start with Ursula.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach November 1, 2015 – 9:12 am

Happy Sunday! A gorgeous Fall day here in America. Yes, it’s the first day of November, but, we still need a good Halloween pinup, provided by Caroline Gariba, with a wee bit of help as usual.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1.  A View From The Beach notes that cats really are working out how to kill you
  2. Allen B. West thinks he has the real reason Obama sent troops to Syria
  3. Alan Colmes notes bullying of Muslims (in uber Progressive California)
  4. Capitalism Is Freedom asks how much you know about guns
  5. Dakota Voice discusses government by intimidation
  6. Director Blue notes the number of Syrian refugees states absorbed
  7. Fausta’s Blog features the downfall of a toilet paper cartel….wait, what?
  8. Flopping Aces covers Putin neutering Obama
  9. Jihad Watch notes a UK Muslim group threatening the police over an investigation in Muslim rape
  10. Lady Liberty 1885 wonders about illegal voting by the #PVC6
  11. Legal Insurrection notes liberals having a hard time coming to grips with Ben Carson
  12. Moonbattery features a lovely, peaceful, Warmist recommending murder of Skeptics
  13. Politically Incorrect Conservative notes that Halloween is raaaaacist
  14. Public Secrets notes that Antarctica is actually doing just fine
  15. And last, but not least, The Daley Gator wonders why members of the Cult of Gun Control are so violent

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Pledges To Stop Hotcoldwetdry Not Enough To Limit To 2C

By William Teach November 1, 2015 – 7:31 am

The increase in government control of people, private entities, and economies, along with ever increasing taxation, is never enough for the Cult Of Climastrology, a notion that consistently polls as last or next to last on lists of people’s concerns

(UK Guardian) Pledges by most of the world’s countries on climate change are likely to lead to less than 3C of global warming over the century, analysis of the data by the United Nations suggests.

The UN praised governments for coming forward with plans to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, to kick in from 2020 when current commitments expire.

The plans from 146 countries that cover nearly 90% of global emissions, known as INDCs or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions in the UN jargon, will form the centrepiece of the make-or-break Paris conference on climate change this December.

But, and there’s always a but

However, while the plans represent a significant advance on current trends, which would result in as much as 5C of warming if left unchecked, they are not enough in themselves to limit global warming to the 2C threshold that countries are preparing to agree on. This is widely regarded scientifically as the limit of safety, beyond which many of the effects of climate change – floods, droughts, heatwaves, sea level rises and more intense storms – are likely to become much more dangerous.

Well, fortunately, there’s been, at most, statistically insignificant warming, over the past 12-26 years, depending on the study. RSS shows no warming for almost 19 years. Let’s not forget that there has only been a minuscule 1.4 degree Fahrenheit increase in global temperatures since 1850.

Let’s also not forget that lots of countries made lots of pledges when they signed on to the Kyoto Protocol, and only a tiny fraction actually achieved the goals.

Christiana Figueres, executive director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: “These national climate action plans represent a clear and determined down-payment on a new era of climate ambition from the global community of nations. Governments from all corners of the earth have signalled through their INDCs that they are determined to play their part according to their national circumstances and capabilities.”

Down payment. That’s the operative phrase. Because the Cult of Climastrology will always want more (while refusing to make any down payments in their own lives, of course). The smaller “developing nations”, meaning, ones who cannot compete and want to be freeloaders, want a target of 1.5C, with more money redistributed to their nations.

One thing to keep track of: the calls for Doing More because the plans won’t keep the Earth limited to just a 2C rise are growing. We were told “this is what we need to do to stop the rise of temperatures to no more than 2C” have changed to wanting more and more. This moving goal posts, and it is all about investing, as mentioned, more power in Centralized Government, along with more fees and taxes. If you give Lefties an inch, they’ll take a mile, then say that the initial inch wasn’t good enough, so give them a few more. It never stops.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Bummer: Pledges To Stop Hotcoldwetdry Not Enough To Limit To 2C »

Posted in Global Warming, Progressive Goals | Comments Off on Bummer: Pledges To Stop Hotcoldwetdry Not Enough To Limit To 2C | Trackback URL

Can Winemakers Survive Statistically Insignificant Warming?

By William Teach October 31, 2015 – 4:29 pm

The latest hang-wringing from the Cult Of Climastrology

Can winemakers survive climate change?

Doom! Or not.

Good news for wine drinkers: a leading international body says grape vines are hardy and can survive climate change, at least over the medium term.

Earlier harvesting, changes in grape varieties and new wine-making processes have already helped counter the impact of the harsher weather hitting vineyards across the globe, the head of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) says.

So, the answer is “nope, wine will be fine”. It was more than fine during the last warm period, which was warmer than the current one.

It was too early to give an outlook for 2050, he said.

Gee, ya think?

Read: Can Winemakers Survive Statistically Insignificant Warming? »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 31, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…are evil TVs sucking down lots and lots of power, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Public Secrets, with a post saying we tried to warn you, Seattle.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | Comments Off on If All You See… | Trackback URL

Happy Halloween!

By William Teach October 31, 2015 – 9:21 am

Have to have some pinup today, right!

We’ll consider this sort of an IAYS, giving it up to The Lonely Conservative, with the Saturday Funnies.

And some Victory Girls Blog, with a post on the White House blocking the release of some Hillary emails.

Read: Happy Halloween! »

Posted in Halloween | Comments Off on Happy Halloween! | Trackback URL

Ted Cruz: Climate Change Is A Religion, Not Science

By William Teach October 31, 2015 – 7:39 am

Ted Cruz sat down with Glenn Beck Thursday, and had this to say on the subject of ‘climate change’

“You know part of the reason he (the president of the Sierra Club) didn’t know the facts? Because climate change is not science, it’s religion.

Look at the language where they call you a “denier” Denier is not the language of science. Look, I’m the child of two scientists. My parents are both mathematicians, computer programmers. My dad was self-taught geophysicist. The essence of the scientific method is to start with a hypothesis, and then look to the evidence to disprove the hypothesis. You’re not trying to prove it, you’re trying to disprove it. Any good scientist is a skeptic, if he’s not, he or she should not be a scientist.

But yet the language of the global warming alarmists, “denier” is the language of religion, it’s heretic, you are a blasphemer.

The response from the Sierra Club, “We have decreed this is the answer, you must accept it.” And so he didn’t know his facts because he just knew his religion.

Of course, this has made Warmists very mad. EcoWatch calls it an “alarming video”. And, for Warmists, it is, because it exposes the fallacy and insanity of the ‘climate change’ movement. I’ve listened to Cruz speak on the subject before, and he sort-of steals my line in calling it a political movement and “It was massive government control of the economy, the energy sector, and every aspect of our lives.”

Roe Romm’s George Soros funded Climate Progress is also very upset, and writer Samantha Page spins madly, highlighting that this is not science

The data he is referring to is very specific. Cruz is looking only at satellite data — not ground-level data or oceanographic data — and he does not say “18 years” just as a random number.

Would this be the same data that the NOAA is refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena over? The data that has received massive adjustments, all upwards? The same data that is biased towards warming due to UHI/land use? Yes.

Ninety- seven percent of published, peer-reviewed climate science papers concur that man-made climate change is occurring.

If you’re throwing out “consensus”, especially from an utterly debunked study, you’re talking politics, sociology, and even religion, not science.

He also seems to not have seen any of the data showing that the world is hot and getting hotter. 2015 is on trackto be the hottest year on record. 2016 will likely beat it.

Except, at most, it would only be hundreds of a degree, and this is prognostication before the facts. We already know how this worked out for the 2014 claim. They’re already telling us what the data will say, and they’ll make darned sure that the data says that.

My only disagreement with Cruz is that this is not really religion, it is a cult.

Read: Ted Cruz: Climate Change Is A Religion, Not Science »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 24 Comments | Trackback URL

Tom Tancredo Explains Why He’s Quitting GOP

By William Teach October 31, 2015 – 7:14 am

Tom Tancredo has long been a Conservative stalwart, with a lifetime rate of 99% per the American Conservative Union for his 10 years in office. He writes over at Breitbart that he is leaving the GOP

In a panel discussion at the University of Colorado after the recent Republican debate, I was asked by a student why she should be a Republican. The question forced me to ask myself the same thing.

I gave the young woman the standard talking points–that Republicans believe in smaller government, individual rights, fiscal responsibility, and free enterprise. But as I drove home, her question–and my inability to respond with any level of real conviction–got me thinking: Does the Republican Party leadership fight for these values and principles today?

After much thought, I reluctantly concluded that the answer is “no.” The proudly socialist Democrats are full of passionate intensity, while the Republican leadership is full of pathetic excuses. After this week’s House GOP “budget deal,” which betrays nearly every promise made to grassroots conservatives since 2010, I have decided it is time to end my affiliation with the Republican Party.

