Tuesday, July 22, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Court blows a hole through Obamacare subsidy system
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS July 22, 2014

A federal three-judge panel on Tuesday ruled that the government cannot dole out subsidies to consumers on federally-run Obamacare marketplaces, delivering a significant blow to the new health insurance system.

More than half of the states rely on federally-run marketplaces, and were subsidies not available in those states, Obamacare could be too costly for many customers.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 ruling rests on the interpretation of one sentence in the Affordable Care Act. Section 1311 of the law says the federal government will give subsidies to eligible consumers who buy insurance from an exchange "established by the State." Consequently, the court panel agreed with the argument put foward in Halbig v. Burwell that subsidies aren't available to customers in the 36 Obamacare exchanges that were established by the federal government (including two states, Idaho and New Mexico, still developing the IT platforms for their respective state-based marketplaces).

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday stressed that the ruling "does not have any practical impact on [consumers'] ability to receive tax credits right now."

He also said the ruling ignores the obvious intent of Congress to make subsidies available nationwide: "You don't need a fancy legal degree to understand that Congress intended for every eligible American to have access to health care credits."

Justice Department spokesman Emily Pierce called the decision "incorrect, inconsistent with Congressional intent, different from previous rulings, and at odds with the goal of the law: to make health care affordable no matter where people live."

Pierce confirmed the Justice Department will immediately request an en banc hearing, which would require all 11 active judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the case. Given that most of the judges were appointed by Democrats, the administration should have a better chance of winning that round. If the government lost yet again, it would likely ask the Supreme Court to review the case.

Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University School of Law first made the case against the subsidies, arguing that Congress wanted the subsidies to serve as a reward for states that established their own exchanges. Obamacare's "congressional sponsors created incentives for states to implement much of the law and reasonably expected that states would do so," they wrote.

However, seven high-ranking Democrats who helped craft Obamacare, as well as dozens of state lawmakers, filed a brief in the case to explain what they said is the true intent of the law.

"The purpose of the tax credit provision was to facilitate access to affordable insurance through the Exchanges--not, as Appellants would have it, to incentivize the establishment of state Exchanges above all else, and certainly not to thwart Congress's fundamental purpose of making insurance affordable for all Americans," they wrote.

Meanwhile, a federal judge on Monday threw out a separate challenge to a portion of Obamacare, put forward by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. The senator filed a lawsuit challenging the federal subsidies for lawmakers and congressional staffers who purchase health insurance through Obamacare exchanges. Judge William Griesbach ruled that the senator didn't have standing -- in other words, he could not move forward with his suit because he wasn't personally harmed by the administration's actions.




A DC three judge panel ruled that federal subsidies are not available in states where the Exchange was set up by the Federal government and not by the state. This was due to a narrow reading of the phrases “the federal government will give subsidies to eligible consumers who buy insurance from an exchange 'established by the State.'... Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University School of Law first made the case against the subsidies, arguing that Congress wanted the subsidies to serve as a reward for states that established their own exchanges.

“However, seven high-ranking Democrats who helped craft Obamacare, as well as dozens of state lawmakers, filed a brief in the case to explain what they said is the true intent of the law. 'The purpose of the tax credit provision was to facilitate access to affordable insurance through the Exchanges--not, as Appellants would have it, to incentivize the establishment of state Exchanges above all else, and certainly not to thwart Congress's fundamental purpose of making insurance affordable for all Americans,' they wrote.”

Justice Department spokesman Emily Pierce called the decision "incorrect, inconsistent with Congressional intent, different from previous rulings, and at odds with the goal of the law: to make health care affordable no matter where people live." Pierce stated that the Justice Department would request an 11 judge panel review of the DC decision. The writer states that the case will probably be taken to the Supreme Court if that fails. It is disturbing how many ways the Republicans are pursuing to dismantle and disable Obamacare.





FAA tells U.S. airlines not to fly to Tel Aviv
CBS/AP July 22, 2014

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration is telling U.S. airlines they are prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport in Israel after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby.

The FAA said in a statement that the ban on flights is for 24 hours beginning at 12:15 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

The notice to airmen was issued "in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport," the FAA said in a statement.

The notice only applies to U.S. airlines since the FAA has no authority over carriers from other nations.

The agency said it will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and that updated instructions will be provided to U.S. airlines "as soon as conditions permit, but no later than 24 hours" from the time the directive went into force.

The announcement came after two U.S. airlines had already cancelled all flights to Israel until further notice.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said Tuesday they were suspending service between the U.S. and Israel indefinitely. US Airways scrapped its Tel Aviv service Tuesday and said it is monitoring the situation in regards to future flights.

"We are working with government officials to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees and will continue to evaluate the situation," United said in a statement.

Delta Air Lines' one daily flight was already in the air. Delta said a Boeing 747 from New York was flying over the Mediterranean headed for Tel Aviv when it turned around and flew to Paris instead. Flight 468 had 273 passengers and 17 crew on board.

Airlines and passengers are growing more anxious about safety since last week, when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Airlines have rerouted planes to avoid the area over eastern Ukraine where pro-Soviet separatists are battling the Ukrainian army.

Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,000 rockets toward Israel, and several heading toward the area of Ben-Gurion Airport have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system, but police spokeswoman Luba Samri said Tuesday's landing was the closest to the airport since fighting began on July 8.

The rocket damaged a house and lightly injured one Israeli in Yehud, a Tel Aviv suburb near the airport, Samri said.

Earlier, Israel's Transportation Ministry called on U.S. airlines to reverse their decision and said it was trying to explain that the airport was "safe for landings and departures."

"Ben-Gurion Airport is safe and completely guarded and there is no reason whatsoever that American companies would stop their flights and hand terror a prize," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes pummeled a wide range of locations in Gaza and diplomatic efforts intensified to end the two-week war that has killed at least 609 Palestinians and 29 Israelis - 27 soldiers and two civilians. The U.N. office of humanitarian affairs estimates that at least 75 percent of the Palestinian deaths were civilians, including dozens of children.

The fate of another Israeli soldier who went missing following a deadly battle in the Gaza Strip remained unknown, a defense official said Tuesday.

It was not immediately known if the missing soldier was alive or dead, the Israeli defense official told The Associated Press. The disappearance raised the possibility that he had been captured by Hamas - a nightmare scenario for Israel. In the past, Israel has paid a heavy price in lopsided prisoner swaps to retrieve captured soldiers or remains held by its enemies.

Egypt, Israel and the U.S. back an unconditional cease-fire, to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza. Israel and Egypt have severely restricted movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized the territory in 2007.

In Cairo, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Egyptian officials Tuesday in the highest-level push yet to end the deadly conflict. Ban then traveled to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the international community to hold Hamas accountable for the latest round of violence, saying its refusal to agree to a cease-fire had prevented an earlier end to the fighting.

"What we're seeing here with Hamas is another instance of Islamist extremism, violent extremism that has no resolvable grievance," Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Ban in Tel Aviv. He compared Hamas with al-Qaida and extremist Islamic militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Africa.

"Hamas is like ISIS, Hamas is like al Qaida, Hamas is like Hezbollah, Hamas is like Boko Haram," he said.

Netanyahu was responding to a call by Ban that the sides address the root causes of the fighting and work toward bringing about a two-state solution.

"My message to Israelis and Palestinians is the same: stop fighting, start talking and take on the root causes of the conflict so we are not back to the same situation in another six months or a year," Ban said. Netanyahu responded that Hamas, a group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, does not want a two-state solution.





“The notice to airmen was issued "in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport," the FAA said in a statement. The notice only applies to U.S. airlines since the FAA has no authority over carriers from other nations. The agency said it will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and that updated instructions will be provided to U.S. airlines 'as soon as conditions permit, but no later than 24 hours' from the time the directive went into force.”

The UN and Egypt are trying to set up four way talks. “Egypt, Israel and the U.S. back an unconditional cease-fire, to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza. Israel and Egypt have severely restricted movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized the territory in 2007. 'What we're seeing here with Hamas is another instance of Islamist extremism, violent extremism that has no resolvable grievance,' Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Ban in Tel Aviv.”

Israel is getting pressure from the UN to pursue a cease-fire, but they can hardly do it unilaterally without receiving constant punishing air assaults on a daily basis. Hamas keeps complaining that Israel is shooting into neighborhoods in Gaza, but like a number of rogue Middle Eastern groups they are firing at Israel from their own neighborhoods, so where do they expect Israel to attack them? It's really ridiculous, if at the same time tragic.

I have the impression that the Palestinian people to a man – or woman – live to kill Israelis. They love fighting more than they love their family life and businesses. Every now and then when there has been a Palestinian death the news shows a funeral procession with pallbearers showing not so much grief, as I can identify it, as blind and even insane fury. Every time there are peace talks in the making, Palestinians refuse to acknowledge Israel as a legitimate state. This has been going on since the very beginning. Well, Israel is determined to stay there and so far they are stronger than Palestine, so if it comes to all out war again they will probably win it.

I haven't always thought that Israel has bargained in good faith over the issue of land in Palestine where they have colonized with Israeli citizens, but when everything is all boiled down to the basics, Israel is a friend to the US and a law-abiding, advanced culture and Palestine is not. We have very little in common with organizations like Hamas except pity for the poverty of their people. It is not a poverty of humility, however, but of bitterness, and in no way do they make good friends to the US. There is a goal in the more radical versions of Islam to take over and rule others. I am glad the Israelis are there to fight them rather than us.





Train Carrying MH17 Victims' Remains Arrives In Government-Controlled City – NPR
by EYDER PERALTA
July 22, 2014

A refrigerated train carrying the remains of the people who died aboard the downed Malaysia Airlines plane arrived in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. That's a city controlled by the central government in Kiev and 17 hours away from the chaos of Hrabove, the eastern city controlled by pro-Russian separatists, where the debris and remains were scattered.

The New York Times sets the scene:

"Pushed by a diesel locomotive, five gray refrigerated wagons and a red passenger car crawled into the grounds of a decrepit Soviet-era tank factory shortly after noon, completing the first and most difficult stage of a long journey home for victims of the crash. …

"The train was met by police forensic experts and other representatives of countries that had citizens on the doomed flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Security guards kept reporters outside the factory gates, and it was not immediately clear whether the bodies would be kept in Kharkiv for preliminary examination or swiftly transferred to a nearby airport for transport out of Ukraine."

As we reported, the transfer of most bodies happened after days of international wrangling and confusion over who was in charge of the accident scene in Ukraine.

By Monday afternoon, the Malaysian prime minister announced a deal with separatists leaders that would allow the train carrying the bodies to leave rebel territory. By the time early morning rolled around in Ukraine, separatists had also handed over flight data recorders in front of reporters.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, European Union foreign ministers are meeting today to discuss whether to impose more sanctions on Russia, which the U.S. says supplied the missiles used to down the plane.

The BBC reports:

"The meeting in Brussels is thought likely to discuss expanding the list of Russian officials targeted by sanctions, but the EU has so far steered clear of targeting whole sectors of the Russian economy.

"Both the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Russia following its annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for unrestricted access to scene of the accident for investigators.

The measure was approved unanimously, with even Russia jumping aboard after the text was changed to say the aircraft was downed not shot down.





“By Monday afternoon, the Malaysian prime minister announced a deal with separatists leaders that would allow the train carrying the bodies to leave rebel territory. By the time early morning rolled around in Ukraine, separatists had also handed over flight data recorders in front of reporters.

“United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for unrestricted access to scene of the accident for investigators. The measure was approved unanimously, with even Russia jumping aboard after the text was changed to say the aircraft was downed not shot down.” That seems like a strange way for them to quibble over the wording. The word “downed” means “shot down” – how else could it be accomplished? Maybe they just had to put up some kind of fight to save face.

There will still be an investigation of some kind into the proofs that the rebels first claimed the downing of the plane and then back stepped when they found that it was a passenger plane. The news media have proof of that. Of course, Putin is telling the Russian people that the Ukrainians shot the plane down, but nobody else believes that. Ukraine still has a war to fight, but maybe Russia will be more circumspect about moving things like anti-aircraft weapons across the border and actually try to get his rebels to work toward a peace plan. At least I hope so.






IRS official says Lois Lerner's missing emails may not be lost
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS July 22, 2014

The IRS may be able to recover a collection of missing emails that, Republicans have suggested, could shed light on the motivations behind the agency's past misconduct.

The IRS said last month that it cannot produce emails from Lois Lerner -- the former IRS official at the heart of the controversy -- from 2009 through April 2011 because of a computer crash that Lerner suffered in 2011. However, Thomas Kane, deputy associate chief counsel at the agency, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week that some of those emails could still be on backup tapes.

"There is an issue as to whether or not there is a - that all of the backup recovery tapes were destroyed on the six-month retention schedule," he said, according to the committee.

The IRS has already spent nearly $10 million producing documents for congressional investigators, including just about every email to and from Lerner that it still has -- 67,000 in all. Still, Republicans have been highly critical of the IRS for failing to produce all of Lerner's communications. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said it suggests that there may have been"nefarious conduct that went much higher than Lois Lerner."

Last week, the Justice Department said it is also investigating the missing Lerner emails. Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered the IRS to explain under oath how the emails were lost.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are complaining that the congressional body has spent too much time on the scandal at the expense of its other oversight duties. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the top Democrat on the committee, sent a letter this week to Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., complaining about Issa's plan to hold the third hearing within the past month with IRS commissioner John Koskinen.

