Tag: Obama

6 Reasons Congress Should Let The Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies Expire

After a series of scary headlines, prompted in no small part by fearmongering on the left, Obamacare’s open enrollment period is finally upon us. For those individuals about to explore their options on the Exchange, or those who just want to learn more about the issues behind the government shutdown, here are some fast facts about open enrollment and the enhanced Exchange subsidies currently scheduled to expire on Dec. 31.

1. Nearly half of all Exchange enrollees currently qualify for “free” premiums.

Under the original, circa 2010 version of Obamacare, all households had to pay at least 2 percent of their income toward a “benchmark” silver-level insurance plan. In theory, some households could qualify for a “skinnier” bronze-level insurance plan with no out-of-pocket premium (and a higher deductible as a result), but most households paid something for their coverage.

However, the Covid-era enhanced subsidies passed by the Biden administration allowed households with incomes below 150 percent of poverty to qualify for zero-dollar (i.e., “free”) premiums. Perhaps unsurprisingly, households reporting income below this threshold have risen to nearly half (45 percent) of all Exchange enrollees. While the left views this policy outcome as a feature, most taxpayers would likely consider it a bug, for the obvious reason below.

2. CBO and others have found millions of fraudulent enrollees, costing tens of billions of dollars annually.

The Congressional Budget Office found 2.3 million enrollees “improperly claimed [subsidies] via intentional overstatement of income” in 2025, falsely claiming income just above the poverty level to qualify for subsidies. Applying the average Exchange subsidy to this population results in estimated fraudulent spending of $13.9 billion per year.

A separate study from the Paragon Health Institute took a broader look at fraud, examining areas where enrollees have incentives to understate and overstate their income to qualify for the richest subsidies. (Disclosure: While I have done work for Paragon, I had no involvement with this particular report and am writing this article on my own behalf.) This broader examination of Exchange program integrity found 6.4 million potentially fraudulent enrollees in 2025, for which the federal government is paying $27.1 billion this year alone.

3. If the enhanced subsidies expire, the federal government will still pay 75-80 percent of enrollees’ premiums on average. 

No, that’s not a typo. A graphic from the leftist think tank KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) admits as much. 

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Obama’s Latest Ploys at Shadow Government, Internet Censorship Exposed. He Needs to Be Held Accountable.

Former President Barack Obama’s presidential legacy is crumbling before our eyes. While he works to perform the roles of former president and titular head of the Democrat Party, running interference for the flailing campaigns of Democrat gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ), and propping up CA Gov. Gavin Newsom and his unconstitutional gerrymandering scheme, he has the looming threat of the government for whom he used to be the head, precipitating his legacy’s increasing demise. 

In July, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard dropped evidence that exposed how then-President Obama and his intelligence apparatus created fraudulent documents that spearheaded the entire Russia Collusion hoax lodged against President Donald Trump 45. 

As DNI Gabbard stated,

The stunning revelations these intelligence documents expose should concern every American. There is irrefutable evidence detailing how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false, promoting the contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, as though it were true. The documents we released shows how they did it: manufacturing findings from shoddy sources, suppressing evidence that disproved their false claims, disobeying IC tradecraft standards, and withholding the truth from the American people,” said DNI Gabbard. “In doing so, they conspired to subvert the will of the American people and worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump.

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‘What the F*** Did You Just Do?’ New Book Recounts Obama’s Stunned Call to Pelosi After She Endorsed Harris

Democrats’ policy positions on everything from abortion to transgender ideology spring from pure evil.

It would make sense, therefore, if God had supernaturally rendered their leaders ineffective, incoherent, and ridiculous.

That prospect, of course, offers one explanation for a 2024 incident involving former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as detailed in the new book “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America,” by Jonathan Karl of ABC News.

The U.K.’s Daily Mail obtained an advance copy of the book, scheduled for publication Tuesday.

According to a “Pelosi confidant” who spoke with Karl, an outraged Obama called the former House Speaker shortly after her endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Under pressure following a catastrophic debate performance on June 27, then-President Joe Biden had withdrawn from the race.

“The Obamas were not happy,” the Pelosi confidant said, adding that Obama’s message to the former Speaker amounted to, essentially, “‘What the f*** did you just do?’”

Rather than hand the nomination to Harris, Obama preferred a “process” to select the Democrat nominee.

