Saturday Movie Matinee: Obama Makes Everything Worse

John Sexton, The Conversation: Laszewski on Kelly File: ‘This just makes everything so much worse’:

Megyn Kelly teed up Laszewski with a series of video clips of various White House surrogates suggesting the cancellation letters are a merely a business decision being made by insurance companies. But as Laszewski pointed out, that claim is completely undercut by the President’s offer of a “fix.”

“If the insurance companies didn’t have to cancel people then why did the President give a press conference and announce that insurance companies don’t have to cancel people?” Laszewski asked. “The administration just changed the rules so the insurance companies don’t have to cancel people” he continued, adding “Well, I guess they had to before then, didn’t they Megyn?”

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John Hayward, The Conversation: Another ObamaCare talking point is dead and gone:

Bob Laszewski must have one of the cleanest backgrounds in America, because he’s going to be investigated by every federal agency by the time he’s done shooting his mouth off.  His IRS audits will be epic.  They’ll be subpoenaing rental records from defunct Blockbuster stores to find out if he’s ever returned a video late.  If he’s got a tomato plant in his backyard, it’s going to be swarming with Department of Agriculture inspectors.  I’m surprised the left-wing blogger hit squad hasn’t pushed character-assassin articles about him into the mainstream media yet.  At the very least, we’re probably going to end up hearing a lot about how rich he is.

As to the point he made to Megyn Kelly, why yes,, that would seem to be a bit of checkmate, wouldn’t it?  The moldering skeletons of so many dead-and-gone Democrat talking points lie half-buried in the sands of time behind us, a trail of bones leading back across the eternity of the last five weeks, but at one point theywere rather loudly insisting that nothing in ObamaCare compelled any provider to cancel any insurance plans.  Every stooge in the liberal blogosphere repeated this talking point a thousand times.  And now it’s gone, gone, gone… just another yellowed skull grinning at them from the trail of dead propaganda, already fading into the mists of history, and they’ll grow angry if anyone remembers that they passionately believed it just 48 hours ago.

Obamacare, Deconstructed:

Political Fallout – Effect Obamacare Will Have On Presidency – Charles Krauthammer -The Kelly File:

Rep Trey Gowdy answers – Can Americans really get cancelled coverage back – It’s All About Politics:

Joel Pollak, The Conversation: So, When Does Ted Cruz Get His Apology?

That crazy Ted Cruz. The Texas freshman Senator (R-Tea Party) tried to defund Obamacare, then accepted a one-year delay in the individual mandate as a compromise position. But you can’t govern from one House of Congress, and the one he’s in is one the Republicans don’t govern anyway. Obama and the Democrats held all the cards. So Cruz caved–it was only a matter of time, right?–and Republicans got blamed for everything.

Fast-forward a few weeks….

Highlights from Ted Cruz’s ‘Obamacare’ Filibuster:

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Hot Air: Quotes of the Day:

That the administration knew [of the cancellations] and failed to anticipate the inevitable outcry is political malpractice of the highest order. That policyholders who received cancellation notices didn’t have a functional Web site on which to seek alternatives makes that preexisting condition exponentially worse…

Listening to the president Thursday was painful. He acknowledged the need “to win back some credibility.” He “fumbled the rollout” of health care. He is “letting . . . down” congressional Democrats who took the risk of supporting Obamacare. Although he’s sometimes been “slapped around a little bit unjustly,” the president said, “This one’s deserved, all right? It’s on us.”

Can he recover? I’m sorry to say: I’m not at all confident.

National Journal: Obamacare’s Problems Could Haunt Democrats for Years:

President Obama’s health care law is now compounding a political problem it was meant to solve: the generation-long loss of faith in government activism, particularly among the white middle class.

For decades, Democratic strategists have viewed universal health care as their best opportunity to reverse the doubt among many voters, especially whites, that government programs can tangibly benefit their families. Now the catastrophic rollout of the health law threatens instead to reinforce those doubts. That outcome could threaten Democratic priorities for years.

Even before its disastrous launch, the health care law faced anxiety about its goals. On the plan’s best days, polls found Americans split almost evenly on whether reform would benefit the country overall. But even then, nothing approaching a majority ever said the law would help their own families; among whites, fewer than one-third said they expected to personally benefit. Far more whites said the law would help the poor or uninsured. That meant, as the law debuted, most whites viewed health care more like food stamps than Social Security.

Noah Rothman, For Democrats, Obamacare Unfolding Like a Greek Tragedy:

A great tragedy is unfolding within Democratic ranks. The party and their leader, PresidentBarack Obama, are scrambling to mitigate the damage the Affordable Care Act is doing to the Democratic brand. In their rush, they are striking glancing blows against a law which is already teetering on its unsound foundations. In a Euripidean twist, it is Democrats, not Republicans, who are meting out potentially fatal blows to the project which had once represented their greatest hopes.

Passed along party lines by appealing to methods unbecoming of the democratic process, the president secured his signature achievement in 2010. It was all downhill from there. A scandalous number of waivers, carve-outs and bailouts later, the ACA went into effect in October amid the self-flagellating protests of Republicans. Defeated at last, the law’s opponents stepped aside. Without a distraction, the press and the public focused on the effects of the law itself. What they saw was grotesque.

Mediaite: Rush Limbaugh Touts Obamacare Ads as Vindication for Sandra Fluke ‘Slut’ Remarks:

You may recall kind of a big controversy from last year when Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown student Sandra Fluke a slut, making her representative of a movement he argued wants the government to help pay for their sex lives. And while in retrospect today, Limbaugh regretted being inartful, he argued that a spate of new ads “promoting promiscuity” essentially vindicate what he was saying.

The ads in question, from the makers of “Brosurance,” basically have the not-so-subtle message that Obamacare will help you get your freak on in a safe, responsible manner. Limbaugh said that back when he talked about Fluke, he said Obamacare would promote “promiscuity” and it “caused a lot of people to freak out.”

Fox News: CIA personnel asked to sign additional non-disclosure form after Benghazi attack:

At least five CIA personnel, including government contractors, were asked to sign a second non-disclosure agreement after the Benghazi terrorist attack, Fox News has learned.

While the three-page NDA, obtained by Fox News, does not contain specific references to the 2012 attack which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, it does contain standard language that unauthorized disclosures could lead to “temporary loss of pay or termination” and “in some circumstances, constitute a criminal offense.”

Sources not authorized to speak on the record, given the sensitivity of this week’s closed-door testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, said the five CIA personnel did not feel pressure to sign the document. But they felt the request for a second non-disclosure agreement after the terrorist attack was odd and not standard practice because their original NDA’s were still in effect, and only some in the group were undergoing contract modifications that might require a new NDA.

 Jean Claude Van Damme Split: Jean Claude Van Damme Volvo Trucks Commercial – The Epic Split:

John Hayward notes at the Conversation that the ad “contains no special effects trickery whatsoever… and he got it right on the first take.  JCVD is 53 years old.”

 

Bat Kid Saves the Day:

Baby and cat cuddle in crib: