Obama’s Day: Whine About Climate Change, Unveil Solar Panels At White House

By William Teach May 9, 2014 – 8:19 am

Mr. Obama, already in California for a bunch of fundraisers with a bunch of hoity toity 1%ers, wrapped a few official functions around the fundraisers in order to avoid having to pay for use of Air Force 1. He ends the fundraising trip with

(Washington Examiner) President Obama will announce Friday that he is using executive authority to push through a slew of energy-efficiency and solar energy measures, a move that comes as the White House has sharpened its focus on climate change.

Obama will announce more than 300 public and private commitments have been made to expand energy efficiency and solar energy deployment, White House officials said. He will approve energy efficiency and renewable energy policies that advocates have called effective, low-hanging fruit to slash carbon pollution.

And, of course, he wants more money for this and training programs, because the previous tens of billions of taxpayer money worked so well. Then he’s going to jump in his massive fossil fueled caravan to head to the airport to take a cross country fossil fueled flight. But, it doesn’t look like he’ll be there for the unveiling of the White House solar panels

(Politico) The solar panels are back on the White House roof.

Three decades after Ronald Reagan had Jimmy Carter’s solar panels tossed into the energy dustbin, the White House has finished putting sun-powered electricity back on top of the executive mansion in a small but symbolic gesture, according to the White House.

“Continuing President [Barack] Obama’s commitment to lead by example to increase the use of clean energy in the U.S., the White House has completed installation of American-made solar panels on the first family’s residence as a part of an energy retrofit that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the building,” White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said in a statement.

This actually surprises me. I thought they were already re-installed. He made a Big Announcement in 2010 about putting them back up. They wouldn’t do much, mostly heat a bit of water for the White House, but, hey, the Warmists were nagging him, and he finally relented. The only solar panels since were the ones President Bush 43 installed to heat the WH swimming pool.

When asked by ABC News about the status of the panels (in September, 2012), the White House said “they are in the procurement phase.”

Government work at its most normal. Serious government work

The White House will soon be one of the newest — and certainly most high profile — home in D.C. with solar panels.

A White House official confirmed to the Washington Post Thursday that installation had begun on fitting the President’s residence with solar panels, an effort the official said was “part of an energy retrofit that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the building.” The panels will be American-made, though the official did not confirm which company they would be purchased from.

That was Joe Romm’s Soros funded Climate Progress back on August 15, 2013. It took them 8 months to install the panels once they “procured” them. Well, we do have to factor in the very cold and snowy D.C. winter, seeing snow even late into March. Obama announced the solar panels on October 5, 2010. It took him 3 years and 7 months to make good on that announcement. In the private sector, people would have been fired for such a lag, and the board would have questioned the leadership of a person who couldn’t get a simple job done. This is Obama competence. Leading from behind. If installing a few solar panels in a timely manner is too much for him, it’s no wonder his foreign and domestic policies are a mess.

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BCBS: Lots Of Older And Sicker Sign Up In North Carolina

By William Teach May 9, 2014 – 7:41 am

There’s a little bit of good news for Democrats regarding the federally run “Affordable” Care Exchange here in North Carolina, but, not much

(WRAL) The people who signed up for health coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina through the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace are older and sicker than expected, which could mean higher premiums in the future, the insurer said Thursday.

Blue Cross was one of only two companies to offer plans in North Carolina through the online marketplace, and as of May 1, 232,000 people were on Blue Cross marketplace plans. Seventy percent of them didn’t have coverage through Blue Cross previously, the company said.

That 70% number is the only bright spot. Sort of. Because Dems can spin that they had no insurance. Of course, 160,000 North Carolina BCBS customers lost their coverage thanks to Obamacare. That doesn’t count all those who had policies with other companies, obviously. One has to wonder where they all went.

Initial Blue Cross projections called for 50 percent of the marketplace customers to be 34 years old or younger, but after the enrollment period ended on March 31, the company found that only 32 percent of the people who signed up under the federal health care law fit that profile. Forty percent are ages 35 to 54, and 29 percent are 55 or older. (snip)

Thirteen percent of enrollees ages 18 to 34 reported experiencing chronic pain as part of a Blue Cross self-assessment, compared with 8 percent for the age group as a whole. Seven percent have diabetes, compared with 4 percent of the group as a whole, and 24 percent said they have depression, compared with 14 percent for the group as a whole.

