Tag Archive for Obamacare

All the Other Stuff, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Self Service & Jerky Knees

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Detroit City Council's New Knee-Jerk Licensing Requirements Out Of Line

cctv-cameraOne would think there is a point where even the most oppressive government knows when to say when.

I sell security cameras, and the related security recorders. There are few people who understand the advantages of having a properly set up security camera system than myself.  One light think I would always advocate on behalf of my profession. However, like other mandatory (kaf kaf- Obamacare) ‘solutions,’ forcing a business to buy those systems is just plain wrong.  The Detroit news reports that the Detroit city council is doing just that:

“The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to strengthen licensing requirements for self-service gas stations in the city and requires strategically placed indoor and outdoor digital surveillance cameras in the wake of a brutal beating on the city’s east side last week.”

“Licensing Requirements” are being used as an excuse to provide public policing tools (remember, police are there AFTER the events) on the back of the gas station owners.

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Michigan Politics

No, It’s NOT Under The Bridge

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Clearly, there are interests who will misrepresent data to freak out lawmakers into knee-jerk reactionary positions..

So when we find out the flawed data provided by Jackson Hewitt that was probably the basis for a couple of fence sitters to get lazy and stupid, we don’t have to pretend it doesn’t matter.  Some great big We-Told-You-So’s are due. Perhaps next time low information legislators will look a little deeper into what it is they are exposing the state to.  Mackinac Center Legislative Analyst Jack McHugh says:

“It maMCC_Masthead_2xy be water over the dam, but one report on the potential impact to employers if Michigan did not adopt the Obamacare Medicaid expansion has been exposed as being essentially bunk due to flagrant misuse or misrepresentation of the data it cited.

This is worth noting because the claims from Jackson Hewitt were widely cited by Republican lawmakers here who supported the expansion, and probably tilted others into that camp. Its conclusion was that “employers may pay substantially higher federal tax penalties under the ACA (Affordable Care Act) in states that do not expand Medicaid.” Jackson Hewitt estimated Michigan employers would pay between $42 million and $63 million in penalties without the expansion.

But a further study revealed that to be untrue.

The study notes incomplete demographics and assumptions of static employer behavior in the examples legislators used in justifying their yes votes. No, this is not water under the bridge, but rather a “teachable moment” that will be willfully ignored by those who took the blue pill with regard to Obamacare.

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Elections, Michigan

And The Carnage Continues

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Are we at all surprised?

Yesterday Local TV 7&4 had a story on the lay off of 43 employees, and the director had only alluded to the reaosns why.  Today the report is much clearer and more direct.  Add to the layoffs a little North of where I am at is the Munson health system which will be facing significant reductions in revenues to the tune of $15 Million averaged EACH YEAR over the next ten years.

Bravo.

Visit the Upnorthlive.com site for continuing updates on this.

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Cronyism, Democrats, Humor in Michigan, Rent Seeking

The 2008 Henry Waxman Chair Ousting Hint Finally Sinks In

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The audacity of it all.

Dingell retiring from Congress: ‘It’s time to cash it in’

There is what’s wrong with this nation today. The Marxstream Media actually has the gull to call the fossil not running for re-election a “retirement”. Public “servants” my ass. Better still?

Debbie Dingell expected to run for husband’s congressional seat

YGBM

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Conservative News, Michigan

When Less Means More

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Clearly, we dodged a bullet by not establishing a state run exchange. The AG appears to be watching for 'ricochets.'

Attorney_General_Bill_Schuette_410797_7For anyone who wondered WHY we did not establish a state run exchange, the answer is clearly about surrendering authority.

Not unlike the camel’s nose, the exchange was a buy-in to undermine state sovereignty. Fortunately, Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette appears to be trying to make sure the mandate does NOT apply to Michigan residents. From MLive:

Attorney General Bill Schuette is arguing an IRS rule offering tax credits to individuals buying health insurance on the federal exchange from states without their own exchanges violates the U.S. Constitution.

The argument was made in a “friend of the court” brief filed in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where individuals and businesses from states without insurance exchanges are challenging the ability of the IRS to offer tax credits for buying insurance through the federally established exchange.

Schuette and the attorneys general for Kansas and Nebraska argue that allowing the IRS to offer the credits overrules the decisions not to set up exchanges under the Affordable Care Act that 34 states made and is invalid under the Tenth Amendment.

Schuette’s on the right track.

Additionally, it should be noted that this might not be the most popular move, and could be painful to his campaign in the general. As many Michiganians are expecting a federal subsidy, it may not happen or they may lose that subsidy if this action is successful.

This is a courageous and quite correct move.

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