"This public harassment of an agency head is not only an abuse of authority, but a dereliction of the Committee's obligation to conduct responsible oversight on a host of other critical issues within our jurisdiction," Cummings wrote.

While holding more hearings on the IRS scandal, Cummings complained that Issa has ignored requests to hold hearings on issues such as illegal foreclosure abuses, the national backlog of DNA rape evidence samples that have not been tested, and the Target security breach.





“House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said it suggests that there may have been 'nefarious conduct that went much higher than Lois Lerner.'" Democrats on the House Oversight Committee complain that the Republicans have “spent too much time” on the emails. Tantalizingly, Thomas Kane, deputy associate chief counsel of the IRS has said that “some of those emails could still be on backup tapes. There is an issue as to whether or not there is a - that all of the backup recovery tapes were destroyed on the six-month retention schedule,' he said, according to the committee.” If any of the emails are found there will surely be a feeding frenzy among the news media sources when the information emerges. I'll try to gather the articles about it.





Judge to be publicly reprimanded over teen rape comments
CBS/AP July 22, 2014

HELENA, Mont. -- The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday will publicly reprimand a judge who gave a lenient sentence to a rapist after suggesting the 14-year-old victim shared some of the responsibility for the crime.

District Judge G. Todd Baugh of Billings is scheduled to appear before the court in Helena, where one of the justices will read a censure statement prepared in advance. Baugh will likely get an opportunity to address the court, and the censure will then go into the record, state Supreme Court clerk Ed Smith said Monday.

The censure is a public declaration by the high court that a judge is guilty of misconduct.

"It's a process basically to publicly reprimand them for their conduct bringing dishonor on their position and the court's judicial system," Smith said.

The judge sent Stacey Dean Rambold to prison for just 30 days last year after he pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.

Rambold was a 47-year-old business teacher at Billings Senior High School at the time of the 2007 rape. The victim was one of his students. She committed suicide while the case was pending trial.

Baugh said during Rambold's sentencing in August that the teenager was "probably as much in control of the situation as the defendant" and that she"appeared older than her chronological age."

The girl's mother, Auleia Hanlon, stormed out of the courtroom yelling, "You people suck!," the Billings-Gazette reported.

Under state law, children younger than 16 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.

After a public outcry, Baugh apologized for the comments and acknowledged the short prison sentence violated state law. He attempted retroactively to revise it but was blocked when the state filed its appeal.

The Supreme Court ordered Baugh to be censured on the recommendation of the Judicial Standards Commission, and also ordered him to be suspended for 31 days. Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote in the order that Baugh had eroded confidence in the court system.

The last Montana judge was censured by the Supreme Court was District Judge Jeffrey Langton of Hamilton in 2005. Langton had pleaded guilty to a drunk-driving charge, then was placed on probation for violating the terms of his sentence.

Rambold has been free since last fall after serving the original sentence. After his release, Rambold registered as a sex offender and was to remain on probation through 2028.

Prosecutors appealed Baugh's sentence, and the Supreme Court in April ordered a new sentencing in the case by a different judge. The re-sentencing is to take place on Sept. 26 by District Judge Randal Spaulding of Roundup.

Baugh, who is the son of former Washington Redskins quarterback "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh, plans to retire when his term expires in December after three decades on the bench.





“The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday will publicly reprimand a judge who gave a lenient sentence to a rapist after suggesting the 14-year-old victim shared some of the responsibility for the crime.... The judge sent Stacey Dean Rambold to prison for just 30 days last year after he pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse without consent. Rambold was a 47-year-old business teacher at Billings Senior High School at the time of the 2007 rape. The victim was one of his students. She committed suicide while the case was pending trial.... Baugh said during Rambold's sentencing in August that the teenager was 'probably as much in control of the situation as the defendant' and that she 'appeared older than her chronological age.'”

Rambold has served his sentence, but will remain on parole until 2028 and must register as a sex offender. His original sentence by Judge Baugh is to be overturned, and he will be sentenced anew by District Judge Randal Spaulding on September 26, 2014. These anti-feminist things that pop up in our society aren't as likely to go unpunished these days, even in the wild frontier. I'm glad to see the law step forward and order justice rather than supporting “the good old boy network.” The girl, after all, committed suicide.




Detroit retirees, workers overwhelmingly OK pension cuts
CBS/AP July 22, 2014

DETROIT -- Workers and retirees approved pension cuts called for in Detroit's bankruptcy plan by a landslide, the city reported Monday, a crucial step to emerging from the largest municipal insolvency in U.S. History.

The city disclosed results from two months of balloting, which ended July 11. Judge Steven Rhodes still must hold a trial in August to determine if Detroit's overall bankruptcy plan is fair and feasible to all creditors, from Wall Street to Main Street, but support from retirees is vital.

"It's clearly a victory for the city," said Anthony Sabino, a bankruptcy expert who teaches business law at St. John's University in New York. "It will pave the way for a confirmation hearing. Detroit will be able to move forward, not with absolute financial certainty but far more than Detroit has enjoyed in decades."

General retirees would get a 4.5 percent pension cut and lose annual inflation adjustments. They accepted the changes with 73 percent of ballots in favor. Retired police officers and firefighters would lose only a portion of their annual cost-of-living raise. More than 80 percent in that class voted "yes."

The counting was done by a private company.

Approval of the pension changes triggers an extraordinary $816 million bailout from the state of Michigan, foundations and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The money would prevent the sale of city-owned art and avoid deeper pension cuts. The judge, however, still must agree.

"It's absolutely unprecedented in a bankruptcy," Sabino said.

There are tens of thousands of creditors in Detroit's $18 billion bankruptcy, from bond holders to businesses that provide soap, but much of the focus of the last year has been on the roughly 32,000 retirees and current and former workers banking on a pension. They have put a real and often anguished face on the process.

The average annual pension for police and fire retirees is $32,000, while most other retired city workers get $19,000 to $20,000. Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr has said pension changes are unfortunate but necessary because two pension funds are underfunded by billions. If investment performance improves in the years ahead, he said, the cuts could be restored.

"I want to thank city retirees and active employees who voted for casting aside the rhetoric and making an informed positive decision about their future and the future of the city," Orr said in a statement late Monday.

The Michigan Constitution says public pensions can't be cut, but Rhodes, in his most significant decision in the case, said in December that federal bankruptcy law trumps that shield. It was a groundbreaking opinion that could influence local governments across the country that go broke.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette believes Rhodes is wrong, but he has said that he probably wouldn't appeal the decision if retirees voted for the cuts.

Separately on Monday, a Boston-based restructuring expert hired to advise the judge said Detroit's overall bankruptcy plan is "feasible," a key standard at the upcoming trial. But Marti Kopacz warned that antiquated computer systems, a pledge to spend more than $1 billion to improve services after bankruptcy and a "cultural malady" among workers all will be challenges.

"There are ... employees who don't grasp that their job is to provide a service to the taxpayers versus the taxpayers owing them a job," Kopacz said in a report released Monday.

Ryan Plecha, of Lippitt O'Keefe Gornbein PLLC, represents the Detroit Retired City Employees Association and the Retired Detroit Police and Firefighters Association.

He told CBS Detroit radio station WWJ the vote is "definitely good news as it relates to the Grand Bargain. I know that there are a lot of retirees who don't believe that this is a good deal, but the overwhelming turnout, that vote shows that the retirees wanted to protect themselves from further harm."

Plecha said that, even though pensioners aren't thrilled about having to take part in the cuts, the response has been generally positive. "There was an understanding that what could come from a 'no-vote' and a cram down scenario was exponentially worse," Plecha said.

"I just think that this is a momentous point in the bankruptcy process," Plecha continued. "But, it's only one piece of the puzzle and there's still more to be placed together before the city can exit bankruptcy and rebuild and there's still challenges to ensure that the retirees are protected from additional harm."





“Workers and retirees approved pension cuts called for in Detroit's bankruptcy plan by a landslide, the city reported Monday, a crucial step to emerging from the largest municipal insolvency in U.S. History.... General retirees would get a 4.5 percent pension cut and lose annual inflation adjustments.… Approval of the pension changes triggers an extraordinary $816 million bailout from the state of Michigan, foundations and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The money would prevent the sale of city-owned art and avoid deeper pension cuts. The judge, however, still must agree.

The Michigan Constitution says public pensions can't be cut, but Rhodes, in his most significant decision in the case, said in December that federal bankruptcy law trumps that shield. It was a groundbreaking opinion that could influence local governments across the country that go broke.

It is unnerving to see large cities go under. There was another article on the Net listing 20 such cities and giving an economically conservative analysis of why they are in so much trouble – from city income taxes burdening businesses and individuals to fatherless families leading to greater poverty. It states that Republicans in DC are fighting against the Federal government bailing any city out, because that “rewards them for their failings.”

I wonder if the failure of too many cities could lead to another depression, as we almost had in 2008 with the banking failure. I would like to see some liberal plans to rebuild a city's economy, even if it includes a federal intervention at least to some degree. I don't think the federal government could afford to bail out every US city that gets in trouble, but a limited plan of aid could help.