United Liberty

Are you among the 5 to 6 million Americans who lost the health insurance coverage that you had and liked? Well, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry has a message for you, and it’s one that she wants Democrats to run on in 2014: “Yeah, you can’t keep your crappy plans. Just deal with that!”

Harris-Perry, one of the network’s more annoying leftists, made the comments on Sunday, during which she compared the dramatic and consequential changes taking place in the health insurance market to “flipping a house.”

“But try thinking of it this way. It’s kind of like flipping a house. No, I really mean a real house. You do a whole lot of little things. You replace the counter tops, you add crown molding, you refinish the floors,” said Harris-Perry, according to the Media Research Center. “It all adds up to something entirely different than where you started.”

Harris-Perry ripped Republicans, whom she said “will go into a fallen down blighted house, slap on some granite counter tops, while ignoring real problems, and declare their work is the best thing ever.” She praised Democrats and Obamacare’s “more substantial, structural changes,” but criticized the party’s elected officials for not adequately selling the law, which, again, she compared to a flipped house.

When in doubt, punt. At least that’s been the basic strategy of the Obama Administration lately. Better to put off unpopular decisions until after the mid-term elections, to hopefully reduce the number of losses to Republicans, right?

In the case of Keystone XL, kicking the can down the road might not have the desired result. No matter how much DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz might want to wish it otherwise, the fact is that suggesting Obama’s non-decision on the pipeline isn’t a political is laughable. The only people that are buying that line are already buying every other line out of this administration. It’s not reaching the people that are starting to question the competence of Democrats in office.

So, what does that mean when it comes to the mid-terms? The only people that should be remotely pleased with the decision to not decide are the environmentalists. Democrats in peril should be swearing at Obama. They’re smart enough to realize that they are in for a very rough ride in November - you know you are in trouble when even the unions are against you.

While President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats say the debate over Obamacare is over and that the country should move on, one of the nation’s largest voting blocs strongly disagrees.

At a press conference last week, President Obama declared that Democrats running in the 2014 mid-term election “should forcefully defend and be proud” of Obamacare,” adding, “ I don’t think we should apologize for it, and I don’t think we should be defensive about it.”

But a recent Fox News poll found that 53 percent of registered voters prefer a candidate who “promises to fight against Obamacare.” A deeper look at the poll reveals that 54 percent of independents and 53 percent of Millennials, those under the age of 35, share that sentiment, an ominous sign for Democrats who take President Obama’s advice.

Overall, 56 percent of voters oppose Obamacare, including 63 percent of independents and 52 percent of Millennials. The poll also found that 73 percent of voters say that a candidates position on Obamacare will be either the “single most important factor” or “one of several important factors” in how they vote this fall. That includes 72 percent of independents and 66 percent of Millennials.

It seems that the world is yet another step closer to World War III as reports have circulated the globe that Eastern Ukrainians loyal to Russia are now requiring Jews to register and pay a special tax. Even Secretary of State John Kerry has made pronouncements condemning these actions.

But what if this registration story isn’t true but merely anti-Russian propaganda?

According to The Times of Israel, the pro-Russian separatists are denying any such attempts to force Jews to register or pay a special tax:

Pro-Russian separatists from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine denied any involvement in the circulation of flyers calling on Jews to register with separatists and pay special taxes.

The flyers were official-looking documents that carried what was presented as Pushilin’s signature, but the news site tvrain.ru on Wednesday quoted Pushilin as denying any connection to the flyers, calling them a provocation.

[…]

On Tuesday, the news website novosti.dn.ua reported that the flyers were handed out that day by three unidentified men in balaclava masks carrying a flag of the Russian Federation.

According to the report, the men distributed the flyers next to a local synagogue. The website quoted unnamed sources from the local Jewish community as saying that the flyers were an attempt to provoke a conflict and blame the attack on the separatists.

Is this really what is going on, some sort of false flag operation on the part of those opposed to Russia so that the U.S. and others will take a harder line?

Call it an election year move to rally his base or call it a move that’s long overdue, or maybe even a little of both. Whatever the case may be, President Barack Obama and the Justice Department are considering granting clemency to hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders:

A Department of Justice review of the nation’s clemency system that could free thousands of prisoners was motivated by President Obama’s desire “to make sure that everyone has a fair shot,” the White House said Monday.

“He has asked the Department of Justice to set up a process aimed at ensuring that anyone who has a good case for commutation has their application seen and evaluated thoroughly,” press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.
[…]
That review is expected to place a special emphasis on non-violent drug offenders, and especially those given longer sentences for crack cocaine. In recent years, federal lawmakers have moved to reduce additional penalties for those in possession of crack, rather than powder, cocaine, in a bid to both reduce prison populations and the unequal prosecution of minorities.

