Think the Koch Brothers Are Among the Top 10 All-Time Political Donors? Sorry, You Are Wrong. Very Wrong.

The Koch brothers, notorious for donating large sums of money to right-leaning political causes, might not be as influential as some may think.

Opensecrets.org recently compiled a list of the top “all-time donors” from 1989 to 2014 and the infamous duo not only fail to take the top slot, but even place in the top 10.
In fact, according to the data, Koch Industries places 59 on the list with $18 million in donations, 90-percent of which went to Republicans.
So who takes the top spot? An organization called “ActBlue” which bills itself as a PAC “allowing individuals and groups to channel their progressive dollars to candidates and movements of their choosing.”
That group has donated more than 97 million to political causes, with over 99-percent going to Democrats.
The Washington Examiner has more:

So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are … wait for it … unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.
These are familiar names: AFSCME ($60.6 million), NEA ($53.5 million), IBEW ($44.4 million), UAW ($41.6 million), Carpenters & Joiners ($39.2 million) and SEIU ($38.3 million).
In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.

Click here to see the entire list complied by opensecrets.org.
(H/T: Washington Examiner)

Big Joke

ObamaCare is here to stay, and that’s no help to Democrats

OBAMACARE IS HERE TO STAY, AND THAT’S NO HELP TO DEMOCRATS
David Axelrod said that those who dispute the official White House numbers on ObamaCare enrollments are part of the “black helicopter crowd.” And that dismissive, triumphal attitude was certainly on display as President Obama touted on Tuesday his claim that 7.1 million Americans had signed up for his health law. The underlying message is that the millions of enrollees will act as human shields against Republican efforts to repeal the law. Axelrod may break out the tinfoil hats, but it seems reasonable to ask just how many people rare really benefitting.
[Breitbart: “President Barack Obama’s home state of Hawaii's Obamacare exchange spent $35,749 per enrollee…]
7.1 million… er, 2.5 million… er, 1.2 million… er… - Forbes’ Avik Roy rounds up the available data estimating how many of the enrollees were uninsured before and concludes that only about a third are among the group whose new premium payments are intended to offset the cost of massive insurance regulations under the law. The basic idea of ObamaCare is to require pricier coverage but spread the cost out over a larger market expanded by the enticement of new federal subsidies and the threat of fines for those who don’t enroll. But if fewer than 2.5 million of the president’s mystery 7.1 million are really new to insurance that means dire consequences for everybody else. Yes, bailouts will help soften the blow for insurers, but a the rates being worked up even now by actuaries could still be disruptively high. And if studies that suggest that less than half of those 2.5 million ObamaCare newbies have actually paid, things get even worse.
Just a simple Hawaiian boy, his scrappy health secretary and a dog named Bo -“We didn’t make a hard sell: We didn’t have billions of dollars of commercials like some critics did.” – President Obama congratulating his team on the survival of his health law.

Sebelius has awkward exchange with Okla. news anchor over ObamaCare

Well, that was awkward. 
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had an uncomfortable exchange with a local news anchor in Oklahoma on Monday when he informed her ObamaCare is not very popular in the state.
Sebelius appeared on Oklahoma City’s News 9 on the last day of open enrollment for the health care law to encourage people to sign up. However, anchor Stan Miller informed Sebelius his viewers may be skeptical, as statistics show the law is not popular in the state.
“At last check, 64 percent of Oklahomans aren't buying into the health care plan, they don't like ObamaCare, and they've been pretty vocal about it,” Miller said. “Now that's going to still continue to be a tough sell, but we'll see how that plays out over the coming months.”
In response, Sebelius was silent, staring into the camera until Miller finally broke the pause by thanking her for coming on. Stan then suggested perhaps they had lost sound, since Sebelius was not responding.
“Well I can hear you,” the secretary said, before saying, “Thanks for having me.” Miller then ended the interview.

