ObamaCare insurance tax in effect

New Year's Day marks the start of coverage under ObamaCare for millions of people -- but it also marks the start of a massive tax increase which could further inflate premiums. 
Beginning Wednesday, the Affordable Care Act imposes an annual fee on health insurers. The fee is projected to bring in $8 billion next year and roughly $100 billion over the next decade, making it one of the biggest under the law.
The health insurance industry has been howling about the "tax" for years, and is trying to rally support for a bill in Congress that would repeal it. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., has 229 co-sponsors -- which represents a majority of members in the House.
But the White House will fight any effort to repeal it, and for now the measure is in effect.
On Tuesday, America's Health Insurance Plans President Karen Ignagni warned that the fee will end up hitting consumers in the form of higher premiums. 
"Taxing health insurance makes it more expensive and that undermines the goals of health care reform," she said.
The health care overhaul impacts what people pay for health insurance on the individual market in a host of ways.
For some, premiums will rise, but they'll be eligible for subsidies to offset the cost, ultimately bringing down their health care tab. Others, who make too much to qualify for subsidies, will see their health care costs rise. The impact will vary depending on the state, the level of coverage sought and other factors.
Some premiums were already on the rise, in part because insurance companies are being required to cover high-cost patients and offer more benefits; and in part because premiums have been rising for years.
But insurance companies are also expected to raise rates this year and beyond to offset the cost of the insurance industry fee.
An industry-commissioned study by consultant Oliver Wyman estimated that rates will rise in 2014 by up to 2.3 percent for that reason alone. By 2023, the study said, rates could be rising annually by up to 3.7 percent because of the tax. 
Such hikes would only increase the strain on individuals and businesses trying to comply with the law's mandate to buy, or provide, insurance -- which, for individuals, kicks in at the end of March. 
The primary X factor in 2014 will be enrollment. If droves of young, healthy Americans comply with the mandate and sign up for coverage by the March 31 deadline, it will reduce the need for insurance companies to jack up their rates.
The Obama administration says enrollment has picked up considerably overall since the rocky debut of HealthCare.gov and various state-based exchange sites. At last count, officials said Tuesday more than 2 million people had signed up through the federal and state sites.
But whether the young and healthy will rush in remains an open question. And the administration faces serious political headwinds, including from lawmakers pushing to chip away at the law's various mandates and fees.
Some lawmakers voiced skepticism that the boosted enrollment numbers signal a turnaround for the law. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee predicted "rate shock" in 2014.

2014

MSNBC's Harris-Perry apologizes for mocking Romney over black grandchild

MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry apologized this morning amid a growing media storm over the way she and her guests made fun of Mitt Romney's adopted grandchild -- who happens to be black. 
On her weekend show, the African-American host and her panelists started laughing almost immediately in the segment, in a way that made me cringe. 
The object of their derision, cloaked as it was in pointed humor? A Romney family photo, with the grandchild perched on Romney's knee. 
Hysterical, huh? 
Yes, Harris-Perry kept cooing about how the baby was cute. The real target, for her and the guests, was Mitt.
As in, isn't it funny that this white Mormon with a white family would find among his clan a black baby.
Maybe it was supposed to be okay because the host is African-American. But I think the segment took a horribly wrong turn.
Harris-Perry apologized on Twitter, shortly after a demand by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus that she do so for her "disgusting" comments.
"I apologize to all families built on loving transracial adoptions who feel I degraded their lives or choices," she wrote.
"As black child born into large white Mormon family I feel familiarity w/ Romney family pic & never meant to suggest otherwise.
"Therefore, while I meant no offense, I want to immediately apologize to the Romney family for hurting them."
During the segment, as Harris-Perry showed the Romney family photo, one of the panelists, Pia Glenn, sang: "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same."
Harris-Perry chimed in that "my goal is that in 2040, the biggest thing of the year will be the marriage between Kieran Romney and North West. Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?"
Then came comedian Dean Obeidallah, chortling that the photo "really sums up the diversity of the Republican Party, the RNC. At the convention they find the one black person."
So the baby became a convenient symbol for ripping the GOP, with the added bonus of having Romney as a last name. A pleasant time was had by all.
Forgive me, but isn't adoption a good thing? Is interracial adoption something to be mocked? If the racial aspect had to be addressed, doesn't the adoption show an open-mindedness on the part of the Romney family?
Harris-Perry is not just some cable yakker; she's a Ph.D. and a political science professor at Tulane, fiercely liberal and generally civil. But she is not above making pointed racial arguments.
Earlier this month, for instance, Harris-Perry said of the term ObamaCare: "The word was conceived by a group of wealthy white men who needed a way to put themselves above and apart from a black man."
I'm not an MSNBC-basher, and the network deserves credit for hiring a number of African-American hosts, several of them women. But MSNBC has had some big-time tone problems lately, what with Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin getting the boot. This episode isn't in the same category.
But it came off as condescending and insensitive.
The other panelists backpedaled before Harris-Perry weighed in on Tuesday. On Twitter, as Mediaite reports, Obeidallah wrote: "I apologize to the baby if the baby was offended by my joke mocking GOP's lack or (sic) racial diversity."
He offered a more full-throated regrets in a statement to CNN:
"Occasionally my jokes have been known to 'cross the line' and I can assure you that in the future some of my jokes will do that again. My joke on MHP was not intended in any way to mock the Romney family or the baby they adopted. Rather it was a joke about the lack of racial diversity that we see at the Republican National Convention. I apologize to the Romney family and especially the baby if any of them were offended by that joke."
Glenn, for her part, tweeted her defiance: "Yes, I sang the song. There are many children in the pic & only 1 black child. I don't see that as mocking or attacking the baby." 
Then she doubled down: "If I point out the 1 black person & you translate that as an attack ON HIM, who's racist? I don't personally see anything wrong with being black." 
She eventually realized the tone-deaf nature of her comments: 
"Adoptive parents giving a child of ANY ethnicity a loving home,I apologize.I absolutely did not intend to harm you but it seems that I have."
At least she finally got there.

'Completely false': Sources on ground in Benghazi challenge NYT report

Fifteen months after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, the narrative of the attack continues to be shaped, and reshaped, by politicians and the press.
But a New York Times report published over the weekend has angered sources who were on the ground that night. Those sources, who continue to face threats of losing their jobs, sharply challenged the Times’ findings that there was no involvement from Al Qaeda or any other international terror group and that an anti-Islam film played a role in inciting the initial wave of attacks.
“It was a coordinated attack. It is completely false to say anything else. … It is completely a lie,” one witness to the attack told Fox News.
The controversial Times report has stirred a community that normally remains out of sight and wrestles with how to reveal the truth, without revealing classified information.
Fox News has learned that the attack on the consulate started with fighters assembling to conduct an assault.
"Guys were coming into the compound, moving left, moving right…and using IMT (individual movement techniques). … That’s not a spontaneous attack,” one special operator said.
"One guy was shooting, one guy was running. There are guys watching the gates. … The bosses on the ground were pointing, commanding and coordinating -- that is a direct action planned attack."
The community of operators in Libya that night and since includes the CIA, FBI, U.S. military, U.S. State Department and contractors working for the United States in a number of capacities. According to multiple sources on the ground that night, all the intelligence personnel in Benghazi before the attack and there now understand Al Qaeda is a significant threat in Libya. 
Recent reports also suggest that Libyan militia leader Ahmad Abu Khattallah is the mastermind of the attack and had no real connections to Al Qaeda or terrorist organizations.
Multiple sources, though, challenged that claim. They insist that while Khattallah was found responsible for the actions at the actual consulate and was essentially the ground force commander that night, he is also clearly tied to Ansar al-Sharia and to the broader terrorist network.
“There is direct evidence linking him before the attack and after the attack to terrorist groups. An opportunity came, and Khattallah conducted an assault on the consulate. To say that it wasn’t tied to Al Qaeda is completely false. There is literal evidence in many forms and shapes, directly linking him,” one source said.
Khattallah is also a member of the militia group the Libyan Shield, which was formed to protect Benghazi and is operating separate from Tripoli.
Other militias are not inclined to turn Khattallah in, because they are also tied to Ansar al-Sharia. Commanders from some of these militias thought to be friendly to the United States and who have worked with American special forces, the CIA and State Department personnel have flipped sides and affiliated with Ansar al-Sharia. Sources say the terrorist group is saturating the whole region of eastern Libya with money, training and personnel. "They are now the biggest organization in town,” one said.
Sources also tell Fox News that while Khattallah is responsible for the ground actions that night, he also reports to other commanders in Ansar al-Sharia. He is seen as a relatively small piece of the terror puzzle in the region, which includes Al Qaeda ambassadors. Some in the intelligence community call these terrorist ambassadors “Amirs,” and there has been one stationed in Libya for some time, as they are the liaison for intelligence and direction for operations.  Libyan Shield, which has different offshoots in different locations, also has members directly affiliated with terrorist organizations and Al Qaeda. Bomb-making materials have been found with some of these groups as well.
Fox News has also learned there was a week of briefings by the head of counterintelligence in the entire region that identified Al Qaeda as the largest and most significant element infiltrating Libya, with the final briefing on Sept. 10.
Adam Housley joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in 2001 and currently serves as a Los Angeles-based correspondent.

Popularity of 'Don't Tread on Me' plates in Virginia suggests Tea Party still strong

A Virginia license plate with the Tea Party-embraced “Don’t Tread on Me” logo is a big seller, suggesting the movement remains popular, at least in the state, even after a tough loss in this year’s gubernatorial election.
At least five other states also sell the specialty plates: Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. But in Virginia, the tag ranks No. 2 among such plates approved in the past five years and ninth among more than 200 total.
The tag was issued to roughly 21,800 Virginia-registered vehicles in just the first 20 months of sales, according to state figures reported by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.
“It is a symbol of frustration … a symbol of disgust with the government,” David Dwyer, a former Hampton Roads Tea Party chairman, told the newspaper.
The sales figures for the “Don’t Tread on Me” plates indicate more than just Tea Party members are buying them, which Dwyer suggests is an indication the movement’s mantra of less-government and no new taxes resonates with many Americans.
“I’m seeing [the tags] everywhere now,” added Hampton Roads Tea Party chairman Keith Freeman.
The state approved the logo, which resembles the rattlesnake-emblazoned historic Gadsden Flag, in 2011, after the movement helped Republicans win back the House a year earlier in the landslide, mid-term elections.
However, this was a tough year for conservative voters in Virginia. Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe in November in a race many political strategists called a test case for the 2016 elections.
Several other Virginia specialty plates with political themes are less popular, compared to the one with the Revolutionary-era “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
Roughly 1,600 vehicles have the abortion-rights “Trust Women/Respect Choice” plate while about 5,400 have the anti-abortion “Choose Life” message, according to the paper.
The state’s specialty plates cost an additional $10, though some revenue-sharing tags cost more.