“That train has left the station,” Pelosi replied.

The former Speaker’s endorsement of Harris stunned Obama because, per Karl and according to the Mail, Pelosi had maintained “regular communication” with the 44th president. Moreover, the two powerful Democrats “agreed Harris should not simply be handed the nomination unchallenged.”

One raises one’s eyebrows. How did Pelosi and Obama fail so miserably in their “communication”?

Indeed, for more than a year the entire Democratic leadership has appeared incapable of getting on the same page.

Biden, for instance, reportedly harbored resentment over what he regarded as Obama’s treachery.

Meanwhile, in a book published last month, Harris burned bridges by blaming other Democrats for her loss to Trump.

Even former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got in on the act. In her new book, Jean-Pierre explained, among other things, why she left the Democratic Party altogether.

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Obama Scolded Voters for Not Supporting the Black Woman in 2024, Now He’s Telling Voters to Ignore the Black Woman Candidate in Virginia and Support the White One

Anyone who follows politics will recall that during the 2024 election, former President Obama campaigned for Kamala Harris and scolded voters, particularly black men, for not showing enough support for Kamala Harris.

Now a year later, Obama is campaigning for the white woman candidate, Abigail Spanberger, in the Virginia governor race. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican in the race, is a black woman and does not have the support of Obama.

Isn’t it funny how that works? It’s almost as if what really matters to Obama is party ID, and not the race of the candidate – unless it’s politically useful.

People have noticed this.

The Daily Mail reports:

Democrats spiral in Virginia as Obama is slammed for ‘campaigning against black woman’

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger was considered a runaway favorite for the state’s top office, but recent scandals and a lack of a clear identity for her party are keeping alive the chances of her Republican rival.

In the latest sign of peril, Barack Obama has been parachuted in and will speak alongside Spanberger next Saturday as polls show Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears gaining ground.

The former president’s decision to enter the fray has been criticized as hypocritical after he bluntly rebuked black men for not supporting Kamala Harris during the most recent general election campaign.

‘I watched Obama sit there and chastise black men saying, y’all don’t want to support this woman, but at the same time turn around, go to Virginia and campaign against a real natural black woman,’ said one local on TikTok.

The NAACP, which also cares more about Democrats than it does about black people, recently hosted an event and invited Abigail Spanberger, not Winsome Sears. Isn’t that odd?

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Obamacare’s Underused Free Preventive Services Expose A System Rife With Fraud

Obamacare failed to make health care more affordable. Every day the government shutdown lumbers on, more Americans are looking more closely at health care costs and learning just how damaging the impact of Obamacare has been.

The latest evidence comes from the Obamacare exchanges which have seen a spike in “zero-claim enrollees.” Because of irresponsible Biden-era policies, federal subsidies were increased during Covid. Health insurers received payments on behalf of 35 percent of enrollees—and 40 percent of fully subsidized enrollees—who did not use a single service for the time period they were covered. Zero-claim enrollment, which is more than double the rate in a typical health insurance market, is consistent with evidence of widespread fraud.

Some people have claimed that the improper enrollment claim is exaggerated. Even if that were the case (and I find the evidence of mass improper and fraudulent enrollment overwhelming), it would show that Obamacare is failing on another one of its key promises—having people access regular and preventive health services. The new data also shows that Obamacare coverage increasingly does not equal care. 

The premise behind Obamacare’s preventive services mandate was straightforward and optimistic: By eliminating cost‐sharing for evidence-rated preventive services (those graded “A” or “B” by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force), patients would seek timely screenings, counselling, and “wellness” visits. This in turn would reduce emergency care, lower hospitalizations, and improve health. Under Obamacare’s mandate, the services covered without copays include annual check-ups (well visits), mammography, pap smears, colorectal cancer screening (including colonoscopy), and immunizations.

Research generally concludes that Obamacare’s mandate slightly increased preventive care. However, research generally does not distinguish Obamacare exchange enrollees from the commercially insured population (which also incurred the mandate).

But despite mandates for preventive services with zero cost-sharing, a large and growing share of ACA exchange enrollees never submit a claim, meaning they apparently use none of the services their policies cover—preventive or otherwise.

Since Obamacare eliminated potential financial cost barriers to preventive services, why would so many covered individuals never obtain any services at all—not even a well-visit or screening?

