Harry Reid staffers exempt from Obamacare exchanges

So while many government staffers are being asked by their bosses to sign up through the Obama exchanges – there are those who work for Senator Harry Reid who will be exempt from using the Obama exchanges. While it is true that our representatives have the option to exempt their staff – Senator Harry Reid is the only one… only one to exercise that right. GOP House Speaker John Boehner – a staunch opponent of Obama Care has directed his staff to sign up.

If the exchanges are good enough for the American public then it should be more than adequate for Federal employees – including Senator Harry Reid and his staff.

CNN

Washington (CNN) — Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of Obamacare’s architects and staunchest supporters, is also the only top congressional leader to exempt some of his staff from having to buy insurance through the law’s new exchanges.

Reid is the exception among the other top congressional leaders. GOP House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have all directed their staffs to join the exchange, their aides said.

Full story and video: CNN

Some Democrats open to changing Obamacare deadlines

In corporate America if a website of this caliber were released it would soon be taken down or revert back to the previous speficications. Considering the huge amount spent creating this site one would hope that it worked correctly. Then again we are talking about a government program where there is no competition – so crap can be turned out on the public – and what is broken can be fixed over time – at a cost.

Delaying Obamacare for individuals at this point so the government can correct the problems it is facing makes commen sense. Something the Feds typically lack.

Yahoo! News

Affordable Care Act supporters are hoping the embarrassing rollout problems with the law’s implementation can be resolved quickly, but if they can’t, some Democrats are opening the door to delaying or extending some of the mandates in the 2010 law.

“If the problems are intense as they are this morning, then maybe we would have to consider a short delay in terms of the individual mandate,” New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell, a member of the Health subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, said on Wednesday. “I say, ‘maybe.’ I have a good feeling that we’re going to overcome these things.”

Full story: Yahoo! News

Gingrich: Obama’s big debt limit deception

Is the American public being played upon? Or is Obama correct in saying the dept ceiling is being used as a weapon in the budget debate. We are presented with a history of the National debt here in this posting by Newt Gingrich. Much of which I do remember – and how it (the debt ceiling) was used a a negotiating chip in budget battles by past Presidents. You be the judge….

CNN

As an historian and a former speaker of the House who negotiated successfully through two government shutdowns, a successful welfare reform bill, the first tax cut in 16 years and four balanced budgets, I am offended and a little frightened by President Barack Obama’s deliberate dishonesty about the debt ceiling.

On Wednesday, speaking to the Business Roundtable, Obama said:

“You have never seen in the history of the United States the debt ceiling or the threat of not raising the debt being used to extort a president or a governing party and trying to force issues that have nothing to do with the budget and nothing to do with the debt.”

Full story: CNN

80 House members: Shutdown better than ‘Obamacare’

Yahoo! Finance

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a third of House Republicans urged their leader Thursday to trigger a government shutdown rather than fund the implementation of the health care overhaul they call “Obamacare.”

A letter from 80 Republicans asked Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to resist any spending bills that would accommodate the new health care law, which is nearing a critical stage of signing up millions of Americans for health coverage.

Because it’s virtually certain that President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate would reject such demands, leaders of both parties say the standoff likely would result in a partial shutdown of the federal government, similar to those that occurred in 1995 and 1996.

The letter is mixed news for Boehner and other GOP leaders who view a government shutdown as politically unwise.

Full story: Yahoo! Finance

It’s time for Republicans to let Obama own the fiscal crisis

Fox News

If you thought the bulk of our gridlocked politics would end in November, think again. The prospect of our country going off what’s referred to as the “fiscal cliff” has both the right and the left staking out their territory in a battle over how to handle our very unbalanced books.

President Obama and a good chunk of Democrats want to raise taxes on the nation’s highest earners. Though the president says he also wants to have a conversation about reforming entitlements, he hasn’t put any type of proposal on paper. Nor is the president or his party interested in serious spending cuts, aside from cuts to the Department of Defense, something Republicans argue would hurt our national security muscle in a time when we need it the most.

At the same time, Republicans have put forth plans to tackle the biggest driver of our debt—entitlements—and even had a presidential ticket that ran on those reforms. The House of Representatives has passed some version of these plans and Speaker John Boehner has adopted a Mitt Romney — idea to eliminate certain deductions in order to raise revenue to pay down our debt. Raising taxes, however—on anyone—is not an option, they say. Unless one side caves, we’re slated to dive off the so-called “cliff” in December.

Full story: Fox News