Democrats Heart Medicare Fraudsters

How long can the fraud and corruption continue before something is done? The fact that this is being ignored because these crooks are Democrats is getting old and pathetic. We must demand justice and require the Republicans quit whining and DO SOMETHING!  Thank you Michelle Malkin for this post.

Malkin: Hey, remember when President Obama crusaded against Medicare fraud and vowed to crack down aggressively on scammers who've bilked the program out of an estimated $90 billion? Like Archie and Edith Bunker used to sing: Those were the daaaays.

While Democrats pretend to protect the elderly and disabled, leaders of the People's Party have pocketed gobs of campaign contributions from fat-cat donors tied to massive Medicare rip-off schemes.

Let's talk some more about Dr. Salomon Melgen, shall we? We now know that the jet-setting Florida eye doctor who flew beleaguered Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to several alleged sex romps in the Dominican Republic also overbilled the government by $8.9 million for care at his clinic. That's according to Menendez's own aides. They acknowledged last week that their boss met with federal health bureaucrats at least twice to lobby on Melgen's behalf.

"Federal investigators and health-care auditors have had concerns about Melgen's billing practices at various times over the past decade," according to two former federal officials who spoke to The Washington Post. "In part, they have examined the volume of eye injections, surgeries and laser treatments performed at his West Palm Beach clinic."

Now, brace yourselves. A Menendez aide says that while Sen. Sleaze-Bob intervened, he didn't know nuttin' about Melgen being under investigation. Just like he didn't know nuttin' about his longtime aide working for Melgen's port security firm in the Dominican Republic, on whose behalf Sen. Sleaze-Bob also intervened.

And just like he didn't know nuttin' about yet another ride on Melgen's plane in 2008 (exposed this week by the conservative Daily Caller), which he forgot to disclose to the Senate.

Senate Democratic leaders have done nuttin' to prevent Menendez, who also sits on the Senate Finance Committee overseeing Medicare, from playing a prominent role in Medicare reform negotiations while Melgen's Medicare fraud investigation unfolds.

It's all par for the Democrats' conflict-of-interest course, of course. Recently departed Obama health care czar Nancy-Ann DeParle raked in millions from her positions on a handful of corporate boards under fire for various regulatory violations, whistleblower complaints and Medicare fraud.

Much more please continue reading: http://michellemalkin.com/2013/02/15/democrats-heart-medicare-fraudsters/

Cost Of Obama’s SOTU Wish List? More Than a Dime

A billion here and a billion there; what difference does it make? As usual this is not being covered except in new media - thank you Breitbart.com

From Breitbart: In his Tuesday State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama promised, “Let me repeat–nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime.”
 
That line quickly proved to be typical political rhetoric, as he spent the rest of his speech proposing myriad “investments” and expanded federal programs. And common sense dictates that such programs, if they are to have any noticeable effect, will cost more than a dime. But how much?
 
The list examined here is only a partial one, as there is no way to estimate how much the “manufacturing hubs” Obama wants to create will cost—or his vague promises to spend more in general on education. But there are wishes on his list which should give us an idea of the massive growth in spending he wants.
 
Investment in green energy. If you add the costs of how much Obama has so far invested in 34 green energy companies which either failed or are heading for bankruptcy, the total is over $7 billion. Regulations on carbon emissions. The estimated cost of what the United states would have to pay if it submitted to the Kyoto Protocol could range as high as four percent of the nation’s GDP. The nation’s GDP at the end of 2012 was $13.65 trillion. Four percent of that figure is $546 billion. Fixing roads and bridges. According to the Federal Highway Administration in 2009, just to fix the nation’s bridges would cost $70.9 billion. That figure does not even address roads. Making sure all kids can go to preschool. The average cost of preschools can range from $4,460 to $13,158 per year, according to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referrals Agencies (NACCRRA). How many children are preschool age in America? Roughly 8 million. Multiply those children by the lower figure of $4,460 and that amount reaches over $35 billion. New mortgage regulations that would allow families with “solid credit” to buy homes, a la Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pre-financial crash. How much have Fannie and Freddie cost us? The Congressional Budget office says in the end the cost could reach $389 billion.
 
Total the costs of just these five wishes from Obama, and you get 1,047,900,000,000—over 1 trillion dollars. The President has run a deficit over $1 trillion all four years of his first term in office, and he has not proposed a budget which will cut spending—only ones that reduce the rate of future spending growth.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/13/The-Cost-Of-Obama-s-SOTU-Wish-List

Forward. Just, well...Forward!

If Marxist rhetoric were outlawed from today's political discourse, many progressives would be rendered mute.  Consider President Obama's recently unveiled 2012 election slogan, "Forward!," which has a clear consonance with socialist ideologies of the interwar era.

Turns out that "forward" in Italian is "avanti," which happened to be the name of the official rag of the Italian Socialist Party in the first half of the twentieth century.  From 1912 to 1915 its editor was some guy named Mussolini.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/forward_just_wellforward.html 

News: Picks of the Day

Pic of The Day: Obama Attempts To Intimidate North Korea With Giant Teleprompters

US President Barack Obama (L) looks through binoculars towards North Korea from Observation Post Ouellette during a visit to the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near Panmunjom on the border between North and South Korea on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in Seoul earlier in the day to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit to be held on March 26-27. (AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB) http://weaselzippers.us/2012/03/26/pic-of-the-day-obama-attempts-to-intimidate-north-korea-with-giant-teleprompters/

Cartoons of The Day

by Nate Beeler

by Michael Ramirez

 Obama Lawyer Laughed at In Supreme Court 

On the first day of health care reform arguments before the Supreme Court, two justices needled a top Obama lawyer for simultaneously calling the fine that will be paid under the law for not purchasing insurance a “penalty” and a “tax.”

The confusion arises because of the administration’s argument that the power to enforce the individual mandate is rooted in Congress’ taxing power — but that the mechanism itself is designed to be a penalty, not a revenue-generating policy.

The narrow but important distinction created a communication challenge for the lawyer representing the Obama administration.

U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli used the phrase “tax penalty” multiple times to describe the individual mandate’s backstop. He portrayed the fee as a penalty by design, but one that functions as a tax because it’s collected through the tax code.

“General Verrilli, today you are arguing that the penalty is not a tax. Tomorrow you are going to be back and you will be arguing that the penalty is a tax,” said Justice Samuel Alito, in one of the few laugh lines throughout the 90 minutes of argument Monday.

The remark underscores the fine line the White House is walking in its argument.  read more at Fox Nation http://nation.foxnews.com/obamacare/2012/03/26/obama-lawyer-laughed-supreme-court

Unbiased - 29 judges and 25 reporters sign petitions for recall of Gov. Walker 

Gannett Wisconsin thought they had a big scoop when they exposed 29 sitting judges in the state that signed petitions for the recall of Governor Scott Walker.  Unfortunately, the scoop blew up in their face when they had to admit this weekend that nearly as many of their own reporters had signed the same petitions.  Now these 25 supposedly independent journalists in Wisconsin will face disciplinary action for participating in a political process on which they are expected to observe and report... read more at Hot Air http://hotair.com/archives/2012/03/26/25-reporters-signed-walker-recall-petitions/

Washington Salutes Andrew Breitbart

This past week, DC media and political luminaries came together at the Newseum in Washington, DC to celebrate the life of Andrew Breitbart.

Speakers included Representatives Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Steve King (R-IA) and Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI); as well as Citizens United's David Bossie, National Review's Jonah Goldberg, conservative activist Sonnie Johnson, and Breitbart.com CEO Larry Solov. Also in attendance were Representatives Mike Pence (R-IN) and Jeff Fortenberry (NE).

The program lasted a little over an hour, and was filled with deeply moving and personal accounts of Andrew, to whom Congressman Louie Gohmert so aptly and eloquently attributed the following trait: "Testicular Titanium."

There were common themes throughout the evening: Andrew's jovial and larger-than-life personality; his innate ability to connect with people, and to connect those people with others; and, most importantly, the passion and love he exhibited for his family, friends, and colleagues. All the speakers shared a profound commitment to continue Andrew's work, and issued a challenge to those in the audience to do the same.  Read more at http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/25/Washington-Salutes-Andrew-Breitbart

JATP calls on George Allen Campaign for Retraction and Apology for False Claim of Endorsement

The George Allen for U.S. Senate campaign issued a press release on November 22 claiming the endorsement of over 100 Tea Party activists and leaders throughout the Commonwealth.  The release also stated that the "Virginia Tea Party Patriots" endorsed George Allen for election to the Senate. (See release here: http://www.georgeallen.com/2011/11/6732/)

We have confirmed that a number of people identified in the release did not give an endorsement to George Allen.  Among this group were two members of the JATP.  Because each person's name had the name its Tea Party affiliation printed beneath it, we are concerned this could be misinterpreted as our direct or de-facto endorsement of George Allen.  The JATP does not endorse political candidates.

Also, the press release was titled "Virginia Tea Party Patriots Endorse George Allen for U.S. Senate".  The name the Allen campaign gave to the collective group is highly coincidental because it is name of the Virginia federation to which the JATP and over 40 other Tea Party groups belong as members.  That federation is the Virginia Tea Party Patriots.

Numerous and repeated efforts by the JATP to get a retraction and a public apology from the George Allen campaign have failed to yield results.  While the JATP name and the names of our two members have been deleted from the current online version of the release (still posted on the Allen campaign web site), this internal action by itself is unacceptable.  

The JATP calls for a statement from the Allen campaign to include a retraction of all incorrect endorsements, a clarification about the Virginia Tea Party Patriots, and a public apology to our group and all others that have been adversely affected by this incident.

The JATP maintains its firm policy to not issue candidate endorsements.  Instead, we choose to empower the voter with information about our core principles, provide education about the issues and access to the candidates, and encourage the voter to formulate his or her own opinion.  We are justifiably dismayed at the confusion caused by the George Allen for U.S. Senate campaign, and we expect full and immediate action by them to set the record straight.

 

Carole Thorpe, Chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party

JATP Calls for the Inclusion of all Candidates in Upcoming VA Senate Debate - Press Release

The Jefferson Area Tea Party opposes and denounces the attempt by the Virginia Associated Press Managing Editors and the Virginia Capitol  Correspondents Association (VCCA) to effectively pre-empt the Virginia Senate primary process by hosting a general election debate on Wednesday, December 7 in Richmond.  The debate will be part of Associated Press Day at the Capitol and moderated by Bob Gibson, executive director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at UVA.

 

Seven of the nine candidates did not meet the sponsors' qualifications of averaging at least 15 percent in published, non-candidate primary polls and amassing an amount of money equal to at least 20 percent of the candidate's associated party front runner.  In our opinion, the bar was set exceptionally high for a December 2011 debate that is scheduled prior to any primary debates.

 

It is obvious that the "marquee billing" of the two current front runners, George Allen (R) and Tim Kaine (D), gives VAP and VCCA a sense of power and inflated self-importance.  And it is equally obvious to see why Allen and Kaine are all too willing to risk a call of un-sportsmanlike conduct by failing to protest the lockout of their primary opponents.  This is precisely the business-as-usual political high jinx that has contributed to the crisis in America today.  But all of these parties involved, including moderator Bob Gibson, are doing a blatant disservice to Virginia voters and the candidates left on the outside looking in.  It seems to us that it is certainly early enough in the process for an all-inclusive debate.    

 

May we remind the Virginia AP and the VCCA is the right of the voters to choose the general election candidates and not theirs?  To them, the primary process may seem like a pesky inconvenience but it is a vital step for We the People.   

 

The JATP calls for the inclusion of Kevin Chisholm (I), Tim Donner (R), Bishop E.W. Jackson (R), Courtney Lynch (D), David McCormick (R), Julien Modica (D), and Jaime Radtke (R) in the name of fair civic process. 

 

And if the debate sponsors cannot bring themselves to refrain from imposing undue influence on the voters, we call on George Allen and Tim Kaine to rise above and do the unselfish act of refusing to debate without all of their competitors present.

 

Issued 12/6/2011 

Carole Thorpe, Chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party

 

JATP Stands in Support of Richmond Tea Party - Press Release

The Jefferson Area Tea Party stands in support of the Richmond Tea Party's efforts to recoup thousands of dollars it spent in compliance with City of Richmond event ordinances, due to the double-standard of favoritism applied by city government to Occupy Richmond.

 

In Charlottesville, we recently witnessed the similar actions of a government gone wild that gave unprecedented waivers and accommodations to a single group with whom it shared political kinship.  This failure of equal protection under the law is playing out in cities all across America - and perhaps most heinously in Richmond, where an incredibly coincidental tax audit was imposed on the Tea Party shortly following its request for an $8,000.00 rebate of fees and expenses it had to pay for its events that were waived for Occupy Richmond.

 

While the JATP opted to pay its bills and to not ask for a rebate of past expenses (nominal by comparison to those of the RTP), we support the effort of any Tea Party group in a similar circumstance that chooses to seek reimbursement and stand for principle. 

 

We condemn the blatantly heavy-handed, punitive tactics of Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City of Richmond government, and call on them to cease abusing their power in contradiction to their sworn duty to equally administer the law and represent all of its citizens in a fair manner.

 

Issued 12/6/2011 

Carole Thorpe, Chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party