By Paul Bedard The Internal Revenue Service says it will need an battalion of 1,054 new auditors and staffers and new facilities at a cost to taxpayers of more than $359 million in fiscal 2012 just to watch over the initial implementation of President Obama's healthcare reforms. Among the new corps will be 81 workers assigned to make sure tanning salons pay a new 10 percent excise tax. Their cost: $11.5 million. "The ACA [Affordable Care Act] will require … [Read more...]
Judge Rules Obamacare Mandate Goes Beyond Letter and Spirit of the Constitution
December 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Foundry | Robert Alt In the most significant decision to date involving the numerous challenges to Obamacare, a district court today ruled in favor of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s challenge, and declared the individual mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The fact that the decision is based upon cross motions for summary judgment means among other things, in simple English, that the parties have had two major hearings and two sets … [Read more...]
Federal Judge to Rule on Health Law’s Constitutionality
December 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Janet Adamy and Evan Perez | Wall Street Journal A Virginia federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether the Obama administration's health law violates the Constitution, opening a new stage in the administration's defense of its biggest legislative achievement. The ruling by District Judge Henry E. Hudson is perhaps the most significant so far among a slew of state-based legal challenges to the law, which also faces attack by newly resurgent Republicans in Congress. More … [Read more...]
Dems find careers threatened by Obamacare votes
October 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Michael Barone, October 18, 2010 Seven months ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent a busy week rounding up votes to pass the Senate version of the Democrats' health care legislation. It wasn't easy. She had to get Democrats who had voted no in November to switch to yes in March. And she had to get Democrats who had refused to vote for the bill in November without an anti-abortion amendment to vote for a bill in March that lacked that language. She took the unusual step of scheduling the … [Read more...]
Obama says Texas must spend more Medicaid money
September 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Obama administration will soon order Texas to spend billions more on Medicaid and CHIP apparently disregarding a projected deficit of $18 billion over the next three years. The Dallas News story (below) suggests that the administration will use strong arm tactics to ensure Texas' budget crisis will worsen and funding for economic developoment, jobs, education and prisons will recieve draconian cuts. Medicaid and CHIP caseload growth has eclipsed all projections over the … [Read more...]
