If All You See…

…is a Bad Weather causing refrigerator, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Maggie’s Farm, with funny graphic.

Read: If All You See… »

Some Of Obama’s Hard Working Illegals Assault Border Patrol

Earlier I mentioned Obama giving a fundraising speech talking about illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, the day before…

(CBS8) Authorities in San Diego say Border Patrol agents were pelted with rocks and bottles as they tried to stop dozens of people who’d crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

A Border Patrol statement says several agents were hit in the arms and legs with rocks and one was hit in the head by a water bottle during Sunday’s confrontation. But there were no serious injuries.

Authorities say more than 100 people had crossed into the U.S. west of the San Ysidro border checkpoint and became unruly when a border agent tried to stop them and then fired pepperballs.

More agents were called in, and would have been in the right had they used deadly force with a large group of illegals heading towards them. These people cross our borders illegally then get violent when they are told to get the hell out. Great people that Obama, Democrats, and some squishy Republicans want to legalize, eh?

Read: Some Of Obama’s Hard Working Illegals Assault Border Patrol »

Bummer: New Zealand Court Rejects Climate Refuge Defense

I’ve mentioned this story a few times, thought I’d give the outcome

(Guardian) A Pacific Island man’s bid to become a climate change refugee suffered a blow on Tuesday after a New Zealand court refused to let him challenge a decision denying him asylum. 

Ioane Teitiota, 37, had said he was trying to escape rising seas and environmental risks caused by global warming in his home country of Kiribati. 

But New Zealand’s High Court in Auckland ruled that his claim fell short of the legal criteria, such as fear of persecution or threats to his life. 

What he was really concerned about was poo infested waters. This is a big blow to the Warmists, who have been attempting to push their “climate refugee” meme as a way of pushing redistribution of (Other People’s) wealth.

Read: Bummer: New Zealand Court Rejects Climate Refuge Defense »

Climate Targets To Be Announced In 2015 To Avoid U.S. Midterms

Much like some of the big effects of Obamacare, Team Obama does not want the climate targets to come out and hurt Democrat election efforts. This was unintentionally exposed by Guardian reporter Fiona Harvey (via Tom Nelson)

Weary delegates trudging home from an exhausting and sleep-deprived fortnight of climate change talks in Warsaw may be unwilling to acknowledge it, but the hard work is just beginning. Like schoolchildren after a packed day of lessons, they have been sent back to their national capitals to “do their homework”.

By the first quarter of 2015, countries must come forward with their “contributions” to global reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, that will come into force from 2020. (snip)

Publishing targets in the first quarter of 2015 do not leave long for the assessment process to take place. However, that timetable has been drawn up chiefly to take account of the realities of the US electoral timetable. The US government announced earlier this year that it would set its post-2020 targets in the first quarter of 2015. That is necessary to ensure that the decision does not get tangled up in the US congressional elections in autumn 2014 – they are likely to be touchy enough, without introducing the incendiary subject of climate change.

Funny how Democrats always seem to want to avoid the hard decisions for their belief sets when election time comes around. It’s almost like they know that their beliefs are unpopular.

Read: Climate Targets To Be Announced In 2015 To Avoid U.S. Midterms »

White House: No Matter Who You Are, Come On in Illegally. We Got Your Back

The Obama distraction tour continues. With the utter failure of the healthcare exchanges, he’s been looking for any subject that sticks. He’s flipping back and forth between immigration, the economy, and the “green” economy, to little effect. He gave a speech in friendly San Francisco, which was actually part of a fundraising tour, and here’s the WH blog post on the subject

No Matter Where You Come From, America Is a Place Where You Can Make It If You Try

In the early 1900s, more than 300,000 people passed through California’s Angel Island on their way to a new life in America, many drawn by the belief that here, anything was possible.

Today, just a few miles away at the Betty Ong Recreation Center in San Francisco’s Chinatown, President Obama said he is committed to fixing our broken immigration system to make sure we continue welcoming striving, hardworking immigrants who see America the same way many of our ancestors did when they came here generations ago — as a country where no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from, you can make it if you try.

“Too often when we talk about immigration, the debate focuses on our southern border,” President Obama said. But immigrants from all over the world have put down roots in every corner of the country. In San Francisco, where the economy is one of the fastest growing in the country, 35 percent of business owners are immigrants.

“That’s the impact that our talented, hardworking immigrants can have,” he said. “That’s the difference they can make. And that’s why it’s long past time to reform an immigration system that doesn’t serve America as well as it should – because we should be doing more to unleash that potential.”

So, no matter whether you broke our immigration laws by coming across our borders illegally (it’s not just our border with Mexico, they sneak across elsewhere, too) or decided to blow off the expiration of your VISA, hey, no prob, it’s cool, Obama’s got your back. The man tasked with upholding the laws and Constitution of the USA.

