Mediaboss Marketing

The Obama administration misled Americans into thinking signing up for Obamacare would be cheaper than it really was, according to an inspector generals report Thursday that said the IRS dramatically understated the actual cost of enrolling.

IRS officials sent the letters to try to prod Americans to comply with the 2010 health laws individual mandate that penalizes them for not holding coverage.

But as part of the letters, the IRS said most people could find plans for $75 a month or less, once government subsidies were figured in.

That was untrue in fact, the average cost was more than twice that figure, at $168 a month, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said.

Many of the nearly 7.5 million taxpayers who receive letters and seek insurance may feel misled if the actual cost of their insurance is much higher than the $75 per month detailed in their notification letter, the inspector general concluded.

The IRS said it was only using numbers provided by Health and Human Services, and verified by the Treasury Department. They said the $75 figure was true for some taxpayers.

The inspector general said it asked for that documentation but never received it.

Auditors said their own analysis found the HHS studies were based on a smaller sample and was limited to those who chose lower-coverage plans with fewer benefits.

According to the new audit, federal regulations require agencies to present accurate information.

Investigators uncovered the misleading information as part of a broader audit about how the IRS was handling its role in alerting Americans who arent complying with Obamacares mandate to hold insurance.

Some 19.3 million Americans ducked the Obamacare mandate in 2016, with 12.8 million claiming an exemption and 6.5 million paying the tax penalty.

The IRS was supposed to begin sending letters in June 2015 to encourage those who ducked the mandate to sign up, but the agency declined, saying it wanted to instead study behavior from Obamacares first full year of operations in 2014.

The agency also missed the deadline in 2016, but did send notices beginning at the end of the year.

Officials said they figured theyd get better reception if they sent them close to the time of enrollment for 2017.

Some 7.5 million letters were sent about half in English and half in Spanish.

Continue reading here:
Obama's IRS 'misled' Obamacare customers: Audit - Washington Times

President Trump has outpaced his immediate predecessors when it comes to having his choices for federal judgeships confirmed.

The Senate this week approved a fifth Trump nominee, placing Trump on a faster pace for approvals than either President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush.

Most recently, Alabama lawyer Kevin Christopher Newsom was confirmed to a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on a 66-31 vote, with 16 Democrats joining the GOP on the affirmative side, the Washington Times reported.

Newsom was the third Trump pick for circuit judge to be approved so far. Combined with one district judge and the Supreme Court appointment of Neil Gorsuch, the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate are well ahead of the normal pace for judicial approvals.

The Trump administration has moved faster on filling judicial vacancies compared to the past administrations, thanks to its commitment to working with and extensively consulting all senators, regardless of political affiliation, to select high-caliber nominees, Kelly Love, a White House spokesperson, told the newspaper.

Obama had no judges confirmed during his first six months at the White House and it took him until November 2009 to get three circuit nominees approved by the Senate. Bush didnt have three picks -- one circuit judge and two district judges -- confirmed until August of his first term.

Trump began his bid to reshape the lower federal courts in early May, when the White House announced 10 judicial nominees that officials described at the time as Trumps third wave of federal judicial appointments.

Two of the nominees originally were on the list of 21 candidates that the Trump transition team considered for the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalias death. That seat was ultimately filled by Gorsuch.

The two nomiees were Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati; and Justice David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, nominated to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

The other nominees, in addition to Newsom, were Amy Coney Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor nominated to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago; John Bush, a Louisville lawyer nominated to the 6th Circuit; Judge David C. Nye, nominated to the U.S. District Court for Idaho; Scott L. Palk, a former federal prosecutor nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma; Damien Schiff, nominated to federal claims court; Dabney L. Friedrich, nominated to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and Judge Terry Moorer, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Continued here:
5th Trump judicial nominee confirmed, outpacing Obama, Bush - Fox News

This week I got a plea from Jess OConnell, chief executive officer of the Democratic National Committee, asking me to sign my name wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday.

Obama says his birthday is tomorrow, Aug. 4.

Maybe it is. Maybe it isnt. I just dont know. To me, the jury is still out.

Obama says he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasnt. I just dont know. To me, the jury is still out.

Why am I so stubborn on this point?

Two reasons:

About the second point, OConnells email this week making the case for wishing Obama a happy birthday started out like this: The first bill that President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. I like to think that first act set the tone for his administration: devoting every single day in office to making life better for the American people.

I wont argue with the merits or demerits of the Fair Pay Act, only the fact that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution will you find even a hint that Washington has any authority to determine how much its citizens, outside of government, should be paid. And, as to the suggestion Obama devoted every single day in office to making life better for the American people, Ill leave that to you to decide.

Rescuing our economy from the brink of disaster, reforming Wall Street, signing the Affordable Care Act, repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell, taking bold action on climate change and signing the Paris Climate Agreement, putting the protections of DACA and DAPA into place there are more accomplishments than you can list, argued the DNC chief in trying to persuade me to say, Happy Birthday to Obama. Its a legacy that Im incredibly grateful for and proud to be fighting for every day.

Suffice it to say, I dont believe a word of this nonsense.

I dont believe a word that has ever come out of the mouth of Barack Obama.

I dont believe a word he has ever written or was ghostwritten on his behalf.

I dont believe any of the self-aggrandizement. I dont believe a word of the hype.

Even if I believed his birthday is tomorrow, I wouldnt send him a card, I wouldnt wish him well, and I wouldnt acknowledge any of his so-called accomplishments. For me, it will take a miracle to undo eight years of damage he inflicted on a great country.

Birthday shmirth-day.

I dont wish him ill. I just dont have any respect for him or his ideas. What he has decided to do in his post-presidency is even more contemptible than what he did with the reigns of illegitimate power serving, as he does, as a shadow president, intentionally undermining, at every turn, his duly elected successor.

I dont think you can point to another U.S. president who ever did that.

Its like he doesnt know what else to do with himself except for being a national community organizer.

Pathetic.

Am I bitter?

You bet.

I like the United States of America. I like the idea of it. I like the concept a nation under the rule of law, not the rule of men. I never liked the notion of a fundamental transformation of our country. Only someone who hates America could even hatch such a nightmarish thought. And his only notable accomplishment in life was coming very close to carrying it out.

Happy birthday?

Not from me.

Not this year, not next year nor the year after that.

No regrets from here on challenging everything Obama ever uttered, enacted or planned.

Get Joseph Farahs new book, The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians, and the End of the Age, and learn about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith and your future in Gods Kingdom

Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [emailprotected].

Go here to see the original:
Obama! You say it's your birthday - WND.com

A federal court told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Monday that it has to enforce an Obama administration methane pollution rule.

The order from Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came after the judges gave the agency a two-week reprieve from its ruling earlier in July that the EPA broke the law when it tried to delay enforcement earlier.

Despite the reprieve, the Trump administration has not asked for the entire 11-judge court to rehear its case, the standard next step for appealing a ruling for a three-judge panel.

But industry groups and conservative states opposed to the regulation did ask for the full-court repeal, so the judges will consider their request in the coming weeks.

The rule sets standards for the oil and natural gas drilling industry that aim to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas.

It was a major part of former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaObama team pushing Deval Patrick presidential run North Korea targeted emails of Clinton advisers: report Putin tests Trump with counterpunch on sanctions MOREs second-term climate change agenda.

The D.C. Circuit Court ruled in early July that the Trump administration overstepped its authority under the Clean Air Act when it tried to unilaterally delay the rule while it works to repeal it.

The EPA is also working through the regulatory process to delay the regulation for an additional two years. It is gathering public comment untilAug. 9and could make the delay final after that.

See more here:
Court tells EPA to enforce Obama methane pollution rule

President Obama led the fight to protect everyone no matter who they are, where theyre from, what they look like, or whom they love. The Administrations work included pushing through sweeping rights and protections for LGBTQ Americans milestones we mark this Pride month as we learn from LGBTQ leaders organizing in their communities.

In December 2010, President Obama signed the Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law, allowing gay men and women to serve openly and with integrity in the U.S. military.

Michael Rudulph and his partner Neil Rafferty talk about their service as gay Marines under the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy.

In February 2011, the Obama Administration announced it would cease legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Acts provision defining marriage as only between a man and woman, leading to the Supreme Courts landmark decisions holding the Act unconstitutional.

Throughout his presidency, President Obama advocated in favor of a Constitutional guarantee of marriage equality for same-sex couplesa position the Supreme Court vindicated in its historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

Edie Windsor talks to her lawyer Roberta Kaplan about how the 2009 death of Edies long-time partner, Thea Spyer, led to their landmark Supreme Court case which secured marriage equality nationwide.

Theres so much we still have to do to achieve full equality, and we at the Obama Foundation are committed to doing everything we can to empower and support the LGBTQ community. As part of our efforts, recently we talked to LGBTQ leaders in Chicago about how theyre organizing in their communities, and what citizenship means to them.

Lifelong Chicagoan, Mary Morten, shares why shes inspired by young people today and why its important for all of us no matter where we live or what our lives look like to start with our own communities.

Theresa and Mercedes, who have been together for more than twenty years, share why being involved with the LGBTQ community is important to them.

Patrick and Jim have been together for 54 years and organize around LGBTQ issues to fight for equality, justice, and fairness for all people.

More from community organizers in Chicago

We know from our own history that change happens because people push to make it happen. Weve got to do the hard work of educating others, showing empathy to others, changing hearts and minds. And when we do that, then change occurs. It doesnt come always as quickly as we like, but progress comes.

President Obama, June 13, 2013, Reception for LGBTQ Pride Month

Read the original post:
Celebrating Pride Month - Obama Foundation