When someone has coverage with “first-dollar” preventive services but makes no use of the system, some possible explanations arise. They may be healthy and have no need for care in that year. Or they may lack access (such as provider network issues) or awareness that preventive services are free. Finally, we have to consider whether they are improperly enrolled, or a phantom enrollee.

In either of the latter two cases, Obamacare’s assumption—that coverage leads to preventive care uptake, better health, and lower costs—is significantly undermined.

Personally, I have been enrolled in an Obamacare plan, bought using an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement for four years now. My insurer aggressively advertises the free preventive services and wellness visits. I receive letters, emails, and text messages for an annual physical and the flu shot. Obamacare insurers have probably ramped up these efforts in recent years out of concern around a low medical loss ratio (that would force higher payments to providers or rebates) as well as their internal concern about a growing number of zero-claim enrollees and the public perception problem of useless coverage that creates.  

The main explanation for the rise in zero-claim enrollees is the tremendous amount of fraud and abuse endemic to Obamacare. The data does not lie. In 2025, there are more than 6.4 million ineligible people enrolled in a fully subsidized Obamacare plan—and in 15 states there are more than twice as many people enrolled in fully subsidized plans than are eligible. And the examples of the fraud are overwhelming, as a huge money-making apparatus from lead generators to unscrupulous agents and brokers to insurers made massive profits from the fraud. Millions have been enrolled without their consent or knowledge, falling victim to fraud schemes. 

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WSJ: Trump Offered to Build White House Ballroom for Obama in 2010

President Donald Trump offered to build a White House ballroom for President Barack Obama in 2010 — but the Obama administration never took up his offer, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The Journal reported:

For at least 15 years, Trump had tried and failed to build a grand ballroom at the White House that could host extravagant dinners for world leaders, lawmakers and celebrities. In early 2010, President Barack Obama’s top strategist David Axelrod got a call from Trump, then a real-estate developer and reality television star. They were connected via MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, who had closer ties with Trump at the time.

“He said, ‘You have these state dinners in sh—y little tents,” Axelrod recalled in an interview. “He said, ‘I build ballrooms. I build the most beautiful ballrooms in the world. You can come to Florida and see for yourself.’ ”

Trump offered to build a modular ballroom at the White House that could be deconstructed. “I was thinking, we’re in the middle of a recession, I’m not sure about this,” Axelrod said. Axelrod suggested that Trump get in touch with Obama’s social secretary about the ballroom. They didn’t connect.

The Journal noted that Trump had approached the ballroom the way he had approached other building projects in the past — discovering how to control the regulatory process, or finding loopholes, to allow construction.

The ballroom is being built with funding from private donors, with costs reaching an estimated $350 million.

The Washington Post editorial page defended Trump’s ballroom project, noting that even Obama and Biden administration alimni had admitted the need for an indoor space — as opposed to the current arrangement, which forces esteemed guests to walk across the grass and to use portable toilets outdoors at large gatherings.

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Report: State Department Officially Dismantled ‘Disinformation’ Agency

The State Department has officially canceled the Global Engagement Center (GEC) as part of President Donald Trump’s mission to shut down the “censorship industrial complex,” according to a report.

Paul Sperry, a senior investigative reporter for RealClearInvestigations, wrote that the State Department officially closed the Global Engagement Center.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in April that the State Department would close the GEC.

“Today, it is my pleasure to announce the State Department is taking a crucial step toward keeping the president’s promise to liberate American speech by abolishing forever the body formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC),” Rubio wrote in an op-ed for the Federalist, stating that to protect free speech the “censorship industrial complex must be dismantled.”

Rubio contended in the op-ed that then-President Barack Obama transformed the GEC, which was meant to target international terrorism, to cover any and all “foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts.”

He wrote at the time:

This pivot was no accident. Obama’s man in charge at GEC, Rick Stengel, touted his efforts to protect “democracy” while redefining it so that “democracy” came to mean silencing the part of the electorate he doesn’t like.

In 2019, Stengel directly equated President Trump’s campaign with foreign and terrorist propaganda, writing, “Trump employed the same techniques of disinformation as the Russians and much the same scare tactics as ISIS.” That same year, Stengel wrote an entire article about, “why America needs a hate speech law.”

The secretary of state said the GEC was an “enthusiastic partner” in the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), which monitored alleged disinformation during the 2020 election.