I’ll write it again: our immigration system is not broken (though it could certainly use a few tweaks), our political class and bureaucracy is broken. They refuse to properly enforce the laws on the books, and even sue when some want to make it tough for illegal immigrants. We can discuss the reasons as to why they do this, but, suffice to say they do.

Obama also had an exchange with a heckler at the fundraiser. Call me skeptical, but it sure seemed like a plant moment, it was too convenient. Obama was neither peeved nor did Obama allow the heckler to be removed. And it gave him the ability to jump out with pretty smooth talking points, which he never has the capability to do without a teleprompter.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: White House: No Matter Who You Are, Come On in Illegally. We Got Your Back »

Say, About That Young Folks Getting A Subsidy Meme…

Yeah, that’s not working out so well (via Hot Air)

(CNN)But a CNN analysis shows that in the largest city in nearly every state, many low-income younger Americans won’t get any subsidy at all. Administration officials said the reason so many Americans won’t receive a subsidy is that the cost of insurance is lower than the government initially expected. Subsidies are calculated using a complicated formula based on the cost of insurance premiums, which can vary drastically from state to state, and even county to county.

That doesn’t change the fact that in Chicago, a 27-year old will receive no subsidy to help offset premiums of more than $165 a month if he makes more than $27,400 a year.

In Portland, Oregon, subsidies for individuals making just $28,725 a year phase out for those younger than 35 years old.

Quite a few of these young healthies who are depended on, well, forced or pay a fine/tax, to sign up with Obamacare will be exactly within the range of being below the 400% of poverty line as they start their careers. Obviously, not all will be dependent upon the Exchanges, as they will be provided with insurance through their companies. Of course, once the employer mandate kicks in, all bets are off.

Here’s Ed Morrissey at Hot Air

The trigger on this is the premium price for a qualifying “bronze” plan in the exchange for the consumer.  If the premium does not go over a certain percentage of income, then the formula produces a zero for the calculated subsidy.  The problem for these consumers is that the baseline plans still cost more than their previous options, and have large deductibles to boot.  That sets the incentives for younger consumers to bail out of the system, paying the fine and only signing up for insurance after a catastrophic event, which they cannot be denied under the new law.

Go that? It’s so simple, right? Health insurance was already complicated as it was, this makes it even more complicated as the Helpful Hand Of Government becomes involved.

Newsalert writes

ObamaCare needs 38% of the pool to be young. Who knew that federal tax credits aren’t uniform but based on where someone lives! Justice Roberts and Strongman Obama sure did re-write the U.S. Constitution. Goodbye 14th Amendment.

Instead of making insurance, it has become a rigamarole of government beauracracy and variable standards.

Read: Say, About That Young Folks Getting A Subsidy Meme… »

Mother Jones Stokes The Thanksgiving Climate Change Meme

But it’s the 3rd reason that’s a hoot

4 Climate Policies We’re Thankful For

Unless it’s immediately proceeded by the word “no,” the phrase “good news” rarely appears these days in stories about climate change. But in a year in which we found out that our oceans may rise this century by as much as three feet and that atmospheric carbon dioxide is higher than it has been in nearly a million years, there were still some bright spots. And in preparation for Thanksgiving, we’ve compiled a list of four environmental developments for which you can give thanks. You can see even more on Twitter by searching the hashtag #ClimateThanks.

Yeah, seriously, #climatethanks.

https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/404994892264267777

1. The US and the World Bank will avoid financing coal-fired power plants abroad. (they really do not want brown people to have the same modern lives Warmists live)

2. The White House will push carbon limits for new and existing power plants. (skyrocketing the cost of living)

4. The world’s largest economies will phase down the use of a potent greenhouse gas. (and become just like 2nd and 3rd world countries)

Here’s the interesting one

3. The global warming “slowdown” showed us that international agreements can reduce climate change.

The so-called global warming “slowdown” you heard about over the summer certainly doesn’t mean that global warming has stopped—regardless of what climate skeptics may be saying. Although climate scientists determined that over the past 15 years, the rate of the warming of the planet has slowed—”kind of like a car easing off the accelerator,” as Chris Mooney wrote—the Earth’s surface and oceans are continuing to heat up at an alarming rate. (Other recent research suggests the “slowdown” might not have really occurred at all.) But one study found an unexpected factor contributed to the “slowdown”: the partial cause appears to be a planet-wide phaseout of greenhouse-trapping gases called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which more than 40 countries agreed to by signing the Montreal Protocol in 1988. “Without the Protocol, environmental economist Francisco Estrada of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México reports, global temperatures today would be about a tenth of a degree Celsius higher than they are,” Tim McDonnell explained earlier this month. “That’s roughly an eighth of the total warming documented since 1880.” Bottom line? The global warming “slowdown” actually seems to be a strong indication that international treaties aimed at reducing climate change can work—and that we need more of them.

