Archive for the ‘Healthcare/Obamacare’ Category

Every once in awhile, you hear about a really good lawsuit. This is one of those. Part of the story is copied below, and the entire story is linked through the headline.

Republican donor from Virginia Beach sues GOP, accusing the party of fraud over failed Obamacare repeal

A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn’t repeal the Affordable Care Act he’s suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering.

Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren’t going to be able to overturn the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

The GOP “has been engaged in a pattern of Racketeering which involves massive fraud perpetrated on Republican voters and contributors as well as some Independents and Democrats,” the suit said. Racketeering, perhaps better known for use in prosecuting organized crime, involves a pattern of illegal behavior by a specific group.

The lawsuit lists as defendants the Republican National Committee and Virginia’s two national GOP committee members, Morton Blackwell and Cynthia Dunbar, as well as the Republican Party of Virginia and state party Chairman John Whitbeck. (read the rest here)

There is a pretty detailed article, which I have excerpted and linked below, explaining the ins and outs of the IRS not enforcing the mandate on Obamacare.

I don’t have the answers to immediate questions that may arise, such as, “What about State returns?” or “Will failing to report affect potential future refunds?”. I simply don’t know….Here is the article, and perhaps I scanned it too quickly. I just feel like people need to know!

Major Blow to Obamacare….

Earlier this month, the IRS quietly altered its rules to allow the submission of 1040s with nothing on line 61. The IRS says it still maintains the option to follow up with those who elect not to indicate their coverage status, although it’s not clear what circumstances might trigger a follow up.

But what would have been a mandatory disclosure will instead be voluntary. Silent returns will no longer be automatically rejected. The change is a direct result of the executive order President Donald Trump issued in January directing the government to provide relief from Obamacare to individuals and insurers, within the boundaries of the law.

“The recent executive order directed federal agencies to exercise authority and discretion available to them to reduce potential burden,” the IRS said in a statement to Reason. “Consistent with that, the IRS has decided to make changes that would continue to allow electronic and paper returns to be accepted for processing in instances where a taxpayer doesn’t indicate their coverage status.”… full article here...

In Trump’s desire to cute regulations and maintain consumer well being, he stated that he wants to cut 75% or more of regulations. Today, he signed an EO that will likely achieve that. For every regulation they want to put in, they must remove two previous regulations. This is a brilliant way to slow the train of regulatory strangleholds on citizens trying to make products and perform labor.

Your thoughts are welcome!

Trump signs executive order to block new government regulations

Trump signs executive order to block new government regulations
President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order mandating that for each new government regulation being enacted, two need to be revoked.

The order is in line with the new president’s plan to slash regulations by as much as 75 percent, as Trump believes the expanding body of government rules is stifling the US economy.

“We’re cutting regulations massively for small business – and for large business,” Trump said, signing the document. “This will be the biggest such act that our country has ever seen.”

The White House sets aside a budget for regulations each year. Monday’s measure specifies the 2017 regulations budget as $0.

A temporary regulations freeze was put into place on Trump’s first day in office. The new executive action establishes the process for when the freeze expires.

“There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be a normalized control,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday morning, as he signed the order.

The Obama administration was known for regulatory zeal, expanding the Federal Register to 81,640 pages in 2016 and setting a record for the greatest number of regulations issued in a single day with 527 pages on November 17, 2016.

Monday’s executive order is the sixth since Trump took the oath of office on January 20. He also signed ten presidential memoranda, including the one dated January 24 that instructed federal agencies to streamline the permit process and ease the regulatory burdens on small business.

 

Defenders of the Unborn
Hosting
National  Day of Protest Against
Planned Parenthood
 
When:  April 23, 2016
Where:  Planned Parenthood
             4251 Forest Park Blvd.
             St. Louis, MO 
Time:    9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
 
Guest Speakers:  Georgette Forney- Silent No More
 
Master of Ceremony- Pam Fichter- Former President MRL
Linda & Chuck Raymond- Silent No More- St. Louis, Susan Klein, Liaison -MRL, 
Senator Kurt Schaefer, Senator Bob Onder, Rep. Andrew Koeing, 
Father Dan Kinkead- Anglican Church for Life, and more
 
On April 23,2016, this protest will take place simultaneously at hundreds of Planned Parenthood locations across the nation.  
#ProtestPP is a coalition of state and national pro-life organizations seeking a public protest in response to the recent 
horrific videos exposing Planned Parenthood harvesting baby body parts for a financial gain.
These videos released by Center for Medical Progress is an eye opener for Americans across the country.  Americans who have been 
complacent now stand to defund Planned Parenthood and end the senseless killing of God’s little ones.  But those who produced 
the video have been indicted and those who committed the crime are still free.  What an injustice.  
 
BE NOT AFRAID – GOD WILL LEAD YOU!
 
Through our public protest at this last surgical abortion mill in Missouri we want to show to the media the scandal of harvesting
 baby body parts, educate the community on the evil of Planned Parenthood, and to demand that we work to defund 
Planned Parenthood in our state and across the country.  Visit http;//protestpp.com/
Share this with your church, family, friends, facebook.  For more information contact Mary at 314-346-9052 or 
National Leaders: Eric Scheidler-Pro-life Action League, Monica Miller- Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Mark Harrington-Created Equal

Below is an article focusing on the GMO aspects of the European WTO Trade Act with the US. Not surprisingly, various nations are having the will of the people subverted through these “trade agreements”. I cannot state it any more plainly than this…The WTO Trade Agreements ARE global government and they have received FULL approval for legal enforcement in all commercial agriculture via our federal level congress with the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Here is the article:

TTIP Food Rules Secretly Enforced in EU; Agenda 21-Style Sustainability in New Draft

Two recent stories published in Europe reveal that leaders of countries participating in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are secretly enforcing the agreement’s provisions and approving backroom deals with powerful multinational corporations whose interests are served by the secret arrangements. What’s worse: It seems that Agenda 21 is lurking in the latest version of the agreement.

On October 17, The Guardian reported:

EU negotiators will resume controversial trade talks with the US on Monday amid claims that multinational companies have jumped the gun in advance of any agreement to import goods that are currently banned — including genetically modified crops and chemically washed beef — into European markets.

A campaign group says that a report in a US journal concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks show that Europe is already capitulating to huge pressure from the US to allow imports of previously banned goods before an agreement is reached.

Just one day later, the blog Common Dreams reported on a similar acceleration of the TTIP standards in advance of the agreement’s approval by lawmakers in Europe and the United States, asserting that despite significant pressure among Europeans to slow or scrap the sovereignty-sapping trade pact, American negotiators are pressuring their continental counterparts to play ball or else:

US officials successfully used the prospect of TTIP to bully the EU into abandoning plans to ban 31 dangerous pesticides with ingredients that have been shown to cause cancer and infertility.

A similar fate befell regulations around the treatment of beef with lactic acid. This was  banned in Europe because of fears that the procedure was being used to conceal unhygienic practices. The ban was repealed by MEPs in the European Parliamentary Environment Public Health and Food Safety Committee after EU Commission officials openly suggested TTIP negotiations would be threatened if the ban wasn’t lifted.

It’s not hard to see why the U.S. trade representatives would be anxious to get the EU diplomats back to the TTIP table.

As this reporter noted in June, the vote on a crucial package of TTIP amendments was delayed after successful efforts by opponents to stall the massive surrender of sovereignty wrapped in a trade deal.

A statement published that day by the U.K. Independent Party (UKIP) shed light on the real reason for the parliamentary push-back:

Today Nigel Farage, MEP and leader of UKIP, said:

“In my 17 years as an MEP I’ve never received so much communication from the public on a proposed piece of legislation. The TTIP has concerned millions of people across the European Union. They have bombarded their MEPs with phone calls, letters and emails and in response to this the EU is now running scared. They’ve got the wind up, particularly the left, who have been supporting TTIP from the start and finally have been exposed as backing large scale global corporatism.

The parliament suspended today not just the vote, but equally the debate on this issue which I think was cowardly in the extreme. It is interesting to note that for the first time ever actions in the European Parliament are now being heavily debated in Washington, too. Perhaps we need a redefinition of what a free trade deal is.”

UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s prediction that Brits will “rue the day” is right, though not if the TTIP is defeated, but if it is ratified. There is so much wrong with this deal, and The New American is the foremost source of information on the many crimes agains the U.S. Constitution lurking in this leviathan.

There is no doubt among constitutionalists in America and friends of liberty and economic freedom on both sides of the Atlantic that the TTIP is not to any right-thinking person’s liking.

In an article on June 5, The New American laid out a detailed constitutional justification for rejecting the TTIP, the TPA, and their equally evil cousin, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) proposes to begin “deep and comprehensive” integration between the 28 member states of the European Union and the United States. Over the course of the past several years, we have published many articles detailing the dangers posed by these (still officially secret) agreements.

We are bringing together here, in abbreviated form, 10 of those reasons why every American — whether identifying as Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, Tea Party, liberal, conservative, or constitutionalist — should oppose both of these proposals.

Of course, were this deal a good deal for the United States, the U.K., or the rest of Europe, its advocates would be shouting its benefits from the rooftops. In fact, however, the agreement is being negotiated in secret and trade representatives of the various partners act assiduously to keep the details under deep cover.

That should be enough to give pause even to those predisposed to otherwise favor such globalist goings-on.

If readers are not yet wary enough to join the fight against the TTIP, the fact that the cornerstone of the globalist insider regime — the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) — is pushing the pact, should be just enough to get them involved in the battle for freedom. As The New American noted:

The CFR fully supports the trans-oceanic political and economic “integration” and “convergence” plans of the TPP and TTIP. It works closely with the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN), which says its mission is “to promote and assist the convergence of EU/US Government policies.” The TPN’s 1995 “Partnership Project” called for combining NATO with a merged EU-U.S. “in a single political framework by early in the next century.” In its 2008 report Completing the Transatlantic Market, the TPN went further, revealing that “the process of creating a Transatlantic Market will be an integral step in the evolution toward an eventual Transatlantic Partnership Agreement embracing the economic, political, and strategic totality of the EU-US relationship.” “Totality” — did you catch that?

On October 23, the 11th round of TTIP negotiations concluded in Miami, and it looks like the “bullying” tactics of the United States have successfully convinced EU trade ministers to cave to the American demands. The Guardian reports:

The EU appears to have broken a promise to reinforce environmental protections in a leaked draft negotiating text submitted in the latest round of TTIP talks in Miami.

In January, the bloc promised to safeguard green laws, defend international standards and protect the EU’s right to set high levels of environmental protection, in a haggle with the US over terms for a free trade deal.

But a confidential text seen by the Guardian and filed in the sustainable development chapter of negotiations earlier this week contains only vaguely phrased and non-binding commitments to environmental safeguards.

Sustainable development. Constitutionalists and proponents of individual property rights will instantly recognize that ominous term as the goal of the United Nations scheme known as Agenda 21.

The TTIP, then, seems not only an attempt to cede legislative authority to big business and move steadily and stealthily toward U.S.-EU political integration, but it may actually be the Trojan Horse within which Agenda 21 is made the law in the United States, enforced on citizens as part and parcel of this latest globalist trade agreement. In fact, in this case as in so many others, the Obama administration and its corporate shot callers may have found a way to make an end run around the Constitution, the Congress, and the will of the American people.

In August, I was invited to speak to a group at a pro-Life rally.  As a result, I realized that for some time we have merely been talking about putting a stop to abortion.  I believe that in our state we have more citizens who would like to see abortions end than not, so I’m hopeful that we will be successful in rallying together a significant number of citizens to speak out.

A basic belief of Christians is that God is the Creator and Giver of life.  And although He has given us a free will, the Sixth Commandment prohibits us from murder.  Yet, here we are….

From the time the US Supreme Court offered their opinion in Roe vs. Wade in 1973 to the end of 2013, the number of abortions performed in the United States have exceeded 56 million.  Annually, more than one million unborn children are killed as a result of abortion.

   The issue of abortion affects not only babies.  In addition,  women also suffer from physical and emotional problems,      and some die as a result complications from the  procedure.

Did you know that a Missouri law (RsMO 1.205) states that the general assembly recognizes that life begins at conception and that both the unborn child and the natural parents have a protectable interest in the life and health of the unborn child through every stage of development… unless an entity, such as the federal government, says otherwise.

The recent undercover videos exposing the alleged involvement of Planned Parenthood in the harvesting and sale of the body parts of unborn children has resulting in the anger of many calling for the defunding of the organization.  However, if we take a moment to ponder the bigger picture, we realize that this discussion surrounding Planned Parenthood would not be taking place if we did not allow the murder of our unborn children in the first place.

During the 2015 legislative session HB 1033 was filed.  The bill’s intent was to stop abortion in Missouri, based upon the statute previously mentioned.  The bill was allowed no committee hearing.

Since the Planned Parenthood fiasco, interest in reviving the bill for filing in the 2016 session has been expressed.  In order for the bill to be referred and heard in committee, the House leadership must have a reason to make that happen.  It is doubtful that a lobbyist with the power to move the bill through the process will make an effort to do so.  It is also doubtful that a legislator will, by himself, be allowed to force the bill’s passage.  It is, however, possible that through a grassroots effort, the leadership will take notice and allow the bill to be heard and perhaps even voted.

What will it take to cause the general assembly leaders to take notice?  That question may debatable, however, the Lord has impressed a goal of 1 million signatures in my mind.  In order to accomplish this goal, we must act immediately and work consistently – from now until the end of 2015.

    If you are willing, please forward the attached petition to your  Missouri friends and family for their signatures and ask them to pass it on to others to do the same?

    The more involvement we have, the greater our chance for  success will be.

(Click Stop Abortion – with e-mail and county for a Word copy to collect signatures)

With All Eyes on California, Vermont Forces Through Vaccine Bill

4/27/2015

With the public focused on the lobbyist-driven California Senate Bill 277 (SB-277), the Vermont Senate quietly eliminated vaccine exemptions Thursday with an 18-11 vote. Missing the starting gun, communities across America are now facing the political push to remove the barrier between their bodies and a private company’s medical product. Attempting to squeeze every last drop of credibility from the “safe and effective” argument, senators across the U.S. appear to be ignoring the voices of their people in addition to over $3 billion of payouts in the U.S. alone from The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

Recently, the population of Vermont, and the rest of the country, is swooning over the state’s political representatives for enacting the nation’s first mandatory GMO labeling law. After a short legal hang-up forced by corporate influence, the law will begin on July 1st, 2016. What better state to remove vaccine exemptions than one in which its politicians can do no wrong. As first reported by AgeofAutism:

Friday, April 10th, Jennifer Stella, head of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice learned that Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, and Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, had tried to tack the exemption removal language onto another bill. The move was ruled to be non-germane and was disallowed.

The following Tuesday evening Stella learned that another attempt was coming, this time to tack the bill onto a vaccination registry expansion bill that had already passed the house, and would be debated the following morning. By the time the bill (H98) hit the senate floor on Wednesday, a barrage of phone calls had been made to concerned parents, who showed up in the Senate Chamber ready to fight the measure. The bill surfaced as an amendment introduced, again by Senators Mullin and Campbell, and this time joined by Senator Sears, D-Windsor.

It was at this point the process went from underhanded to simply corrupt. Appearing it would fail, the Vermont H98 sponsors decided to postpone their bill a week mirroring the exact techniques seen during California SB-277. This was presumably at the advice of lobbyists who were present on the Vermont Senate floor from the American Academy of Pediatrics, phRMA, and others. Reconvening a week later, on the same day as the final California vote (4/22), Health and Welfare Committee Chair, Senator Ayer announced that no testimony was to be heard from parents. Only “experts” would be allowed to testify with an MD, PhD or greater. Among those testifying for removal of parent’s rights was Dr. John Modlin, MD, Deputy Director of Polio for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation via phone from Geneva, Switzerland.

Minutes before the Vermont bills final 18-11 approval, Senator David Zuckerman proposed an amendment (to the vaccine exemption elimination amendment) that would allow children with genetic vulnerabilities to vaccine injury to be immune from mandated injections. In a truly telling move, Zuckerman’s plea to exempt children virtually guaranteed complications from vaccines, was quickly denied.

Both the California and Vermont bills come at a time when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is calling for, at The Centers for Disease Control, a “Credible (vaccine) regulatory process with regulators with integrity and we don’t have that today.” In addition, prominent civil rights group the ACLU recently sent a letter to California SB-277 authors Richard Pan and Ben Allen raising serious alarms about their bill’s constitutionality.

References:
Senator Zuckerman’s Ignored Amendment
Big Pharma Lobbying in VT
Vermont Capital Reporting
Robert F Kennedy on Bill Maher

Here’s an alert I just rec’d about a bill in the current legislature. Considering the flu vaccine is often ineffective and has numerous additives that troublesome at best, this is a bill that needs to go into the circular file. Here’s the alert:

 

The recent outbreak of measles has been all over the news recently, and anyone who believes in the freedom of informed choice on a question of vaccinations is proclaimed an hysterical “anti-vaxxer,” when the science clearly advises caution.

The Missouri legislature is considering a bill, SB 329, that would mandate the flu vaccination for healthcare workers.

This is a direct attack on a patient’s right to decide which treatments make sense for him- or herself. Some flu shots still contain mercury, a known toxin with adverse health effects. Forcing individuals to expose themselves to these dangers is cruel and unethical.

Action Alert! We must not lose our freedom to make informed choices about vaccines. Contact your state legislators and tell them to vote NO on SB 329. Please send your message TODAY.

Here is the link to take you to the form to fill out your thoughts on this bill:

https://secure3.convio.net/aahf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2143

Sorry for being so late with this. I don’t know how I missed the info below from Ron Calzone. You can fill out a witness form online and get your opinion heard on this bill:

February 6, 2015

What don’t they understand about a 75% vote of the People?

SB63 means more government data collection of law abiding citizens’ personal information.

You would think that after almost 75% of Missouri voters ratified a constitutional amendment to protect our personal data law-makers would think twice about an intrusive bill, like SB 63 (Sater). Not so. In fact there are two others in addition to SB 63: HB130 (Rehder), HB816 (Engler). HB 130 appears to be on a fast track in the House.

These bills would set up a database to track your purchase of prescription drugs. We don’t have room here to list all the implications of such a database, but in this era of ever-increasing monitoring of our every move, citizens had better put their foot down.

If you value your privacy and don’t want more Big Brother in your life, please let the Missouri Senate know what you think about SB 63.

The hearing for that bill is scheduled for Wednesday, February 11. Please attend the hearing or fill out an online witness form that will be delivered to the Senate committee holding the hearing and also be made available to them to view online. (Note: Your presence at the hearing will have much more impact than the witness form, if you can make it.)

Hearing On Wednesday!
Your witness form needed asap…

Committee: Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety
Date:  Wednesday, February 11
Time:  8:15 a.m.
Room:  SCR1
SB63Sater
Establishes a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

 

Please fill out your witness form now.

Witness Form – We will hand deliver your witness form, whether for or against, and also make your testimony available online for the committee to read.

Generic Witness Form: Witness form link for SB 63

 

Here are some things about a drug database that concern me:

  1. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is all about data collection. The more they know about you, the more they will be able to control your family’s personal decisions. Instead of resisting Obamacare, SB 63 plays right into the hands of those trying to centralize power and run your life.
  1. The last few years, federal officials have used questions about one’s mental condition as a form of back-door gun control. Veterans have particularly been victimized. Some people think the prescription drug database will facilitate claims of mental illness, leading to loss of gun rights, simply because someone has received a prescription that contains an ingredient sometimes used to treat emotional or mental illnesses.
  1. The state of Missouri has already demonstrated that it can’t be trusted with our personal data. Remember the Department of Revenue scandal in 2013 in which they illegally released the personal data of 163,000 conceal carry permit holder? What you may not know is that to this day the DOR is still violating other provisions of Missouri’s anti – Real ID statute, in spite of sanctions imposed on them by the General Assembly.

I’m sure you can think of a lot of other reasons to oppose more data collection, so please include your comments on the witness form or, better yet, talk to the committee yourself.

For Liberty,

– Ron

If it’s online, it’s vulnerable. There’s only safer, not completely safe.

See the article below, link is by clicking the title:

Hacker breached HealthCare.gov

 

 

Shutterstock

A hacker broke into part of the HealthCare.gov insurance enrollment website in July and uploaded malicious software, according to federal officials.

Investigators found no evidence that consumers’ personal data was taken in the breach, federal officials said. The hacker appears only to have accessed a server used to test code for HealthCare.gov. The Department of Health and Human Services discovered the attack last week.

An HHS official said the attack appears to mark the first successful intrusion into the website, where millions of Americans bought insurance starting last year under the Affordable Care Act. It raised concerns among federal officials because of how easily the intruder gained access and how much damage could have occurred.

“Our review indicates that the server did not contain consumer personal information; data was not transmitted outside the agency, and the website was not specifically targeted,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a written statement. “We have taken measures to further strengthen security.”

The attack comes as the federal government and insurance companies prepare for open enrollment, which begins Nov. 15. It is likely to be seized on by Republican lawmakers, who oppose the law, in fall campaigns as another sign of the health law’s flaws. HealthCare.gov suffered from crippling technology problems when it launched in October, though the government has since improved the site.

Taken with recent data thefts from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Home Depot Inc., and celebrities’ iPhones, the HealthCare.gov hack further underscores that large organizations haven’t yet mastered how to secure the troves of data they collect from consumers.

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.