Good morning folks,
The next couple of days will have major ramifications on the 2014 election and the makeup of the next senate. Why? The vote on Harry Reid’s amendment to the continuing resolution (CR) to strike the ObamaCare and prioritization language. This means that LINO Harry Reid will, in essence, add ObamaCare funding back into the measure.
Republicans will oppose the measure, leaving Red State Democrats Kay Hagan, Mark Begich, Mary Landrieu, Jeanne Shaheen, and Mark Pryor with a stark and simple choice. They can continue to put President Barack Obama first and toe the party line by agreeing to add the funding for ObamaCare, or they can stand up for middle-class workers and families in their home states by saying enough is enough with the highly unpopular health care law.
This is the last exit for these red state Democrats running campaigns in hostile environments before the road will come to an end. Will they take it?
Reporters under the Dome in Washington are paying a lot of focus to a process vote called “cloture.” But a quick look at the front pages across the country show little to no mentions of a vote, and lots of mentions about problems with ObamaCae. It is clear from the polling that the American people have been inspired this week by one party standing firm against a piece of legislation that will increase costs, insert the federal government more into our lives and destroy the quality of our healthcare. As Rand Paul told Neil Cavuto, “There’s not one Republican in the Senate or in the House that’s for ObamaCare and every one of us is united in defunding it.”
Bingo. This weekend the Republican Party will stand with the American people and vote against ObamaCare.
Winning the majority will mean an electoral debate about substance. Republicans will oppose the Reid Amendment to fund ObamaCare. Endangered Democrats will face a very difficult scenario and make their choice. That is what voters will remember. It’s the whole enchilada.
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Brook Hougesen
@Brook_H
2014 BATTLEGROUND SONAR
(NEW JERSEY) Now Revealed by Stripper: Booker’s Twitter Messages
Mayor Cory A. Booker has a high schooler’s affinity for Twitter, reveling in its ceaseless flow of affirmation and infinite space for self-promotion. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for news and conversation. But the occasional perils of his reliance on the social media service became evident on Wednesday when a 26-year-old stripper from Oregon revealed her private online correspondence with him. In a message to the stripper, named Lynsie Lee, Mr. Booker wrote that “the East Coast loves you, and by the East Coast, I mean me.”
Cory Booker named in Newark corruption suit
(WEST VIRGINIA) Radical EMILY’s List Endorses Tennant
EMILY’s List, an organization that backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, has endorsed West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s bid for Senate. “I wanted to personally let you know that today we’re endorsing Natalie Tennant for the U.S. Senate race in West Virginia,” EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock wrote to the group’s supporter email list.
Fundraising a Serious Challenge for Tennant in U.S. Senate Race
(KENTUCKY) McConnell: No Congressional Subsidies for Obamacare
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that members of Congress should not receive any taxpayer-financed subsidies to pay for Obamacare. ”I don’t think members of Congress ought to be treated any differently in any way from anybody else in America,” the Kentucky Republican told former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett on his morning radio program. “We should not get any carve-outs from Obamacare.”
US Sen. Mitch McConnell gets endorsement of former Education Secretary Bill Bennett
Driving Miss Ali
(MICHIGAN) Peters supports funding ObamaCare over keeping the government running
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate made the announcement Wednesday. Congress is considering a spending bill to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown, but House Republicans say it shouldn’t include funding for the federal health care law…A spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee says Peters thinks it’s more important to fund “Obamacare” than to keep the government running.
(NEW HAMPSHIRE) In NH, Shaheen’s Affordable Care Act premiums above average
When new health insurance markets launch next week, the sticker-price premiums for a mid-range plan in New Hampshire will be a bit higher than the national average. The federal government released an overview of premiums and plan choices under the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday. It said the average individual premium for a benchmark policy known as the “second-lowest cost silver plan” was $328 nationally and $360 in New Hampshire. Those are the prices before tax credits that work like an upfront discount. The report estimated that 95 percent of consumers will have two or more insurers to choose from, and will have an average of 53 plan options.
