The Arena

Obamacare, more than three years in the making but less than two months old in implementation, is already rife with fraud. Investigative reporter James O’Keefe, celebrated and reviled for his takedown of Acorn, today released an explosive video report documenting fraud perpetrated by Obamacare Navigators in Dallas. His allegations are serious and disturbing

We have heard stories over the past weeks about people running scams on Obamacare to bilk money and data out of people trying to enroll in the nearly un-enrollable program. This is typical behavior by scammers and is to be expected. What O’Keefe has revealed is worse by several orders of magnitude.

The Affordable Care Act, combined with tens of thousands of pages of enacting regulations, is so complex and unwieldy that the federal government decided people needed help to figure out how to enroll in health plans under Obamacare. To solve this problem they created Navigators. Employed by activist groups such as the National Urban League and Planned Parenthood, and funded by federal grants, Navigators ostensibly act as a human point of contact to help people figure out how to get insurance under Obamacare.

Among the many things that make our nation unique is the fact that we make a point of routinely saluting our veterans. This is a tradition in which we are proud to participate. We do so at sporting events, religious services, political rallies, at Boy Scout meetings and 4H clubs, even in neighborhood pubs. (I’m looking at you, Pat Troy’s Ireland’s Own.) Most importantly, we set aside a special day each year in their honor. This is that day.

Honoring veterans means something slightly different to each of us, I suspect. Our reflections can be intensely personal if we are particularly close to a veteran or if we emigrated from a country where our military has served overseas. We may think of grand homecomings and tickertape parades (of which we should have more), or we may think of the homeless veteran whose wounds are not visible but very real nonetheless. We think of heroism and sacrifice, love and loss, great joy and deep sorrow.

In my own reflections I find myself continually returning to thoughts of separated families and children growing up with a parent, usually a father, far away ...

In Glen Burnie Maryland, Matthew Pinkerton shot a home invader in the wee pre-dawn hours of September 15, 2013. After Mr. Pinkerton refused Kendall Green at the door at about 2:00AM, Green forced his way through the door and charged Pinkerton and his wife. Pinkerton commanded Green to stop but he continued to advance on Pinkerton and his wife. At that point, Pinkerton shot and killed Green.

Under Texas law, this would be a justified killing and there would be little chance any prosecutor would file charges. In fact, it appears that even in Maryland Mr. Pinkerton was well within his lawful (and moral) right to defend himself and his wife. The law notwithstanding, the state of Maryland has charged Matthew Pinkerton with 2nd Degree Murder on the sole basis that he “should have called 911”.

The money quote:

There is no nationwide average response time for a 911 call, however unless they are faster than 1,310 ft/s, there really is no point in calling 911 in the case of a hostile home invasion. While the Assistant State’s Attorney, Glen Neubauer, maintains that he should have called 911, and that even the act ...

We will be on The Wells Report (AM 660 in the DFW Metroplex) at 3:45PM to talk about the new Liberty Jobs project we launched yesterday. If you are in the Metroplex, tune in to AM 660 or listen live online at http://www.660amtheanswer.com/.

Earlier this year, the New York legislature passed sweeping new anti-gun laws which Governor Andrew Cuomo swiftly signed into law. Now, less than a year later, New York based gun manufacturers are voting with their feet as they pack up and relocate to states with more respect for the rights of gun owners. One company, American Tactical Imports, will relocate to South Carolina where it will invest nearly $3 million dollars and create 117 new jobs. Remington, one of America’s historic and most respected gun manufacturers, is also reportedly considering making an exit from New York.

While New York watches hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue leave the state, other states such as South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas are courting those companies to set up shop, invest, and employ in their own states. If Texas can successfully attract some of those companies, New York’s loss will be our gain. Come on down folks, the water is warm!

The Houston Chronicle put together a helpful list of available public hunting lands in Texas. Worth a look for those who don’t own private hunting land or have access to a lease.

The West Texas oil boom is….booming louder than the 1980s.

Believe it or not, the IRS Scandal has been going on for six months. Here’s a comprehensive roundup from the indispensable TaxProf Blog.

And a tip of the hat to Instapundit for the link and for keeping this scandal in focus every day. You know, doing the job the “real” media is supposed to be doing.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2013

CONTACT:    Nathanael Ferguson
(512) 615-7956
[email protected]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

AUSTIN – Texas Public Policy Action today announced Liberty Jobs, a jobs bank connecting liberty-minded employers with job seekers. Located on TPPA’s website, Liberty Jobs is a resource for employers to place their job opening directly to their target audience. For job seekers it brings a variety of interesting jobs to one central forum, including positions with campaigns, elected officials, nonprofits, and the private sector.

“In addition to the Liberty Jobs bank, we will also host résumé workshops for job seekers,” said Texas Public Policy Action executive director Nathanael Ferguson. “We will even host job fairs to move the connection beyond cyberspace. In the meantime we encourage liberty-loving Americans seeking liberty-oriented work with Texas based or Texas connected employers to submit their résumés to our résumé bank.”

In addition to Liberty Jobs, TPPA’s website also hosts The Arena, a running ...

If you want to receive our blog posts in your inbox in real time, subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking on the RSS symbol in the upper right corner of The Arena’s main page or click here. You can also like us on Facebook here, and follow us on Twitter @TPPAction. While you’re on the site, be sure to check out Liberty Jobs – our new jobs bank connecting liberty-minded job creators and job seekers.