BloggeRhythms

A couple of eye-opening statistics today, both from dailycaller.com via Drudge.  

“According to a report released Monday by the Tax Foundation, this year Tax Freedom Day falls 111 days into 2014, on April 21.”

That’s the day the nation’s collectively made enough money to pay its total tax burden for the year, equaling $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state taxes. 

But here’s the truly astonishing part. It’s “more than they will spend on food clothing and housing combined.”

Furthermore, Americans have recently been hit with some of the largest premium increases in years, according to a Morgan Stanley survey of insurance brokers.

In item two, Forbes’ Scott Gottlieb, reports that, “The investment bank’s April survey of 148 brokers found that this quarter, the average premium increase for customers renewing an insurance plan is 12 percent in the small group market and 11 percent in the individual market.”

The hikes are the “largest in the past three years, according to Morgan Stanley’s quarterly reports” and “largely due to changes under the [Affordable Care Act],” analysts concluded. Rates have been growing increasingly fast throughout all of 2013, after a period of drops in 2012”.

And here’s the health care tax Achilles Heel. “While insurers were hiking premiums since 2012 by smaller amounts, the lead-up to the Obamacare’s launch has seen the average rate at which premiums are growing fourfold. Morgan Stanley’s results echo what consumers are already seeing: the Affordable Care Act’s intensive regulation of the insurance market is driving health care premiums up strikingly."

Consequently, Mr. Gottleib concludes, “The real measure will be in how the law affects the insurance policies of the 85 percent of Americans who had coverage before the ObamaCare experiment began. If this forecast holds true and voters see insurance premium increases of the kind outlined in the survey, there’s no spin or strategy that can save a Senate majority.”

Then, a few more illustrations of Dem hypocrisy cropped up in Chris Stirewalt’s column this morning.

“Emily Miller notes that as Senate Democratic leaders celebrate “Equal Pay Day” with a symbolic vote and floor speeches attacking Republicans for sexism, the same leaders all have male chiefs of staff and communications directors.”

Add to that the perhaps biggest bozo that ever existed, whereas  Chuck Schumer, “told MSNBC on Monday in defense of his party’s 2014 strategy of attacking conservative patrons Charles and David Koch: “The Koch brothers aren’t just sitting there innocently on the side. They’re spending $40, $50 million in ads that are not focused on their real agenda, which is just eliminating all regulation on corporations, cutting taxes to virtually nothing. And so that demands a response. So I don’t feel sorry for them.”

But here’s what Schumer said about the Kochs’ political activities in 2010: “Again, I can’t thank you enough. All of my best to you and yours and I look forward to working with you throughout this election.  The difference, according to the letter posted by PowerLine’s John Hinderaker, is that in 2010 Schumer was the beneficiary, receiving a “generous” contribution from KOCHPAC, the political action committee for Koch Industries."

Then, not to be outdone regarding fabrication and double-talk, the Washington Free Beacon reports that, “According to campaign finance records, former Koch Industries lobbyist Robert P. Hall III donated $500 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s campaign in 2003.”

So, today’s another where Democrat strategy, posturing and outright lies are painting them into a corner they built themselves. Because while they can point fingers and talk till they faint, truth after truth continues to surface. Which means that when folks are in voting booths after their medical insurance premium just quadrupled, they’re not going to care very much about Reid and Schumer dissing two brothers named Koch who’ve done absolutely nothing to harm those voters at all.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios