Parents of SEAL Team Six soldier killed in action call for President Obama's resignation

'You are not up to this job': Parents of SEAL Team Six soldier killed in action call for President Obama's resignation

• Billy and Karen Vaughn lost their only-son Aaron Carson Vaughn in 2011
• The SEAL Team Six member was one of 33 killed when a Chinook helicopter was gunned down in Afghanistan
• On Monday, the Vaughns wrote a letter condemning President Barack Obama's actions following the release of the video depicting the execution of journalist James Foley by Islamic State radicals
• Mr and Mrs Vaughn criticized the president's decision to go golfing after he held a press conference on the Foley beheading 

By Ashley Collman for MailOnline

Published: 18:14 EST, 1 September 2014 | Updated: 19:28 EST, 1 September 2014

One couple knows all too well the pain suffered by the parents of James Foley, the American journalist executed last month by the Islamic State.

Billy and Karen Vaughn also lost their only-son Aaron Carson Vaughn in 2011, when the SEAL Team Six soldier's Chinook helicopter was shown down over Afghanistan.

Now the couple are calling on President Barack Obama to step down, citing his reaction to the Foley video and 'lack of leadership' in confronting ISIS.

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Time to resign: Karen and Billy Vaughn (pictured above) wrote a letter this week, condemning President Obama's actions following the release of the video depicting the execution of American journalist James Foley by ISIS. The couple lost their own son, soldier Aaron Carson Vaughn, in a 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan

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Killed in action: SEAL Team Six soldier Aaron Carson Vaughn was one of seven commandos killed in the 2011 chopper crash, in addition to an Afghan translator and military dog. They were shot down by enemy combatants 

On Monday, the Vaughns wrote a letter, calling out Mr Obama's decision to go golfing after holding an important press conference on the Foley video.

'As Commander-in-Chief, your actions - or lack thereof - Mr President, cost lives.

'As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security — but the security of the entire globe.

'Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job. You know it. We know it. The world knows it,' the Vaughns wrote in the letter published on World Tribune.  

The couple go on to directly ask Mr Obama to resign so that a man or woman 'of courage and substance' can take over and address the 'out-of-control thug fest' happening in Syria and Iraq, where ISIS is attempting to establish a caliphate.

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'As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole,' the Vaughns said of President Obama's decision to play a round after holding a press conference on the Foley tragedy

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Vacation mode: President Obama was vacationing on Martha's Vineyard when the video was released by ISIS. He was photographed on the golf course at least two times after the video's release 

'It’s time for you to step down and allow a true leader to restore our honor and protect our sons and daughters...

'America has always been exceptional. And she will be again. You, Mr President, are a bump in the road,' they wrote.

Billy Vaughn told MailOnline that  he has been displeased with the way President Obama has been acting at press conferences. 

'I'd like to see him have some passion about anything going on in the world instead of just speaking in a monotone voice like he has a script that has been made up,' Mr Vaughn told MailOnline.

Aaron Carson Vaughn was killed in August 2011 when a Chinook helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan. All 33 aboard died in the crash, including Vaughn and several SEAL Team Six members.

Vaughn and his fellow commandos were attempting to reinforce a group of Army Rangers after they ran into trouble during a raid to capture a senior Taliban leader.

SEAL Team Six is best known as the group which carried out the execution of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.

FULL LETTER FROM BILLY AND KAREN VAUGHN

After finally choosing to view the barbaric, on-camera beheading by ISIS of freelance war correspondent James Foley, I have been left with a level of rage known only to those of us who have sacrificed unspeakable offerings on the altar of world peace.

My offering was my only son — Aaron Carson Vaughn. Aaron was a member of SEAL Team VI. He was killed in action when a CH47D Chinook, carrying thirty Americans and eight Afghans was shot down in the Tangi River Valley of Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2011.

endorse1Many times over the past three years, I have been asked what drove my son to choose his particular career. What made him want to be a Navy SEAL? My answer is simple.

Aaron Vaughn was a man who possessed the courage to acknowledge evil. And evil, once truly acknowledged, demands response. Perhaps this is why so few are willing to look it in the eye. It is much simpler — much safer — to look the other way.

That is, unless you are the leader of the Free World.

As Commander-in-Chief, your actions — or lack thereof — Mr. President, cost lives. As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security — but the security of the entire globe. Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job. You know it. We know it. The world knows it.

Please vacate the people’s house and allow a man or woman of courage and substance to seize the reigns of this out-of-control thug-fest and regain the balance we, America, have provided throughout our great history.

Thanks to your “leadership” from whatever multi-million dollar vacation you happen to be on at any given moment, the world is in chaos. What’s been gained, you’ve lost. What’s been lost, you’ve decimated. You’ve demolished our ability to hold the trust of allies. You’ve made a mockery of the title “President.” And you’ve betrayed the nation for which my son and over 1.3 million others have sacrificed their very lives.

But this should come as no surprise, since your wife uttered a vile statement on Feb. 18, 2008, during the primary campaign — one that speaks volumes of your true convictions. “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country,” she said.

I am sure my deceased son thanks you for that, Mrs. Obama. Oh, and you’re welcome.

Never in my lifetime have I witnessed such despair and such growing fear that the world’s last best hope, America, has finally been dismantled. Perhaps the better word is transformed — fundamentally transformed. Come to think of it, it’s become difficult — if not impossible — to believe things haven’t gone exactly as you planned, Mr. President.

Amazingly, in five short years, your administration has lurched from one disaster to another. You spearheaded the ambitious rush to end the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan — with no plan on how to do so effectively. Also, the release of “the Taliban five” in exchange for one American — without consulting Congress — is also on your shoulders.

You have been at the helm during unprecedented national security leaks — including, but not limited to the outing of SEAL Team VI on the Bin laden raid, the outing of the Pakistani doctor who provided the intelligence for that raid, the outing of Afghanistan’s CIA station chief, and the outing of your personal “kill list” to make you look tough. In addition, 75 percent of American deaths in Afghanistan and 83 percent of Americans-wounded-in-action have occurred on your watch, according to icasualties.org.

And now, we have this recent, heinous event: the beheading of an American citizen by a barbaric organization you foolishly referred to as “the JV team” in your statements to the New Yorker magazine in January.

You, sir, are the JV team. It’s time for you to step down and allow a true leader to restore our honor and protect our sons and daughters.

America has always been exceptional. And she will be again. You, Mr. President, are a bump in our road.

                                                                                                     Reprinted with family's permission

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2740184/You-not-job-Parents-SEAL-Team-Six-soldier-killed-action-call-President-Obama-s-resignation.html#ixzz3C7QTxy00 
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Are you better off than you were 6 yrs ago????

Simple question - Easy answer for most. NO.

But I digress....Monday Political update

Monday SCOTUS rulings punish the fraud sitting in the White House. Awesome.

The political mood in America has never been worse.  The media and Dems said this same statement in 2008 and promised to make things better.  Another lie told to Voters.

Things are bad all over.  Latest economic news states economy shrank by 2.9% in the 1st qtr of 2014.  Damn, that is NOT GOOD.   White House reaction??  Blame it on bad winter weather.

This is one more sign that voters were stupid to elect the Moron in the White House in 2008 and stupider to do so again in 2012.  He's a total lame duck now and has been for some time.  He emboldens our enemies abroad as they see his weakness.  He's the biggest empty suit of all time....

Can't wait to see the 2014 Midterms - Hopefully, voters will turn out in force to strip DEMS of Senate majority and then start reversing the crappola that was voted through like OCare.... Can't happen quick enough....

Hard to tell who is the bigger dummy

Obama and Reid are a pair of Dummies.  If they think the American people believe anything they say, it proves they really are a pair of dummies - unethical and without honor. 

Time to go Mr. Obama and take Hapless Harry Reid with you.....

Obama Campaign sues to restrict voting by the military

Let me get this straight - The President and his Democratic allies will do anything they can to allow access to vote, including making sure that laws are in place that likely allow people who are non-citizens to vote BUT they have gone to court to limit access to voting for our US Military members???  Really ???

If you have served our country or have someone you love who defended this country in uniform, you need to VOTE the unethical, shallow hypocrite out of office.

The President has proven to be unfit to command and undeserving of the support of anyone who cares about the defense of our country.

August 3, 2012

Obama campaign sues to restrict voting by military
Rick Moran - The American Thinker
If requiring a citizen to show a picture ID to vote is "suppressing the vote," what does it mean when the Obama campaign really makes an effort to prevent our soldiers from voting?

President Barack Obama, along with many Democrats, likes to say that, while they may disagree with the GOP on many issues related to national security, they absolutely share their admiration and dedication to members of our armed forces. Obama, in particular, enjoys being seen visiting troops and having photos taken with members of our military. So, why is his campaign and the Democrat party suing to restrict their ability to vote in the upcoming election?

On July 17th, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part of that state's law governing voting by members of the military. Their suit said that part of the law is "arbitrary" with "no discernible rational basis."

Currently, Ohio allows the public to vote early in-person up until the Friday before the election. Members of the military are given three extra days to do so. While the Democrats may see this as "arbitrary" and having "no discernible rational basis," I think it is entirely reasonable given the demands on servicemen and women's time and their obligations to their sworn duty.

The National Defense Committee reports:

[f]or each of the last three years, the Department of Defense's Federal Voting Assistance Program has reported to the President and the Congress that the number one reason for military voter disenfranchisement is inadequate time to successfully vote.

I think it's unconscionable that we as a nation wouldn't make it as easy as possible for members of the military to vote. They arguably have more right to vote than the rest of us, since it is their service and sacrifice that ensures we have the right to vote in the first place.

I would disagree that the military has "more right" to vote than anyone. Everyone has an equal right to vote as long as they're registered and a citizen, and by saying that some have a greater right to vote, it means that others have a lesser right to vote -- and that's unacceptable.

Not really important, except it appears the Obama administration is buying that argument. With the suit, they are saying that our soldiers have a lesser right to vote than others. The law is designed to give military personnel an equal opportunity to cast their ballot. and by fighting that notion, the Obama campaign is seeking to suppress the military vote, knowing that it usually goes 2-1 Republican

PRESIDENT DEADBEAT - Obama's campaign will not pay for police security at a fundraiser in Newport Beach, CA

You can't make this SHITE up.....


President Dead-Beat.

What a joke....Time to Go Mr. President....you are an embarrassment.

He likes to spend our tax dollars BUT stiffs cities & towns for a campaign event -

OMG - Obama Must Go.
latimes.com

Secret Service won't pay Newport Beach for police at Obama event

Newport Beach billed President Obama's campaign for police security at a fundraiser. The Secret Service says that security is its job, not the campaign's, but that it can't reimburse the city.

By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Times
 July 30, 2012

A Secret Service official said Newport Beach city administrators are asking the wrong people to pay for police protection at presidential campaign events.

It's the service that is responsible for the candidates' security, not the campaigns, said Max Milien, an agency spokesman. Any cost concerns should be directed to the agency.

Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff billed the campaigns of President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for police security at their separate fundraisers this year in the city.

Now that the Romney campaign paid its bill, the city is left in the awkward position of trying to collect from Obama.

"We cannot reimburse any agencies," Milien said. "We make that clear from Day 1."

Milien explained that an advance team works with local law enforcement to plan road closures and other measures before a candidate's visit. If the local agency cannot afford to pay for extra security or overtime, the local officials should inform the Secret Service ahead of time, he said.

In that case, Milien said, the Secret Service would seek help from other law enforcement groups — county or state police, for example, who would not charge for the service.

"There is adequate time if an agency cannot assist us and is strapped for manpower," he said, adding that the Secret Service does not have the budget for that type of expense.

Kiff says the Police Department did raise the issue with the Secret Service before the president's visit.

"At that time, our staff was told that the Secret Service would not reimburse the city," Kiff wrote in an email, "and that we should check with the president's campaign or the DNC."

The Romney campaign paid its bill last week, about a month after the city sent its invoice. The Obama bill, on the other hand, was sent in May and has not been paid.

City spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said the city's billing system would be sending past-due notices.

About three weeks ago, the Democratic National Committee contacted the city and told officials to deal with the Secret Service.

The DNC and the Republican National Committee split their Newport Beach event proceeds with the respective campaigns.

"Any local law enforcement organization contacted by the Secret Service to assist in security should discuss matters related to costs and how to effectively manage those costs with the Secret Service," DNC spokeswoman Melanie Roussell wrote in an email Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Kiff would like the issue to go away.

"I am very tired of this story, but it will have legs again," Kiff wrote in an email to the City Council after the Orange County Register inquired about the Romney campaign's payment.

The city was "honored" to have the president in town, Kiff said, but he viewed the campaign fundraisers as private events.

"Had this been a 'business trip' — if the president came to Newport Beach to talk about one of his policies with our residents — the city would not have sent an invoice," he wrote in an email.

Newport Beach is in strong fiscal shape, with about $98 million in reserves.

The city's Finance Department recently emailed the Obama campaign a reminder about the bill instead of turning to the Secret Service, Finnigan said. City administrators did not return messages asking about their next steps.

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, a Republican, said, "It's the city's intention to apply its usual policies and send the bill to collections."

Obama spoke at a private home in Corona del Mar in February, and Romney held his May fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Club. The $35,000 bill for Obama was more than three times as much as Romney's. Kiff said the difference was due to the added street closures and additional security requirements for the president.

