Obamacare Architect Built House of Cards

Obamacare Architect Built House of Cards

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 14, 2014

Democrats are running away from Jonathan Gruber faster than they ran away from Barack Obama during the midterm election campaigns. The MIT economist and architect of Obamacare is so toxic, he may as well have Ebola and Leprosy.

Gruber, who disingenuously claimed he was speaking off the cuff and not thinking about his words, has not only lied about that, but lied to the American people about the credibility of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. At least four videotapes have surfaced, as of this writing, where Gruber so arrogantly called the American voters stupid and that said stupidity is what is needed to shove Obamacare down the people’s throats. These videos defy Gruber’s claim he was speaking extemporaneously.

While most of the American citizens opposed and still oppose Obamacare, demonstrating their intelligence, as opposed to stupidity, it must be the Congressional Democrats who supported Obamacare that are the stupid ones. But then again, this is the same monstrosity House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said had to be passed before they could find out what was in that 2,000-plus page behemoth of a bill.

The only way this, the Affordable Care Act, will succeed is by preying on the stupidity of the American voters, said Gruber in 2009. He doubled down by later saying the “stupidity of the American voter is critical” in getting this passed. Additionally, Gruber said the “exploitation of a lack of knowledge of the American voter” is necessary. Reports have been produced proving Gruber actually told Obama it is necessary to hoodwink and lie to the American people in an effort to get them to swallow the bitter and expensive pill that has become Obamacare. While Obama has denied that Gruber was a part of his administration, there is a record of the rogue economist having visited the White House 19 times.

Former Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) called Gruber “an outside expert,” while soon to be Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called him “one of the most respected economists in the world.”

Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer called this display “liberal arrogance.”

And in a moment of lucidity, Howard Dean, a doctor and former DNC chairman said, “Obamacare was written by elitists who don’t fundamentally understand the American people.” Yet Dean was an early supporter of Obamacare, attending a number of town hall meetings during those early days to help explain it to people. (I attended one such meeting in Reston, VA, hosted by US Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) where Dean did most of the talking.)

Dean is not the only one to put distance between himself and Gruber. Pelosi, just three days ago, claimed not to know who Gruber is in an episode of selective amnesia, when there is video evidence she not only knows who he is, but praising him for his work in November 2009.

Even the media has balked at reporting this story – the major networks and newspapers such as The Washington Post and New York Times. Fox News has been on top of this story. Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor, said, “This is a cancer,” about Obamacare. Siegel went on to remind people that in 2015 the individual mandate will more than triple, from $95 to $325, or two percent of their income, whichever is higher.

For his lies and insults, Gruber was paid about $400,000 in 2009 by the Obama administration – Health and Human Services, which has been eerily silent on this matter. On the other hand, Obama’s silence, tantamount to support of Gruber, should come as no surprise. This cloak of opaqueness and belief in the stupidity of the American people is an indictment of the Obama administration and how they really feel about the American people. Gruber should be required to return this money – plus interest – call it a stupid tax.

This fraud perpetrated on the American people should be cause enough to invalidate Obamacare, or the Supreme Court decision making it the law of the land. As said several years ago when Obamacare was thrust upon the nation, the American people should not be forced to purchase a product they may not want. Freedom of choice seems to be a Democrat Party mantra, but only on abortion. On all other decisions, Democrats and Obama believe government is best to make them for the people – because like Gruber, they think we the people are stupid.

Call, write, and/or e-mail your member of Congress and demand Obamacare either be invalidated, defunded, or returned to the Supreme Court now that the light of day has been shone upon it. It’s up to the people to take action and have our voices be heard. Act now!

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Send Cancellation Notice to Reid

Send Cancellation Notice to Reid

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 28, 2014

“There's plenty of horror stories being told.  All of them are untrue, but they're being told all over America. But in those tales – turned out to be just that – tales – stories made up from whole cloth, lies, distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.” – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Wednesday, February 26, 2014, on the Senate floor

For the 6.2 million Americans who have been unceremoniously dropped from their personal health care insurance coverage because of the government imposition and intrusion of the so-called Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, you have been called liars by the Senate Majority Leader – Nevada Democrat Harry Reid.

For the many more millions of Americans who have struggled with the Obamacare website, but to no avail, you too have been called liars by the Senate Majority Leader – Nevada Democrat Harry Reid.

And just where did Reid make these outlandish pronouncements? The hallowed halls of the Senate chamber.

