Day: March 26, 2010

Things You Might Have Missed

Things that you may not have seen in the local media:

The amendments to Obamacare approved by the House of Representatives yesterday in a  220-207 vote includes ending government subsidies to banks for making student loans giving all lending responsibilities to the federal government. Do you think the feds are going to be as diligent as the banks in chasing down deadbeats and who will have to cover the uncollected debt?

Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of Globovision, Venezuela’s only remaining TV channel that takes a critical line against President Hugo Chavez was arrested Thursday and charged  with making remarks “offensive” to the president. Will any prominent Democrat speak out against this?

Oh yeah, and North Korea has threatened nuclear strikes on South Korea and the United States and has apparently just sunk a South Korean ship.

A Route 101 Rail Story

I watched SEPTA tractors drag a length of rail that was a few hundred yards long from the direction of Media towards 69th Street over the Route 101 trolley tracks. Traffic was stopped for several minutes at Springfield Road and, I suspect, at other crossings. The rail was clearly used but If I understood the workmen right it will be replace some rail near Burmont Road in Upper Darby.

They said the trolleys won’t be running until August.

I have been hearing great things about the drivers of the buses that are being used to fill in for the trolleys, and say what you want  the buses are a heck of a lot quieter.

Are Muslims Exempt From Obamacare?

Obamacare, or H.R. 3590,  mandates that after 2013 everybody carries  essential insurance coverage or be penalized (see Chapter 48 section 5000A). The goal of the law was to provide insurance for all, obviously, and  requiring everyone to buy it is certainly one way to achieve this goal.

And, of course, with everyone now pitching in the burden will be shared and rates will drop, at least that’s how the theory goes.

There is a religious exemption, however, to this mandate which can be found in section d of the above section and says Such term shall not include any individual for any month if such individual has in effect an exemption under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which certifies that such individual is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1) and an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division as described in such section.

1402 (g)(1) refers to this part of the Internal Revenue Code.

The exemption is purportedly written for the Amish to which nobody should object since the Amish have never burdened the health care system due to their tradition of self-reliance.

There is another religious sect, however, that prohibits the purchase of insurance including health insurance, and they don’t have the Amish tradition of self-reliance.

Under Obamacare, will health care for Muslims  be subsidized by the rest of us? It looks like the decision is up to the Commissioner of Social Security.

This was one badly written bill.