So, they seem to be trotting out a new meme, that the Montreal Protocol is responsible for the “pause”. I must say, it’s more scientific than the other ones, such as the heat doing a Where’s Waldo? in the deep oceans. But, really, a 10th of a degree higher? This is what Warmists worry about? However, there is still quite a bit of uncertainty as to whether CFCs act as greenhouse gases (see here and here, sites that are not exactly skeptics). From what I’ve read, they may actually contribute a bit to warming. And were, more importantly, bad for the real environment.

Either way, Warmists just can’t help themselves in linking holidays with their pet cult.

Read: Mother Jones Stokes The Thanksgiving Climate Change Meme »

If All You See…

…is coffee that will disappear because Someone Else refused to unplug their coffee maker when not in use, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jihad Watch, with a post on Angola reportedly banning Islam and mosques.

Read: If All You See… »

Be Afraid: Obamacare Could Turn On Performance Of IRS

The headline of this Washington Post article should give everyone a huge case of the willies, and get worse while reading the article

For beleaguered IRS, a crucial test still awaits after troubled rollout of health-care law

The success of the Affordable Care Act could ultimately turn on the performance of an agency that has so far eluded the public spotlight amid the program’s tumultuous rollout.

Whether the new law can be enforced will be up to the Internal Revenue Service, an already beleaguered agency charged under the act with carrying out nearly four dozen new tasks in what represents the biggest increase in its responsibilities in decades. None is more crucial than enforcing the requirement that all citizens secure health insurance or pay a penalty. (snip)

While failures in launching the federal insurance Web site and online exchanges have thrust the Department of Health and Human Services to the center of public attention, the IRS also has a huge role in carrying out the law, including helping to distribute trillions of dollars in insurance subsidies and penalizing people who do not comply.

It’s interesting that one of the true measures of success for the “Affordable” Care Act is the IRS confiscating and redistributing American citizen’s money, penalizing them, garnishing wages, and getting in people’s lives. Interestingly, the 100% elected Democrats who passed this travesty of a law made a big mistake

Besides lacking coverage information that would help the agency enforce the “individual mandate,” the IRS also is hamstrung in penalizing those who do not sign up. The lawmakers who drafted the health-care law intentionally barred the IRS from using its customary tools for collecting penalties — liens, foreclosures and criminal prosecution. The only means of collecting the fine is to essentially garnish tax refunds for people who overpaid their taxes.

Um, oops? A good oops, but an oops nonetheless. How can it be enforced if there is no money to collect?

“This carrot-and-stick approach was effective,” Jacobs said. “How far you go in assuring universal compliance is a sensitive political balancing act.”

And right there is part of the crux of the matter: why are “sticks” involved at all? If this was good legislation, people would be super thrilled to sign up for health insurance. They’d be psyched for it. If it actually provided affordable health insurance with great coverage, reducing premiums and deductibles while expanding coverage, we all might like it. Yet, the majority hate it. Hence, the IRS will wield a stick on the American taxpayer. Happy Monday.

Read: Be Afraid: Obamacare Could Turn On Performance Of IRS »

Poll: Majority Find Obama Neither Trustworthy Or Honest

The free-fall of Obama’s poll numbers continues

(Politico) A majority of Americans think President Barack Obama is untrustworthy, according to a new poll that also found doubts about the president’s management abilities.

Fifty-three percent believe Obama is not honest and trustworthy, the CNN/ORC poll released Monday shows, noting a “clear majority” for the first time on this issue since the president took office.

I’m surprised that the number is that low, to be honest. But, then, most Americans do not pay as much attention to politics as we do. And Democrats will generally support their candidates no matter what.

Additionally, only 40 percent believe the president can manage the federal government effectively, down 12 points since June. The poll also shows that 53 percent do not view Obama as a strong and decisive leader.

Again, I’m surprised  more do not believe that he’s essentially incompetent. Still, people are finally start to clue in that speeches are no substitute for capability.

However, six in 10 Americans still believe the president has a vision for the country’s future and seven in 10 of those surveyed say he is likable.

I think he has a vision for the American: it’s just not one that is good for America. Switching over to the CNN link above

Obama’s woes are not limited to honesty and his managerial skills. Fifty-six percent say he is not a person they admire, and an equal number say he does not agree with them on important issues. Fifty-six percent also say he does not inspire confidence, and 53% don’t view him as a strong and decisive leader. All of those figures are all-time records for Obama in CNN polling.

Interesting. Most Americans disagree with Obama on the important issues. It would be interesting to know what those issues are. I think we can ascertain that one of them is Obamacare. Of course, Obama won’t actually listen to the American people, despite this tweet

That’s PBO on the Democrats invoking the nuclear option in the Senate. Will he listen to his own yammering? Doubtful.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Poll: Majority Find Obama Neither Trustworthy Or Honest »

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