The intelligence of the average American has been insulted time and time again by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in their feeble and feckless attempts to ensure the nation that Obamacare is good for them, that it is better than the coverage they already have or have been separated from through no choice of their own. Yet the raw numbers have proven otherwise – that we the people are not falling for the chicanery coming from the Obama administration and his minions.

Now Reid feels compelled to pile on by calling millions of Americans liars – no sugar coating, no euphemisms or spin – rare for anything said in Washington – further subjugating them from their dignity. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and US Representative Gary Peters (D-MI-14) have also taken to calling these same Americans liars.

These true life horror stories have come from rabbis, priests, stay at home moms with sick children, truck drivers, sales clerks, and even doctors and nurses. Folks from all walks of life, dropped from their chosen coverage or unable to procure coverage on the government website have reached a new low – called liars by the people supposedly sent to Washington to represent their best interests, when the only interests they are representing are self-interests, their own job salvation, and their attempts to get reelected.

For any of those people who have been dropped by their insurance company, send a copy of that cancellation notice directly to the office of Harry Reid. Let millions of copies of these letters no one asked to receive flood Reid’s office. Make him rue the day he called hardworking Americans liars when it is he who is the political opportunist.

Visit Reid’s official website: www.reid.senate.gov.

Send the copy of the cancellation notice to Reid’s office: 522 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510

Fax the copy of the cancellation notice to Reid’s office: 202-224-7327

Call his office to politely lodge your disgust with Reid – yes, politely – don’t sink to his level: 202-224-3542

Flood Senator Harry Reid’s office. Bury them in a sea of paper to make them understand that the poor choices made by government have consequences – often dire. Yet to people like Reid, the suffering of average, faceless, nameless Americans is merely collateral damage. Make Reid understand that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Shut Down Obama - Simply Vindictive

Shut Down Obama – Simply Vindictive
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 6, 2013

Barack Obama brings out such visceral feelings in not just me, but so many Americans, more so than any other person to occupy the White House since the day John and Abigail Adams moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Obama is the most malicious, vindictive, and petty individual to occupy the office of president with more scandals than Richard Nixon, Warren Harding, and Andrew Johnson combined; thinner skin than Nixon, and overall even worse than Jimmy Carter as an effective leader.

It is not hyperbole to say with the utmost clarity that the narcissist-in-chief is not a leader, but a petty, vindictive despot working his damndest to offend, hurt, and punish as many real Americans whom he is charged to serve. Obama is personally inflicting as much pain, suffering, and inconvenience upon veterans, children, and vacationers as possible, not just in these United States, but overseas as well.

There are more than 9,300 American World War II troops turning over in their graves in the Normandy American Cemetery in France while Obama has ordered it off limits to visitors – people who have traveled at pronounced expense to pay homage to real heroes of the Greatest Generation. Obama is simply spitting on their memories.

Personally inflicting, as the barricades and roadblocks preventing people from visiting open-air monuments such as the World War II, Korean War, Vietnam Conflict, FDR, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others have been put in place upon the orders of Obama. He can take to the microphone and use his bully pulpit – key word being bully – to blame the GOP day after day for shutting down the federal government, but in reality, Obama himself could have prevented such a shutdown.

This shutdown was predicated upon funding of the so-called Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, to which more and more Americans have objected on so many levels – retaining one’s personal physician, not true in most cases, the cost of coverage rising instead of falling as promised, additional taxes, and the overall mandating of an expense upon the American people in dictatorial fashion as the country myopically marches toward socialized medicine.

The Supreme Court may have declared Obamacare the law of the land, but the House of Representatives still retains power of the purse, and in this system of checks and balances, has the right to deny funding for any bill, act, or program it deems a violation of the rights of the people. Sometimes “no” is the right answer.

Obama’s abuse of power knows no bounds and he must be shut down. Obama is a stellar student having learned at the proverbial knee of Saul Alinksy (1909-72) and his Rules for Radicals. Obama has orchestrated the façade of the government in turmoil with his ordering of places such as the Grand Canyon closed. And yet, according to Byron York of The Washington Examiner, 83 percent of the federal government is still being funded – including all those folks putting up the barricades, who clearly are not volunteering their time.

Just Friday, October 4, a park ranger told The Washington Times “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.” This is what passes for leadership? Instead, this is the petulant temper tantrum of a three-year-old will to hold his breath until he gets what he wants.

