More and more I get e-mails saying, "How did you know?"
Not because I'm a genius but because my state -- under Governor Mitt Romney -- saw it first.
Romney was going to provide "universal healthcare" by . . . making it a law to purchase.
Sound familiar?
It was a con and I saw it and I saw friends hurt by it.
The same thing's going to happen with ObamaCare.
You will see costs continue to rise, you will see people do without and pay fines -- fines that many will not be able to afford.
Andre Damon (WSWS) details the latest:
On Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that premiums for health insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will increase on average by 25 percent in 2017, raising health care costs of millions of working people by thousands of dollars.
Coming on top of extremely high deductibles and co-pays and severe restrictions on doctors and hospitals available to most of those insured under the ACA, better known as “Obamacare,” the steep premium increases testify to the fact that the Obama administration’s “signature” legislation is a reactionary fraud, aimed at increasing corporate profits by gutting the health benefits won by workers over the course of decades of struggle.
The entire health care overhaul is a scheme devised in collaboration with the insurance conglomerates to dismantle the system of employer-paid health coverage that emerged in the United States out of the mass struggles of the 1930s and 1940s, which established the industrial unions and extracted health insurance as a concession from the corporations. The lack of a government run program of universal health care in the United States was the result of the political subordination of the labor movement to the corporate-controlled Democratic Party by the anti-socialist trade union bureaucracy.
On the basis of the so-called “individual mandate,” which requires all those not covered by employer-sponsored plans or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to purchase health coverage from private insurance companies on exchanges set up by the government, Obamacare has established a model whereby each individual “consumer” is placed at the mercy of gigantic insurance companies, which are virtually unrestricted in setting fees and conditions.
Those who fail to buy insurance under Obamacare are subject to a tax penalty equal to at least 2.5 percent of their annual income. This will rise to $700 or more in 2017.
ObamaCare is a swindle and a scam as RomneyCare was before it.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Thursday:
Thursday, October 27, 2016. Chaos and violence continue, Elise Labot
thinks she's going to land John Kerry and that this means she's now a
State Dept press spokesperson, Iraq wants to sit on the UN's Human
Rights Council, and much more.
Let's address Khizer Khan.
I didn't know his story, I didn't need to know it.
In fact, the election would be a lot better off if no one knew it.
He goes on stage at the Democratic Party's national convention and insults Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Donald responds in his usual over the top way -- typical Donald Trump.
And yet it will not go away.
Because Khizer Khan is a cry baby.
That's all he is, just a damn cry baby.
He wants to kick someone in the shins publicly and then he runs behind the American public hoping we'll save his ass from a beating.
Worse than that, he runs behind the American public and continues to stick his tongue out at Donald Trump.
Ben Finley (AP) reports -- I have no idea why -- that Khan's now taken to the mosque to attack Donald Trump and Trumps has responded.
"I wouldn't have been in Iraq," Trump said, once again falsely insisting he was opposed to the Iraq War before it started. "Had I been president, Capt. Khan would be alive today."
Fumed Khan, "This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents."
For real?
"This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents?"
How about this?
Why was your Muslim son in a war on Muslims?
Or this?
He died for oil and empire, he didn't die for freedom.
I can think of 8 million worse things that people have said in the last 13 years alone and I'm sure you can as well.
I'm sorry that Khan's been so pampered and babied by the press that he can't.
Cindy Sheehan got much worse in one day, in one hour, than Khan's ever gotten.
She didn't whine like a little cry baby.
But then she wasn't an idiot prattling on in public, trying to use their dead son to elect a woman who supported the war.
This is reality.
Khan has no meaning and no point of interest if you don't factor in his son.
He used that son to attack Donald Trump.
This is a fact that press continues to lie about.
AP today insists, "Khan first gained national attention from the podium of the Democratic National Convention when he paid homage to his son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who died in Iraq in 2004."
No, he did not pay homage to his son.
I didn't attend the convention. I didn't watch it on TV.
I know (and dislike) Donald Trump.
I know that when he starts slinging mud, it's because others are slinging it too.
(He'd rather talk -- on and on -- about himself. When other people pop up on his radar, it's either him talking about how smart they think he is or he's going after them.)
So I knew, without knowing Khan's speech, that Khan had been insulting.
Click here for the speech in full. Minus nine sentences, here it is:
If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities -- women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.
Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law."
Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America -- you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities.
You have sacrificed nothing and no one.
First off, how is the Republican "party leadership" "minorities"?
I believe they are all Anglo White men -- so they don't qualify by race or gender -- and as members of Congress, they're part of the establishment, so, no they're not minorities.
Second, "all faiths, genders, and ethnicities."
What about race?
When I think of the Academy Awards and a speech -- a brave one -- a friend gave not that long ago only to be ripped apart for wording, I note that the same eagle eyes aren't working the beat when it comes to Khan.
Third, this crap about "if it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America"?
This lie has been repeated over and over and over.
And you get that idiot in the Hillary commercial (which one! which idiot, which commercial!) saying Donald would throw her child out of the country -- her child wondered.
If you legally adopted the child, how is your child getting thrown out of the country?
And what kind of a parent can't correct that fear?
Khan and his family became American citizens in 1986.
What kind of idiot would say Donald Trump, if it were up to him, would kick them out?
Trump did not need lies to make him into a bad person.
He's spent his entire life making himself into a bad person.
All reporters had to do was report.
Instead, they lied and they gamed the system.
And you better believe that in doing that, they have created sympathy for Donald Trump.
Anyone who believes in fairness, has to roll their eyes over how the corporate media has painted Donald -- me included.
I have a friend who repeatedly calls when one of Ava and my media pieces goes up at THIRD and she says, "But we hate Trump!" And, yes, I'm part of that "we."
I also hate liars.
And the press has lied repeatedly.
Khan got up on the stage and launched an attack on Donald Trump.
It's a free country.
He's allowed to do that.
But when Donald responds in kind -- probably responds in an overboard manner, that is Donald's style -- it becomes, "Oh, poor man, oh, he's being attacked, oh, this is so unfair . . ."
No.
You say something publicly, someone responds.
That's how the town square works.
And again, Cindy Sheehan took her lumps. People called her vile things. She didn't turn into a little cry baby whining in the public square.
But that's the difference: Cindy Sheehan's a grown up.
Khan needs to stop whimpering.
It's disgusting.
And let me also be clear, in a decade or so this may change, but right now, I'm really sick of fathers who never served in the military using their child's service to make themselves look better.
Mothers?
Women have faced restrictions in the US. That's changing.
When it does, my view of mothers on this issue may change.
On Trump and immigration, he was referring to undocumented immigration in his speech announcing his bid for president. At some point, grown ups will have to have a conversation.
And Hillary supporters who are little babies are going to be surprised to find that the actual immigration policies of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will not differ.
Grown ups will also have to face the fact that you either have rules for immigration or you don't.
If we want truly open borders, then let's vote for that on a referendum.
But I don't think that would pass.
The immigration issue is a serious issue. And reducing it -- as the press has done -- to cartoon simplicity helps no one.
(I used undocumented worker, etc. so for those who don't know I support sanctuary cities and feel that a blanket amnesty should be pursued for those in the US currently. And I can make my argument for those positions. I don't have to distort Donald Trump's views in order to voice my own.)
Khan doesn't appear to notice, but the Iraq War continues -- as does the suffering of those living through it.
Iraq's children MUSTN'T be forced to choose between being trapped and fleeing into gunfire: save.tc/3x6o305yMWC #ThursdayThoughts #Mosul
Let's address Khizer Khan.
I didn't know his story, I didn't need to know it.
In fact, the election would be a lot better off if no one knew it.
He goes on stage at the Democratic Party's national convention and insults Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Donald responds in his usual over the top way -- typical Donald Trump.
And yet it will not go away.
Because Khizer Khan is a cry baby.
That's all he is, just a damn cry baby.
He wants to kick someone in the shins publicly and then he runs behind the American public hoping we'll save his ass from a beating.
Worse than that, he runs behind the American public and continues to stick his tongue out at Donald Trump.
Ben Finley (AP) reports -- I have no idea why -- that Khan's now taken to the mosque to attack Donald Trump and Trumps has responded.
"I wouldn't have been in Iraq," Trump said, once again falsely insisting he was opposed to the Iraq War before it started. "Had I been president, Capt. Khan would be alive today."
Fumed Khan, "This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents."
For real?
"This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents?"
How about this?
Why was your Muslim son in a war on Muslims?
Or this?
He died for oil and empire, he didn't die for freedom.
I can think of 8 million worse things that people have said in the last 13 years alone and I'm sure you can as well.
I'm sorry that Khan's been so pampered and babied by the press that he can't.
Cindy Sheehan got much worse in one day, in one hour, than Khan's ever gotten.
She didn't whine like a little cry baby.
But then she wasn't an idiot prattling on in public, trying to use their dead son to elect a woman who supported the war.
This is reality.
Khan has no meaning and no point of interest if you don't factor in his son.
He used that son to attack Donald Trump.
This is a fact that press continues to lie about.
AP today insists, "Khan first gained national attention from the podium of the Democratic National Convention when he paid homage to his son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who died in Iraq in 2004."
No, he did not pay homage to his son.
I didn't attend the convention. I didn't watch it on TV.
I know (and dislike) Donald Trump.
I know that when he starts slinging mud, it's because others are slinging it too.
(He'd rather talk -- on and on -- about himself. When other people pop up on his radar, it's either him talking about how smart they think he is or he's going after them.)
So I knew, without knowing Khan's speech, that Khan had been insulting.
Click here for the speech in full. Minus nine sentences, here it is:
If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities -- women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.
Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law."
Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America -- you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities.
You have sacrificed nothing and no one.
First off, how is the Republican "party leadership" "minorities"?
I believe they are all Anglo White men -- so they don't qualify by race or gender -- and as members of Congress, they're part of the establishment, so, no they're not minorities.
Second, "all faiths, genders, and ethnicities."
What about race?
When I think of the Academy Awards and a speech -- a brave one -- a friend gave not that long ago only to be ripped apart for wording, I note that the same eagle eyes aren't working the beat when it comes to Khan.
Third, this crap about "if it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America"?
This lie has been repeated over and over and over.
And you get that idiot in the Hillary commercial (which one! which idiot, which commercial!) saying Donald would throw her child out of the country -- her child wondered.
If you legally adopted the child, how is your child getting thrown out of the country?
And what kind of a parent can't correct that fear?
Khan and his family became American citizens in 1986.
What kind of idiot would say Donald Trump, if it were up to him, would kick them out?
Trump did not need lies to make him into a bad person.
He's spent his entire life making himself into a bad person.
All reporters had to do was report.
Instead, they lied and they gamed the system.
And you better believe that in doing that, they have created sympathy for Donald Trump.
Anyone who believes in fairness, has to roll their eyes over how the corporate media has painted Donald -- me included.
I have a friend who repeatedly calls when one of Ava and my media pieces goes up at THIRD and she says, "But we hate Trump!" And, yes, I'm part of that "we."
I also hate liars.
And the press has lied repeatedly.
Khan got up on the stage and launched an attack on Donald Trump.
It's a free country.
He's allowed to do that.
But when Donald responds in kind -- probably responds in an overboard manner, that is Donald's style -- it becomes, "Oh, poor man, oh, he's being attacked, oh, this is so unfair . . ."
No.
You say something publicly, someone responds.
That's how the town square works.
And again, Cindy Sheehan took her lumps. People called her vile things. She didn't turn into a little cry baby whining in the public square.
But that's the difference: Cindy Sheehan's a grown up.
Khan needs to stop whimpering.
It's disgusting.
And let me also be clear, in a decade or so this may change, but right now, I'm really sick of fathers who never served in the military using their child's service to make themselves look better.
Mothers?
Women have faced restrictions in the US. That's changing.
When it does, my view of mothers on this issue may change.
On Trump and immigration, he was referring to undocumented immigration in his speech announcing his bid for president. At some point, grown ups will have to have a conversation.
And Hillary supporters who are little babies are going to be surprised to find that the actual immigration policies of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will not differ.
Grown ups will also have to face the fact that you either have rules for immigration or you don't.
If we want truly open borders, then let's vote for that on a referendum.
But I don't think that would pass.
The immigration issue is a serious issue. And reducing it -- as the press has done -- to cartoon simplicity helps no one.
(I used undocumented worker, etc. so for those who don't know I support sanctuary cities and feel that a blanket amnesty should be pursued for those in the US currently. And I can make my argument for those positions. I don't have to distort Donald Trump's views in order to voice my own.)
Khan doesn't appear to notice, but the Iraq War continues -- as does the suffering of those living through it.
Save the Children UKIraq's children MUSTN'T be forced to choose between being trapped and fleeing into gunfire: save.tc/3x6o305yMWC #ThursdayThoughts #Mosul
As the suffering continues, so does the attempt to liberate or 'liberate' Mosul.
The issue was raised at yesterday's State Dept press briefing.
QUESTION: Okay. Can we stay on [the Islamic State] and the battle of Mosul?
MR KIRBY: Sure, sure.
QUESTION: Okay. Is it turning out to be like a slog, or how are things moving? How are they progressing?
QUESTION: No.
MR KIRBY: Elise, do you want to come take the podium?
QUESTION: Not today.
MR KIRBY: Not today, all right. Look, I mean, we’re how many days into this, Said? And now we’re already talking about slog? What’s the next thing we’re going to be asking about? Quagmire? I mean, this is --
QUESTION: Okay.
MR KIRBY: This just started. And we said all along that this was going to be, first of all, a long road to get to the operation, because it had to be done when the Iraqis were ready, and now they are. And we said even before, even while we were doing shaping operations, that taking back Mosul was going to be a tough fight and was going to take a while, and it was going to be ugly because of the terrain and because of the nature of the city itself and their presence in Mosul.
And so look, we’re only a few days into this. And actually, they are making good progress. They’re mainly still on the outskirts of Mosul, but they have achieved a measure of success. And oh, by the way, there’s been good coordination between the Peshmerga and the ISF, and there were people, critics, saying well, that’s never going to happen. Well, it’s happening.
So we’ve got to give them time and space to continue to execute their plan, but military operations are never clear-cut things. You’re going to meet resistance. The enemy gets a vote. Things don’t always go according to plan. I’m not saying that this isn’t; I’m just saying that we need to all be prepared to watch this on a daily basis and not get ahead of it.
QUESTION: Well, because of all these – all the different groups and all the moving parts in this thing, is the United States – is it maybe – has it made a mistake by not taking command and control of this operation? And perhaps because it has a better experience, and whether in the fight in Mosul in the old days, 2003 and 2004, and so on?
MR KIRBY: No, absolutely not. No, this – no, no, I couldn’t disagree more. I mean, we’ve also long said for going on two years now, that in order to achieve a truly sustainable defeat of this group, it has to be done with indigenous forces. Now, one of the lessons we’ve learned over the last 15, 16 years is yes, the American military can do a lot of things and do it very, very well, but the way to sustain a defeat against extremists on soil is to make sure that indigenous forces and secure – and a security apparatus is in place and capable of not only defeating, but then stabilizing afterward; that sometimes the presence of foreign troops alone can be – can be the irritant required to keep extremists interested in an area, that we can actually make the situation worse.
The second thing I’d say – I see you, Elise. Give me a second. The second thing I’d say is that we tend to forget Iraq is a sovereign country. I know we talked about Iraq for much of the last decade as if it was some – it was a territory. It’s a sovereign country and Prime Minister Abadi must maintain command and control over the forces inside his country, and he does. And we’ve long said that if you’re going to be involved in the fight against ISIL, we want all those things coordinated and under Prime Minister Abadi’s command and control.
That’s the way to achieve a lasting defeat against this group, which is why our role has been one – not just because we wanted it, but because Prime Minister Abadi wanted it – one of training, advising, assisting, helping improve their battlefield competency, confidence, and capability so that they could mount this – well, all these operations, but this one in particular – successfully, and then maintain the defeat of ISIL over time and stabilize Mosul going forward. That can’t be done by foreign forces. It needs to be done by Iraqi forces.
Let's just close in on one aspect of that:
QUESTION: Okay. Is it turning out to be like a slog, or how are things moving? How are they progressing?
QUESTION: No.
MR KIRBY: Elise, do you want to come take the podium?
That's Elise Labot who forgets she works for CNN -- she's convinced John Kerry's going to leave his wife for her (it's not happening, Elise) -- and not the State Dept.
There's Elise objecting -- that should read "No!" -- to the notion that the Mosul action is turning into a "slog."
One wonders why the biased and dishonest Elise is allowed by CNN to remain on the State Dept press beat.
But if she had any ethics, she wouldn't be trying to pursue a married man.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government wants to be on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The executive director of UN WATCH, Hillel Neuer, offers his thought on their campaign brochure.
Hillel Neuer 1. Ahead of tomorrow's farce—@UN elections to its Human Rights Council—I will now tweet out from #Iraq's brochure. iraqmission.us/wp-content/upl…
3. Iraq's absurd @UN_HRC election campaign brochure also cites the happy condition of their #Christian minority—who have been decimated.
4. Finally Iraq's UNHRC election brochure says "#Jews have lived in Iraq for thousands of years"; right—but were all chased out decades ago.
The chosen 1 Before the USA illegally invaded Iraq in 2003, there hadn't been a single suicide bombing in Iraqs history.
The US create the terror!
#Iraq
The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley and BLACK AGENDA REPORT -- updated:
iraq
