Tuesday, November 10, 2009

When Plunder Becomes a Way of Life


When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. --Frederic Bastiat

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its national "under-employment" (or U-6) rate for October: it was 17.5%, a big jump from 17% in September and a major leap from the 10.6% figure of September 2008.

Unemployment keeps climbing, even though President and Congress spent more than $787 billion dollars in taxpayer funds for a stimulus package.

Since that time, neither the President nor Congress have spent an iota of effort analyzing the impact of the stimulus program.

And they've not taken a moment to consider alternatives that might help alleviate the economic pain felt by so many Americans.

The President and Congress continue to ignore the economy while they pursue their ideological agenda of truly massive government.

Anyone who has lost a job, can't find a job, is nervous about losing their job, or simply lives in an area decimated by job loss should be livid over a President and Congress that spend all of their time plotting a takeover of health care.

Even though the economy is the top concern for almost every American, the oligarchy in Washington is fixated on nationalizing health care and exacting carbon taxes on every sector of the economy.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) broke committee rules and slammed an energy-rationing bill through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week without a single Republican present.

The bill would curtail America's ability to exploit its own natural resources to harvest energy and boost economic activity. Thus, despite the economic crisis, the government is turning its back on $1.7 trillion in tax revenue and tens of thousands of real jobs (i.e., non-government payroll).

Democrats are only concerned with their big-government agenda -- nationalizing the health care industry, carbon taxes and amnesty for illegal aliens -- and not worried a bit about American jobs. Each of their programs raises taxes and fees on job creators, which further harms the economy.

Both the health care and cap-and-trade bills translate to huge tax hikes for most Americans.

Frighteningly, even the 17.5% under-employment figure understates things. During the Clinton administration, the BLS began removing those 'too discouraged' to look for a job for more than a year. John Williams of Shadow Government Stats thinks the true unemployment rate would be 22.1 percent if everyone were included.

Meanwhile, Congress fiddles while the economy burns. As I said more than six months ago, this willful abandonment of Americans in economic distress is intentional.

As Rahm Emanuel told the New York Times after the 2008 election, "Rule 1 -- never allow a crisis to go to waste."

The President and Congress simply ignore high unemployment while plotting their next moves to bankrupt the country. They are violating the Constitution. They meet and maneuver and vote -- not in the tradition of this nation -- but of totalitarian regimes.

They vote late Saturday night, when the public isn't watching. Meeting behind closed doors -- one party and one party only. Changing the locks on the committee room doors to exclude the opposition party and prevent debate. Everything is done in secret until they drop a massive, 2,000-page bill on an unsuspecting public.

And that doesn't even include the regulations to implement the bill, which will be ten times longer! And it affects your life, your livelihood, your family. And you -- don't -- have -- access to it, or them.

Only the oligarchs, who laugh off high unemployment, get a say in how you will live. And they don't give a damn about anything but accruing more power and growing the size of government.


Inspired by: Nolan Finley (Detroit News), Mark Levin, John Crudele (New York Post).

Larwyn's Linx: ObamaCare -- Dithering While the Economy Burns

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget..

Health Care Bill

Coburn: You Actually Have to Pay for These Bills: BigGov
ObamaCare: Dithering While the Economy Burns: Patterico
It's About Sacrifice: DaleyGator

How a Life Ends: Fausta
Dems look to ditch Stupak Amendment: GOPleader
Tears, tempers fly in Nancy Pelosi's campaign: Politico

Nation

The President of Resentment: AT (Lewis)
Police Report: Gladney Beating by SEIU Thugs: BigGov
Pfizer abandons infamous Kelo site: Examiner

Feds dropped investigation of Hasan because...: Ace
Ignoring Infiltration: AT
Perfect: Holder to speak at CAIR event: Riehl

Peters on Fatal Political Correctness: Aces
An Execution in Virginia: Grand Rants

Economy

The Market High: AT
Who cares about consistency?: Gormogons

Media

Will 'Strap-On Keith' Apologize for Smearing Fox's Peter Johnson, Jr?: Strap-On Watch
CNN Struggles More But the Damned Facts Keep Coming Out: Ace
Leftists complain: Conservatives selling too many books: Surber

CNN Tries to Talk to Peaceful Moderate Muslims, Interviews AQ-Linked Leader of Muslim Jihad Camp Instead: TAB
Searching for the wrong Muslim backlash: CFB
Melanie Phillips: 'This is Marxist doctrine': RBO

Fond Remembrances of the Good Old Stasi: Anchoress

Climate & Energy

How to make young drivers better in MI? Why push global warming junk science in drivers ed of course!: BlogProf

World

Scotland Yard, FBI stop attack on NYC subway: AT
Iranian Rockets Captured by Israel Identical to Rockets Fired At U.S. Bases in Iraq: PJM (Owens)
Figures: Obama Skips Anniversary of Wall, Sends Video, Talks About Himself: GWP

Paul Rahe: Obama's Gestures, Part IV: Power Line
Obama's Middle East Policy Falls Apart: AT
Indiana base hosts training exercise simulating nuclear attack on U.S. city: WISH-TV

Obama on Fall of Berlin Wall: No One Could Have Forseen on That Day That German Ally America Would Be Led By Man Like Me: Ace
'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism': PJM (Belmont)
DHS Warning: Muslim Americans At Risk: Atlas

Sci-Tech

What beautiful HTML looks like: CSS Tricks

Cornucopia

Ultimate fighting championship of catfights: Viral Footage
Headline Wrapup: IowaHawk

Monday, November 09, 2009

A Wall, A Narcissist, and a Case of Badly Mistaken Priorities


'Barack Obama’s shameful absence from Berlin'


Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey flew to Copenhagen in an ill-fated attempt to secure the Olympics for Chicago.

He and his wife will fly there again to accept his Nobel Peace Prize.

But when German Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the President to Berlin for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, he couldn't be bothered.

'It's Pathetic -- and Telling'


Compared to Barack Obama's extraordinarily narcissistic speech in Berlin during the campaign ("This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"), for which he also found time, Ronald Reagan's 'four little words' in Berlin actually meant something.


Idea: Richard.

With Preconditions Met, Obama Hosts Netanyahu


Dan from New York:

WSJ, November 9, 2009

Seeking Conditions First, Obama Hosts Netanyahu


Showing New Discomfort, White House Wanted Quid Pro Quo to Meet

The White House waited several days to confirm that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could meet with President Barack Obama Monday, and sought conditions first -- underscoring the new depths of difficulty that Middle East peace efforts have reached in the last week.

U.S. officials said the delay, which stretched until late Sunday, stemmed from last-minute discussions aimed at gaining a more robust and public commitment to the peace track from Mr. Netanyahu. One official said the U.S. wanted Mr. Netanyahu to express stronger support for negotiations on an independent Palestinian state at his speech Monday before the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington. "We're in the part of the process where you can't expect something for nothing," the official said.

It wasn't immediately clear what Mr. Netanyahu would say on the issue. But ultimately the U.S. agreed to schedule the meeting.

The prime minister's visit comes as fears grow inside the Obama administration that its aggressive plans for promoting Mideast peace could be unraveling. Mr. Netanyahu hasn't agreed to a complete freeze of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem as a precursor to talks, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced last week that he wouldn't seek re-election in protest over the U.S. failure to deliver such a commitment.

Now, President Obama has been clear for years that he is willing to meet Iran's president 'without preconditions'.


Diplomacy: Obama is the only major candidate who supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. Now is the time to pressure Iran directly to change their troubling behavior.

Put simply:

Iran: the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism, can meet with President Obama without preconditions.

Israel: America's decades-long ally in the Middle East -- and liberty's 'canary in the coal mine' -- must satisfy certain preconditions in order to meet with President Obama.

Something is very, very wrong here. And somewhere, Jeremiah Wright is cheering.


Is a New Strain of Flu Scorching the Ukraine?


Project Mayhem at ZeroHedge offers a somewhat disturbing look at Ukrainian flu trends.

Last week TWIM reported that a possible new strain of influenza had broken out (or was released) in Ukraine. This turns out to be accurate, surprising even our most vocal detractors.

The Ukrainian government now claims that over 960,000 people are now infected, over 48,000 hospitalized, and over 150 dead (likely a vast understatement). Our best estimate using our sources in epidemiology, infectious diseases, and weapons research is this:

A) There are one or more new flu strains circulating in Ukraine, of unknown origin.

