Maggie's Farm

COIN, the abbreviation for counterinsurgency operations, is hotly debated as applied in Afghanistan.

Those most blindly in favor on the Left think it a way to be nice and avoid many of the harshnesses of war. Others think it’s a way to make foes like us and avoid creating more foes.

Those most angrily critical are either conservatives, experienced in war, or those whose lives are actually at risk on the front lines.

They are all partly correct, that far. Where many go off the rails is in not understanding what COIN actually is, or in taking it to absurd or counter-productive excess, and in not confronting the quagmire of Obama and his chosen meddlers.

Let’s re-visit the US entry in large numbers into Vietnam.

The Insurance Research Council (IRC), of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, analyzed in Hospital Cost Shifting and Auto Injury Insurance Claims hospitals’ cost shifting from government medical programs onto auto insurance companies.

Based on over 42,000 closed claims from 22 insurers representing 58% of the private passenger auto insurance market in the US, in the 38 states analyzed over $1.2 billion of costs were shifted in 2007 due to low reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.

That only covers part of the shifting in other states and from other medical coverages.

Add on top of that the severe restrictions on medical care provider charges that are to be imposed by ObamaCare. "It will take months, if not years, to understand the full impact of the reforms on hospital cost shifting and the auto insurance system," said Elizabeth Sprinkel of the IRC.

Pretty soon you’ll see the results in your auto insurance premiums, as ObamaCare drives us off the cliff.

Last April I wrote about the coming explosion of Qui Tam lawsuits against medical providers, due to relaxed standards for bringing such suits making it a happy hunting ground for litigators fishing for financial payoffs.

As if the US didn’t already have enough lawsuits, and as if excess litigation isn’t one of the prime drivers of medical costs, and as if the Democrats didn’t garner 90% of tort lawyers’ contributions, ObamaCare will create a new boom in lawsuits.

At this week’s Healthcare Financial Management Association the healthcare law expert warned of a coming “storm” of lawsuits and quipped, “You'll need to look around your organization and see who looks best in orange [prison clothing color] and pick that person.”

Judge predicted an explosion of new whistle-blower lawsuits because the new law relaxes the requirements for filing such lawsuits under the federal False Claims Act. For example, the new law effectively eliminates the requirement that a plaintiff have direct knowledge of the alleged fraud in order to file suit.
The new law also converts accidental Medicare overpayments to providers into potential false claims, Judge said. She said the law considers an overpayment as fraud if the overpayment isn't identified by the provider and returned to the government within 60 days. Judge said that will require providers to beef up their internal billing systems to detect an overpayment as soon as possible and then send Medicare back its money.

Wonder why litigation reform was excluded from ObamaCare and why tort attorneys eager to make money regardless of increased medical inflation and excess CYA tests are one of Democrats’ largest donor groups?

President Obama chose General Stanley McChrystal as commander in Afghanistan. There can be little doubt that Obama knew that McChrystal voted for him.

Now, McChrystal and staff let the cat out of the bag, that everyone watching knew already: President Obama, VP Joe Biden, National Security Council head Jim Jones, Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan  Richard Holbrooke, have been actively undermining the war effort through timidity, illusions and interfering with McChrystal, the only proven warrior and COIN expert in the bunch and the only one respected by the Afghanis.

General David Petraeus will now fill in, downgrading Petraeus from chief at CENTCOM with wider responsibilities for the tinderboxes in the Middle East and South Asia. That is a big hole to fill in dangerous times.  Petraeus is not holding it against Obama that Obama joined in the liberal Democrats’ defeatism in Iraq when Petraeus then proceeded with President Bush’s firm and brave support to save the bacon. Petraeus is, after all, a bigger and real man.

And, once again Obama has chosen his personal agenda and ego above military effectiveness. Obama just appointed a new Commandant for the Marine Corps, seemingly largely based on the appointee’s agreement with gays openly serving, over the true proven warrior in the missions faced, General James Mattis, who with Petraeus co-authored military COIN doctrine.

General Mattis could have been chosen to replace McChrystal.  But, he wasn’t. There’s no doubt that Petraeus will do an excellent job, but Mattis would also, and wouldn't have left a gaping hole at CENTCOM. However, Mattis is also known as a no nonsense commander, who is famous for saying in Iraq that Marines will kill if attacked (though the Left ignores that Mattis is also an advocate of “soft-power” COIN so that is less necessary).

Straight talk is not to be had when Obama’s ignorant ideology and thin ego are exposed to challenge by straight talk. Petraeus is less likely to be as blunt to Obama and the US public, whose sons and daughters’ lives are at stake on the front lines.

At least three senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have it straight:

The resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal should lead the Obama administration to re-evaluate their civilian Afghanistan team as well, three members of the Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said the controversy surrounding the Rolling Stone profile of McChrystal revealed problems beyond the comments of McChrystal and his team.

"The civilian side, in my view, is completely dysfunctional," said Graham.

Indeed.

One can hope against experience with Obama that this fracas will lead him to get more firmly behind the – at his insistence undermanned vs the military’s recommendation – troops, and make clear that there is no deadline on our commitment. The New York Times' headline, however, reports "Obama Says Afghan Policy Won't Change."

Or, one can hope against experience that Obama will feel so boxed in and revealed by his own fecklessness, especially in expectation of the drubbing coming in November, that he will straighten up, himself and his ideological coterie who are undermining the Afghanis and Americans. I have a bridge to sell you if you believe that.

Or, one can hope that even without a worthwhile Commander in Chief that General Petraeus can perform miracles.

The lives of our troops, and of civilians here in the US, depends upon one man, and that man is not President Obama.

P.S.: Henry Kissinger says of Obama's course, "Neither the premise nor the deadline is realistic," in saying "America needs an Afghan strategy, not an alibi." Read it all.

P.P.S.: As usual with Bing West, BINGO!

I'll take a dozen, or more.

Bob Dylan, The Neighborhood Bully, lyrics below

Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man
His enemies say he's on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive
He's criticized and condemned for being alive
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He's wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He's always on trial for just being born
He's the neighborhood bully.

Here’s the CBS report by chief legal expert Jan Crawford:

In an unusually harsh ruling, a federal judge this afternoon blocked the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater off shore drilling, slamming the government for relying on "incomprehensible" studies and making "factually incorrect" arguments that abused "reason (and) common sense." The hard-hitting, 22-page opinion by Federal District Court Judge Martin Feldman said the government failed to show that the BP oil spill meant all other rigs were also in danger of failing. As such, he said, the moratorium simply went too far. Feldman also skewered the administration for mischaracterizing the views of engineering experts in order to justify the moratorium.

Read the rest, below the fold:

(I read the entire pdf of the ruling, but haven't found a url to link yet. When I do, I'll add the link to the actual ruling. Here's the ruling's full text. See Obama sliced and diced. -- More, please, before Obama slices and dices any more of America.)

The old conundrum of how many angels fit on the head of a pin is now surpassed by how many Obama-Pals can be tossed under the bus before the bus falls over.

There’s soon departing White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who has pissed off everybody and is entangled in the former Illinois governor’s corruption trial, and White House Director of the Office of Management and Budgets Peter Orszag, who has run up $trillions of deep debts with the “stimulus” and ObamaCare.

Now, maybe to go is the Commanding General in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal, who voted for Obama, agreed to Obama’s trimmed and late arriving mini-surge, imposed US life-threatening rules-of-engagement, and now exposes the crippling inanity of the Obama national security team meddlers.

As Jackson Diehl writes at the Washington Post:

McChrystal may be at fault for expressing his frustrations to Rolling Stone. He is not at fault for the lack of coherence in the Afghan campaign or the continued feuding over strategy. That is Obama’s responsibility.

As is the other messes that Obama has created.

It is getting crowded under the bus where Obama tries to hide his blunders. How long until the bus falls over?

