There Was Little We Could Say and Even Less That We Could Do

… to stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you:

  • I had the misfortune of leaving the TV on after the local news, and so saw Diane Sawyer tut-tutting about the violent threats to pro-Obamacare Democrats. According to NewsBusters this is a "story" I could not have avoided had I flipped the channel to CBS or NBC. It's become a Democrat talking point, eagerly echoed by the MSM.

    One of the datapoints invoked was—eek!—a coffin allegedly left on the lawn of Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan.

    But, as it turns out, one of the perpetrators of that dastardly deed was blogger Jim Hoft, and he has an (unsurprisingly) different slant on the story. Check it out.

  • I'm sure there are a small fraction of anti-Obamacare folks who are unpleasant wackos. Bound to be. But I'd willing to bet a lot of the vilest acts being reported are Alinskyite false-flag tactics when they aren't imaginary.

    Most of us are simply waiting, with as much patience as we can muster, for Election Day. A mere 222 days away. But who's counting?

  • We've mentioned before (a) then-candidate Obama's "firm pledge" to not increase taxes on those making under $250K; and (b) his repeated assertion that, under ObamaCare, "if you like your plan, you can keep it". The passed legislation manages to break both those promises with respect to flexible spending accounts, as described by Thomas Cheplick of the Heartland Institute.
    The overhaul of the U.S. health care system recently signed by President Obama sets severe new limits on the use of flexible spending accounts, including a $2,500 cap on FSA contributions and restrictions on using FSAs to purchase over-the-counter medications.

    Although much of the president's plan would phase in over time, many of these restrictions are set to take place next year, causing chaos to benefits-plan administrators and human resources departments throughout America.

    … including those of the University Near Here, I might add.

    John Berlau describes the tax increase:

    … one of the first things millions of Americans will "see" is an effective 40 percent tax hike on the over-the-counter medicines - from an antihistamine such as Claritin for allergies, pain relief medicine such as Tylenol or Excedrin, Pedialyte to prevent their kids from becoming dehydrated when they are sick, and even prenatal vitamins if they are expecting another one.
    Don't get sick, or old.

  • I assume not everyone subscribes to Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt newsletter, so you may be missing out on random observations like:
    When did every television channel forget its purpose in life? MTV doesn't show much music, the History Channel shows programs that have little or nothing to do with history, there are non-animated shows on the Cartoon network, and SyFy's new spelling fits because its programming directors appear to have no interest in science fiction. Comedy Central isn't all that funny, plenty of A&E's shows seem neither artistic nor entertaining, and you can watch hours of The Learning Channel and actually lose knowledge. (Any given program on Lifetime only feels like it drags on for decades.)

    Yet Fox News has plenty of foxes.