On October 16, 2013, President Obama agreed to Congress’s plan to fund the government through January 15, 2014 and raise the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014. The deal also included instructions to House and Senate leaders to appoint negotiators to meet and produce a long-term budget plan by December 13, 2013. The budget conferees met for the first time on October 30, 2013 to discuss how an agreement could be reached to reconcile the two chambers’ budgets.
“Essential Waste”
The first government shutdown since 1996 began on October 1, 2013, spurred by a debate over the federal budget and Obamacare. Approximately 800,000 federal employees were declared “non-essential” and furloughed.
IP Summit 2013 Highlights Protecting Intellectual Property
On Friday, November 8, 2013, I had the opportunity to attend IP Summit 2013, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center. This daylong conference highlighted the importance of protecting intellectual property (IP) from counterfeiting, theft, and black market merchandising. When talking about the protection of IP, few understand the full breadth […]
I’m Shocked, Shocked to Find That Fraud is Going on in Obamacare!
When I first saw the headline on the Drudge Report, “VIDEO SHOCK: O’Keefe reveals Obamacare corruption…,” I immediately thought of the classic movie, “Casablanca” and heard those immortal words, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” James O’Keefe, the well-known videographer, is at it again. John Fund has written an eye-opening, […]
Put a Fork In it! Earmarks are Dead … Almost.
In a November 4, 2013 blog published in The Hill titled “Congress should return to responsible earmark policy,” former Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wa.) claimed that failure to do so would create “purist legislators who largely disdain compromise, resist seniority, and refuse Congressional earmarks.” Rep. Nethercutt is correct that while earmarks account for a small amount […]
Public Utility Model Doesn’t Hold Traction for Broadband
On November 4, 2013, a study released by Reason Foundation found that government-owned broadband networks (GONs) do not provide the value that cities and towns hope to achieve. According to the study, which focused primarily on the Lafayette Utility Service (LUS) in Lafayette, Louisiana, plans for broadband GONs are developed using the same budgeting model […]
Those Pesky Obamacare Grandfather Regs and Why We’re All Doomed
Certainly the latest news about Obamacare is how millions of people across the country are losing their health insurance in spite of numerous assurances by President Obama over a period of four-plus years that, “if you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan, period.” In other words, he was […]
Department of Veterans Affairs Conferences: Where Government Employees’ Dreams Come True
On October 30, 2013, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing regarding wasteful spending at two conferences by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The two agency events were held in Orlando, Florida and cost taxpayers a minimum of $6.1 million, according to a September 30, 2012 report released by the […]
I Take Responsibility – Sort Of
Fireworks flew today during the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s hearing as Members of Congress grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the disastrous roll-out of Obamacare. Much of it was a repeat from the hearing held on Oct 29 in the Ways and Means Committee with CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner as the witness. […]
We Will Have Those Numbers in November
Oh, and that Obamacare really is working too, in spite of the website’s problems. That pretty much sums up the witness’s testimony in today’s hearing on the Affordable Care Act in the House Ways and Means Committee. The sole witness was Marilyn Tavenner, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency […]