The Patriot Post Digest 10-30-2015

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 10-30-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Daily Digest

Oct. 30, 2015

THE FOUNDATION

“[The people] are in truth the only legitimate proprietors of the soil and government.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1813

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

What’s NOAA Hiding? Agency Leaves Congress in the Dark1

First there was ClimateGate2, the scandal that broke in 2009 when a hacker exposed extensive data belonging to the UK’s University of East Anglia. That data, which unveiled scandalous email correspondence and a fallacious methodology dubbed the “fudge factor,” revealed a concerted effort by some of the world’s most influential climate scientists to keep evidence of global cooling in a shroud of secrecy. As we noted3 at the time, it was the biggest scandal to rock the scientific world in quite some time. After all, environmental policy is based on what the measurements depict — that’s the claim, at least — but those measurements were manipulated and exploited by the purveyors of climate alarmism. That malfeasance, however, appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Skeptical scientists have long rejected climate hyperbole. One reason is that satellite temperature measurements continue to depict a warming hiatus, which now stands at 18 years 8 months4. Faced with growing pressure to address the chatter, a group of warmists tried to quash those claims in a study published in June. According to the authors5, NOAA’s own findings “do not support the notion of a ‘slowdown’ in the increase of global surface temperature.” The researchers even rejected the IPCC’s recent conclusion that a slowdown indeed did happen. Fine, so let’s see all the evidence. Oh, wait, we can’t, because the authors would rather keep some of it a secret.

According to the journal Nature6, “Representative Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who leads the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, asked NOAA in July for the data used in the study and for any internal communications related to it. NOAA has provided the committee with the publicly available data and has briefed committee staff on the research, but the agency has not turned over the communications.” Nor does it plan to. “Although NOAA’s latest response to the committee skirted the issue, the agency suggests in a 27 October statement to Nature that it has no intention of handing over documents that reveal its internal deliberations.” Nothing to see here, right?

Smith contends, “NOAA needs to come clean about why they altered the data to get the results they needed to advance this administration’s extreme climate change agenda.” The Investor’s Business Daily editorial board observed7, “What’s strange is that major temperature revisions by NOAA and others in recent years have always been up — never down — a clear sign of possible bias.” The agency can put these allegations to rest with a little transparency. But it won’t, which leads us to just one conclusion: The ClimateGate fraud is bigger and more malicious than anyone realizes.

Dems' Biggest Super PAC Defends Clinton Again8

Sen. Marco Rubio has the answer to why Hillary Clinton is not damaged by her blatant deception9 surrounding the deadly 2012 attack on the Benghazi consulate. “You know the Democrats have the ultimate super PAC,” Rubio said10 at the Republican presidential debate Wednesday. “It’s called the mainstream media.”

That super PAC turned on Rubio over his claim that Clinton lied when Rubio appeared on CBS Thursday morning. “You’re saying, Senator, that Hillary Clinton lied to help Barack Obama in his re-election campaign,” journalist Charlie Rose said11. “That’s a serious charge!”

Rubio seemed flabbergasted by Rose’s statement. “Yes!” Rubio replied. “It’s the truth. That’s not only why she did it. That’s why everyone in the administration did it. The narrative of their campaign at the time, Charlie, was that al-Qaida was ‘on the run’ and had been defeated. That was their narrative. And this countered that narrative. They did not want that out there.”

Journalism’s ideal is to give information that allows Americans to self-govern. But if the press only fixates on he-said she-said clickbait, then the public isn’t served. Instead of simply chasing soundbites, the media should pursue facts and go where they lead. Fact: Clinton emailed her daughter saying that a group similar to al-Qaida attacked the consulate. Fact: Days later, Clinton told the family12 of slain Navy SEAL Ty Woods that their son died over a YouTube video. Rubio’s articulation of these facts during the Rose interview shows that he is capable of going up against Clinton and giving her such a trouncing that it’d be almost sad to watch.

Who Drops Out Next?13

There were obvious winners in Wednesday night’s debate14, and there were also clear losers. So which candidate(s) will drop out next? Several are struggling to gain traction and may not have a path forward. For starters, the entire slate of “undercard” debate participants have little rationale to continue. Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum and George Pataki aren’t going to launch out of the bottom tier by remaining stuck in the Happy Hour debates. But there are also some on the primetime stage who should probably pack it in. Mike Huckabee is a swell guy you’d love to chat with over barbecue at the church potluck, but he spends far too much debate time on folksy metaphors like that one and just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Rand Paul seems to have missed his moment. In 2012, the GOP was perhaps ready for a commander in chief as cautious as Paul on foreign policy, but not in 2015 as the Obama/Clinton model of appeasement diplomacy and “smart power” has the world on fire (and not from global warming). Paul is a major asset in the Senate, too, and he can serve the nation well by staying put. John Kasich is stagnant, and his angry-man shtick isn’t going to help. Other than the fact (which he repeatedly made clear Wednesday night) that he’s from Ohio, there’s not much keeping a moralizing moderate like him afloat.