While it is Obama who announced he would not negotiate with the GOP, he seemed more than ready and willing to sit down with new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. And yet, Obama finds time to weigh in on whether or not to change the name of the Washington Redskins were he that football team’s owner.

Americans are losing money in their businesses and their vacations, while Camp David and Obama’s golf course remain open for business. Obama even tried to force Mt. Vernon to cease operations, but he could not, as the home of Founding Father and first president George Washington is not a federally controlled entity. Mt. Vernon is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, receiving no government dollars. Congratulations to Mt. Vernon for standing up to Obama – I will once again renew my membership to that vaunted place of Americana. I am happy to provide the link for membership to Mt. Vernon: http://www.mountvernon.org/membership I have enjoyed numerous visits there and learn something new every time.

Continuing to add insult to injury as only Obama knows how, military chaplains are also under fire. Catholic priests have been ordered not to conduct baptisms, weddings, give last rites, hold mass, or even administer the sacraments. Even if such priests volunteer their time and services, they are still threatened with arrest and will be charged with a crime.

In what country do we live where men of the cloth, doing the work of G-d are under threat of arrest for ministering to their flock? What happened to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution? For rabbis, priests, ministers, pastors, and other religious leaders to be threatened by Obama is simply unconscionable, and yet part of his plan to secularize America while Socializing it simultaneously.

To understand Obamacare is to object to Obamacare. The government shutdown won’t last beyond October 17 and the next hurdle it needs to reach – raising the debt ceiling, to which I object. As a matter of principle, stand with those members who object to Obamacare in word and vote. Those who cave should be replaced in November 2014.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Kill Obamacare or Shut Down DC

Kill Obamacare or Shut Down DC
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 30, 2013

A week ago, hypocrite in chief Barack Obama led the Democrats in the use of incendiary language, accusing the Republicans in Congress of “holding the whole country hostage” by having the gall to vote against his health care program, which is the real hostage taker.

Obamacare, even prior to installation, has begun its stranglehold over the American people and the entirety of the American economy which will have far reaching affects beyond our borders.

More and more companies, great and small are making executive decisions affecting the lives of their employees by cutting back hours, turning these United States into a part time working nation with more and more people becoming increasingly dependent upon government largesse.

The problem is that with more and more people dependent upon the government, it requires a greater amount of funding – funding that comes from the people – people who work and pay taxes to fund the government. The fewer hours people work, the less they have to “contribute” to the government coffers to pay for those people no longer working, thus overburdening those who are left working to pick up a larger and larger tab.

The majority of the American people have rejected Obamacare as they understand it will ultimately cost more to provide health insurance, make demands upon companies’ hiring practices, as well as their moral discretion pertaining to what they are providing for their employees. The government seems to have this notion it can force private industry to dance to the administration’s tune – thus Obama is the hostage taker.

Small businesses are opting to pay penalties rather than cover their employees at higher rates than the penalties themselves. Obamacare is also responsible for the stunting of economic growth as businesses are not hiring in an effort to keep their employment rolls below the threshold required to provide for their employees.

The Republicans in Congress are doing the right thing by attempting to defund Obamacare. They are taking a principled stance on the possibility that the government may shut down should Obama reject a budget minus Obamacare funding. Understand that a government shutdown does not prevent the mail from being delivered. It does not prevent retirees from receiving their Social Security checks. It does not mean the United States armed forces are no longer on the job either.

If Obamacare, hyped by this administration and its lackeys in Congress as the savior of American healthcare, why have so many industries, businesses, and even Congress itself been allowed to opt out? Why has Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) called Obamacare a “train wreck,” repeatedly? Why has the teamsters’ union president James P. Hoffa, a strong Obama supporter, come out virulently against Obama’s signature legislation, calling it “a nightmare?”

Sen. Ted Cruz spoke passionately for more than 21 hours last week. Part of his oration simply stated that the Obama administration and Congress itself should set the example and play by the rules it is attempting to inflict upon the rest of America. Yes, inflict, based upon the reasons to refute Obamacare as stated above.

Yet just because the GOP wishes to defund a legislative program designed to push the United States toward socialized medicine, that is already having a negative impact on the economy, that is forcing more than a handful of doctors to close their practices and retire, the Democrats are continuing to use provocative language toward the Republicans.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), she of the famous, “we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it,” called the GOP “legislative arsonists.” To this day, Pelosi still has yet to read the entirety of the Obamacare bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), never one to back down from a fight, as a former pugilist, called the GOP “Tea Party anarchists.” Anarchy, Sen. Reid, is an absence of government, a state of lawlessness or political disorder. No one, from either party, is calling for anarchy. But Reid, like Pelosi, is no stranger to bombastic rhetoric.