There has been a bipartisan push in the Senate to reform the United States’ drug laws. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have introduced a measure to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders.

Separately, though similarly, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) teamed up to address sentencing reforms for nonviolent crack cocaine offenders.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report yesterday that offered some light on the Obama administration’s efforts to raise money for an outside group, Enroll America, to promote Obamacare.

Outgoing HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was an already known figure in the push for funding for Enroll America. But the GAO report reveals that the efforts go all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:

The White House allegedly was involved in seeking financial support for a pro-ObamaCare group, according to a new report issued in response to Republican concerns about the administration’s fundraising efforts.

Until now, outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was the only official known to have solicited financial support for Enroll America, a nonprofit that promoted enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. But a Government Accountability Office report released Monday detailed not only the secretary’s involvement but that of a White House adviser.

According to the report, though HHS officials said they were “not aware” of any federal government officials outside the agency soliciting funds for Enroll America, a representative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation told GAO “about a discussion” in 2012 between one of their staffers and the “Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy.”

Though not named in the report, this would have been Jeanne Lambrew. The GAO said they were told the official nudged the foundation to give a “significant” contribution.

Many of us understand that what’s seen as the current reasoning behind the very existence of Export-Import Bank makes it very difficult for proponents of the agency to make the case for keeping the agency running.

There aren’t any major market failures that can only be addressed by a government-regulated agency offering extra stimulus to foreigners to purchase American, and if there are any major failures that must be addressed, a government-run agency will simply not be enough to respond it, due to the government’s inherently incompetent nature.

Because all cases have already been made against the agency but one, Veronique de Rugy decided to contribute by making the case that the insistence in keeping the Ex-Im bank running is not only a simply incoherent and inefficient solution to an imaginary problem, it is also immoral.

According to her column at the National Review, the Ex-Im Bank uses its tactics to coerce governments of very poor countries to purchase Boeing aeroplanes from America.

This is the case with Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government owns Ethiopian Airlines. According to recent statistics on Ethiopia, 78 percent of its population makes less than $2 a day, making it one of the poorest countries in the world.

What the Ex-Im Bank does to Ethiopians is to force their government to purchase their planes by encouraging officials to spend the little means they have on purchasing products they don’t need, all in the name of the eventual economic boost that some of us use as an excuse to justify the agency’s immoral exercise of their power.

In an interview law week with the Boston Herald, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) admitted that parts of Obamacare were “postponed” by the administration “because they are unpalatable,” pointing to the individual mandate and tax penalties for noncompliance.

The Massachusetts Democrat, however, hinted the backlash over the law may not be limited to the more unsavory aspects that the administration has managed to shrug off through unilateral delays. He warns that other provisions of the law could create a political firestorm.

“It’s going to hit the fan, because any individual with an individual healthcare plan that exceeds $10,200 is in a Cadillac plan situation,” said Lynch. “[T]hat employer, if they provide that, and many do today, nevermind in 2018, will have to pay a 40 percent tax on the amount over the maximum established under the Affordable Care Act.”

United Auto Workers has given up on its attempt to challenge an unsuccessful attempt to unionize a Chattanooga-based Volkswagen plant. Though leaders had filed a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a new vote, the labor union suddenly withdrew the challenge yesterday:

In an abrupt turnabout, the United Auto Workers on Monday officially dropped their attempt to get the federal government to order a new organizing election at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The union said that it was stymied by the refusal of state Republican officials to testify at a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board.

The union also conceded that even if it the NLRB had agreed to its complaint and ordered at new election at the VW facility, it ran a serious risk of getting a second rejection from the workers.

“The UAW is ready to put February’s tainted election in the rearview mirror and instead focus on advocating for new jobs and economic investment in Chattanooga,” said Bob King, the union’s president. A regional hearing on the case was set for Monday morning, but UAW instead officially notified the NLRB it was withdrawing its complaint.

“There is an ongoing national discussion about marijuana sentencing reform, and I want to make sure the Republicans are leading the charge. It’s an issue that can unite members of our community, regardless of party, race or gender.” — Matthew Hurtt

— NAACP leader praises Rand Paul: The Kentucky Republican’s message on civil rights has won praise from the NAACP, a group not usually sympathetic to Republicans. “It is such a pervasive issue in our community,” NAACP President and CEO Lorraine Miller told NPR, “and, quite honestly, if we can get the ear of someone like Rand Paul, that helps us in trying to find solutions that make sense.” Paul has pushed issues like mandatory minimum reform, school choice, and restoring felon voting rights in various speeches around the country. The NAACP has contacted Paul about speaking to the organization.