The big one, however, is Jeb Bush. The establishment favorite has never managed to convince a growing number of voters that a third Bush White House, or a second Clinton vs. Bush race, is in the nation’s best interest. Besides, “I’ve got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and me feeling compelled to demonize them,” he complained recently. “That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that.” And after his spectacular failure of an attack on Marco Rubio at the debate, there’s a growing sense that maybe Bush ought to find some of those other “really cool things” to do.

The first debate’s casualty was Rick Perry15; Scott Walker16 exited after the second. We’re willing to bet one or more of the aforementioned candidates won’t be on stage for the next one.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Fraudable Care Act17

By Kelly Bartlett

ObamaCare is not healthy. Saddled with side effects from fraud to canceled plans, the sickening reality is that government-driven health care delivers higher costs, more uncertainty and the potential to put insurance plans in a death spiral.

Undercover investigators from the Government Accountability Office created 18 false identities and successfully received subsidized coverage or Medicaid for all but one of them. This, despite the use of nonexistent Social Security numbers, fake birth certificates and other false documentation. Seto Bagdoyan, director of forensic audits at GAO, reported18 that “eligibility determination and enrollment process remains vulnerable to fraud.” One fictitious applicant not only received subsidized coverage from the federal marketplace, but also two state exchanges at the same time. Officials told Bagdoyan “there is no current process to identify individuals with multiple enrollments through different marketplaces.” What’s especially troubling is that the GAO discovered similar vulnerabilities to fraud during its 2013-14 investigation.

Duplicate coverage drives up the cost, as some people received subsidies for private insurance while enrolled in Medicaid. In addition, states incorrectly qualified some people for Medicaid despite their income exceeding the required income levels.

While one of the GAO’s fictitious applicants received three insurance policies, other real-life Americans are in round three of enrolling after losing their health insurance plans not once, but twice. Nine out of 23 co-ops set up to enroll people in ObamaCare have died and 11 more are on life support, causing families to switch plans again. National Review reports19:

“Over 600,000 people who enrolled in co-op health plans will lose their insurance at the end of this year. Many of them were forced into the co-ops to begin with when Obamacare canceled their private insurance policies in 2013, meaning they will have lost their health insurance twice because of the law.”

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 10-30-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Taxpayers have dished out over $1 billion for the nine failed co-ops. That would be a steep price for success, but to pay that much for fiascos is particularly onerous — especially during stagnant economic conditions.

Dollars get in the way of dreams, even in liberal Vermont, home to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the avid fan of Scandinavian-style socialism20. Late last year, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin abandoned21 his vision of single-payer health care. “In my judgment,” he said, “the potential economic disruption and risks would be too great to small businesses, working families and the state’s economy.” By disruption22, Shumlin means an 11.5% payroll tax and an additional income tax hike up to 9.5%.

Despite this expensive lesson, Colorado is now considering single-payer. Yes, the same state that brought us the “Brosurance”23 keg stand ad promoting the Affordable Care Act and the Colorado Pot Guide24 for the “weed enthusiast” is voting next month to decide whether to replace ObamaCare with ColoradoCare, funded by a 10% payroll tax hike (a.k.a. a $25 billion increase). Investor’s Business Daily reports25 that Colorado HealthOP, built with $72 million in federal loans, collapsed after losing $23 million in its first year. Before its demise, it had sought rate increases of up to 24% for the following year.

The collapse of Colorado HealthOP dumped more than 80,000 people off their insurance policies. Now these folks have to start shopping again in November, or face the consequences.

Meanwhile, an alarming number of doctors are looking for new jobs. Forbes26 reported that even before ObamaCare was implemented the mere thought of more government control in the health industry caused physicians to consider packing it in. A survey by the Doctor Patient Medical Association Foundation “reveals that 83 percent of physicians surveyed are thinking of quitting because of Obamacare.”