POLLING BRIEF
Bloomberg National News - September 20-23
USA: Right Track 25%, Wrong Track 68%
Obama Handling Economy: 38% approve, 56% Disapprove
40% of Americans expect to pay more for health care this year
66% of Americans expect the national debt to get worse this year (12% say better)
41% expect America’s global economic standing to get worse this year (19% better)
ON THE TWITTERS
@moranforkansas - United Against ObamaCare #MakeDCListen http://bit.ly/19BWLBT
@1440WROK - Riley & Scot talked w/ @DougTruax this morning about his run for Senate. Audio here: http://bit.ly/19IEr8V
@HotlineJosh - Paging Kay Hagan: NC estimated to have highest premium increases for those on exchanges http://onforb.es/19IErWy
@DBrandewie - Rand Paul: “It’s unfair to characterize GOP as being for funding Obamacare. There’s not one member that is.” http://bit.ly/15wxuMg
@rickklein - OK, but who watches TV like this? RT @NancyPelosi: USA! Congrats @OracleTeamUSA for winning the 34th @americascup! pic.twitter.com/VvSpYwluuV
@joshrogin - Dan Nainan makes his umpteenth joke about how Asians cant distinguish between letters “L” and “R”. Election, erection, we get it. #DCImprov
@joshrogin - Dan Nainan just punched me in the face. Not a joke.
@joshrogin - We are calling the police on Dan Nainan who just punched me twice in front of several witnesses. #dcimprov
@joshrogin - DC police arrested Dan Nainan for assaulting me.
NATIONAL RADAR
(BLOOMBERG) Americans Reject by 61% Obama Demand for Clean Debt Vote
Americans by a 2-to-1 ratio disagree with President Barack Obama’s contention that Congress should raise the U.S. debt limit without conditions. Instead, 61 percent say that it’s “right to require spending cuts when the debt ceiling is raised even if it risks default,” because Congress lacks spending discipline, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Sept. 20-23.
(THE HILL) DC delays key pieces of ObamaCare exchange
The ObamaCare exchange serving Washington, D.C. is delaying important parts of its operations less than a week before it is scheduled to open for enrollment. Washington’s exchange said Wednesday that it will not be ready on Oct. 1 to calculate the tax subsidies people can receive to help purchase private insurance. The D.C. exchange also will not immediately be able to determine eligibility for Medicaid.
(POLITICO) Exchanges may have high out-of-pocket costs
Consumers may have to dig a little deeper into their wallets to pay for health care in the Obamacare insurance exchanges, according to a new analysis by Avalere Health. The study of six states suggests that consumers could face steep cost-sharing requirements — like co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles — layered on top of their monthly premiums. The health law sets exchange enrollees’ maximum annual out-of-pocket costs at $6,350. But many people won’t get near that limit, and deductibles for typical exchange plans can run twice as high as the average employer-sponsored plan.
Report: ObamaCare exchanges to cost $558M
(FORBES) Double Down: Obamacare Will Increase Avg. Individual-Market Insurance Premiums By 99% For Men, 62% For Women
For months now, we’ve been waiting to hear how much Obamacare will drive up the cost of health insurance for people who purchase coverage on their own. Last night, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally began to provide some data on how Americans will fare on Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchanges. HHS’ press release is full of happy talk about how premiums will be “lower than originally expected.” But the reality is starkly different. Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.
(POLITICO) W.H. official: Don’t expect wave of enrollment
Americans probably won’t flock to sign up for Obamacare coverage in October or even in November — and the White House doesn’t expect them to, a top Obama adviser said Wednesday. Enrollment will go through lots of ebbs and flows over the six-month enrollment period rather than remaining steady, communications adviser David Simas told reporters during a 45-minute interview at an event sponsored by Third Way at which he downplayed the Obama administration’s expectations for the law’s rollout starting next week.
(NY TIMES) Obama’s Approval Rating Matches Two-Year Low, Poll Shows
President Obama’s standing with Americans has slumped significantly, as the public remains skeptical about his health care law and unsure about the economy, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Forty-nine percent of the public disapproves of Mr. Obama’s job performance, and 43 percent approves, matching his worst measures in two years, the poll shows. Only 30 percent of Americans believe he cares “a lot” about their needs and problems — a figure that has fallen steadily from early in his first term.