Survey Finds that 41 Percent of Small Business Owners Have Frozen Hiring Because of Obamacare

A new poll of business owners about how Obamacare has affected employment decisions is positively brutal for the health law.Via CNBC:

Forty-one percent of the businesses surveyed have frozen hiring because of the health-care law known as Obamacare. And almost one-fifth—19 percent— answered "yes" when asked if they had "reduced the number of employees you have in your business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act."

More at Reason.com

and also at CNBC 

WTF?! Obese Libby Davies becomes a health Nazi

Libby Davies
The New Democratic Party of Canada Deputy Leader 

Of all the people who should NOT be lecturing us on healthy living, the NDP's obese Deputy Leader, Libby Davies, tops the list. But as hypocrisy is the one thing the Dippers excel at...

Fortunately, the government isn't nearly as stupid as Davies.

Romney scores big in first presidential debate

The consensus from last night's presidential debate is that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney scored a resounding victory over President Barack Obama. Romney exceeded expectations in a measured yet forceful performance. The one major advantage the Republican challenger had was that the US economy is in troubling shape, with the president seeming ineffectual in his handling of the high unemployment and  massive deficit that has characterized the whole of his term in office.

A high placed source and confidant of the President told me a few months ago that the economy would be the deciding factor in November, and if unemployment remained at 8%, where it currently is and has been for some time, then the president would likely not be reelected.. 

The New York Times had the following:

The immediate reaction to Wednesday night’s presidential debate was a torrent of criticism directed at President Obama, with Republicans, and as well as many Democrats, accusing Mr. Obama of delivering a flat, uninspired and defensive performance. 
Republicans seemed genuinely surprised that his opponent, Mitt Romney, was energetic, aggressive and presidential during his first-ever general election debate.

“In a thoroughly dominating performance, Romney bested Barack Obama in both tone and substance,” Stephen F. Hayes of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine wrote after the debate. “Obama often found himself at the end of a verbal cul-de-sac, seemingly unaware of how he’d ended up there.”

On Twitter, some of Mr. Obama’s Democratic allies expressed anger and disappointment that the president did not make better use of the “47 percent” speech by Mr. Romney and other missteps that the Democratic campaign has spent months honing into attack ads and stump speeches.

Andrew Sullivan, a blogger and strong supporter of Mr. Obama, echoed Peggy Noonan, a former Republican speechwriter, on Twitter, saying that “this is a rolling calamity for Obama.” Mr. Sullivan added: “He’s boring, abstract, and less human-seeming than Romney!” 

Democratic Congresswoman wants to ban the term "ObamaCare" from House floor

The Hill reports:

After two House Republicans called it "ObamaCare," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) asked the chairman whether these "disparaging" remarks should be allowed on the House floor.

"That is a disparaging reference to the president of the United States; it is meant as a disparaging reference to the president of the United States, and it is clearly in violation of the House rules against that," she said.

Is a Democrat admitting that Obama's health care plan is so terrible that associating him with it is 'disparaging'?

Fidel Castro's Diary - October 20

Dear Diary:

Getting old sucks. Lenin had the right idea. He doesn't look like he's aged a day since 1924. Perhaps a few hours a day in formaldehyde could help me preserve my youth too.

But then there's also the lack of energy. It was only a few years ago when I could give seven, eight hour speeches to my adoring people and it would seem like no time went by at all. Now I can barely speak for two uninterrupted hours before I get winded. What's the point?

I wonder if anyone is ever going to realize that the reason for my lengthy speeches was to watch the crowds sit there, and after a few hours, see them need to have to urinate, but be afraid to walk out and risk the trip to the Combinado del Este by incurring my displeasure. Ha! That was such a laugh! I know they used to wonder how I could go so long without needing to pee. They'll all admire me the more for my fantastic sense of humor when they find out I wore diapers during my speeches. I'll save that bit of information for my memoirs which I'll have published posthumously.

I better call Raoul this afternoon and make sure he hasn't screwed up anything today.

Still no call from Obama. I don't understand it. The Tea Party keeps saying he's a socialist and I know he's interested in health care reform, so who better to ask for advice than me? Under my rule, Cuba has more doctors per capita than any other country on earth! We send doctors to Brazil for weapons, we export doctors to Venezuela for oil. During the last food shortage, we were able to use a few for emergency ration meat and no one noticed. If anyone knows about providing medical care to the poor, it's me. It's easy, you just make sure everybody in the whole country is poor, including the doctors!

Phone's ringing. Got to go.

Who is it? ..

Ahmadinejad? Shit. Him again? I better take it. I hate the bastard, but they have oil. Good thing the crazy Iranian maricon has a crush on me. I'll try to talk him into toning things down, like the crazy mother will listen. He's the kind of guy who gives totalitarian dictators a bad name.

That's all for now, dear Diary.

Fidel