Category Archives: Obama taxes

Obama Democrats do to US what Obama et al did to IL, Illinois credit rating downgraded, Worst in the nation, Obama Democrats and corruption cronies hurt pensions

Posted on January 27, 2013 | 86 comments

Obama Democrats do to US what Obama et al did to IL, Illinois credit rating downgraded, Worst in the nation, Obama Democrats and corruption cronies hurt pensions

“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“Why was Obama promoting Capri Capital and other investment firms at the same time that Rezko, Levine and Cellini were shaking them down?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

From WGN TV January 26, 2013.

“Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation”

“A warning came Saturday morning from state treasurer Dan Rutherford (R) IL State Treasurer. The Standard and Poor’s downgrade from A to A-minus puts Illinois last on the list– and means a higher cost to borrow money.

On Wednesday, the state will issue $500 million in new bonds to pay for roads and other transportation projects. Rutherford says the credit downgrade will cost taxpayers an additional $95 million in interest,
When compared to a perfect triple-a bond rating enjoyed by other11 states including neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.

“Our problem in Illinois is that we have not substantively and fairly addressed the state public pension issue.”

Rutherford points to Governor Quinn and the democratically controlled general assembly for making matters worse in the last two years– raising taxes but not acting on pension reform.

“This problem didn’t come along just now it’s been accumulating for actually decades. Each time the governor set a deadline and didn’t meet it there was some negative reaction,” he said.

“It’s become quite evident to me that the general assembly has not registered what these negative impacts are to be enough to cause a change in the public pensions.”

Rutherford says reform should come in the form of new cost of living adjustments and sliding healthcare costs based on pension income, all of which is a hard sell in Springfield– but would put the state back on better financial ground.

“Illinois is a very good place and we can turn this place around– but the first thing we need to do is fix this in a fair way, our public pensions.””

Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation

From above:

“Rutherford points to Governor Quinn and the democratically controlled general assembly for making matters worse in the last two years– raising taxes but not acting on pension reform.

“This problem didn’t come along just now it’s been accumulating for actually decades. Each time the governor set a deadline and didn’t meet it there was some negative reaction,” he said.”

From Citizen Wells March 29, 2012.

Connecting the dots.

What do Obama and John Glennon have in common aside from associations with Stuart Levine and other Chicago corruption figures?

Involvement with the IL TRS, Teachers Retirement System.

What else do they have in common?

They were both involved with the TRS in 2002 and 2003.

What is significant about these years?

2003: “Of the five funds, the one in the sorriest shape is the Illinois Teacher Retirement System, which provides the pensions for suburban and downstate teachers. Its ratio of assets to liabilities stood at a mere 52 percent last year, so poor that it was considered among the five worst-funded plans in the country.”

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/March-2011/Illinois-Teacher-Pensions-Always-in-Distress-Mode/

From the LA Times April 7, 2008.

In 2002, the year after Obama made the pitch, the Illinois Teacher Retirement System reported an 18% increase in assets managed by minority-owned firms. Ariel’s share grew to $442 million by 2005.

In 2006, after the federal investigation became public, the teacher pension board severed its relationship with Ariel, concluding that Ariel’s investment returns were insufficient.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/obamarezko.html

From the Common Conservative October 1, 2008.

“On Feb. 10, 2007, Senator Barack Obama launched his bid for the White House in Springfield, setting himself on a course that has become one for the history books. But Obama might not have made it even to the Old State Capitol Building that frigid day if not for a private meeting he had with friends and advisers in late 2002 as he was mulling a run for the U.S. Senate. In a South Side high-rise overlooking the lake, the junior state senator vetted his lofty political ambitions with a group of Chicago’s African American business elite that included Frank M. Clark Jr., Valerie B. Jarrett, Quintin E. Primo III, James Reynolds Jr., and John W. Rogers Jr.”
http://thecommonconservative.com/?p=161

From Citizen News June 15, 2010.
“Today, Tuesday, June 15, 2010, testimony in the Rod Blagojevich trial continues. Joseph Aramanda, with ties to Blagojevich, Rezko and Obama is expected to testify soon.”

“Rezko’s partner in the Rezmar development company, Daniel Mahru, is referred to as “Individual Z” in the indictment, and according to court filings, Rezko told Mahru that “$500 million” of TRS money was earmarked for their company. Mahru is reportedly cooperating with federal investigators.”

“In addition to lining their own pockets, the money gained through the scheme was funneled to the campaigns of Blagojevich and Obama. Prosecutors have identified two $10,000 payments that were made to Obama’s US Senate campaign through straw donors Joseph Aramanda and Elie Maloof, which originated from a kickback paid by investment firm, Glencoe Capital, to secure approval for a $50 million deal.
Aramanda and Maloof also each gave Obama $1,000 for his failed run for Congress in 2000. Once Obama became a US Senator, Aramanda’s son was granted a coveted intern position in Obama’s Senate office in Washington during the summer of 2005, based on a request which the Obama’s camp has admitted came from Rezko.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/blagojevich-trial-joseph-aramanda-testifies-soon-aramanda-linked-to-blagojevich-rezko-obama-open-thread-june-15-2010/

Perhaps you have not seen this.

“Glencoe Capital Partners

On a motion by Cynthia O’Neill, seconded by Stuart Levine, it was resolved:

To invest $25 million in Glencoe Capital Partners III, L.P. and invest up to $25 million to Glencoe Capital Institutional Partners III, L.P., subject to the satisfactory completion of contract and fee negotiations. Source of funds will be the TRS Cash Flow account.
Minutes – Board Meeting

August 15, 2003
Page 6

Roll call resulted in affirmative voice votes from Trustees Bruner, Cleveland, Glennon, Klickna, Leggett, Levine, O’Neill, Phalen, and Schmidt. Motion CARRIED.”

For more information about Obama’s impact on the TRS:

“In 2000, after losing a Congressional race, Barack Obama was looking to revive his political fortunes. And he soon found a springboard — a group of black entrepreneurs also trying to break out.

Month after month, Mr. Obama, then an Illinois state senator, showed up at the Chicago group’s meetings, listening to members’ concerns about the difficulties they faced in getting government and corporate business, and asking them what he could do to help.

And help them he did. Members of the group, the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, say Mr. Obama checked into their problems and helped start a drive that enabled minority investment executives to win millions of dollars in business from the state’s giant pension funds.”

“Mr. Obama also recently pointed to his work on the Illinois pension issue as a model for what he would do as president to promote minority-owned companies.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/obama-john-glennon-both-damaged-il-trs-teachers-retirement-system-glennon-on-trs-board-glencoe-capri-capital-obama-doing-to-us-what-he-did-to-illinois/

 

Thanks to commenter bob strauss

86 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Crime, Democrats, Illinois, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Rezko, Senator Obama, Stuart Levine, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, Washington DC, white house

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Federal budget deficit explained in common sense terms in NC, John Hammer Rhino Times, January 24, 2013, Obama and congress increased spending 40 percent

Posted on January 26, 2013 | 31 comments

Federal budget deficit explained in common sense terms in NC, John Hammer Rhino Times, January 24, 2013, Obama and congress increased spending 40 percent

“only 2 percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained since the recession ended in June 2009 are midpay. Nearly 70 percent are low-paying jobs”…AP, Kitsap Sun January 22, 2013

“We tried our plan—and it worked. That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.”…Barack Obama

“the Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

Common sense in print in NC.

From John Hammer of the Rhino Times January 24, 2013.

“If you listen to Democrats, and even some Republicans, for the federal government to balance its budget would require draconian cuts that would decimate the Defense Department and put major social welfare programs in bankruptcy. But the truth is that the federal government will take in $2.9 trillion in revenue this fiscal year. If the federal government would simply reduce spending to what it was a mere five years ago it would have a surplus instead of a trillion dollar deficit.

In 2007 the federal government spent $2.7 trillion. That was during the presidency of George Walker Bush and the budget deficit was about $200 billion, because the revenue that year was $2.56 trillion.

What Congress and President Obama have managed to do since then is increase spending astronomically. The projected spending for 2013 is $3.8 trillion. So even though revenue has increased to $2.9 trillion the deficit is still right around a trillion dollars.

It is an unbelievable increase in spending. The problem is not, as Obama continues to say, that the rich aren’t paying their fair share. The problem is that Obama and Congress have increased spending by 40 percent in the past five years. This is during a period of almost no inflation.

Since 2007 the federal government has increased its spending by $1.1 trillion. It is an incredible amount of money and it would be nice to blame it all on Obama, but Obama is a co-conspirator. Spending bills have to originate in the House, which the Republicans have controlled since 2011. Obama in his first term had pretty much free rein in Congress. The Democrats controlled the House and for almost a year had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Spending skyrocketed and in Obama’s first year in office, 2009, the budget deficit increased to $1.4 trillion.

What could only be done in Washington – where reality left the building decades ago – is that the budget deficit has remained over $1 trillion. The reason for the budget deficit in 2009 was the $1 trillion stimulus plan that Congress passed and Obama signed as soon as possible. That was supposed to spike up the spending, but then it was supposed to come back down.

It never has.

But the country ran pretty well in 2007. We were fighting the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security was being paid, as were Medicare and Medicaid. The federal government was throwing money at local governments, as it does, but evidently to go back to those years would be a tremendous hardship. It’s hard to believe.”

Read more:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2013-01-23-214571.112113-under-the-hammer.html

31 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Defense, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Government, NC, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Washington DC, white house

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Democrats blame Republicans for Democrat policy failures, Lack reason and accountability, End justifies the means, Democrat policies destroyed economy jobs family budgets

Posted on January 24, 2013 | 109 comments

Democrats blame Republicans for Democrat policy failures, Lack reason and accountability, End justifies the means, Democrat policies destroyed economy jobs family budgets

“only 2 percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained since the recession ended in June 2009 are midpay. Nearly 70 percent are low-paying jobs”…AP, Kitsap Sun January 22, 2013

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:
Product and service price increases.
Employee and hours cutbacks.
Reduced hiring.”…Citizen Wells

I am not praising Republicans.

Many of the actions and policies of Obama liberal Democrats can be simply explained.

The end justifies the means.

They lack reason and accountability.

From the Mirriam Webster Dictionary.

Reason

2 a (1) : the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways : intelligence (2) : proper exercise of the mind (3) : sanity

Accountability

the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions <public officials lacking accountability>

Yesterday I was informed of the following letter to the editors of the Greensboro Daily News. The author, an older gentleman, is someone that I know. He represents the old guard, those who follow the Democrat Party come what may, and blame Republicans for all that is wrong. Lack of reason and accountability.

“Obama is right to get tough on Republicans”

“Regarding “Obama warns GOP in debt ceiling battle” (news article, Jan. 15) and “Mr. Friendly Obama unveils tough talk” by Dana Milbank (column, Jan. 16):

So, President Barack Obama “warned” the GOP in his recent White House news conference. Applause!

From now on, I hope he will continue to brand Republicans in a way, and to a depth, that FDR did in 1932!

We already know that congressional Republicans cannot win the debt ceiling “battle,” and the only question now is, “how badly will they lose the fight?” The answer is, “How much they will be perceived as harming the American people.”

We also know that congressional Republicans seem determined to harm Americans by turning our nation into a Third World country where the majority of people live in poverty, are poorly educated (if at all), are without quality health care, without Social Security and without taxes — of course! — but with a massive military to protect the wealth of the powerful “2 percenters.” No doubt about it.

Yes, Mr. Milbank, “friendly Obama” recently spoke like Lincoln or TR, or FDR or Truman, or LBJ when he delivered the free, “tough and friendly advice” to the GOP. Again, applause!”

http://www.news-record.com/opinion/623224-94/obama-is-right-to-get#continue

The last time that Republicans controlled the White House and Congress was December 2008.

The Labor Force Participation Rate in December 2008 was 65.8 %.

The Labor Force Participation Rate in December 2012 was 63.6 %.

Add that 2.2% drop in the labor force participation to the unemployment rate!

Reported here yesterday from the AP.

“But 42 months after the Great Recession ended, the U.S. has gained only 3.5 million, or 47 percent, of the 7.5 million jobs that were lost.”

“But only 2 percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained since the recession ended in June 2009 are midpay. Nearly 70 percent are low-paying jobs;”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/ap-job-facts-january-23-2013-recession-tech-kill-middle-class-jobs-70-percent-of-jobs-added-low-paying-government-policies-biggest-job-killer/

In 2009 when Obama took office, 31.9 million Americans used Food Stamps.

The latest numbers from the USDA reveal that over 47 million Americans now use Food Stamps.

These economic failures from the Democrats have come with record spending and increased taxes for lower income Americans.

It is no wonder why Obama and so many on the left are anti religion.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”…Jesus, John 8:32

109 Comments

Posted in Accountability, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Democrats, Economy, Government, Insanity, letter, Liberalism, NC, Newspapers, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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John Boehner Mitch McConnell Republicans should have walked away from table, Republicans support tax increases, Rhino Times January 3, 2013, Good news from NC

Posted on January 4, 2013 | 83 comments

John Boehner Mitch McConnell Republicans should have walked away from table, Republicans support tax increases, Rhino Times January 3, 2013, Good news from NC

“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.”…John F. Kennedy

“A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:
Product and service price increases.
Employee and hours cutbacks.
Reduced hiring.”…Citizen Wells

“Nearly every empirical study of taxes and economic growth published in a peer reviewed journal finds that tax increases harm economic growth,”…William McBride, Tax Foundation

Good news from NC.

Obama was defeated in NC in the 2012 election and for the first time since the 1890s, Republicans control both legislative and executive branches.

Good news reporting in NC.

From John Hammer of the Rhino Times January 3, 2013.

“The Republicans blinked and now they are toast. There is an old saying in business: If you aren’t willing to get up and walk away from the negotiating table then you’re just begging.

Obama refused to negotiate and basically said it was OK with him if they went over the fiscal cliff. We’ll never know if he was serious because House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell panicked. Whether or not Obama would have gone over the fiscal cliff is academic at this point because he did what good negotiators do – he convinced his opponents that he was willing to go over the cliff if they didn’t agree to his terms.

The negotiations by McConnell with Vice President Joe Biden got the small concession that taxes would be raised on families with incomes over $450,000. Obama wanted it to be $250,000, but it doesn’t matter because Obama got the Republicans to support tax increases.

And it’s not just a tax increase on those making over $450,000, it’s a tax increase on over 70 percent of Americans. So Obama got the Republicans to vote to raise taxes on most Americans – something they said they wouldn’t do.

Not only did Obama get Republicans to support tax increases, he got them to agree to raise spending. The deal that McConnell and Boehner voted for raises spending by nearly $4 trillion. The deal includes $1 in tax cuts for every $41 in increased taxes.

If the Republicans were going to cave like this, why bother to wait until the last minute?

The huge problem is that this leadership is done. The Democrats now know that they will cave. The Democrats have to wait until the last minute, but in the end this Republican leadership team doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to hang in there.

It’s astounding how badly Obama beat the Republicans. First he got them to agree to this fiscal cliff deal a year ago, which was brilliant. He pushed the showdown out past the election. Obama will never run for anything again, so he really doesn’t have to worry about public opinion. Plus, he does have the media on his side. So no matter what Obama does he knows that he has the full support of the mainstream media and it will work overtime spinning everything in his direction.

However, despite the unquestioning media support, pushing the face-off out past the election gave Obama a huge advantage. The Republicans were no doubt hoping they could beat Obama at the polls in November, but they didn’t come close.

With the fiscal cliff looming and no election to worry about, Obama had a strong hand. The fiscal cliff raised taxes on everyone, something that Obama wants to do, and this way he could do it and blame it on the Republicans. The cuts included by going over the fiscal cliff may have been devastating, but half were to military spending, which Obama also wanted to do, and once again by going over the fiscal cliff he could blame it on the Republicans, which is what the press was doing.

So Obama could sit back with confidence and say, OK, either agree to my terms or I’m willing to jump off that cliff. The Republicans lost any bargaining power they might have had when they admitted to being horrified to go over the cliff. The negotiating tactic that might have worked would have been to agree with Obama that going over the cliff would not be bad and discussing how to deal with the issues that would arise, like a recession.

You’ve got to convince the other guy that you are willing to walk away from the table, and in the negotiations the Republicans convinced Obama that in the end they would cave, and they did.

Obama in the end gave up almost nothing. It doesn’t matter where you put the limit on tax increases on the wealthy because the point is not to raise money. It’s just politics. Obama has been saying that the rich don’t pay their fair share. He doesn’t give facts and figures to back this up; he just says it over and over again until people start believing it. Obama says the rich don’t pay their fair share so he wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

The Republicans have for 20 years opposed raising taxes. The Republican argument is that the problem is not that the government doesn’t have enough money, it is that the government spends too much money. The way to solve the fiscal mess according to Republicans is to reduce spending and reduce taxes. You reduce spending to lower the deficit and you reduce taxes to stimulate the economy.

Even Obama admits that reducing taxes stimulates the economy. What he hasn’t explained is why he wants to raise taxes if reducing taxes stimulates the economy. But Obama got to raise taxes on the wealthy like he wanted, and he got to increase spending by nearly $4 trillion. But he also got to raise taxes on most everybody else and to extend unemployment benefits for another year. Extending unemployment benefits encourages more people not to work, which is not what is best for the economy. But it sure is a great way for the Democrats to buy votes.

It was a win all the way around for Obama. Then he got to get on Air Force One, fly west and wake up in Hawaii. Talk about having a good week. This one is going to be hard for Obama to beat.”

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2013-01-02-214374.112113-Under-the-Hammer.html

83 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Government, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, republicans, Rhino Times, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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Higher Tax Rates Will Sabotage Economic Growth, Tax Foundation study, December 18, 2012, Raising taxes has negative effects on revenue collection

Posted on December 18, 2012 | 36 comments

Higher Tax Rates Will Sabotage Economic Growth, Tax Foundation study, December 18, 2012, Raising taxes has negative effects on revenue collection

“A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:
Product and service price increases.
Employee and hours cutbacks.
Reduced hiring.”…Citizen Wells

“I absolutely reject that notion [mandate is a tax].”…Barack Obama

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

From The Tax Foundation December 18, 2012.

“Higher Tax Rates Will Sabotage Economic Growth”

“High tax rates lead to lower economic growth, and high rates on personal and corporate income are especially damaging, according to a new study by the Tax Foundation. A review of 26 academic studies over the last 30 years confirms that lower-tax economies are more productive and that raising taxes has negative dynamic effects on revenue collection.

“Nearly every empirical study of taxes and economic growth published in a peer reviewed journal finds that tax increases harm economic growth,” said Tax Foundation chief economist William McBride.

The consensus among experts is that taxes on corporate and personal income are particularly harmful to economic growth, with consumption and property taxes less so. This is because economic growth ultimately comes from production, innovation, and risk-taking. By these standards, the U.S. has probably the most inefficient tax mix in the developed world.

The U.S. also has the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. If that rate were to come down 10 points – still higher than most of our trading partners – it would add 1 to 2 points to GDP growth, and likely not lose revenue because the tax base would expand from in-flows of foreign capital as well increased domestic job growth and investment.

Rather than moving to lower rates, however, we are facing a fiscal cliff that would give us the highest dividend rate and nearly the highest capital gains rate in the industrialized world.  It would also push the combined top marginal rate on personal income to over 50 percent in some states, such as California, Hawaii, and New York – higher than all but a few of our trading partners.

Such steeply progressive taxation reduces productivity and economic growth.  Further, the U.S. is unique in that a majority of businesses and business income is taxed under these progressive individual rates, e.g. businesses such as sole-proprietors, partnerships, and S-corporations. All of these factors are a drag on the economy, slowing the nascent recovery and preventing a return to full employment.”

http://taxfoundation.org/article/higher-tax-rates-will-sabotage-economic-growth

36 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Government, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Taxes, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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Obama nailed in NC December 13, 2012 by John Hammer, Rhinoceros Times Greensboro, NC, Reporters are sheep, Benghazi lies not reported, Obama lies on economy jobs

Posted on December 13, 2012 | 38 comments

Obama nailed in NC December 13, 2012 by John Hammer, Rhinoceros Times Greensboro, NC, Reporters are sheep, Benghazi lies not reported, Obama lies on economy jobs

“I am convinced that if squirrels had opposable thumbs, that based on their superior intellect, they would be overqualified to be journalists in the mainstream media”…Citizen Wells

“If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast.”… William Tecumseh Sherman

“If the Bush tax cuts were only for the wealthy, as the media has been telling us now for years, why, if the tax cuts are allowed to expire, is it going to be disastrous for the middle class? Tax cuts for the wealthy are not going to affect the middle class whether they expire or not. Is it possible that the media has been lying to us all this time and the Bush tax cuts were for the middle class as well as the wealthy? It seems like even the Democrats would have to admit that is the case, if they were honest.”…John Hammer, Rhino Times

In print in NC

“Under the Hammer”

by John Hammer of the Rhinoceros, Rhino, Times.

December 13, 2012.

“Reporters think of themselves as bloodhounds, or bulldogs. Once they get on the trail of a good story nothing can deter them. Actually, reporters are far more like cattle or sheep. Someone pours some feed into the trough and they completely forget about everything else and stampede over to feed. Then someone throws out some bales of hay and they run over to the hay.

What happened to Benghazi? Four Americans, including an American ambassador, were murdered during a terrorist attack at a government compound in Benghazi on Sept. 11. We don’t know how it happened. We don’t even know what happened to Ambassador Chris Stevens and why a group of Libyans ended up taking him to the hospital. According to some reports he was still alive when he arrived at the hospital.

Why wasn’t the compound secured after the attack? Why were people, including reporters, allowed to wander around the site and pick up sensitive, if not top-secret, government documents and personal effects? Why did it take three weeks to get an FBI team in there and why did they only stay a few hours?

Not to mention why did the White House lie to the American people about what happened? Shouldn’t the reporters covering the White House be asking some of these questions every day until they get some answers?

We don’t know why no aid was sent to an American compound under attack for seven hours by al Qaeda. It appears that nobody is asking questions, because the national reporters are being fed the fiscal cliff story. The fiscal cliff is largely smoke and mirrors.

If the Republicans raise taxes on the so-called “wealthiest” Americans, as President Barack Hussein Obama insists on doing, then it deserves to be called the stupid party and should just go off in a corner and curl up.

Obama doesn’t want any restrictions on his spending. He has made that clear. He wants Congress to give him the power to raise the debt limit on his own. He is already spending over $1 trillion more dollars a year than the government collects in revenue, but that isn’t enough.

The fiscal cliff is not real. It was created by Obama and Congress and can be dissolved by Obama and Congress. Benghazi was real. Four Americans died at Benghazi, including the first ambassador killed in the line of duty since President James Earl Carter was in the White House wearing cardigans and turning down the thermostat.”

“The real story of the election appears to be the media. It is going to be nearly impossible to get a Republican president elected with the media that currently exists. What Republicans should be doing is encouraging conservatives to go into the news business. Fox and talk radio are just not enough. The right needs more media clout. The right has nothing to rival The New York Times or The Washington Post.”

“Now, long after the election, we find out that the Labor Department is revising its estimates of job growth downward – in September by 16,000 jobs and in October by 33,000 jobs. That is about 10 percent in September and 20 percent in October. Certainly that somehow affects the unemployment rate.

It was extremely curious that the unemployment rate fell to below 8 percent for the first time in Obama’s presidency two months before the election.

And now those numbers are being revised? It is incredible the lengths the liberals went to in order to get Obama reelected, but it worked. Maybe in another few months those unemployment figures will be revised upward because by then no one will care.”

“It appears that Obama is well on his way to following the plan to bring down the government described by two Columbia University professors in a paper published in 1966.

Richard Cloward and Frances Priven wrote in that paper that if the government started providing benefits at an unsustainable level that the system would collapse, and their suggestion was that the system be replaced with a guaranteed income.

We are certainly at an unsustainable level, but it appears that Cloward and Priven didn’t consider the fact that the government one day might be borrowing over a third of the money it spends. ”

“If the Bush tax cuts were only for the wealthy, as the media has been telling us now for years, why, if the tax cuts are allowed to expire, is it going to be disastrous for the middle class? Tax cuts for the wealthy are not going to affect the middle class whether they expire or not. Is it possible that the media has been lying to us all this time and the Bush tax cuts were for the middle class as well as the wealthy? It seems like even the Democrats would have to admit that is the case, if they were honest.”

Read more, it is worth the time:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2012-12-12-214159.112113-Under-The-Hammer.html

 

38 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Jobs, Lies, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Presidential candidate, Rhino Times, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, Washington DC, white house

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Consumers Employees pay for Obamacare tax, Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton economic impact warning, Obamacare costs passed on to customers

Posted on December 5, 2012 | 46 comments

Consumers Employees pay for Obamacare tax, Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton economic impact warning, Obamacare costs passed on to customers

“A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:
Product and service price increases.
Employee and hours cutbacks.
Reduced hiring.”…Citizen Wells

“I absolutely reject that notion [mandate is a tax].”…Barack Obama

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

From Citizen Wells August 22, 2012.

“Here is your assignment:

For all the clueless, Obot, left wing, liberal friends in your sphere of influence.

Explain to them simply that companies, corporations, do not pay taxes. Consumers do.

Explain to them that the profit margin for oil companies is one of the lowest and not guaranteed.

Ask them if they drive a car.

Then ask them if they want to continue driving and eat. Remind them that high gas prices affect the price of many goods and services.

Intelligent people want the oil companies to succeed and make a profit.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/tag/companies-do-not-pay-taxes-consumers-do/

From News Busters December 3, 2012.

“On Monday’s CBS This Morning, Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton spotlighted the looming economic impact of Obamacare’s implementation, especially on small enterprises: “For those businesses that don’t cover their employees, they’ll be in for a very expensive situation.” Overton also warned that the cost of the law would be passed on to customers.

Anchor Norah O’Donnell raised the issue of the still-controversial health care law: “One of the things that’s going to change, of course, in the new year is ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act. How do you implement that at Cheesecake Factory, and how will you pay for health care for all of your employees?”

The restaurant chain executive pointed out that, unlike many businesses, The Cheesecake Factory is “already…paying a great deal in health care. So, we’re not sure how much more it will be – or how much less – or what exactly we’ll do. So, for us, it won’t be as bad as it will be for others, which it will be very costly.”

O’Donnell followed up by asking about the possibility increased prices for customers: “When you say it will be very costly, it will be passed on to who – the customers?” Overton confirmed that this would be the case: “Well, I believe most people will have to do that or cheapen their product.”

It’s surprising that the liberal morning newscast would bring on a critic of ObamaCare. The decision could be explained by anchor Charlie Rose mentioning ex-Al Gore adviser Dr. Atul Gawande’s compliment of The Cheesecake Factory in a recent article in The New Yorker.

Rose later rephrased his co-anchor’s earlier question: “Are you worried about this – ObamaCare – and how you provide the health care?” The CEO replied by again pointing out the high cost to businesses:

DAVID OVERTON: Not worried yet – and, when I hear the numbers, I might be. But, again, because we spend millions and millions of dollars today on health care, we don’t know exactly how much more we’ll pay. For those businesses that don’t cover their employees, they’ll be in for a very expensive situation.

When Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter sounded the same warning earlier in 2012, liberals called for a boycott of the pizza chain. Conservatives responded by organizing a National Papa John’s Appreciation Day online. It shouldn’t be a surprise if left-of-center activists target The Cheesecake Factory next.

The transcript of the relevant portion of the David Overton interview from Monday’s CBS This Morning:

NORAH O’DONNELL: I have a really important question for you: one of the things that’s going to change, of course, in the new year is ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act. How do you implement that at Cheesecake Factory, and how will you pay for health care for all of your employees?

DAVID OVERTON, CHEESECAKE FACTORY CEO: Well, that – that’s a big question. We are working on that right now. We – we have been waiting to see what people will do and what’s really happening and what the – the different requirements will be. However, we do cover everyone that works over 25 hours today. So, unlike a lot of businesses, we already are paying a great deal in health care. So, we’re not sure how much more it will be – or how much less – or what exactly we’ll do. So, for us, it won’t be as bad as it will be for others, which it will be very costly.

O’DONNELL: But – but when you say it will be very costly, it will be passed on to who – the customers?

OVERTON: Well, I believe most people will have to do that or cheapen their product-

O’DONNELL: And how much do you think you will have to raise prices in order to pay for health care?

OVERTON: Well, as they say, we don’t know what – we don’t know what it is right now. We don’t know if what we’re actually paying is very, very close – and we won’t have to raise prices. So, we’ll see. I’d love to answer that for you – maybe in a year, I could.

CHARLIE ROSE: Okay. And so, and that point, a year from now, what would we be able to learn from you, you think, because The New Yorker magazine wrote this article saying that you had a lot of things that you could teach – from your experiences with health care.

OVERTON: I think – yeah – I think Doctor [Atul] Gawande. It’s not that I teach. He’s looking at us as a model. He thinks we’re the gold standard of the restaurant business. We do so many things right. We train; we innovate; we cut cost; and we – and we completely change the menu twice a year. And he’s never had a bad meal, and he says, how can we cook a thousand meals a day and get consistency? Wouldn’t that be a great model for the health care industry? So, he’s taking us and not linking us, as much as saying, these guys know what they’re doing. Over the years, they’ve really built a model that works. Why can’t we be more like them?

ROSE: Are you worried about this – ObamaCare – and how you provide the health care?

OVERTON: Not worried yet – and, when I hear the numbers, I might be. But, again, because we spend millions and millions of dollars today on health care, we don’t know exactly how much more we’ll pay. For those businesses that don’t cover their employees, they’ll be in for a very expensive situation.”

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2012/12/03/cbs-cheesecake-factory-ceo-warns-obamacare-will-be-very-costly

 

46 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, Washington DC, white house

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Obama tax plan creates massive job losses, Hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing, Ernst & Young report, CBO, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp

Posted on December 2, 2012 | 79 comments

Obama tax plan creates massive job losses, Hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing, Ernst & Young report, CBO, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

“I absolutely reject that notion [mandate is a tax].”…Barack Obama

“Recently, Obama has been re-elected for a 2nd term by an illiterate society and he is ready to continue his lies of less taxes while he raises them.”…Pravda November 19, 2012

 

From the Examiner December 2, 2012.

“Fiscal cliff: Obama tax and spend plan unbalanced, says top lawmaker”

“While President Barack Obama complained about Republicans during his Pennsylvania visit on Friday and made another political campaign-style pitch to raise taxes by $1.6 trillion, he failed to put forward a “balanced” plan that includes significant spending reductions to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff, according to a top member of the House Ways & Means Committee on Saturday.

The President’s continued focus on increasing tax rates is fast turning the fiscal cliff into a jobs cliff. In fact, manufacturers across the country are warning Americans that the President’s tax increases will cost American jobs. And these employers aren’t alone.

According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation, nearly one million small businesses and more than half of all small business income earned will be impacted by the President’s tax rate hikes.

Knowing that higher tax rates mean less money for investment and hiring, it is no wonder that both the accounting firm of Ernst & Young and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirm that raising any tax rate will result in hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing.

The Ernst & Young report is more proof that the President doesn’t understand the economy or what it takes to create jobs in this country. After more than three years of high unemployment, slow growth and record levels of stimulus spending, the Obama Administration appears ready and willing to further derail the U.S. economic recovery by raising taxes on small businesses, according to House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI).

“We need these employers and investors creating more paychecks, not paying more taxes. Rather than double down on tax hikes that will make it harder to get America back to work, it is time to stop the tax hike – for all taxpayers – and move forward with comprehensive tax reform that will provide the certainty these entrepreneurs need,” Camp said.

Throughout his tenure in the House, according to Camp staff member Michelle Dimarob, he has worked with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to advocate for lower tax rates for American families and employers, a long term overhaul and simplification of the U.S. tax code, and trade policies that expand American exports while ensuring American workers are protected.

Camp authored the House GOP alternative to the Democrats’ health care law, the only health care legislation scored by the Congressional Budget Office to lower the cost of health insurance premiums for Americans, according to staffer Sarah Swinehart.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/fiscal-cliff-obama-tax-and-spend-plan-unbalanced-says-top-lawmaker

From the Ernst & Young report.

“Long-run macroeconomic impact of increasing tax rates on high-income taxpayers in 2013”

“This report uses the EY General Equilibrium Model of the US Economy to examine the impact of the increase in the top tax rates in the long-run. While a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report examined the near-term effects of all of the federal government fiscal policies under scrutiny at the end of 2012 and found them to be of sufficient size to push the economy into recession at the beginning of 2013, this report focuses on the long-run effects of the increase in the top tax rates. This report examines four sets of provisions that will increase the top tax rates:
 The increase in the top two tax rates from 33% to 36% and 35% to 39.6%.
 The reinstatement of the limitation on itemized deductions for high-income taxpayers (the “Pease” provision).
 The taxation of dividends as ordinary income and at a top income tax rate of 39.6% and increase in the top tax rate applied to capital gains to 20%.
 The increase in the 2.9% Medicare tax to 3.8% for high-income taxpayers and the application of the new 3.8 percent tax on investment income including flow-through business income, interest, dividends and capital gains.
With the combination of these tax changes at the beginning of 2013 the top tax rate on ordinary income will rise from 35% in 2012 to 40.9%, the top tax rate on dividends will rise from 15% to 44.7% and the top tax rate on capital gains will rise from 15% to 24.7%.
These higher tax rates result in a significant increase in the average marginal tax rates (AMTR) on business, wage, and investment income, as well as the marginal effective tax rate (METR) on new business investment. This report finds that the AMTR increases significantly for wages (5.0%), flow-through business income (6.4%), interest (16.5%), dividends (157.1%) and capital gains (39.3%). The METR on new business investment increases by 15.8% for the corporate sector and 15.6% for flow-through businesses.
This report finds that these higher marginal tax rates result in a smaller economy, fewer jobs, less investment, and lower wages. Specifically, this report finds that the higher tax rates will have significant adverse economic effects in the long-run: lowering output, employment, investment, the capital stock, and real after-tax wages when the resulting revenue is used to finance additional government spending.”

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ey_study_long-run_macroeconomic_impact_of_increasing_tax_rates_on_high_income_taxpayers_in_2013__2012_07_16_final.pdf

79 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Employment, Jobs, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Taxes, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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Rhino Times, December 1, 2012, Under the Hammer, Truth in print in NC, Media bias, Big government larger problem than deficit, Obama campaign vs Romney

Posted on December 1, 2012 | 62 comments

Rhino Times, December 1, 2012, Under the Hammer, Truth in print in NC, Media bias, Big government larger problem than deficit, Obama campaign vs Romney

“As the crisis develops, it will be important to use the mass media to inform the broader llberal community about the inefficiencies and injustices of welfare. For example, the system will not be able to process many new applicants because of cumbersome and often unconstitutional investi-gatory procedures (which cost 20c for every dollar dis-bursed). As delays mount, so should the public demand that a simplified affidavit supplant these procedures, so that the
poor may certify to their condition. If the system reacts by making the proof of eligibility more difficult, the demand should be made that the Department of Health, Education and Welfare dispatch “eligibility registrars” to enforce federal statutes governing local programs. And throughout the crisis, the mass media should be used to advance arguments for a new federal income distribution program.”…Richard Cloward and Frances Piven

“If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast.”… William Tecumseh Sherman

“The past, he reflected, had not merely been altered, it had
actually been destroyed. For how could you establish, even
the most obvious fact when there existed no record outside
your own memory?”…George Orwell, “1984″

Truth in print in NC.

From the Rhinoceros Times November 29, 2012.

“In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It had been a Category 5 hurricane and made landfall as a Category 3. The devastation to the Gulf coast, including New Orleans, was the costliest in US history. And according to the mainstream media, the devastation – including the large number of people who died, and the fact that displaced people did not have proper shelter, food and water – was the fault of then President George Walker Bush. To this day you hear about what a bad job Bush did during Katrina.”

“However, President Barack Hussein Obama doesn’t get any blame. By walking on the beach with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Obama got a lot of kudos from the mainstream media. Evidently the hurricane was not Obama’s fault and as president he was not responsible for evacuating people from their homes or providing them with shelter, food and water.”

“One thing the mainstream media refuse to understand is that conservatives do not see the growing deficit as the problem but as a symptom of a much more serious problem. The problem is that government has grown far too big and is doing too much for too many people. The result of the government being out of control is an out-of-control deficit.

If this is what you believe, then raising taxes is not a solution because it only allows the government to continue to grow. Liberals don’t see the size of government as a problem, only that the government doesn’t have enough money to pay for all of the worthwhile and important services it performs. For example, liberals believe that all Americans have a God-given right to a cell phone. Cutting out free cell phones for people is not going to balance the budget, but that attitude is what has gotten us where we are.”

“People, including the vast left-wing conspiracy at the News & Record, are all bent out of shape over these secession petitions on the internet. What happened to the right of free speech? You would think that a newspaper would support people’s right to write and sign any kind of petition they want.

For at least the last 40 years there has been a group that protests against war and in favor of world peace in front of the federal courthouse on the corner of Eugene and West Market streets. These people are extremely devoted and believe in their cause. They also believe that somehow standing on a corner in Greensboro, North Carolina, rain or shine, is going to help stop war all over the world. I don’t understand it, but I believe they have every right to stand there and protest whatever they want, and I admire them for their dedication. This is America. We are supposed to have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Maybe some conservative news media have gotten all bent out of shape about these people, but I don’t recall it and I think I would know.

Many of those signing the secessionist petitions think that the federal government is already way too big. They also, for the most part, see the reelection of Obama as irrefutable evidence that the federal government is going to get bigger. Some of them no doubt would really like to secede from the United States of America. States are supposed to have some sovereignty, and if you read the Constitution, states are actually supposed to have a lot of sovereignty. Over the years the states have lost power and the federal government has gained power. Many people would like to see that trend start going the other way and begin moving back so the states in the United States mean something other than a mailing address or a way for Google maps to find a location.”

“People will be glad to know that now that the campaigning is over, Obama is back to his busy schedule running the world during the week and playing golf on the weekends. Obama was back out on the course on the Friday after Thanksgiving for his 106th round as president. However, it is his only 14th round this year because campaigning has taken up so much of his time.

With no campaigns in his future, here’s hoping that Obama can hit the golf course two or three times a week. When he is out on the course the world is a safer place. But it does say a lot about his priorities that wars and disasters don’t keep him off the golf course but a campaign for reelection does.”

“Of course, one of the huge mistakes the Romney campaign made was at the other end of the technological spectrum. I wrote several times during the campaign that the campaigns had better polling data than the public and I was half right. The Obama campaign had much better polling data than the general public and – the exception that proves the rule – the Romney campaign had much worse polling data than the general public. The Romney campaign pollsters completely missed the demographic mix of the electorate. Because of that late, in the campaign Romney was wasting time in states that he didn’t have a chance of winning instead of spending all his time in the true battleground states.”

“By the way, despite all that talk you heard about the fat cats supporting Romney with massive amounts of money, the Obama campaign raised $100 million more than the Romney campaign.”

Read more:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2012-11-28-213994.112113-Under-The-Hammer.html

 

62 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deficit, Democrats, Election 2012, Government, Mitt Romney, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Presidential candidate, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, truth, Washington DC, white house

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Obamacare penalties clobber NC hospitals and patients, Economically depressed areas hit hardest, Readmissions within 30 days for any reason trigger fine

Posted on November 27, 2012 | 27 comments

Obamacare penalties clobber NC hospitals and patients, Economically depressed areas hit hardest, Readmissions within 30 days for any reason trigger fine

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”…Barack Obama

“About two-thirds of the hospitals serving Medicare patients, or some 2,200 facilities, will be hit with penalties averaging around $125,000 per facility this coming year, according to government estimates.”…NE News Now

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)[1] imposes numerous tax hikes that transfer more than $500 billion over 10 years—and more in the future—from hardworking American families and businesses to Congress for spending on new entitlements and subsidies. In addition, higher tax rates on working and investing will discourage economic growth both now and in the future, further lowering the standard of living.”…Heritage Foundation

Admittedly, hospitals and the medical profession need to be more efficient and strive for patient friendly cost savings. However, arbitrary blanket decisions by government bureaucrats are not the solution.

From the Raleigh News Observer November 24, 2012.

“Hospitals scramble to limit readmissions, avoid new penalties”

“The patient – decked out in non-skid footies, a loose hospital gown and a breathing tube – prays she’s finally on the mend. At age 81, Juanita King had logged nearly five weeks at WakeMed Hospital since October after her breathing became so labored she had trouble walking.

The Clayton grandmother, weakened by a failing heart and obstructed lungs, wasn’t home even two weeks after the first hospital stay before returning to WakeMed earlier this month for another round of needles, meds and tests.

WakeMed, along with hospitals across the country, is scrambling to keep patients like King from coming back. Under federal penalties that kicked in Oct. 1 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals lose Medicare reimbursements if their patients are readmitted at an excessive rate.

WakeMed officials, for example, estimate that the 15 readmissions since 2010 that Medicare deemed excessive will cost the Raleigh health care company more than $400,000 in the coming year.

To ease the financial sting, hospitals increasingly are trying to manage patients’ health care after they are discharged. Hospital personnel make follow-up calls, schedule doctors’ visits and set up therapy appointments. Duke University Health System is planning to offer apps designed to send prompts and reminders for patients to take meds and report symptoms.

Hospital administrators say the pressure to reduce readmissions is forcing them to take steps that are long overdue – by coordinating with nursing homes and family caretakers to treat health problems early, before they blow up into emergencies.”

“But industry advocates warn of a potential downside: Struggling hospitals, spooked by the prospect of huge penalties, could develop an unhealthy fixation on finding ways not to readmit patients who need hospital care.

Already hospitals nationwide have seen an uptick in patients being steered to observation beds rather than getting admitted, Foster said. Hospitals in economically distressed areas with limited health care options are most likely to readmit patients and pay penalties for doing so, she said.

“It’s hard to think there will be a financial penalty against your organization to do the right thing by your patient.” Foster said. “We don’t think that hospitals that serve impoverished, safety-net communities should be penalized because those communities lack the necessary resources.”

Readmissions are only one of several factors the federal government is tracking to reduce the cost of health care. All told, within several years hospitals could face up to an 8 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements – for failing to meet new federal standards for electronic medical records and for too many infections and errors, among other quality measures, according to the American Hospital Association.

Insurance companies are likely to adopt similar measures, based on the model developed by Medicare, the nation’s federal insurance program for the elderly. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state’s largest private insurer, now offers financial rewards for hospitals that reduce readmissions. But unlike Medicare, Blue Cross doesn’t penalize hospitals for too many readmissions, said spokesman Lew Borman.

The maximum Medicare penalty this year for excessive readmissions is a 1 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements. The fine will increase to 3 percent in 2015, which can translate to millions of dollars in lost revenue for a hospital.

The fines apply for readmitting too many patients with at least one of three conditions – heart failure, heart attack or pneumonia – within 30 days of discharge. Medicare is expected to add more diagnoses in the coming years, expanding the range of potential penalties.

A readmission can be for any cause – usually not the fault of the hospital. A pneumonia patient who leaves WakeMed, has a car wreck on the way home and is readmitted to Rex Hospital? Under Medicare, that counts as a readmission against WakeMed.

Each hospital is allotted a certain number of readmissions, based on a complex formula that factors in fluke scenarios like auto accidents, slips-and-falls and others unrelated to heart conditions or pneumonia.

Patients often go back into a hospital because they have trouble following directions for their medications. During a hospital stay and while recuperating, patients can be disoriented and confused, making it hard to keep track of multiple medications.

Heart patients, for example, are urged to adhere to a low sodium diet, but not all comply. “We had one patient who was taking their pills with pickle juice,” said Linda Butler, chief medical officer at Rex Healthcare in Raleigh.

In North Carolina, a half-dozen hospitals were levied either the maximum Medicare penalty for excessive readmissions or a penalty very close to the 1 percent max. The hospitals are in Ahoskie, Lumberton, Eden, Williamston, Hamlet and Rocky Mount, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News. Hospital officials note that areas where hospitals get hit with high penalties are typically in economically depressed areas with limited access to therapists, specialists and other resources essential for preventing hospital readmissions.”

Read more:

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Government, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Lies, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Washington DC, white house

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