Obamacare's Flim Flam Rolls On

The continued looting of the American people as long orchestrated, but now presided over by President Barack Obama was justified today by the majority of justices in the U. S. Supreme Court splitting hairs. In other words, they finessed their definition to accommodate their purpose, rather than apply Constitutional Law. Here is how the Atlantic reports it:

The Health Care Decision, Explained in 1 Paragraph on SCOTUSblog

In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn't comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding. [Emphasis added]

MacLeod's cartoon, as usual, nails it:

Chief Justice Roberts split hairs in his effort to try to save whatever credibility the Supreme Court has with his decision. Based upon the Court's five-four rulings it whole reason for existence is to protect the looting. To do that, this decision gives it some sort of equanimity; an appearance of deciding issues only on the law. However, if you would like to read how Fox News spins constitutionality, read: Chief Justice Roberts does the right thing on ObamaCare. 

By the way, the so-called Affordable Care Act - Health care costs to date, cost Americans 2.3 trillion dollars annually. Most of that money goes to the 1%.

[Source]

 --Joe

Sellout

Sellout in this instance means:

. a person who betrays a cause, organization, or the like; traitor.

. a person who compromises his or her personal values, integrity, talent, or the like, for money or personal advancement.

From the moment I heard Barack Obama had the Presidency I've waited for this seminal moment – His total betrayal of all the American people that hoped in him and his promises. In this case, however, it isn't just the sell out of American people, but the whole world. The latest revelation here, is that he intends to consolidate and solidify all power and control in the hands of the Oligarchic 1%, even forcing governments to submit to their absolute control.

A segment on Democracy Now this morning Thursday, June 14, 2012: Breaking ’08 Pledge, Leaked Trade Doc Shows Obama Wants to HelpCorporations Avoid Regulations, Amy Goodman says:

“A draft agreement leaked Wednesday shows the Obama administration is pushing a secretive trade agreement that could vastly expand corporate power and directly contradict a 2008 campaign promise by President Obama. A U.S. proposal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact between the United States and eight Pacific nations would allow foreign corporations operating in the U.S. to appeal key regulations to an international tribunal. The body would have the power to override U.S. law and issue penalties for failure to comply with its ruling.”

What's amazing in all of this is that, Barack Obama started this project within SIX months of his inauguration.

This is one of the reasons he treats the Occupy Movement, and the Arab Spring movement with such duplicity and disdain. Even so, here is a recent Facebook posting:

Despite police crackdowns and mass arrests, the Occupy movement has spread to many major US cities as well as to Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and other countries.

Unfortunately, the Occupy movements across the world have not yet come to understand that it is way too late for them. The Oligarchy have totally looted all value, money, property and home value, self-worth, and human rights from the 99% of all populations. In the meantime take a good look at Egypt. Whatever the Egyptians believed they had achieved, this is the reality – nothing changes, maybe only the faces of the dictators. (Democracy Now Headlines – Thursday, June 14, 2012)

Egypt Expands Detention PowersBefore Elections
Egypt’s ruling military government has expanded the powers of state forces to detain civilians just days ahead of the country’s runoff election. In a joint statement, more than a dozen Egyptian rights groups said the decree effectively reimposes martial law and reinforces suspicion the upcoming transfer of power to a civilian government "will only be phony and won’t prevent the military from remaining a major player in political life."

Once these people realize they've been sold out and that there is no recovery they'll just walk away. You can't elect a government of people owned and controlled by the one percent if don't vote. You can't fight wars if no one fights. When money has no value, neither do the taxes they collect. Wall Street and the 1% will be as devoid of value as their worthless dollars.
[Picture Source]

--Joe

What's Wrong With This Picture?

The following list of newspaper articles came from the Times-Standard starting Christmas day page A3 with the pictures about the "Miracle on Wabash" that "warms hearts, bodies." Where "scores of people enjoyed free food, clothing and toys from local businesses, churches and nonprofits at an unused church on Wabash Avenue in Eureka on Christmas Eve. The volunteer-run community celebration also featured face painting and live music."

Saturday, December 26, 2009: County predicts minor revenue loss with decreasing property taxes
and the "My Word" by, Richard Twiddy: Slow down and clarify the issues. Really scarry times when they can just ram through these kinds of increases and changes. No gift of peace here!

Next we've got the newspapers Editorial in the same issue: Walking the walk about Michael Winkler – Arcata City Councilman and the front-page article, Waste not ... written about THE Michael Winkler, "Arcata council member keeps his garbage to a minimum."

Then let's jump a day or two to today, Tuesday December 29 to the front-page article, Cough it up ... with it's brilliant, but relevant comment by Fortuna Police Chief Kris Kitna, “We'd have to be more selective on who we put in jail.” Which suggests, WHAT? That they are NOT selective?
On Sunday, December 27, 2009 the T-S page A5, headlines the Opinion "My Word" by Sylvia De Rooy, Are we losing what matters in Humboldt? Where she's whining about Caltran's opening up the highway, Big Box stores because the “cost of them is too high.” Now compare this to the pictures about the "Miracle on Wabash" and then you tell me what really matters in Humboldt, the people that only think of themselves, specially during these Christmas holidays or those that think of their neighbor?

At the bottom of the page is Amy Goodmans's article, Climate discord: From Hopenhagen to Nopenhagen where she concludes by saying, “Many feel that Obama's disruption of the process in Copenhagen may have fatally derailed 20 years of climate talks. But Pica (Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth) has it right. The Copenhagen climate summit failed to reach a fair, ambitious and binding agreement, but it inspired a new generation of activists to join what has emerged as a mature, sophisticated global movement for climate justice.” I'm not so sure the nay-sayers wouldn't call them "a new generation of extremists" and target them as terrorists.

And then on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 we get the meaningless, but “thoughtful and sensitive” words of the newspapers city editor James Faulk, The post-Christmas let-down? “So I guess there's no real solution. Just call it the post-Christmas let-down. It is what it is, I guess.” Coupled with more meaningless words of a Crescent City lawyer, Jon Alexander, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

Joe says, “I would would guess, too”!

Whereas the banks are no longer making home equity loans (T-S Pg. A6, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009) and with the value of homes and property going into the tank and now limiting the tax base, we're looking at less resource for government stuff. (My sophisticated word "stuff" for government expenditures, costs, give-aways and the like.) In the above article, "County predicts minor revenue loss with decreasing property taxes," they, Philip Smith-Haynes County Administrative Officer, “said he would be discussing the decrease with each department as well as with the Board of Supervisors during the mid-year budget report.” Does anyone believe for a moment that "they" will actually talk about cutting costs to reflect the actual tax base? The question is probably redundant in the face of our changing climate situation that no one wants to deal with in a positive way. That little situation will answer all our problems.

If the above sampling is any indicator, I'd say there's a lot wrong with that picture. There can be no peace gift when your sole purpose or reason for existence is to dominate and exploit the recourses of the poor.
 

--Joe