What does all this mean? A problematic pool of customers, sicker and/or older, which will send premiums much higher. Pair that with deductibles which are already pretty high. Here in Wake County, the deductibles are between $5,200 and $6,600. BCBS also has a concern that the enrollees will simply keep coverage to the medical issue is taken care of then drop the plans. Remember, Obamacare insurance companies were already making noise about having to raise premiums for 2015 because of the poor mixes on the exchanges.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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What Happens When You Combine Warmism With Extreme Feminism?

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 2:45 pm

If you want to know, head to The Other McCain (who didn’t tell me. Hmph!) for the full details. Here’s a little taste of said moonbat

These feedback loops have already started, are now unstoppable and life on earth is already on its way to extinction. No technology can stop this — especially since male technology is part of the problem and their use and fabrication will only emit more greenhouse gases. Even if men’s system collapsed now, if all men died and we returned back to stone age, it is unstoppable.

I bet that all the cats she rescues run away. Progressives are miserable people, some more than others.

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Posted in Global Warming, Unhinged Tools | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

FYI, Obamacare Made Another Foray Into Federal Court Today

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 2:01 pm

There are actually quite a few lawsuits pending in regards to Obamacare. And the minute someone is hit with the individual mandate tax they will have standing to sue, which is a little discussed provision of the ruling by John Roberts. Here’s another

(Christian Science Monitor) Senate majority leader Harry Reid violated the Constitution in his maneuverings to pass Obamacare, a conservative legal fund argues. The case will go before a federal panel of judges Thursday.

Rather than attacking the individual mandate or the so-called contraceptive mandate, this lawsuit challenges a legislative maneuver used by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada to pass the bill five years ago.

The little-noticed legal battle is being waged by a conservative public interest law group, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). It seeks to enforce a constitutional command: “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.”

This goes to the origination clause, and how Harry Reid took a shell bill from the House, stripped it all out, and replace it. The article has more detail.

Anyhow, it was argued this morning before a Washington federal appeals court

It is unclear how receptive the appeals court panel will be to the PLF challenge. One of the three appeals court judges assigned to the case was appointed by Bill Clinton, the other two were appointed by President Obama.

Does that disturb anyone else? I know it disturbed quite a few in the comments at the article. Should they not be making determinations based on the actual text of the Constitution? Liberals, think hard, because you know you’d be complaining if Conservative judged failed to follow the text/law and ruled against you.

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is the possibility of sexual relations which could lead to more children, which are bad for climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Daley Gator, with a post on the House voting to hold Lois Lerner in contempt.

Read: If All You See… »

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Hooray, 5 Things You Can Do About Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 12:35 pm

Because climate change is here. Now. Or something

(CNN) Climate change isn’t something in the far-off future: It’s a potentially disastrous reality that’s already starting to have effects that are expected to worsen, experts say.

Longer summers and heavier rainfalls are some of the impacts Americans are already seeing, according to the National Climate Assessment. We should expect more flooding, wildfires and drought.

Is this a press release from the White House? Well, really, there’s not that much separation between the Obama WH and most news outlets. Anyhow, CNN helpfully offers 5 things you can do at home…unlike CNN, which uses vast amounts of electricity and fossil fuels to produce their network, which, according to Warmists are Bad Things for “climate change”

  1. Become informed – obviously, CNN is only pushing one way, towards the Warmists cult
  2. Make changes at home – most of these are simply common sense energy saving methods, tried and true, which have nothing to do with “climate change”
  3. Be greener at the office – same as the previous
  4. Reduce emissions in transit – the real solution is for Believers to give up fossil fueled travel. Of course, that would interfere with living a modern lifestyle. I love the part about telling people to fly at night and pack lighter in order to reduce the carbon footprint. These people are nuts.
  5. Get involved and educate others about the big picture – spreading awareness! Become a Climate Change missionary! Spread the cult!

Notice that none of the solutions require Warmists to truly change their lives to match their beliefs

Bottom line: Most of the public will never read the full National Climate Assessment, Shepherd said. But if you arm yourself with correct information, you can make informed choices that could affect your community and the planet at large.

Yes, this is an actual article from a major news outlet, which reads like a release from the far left Think Progress.

