Mitt Romney's ObamaCare Waiver Plan is a Farce

In an effort to try to divert attention from the controversial health care legislation he enacted while Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney released the following statement via National Review last week.

If I were president, on Day One I would issue an executive order paving the way for Obamacare waivers to all 50 states. The executive order would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and all relevant federal officials to return the maximum possible authority to the states to innovate and design health-care solutions that work best for them. (...)

The key phrase here is "maximum possible authority." Let's take a look at what the signed legislation says about waivers and the authority granted to the states. As John Vinci of Health Care News points out, there are six different types of ObamaCare waivers.

*MLR waiver for mini-med health insurance plans
*Annual limit waiver
*MLR waiver for States
*State innovation waiver
*ACO anti-trust waivers
*Individual mandate waivers

The type of waiver Mitt is talking about, is the "state innovation waiver." Good luck complying with the requirements, as South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley recently discovered.

South Carolina Governor-elect Nikki Haley commented on her discussion with President Obama at a recent meeting he had with newly elected governors:

“I respectfully asked him to consider repealing the bill,” she said, to which he clearly stated he would not. “I pushed him further and said if that's the case, because of states’ rights, would you at least consider South Carolina opting out of the program?”

Obama told her he would consider letting South Carolina opt out, she said, if the state could find its own solution that included a state exchange, preventing companies from bumping people for preexisting conditions and allowing insurance pooling.

“I think it’s something we go back to South Carolina and start crunching," she said. "This is not about expecting what's given. This is about saying we're going to fight this every step of the way and use every option possible.”

Was Obama offering to exempt South Carolina by virtue of his own judgment and magnanimity? Hardly. Obama was offering no more than what Obamacare already offers. Namely, a “Waiver for State innovation” from section 1332 of Obamacare. But this waiver is not as helpful as Governor-elect Haley might hope. What President Obama did not tell her is that South Carolina would also be required to:

•“provide coverage at least as comprehensive” as Obamacare;
•“provide coverage and cost sharing protections against excessive out-of-pocket spending that are at least as affordable” as Obamacare; and
•“provide coverage to at least a comparable number of its residents as” Obamacare.

Benjamin Domenech, in his December 1, 2010 op-ed says, “If this seems like a silly Catch-22 for states, it is. The only policies that could meet this waiver requirement are single-payer constructs — which many other nations are moving away from, having tried them and seen them fail.”

In addition, states can't even apply for the state innovation waiver until January 1, 2017.

There is no way individual states could comply with the onerous requirements of section 1332. In order for Romney's strategy to be effective, it would either have to be overturned by the courts, or repealed by both houses of congress. I would like to know more about what his executive order would say. Perhaps he will be kind enough to show us a rough draft?

Click HERE for the complete text of ObamaCare. Section 1332 begins toward the bottom of page 85.

Mike Huckabee wins York County, South Carolina Straw Poll

Mike Huckabee just won the straw poll in York County, South Carolina. As one of the first four early voting states, South Carolina has historically picked the GOP nominee. Looks like Mike Huckabee has a great start to 2012.

Mike Huckabee 23%
Newt Gingrich 11%
Michele Bachmann 10%
Mitt Romney 8%
Tim Pawlenty 7%
Donald Trump 7%

According to CNN, the straw poll took place at the York County Republican Party convention. York encompasses parts of the Charlotte, North Carolina suburbs and is one of the most populous counties in South Carolina. 152 ballots were cast.

H/T GOP12/the Hill

Cross Posted at I Like Mike Huckabee 2012

Best video ever: Eat the rich

In the video above, Bill Whittle explains why taking money from the rich won't work as a way to solve the fiscal crisis. It's really entertaining, I wish it could be turned into a campaign ad. He goes through how much money the US needs and how much money the corporations, billionaires etc has, and how even if all that money were to be confiscated, it still wouldn't be enough.

Please send it to all your leftist friends. I remember when the Swedish Taxpayer Association published a similar report before the election last year, stating that even if we were to confiscate all the salaries of those making more than $200 000 a year, it would only be enough to finance our welfare state for about two weeks (the leftists had promised to only raise taxes for those who earned above the equivalent of $200 000 a year).

Billionaire John Paul DeJoria with an idea on how the Government can create jobs by cutting taxes

DeJoria is famous as a former homeless person who went on to become a billionaire businessman. According to Forbes magazine, he is worth US$4 billion.

