IRS Gives Files to White House; Obamacare Prices Up = Obama Polls Down

The latest Gallup survey shows that just 27% of white non-college graduates approve of President Barack Obama's job performance, while 41% of white college graduates approve -- the biggest gap between the two white groups since the President took office. Support overall for Obama among whites has dropped steadily throughout his term, with the level of education being the key to Obama's popularity among whites. In 2009, Obama's approval gap between college-educated and non-college- educated whites was 6 points. It went to 10 points in 2010; 12 points in 2013, and now stands at 14 points. The Gallup survey also shows that differences of opinion about Obama are also evident along ethnic lines, with 32% of whites approving his performance compared to 84% of blacks, 64% of Asians and 53% of Hispanics. With 67% of adult whites not being college graduates, the "sheer size" of "the working-class white population" makes this bloc "of keen importance to politicians and strategists on both sides of the aisle," according to Gallup. The President does best among white female college graduates with 45% approval, followed by white male college graduates at 37%. The President has a 25% rating among white male non-college graduates and 29% among female non-college graduates. Political strategists wonder whether Democrats can pull in white voters in 2016. The cultural positions taken by the Democrat party have pushed many working-class voters away, according to Gallup. "Working-class whites exhibit weak support for the Democrats and their President and it's not clear how likely that is to change as time goes on," Gallup concluded. The poll was conducted before the midterm elections earlier this month. ~~~~~ There are some obvious reasons why President Obama's approval rating is falling. (1). Thanks to Obamacare, consumers across most of America will see their health insurance premiums go up next year for popular plans under President Obama's health care law. The government didn't try to predict consumer Obamacare prices for 2015. Instead, it published raw data, leaving it to independent experts to do the numbers. The numbers show that 2015 prices are rising for most plans, including silver plans, the coverage level picked by about two-thirds of the customers on the federal and state-run health insurance markets. There are four levels - platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Silver is a notch below what most people with employer coverage have. Kaiser Foundation studied premiums for the second-lowest-cost silver plan in every US county. That type of plan is a benchmark that the government uses as a basis for setting consumer premium subsidies for the entire program. Kaiser found that premiums for the second-lowest-cost silver plan are going up in 59% of counties nationwide, down in 34%, and remaining flat in 7%. And, 18% of counties will see an increase of more than 10%. At the other end of the spectrum, 13% of counties will see a decrease of more than 10%. But, those who shopped for and got the second-lowest-cost silver plan in their community in 2014 are not guaranteed to have it in 2015 unless they shop all over again. Why? Because another insurer may have bid lower and captured the designation. Just one joy of Obamacare -- changing insurers, often every year, is not the best way to manage the family healthcare system. In reality, Americans who don't shop around could face significant price increases. And, as is always the case when the government gets involved in any market, the price increases are more than those for the 150 million people covered by employer plans that make up the biggest chunk of the health-insurance market. Costs in those plans, which usually are more restrained by a competitive free market than prices in the individual market, are expected to rise about 4.6% on average next year, according to a recent survey from benefits consultant Mercer. Kaiser's analysis found wide differences from state to state, and even within states. Some of the steepest premium increases for benchmark plans are for counties in Alaska and Minnesota. Most counties in Georgia will see decreases. Premiums are trending up in Florida and Texas, prime targets of the administration's enrollment drive for 2015. In some cases, a current plan may be canceled, like that of one Missouri woman. The alternative she's being offered costs $15 a month more, and the co-pay is higher. On top of that, her doctor is not in the new plan. (2). In the continuing IRS scandal, it has been revealed that the IRS improperly turned over thousands of confidential tax documents to the White House for review. The information was obtained from a lawsuit filed against the US Treasury Department's inspector general by the legal advocacy firm Cause of Action, exposing a pipeline of communication between the IRS and the White House, according to the Daily Caller. The Cause of Action law firm noted that : “The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) informed Cause of Action that there exist nearly 2,500 potentially responsive documents relating to investigations of improper disclosures of confidential taxpayer information by the IRS to the White House.” The documents, including the exchange of confidential information between White House policy advisor Jeanne Lambrew and former IRS official Lois Lerner came to light after it was revealed that the IRS had targeted conservative groups for review. The Justice Department has asked for a longer window under which to review the newly found documents before releasing them publicly, the Daily Caller said. The Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard, in his "Secrets" column, called news of the leaked documents a "shocking revelation.... This disclosure, coming only after Cause of Action sued TIGTA over its refusal to acknowledge whether such investigations took place, and after the court ordered TIGTA to reveal whether or not documents existed, signals that the White House may have made significant efforts to obtain taxpayers’ personal information,” Cause of Action wrote in a statement to the Examiner. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Americans don't like to see their President fail. When he fails, they know that they suffer and the nation does, too. But, Obamacare and the IRS scandal are just two of President Obama's failures. His approval ratings reflect the deep disappointment America feels in a President who has not lived up to his promises. The falling approval ratings also reflect the President's refusal to correct his failures, and they highlight America's awareness that the Obama administration has flirted with legally questionable activities and cover-ups that show a disrespect for America's institutions and citizens, and a disregard for the Constitution.