The Obama administration is admitting failure of its Stimulus Bill today by proposing an additional $50 billion in more stimulus.  The White House is claiming that this new stimulus economic package (they refuse to use the word stimulus) will go toward “shovel ready” jobs such as railroads, highways, airports, etc.  Odd, because the $864 billion in last year’s Stimulus Bill was supposed to go toward that sort of thing.

Democrats have a lot to fear.  New polling shows Republicans now lead Democrats by 12% in the latest Rasmussen Poll. That ties an all-time record for Republicans.  Democrats and the unions are frustrated that their tactic of blaming Bush and Republicans for the failure of Obama’s and Democrats’ policies don’t seem to be working.  Support from Independent voters and now Democrat voters have the establishment concerned.

In a recent AP article, they noted that Democrat Congressional candidates have been running from Pelosi, Reed, and Obama.  In most cases, neither are mentioned in campaign ads.  More interesting, Democrats are avoiding mentioning their own political affiliation.

Soon after the Health-care Bill was pushed through Congress and signed by Obama, Obama challenged Republicans to “run against health-care”, however, interestingly enough, it’s Democrats who are running from it.  Most Democrats are failing to mention this “achievement” in any of their campaign ads recognizing that public support for the Bill is not there.

Support from the Liberals seems to be waning as evidence on the Sunday talk shows.  New York Times columnist and Democrat puppet Tom Friedman on Sunday accused Barack Obama of badly misreading his Election Day mandate, and said the current White House is the worst communicating administration he’s ever seen.

Friedman blasted the President saying, “I’m for more health care. I’m glad we’ve extended it to more Americans. But the fact is there’s a real, I think, argument for the case that Obama completely over-read his mandate when he came in.”

Friedman continued, “He was elected to get rid of one man’s job, George Bush, and get the rest of us jobs. I think that was the core thing, and by starting with health care and not making his first year the year of innovation, expanding the economy and expanding jobs, you know, I think looking back, that was a political mistake.”

In reality, I don’t believe that this President or this Democrat Congress really wanted to create jobs.  I believe it was their theory that with more people unemployed more people would join the unions.  I can hear some of my liberal readers now, “he’s nuts”, but… on Saturday the New York Times reported that Anna Burger, chairwoman of Change to Win, a federation representing 5 million union and secretary-treasurer of the powerful Service Employees International Union is retiring out of frustration. Anna Burger is reported as saying that she is also frustrated that union membership continues to shrink even when workers should in theory be flocking into unions during this time of stagnating wages.

It’s time for Obama and the Democrats to pack up their bags and leave the work of getting this economy going again to the adults and to those who put the country and the people before the government and the unions.

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Remember when Donald Berwick, he’s the guy who Obama appointed head of Medicare by bypassing the Senate, told the British NHS that they “chose well” for having a government run national health-care system?  (Video) Well, Mr. Berwick might not be so happy to learn that the British health-care system is on the verge of collapse and that drastic measures have been introduced to rescue the system from going bankrupt.

There are two idea that are being floated.  One, that would be opposed by Berwick, would be to decentralize (take out of government control) health-care and allow the private sector, shifting more control of the system back into the hands of doctors and patients.  The plan, reported by the New York Times, would save the British taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars and reduce administrative expenses by some 45%.  There is a drawback that liberals would find disturbing.  By decentralizing British health-care, layers of bureaucracy would be eliminated which would result in the loss of some government jobs.

The second idea, and the one that Obama’s Medicare head Donald Berwick advocates (see article here),  would ration even the basic of care.  As the British Telegraph is reporting today, the plan would call for the closing of nursing homes for the elderly, a reduction in hospital beds, restrictions on basic operations, cuts in prenatal and maternity care, etc.

Some of the most common operations — including hip replacements and cataract surgery — will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected.
Patients’ groups have described the measures as “astonishingly brutal”.

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered widespread cuts planned across the NHS, many of which have already been agreed by senior health service officials. They include:

* Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures.

* Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, with dying cancer patients to be told to manage their own symptoms if their condition worsens at evenings or weekends.

* The closure of nursing homes for the elderly.

* A reduction in acute hospital beds, including those for the mentally ill, with targets to discourage GPs from sending patients to hospitals and reduce the number of people using accident and emergency departments.

* Tighter rationing of NHS funding for IVF treatment, and for surgery for obesity.

* Thousands of job losses at NHS hospitals, including 500 staff to go at a trust where cancer patients recently suffered delays in diagnosis and treatment because of staff shortages.

