Waivers for favors: Who applied, who was denied, and why?
Matthew Boyle at TheDC continues hammering at the murky Obamacare waiver process. Not surprisingly, HHS won’t return his calls.
Amidst the news that 38 of the 204 Obamacare waivers approved in April went to posh entertainment venues in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district, new questions about the Obama administration’s transparency pledge have arisen.
Although the administration has approved more than 1,300 Obamacare waivers and published the recipients’ application information online, it has not made public which companies and other entities have been denied waivers and why they were denied.
Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) won’t release that information, nor will they publicly release the identities of those still waiting for a decision. HHS won’t even say how many applications are in the queue.
…The White House’s most recent waiver defender, HHS spokesman Richard Sorian, did not return TheDC’s multiple requests for answers to which companies have been denied waivers and which and how many are still waiting for a decision. Sorian defended the Obamacare waiver system on the White House’s blog after TheDC’s initial report on Pelosi’s district’s Obamacare waiver recipients, but when TheDC asked to talk to him about it on at least four occasions Wednesday, his secretary said, “he’s in meetings, he’ll call you back.”
Sorian never called back.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Catholic lawsuit against Obamacare mandate cites 1993 legislation written by Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer
May 22, 2012 04:35 PM by Doug Powers
48 Comments
Illinois Republicans flirting with cigarette tax hike for Obamacare — and a reminder about Orrin Hatch
May 21, 2012 11:03 AM by Michelle Malkin
32 CommentsHigh school fined $15,000 for… selling soda pop during lunch
May 19, 2012 01:29 PM by Doug Powers
101 Comments
Destroying private health insurance was always the goal
May 16, 2012 09:40 AM by Michelle Malkin
43 CommentsObamacare cronyism: The First Lady’s patient-dumping, privacy-meddling scheme
May 16, 2012 08:56 AM by Michelle Malkin
102 CommentsInsurers issuing new round of rebates must credit Obamacare
May 14, 2012 11:26 AM by Doug Powers
66 CommentsWhite House to SCOTUS: ‘Extraordinary disruptions’ to Medicare if Obamacare struck down
May 4, 2012 02:03 PM by Doug Powers
86 Comments
Biden predicts Supreme Court will uphold Obamacare
April 1, 2012 12:49 PM by Doug Powers
63 Comments
Categories: Health care
Babalu Blog
» U.S. Manned Space Flight in The 21st CenturyVillainous Company
» Must Read Post of the Day. Possibly, the YearRedstate
» Kimberlin’s Associates Caught on Tape?
This, the most transparent administration ever. But more & more Americans are starting to see through the fog!
435 people in Congress and one district gets 20% of the waivers. Anyone care to figure the odds on that?
Waivers are a violation of the equal protection claue. As I have suggested before, we need to challenge these in court.
Waivers serve as a “boodle” opportunity for Obama, act as a means to grant political favors and worst of all lessen the backlash to the ObamaCare Bill.
I say equal suffering for all. Make everyone take a bite of the crap sandwich and watch support even among the union rank and file plumment!
It more…
Chicago on the Potomac
As our wise hostess has repeatedly pointed out.
I guarantee that should the information ever be disclosed that politics guided HHS’s decisions on waivers, Obama’s lackey Katherine Sebelius will get thrown under the bus. No way Obama will let this touch him.
“The president didn’t know…”
“HHS had specific guide lines of fairness…”
Blah Blah Blah.
All bullsh**.
What we need to deal with these usurping criminals in the Obama Administration are more handcuffs and paddy wagons….
Possibly legal, undeniably unethical.
I know, now, what is meant by hope and change. I hope he goes away soon, because all I have left is change.
Obowmao: If you loved me you would!
That’s because it’s too easy to look up political contributions and draw a connection.
They’ve learned their lesson from the broohaha after the closing of the car dealerships of political enemies.
Yes, this ODumbo administration reminds me of “Will you respect me in the morning?” kind of organization.
They scr3w you, and lie to you, then leave you with the unintended consequences of a “ba$tard love child” that you then are responsible for.
Flyover, why would you want to PLAY THIER GAME?
They WANT to see this 2000+ page Fairytale tied up in Court. A FEDERAL COURT, one they probably Control.
It all boils down to this…POWER!
Obama wants it ALL, and the more Csars he puts in place the more Power he gains. The “Game” is not fair, do you think our Founding Fathers would know How to Play?
I do not see how this would playing their game. A challenge to the waivers would be mutually exclusive from the legal challenge on the bill itself.
The two legal challenges could play out separately. Also a legal challenge would highlight the unfairness of them to the public.
I do not see any advantage with passively letting Obama get away with granting favors to his friends in the form of waivers and trying to deceive detractors by granting one year reprieves.
If I am missing something here, let me know.
hey! At least capitalize ‘Paddy’!
Michelle, missed you on Fox last morning but I caught you last night. Please keep hammering on this!
Seeing all those unions on the
Friends of Obamawaiver list turns my stomach. As corrupt as I though he was before the election this is far beyond my worst fears. And now to hear about all the companies in Pelosi’s district that are getting waivers! Even if she had nothing to do with the waivers, these are the people that forced this socialist upon the rest of the country. The hypocrisy of the PEOPLE who elected her in unbelievable.Also, Mcloud9 since the Dems hold the Senate and Obama can veto any anti-Obamacare legislation with no hope of a two thirds majority to override it, what other course, but the courts is available at this juncture?
This thing is like a lampray. The long it’s around the harder it will be to detach. Let’s fire everything we have!!!
The founders left a document called the Constitution that reads in part, “no one but a natural born citizen shall be President”. Natural born means born here by citizen parents. They couldn’t have known we would be so stupid we don’t understand words anymore.
Native born is not natural born.
Owebowmao is ineligible to be President.
And you know that the companies that were denied would never come foward. Can anyone say IRS audit?
“Open Process” is now a meaningless expression copyrighted by Pelosi.
it is a very easy answer to who is getting, and who is denied waivers. it is a simple mathematical equation. figure out what percentage of your state is republican, and which democrat. if you fall on the high side of republican, you will be denied, if you fall near the high side of democrat, you will get one. and for the wild card, a large donation to either the democrat party, or the “one” will help put you over the top. (example, union in red state!)
what part of ‘unconstitutional’ do these simians not understand?
Whatever would they do if everyone refused to comply…hell if just 50% refused?
This system of yours folks is starting to resemble Canadian healthcare.
In my country, police officers and fireman receive priority status; as do those incarcerated. Anyone who works for a hospital or is related to someone who works at a hospital(a sizeable number of the population considering the government allocates about 140 Billion per year on healthcare programs from an economy approximately 10 times smaller than the American economy), also gets much faster treatment through connections. And of course, our top politicians access private clinics around the world while on official goverment business.
Recently, as I stated in a different thread, foreign travellers are soon going to be allowed greater access to healthcare services in Canada than Canadians. No, you did not read my post incorrectly. Canadians will still be denied the right to pay for healthcare even with this new development favouring foreigners. So, essentially, foreign individuals will get private healthcare options which will be kept illegal to my countrymen.
And don’t blame socialism or liberal ideology for this. We have a majority conservative government bringing these things to the forefront.
Watch and learn folks. Look to Canada and see all the developments that are eventually coming to America. No, I am not a fortune teller, nor do I have any other special talents. Like a citizen of Great Britain, I, as a Canadian, am living the future that awaits you in America.
No politician will save you from this inevitable breakdown. The politicians are all the same, equivalent to meth addicts that will do anyting to get their hands on the next stash of money in order to satisfy their fix. Conservative, liberal; Republican, Democrat; they are all addicts who get high from power and control.
You can proclaim this daily, but frankly until Obama is removed from power, whatever the truth is will not be known.
At this point, what you are doing is a pointless exercise. If you want to expose this guy, make sure he loses in 2012. When his power, position, and protectors disappear, you can rip him to shreds.
Until Obama loses his protection, you might as well try to stop a tank by throwing snowballs at it.
So…how is Obama’s
Hope and ChangeHype and Cringe working out for the country?OK, Flyoverman, I’ll see you after Romneycare loses to Obamacare…….
Romney will get nominated over my dead body. We need to focus our efforts now on getting a Cain, West, Bachmann, Perry, Palin, TRUE Conservative nominated.
Phil and I and had our differences, but at this point he is correct in his assessment that our fight for now is with the RNC and the elites.
VP, what you imply is correct. If we get stuck with Romney, Gingrich, Daniels, etc. we get Obama for four more years. Spot on.
Let’s focus on getting a conservative candidate who will be a true contrast to Obama. We do that and we are GUARANTEED victory. The day after Obama is out of office, I will be on your right flank helping to expose the fraud that has been Obama, along with all of the co-conspirators who have been in on it. Let the perp walks begin.
Think Michael Corleone.
You keep talking like that you will soon be accused of being one of my sock puppets.
Why isn’t Guiliani considered a good option for us?
Why not? It is what it is.
Then it’s not really conservative, is it? It’s just more conservative than the even more lunatic alternatives.
Sigh. So much hope. So little reason for it.
True. My point is that all politicians are the same, regardless of party affiliation.
Pay particular attention to the new tactic that has been introduced the past few days: “Why are Republicans attacking each other?”
That only comes out when the establishment GOP feels they have a leg up on conservatives. Right now, they are trying to carve out a safe spot for Mitch Daniels and he won’t run if people like Cain, Bachmann, Palin and other conservatives are raising money and capturing all of the excitement from people like us. Bachmann is particularly concerning to them because she has the chops, is great on the stump and is raising a lot of money.
Until we retake the GOP (and we didn’t even get a single leadership slot after last November), we have no business promising the GOP that we will support whatever poindexter Assistant Democrat they cram down our throats.
I would be happy with Herman Cain.
Just please don’t select Romney. He might be good on economic issues, but his healthcare history scares me too much.
Not true. Very much not true. They are most definitely not “all the same.”
“They are all the same” are the most evil words in the English language.
Religions are not all the same. Countries are not all the same. Cultures are not all the same. Political parties are not all the same.
Especially, individuals are all different. Politicians are all different from eachother. Some are genuinely evil. Some are genuinely heroic.
You Canadians need to fix your conservative party so that it is really conservative, if you can do it. If Canadians really want a conservative party and a conservative government
That is what we are trying to do here.
Phil, SPOT ON!!!
I want less government, but there never is an option for that. It’s either person A who is for ‘doing more’ or person B who also is for ‘doing more’. I want a politician who tries to put his friends and eventually himself out of a job. Of course, I realize that is highly unlikely to happen.
So you vote for the one who is for doing less more, for the time being, and you work at the precinct level (or its Canadian equivalent) to improve the party that is less bad.
People are all different. You make choices about them every day, and not just in politics.
***
I just can’t quite understand what is going on here. I look at the groups getting waivers–somehow–they seem to have something in common.
***
And as for those who don’t get waivers–My “spidey sense” keeps warning me that there is “something screwy”–going on here–ala Elmer Fudd.
***
Maybe Inspector Clousieu (aka Peter Sellers) or Sherlock Holmes–or the head of the U.S. Department of (Social) Justice (Eric Holder) could get on this case and “hep” me understand it!
***
It’s almost like some groups and people and states are more equal than others.
***
John Bibb
***
The email tells recipients, “The only thing we can do is laugh at it – and make sure as many other people as possible are in on the joke.”
Projection and Alinsky…
Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.
Any opposition becomes a stupid, silly joke.
Read more: White House panic: Corsi book targeted http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=300389#ixzz1MoPAnJGm
One last thing Flyoverman, beware of Perry, he’s the latest amnesty candidate trial balloon, all the others have proven to be leaden. He does not want Texas to do what AZ is doing, enforcement. Why would he want to enforce the same laws as President that he opposes the enforcement of as Gov?
We can’t even get the people on this site to agree who that should be, let alone the rest of the country.
I like Perry, but not after the DREAM act.
Cain, Bachmann, or Palin. In that order.
Interesting. I’ll keep an eye on that.
You’re both right.
VP: most people don’t realize it doesn’t matter where Barry was born. And Barry’s counting on that.
Flyoverman: Romney will get nominated over my dead body. We need to focus our efforts now on getting a Cain, West, Bachmann, Perry, Palin, TRUE Conservative nominated.
Because he tells us he will, and we can trust him?
Just joking.
Seriously, though, even if it is Perry, we’ll have to vote for him. Do you want open borders with socialized medicine, or open borders without socialized medicine?
Also, just joking. But not so much. Black humor.
What we need is a former Governor who has proved he will go after the employers of illegal aliens. Are there any out there running yet?
Question:
Have I missed companies and organizations that have come forward to say that they have been denied a waiver? Is there something in the law that prohibits them from saying they were denied a waiver? And wouldn’t THAT be an even bigger problem?
Why are we relying on getting the government to provide us with this information? Why not try to get it form someone who has been denied ir whose application is stuck in limbo?
This administration is NEVER going give out that information. I doubt they would even comply with a court ordering them to do so. But there must be someone out there who has a waiver denial on their desk.
Open borders/amnesty, pro-gay marriage, cap-and-trade, liberal on every issue. When he was mayor of NYC, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He is a very strange person with personal baggage worse than Gingrich.
OT – Method #2,395 on how the TSA can get you shot!
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/122200374.html
Heaven save us from the TSA.
if the right ever regains control they HAVE to weed out every dept. and get rid of all these un-American commies. That’s of the few dept’s that will be left when they are through cleaning house McCarthy style..
123upnorth said:
My Dad has always said if those elected to office aren’t criminals when they first get elected, they become criminals while in office. Sadly, he is probably correct in many cases. Dad really likes the quote, “Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason.”
It is more than just which ones were approved, and which denied.
There is a way to “beat” that, by “sitting” on them.
So, which ones were approved, and why as well as how long did it take to approve, and which denied, and and why as well as how long did it take to deny them, and which ones are still waiting, and how long have they been awaiting an answer?
That will give us transparency into what is going on.
They’re scrambling to make the requisite ‘donations’ so they can re-apply.
They won’t talk.
Flyoverman #9
As I understand it, the “waivers” are one year. They will have to continue to support “the ONE” to continue to get waivers.
Michelle, the argument shouldn’t be what “R” do we support as a candidate. We don’t need to be anywhere near that yet.
The discussion now should be what positions will we settle for, what principles do we insist upon, what do we want, but would settle for not getting; and which are most important to US.
With 435 total House districts in this country and 204 waivers approved in April, that means that each district averaged less than half a waiver. Nancy’s wealthy San Francisco district received 81 times as many waivers as it should have received in a fair and “blind” process. And that’s without taking into account need or ability to pay.
If the waiver process truly was transparent, they would be able to explain why a wealthy district deserves 81 times as many Obamacare waivers as a poorer district. The only thing transparent about this process is the fact that waivers are being handed out based on partisan criteria rather than on the need of the recipient.
When Democrats talk about transparency, they are referring to the blind worn by lady justice. The more transparent the blind, the more favors that can be passed out based entirely on loyalty to the Democratic Party.
One thing just struck me.
The unions that get waivers …
Are they getting waivers for the union membership (paid by the employers), or the union employees (paid for by the union as the employer)?
I believe I’ve linked to this before: start the process of getting a health care waiver here.
This story says:
Hmm. Cheap labor that you or I absolutely would not do under any circumstances…health care waivers…I just don’t see any connection here…
Wait. I thought the pResident said this BILL would ensure the people could keep the health coverage they currently had. Are you imply that what he said was… NOT TRUE?!
I’m (yawn) shocked.
Many unions provide healthcare benefits for their membership. The employer pays for the programs either directly by negotiated contract or indirectly through union dues. But the waivers will not benefit employers, just the union.
The savings from union waivers will not be passed back to the employer. Instead, they will be passed on to the democratic party in the form of increased political donations. In other words, Democrats have a vested interest in giving waivers to unions. It’s clearly a “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” situation.
Cronyism is a nice thing, isn’t it?
Only for cronies, not for ordinary Americans.
This administration shows us all the time that “everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others”. As I said previously on another thread, there is not a day that goes by with this administration that I don’t think of Animal Farm.
.
100% agreement, in my dreams, Bachmann and Palin stay out and endorse Cain, leaving him as the lone conservative while the NotTheDemocrats split the RINO vote
I have two waivers:
Article I, Section 8.
Amendment X
No more needed.
We will be accused of partisanship and fantasizing by the Left, but it’s so obvious that these waivers are being granted for people and organizations that support Democrats. It’s the Chicago way of life.
With all the publicity this issue has garnered, I expect there will be some waivers granted to organizations that support Conservatives, just so they can point out how “fair and balanced” the process is.
By the way, Cain’s name has come up with good reason, however you should also consider Allen West, who may be even more conservative than Cain and just as well qualified. He is exploring running.
Cain is supposed to announce today, if he has not already. He knows he will be savaged by Liberals and the media (I’m being redundant), but I’m confident he can take it, as well as dish it out. We shall see very quickly.