Costa Mesa police did not bill the Romney campaign for an event this week because it did not require additional police personnel, city spokesman Bill Lobdell said.

mike.reicher@latimes.com

" You didn't build that..."

It is very likely he would have been thrown over the side......sounds like a great idea.

What an idiot.  A failure who has been exposed by his own words....Time to go Mr.Obama.

Happy 4th of July from Kandahar City, Afghanistan

It is the 4th of July here in Kandahar City, Afghanistan.

The day arrived earlier than stateside due to we are 8 1/2 hours ahead of the US.  Most back home are preparing for a night's rest along with some going out on the night before a day off.

Here in Afghanistan, it is just another day.

On military bases here, there will be a bit of celebration and some good food at the DFACs ( Dining Facilities).  At the same time, many will carry out their normal work of going in harm's way, working to guard the freedom of the people here.  All will go about the normal business of the work that occurs here in the war zone.

Likewise, the work here will go on for me also.  It is another work day and one that has become a bit of a habit for me.  This is the 3rd year in a row that I have been here for the 4th of July.  I have been working contract work for the past three years and that means being here for most of the year including the summer.

There will be no BBQs to attend or fireworks ( as the fireworks here are usually a bad thing).  The holiday passes quietly here and that is understandable.  It is what we have agreed to as part of the deal of working overseas, away from home and family.

Back home in the USA, things are not all "beer & skittles" either.  1.4 million people in the Mid-Atlantic area are still w/o power due to the thunderstorms that came through earlier this week, 14 million people are unemployed or underemployed ( leaving them w/o work or the type of work they usually would perform) and the majority of our citizens are unhappy with the direction our government has taken over the last 4 years.

Being away from home is tough at times like this, but so is being at home without work.  I have had to deal with that and it is a terrible place to be.  Like many others, I have spent a significant number of years working as a manager in HR and now face the new reality that what was of value to employers in the past is undervalued now.  The degree and experience I have is treated in the same manner as some look upon an older car.

Employers are hiring younger workers and paying them 1/2 of what someone like me should earn.  This is not just happening to HR professionals, but professionals from all different professions.  The recession has given businesses the ability to shed older workers, who carry larger wage & benefit costs and hire younger workers who seek less.

This trend will wind up hurting companies as they will spend more in traning and loss of customer satisfaction.  They are acting shortsighted and it is only making things worse economically.

Don Henley is on my IPAD with the song The Heart of the Matter and sings, " These times are so uncertain, there's yearning undefined and people filled with rage..." - very true and accurate even after the 20 years since he wrote the song.

America finds itself in perilous straits - The economy is sluggish and that is partly due to the 14 million people who are effectively unemployed.  They don't have the income they need and that means they are not purchasing goods and services.  That in turn holds the economy back.  We have a President who acts like an insolent teenager and thinks that it is cool to hang out with Hollywood types.  Instead of seeking maturity and competance, his supporters want to act like eternal high schoolers on a spending spree with their parent's credit card. The Middle class is struggling more than ever and all we get from the President is " Party on..." as he parties on the taxpayer's dime.

We deserve better leadership and the person sitting in the White House ain't it.....He needs to go back to Chicago.

The 4th of July is one of the days that makes me think more about the country I love and how difficult it was back in 1776.  The signers of the Declaration of Independence faced tough times.  It must have seemed as difficult as our times seem to us. My family has been in America since 1635 so many of my ancestors were there when the Revolutionary War freed our nation.

The key is that as Americans, we will continue to make our country and the world a better place by our actions.  Though we will disagree with each other and argue about what is needed, the outcome will still be an example to others about what can be accomplished if we set our minds to doing something.

That is essentially what I am doing here in Kandahar City - working to help the people of Afghanistan by leading them to create a better country for themselves and their children.  That is the lesson we learned back in 1776 and one we still honor and celebrate today.

Happy 4th of July to all our military serving abroad, our colleagues working to support them and all back home in the USA.

POTUS just doesn't get it.....IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID !!

Which is why we are where we are....record numbers on food stamps, highest number of unemployed & under employed, record foreclosures, loss of faith in our government... 

" Are you better off than you were 4 years ago ?" - That is the correct question. For the majority of Americans, the answer is no. The President has focused on other issues and we are headed in the wrong direction. We need to make a " course correction" in November and place Obama in the "unemployed" category.

Exactly.....

Mulligan

Two word answer - " Not Happening "

" This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” - The President's own words are damning

Krauthammer is spot-on especially on this issue.

The unmitigated gall of this fool in the White House to brag to RUSSIA about what he will be able to do after he gets re-elected....it is a telling moment and speaks to his complete lack of character and honor as he says one thing to our "rivals" and another to those he serves, the citizens of the United States.

He needs to be sent on a permanent vacation and is unworthy to hold the office of President. Vote this incompetent poser out of office.


The ‘flexibility’ doctrine
By Charles Krauthammer,
March 29 - The Washington Post

“On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved, but it’s important for him [Vladimir Putin] to give me space. .... This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.”

— Barack Obama to Dmitry Medvedev, open mike, March 26

You don’t often hear an American president secretly (he thinks) assuring foreign leaders that concessions are coming their way, but they must wait because he’s seeking reelection and he dares not tell his own people.

Not at all, spun a White House aide in major gaffe-control mode. The president was merely explaining that arms control is too complicated to be dealt with in a year in which both Russia and the United States hold presidential elections.

Rubbish. First of all, to speak of Russian elections in the same breath as ours is a travesty. Theirs was a rigged, predetermined farce. Putin ruled before. Putin rules after.

Obama spoke of the difficulties of the Russian presidential “transition.” What transition? It’s a joke. It had no effect on Putin’s ability to negotiate anything.

As for the U.S. election, the problem is not that the issue is too complicated but that if people knew Obama’s intentions of flexibly caving on missile defense, they might think twice about giving him a second term.

After all, what is Obama doing negotiating on missile defense in the first place? We have no obligation to do so. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a relic of the Cold War, died in 2002.

We have an unmatched technological lead in this area. It’s a priceless strategic advantage that for three decades Russia has been trying to get us to yield. Why give any of it away?

To placate Putin, Obama had already in 2009 abruptly canceled the missile-defense system the Poles and Czechs had agreed to host in defiance of Russian threats. Why give away more?

It’s unfathomable. In trying to clean up the gaffe, Obama emphasized his intent to “reduce nuclear stockpiles” and “reduce reliance on nuclear weapons.” In which case, he should want to augment missile defenses, not weaken, dismantle or bargain them away. The fewer nukes you have for deterrence, the more you need nuclear defenses. If your professed goal is nuclear disarmament, as is Obama’s, eliminating defenses is completely illogical.

Nonetheless, Obama is telling the Russians not to worry, that once past “my last election” and no longer subject to any electoral accountability, he’ll show “more flexibility” on missile defense. It’s yet another accommodation to advance his cherished Russia “reset” policy.

Why? Hasn’t reset been failure enough?

Let’s do the accounting. In addition to canceling the Polish/Czech missile-defense system, Obama gave the Russians accession to the World Trade Organization, signed a START Treaty that they need and we don’t (their weapons are obsolete and deteriorating rapidly), and turned a scandalously blind eye to their violations of human rights and dismantling of democracy. Obama even gave Putin a congratulatory call for winning his phony election.

In return? Russia consistently watered down or obstructed sanctions on Iran, completed Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr, provides to this day Bashar al-Assad with huge arms shipments used to massacre his own people (while rebuilding the Soviet-era naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus), conducted a virulently anti-American presidential campaign on behalf of Putin, pressured Eastern Europe and threatened Georgia.

On which of “all these issues” — Syria, Iran, Eastern Europe, Georgia, human rights — is Obama ready to offer Putin yet more flexibility as soon as he gets past his last election? Where else will he show U.S. adversaries more flexibility? Yet more aid to North Korea? More weakening of tough Senate sanctions against Iran?

Can you imagine the kind of pressure a reelected Obama will put on Israel, the kind of anxiety he will induce from Georgia to the Persian Gulf, the nervousness among our most loyal East European friends who, having been left out on a limb by Obama once before, are now wondering what new flexibility Obama will show Putin — the man who famously proclaimed that the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century was Russia’s loss of its Soviet empire?

They don’t know. We don’t know. We didn’t even know this was coming — until the mike was left open. Only Putin was to know. “I will transmit this information to Vladimir,” Medvedev assured Obama.

Added Medvedev: “I stand with you.” A nice endorsement from Putin’s puppet, enough to chill friends and allies, democrats and dissidents, all over the world.

"Then it's your problem.." - Doctors who are retiring see Obamacare as a losing strategy for healthcare

Obamacare will cost double what was forecast and it is highly likely that Obama and his cohorts in the Democratic Congress knew this when they jammed it through on the American people.

Throwing money at an issue is NOT a solution.

Here is a more informed POV. The Supreme Court needs to reverse this travesty. We have the best healthcare system in the world and subjecting to one person's political views is wrong. There is need for improvement but this will be the ruin of the superior care we all recieve.

ObamaCare Still a Disaster -- No Matter How the Supreme Court Decides
By Larry Elder

"I am a refugee," my anesthesiologist told me after I had awakened from my third surgery in 12 years — one to repair a muscle tear in my left shoulder and two for the same disc in my lower back. "I am part of the British 'brain drain' of the late '60s. Doctors could not make any money. So I left." Britain's loss, my gain. The same surgery 12 years ago required a two-day stay in a hospital. Last week, after a two-hour surgery, I left the same day as an outpatient.

But under ObamaCare, we can expect a loss of talent and a decline in quality of care. Thousands of us, the doctor explained, abandoned England to practice medicine in America. "So, how's this?" my doctor said. "I left the U.K. to get away from the government telling me how to practice, what to charge — and now we are getting the same thing. ObamaCare stinks, and the people will regret it. What happened to the docs there will happen here."

Great Britain began practicing socialized medicine through the taxpayer-funded National Health Services in 1948. And indeed, one of the first U.K. studies on the emigration of their native-born physicians, "British Doctors at Home and Abroad," published in 1964, noted that, beginning in the 1950s, their docs were leaving for "high-income" countries at an alarming rate: "Many of them stressed the wider field of work they could undertake in general practice abroad and criticized the limited role of the general practitioner in England." And nearly half a century later, Britain's "brain drain" continues.

Medical advances require research and development. And as much as government spends on health care and medical research, the private sector spends much more. But ObamaCare places a tax on medical equipment manufacturers, to raise $20 billion for the federal coffers when it goes into full effect in 2013. As a result, some medical device manufacturers are already closing up shop or downsizing to reflect lower profits under ObamaCare. Some canceled plans for new U.S. plants, looking to other parts of the world. Many manufacturers have already announced significant layoffs, and most also look to other alternatives, including cutting research and development, and passing along the tax's costs to the patients.

In addition to the excise tax on medical device manufacturers, ObamaCare imposes many more taxes, including the following: an individual mandate excise tax for adults who don't purchase "qualifying" health insurance; an employer mandate tax for those companies who don't offer health coverage; and a surtax on investment income — making the rate as high as 43.4 percent on gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents and passive income for families making more than $250,000. Given this, will we see the same private-sector investments in the health care field, as ObamaCare imposes ever more regulations designed at increasing "accessibility" and "controlling costs"?

What about costs?

Obama promised that ObamaCare would "bend the cost curve" down. The Congressional Budget Office just released new figures on the 10-year cost of ObamaCare. Starting in 2010, government began taxing for ObamaCare to build up revenues. So for the first four years, ObamaCare takes in tax money but does not start spending in any significant amount until 2014. This was a tactic designed to make ObamaCare seem more "affordable."

But even with this gimmick, the CBO just doubled its original projections for the cost of ObamaCare. Now, the CBO pegs the cost to taxpayers at $1.76 trillion over the next decade. And, critics point out, this price tag is only for the cost of insurance subsidies, Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program). It doesn't include implementation or other costs, which will likely send the taxpayers' bill soaring past $2 trillion.

Obama said his plan would save American families $2,500 a year on their insurance premiums. The new CBO report says premiums will rise 10 to 13 percent, and that up to 20 million people could lose their employer-provided health insurance every year from 2019 to 2022, a sharp revisal of its previous estimate of up to 3 million.

Oh, it all seems so lovely on paper, doesn't it?

Sen. Obama said that if he were "starting from scratch," he'd have a single-payer system. This is what they have in Canada. But when a high-ranking member of the Canadian government — and proponent of the Canadian health care system — needed surgery, he did not stay home. After having his 2010 heart surgery performed in Miami, Canadian Premier Danny Williams told reporters: "This was my heart, my choice, and my health. I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

Consider what the then-incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association said about their single-payer health care system: "(Our) system is imploding." Consider what the outgoing president said: "Competition should be welcomed, not feared."

My doctor remains cheerful. "I retire in a few years," he said. "Then it's your problem."

Larry Elder is a best-selling author and radio talk-show host.

www.LarryElder.com.

Meanwhile as the country's problems mount, POTUS focuses on March Madness

The clueless juvenile in the Oval Office spends time on "March Madness" while the real madness is the country's leader is a vacationer-in-chief. We need him to do the job he was elected to, not screw around with college hoops.

15 Million Americans are unemployed or underemployed - The number one and two issues right now are jobs and the economy but the President has time for this crap?

If this isn't a clear sign of how skewed his view of what's important to the American people, I don't know what else is....OMG - Obama Must Go.

