Saturday Movie Matinee: Gruber Video Is ‘Absolute Proof’ that Provision Was Not a Drafting Error

NRO: Krauthammer’s Take: Gruber Video Is ‘Absolute Proof’ that Provision Was Not a Drafting Error:

Charles Krauthammer thinks that a two-year-old video of one of Obama’s chief architects is proof that the denial of subsidies through federal exchanges was not a drafting error.

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Via John Sexton, the Conversation:

Obamacare Architect: States Without Exchanges Get No Subsidies

Jonathan Gruber, a “key architect” of  Obamacare was caught on tape in 2012 saying states which do not set up an Obamacare exchange are not eligible for subsidies. His admission mirrors the arguments of plaintiffs in the Halbig case and has the potential to push Obamacare to the brink of collapse.

Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber Once Again Ties Subsidies to State-Based Exchanges

Did Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber make the same mistake twice? A new audio clip finds him once again explaining that Obamacare subsidies are tied to state health exchanges.

A clip of Jonathan Gruber circulated last night in which he states that Obamacare subsidies are tied to the existence of state exchanges. This statement is extremely problematic for the law’s supporters because it appears to confirm the view of plaintiffs in the Halbig case, i.e. that only state-exchanges were intended to deliver subsidies.

Another Stunning Admission in Gruber’s Speech: The Public Option Was Single Payer

As I was watching the video clip of Jonathan Gruber talking about state-based exchanges and subsidies last night I came across another admission which deserves some attention. A few minutes later in the Q&A following his January 18, 2012 speech, Gruber admits that the public option was an attempt to slip single-payer into the Affordable Care Act.

Charles CW. Cooke, NRO: Controlling the Past:

He who controls the past controls the future,” observed George Orwell. “He who controls the present controls the past.” This, in one pithy, symmetrical little maxim, has been the story of Obamacare from its conception to the present day.

Since its official launch, in October of 2013, the architects and salesmen of our ill-conceived phalanx of reforms have been engaged in some of the most pronounced historical revisionism of the modern era — truth being subjugated to expedience; idealism being repackaged in the pathetic language of good intentions; and the past being tweaked at every tricky stage. Thus has the ironclad promise that insurance premiums would decrease for all people given way to scoffing admissions that “of course” some people’s premiums would increase. Thus has the quixotic assurance that there would be no winners and losers been transmuted into the defensive insistence that there are no perfect plans but that this one was “worth it overall.” Thus has a favored vow that anybody who “liked” their existing plan would be able to “keep it” replaced with the patronizing mantra that people just don’t know what’s good for them — and need in consequence to be told what they may buy. Thus has the claim of “universal health insurance” been quickly forgotten, a series of unseemly statistical victory dances being offered in lieu.

Rollcall: Simas Ignores Subpoena Again as White House Defies Issa:

Top White House political adviser David Simas refused again Friday to honor a congressional subpoena, prompting Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to vote to rebuke the administration.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 19-14 to reject the White House’s claim that Simas has absolute immunity from a subpoena from Congress.

Republicans said they were standing up for the principle that no one is above the law, and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa quoted a long list of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who have backed Congress’ right to subpoena top administration officials.

Democrats, led by ranking member Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, said they strongly disagree with the White House’s claim of absolute immunity but also strongly disagree with Issa’s push to press the issue, warning it could hurt the institution if they take a case to court.

The White House informed Issa at 7:30 a.m. Friday that Simas would not appear, Issa said. The absence was “not excused,” the California Republican added.

White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston asked Issa to withdraw the subpoena to discuss his late Thursday offer for Simas to give a deposition instead of subpoenaed testimony.

Issa refused to do so.

“We have an absolute right and obligation” to investigate the new White House Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, he said.

“This was intended to be a short, and I hope it will be, oversight of a relatively small but in the past controversial office, consistent with our requirement to do oversight even without a predicate of wrongdoing,” he said.

Issa said oversight of the previously troubled political office will help American people be more comfortable and ensure taxpayer dollars are being used properly.

Washington Free Beacon: Krauthammer: ‘Rank ignorance’ in American media covering Israel-Palestinian conflict:

Bill Whittle, Truth Revolt Videos: The Case For Israel:

As Israel is under attack from Hamas in the Gaza strip and BDS — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions — right here in America, Bill Whittle makes the historical and moral case for Israel, and shows just who, indeed, are the tyrants and aggressors in the Middle East.

Bare Naked Islam: HAMAS savagely beats Gaza civilians who heed IDF calls to leave targeted areas:

Algemeiner (h/t Liz)  In the video, armed enforcers, some wielding batons, are seen beating and punching recalcitrant residents, and, at several points turn on the camera crew, and try to cover the lens. Some of the dialogue in the video is also telling:

(00:41) Man: “Camera out! Turn the camera off!”, (00:51) Man: “Stop the film!”, (00:53) Man: “You’ve filmed enough!”, (1:26) Woman to enforcers: “This is a crime – I’ve already paid for this!”.

