504 Documented Examples of Obama's Lies, Lawbreaking, Corruption, Cronyism, Etc.
Editor's Note: Our previous article from Dan , citing 252 Documented Examples of Barack Obama's Lying, Lawbreaking, Corruption, Cronyism, etc. , has been updated to 504 documented examples. The update is below.
Every President, every politician, and every human being tells lies
and engages in acts of hypocrisy. But Barack Obama does these things to a
far greater degree than anyone else that I have ever known of. His
campaign promises were so much better sounding than anyone else's - no
lobbyists in his administration, waiting five days before signing all
non-emergency bills so people would have time to read them, putting
health care negotiations on C-SPAN, reading every bill line by line to
make sure money isn't being wasted, prosecution of Wall St. criminals,
ending raids against medical marijuana in states where it's legal, high
levels of transparency. Obama's promises of these wonderful things
sounded inspiring and sincere. They sounded so much better than the
promises of any other President. So when Obama broke these promises, it
felt so much worse than when other Presidents broke their promises.
In the 2008 United States election, I wrote in Ron Paul for
President. In the 2012 election, I voted for Libertarian Party candidate
Gary Johnson. Those who are of a more leftist persuasion than myself
might want to consider voting for the Green Party in future elections.
Some of the things on this list are major events that should scare
the daylights out of any true liberal who cares about civil liberties.
Other things on this list are medium things that some Obama
supporters may dislike, but would be willing to overlook in light of the
things that Obama has done which they like.
And some of the things on this list may seem trivial, but I still
think they are an interesting reflection of the kinds of policies that
Obama supports.
Every claim that I make in this list is sourced. Click on the blue
text to see the sources. I have cited a wide variety of sources, from
right wing, to left wing, to middle of the road.
I welcome any comments and criticisms that you may have. If you say
my list is wrong, please back up your claim by citing specific examples.
And now, on with the list:
1) Carried out military interventionism in Libya without Congressional approval
In June 2011, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that
Obama had violated the Constitution when he launched military operations
in Libya without Congressional approval.
2) Gave a no-bid contract to Halliburton - just like Bush did
In May 2010, it was reported
that the Obama administration had selected KBR, a former subsidiary of
Halliburton, for a no-bid contract worth as much as $568 million through
2011, just hours after the Justice Department had said it would pursue a
lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of using kickbacks to get
foreign contracts.
3) Has an administration full of lobbyists, after promising he wouldn't have any
While running for President, Obama had promised that, unlike Bush, he
would not have any lobbyists working in his administration. However, by
February 2010, he had more than 40 lobbyists working in his administration.
4) Has close ties to Wall St., but pretends to support Occupy Wall St.
Although Obama claims to support the Occupy Wall St. movement, the truth is that he has raised more
money from Wall St. than any other candidate during the last 20 years.
In early 2012, Obama held a fundraiser where Wall St. investment bankers
and hedge fund managers each paid $35,800 to attend. In October 2011, Obama hired
Broderick Johnson, a longtime Wall Street lobbyist, to be his new
senior campaign adviser. Johnson had worked as a lobbyist for JP Morgan
Chase, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Comcast, Microsoft, and the oil
industry.
5) Broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay
Obama broke his promise to close Guantanamo Bay.
6) Supported the $700 billion TARP corporate-welfare bailout just like Bush
While Senator, Obama voted
for the $700 billion TARP bank bailout bill. The bailout rewarded
irresponsible and illegal behavior. It redirected resources from more
productive uses to less productive uses. It punished the hard working
taxpayers who had played by the rules and obeyed the law. It created
horrible incentives, and sent the wrong message. The bailout was evil
because it rewarded the bad people and punished the good people. No
society that does this can expect to remain free or prosperous. Instead
of bailing out these corrupt corporations, we should have let them cease
to exist, like we did with Enron.
7) Waged the biggest war against medical marijuana of any president, which was the opposite of what he had promised
In May 2008, Obama campaign spokesperson Ben LaBolt said that Obama would end DEA raids on medical marijuana in states where it's legal. Also in 2008, Obama said
that he supported the "basic concept of using medical marijuana for the
same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs" and that he
was "not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to
circumvent state laws."
However, in February 2010, DEA agents raided
a medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch in Colorado, a state
where medical marijuana is legal. Also in February 2010, DEA agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City in California, a state where medical marijuana is legal. In July 2010, the DEA raided at least four medical marijuana growers in San Diego, California. Also in July 2010, the DEA raided a medical marijuana facility in Covelo, California. Then in September 2010, the DEA conducted raids
on at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada,
where medical marijuana is legal. In 2011, the DEA conducted raids
on medical marijuana in Seattle, Washington, West Hollywood,
California, and Helena, Montana, all places where it is legal. In April
2012, the DEA carried out several raids on medical marijuana in Oakland, California.
In February 2012, Rolling Stone magazine wrote
that Obama's war against medical marijuana went "far beyond anything
undertaken by George W. Bush." In April 2012, Mother Jones magazine wrote :"The president campaigned on the promise that he'd stop federal raids
on medical marijuana operations that were in compliance with state laws,
a vow that Attorney General Eric Holder repeated after the election.
But then the Obama administration raided more than 100 dispensaries in
its first three years and is now poised to outpace the Bush
administration's crackdown record." In May 2012, the Washington Post wrote :"Obama has become more hostile to medical marijuana patients than any
president in U.S. history." In May 2012, U.S. Congressperson Nancy
Pelosi (D-California) said
she had "strong concerns" about Obama's forced closure of five medical
marijuana facilities in Pelosi's congressional district. In April 2012,
commenting on Obama's crackdown on medical marijuana, U.S. Congressman
Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) said , "I'm very disappointed... They look more like the Bush administration than the Clinton administration."
In July 2012, federal prosecutors filed
civil forfeiture actions against Harborside Health Center, a medical
marijuana dispensary in Oakland, CA, which claims to be the world's
largest, and which claims to serve more than 100,000 medical marijuana
patients. In April 2012, federal agents raided
Oaksterdam University, an educational institution in Oakland, CA, which
teaches people about medical marijuana. In April 2012, federal agents raided
a medical marijuana facility which had been serving 1,500 patients near
Lake Elsinore, CA. In June 2012, the Obama administration filed
asset-forfeiture lawsuits against two landlords who rented their
buildings to medical marijuana stores in Santa Fe Springs, CA. The Obama
administration also sent warning letters which threatened similar legal
action to dozens of other, nearby landlords. During the first seven
months of 2012, the DEA shut down 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, all of which had been operating in compliance with state and local law.
In July 2013, the DEA conducted multiple medical marijuana raids in Washington state, including the cities of Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle.
In May 2012, ABC News reported
that during Obama's youth, he often smoked large quantities of
recreational marijuana. Obama's marijuana smoking wasn't even medical -
it was recreational. And yet now, he is taking large scale, widespread
action to prevent people with AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis,
glaucoma, and other illnesses, who have prescriptions from their
doctors, from using their prescription medicine - how cold hearted can a
person be?
8) Nominated a six-time tax cheater to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws
Obama nominated Timothy Geithner, a repeat tax cheater , to head the government agency that enforces the tax laws.
Prior to his nomination, Geithner had:
1) Illegally failed to pay more than $34,000 in social security and medicare taxes
2) Illegally declared the cost of his children's summer camp as a form of day care.
3) Illegally failed to pay the early withdrawal penalty when he took money out of his retirement plan
4) Illegally declared non-eligible items as a charitable deduction
5) Illegally declared something which was ineligible as a small business deduction
6) Illegally declared utility expenses which had actually been for his personal use
9) Gave tax dollars to AIG executives, then pretended to be outraged about it
Obama signed a stimulus bill that spent money on bonuses for AIG executives. Prior to signing this bill, Obama had said ,
"when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are
not spending money unwisely." However, after reading "line by line" and
signing the stimulus bill that protected the AIG bonuses, Obama pretended
to be shocked and outraged at the bonuses, and said, "Under these
circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G.
warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay... How
do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the
company afloat?" and also said that he would "pursue every single legal
avenue to block these bonuses."
10) Expanded Bush's unconstitutional government faith based programs
Obama expanded the federal government's faith based programs which had been started by President George W. Bush.
11) Supported Bush's unconstitutional Patriot Act
In May 2011, Obama signed a renewal of the Patriot Act.
12) Increased the national debt more in one term than Bush did in two
The national debt increased more during Obama's first three years and two months than it did during all eight years of George W. Bush's presidency.
13) Agrees with Bush's support of unconstitutional, indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without filing any charges
In December 2011, ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero
criticized Obama for signing a bill that gave the U.S. government the
power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without any charges being filed or any trial taking place.
14) Agrees with Bush's support of unconstitutional, warrantless wiretapping
President Obama has defended warrantless wiretapping.
15) Avoided prosecution of Wall. St criminals
Although Obama had promised to prosecute Wall St. criminals, during his entire first term , his administration did not file any criminal charges against any of the top financial executives.
16) Had four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process
Obama had four U.S. citizens killed without judicial process.
The ACLU accused Obama of violating the U.S. Constitution for doing this.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) said that Obama's actions might be an impeachable offense.
17) Ordered private company to fire 1,000 employees
In 2011, after Boeing had hired 1,000 new employees to work at its
new factory in South Carolina, the Obama administration ordered Boeing
to shut down the factory, because the factory was non-union.
18) Stole money from retired teachers and police officers
During the Chrysler bankruptcy, Obama violated the Fifth Amendment
and more than 150 years of bankruptcy law by illegally treating secured
creditors worse
than unsecured creditors. Some of these secured creditors were retired
teachers and police officers from Indiana. Richard A. Epstein, a law
professor at New York University School of Law, wrote ,
"Upsetting this fixed hierarchy among creditors is just an illegal
taking of property from one group of creditors for the benefit of
another, which should be struck down on both statutory and
constitutional grounds." Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason
University School of Law, wrote that Obama's treatment of secured creditors was "dangerous to the rule of law." The Economist wrote
that Obama's actions could "establish a terrible precedent. Bankruptcy
exists to sort legal claims on assets. If it becomes a tool of social
policy, who will then lend to struggling firms in which the government
has a political interest?" Francis Cianfrocca, the CEO of Bayshore
Networks, wrote
that Obama's actions were "an astonishingly reckless abrogation of
contract law that will introduce a new level of uncertainty into
business transactions at all levels, and make wealth generation more
difficult going forward... An extraordinary uncertainty has been created
when the most powerful man in the world can rewrite contracts and choose
winners and losers in private negotiations as he sees fit. Since this
is an unquantifiable uncertainty, and not a quantifiable risk, its
effect on business and investor confidence will be large and
unpredictable. As in the 1930s, a time when government also cavalierly
rewrote private contracts, the prudent approach for business will be to
invest minimally and wait for another administration."
19) Supported release of convicted mass murderer
In 2010, Obama supported releasing Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (who had been convicted of murdering 270 people) from prison.
20) Illegally put thousands of guns into hands of criminals
In Operation Fast and Furious, the Obama administration ordered gun storeowners to illegally sell thousands of guns to criminals.
U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered with one of these guns.
21) Fired Inspector General for discovering that Obama's friend had embezzled government funds
In June 2009, Obama fired
Inspector General Gerald Walpin, after Walpin accused Sacramento mayor
Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, of misuse of AmeriCorps funding to
pay for school-board political activities. In a letter to Congress, the
White House said that Walpin was fired because he was "confused,
disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior
that led the Board to question his capacity to serve." A bipartisan
group of 145 current and former public officials, attorneys, and legal
scholars signed
a letter that was sent to the White House, which defended Walpin, said
the criticisms of him were not true, and said that his firing was
politically motivated. The letter can be read here .
22) Lied about putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN
Although Obama had made a campaign promise to have all of the health care reform negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, he broke that promise after he was elected.
The secrecy of these negotiations was so strong that U.S. Congresswoman and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said , "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
23) Lied about letting people keep their health insurance
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama said :
"No matter how we reform health care,
we will keep this promise to the American people... If you like your
health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period.
No one will take it away, no matter what."
Also before Obamacare was passed, Obama said :"Here is a guarantee that I've made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance."
However, after Obamacare was passed, the Congressional Budget Office said that the law would cause seven million people to lose their employer provided insurance.
After Obamacare was passed, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East announced that it would drop
health insurance for the children of more than 30,000 low-wage home
attendants. Mitra Behroozi, executive director of benefit and pension
funds for 1199SEIU stated
"... new federal health-care reform
legislation requires plans with dependent coverage to expand that
coverage up to age 26... meeting this new requirement would be financially
impossible."
Also, after Obamacare was passed, the Franciscan University of Steubenville dropped its coverage in response to the law.
Universal Orlando dropped its coverage for part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In addition, after Obamacare was passed, Forbes reported
"The House Ways and Means Committee
has released a new report that sheds light onto how Obamacare
incentivizes companies to dump their workers onto the new law's
subsidized exchanges."
Also after Obamacare was passed, MSN reported "The Affordable Care Act mandate most
commonly known as Obamacare has some tight stipulations that, CNN says,
are forcing health care companies to rip up most of their current plans
and draft new ones that comply. According to a University of Chicago
study, just about half of the individual health care plans currently on
the market won't cut it once key provisions of the Affordable Care Act
kick in next year."
Furthermore, it was reported that Obamacare would cause 58,000 Aetna and UnitedHealth Group customers in California to lose their insurance.
In response to Obamacare, some employers have dropped coverage for their employees' spouses. In August 2013, it was reported
that UPS had announced that it would be dropping 15,000 spouses of its
employees from its health insurance, and that it had cited Obamacare as
the reason it was doing this.
The chain of Wegmans supermarkets cancelled the policies of its part time employees in response to Obamacare.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare
"will shatter not only our hard-earned
health benefits... these restrictions will make non-profit plans like
ours unsustainable... we can no longer stand silent in the face of
elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very health
and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking
Americans"
In August 2013, it was reported that 106,000 New Jersey citizens would lose their health insurance because of Obamacare.
In September 2013, IBM announced that it would be switching 110,000 of its retirees from their current IBM-provided health insurance to the Obamacare exchanges.
In September 2013, Trader Joe's announced that, in response to Obamacare, it would stop providing insurance to its part time employees.
In October 2013, it was reported that at least 146,000 people in Michigan would be losing their insurance because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was reported that Florida Blue would be dropping 300,000 customers because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was reported that 491,977 individual insurance plans in California would be canceled because of Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was reported that, in response to Obamacare, Home Depot would stop providing insurance to its part time employees.
In October 2013, it was reported
that Obamacare was forcing CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to cancel the
insurance of 76,000 people in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.,
because their policies did not meet the minimum requirements of
Obamacare.
In October 2013, it was reported that hundreds of thousands of people in Washington state would be losing their insurance because of Obamacare.
In November 2013, it was reported that nearly nearly 250,000 people in Colorado would lose their insurance because of Obamacare.
24) Lied about the cost of Obamacare
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama promised
"I will not sign a plan that adds one
dime to our deficits - either now or in the future. I will not sign it
if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period. And to
prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that
requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we
promised don't materialize."
However, after Obama signed it, the Washington Post reported that it would add more than $340 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade.
In March 2012, the Congressional Budget Office said that over the next decade, Obamacare would cost twice as much as what Obama had promised.
In May 2013, it was reported that Obamacare's program for high risk patients was more expensive than what Obama had promised.
25) Gave tax dollars to campaign contributors and lobbyists, and falsely claimed the money was for "green energy"
In 2009 the Obama administration gave $535 million to Solyndra, claiming that it would create
4,000 new jobs. However, instead of creating those 4,000 new jobs, the
company went bankrupt. It was later revealed that the company's
shareholders and executives had made substantial donations to Obama's campaign, that the company had spent a large sum of money on lobbying , and that Solyndra executives had had many meetings with White House officials.
It was also revealed that the Obama administration had already been
aware of Solyndra's financial troubles. For example, according to the
company's security filings in 2009, the company had been selling its
product for less than the cost of production. In 2010, Obama visited the Solyndra factory and cited it as a role model for his stimulus program, saying "It's here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future." The Washington Post wrote
of this, "Administration officials and outside advisers warned that
President Obama should consider dropping plans to visit a solar startup
company in 2010 because its mounting financial problems might ultimately
embarrass the White House." Solyndra was a private company, but had
been planning to use its government loans as a means of going public -
so when Obama knowingly overstated the company's condition in order to
help his friends at Solyndra, he broke the same law that Martha Stewart had been sent to prison for breaking.
In September 2011, federal agents visited
the homes of Brian Harrison, the company's CEO, and Chris Gronet, the
company's founder, to examine computer files and documents. Also in
September 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department launched an investigation.
On September 13, 2011, the Washington Post reported
on emails which showed that the Obama administration had tried to rush
federal reviewers to approve the loan so Vice President Joe Biden could
announce it at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company's
factory. The company was a hallmark of President Obama's plan to support
clean energy technologies.
The New York Times reported
that government auditors and industry analysts had faulted the Obama
administration for failing to properly evaluate the company's business
proposals, as well as for failing to take note of troubling signs which
were already evident. In addition, Frank Rusco, a program director at
the Government Accountability Office, had found that the preliminary
loan approval had been granted before officials had completed the
legally mandated evaluations of the company.
The New York Times quoted
Shyam Mehta, a senior analyst at GTM Research, as saying "There was
just too much misplaced zeal at the Department of Energy for this
company." Among 143 companies that had expressed an interest in getting a
loan guarantee, Solyndra was the first one to get approval. During the
period when Solyndra's loan guarantee was under review, the company had
spent nearly $1.8 million on lobbying. Tim Harris, the CEO of Solopower,
a different solar panel company which had obtained a $197 million loan
guarantee, told the New York Times that his company had never considered
spending any money on lobbying, and that "It was made clear to us early
in the process that that was clearly verboten... We were told that it was
not only not helpful but it was not acceptable."
The Washington Post reported
that Solyndra had used some of the loan money to purchase new equipment
which it never used, and then sold that new equipment, still in its
plastic wrap, for pennies on the dollar. Former Solyndra engineer
Lindsey Eastburn told the Washington Post, "After we got the loan
guarantee, they were just spending money left and right... Because we were
doing well, nobody cared. Because of that infusion of money, it made
people sloppy."
On September 29, 2011, the Washington Post reported
that the Obama administration had continued to allow Solyndra to
receive taxpayer money even after it had defaulted on its $535 million
loan.
On October 7, 2011, The Washington Post reported
that newly revealed emails showed that Energy Department officials had
been warned that their plan to help Solyndra by restructuring the loan
might be illegal, and should be cleared with the Justice Department
first. However, Energy Department officials moved ahead with the
restructuring anyway, with a new deal that would repay company investors
before taxpayers if the company were to default. The emails showed
concerns within the Obama administration about the legality of the
Energy Department's actions. In addition, an Energy Department stimulus
adviser, Steve Spinner, had pushed for the loan, despite having recused
himself because his wife's law firm had done work for the company.
In January 2012, CBS News reported
that Solyndra had thrown millions of dollars worth of brand new glass
tubes into garbage dumpsters, where they ended up being shattered.
Solyndra told CBS that it had conducted an exhaustive search for buyers
of the glass tubes, and that no one had wanted them. However, CBS
discovered that Solyndra had not offered the glass tubes for sale at
either one of its two asset auctions that took place in 2011. In
addition, David Lucky, a buyer and seller of such equipment, told CBS
that he would have bought the tubes if he had had a chance to do so.
Greg Smestad, a solar scientist who had consulted for the Department of
Energy, also agreed that the tubes had value, and had asked Solyndra to
donate any unwanted tubes to Santa Clara University. Smestad stated, "That really makes me sad... Those tubes represent intellectual
investment. These could have had a better value to do public good. I
think they owed the U.S. taxpayer that."
In April 2012, CBS News reported that Solyndra had left a substantial amount of toxic waste at its abandoned facility in Milpitas, California.
Solyndra was not the only "green energy" company involved in this
type of fraud. After Obama gave Raser Technologies $33 million to build a
power plant, the company declared bankruptcy ,
and owed $1.5 million in back taxes. After Obama gave Abound Solar,
Inc. a $400 million loan guarantee to build photovoltaic panel
factories, the company halted
production and laid off 180 employees. After Obama gave Beacon Power a
$43 million loan guarantee to build green energy storage, the company
filed for bankruptcy .
After Obama approved $2.1 billion in loan guarantees for Solar Trust of
America so it could build solar power plants, the company filed for bankruptcy .
Although Obama stated that all of the "green energy" companies that
received taxpayer money were chosen "based solely on their merits," the
truth is that 71% of these grants and loans went to Obama donors and fundraisers ,
who raised $457,834 for his campaign, and were later approved for
grants and loans totaling more than $11 billion. By November 2011, the
Energy Department's inspector general had begun more than 100 criminal
investigations related to Obama's stimulus .
Although an "independent" review said that Obama had not done anything
wrong, it was later reported that Herbert M. Allison Jr., the person who
had conducted this "independent" review, donated $52,500 to Obama's campaign.
26) Had "off the record" meetings with lobbyists
In June 2010, the New York Times reported
that Obama administration officials had held hundreds of meetings with
lobbyists at coffee houses near the White House, in order to avoid the
disclosure requirements for White House visitors, and that these
meetings "reveal a disconnect between the Obama administration's public
rhetoric - with Mr. Obama himself frequently thrashing big industries'
'battalions' of lobbyists as enemies of reform - and the
administration's continuing, private dealings with them."
27) Falsely claimed to believe in public education
Although Obama said , "We need to uphold the ideal of public education," he expressed his true opinion of America's public education system by sending his own children to private schools while living in Chicago and Washington D.C.
28) Had armed SWAT agents raid a law-abiding guitar factory because it was owned by a Republican
President Obama had armed SWAT
agents raid the Gibson guitar factory, ordered the employees to leave,
and seized guitars and other property from the factory - and all of this
happened without any charges being filed.
It was later reported that Gibson had not broken any U.S. laws.
Obama's so-called
justification for the raid was that Gibson had broken environmental
laws from India regarding the imported wood that Gibson had been using.
However, Gibson claimed that it had not broken any Indian laws - and no charges were filed against it.
In addition, it was also reported that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, was a Republican donor.
Meanwhile, C.F. Martin & Company, Gibsons's competitor, had used the exact same imported wood, but had not gotten raided. Chris Martin IV, the CEO of Martin, was a Democratic donor.
29) Shut down Amish farm
In February 2012, Obama shut down an Amish farm for selling unpasteurized milk across state lines, even though the customers were happy with what they were buying.
30) Rewarded his fundraisers by giving them federal jobs
Although Obama had promised to have "the most sweeping ethics reform
in history," and had often criticized the role of money in politics, the
truth is that after he was elected, he gave administration jobs to more than half of his 47 biggest fundraisers.
31) Ignored constitutional requirements for appointees
In February 2009, U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) expressed
concern that Obama's dozens of czars might violate the U.S.
Constitution, because they were not approved by the U.S. Senate. U.S.
Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) expressed a similar concern in September 2009.
32) Gave tax dollars to corrupt private contractors to build 504 units of mice infested, slum housing, with backed up sewage
While Obama was a state Senator in Illinois, he used tax dollars to
build 504 units of slum housing, which had mice and backed up sewage.
Federal inspectors graded the condition of the housing so bad that the buildings faced demolition.
33) Used tax dollars to glorify murderers
The Obama administration spent $1.6 million to restore graffiti that glorified communist murderers Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.
34) Falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress
Despite having taught constitutional law at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, in April 2012 Obama falsely claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court had never overturned any laws that had been passed by Congress.
35) Supported new bailouts for speculators who caused housing bubble
In March 2012, Obama announced a new set of bailouts for speculators who had caused the housing bubble.
36) Spent $205,075 of taxpayer money on a shrubbery which nurseries sell for $16
As part of his economic stimulus, Obama spent $205,075 of taxpayer money to relocate and care for a single specimen of Arctostaphylos franciscana , a shrubbery which nurseries sell for $16.
37) Spent taxpayer money to see if using cocaine helped rats to enjoy the music of Miles Davis
Obama's administration funded a study to see whether or not rats' enjoyment of the music of Miles Davis was increased when the rats were high on cocaine.
38) Tried to outlaw family farms
In April 2012, the Obama administration proposed
new regulations which would prohibit farm children under 18 from
working at grain elevators, silos, feed lots, stockyards, and livestock
auctions, as well as from storing, marketing and transporting farm
product raw materials. Critics claimed that this would prevent children
from the common practice of working on their friends' and relatives'
farms, and that farm children did not need "help" from a community
organizer in Washington.
39) Auctioned off ambassadorship to the Netherlands
In April 2012, Obama nominated Timothy Broas, who had "bundled" more than $500,000 for Obama's 2012 campaign, to be U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands.
40) Claimed that written tests are a form of "racial discrimination"
The Obama administration accused fire and police departments in Jacksonville, Florida , New York City , and Dayton, Ohio
of "racial discrimination" because they required potential firefighters
and police officers to take a written test. Ten real examples of these "racist" questions from the New York test can be read here .
41) Made the TSA even more abusive and ridiculous than it had been under Bush
The Obama administration gave a very invasive patdown to a three-year-old boy in a wheelchair, which caused the boy to tremble in fear. The Obama administration gave an aggressive patdown to a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. The Obama administration said that a four-year-old girl was a "high security threat." The Obama administration placed an 18-month-old girl on its no fly list. The Obama administration gave a patdown to Henry Kissinger . The Obama administration forced a 95-year-old cancer patient to remove her adult diaper and fly without it. The Obama administration ripped open the urostomy bag of a 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor, and forced him to fly covered in his own urine. The Obama administration harassed a sick 3-year-old boy, and caused him to miss his flight.
42) Illegally demanded monetary payment for Freedom of Information Act request
The Obama administration demanded that the Goldwater Institute pay $78,935.80 before it would share public records which it had requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
43) Fined public school $15,000 for selling soda
The Obama administration fined a high school $15,000 for selling soda to students during lunch.
44) Conducted dangerous and illegal scientific experiments on people
From January 2010 through June 2011, the Obama administration conducted illegal scientific experiments which exposed 42 people to dangerous levels of toxins.
45) Closed the Vietnam Memorial for seven hours on Memorial Day so he could have his picture taken
On Memorial Day 2012, Obama prevented
Vietnam veterans and their friends and families from visiting the
Vietnam Memorial for seven hours so he could have his picture taken.
46) H ad the government take 60.8% ownership of General Motors
In July 2009, Obama had the government take 60.8% ownership of General Motors, and fired the CEO.
47) Forced banks to give mortgages to people who could not
afford to pay them back, and collected $23,000 in legal fees for himself
for doing so
While working as a "community organizer," Obama filed lawsuits
which forced banks to give mortgages to people with bad credit and low
incomes. As a result, many of these people ended up defaulting on their
mortgages. As their attorney, Obama collected $23,000 in legal fees for
himself.
Then in April 2013, during Obama's second term as President, the Washington Post reported that President Obama was still pressuring banks "to make home loans to people with weaker credit."
48) Stole money from retired Delphi employees
In 2009, Obama eliminated the pensions of 20,000 retired Delphi employees.
49) Used taxpayer money to buy soda for $3.40 per can
During Obama's presidency, the federal government repeatedly purchased soda for a cost of $3.40 per can .
Obama did not express any desire to switch to a cheaper seller, such as
Costco, amazon.com, or Wal-Mart - or to an even still cheaper seller
such as a wholesaler. Instead, Obama repeatedly forced taxpayers to pay
these outrageous prices for soda.
50) Paid $7 million per household to connect people to the internet
Obama's stimulus paid to connect some households in Montana to the internet, at a cost of $7 million per household .
51) Had a double standard for Bain Capital
Although Obama criticized Mitt Romney for his involvement with Bain Capital, Obama hired Jeff Zients , a former consultant at Bain (and who had an estimated personal wealth of $200 million) to be his budget director.
52) Broke promise to teen campaign volunteers
Obama had promised
to his teen campaign volunteers that if they each spent nine hours
going door to door on Obama's behalf, he would invite them to attend his
speech of September 6, 2012. However, after the teens did the volunteer
work, Obama broke his promise. One of these volunteers, Madeline Frank,
age 16, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said of this "I've been looking
forward to this for a really long time. I am just feeling really let
down and like bummed. It was kind of my dream to see him speak, so
definitely really sad."
53) Falsely claimed to know more about Judaism than any other President
Obama falsely claimed to know more about Judaism than any other President.
54) Exempted wind farms from the penalties that other electric producers get for killing birds
In May 2013, NPR reported :
The Obama administration has charged
oil companies for drowning birds in their waste pits, and power
companies for electrocuting birds on power lines.
But the administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind-energy company, even those that flout the law repeatedly.
"What it boils down to is this: If you
electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that
is OK," said Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
enforcement agent based in Cody.
More than 573,000 birds are killed by
the country's wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such
as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in
March in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Nearly all the birds being killed are
protected under federal environmental laws, which prosecutors have used
to generate tens of millions of dollars in fines and settlements from
businesses, including oil and gas companies, over the past five years.
Wind farms are clusters of turbines as
tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger
jet's wingspan. Though the blades appear to move slowly, they can reach
speeds up to 170 mph at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.
Flying eagles behave like drivers
texting on their cellphones; they don't look up. As they scan for food,
they don't notice the industrial turbine blades until it's too late.
The rehabilitation coordinator for the
Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, Michael Tincher, said he euthanized two
golden eagles found starving and near death near wind farms. Both had
injuries he'd never seen before: One of their wings appeared to be
twisted off."There is nothing in the evolution of
eagles that would come near to describing a wind turbine. There has
never been an opportunity to adapt to that sort of threat," said
Grainger Hunt, an eagle expert who researches the U.S. wind-power
industry's deadliest location, a northern California area known as
Altamont Pass. Wind farms built there decades ago kill more than 60 per
year.
Under both the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the death of a single
bird without a permit is illegal.
But under the Obama administration's
new guidelines, wind-energy companies - and only wind-energy companies -
are held to a different standard.
Eagles take five years to reach the age when they can reproduce, and often they only produce one chick a year.
55) F alsely claimed that he had never belonged to the New Party
Obama falsely claimed that he had never belonged to the New Party, which is a third political party.
56) Supported punishing students based on their race instead of on their behavior
Obama expressed support for a proposal which would punish students based on their race instead of on their behavior.
57) Used "off the books" funding for military interventionism
In April 2009, antiwar activists who helped elect Obama accused
him of using the same "off the books" funding as his predecessor George
W. Bush when Obama requested an additional $83.4 billion from Congress
for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - a provision which Obama had voted
against when he was a Senator.
58) Tried to silence criticism of auto-bailouts
The Obama administration pressured Ford Motor Company to stop airing a TV ad that criticized Obama's bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.
59) Dismissed charges of voter intimidation, despite video evidence
In May 2009, the Obama administration dismissed
charges that had been filed by the Bush administration against members
of the New Black Panther Party who had been videotaped intimidating
voters and brandishing a police-style baton at a Philadelphia polling
station during the November 2008 election. In August 2009, the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights demanded
that the Justice Department explain why it dismissed the charges. In
July 2010, J. Christian Adams, a former lawyer for the Justice
Department, testified
before the Commission on Civil Rights that the case was dropped because
the Justice Department did not want to protect the civil rights of
white people.
60) Falsely claimed to support the second amendment
Although Obama stated ,
"I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of
individuals to bear arms," the National Rifle Association gave Obama a rating of 'F' based on his voting record.
61) Nominated a communist who said 9-11 was an inside job
In September 2009, Obama's green czar Van Jones resigned after it was reported that he was a self described "communist" and had blamed George W. Bush for the September 11 attacks.
62) Falsely said he would not raise taxes on the poor and middle class
On September 12, 2008, Obama promised :
"I can make a firm pledge. Under my
plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of
tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your
capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
However, less than three months into his Presidency, he broke that promise when he raised the cigarette tax. Studies show that poor people are more likely to smoke than rich people.
63) Falsely said he wanted to simplify the tax code, when he actually wanted to make it more complex
Although Obama said that he wanted to simplify the tax code, his proposals would actually add thousands of pages to the tax code.
64) Oversaw some of the world's worst increases in corruption
In December 2010, Transparency International reported that corruption was increasing faster in the U.S. than anywhere else except Cuba, Dominica, and Burkina Faso.
65) Falsely said "This is the most transparent administration in history"
In February 2013, Obama said , "This is the most transparent administration in history."
However, that same month, ABC News White House reporter Ann Compton,
who covered Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, both Bushes, and
Obama, said
"The president's day-to-day policy development... is almost totally
opaque to the reporters trying to do a responsible job of covering it.
There are no readouts from big meetings he has with people from the
outside, and many of them aren't even on his schedule. This is different
from every president I covered. This White House goes to extreme
lengths to keep the press away."
In July 2009, White House reporter Helen Thomas criticized the Obama administration for its lack of transparency.
In October 2013, ABC News correspondent Ann Compton said that Obama was the "least transparent of the seven presidents I've covered in terms of how he does his daily business."
Also, this list contains a huge number of things that Obama has done which contradict his statement.
66) Falsely claimed he would wait five days before signing bills
Although Obama had promised to wait five days before signing all non-emergency bills, he broke that promise at least 10 times during his first three months in office.
67) Falsely claimed stimulus spending would be transparent
Although Obama had promised
that the website recovery.gov would list all stimulus spending in
detail, a 400 page report issued by the Government Accountability Office
stated that only 25% of the projects listed on the website provided
clear and complete information regarding their cost, schedule, purpose,
location and status.
68) Announced plans to send military to Australia
In November 2011, Obama announced that he would send 2,500 Marines to Australia .
69) Falsely promised to accept public campaign financing and spending limits
During the 2008 campaign, Obama broke his promise to accept public campaign financing and the spending limits that came with it.
70) Tried to silence video on YouTube
In June 2011, Obama asked a Jewish singing group to remove its video from the internet.
71) Rejected international help to clean up BP oil spill
After the BP oil spill, Obama rejected
offers of cleanup help from Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland,
Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.
72) Falsely said he opposed government waste, when he actually loves it
On September 22, 2008, Obama said ,
"I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every
government program just because it's there... We will fire government
managers who aren't getting results, we will cut funding for programs
that are wasting your money and we will use technology and lessons from
the private sector to improve efficiency across every level of
government... The only way we can do all this without leaving our children
with an even larger debt is if Washington starts taking responsibility
for every dime that it spends." However, Citizens Against Government
Waste gave Obama a 2007 rating of only 10%, and a lifetime rating of only 18%.
73) Nominated past frequent user of illegal drugs to keep illegal drugs out of schools
In September 2009, it was reported
that Kevin Jennings, Obama's Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office
of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, had written about Jenning's own past
frequent illegal drug use in his 2007 autobiography.
74) Avoids firing aides who owe back taxes
In January 2012, it was reported that 36 Obama aides owed a combined total of $833,000 in back taxes .
75) Used Abbott and Costello style economics as a basis for national policy
In 2010, Obama gave $16.3 million to First Solar, a company that
manufactures solar panels, so the company could sell solar panels to itself .
76) Sent U.S. troops to Africa
Obama sent U.S. troops to Uganda, Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
77) Made secret plans for his second term
In March 2012, when Obama was talking to Russian President Dmitri
Medvedev and did not know that the microphone was turned on, Obama stated ,
"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can
be solved but it's important for him to give me space... This is my last
election. After my election I have more flexibility."
78) Holds double standard for people who use crude and vulgar language toward women
Concerned Women for America accused Obama of hypocrisy after Obama
criticized Rush Limbaugh for using crude and vulgar language to describe
Sandra Fluke, but Obama did not
criticize Bill Maher (who had donated one million dollars to an Obama
PAC) for using the same kind of crude and vulgar language to describe
Sarah Palin.
79) Illegally gave Obamacare exemptions to unions that supported the passage of Obamacare
Obama gave some organizations an exemption
from some of the requirements of Obamacare. Many of these
organizations were unions that had supported the passage of Obamacare,
but now wanted exemptions from the very same law that they wanted to
force everyone else to obey. This reveals an extreme level of hypocrisy
among many of the supporters of Obamacare.
In addition, these exemptions are illegal, because the Constitution requires the law to treat everyone the same.
The Washington Times wrote of this:
"Selective enforcement of the law is
the first sign of tyranny. A government empowered to determine
arbitrarily who may operate outside the rule of law invariably embraces
favoritism as friends, allies and those with the best-funded lobbyists
are rewarded. Favoritism inevitably leads to corruption, and corruption
invites extortion. Ultimately, the rule of law ceases to exist in any
recognizable form, and what is left is tyranny.""The now-familiar monthly trickling
down of new waivers is, at best, a tacit admission that Obamacare is a
failure. So far, seven entire states and 1,372 businesses, unions and
other institutions have received waivers from the law. The list includes
the administration's friends and allies and, of course, those who have
the best lobbyists.""More than 50 percent of the Obamacare
waiver beneficiaries are union members, which is striking because union
members account for less than 12 percent of the American work force.
The same unions that provided more than $120 million to Democrats in the
last two elections and, in many cases, openly campaigned in favor of
the government takeover of your health care, now celebrate that
Obamacare is not their problem."
80) Defended Bush administration's unconstitutional, unwarranted use of GPS device
In January 2012, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Bush
administration for having put a GPS tracking device on someone's car without having a warrant , the Obama administration opposed the court ruling
81) Opposes newspapers reporting the news
Obama spokesman Jay Carney criticized the Los Angeles Times for publishing photographs of U.S. soldiers posing with corpses in Afghanistan.
82) Supported Bush administration for fining CBS for showing Janet Jackson's breast
Obama came out in favor of the FCC's fining of the CBS TV network $550,000 for showing Janet Jackson's breast during the 2004 Super Bowl.
83) Allowed campaign contributors to bring lobbyists into White House
In April 2012, the New York Times ,%20New%20York%20Times,%20April%2014,%202012%3C/ref%3E]reported ,
"Although Mr. Obama has made a point of not accepting contributions
from registered lobbyists, a review of campaign donations and White
House visitor logs shows that special interests have had little trouble
making themselves heard. Many of the president's biggest donors, while
not lobbyists, took lobbyists with them to the White House..."
84) Falsely said that criminal background checks constituted "racial discrimination"
In 2012, the Obama administration accused Pepsico of "race discrimination" because it used criminal background checks to screen out job applicants.
85) Was cited by nine states for committing 21 illegal acts
Attorneys General from nine states issued
a report, titled "A Report on Obama Administration Violations of Law,"
which cited 21 illegal acts which had been committed by the Obama
administration.
86) Tried to seize hotel because some of its customers had used illegal drugs
The Obama administration tried to seize a mom-and-pop bed-and-breakfast because some if its guests had used illegal drugs.
87) Falsely said his campaign was not funded by large donors
Although Obama has received many large campaign donations from corporate executives and Hollywood celebrities, his spokesperson said that his campaign was funded "not from huge donors at all."
88) Holds double standard for subsidizing solar power companies
Although Obama gave taxpayer money to numerous American solar power companies, he placed a 30% tariff on solar panels imported from China, because he was against the Chinese government giving subsidies to its own companies.
89) Tried to create an administration full of tax cheaters
Obama nominated tax cheater Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. After Daschle said he didn't want the job, Obama then nominated tax cheater Kathleen Sebelius for the same position. Obama nominated tax cheater Nancy Killefer to be his administration's Chief Performance Officer. Obama nominated tax cheater Hilda Solis to be the Secretary of Labor. Obama nominated tax cheater Ron Kirk be the White House Chief Trade Representative.
90) Hired a Communications Director who admires a mass murderer
Anita Dunn ,
Obama's White House Communications Director, said that one of her
favorite political philosophers was Mao Tse-tung, the Chinese dictator
who murdered tens of millions of innocent civilians.
91) Tried to replace science with political correctness
In July 2010, Charles Bolden ,
the administrator of NASA, said that Obama had told him that the
primary purpose of NASA was "to reach out to the Muslim world."
92) Made recess appointments when Congress was not in recess
In January 2012, Obama violated
the Constitution by making four recess appointments when Congress was
not in recess. Recess appointments themselves are constitutional, but
only if they are made when Congress is actually in recess.
In January 2013, a federal appeals court ruled that Obama's appointments had violated the Constitution.
In May 2013, a second federal appeals court also ruled that Obama's appointments had violated the Constitution.
In July 2013, a third federal appeals court also ruled that Obama's appointments had violated the Constitution.
93) Said the health insurance mandate was not a tax, but later told the Supreme Court that it was
Before Obama's health care reform was passed, he said
that the mandate was not a tax. However, after it was passed, the Obama
administration argued in front of the Supreme Court that the mandate
really was a tax.
94 ) Lied about being his "brother's keeper"
Although Barack Obama likes to cite the Bible phrase "We are our
brother's keeper," when his real life poverty stricken brother George
Obama needed $1,000 for health care bills, Barack Obama refused to pay it, so conservative author Dinesh D'Souza paid it.
95) Punishes hospitals for saving the lives of patients with heart disease
Obama's health care reform contains a provision
that reduces Medicare payments to hospitals with high 30-day
readmission rates. Sunil Kripalani, MD, a professor with Vanderbilt
University Medical Center, said of this, "Among patients with heart
failure, hospitals that have higher readmission rates actually have
lower mortality rates. So, which would we rather have - a hospital
readmission or a death?"
96) Supports guns for himself and his wife, but opposes them for everyone else
On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed a bill that provides armed guards to himself and his wife for the rest of the lives.
However, in 2004, when Obama was an Illinois state Senator, he voted against allowing people in their own homes to use guns to protect themselves and their families from rapists and murderers.
97) Falsely claimed that he "cut spending by over a trillion dollars in 2011''
On "Meet the Press" on December 30, 2012, Obama said :"I cut spending by over a trillion dollars in 2011''
In reality, spending during that time period was not cut at all , and was actually increased by $147 billion.
98) Practices environmental hypocrisy
In May 2008, Obama said ,
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes
on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries
are going to say OK."
However, just one week later, Obama was photographed exiting an SUV .
In addition, Obama keeps the White House thermostat turned up so high that David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, said, "He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there."
Environmentalists criticized Obama for eating Wagyu beef , which was called "the Hummer of beef."
Obama had a chef fly round trip from St. Louis to Washington D.C. so he could make Obama's favorite pizza.
99) Pressured public schools to replace Catcher in the Rye with a book on window insulation
The Huffington Post reported that Obama's education policies
"are increasingly worrying English-lovers and English teachers, who feel they must replace literary greats like The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye with Common Core-suggested 'exemplars,' like the Environmental Protection Agency's Recommended Levels of Insulation ."
100) Approved giving 20 F-16 fighter jets to a Sharia dictatorship
Obama approved giving 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, which is a Sharia dictatorship .
101) Falsely claimed that his "Cash for Clunkers" program would help the environment
Although Obama claimed that his "Cash for Clunkers" program would help the environment, it actually caused net harm to the environment. Because the program required cars to be shredded instead of recycled, it wasted 24 million barrels of oil. Many of the cars that were destroyed were in perfectly good condition . Because the program's minimum requirement for so-called "fuel efficiency" was only 22 mpg , the reduction in pollution was negligible .
102) Violated the very same campaign finance laws that he claims to support
In January 2013, it was reported that Obama's campaign had been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance laws.
103) Lied about how he had answered a questionnaire on gun control
In 1996, when Obama was answering a questionnaire on his political views, one of the questions was "Do you support state legislation to: ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?"
Obama's answer to the question was "Yes."
However, in 2008, Obama said "My writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire."
However, ABC News later reported that the questionnaire "appears to have Obama's handwriting."
104) Falsely claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by lobbyists
Although Obama claimed that his 2013 inauguration was not funded by lobbyists, its sponsors had actually spent $160 million on lobbying during Obama's first presidential term.
105) Encouraged medical device manufacturers to lay off employees
In response to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced
plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs),
Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15
other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter
to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming
that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts.
106) Encouraged employers to switch their employees from full time to part time
The New York Times reported that Obamacare
"sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of part-time employment."
In response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, some restaurants
have announced plans to switch some of their employees from full time to
part time, including some franchises of Olive Garden , Red Lobster , Wendy's, Taco Bell , White Castle , and Fatburger .
Community College of Allegheny County switched
200 professors and 200 other employees from full time to part time in
response to Obamacare. Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community
College of Allegheny County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600.
Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, other colleges have announced
plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time,
including Florida's Palm Beach State College, Ohio's Youngstown State
University, and New Jersey's Kean University.
In Virginia, thousands of government employees had their hours reduced because of Obamacare.
The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh reduced the hours of 48 of its employees in response to Obamacare.
Regal Entertainment Group, the largest chain of movie theaters in the country, announced that it would be switching thousands of its employees from full time to part time in response to the Obamacare mandate.
Utah's Granite School District reduced the hours of 1,200 of its employees in response to Obamacare.
In response to Obamacare, many Wal-Mart stores have stopped hiring full time workers.
In July 2013, leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will
"destroy the foundation of the 40 hour
work week that is the backbone of the American middle class... the law
creates an incentive for employers to keep employees' work hours below
30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers' hours to
avoid this obligation."
In response to Obamacare, Forever 21 reduced its employees' hours.
As of September 2013, more than 200 public-sector employers had reduced their employees' hours in response to Obamacare.
Sea World reduced the weekly hours of its part time employees from 32 to 28 in response to Obamacare.
Lands' End limited its part time employees to 29 hours per week in response to Obamacare.
As of September 2013, at least 34 universities and colleges had reduced some of their employees' hours in response to Obamacare.
On October 23, 2013, Investor's Business Daily wrote :
IBD has a running list that now includes 351 employers
that have opted to cut work hours below 30 per week or take related
steps to limit liability under ObamaCare's employer mandate. Each entry
is documented with links to news sources and public records.
About 275 entries on IBD's list come from the public sector, including more than 100 school districts .
107) Broke his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term
On February 23, 2009, Obama said "Today, I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office." Obama broke that promise.
108) Had Freedom of Information Act record worse than Bush's
In September 2012, it was reported that when it came to honoring
requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Obama's record was worse than that of George W. Bush.
109) Supports installation of hidden cameras on private property without a search warrant
In October 2012, Obama's Justice Department argued in favor of installing hidden cameras on private property without a search warrant.
110) Used "stimulus" money to pay people to play cards, board games, and video games
In October 2012, it was reported that LG Chem ,
a lithium-ion battery plant in Holland, Michigan, was using money from
Obama's "stimulus" to pay its employees to play cards, board games, and
video games.
111) Spent half a million tax dollars on "Prom Week" video game
In 2012, the Obama administration spent $516,000 on a video game called "Prom Week."
112) Hypocritically pays his female employees less than his male employees
Although Obama claims to support equal pay for men and women, his own adminstration pays its female employees 18% less than its male employees.
113) Falsely said that Romney's pension was bigger than his own
During a debate in October 2012, Obama falsely stated that Mitt Romney's pension was bigger than his own.
114) Has a double standard for investing in China and the Cayman Islands
Although Obama criticized Mitt Romney for having investments in China and the Cayman Islands, Obama himself has investments in both of those places.
115) Spent $27 million on "ineffective" pottery classes in Morocco
Obama spent $27 million on pottery classes in Morocco .
The class used an American teacher, but the translater who was hired
did not actually know how to speak English fluently, and made many
mistakes. The instructor often did not bring the right materials to
class. The dyes and clays that the instructor did use were not available
in Morocco, which prevented the students from being able to copy what
they had learned. It was concluded that the classes were "ineffective."
116) Caused large amounts of perfectly good food to be thrown into the garbage
In one year, Obama's new school lunch program caused the schools in Lake County, Florida, to throw away $75,000 of perfectly good fruits and vegetables.
117) Accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign citizens
During an experiment ,
a non-U.S. citizen attempted to make two $5 donations to both Obama's
campaign website and Mitt Romney's campaign website. While the Romney
website rejected both donations, the Obama website accepted them.
118) Labels opponents of TSA sexual harassment as "domestic extremists"
The Obama administration labels anyone who objects to the TSA's sexual harassment as a "domestic extremist."
119) Lied about the Benghazi attack
In September 2012, after four U.S. citizens were killed in a terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration falsely said that the attack was a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim video at YouTube.
CBS News reported that although it was obviously a terrorist attack, it took an entire week before the Obama administration was willing to acknowledge it as such.
The Washington Post reported that Obama had falsely said that he had called it a terrorist attack from the very start.
After the attack began, someone (there is a debate over who this someone was) ordered the nearby U.S. military to "stand down," , i.e., not offer any assistance. Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military. Obama later falsely claimed that the "stand down" order had not been made.
Although the Obama administration made a dozen revisions to its talking points on this incident, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney falsely
stated that only a "single adjustment" had been made, and that it
simply involved changing the wording of "consulate" to "diplomatic
facility." ABC News published a complete list of all the changes to the
talking points, which can be read here .
Among the changes was the deletion of this entire paragraph:"The Agency has produced numerous
pieces on the threat of extremists linked to al-Qa'ida in Benghazi and
eastern Libya. These noted that, since April, there have been at least
five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified
assailants, including the June attack against the British Ambassador's
convoy. We cannot rule out the individuals has previously surveilled the
U.S. facilities, also contributing to the efficacy of the attacks."
Victoria Nuland ,
a State Department spokeswoman, played a key role in the editing of the
talking points. But instead of firing her for this, Obama offered her a
promotion .
120) Paid a train carrying biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24 times without unloading
As part of Obama's "green energy" program, Obama used tax money to pay for a train full of biofuel to cross the U.S.-Canadian border 24 times without unloading its cargo.
121) Falsely said that "we got back every dime" of the bailout
In October 2012, Obama said
that "we got back every dime" of the bailout. However, at the same
time, the Congressional Budget Office that said there was still $24
billion that had not been paid back.
122) Spent $50,000 of taxpayer money on a George S. Patton impersonator
In the summer of 2011, the Obama administration spent $50,000 on a George S. Patton impersonator
123) Spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle
The Obama administration spent $75,000 of taxpayer money on a bicycle.
124) Complained to YouTube about an anti-Muslim video
In September 2012, the Obama administration phoned YouTube to complain about an anti-Muslim video.
Ben Wizner of the ACLU said that of this, "It does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship."
Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said
of this, "I am actually kind of distressed by this... Even though there
are all these great quotes from inside the White House saying they
support free speech....by calling YouTube from the White House, they were
sending a message no matter how much they say we don't want them to take
it down, when the White House calls and asks you to review it, it sends
a message and has a certain chilling effect."
125) Falsely said that Fast and Furious was started when Bush was President
In September 2012, Obama said that Fast and Furious had "begun under the previous administration." In reality, Fast and Furious began in October 2009 .
126) Is a "war criminal" who is "more aggressive, more illegal worldwide" than Bush, according to Ralph Nader
In September 2012, Ralph Nader said that Obama was a "war criminal" who was "more aggressive, more illegal worldwide" than George W. Bush.
127) Illegally refused to fire Kathleen Sebelius after she violated campaign finance laws
In February 2012, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services, violated campaign finance laws. Although federal law required Obama to fire Sebelius for her illegal activity, he refused to do so.
128) Supports policies that hurt small businesses
In September 2012, a survery of small business owners showed
that 69% of them said that Obama's regulatory policies have hurt small
businesses. 55% said that they would not start a business under the
current environment.
129) Spent $102,000 per year of taxpayer money on a "dog handler"
In September 2012, it was reported that Obama spent $102,000 of taxpayer money each year on a "dog handler."
130) Refused to fire federal employee who sent email to 17,000 people praising terrorist who wanted to destroy U.S.
In 2012, an employee of Obama's administration sent
an email to more than 17,000 federal employees which praised Che
Guevara, a terrorist who had wanted to destroy the U.S. Obama refused to
fire the employee.
131) Called Fort Hood shooting "workplace violence" instead of "Islamic terrorism"
After Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar!" and murdered 13
people on U.S. soil, instead of referring to it as "Islamic terrorism,"
Obama said that it was "workplace violence."
132) Falsely said that switching to electronic medical records would make health care cheaper
Although Obama claimed that switching to electronic record keeping as
part of Obamacare would make health care cheaper, it actually made it more expensive .
133) Spent $495,000 of "stimulus" money for ads on MSNBC
Obama spent $495,000 of "stimulus" money for commercials on MSNBC.
134) Lied about the cost of federal regulations
In September 2012, it was reported
that the cost of federal regulations to citizens and business owners
was more than 20 times as much as what Obama had said it was.
135) Broke his promise to pass immigration bill, and then lied about why he broke it
In 2008, Obama promised that he would pass an immigration bill during his first year in office. He broke that promise. He then blamed this on Republicans, even though both the House and Senate were controlled by Democrats during Obama's first year.
136) Made it much harder for start ups to raise capital and create jobs
In July 2010, Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act. The Wall St. Journal wrote of this:
"Senator Chris Dodd's 1,400-page
financial reform bill contains many economic land mines, and here's one
of the worst: Provisions that would make it harder for business
start-ups to raise seed capital.""Currently, wealthy individuals who
want to invest directly in a new business can do so with minimum
interference from regulators. The law requires only that the investor be"accredited" by meeting thresholds for net worth ($1 million) or income
($250,000). Entrepreneurs depend on these "angel" investors, since many
new businesses lack the collateral for bank loans and are too small to
interest venture capitalists. ""Amazon, Yahoo, Google and Facebook
all benefited from angel investors, who typically target companies under
five years old. According to a 2009 Kaufman Foundation study, such
firms are less than 1% of all companies yet generate about 10% of new
jobs. Between 1980 and 2005, companies less than five years old
accounted for all net job growth in the U.S. In 2008, angels invested
some $19 billion in more than 55,000 companies. ""Mr. Dodd's bill would change all this
for the worse. Most preposterously, it would require that start-ups
seeking angel investments file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and endure a 120-day review. Rare is the new company that
doesn't need immediate access to the capital it raises, and a four-month
delay is the kind of rule popular in banana republics that create few
new businesses. ""The Dodd bill also raises the net
worth and income thresholds to $2.3 million and $450,000, respectively.
The Angel Capital Association, a trade group, estimates that these
provisions would disqualify about 77% of current accredited investors."
137) Paid six figure salaries to federal employees so they could watch pornography all day long
In April 2010, ABC News reported :
"On a day when President Obama argued
for more government regulation over the financial industry, a new
government report reveals that some high-level regulators have spent
more time looking at porn than policing Wall Street. ""The Securities and Exchange
Commission is supposed to be the sheriff of the financial industry,
looking for financial crimes like Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. But the
new report, obtained by ABC News, says senior employees of the SEC
spent hours on the commission's computers looking at sites like
naughty.com, skankwire, youporn, and others. ""The investigation, which was
conducted by the SEC's internal watchdog at the request of Sen. Chuck
Grassley, R-Iowa, found 31 serious offenders over the past two and a
half years. Seventeen of the offenders were senior SEC officers with
salaries ranging from $100,000 to $222,000 per year. ""Eight Hours a Day Spent on Porn Sites""One senior attorney at SEC
headquarters in Washington spent up to eight hours a day accessing
Internet porn. When he filled all the space on his government computer
with pornographic images, he downloaded more to CDs and DVDs that
accumulated in boxes in his offices. ""An SEC accountant attempted to access
porn websites 1,800 times in a two-week period and had 600 pornographic
images on her computer hard drive.""Another SEC accountant attempted to access porn sites 16,000 times in a single month."
138) Spent tax dollars on a "mindreader"
Obama used taxpayer money to hire a "mindreader."
139) Used tax dollars to build a million dollar bus stop
Obama spent federal tax dollars to pay for part of the cost of a million dollar bus
stop which opened in Arlington, Virginia in March 2013. Despite its
huge cost, the bus stop can only accommodate 15 people, and does not
even protect them from the wind and rain.
140) Filed a lawsuit against a non-existent "monopoly" in the beer industry
Although the number of breweries in the U.S. increased from 89 to
2,336 between 1978 and 2013, the Obama administration sued
Anheuser-Busch InBev, which already owned half of Mexico's Grupo Modelo,
to prevent if from buying the other half, despite the fact that there
were no laws on the books against such a purchase. The Obama
administration's so-called justification
for this lawsuit against a law abiding company was that the company
might, possibly, maybe, break some unspecified law, at some unspecified,
distant point in the future.
141) Falsely said the sequester would cause janitors to take a pay cut
In February 2013, while talking about the sequester, Obama said
"The folks who are cleaning the floors
at the Capitol - now that Congress has left, somebody is going to be
vacuuming and cleaning those floors and throwing out the garbage -
they're going to have less pay... The janitors, the security guards, they
just got a pay cut, and they've got to figure out how to manage that.
That's real."
CBS News reported that Obama's statement was false.
142) Falsely said that he goes skeet shooting "all the time"
At the beginning of Obama's second term, he said
that he goes skeet shooting "all the time." However, a witness said
that when he saw Obama go skeet shooting, Obama acted as if he had never
fired a gun before, that he appeared to be uncomfortable with a gun,
and that he only stayed for five minutes. In addition, during his first
term, the media had never reported on his alleged skeet shooting, although it never failed to cover the more than 100 rounds of golf that he played during his first term.
143) Gave special access to people who raised or donated $500,000
In February 2013, the New York Times reported
that people who raised or donated at least $500,000 to Organizing for
Action, a political group that supported Obama, would be given "the
privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president, along with
other meetings at the White House."
144) Said the deficit had gone down when it had actually gone up
In February 2013, Obama said that the federal deficit had gone down by $2.5 trillion since he had taken office. In reality , it had actually increased by $5.9 trillion during that time.
145) Refused to make available necessary tax forms to taxpayers
On February 21, 2013, CBS News reported
that the Obama administration had not yet made available dozens of
different tax forms that taxpayers would need in order to meet the legal
deadline of April 15 for filing their taxes.
146) Nominated someone to be Secretary of the Treasury who had participated in "the biggest tax scam on record"
Obama nominated Jack Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury. Lew had previously invested in the Cayman Islands, which Obama had referred to as "the biggest tax scam on record."
147) Adopted harmful new restrictions on prescription painkillers - even though the House had already voted against them
After the U.S. House voted against new restrictions on prescription painkillers, the Obama administration ignored
the House's vote, and adopted the new restrictions anyway. Dr. Lynn
Webster, president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine said
of these new restrictions, "It will have an impact on a lot of patients
who have been receiving them for some time for legitimate purposes."
148) Rolled back union transparency rules
The Obama administration rolled back
union transparency rules, which had been created so that union members
could find out how their union was spending their union dues.
149) Tried to eliminate workers' right to a secret ballot when voting on whether or not to unionize
Obama supported the elimination of workers' right to a secret ballot when voting on whether or not to form a union
150) Gave "supervised release" to a convicted criminal who later went on to murder a nun
Obama gave "supervised release" to a convicted criminal , who then went on to murder a nun .
151) Falsely said that he did not propose the sequester
On October 22, 2012, Obama said , "The sequester is not something that I've proposed." However, on February 22, 2013, the Washington Post reported that "the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House" and that "Obama personally approved of the plan."
152) Illegally refused to submit a budget on time during four of his first five years
The President is legally required to submit a budget by the first Monday in February. Obama broke this law during four of his first five years in office. Since 1921, no President had missed this deadline more than once.
153) Canceled White House tours for thousands of people so he could use the money to play golf with Tiger Woods
During the sequester in early 2013, the Obama administration said it would save $18,000 per week
by cancelling all White house tours, despite the fact that thousands of
people had planned their vacations far in advance. However, Obama had
no problem with spending more than $1 million in tax money so he could go golfing with Tiger Woods for one weekend.
154) Falsely said the Newton shooter used a "fully automatic weapon"
In April 2013, four months after Adam Lanza murdered 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama falsely stated that the shooter had used a "fully automatic weapon."
155) Broke his own deadline for creating healthcare exchanges
Three years after Obama signed Obamacare, the New York Times reported that Obama would miss his own deadline for creating some of the insurance exchanges for small businesses.
156) Falsely said that surgeons get paid between $30,000 and $50,000 for amputating a leg
In August 2009, while trying to justify the passage of Obamacare, Obama stated
"Let's take the example of something
like diabetes, one of - a disease that's skyrocketing, partly because of
obesity, partly because it's not treated as effectively as it could be.
Right now if we paid a family - if a family care physician works with
his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors
whether they're taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might
get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting
their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 - immediately the
surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure that we're also
reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right? That will save
us money."
The American College of Surgeons responded to this by saying "President Obama got his facts
completely wrong. He stated that a surgeon gets paid $50,000 for a leg
amputation when, in fact, Medicare pays a surgeon between $740 and
$1,140 for a leg amputation. This payment also includes the evaluation
of the patient on the day of the operation plus patient follow-up care
that is provided for 90 days after the operation. Private insurers pay
some variation of the Medicare reimbursement for this service."
157) Falsely said that doctors perform unnecessary tonsillectomies to make more money
In July 2009, Obama said
"Right now, doctors, a lot of times,
are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that's
out there. So if ... your child has a bad sore throat, or has repeated
sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to
himself, 'You know what? I make a lot more money if I take this kid's
tonsils out.'""Now, that may be the right thing to
do. But I'd rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on
whether you really need your kid's tonsils out or whether it might make
more sense just to change - maybe they have allergies. Maybe they have
something else that would make a difference."
The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery responded by saying "The AAO-HNS is disappointed by the
President's portrayal of the decision making processes by the physicians
who perform these surgeries. In many cases, tonsillectomy may be a more
effective treatment, and less costly, than prolonged or repeated
treatments for an infected throat."
158) Purchased 2,717 mine resistant armor protected vehicles for use on civilian streets in the U.S.
In March 2013 it was reported
that the Obama administration had purchased 2,717 mine resistant armor
protected vehicles for use on civilian streets in the U.S.
159) Spends $277,050 per year for three professional calligraphists
In March 2013, it was reported that Obama was spending $277,050 of tax money per year for three professional calligraphists. It was also reported that cheap computer software could produce the exact same calligraphy for a tiny fraction of that cost.
160) Allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away with $3.5 billion in unpaid federal taxes
In 2011, Obama allowed 311,566 federal employees and retirees to get away with $3.5 billion in unpaid federal taxes.
161) Spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly on the job
Obama spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly on the job.
162) Fined UPS $40 million because some of its customers had used UPS to ship illegal drugs
In March 2013, Obama forced UPS to pay $40 million because some of its customers had used UPS to ship illegal drugs.
163) Added 20,000 extra pages to Obamacare without Congressional approval
After Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra pages to it, even though those extra 20,000 pages had not been voted on by Congress.
164 ) Signed health care reform law whose own authors called it a "huge train wreck" that was "beyond comprehension"
U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), one of the authors of Obamacare, said of it, "I just see a huge train wreck coming down."
U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), another author of the law, said it was "beyond comprehension."
165) Eliminated disclosure requirements for most federal employees in the executive and legislative branches
In April 2013, Obama eliminated the disclosure requirements for most federal employees in the executive and legislative branches.
166) Waited until after the 2012 election to release unpopular Obamacare rules
In April 2013, the New York Times reported :
... even fervent supporters of the law admit that things are going worse than expected.
... the Obama administration didn't want to release unpopular rules before the election.
Everything is turning out to be more complicated than originally envisioned.
A law that was very confusing has
become mind-boggling... Americans are just going to be overwhelmed and
befuddled. Many are just going to stay away, even if they are eligible
for benefits.
167) Made it easy for people to fraudulently collect $50,000 by falsely claiming to be "farmers"
In April 2013, the New York Times reported
the Obama administration's political
appointees at the Justice and Agriculture Departments engineered a
stunning turnabout: they committed $1.33 billion to compensate...
The deal... was fashioned in White House meetings... the $50,000 payouts to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud.
the claims process prompted
allegations of widespread fraud and criticism that its very design
encouraged people to lie... Agriculture Department reviewers found reams
of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age children and pockets of
urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting with nearly identical
accounts of discrimination.
As a senator, Barack Obama supported
expanding compensation for black farmers, and then as president he
pressed for $1.15 billion to pay those new claims.
In 16 ZIP codes in Alabama, Arkansas,
Mississippi and North Carolina, the number of successful claimants
exceeded the total number of farms operated by people of any race in
1997, the year the lawsuit was filed. Those applicants received nearly
$100 million.
In Maple Hill, a struggling town in
southeastern North Carolina, the number of people paid was nearly four
times the total number of farms. More than one in nine African-American
adults there received checks. In Little Rock, Ark., a confidential list
of payments shows, 10 members of one extended family collected a total
of $500,000, and dozens of other successful claimants shared addresses,
phone numbers or close family connections.
In Arkansas, prosecutors rejected a test case against a Pine Bluff police officer who had admitted lying on his claim form.
in one ZIP code in Columbus, Ohio,
nearly everyone in two adjoining apartment buildings had filed,
according to the former high-ranking agency official.
She cinched the claim, he said to a
ripple of laughter, by asserting that her father had whispered on his
deathbed, "I was discriminated against by U.S.D.A."
168) Tried to rig federal auctions of radio spectrum space
In April 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration was trying to rig federal auctions of
radio spectrum space in a manner that would favor Sprint and T-Mobile,
and make it harder for AT&T and Verizon.
169) Put someone in jail for making an anti-Muslim video
In May 2013, Politico reported :
"Nakoula Basseley Nakoula deserves a
place in American history. He is the first person in this country jailed
for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy laws.""You won't find that anywhere in the
charges against him, of course. As a practical matter, though, everyone
knows that Nakoula wouldn't be in jail today if he hadn't produced a
video crudely lampooning the prophet Muhammad.""In the weeks after the attack on U.S.
facilities in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three
others, the Obama administration claimed the terrorist assault had been
the outgrowth of a demonstration against the Nakoula video. The
administration ran public service announcements in Pakistan featuring
President Barack Obama saying the U.S. had nothing to do with it. In a
speech at the United Nations around this time, the president declared -
no doubt with Nakoula in mind - 'The future must not belong to those who
slander the prophet of Islam.'""After Benghazi, the administration
was evidently filled with a fierce resolve - to bring Nakoula Basseley
Nakoula to justice. Charles Woods, the father of a Navy SEAL killed in
Benghazi, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told him when his
son's body returned to Andrews Air Force Base: 'We will make sure that
the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.'""Lo and behold, Nakoula was brought in
for questioning by five Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies at
midnight, eventually arrested and held without bond, and finally thrown
into jail for a year. He sits in La Tuna Federal Correctional
Institution in Texas right now, even as the deceptive spin that blamed
his video for the Benghazi attack looks more egregious by the day."
170) Oversaw IRS whose employees illegally targeted conservative groups
In May 2013, the Washington Post reported
that the IRS had illegally targeted conservative groups for additional
reviews. Organizations with the words "tea party" or "patriot" were
singled out for harassment, such as requiring
them to provide a list of donors, details about their internet postings
on social networking websites, and information about their family
members.
When this was first reported by the media in May 2013, Lois Lerner,
who heads the IRS division that had conducted these illegal activities, claimed
that only low level employees had known about it, and that no high
level IRS officials had known about it. However, soon afterward, NPR
reported that an Inspector General report showed that Lerner had been lying , and that she herself had actually been aware of it since June 29, 2011. Even worse, during March and April of 2012, Lerner herself had actually written such letters to fifteen different conservative groups. One of these letters can be read here .
While testifying in May 2013, Lerner said ,"I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not
violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false
information to this or any other congressional committee." However,
afterward, she invoked her fifth amendment right to remain silent. The Washington Post reported
that there was disagreement as to whether or not Lerner's statement
constituted a waiving of her fifth amendment right to remain silent.
Soon afterward, she was placed on paid administrative leave.
In September 2013, a House committee released several of Lerner's emails ,
which showed that she had targeted tea party groups, and that she had
asked that their applications be delayed. In one of the emails from
2011, she had written "Tea Party Matter very dangerous."
In September 2013, after having been on paid leave for four months, Lerner had still not been fired by Obama.
In October 2013, it was reported
that newly discovered emails proved that Lerner had violated federal
law by giving the Federal Election Commission confidential tax
information of several Tea party groups.
The Washington Post reported that IRS officials at the IRS headquarters in Washington D.C. had sent such letters to conservatives groups. Reuters reported
that higher level IRS officials had taken part in discussions about it
as early as August 2011. However, 21 months later, on May 10, 2013, the
Washington Post reported
that President Obama had not done anything to investigate or fire the
IRS employees who had engaged in this illegal harassment. As of May 14,
2013, none
of the IRS employees who engaged in any of this illegal behavior had
been disciplined, despite the fact that higher level IRS officials had
known about their illegal behavior at least since August 2011 .
On May 15, 2013, it was reported
that Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, had resigned. However,
it was also reported that his assignment would have ended in early June
anyway. He resigned - Obama did not fire him.
The IRS gave out confidential information about conservative groups. ProPublica wrote :
"The same IRS office that deliberately
targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the
run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential
applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year.""In response to a request for the
applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati
office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31
groups. Nine of those applications had not yet been approved-meaning
they were not supposed to be made public.""No unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica."
President Obama either lied about when he first knew about this - or
was too busy playing golf and attending fundraisers to read the memos
that were sent to him. The Daily Caller wrote :
"White House press secretary Jay
Carney said in a press conference Tuesday that the White House was
notified about the IRS targeting tea party groups 'several weeks ago.'
This comes a day after President Obama said he found out about it from
news reports on Friday of last week.""During a press conference with
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday, President Obama was
asked about the IRS scandal. He responded, 'I first learned about it
from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this. I
think it was on Friday.' ""However, Carney said Tuesday that
first a report had to be compiled by the IRS's inspector general and
then when it was completed, it was passed on to the administration.""'A notification is appropriate and routine and that is what happened and that happened several weeks ago,' Carney said."
When Media Trackers, a conservative organization, applied to the IRS
for non-profit status, after waiting 16 months, it got no response. But
when it reapplied with a liberal sounding name, it got approval in just
three weeks. Yahoo wrote :
"In May 2011, Drew Ryun, a
conservative activist and former Republican National Committee staffer,
began filling out the Internal Revenue Service application to achieve
nonprofit status for a new conservative watchdog group.""When September 2012 arrived with
still no word from the IRS, Ryun determined that Media Trackers would
likely never obtain standalone nonprofit status, and he tried a new
approach: He applied for permanent nonprofit status for a separate group
called Greenhouse Solutions, a pre-existing organization that was
reaching the end of its determination period.""The IRS approved Greenhouse Solutions' request for permanent nonprofit status in three weeks."
Politico reported :
"The same Internal Revenue Service
office that singled out Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also
challenged Israel-related organizations, at least one of which filed
suit over the agency's handling of its application for tax-exempt
status.""The trouble for the Israel-focused
groups seems to have had different origins than that experienced by
conservative groups, but at times the effort seems to have been equally
ham-handed."
The IRS asked conservative groups what books they were reading.
Although the IRS went 18 months or longer without responding to
conservative organizations' applications, the IRS demanded that these
same organizations answer the IRS's intrusive questions within a few weeks .
After the Waco Tea Party sent an application to the IRS, the IRS waited 19 months to respond. In its response, the IRS asked
for printouts of its web page and social networking sites, copies of
all of its newsletters, bulletins and fliers, and copies of all stories
written about it. The IRS also asked for transcripts of its radio interviews.
As one example of how the IRS treated conservative organizations differently from liberal ones, Politico reported :
"Chris Littleton, one of the
co-founders of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, said the group got a grilling
from the IRS when it submitted its application, in letters the group
has posted on its website. The IRS also gave him so much grief when he
tried to apply for tax-exempt status for another group, American Junto,
that 'we just gave up on it,' he said.""But when he submitted an application
for a third group - Ohioans for Health Care Freedom, now renamed Ohio
Rising - 'it went through just fine,' Littleton said. 'They never asked a
single set of questions.'"
After the Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots sent in their application, it took two years
for the IRS to respond. The IRS response included 35 questions. When
the group's cofounder called the IRS, the IRS agent claimed that he had
their group's file right in front of him. But when the group's
confounder asked the IRS agent a question, the IRS agent asked, "What's
your group's name again?"
Tea Party groups who spoke with each other said they were all getting the same questions from the IRS.
The Washington Post reported
that some IRS employees were "ignorant about tax laws, defiant of their
supervisors, and blind to the appearance of impropriety."
In 2012, the IRS leaked confidential information about Mitt Romney to the co-chairman of President Obama's re-election committee.
For a 27 month period that began in February 2010, the IRS gave exactly zero approvals
to Tea Party organizations that had sent in applications. During that
same time period, numerous liberal organizations with names including
words such as "progress" or "progressive" did get approval.
After True the Vote, a conservative organization which was founded by
Catherine Engelbrecht, sent its application to the IRS, the IRS went three years
without responding. During that three year period, Engelbrecht and her
family's small manufacturing business were audited by the IRS, and were investigated by OSHA, the ATF, and the FBI.
Democratic U.S. Senators pressured the IRS to target conservative groups. In May 2013, U.S. News & World Report wrote :"Over the last three years, Democratic
senators repeatedly and publicly pressured the IRS to engage in the
very activities that they are only now condemning today. At the same
time, Republicans repeatedly and publicly warned against this abuse of
government power and pointed to a series of red flags that strongly
suggested conservative political organizations were being targeted by
the IRS. Those warnings were deliberately ignored by the Obama
administration and Democratic leaders in Congress.""From Max Baucus to Chuck Schumer to
Jeanne Shaheen, key Senate Democrats publicly pressured the IRS to
target groups that held differing political views and who, in their
view, had the temerity to engage in the political process. The IRS
listened to them and acted."
In order to get approval, the IRS required members of Coalition for Life of Iowa , a pro-life organization, to sign a promise to avoid protesting in front of Planned Parenthood.
The IRS asked Christian Voices for Life, a pro-life organization, questions about its prayer vigils.
According to the official White House visitor's log, during Obama's
first four years as President, IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman made 157 visits to the White House. This is more
visits to the White House - by a very large margin - than any other
cabinet member during Obama's first term. By comparison, during the four
years that Mark Everson was IRS commissioner when Bush was president,
Everson made only one visit to the White House.
Shulman donated $500 to the Democratic National Committee in October 2004.
During Congressional testimony that had taken place in March 2012, Shulman falsely said that the IRS had not targeted conservative groups.
Shulman's wife, Susan L. Anderson, is the senior program advisor for Public Campaign , a liberal organization. The Dailer Caller wrote of this group:
Public Campaign receives "major
funding" from the pro-Obamacare alliance Health Care for America NOW!,
which is comprised of the labor unions AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, and the
progressive activist organization Move On, among others.
Public Campaign also receives funding
from the liberal Ford Foundation, the Common Cause Education Fund, and
Barbra Streisand's The Streisand Foundation, among other foundations and
private donors.
Stephen Seok was one of the IRS agents who wrote threatening letters to conservative groups. After doing so, he was given a promotion .
In June 2013, it was reported that two IRS employees had violated
government ethics rules at a 2010 conference when they received $1,100
in free food and other items. One of them was Fred Schindler, the
director of implementation oversight at the IRS Affordable Care Act
office. The other was Donald Toda, a California-based employee. Obama
did not fire them. Instead, he gave both of them paid leave. By comparison, in 1981, President Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had been illegally striking.
In June 2013, it was reported that The National Organization for Marriage, a conservative organization, had forensic
evidence which proved that its donors' private information had been
illegally leaked by the IRS. The IRS employees who illegally leaked this
private information could get five years in prison. However, Obama refused to file any charges against these IRS criminals.
The IRS illegally leaked
the private information of Christine O'Donnell the same day that she
announced that she would run for U.S. Senate as a tea party candidate.
According to White House visitor logs, Obama met with Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, on March 31, 2010. The very next day, IRS employees who belonged to that union union started to target tea party organizations.
In July 2013, it was reported
that Obama had met with a key IRS official who was involved in the
targeting just two days before the key official had told his colleagues
how to target tea party groups. The Daily Caller reported :
The Obama appointee implicated in
congressional testimony in the IRS targeting scandal met with President
Obama in the White House two days before offering his colleagues a new
set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups
applying for tax-exempt status.
IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who
was named in House Oversight testimony by retiring IRS agent Carter
Hull as one of his supervisors in the improper targeting of conservative
groups, met with Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House
on April 23, 2012. Wilkins' boss, then-IRS commissioner Douglas
Shulman, visited the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 24,
2012, according to White House visitor logs.
On April 25, 2012, Wilkins' office
sent the exempt organizations determinations unit "additional comments
on the draft guidance" for approving or denying tea party tax-exempt
applications, according to the IRS inspector general's report.
Jon Stewart said of this:"Well, congratulations, President
Barack Obama. Conspiracy theorists who generally can survive in
anaerobic environments have just had an algae bloom dropped on their
f***ing heads, thus removing the last arrow in your pro-governance
quiver: skepticism about your opponents."
Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, said of this:"Even the appearance of playing
partisan politics with the tax code is about as constitutionally
troubling as it gets. With the recent push to grant federal agencies
broad new powers to mandate donor disclosure for advocacy groups on both
the left and the right, there must be clear checks in place to prevent
this from ever happening again."
171) Spent $402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette smoke
In May 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $402,721 on underwear that detects the presence of cigarette smoke.
172) Rewarded one of his biggest campaign fundraisers by nominating him for the ambassadorship to Canada
In April 2013, it was reported
that Obama had nominated Bruce Heyman to be the ambassador to Canada.
During Obama's election campaign, Heyman had raised more than $1 million
for Obama.
173) Hired a retarded man to sell illegal drugs and guns, and then arrested him for doing so
In April 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
"ATF agents running an undercover
storefront in Milwaukee used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to set up
gun and drug deals, paying him in cigarettes, merchandise and money,
according to federal documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel.""For more than six months, federal
agents relied on Chauncey Wright to promote 'Fearless Distributing' by
handing out fliers as he rode his bike around town recommending the
store to friends, family and strangers, according to federal prosecutors
and family members.""Wright, unaware that the store was an
undercover operation being run by agents with the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, also stocked shelves with
shoes, clothing, drug paraphernalia and auto parts, according to his
family.""Once authorities shut down the operation, they charged the 28-year-old man with federal gun and drug counts.""Wright's IQ measures in the 50s,
about half of a normal IQ, according to those familiar with him.
Wright's score is classified as mildly or moderately disabled, depending
on the IQ scale used."
174) Secretly obtained phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors
In May 2013, Associated Press reported :
The Justice Department secretly
obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for
The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called
a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations
gather the news.
The records obtained by the Justice
Department listed outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers
of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York,
Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in
the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for
the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or
the duration of calls.
In all, the government seized the
records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its
journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists
who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100
journalists work in the offices where phone records were targeted, on a
wide array of stories about government and other matters.
In a letter of protest sent to
Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive
Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information
far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific
investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and
destruction of all copies."There can be no possible
justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone
communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records
potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all
of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month
period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations, and
disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the
government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.
Soon afterward, it was reported that obtaining these phone records had required approval from Eric Holder, Obama's Attorney General.
This has had a very dangerous and harmful effect on the media's ability to report the news. In June 2013, Gary Pruitt, the president and chief executive of Associated Press said :
"Some longtime trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about talking with us... In
some cases, government employees we once checked in with regularly will
no longer speak to us by phone. Others are reluctant to meet in person ...
This chilling effect on newsgathering is not just limited to AP... Journalists
from other news organizations have personally told me that it has
intimidated both official and nonofficial sources from speaking to them
as well."
175) Asked contractors to disclose their political donations before bidding on government contracts
In April 2011, Obama asked contractors to disclose their political donations before bidding on government contracts.
176) Tried to deport German family that had fled Germany over Hitler's ban on homeschooling
In Germany in 1938, Adolf Hitler outlawed homeschooling. He said "Give me a child when he's seven and he's mine forever."
Hitler's ban on homeschooling is still in effect today. In 2006, Katharina Plett was arrested for homeschooling her own children. Her husband and their children fled the country. In 2008, Juergen and Rosemary Dudek were sentenced to 90 days in jail for homeschooling their own children.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their homeschooled children fled
Germany after the police showed up at their house to enforce Germany's
ban on homeschooling. They came to the United States in 2010 and were
granted political asylum, which gave them legal permission to live in the U.S. as political refugees However, in March 2013, the Obama administration argued
in federal court in favor of deporting them and sending them back to
Germany. This means that Obama does not consider them to be political
refugees, and that he does not consider Germany's policy of jailing
homeschooling parents to be a form of persecution.
177) Said, "We're gonna punish our enemies, and we're gonna reward our friends"
Obama said (the bolding is mine)
"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ' We're gonna punish our enemies, and we're gonna reward our friends
who stand with us on issues that are important to us' - if they don't
see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election - then I think it's
going to be harder. And that's why I think it's so important that people
focus on voting on November 2nd."
This is a rare instance of a promise that Obama has actually kept
instead of broken. A huge number of the things on this list can be
explained by that one simple sentence that Obama said.
178) Falsely accused a law abiding news reporter of being "an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in a criminal investigation
James Rosen is a law abiding reporter for Fox News. However, the Obama administration falsely
labeled him as "an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in a
criminal investigation when it applied for a warrant to read his emails.
The New York Times wrote of this:
With the decision to label a Fox News
television reporter a possible "co-conspirator" in a criminal
investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond
protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the
press to gather news.
Leak investigations usually focus on
the source, not the reporter. But, in this case, federal prosecutors
also asked a federal judge for permission to examine Mr. Rosen's
personal e-mails, arguing that "there is probable cause to believe" Mr.
Rosen is "an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in the leak.
Though Mr. Rosen was not charged, the
F.B.I. request for his e-mail account was granted secretly in late May
2010. The government was allowed to rummage through Mr. Rosen's e-mails
for at least 30 days.
Michael Clemente, the executive vice
president of Fox News, said on Monday that it was "downright chilling"
that Mr. Rosen "was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his
job as a reporter." Bruce Brown, the executive director of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, added on Tuesday that
treating "routine news-gathering efforts as evidence of criminality is
extremely troubling and corrodes time-honored understandings between the
public and the government about the role of the free press."
Obama administration officials often
talk about the balance between protecting secrets and protecting the
constitutional rights of a free press. Accusing a reporter of being a "co-conspirator"... shows a heavy tilt toward secrecy and insufficient
concern about a free press.
The Washington Post wrote of this:
The Rosen affair is as flagrant an
assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush's
administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way
Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of.
To treat a reporter as a criminal for
doing his job - seeking out information the government doesn't want made
public - deprives Americans of the First Amendment freedom on which all
other constitutional rights are based. Guns? Privacy? Due process?
Equal protection? If you can't speak out, you can't defend those rights,
either.
Beyond that, the administration's
actions shatter the president's credibility and discourage allies who
would otherwise defend the administration against bogus accusations such
as those involving the Benghazi "talking points." If the administration
is spying on reporters and accusing them of criminality just for asking
questions - well, who knows what else this crowd is capable of doing?
My Post colleague Ann E. Marimow, who
broke the Rosen story, obtained the affidavit by FBI agent Reginald
Reyes seeking access to Rosen's private e-mails. In the affidavit, Reyes
stated that "there is probable cause to believe that the reporter has
committed or is committing a violation" of the law against national
security leaks. The affidavit detailed how the FBI had monitored Rosen's
comings and goings from the State Department and tracked his various
phone calls with the suspected leaker, analyst Stephen Jin-Woo Kim.
Rosen's supposed crime? Reyes got his
evidence from an e-mail from the reporter: "I want to report
authoritatively, and ahead of my competitors, on new initiatives or
shifts in U.S. policy, events on the ground in , what
intelligence is picking up, etc. . . . I'd love to see some internal
State Department analyses. . . . In short: Let's break some news, and
expose muddle-headed policy when we see it, or force the
administration's hand to go in the right direction, if possible."
That is indeed compelling evidence - of good journalism.
Obama is establishing an ominous precedent.
179) Asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate himself for lying under oath
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder lied
under oath. He said that he had nothing to do with monitoring the
emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen. But it turns out that it was
Holder's own signature on the search warrant.
Even the liberal Huffington Post said that Holder should be fired over this.
Holder could get five years in prison.
So, did President Obama fire Holder?
Of course not!
Instead, Obama asked that Holder be investigated - not by an independent investigating committee - but by Holder himself!
I can see it now...
Obama: "Did you lie?"
Holder: "No."
Obama: "OK. That's good enough for me. You're cleared of any wrongdoing."
180) Used Obamacare to illegally give the IRS additional powers without approval from Congress
In May 2013 the Washington Post wrote :
The law allows the Department of
Health and Human Services to set up federal health exchanges in the
holdout states. But the statute makes no mention of the IRS providing
credits and subsidies through federal exchanges.
The IRS resolved this conundrum by
denying its existence. In a May 2012 regulatory ruling, it asserted its
own right to provide credits outside the state exchanges as the
reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous law. But the language of the
law is not ambiguous. And health scholars Jonathan Adler and Michael
Cannon, in an exhaustive recent analysis, find no justification for the
IRS's ruling in the legislative history of Obamacare. "The statute,"
they argue, "and the lack of any support for the IRS rule in the
legislative record put defenders of the IRS rule in the awkward position
of arguing that it was so obviously Congress' intent to offer tax
credits in federal exchanges that despite a year of debate over the
PPACA, it never occurred to anyone to express that intent out loud. A
better explanation is that the PPACA's authors miscalculated when they
assumed states would establish exchanges."
So: The IRS seized the authority to
spend about $800 billion over 10 years on benefits that were not
authorized by Congress. And the current IRS scandal puts this decision
in a new light. What was the role of politics in shaping this regulatory
decision? What pressure was applied?
181) Used environmental regulations to shut down an ambulance while it was taking a patient to the hospital
In May 2013 the Washington Post reported :
A Wednesday shootout on the streets of
Washington Highlands left a cop injured and a carjacking suspect dead.
But before the suspect expired, he went on an unusual ambulance ride
that involved moving him from one vehicle to another on the shoulder of
Interstate 295. While this might appear to be another story of Fire and
Emergency Medical Services dysfunction, the story is rather more
complicated. As WUSA-TV explains, newer-model diesel engines are
required by federal regulations to have emission-control features that,
in some circumstances, require the motor to shut down for "regeneration"
- a process in which the exhaust system burns off trapped soot. The
need for regeneration can be unpredictable. The transfer to a second
ambulance delayed 34-year-old Nathaniel McRae's arrival at a hospital by
seven minutes. FEMS insists the wait did not play a role in his death.
182) Had "a serious management problem" with his refusal to fire bad workers
A 2011 USA Today article on federal employees states :
"The federal government fired 0.55% of
its workers in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 - 11,668 employees
in its 2.1 million workforce.""White-collar federal workers have
almost total job security after a few years on the job. Last year, the
government fired none of its 3,000 meteorologists, 2,500 health
insurance administrators, 1,000 optometrists, 800 historians or 500
industrial property managers."
Wow! Those must be excellent workers, right?
Actually, no. The article also says:
"San Francisco State University
management professor John Sullivan, an expert on employee turnover, says
the low departure rates show a failure to release poor performers and
those with obsolete skills. 'Rather than indicating something positive,
rates below 1% in the firing and layoff components would indicate a
serious management problem,' he says."
A serious management problem?
So who exactly is the highest ranking manager of the federal government?
It's President Obama.
183) Illegally solicited donations from health insurers
In May 2013, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius solicited donations from health insurers to help pay for Obamacare. Such soliciting is illegal .
184) Chose an economic advisor who wanted roads and bridges to be built by unqualified workers
Obama chose to have Robert Reich be his economic advisor. Regarding Obama's stimulus, Reich said :
"I am concerned, as I'm sure many of
you are, that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people... And
therefore, in my remarks I have suggested to you, and I'm certainly
happy to talk about it more, ways in which the money can be - criteria
can be set so that they money does go to others... people who are not
necessarily construction workers or high-skilled professionals."
185) Pressured unions to reduce the amount of health insurance coverage for their employees
In May 2013, the New York Times reported :
Say goodbye to that $500 deductible
insurance plan and the $20 co-payment for a doctor's office visit. They
are likely to become luxuries of the past.
Expect to have your blood pressure
checked or a prescription filled at a clinic at your office, rather than
by your private doctor.
Then blame the so-called Cadillac tax, which penalizes companies that offer high-end health care plans to their employees.
Although the tax does not start until
2018, employers say they have to start now to meet the deadline and they
are doing whatever they can to bring down the cost of their plans.
Under the law, an employer or health insurer offering a plan that costs
more than $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family would
typically pay a 40 percent excise tax on the amount exceeding the
threshold.
Tom Leibfried, a legislative director
for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., one of the unions whose plans are vulnerable to
the tax, says the demands that workers pay more for their care is a
perennial aspect of labor negotiations. "We're very concerned about the
hollowing out of benefits in general," he said. "What the excise tax
will do is just fuel that."
186) Falsely said "We believe in the free market"
In June 2013, Obama said,
We don't think
that top-down solutions are the right way to go. We believe in the free
market. We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations. -
See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-we-dont-want-tax-all-businesses-out-business#sthash.NDb17lc6.dpufWe believe in the free market. We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations.
"We believe in the free market."
Obama was lying. The free market means that in the business world, it
is the customers, not the government, who pick winners and losers. But
this list contains a huge number of instances where Obama tried to use
the government to pick winners and losers in the business world.
187) Falsely said "We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations"
In June 2013, Obama said , "We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations."
He lied. For example, after Obamacare was passed, Obama added 20,000 extra pages of regulations to to it.
188) Said Catholic schools are "divisive" but did not say the same thing about other religious schools
In June 2013, Obama said :
"If towns remain divided - if
Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs,
if we can't see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are
allowed to harden - that too encourages division and discourages
cooperation."
I can understand why a person might criticize religious
schools in general - although I myself happen to think that religious
schools are a superior alternative to public schools. But for Obama to
single out one religion in particular as being divisive, while not
saying the same thing about all religious schools in general, is a
double standard.
189) Favored a new tax on Christmas trees so the money could be used to subsidize Christmas trees
In November 2011, Obama proposed
a new tax on Christmas trees, so that the money could be used to
subsidize Christmas trees. If this had been a Rube Goldberg cartoon it
would have been funny. But to suggest it as an actual government policy
is absurd.
190) Betrayed the people of the city that helped him launch his political career
As part of his effort to get Obamacare passed, Obama repeatedly promised that people could keep their current health insurance if they liked it.
More than any other city, the people of Chicago helped to get
Obamacare passed. Chicago is where Obama chose to live when he first got
into politics. The people there launched his political career and voted
him into office.
And this is how Obama repays them. In May 2013, the Chicago Tribune reported :
Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to start
reducing health insurance coverage next year for more than 30,000
retired city workers and begin shifting them to President Barack Obama's
new federal system.
The move is aimed at saving the city money
Once the phaseout is complete, those
retired workers would have to pay for their own health insurance or get
subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The city-subsidized coverage is
particularly important to retired workers who aren't yet eligible for
Medicare
Henry Bayer, executive director of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council
31, said the uncertainties of the Affordable Care Act and the state
insurance exchanges they would create make the city's plan hard to
assess.
"This uncertainty will cause anxiety
and fear for tens of thousands of seniors who gave their working lives
to public service - men and women whose retirement savings are already
under attack in the name of 'pension reform.'" Bayer said.
191) Proposed military interventionism in Syria
In June 2013, Obama proposed that the U.S. get involved in Syria's military conflicts.
192) Planned to use military snipers to shoot innocent lions and cheetahs in the wild
In June 2013, Obama was planning to use military snipers to shoot innocent lions and cheetahs in the wild.
However, after the media reported on his plans, Obama got embarrassed , and cancelled his plans.
193) Refused to fire or prosecute more than 1,000 IRS employees who illegally used their IRS credit cards for their own personal use
During Obama's first term, more than 1,000 IRS employees illegally used their IRS credit cards for personal purchases, but Obama refused to fire or prosecute them.
194) Defended intelligence chief who lied under oath
In March 2013, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, falsely
stated under oath that the NSA was not gathering data on millions of
U.S. citizens. In June 2013, after it was reported that Clapper had lied
under oath, Obama defended him, instead of firing him.
195) Had the Secret Service visit a law abiding citizen who had criticized his policies on Twitter
In April 2013, Obama sent the Secret Service to visit the home of Tom Francois, a law abiding citizen who had criticized Obama's policies on Twitter.
The Secret Service admitted that Francois had not made any threats against Obama.
196) Had the IRS grant special, illegal favors for his brother's so-called "charity"
In May 2013, the Dailer Caller reported
that the IRS had taken the "unprecedented" step of approving a
non-profit application within just one month. In this particular case,
the application was from the Barack H. Obama Foundation, a so-called "charity" which was headed by Malik Obama, Barack Obama's brother.
In addition, the IRS illegally gave retroactive approval for the organization's tax exempt status. Prior to getting this approval, the organization had illegally solicited tax deductible donations even though it did not have legal approval to do so.
197) Raised the interest rate on student loans to pay for Obamacare
Obamacare raised the interest rate on students loans from 5.3% to 6.8%. The money is used to fund Obamacare.
198) Refused to fire or prosecute 15 IRS agents who illegally seized the medical records of 10 million people
In March 2011, 15 IRS agents illegally seized the medical records of 10 million people without a warrant. Obama refused to fire or prosecute them.
199) Hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare
In June 2013, it was reported that Obama had hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare.
200) Tried to reward wasteful IRS spending with an increase in funding
In June 2013, Danny Werfel, Obama's new nominee to head the IRS, asked Congress for an increase in funding. At the same time, NPR reported on this waste of taxpayer money at an IRS conference:
Some of the 2,600 attendees received
benefits, including baseball tickets and stays in presidential suites
that normally cost $1,500 to $3,500 per night. In addition, 15 outside
speakers were paid a total of $135,000 in fees, with one paid $17,000 to
talk about "leadership through art," the committee said.
Considering how the IRS wasted all that money on luxury hotel rooms
and worthless speeches, Werfel really had some nerve asking Congress for
more money. By proposing to reward wasteful spending with a budget
increase, Werfel proved that he is incompetent to head the IRS. The fact
that Obama nominated such an incompetent person does not surprise me
one bit.
201) Illegally bypassed Congress to delay Obamacare's employer mandate
As the Obamacare law was written, the employer mandate was to begin
in January 2014. This is what the law said when it was passed by the
House and Senate, and signed by President Obama.
However, in July 2013, Obama delayed the employer mandate part of Obamacare until January 2015. Obama did this without approval from Congress.
For Obama to change a law that was passed by Congress, without first
getting approval from Congress, is a violation of the Presidential oath
that Obama took to uphold and defend the Constitution.
What Obama did here is an action of a dictator, not an action of a President whose power is limited by a written constitution.
If Obama can get away with this, then it sets a horribly dangerous
precedent, and means that the President can arbitrarily make any change
to any law that has been passed by Congress, without first getting
approval from Congress.
202) Made it too hard for some doctors to continue their practices
In July 2013, ABC News reported that some doctors were shutting down their practices in response to Obamacare.
Dr. Robert WcWilliams, an obstetrician/gynecologist with more than 5,000 patients, said :
"It's going to be run by bureaucrats -
and it's going to be run by politicians - who have no idea what is in
your best interests, then I'm getting out."
203) Falsely told Africans that contaminated water is a smaller problem than global warming
In July 2013, while speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, President Obama said that global warming was "the biggest challenge we have environmentally" and that it was worse than "dirty water, dirty air."
However, according
to the World Health Organization, while global warming kills 140,000
people each year, air pollution kills 3 million people per year.
According
to UNESCO, each year, contaminated water causes 4 billion cases of
diarrhea, 120,000 cases of cholera, 300 million cases of malaria, 12
million cases of typhoid, 6 million cases of trachoma, 200 million cases
of schistosomiesis, and more than 1 billion incidents of intestinal
parasites.
You know what's worse than global warming? How about living your entire life without ever having access to a toilet ?
The World Health Organization says that dirty water is "the leading cause of disease and death around the world."
That Obama would downplay these problems shows how scientifically illiterate he is.
That he would do so while giving a speech in Africa, which has the
highest rate of water borne illness of any continent, shows how
thoughtless and insensitive he is.
204) Spent $630,000 of taxpayers' money to get more Facebook "likes"
In July 2013, it was reported that Obama had spent $630,000 of taxpayers' money in order to get more Facebook "likes."
205) Declared that hacking was an act of war, then hacked the EU
In 2011, the Obama administration issued a statement which said that when one country hacked another country's computers, the hacking constituted an "act of war."
In July 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had hacked computers which were owned by the European Union.
206) Said "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon"
In Florida, after a school security camera showed Trayvon Martin marking graffiti, a search
of his backpack showed that it contained 12 pieces of women's jewelry,
including silver wedding rings, and earrings with diamonds. The backpack
also had a screwdriver, which is often used as a tool by burglars.
Martin said that the jewelry belonged to a friend, but refused to say
who that friend was.
Why would a teenage boy bring a backpack full of silver wedding rings
and diamond earrings to school? Do Martin's millions of defenders
really think that he was not a burglar?
The fact that Martin was in possession of stolen jewelry at school is
perfectly in line with George Zimmerman's claim on the 911 call that
Martin was acting suspiciously. And there had been quite a few
burglaries in the area recently.
Also on the 911 call, Zimmerman had said that Martin was acting as if he was on drugs. Martin's autopsy showed that there was THC
in his system. And while other parts of marijuana can stay in the
system for weeks after it's smoked, the THC only stays in the person's
system for a few hours . Therefore, Martin was indeed high when Zimmerman saw him.
So Trayvon Martin was a burglar, used illegal drugs, broke Zimmerman's nose, and smashed Zimmerman's head against the concrete.
And how does Obama respond to all of this?
Obama said :
"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."
207) Falsely said that Secretary of State John Kerry had not been on his yacht during the regime change in Egypt
In July 2013, the Obama administration falsely said that Secretary of State John Kerry had not been on his yacht during the regime change in Egypt.
Evan after CBS news presented the Obama administration with photographic evidence
that Kerry had been on his yacht during that time, the Obama
administration still continued to falsely claim that Kerry had not been
on his yacht.
CBS News reported :
On Thursday night, CBS News obtained a
photo of Kerry on his boat and sent it to the State Department, asking
whether they still stand by their denial that Kerry was on a boat.
The response: "Yes."
208) Said "the planet will boil over" if African citizens adopt a first world standard of living
In July 2013, Obama said "the planet will boil over" if African citizens adopt a first world standard of living."the planet will boil over
209) "Among those who Strongly Approve of the president, more fear the Tea Party than radical Muslims."
In June 2013, Rasmussen conducted a poll to find out what people considered to be the "nation's top terror threat."
Reporting on the results of the poll, Rasmussen wrote :
"Among those who Strongly Approve of the president, more fear the Tea Party than radical Muslims."
210) Illegally forced 2,200 privately owned auto dealerships to close, which destroyed 120,000 jobs
In 2009, Obama illegally forced 2,200 privately owned auto dealerships to close . These dealerships had employed 120,000 people.
211) Subsidized the production of alcoholic beverages
In June 2013, Breitbart reported :
The USDA Rural Development agency also
touted a program to subsidize the Wine Barn LLC in "marketing and
increasing production of its Kansas produced wine." That cost $25,000.
The USDA Rural Development also said it would hand $300,000 to the
Mackinaw Trail Winery in Michigan, $100,000 for the Appleton Creek
Winery in New York, $162,500 for the Old Westminster Winery in Maryland,
and tens of thousands of dollars to wineries in Nebraska and Iowa.
Liquor is the name of the game for the
USDA, apparently - they're also subsidizing the production of vodka in
North Carolina, Bloody Mary mix in West Virginia, and hard cider in
Virginia.
212) Gave 23,994 tax refunds worth a total of $46,378,040 to illegal aliens who all used the same address
In 2011, the IRS gave 23,994 tax refunds worth a total of $46,378,040 to illegal aliens who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga.
213) Sued private businesses for using "racist" criminal background checks to screen employees
In June 2013, the Obama administration filed lawsuits
against Dollar General and BMW for using criminal background checks to
screen employees. The Obama administration claimed that such background
checks were " racist ."
214) Used tax money to pay federal employees to organize protests against George Zimmerman
In March and April of 2012, Obama used tax money to pay federal employees to organize protests against George Zimmerman.
215) Illegally continued giving foreign aid to Egypt after it had a coup
Federal law requires
that U.S. foreign aid to Egypt be ended if and when Egypt has a coup.
However, after Egypt had a coup in July 2013, the Obama administration said that it would continue giving foreign aid to Egypt.
216) Broke promise to end Bush's surveillance of U.S. citizens who were not suspected of committing a crime
In August 2007, Obama promised
that he would end Bush's surveillance of U.S. citizens who were not
suspected of committing a crime. However, in June 2013, such
surveillance was still being conducted.
217) Spent $3 million to study the health risks of dating Mexican prostitutes
In July 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $3 million to study the health risks of dating Mexican prostitutes.
218) Lied about the cost of IRS conferences
In June 2013 it was reported
that the Obama administration had lied about the cost of IRS
conferences. While the actual cost was $50 million, the Obama
administration had claimed that the cost was only 1% of that mount.
219) Spent $890,000 per year on service fees for bank accounts that had no money
In April 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration was spending $890,000 each year on
service fees for bank accounts that did not have any money in them. At
the time, the government had 13,712 empty accounts which it was supposed
to have closed, but which it had kept open anyway.
220) Spent $34 million to construct a new military
headquarters in Afghanistan after U.S. military commanders said they did
not want it
After U.S. military commanders said
in 2010 that they did not want a new headquarters in Afghanistan, the
Obama administration spent $34 million to build it anyway.
221) Falsely said that his scandals were "phony"
In July 2013, Obama said
"With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball."
These scandals are not "phony." I have cited a huge number of sources in this list to show that these scandals are real.
222) Falsely guaranteed that people could keep their doctor
Before Obamacare was passed, Obama said :
"Here is a guarantee that I've made... If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor."
However, in July 2013, the Obama administration said that people "may" be able to keep their doctor.
223) Falsely said the auto bailouts prevented Detroit from going bankrupt
Obama falsely stated that the auto bailouts prevented Detroit from going bankrupt.
224) Illegally seized a privately owned gun from a law abiding citizen
After a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty, the Obama administration announced
that it would seize his gun. This violated the double jeopardy clause
of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the takings clause of the fifth
amendment.
225) Broke his promise to have real time verifiability of Obamacare subsidies
In July 2013, Investor's Business Daily wrote :
Meanwhile, the administration tacitly
admitted last week that its promise of real-time verification of a
consumer's eligibility to buy subsidized coverage at an ObamaCare
exchange wasn't exactly panning out.
Under ObamaCare, only those who don't
have access to "affordable" insurance at work can buy coverage in an
exchange, and only those below certain income levels are eligible for
tax subsidies.
Rather than a high-tech instant check,
the administration told states they could simply take the applicants'
word for it when it comes to their employer-provided coverage, as well
as their "projected annual household income," without the need for "further verification."
226) Signed health care reform whose rules contradicted each other
Obamacare allows insurance companies to charge higher premiums for smokers. At the same time, it prohibits
insurance companies from charging more than three times as much for
older people as it does for younger people. In June 2013, Obama's
computer programmers said that they had been unable to write a computer program that simultaneously agreed with both of these rules.
227) Signed a health care reform plan that is so horrible that even the IRS agents who run it don't want to participate in it
Obama hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare.
But Obamacare is so awful that even the IRS agents who run it don't want to participate in it.
In July 2013, the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents
the IRS employees who will be running Obamacare, provided a form letter
to its members to send to their Congressmen. The letter stated :
"I am very concerned about legislation
that has been introduced by Congressman Dave Camp to push federal
employees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and into
the insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act."
When asked about this, IRS chief Daniel Werfel responded by saying :"I don't want to speak for the NTEU,
but I'll offer a perspective as a federal employee myself and a federal
employee at the IRS. And that is, we have right now as employees of the
government, of the IRS, affordable health care coverage. I think the ACA
was designed to provide an option or an alternative for individuals
that do not. And all else being equal, I think if you're an individual
who is satisfied with your health care coverage, you're probably in a
better position to stick with that coverage than go through the change
of moving into a different environment and going through that process.
So I think for a federal employee, I think more likely, and I would -
can speak for myself, I would prefer to stay with the current policy
that I'm pleased with rather than go through a change if I don't need to
go through that change."
228) Tried to tax small businesses at a higher rate than corporations
Obama raised the top tax rate on small businesses to 39.6%, and tried to lower the top tax rate on corporations to 28%.
229) Illegally prevented individual employees of small businesses from choosing their own plan during the first year of Obamacare
Obamacare requires
that individual employees of small businesses be allowed to choose
their own insurance plan during the first year of Obamacare. However, in
March 2013, the Obama administration announced that it would not be allowing them to make this choice during the first year.
230) Falsely said that Obamacare had not hurt jobs
In July 2013, the Obama administration said that Obamacare had not hurt jobs.
However, in the real world, in response to the medical device tax
that is part of Obamacare, some medical device manufacturers have announced
plans to layoff employees, including Welch Allyn (275 planned layoffs),
Stryker (1,170 planned layoffs), and Medtronic (1,000 planned layoffs).
In December 2012, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry, and 15
other Democrats who supported the passage of Obamacare wrote a letter
to Harry Reid, asking him to delay the tax on medical devices, claiming
that the tax would hurt job creation in their districts. The New York
Times reported
that Obamacare "sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of
part-time employment." In response to the employer mandate of Obamacare,
some restaurants have announced plans to switch some of their employees
from full time to part time, including some franchises of Olive Garden , Red Lobster , Wendy's, Taco Bell , White Castle , and Fatburger . Community College of Allegheny County switched
200 professors and 200 other employees from full time to part time in
response to Obamacare. Clint Benjamin, an English professor at Community
College of Allegheny County, said that this would reduce his own monthly pay by $600. Also in response to the employer mandate of Obamacare, other colleges have announced
plans to switch some of their employees from full time to part time,
including Florida's Palm Beach State College, Ohio's Youngstown State
University, and New Jersey's Kean University. In Virginia, thousands of
government employees had their hours reduced because of Obamacare. The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh reduced
the hours of 48 of its employees in response to Obamacare. Regal
Entertainment Group, the largest chain of movie theaters in the country,
announced
that it would be switching thousands of its employees from full time to
part time in response to the Obamacare mandate. Utah's Granite School
District reduced the hours of 1,200 of its employees in response to Obamacare. In response to Obamacare, many Wal-Mart stores have stopped hiring full time workers. In response to Obamacare, Forever 21 reduced its employees' hours. As of September 2013, more than 200 public-sector employers had reduced their employees' hours in response to Obamacare. Sea World reduced the weekly hours of its part time employees from 32 to 28 in response to Obamacare. Lands' End limited
its part time employees to 29 hours per week in response to Obamacare.
As of September 2013, at least 34 universities and colleges had reduced some of their employees' hours in response to Obamacare. In September 2013, it was reported
that in response to Obamacare, Indiana University would be laying off
50 of its employees and switching them to a temp agency. In July 2013,
leaders of the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE sent a letter
to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi which said that Obamacare will "destroy
the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the
American middle class... the law creates an incentive for employers to
keep employees' work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers
have begun to cut workers' hours to avoid this obligation."
231) Falsely said that health insurance premiums would be reduced by $2,500 per family by the end of his first term
In February 2008, Obama said :
"We are going to work with you to
lower your premiums by $2,500. We will not wait 20 years from now to do
it, or 10 years from now to do it. We will do it by the end of my first
term as president."
However, by the time his first term was over, family premiums had gotten bigger , not smaller. The increase was $3,065 per family.
232) Illegally gave Obamacare waiver to Massachusetts
In August 2013, Obama gave an Obamacare waiver to Massachusetts.
This waiver was illegal for two reasons. First, the waiver was not
approved by the U.S. Congress. Second, the U.S. Constitution requires
that the federal government treat all states the same.
233) Betrayed the unions that helped him to get elected
In January 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported :
Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed
Labor unions enthusiastically backed
the Obama administration's health-care overhaul when it was up for
debate. Now that the law is rolling out, some are turning sour.
Union leaders say many of the law's
requirements will drive up the costs for their health-care plans and
make unionized workers less competitive. Among other things, the law
eliminates the caps on medical benefits and prescription drugs used as
cost-containment measures in many health-care plans. It also allows
children to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26.
Some 20 million Americans are covered by the health-care plans at issue
Top officers at the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, the AFL-CIO and other large labor groups plan
to keep pressing the Obama administration to expand the federal
subsidies to these jointly run plans, warning that unionized employers
may otherwise drop coverage. A handful of unions say they already have
examined whether it makes sense to shift workers off their current plans
"We are going back to the
administration to say that this is not acceptable," said Ken Hall,
general secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters, which has 1.6 million
members and dependents in health-care plans. Other unions involved in
the push include the United Food and Commercial Workers International
Union and Unite Here
Sheet Metal Workers Local 85 in
Atlanta, which has about 1,900 members. Next year it must lift the
$250,000 annual cap on the amount it will pay for medical claims. The
law's requirements will add between 50 cents to $1 an hour to the cost
of members' compensation package
234) Illegally changed Obamacare to benefit members of Congress and their staff
Obamacare was passed by the House and Senate, and signed by President Obama.
Three years later, members of Congress and their staff complained that Obamacare was going to cost them a lot of money, and said that this would likely cause a brain drain among their staff. In response to this, Obama made changes
to Obamacare so that these things would not happen. However, Obama's
actions were illegal, because he made these changes without Congress
voting on them first.
The New York Times wrote of this:
... the language of the health care law
requires Congressional employees to obtain health insurance through an
exchange created by the law, but other parts of the federal legal code
restrict the ability of the federal government to pay the usual employer
share for group insurance programs approved by the Office of Personnel
Management.
A straightforward reading of the law
thus means that Congressional staff members, starting in January 2014,
will have to obtain insurance through the Affordable Care Act but pay
for it on their own without the normal contribution from their employer -
Congress. This would be a multi-thousand-dollar income hit for those
affected... many... would potentially feel the pain, giving rise to concerns
over a potential brain drain of Congressional staff members finding
other employment.
... the federal personnel office
initially ruled that Congressional staff members would not be eligible
for the subsidies, and then changed this decision under pressure from
the White House...
235) Told General Mills to stop making true claims about Cheerios
For quite some time, advertisements for the breakfast cereal Cheerios
made the true and accurate claim that eating Cheerios lowers a person's
cholesterol.
However, even though this claim is true and accurate, in May 2009, the Obama administration ordered General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, to stop making this claim in its commercials.
236) Illegally avoided enforcing the required income verification of people who receive subsidies for Obamacare exchanges
Even though Obamacare requires the government to verify the income of
people who receive subsidies for Obamacare exchanges, in August 2013 it
was reported that Obama would not be verifying their incomes.
237) Placed a 40% tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans
Obamacare includes a 40% tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans.
In August 2013, unions that supported the passage of Obamacare complained about this tax.
238) Made medical care for special needs children more expensive
In August 2013, it was reported
that Obamacare would make it more expensive for the parents of special
needs children to pay for their children's medical equipment and
specialized private schools that cater to their medical needs.
239) Responded to the Benghazi attack by going back to bed, and then later got up and headed off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser
In September 2012, after Obama found out that U.S. citizens were
being killed in Benghazi, Libya, he went back to bed. After he got up in
the morning, he went off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser .
240) Illegally delayed the caps on out of pocket health care payments without Congressional approval
As it was passed by the House and Senate and signed by Obama,
Obamacare sets caps on the out of pocket payments that people pay for
health care, and these caps were legally required to take effect in
January 2014.
However, in August 2013, Obama delayed these caps until January 2015.
Because Obama imposed this delay without it first being approved by
Congress, Obama's action was illegal. The President does not have the
legal authority to change an Act that was passed by Congress, without
that change first being approved by Congress. What Obama did here is not
the act of a President whose power is limited by a written
constitution, but is, instead, the action of a dictator.
241) Holds a double standard when it comes to supporting "gun free" zones
In December 2012, a petition at whitehouse.gov stated :
"Eliminate armed guards for the President, Vice-President, and their families, and establish Gun Free Zones around them""Gun Free Zones are supposed to
protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right
to keep and bear arms. Those same politicians and their families are
currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun
Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free
Zones should be good enough for politicians."
The Obama administration rejected the proposal.
242) Outlawed the low-premium, high-deductible health insurance that some people prefer
Obamacare bans to the low-premium, high-deductible health insurance that some people prefer.
243) Lied about how many people he had helped to protect from mortgage fraud
In August 2013, it was reported
that less than one month before the 2012 election, the Obama
administration had lied about the number of people that it had helped to
protect from mortgage fraud, as well as the total amount of money
involved. In August 2013, when the truth was revealed, Newsbusters reported :
"Thus, the number of defendants fell
by 80% from what DOJ claimed less than a month before the presidential
election. The number of victims fell by 76%. The amount of losses
involved dropped by over 90%."
244) Falsely said the NSA review was being conducted by an "independent" body
In August 2013, Obama said that he would establish an "independent" investigation of NSA surveillance.
However, three days later, it was reported
that this so-called "independent" investigation would be run by James
Clapper, who had falsely testified to Congress that the NSA was not
collecting information on U.S. citizens.
245) Used tax money to pay for a separate flight just for his dog
In August 2013, Obama forced taxpayers to pay for a separate airplane flight just for his dog Bo.
246) Closed off public roads so he could buy books
In August 2013, Obama had public roads closed to the public so he could go to a bookstore. Why didn't he just order the books online?
247) Gave illegal EPA exemption to one oil refinery, and would not say which refinery it was
The EPA has a very expensive ethanol mandate that applies to all oil refineries. However, in August 2013, it was reported that Obama had given one oil refinery an exemption from this mandate.
This exemption is illegal for two reasons. First, the exemption was
not approved by Congress. And secondly, the Constitution requires that
federal laws apply equally to everyone.
In addition, Obama refused
to say which refinery it was that received this exemption, which is
completely contrary to his repeated promises of "transparency."
248) Created new fines for charitable hospitals that give treatment to uninsured people
In August 2013, it was reported that Obamacare creates new fines for charitable hospitals that give treatment to uninsured people.
249) Blamed poverty on zip codes instead of on behavior
In July 2013, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said :
"Unfortunately, in too many of our
hardest-hit communities, no matter how hard a child or her parents work,
the life chances of that child, even her lifespan, is determined by the
ZIP Code she grows up in. This is simply wrong."
However, let's consider two groups of people in the U.S. The first
group has a poverty rate of 2%. The second group has a poverty rate of
76%.
The first group consists of people who followed all three of these steps:
1) Finish high school.
2) Get a full-time job.
3) Wait until age 21 and get married before having children.
The second group consists of people who followed zero of those three steps.
Among people who follow all three of these steps, the poverty rate is 2%.
Among people who follow zero of these steps, the poverty rate is 76%.
(My source for that information is this article, which refers to this PDF, and the relevant data is on page 15 of the PDF. The study uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau.)
250) Nominated a telecommunications lobbyist and Obama fundraiser to head the FCC
In May 2013, Obama nominated
Tom Wheeler to head the FCC. Wheeler had previously been the head of
the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, which is a
lobbying organization for the cable TV industry. He had also been the
head of CTIA, a lobbying organization for cellphone carriers. In
addition, he had also been a fundraiser for Obama.
251) Tried to violate defendants' right to a fair trial
In August 2013, Reuters reported :
A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence
intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone
records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal
investigations of Americans.
Although these cases rarely involve
national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law
enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations
truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from
prosecutors and judges.
The undated documents show that
federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to
effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that
some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair
trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot
know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence -
information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses."I have never heard of anything like
this at all," said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who
served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal
experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures
that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone
records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA
program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers."It is one thing to create special
rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely
different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations."
252) Threatened internet service providers with contempt of court if they did not install surveillance software
In August 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had pressured internet service providers
to install surveillance software, so that it could monitor internet
traffic without a warrant. Internet service providers who did not cave
in to this pressure were threatened by the Obama administration with
contempt of court. This violated the Constitution's ban on warrantless
searches. In addition, the executive branch does not have the legal
authority to declare contempt of court, as this power is reserved
exclusively for the judicial branch.
253) Sued Louisiana to keep low income blacks trapped in bad schools, and lied about why he did it
In August 2013, the Obama administration sued Louisiana to try to bring an end to its school voucher program - a program which had just been passed in 2012.
Under the Louisiana program, both of the following criteria
had to be met in order for a student to get a school voucher. First,
the student must come from a family whose income is below 250% of the
poverty level. And second, the current public school that the student is
attending must be rated as "C" or below.
86% of students who received vouchers had used those vouchers to flee from public schools which had been rated as "D" or "F."
Only the most vulnerable children were eligible for the vouchers - the poorest students attending the worst schools.
Obama's reason for filing the lawsuit was that "many of those vouchers impeded the desegregation process."
However, in response to Obama's claim that the vouchers discriminated
against blacks, Louisiana Education Superintendent John White pointed out that almost all of the students using the vouchers were black, and said
that "it's a little ridiculous" for Obama to claim that these vouchers
caused discrimination against blacks. The Washington Post reported that 90% of the students who receive the vouchers are black.
It's also worth noting that only students whose parents request
such vouchers are eligible to participate in the voucher program. Obama
is therefore claiming that parents want their own children to be
discriminated against. Obama is extremely wrong on this. These parents
do not want their children to be discriminated against. In reality, what
these parents want is for their children to have a chance at a better
education.
This also makes Obama a hypocrite, because while he was living in both Chicago and Washington D.C., he always
sent his own children to private schools. Does Obama really want us to
believe that he subjected his own children to racial discrimination by
sending them to private schools?
254) Encouraged 40,000 longshoremen to quit the AFL-CIO
In September 2013, it was reported that 40,000 longshoremen had quit the AFL-CIO, and that they had cited Obamacare as one of their reasons for doing so.
255) Paid $67 million to so-called "volunteers"
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama has paid $67 million to so-called "volunteers" to teach people about Obamacare.
256) Illegally used Obamacare to fund pre-K education without approval from Congress
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama had illegally used Obamacare to fund pre-K education without approval from Congress.
257) Signed so-called "hunger-free" act that left students feeling hungry
In December 2010, Obama signed the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," which limited school lunches to a maximum of 850 calories. Students complained that this so-called "hunger-free" program left them feeling hungry.
Meanwhile, the lunch that Obama served to his guests at his 2013 inauguration contained more than 3,000 calories .
258) Signed health care reform that is so terrible that less than 3% of federal employees want to join it
In August 2013, it was reported that less than 3% of federal employees wanted to participate in Obamacare.
259) Avoided doing background checks on Obamacare "navigators"
In August 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration would not be doing background checks on
Obamacare "navigators," despite the fact that these "navigators" would
have access to people's personal, private, and financial information.
260) Illegally paid White House interns less than minimum wage
In June 2013, a federal court ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated the minimum wage law by using unpaid interns. Two months later, it was reported
that the Obama administration was using unpaid interns. In addition to
this being illegal, it also makes Obama a hypocrite, because he had
previously spoken out in favor of a raising the minimum wage.
261) Said broccoli was his favorite food
In July 2013, Obama said
that broccoli was his favorite food. However, before he made this
claim, even though the media showed many pictures of him eating, and
even though there were many articles published about the foods that he
ate, as far as I know, none of those pictures or articles ever showed or
mentioned him eating broccoli. While this may seem trivial, it shows
that there is nothing - absolutely nothing at all - that Obama is not
willing to lie about.
262) Illegally missed half of Obamacare's deadlines
In August 2013, it was reported that Obama had illegally missed 41 of Obamacare's 82 deadlines.
263) Tried to give illegal Obamacare subsidies to unions without Congressional approval
In August 2013 it was reported that Obama was trying to give illegal Obamacare subsidies to unions, without approval from Congress.
264) Made it harder for writers, actors, artists, and musicians to obtain health insurance
In September 2013, the Weekly Standard reported :
Nancy Pelosi waxed rhapsodic in 2010
as she imagined the benefits of Obamacare: "Think of an economy where
people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying
about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance."
But as Obamacare begins to kick in,
artists, photographers, writers, and other members of the "creative
class" who have access to health insurance programs through numerous
professional organizations will lose that coverage.
Up until now professional
organizations have worked with insurance providers to craft reduced-rate
plans for their members. But thanks to the fine print in the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on January 1, 2014, many of
these plans will fail to pass legal muster.
The College Art Association website
posted a notice this month: "The New York Life Insurance Company
recently informed CAA that it will no longer offer catastrophic
healthcare coverage previously available to CAA members."
The Entertainment Industry Group
Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) website posts the following notice: "All
individual and/or Sole Proprietor Health Insurance will terminate
January 1, 2014. This includes plans acquired as Members of our
Affiliated Associations & their groups." Those affiliated
associations include the American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Graphic Arts Guild, NY Women in Film
and Television, and many others.
This will affect huge numbers of freelance artists, musicians, disc jockeys, and so forth.
freelance artists, designers, and musicians forced to enter the state-run exchanges are far more likely to see their rates go up
Pelosi's vision of a world full of
carefree artists, musicians, and writers is a mirage and becoming
fainter the closer we get to January 1.
265) Banned the sale of flavored cigarettes, but gave an exemption to the most dangerous flavor
In September 2009, the Obama administration banned the sale of flavored cigarettes, but exempted
menthol from the ban. Although I am opposed to this ban, it's this
exemption that I find to be the most troubling. If Obama thinks that
flavored cigarettes are so dangerous that they deserve to be banned,
then why did he exempt one particular flavor?
The Obama administration later announced
that menthol cigarettes were more dangerous than other flavors such as
cherry, cloves, chocolate, coconut, and cinnamon, but still continued
to exempt menthol from the ban. If Obama thinks that flavored
cigarettes are so dangerous that they should be banned, then why did he
knowingly continue to give an exemption to the most dangerous flavor?
266) Tried to censor the Washington Post
In August 2013, the Washington Post reported :
The Obama administration referred all
questions for this article to John DeLong, the NSA's director of
compliance, who answered questions freely in a 90-minute interview.
DeLong and members of the NSA communications staff said he could be
quoted "by name and title" on some of his answers after an unspecified
internal review. The Post said it would not permit the editing of
quotes. Two days later, White House and NSA spokesmen said that none of
DeLong's comments could be quoted on the record and sent instead a
prepared statement in his name. The Post declines to accept the
substitute language as quotations from DeLong.
267) Dumbed down math education to make wrong answers acceptable
In August 2013, the Daily Caller reported :
Quick: what's 3 x 4?
If you said 11 - or, hell, if you said
7, pi, or infinity squared - that's just fine under the Common Core,
the new national curriculum that the Obama administration will impose on
American public school students this fall.
In a pretty amazing YouTube video,
Amanda August, a curriculum coordinator in a suburb of Chicago called
Grayslake, explains that getting the right answer in math just doesn't
matter as long as kids can explain the necessarily faulty reasoning they
used to get to that wrong answer.
"Even if they said, '3 x 4 was 11,' if
they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up
with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they
showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we're
really more focused on the how," August says in the video.
268) Broke his promise to label genetically modified food
Before the 2008 election, Obama promised to require labeling of genetically modified food. He broke that promise.
269) Asked the Supreme Court to allow warrantless cell phone searches
In August 2013, the Obama administration asked the U.S Supreme Court to allow warrantless cell phone searches.
270) Used an armed SWAT team to check for water pollution
In September 2013, the Alaska Dispatch reported :
When agents with
the Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force surged out of the wilderness
around the remote community of Chicken wearing body armor and jackets
emblazoned with POLICE in big, bold letters, local placer miners didn't
quite know what to think.
Did it really
take eight armed men and a squad-size display of paramilitary force to
check for dirty water? Some of the miners, who run small businesses, say
they felt intimidated.
Miners suggest
it might have been better all around if officials had just shown up at
the door - as they used to do - and said they wanted to check the water.
The EPA has
refused to publicly explain why it used armed officers as part of what
it called a "multi-jurisdictional" investigation of possible Clean Water
Act violations in the area.
271) Purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security to use in the U.S.
In March 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had purchased 1.6 billion rounds of
ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security to use in the U.S.
272) Released 2,837 convicted sex offenders from prison
In September 2013, the Obama administration released 2,837 convicted sex offenders from prison.
Although the Obama administration had released these sex offenders in
response to a court order to alleviate prison overcrowding, it could
have released non-violent drug offenders instead. See #7 on this list
for how Obama has carried out the biggest war against medical marijuana
of any President in history.
Apparently, Obama thinks that people with doctors' prescriptions for
medical marijuana are a bigger threat than rapists and child molesters.
273) Refused to fire or prosecute Obamacare employee who released private info of 2,400 people
In September 2013, it was reported
that an Obamacare employee had released the private information of
2,400 people. Obama refused to fire or prosecute this Obamacare
employee.
274) Tried to monitor 80% of all credit card transactions
In September 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration was trying to monitor 80% of all credit card transactions.
275) Tried to censor the AFL-CIO
In September 2013, Associated Press reported :
The AFL-CIO on Wednesday approved a
resolution critical of parts of President Barack Obama's health care law
in spite of efforts by White House officials to discourage the labor
federation from making its concerns so prominent.
The strongly worded resolution says
the Affordable Care Act will drive up the costs of union-sponsored
health plans to the point that workers and employers are forced to
abandon them. Labor unions still support the law's overall goals of
reducing health costs and bringing coverage to all Americans, the
resolution says, but adds that the law is being implemented in a way
that is "highly disruptive" to union health care plans.
Some individual unions have complained
about the law's impact for months. The resolution marks the first time
the nation's largest labor federation has gone on record embracing that
view. Unions were among the most enthusiastic backers of the law when it
passed in 2010.
A labor official told The Associated
Press that White House officials had been calling labor leaders for days
to urge them not to voice their concerns in the form of a resolution.
276) Falsely said that he had not declared a "red line" on Syria
In August 2012, while talking about Syria, Obama said :
"A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized."
However, in September 2013, while talking about Syria, Obama said :
"I didn't set a red line."
277) Falsely gave himself credit for John Kerry's idea about Syria
In September 2013, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that Syria turn over all of its chemical weapons to an international body.
The Obama's administration initially
responded to Kerry's statement by saying that Kerry had not been
serious, and that his statement had just been a "rhetorical" answer to a
hypothetical question.
However, after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Kerry's idea made sense, Obama falsely stated that he had talked about the idea a week earlier.
278) Made it more difficult and bureaucratic for restaurant employees to collect automatic tips from parties of eight or more
In September 2013, the Obama administration announced
new paperwork requirements for restaurants that collect automatic tips
from parties of eight or more. These new regulations create additional
paperwork for restaurants each and every time a party of eight or more
leaves an automatic tip. It also means that restaurant employees would
have to wait extra time to receive these automatic tips from parties of
eight or more. In addition, in some cases, restaurant employees might
not get any tip at all from some parties of eight or more, because their
employer might decide that the paperwork is too burdensome, and stop
collecting automatic tips altogether.
There's also the fact that Obama imposed these new regualations
without approval from Congress, which means that Obama's actions were
illegal.
279) Secretly and illegally reversed NSA restrictions without approval from Congress
In September 2013, the Washington Post reported :
The Obama administration secretly won
permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on
the National Security Agency's use of intercepted phone calls and
e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans'
communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with
government officials and recently declassified material.
In addition, the court extended the
length of time that the NSA is allowed to retain intercepted U.S.
communications from five years to six years - and more under special
circumstances, according to the documents, which include a recently
released 2011 opinion by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, then chief
judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Together the permission to search and
to keep data longer expanded the NSA's authority in significant ways
without public debate or any specific authority from Congress. The
enlarged authority is part of a fundamental shift in the government's
approach to surveillance: collecting first, and protecting Americans'
privacy later.
The court decision allowed the NSA "to
query the vast majority" of its e-mail and phone call databases using
the e-mail addresses and phone numbers of Americans and legal residents
without a warrant, according to Bates's opinion.
The court in 2008 imposed a wholesale
ban on such searches at the government's request, said Alex Joel, civil
liberties protection officer at the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence (ODNI). The government included this restriction "to remain
consistent with NSA policies and procedures that NSA applied to other
authorized collection activities," he said.
280) Encouraged employers to use temp agencies
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, Indiana University would be laying off 50 of its employees and switching them to a temp agency.
In June 2013, Time magazine wrote :
Why Temp Agencies Are Learning to Love the Affordable Care Act
Staffing companies like Robert Half
International and On Assignment have seen their stock prices soar since
President Obama's reelection in November, as the election made it nearly
certain that the implementation of the law would continue as planned.
"In general is viewed as something that will lead to
increases in the penetration rate of temporary workers," says Tobey
Sommer, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Firms like Robert
Half International are especially well positioned to benefit from the
law, Sommer says, because they specialize in small and medium-sized
companies, the very sort that may be using temporary workers to help
them stay below that all-important 50-worker mark.
There's also an opening for staffing
companies to present themselves as experts in the labor rules of the
Obamacare law, and as a resource that other businesses can turn to for
help with its many rules and regulations. "The increasing burden of
these regulations will cause some clients to throw up their hands and
say, 'I can't deal with all of this," says Sommer. And when that
happens, a full-service staffing company could be the perfect place to
seek help navigating the unknown waters of Obamacare.
281) Encouraged layoffs of health care workers
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, Emory Healthcare, which is in Georgia, would be laying off more than 100 of its employees.
In September 2013, it was reported that in response to Obamacare, the Cleveland Clinic would be laying off some of its employees.
282) Encouraged insurance companies to reduce their customers' choices of doctors and hospitals
In September 2013, the Los Angeles Times reported :
The doctor can't see you now.
Consumers may hear that a lot more often after getting health insurance under President Obama's Affordable Care Act.
To hold down premiums, major insurers
in California have sharply limited the number of doctors and hospitals
available to patients in the state's new health insurance market opening
Oct. 1.
New data reveal the extent of those cuts in California, a crucial test bed for the federal healthcare law.
These diminished medical networks are
fueling growing concerns that many patients will still struggle to get
care despite the nation's biggest healthcare expansion in half a
century.
Consumers could see long wait times, a scarcity of specialists and loss of a longtime doctor./em>
In September 2013, the New York Times reported :
... under President Obama's health care
law... many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and
hospitals available to consumers.
From California to Illinois to New
Hampshire, and in many states in between, insurers are... restricting the
number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans.
... insurers... have created smaller networks of doctors and hospitals than are typically found in commercial insurance.
Consumers should be prepared for "much
tighter, narrower networks" of doctors and hospitals, said Adam M.
Linker, a health policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, a
statewide advocacy group.
In a new study, the Health Research
Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting company, says that "insurers passed over major medical centers" when selecting providers in
California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, among other
states.
Juan Carlos Davila, an executive vice
president of Blue Shield of California, said the network for its
exchange plans... did not include the five medical centers of the
University of California.
Daniel R. Hawkins Jr., a senior vice
president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, which
represents 9,000 clinics around the country, said: "... insurers have
shown little interest in including us in their provider networks."
Dr. Bruce Siegel, the president of
America's Essential Hospitals, formerly known as the National
Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, said insurers were
telling his members: "We don't want you in our network. We are worried
about having your patients, who are sick and have complicated
conditions."
In New Hampshire, Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield, a unit of WellPoint, one of the nation's largest
insurers, has touched off a furor by excluding 10 of the state's 26
hospitals from the health plans that it will sell through the insurance
exchange.
283) Encouraged a hospital to close
In September 2013, WCYB reported :
Jonesville, Va. - A local hospital is closing its doors.
Wellmont Health System is citing unprecedented changes in health care as the reason for closing Lee Regional Medical Center.
Company officials say three reasons
led to the decision reimbursement cuts associated with the Affordable
Care Act, extremely low community use of the hospital and a lack of
consistent physician coverage.
Lee Regional will cease all operations on October 1.
284) Required doctors to ask patients sexual questions and put their answers in an electronic database
In September 2013, it was reported
that Obamacare requires doctors to ask patients personal questions
about their sex lives, and to put their answers into an electronic
database. Doctors who avoid doing this will be penalized.
Dr. Adam Budzikowski, a New York cardiologist, said
these sex question were "insensitive, stupid and very intrusive," and
that he could not think of any reason why a cardiologist would need such
information.
Dr. Richard Amerling, an associate professor of medicine at Albert Einstein Medical College, said
that a patient's medical record should be "a story created by you and
your doctor solely for your treatment and benefit," and that Obamacare
turns doctor appointments "into an interrogation, and the data will not
be confidential."
The New York Civil Liberties Union said that these requirements were a violation of patients' privacy.
The Obama administration said that patients who wished to keep their information out of the electronic database should pay in cash.
285) Listed wrong prices for Obamacare
On September 20, 2013, just 10 days before the Obamacare exchanges were legally required to be ready, it was reported that they had the wrong prices.
286) Made it easier for people to commit health care fraud
In September 2013, CNBC reported :
Deep staff cuts are hitting a federal
agency responsible for investigating health care fraud just as Obamacare
is due to kick in, leaving less people to investigate an ever-growing
crime that costs taxpayers billions of dollars.
And in a perverse twist, the funding
cuts at the Health and Human Services Department's Inspector General's
Office might save money in the short term for the U.S. taxpayer. But
over the long run, more money that could have been recouped from the
fraud cases now going unpursued, is being left on the table, the agency
said.
For every $1 spent on health-care fraud probes, nearly $8 is recouped in fines, restitution or settlements, according to HHS.
287) Included a so-called "family glitch" in his health care reform
In September 2013, USA Today reported :
A so-called "family glitch" in the
2010 health care law threatens to cost some families thousands of
dollars in health insurance costs and leave up to 500,000 children
without coverage, insurance and health care analysts say.
That's unless Congress fixes the
problem, which seems unlikely given the House's latest move Friday to
strip funding from the law, which is also called the Affordable Care
Act.
Congress defined "affordable" as 9.5%
or less of an employee's household income, mostly to make sure people
did not leave their workplace plans for subsidized coverage through the
exchanges. But the "error" was that it only applies to the employee -
and not his or her family. So, if an employer offers a woman affordable
insurance, but doesn't provide it for her family, they cannot get
subsidized help through the state health exchanges.
That can make a huge difference; the
Kaiser Family Foundation said an average plan for an individual is about
$5,600, but it goes up to $15,700 for families.
288) Made it harder for Canadian politicians to get health care
Canada has had so-called "universal health care" for a long time.
However, when Robert Bourassa, the premier of Quebec, Canada, needed cancer treatment , he came to the United States and paid for his health care with his own money.
And when Canadian Liberal MP Belinda Stronach needed cancer treatment , she also came to the United States and paid for her health care with her own money.
And when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams needed heart surgery , he, too, came to the United States and paid for his health care with his own money.
Now that Obama has given the U.S. so-called "universal health care," where will Canadian politicians go when they get sick?
289) Gave married couples an annual tax of up to $11,028 for being married instead of single
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
According to the Obamacare calulator, Obamacare places an annual tax
on married couples for being married instead of single. The amount of
this tax depends upon the ages, incomes, and parental status of the
married couple.
According to the Obamacare calculator, the extreme case of this tax
occurs with a 60-year-old married couple with no children, where the two
spouses have identical incomes totaling $62,041 per year. Under this
scenario, according to the Obamacare calculator, Obamacare gives them an
annual tax of $11, 028 for being married instead of single.
290) Gave people an annual tax increase of up to $12,214 for earning one more dollar of income
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
Obamacare gives some people a tax increase
if they increase their income by one dollar. The amount of this tax
increase depends upon the person's age, income, and marital status.
According to the Obamacare calculator, the extreme case of this
occurs with a 64-year-old married couple with a combined income of
$62,041. Under this scenario, according to the Obamacare calulator,
Obamacare gives them an annual tax increase of $ 12,214 when their income increases by one dollar, in the case of their income going from $62,040 to $62,041.
This amounts to a marginal tax rate of 1,221,400% . That's not a typo - the marginal tax rate on that one dollar of additional income is more than one million per cent .
291) Refused to fire IRS employees who "lost" $67 million from Obamacare "slush fund"
In September 2013, it was reported
that IRS employees had "lost" $67 million from a "slush fund." Obama
refused to fire those employees. Obama had created the "slush fund" as
part of Obamacare.
292) Refused to fire ATF employees who "lost" 420 million cigarettes
In September 2013, it was reported that ATF employees had "lost" 420 million cigarettes. Obama refused to fire them.
293) Falsely said his mother's insurance company had refused to pay for her cancer treatment
During the 2008 election campaign, Obama falsely said that his mother's health insurance company had refused to pay for her cancer treatment.
294) Had 19.5 million fake Twitter followers
As of September 2013, Obama had 19.5 million fake Twitter followers.
295) Illegally delayed online registration of Obamacare for small businesses
Obamacare requires that the online registration for small businesses
be ready by October 1, 2013. However, five days before that date,
Associated Press reported that this deadline would not be met.
296) Encouraged 30,000 Puget Sound grocery workers to vote in favor of authorizing a strike
In September 2013, a union representing 30,000 employees at Safeway,
Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertson's in the Puget Sound area of Washington
state voted
in favor of authorizing a strike. Union members said that one of their
reasons for voting in favor of the strike was that their employers were
trying to switch their part time employees form employer provided
insurance to the Obamacare exchanges.
297) Waived the U.S. ban on arming terrorists
In September 2013, the Washington Examiner reported :
Obama waives ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to Syrian opposition
President Obama waived a provision of
federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups
to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to "vetted"
opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Some elements of the Syrian opposition are associated with radical Islamic terrorist groups, including al Qaeda
The law allows the president to waive
those prohibitions if he "determines that the transaction is essential
to the national security interests of the United States."
298) Caused a family's monthly insurance premium to increase from $333 to $965
Andy and Amy Mangione and their two sons live in Louisville, Kentucky. In September 2013, they received a
letter from Humana, their insurance company, which said that Obamacare
would be causing their monthly premium to increase from $333 to $965.
299) Caused Michelle Malkin's family to lose their health insurance policy
In September 2013, conservative writer Michelle Malkin, who has always opposed Obamacare, wrote :
Like an estimated 22 million other
Americans, I am a self-employed small-business owner who buys health
insurance for my family directly on the individual market. We have a
high-deductible PPO plan that allows us to choose from a wide range of
doctors.
Or rather, we had such a plan.
Last week, our family received notice
from Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Colorado that we can no longer keep
the plan we like because of "changes from health care reform (also
called the Affordable Care Act or ACA)." The letter informed us that "(t)o meet the requirements of the new laws, your current plan can no
longer be continued beyond your 2014 renewal date."
This isn't just partisan business.
It's personal. Our cancellation letter states that Anthem is "not going
to be selling new individual PPO plans." When we asked whether we could
keep our children's doctors, an agent for Anthem told my husband and me
she didn't know.
300) Tried to force Little Sisters of the Poor and other Catholic organizations to violate their religious principles
In September 2013, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued
the Obama administration on behalf of Little Sisters of the Poor, a
Catholic charity. Other Catholic organizations were also represented in
the lawsuit.
Sister Loraine Marie said of this lawsuit:
"We cannot violate our vows by participating in the government's program to provide access to abortion-inducing drugs."
Mark Rienzi, one of the lawyers representing these Catholic organizations, said :
"These women just want to take care of
the elderly poor without being forced to violate the faith that
animates their work. The money they collect should be used to care for
the poor like it always has - and not to pay the IRS."
301) Signed health care reform that broke his promise not to increase taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year
On September 12, 2008, Obama promised:
"I can make a firm pledge. Under my
plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of
tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your
capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
In 2010, Obama signed Obamacare.
In 2012, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration argued that Obamacare is a tax.
302) Pushed millions of working people "into a regulatory health coverage no man's land"
In February 2013, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat-Oregon) said :
"We've got millions of people -
working-class, middle-class people - who are going to be pushed into a
regulatory health coverage no man's land. They are unable to afford the
family coverage through their employer and ineligible for the subsidy
that could be used by dependents on the exchange."
303) "Unfairly" forced federal lawmakers and their aides to participate in the same health care reform as everyone else
In June 2013, U.S. Congressman John Larson (Democrat-Connecticut) said
that it is "not fair" to force federal lawmakers and their aides to
participate in the same health care reform as everyone else.
304) Encouraged SEIU union to go on strike
The Service Employees International Union supported Obama in both elections, and also supported the passage of Obamacare.
However, in September 2013, member of the Chicago chapter of the SEIU went on strike over jobs cuts that were caused by Obamacare.
305) Removed promise of "free" health care from Obamacare website
In September 2013, the Obamacare website removed its promise of "free" health care.
306) Exposed the hypocrisy of MSNBC host Ed Schultz
After Obamacare was passed, MSNBC host Ed Schultz praised
it almost every day for three years. However, on Sepotember 26, 2013,
just five days before the Obamacare exchanges were to begin, Schultz said that unions should be exempt from it.
307) Punished people who were unable to accurately predict their income a year in advance
Obamacare requires people to predict their income a year in advance. If their prediction is wrong, they can be punished by the IRS.
308) Created Obamacare website where less than 1% of the people who visited on its first day actually registered for Obamacare
U.S. Congressman Congressman Jim Himes (Democrat-Connecticut) said
that out of the 28,000 people from Connecticut who had visited the
Obamacare website on its first day, only 167 had actually signed up for Obamacare.
309) Obama administration falsely said it did not know how many people had enrolled in Obamacare
On October 3, 2013, the third day that the Obamacare website was in operation, White House spokesman Jay Carney said
that "7 million" people had visited the Obamacare website so far.
However, when asked how many of those people had actually enrolled in
Obamacare, he said , "We don't have that data."
Carney was lying. Of course the Obama administration had that data. CBS News was able to get a copy of that data, and reported that during the first 24 hours after the Obamacare website went online, only six people had used the website to enroll in Obamacare.
310) Broke promise that Obamacare "navigators" would not go door to door
On October 1, 2013, the very first day that Obamacare registration was taking place, the Obama administration broke its promise that Obamacare "navigators" would not go door to door.
311) Created Obamacare website where reporters from various news agencies were unable to register on its first day
On October 1, 2013, a CNN reporter was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
On October 1, 2013, an MSNBC reporter was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
On October 1, 2013, a reporter from the Tennessean was unable to register at the Obamacare website.
312) Created Obamacare phone line that was answered by "navigators" who had no training
President Obama signed Obamacare in March 2010. The Obama
administration had three and a half years to hire and train the
"navigators" who answer the Obamacare phone line.
However, on October 1, 2013, one of the "navigators" who answered the Obamacare phone line said "We have not been trained yet."
313) Created Obamacare website that can't handle as much
traffic as a website which is run by one guy in his pajamas from his
apartment
drudgereport.com is run by
Matt Drudge, who runs the website in his pajamas from his apartment.
I've visited his website just about every day since the late 20th
century. It runs very well. His website has gotten as many as 45 million hits per day.
On the first day of the Obamacare website, it had 5 million visitors. It could not handle that amount of traffic.
314) Created Obamacare phone line where "navigators" told people to go to a building that turned out to be empty
Obamacare "navigators" who answered the Obamacare phone line told people to go to a building that turned out to be empty .
315) Created Obamacare phone line with a number that when spelled out is "F*** YO"
When spelled out, the Obamacare phone number is " F*** YO ."
This is not a complaint on my part. On the contrary, I consider this
to be truth in advertising. For once, the Obama administration is
telling us the truth about Obamacare.
316) Tried to censor a book about the "Fast and Furious" scandal
In October 2013, the ACLU announced
that it would be defending John Dodson's first amendment right to free
speech, against the Obama administration, which was trying to prevent
Dodson from publishing a book about Obama's "Fast and Furious" scandal.
317) Michelle Obama said she could not tweet
as often after the federal shutdown caused layoffs of her 16 "assistants," who have salaries as high as $172,200
Michelle Obama has 16 taxpayer funded "assistants," whose salaries are as high as $172,200.
During the government shutdown in October 2013, her 16 "assistants" were laid off, and her twitter account said :"Due to Congress's failure to pass legislation to fund the government, updates to this account will be limited."
318) Hypocritically blocked Texas's voter ID law for being "racist"
In March 2012, Obama's Justice Department blocked Texas's voter ID law, claiming that it was "racist."
However, the very same Obama Justice Department that did this, also requires photo ID for everyone who enters it. In this video , beginning at 2:39, we see that a security guard at Obama's Justice Department requires photo ID for everyone who enters.
319) Falsely said that his negotiating over the debt ceiling would be unprecedented
In October 2013, Obama falsely said that his negotiating over the debt ceiling would be unprecedented.
320) Blocked access to outdoor memorials and monuments during
the government shutdown, even though it would have been cheaper to
leave them open
During the government shutdown in October 2013, Obama shut down the Vietnam Memorial, despite the fact that it would have been cheaper to leave it open.
Obama also shut down the World War II Memorial. Obama used metal fences and yellow police tape to block the entrances.
Obama put up orange cones to prevent drivers from stopping and taking pictures of Mount Rushmore.
Obama put up yellow police tape in front of the Lincoln Memorial to prevent people from entering.
During previous government shutdowns, these memorials and monuments had remained open .
Since it's more expensive
to close these outdoor memorials and monuments than it is to leave them
open, I have to wonder what Obama's reason was for shutting them down.
321) Kicked people out of their privately owned vacation homes on federal land during government shutdown
During the government shutdown in October 2013, Obama forced
people to leave their privately owned vacation homes along Lake Mead.
The privately owned homes were situated on land owned by the federal
government. All of the homes in question were vacation homes, not
primary residences, so no one was forced into homelessness.
Nevertheless, there was no legitimate justification for Obama to do
this.
322) Forced private businesses on federal land to close during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama forced
privately owned marinas, restaurants, inns, and concessions stands
which were situated on federal land to close. Although the Obama
administration claimed that this was done because the government did not
have enough money to allow them to stay open, the government actually
spent extra money to have federal guards prevent people from entering
these private businesses.
323) Kept one of his favorite golf courses open during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, while Obama was busying
closing federal parks, monuments, and memorials, he made one exception -
he allowed one of his favorite golf courses to stay open.
324) Spent $98,670 to build an outhouse
In September 2013, the Obama administration spent $98,670 to build an outhouse at the Swede Park Trail Head in Alaska.
325) Engages in "a sign of leadership failure"
In March 2006, Senator Obama said :
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure."
However, in September 2013, President Obama argued in favor of raising the debt ceiling.
326) Used armed guards to imprison law abiding tourists inside a locked building at Yellowstone National Park
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama used armed guards to imprison law abiding tourists inside a locked building at Yellowstone National Park.
327) Illegally denied death benefits to the families of dead U.S. soldiers
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama illegally
denied death benefits to the families of dead U.S. soldiers. Prior to
the government shutdown, the funding for these death benefits had already been authorized by law.
328) Spent $47,174 on a mechanical bull during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, while Obama was busy
closing parks, memorials, and monuments, and denying death benefits to
the families of dead U.S. military personnel, he did manage to spend
$47,174 on a mechanical bull .
329) Seized $35,000 from a law abiding owner of a grocery store without any warning , explanation, or charges
For 30 years, Terry Dehko has been legally operating a grocery store
near Detroit, Michigan. In January 2013, the Obama administration seized $35,000 from Dehko's bank account, without giving any warning or explanation, and without charging Dehko with any crime.
330) Ran "the most closed, control-freak administration I've ever covered"
For the past 20 years, David Sanger has been a New York Times reporter stationed in Washington, D.C. In October 2013, he said :
"This is the most closed, control-freak administration I've ever covered."
331) Fined a runner $100 for running in Valley Forge
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration fined a runner $100 for running in Valley Forge.
332) Ordered Claude Moore Colonial Farm to shut down, even though it was privately funded
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered Claude Moore Colonial Farm to shut down, even though it was privately funded.
333) Ordered a volunteer to stop cleaning up the National Mall
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered Chris Cox, a volunteer, to stop cleaning up the National Mall.
334) Told students to remove two amendments from the "outdated" Bill of Rights
As part of Obama's "Common Core" education program, students in a sixth-grade history class in Bryant, Arkansas, were told to removed two amendments from the "outdated" Bill of Rights.
335) Ordered people to appear in federal court because they had entered the Grand Canyon
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered people to appear in federal court because they had entered the Grand Canyon.
336) Ordered volunteers to stop bringing therapy dogs to visit sick children in the hospital
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration ordered volunteers to stop bringing therapy dogs to visit sick children in the hospital.
337) Had veterans arrested for visiting the Vietnam Memorial
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama had veterans arrested for visiting the Vietnam Memorial
338) A "lead navigator" for Obamacare falsely told applicants that they must provide their credit score
In October 2013, Anne Packham, a "lead navigator" for Obamacare, falsely told applicants that they had to provide their credit score.
339) Created Obamacare website which "looks like nobody tested it"
President Obama signed Obamacare in March 2010. He had three and a half years to create and test the Obamacare website.
However, in October 2013, CBS News quoted Luke Chung, an online database programmer who supports Obamacare, as saying the following about the Obamacare website:
"It wasn't designed well, it wasn't
implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it... It's not even
close. It's not even ready for beta testing for my book. I would be
ashamed and embarrassed if my organization delivered something like
that."
340) Obamacare's first publicized "enrollee" turned out to be a Democratic activist who had not actually enrolled in Obamacare
After the Obamacare website went online, the media tried and tried to find someone who had actually enrolled, but could not find anyone , because the website was so badly designed.
After much searching, they finally reported that they had found someone - a 21-year-old guy from Georgia named Chad Henderson.
On October 3, 2013, the Washington Post reported :
Meet Chad Henderson, the Obamacare enrollee tons of reporters are calling
Ask and, apparently, you shall receive.
Just moments after writing a blog post
Thursday morning, about the lack of information on Obamacare enrollees,
Enroll America reached out with contact information for Chad Henderson,
a 21-year-old in Georgia who had successfully enrolled in coverage on
the federal marketplace.
It was a little difficult to reach
Henderson, mostly because so many other reporters wanted to talk to him.
"I'm supposed to talk to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a half
hour," Henderson said. "And The Wall Street Journal is supposed to
call."
Luckily, Henderson managed to squeeze
me in for a few minutes. He's a student at Chattanooga State University
who lives across the state border in Flintstone, Ga.
Politico reported :
Rare health exchange enrollee gets 15 minutes of Obamacare fame
Chad Henderson, a college student who
is one of the few people to have signed up for health insurance on a
federal exchange, is having his 15 minutes of Obamacare fame.
But wait.
It turns out that Henderson had not actually enrolled in Obamcare.
In addition, Henderson is actually a member of Organizing for Action, the organization that ran Obama's election campaign.
341) Said it's "unfair" to ask for Obamacare enrollment numbers just one week after Obamacare website went online
U.S. Congressional reperestentative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
(Democrat-Florida) is the chairperson for the Democratic National
Committee. When a reporter asked her how many people had enrolled in
Obamacare during its first week, she said it was "unfair" to ask that question so early.
When a new movie comes out, we know how many people bought tickets in
the first week. When a new video game, or a new CD, or a new book comes
out, we know how many people bought it in the first week.
But when a news reporter asks "the most transparent administration in
history" how many people signed up for its new health care program
during its first week, we are told that such a question is "unfair."
342) Declined to idenifty the private contractors who screwed up the Obamacare website
When the New York Times asked the Obama administration to identify
the private contractors who had screwed up the Obamacare website, the
Obama administration refused to answer.
343) Refused to answer why businesses, but not individuals, were able to delay the Obamacare mandate for a year
When Jon Stewart asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius why businesses, but not individuals, were able to delay the
Obamacare mandate for a year, Sebelius refused to answer.
344) Gave people Obamacare "rate shock"
Many news sources, including the Washington Post , the Christian Science Monitor , Investor's Business Daily , the Daily Caller , CBS News , Forbes , CNN , the San Jose Mercury News , and the San Francisco Chronicle , have been reporting on something called Obamacare "rate shock."
For example, Tom Waschura, a self employed engineer who lives in Portola Valley, California, said that he supports Obamacare, and that he voted for Obama in both elections.
However, on October 5, 2013, Waschura said :
"I was laughing at Boehner - until the mail came today.""I really don't like the Republican
tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about
this. When you take $10,000 out of my family's pocket each year, that's
otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going
into our local economy."
This next quote is one of the funniest things that I've heard anyone
say about Obamacare so far. It comes from Cindy Vinson, a retired
teacher from San Jose, California, who said that she supports Obamacare, and that she voted for Obama in both elections. This is what she said in October 2013, after she found out that Obamacare would be causing her insurance premium to increase:"Of course, I want people to have health care. I just didn't realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally."
CNN reported :
One North Carolina reader was upset to
learn her current $267 a month plan was being canceled and the cheapest
option on the exchange would cost her family $750 a month. They don't
qualify for a subsidy.
"Obamacare is a nightmare for my family," she wrote.
345) Made sure that Obamacare "rate shock" did not happen until after the 2012 election
Obamacare was deliberately written so that Obamacare "rate shock" would not occur until after the 2012 election.
On October 9, 2013, Obama's approval
rating was only 37%. Obamacare "rate shock" was a significant factor in
this low approval rating. If Obamacare "rate shock" had happened in
October 2012 instead of in October 2013, it's highly unlikley that Obama
would have won the 2012 election.
346) Had the Obamacare website built by cronies instead of by qualified programmers
Obama had the Obamacare website built by cronies instead of by qualified programmers.
347) Used 55 different contractors to build the Obamacare website
Instead of choosing just one contractor or a few contractors who could properly build the Obamacare website, Obama decided to spread the work out over 55 different contractors, which made it much harder to get all the parts to run together properly.
348) Waited until after the 2012 election to issue major rules for the Obamacare website
Obama signed the Obamacare law in March 2010. The law requires the
online exchanges to be up and running by October 2013. So Obama had
three and a half years to get the website ready.
However, Obama waited
until after the 2012 election to release some of the major rules for
how the website was supposed to be designed. So instead of having three
and a half years to get the website ready, Obama made sure the
programmers had less than one year.
349) New York Times reporter was never able to log in to Obamamacare website during more than 40 attempts over 11 days
During more than 40 attempts to log in to the Obamacare website over a
period of 11 days beginning on October 1, 2013, a New York Times
reported was never able to log in.
350) Hired illegal immigrant as Obamacare "navigator"
Obama hired an illegal immigrant to work as an Obamacare "navigator."
351) Hired someone with an outstanding arrest warrant as Obamacare "navigator"
Obama hired someone with an outstanding arrest warrant to work as an Obamacare "navigator."
352) IRS collected taxes but did not send out refunds during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown , the IRS collected taxes but did not send out tax refunds.
353) Prevented Catholic volunteers from practicing their religion at military bases during government shutdown
During the October 2013 government shutdown, the Obama administration prevented Catholic volunteers from practicing their religion on military bases.
354) Spent more than $500 million to build unusable Obamacare website
Obama spent more than $500 million of taxpayers' money to build the unusable Obamacare website.
355) Refused to fire Kathleen Sebelius, even after the failure of the Obamacare website
Even after the Obamacare website failed, Obama still refused to fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
356) There is "no reasonable expectation of privacy" at Obamacare website
The source code for the Obamacare website states :
"You have no reasonable expectation of
privacy regarding any communication or data transiting or stored on
this information system. At any time, and for any lawful Government
purpose, the government may monitor, intercept, and search and seize any
communication or data transiting or stored on this information system.
Any communication or data transiting or stored on this information
system may be disclosed or used for any lawful Government purpose."
357) Requires users to reveal private info before shopping at Obamacare website
Legitimate shopping websites such as amazon.com allow users to browse
merchandise without having to enter their personal information.
However, the Obamacare website requires
users to enter their name, social security number, and other personal
information before they are allowed to look at the insurance plans.
358) Michelle Obama refused to pick vegetables from her own garden without federal help
During the October 2013 government shutdown, Michelle Obama decided
to avoid picking her own vegetables from her own garden, and instead,
allowed them to rot.
Reuters reported :
In the famous White House kitchen
garden, tomatoes are rotting on the vine. Herbs have gone to seed. And
the sweet potatoes - a favorite of President Barack Obama - have become
worm food.
It's another impact of the government
shutdown, one that only the fox and the many squirrels that live on the
White House grounds could love.
359) The Obamacare website is "a hacker's wet dream"
John McAfee, the computer programmer who founded McAfee, Inc., said the Obamacare website is "a hacker's wet dream."
360) Caused a leukemia patient to lose his insurance
Michael Cerpok lives in Fountain Hills, Arizona. He has leukemia .
In 2012, his health care cost more than $350,000. But because he had insurance , he only had to pay $4,500 of that amount.
However, in October 2013, his insurance company sent him a letter
which said that because of Obamacare, his insurance policy would be canceled on January 1, 2014.
361) Added 11 million words of regulations to Obamacare, which is 30 times as many words as the law itself
The regulations that Obama addded to Obamacare after he signed it are 11 million words
long. That's 30 times as many words as the actual Obamacare law that
Obama signed in March 2010. Because Obama added these 11 million words
without approval from Congress, his actions are illegal.
362) Threatened to arrest people for telling jokes
In October 2013, the Obama administration announced the following on loudspeakers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas:
"Inappropriate remarks or jokes concerning security may result in your arrest."
363) Changed Obamacare registration deadline at the last minute
For three and a half years, the Obama administration repeatedly said that people had to register for Obamacare by March 31, 2014.
However, in October 2013, the Obama administration changed that deadline to February 14, 2014.
364) Ignored the successful methods of eHealthInsurance.com
The website eHealthInsurance.com has been successfully selling health insurance since 1998 . The website is simple and easy to use.
However, when Obama created the Obamacare website, he chose to ignore the successful methods that are used by eHealthInsurance.com.
365) For two weeks, CNN reporter was never able to log in to Obamacare website
During the first two weeks of October 2013, a reporter from CNN repeatedly tried to log in to the Obamacare website, and was never able to log in.
366) Paid $500 per gallon for gasoline
In October 2013 it was reported that the Obama administration had paid $500 per gallon for gasoline.
367) Referred people to uncertified Obamacare "navigagtors" and "assisters"
In October 2013, the Obamacare website referred people to uncertified "navigagtors" and "assisters."
368) While the Obamacare website was not working, 700 counterfeit Obamacare websites were working
It's not Obama's fault that criminals created 700 counterfeit
Obamacare websites. However, it is interesting to note that while the
Obamacare website was not working, those 700 counterfeit websites were
working.
369) Asked Blue Cross Blue Shield not to release Obamacare exchange numbers
On October 22, 2013, three weeks after the failed Obamacare website went online, the Obama administration asked
Blue Cross Blue Shield not to release information on the number of
people who had signed up for their policies through the Obamacare
website.
370) 100% of Senate Democrats up for reelection planned to support a delay in Obamacare's individual mandate
On October 23, 2013, CNN's Dana Bash tweeted :
"new: senior dem source tells me to
expect every sen dem running in 2014 to back @JeanneShaheen proposal to
delay #ACA enrollment deadline"
371) Sold aircraft carrier for scrap metal for one cent
In October 2013 it was reported
that the Obama administration had sold the 1,067-foot long U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier Forrestal for scrap metal for one cent, to a Texas
company called All Star Metals.
372) Obamacare website gave wrong prices
In October 2013, CBS News reported :
A new online feature can dramatically underestimate the cost of insurance.
In some cases, people could end up paying double of what they see on the website.
Industry executives CBS News spoke
with could not believe the government is providing these estimates,
which they said were useless and could easily mislead consumers. They
also said that the website repeatedly states the actual prices could be
lower, but it makes no mention that they could be higher.
373) Obamacare website sent false information to insurance companies
In October 2013, it was reported that the Obamacare website was sending false information to insurance companies
374) Threatened to punish people for not buying health insurance from a website that wasn't even working
The Obama administration threatened
to impose tax penalties on people who did not buy health insurance from
the Obamacare website, even though the website was not working.
375) In the first two weeks of the Obamacare website, "no
more than 5,000'' enrollees had successfully completed the enrollment
process
Two weeks after the Obamacare website went online, it was reported that "no more than 5,000'' enrollees had successfully completed the enrollment process.
376) Falsely said "No one is more frustrated than I am" regarding the Obamacare website
On October 21, 2013, regarding the failure of the Obamacare website, Obama said :
"No one is more frustrated than I am."
Obama has absolutely no right to be "frustrated" about any of the
Obamacare webstie's problems, because he is the person who chose to
cause those problems in the first place.
It was Obama who signed a 2,600 page law that he hadn't read.
It was Obama who added an additional 20,000 pages of regulations that he hadn't read to Obamacare without Congressional approval.
It was Obama who chose to hire cronies instead of competent programmers to create the Obamacare website.
It was Obama who waited
until after the 2012 election to issue some of the main rules for the
Obamacare website, which gave the programmers less than one year to
comply with those rules, instead of the three and half years they would
have had if Obama hadn't waited.
It was Obama who falsely said that the price of annual family insurance premiums would fall by $2,500.
It was Obama who falsely told people that they could keep their insurance if they were happy with it.
It was Obama who gave employers a huge financial incentive to switch their full time employees to a part time, 29 hour week.
It was Obama who refused to fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius after the Obamacare website failed.
Every thing that's bad about the Obamacare website is the direct result of choices that Obama made.
Obama has no right to be "frustrated" at the website's failure.
You want to know the people who really do have the right to be
"frustrated" at Obamacare's problems? It's the people who have opposed
Obamacare from the start. It's the people who predicted that these
problems would happen. It's the people who called the bluff from the
very start on Obama's many lies about Obamacare. These are the people
who have the right to be "frustrated" at Obamacare's problems.
And yet somehow, not only does Obama falsely say that he is "frustrated," but he also falsely says that he is more frustrated than
anyone else.
The people who are truly "frustrated" are the millions of people who
were against Obamacare but are now being forced to participate in it.
Obama owns this - he created it. He has no right to be "frustrated" about it.
377) Obamacare website was built using 10-year-old technology
The Obamacare website was built using 10-year-old technology.
378) Required note from doctor for a mother to feed her own child
A federal preschool program sent a note home to the parents of the students. The note said :
Dear Parents,
I have received word from Federal
Programs Preschool pertaining to lunches from home. Parents are to be
informed that students can only bring lunches from home if there is a
medical condition meriting a specific diet, along with a physicians note
to that regard.
I am sorry for any inconvenience. If
you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact , the Health Coordinator for Federal Programs Preschool at
.
379) Obamacare website violates copyright laws
The Obamacare website violates copyright laws.
380) Repeatedly promised that the Obamacare website would be ready on October 1, 2013
This video
shows Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's Secretary of Health and Human
Services, repeatedly promising that the Obamacare website would be ready
on October 1, 2013.
381) Called the Obamacare website "the easiest, most consumer friendly website to use"
Beginnging at 0:44 in this video ,
Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services,
calls the Obamacare website "the easiest, most consumer friendly website
to use."
382) Obamacare website had between 10 and 20 times as many lines of code as it should have had
The Obamacare website has 500 million lines of code.
Dave Kennedy, the CEO of information-security company Trusted Sec,
said that a website for a project on the scale of Obamacare should actually have between 25 million and 50 million lines of code.
383) Jared Polis opposes delaying Obamacare's individual mandate for the entire country, but favors such a delay for his own district
U.S. Congressional representative Jared Polis (Democrat-Colorado) voted against delaying Obamacare's individual mandate for the entire country, but later requested such a delay for his own district.
When Polis requested a special delay for his own district, he said :
"We will be encouraging a waiver. It
will be difficult for Summit County residents to become insured. For the
vast majority, it's too high a price to pay."
384) Gave a no-bid contract to CGI Federal to build the Obamacare website
Obama gave a no-bid contract to CGI Federal to build the Obamacare website.
385) Broke promise to have Spanish version of Obamacare website up and running on October 1, 2013
Obama broke his promise to have a Spanish version of the Obamacare website up and running by October 1, 2013.
386) Broke promise that Spanish version of Obamacare website would be up and running by "mid October" 2013
After Obama broke his promise to have the Spanish version of the
Obamacare website up running by October 1, 2013, his administration made
a new promise to have it up and running by "mid-October." However, Obama broke that promise too - as of October 25, 2013, the Spanish version of the website was still not up and running.
387) Fired an Obamcare phone operator for truthfully answering a caller's question
In October 2013, a caller to the Obama phone line asked :
"Have you ever gotten anyone who really likes it yet?"
The phone operator, a woman named Earline Davis, answered :
"Um, not really."
Davis was fired for her answer.
388) Gave contract for Obamacare website to Michelle Obama's college classmate
Instead of having the Obamacare website built by someone who was
qualified, Obama had it built by CGI Federal, a company that was run by Toni Townes-Whitley , who attended Princeton University with Michelle Obama.
389) Spent $634 million for Obamacare website as of October 1, 2013, even though it was only supposed to cost $94 million
The Obamacare website was originally supposed to cost $94 million . However, when it went online on October 1, 2013, it had already cost $634 million .
390) New York Times writer gave Obama a grade of 'F' for rollout of Obamacare website
On October 25, 2013, New York Times writer Uwe E. Reinhardt wrote :
"... who exactly should be assigned the F for the troubled rollout of HealthCare.gov?""Once elected, a president becomes
chief executive of a giant federal enterprise. Anyone familiar with
corporate management would have thought that for as ambitious and
technically a complex project as the initial rollout of HealthCare.gov -
so important to many uninsured Americans and so politically important
to the White House - the chief executive would have remained in very
close touch with the management team overseeing the project and thus
would have been briefed daily or at least weekly on the progress of the
project and especially on any problems with it.""... the blame for the disastrous
rollout of HealthCare.gov goes to its entire management team, to be
sure, but primarily to the chief executive on top of that project. In my
view, not only the proverbial buck stops on the chief executive's desk,
but, for the management of this particular project, the grade of F goes
there as well."
391) Said "Don't believe what you've heard" regarding criticism of Obamacare
On October 25, 2013, regarding the various criticisms of Obamacare, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said :
"Don't believe what you've heard."
In other words, the Obama administration says we shouldn't believe the Washington Post , the New York Times , the San Francisco Chronicle , Associated Press , Reuters , CNN , MSNBC , ABC , CBS , NBC , PBS , NPR , Politico , the Wall St. Journal , the Christian Science Monitor , Investor's Business Daily , Forbes , the BBC , Huffington Post , the Nation , Mother Jones , or New Republic .
392) Closed a public beach and prevented a private charity from raising money for art in the schools
For the past 30 years, a privately run charity in San Francisco called Leap has had a charity event where they build sand castles to raise money to support art in the schools. In 2012 , this contest raised more than $250,000 for art in the schools.
However, during the October 2013 government shutdown, Obama closed the public beach where the charity event was to take place, and prevented it from happening.
393) Monitored phone calls of 35 world leaders
In October 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had monitored the phone calls of 35 world leaders.
394) Refused to answer question about whether or not Obama administration had monitored Angela Merkel's phone
In October 2013, the New York Times wrote :
... yesterday, Der Spiegel reported that
German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Mr. Obama "for a thorough
explanation of serious indications that U.S. intelligence agencies had
declared her private mobile phone to be a target in their operations."
The White House press secretary, Jay
Carney said, "The president assured that the United States is
not monitoring and will not monitor the communications" of the
chancellor." Please note: IS not monitoring and WILL NOT monitor. The
allegation, unaddressed, was that the United States HAD been monitoring
her calls (until it was caught in the act).
395) Hacked the email of Mexican presidential candidate
In October 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had hacked the email account of Mexican
presidential candidate Enrique Pe~na Nieto, who later won the election.
396) Illegally seized documents from reporter Audrey Hudson
Audrey Hudson
is a reporter who lives in Shady Side, Maryland. In 1986, her husband,
Paul Flanagan, was convicted of resisting arrest. Because of this, he is
legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.
In August 2013, federal agents entered their home, with a warrant
that specifically said they were allowed to search for firearms.
However, the federal agents illegally seized documents that belonged to
Hudson, which were not listed on the warrant.
397) Required law abiding citizens to purchase insurance coverage for treatment for heroin addiction
Obamacare requires law abiding citizens to purchase coverage for treatment for heroin addiction.
398) Required men to purchase insurance coverage for maternity care
Obamacare requires men to purchase coverage for maternity care.
399) Obamacare website could not even handle "just a few hundred people" at the same time
The Washington Post reported that during testing, the Obamacare website could not even handle "just a few hundred people" at the same time.
400) Falsely blamed the Obamacare webstie's problems on too much traffic
The Obama administration blamed the problems of the Obamacare website on too much traffic.
However, the Washington Post reported that during testing, the Obamacare website could not even handle "just a few hundred people" at the same time.
In addition, CBS News quoted Luke Chung, an online database programmer who supports Obamacare, as saying the following about the Obamacare website:
"It wasn't designed well, it wasn't
implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it... It's not even
close. It's not even ready for beta testing for my book. I would be
ashamed and embarrassed if my organization delivered something like
that."
401) "Health insurance cancellation notices soar above Obamacare enrollment rates"
On October 24, 2013, the Daily Caller reported :
Health insurance cancellation notices soar above Obamacare enrollment rates
Hundreds of thousands of Americans who
purchase their own health insurance have received cancellation notices
since August because the plans do not meet Obamacare's requirements.
The number of cancellation notices greatly exceed the number of Obamacare enrollees.
402) Was still falsely claiming that people could keep their insurance o n October 28, 2013
Even as late as October 28, 2013, the Obama administration was still falsely claiming that people could keep their insurance if they liked it.
403) Kathleen Sebelius falsely said that Obama did not know about the Obamacare website's problems before October 1, 2013
On October 22, 2013, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that Obama did not know about the Obamacare website's problem's before October 1, 2013.
However, on October 30, 2013, CNN reported that Obama had known about the defective Obamacare website a month before it went online.
404) Before Kathleen Sebelius ran Obamacare website, she had long track record of failure at running websites in Kansas
In October 2013, the Daily Caller reported that before Obama hired Kathleen Sebelius to run the Obamacare website, she had had a long track record of failure at running websites when she was governor of Kansas.
Kansas state representative Scott Schwab said of this :
"We pretty much expected HealthCare.gov to fail, because she has a pattern of failing on these big initiatives."
405) Federal employees who tested Obamacare website gave it their approval
Federal employees who had tested the Obamacare website before October 1, 2013, gave it their approval .
406) Said he was "mad" over botched Obamacare website, but refused to fire anyone
Obama said he was " mad " over the botched Obamacare website, but refused to actually fire anyone over it.
407) Kathleen Sebelius said "I don't work for" the people whose taxes pay her salary
On October 24, 2013, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said :
"The majority of people calling for me to resign I would say are people who I don't work for."
408) Obamacare website had only six enrollments in the first 24 hours
During the first 24 hours after the Obamacare website went online, only six people used the website to enroll in Obamacare.
409) Obama falsely blamed insurance companies for canceling policies that did not meet Obamacare's minimum requirements
Obamacare requires
all insurance policies to cover pre-existing conditions, maternity
care, treatment for heroin addiction, and certain other things.
Therefore, based on simple logic , any policies that do not cover these things are rendered illegal by Obamacare, and must be canceled .
The Washington Post said of this:
"Beginning Jan. 1, the new plans must
cover 10 essential benefits including pediatric care, prescription
drugs, mental-health services and maternity care. In general, policies
that don't offer those can't be sold after 2013."
However, after insurance companies canceled these policies, Obama blamed the cancellations on the insurance companies instead of on Obamacare.
410) Obama administration told insurance company executives not to criticize Obamacare
On October 30, 2013, CNN reported that the Obama administration had told insurance company executives not to criticize Obamacare.
411) In July 2010, Obama knew that Obamacare would cause
millions of people to lose their insurance, but he continued to falsely
say they could keep it
On October 28, 2013, NBC reported
that in July 2010, Obama had known that Obamacare would cause millions
of people to lose their insurance, but that he continued to falsely say
that they could keep it.
412) Obamacare covers "a narrow network of doctors and hospitals"
On October 29, 2013, CNN reported that Obamacare covers "a narrow network of doctors and hospitals."
413) Obama knew about the defective Obamacare website a month before it went online, but he let it go online anyway
On October 30, 2013, CNN reported that Obama had known about the defective Obamacare website a month before it went online.
414) Valerie Jarrett falsely said "Nothing in Obamacare forces people out of their health plans"
On October 28, 2013, Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior advisor, tweeted :
"Nothing in Obamacare forces people out of their health plans."
However, the very next day, CBS News reported :
CBS News has learned more than two
million Americans have been told they cannot renew their current
insurance policies - more than triple the number of people said to be
buying insurance under the new Affordable Care Act, commonly known as
Obamacare.
415) Kathleen Sebelius said the Obamacare website "has never crashed" at the exact same time that it was crashing
On October 30, 2013, while giving federal testimony on the Obamacare
website, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the Obamacare website
"has never crashed."
However, at the exact same time that Sebelius was making her statement, the Obamacare website said :
"The system is down at the moment.""We are experiencing technical difficulties and hope to have them resolved soon. Please try again later."
416) " Top Hospitals Opt Out of Obamacare"
On October 30, 2013, U.S. News and World Report reported that "Top Hospitals Opt Out of Obamacare"
417) Obama falsely said that using the Obamacare website would be like shopping at amazon.com
Before the Obamacare website went online, Obama falsely said that using it would be like shopping at amazon.com.
418) Obama said Obamacare could cause premiums to "fall by as much as 3,000%"
At 1:17 in this video , Obama says:
"your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000%"
419) Threatened to prosecute someone for selling "Department of Homeland Stupidity" coffee mugs
Merchant Dan McCall sells
items that parody the U.S. government, such as coffee mugs that say
"Department of Homeland Stupidity." Although such parody speech is protected by the first amendment, the Obama administration sent him a "cease and desist" letter, and threatened to prosecute him if he did not stop selling the products.
420) Monitored phone calls and emails regarding future Pope Francis
In October 2013, it was reported
that during late 2012 and early 2013, the Obama administration had
monitored phone calls and emails which concerned future Pope Francis
before and during the Vatican conclave at which he was chosen to be the
next Pope.
421) Used drones to kill dozens of civilians in Yemen and Pakistan
In October 2013, the Washington Post reported
that Obama, the Commander-in-Cheif of the U.S. military, had used
drones to kill at least 57 civilians in Yemen, and at least 31 civilians
in Pakistan. In December 2013, the Guardian reported that an additional 15 civilians in Yemen had been killed by a U.S. drone.
422) High ranking Obama administration official said the U.S. is an "Islamic country with an Islamically compliant constitution"
Mohamed Elibiary is a member of the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council. In October 2013, a Twitter user asked him:
"show me just ONE example of an Islamic country where non Muslims are treated with equality."
Elibiary responded by Tweeting:
"America and yes I do consider the
United States of America an Islamic country with an Islamically
compliant constitution. Move On!"
423) Obama "puts a chill on what is really a healthy discourse between journalists and their sources"
In October 2013, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson said :
"... the Obama administration has
initiated seven criminal leak investigations... these seven leak
investigations are more than double, all of the criminal leak
investigations in all administrations before the Obama administration.
And it puts a chill on what is really a healthy discourse between
journalists and their sources. And it's our sources who mainly risk
going to prison."
424) Obamacare website sent some people the eligibility letters of other people
In November 2013, it was reported
that the Obamacare website had sent some people the eligibility letters
of other people - people who were total strangers, who lived in other
states.
425) Falsely said that his promise of letting people keep
their insurance had included the words "if it hasn't changed since the
law passed"
On June 15, 2009, Obama said :"That means that no matter how we
reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If
you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If
you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care
plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."
However, on November 4, 2013, Obama said :"Now, if you have or had one of these
plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really liked
that plan, what we said was you can keep it if it hasn't changed since
the law passed."
426) Three people built a healthcare exchange website that works
On November 2, 2013, it was reported
that three people in San Francisco - George Kalogeropoulos, Ning Liang,
and Michael Wasser - had read about the defective Obamacare website -
which had cost $634 million - and decided to try and build their own health care exchange website that actually worked. And they succeeded . Their website actually works . It's located at http://www.thehealthsherpa.com/
427) White House gave itself waiver which allowed the
Obamacare website to go online, despite the fact that it was deemed to
be a high security risk
Four days before the defective Obamacare website went online, the White House gave itself a waiver which allowed the website to go online, despite the fact that it was deemed to be a high security risk.
428) Denied saying that people could keep their insurance even though it was on video from more than 20 different occasions
Obama denied
saying that people could keep their insurance even though it was on
video from more than 20 different occasions. The video of him saying it
more than 20 different times can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUpJDzyRnY
429) Broke his promise to "call out" people who lie about Obamacare
In September 2009, Obama said :
"If you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out."
However, as of November 2013, Obama has not "called himself out" for
lying about what was in Obamacare. He has not "called himself out" for
falsely saying that people could keep their insurance. He has not "called himself out" for falsely saying that families' premiums would fall by $2,500 by the end of his first term. He has not "called himself out" on any of his many Obamacare lies that are on this list.
430) Gave CGI Federal new contracts after the launch of its defective Obamacare website
CGI Federal is the company that created the defective Obamacare website, which went online October 1, 2013. After that date , the Obama administration gave new contracts to the company.
431) Obama apologized - not for lying - but for the fact that people believed his lie
On November 7, 2013, NBC News reported :
President Obama said Thursday that he
is "sorry" that some Americans are losing their current health insurance
plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, despite his promise that
no one would have to give up a health plan they liked."I am sorry that they are finding
themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," he
told NBC News in an exclusive interview at the White House."We've got to work hard to make sure
that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to
deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence
of this."
432) On November 8, 2013, the White House website still said, "If you like your plan you can keep it"
On November 8, 2013, the White House website still said, "If you like your plan you can keep it"
433) Obama used fraudulent accounting to overstate the number of people who had "enrolled" in Obamacare
In November 2013, the Washington Post reported :
Who counts as an Obamacare enrollee? The Obama administration settles on a definition.
The fight over how to define the new health law's success is coming down to one question: Who counts as an Obamacare enrollee?
Health insurance plans only count
subscribers as enrolled in a health plan once they've submitted a
payment. That is when the carrier sends out a member card and begins
paying doctor bills.
When the Obama administration releases
health law enrollment figures later this week, though, it will use a
more expansive definition. It will count people who have purchased a
plan as well as those who have a plan sitting in their online shopping
cart but have not yet paid.
434) In June 2010, the Obama administration estimated that 93 million people would lose their insurance because of Obamacare
In June 2010 in the Federal Register, the Obama administration estimated that 93 million people would lose their insurance because of Obamacare.
435) Obamacare caused cancer patient Edie Littlefield Sundby to lose her insurance and her doctor
In a November 2013 opinion column in the Wall St. Journal, Edie Littlefield Sundby wrote :
I had great cancer doctors and health insurance. My plan was cancelled. Now I worry how long I'll live.
For almost seven years I have fought
and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer, with a five-year survival rate
of less than 2% after diagnosis. I am a determined fighter and extremely
lucky. But this luck may have just run out: My affordable, lifesaving
medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31.
My choice is to get coverage through
the government health exchange and lose access to my cancer doctors, or
pay much more for insurance outside the exchange (the quotes average 40%
to 50% more) for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar
insurance company and impaired benefits.
After four weeks of researching plans
on the website, talking directly to government exchange counselors,
insurance companies and medical providers, my insurance broker and I are
as confused as ever. Time is running out and we still don't have a clue
how to best proceed.
Two things have been essential in my
fight to survive stage-4 cancer. The first are doctors and health teams
in California and Texas: at the medical center of the University of
California, San Diego, and its Moores Cancer Center; Stanford
University's Cancer Institute; and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in
Houston.
The second element essential to my fight is a United Healthcare PPO (preferred provider organization) health-insurance policy.
Since March 2007 United Healthcare has
paid $1.2 million to help keep me alive, and it has never once
questioned any treatment or procedure recommended by my medical team.
The company pays a fair price to the doctors and hospitals, on time, and
is responsive to the emergency treatment requirements of late-stage
cancer. Its caring people in the claims office have been readily
available to talk to me and my providers.
But in January, United Healthcare sent me a letter announcing that they were pulling out of the individual California market.
So if I go with a health-exchange
plan, I must choose between Stanford and UCSD. Stanford has kept me
alive - but UCSD has provided emergency and local treatment support
during wretched periods of this disease, and it is where my primary-care
doctors are.
Before the Affordable Care Act,
health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now
policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered
across county lines.
For a cancer patient, medical coverage
is a matter of life and death. Take away people's ability to control
their medical-coverage choices and they may die. I guess that's a highly
effective way to control medical costs. Perhaps that's the point.
436) Five minute CNN video of Obamacare supporter complaining and complaining and complaining about her insurance being canceled
Here's a five minute CNN video of an Obamacare supporter complaining
and complaining and complaining about her insurance being canceled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otmjtqU7tQU
437) In December 2013, Obama gave unions even more illegal exemptions from Obamacare
In December 2013, it was reported that Obama had illegally exempted some unions from some of the Obamacare fees, without approval from Congress.
438) Obamacare website gave someone's password, address, and social security number to three complete strangers
In November 2013, MKOV reported
that the Obamacare website had given the password, address, and social
security number of a woman in St. Louis, Missouri, to three complete
strangers.
439) Obamacare "navigators" encouraged applicants to lie about their income and smoking
In November 2013, undercover video footage showed Obamacare navigators encouraging applicants to lie about their income and smoking status. A second video with more examples was also released.
440) "4 Things The US Government Accomplished In Less Time Than A Working Obamacare Website"
In November 2013, camharris.us reported :
4 Things The US Government Accomplished In Less Time Than A Working Obamacare Website
From the day that the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect to the morning that
the federal healthcare exchange went live, 1288 days passed. 3 years, 6
months, and 8 days. In all that time, our federal government could not
construct a website that actually worked, and we are still waiting for a
final product.
Here are 4 things the United States government accomplished in less time than it has taken to build a working website:
1. We Fought World War I
April 6, 1917-November 11, 1918
1 years, 7 months, 6 days
2. We Fought A Bigger War
December 7, 1941-May 8, 1945
3 years, 5 months, 2 days
3. We Built The Bomb
June 17, 1942-July 16,1945
3 years, 1 month
4. We Orbited A Man Around The Earth
October 7, 1958-February 20, 1962
3 years, 4 months, 13 days
441) Falsely claimed credit for the increase in domestic oil production
During Obama's Presidency, domestic oil production increased , and the Obama administration claimed
credit for it. However, this increase only happened on privately owned
land and state owned land, which Obama had no control over. On land that
is owned by the federal government, oil production actually went down .
442) Falsely said "I actually respect the Constitution."
In 2007, Obama said :
"I actually respect the Constitution."
However, this list contains a huge number of examples which prove that Obama's statement is false.
443) Senator Obama repeatedly voted in favor of funding the Iraq War
In March 2007, the Boston Globe reported :
Obama defends votes in favor of Iraq funding
Senator Barack Obama yesterday defended his votes on behalf of funding the Iraq war
Obama has voted for all of the president's war funding requests since coming to the Senate
444) Banned Navy SEALs from wearing the "Don't Tread on Me" Navy Jack patch on their uniforms
For more than 200 years , the "Don't Tread on Me" Navy Jack flag has been a well respected symbol of the U.S. Navy.
However, in October 2013, the Obama administration banned Navy SEALs from wearing a patch of it on their uniforms.
445) Gave 655 "tax refunds" to a single address in Lithuania, and 343 to a single address in Shanghai
In 2012, the Obama administration gave 655 "tax refunds" to a single address in Lithuania, and 343 to a single address in Shanghai.
446) Banned the linking of terrorism to radical Islam during training of anti-terrorism agents
Although the Fort Hood shooter, the shoe bomber, and underwear
bomber, and 100% of the 9-11 terrorists were all radical Muslims, the
Obama administration enacted a ban on associating terrorism with radical Islam during training exercises of anti-terrrorism agents.
447) During Obamacare's first month, only 106,185 people enrolled
On November 12, 2013, it was reported
that during October 2013, only 106,185 people had enrolled in
Obamacare. And even this pathetically low number is fraudulently
overstated, because it includes people who had left insurance policies
in their shopping cart without paying for them. No legitimate online retailer counts unpaid items left in the shopping cart as a sale.
448) Less than 1% of Massachusetts citizens who lost their
insurance because of Obamacare have signed up for a new policy at the
Obamacare website
On November 9, 2013, the Boston Herald reported :
Just weeks before a Jan. 1 enrollment
deadline, state officials admitted yesterday that just 1 percent of the
150,000 Bay Staters facing canceled heath insurance under Obamacare
rules have signed up for new plans.
Massachusetts Health Connector
officials told the Herald that only 549 applicants - out of the 150,000
Bay Staters forced to switch their health plans to comply with Obamacare
rules - are poised to receive insurance through the new system.
449) "The Obamacare Exchange Scorecard: Around 100,000 Enrollees And Five Million Cancellations"
On November 12, 2013, Forbes reported :
The Obamacare Exchange Scorecard: Around 100,000 Enrollees And Five Million Cancellations
HHS has released the official numbers
here. The HHS report states that only 26,794 people enrolled in the
federal exchange-which amounts to 23 per state per day-and 79,391
enrolled in the state-based exchanges, for a total of 106,185.
In the market for
individually-purchased health insurance, more than 4.8 million Americans
have received notices that their preexisting plans are soon to be
illegal, and will be cancelled. Many more cancellation notices are
imminent.
450) Obama told insurance companies to break the law
On November 14, 2013, after insurance companies had canceled policies
that did not meet the minimum requirements of Obamacare, Obama told
them to restore these policies. However, he did this without Congress
voting to approve these changes to Obamacare. The President does not
have the legal authority to change a law that was passed by Congress,
without those changes first being approved by Congress.
451) Obama falsely said "In the first month alone, we've seen
more than 100 million Americans already successfully enroll in the new
insurance plans"
On November 18, 2013, Obama said :"In the first month alone, we've seen more than 100 million Americans already successfully enroll in the new insurance plans."
In reality, the actual number was 106,185 .
452) Jessica Sanford, whom Obama had cited as an Obamacare success story, later said she could not afford to buy an Obamacare policy
Jessica Sanford
is a a self-employed single mother from Washington state, who earns
slightly less than $50,000 a year, and has not had health insurance for
15 years.
On October 21, 2013, Obama cited
Sanford as an Obamacare success story, because she would be able to
purchase an Obamacare policy for herself and her son for only $169 per
month.
However, a month later, it was reported
that the Obamacare website had quoted the wrong price for Sanford. Her
true, actual price was $621. She said that she could not afford this,
and that she would just pay the penalty instead.
453) Video shows students at historically black college complaining that Obamacare caused them to lose their insurance
Bowie University
is a historically black college in Maryland. This video shows students
from the college complaining about how Obamacare caused them to lose
their insurance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPuFt6g_0a8
454) "Obama brings chilling effect on journalism"
In October 2013, Associated Press reported :
Obama brings chilling effect on journalism
A report finds the U.S. government's
aggressive prosecution of leaks and efforts to control information are
having a chilling effect on journalists and government whistle-blowers.
The Committee to Protect Journalists
released its first examination of U.S. press freedoms Thursday, focusing
on changes under the Obama administration.
Leonard Downie Jr., a former executive
editor of The Washington Post, wrote the 30-page analysis entitled "The
Obama Administration and the Press." Downie interviewed reporters and
editors who described a chilling effect in which "government officials
are increasingly afraid to talk to the press."
Those suspected of discussing
classified information are subject to investigation, lie-detector tests
and scrutiny of telephone and email records.
455) Sued a trucking company that fired Muslim truck drivers for refusing to drive trucks carrying alcoholic beverages
In May 2013, the Obama administration sued
Star Transport, Inc., a trucking company based in Morton, Illinois,
because it fired Muslim truck drivers who had refused to drive trucks
that were carrying alcoholic beverages.
456) Gave personal information of thousands of bookstore customers to dozens of federal agencies
In November 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had given the names, social security
numbers, and other personal information of thousands of bookstore
customers to dozens of fedeal agencies, including the IRS, CIA, NSA, and
FDA.
457) Created fake unemployment statistics before the 2012 election
Soon before the 2012 election, the Obama administration created fake statistics to make the unemployment rate appear lower than it actually was.
458) "White House blocks access to Obama events, news groups say"
In November 2013, McClatchy reported :
White House blocks access to Obama events, news groups say
The nation's largest news
organizations lodged a complaint Thursday against the White House for
imposing unprecedented limitations on photojournalists covering
President Barack Obama, which they say have harmed the public's ability
to monitor its own government.
The organizations accuse the White
House of banning photojournalists from covering Obama at some events,
and then later releasing its own photos and videos of the same events.
"Journalists are routinely being
denied the right to photograph or videotape the president while he is
performing his official duties," according to a letter the organizations
sent to the White House. "As surely as if they were placing a hand over
a journalist's camera lens, officials in this administration are
blocking the public from having an independent view of important
functions of the executive branch of government.""You are only seeing what they want
you to see," said Lucy Dalglish, the dean of the Philip Merrill College
of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
the news organizations stressed that
they're referring only to presidential activities of a "fundamentally
public nature," not private or restricted events, including ones that
may affect national security.
Examples cited in the letter are
Obama's meetings with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on July 10,
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 29 and Pakistani human
rights activist Malala Yousafzai on Oct. 11.
In each case, journalists weren't
allowed - and sometimes were unaware - of the event. The White House
later released written summaries of the events, along with photos taken
by a government photographer.
On Thursday, the presidents of the
American Society of News Editors and the Associated Press Media Editors
sent a letter to their members urging them to stop using handout photos
and video from the White House."We must accept that we, the press,
have been enablers," the letter says. "We urge those of you in news
organizations to immediately refrain from publishing any of the
photographs or videos released by the White House, just as you would
refuse to run verbatim a press release from them."
Harry Walker, the director of the
McClatchy-Tribune Photo Service, said opening access to events was "the
foundation for journalism, not just photojournalism."
The letter was signed by 38 news
organizations, including all the major broadcast and cable networks,
wire services, online services and newspapers, including The New York
Times, The Washington Post and the McClatchy Co., which owns 30 daily
newspapers across the nation.
459) Three days after the Egyptian government murdered dozens of Egyptian civilians, the
Obama administration announced it would give military aid to the
Egyptian government, which, soon afterward, murdered hundreds of
additional Egyptian civilians
On April 12, 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had just given four F-16 fighter jets to
Egypt, and that it had also given them eight others on earlier dates.
On July 8, 2013, it was reported
that the Egyptian government had murdered at least 51 Egyptian
civilians who had been protesting against the Egyptian government.
Three days later, it was reported that the Obama administration would be giving four additional F-16 fighter jets to the Egyptian government.
On July 27, 2013, it was reported
that the Egyptian government had murdered at least 72 additional
Egyptian civilians who had been protesting against the Egyptian
government.
On August 15, 2013, it was reported
that the Egyptian government had murdered more than 600 additional
Egyptian civilians who had been protesting against the Egyptian
government.
460) Spent $1.5 million to help women in Brazil quit smoking
In August 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration would be spending $1.5 million to help women in Brazil quit smoking.
461) "NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds"
In August 2013, the Washington Post reported :
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds
The National Security Agency has
broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of
times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in
2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.
Most of the infractions involve
unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets
in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and
executive order.
The NSA audit obtained by The Post,
dated May 2012, counted 2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months of
unauthorized collection, storage, access to or distribution of legally
protected communications.
462) Announced plans to illegally regulate greenhouse gas emissions without approval from Congress
In August 2013, the Obama administration announced
that it planned to regulate greenhouse gas emissions without approval
from Congress. Without approval from Congress, Obama's actions would be
illegal.
463) Refused to answer question about whether or not people who don't buy insurance should be put in jail
The Obama administration argued in front of the Supreme Court that the Obamacare mandate was a tax. Obama hired 16,500 new IRS agents to run Obamacare. In this video ,
ABC News asked Obama whether or not he thinks that people who don't buy
insurance should be put in jail. Obama refused to answer the question.
Even after the interviewer asked Obama the question a second time, Obama
still refused to answer it.
464) An estimated 70% of California doctors will not participate in Obamacare
In December 2013, the California Medical Association estimated that 70% of California doctors would not be participating in Obamacare.
465) California's Obamacare website gave out the contact information of tens of thousands of people without their permission
In December 2013, it was reported
that California's Obamacare website had given private insurance agents
the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of tens of
thousands of people without their permission.
466) Made it easy for a future Republican President to give
every U.S. citizen a permanent Obamacare waiver, without approval from
Congress
The President does not have any legal authority to change the law
without those changes first being approved by Congress. However, this
list contains many examples of Obama making changes to Obamacare without
approval from Congress. Some of these changes involve Obama giving
Obamacare waivers to unions who supported the passage of Obamacare. Other changes include Obama delaying
certain parts of Obamacare. Obama made these changes illegally, because
they were not approved by Congress. With a small number of exceptions,
Democrats have not criticized Obama for doing this.
Therefore, in the future, if a Republican President
were to give permanent Obamacare waivers to every U.S. citizens without
approval from Congress, the vast majority of Democrats would be
hypocrites if they objected to it.
467) Obamacare encourages patients to rig the system to rip off doctors, repeatedly, year after year after year
In November 2013, Forbes reported :
Obamacare has... a 90-day grace period.
This means people can buy an Obamacare policy, have costly procedures
done and then cancel the policy within 90 days. If the cancellation
comes during the first 30 days, the insurer is responsible for trying to
collect payment, but after that, doctors are on their own. They would
have to spend time and money chasing patients for payments. California
Healthline reported that deadbeats "would not receive a fine, a premium
rate increase or a repayment order. They also would not be barred from
purchasing another subsidized plan during the next enrollment period."
No other type of health insurance has a 90-day grace period like this.
468) Tech experts said that a properly working Obamacare
website should not have cost more than $10 million, whereas the
defective version built by Michelle Obama's incompetent Princeton
classmate had actually cost $634 million
Instead of hiring competent programmers to create the Obamacare website, Obama hired CGI Federal, a company that was run by Toni Townes-Whitley ,
who attended Princeton University with Michelle Obama. When the
defective Obamacare website went online on October 1, 2013, it had
already cost $634 million .
However, David Kennedy, president of the technology firm TrustedSec, said
that even if the Obamacare website had worked properly, it should not
have cost more than $10 million. Luke Chung, president and founder of
the technology firm FMS, said he agreed with Mr. Kennedy.
469) Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, and several other Democratic
Senators who voted for Obamacare, have exempted their own staff from
Obamacare
In December 2013, Yahoo News reported :
Harry Reid exempts some of his Senate staff from Obamacare exchanges
One of the biggest public supporters
of the Affordable Care Act has reportedly decided that some of his staff
should be exempted from the new law.
CNN reports that Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid is the only top congressional leader to exempt some of
his staff from having to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act
exchanges.
Yahoo News has reached out to the
offices of all 100 U.S. senators to see if any other members have
exempted committee staff from the federal exchange. So far, the offices
of 42 senators have responded to our inquiry, with 37 saying that the
senator and their entire staff will switch over to the exchanges in
January.
The offices of Ron Wyden, Tim Johnson,
Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray and Thomas Carper, all Democrats, said they
were exempting some of their staff. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has
not responded.
470) In a contest for videos to promote Obamacare, the Obama
administration gave first prize to a video called "Forget About the
Price Tag"
The Obama administration held a contest where it asked people to make videos to support Obamacare. The Obama administration awarded first prize to a video called "Forget About the Price Tag." The video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpRNAkG-Nx0
471) Broke his promise to have the Obamacare website fixed by November 30, 2013
On October 25, 2013, White House spokesman Jeffrey Zients said :
"By the end of November, the vast majority of consumers will be able to successfully and smoothly enroll through Healthcare.gov"
However, on December 1, 2013, the New York Times reported :
Insurers Claim Health Website Is Still Flawed
The problem is that the systems that
are supposed to deliver consumer information to insurers still have not
been fixed. And with coverage for many people scheduled to begin in just
30 days, insurers are worried the repairs may not be completed in time.
"Until the enrollment process is
working from end to end, many consumers will not be able to enroll in
coverage," said Karen M. Ignagni, president of America's Health
Insurance Plans, a trade group.
The issues are vexing and complex.
Some insurers say they have been deluged with phone calls from people
who believe they have signed up for a particular health plan, only to
find that the company has no record of the enrollment.
472) Democratic aids who supported the passage of Obamacare said their new Obamacare premiums are "simply unacceptable"
In December 2013, Politico reported :
Older Hill aides shocked by Obamacare prices
Veteran House Democratic aides are
sick over the insurance prices they'll pay under Obamacare, and they're
scrambling to find a cure.
"In a shock to the system, the older
staff in my office (folks over 59) have now found out their personal
health insurance costs (even with the government contribution) have gone
up 3-4 times what they were paying before," Minh Ta, chief of staff to
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), wrote to fellow Democratic chiefs of staff in
an email message obtained by POLITICO. "Simply unacceptable."
In the email, Ta noted that older congressional staffs may leave their jobs because of the change to their health insurance.
473) Members of Congress and their staff are exempt from the income limits for Obamacare subsidies that apply to everyone else
Most people are eligible for Obamacare subsidies only if their income is no more than 400% of the poverty level. For a family of four, 400% of the poverty level is $94,200 . A family of four with income higher than that amount it not eligible for an Obamacare subsidy.
However, members of Congress and their staff are exempt from this limit. Members of Congress are paid $174,000
a year. Because of their special exemption, a middle aged member of
Congress who is married and has children, will get a special Obamacare
subsidy of $ 10,000 .
474) Obamacare website often doesn't tell insurance companies about customers who "bought" insurance
On December 1, 2013, the New York Times reported :
Some insurers say they have been
deluged with phone calls from people who believe they have signed up for
a particular health plan, only to find that the company has no record
of the enrollment.
475) Obama's nominee to head the IRS has "little tax experience"
In December 2013, Reuters reported :
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel
hearing on President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Internal Revenue
Service was set to resume Wednesday after it was abruptly halted on
Tuesday at a Republican senator's request, committee aides said.
John Koskinen, a 74-year-old lawyer
with little tax experience chosen by Obama to take over the beleaguered
IRS, traveled up to Capitol Hill to face the Senate Finance Committee,
but the session did not last long.
476) Obama said we should raise the minimum wage, but barackobama.com advertised for "unpaid" interns
In February 2013, Obama said :
"Tonight, let's declare that in the
wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to
live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour.
This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working
families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food
bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For
businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money
in their pockets. In fact, working folks shouldn't have to wait year
after year for the minimum wage to go up while CEO pay has never been
higher. So here's an idea that Governor Romney and I actually agreed on
last year: let's tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it
finally becomes a wage you can live on."
However, barackobama.com advertised for "unpaid" interns. The bolding is mine:
https://my.barackobama.com/page/s/organizing-for-action-hq-internship-chicago
HQ Internship Opportunity:
OFA is now accepting applications for
full-time and part-time HQ Interns for the Spring 2014 and Summer 2014
HQ Internship Programs in Chicago, IL. HQ Interns will have the unique
opportunity to work closely with staff in advancing the President's
agenda. Departmental placements available include Grassroots Organizing,
Training, Issue Campaigns, Digital, Press and Finance. Please include
your departmental placement preferences in your cover letter. Accepted
HQ Interns will be paired with departments based on their stated
interest, qualifications and availability. This is a 14-week, unpaid internship program.
Please note that our Washington, D.C.
location is not our primary location and has a limited number of staff
and, accordingly, internship positions available. As a result, we are no
longer considering candidates for this location.
The ideal candidate is a highly
motivated individual with a strong desire to learn and a deep commitment
to OFA's mission. Requirements of the candidate include:
Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills
Strong desire to learn and work in the field of public service, grassroots organizing, and political engagement
Strong project management skills
Detail oriented, thinking critically and creatively
Ability to work efficiently and effectively in a fast-paced environment
Strong commitment to changing the world
Spring Program Dates: January 2014 - May 2014
Summer Program Dates: May 2014 - August 2014
If you are interested in volunteering
in your state, consider applying to the Organizing for Action Organizing
Fellowship Program.
Organizing for Action is an equal opportunity employer.
477) Falsely said that he had never lived with his drunk driving, illegal alien uncle
In 2011, the Obama administration said that Obama had never lived with his drunk driving, illegal alien uncle. However, in December 2013, it was reported that Obama actually had lived with him.
478) In New York City, thousands of Obama voting, well
educated, upper class professionals complained about losing their
insurance because of Obamacare
In December 2013, the New York Times reported :
With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals
Many in New York's professional and
cultural elite have long supported President Obama's health care plan.
But now, to their surprise, thousands of writers, opera singers, music
teachers, photographers, doctors, lawyers and others are learning that
their health insurance plans are being canceled and they may have to pay
more to get comparable coverage, if they can find it.
"I couldn't sleep because of it," said Barbara Meinwald, a solo practitioner lawyer in Manhattan.
Ms. Meinwald, 61, has been paying
$10,000 a year for her insurance through the New York City Bar. A broker
told her that a new temporary plan with fewer doctors would cost $5,000
more, after factoring in the cost of her medications.
Roy Lyons, managing director of Marsh
U.S. Consumer, an insurance brokerage, said he had heard complaints from
physicians, lawyers, pharmacists and optometrists.
Among those affected are members of
the Authors Guild; the Advertising Photographers of America; the Suzuki
Association of the Americas, a music teachers organization; the Society
of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; the New York City Bar
Association; and the New York County Medical Society.
It is not lost on many of the
professionals that they are exactly the sort of people - liberal,
concerned with social justice - who supported the Obama health plan in
the first place. Ms. Meinwald, the lawyer, said she was a lifelong
Democrat who still supported better health care for all, but had she
known what was in store for her, she would have voted for Mitt Romney.
It is an uncomfortable position for many members of the creative classes to be in.
"We are the Obama people," said
Camille Sweeney, a New York writer and member of the Authors Guild. Her
insurance is being canceled, and she is dismayed that neither her
pediatrician nor her general practitioner appears to be on the exchange
plans. What to do has become a hot topic on Facebook and at dinner
parties frequented by her fellow writers and artists."I'm for it," she said. "But what is the reality of it?"
479) Washington state's Obamacare website stole money from people's checking accounts
In December 2013, KGW reported that the Obamacare website for Washington state had stolen money from people's checking accounts.
480) Illegally ordered insurance companies to cover "customers" who had never paid any premiums
In December 2013, Obama ordered insurance companies to cover "customers" who had never paid any premiums. Obama's action was illegal because it violated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. It was also illegal because he did not have approval from Congress.
481) Millennials who voted for Obama and supported the
passage of Obamacare did not want to purchase Obamacare insurance for
themselves
In December 2013, it was reported
that most of the Millennials who had voted for Obama and had supported
the passage of Obamacare did not want to purchase Obamacare insurance
for themselves.
482) Obamcare website violated federal security laws
In December 2013, it was reported that the Obamacare website was in violation of federal security laws.
483) Refused to answer questions about how many of Obamacare's so-called "enrollees" had actually paid their first month's premium
On December 11, 2013, more than two months after the Obamacare website had gone online, the Obama administration still refused
to answer questions about how many of Obamacare's so-called "enrollees"
had actually paid their first month's premium. Instead, the Obama
administration was still fraudulently counting as "enrollees" people who
had put Obamacare policies into their shopping cart without actually
paying for them. No legitimate online retailer counts unpaid items left
in the shopping cart as sales.
484) Illegally delayed Obamacare's online SHOP enrollment by one year
In November 2013, it was reported
that Obama had delayed Obamacare's online SHOP enrollment by one year.
Because Obama did this without approval from Congress, his action was
illegal.
485) Ten different Obamacare "customer service" representatives refused to let cancer survivor Lynn Baklor sign up for Obamacare
Lynn Baklor lives in Maryland, and is a survivor of breast cancer.
Over a period of two months, she spoke on the phone with ten different
"customer service" representatives from Obamacare, and none of them
allowed her to sign up for Obamacare. The Obamacare website was not
working either. A WBAL news report on her situation can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F79acewkZ78
486) Obama's nominee to head the defense department said he did not know much about the military
In January 2013, Chuck Hagel, Obama's nominee to head the defense department, said he did not know much about the military.
487) Federal judge said Obama's bulk collection of phone records was unconstitutional
In December 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon said
that Obama's bulk collection of phone records violated the fourth
amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches. It was Edward Snowden , a former NSA employee, who had first revealed to the public that Obama had been engaging in this unconstitutional activity.
488) Gave out even more illegal Obamacare waivers
On December 19, 2013, Obama gave
exemptions from the Obamacare mandate to people whose insurance had
been canceled due to Obamacare. Because Obama gave out these exemptions
without approval from Congress, his action was illegal.
489) Obamacare creates a new 2% tax on every insurance plan
Obamacare creates a new 2% tax on every insurance plan. This breaks Obama's promise that he would not raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year.
490) Obamacare requires some people to pay 19% of their income for premiums
In December 2013, the New York Times reported :
A 60-year-old living in Polk County,
in northwestern Wisconsin, and earning $50,000 a year, for example,
would have to spend more than 19 percent of his income, or $9,801
annually, to buy one of the cheapest plans available there.
491) Six Democratic Senators who voted for Obamacare complained that it was causing voters in their districts to lose insurance
In December 2013, six Democratic Senators who had voted for Obamacare wrote a letter
to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, complaining
that Obamacare was causing voters in their districts to lose insurance.
492) Admitted that the so-called "Affordable" Care Act was actually "unaffordable" for some people
In December 2013, the Obama administration admitted that the so-called "Affordable" Care Act was actually "unaffordable" for some people.
493) 53% of people without insurance disapprove of Obamacare
In December 2013, the New York Times reported :
Americans who lack medical coverage
disapprove of President Obama's health care law at roughly the same rate
as the insured, even though most say they struggle to pay for basic
care, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Fifty-three percent of the uninsured
disapprove of the law, the poll found, compared with 51 percent of those
who have health coverage. A third of the uninsured say the law will
help them personally, but about the same number think it will hurt them,
with cost a leading concern.
494) Under certain circumstances, Obamacare recipients
between the ages of 55 and 64 can have their homes seized by the
government after they die
Under certain circumstances, when someone between the ages of 55 and
64 participates in Obamacare, then after they die, the government can seize their home, preventing their children from inheriting it.
495) PolitiFact repeatedly changed its rating of Obama's promise that people could keep their insurance, based on how many Presidential elections he still had left
PolitiFact is a left wing organization that rates the truthfulness of
statements made by politicians. Regarding Obama's promise that people
could keep their insurance, PolitiFact has given out three different
ratings.
In October 2008, when Obama still had two Presidential elections coming up, PolitiFact rated his statement as "true."
In June 2012, when Obama only had one more Presidential election coming up, PolitiFact rated his statement as "half true."
In December 2013, when Obama could no longer run for President ever again, PolitiFact rated his statement as "lie of the year."
In all three of these cases, PolitiFact was rating the exact same
statement. So why did they keep changing their rating? The best
explanation that I can think of is that as Obama had fewer and fewer
Presidential elections coming up, they were willing to be more and more
accurate in their ratings. So only when he was no longer able to run for
President again, were they finally willing to admit the truth about his
statement.
496) Obamacare supporters at Democratic Underground later complained about it
For some really hilarious displays of shock and outrage by supporters
of Obamacare at how it's harming people, check out these threads at
Democratic Underground: one , two , three , four , five , six , and seven .
497) Commander-in-Chief Obama adopted lower military standards so unqualified women could serve in combat
In December 2013, NPR reported :
Starting Jan. 1, every woman in the
Marines Corps was supposed to meet a new physical standard by performing
three pullups. But that has been put off.
The three pullups is already the
minimum required for all male Marines. Now the Marine Corps has
postponed the plan, and that's raising questions about whether women
have the physical strength to handle ground combat, which they'll be
allowed to do beginning in 2016.
Why does this matter?
Well, the same NPR article continued :
The Marine Corps has been using it to
test upper body strength for men for more than 40 years. And that upper
body strength, they say, is necessary to serve in ground combat: to pull
yourself out of a canal in Afghanistan, to climb over a mud wall, to
carry an ammunition box.
And a CNS News article on the subject stated :
Pull-ups have been used to test
Marines' upper body strength for over 40 years. The ability to pull-up
one's own body weight over a bar shows the upper body strength that, in
combat, is needed to lift fallen comrades, pull one's self over a wall,
and carry heavy munitions. Combat Marines also carry a pack that weighs
around 90 pounds, with gunners carrying an additional 50 or 60 pounds.
In other words, this qualification is by no means trivial. On the
contrary, this involves skills that are necessary in combat - necessary
for saving the soldier's own life, as well as for saving the lives of
other soldiers.
Obama, who is Commander-in-Chief of the military, is saying that he's
perfectly OK with allowing unqualified women to go into combat, even if
it means that their lack of qualifications could end up killing them,
as well as killing other U.S. soldiers who depend on them.
498) Had double standard for hate crime laws
When someone participated in the so-called "knockout game," the Obama administration filed hate crime charges when a white person attacked a black person, but not when a black person attacked a white person.
499) Tried to prevent federal judge from ruling on NSA surveillance
In December 2013, the Obama administration tried to prevent a federal judge from ruling on NSA surveillance efforts.
500) Illegally tried to avoid disclosure of a foreign aid directive that he had signed
In December 2013, a federal judge ruled that Obama's attempt to avoid disclosure of a foreign aid directive that he had signed in 2010 was illegal.
501) Forced a woman to undergo a strip search, an observed bowel movement, and a CT scan without a warrant
In December 2012, federal agents forced a New Mexico woman to undergo a strip search, an observed bowel movement, and a CT scan, all without a warrant.
Laura Schauer Ives, the legal director for the New Mexico ACLU, said of this:
"What is truly frightening about this
incident is that it could have happened to anyone... The failed drug war
and militarized border region have created an environment in which law
enforcement officials increasingly inflict extreme and illegal searches
on innocent Americans."
502) Spent $914,000 to study fictional romance
In December 2013, it was reported
that the Obama administration had spent $914,000 to study "romance as
told in novels, films, comics, advice books, songs, and internet fan
fiction."
503) Spent $65 million on television ads to promote tourism in New York and New Jersey
In December 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $65 million on television ads to promote tourism in New York and New Jersey
504) Spent $1.5 million per year to tell the movie industry how to portray the FBI in movies
In December 2013, it was reported that the Obama administration had spent $1.5 million each year to tell the movie industry how to portray the FBI in movies.
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