Friday, November 22, 2013

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's' Watcher's Council Results

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Once again, the Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and we have the results  for this week's Watcher's Council match up.


You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.- Abraham Lincoln

There's a sucker born every minute, and some of them are twins - P.T. Barnum

These are rare, valuable magic beans, I say! - from "Jack In The Beanstalk"



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This week's winner, Joshuapundit's  Roundup - ObamaCare's Epic Fail    is my roundup and analysis of the continued unfolding of the ObamaCare debacle and th epresident's 'fix,  undoubtedly the biggest and most expensive scam ever foisted on the American public.  Here's a slice:

 This gets funnier and funnier the longer it goes.

After the president's pathetic performance last week, the blowback is almost sit-com worthy.

As you now know, what the president actually said yesterday is that he's not giving individuals the same delay he gave corporations or the same subsidies and waivers he gave congress and certain favored corporations and government bureaucracies, he's merely prepared to wink and look the other way and indulge in what he called 'selective enforcement' ...and just until after the 2014 midterms.

The president is trying to pretend that insurance companies are free to offer the old policies, but, they aren't. And aside from the financial impact and the bureaucratic snafu involved inturning the clok back, they don't wish to break the law...which has not been repealed. What President Obama is hoping is that the anger of the low information voters will be directed on to the insurance companies and that people will still be forced into the expensive, hidden-subsidy exchanges. After which, he can say 'hey it isn't my fault.' That's his thinking, but I have doubts it will fly. Three years ago, maybe but not now.

The insurance companies were, to be polite about it, not exactly pleased. They spent millions of dollars complying with ObamaCare, antagonized a number of their customers and now the Prevaricator-in-Chief expects them spend millions more to rewrite and recreate insurance plans that no longer exist and are still illegal policies under the law and expose themselves to litigation! Given this president's credibility and his tendency to change his mind depending on which way the wind is blowing, they'd be fools to trust his word and expose themselves legally.

Only an arrogant and not particularly bright you know what would expect that.And the industry is reacting as you might expect. Chris Wallace read this statement from the trade association of American insurance companies:


Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law, Obamacare, could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers. Premiums have already been set for next year, based on assumptions of when consumers will be transitioning to the marketplaces.

If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase health coverage in the exchanges, premiums will increase, and there will be fewer choices for consumers.


And the state insurance commissioners aren't thrilled either:


"For three years, state insurance regulators have been working to adapt to the Affordable Care Act in a way that best meets the needs of consumers in each state," the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said in a statement. "It is unclear how, as a practical matter, the changes proposed ... by the president can be put into effect."


Thus far, the insurance commissioners of Washington state, D.C., Arkansas, and Vermont, all Democrats, have rejected Obama's attempt to gut the exchanges with his 'fix' .


More at the link


.In our non-Council category, the winner was the one and only Mark Steyn with Thus Spake Obama  submitted by The Noisy Room. It's hard to top Mr. Steyn when he's on top of his game, and he certainly is here, commenting  on President latest attempt to rule by diktat. Do read it.


OK, here are this week’s full results. Only Bookworm Room was unable to vote this week, but was not subject to the normal 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners


Non-Council Winners



See you next week! Don't forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week's Watcher's Forum, as the Council and their invited special guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day with short takes and weigh in...don't you dare miss it. And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.....'cause we're cool like that!

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