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Crazy Old Man Blames Koch Brothers As Main Cause Of Climate Change

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 10:00 am

Is there some mechanism by which a sitting federal elected official can be forced to take a mental health assessment? Because Harry Reid is in desperate need (via The Lonely Conservative)

(Politico) Charles and David Koch are one of the “main causes” of climate change, charged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the Senate floor.

“While the Koch brothers admit to not being experts on the matter, these billionaire oil tycoons are certainly experts at contributing to climate change. That’s what they do very well. They are one of the main causes of this. Not a cause, one of the main causes,” Reid said.

Hmm, that’s funny, because Senator Reid, Democrat, is not an expert, either. The Washington Free Beacon does a little fact check on Reid’s bloviating, and finds it insane.

Psychosis is a serious mental disorder characterized by thinking and emotions that are so impaired, that they indicate that the person experiencing them has lost contact with reality.

People who are psychotic have false thoughts (delusions) and/or see or hear things that are not there (hallucinations). These are referred to as “positive” symptoms; “negative” symptoms like loss of motivation and social withdrawal can also occur.

This guy is yours, Dems and Nevada residents.

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D.C. Looks To Tax Insurers To Pay For Obamacare

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 7:43 am

Remember Reagan’s saying about government?

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

When it comes to Obamacare, it seems more like

Government’s view of the health insurance/care could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, regulate it. If it keeps moving, subsidize it. And if it stops moving, tax it.

Yup

(Daily Caller) Washington, D.C. will tax all insurers selling policies to district residents to fund the city’s Obamacare exchange.

The plan was proposed by DC Health Link, D.C.’s exchange. The city’s health care law marketplace was allotted $133 million in federal grants to launch, but along with all the state marketplaces, was expected to be soon be sustainable on its own via a flat tax placed on each insurance plan sold through the marketplace.

When taxing those buying insurance didn’t turn out to be as lucrative as Congress had hoped, D.C., along with several other states, began to look at taxing those selling insurance instead.

The Obamacare exchange has a 2015 budget of $28.8 million and hopes to fill its coffers by collecting another fee from insurers.

The plan will tax all insurers an extra 1%. This includes those insurers who declined to participate in Obamacare. Insurance companies wonder about the legality of taxing those who did not participate, but, hey, this is the era of Obama: the law is what Liberals feel it is.

Anyhow, insurers are already being taxed out the ying yang thanks to Ocare. And they pass those taxes on to consumers. They wouldn’t do that with the new tax, right?

Obamacare’s insurer tax will likely be passed onto customers in the form of higher premiums, however. The health insurance tax alone is expected to raise premiums by $101 on average this year alone, according to a March study from the free-market think tank American Action Forum.

Wait, I thought this was supposed to be the Affordable Care Act? Isn’t it right there in the name?

I do have to wonder where the D.C. Exchange has the statutory authority to implement a new tax. Oh, wait, that’s right, the Era Of Obama, where law means nothing.

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Washington Post: NC Senate Race Most Important In Country

By William Teach May 8, 2014 – 7:26 am

The front page of the Washington Post by Dan Baltz says the race for the Senate seat currently occupied by Kay Hagan is the most important in 2014. The individual page says it sets the stage for the 2016 presidential election. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, or no way, it certainly highlights the difference between the GOP and the insane Democrats

North Carolina is this year’s ground zero in American politics. There are other highly competitive races around the country, but no contest so neatly captures all the conflicting currents of ideology, money, demographics and political tactics as the one between Sen. Kay Hagan (D) and her newly nominated Republican challenger, Thom Tillis.

Tillis, the speaker of the North Carolina House, more than survived his first battle as a Senate candidate. Facing a primary challenge Tuesday from both an opponent backed by tea party activists and another by some in the party’s evangelical wing, he cruised past the 40 percent mark he needed to avoid a runoff — with considerable help from the GOP establishment.

One of the killers of the Tea Party candidates and others vs “establishment” Republicans is what CAC called the Baskin Robbins problem. In essence, there are too many choices, so the big backed candidate, in this case the supposed “establishment” pick, wins. Tillis achieved 46% of the primary vote, which means 54% voted for someone else. Of course, many of us voted who we thought was the best candidate. That’s why I voted for Tillis, and back him. I like his policies, I mostly like where he has pushed the NC General Assembly. I trust him, as much as someone can trust a politician. Some say he will be an amnesty proponent. All I need to do is look across the Neuse River to the 2nd District rep, Renee Ellmer, who had been a Tea Party favorite, who is also a big amnesty supporter. Tillis is making noise about no amnesty, upholding the law. He was disappointed in NC gov Pat McCrory over his attempt to relax rules for illegals. Anyhow

For the next six months, Tillis and Hagan will square off in a state that was the scene of fiercely contested presidential elections in 2008 and 2012 that produced a split decision, and where a conservative shift in its state politics will be every bit as central to the debate as will President Obama and his national record.

In a year in which each party considers turning out its base as critical to success, both sides have plenty of fodder to work with. Republicans will run against Hagan by linking her to an unpopular president, trashing the Affordable Care Act as big-government overreach and portraying her as a generally ineffective legislator. Democrats will attempt to connect Tillis to a series of new laws in North Carolina that provoked a strong backlash and generated “Moral Monday” protests in the state capital by Democratic interest groups. And they will tie Tillis to the billionaire Koch brothers, who have shown that they are prepared to spend down their fortune to help defeat the incumbent.

OK, so Team Tillis will link Kay to Obama and the failure policies of Obama and the Democrats, along with the majority unpopular Obamacare. Team Kay will rely upon loony people (who are welcome to be loony as they use their first amendment rights) and the silly “Koch brothers” meme. Most people have no idea who these supposed boogeymen are, and attacking private citizens engaged in First Amendment rights won’t play all that well with anyone but those who plan to vote Kay anyhow. Which, of course, is the point, turning out the base. Team Tillis’ method will turn out the base, along with the causal Republican voters and those who could vote either way.

With Tillis as the Republican nominee, North Carolina’s Senate race offers perhaps the best laboratory in the country for a test of whether voters think the new Republican Party has shifted too far to the right or it stands for a smaller-government agenda that has a broader appeal than Democrats believe.

Despite the tortured phrasing in an attempt to paint the GOP as “extreme”, there might be some truth to that. Of course, Baltz, like other Dems, is upset about the restrictions on abortion providers, ie, holding them accountable for reasonable medical standards. Voter ID. Not engaging in the Obamacare Medicaid expansion.

All of this could become a trial run for the national debate in the 2016 presidential campaign — a choice between the record of the Obama administration and the record of Republican governors and legislatures in states where the GOP has unified control.

Remember, it is in the States where the GOP has been making big inroads, opposing the insane federal government policies. In 2010 and 2012, the GOP won control of quite a few governorships and general assemblies. In NC, the GOP took control of both the House and the Senate for the first time in over 100 years. They now also have the governor’s mansion (though McCrory is a somewhat squishy Republican). Baltz is 100% right on one thing, this will be a costly and highly visible election, pitting those who are tired of the hardcore liberal agenda against all the carpetbaggers who have ruined their own states and moved away from the damage, then bring the same insane policies to NC.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Washington Post: NC Senate Race Most Important In Country »

Posted in Democrats, GOP, NC News | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

People Whine That U Of Utah’s Fight Song Lyrics Are Sexist

By William Teach May 7, 2014 – 3:56 pm

First World Problems

(ABC 6) After more than a century of singing “I’m a Utah Man,” some say it’s time to update the University of Utah’s 1904 fight song.

Proposals to adjust such lyrics as “I’m a Utah man” and “our coeds are the fairest” have spiked emotions on campus in recent weeks.

Critics say the lyrics are sexist. Others contend that the current refrain honors tradition and has sentimental value for classes of alumni. Similar debates have popped up at schools across the country.

At the University of Utah, President David Pershing is asking the Office of Student Affairs to put together a committee that will weigh changes to the song, “Utah Man” after student government leaders and a faculty body passed resolutions urging the changes.

Is it actually sexist? Let’s see the first bit

I am a Utah man, sir, and I live across the green.
Our gang, it is the jolliest that you have ever seen.
Our coeds are the fairest and each one’s a shining star.
Our yell, you hear it ringing through the mountains near and far.

It is a bit heavy on the “I’m a Utah man”, but, seriously, calling Utah women the fairest, a freaking complement, is now sexist? First World Problem, and part of what Robert D. Raiford calls “The United States Of The Offended”.

Also, one has to wonder how many actually know the lyrics. Or really care. They hear some music during games. Does anyone sing the lyrics? Anyhow, people need to lighten up, but, then, First World Problem, where some people have to have little freakouts.

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