B) These new strains are very infectious, and approximately one order of magnitude more virulent (dangerous) than the existing swine flu.

C) There are likely changes (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to one or more genes, including but not limited to HA, NA, NS1, PA, and PB2. This is probably a full-constellation of changes, whether spontaneous or man-made. Aka. The virus has been upgraded.

D) The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of the new strains are estimated to be between 0.2% to 0.5%. Higher is possible but unlikely. In other words, The new strain may be >10x as lethal as swine flu and 2x-5x as lethal as seasonal flu. Aka. You do not want to catch this.

GENE SEQUENCES ARE NECESSARY TO EVALUATE THE NATURE OF THIS OUTBREAK.

However, the idiots at the World Health Organization (WHO) are keeping the RNA sequences a secret. They have said there are not "major changes" to the H1N1 virus in Ukraine -- but we all know it doesn't take much when it comes to viral genetics. Are these people lunkheads or are they criminals? I really have to wonder... Regardless, we clearly have a new flu strain which may be several times as lethal as seasonal flu, and has a high attack rate. The new strain also has a penchant for inducing viral pneumonia, where one's lungs fill with fluid. This is analogous to what happened in 1918, but obviously not yet on a large scale. Why is the WHO not releasing the gene sequences? Where is the lapdog corporate media? What in the hell is the CDC doing about this? And where is that backrub that Lauren promised me??

Indeed there are many questions here that require answers, and these answers are not forthcoming. Here is a news sample from Dr. Henry Niman, a very smart man who holds multiple patents on viral genetics but can't seem to comprehend the world, including governments, are corrupt.

Anyway, Here are some of Henry's latest articles:

Fail. This news looks bad -- but it's a little academic, Henry! Let's spice this up with some exclusive TWIM Ukrainian translations of what you are not hearing in the press about this new flu in Eastern Europe:

According to Kommersant-Ukraine chief physician aid city Myron Borisevich, in five fatalities have been recorded. "In all the patients came to hospital, observed the same symptoms of disease: very high fever, a cough that does not breathe normally. This disease progresses very quickly. Now all tests sent for examination in Kyiv" - explained Borisevich

Another difficult situation prevailing in the area Drohobych region, where five people also died. As the head of the Department of Health Drohobych municipality Andrew Shekenych, unlike the city, the residents of the area flowed disease differently: "The child entered the hospital and died eight hours. One adult - a day [until death], second - for two days [until death], and two patients died on the fourth day.

As the chief doctor of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Infectious Hospital Roman Ostyak in patients with fatal observed similar symptoms: it started with a small increase in temperature - up to 37,2-37,3 0 C - and a small pokashlyuvannya [cough?]. In the second and third days appeared little cold, and the third-fifth day - cutting short of breath, after which patients became difficult to breathe. "When you transfer to respirator them virtually impossible to proventylyuvaty light" - the Ostyak, noting that the death of advancing as a result of pulmonary edema.

While the doctors do not have a single thought that is causing the disease. Chief Medical Officer of the Ternopil region Dnistryan Stephen believes that the cause of deaths is unknown viruses. Explained deputy chief health officer of the region Ninel Tsyapa all dead treated by the doctors at the fifth-sixth day after the beginning of the disease when it was already to late. "This strain of influenza is characterized by lesions of the lungs."

[translated from: http://www.daily.lviv.ua/?module=write_about_lviv&view=50]

Oh, and this one, here's your latest update as of 4:54AM EST Monday Nov 9th 2009

On the last day the doctors asked 2028 people, and last night was 3200 patients. We are not talking about the decline and Stabilization", - said Zoya Tsihon. Deputy Head of Regional Department of Health added that now in the intensive care unit is 76 people, including 67 adults, 5 pregnant women and 11 children.

[translated from: http://zik.com.ua/]

Obviously this is serious business. Where is the coverage? I was on this story LAST WEEK. But what is even more serious is that the corporate media is so vile and rotten, I had to break this story on an anti-corruption financial blog! Wtf! Maybe these latest developments will crash the stock markets, and I can finally experience some long awaited Schadenfreude...



'I Love This Doctor'


Papa B sends us this critical medical update.

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop give 100% recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine. That means they take water out of fruity bit; get even more goodness that way. Beer also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: If you have body and you have fat, ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Cannot think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No Pain... GOOD!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTEN!!! Foods fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetables bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only do sit-ups if want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy? HELLO... Cocoa bean! Vegetable!!! Cocoa bean best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for figure, explain whale.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

and...

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

Executive Summary


Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Let's try tallying the bodycount before worrying about the 'backlash'


Hopefully Ace doesn't dispatch his black-clad ninja assassin zombie-killers -- who carry 1911's and shurikens dipped in Raid! and drink battery acid for fun -- to terminate me for repro'ing his whole post. And highlighting the Line o' the Day™.

Everyone's First Thought After Hearing About "Possible Muslim Backlash" in the Media? "My God, How Many Have They Killed This Time?"


We're not even done tallying up the latest bodycount before we again have to be instructed about the dangers of "backlash."

In this case, the "backlash" feared is a feminist writer at Pajamas Media stating the inarguable: We have to begin "connecting the dots" and stop the deadly doublethink that is getting people killed.

But that is part of the "backlash" CNN now worries about: Connecting the dots to avoid future terrorism.

Incidentally, if we did connect the dots and stopped the Islamically Correct bull*** and arrested Hassan earlier (for any number of violations of the military code) we would not even have to fear any "backlash," because no heinous mass-slaughter would have occurred.

Oh, and 15 people would still be alive today. If that matters any more. Apparently it doesn't, because I keep being told by the media that only Muslim lives matter. Only future harassments and inconveniences to Muslims matter; thousands of non-Muslim lives may be sacrificed on the altar of jihadist freedom in order to spare a single innocent Muslim a moment's worth of stink-eye.

If this much-feared speculative hypothetical alt-future "backlash" does occur, by the way, here will be the reason for it: Because citizens have learned they cannot trust their government, or the so-called "watchdog" media, to protect their lives when threatened by an Islamist.

I call it blood sacrifice on the altar of political correctness.

At this juncture, it's always worth re-reading "No Substitute for Victory", the finest epistle on the topic ever written. IMO, of course.

Via: Larwyn.

Eureka! Health care is now free!


Richard offers a stunning insight into the sheer economic illiteracy of the current Democrat Party. Exhibit A: Jan Schakowsky (Marxist-IL):

In the debate on the health care bill in the house, Democrat Jan Schakowsky made a revealing comment. Asked about the abortion restrictions placed in the bill (the Stupak amendment), she responded that the bill was overall good for women.

Now there would be free breast cancer screenings for women.

Did you hear that? Free. Nobody pays. Do the doctors get paid? By whom?

Will this new "free service" add to insurance premiums? This is not the Congresswoman's concern. If the price of anything is free, there will be more of the service delivered of course. But remember, whatever the volume, Shakowsky thinks it is free, because the consumer does not pay at the point of service.

That, of course, is one of the reasons why American healthcare costs so much. Almost everyone thinks that the service is free at the point of service. When people pay out of pocket for things -- flat screen TVs, cellular phone service, etc. -- they are good consumers.

When they think something is free at the point of service, they are terrible consumers, using more of whatever is "free".

Someone else pays of course: government, their employer, insurance companies, your children and grandchildren... all future taxpayers. Barack Obama made a similar comment about colonoscopies in his last prime time news conference on health care reform.

Everyone should have a colonoscopy and it should be free (no deductibles, or co-pays). These, for the record, are not inexpensive procedures, and involve the use of anesthesia, which is always a risk factor for any procedure.

But if insurers are now mandated to provide free colonoscopies, there will be many more of them performed. It will be the gastroenterologists' full employment act. Many who are not at risk (family history, over age 50) will have the procedure done

Costs will go much higher. But, hey, it is free. And isn't that a good thing? In microcosm, this is the bill the Democrats have passed: lots of goodies, and the piper will be paid later. Kick the can down the road.

Fiscal responsibility? Why worry? Do you think this bill will actually cost only $1.2 trillion over ten years? If volume is higher than estimated by the CBO, then the premiums for insurance will rise whether in a private insurance or public plan, and so will the subsidies paid under this bill.

Those subsidies do not just cover the poor. Families with incomes up to $88,000 get subsides to buy insurance in the House bill. Are these poor folks, needing a handout? I think not. The purpose of this bill is to create a new middle class entitlement. Make these people think they owe their "free" health care to the government and the party of big government.

