They thought of everything, didn’t they?

The Health and Human Services Department has signed a $20 million contract with a public-relations firm to highlight part of the Affordable Care Act.

The new, multimedia ad campaign is designed to educate the public about how to stay healthy and prevent illnesses, an HHS official said.

The campaign was mandated by the Affordable Care Act and must describe the importance of prevention while also explaining preventive benefits provided by the healthcare law. The law makes many preventive services available without a co-pay or deductible, and provides new preventive benefits to Medicare patients.

The PR firm Porter Novelli won the contract after a competitive bidding process.

Basically these will be Obama ads that we all get to pay for. Even if the Supreme Court strikes down the law, the mechanisms with which will help Obama get re-elected will have already been put in motion — which was the plan all along.

By the way, Google “Porter Novelli” and “Obama” and you’ll find a few unsurprising connections to the current administration and the Dems in general. And don’t forget about campaign donations.

Remember those Medicare ads with Andy Griffith for which taxpayers were on the hook for over $3 million? Porter Novelli was the PR firm hired by the government for those as well.

Once in a while I’ll pick up some pizza from the local Little Caesars, but knowing some of my money has paid for this Hope & Change shindig is enough to nudge me on down the road to a different pizza place:

President Barack Obama is coming to the Motor City for a $1 million pizza party being thrown for him compliments of Denise Ilitch, daughter of Little Caesars’ founders Mike and Marian Ilitch. Ilitch is opening her home April 18 for the fundraiser where movers and shakers are being asked to pony up thousands to add to his re-election coffer while getting a chance to rub shoulders with the most powerful man on the planet. “I’m honored to have been asked,” by the Obama campaign to host,” Ilitch said of the event she and husband, Jim Scalici, will hold at their Metro Detroit home. She made the comments on “Michigan Matters” when asked about media reports.

And of course the fundraiser will feature a tribute to the 99 percent:

When asked what she planned to serve, she said: “Pizza! But, we’ll be serving it on sterling silver plates!”

The price of admission isn’t for those on a budget. $40,000 buys access to the cocktail reception, formal photo with Obama and dinner. $10,000 buys dinner and a photo.

Appropriately enough, this fundraiser will take place amid the backdrop of Detroit… the city serving as a preview of coming attractions for what the kind of unchecked, unabashed, leftist nirvana Obama stands for can do to an area.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go consider other pizza options.

Sadly, earlier this year we remembered the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 1 disaster that killed three of our hero astronauts. Had the space program folded upon this early failure, we would have never gone to the moon and reaped many of the scientific and medical riches that we enjoy today. Moving America forward in that same vein is what we must support with vehicles like the Volt and other innovative vehicles trapped in this pathetic political circus.

As TTAC pointed out, astronauts Chaffee, White and Grissom were tragically killed because of an… electrical fire.

That aside, the comparison to a moon shot is ridiculous. In 50 years will our children be fondly remembering where they were the day they watched President Obama drive a Volt ten feet, get out and say “that’s one small drive for me, one giant leap for Big Labor”?

Good lord, these people can’t even dabble in seaweed without there being an inevitable crony connection:

Solazyme, a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in the plant matter, has received more than $25 million in federal grants and contracts as part of Obama administration’s controversial stimulus package, and is poised to receive millions more as part of the president’s recent efforts to promote green biofuels such as algae.

The firm employs a former member of the Obama-Biden transition team who, according to one online bio, “played a key role in developing the energy provisions in the economic stimulus bill.”

TJ Glauthier, who is listed as a “strategic adviser” and corporate board member, previously held a number of high-ranking posts in the Clinton Administration, including deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Glauthier’s bio on the Solazyme website used to note that he “focused primarily on the energy portion of the economic stimulus bill,” but has since been amended to remove all reference to his work in the Obama administration.

It does mention, however, that Glauthier serves on the board of EnerNOC Inc., a company that provides demand-response services to electric utility firms.

EnerNOC won a $10 million contract with the Department of Energy Resources in 2010 despite being underbid by competitors, the Boston Herald reported.

Glauthier also served on the board of SunRun, a solar financing company that received a $6.7 million federal grant in 2010.

Glauthier’s relationship with Democratic lawmakers has been beneficial. Since 2007, he has donated nearly $8,000 to Democratic candidates and committees, including $2,500 to Obama.

Solazyme’s other board members and top executives have given much more.

In total, Solazyme officials have contributed at least $360,000 to Democrats since 2007. The majority of that money has come from just three individuals: board members Jerry Fiddler ($226,650) and Daniel Miller (more than $36,000), and executive vice president of technology Peter Licari (more than $100,000).

Not a bad deal: “I’ll make sure you get millions of taxpayer dollars if you use some of the money to help fund my re-election.” A time-honored tradition.

So, just donate a bunch of money to Obama’s re-election, stop cleaning your aquarium for a few weeks, apply for a DoE grant for “green fuel” research, and voilà! You too can be an algae millionaire!

Read Michelle Malkin’s column today for more on the algae racket.

A new regulation goes into effect today. As with most regs, trial lawyers will benefit, businesses will lose money, pools will end up being closed, and the overall cost will be passed along to you on your next hotel bill. What would we do without Team Obama championing the cause of helping out the middle class?

From the Weekly Standard:

A new regulation from the Justice Department will require “public-access swimming pools across the country to install handicapped-accessible ramps and lifts or face a fine of up to $100,000,” the Hill reports. This regulation could cost “hotels and other organizations . . . to spend up to $9,000 to stay in compliance with the rule.”

The elevators must be permanent structures, not portable ones, though many hotels across the country only realized this “clarification” to the Justice Department’s regulation recently. Hotel operators, especially, are now scrambling to be in compliance.

The regulation itself falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Some believe the big winner in this new rule is trial lawyers. As the Washington Examiner reports, “the ADA … empowered citizens to sue businesses that are not in compliance with DOJ guidelines.” So any hotel—or public pool operator—not in compliance with the Justice Department’s mandate will possibly face legal action.

Not only that, but trial lawyers will be aided by the inevitable “law of unintended consequences.” For example, these lifts will be enticing toys for kids to play with. When somebody gets hurt, or worse, who will get sued? The DoJ? Of course not, though that’s not a bad idea.

If I owned a public pool and was already operating on a tight budget that couldn’t handle a $10,000 hit, plus the inevitable maintenance issues and regulatory red tape, I’d shut down the pool (like many will do) and put up a sign reading “Closed due to excessive Obama-sponsored regulation.”