Most Popular Articles on www.CitizenEcon.com for November 2014

Following are the most popular articles linked on www.CitizenEcon.com (formerly HHCapitalism.com) for the month of November 2014.


Illinois’s Pension Absurdity (jumped to #1 in a single day and still counting...)
A judge rules that all benefits are forever, no matter the public cost.


Dr Walter E. Williams on Black Unemployment (#2, sustained since October 1)
Black unemployment has been double that of white Americans for more than 50 years. The black youth unemployment rate is more than 40 percent nationally. In some cities, unemployment for black working-age males is more than 50 percent.


Political Correctness Run Too Amok Even for the Grown-up Left (#3, sustained popularity since May 20)
Conservatives and Republicans are appalled by the depths to which political correctness has sunk on college campuses. But to their credit, prominent intellectuals of the Left also see the ridiculousness in how far the censorship has gone.


Howard Hyde Interviewed about Obamacare on Califonia Edition TV (#4)
Also: If you get the California Channel (in Southern California, Channel 177 on Time Warner Cable), tune in Thursday December 4 at 8:00AM or 8:00PM for another interview on the same show, discussing the results of the recent election. The YouTube link will be posted as soon as it is available.


Quote of the Day - Thomas Sowell (#5)
A few words of wisdom from one of this site's intellectual godfathers.


Obamacare is terminally ill. What next? (#6)
There are and always have been plenty of alternatives to socialized medicine. The task now is to get those alternatives into the public consciousness.


Technology enables leftists to win without courting center (#7)
The Democrats and the institutional left have a new political tool that allows them virtually to ignore moderates yet still win elections.


Obamacare bulldozes 250,000 health plans in Virginia (#8, sustained popularity since September 18)
Last week roughly 250,000 Virginians began receiving notices that their health insurance was being canceled because it failed to meet all the mandates and other regulatory requirements of Obamacare.
FWIW, the Editor's family's premium in California is increasing 25% from 2014 to 2015. How about yours?


Obamacare and the Gruber Firestorm: 17+ Stories (#9)
17 top stories about the MIT professor who pretended to be an unbiased scientist while concealing key truths about Obamacare, in order to advance the Obama agenda; and getting paid handsomely for it.


The Best of Post-Election 2014 Analysis (#10)
Two dozen of the best articles deconstructing the results of the recent election.

CEOs Threaten to Pull Tacit Obamacare Support in 'Wellness' Spat

Leading CEOs, angered by the Obama administration's challenge to certain "workplace wellness" programs, are threatening to side with anti-Obamacare forces unless the government backs off
Read the complete story at: NewsMax.com

Top Democrat Senator Schumer says Obamacare was a Mistake

At a speech before the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday, Senator Charles Schumer said Democrats made a mistake by entering into a fight over health care after they passed the 2009 economic stimulus.
Read the complete story by Brett Logiurato at: Fusion.net.

California Pension System Under Scrutiny

CalPERS board compensation, executive bonuses, shady deals and funding troubles raise eyebrows.
Read the complete story at: California Political Review

Illinois’s Pension Absurdity

A judge rules that all benefits are forever, no matter the public cost.
Read the complete story at: The Wall Street Journal

Seven Things Americans Should Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving

(Better late than never...) Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a wonderful practice. Studies have shown that being grateful can increase one’s well-being and happiness and lead to increased levels of energy, optimism, and empathy.
Read the complete story by Heather Laskin at: WesternJournalism.com

The Seven Lean Years: California's Misguided Prop. 30

Prop. 30 has reduced the return from saving, investing, and working in California, and is, consequently adversely influencing labor force participation and investment decisions.
Read the complete study by by Wayne Winegarden at: The Pacific Research Institute

Black Residents Armed With Assault Rifles Stand Guard Outside White-Owned Business During Ferguson Riots

A group of black Ferguson residents armed with high-powered rifles stood outside a white-owned business in the city during recent riots, protecting it from rioters that looted and burned other businesses.
The men said they felt indebted to the store’s owner, Doug Merello, who employed them over the course of several years.
See the complete article at: www.inquisitr.com

Veterans Still Betrayed: Nothing has been Fixed at the VA

So far, only three senior executives have been fired despite corruption in at least a dozen VA facilities.

Read the complete article by Betsy McCaughey, Phd at BetsyMcCaughey.com.

See also: Fire the Real Boss of the VA, by Howard Hyde

Media Ignore 224 Teenagers Killed in Chicago Since Michael Brown's Death

Since August, Al Sharpton and MSNBC, CNN, the big three networks, and all the righteous protesters and Anonymous hacktivists have been using the death of Michael Brown as a basis to claim that our society is prejudiced against black teens. But since then 244 teens have been killed in Chicago, most of them black males, and not a word has been said about this death toll.

Read the complete article at Breitbart.com.

'Lost' IRS Emails Found

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is pulling off the impossible task of destroying what little credibility that bureaucracy has left.

Read the complete article at The Wall Street Journal.

What's Wrong with our Health Care Safety Net?

In spite of California expecting to enroll 2.6 million additional low-income families in its Medicaid program this year, the total number of people with Medicaid coverage may actually go down. Why? Obamacare.

Read the complete article by John C. Goodman M.D. at Forbes.com.

For more on Health Care policy, see the Obamacare page.

Evangelicals with gay children challenging church

Christian parents of gay children are increasingly staying in the church and, in protesting what they see as the demonization of their sons and daughters, presenting a new challenge to Christian leaders trying to hold off growing acceptance of same-sex relationships.


Read the complete article at Kitsapsun.com.

Jonathan Gruber Called to Testify on Capitol Hill

Jonathan Gruber has been called to testify on Capitol Hill before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in December, a hearing that will almost certainly turn into an airing of grievances over Obamacare and his statements about voter stupidity.

Read the complete article at Heartland.org.

HHCapitalism is now CitizenEcon.com!

Regular visitors to this site have noticed that we’ve had a makeover in the past few days, culminating with the launch of our new domain name CitizenEcon.com, the title ‘Citizen Economics’ and the byline ‘Because Every Voter must be a Citizen-Economist’. This represents our commitment to keeping you informed via the most thoughtful analyses of current events and educated in the principles of political economy that have the most relevance to the non-professional economist, the citizen-voter. This is the place for the informed lay person, the public official, the candidate for office, the workaday Joe and the entrepreneur alike to recharge their mental batteries and take charge of their destiny, in world full of politicians all too ready to promise you anything in exchange for your liberty, your prosperity and your culture.

California: The Land of Double Taxation for Small Businesses

Only 18 percent of the Democrats who control both houses of California’s full-time legislature worked in business, farming or medicine before being elected. The remainder drew paychecks from government, worked as community organizers, or were attorneys.

Read the complete article at California Political Review.

The US Government’s Assault on the American Economic System

Over the course of several generations, the US government has taxed away trillions upon trillions of dollars that otherwise would have been saved and invested and thereby added to the capital of the American economy.

Read the complete article by Dr. George Reisman at http://georgereismansblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/pikettys-capital-wrong_28.html.

WSJ: The Other Ferguson Tragedy

Homicide is the leading cause of death among young black men, and 90% of black murder victims are killed by other blacks.

Read the complete article by Jason Riley at The Wall Street Journal.

Beware of our Betters

Jonathan Gruber's several videotaped remarks about the gross deceptions that got ObamaCare passed in Congress should tell us a lot about the Obama administration.

Read the complete article by Thomas Sowell at TownHall.com.

Black by Popular Demand: Dr Walter E. Williams on Black Unemployment

The most popular post on HHCapitalism for the past 30 days, and 4th most popular in 8 years!

See: http://www.hhcapitalism.com/2014/10/dr-walter-e-williams-on-black.html.

Obamacare adviser warned of premium increases as Obama vowed savings

While President Obama campaigned on a promise that his universal health care plan would lower premiums, his controversial adviser and plan architect [Jonathan Gruber] was privately warning the state of Wisconsin that Obamacare was poised to massively increase insurance costs for average residents, internal documents show.

Read the full article at The Washington Times.

Obama’s Immigration Enablers

Regrettably, the Office of Legal Counsel’s made-to-order legal analysis is shockingly flawed in five major respects.

Read the full article by David B. Rivkin and Elizabeth Price Foley at The Wall Street Journal.

Thomas Piketty’s Policies On Economic Inequality Aren’t Selling

The idea that the rich get richer while everyone else doesn’t gets pretty wide agreement in the polls. So does the Democrats’ one redistributionist policy — raising the minimum wage. As a policy to address inequality, though, it’s rather pathetic.

Read the full article by Michael Barone at WesternJournalism.com.

Post-Midterm Obamacare Prognosis: Hold the Champagne

Conservatives and citizens concerned with the direction of the country under Democrat rule turned out in sufficiently large numbers on Election Day to return the Senate to Republican control. But if you think this marks the beginning of the end of Obamacare, think again.

Read the full article by Richard Amerling, M.D. at The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Dodd-Frank: A Bad Law And A Big Mess

Dodd-Frank insulates regulators from democratic accountability. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a creature of Dodd-Frank, is not even funded by our elected representatives, but instead gets financed directly from the Federal Reserve. Translation: If the “middle class” ever decides that Congress should relieve it of the CFPB’s ministrations, they will be unable to exert any influence.

Read the full article by Mona Charen at WesternJournalism.com.

Obamacare’s Jonathan Gruber and the Superhero Oath

Gruber has admitted that the 40 percent tax on “Cadillac” company insurance coverage was really a hidden way to tax affected workers while ensuring that employers would receive the blame for expensive plans. Every economist knows that who the tax is legally imposed on does not change who actually bears the burden. Gruber and others used this knowledge to mislead Americans into thinking someone else would pay, and so many supported a policy they would have opposed had they not been deceived.

Read the full article by Gary Galles at The Mises Institute.

The Obamacare Opportunities

The pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare coupled with a small provision buried in the law could give Republicans in the new Congress the opportunity to power-boost free-market health reform.

Read the full article by Grace Marie Turner at The Galen Institute.

Scientific Misconduct: The Manipulation of Evidence for Political Advocacy in Health Care and Climate Policy

Science is increasingly being manipulated by those who try to use it to justify political choices based on their ethical preferences and who are willing to suppress evidence of conflict between those preferences and the underlying reality. This problem is clearly seen in two policy domains, health care and climate policy.

Read the complete article at The Cato Institute.

Door Opens For Scrutiny of Federal Reserve

The new Republican majority in the Senate opens a door for a new level of scrutiny of the Federal Reserve, the quasi-public organization that largely controls U.S. monetary policy behind closed doors.

Read the complete article by Bob Unruh at World Net Daily.

What Happened to American Medicine?

America once had the best healthcare system around, but no longer. We still have the best doctors and nurses, but they are stymied and frustrated by a system that hampers rather than helps them when they try to care for us. Why?


Read the complete article by Deanne Waldman at AmericanThinker.com.

What the Inequality Warriors Realy Want

Inequality may be a symptom of economic problems. But why is inequality itself an economic problem?

Read the complete article by John H. Cochrane at The Cato Institute.

WSJ: How Life Teaches Us Basics of the Economy

Knowledge of economics is not acquired in a Choom Gang environment or as a student on “scholarship” at privileged schools or as a community organizer or politician.

Read the complete article at The Wall Street Journal.

The Midterm Miracles

By Burt Prelutsky
Perhaps because I define myself as a optimistic pessimist or a pessimistic optimist, I was blindsided by the election results. As much time as I devoted to poring over the Senate races, I just couldn’t see how the GOP could wind up with more than 51.

The (Post-Election) Schadenfreude Edition

By William Saracino
Webster’s defines schadenfreude as “pleasure derived from the misfortune of others”, and boy do they have my mood pegged.

Bittersweet Victory

By Howard Hyde
Watching the returns on election night, it was difficult not to be thrilled by what can only be characterized as the best election for Republicans in at least a decade, and in some ways, in nearly a century.

The Best of Post-Election 2014 Analysis

The Best Post-Election 2014 Analysis from the Wall Street Journal (and a few others)
In case you missed it, we recently had a midterm election in the U.S. in which Republicans and their agenda made some of the greatest gains in a generation.

Best of HHCapitalism.com

Here is a sampling of the most popular posts on HHCapitalism over the past few years.

• Video: Howard Hyde Interviewed about Obamacare on Califonia Edition
  • Howard Hyde interviewed by TV Journalist Brad Pomerance on 'California Edition' on the California Channel.
• Books on Capitalism and economics
  • If you want to be an informed citizen; if you want to stop being at the mercy of manipulators in politics and the media; or even if you want to preserve and expand socialism and intellectually arm yourself against the capitalist pigs!; then the books listed here need to be in your library.
• Obamacare bulldozes 250,000 health plans in Virginia
  • Roughly 250,000 Virginians began receiving notices that their health insurance was being canceled because it failed to meet all the mandates and other regulatory requirements of Obamacare.
• Where do Jobs Come From?
  • A primer on employment economics that you won't get in college.
• Obamacare Self-Destructing
  • Our federal government: hopelessly overextended, devoid of caution and chock full of hubris.
• Dr Walter E. Williams on Black Unemployment
  • Black unemployment has been double that of white Americans for more than 50 years. The black youth unemployment rate is more than 40 percent nationally. In some cities, unemployment for black working-age males is more than 50 percent.
• Technology enables leftists to win without courting center
  • The Democrats and the institutional left have a new political tool that allows them virtually to ignore moderates yet still win elections.
• Obama's Health Care Vietnam
  • Talk to the average physician about trying to care for patients in the United States today, and you’ll hear exactly the same sorts of sentiments as those expressed by American soldiers faced with the task of “winning the war” in Vietnam some fifty years ago.
• What is Capitalism?
  • Most of the controversy over Capitalism stems from disagreements and ignorance of just what Capitalism actually is.
• Video: Howard Hyde Speaks at Annual Meeting of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
  • Howard Hyde presented his vision and strategy for defeating Obamacare at the annual meeting of the AAPS.
• Post-Obamacare Reform
  • Obamacare is Dead. Here's what to do next.

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Obamacare is terminally ill. What next?

Rumors of Obamacare's viability were greatly exagerated. There never was majority support for it, and now that the American people know what's in it, they like it less and less with each passing day. Every Republican Senator who unseated a sitting Democrat senator in the election just past ran on a Repeal-and-Replace, anti-Obamacare platform.
But if Obamacare is dead, what do we do now?
We proceed incrementally but inexorably to reverse all of the destructive provisions of the ACA and implement free market-oriented reform. There is bipartisan agreement on things like repealing the medical device tax; we can start there.
Republicans should not shy away from putting bills on Obama's desk that he is likely to veto. Let him show his true colors to the American people and demonstrate the need for a differently-oriented president come the 2016 election.
As I wrote in detail last February in Front Page Magazine, there are and always have been plenty of alternatives to socialized medicine. The task now is to get those alternatives into the public consciousness, before the liberals promote Single Payer as the only viable option.
Read the full article at FrontPageMag.com.

Townhall: BLS Jobs Report Points To the "Meh" Economy

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their report on non-farm payroll jobs ... and estimated that the American economy added 214,000 jobs - pointing to an economy that continues to be sluggish. The workforce participation rate is unchanged from a year ago, at 62.8%. The unemployment rate edged slightly downward over the past month, though, and now sits at 5.8%.
Read the full article at Townhall.com.

Wall Street Journal: Latinos Lag Under Health Law

One quarter of Hispanics in the U.S. lack health insurance, the highest rate for any racial or ethnic group.
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

Wall Street Journal: Health-Law Enrollment in 2015 Won’t Meet Forecast

Millions fewer people will enroll in private health plans under the Affordable Care Act next year than the Congressional Budget Office had predicted.
Attracting new enrollees to the health law’s insurance exchanges has proven more difficult than advocates had predicted, and a slice of those who do sign up for plans haven’t kept up with premiums.
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

Forbes: Obamacare Ushers In Pile Of New 2014 Tax Forms

Now that the Obamacare 2014 individual health insurance mandate is in effect, many taxpayers will face confusion over tax penalties, exemptions, premium tax credits, claw backs of subsidies (advanced credits) and extra tax-preparation fees to comply with Obamacare on 2014 tax filings.
Read the full article at Forbes.com.


More Obamacare stories linked at ObamacareReporter.com.

The Hill: Small businesses were an afterthought in Obamacare

Since the passage of and initial implementation of Obamacare, small businesses have been ill-served – delays, confusion, and higher costs characterize their experience with the law to date. After one year, a report card for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) created by Obamacare would have a failing grade, and a non-partisan study this week shows the problems are even worse than expected.
Read the full article at TheHill.com.


More Obamacare stories linked at ObamacareReporter.com.

New York Times: Cost of Coverage Under ACA to Increase in 2015

The Obama administration on Friday unveiled data showing that many Americans with health insurance bought under the Affordable Care Act could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans.
Read the full article at The New York Times.

Obamacare and the Gruber Firestorm: 17+ Stories

We can all take off our tin-foil hats now. We don't have to apologize anymore for being skeptical at best that the Affordable Care Act was passed with the best of intentions, through honorable and constitutional channels, and above all informed by impartial, unbiased and disinterested expert advice.
Take your pick of the following stories from just the past few days.
The Obamacare cheerleaders must be grateful that this information only gained wide exposure after the recent election was safely over; otherwise the Republican tnsumami might have been even greater.

• Wall Street Journal: Jonathan Gruber’s ‘Stupid’ Budget Tricks
• Daily Caller: Krauthammer: Gruber Obamacare Comments Are ‘True Voice Of Liberal Arrogance’
• Conservative Byte: Obamacare Architect Admits Deceiving Americans to Pass Law
• Conservative Videos: Obamacare Architect: We Passed the Law Thanks to the ‘Stupidity of the American Voter’
• Conservative Videos: A 3rd Video Emerges of Obamacare Architect Bragging About How to Exploit the American Voter
• Truth Revolt: Obamacare Architect: 'Lack of Transparency,' 'Stupidity' of Voters 'Critical' to Passing Law
• Clash Daily: IT WAS ALL BS: ObamaCare Architect Admits Deceiving Americans to Pass Law
• Front Page Magazine: Howard Dean: ObamaCare Created by “Elitists” Who Don’t Understand Americans
• Front Page Magazine: ObamaCare Architect: ObamaCare Exploited 'Lack of Economic Understanding of American Voter'
• The Federalist: Four Questions And Answers About Jonathan Gruber’s Obamacare Lies
• Washington Examiner: Obamacare's foundation of lies a warning for new Supreme Court case
• Heartland: What They Really Think of Us
• World Net Daily: Grubered again! 'Stupid' Americans 'falling off a building'
• World Net Daily: Obamacare guru shocks again with abortion boast
• Heartland: The Agony of Jonathan Gruber
• Heartland Consumer Power Report: Obamacare's Broken Promises, Job Losses and 8 more...
• 50 more at http://ObamacareReporter.com

Howard Hyde Interviewed about Obamacare on Califonia Edition

UPDATE 3PM: Here is the direct link to the video:
http://youtu.be/XM1DoKwxVqE

Howard Hyde will be appearing on California Edition, a news and interview program hosted by Brad Pomerance on the California Channel, next Thursday, November 13 at 8:00 AM and again at 8:00 PM. The topic is the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.

In Southern California - on Charter, the California Channel is broadcast on Channel 177. On Time Warner Cable, the California Channel broadcasts on Channel 229. In Central California, on Charter, the California Channel is broadcast on Channel 90. In Sacramento, the California Channel is broadcast on Comcast Channel 108. Through Cox Communications, the California Channel airs on Channel 3, 18 or 23.
Otherwise, for local listings, please check www.calchannel.com/local-listing/.

If your carrier doesn't have The California Channel, look for the video on YouTube:
http://m.youtube.com/user/CharterLocalEdition

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the next meeting of the Southern California Republican Women and Men, Saturday, November 22 at 11:30 AM at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant, Van Nuys Airport
16320 Raymer Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406. Featured panel: Republican Candidates for Los Angeles City Council

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