Krauthammer on ObamaCare enrollment: ‘This is a phony number’

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that while the administration is celebrating hitting 7.1 million enrollees in the Affordable Care Act, that figure just isn’t accurate.
“This is a phony number, and it’s wonderfully precise. These guys go six months without any idea what the numbers are, and all of a sudden, it’s to a decimal point,” Krauthammer said. “But of course it’s meaningless because…we don’t know how many of them have paid…and how many were previously uninsured.”
He said if it turns out the overwhelming majority of those who signed up for the Affordable Care Act had been previously insured, and only signed up for the ACA because they couldn’t keep their plans, the administration may have fallen short of its intended goal of insuring those without health insurance.
Krauthammer went on to press the media to continue pursuing the real numbers, asking, “Are they going to say seven [million] is done and not revisit how many have actually paid, how many were previously uninsured, and of course how many are young and healthy?”

White House runs 'victory lap' after 7M ObamaCare sign-ups, Republicans renew repeal fight

( Bailey ) "How do you like your government taking the right to choose your own destiny"?

While continuing to face deep skepticism from Republicans, President Obama and his team ran a victory lap of sorts Tuesday after declaring that more than 7 million people signed up for health insurance on the ObamaCare exchanges before the midnight deadline. 
"This law is doing what it's supposed to do. It's working," Obama said in the Rose Garden. 
The president spoke pointedly to the law's critics, accusing them of trying to "scare people" and saying "there's no good reason to go back." 
"The debate over repealing this law is over," Obama said. "The Affordable Care Act is here to stay." 
Republicans, though, made clear the debate is not over. "Despite the White House 'victory lap,' this law continues to harm the American people," House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel said. The speaker also renewed his call for the law to be repealed and replaced. 
The president on Tuesday touted the benefits of the program, including the economic security that comes with health insurance and protections that guarantee those with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage. Earlier, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the total number of sign-ups by the midnight deadline was 7,041,000, not counting those given an extension and those who signed up on state-run exchanges. Despite HealthCare.gov's technical problems and very rocky start, Carney credited a "remarkable surge in enrollment." 
Seven million was the original goal for the program. Still, administration officials were unable to answer key questions about the law and about the enrollment stats. Carney conceded that the administration does not have the "breakdown data" at this point. 
Unanswered is how many people have actually paid their premiums -- those who don't pay will not be considered enrolled. Also unclear is whether enough young and healthy people signed up to offset the cost of signing up older, less-healthy customers. And the administration still cannot say how many of those who enrolled via HealthCare.gov were simply people who had their old policies canceled because of the law. 
Republicans fighting against the law did not let up in the wake of the open enrollment period. 
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., included a provision calling for ObamaCare's repeal in a House GOP budget plan on Tuesday. 
Boehner said the law "continues to wreak havoc on American families, small businesses and our economy." 
"And as I've said many times, the problem was never just about the website - it's the whole law," he said in a statement. "Millions of Americans are seeing their premiums rise, not the lower prices the president promised.  Many small businesses are afraid to hire new workers, instead cutting hours and dropping health coverage for existing employees.  Many Americans can no longer see their family doctor, despite the pledge no one would lose access to their physician. Seniors are feeling the impact, losing their Medicare Advantage plans the president promised they could keep." 
Obama dismissed Republicans' concern about the law during his Rose Garden remarks, saying the "tall tales" have largely been debunked. 
"There are still no death panels. Armageddon has not arrived," he said.   
The president did not address the mix of those signing up for coverage though. 
While Obama has aggressively sought out 18-to-34-year-olds, some of the more recent reports show most of the enrollees are 35 and older. 
Yet the bigger question is perhaps whether the law has indeed helped insure at least some of the estimated 48 million Americans who previously did not have insurance or couldn't get it because of a pre-existing condition. 
The most recent finding by the often-cited McKinsey & Company shows 27 percent of enrollees were previously uninsured and that roughly 75 percent of those who signed up for private insurance under ObamaCare have paid their premiums. 
The White House and other supporters of the law were hoping for an enrollment surge that would confound skeptics. 
The insurance markets -- or exchanges -- offer subsidized private health insurance to people who don't have access to coverage through their jobs. The federal government is taking the lead in 36 states, while 14 other states plus Washington, D.C., are running their own enrollment websites. 
The Associated Press contributed to this report.