Grilling Sibelius

Congressional hearing with Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sibelius as witness.  Big house committee with lots of members, each one waiting for his moment of fame on TV.  Sibelius was evasive, and ducked and weaved.  She was clearly attempting to reveal as little as possible.  Democratic reps spend the morning thinking up softball questions to give her a break.  Republicans were unable to stay on topic long enough to really nail her down on anything.  The Democrats are totally into Obamacare and are defending it to the death.  A lot of Republicans opened their remarks by reading letters of insurance cancellation from their constituents.  There is a lot of that going around, Humana cancelled my Medicare Advantage last week. Sibelius did admit that a full up system security test had never been run.  That's scary.  Figure everything you put into Healthcare.gov is available to every hacker, including your social security number, your address, home phone, and medical history.   They got under Sibelius' skin when they asked why she, the head of Obamacare, was NOT on Obamacare herself.  Good question.  Apparently we did manage to force the Congress onto Obamacare, but the executive has skated, and stayed with their cushy gov'mint health insurance. 
   Anyhow everyone had a good time yelling at each other.  Little real information came out of it.  

Sibelius Shakedown

Obama's secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sibelius, has been calling CEO's of industries her department regulates asking for money, "voluntary donations", to fund Obamacare.  Congress has refused the funding and so to bypass Congress, HHS is atempting to raise the money "privately".
    Imagine your phone rings.  It's Ms.Kathleen Sibelius, or perhaps its Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sibelius.  You take the call.  She asks you for money.  What do you say?  Knowing that bureaucrats under her command can make your life and your company's life, a living hell. Real voluntary that donation is.
   Someone on NHPR said this was OK as long as Ms Sibelius  didn't use here title over the phone.  As if anyone in the health business wouldn't know who she was. 
   It may be legal, but it sure is tacky.  Most people call it blackmail.