The reality is that less care often means higher quality than more care. The New York Times has an article in the Sunday magazine on the Intermountain system in Utah. This is the system run by those horrible Mormons, who voted against gay marriage.

Intermountain happens to have the best health care system in America. Books have been written about this system. They don't prescribe treatment protocols from up high, but actually look to see what works at their hospitals.

Hospitals from around the country are coming to Utah to learn what they do. While Mayo and Cleveland Clinic have models of collaborative care among MDs who are salaried (and hence do not directly benefit from fee for service over utilization), Intermountain achieves its results with measurement.

There are models of low cost quality care in America. But Obamacare or PelosiCare have a one-size-fits-all model that will lead to even higher levels of over-utilization than already exists. When the country starts going broke, we will see rationing from up high, not the Intermountain model or the Mayo model.

The Obama team trusts bureaucrats and politicians, not doctors.



Larwyn's Linx: Is this the high-water mark for ObamaCare?

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget..

Health Care Bill

Is this the high-water mark for ObamaCare?: Hot Air
Irony: Planned Parenthood: "Yesterday was BRUTAL": BlogProf
Healing the Healer: Patterico

The 'true' cost of health care reform; $2.6 trillion: AT (Moran)
Health Care Reform: Reich Overboard!: Kaus
Does Harry Reid have the votes?: AmPow

What the PelosiCare Bill Really Says: WSJ
The Vote: Maggie's Farm
What we know about the health care bill: Rubin

Feminists are funny: Protein Wisdom
Courageous!: Crittenden
Dems sold the party's reproductive soul: LegalIns

Nation

Louisiana AG to ACORN: Show Me the Money: BigGov
Fatal Correctness: AT
Major Jihadist hit the strip joints first: Surber

Who is Steve Max? Ward Churchill plus Rahm Emanuel: BigGov
Obama denigrates millions of American who disagree with his policies: STACLU
Bush or Obama: the Quiz: AT (Hoven)

Presidential Priorities: Ace
Degrees of Separation: Steyn
Dodd won’t face party politics in re-election bid: Norwich

Economy

Up against a wall of debt: Newsweak
Daily Outrage: Enough already: Examiner
France: Companies confronted by religious demands: IIE

Emotional Quotient: R&R
Our Commander in Chief Doesn't "Get" the Military: TigerHawk
But what about the children?: Mass Backwards

Media

Time: 'Secondary Trauma' may have driven Hasan to slaughter soldiers (while shouting 'Allah Akhbar'): GWP
The New York Times helped build the wall: AT (Cashill)
Paralysis by analysis: RSM

World

Most Smartest Foreign Affairs Columnist Evah Finally Realizes What Conservatives Have Said For Years: Ace
Obama: No military death shall go unexploited: Riehl
Venezuela prepares for war with Colombia: Prairie

'Get well soon, Major Nidal. We love you.': JWF
Jihad Denial Syndrome: Prairie
To our friends in Europe: we apologize for our president: BigGov

"Americans, you are hated here!": NoPasaran
"Russia has laid bare its real intentions with respect to Poland" : NoPasaran
Guess who sat our the Berlin Wall anniversary?: Jawa

Sci-Tech

Start-Up Nation: Maggie's Farm
Complete video of USS New York Commissioning Ceremony: Riehl

Cornucopia

Only by fire is Fascism finished: American Digest
America Take Can Pride In This Historic, Inspirational Disaster: IowaHawk (2008)

Sunday, November 08, 2009

PelosiCare: Reaction Roundup featuring Sarah Palin, Thomas Sowell, The Anchoress, Dr. Helen, Tom Jacobson, John Locke and Doctor Zero


The anger of the American public is only just beginning

Dr. Helen's message is inspiring:

You are never doomed until you are dead. There is always something that can be done. The anger of the American public is only just beginning. It is an energy that will be needed in the coming days, weeks and months to protest, stand up, debate, argue and get in the face of every government official, public figure and others who support a bill that leads us down The Road to Serfdom.

The people who gave us Fannie Mae now want to run health care

Sarah Palin is on fire:

We’ve got to hold on to hope, and we’ve got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country.

