Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Obama Denounces His Own Idea 

We're just days away from the looming sequestration cuts, which politicians on both sides of the aisle claim they want to avoid. But rather than coming up with solutions, President Barack Obama delivered another stump speech today defending big government at a highly-staged White House event. 

As he has done so many times in the past, the president even used first responders as a backdrop for his remarks. The implication was clear: If you don't support his demand for even more tax hikes, then you want people's homes to burn down because firefighters might be laid off by the sequester. 

Among his remarks, the president said, "These cuts are not smart. They are not fair. They will hurt our economy." That's an odd statement for Obama to make -- sequestration was his idea and he signed the legislation that authorized it!

Responding to President Obama's call for more tax hikes, Speaker Boehner said: 

"Today the president advanced an argument Republicans have been making for a year: his sequester is the wrong way to cut spending. That's why the House has twice passed legislation to replace it with common sense cuts and reforms that won't threaten public safety, national security, or our economy. But once again, the president offered no credible plan that can pass Congress – only more calls for higher taxes. ... 

"Replacing the president's sequester will require a plan to cut spending that will put us on the path to a budget that is balanced in 10 years. To keep these first responders on the job, what other spending is the president willing to cut?"

Pain At The Pump 

Your growing pain at the pump was a lead story on NBC's evening news broadcast last night. Gas prices are at a four-month high, up 45 cents a gallon in the past month, and even topping $5.00 a gallon for premium gasoline in some areas. USA Today notes that these higher prices are coming at a particularly bad time for many Americans already struggling with higher winter utility bills and smaller paychecks resulting from the fiscal cliff deal. 

There are a number of factors behind the sudden price spike, such as reduced oil production by OPEC nations and refinery shutdowns. More domestic oil production and more refineries would help. But if the radical left gets its way, neither of those things will ever happen. 

Consider the Keystone XL pipeline as one example. This pipeline would create thousands of jobs and bring more oil from Canada to the market. The massive construction project has been under review for four and a half years. The Obama Administration has already delayed the project once, and new plans are awaiting the administration's approval. 

Last month a bi-partisan coalition of 53 senators urged President Obama to approve the Keystone pipeline. To most Americans, the pipeline is a no-brainer. More jobs and more oil from an ally is a win-win scenario. 

But over the weekend tens of thousands of left-wing demonstrators, led by 9/11 "truther" Van Jones, marched in Washington, D.C., to protest construction of the pipeline. Other speakers denounced the pipeline as a "carbon bomb." 

I'm curious to know just how those thousands of holier-than-thou environmentalists got to Washington last weekend. According to the organizers, they came from at least 30 states. How many of them arrived in the nation's capital in their solar or wind powered cars? 

By the way, these climate change alarmists probably would have appreciated a little global warming. They showed up on the coldest day of the year. Factoring in the wind chill, the temperatures ranged from the single digits to the low-teens! 

Obamacare, The Econony And You 

If you need another reminder about the serious adverse effects of Obamacare, consider this column in yesterday's Financial Times. It's not new information, but it once again confirms that Obamacare is holding back job creation and may threaten your ability to keep your current health insurance. 

According to the report, more companies are considering cancelling their employer-provided health insurance and simply paying the fines. David Dillon, CEO of Krogers grocery stores, said: 

"If you look through the economics of the penalty the companies pay versus the cost to provide coverage, the penalty's too low, or the cost of coverage is too high, or the combination is wrong. If [policy makers] get those things too far out of balance, everybody will have to reconsider their position on that point, including us."

As we have reported, Obamacare created perverse incentives for companies to drop their health insurance policies and dump people into the government-run "exchanges." Dillon is one more CEO confirming that is exactly what is likely to happen, meaning that if you like your current employer-provided health plan, you may not be able to keep it.

The article notes that the head of Dunkin' Donuts is "lobbying to change the definition of 'full-time employees' eligible for coverage. The reason being that Obamacare defines full-time employees as those working 30 hours a week or more. As a result, many businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance to part-time employees are cutting back hours, making sure that no one works more than 29 hours a week. That means less take home pay for many hourly workers.

In addition, Obamacare also includes insurance mandates on companies that have 50 employees or more. As a result, many businesses close to that threshold are simply not hiring additional employees in order to avoid Obamacare's costs. That means Obamacare is stunting job creation. 

Cop-Killers And The Left 

It's difficult not to be shocked by the left's attempts to turn Christopher Dorner into some sort of a folk hero. But we shouldn't be surprised. Dorner, the former cop who died last week in a shootout after murdering four people, including two cops, isn't the first cop killer the left has tried to redeem. 

The cheering Dorner has received reminds me of leftwing support for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who's serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Abu-Jamal became a liberal cause-célébre. But there's a key difference between the support these two cop killers have received. Abu Jamal's backers think he's innocent; nobody denies that Dorner is a cold-blooded killer. You can read more in my weekly Human Events column.