This decision has been incubating over the past 17 years, years of watching the downward spiral of the Party of Lincoln and Reagan into the Party of Democrat Lite.

He notes that the GOP establishment was very much for immigration non-enforcement, and he was repeatedly abused by Speaker Tom Delay and Karl Rove, the latter telling him “never to darken the White House door again” over his opposition to Bush 43’s immigration policies.

He goes on to discuss the GOP’s historic gains in the House and Senate

Yet, despite these historic gains, nothing changed. The GOP neither advanced a conservative agenda nor checked the radical “transformative” agenda of Barack Obama. We got condescending lip service, and nothing more.

  • Promises have been broken and principles abandoned, while millions of American families watched their dreams slip further and further out of reach.
  • Republican congressional leaders maneuvered to deliver votes to fund President Obama’s unconstitutional amnesty order, and more recently, his unprecedented job-killing EPA rules.
  • They have voted twice in four years to violate the very modest, bipartisan caps on spending put in place with the laughably-named “Budget Control Act” in 2011 — and now have abandoned the caps completely.
  • They have voted to continue funding what is essentially a $500 million macabre earmark for abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
  • They have voted to fund Obamacare, and despite promises, have never passed a complete repeal of the PPACA.
  • No one has been held accountable for the outrageous IRS and VA scandals.
  • And now, as icing on the poisoned cake, House Republicans have elected a Speaker who was not asked to renounce his commitment to open borders and amnesty, policies which will betray the values of 75% of the party and give Democrats a permanent electoral majority within a decade.

Even in foreign policy the Republican Party leadership has deceived those who elected them by engineering passage of the pathetic Corker/Cardin amendment – which greased the skids for President Obama’s flawed Iran deal to clear Congress without having to meet 67 vote threshold for ratification that the constitution requires for binding international treaties. No one will be surprised if they do the same thing with the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership.

When we get to the latest GOP sellout, the latest “budget deal”, which Tancredo mentioned at the beginning, the GOP had nowhere else to go. They’ve been conceding the highground to Obama and the Democrats since the GOP regained the House in 2011, much less their squishiness since Obama took office in 2009. They’ve failed to hold the line since they took over the Senate this year. This set them up for a situation where they couldn’t fight Obama, and, really, according to Tancredo, and what Conservatives have witnessed for this century, they didn’t want to fight.

There’s lots more in the piece, which should be read by all Conservatives to understand exactly what the GOP Establishment is doing, but he ends noting that he will now be an Independent, and will fight hard to get the best Conservative, Ted Cruz, elected president. Sadly, if Cruz wins, he would still have to deal with the Democrat Lite GOP Establishment, which seems to want to fight Conservatives more than Democrats.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Tom Tancredo Explains Why He’s Quitting GOP »

Posted in Conservativism, GOP | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

NC Sanctuary City Ban Seems To Have Made Illegals Upset

By William Teach October 30, 2015 – 5:57 pm

Every single one who was arrested should be immediately deported

(WRAL) More than 100 people rallied Thursday afternoon outside the Governor’s Mansion, including some who blocked the street in front of the building, in response to Gov. Pat McCrory’s decision to sign into law a proposal that prohibits any North Carolina county or municipality from restricting local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

House Bill 318, dubbed the Protect North Carolina Workers Act, also requires state and local government agencies to use the E-Verify system to check the legal status of job applicants and contractors, bars government agencies or law enforcement from using consular or embassy documents to verify someone’s identity or residence and limits food assistance for able-bodied, childless adults who are unemployed.

Six people were arrested after chaining themselves together and sitting in the middle of Blount Street, forcing Raleigh police to divert traffic for more than two hours. A band played music, and crowds on the sidewalk chanted, “Let’s stop the hate. We make America great,” and “We pay taxes too.”

Six were arrested, all with Latino names.

“The immigrant community is waking up,” said Maria Carmen Rodriguez, an undocumented mother of three who has lived and worked in Raleigh for over 10 years. “We are losing our fear to raise our voices and confront this racism, face to face.”

She should be deported immediately. If these illegals knew there would be consequences for their illegal actions, they might think twice.

Read: NC Sanctuary City Ban Seems To Have Made Illegals Upset »

Posted in Illegal Immigration, NC News | 20 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove