Category Archives: Agencies

Barack Obama, Health Care, Medical Costs, Obamacare, White House

MONEY WOES: Obamacare premiums will cost $536 per taxpayer household

October 27, 2016 ejistook

The average 25% Obamacare premium hikes next year are only the tip of an iceberg. Each taxpaying household will bear an average cost of $536 even if they’re not enrolled in Obamacare.

The White House pooh-poohs higher premiums by saying that the insured won’t pay the full amount; subsidies will cover part of it. But subsidies come from tax dollars and from borrowing to increase the national debt.

FOX News reports the additional subsidy cost to taxpayers will rise $8.5-billion next year, on top of the 2016 subsidy costs of $43-billion, raising the annual subsidies to $51.5-billion. The country has about 96-million households that pay federal income taxes, so this averages to $536 per household. Each year. On top of the higher premiums for the insured.

Of course, corporate taxes will cover some of the bill–but those taxes are passed along to consumers via higher prices on goods and services.

Obamacare (mis-named as the Affordable Care Act) is a vast collection of federal red tape, regulations and mandates managed by federal bureaucrats and government-paid agents.

The new premium hikes are a double-whammy: They hit those who have Obamacare coverage AND they hit every taxpayer.

Appliances, DEA - Department of Energy, Energy

Industry rails against Obama’s dishwasher rules

July 21, 2015 ejistook

C ugh ompanies that make dishwashers are warning that the Obama administration’s latest efficiency standards for their industry would backfire.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers is accusing the Department of Energy (DOE) of a politically motivated drive to increase dishwasher efficiency standards, which are so bad that they would cause consumers to re-wash dishes, erasing any efficiency gains, and that’s why is so important for appliances to do portable appliance testing to verify the quality before use them regularly. You can click here to learn more.

Rob McAver, the group’s head lobbyist, said regulators are going too far and the new rules will allow only 3.1 gallons to be used to wash each load of dishes.“At some point, they’re trying to squeeze blood from a stone that just doesn’t have any blood left in it,” McAver said.

Some of the group’s members, which include companies like GE Appliances & Lighting and Whirlpool Corp., tweaked their models to comply with the DOE’s December proposal to ratchet up standards. They then ran standard tests with food stuck to dishes.

“They found some stuff that was pretty disgusting,” McAver said.McAver brought DOE officials to his office recently to show them the results and released photos of it publicly this week.

He’s hoping that the disgusted reactions to the tests will spur DOE to go back to the drawing board for the standards and work more closely with the industry this time.

“The poor performance that would result would totally undercut and go backwards in terms of energy and water use, because of the need for running the dishwasher again, or pre-rinsing or hand-washing, which uses a lot of water,” he said.

McAver suspects the DOE is pushing the rules to try and meet President Obama’s greenhouse gas emissions goals under the Climate Action Plan, his second-term climate change initiative. And while appliance makers are willing to work with the administration, they don’t want that to come at the expense of effective products. Additionally, if you’re wondering how to eat faster, it’s important to consider the efficiency of your eating habits in the context of energy conservation. You can also check out this article to gain more knowledge.

Source: Industry rails against Obama’s dishwasher rules | TheHill

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

Red tape messes up our 4th of July fireworks

July 2, 2015 ejistook

Red tape abounds during our red, white and blue Independence Day celebrations, especially the fireworks displays.

Not only do federal regulations govern the import, testing, shipping, sales and displays of firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle rockets, fountains, sparklers and all the rest, but bureaucrats consider fireworks to be a dangerous pollutant. The EPA’s new ozone limits threaten to force communities to cancel the holiday extravaganzas.

Already, communities must ask the Environmental Protection Agency to grant an “exceptional event” waiver when smoke from a public fireworks display drifts near an air-quality monitoring station. Without the waiver, the community could be penalized for polluted air. But the in-the-works restrictions on ozone make it worse.

The current rules say only 75 parts per billion of ozone are permitted; that’s being lowered to 65 or 70. Imagine the difficulty of finding and removing a handful of molecules mixed-in with a billion others.

Unsure whether they can get EPA waivers, the promoters may have to drop fireworks shows altogether, lest their town be hit with a loss of highway funds or other punishments for being a “non-attainment” area.

This is just part of the red tape that is messing with our holiday traditions. A spokeswoman for the fireworks industry calls the Obama-esque level of regulations “completely insane.” Read about the rest of the holiday red tape here: This July 4, the rockets’ red glare requires lots of red tape – Washington Times

CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Board, Consumer loans, Online Lenders Alliance

Red tape to ban short-term loans for people in need?

July 2, 2015 ejistook

(Article released by the Online Lenders Alliance. While critics label it as “predatory lending,” the short-term loan industry says they take financial risks to help people who need cash urgently and also protect the bank server by implementing the best cyber security for advanced manufacturing to avoid money or data theft during the transaction. But the CFPB – Consumer Financial Protection Board – is proposing regulations that could dry up those loans.)

By Samantha Bentson, CEO, Cashland Holdings

I recently attended the CFPB’s Richmond hearing where the agency released its draft proposal governing short-term credit. During the public comment period I heard many of the same stories from customers and employees that I hear every week in my own business in Oklahoma: Consumers would have no other options without these loans and they value the relationships they have with their lenders. If you want to get out of a tight financial spot, visit skrumble.

That’s why, like many of the members of the public that day. I was stunned by the CFPB’s proposal. As written, it could put me out of business, cost 45 employees their jobs, and eliminate credit options for thousands of people in the states I serve. You can find related posts in this guide about how to overcome business challenges.

Our company owns 13 retail locations throughout Oklahoma and provides loans online in Oklahoma, Missouri, and New Mexico. We offer revolving lines of credit and contractor financing loans. Our customers come from diverse backgrounds. We serve individuals, single income families, and married families with children across all income brackets.

Our business is often the only financial lifeline our customers have to manage the peaks and valleys of their household budgets resulting from unexpected car repairs, a medical emergency, or marketing services such as this underground advertising company.

Surprisingly, the CFPB’s own analysis of its proposal predicts 60 to 80 percent of consumers would no longer have access to this form of credit, effectively eliminating an industry and an option for my customers and millions of consumers nationwide.

Congress recognized the need for a short-term credit when it passed the Dodd-Frank Act. Yet, the CFPB appears to want to wipe out the industry administratively. Is Congress prepared to see 50 million consumers lose access to the only form of short-term credit available to them and eliminate a $46 billion industry if the CFPB’s proposal is implemented as written?

Congress must step in and remind the CFPB of its original intent. Dodd-Frank also prohibited the CFPB from setting rates, yet the CFPB proposal appears to backdoor a 36% rate cap by creating its confusing rules only for products that exceed this arbitrary rate. Congress should exercise its oversight authority and remind the CFPB not to overstep its legal boundaries.

Cashland has served the Oklahoma community for over twenty-five years. I am often told by customers that I was the only “person” willing to help them when they so desperately needed to borrow money. I am concerned as to where these customers will go if they do not have an option of short-term credit.

I often read commentary in Washington, D.C., publications from consumer groups and industry representatives about how to treat consumers who need short-term credit. I can tell you from personal experience that outside the Beltway there will be millions of Americans left lacking any credible options without honest community businesses like mine providing these loans.

Additional articles on the Texas Car Title Loan Calculator are also available for reading. Seek out more details regarding it.

Congress must step in and ensure the CFPB’s final rules don’t hurt the very people they purport to help.

Bentson is the CEO of Cashland Holdings which operates several retail establishments in Oklahoma, Missouri, and New Mexico and has an online lending platform. She is a member of the Online Lenders Alliance.

Source: CFPB proposal would hurt consumers it’s designed to help

Barack Obama, Consumer Products & Services, Consumers, DEA - Department of Energy, Energy, Water

Dishwashers ruined by energy regulations: Prices up $143 but dishes don’t get clean

July 2, 2015 ejistook

Who wants a dishwasher that doesn’t work but costs more than ever?

The Department of Energy is completing a second round of regulations dictating the machines must use less water and less energy.

Prices already rose by $44 a unit with their first round in 2012. But add another $99 to the price from the 2015 regulations, spurred by President Obama’s call to “save the planet” by restricting use of energy. These are the government’s official cost projections; industry says the costs are even higher.

No, you won’t get the money back from lower electric bills. Manufacturers say that would take 20 years–twice as long as most dishwashers last.

The kicker: The new units don’t get things clean because water use is restricted and the energy limits prevent use of high-velocity sprayers.

Dishwashers could use 6.5 gallons per cycle until 2012, when that limit was lowered to 5 gallons. The 2015 Department of Energy (DOE) rules will drop that to 3.1 gallons per cycle.

The 2012 regulation restricted energy usage to 307 kWh (kiloWatthour) per year for a standard washer. The 2015 proposal lowers that to 234 kWh/year.

Manufacturers expect to lay off workers, because who wants to pay more and get less. Similar energy restrictions are in the works for other appliances.

Get ready to work harder as you wash dishes by hand. Unless you have a willing pet to lick your plates clean.

CPSC - Consumer Product Safety Commission

Fireworks lobby to Obama: Enough of ‘insane’ rules

June 20, 2015 ejistook

Julie Heckman, pyro assoc exec dir — Julie Heckman, from POLITICO article

The fireworks industry complains that President Obama’s regulators are “completely insane” by forcing so many rules on their patriotic industry.

Fireworks use is up, but the rate of injuries is down, says Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association.

She told POLITICO, “the overall usage of backyard consumer fireworks has increased significantly during the past decade, and when you look at the use of fireworks and compare then the number of injuries, actually, the injury rate has declined. I’m not aware of one other consumer product on the market today where the usage has risen so dramatically, yet the injuries have gone down.”

Self-policing by the industry is a big part of that, she says, with self-imposed standards that are tougher than federal regulations to make fireworks safer.

But Heckman complains, “I’ve been working with the industry for a very long time, 26 years. I have never seen as many rulemaking initiatives as I have with this administration. It has just been completely insane. . . . we’ve got to comply with ATF, CPSC, EPA, OSHA, multiple divisions of the Department of Transportation; it’s really challenging.”

Read the interview at POLITICO: Fireworks lobby to Obama: Enough with all the rules

Consumers, FDA - Food & Drug Administration, Food, Food Police, The Heritage Foundation

FDA bans trans fats; you cannot eat what you like

June 18, 2015 ejistook 1 Comment

Next targets: sugar, sodium, caffeine

The mission of the FDA–Food and Drug Administration–is to protect us from unsafe foods. But the agency has re-interpreted its mission as protecting us from what they deem as “unhealthy” even if not “unsafe.”

Their newest regulation dictates that artificial trans fats must be off our grocery shelves within three years.

The FDA released a specific plan giving packaged-cookie makers, ready-made frosting producers and margarine suppliers until 2018 to eliminate the artery-clogging substance from their products. Artificial trans fats (also called “partially hydrogenated oils” typically are used for fried and baked goods.

The American Heart Association called the regulation a “historic victory for the nation’s health” that it claims could prevent up to 20,000 heart attacks each year.

Critics, however, called it a nanny-state measure. “The FDA’s role [is to] . . . make sure the ingredients of the food supply are safe. That’s different than making sure people eat something that’s healthy,” said Daren Bakst, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “Other ingredients are coming. That’s their intent: to go after sugar, sodium, caffeine,” he said.

Since 2006, the FDA has required companies to include trans fat content information on their nutrition labels, and many producers have eliminated trans fats altogether. The FDA estimates that consumption of trans fats fell by 78 percent from 2003 to 2012 and Americans ate about 1 gram a day on average in 2012, down from 4.6 grams in 2006. Also, are chicken wraps healthy 2 for your health? see to learn more.

HEAR Ernest’s commentary on this:

Source: FDA bans artificial trans fats from grocery shelves; critics see nanny-state overreach – Washington Times

Appliances, DEA - Department of Energy, Electric Bills

More manual labor! Regs raise prices of labor-saving appliances

June 16, 2015 ejistook 3 Comments

The era of affordable labor-saving devices is threatened by rising appliance costs, caused by federal energy regulations.

Washing clothes by hand sounds Third World to Americans, but how else might limited budgets respond to sticker shock since washing machines and dryers already can cost $600 to $1,000? That’s apiece, not both together.

Energy savings cannot be counted on to offset the larger price tags. Agencies project electric bill “savings” extended over as long as 30 years. But the Consumer Electronics Association warned regulators that it’s nonsense to count 30 years of using less energy when consumers don’t use an item that long, sometimes only for a few months. The agencies did not listen.

Stricter federal energy decrees are in-process for plenty more, including:

Refrigerators	Freezers
Lamps	Lighting
Dishwashers	Icemakers
Space heaters	Ovens
Stoves	Electric Chargers
Clothes washers	Clothes dryers
Air conditioners	Furnaces

Each product gets mind-numbing new standards on power usage, design and labeling. The red tape language is dizzying, such as telling manufacturers to consult “Appendix Z to subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430.”

When appendices reach the letter Z, we’re in trouble.

Source: Regulations could kill your labor-saving home appliances – Washington Times

CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Board, Consumers, Health Care, Insurance, Obamacare, OPM - Office of Personnel Management, Privacy

Privacy at-risk on HealthCare.gov website

June 16, 2015 ejistook 1 Comment

Once it met you, it won’t forget you. And you can forget your privacy.

All who shared information with healthcare.gov will be remembered forever. That Obamacare website stores information indefinitely about all who visited it, even if they did not buy their insurance through the website.

The data system is called MIDAS–Multidimensional Insurance Data Analytics System. Developing the website cost taxpayers over $2.1-billion, yet it still is not finished.

The practic is like what the Consumer Financial Protection Board does. Both government websites keep a mountain of personal data on millions of Americans. Goodbye, privacy! What will the feds eventually do with it? We have to guess.

And is either site more secure than the files of millions of federal workers, which got hacked through the Office of Personnel Management? Unlikely.

Experts told Congress that the longer the data is kept on government websites, the more likely it will be hacked and and privacy of millions will be breached.

The Associated Press writes up more details: Government data warehouse stores personal information indefinitely for all HealthCare.gov users – Red Alert Politics

American Action Forum, OMB - Office of Management and Budget, White House

New red tape: White House quietly projects $110-billion more

June 14, 2015 ejistook

Red tape keeps growing.

The White House released its regulatory agenda of new red tape. They did it quietly on the eve of a holiday weekend, namely the Thursday evening before Memorial Day. Issuing such notices about red tape is required by law.

An American Action Forum (AAF) review of the agenda found more than $110 billion in potential costs, with billions more in unknown burdens. No wonder President Obama wanted it announced with a whisper, not a shout.

Appliances, Automobiles, Climate Change, Consumers, Cost-of-Living, Electric Bills, Energy, Environment, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Family Budget, Food, Gasoline, Light Bulbs, Medical Costs, Transportation

Wham! Regulations sock it to consumers

June 12, 2015 ejistook

Consumer prices will increase by more than $11,000 just from 36 of the Obama Administration’s regulations, reports the American Action Forum (AAF).

It’s a wallop to the jaw for everyday people. AAF’s research finds this includes higher-priced vehicles, pricier household goods, and more expensive food. “Energy-efficiency” standards are the biggest reason for higher prices.

Of course, politicians and bureaucrats claim they’re saving us money. So ask yourself, Have YOU saved $11,000 thanks to federal regulations?

THE GIMMICKS:

Typically, agencies speculate that IF buyers keep using the mandated energy-saving products for long enough, they eventually will have a net gain. That’s IF things don’t wear out (or a light bulb doesn’t burn out).

As The New York Times researched and reported in 2012 about automobiles, projections of fuel savings often presume that consumers will keep their cars twice as long as is normal. Plus their study presumed gasoline would cost almost $4.00 a gallon. Projected “savings” also are not offset against interest paid on loans to buy more-expensive products, nor the extra repair charges to make old things last longer. Continue reading Wham! Regulations sock it to consumers →

Clean Air Act, Climate Change, Cost-of-Living, Economy, Environment, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Global Warming, The Heritage Foundation

‘Costliest regulation ever’ pushed by EPA

June 10, 2015 ejistook

Claiming it wants to help us breathe better, the EPA chokes our economy.

While 40% of the country has not been able to meet the ozone standards issued in 2008, the EPA wants to go farther and faster. The proposal is a limit of 65 parts per billion to replace the current 75 ppb.

Trying to filter such tiny amounts from the air is vastly expensive. The National Association of Manufacturers reports that this would be the single costliest regulation in American history.

The Heritage Foundation’s Daren Bakst and Nicolas Loris write, “Lost jobs and less disposable income are not just economic costs; they can lead to significant health problems, particularly among the poor.”

And about carbon dioxide regulations, they say, “If the EPA is allowed to push through these jobs-crushing regulations, it will, at best, be able to boast a climate benefit of a few hundredths of a degree Celsius abated warming by the turn of the century. Sound like it’s worth it?”

Automobiles, Corruption, Crony Capitalism, Energy, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Gasoline, Regulatory Costs, Subsidies, Transportation, USDA - US Department of Agriculture, Waste, Fraud & Abuse

‘Dirty Rotten Ethanol Scoundrels’ – Wall St. Journal

June 7, 2015 ejistook 1 Comment

A Wall Street Journal editorial notes that the EPA is reducing the amount of ethanol that must be blended into gasoline below the level required by the 2007 energy bill.

Why? Because it’s impossible to meet the goal without diluting gasoline so badly that it will damage car engines because ethanol is corrosive. Requiring 10% (E-10) is bad enough, but mandating anything higher would “damage the engines and fuel systems of most of the cars and trucks on the road today . . . risking accidents, breakdowns and valve, pump, cylinder and injector replacements rarely covered by consumer warranties.”

But to placate corn farmers, the Agriculture Department pledged $100 million in state grants to help fix vehicles that use higher blends of ethanol. That’s more taxpayer money to fix the damage caused by taxpayer subsidies of ethanol.

The WSJ concludes: “Such is the corruption of corporate welfare, which continues for no reason other than that it already exists.”

Consumers, FTC - Federal Trade Commission

The FTC — America’s abusive nanny

June 6, 2015 ejistook

The FTC — Federal Trade Commission — “is showing troubling signs of overaggressive behavior” says a new policy paper from the National Taxpayers Union’s Pete Sepp.

“Americans may find themselves unwitting (and ultimately unwilling) wards of an obsessive ‘nanny’ that will dictate not only their everyday choices as consumers, but also the direction of technological innovation.”

One example? The FTC decided to investigate whether Google’s search results are “unfair” because they rank some websites above others.

Barack Obama, Crony Capitalism, Electric Bills, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

Checked your electric bill? It’s skyrocketing!

June 1, 2015 ejistook

Obama's Skyrocket

It’s only just begun. American households are suffering skyrocketing electricity costs thanks to President Barack Obama’s agenda. Already the average household pays an extra $120 a year.

But the worst is yet to come.

Thanks to EPA regulations that have been announced, the U.S. will lose 9 percent of our ability to generate electricity by the year 2030, even while population grows by 54 million people. That is 116% of the current population trying to get by on 91% of our current power.

Supply-and-demand dictates electric rates will climb higher and higher.

What does Obama suggest we do? Spend thousands of dollars per household to buy more energy-efficient appliances. You’ll pay more upfront but then you’ll use fewer kilowatts. But your utility bills will still climb because the cost per kilowatt-hour will be much higher.

Higher electric rates are Obama’s plan, not just an unforeseen consequence:

Agencies, Appliances, Automobiles, CEI - Competitive Enterprise Institute, CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Board, Christmas Lights, Consumer Products & Services, Electric Bills, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Family Budget, Food, Gasoline, Health Care, Insurance, Light Bulbs, Medical Costs, Perfume, Privacy, Window Blinds

Family budgets wrecked by runaway regulations and red tape

May 30, 2015 ejistook 3 Comments

Runaway regulations are hurting everyday people and wrecking family budgets. It’s not big companies that suffer from the $1.88 trillion annual burden of red tape that the government imposes. They pass them along, adding the costs onto their price tags.

Unaffordable health care coverage, unaffordable electric bills, unaffordable rises in food costs, unaffordable college, and unaffordable appliances are parts of the skyrocketing burden of regulations, usually dictated from Washington.

Millions of Americans who no longer pay federal income tax nevertheless have a stake in controlling the size of government, because their family budgets are ruined by higher prices resulting from regulations. All costs of regulations are passed along by businesses owners to employees who get paid with a pay stub template software.

The average is $15,000 per household per year, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s new annual report “Ten Thousand Commandments”, with a collective cost of $1.88 trillion. Last year alone, President Obama’s hand-picked bureaucrats created $567 per person of new red tape by creating 75,000 pages of more regulations. That’s a one-year regulatory increase of over $2,000 for a household of four.

Because that overall $1.88 trillion number is too big to swallow, people need the details one bite at a time. Providing those digestible bites is the mission of Americans for Less Regulation. Many items also are posted on ALR’s Facebook site.

HOW does red tape hurt your family budget? Read more for details including:

Skyrocketing electric bills
Higher automobile prices
Phony claims of consumer savings
Appliance prices
Light bulbs
Window blinds
Federal snooping of your personal finances
Rising health care costs

Cost-of-Living, Electric Bills, Energy, Environment, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

Your electric bill will skyrocket with new energy regulation

May 21, 2015 ejistook

Reported by Associated Press:

Electricity prices are probably on their way up across much of the US as coal-fired plants, the dominant source of cheap power, shut down in response to environmental regulations and economic forces.

New and tighter pollution rules and tough competition from cleaner sources such as natural gas, wind and solar will lead to the closings of dozens of coal-burning plants across 20 states over the next three years. And many of those that stay open will need expensive retrofits. Because of these and other factors, the Energy Department predicts retail power prices will rise 4 percent on average this year, the biggest increase since 2008. By 2020, prices are expected to climb an additional 13 percent, a forecast that does not include the costs of coming environmental rules.

FEC - Federal Election Commission

FEC wants to monitor you on the Internet. They call it ‘campaign reform’ but it’s really The Blob!

February 18, 2015 ejistook

Curtailing your speech might stop evildoers, according to the FEC – the Federal Election Commission.

The FEC’s unstoppable bureaucracy is like The Blob, swallowing everything it touches. To them, all speech is political so they must regulate it. The theory is that putting rules on Internet speech will help control boogie monsters, which to the left means the Koch Brothers and other rich people (except of course for rich liberals).

Once the bureaucrats control what you say, they control what you know. When they control what you know, they control what you can do. But according to regulators, it’s not about controlling us, but simply “protecting” us.

Source: Another Obama agency wants to police the Internet – Washington Times

Agencies, FAA - Federal Aviation Administration

No escape! Feds will regulate you on the moon

February 3, 2015 ejistook

The Federal Aviation Administration intends to “leverage the FAA’s existing launch licensing authority” on the moon, for “ensuring that commercial activities can be conducted on a non-interference basis.”

The FAA would do this by licensing who is permitted to occupy and exploit the moon.

The FAA claims it is following a 1967 United Nations treaty requiring countries to supervise their citizens and “non-government entities” in outer space.

Source: The FAA is regulating business on the moon | New York Post/Reuters

Barack Obama, Clean Air Act, Electric Bills, Energy, Environment, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Propaganda, Regulatory Costs

Propaganda secret: How Obama raises electric bills yet claims he lowers them

June 4, 2014 ejistook

In 2013, President Obama was given the “Lie of The Year” award for claiming that Obamacare would allow people to keep their current health insurance. Now a new statement might win Obama that award for 2014 as well: Obama claims that his new Environmental Protection Agency regulations will lower people’s electric bills.

On June 2, he stated, “Your electricity bills will shrink as these standards spur investment in energy efficiency, cutting waste and, ultimately, we’re going to be saving money for homes and for businesses.”

Yet in 2008 he admitted his agenda was to make electricity rates “skyrocket,” supposedly to save the planet. And the EPA’s own analysis predicts their regulations will raise electric rates an extra 6% to 24% by 2020.

Careful research reveals the carefully-contrived statements Obama is using to leave consumers a totally false impression about the impact of the new EPA regulations.

Read the secrets about the propaganda: Obama’s latest brainwashing whopper — lower electricity bills

Next targets: sugar, sodium, caffeine

Everyday people bear the brunt of higher prices and fewer jobs