“The EIP pretty much exclusively singled out accounts and narratives associated with President Trump and his supporters and, in fact, directly flagged President Trump’s tweets, along with his family members and friends of the administration,” Rubio noted.

“With its multimillion-dollar budget, paid for by American taxpayers, GEC funneled grants to organizations around the world dedicated to pushing speech restrictions under the guise of fighting ‘disinformation,’” Rubio continued.

Rubio stated that one recipient of American taxpayer dollars was the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), which ranked outlets based on the likeliness that they would spread disinformation.

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White House Savages Biden, Obama and Clinton with New Major Events Timeline

The White House on Thursday unveiled a new “Major Events Timeline” – and it’s one for the history books, literally.

The Trump White House took a shot at former President’s Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden on its official website.

Bill Clinton- Monica Lewinsky Scandal

“President Bill Clinton’s affair with intern Monica Lewinsky was exposed, leading to White House perjury investigations. The Oval Office trysts fueled impeachment for obstruction.”

Obama Muslim Brotherhood visit

“Obama hosts members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that promotes Islamist extremism and has ties to Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood is a designated terrorist organization by nearly a dozen nations.”

Cocaine Discovered at the Biden White House

“During Biden’s administration, a U.S. Secret Service agent discovered a small, zippered plastic bag containing cocaine in the West Wing entrance lobby. Speculation has pointed to Hunter Biden, an admitted drug user. Additional evidence includes a laptop, seized in 2019, which contains photos of frequent drug use alongside emails about foreign business dealings (Ukraine, China) involving his father, Joe, while he was Vice President.”

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Obama Does Ad for Gavin Newsom on Redistricting – Accuses Republicans of Trying to ‘Rig’ the Next Election 

Former President Obama just will not go away. It seems like every other day, he is on a podcast, doing an interview, or making news by commenting on the issues of the day.

At the same time, he seems like the incredible shrinking man, because his legacy is being gutted by Trump’s second term.

Now he is doing ads for Prop 50 in California, in which he accuses Republicans of trying to rig the next election.

Breitbart News reports:

Barack Obama Claims Republicans Want to ‘Steal’ Seats, ‘Rig’ Election in Ad for Newsom’s Gerrymandering Proposal

Former President Barack Obama and California Governor Gavin Newsom are urging Californians to vote in favor of Proposition 50, a ballot measure that would replace the state’s independent redistricting system with a legislature-approved map projected to eliminate several Republican-held congressional districts.

On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X, “Listen to @barackobama,” sharing a new video featuring former President Barack Obama encouraging voters to support Proposition 50 in the state’s November 4 special election.

In the video, Obama says:

“California, the whole nation is counting on you. Democracy is on the ballot November 4. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. With Prop 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, which preserves Independent Redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today. Vote yes on 50.”

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Unconstitutionally vague: IRS scheme used to attack conservative organizations struck down!

Under Barack Obama’s regime, the Internal Revenue Service was weaponized to delay and deny required governmental permissions for conservative charitable organizations that wanted to sound off on his re-election campaign, which he won, to operate.

They were grilled over their donors, their beliefs, their prayers and much more. Applications were lost and required a second submission. Free speech was under fire.

That treatment was unlike other groups that promoted a liberal agenda

Eventually, the IRS was forced to confess, and it even settled a number of lawsuits over its actions.

But now a federal court has ruled that one of the components that appeared in that agenda is unconstitutional.

A report at the Washington Examiner points to a ruling from Washington, D.C., judge Jia Cobb.

The court found that a test used by the IRS, involving “facts and circumstances,” was unconstitutionally vague.

The ruling said an organization called Freedom Path could not be rejected by the IRS for its requested tax standing because of the failing in the federal process.

But it continued the case, as neither side, Freedom Path nor the IRS, had suggested a standard that could be imposed.

The judge said the IRS violated constitutional protections by denying the tax-exempt status the organization requested.

“The ruling held that the agency’s ‘facts and circumstances’ framework, an 11-part analysis derived from a 2004 IRS revenue ruling, fails to survive the heightened scrutiny required when government rules implicate First Amendment speech rights,” the report said.

Freedom Path, founded in Texas in during 2011, when Obama remained in control of the IRS, sought tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(4). Years later, the IRS denied the request.

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