The Affordable Care Act is not affordable; it’s fraudable. But this isn’t surprising since the entire enterprise was founded on fraud and deceit. As that notorious health insurance redesigner and MIT professor Jonathan Gruber pointed out27, “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.”

While hawking ObamaCare, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared28, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.” And on the campaign trail, Barack Obama repeatedly assured voters29, “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. Period.” Now Americans don’t like what they’re finding. They’re not only losing their doctors but also their insurance policies as co-ops collapse.

It’s important to remember that ObamaCare is not about health care as much as it’s about money and power. It created a massive redistribution of insurance dollars — a “tax,” as Supreme Court Justice John Roberts bluntly termed it.

ObamaCare was brought to you by Democrats without a single Republican vote, not because the GOP doesn’t care about health, but because Republicans accurately predicted the side effects of government intrusion into the health insurance business. Democrats now own ObamaCare30.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are many options, including the eight common-sense suggestions31 of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who endorsed ideas such as transparent costs, HSAs, interstate insurance commerce, tort reform, equalizing tax laws and repealing government mandates. Several GOP presidential candidates have workable alternatives, as well.

America can get healthier. But not with ObamaCare, which has routinely and repeatedly violated the foundational principle of healing: First, do no harm.

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: From ‘No Boots on the Ground’ to ‘Direct Action’32
Obama Weighs in on Bathroom Battle33
Government Is Like a Rogue Blimp34

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Jonah Goldberg: Being a Minority and a Conservative Is Not a Contradiction35
Michael Barone: Free Stuff Can Turn Out to Be a Bad Buy36
Rich Lowry: Bernie’s Conspiracy Theory37

For more, visit Right Opinion38.

TOP HEADLINES

Senate Sends Budget Deal to Obama39
Another American Imprisoned in Iran40
Major Democrat Donor Indicted for Fraud in BP Oil Spill Case41

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report42

OPINION IN BRIEF

Jonah Goldberg: “[Ben] Carson grew up in Detroit, the son of a very poor, very hardworking single mother. His tale of rising from poverty to become the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital is one of the most inspiring rags-to-riches stories of the last half-century. … He was a towering figure in the black community in Baltimore and nationally — at least until he became a Republican politician. And that probably explains why his race seems to be such a non-issue for the media. The New York Times is even reluctant to refer to him as a doctor. The Federalist reports that Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, is three times more likely to be referred to as ‘Dr.’ in the Times as brain surgeon Carson. … Carson’s popularity isn’t solely derived from his race, but it is a factor. The vast majority of conservatives resent the fact that Democrats glibly and shamelessly accuse Republicans of bigotry — against blacks, Hispanics and women — simply because they disagree with liberal policies (which most conservatives believe hurt minorities). Yet conservatives also refuse to adopt those liberal policies just to prove they aren’t bigots. Carson — not to mention Carly Fiorina and Hispanics Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio — demonstrates that there’s no inherent contradiction between being a minority (or a woman) and supporting conservative principles. And that fact is just too terrible for some liberals to contemplate.”

SHORT CUTS

For the record: “CNBC set a new low for televised political debates incompetence and biased moderators. But at least it did one thing right Wednesday night. It did for Republicans what they have not been able to do for themselves so far this primary season. It actually unified the Republican Party, on and off the stage.” —Michael Reagan

Good idea: “I think all of the Republican debates should be hosted by CNBC from now on. The network demonstrated a number of traits people loathe about the press — and the candidates, most of them anyway, came out smelling like roses.” —Mona Charen

Non Compos Mentis: “I thought they did a good job tonight. … It was well done, well controlled, a lot of good questions.” —John “I’m Angry and I’m From Ohio” Kasich on Wednesday’s CNBC debate

Braying Jenny: “You would have been better off watching the World Series because the debate, in my view, was a swing and a miss.” —Hillary Clinton (That’s because the UMPIRES were beaning the batters.)

Village Idiots: “I’m certainly no historian, but the Cold War was characterized by two international superpowers who were in a sort of global test that was backed by the threat of nuclear weapons. The situation today is much different than that. Russia is no longer a superpower.” —Josh Earnest (Which is exactly why Vladimir Putin is taking over countries. Russia, by the way, still has nuclear weapons.)

Late-night humor: “Donald Trump told the crowd in Iowa, ‘I am a great Christian.’ If you have to tell people you’re a great Christian, you might not be a great Christian. Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Which is why Donald Trump is now currently working on plans to build an enormous needle.” —Jimmy Kimmel (Trump will make the Mexicans pay for the needle, too.)

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.