Senator John McCain says,

“If McChrystal goes, McCain reiterated, "we need to have a look at the functioning of the whole team."

Fish stink from the head. That's for 2012. 2010 is for emptying Obama's smelly fish tank in Congress.

The invite link is here.

Stand for Israel, Stand for the West

The Friends of Israel have joined together in a new international initiative on the basis of the following convictions:

1. Israel is a Western country. With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.

2. Israel´s right to exist should not be questioned. In the face of a uniquely campaign of deligitimation, we remind all people of goodwill of the true historical context in which the State of Israel was re-established following United Nations Resolution 181 in 1947. We state emphatically that that decision to recognize the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination was not merely a gesture of compassion following the horrors that had befallen the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It was, above all, a recognition of the right of the Jewish people to establish a sovereign state on land in which they have had an enduring presence and to which they have had a historical claim for thousands of years.

3. Israel, as a sovereign country, has the right to self-defense. Israel is indeed a normal Western country, but it is one which faces unique threats and challenges. Israel is the only state in the world forced to fight one war after another to secure its very existence. Confronting some of the most violent and well equipped terrorist groups in the world it is also the only country whose right to self-defense is consistently and widely questioned. Today, Israel has been forced to fight on two fronts: one to defend its borders and another to defend its legitimacy. We stand with Israel, and demand that it be accorded the same legitimacy and the same right to defend itself as any other Western country. Human rights statutes designed to defend the dignity of people everywhere, laws on universal jurisdiction intended to be used against criminals and tyrants and international bodies established to secure justice, have been subverted, their guiding principles stood on their head, to wage war against Israeli democracy. The campaign against Israel is corroding the international system from within.

Clipped from this morning's newspaper:

ObamaCare is the cure?! Big Pharma cut deals with Congressional Dems, to sell more Rxs they think, counting on buying out small drug development companies to keep their pipeline full. But, it's tougher for small biotech companies to find the rewards motivation or funding to be entrepreneurial.

Some more about this talent.

At age 15, Mark is already a veteran of the industry. His late Grandfather, Bruno Riccio OAM, realised Mark's talent as he sang along to Andrea Boccelli albums at the family's Italian restaurant at age nine. The boy soprano was soon taking singing lessons and before long Bruno was ferrying him to performances at markets, hospitals and charity balls, Mark's repertoire expanding to include swing and musical theatre numbers.

There's lots more at Youtube.com

Taxpayer funds are redistributed to other levels of government and to private organizations that use the funds to lobby for more, and more.

The Pacific Research Institute just completed a 92-page study of such "State-Level Lobbying and Taxpayers."

The study delved into lobbying disclosure laws in all the states, finding that on average the states scored a “D”, 59.3%, on disclosure.

Little wonder. Using the example of California, as the authors summarized in an op-ed:

When it comes to government-to-government lobbying, we’re not talking about small amounts of money, as California confirms. Direct government-to-government lobbying constituted the single largest category of state-level lobbying. Specifically, it represented $92.6 million of the $552.6 million California spent on lobbying, or 16.8 percent.

If that amount is expanded to include other taxpayer-funded organizations that are not directly government, the number increases to almost one-in-four-dollars of lobbying. Perhaps most telling, the level of taxpayer-funded lobbying at the state level, using California as a case study, is two-and-a-half times the magnitude of similar lobbying at the federal level.

While governors lobby the federal government, taxpayers in 50 states are staring down the barrel of April 15. Most do not intend their hard-earned money to fund lobbying activities on the part of government. All citizens have a right to expect that government-to-government lobbying will be subject to the same level of scrutiny and reporting as lobbying by the private sector. All states should make improvements in disclosure, accessibility and equal treatment.

The study points out, “A shocking 44 states provide specific exemptions in their lobbying laws for public agencies and public officials.”

Why?

The study continues:

For example, a bureaucrat’s prestige, power, and resources are ultimately a function of the importance of their area, the resources allocated to their department or agency, and the visibility of their work. Bennett and DiLorenzo argue that bureaucrats can and do indirectly create pressure on government to increase the resources and priority of their own depart­ments by funding private organizations. The funding of these organiza­tions creates a self-reinforcing dynamic: the outside group receives gov­ernment money in part used to lobby the government for more programs and services in the area the funding department is responsible for. This creates pressure for the government (generally) to allocate greater funds to the department, which then in part allows for even greater funding of outside groups to continue lobbying.

Bennett and DiLorenzo describe a similar situation for politicians. Funding to outside groups by the gov­ernment creates naturally strong constituencies for members of Congress. These outside groups can provide volunteers, campaign resources, and so-called independent voices of support for politicians during re-election campaigns.

A similar self-serving dynamic operates at the federal level:

The US Labor Department is going after employers of children age 13 and under.

Anyone illegally employing 12-and 13-year-olds will now face a penalty of $6,000 for each violation. The maximum fine previously was $900.

Those employing children under 12 will face a penalty of $8,000 per violation. That's up from a previous maximum of $1,150.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (soh-LEES') says the new fines are part of a stepped up effort to crack down on illegal child labor. The penalties could go as high as $11,000 per violation in cases that involve injury or willful and repeated offenders.

I started working at age 5, sweeping the sidewalks in front of stores, dusting stock, shoveling snow, and the myriad of other jobs I could find in the neighborhood.  Twenty-five cents for an afternoon’s work was big bucks to a poor slum kid.  More important, I learned work habits. Friends raised in rural areas worked in the fields at age 5. They learned work habits. We all feel better off today for the learning.

No one is in favor of putting kids in sweat-shops for 16-hour days, or such, as my grandparents were in the early 1900s.

But, next time you hear anyone complaining that kids don’t have work habits, or don’t value the money they have or the comforts, thank the types who feel that childhood and adolescence should be a skate or so protected as to deny kids and teens the opportunities to become adults with better work habits and self-responsibility.

Remember CBS’ 60 Minutes Mike Wallace? One of the most feared questions used to be, “I’m Mike Wallace, and I’d like to ask you a few questions,”  as Wallace showed up with camara crew at someone’s front door. As this tribute DVD to Wallace summarizes his career, “Take any great event in the last 50 years, and CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace has been there – asking the tough, frank, and even impertinent questions of the famous and the infamous.”

Now we have a young person daring to just ask a congressman whether he supported the Obama agenda, actually “"Do you fully believe in the Obama agenda?"  The congressman repeatedly asks, “who are you?” The young person repeatedly answers, “a student.”  The congressman grabs the questioner. (It is still unknown who the questioner is.)

It may be an “assault” by the congressman, punishable under law.  It is a congressman acting excessively, when he could have just walked away.

It is, also, a sidewalk interviewer, accompanied by another shooting video, refusing to identify himself.

I would ask the same question as the congressman did, and without an answer or an answer that would lead me to not talk with the interviewer, I would walk away. (Scott Johnson at PowerLine agrees, and still reminds us that the congressman acted like a “bully and a nut.” I think neither, but rather unhinged as the congressman apologized for acting.)

At least Mike Wallace identified himself.

Yes, there is fear being struck into the hearts of liberal Democrats by being exposed as fools and tools by ambush journalism. Liberal journalists are defending the congressman.

There’s also many fools and tools among Republican congressmen.

Will those who defend anonymous ambush journalism be as defensive of it when Republican fools are similarly exposed?

Anyone being interviewed has the right to know who the questioner is, and the right to not reply to questions. Anyone asking a question of another should have the civility and integrity to let the interviewee know who the questioner is, at least if asked. Unless assaulted themselves, the target of the interview does not have the right to assault the questioner. That much is clear.

What isn't clear is whether ethics, journalistic or otherwise, flow both ways.  It should.

The New York Times’ headline could have been “Turkey’s Islamist Government Is Just Doing the U.S. A Favor, Wink, Wink” instead of “For Turkey, an Embrace of Iran Is a Matter of Building Bridges,” by Sabrina Tavernise.

With the imprimatur “News Analysis”, the NYTs bureau chief in Istanbul, Sabrina Tavernise, with a 1993 B.A. from Barnard College in Russian Studies, tells us that “Top leaders of Mr. Erdogan’s party believe that only a Turkey that is independent from the United States will be an asset for Washington in the long run.” Tavernise adds, “Turkey is not lost, they say, but simply disagrees with the United States over how to approach the problems in the Middle East.”

Although mildly disagreed with by some sources in her article, her “news analysis” is an apologia for Turkey’s Islamist government siding with Iran, Syria, Hamas against the US, Israel, and the West. Oh, and now Hizbullah.  Erdogan has invited the head of Hizbullah, on the recommendation of Hamas, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may attend also, to attend a rally in Turkey honoring Erdogan.

Tavernise is mostly carrying water for the Erdogan government, akin to the NYT’s Walter Duranty for Stalin’s. 

At Maggie's Farm, our preference shows:

File under "Political Statements."

What’s this Turkey hash with Erdogan’s fingers in it?

Many, including in Washington, don’t “get” how a NATO nation, since WWI on a Western-oriented course (at least until 2002), could be so complicit in the IHH thugs upon the Marvi Marmara and so palsy with Iran, Syria and other despots challenging regional peace and the US.

I turned to Gerald Robbins, the Turkish-speaking expert and Associate Scholar at Philadelphia’s Foreign Policy Research Institute, about what’s on the plate in Ankara.

Turkey’s internal politics are a mystery to most Americans.  Robbins says, “The folks around President Obama have no sense of the nuances involved. Symbols far outweigh substance with them.”  Robbins continues:

Their mindframe is Turkey should be elevated in regional importance since it is large, Muslim, and Western-oriented.  Remember that Obama visited Turkey shortly after his inauguration to symbolize a new outlook in regional US diplomacy. Israel is seen as less important since it can’t serve as a “bridge” into the Muslim world.

Robbins asks, “I wonder if the US Jewish lobbies understand this mindframe?"

I asked Robbins to sketch out what Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan’s political environment is about.

“[Though I greatly appreciate hi-tech], hi-tech innovation and education are not enough… because we've seen in parts of the world where we had highly educated populations who were frustrated, or unemployed, or left the country to go to places that had the other necessary prerequisites for high growth [and] the proliferation of technology. [These pre-requisites are:] Free markets, or freer markets. Without a market economy, you cannot really have the soil on which innovation can take root, in which initiative and entrepreneurship can produce the necessary growth and benefits to our people.

“[We must have] freer economies, mobile economies that reward effort, that reward innovation, that reward the excellence in human thought - because people don't create just for the sake of creation.

-Prime Minister Netanyahu at the High-Tech Industry Association Annual Conference June 9, 2010

More on Israel’s economic policies here.

The Palestinian Authority, which contributes half of its budget to Gaza Arabs, has become more dependent on the massive foreign aid it has received since the beginning of the 2000 Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War….

It [the Palestinian Authority] has received nearly $10 billion in foreign aid since 1994 when the PA was formally established. The European Union is the largest donor, followed by the United States, which contributes nearly twice as much as Saudi Arabia.

The aid has enabled the PA, which seeks to become an independent country though located within Israel's borders, to inflate its public payroll to more than 160,000 workers while its education system continues to incite violence against Israel. Donors currently contribute more than $1 billion a year.

- Gaza “A Tale of Two Worlds”

No US economic aid goes to Israel, nor does Israel ask for any.  President Obama just promised another $400 million of economic aid to the Palestinian Authority.

P.S.: Also, "Pence to Obama: Whose side are you on, anyway?"

The New GM (Government Motors)

Proudly Introduces

 The 2011 Obummer

 This car runs on hot air, b*#l-sh&* and broken promises.  

 It has three wheels that speed the vehicle through tight left turns.  

 It comes complete with Tele Prompters to help the occupants talk their way out of any violations.  

 The transparent canopy reveals the plastic smiles still on the faces of all the happy owners.

 Comes in S, M, L, XL and 2XL  

 It won't get you to work, but hey, there aren't any jobs anyway!

There is every reason to believe that the Obama administration pressured the Netanyahu government and that it complied to go lightly, too lightly as it turned out, in boarding the blockade running Marvi Marmara. It is consistent with the known attitudes and behavior of the Obama administration vis a vis Israel and toward being firm in foreign policy.

So far, the only hard evidence is the admission by the US State Department’s spokesman that “through multiple channels many times” the Obama administration before the boarding urged Israel to “restrain” itself. (See this earlier post.)

Yesterday, an article in the World Tribune provides corroboration and further details. HOWEVER, the article relies on “diplomatic sources” without further identification or other indicators of reliability. So, it must be taken with journalistic caution.

The article, “White House rejected Israeli intel, blocked use of anti-riot gear against flotilla” possibly adds details, as follows:

Diplomatic sources said the White House rejected Israeli intelligence assessments that the six-ship flotilla contained weapons and Islamist fighters trained to resist any boarding operation. The sources, privy to Israeli-U.S. government communications, said Obama and his leading aides pressed Israel against any act that would be deemed excessive force.

"The White House demanded that Israel exercise extreme caution and restraint in any scenario," a diplomatic source said.

The Obama administration demands were relayed through Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor, the sources said. They said Barak, who has sought advanced weapons from Washington, persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree that the Israel Navy would not use anti-riot equipment, including tear gas, to stop the flotilla….

The sources said Barak and Netanyahu decided on the details of the interception without consulting a seven-member security Cabinet committee. Later, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, a former chief of staff, asserted that the naval operation had endangered the commandos.

"The prime minister decided to settle everything with the defense minister," Ya'alon was quoted as saying. "Netanyahu shouldn't have left such fateful decisions to an irresponsible defense minister drunk with power."

The implications of exactly whether, what, who, when, how will reveal to a wide international, US and Israeli audience the extent, or not, of the Obama administration’s culpability in the snafu at sea and of the why and extent of Israeli compliance.

The importance goes well beyond this particular snafu to shed vital illumination upon how (again if as to specifics in this case) US foreign policy is on course to “restrain” or – purposefully or coincident with a fantasy world view – harm allies.  It also sheds light how a small country can be pressured by the US to endanger its own national interests and comply.

Israeli politics can be a labyrinth of multiple competing parties and politicians, the paths winding and morphing, making it extremely difficult to navigate without reliable knowledge, even dangerous without knowing who the Minotaur is at a particular time and where.

Israel’s current government is a national coalition of Likud and Labor. Kadima’s Tzipi Livni, a former Foreign Minister, is outside the government. She may join the coalition.

Or, the coalition could fall apart if and as any particular leading member of the coalition is reliably tied to poor decisions in the snafu at sea.

In the US, President Obama is already on the rocks for many reasons, not least his lack of constructive leadership at home and abroad.

Full, or at least adequate, revelation of the exact role of specific individuals in the Obama administration  – and at whose direction – could be the conclusive straw affecting the 2010 and 2012 elections, and US standing in the world among allies and waverers. Further, foes may be encouraged to be bolder, possibly leading to graver consequences and armed conflicts.

Both in Jerusalem and in Washington, there may be a common interest in keeping the lid on the details.

Neither in Jerusalem nor Washington can those who want a more secure peace be acquiescent in keeping the lid on.  This isn’t and shouldn’t be a matter of politics but of national security, for the US, for Israel, and for other affected countries.

The so-called Cadillac excise tax in ObamaCare will force tens of millions of Americans into Yugos.

The 40% excise tax imposed by ObamaCare upon “Cadillac” medical insurance and related plans could actually increase costs to employers by up to 60%.

The Democrat Congress voted for it to penalize the supposedly well-to-do and to raise revenues. Some conservatives support it as well, to force more cost-consciousness in the choice of medical benefits and potentially restrain medical care usage and cost-inflation.

The effects will be drastic, well beyond what many are aware.

The Cadillac excise tax is paid by the administrator of the medical plan, whether the insurer or claims administrator, and will be passed on to the employer sponsoring the plan for its employees.  The excise tax is not deductible from taxes. So, if in, say, a 35% federal tax bracket the 40% becomes an actual 54%. Most states conform to federal tax regs, so add in the state tax impact and the true cost of the Cadillac excise tax can be as much as 60% or more.

The excise tax will take effect in 2018. It impacts the excess of annual premium above $10,200 for an individual or $27,500 for a family (including as of 2013 a restricted to a max of $2500 annual employee contribution to pre-tax flexible spending accounts to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses), those thresholds then adjusted by CPI inflation which is far below medical cost inflation. (Some “dangerous” trades and some elders have slightly higher thresholds.)

Add that 40% to 60% on top of current and future premiums and the result will be a sharp increase in employers and employees’ costs, resulting in sharp decreases in benefits for medical care.

Now, let’s segue to a medical insurance client of mine in Southern California.  Medical insurance premiums in Southern California are well-below those in many other states, NY, NJ or Mass. as prime examples of states that have much higher premiums due to community rating and guarantee-issue which are also parts of ObamaCare to be imposed on all states.

It’s a small firm. Neither the owners nor their employees are rich. Their earnings are middle-class. The owners are both married with two child dependents. An employee is married, his wife having had expensive life-saving treatments for cancer, an ongoing expense. Their medical insurance is with a major reputable carrier. The plan is a PPO, with in-network and out-of-network benefits. They have excellent in-network access to top doctors and hospitals, but to save his wife’s life the employee had to use the out-of-network benefits to go to another state at Mayo. The employer pays most of the employees’ premium.

The current monthly premium for a family is $3031 ($36,372 annually). (The benefits are below.)

At their last renewal, they could have cut a family’s monthly premium to $2597 ($31,164 annually), for an increase in out-of-network coinsurance (member responsibility to pay) from the present out-of-network 40% of negotiated (discounted) charges and 100% of the excess above that to 50%, an increase of $500 per member in-network and $4000 out-of-network in maximum annual out-of-pocket expense($1000 in-network and $8000 family), and a $5 brand Rx co-pay increase.

The business owners do not drive fancy cars, live in fancy houses, go to fancy restaurants or on fancy vacations.  Their priority is on protecting their families and that of their employees, especially with an employee’s wife having a life-threatening disease needing special out-of-network care.

They chose to not cut benefits, now anyway.

In the future, they will have to cut benefits to far below even the currently available alternative.

Multiply that cut in benefits by millions of employers, and tens of millions of employees.

As Al Jolson famously said, “Ya ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Americans with medical insurance will be forced by ObamaCare to switch to Yugos.

(Current plan benefits: In-network, doctor visits are $20, hospital inpatient is 20% of the carrier’s negotiated discounted charges, and prescriptions are $10 for generic/$25 for brand on the formulary and $40 non-formulary brand. The annual out-of-pocket maximum is $3000 per member, with a two-member maximum of $6000 for a family. The lifetime covered charges is $5-million. Is that “Cadillac”? Oh, by the way, as Politico reports, the ObamaCare "Health law could ban low-cost plans" as well. American workers are screwed either way by ObamaCare.)

The Israel Law Center (more info here) asked US Attorney General Eric Holder to look into the illegal funding from the US of the Gaza Blockade runners.

The violations of US law include abuse of a non-profit's status in steering earmarked contributions to the Free Gaza Movement, and breaking the Neutrality Act.

Maybe Holder will get around to it, huh?

Tomorrow is the California primary.  Mickey Kaus, blogger extroadinnaire, is running against Barbara Boxer in the Democrat contest.  Mickey knows he has no chance of winning. Neither did William Buckley in NYC.  Can't be ignored. Can be adored.