Gas Coupon

How's that " hopey/changey" thing working out for you ?

On the DEMS watch

Funny how when gas went up to $4 a Gallon in 2004 & 2005, the DEMS howled in protest and blamed Bush...NOW, Obama says that higher gas prices are not his fault.

Sorry, we (the American Consumer) know better than to believe the lies being put out by the DEMS. They have done little to increase domestic production and that is the one true " silver bullet" to getting us off of dependency to foreign oil.

Remember this when it comes time to vote in November. OMG - Obama Must Go.

Double Talk on Gas Prices from a clueless President

Spin, spin, spin...It is unbelievable that the " Village Idiot From Chicago " thinks that people will believe his reasoning for why $4 a gallon gas is good for our country. It is not.

The American consumer is getting squeezed on all sides and the more that is spent for Oil & Gas means less to spend on the other needs of families like food, shelter and other necessities. His failure to understand how an issue like this impacts the average American is the hallmark of a failed Presidency.

It is time for a new leader and hopefully, one who understands that the citizens of our great nation deserve better. we have the ability to sustain our energy needs as long as we have a leader who will allow it. Obama is the main impediment we presently face to succeeding in this area.


Obama's Double Talk on Sky-High Gas Prices
Investors Business Daily

Posted 02/21/2012

When gas prices hit $4 a gallon in 2008, candidate Barack Obama said it was due to previous failed energy policies. Now that prices are heading still higher, President Obama calls it progress.

Already, pump prices are higher than they've been in previous years, suggesting they will top $4 soon and possibly reach an unprecedented $5 this summer.

President Obama is starting to notice the political implications. So he sent Robert Gibbs — now a top campaign adviser — out to tell the public not to worry.

"Just on Friday, the Department of the Interior issued permits that will expand our exploration in the Arctic," Gibbs said Sunday. "Our domestic oil production is at an eight-year high, and our use of foreign oil is at a 16-year low. So we're making progress."

"Progress" isn't exactly how Obama described the country's energy picture in 2008, when gas prices were closing in on $4 a gallon. Then, it was a clear sign of "Washington's failure to lead on energy," which was "turning the middle-class squeeze into a devastating vise-grip for millions of Americans."

"For the well-off in this country," Obama said in May 2008, "high gas prices are mostly an annoyance, but to most Americans they're a huge problem, bordering on a crisis."

In August that year, he declared rising energy costs to be "one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced" and that gas prices "are wiping out paychecks and straining businesses."

While Gibbs is right that domestic production has climbed in the past three years, Obama's policies had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Subscribe to the IBD Editorials Podcast Oil coming from offshore wells was in the pipeline, so to speak, during the Clinton and Bush years, when those permits were issued. And the oil pouring out of North Dakota is the result of drilling on private lands.

Obama, in fact, has made it clear for years that he has no real interest in boosting domestic production.

When President Bush announced plans in 2008 to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling, Obama dismissed it, saying "it would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for 30 years."

"Offshore drilling," he said, "would not lower gas prices today, it would not lower gas prices next year and it would not lower gas prices five years from now."

In a big energy speech he gave in August 2008, Obama argued that "if we opened up and drilled on every single square inch of our land and our shores, we would still find only 3% of the world's oil reserves."

And while in office, Obama's done everything he can to limit production — slow-walking offshore permits, killing the Keystone XL pipeline, making it even harder to get oil out of federal lands.

Instead of aggressively expanding oil production, he offered a set of ridiculous alternatives — hugely wasteful "green" energy subsidies, a call for a million electric cars by 2014 and costly fuel economy mandates that won't make a dent in consumption for decades.

With gas prices up 93% since Obama took office, we're seeing just how well this approach works.

SOTU

Lies, Lies and more Damn Lies...If he told the truth, it would have sounded more like this cartoon....

Politics vs. Jobs - Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline from Canada

It just doesn't make sense....Jobs, energy & better relations with our neighbor Canada. But then again, nothing the President does has made much sense.

OMG...Obama Must Go.

Re-Election Obsessed Obama Goes Political On Keystone
By ROBERT J. SAMUELSON
Posted 01/19/2012 Investors.com

President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn't often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won't even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it.

All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his re-election that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won't get much. Stopping the pipeline won't halt the development of tar sands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global warming emissions.

Indeed, Obama's decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. Then there's the risk of added spills.

Now consider how Obama's decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder.

Next, it threatens a large source of relatively secure oil that, combined with new discoveries in the U.S., could reduce (though not eliminate) our dependence on insecure foreign oil.

Finally, Obama's decision forgoes all the project's jobs. There's some dispute over the magnitude. Project sponsor TransCanada claims 20,000, split between construction (13,000) and manufacturing (7,000) of everything from pumps to control equipment.

Apparently, this refers to "job years," meaning one job for one year. If so, the actual number of jobs would be about half that spread over two years. Whatever the figure, it's in the thousands and important in a country hungering for work. And Keystone XL is precisely the sort of infrastructure project that Obama claims to favor.

The big winners are the Chinese. They must be celebrating their good fortune and wondering how the crazy Americans could repudiate such a huge supply of nearby energy. There's no guarantee that tar-sands oil will go to China; pipelines to the Pacific would have to be built. But it creates the possibility when the oil's natural market is the U.S.

There are three things to remember about Keystone and U.S. energy policy.

First, we're going to use lots of oil for a long time. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that American oil consumption will increase 4% between 2009 and 2035

The increase occurs despite highly optimistic assumptions about vehicle fuel efficiency and bio-fuels. But a larger population (390 million in 2035 versus 308 million in 2009) and more driving per vehicle offset savings.

The more oil we produce domestically and import from neighbors, the more we're insulated from dramatic interruptions of global supplies. After the U.S., Canada is the most dependable source of oil — or was until Obama's decision.

Second, barring major technological breakthroughs, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, will rise for similar reasons. The EIA projects that America's CO2 emissions will increase by 16% from 2009 to 2035. Stopping Canadian tar-sands development, were that possible, wouldn't affect these emissions.

Finally, even if — as Keystone critics argue — some Canadian oil were refined in the United States and then exported, this would be a good thing. The exports would probably go mostly to Latin America. They would keep well-paid industrial jobs (yes, refining) in the U.S. and reduce our trade deficit in oil, which exceeded $300 billion in 2011.

By law, Obama's decision was supposed to reflect "the national interest." His standard was his political interest. The State Department had spent three years evaluating Keystone and appeared ready to approve the project by year-end 2011. Then the administration, citing opposition to the pipeline's route in Nebraska, reversed course and postponed a decision to 2013 — after the election.

Now, reacting to a congressional deadline to decide, Obama rejected the proposal. But he also suggested that a new application with a modified Nebraska route — already being negotiated — might be approved, after the election. So the sop tossed to environmentalists could be temporary. The cynicism is breathtaking

Captain Obama ran it up on the rocks, that's for sure

News and the story-behind-the-story / Healthcare Laws are only for those not politically connected

Here is a list of the Editors' Picks from the NY TIMES as given to me by Google News this morning...See If you can guess the "story behind the story" message that these have in common.

I have highlighted the actual headline and put in blue the real message

NY Times

Political Memo: Front-Runner Role Could Thwart Romney in New Hampshire By JEFF ZELENY (Taking Down the GOP Front Runner in any way we can)

Rick Santorum, Known for His Fighting Nature, Strikes a Calmer Tone By MARK LEIBOVICH (Split the GOP Voters to cause dissent)

Evangelicals Hurry to Find Alternative to Romney By ERIK ECKHOLM (Ditto)

Democrats See Signs of Hope in Election Battle for Congress By JENNIFER STEINHAUER ( Really ?? Democrats hopeful in taking Congressional elections ?? Putting Pelosi in charge again ?Really ?? What are you smoking?)

The press have been in full force putting out positive political stories for Obama since his return to Washington from his vacation. This will continue in full force through to election day as the majority of the press wants him in. The GOP candidate will not be perfect but we have to get Obama out of office before he further injures our nation.

Then there's this...The kind of news that let's you know what is going on when new laws are put in place for the commoners, not those who are favored politically by our President.

Obama has to go. This cannot be the way our country is governed.


Labor unions primary recipients of Obamacare waivers
By Paul Conner
01/06/2012 dailycaller.com

Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer.

Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011.

By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.

The Department of Health and Human Services revised the rules governing applications for health reform waivers June 17, 2011, amid a steady stream of controversial news reports, including The Daily Caller’s story that nearly 20 percent of last May’s waivers went to businesses in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district in California.

The labor unions receiving waivers include those that are monitored under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, and those that are not. The waivers granted since June 17 are valid until 2013, but recipients must make sure their employees understand the “limits of their coverage,” according to HHS documents.

HHS granted waivers on a year-by-year basis under its initial application process, but waivers granted after June 17 are valid for a maximum of two-and-a-half years.

By and large, unions backed the health care overhaul, a law from which nearly a half million of their workers are now exempt.