A government shutdown is not the worst thing that could occur come midnight. If it does, the blame falls squarely on the narrow shoulders of Obama, who will no doubt veto a budget sans Obamacare. A shutdown will not prevent essential services from continuing, despite Obama’s scare tactics. The bigger picture, however, is to eradicate Obamacare before it ensures any further damage. If the people think it is bad now, wait until it is actually enforced.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obamacare Cruz-ing for a Bruising

Obamacare Cruz-ing for a Bruising
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
August 7, 2013

While I rarely disagree with conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, I will tread carefully while I respectfully suggest he has it backward in his August 2 editorial “GOP’s suicide mission” – at least in his section about Obamacare.

Krauthammer suggests that conservative stalwart Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) “are threatening to shut down the government on October 1 if the stopgap funding bill contains money for Obamacare.”

Cruz and Lee can threaten all they wish, but as Krauthammer correctly points out, the Democrats control the Senate, not Cruz and Lee’s minority Republican Party, and thus the GOP is likely to go down to defeat in appropriately attempting to defund this albatross around the necks of all Americans who work for a living or meet a payroll keeping said workers employed.

Even Democratic Senator Max Baucus (MT) has called Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act, a “train wreck.”

Where Krauthammer and I part company is in my not thinking a GOP effort to defund Obamacare will be a suicide mission. With the shrinking popularity of the imposition of socialized medicine, fewer options, higher prices and premiums, and still no cross country competition, more Americans will appreciate the efforts of the GOP standing up for the folks who sent them to Washington in the first place.

The defunding bill will surely pass the GOP-controlled House, and even if it manages to pass in the Senate, the power to keep the government running like the incompetent machine it is, is in the hands of Obama himself. The issue is whether Obama wants a government shutdown on his watch that he can prevent by admitting defeat on his precious socialized medicine roadshow whose level of popularity continues to wane, or retain his arrogance, veto the bill, and blame the Republicans for not giving him what he wants simply because he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Cruz, who introduced a bill in the Senate to defund Obamacare, said he will never support even one dime of funding for what is both Obama’s signature piece of legislation and the potential downfall of the American economy.

"The Administration's recent announcement to delay the onerous and unpopular employer mandate until after the 2014 election, coupled with its announcement to delay income and health status eligibility requirements in favor of an honor system for the most expensive entitlement for our generation, confirms what has been obvious from the start – this law is a colossal mistake," Cruz said in a press release.

Cruz must be doing something right as he caught the attention of Obama lapdog Chris Matthews, also a supposed “newsman” for MSNBC. Matthews, while shilling for Obama, said that Cruz’s legislation to defund Obamacare is “an act of terrorism.” Terrorism? That’s extreme even for the ratings starved, virtually irrelevant Matthews.

Is it an act of terrorism to follow the rule of law as established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution? Is it an act of terrorism to put the responsibility of an individual’s choice pertaining to healthcare in the hands of, um, the individual? Is it an act of terrorism to prevent government from forcing its citizenry to purchase a product it may or may not want? Matthews is an absolute imbecile for making such an outlandish statement, which is not only an embarrassment to him, but offensive to victims of true terrorism. Matthews owes Cruz and terror victims an apology.

Obama has forced businesses to reduce its workforce to ensure it does not cross the 50 employee threshold making it responsible for providing Obamacare to its employees. Additionally, workers are already feeling the pre-enacted sting of Obamacare as hours are being sliced down below a 40 and even below a 36-hour work week, thus turning the United States into a part time economy.

Congress must have finally taken Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) advice to read the bill and discovered what was in it was enough to grant themselves a waiver from Obamacare while inflicting it upon the rest of the American rank and file.

Even three of the largest unions in the country, spearheaded by the Teamsters, some of Obama’s most loyal supporters, object to enactment of Obamacare. In an open letter to Democratic Congressional leadership, the unions said enactment of Obamacare will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

At least Senator Cruz is keeping his word in attempting to defund the dangerous Obamacare. A government shutdown is avoidable if Obama wakes up from his stupor and socialist haze in time to realize the opposition is mounting against his potentially economy-crippling legislation that will ultimately make the American people even more dependent upon Washington, something hard working Americans are loathe to experience.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.