From the Left to the Right

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Keywords: Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From the Left to the Right, President Obama, AP Scandal, Obama Scandal, James Rosen, Eric Holder, Freedom of the Press

Keywords: "Conservatism", "Conservative blog", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right", “President Obama”, “AP Scandal”, “Obama Scandal”, “James Rosen”, “Eric Holder”, “Freedom of the Press”

Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group (Check out their Facebook page here)

Or, you can find From the Left to the Right on Conservative Blogs Central (it’s now on page 3) by clicking this text.

Mark A. Cohen’s web site, http://www.mark-cohen.com, is now under construction.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of the Castle Rock Writers (Check out their Facebook page here) Their web page, www.castlerockwriters.com, will also take you to the Facebook page until the web page is completed.

Mark A. Cohen currently sits on the committee which hosted the Castle Rock Writers Conference on October 13, 2012. He is currently their Vice-Treasurer. The group, whose motto is Rock Solid Writing, is seeking their 501c3.

Please save the date: Castle Rock Writers will hold the Castle Rock Writers Conference on Saturday, November 23, 2013, at the Douglas County Events Center in Castle Rock, Colorado. Please stay tuned for further information.

Mark A. Cohen will soon be a published author, as the Castle Rock Writers are under contract to write and publish The Chronicles of Douglas County, Colorado on November 5, 2013.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 20 minutes at the Coffee4Conservatives meeting at the Firehouse on State Road 83, in Franktown, CO, on Oct. 21, 2012.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Click on the logo below to get to the main CBC site:

You might also find From the Left to the Right on the left hand side (after clicking this text) under ‘navigation’ (scroll down a bit) – or, look for/search for/find the text ‘from the’

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I highly recommend Dr. Anna Geving, my dentist in Parker, CO

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

President Obama’s IRS Scandal

Written : May 22, 2013

I’m now active on Twitter. Please follow me there at @markacohen

Lois Lerner. She said she didn’t break any laws.

In 2008, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), said about Republicans, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), in August, 2011, said “the real enemy is the Tea Party.” Is it no surprise then, that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an arm of the executive branch of government (under the president), targeted groups with Tea Party or Patriot (among others) in their names? The Tea Party does not consider itself an ‘enemy,’ but that’s how the president and his allies apparently see it. The IRS held up applications for tax exempt status for these and other conservative groups, but for no liberal groups. In the administration’s cross-hairs were organizations which planned to teach people about the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights.

In August of 2011, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said, “…as far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell." You might say, “The Tea in Tea Party stands for Taxed Enough Already, so, why shouldn’t they be under more scrutiny than other groups? The Tea Party Patriots doesn’t encourage people to disobey the law or not pay taxes. They simply don’t want to pay any more taxes and wish to educate the public on the historical documents. Jenny Beth Martin, founder of the organization, on May 14, 2013, on CSPAN, wondered out loud how “…educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which ensures our free speech and our freedom of the press, is dubious or a red flag? That is absolutely the wrong message the government needs to be sending…”

In 2009, President Obama implied he’d send someone to “beat up Sean Hannity.” And, at the IRS hearings in 2013, former acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller strongly denied allegations that the agency engaged in politics. Then, why target only conservative groups?

Steven Miller. He testified that it wasn’t partisanship, just foolish mistakes.

In 2010 President Obama said (to a group of latino voters), “We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.” I have no evidence of the president’s involvement in any scandal, but doesn’t his three-year-old statement seem a bit strange? Doesn’t it seem odd that Obamacare causes the IRS to grow larger? Are you wondering why Sarah Hall Ingram, a former IRS commissioner in charge of tax exempt organizations (at the time), received a promotion to the directorship of the IRS’ Obamacare office?

Mr. Shulman, former IRS Commissioner, blamed his predecessor.

Isn’t it interesting how President Bush and VP Cheney were accused of everything under the sun, and yet President Obama is so innocent? David Axelrod, the president’s campaign director defended him while using the Tea Party’s own argument; “The government is too big.” That’s incredible! President Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, said he’s not going to call for an independent investigation. Does that surprise you? The IRS Director of exempt organizations, Lois Lerner, took the 5th Amendment (today, on May 22, 2013), when asked of her involvement in the scandal. She said, “I have not done anything wrong… I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.” Sound familiar?

I know nothing.

President Obama said that he’s angry about this, but what has he done about it? Two IRS officials offered resignations, but so far no one’s been fired. For such a super-intelligent guy, President Obama doesn’t seem to be interested in or know anything about what goes on in any agency under his purview. Neither does anyone else in his administration, which he promised would be the most transparent in history. As Boris says in Men in Black III, “That’s not possible!”

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From the Left to the Right, President Obama, Obamacare, IRS Scandal, Targeting Conservatives, Tea Party, Patriots, Lois Lerner, Jenny Beth Martin, Doug Shulman, Steven Miller, Eric Holder

Keywords: "Conservatism", "Conservative blog", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right", “Obamacare”, “President Obama”, “IRS Scandal”, “Targeting Conservatives”, “Tea Party”, “Patriots”, “Lois Lerner”, “Jenny Beth Martin”, “Doug Shulman”, “Steven Miller”, “Eric Holder”

Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group (Check out their Facebook page here)

Or, you can find From the Left to the Right on Conservative Blogs Central (it’s now on page 3) by clicking this text.

Mark A. Cohen’s web site, http://www.mark-cohen.com, is now under construction.

Mark A. Cohen will soon be a published author, as the Castle Rock Writers are under contract to write and publish The Chronicles of Douglas County, Colorado on November 5, 2013.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 20 minutes at the Coffee4Conservatives meeting at the Firehouse on State Road 83, in Franktown, CO, on Oct. 21, 2012.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Click on the logo below to get to the main CBC site:

You might also find From the Left to the Right on the left hand side (after clicking this text) under ‘navigation’ (scroll down a bit) – or, look for/search for/find the text ‘from the’

From the Left to the Right - Follow this link to Facebook and please click “Like” !

I highly recommend Dr. Anna Geving, my dentist in Parker, CO

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Why Benghazi Matters – Four Americans Are Dead and Al Qaeda is Alive and Well

Written : May 15, 2013

I’m now active on Twitter. Please follow me there at @markacohen

President Nixon said, “I am not a crook.” Well, maybe not, but whiz-kid reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, due to their relentless search for the truth, caused the president to ultimately resign. Their secret source, a person known only as “Deep Throat,” became legend. The media and the public fell in love with the reporters and their story, and Robert Redford made a movie about it called, All the Presidents Men. Everyone celebrated John Dean, Nixon’s presidential counsel, who became known as the prime whistleblower. The break-in of the Democratic Party headquarters was bad enough, but the ensuing stonewalling and cover-up (known as Watergate), proved the undoing of the Nixon Administration. Dozens of members served jail time (43 people in all). The president himself, had he not stepped down, likely would have been impeached, convicted, and removed from office by Congress. I don’t minimize the horrific depth to the lying and the mountain of evidence gathered. But, it’s also important to realize how the media never gave up on the story, and, although crimes were committed, no one died as a result. Isn’t it remarkable how some people will say and do anything in order to save their butts and hold onto power? We all cheer on the whistleblowers when it comes to taking down the powerful!

Did you believe that this signaled the end of terrorism?

Let’s fast forward to the election of 2012. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, in the late stages of the election, began using the slogan, “GM is alive, and Bin Laden is dead.” They also said, “Al Qaeda is on the run.” This implied that terrorism was dead, too. It reminded me of the fuss made over President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” banner, but no one questioned this statement. No one made fun of President Obama, and most of us applauded the death of Bin Laden, although many believed that Al Qaeda wasn’t destroyed.

On September 11, 2012, just two months short of the presidential election, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya was attacked. Four Americans died. Obviously a terrorist attack, the president appeared in the White House rose garden on Sep. 12, and condemned the action, calling it “shocking.” He vowed to bring to justice those who killed our people. It is now 9 months later, and no one is in custody. Why not?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on Sep. 14, and apologized (to whom?) for “an awful Internet video,” which she said caused the attack. President Obama’s U.N. Ambassador, Susan Rice, appeared on five Sunday talk shows on Sep. 16, pushing the same, unlikely scenario that the Benghazi attack was a spontaneous demonstration, caused by a video. One must ask, “Who brings a rocket-propelled grenade launcher to a demonstration?” This began to smell like a coordinated cover-up to me.

Is Al Qaeda really on the run?

The mainstream media (MSM), didn’t cover Benghazi much before the election. They didn’t pay attention until Hillary Clinton finally testified on Jan. 23, 2013, and said, “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?” This stunned many, and it does matter. The president and Mrs. Clinton were not on top of developments as the attack ensued, and someone ordered our troops to stand-down instead of assisting Ambassador Chris Stevens that night. Who gave the order? As with Watergate, dare we ask, “Did this go as far as the president?” President Obama seemed indifferent to the fact that American diplomats were killed in their place of business, seemed to dismiss it, and campaigned on Sep. 12. What could have been done to prevent the success of the terrorist attack? Could the life of Sean Smith and the others have been saved? Why were steps not taken to protect our people? Who was in charge? We still don’t know the answers to these questions, but why not ask? They got to the bottom of it all in 1973, so why not now?

Greg Hicks, Diplomat. Everyone loves a whistleblower, right?

Hearings on the Benghazi terrorist attack were held last week. Greg Hicks, the whistleblower, said he was intimidated, demoted, and asked to not testify. By whom? The White House said that the intelligence community assembled Susan Rice’s talking points, but Congressional review of documents revealed something else. The talking points had been edited at least 12 times before Rice received them. The originals detailed prior security warnings and blamed the terrorist attack on Al Qaeda affiliate, Ansar Al Sharia. The final edition offered no reference to any terror groups nor anything about any warnings. It is interesting to note how the media is not nearly as enamored with Greg Hicks as they were with John Dean… Why?

Jay Carney, Obama Administration Spokesman

White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the edits made by both the CIA and the White House were “stylistic.” However, ABC’s Jonathan Karl (not a conservative), reported that significant edits were made only after a White House meeting on Sep. 15, the day before Rice appeared on the Sunday shows. Why?

This looks like a cover-up to me. The Obama campaign’s talking points that “Al Qaeda was on the run,” contradicted reality. They did everything, said anything they could to suggest this was a spontaneous attack caused by a video, and not a terrorist attack. It is worth noting that some people will say and do anything in order to save their butts and hold onto power. Where are Woodward and Bernstein when we need them?

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Keywords: "Conservatism", "Conservative blog", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right", “Obamacare”, “President Obama”, “Kathleen Sebilius”, “Max Baucus”, “Steny Hoyer”, “John Stossel”

Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group (Check out their Facebook page here)

Or, you can find From the Left to the Right on Conservative Blogs Central (it’s now on page 3) by clicking this text.

Mark A. Cohen’s web site, http://www.mark-cohen.com, is now under construction.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 20 minutes at the Coffee4Conservatives meeting at the Firehouse on State Road 83, in Franktown, CO, on Oct. 21, 2012.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Click on the logo below to get to the main CBC site:

You might also find From the Left to the Right on the left hand side (after clicking this text) under ‘navigation’ (scroll down a bit) – or, look for/search for/find the text ‘from the’

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From President Obama’s point of view

I highly recommend Dr. Anna Geving, my dentist in Parker, CO

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Obamacare Warning – Questions: Do Greedy Companies or Excessive Regulation Cause Higher Prices? Is it a Good or a Bad Law? Why not Ask? (Part II)

Written : May 8, 2013

I’m now active on Twitter. Please follow me there at @markacohen

This is a continuation from last week’s post.

In Dr. Jill Vecchio’s brief (Centennial Institute No. 2013-2), she began by stating, “We are consistently led to believe that greedy insurance companies and overpaid providers are the reasons for the high cost of health care. That’s not so. Rather, the primary drivers of rising healthcare costs are unnecessary government regulation, onerous billing and coding procedures, state insurance mandates, and layers of bloated bureaucracy.” I’ve heard Dr. Vecchio speak and enjoyed her talk. She’s a practicing radiologist, and knows her subject. If you want to learn about how healthcare works today, please read it. She lays out how to reduce medical costs, right there. Her blog can be found here.

One part of The Affordable Care Act (The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare) that sounds so good to everyone is that no pre-existing conditions may prevent insurance companies from providing coverage. Who pays for this, though? It seems great, but how can all workers afford to cover everyone? Don’t we have to ask the questions and do the math? The president said that by the end of his first term, health care coverage would cost on the average $2,500 less per family, and yet costs have risen. I know that my own premiums have increased, what about yours?

Yes, it all sounds wonderful. Obamacare assured us it would cover the uninsured, but this promise will remain unfulfilled. Plus, the law’s regulations grew nearly 10 times since passage, from 16,000 to about 140,000. It’s a 20,000-page pile of paper, now seven feet tall. Does this really make sense? How is this better than the insurance companies’ red tape that Obamacare was supposed to fix?

Can a health care bill be done right? Yes, of course it can. When that happens, perhaps all of the members of Congress will be allowed into the meetings. That’s how you consider all of the ideas, and get the most out of each. People on the left taught me to question everything, so shouldn’t we question Obamacare, too? How can you possibly cover more people and have it cost less? This seems a question worthy of consideration.

Watch a Huffington Post slide show about the history of healthcare reform efforts through the 20th Century

Some things you may not realize about the new Obamacare Tax Law (and I realize that some may argue with some of these, but this is the way I see it):

It adds a 3.8 percent surtax tax on investment income.
It adds a 10 percent tax on tanning services.
It adds a 40 percent tax on comprehensive health coverage that costs more than the designated cap.
The Obamacare tax requires everyone to purchase health insurance, or pay a fine.
It creates more IRS agents than doctors.
HHS ran out of funds for implementation and seeks $5.9 billion extra to implement the exchanges specified in the program.
Due to “operational challenges,” the Obama administration is delaying exchanges until 2015.
The delays may give states a chance to get out from under the law by passing their own laws.
Obamacare will tip the balance so that now a majority of Americans (over 50% of citizens) will take money from the government instead of or in addition to paying in.
Individuals who purchase their own policies will pay higher premiums to cover those with pre-existing conditions.
Doctors are confused over identifying their customer. Is he/she the patient, government, insurer, or employer? When the consumer is not the customer, prices for care increase because there is no incentive to lower prices.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius admitted that insurance premiums may rise under the Obamacare tax.
Sebilius also said she didn’t realize how expensive the law would be to implement.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is trying to repeal a part of Obamacare which collects a 2.3% sales tax on medical devices.

Former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was right. They had to pass it to see what was in it!

Some Obamacare links:

Should you hire employee #51?

The 50-employee rule. Mandate or Barrier?

More about the 50-employee rule

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Keywords: Obamacare, President Obama, Kathleen Sebilius, Max Baucus, Steny Hoyer, John Stossel

Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group (Check out their Facebook page here)

Or, you can find From the Left to the Right on Conservative Blogs Central (it’s now on page 3) by clicking this text.

Mark A. Cohen’s web site, http://www.mark-cohen.com, is now under construction.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 20 minutes at the Coffee4Conservatives meeting at the Firehouse on State Road 83, in Franktown, CO, on Oct. 21, 2012.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Click on the logo below to get to the main CBC site:

You might also find From the Left to the Right on the left hand side (after clicking this text) under ‘navigation’ (scroll down a bit) – or, look for/search for/find the text ‘from the’

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I highly recommend Dr. Anna Geving, my dentist in Parker, CO

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Obamacare Warning – Questions: What Does the Full Implementation of The Affordable Care Act Mean For Americans? Is the ACA Truly Affordable? Why not Ask? (Part I)

Written : Apr. 27 and May 1, 2013

I’m now active on Twitter. Please follow me there at @markacohen

Sounds great – free healthcare for everyone… but is it really free?

If solely the Republicans in Congress had sought exemptions from The Affordable Care Act (The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare) for themselves and their staff members, one could say that they did it out of political motivation. Those rascally righties are out to do anything to undermine President Obama, they’d say. However, congressional Democrats also tried to extricate their memberships and staffs from the new health care law. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) implied that the bill is not “workable for everyone.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who crafted The ACA, called it a “train wreck” last week, and then announced his retirement. As Hamm the piggy bank says in the original Toy Story movie (as he raises one eyebrow), “Something’s screwy here.” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius said that there will be losers under Obamacare. I think she’s right, and I’m not just saying it to oppose the president, I am truly worried.

Okay, I’ll admit it. It sounds great to get everyone health insurance coverage. A problem occurred, though, when the Democrats crafted the law without Republicans. No, we’re not jealous; it’s just bad policy to create a law from only one side of the aisle. You have to admit that when that happens, they end up not considering all the angles, and that’s not good. The founding fathers created checks and balances to prevent such a travesty. Let’s face it, Democrats would never stand for Republicans going to the back room and jamming a law through as they did. And, it would be just as wrong!

Republicans warned us about Obamacare early on, and they claim the law is bad for business. Why? It exempts companies from providing insurance for their employees if the number of workers is less than 50. What’s a poor business to do? Keep the number under 50. In addition, the law makes it okay for businesses to not provide insurance for part time workers, so, what will they do? Hire part time workers. It pays in some cases to hire two part timers when one full-timer is needed.

Many conservatives see Obamacare as a big problem no one sees coming. Is it?

The dichotomy is easy to see. Democrats don’t mind paying more of their incomes to the government, and Republicans believe that higher taxes hurt the economy. Liberals say health care is a right, while conservatives say more government regulations create undue burdens. (Hey, I’ll bet there’s a middle ground there, somewhere!) Republicans believe that Obamacare will hurt us, while Democrats say not to worry. As the left feared President Bush’s policies, Obamacare scares the heck out of me.

I’ll post Part II next week.

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Keywords: Obamacare, President Obama, Kathleen Sebilius, Max Baucus, Steny Hoyer, John Stossel

Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.

Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group (Check out their Facebook page here)

Or, you can find From the Left to the Right on Conservative Blogs Central (it’s now on page 3) by clicking this text.

Mark A. Cohen’s web site, http://www.mark-cohen.com, is now under construction.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 20 minutes at the Coffee4Conservatives meeting at the Firehouse on State Road 83, in Franktown, CO, on Oct. 21, 2012.

Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Click on the logo below to get to the main CBC site:

You might also find From the Left to the Right on the left hand side (after clicking this text) under ‘navigation’ (scroll down a bit) – or, look for/search for/find the text ‘from the’

From the Left to the Right - Follow this link to Facebook and please click “Like” !