(1:29) Interviewer to man in black shirt: “Are you afraid? Man: “I’m more than 90 percent sure that this is not a real event. Normally, I don’t have a lot of fear about this, but when they tell us to get out, then we’ll do it together.”

Narrator: “Hamas police are pushing back against the protesters.” (Police seen trying to break up a prayer session)‏

Enforcer to protesters: “You’re always getting in our way!”‏

(2:18) Woman to security official: “You’re worse than the Jews!”‏

‎Security official: “What are you saying? We’re not the Jews!”‏

Woman: “You can go beat the Jews more! We are not bad people; what have you done here?”

 

Obama: “I Would Love Nothing More Than A Loyal & Rational Opposition”:

A great rant from Neil Cavuto:

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Matt Walsh: Barack Obama doesn’t care about black people

But it’s his skin color that upsets us, he says. If everything was the same, and all events unfolded exactly as they have, we would surely all be in the midst of a 6-year-long fit of ecstasy if only the president’s complexion more closely resembled his maternal side. It’s the darker hue of his pigmentation that perturbs us, not that he used the IRS like a wing of his re-election campaign, or that he shows no regard for the law, or that he sends his DOJ after journalists, or that he lies like he breathes, or that he arms terrorists and drug dealers, or that he left our ambassador to die in Benghazi, or that he spends more tax money funding Planned Parenthood than any other president, or that he deliberately stoked race riots in Florida after the Trayvon Martin incident, or that he’s bungled every single foreign policy decision, or that he pushed a disastrous health care law through Congress, and did so under blatantly false pretenses, or that he pretended to be a civil liberties candidate and then went on to expand the surveillance state more than anyone before him ever did. Our distaste couldn’t be fueled by these factors or any other. We would all be jumping for joy over every last one of these high crimes and misdemeanors, but it’s the shade of his epidermis that spoils the party. Right?

The Right Scoop: Rep. Luis Gutiérrez brags amnesty could bring 4-5 million new Democrats:

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NRO: Top House Dem: Obama’s Immigration Orders are More Important than Vulnerable Dems

Representative Raul Grijalva (D., Ariz.) thinks that President Obama should pursue his immigration goals unilaterally, even if it hurts vulnerable Democrats in the 2014 midterms.

“That’ll always be the case,” the Congressional Hispanic Caucus co-chair told National Review Online when asked if Democrats were still nervous that the border crisis had turned Obama’s expected orders into a political liability.

“You’ll always have members whose political vulnerability they tie entirely to immigration,” Grijalva said. “We didn’t make progress when we were in the majority because we were being protective of those — on immigration reform — we were protecting those members. At some point do you worry more about the future or do you continue to put off the inevitable by not taking action?”

 The Anchoress: Expelled Iraqi Christians, Give Witness to ISIS Fascism – UPDATE! KURDS!

The choice is leave or take a bullet to the head; you have ten hours to get out or die; take nothing but the clothes on your back; oh, you need that glucose meter? Your blood pressure meds? That’s too bad.

The Christians interviewed here make me feel very proud, and very humbled. They are obviously hurting, obviously shocked and displaced, yet full of spirit. And who wouldn’t be a bit angry and undone in such a case? As the lady says, “what have the Christians done to you?”

And yet, when the ISIS thugs forced them from their homes, the Christians said, “Congratulations. You have the house.”

It’s such a Christian thing to say. It is a line imbued with the deep understanding that to take someone’s house may seem like a victory, but it is only a material victory; it is the retort of a spiritual subversive and what it is really saying is, you can take the house, the money, the car, the clothes, but you possess no part of my soul, which belongs to and is fed and sustained by Christ Jesus.

Gateway Pundit:Congress Applauds GOP Rep. Beutler and Her Miracle Baby:

Life News reported:

When she was pregnant with her daughter Abigail Rose Beutler, doctors told Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, a pro-life Republican from Washington state, that her baby had a potentially fatal diagnosis that would claim her life shortly after birth.

Beutler posted a message on Facebook last June sayinbeutler8g her unborn child had been diagnosed with Potter’s Syndrome, a condition which prevents the child’s kidneys from developing properly and is typically fatal for the baby.

In Potter’s syndrome, the unborn baby has an atypical physical appearance as the result of oligohydramnios, a decrease in amniotic fluid volume that causes developmental problems and babies with Potter’s Syndrome typically die within a couple days of being born.

But Dr. Jessica Bienstock at Johns Hopkins Hospital was willing to try an unconventional procedure, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and her husband, Daniel, now have a happy, healthy one-year old.