If a Shoe Drops On The Horizon Will Anyone Notice ?  The Independent Payments Advisory Board (IPAB), Obamacare’s “Death Panel”, issue is a looming thunder-cloud way off on the horizon of public attention.  But one Democrat Senator has been put on notice, and shares his admission of concern. 
(Via Brietbart)  Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said on C-SPAN Wednesday morning that the Independent Payments Advisory Board (IPAB) –the so-called “death panel” of Obamacare, which will cut Medicare costs by restricting care– should be “revisited.”

His comments came as more Democrats are joining calls to amend Obamacare, in particular by supporting the Keep Your Health Plan Act, proposed by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), which would fulfill President Barack Obama’s oft-repeated promise that patients could keep their existing health insurance.
Cardin was responding to a caller who had expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the IPAB, which former White House Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag has championed as a central part of Obamacare. (more…)

Internal polling numbers (DNC) in the states with Senators up for re-election, must be beyond terrible.   “Panicking”: a sudden, overpowering terror, often affecting many people at once.  Horrific Fear – A sudden widespread alarm.

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday will convene a special meeting of the Senate Democratic caucus and senior White Officials  ( <—  Denis McDonough / ValJar ) to discuss the troubled rollout of ObamaCare.

Reid on Wednesday told reporters he would not answer questions about the hundreds of thousands of insurance policy cancellations or other issues until he has further discussions with the White House.

The Senate leader said President Obama called him Tuesday evening to discuss healthcare and other issues. (more…)

(Washington Post)  Putting a statistic on disappointment, the Obama administration revealed Wednesday that fewer than 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance last month in the 36 states relying on a problem-filled federal website.
States running their own enrollment systems did better, signing up more than 79,000, for a total enrollment of over 106,000. (continue reading)
(Forbes)  In the market for individually-purchased health insurance, more than 4.8 million Americans have received notices that their preexisting plans are soon to be illegal, and will be cancelled. Many more cancellation notices are imminent. (link)
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CNN’s Jake Tapper just interviewed Eric Cantor and continued to repeat the White House obfuscation position as he questioned the House Whip, Cantor:

“*Some* of these insurance policy cancellations are for junk plans”.   “These are insurance plans which do not live up to the high standard of Obamacare coverage”.

Ergo some of these insurance cancellations are good for the insured, the plan is better for them, and the policy deserves to be cancelled. (more…)

The latest Poll from Quinnipiac was released yesterday. [ AVAILABLE HERE  ]Obviously the media headlines are filled with uncomfortable to report on catch lines about President Obama, their chosen one,  polling with his lowest favorability 39%, and highest unfavorability 54%, of his entire presidency.
More people distrust President Obama 52%, than view him as honest 44%.
More people think he is “incompetent” 53%, than view him as capable 43%.
And surprisingly 51% to 43% say the media is not paying enough attention to what he is doing.
Many people reflect on these public opinions and ask what will Obama do to turn it around?
However, that’s perhaps directing the question to the wrong person. The real question should be WWDMD? What will Denis McDonough do? Or, What will Valerie Jarrett do?   Together, they are the real decision makers.

Typically, their approach is to deflect attention quickly.    However, the media is unable to ignore the millions of people impacted by Obamacare.
So, I ask you guys – what do you think Denis McDonough and ValJar will do?    What direction do you think they will take?    What narrative will they stimulate to create the needed diversion?

CALIFORNIA – Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California has agreed to a two-month extension of about 104,000 individual policies after failing to give the required 90-day cancellation notice.
The policies had been set to expire on Dec. 31 but will be extended until Feb. 28.
State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced the extensions Tuesday. He said the company notified the Department of Insurance that it failed to give enough notice because of a computer glitch.
Jones says more than 1 million cancellation notices have been sent to Californians as the Affordable Care Act begins allowing individuals to buy insurance through exchanges. The federal law requires policies to offer minimum levels of coverage, forcing companies to terminate many existing plans.  (READ MORE)
(more…)

Two, not-so-dissimilar stories.   To a semi-engaged electorate these might seem unrelated.   To a Lo-Fo  it’s “huh”?   But to others the visible “Big Picture” ideology is self-evident:  My way or DIE.
John Kerry, and White House Spokesperson Jay Carney, warns congress if they oppose a deal with Iran it will lead to WAR. 
Vis-a-vi if you don’t agree with our decision to allow Iran to engage in nuclear production, our only option is to ATTACK them to stop it:
WASHINGTON DC – The White House Tuesday warned lawmakers mulling tougher sanctions on Iran that thwarting US diplomacy could leave President Barack Obama little option but to use military force against Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The American people do not want a march to war,” spokesman Jay Carney said, in a significant stiffening of US rhetoric towards opponents of a proposed interim agreement with Tehran on Capitol Hill.  (read more)

Meanwhile – in Ohio, a 62-year-old Director of Animal Rights, Sandra Lertzman, decided to commit suicide.   It’s not what she did, but how she did it. (more…)

Opportunism? From a Clinton?… surely you jest! LOL Hmmm ?
[…] the highest number of voters who’ve said the law will be bad for the country in regular surveying since February 2011,” said the pollster who headlined their survey, “55% Favor Repeal of Obamacare.”

This is how the “left” operates – they never stop looking for ways to diminish opposition influence.   This is also reflective of why the “right” fails so miserably when fighting them.
When Democrats lose, they never concede.   They just change tactics to manipulate the playing field;  such is this current example.   It’s the same reason why Harry Reid changes the Senate Rules when they lose seats and their grip is diminished.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power.
Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor. (more…)

The project manager in charge of launching the Obamacare website, Henry Chao, was blindsided to find out his boss, Tony Trenkle – CIO (Chief Information Officer for Healthcare.gov)  had written a memo to top officials saying the site could not be secured until mid-2014 or 2015.   Henry Chao was the launch approval project manager and shared to congressional committee he would not have approved if he knew.

The CMS Information Officer, Tony Trenkle, quit last week after his warning memo to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was revealed.  The Trenkle memo revealed the details of the site security risk, and Mr. Trenkle warned not to launch site.   His warnings were overridden by Ms. Tavenner.

SUMMARY:  So it appears that Marilyn Tavenner and Kathleen Sebelius knew the site was not secure.  Then, because of political fear, they kept Project Manager Chao in the dark, and told him to launch it regardless.  He launched it thinking the site was secure.

(CBS News) WASHINGTON — CBS News has learned that the project manager in charge of building the federal health care website was apparently kept in the dark about serious failures in the website’s security.   Those failures could lead to identity theft among buying insurance. The project manager testified to congressional investigators behind closed doors, but CBS News has obtained the first look at a partial transcript of his testimony.

Henry Chao, HealthCare.gov’s chief project manager at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in advance of this week’s hearing. In excerpts CBS News has obtained, Chao was asked about a memo that outlined important security risks discovered in the insurance system. (more…)