Here he is in a Fox Business Channel interview:

Colorado Republicans Straw Poll: Mitt Romney 1st, Mike Huckabee 10th

Last weekend Colorado Republicans huddled at their annual Centennial Dinner and took a presidential election straw poll.

“We thought it would be fun tonight with this crowd of prominent Republican leaders from all parts of our state to have a poll,” Wadhams said before sending ballot-collectors into the crowd.

The poll was open-ended — a slip of paper with a blank where Republicans could write in any candidate’s name — and left a few voters at a loss. “Who’s even running?” asked one Republican as ballot-collectors neared.

Top Ten Vote Getters:

Mitt Romney 79
Michelle Bachmann 38
Tim Pawlenty 34
Mitch Daniels 27
Chris Christie 26
Donal Trump 28
Sarah Palin 20
Newt Gingrich 19
Herman Cain 13
Mike Huckabee 12

Also receiving votes were former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Fox News host Glenn Beck and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, among others.

The complete story is here.

Investors Business Daily - Romney's Mistake: ObamaCare Is Not 'Waivable'

The author makes a good point. How do you undo a massive entitlement program with an executive order? Would that even be legal?

Mitt Romney may have waived goodbye to the GOP nomination with his assertion that he could start unraveling ObamaCare by issuing an executive order as soon as he moved into the White House.

"If I were president," Romney wrote on the website of the conservative magazine National Review, "on Day One I would issue an executive order paving the way for ObamaCare waivers to all 50 states."

Simply put, executive orders cannot contradict statutory law. Waivers are not a solution and might well detract from the ultimate goal of repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with a truly free market alternative that puts patients — not bureaucrats — in charge of their health care.

He continued: "The executive order would direct the secretary of Health and Human Services and all relevant federal officials to return the maximum possible authority to the states to innovate and design health care solutions that work best for them."

As a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Business School and as the Republican governor who convinced the Democratic Massachusetts legislature to pass RomneyCare, he surely knows a president can't use an executive order to wipe out two massive new entitlement programs, $550 billion in new and higher taxes, vast Medicaid expansion, and mandates on individuals, businesses and the states to comply with President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

(...)

Read the entire article HERE

Quote of the Day - Allen West: I’m sick and tired of everyone trying to castigate the Tea Party!

From The Right Scoop:

Wow! I am admittedly having trouble trying to enunciate the awesomeness of this speech. I’ve gone to the trouble of transcribing the entire speech for those of you who can’t watch it but to everyone else you must watch it. The transcription simply doesn’t do it justice. It may very well be one of the best speeches I have ever heard from Allen West.

Full transcript available at The Right Scoop

The national debt and the available options

In this post, I am going to be as straight-forward as I can. The US won't be able to pay back its national debt only by cutting spending or raising taxes, so something else is likely to be needed. Right now, the US is on the brink of losing its credit rating, and would probably already have done so had it not been for the fact that if it did, major financial havoc would break out (like in september 2008). If a smaller country had acted the way the US has, it would have lost its credit rating long time ago. And why is credit rating important? Because the interest on the national debt is tied to it.

In another post, I explained why tax hikes are better than deficit spending, and in this post, I'll explain what more has to be done.

Here are some options that I have thought of lately - not a complete list obviously, but definitely points for discussion.

1) Debt-for-Equity swap

What it means: The federal government gives away federal assets to creditors as a way to pay back debt. This would certainly mean some kind of "forced privatization". It could be shares (if it's a government-owned company which becomes private), or pure assets. If the government finds some assets it really doesn't need, but which may be useful for someone in the private sector (the IRS skyscraper comes to mind), this could certainly be an option.

Why? The US government will be forced to shrink, which most people here would agree isn't a bad thing. It would pay back some debt for sure, and typically the private sector is more efficient than the government, so growth may go up as well.

Why not? Do we really know which assets the government is going to need in the future? Once privatized, it's very hard to take something back. It's a very permanent decision. Also, since the US owes a lot of money to China, it's hard to imagine not selling anything to them. Do we want more Chinese, or foreign overall, influence on the US market? Can they be trusted?

Mitt Romney talks the Economy and Foreign Affairs in Nevada

In his first public appearance in nearly a month, as he continues aggressively working behind-the-scenes to build a presidential campaign, Mitt Romney took time get a first-hand look at the home-foreclosure crisis in Nevada. He took a brief walking tour of a neighborhood before stopping in front of a home that is on the auction block.

Romney and Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki — a longtime Romney backer — met with the Tylers at their home before Romney took a walking tour of the neighborhood to take stock of the economic devastation that has left one in every five North Vegas homes under water.

"This is a national crisis," Romney told the handful of reporters gathered outside a foreclosed home on North Diazo St. "The tragedy of unemployment statistics, it's not just a number. It's real lives, real people.

"The impact of unemployment is really far greater than just the 14 million people who are out of work," he added. "It's really a tragedy."

Romney took the tour around the neighborhood with the Tylers while talking to them about their personal situation and the economy.

Romney is in Nevada to deliver a foreign policy address on Saturday to the Republican Jewish Coalition, a national organization that is holding its annual conference there.

The full story can be read HERE.

 ***********************UPDATE*************************

The New York Times reported another part of a conversation Romney had while on the tour. I really like Mitt's dry humor. VERY FUNNY stuff:

At one moment when Mr. Romney was deep into his questions about mortgage and foreclosure problems, his head turned as a woman stopped her blue S.U.V. and rolled down the window.  

“I actually voted for you in the last election,” said the woman, Jennifer Fung, who later added that she, like Mr. Romney, was Mormon. 

“How much do I owe you?” he joked as he hurried over. 

Fifteen minutes later, she circled back around the block and asked for his autograph. He signed a white piece of paper and wrote the date, noting aloud that it was April Fool’s Day. As he stuck his head in the passenger window of her vehicle, he said: “If by some chance I become something someday, that might be worth saving. Otherwise, put it in the circular file.”

Pentagon Art: $600,000 Gurgling Toad Sculpture

It seems there has been lots of discussion at RS lately about raising taxes, paying down the deficit, and cutting Government spending.

I came across this article today and I've come up with what I feel is a more reasonable option for the following:

A $600,000 frog sculpture that lights up, gurgles "sounds of nature" and carries a 10-foot fairy girl on its back could soon be greeting Defense Department employees who plan to start working at the $700 million Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. this fall. That is unless a new controversy over the price tag of the public art doesn't torpedo the idea.

Decried as wasteful spending that will be seen by just a couple thousand of daily workers who arrive on bus shuttles, foes have tried to delay the decision, expected tomorrow, April 1. But in an E-mail, an Army Corps of Engineers official said that the decision can't be held up because it would impact completion of the huge project.

The City of Alexandria just announced that there are four works of art being considered and that a final decision needs to be made fast. The artwork was put on display for public comment from March 24 to today. The Alexandria News first reported the hasty announcement to decide a winner.

The full story is HERE.

Here are The 4 proposals that have been submitted:

No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4

I'd like to propose a modest 5th option at a cost of only $19,95 to tax payers. I call it, "Tunnel Vision":

No. 5

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures!

Tax hikes or deficit spending: Which one is better?

Inspired by Pablo's post, where he asked us readers and contributors of Rightspeak to choose between raising taxes and running deficits, I am now going to explain the effects of both.

For those who have followed me (and Pablo) for some time, you may recall that back on ROS, we had quite a debate about tax cuts and whether they can lower the deficit; I argued that they can, while Pablo argued that they can't. For someone who followed that debate, it may be surprising to read that I prefer tax hikes.

Someone in the comment field remarked that when government raise taxes, private sector investment is choked, and growth decreases. And, we need growth to be able to raise revenue and pay back the debt.

All those points are correct.

Still, tax hikes are better.

The commenter ignores the other side of the coin; deficits does the exact same thing! The federal government is borrowing from the same pool of money as the private sector, so when the government borrows more, that means there is less money left over for the rest of us. It means that mortgages become more expensive, that you'll have to pay more interest if you want to borrow to start a company and that companies may have a hard time finding anyone willing to lend them money and so they'll have to issue shares instead.

A tax hike, on the other hand, which leads to a lower deficit will make borrowing easier. This will spur investment, which leads to higher growth.

Some may say that you shouldn't encourage borrowing by lowering the interest rates, but really what leads to the kind of borrowing hysteria that we saw in the early-to-mid 2000's was the printing of money out of thin air, not tax hikes (as a matter of fact, the federal reserve may sometimes feel forced to print money to lower the interest rates which goes up as a consequence of a tax cut).

If a company cannot borrow money, that means they will have to issue equity (shares) instead. This is often seen as a last resort and a sign of desperation; shareholders in general prefer to borrow money rather than issue new shares since issuing new shares causes the price per share to fall. So it's typically a last resort, and sends bad signals to the market (this only goes for companies which already have gone public). If enough companies do this, investors are going to assume that american companies are in a really bad shape, and the stock market will fall.

So is all fine then? No, of course not. Tax hikes does mean less consumption and private sector investment. The point is; both tax hikes and deficit spending can choke the private sector.

Alaska's House OKs big cut in oil profits tax

The Alaska House of Representatives voted Thursday night for a massive rollback of the oil profits tax that the lawmakers put in place four years ago.

The vote, after about three hours of debate wound down after 8:30 p.m., was 22 to 16.

The House vote was an attempt to torpedo one of the biggest legacies of Gov. Sarah Palin's time as governor. Gov. Sean Parnell supported the oil tax when he was her lieutenant governor but is now leading the effort to weaken it, saying he's since become convinced that it hurts oil company investment......

Read the full story here.

Mike Huckabee: Oops!

Did Mike Huckabee just flush his presidential aspirations down the proverbial toilet? Well, if American mainstream media has an ounce of journalistic gumption remaining the answer most certainly would be “yes”. Huckabee has just been caught on video, at a Christian supremacist conference, stating that Americans should be forcibly indoctrinated at gunpoint. The organization which hosted the “Rediscover God In America” conference, United in Purpose, has edited Huckabee’s comment from footage of his speech, but not before People For The American Way’s Kyle Mantyla captured the unedited footage, in which Mike Huckabee states, “I almost wish that there would be, like, a simultaneous telecast, and all Americans would be forced–forced at gunpoint no less–to listen to every David Barton message, and I think our country would be better for it. I wish it’d happen.”

The full story can be read here.

America's Newest Mormon Conservative Leader - Rush Limbaugh?

Rush Limbaugh confirmed today the rumor that he and his wife Catherine have been meeting with Mormon missionaries for the past few months and are seriously considering committing to the Utah based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Limbaugh was quite forthcoming in how his fascination with Mormonism began. “Over the years there have been a number of things about the Mormons that have really caught my attention.” Limbaugh stated.

“Mormons are the most conservative religious group in the United States, their support for President Bush, traditional marriage, the tea party, really earned them my respect.” Rush said.

“I also find that rejecting conventional wisdom leads to finding greater truth, and I think it would be hard to find a Christian faith that embodies that quite they way they do” he added.

When asked if his connections with other well known Mormons like Glenn Beck or Mitt Romney had any influence, Limbaugh downplayed their role in his spiritual search. “From what little time I’ve spend with Glenn and Mitt, I can tell they are great guys, but so are a lot of other non-Mormon conservatives. Plus, I don’t think anybody’s religion should be judged on the basis of members who are public figures. Nobody is a perfect example of the faith they aspire to live by.”

Limbaugh also make it clear that should he convert to Mormonism, he would not feel obligated to endorse a Mormon candidate. “You have to look at the whole package, what America needs is a strong conservative voice and religion shouldn’t be a factor. The media only brings it up in hopes of dividing Americans against each other even further.” He added.

When asked if he found anything surprising in Mormonism he admitted “I knew they were a conservative people, but I was really amazed at how their Book of Mormon has such a strong political, right wing message. American exceptionally, it’s there, limited government, that’s there too, even the Bush doctrine is in there in a way. I really didn’t expect things like that be doctrine to them.”

When asked if he would actually consider giving up ‘adult beverages’ and his beloved cigars to conform to the requirements Mormons must live Rush grew noticeably uneasy. “I’ve been trying e-cigarettes.” He said. “We’ll just have to see how things go.”

Limbaugh seemed unconcerned about there being a backlash from evangelical Christians, who don’t view Mormons as Christians. “A lot of the hostility aimed at Mormonism is a mirror of the hostility aimed at me for being an effective conservative voice. It’s the same kind of irrational hatred, the same kind of childish attacks. And I’ve never been one to back down on my beliefs. I’m content to let time prove me right as it always does, and I really think we are only talking a small minority that the media loves to play up.”

Backlash has already begun however. Mike Huckabee, who is considered by some to be largely responsible for the 2008 nomination going to McCain rather than Romney, responded to the rumor by saying “Rush should be forced, at gunpoint, to watch September Dawn and read every book ever written by the Tanners.’

Read the full story HERE

H/T Grig

Quote of the Day: Donald Rumsfeld on Palin and the Tea Party Movement

"She's been very effective...she's brought people into the party that have added energy to the party, and I think that's a good thing."