* Cost-cutting programmes in paediatric and maternity services, care of the elderly and services that provide respite breaks to long-term carers.

The Sunday Telegraph found the details of hundreds of cuts buried in obscure appendices to lengthy policy and strategy documents published by trusts. In most cases, local communities appear to be unaware of the plans.

Dr Peter Carter, the head of the Royal College of Nursing, said he was “incredibly worried” about the disclosures.

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It’s nearly official- he lied.  Leak documents show that Obama’s promise that people would keep their current health-care coverage was short lived. 

Internal administration documents reveal that up to 51% of employers may have to relinquish their current health care coverage because of ObamaCare.

Small firms will be even likelier to lose existing plans.

The “midrange estimate is that 66% of small employer plans and 45% of large employer plans will relinquish their grandfathered status by the end of 2013,” according to the document.

In the worst-case scenario, 69% of employers — 80% of smaller firms — would lose that status, exposing them to far more provisions under the new health law.

The 83-page document, a joint project of the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the IRS, examines the effects that ObamaCare’s regulations would have on existing, or “grandfathered,” employer-based health care plans.

Draft copies of the document were reportedly leaked to House Republicans during the week and began circulating Friday morning. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., posted it on his Web site Friday afternoon.

“It’s been passed around the staffs here on Capitol Hill. Congressman Posey thought it was important enough to share,” said spokesman George Cecala.

In a statement, Posey said the document showed that the arguments in favor of ObamaCare were a “bait and switch.”

“The president promised repeatedly that people who like their current plans can keep them, but now the details of their plan actually confirm what many suspected all along, most Americans will lose their current health care plan,” Posey said.

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So much going on in the news today.  Let’s see, we have Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who demands businesses be honest, lying to about his military record.  Blumenthal, a Democrat, is hoping to pick up the Senate seat being vacated by another liar and crooked, Democrat Chris Dodd, told a group,  “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam”.  Problem is, he never served in Vietnam.  In fact, He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.

In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive. 

If Blumenthal can’t be trusted to be honest about his military record, how can Connecticut voters trust him to be their Senator?

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Can I have another “I told you so moment”?    Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.

Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren’t taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year.

“This new data shows the Medicare system is beginning to implode,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association. “If Congress doesn’t fix Medicare soon, there’ll be more and more doctors dropping out and Congress’ promise to provide medical care to seniors will be broken.”

More than 300 doctors have dropped the program in the last two years, including 50 in the first three months of 2010, according to data compiled by the Houston Chronicle. Texas Medical Association officials, who conducted the 2008 survey, said the numbers far exceeded their assumptions.

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You got to love it when Liberals like Obama, Holder, and others negatively comment on a Bill that they haven’t read.  In the latest,  Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano admits she hasn’t read the Arizona immigration law, but passed judgment on it anyway. “That’s not the kind of law I would have signed,” she declared. “I believe it’s a bad law enforcement law. I believe it mandates and requires local enforcement and puts them in a position many do not want to be placed in,” Napolitano said. “When I was dealing with laws of that ilk, most of the law enforcement agencies in Arizona at that time were opposed to such legislation,” she claimed.  Word of advice, if you haven’t read the Bill, keep you liberal mouth shut so your parrots don’t repeat the same lies you’re spewing.

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1.  While Obama refused to be photographed with the President of Israel, he had no problem bowing before the Communist President today.

2. Opponents of the fiscally conservative tea party movement say they plan to infiltrate and dismantle the political group by trying to make its members appear to be racist, homophobic and moronic.  Jason Levin, creator of http://www.crashtheteaparty.org, said Monday the group has 65 leaders in major cities across the country who are trying to recruit members to infiltrate tea party events for April 15—tax filing day, when tea party groups across the country are planning to gather and protest high taxes. Link

3.  The New York Times writes: It is impossible to know if the recent increase in violent crime in the city is legitimate cause for concern that the “bad old days” of crime may return, or if it simply represents a blip in a trend line continuing a descent of nearly two decades.  Homicides are up nearly 22 percent in 2010, compared with the same period last year. Shootings are up in the city, to 293 from 257, a 14 percent increase. And there are more victims of gunfire: 351 through April 4, up from 318 in the same period a year ago.  Where is good Ole Republican Giuliani when you need him?

4.  The Washington Examiner writes: There was no health care bounce. In fact, there has been something of a health care swoon.  Democrats have seen the favorable rating of their party drop to the lowest level ever recorded by Gallup — 41 percent — and the president’s job approval rating remains below 50 percent.  Now, as Congress returns to work after a two-week Easter break, the choice before the majority party is this: keep plunging ahead or start running for cover?

5.  The Washington Times writes: Real personal income for Americans – excluding government payouts such as Social Security – has fallen by 3.2 percent since President Obama took office in January 2009, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.  For comparison, real personal income during the first 15 months in office for President George W. Bush, who inherited a milder recession from his predecessor, dropped 0.4 percent. Income excluding government payouts increased 12.7 percent during Mr. Bush’s eight years in office.

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The Obama administration is all about delaying reports today.  First, we learned that Treasury Secretaty Tim Geithner has delayed a report on China manipulating its currency.  No doubt China pressured the Obama administration not to instigate or they would retaliate by selling billions in US Treasury Notes.  Of course, because of our rising debt and continued borrowing, the United States can now be held hostage to Chinese demands.

Bloomberg:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner delayed a scheduled April 15 report to Congress on exchange-rate policies, sidestepping a decision on whether to accuse China of manipulating the value of the yuan.

Geithner in a statement yesterday urged China to move toward a more flexible currency and said a series of meetings over the next three months will be “critical” to bringing policy changes that lead to a stronger, “more balanced” global economy. The delay comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit Washington for a nuclear summit April 12-13.

The Treasury chief faces demands from Congress to label China a currency manipulator for keeping the value of the yuan little changed from about 6.83 to the dollar for almost two years. Geithner is instead betting that China will take steps on its own in the next several months to strengthen its currency, analysts said.

And today we learned that the Obama administration is delaying the report on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare by 3 months.  The Obama administration claims that it wants the report to reflect the new health-care law, which may be true.  After all, for the first 4 years of the law more money will be collected through higher taxes and fees, however, real expenses don’t being to 2014.  Just more manipulation by this group.

The AP:

The Obama administration is delaying release of the annual report on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare so that the new report can reflect the impact of the recently passed health care overhaul.

An administration official told The Associated Press that this year’s trustees report will be delayed until June 30, three months later than it usually comes out.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the formal announcement, said that the delay will allow the government to determine the impact of the massive overhaul of health care that President Barack Obama just signed into law.

In January, Richard Fisher, the chief actuary for Medicare, estimated that the Senate bill which passed on Christmas eve would extend the life of the Medicare hospital trust fund by 10 years. The legislation that finally passed Congress was the Senate bill but with revisions approved to win House support.

The administration official said that passage last month of the health care overhaul legislation had made the trustees report, which usually comes out around April 1, obsolete. This official said the decision was made to incorporate all of the changes made by the legislation to better reflect reality now that Congress has passed health care overhaul.

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Democrat Congressman Phil Hare, when asked about whether the health-care law was constitutional, replied, he doesn’t “worry about the Constitution” when it comes to health-care, because insuring people is more important.  Recognizing that he let the cat out of the bag, he later produced his own Youtube video claiming that what he really meant was that he believes that the Constitution does allow for the government to mandate health insurance.  Of course, if you watch the video, that is clearly not what he meant.  Clearly, the Illinois Democrat plays by Chicago rules and not by the laws of the Constitution.  Of interest, Phil Hare is a member of the Progressive Caucus which has ties to the Progressive Socialist Organization.

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Add Verizon to the list of companies who say they will incur a $970,000,000 expense because of ObamaCare.  Remember, Obama said that this wouldn’t cost businesses money or jobs.  The mis-truths just keep flowing.  That’s a hefty charge for a company, especially in these tough economic times when businesses are laying off workers.  Forget job creation.

From Bloomberg:

Verizon Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. phone company, became the latest company to record a cost related to the U.S. health-care overhaul, saying it will incur a $970 million expense.

The one-time, non-cash cost will be taken in the first quarter, New York-based Verizon said late today in a regulatory filing.

Verizon follows AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. carrier, Deere & Co., Caterpillar Inc. and other companies in disclosing similar expenses after losing a tax benefit for retiree plans. The costs may reduce corporate profits by as much as $14 billion as companies account for the impact of the health-care reforms, according to benefits consulting firm Towers Watson.

“While it is a non-cash charge, it does reflect real value destruction, based on expected cash flows over the life of the company,” said Jonathan Schildkraut, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York.

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If you’re a regular reader of my blog and read the comments then you’re aware of the Progressive Socialist who predicted that Obama’s approval ratings would inch up after the health-care legislation was passed.  Like most of their predictions, that has proved false.  According to the latest Gallup Poll (the preferred polling of Progressive Socialist), Obama’s disapproval ratings have hit an all-time high of 50%- this, despite hitting the trail to talk up the passage of the Bill and the trumpeting by the mainstream media.

A majority of those polled, 50% disapprove of the Bill, while 47% approve- this is a 10% shift over the same poll that was conducted immediately after the Bill was passed when it was favored by 49%-40%.  Political scientist Charles Franklin explains that approval for the Bill immediately after its passage is subjected to “short-term effects” since news was dominated by the positive side of the story.

The poll also find that a majority of Americans believe that Democrats are abusing power and are to blame for the recent violence and threats.  That’s amazing given that the mainstream media have attempted to blame the violence on Republicans and Tea Party goers.  This may be evidence that the American people no longer believe what they hear and read in the mainstream media and are getting their information either through personal experience or other sources of information.

Below is a very interested article by USA Today:

In an interview airing Tuesday on NBC’s Today, Obama acknowledges concerns about cost. “It is a critical first step in making a health care system that works for all Americans,” he said of the law, adding, “We are still going to have adjustments that have to be made to further reduce costs.”

Obama’s approval rating was 47%-50% — the first time his disapproval rating has hit 50%.

In the survey:

• A plurality predicts the law will improve health care coverage generally and the overall health of Americans. But a majority says it also will drive up overall costs and worsen the federal budget deficit.

• When it comes to their families, they see less gain and more pain: Pluralities say it will make coverage and quality of care worse for them. By 50%-21%, they predict it will make their costs higher.

Opponents of the health care bill are a bit more likely than supporters to say the vote will have a major impact on their vote for Congress in the fall. Three in 10 are much more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes the bill. One in four are much more likely to vote for a candidate who supports it.

The poll of 1,033 adults, taken by land line and cellphone Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of +/–4 percentage points.

Half call passage of the bill “a bad thing” and 47% “a good thing.” That differs from a one-day USA TODAY poll taken March 22 — a day after the House approved the legislation — in which a 49%-40% plurality called the bill “a good thing.”

“Any one-day poll in the immediate aftermath of a major event is likely to be subject not only to sampling error but also to very short-term effects,” says political scientist Charles Franklin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the time, “the news cycle was dominated by the positive side of the story, and only a little bit by the Republicans’ rebuttal to that.”

There was a strong reaction against the tactics Democratic leaders used to pass the bill. A 53% majority call Democratic methods “an abuse of power;” 40% say they are appropriate.

And when asked about incidents of vandalism and threats that followed the bill’s passage, Americans are more inclined to blame Democratic political tactics than critics’ harsh rhetoric. Forty-nine percent say Democratic tactics are “a major reason” for the incidents, while 46% blame criticism by conservative commentators and 43% the criticism of Republican leaders.

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1.  Federal authorities have arrested a Philadelphia man and charged him with threatening to kill Republican House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and his family.Norman Leboon will be charged with two federal counts: threatening to kill a member of Congress and interfering with his federal duties, and posting video online containing such threats. He is scheduled to appear in federal district court in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon.  The arrest is the most serious in a string of threats of violence against lawmakers in wake of the divisive health care vote. Continued…

And the Progressive Socialist Democrats’ violence didn’t stop there.  Acts of violence and threats mounted this weekend in Searchlight, Nevada, the hometown of Senator Reid. Reid supporters threatened violence and threw eggs at Tea Party goers.  Continued…

2. Realizing that they may have lost the battle trying to convince everyone that global warming exists, the Progressive Socialist now want to stop scaring people of impeding disaster and push “low-carbon energy”.  They write:

Climate science, even at its most uncontroversial, could never motivate the remaking of the entire global energy economy. Efforts to use climate science to threaten an apocalyptic future should we fail to embrace green proposals, and to characterize present-day natural disasters as terrifying previews of an impending day of reckoning, have only served to undermine the credibility of both climate science and progressive energy policy.

Read the essay here.

3.  One week after the House passed the Democratic healthcare plan that President Obama subsequently signed into law, 54 percent of the nation’s likely voters still favor repealing the law.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42 percent oppose repeal.  Those figures are virtually unchanged from last week. They include 44 percent who strongly favor repeal and 34 percent who strongly oppose it.
Repeal is favored by 84 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of unaffiliated voters. Among white Democrats, 25 percent favor repeal, but only 1 percent of black Democrats share that view. Click here to read more about the poll.

4.  I want to thank my new sponsors to my website.  Companies like BestBuy, 1-800 Flowers, Bare Necessities, TicketNetwork, Buy.com, Public Savings Bank, Investors Business Daily… these are just a few of the companies who saw the value in having their company advertise on JohnPaulus.com.  I want to welcome them and encourage you to visit their online stores.

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