The same government leaders that got us into the mortgage business and the car business are now getting us into the health care business...

...Speaker Pelosi has broken her own promises of transparency to ram a health “care” bill through the House of Representatives just before midnight. Why did she push the 2,000 page bill this weekend? Was she perhaps afraid to give her peers and the constituents for whom she works the chance to actually read this monstrous bill carefully, if at all? Was she concerned that Americans might really digest the details of a bill that the Wall Street Journal has called “the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced”?

This out-of-control bureaucratic mess will be disastrous for our economy, our small businesses, and our personal liberty. It will slam businesses at a time when we are at double-digit unemployment rates – the highest we’ve seen in a quarter of a century. This massive new bureaucracy will cost us and our children money we don’t have. It will rob Americans of more of our freedom and further hamper the free market.

Make no mistake: we’re on course to have government commandeer one-sixth of our economy. The people who gave us Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now want to run our health care.

The Day the Blue Dogs Died

The John Locke Foundation calls it "The Day the Blue Dogs Died":

...more than half (28 out of 52) of the supposedly fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats voted FOR HR 3962 — the nearly 2,000-page bureaucratic monstrosity that, if implemented, will stifle the economic prospects of this generation, and many generations to come. I cringe when I think about what is to come for my stepdaughter’s small children, who will enter the work force in the next 15 to 20 years...

...To illustrate the clean break between what the Blue Dogs profess, and what the majority of them voted for last night, be sure to visit the coalition’s home page, which carries a national debt tally.

The shadow of the jackboot...

The Anchoress is realistic:

We’d best prepare ourselves for an America we could not have imagined even 9 years ago, and a world besieged by an ideology that seems to be heading to a victorious ascendancy.

Will government-run health care be better or worse?

Thomas Sowell's questions are piercing:

What is so wrong with the current medical system in the United States that we are being urged to rush headlong into a new government system that we are not even supposed to understand, because this legislation is to be rushed through Congress before even the Senators and Representatives have a chance to read it?

...Will a government-run medical system make these things better or worse? This very basic question seldom seems to get asked, much less answered.

Maybe this time...

Doctor Zero hits another grand-slam.

The Heritage Foundation’s estimate of $2.4 to $2.6 trillion over 10 years, beginning when the House bill transitions from front-loaded tax hikes to full Daffy Duck freak-out spending in 2014, is the most logical projection of its true costs I’ve seen.

Even this will likely prove to be an underestimation of the true long-term costs. No other Big Government program has ever stayed within an order of magnitude of the promises made when it was signed into law. Medicare originally cost about $3 billion, when it began in 1965, and was projected to cost about $12 billion by 1990, adjusted for inflation. The actual cost in 1990 was nearly ten times that figure, $107 billion. It was up to $440 billion by 2007. The architects of the program would have been run out of town on a rail, if these future costs had been known to the voters of 1965.

The difference between promised benefits and expected revenues for Social Security and Medicare amounts to about $107 trillion dollars, which Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute points out is double the annual Gross Domestic Product of the entire world. The most strident opponent of the New Deal would never have dreamed of predicting this level of cost overrun. Name any government program that has been around for more than five years, and the odds are good it costs at least triple what its opponents originally said it would cost.

In The End: No Public Option, No Abortions, No Pelosi, No Reid

William A. Jacobson has a hopeful analysis of a possible endgame.

Keep in mind, Nancy Pelosi cut a deal to get her health care bill through the House (by a mere 5 votes) by allowing a floor vote on the Stupak Amendment, which reiterates existing federal law banning federal funding for abortions, and takes that law several steps further by requiring any health plan which participates in the newly established exchanges to offer competing plans, one which covers abortion and one which does not. The Stupak Amendment makes clear that any plan offering abortion coverage must be self-funding, with no federal funds used directly or indirectly. As many left-wing bloggers are screaming, the Stupak Amendment guts Roe v. Wade in reality (but not in law) by creating a subclass of health insurance coverage which will cost more and be less available than alternatives without abortion coverage.

So Harry Reid needs to drop the public option to get a bill through the Senate. Nancy Pelosi needs to drop abortion coverage even for most private plans, to get a bill through the House.

The end result: If a bill is to pass both houses of Congress, it will have no public option and no abortion coverage.

The left-wing will take care of dropping Pelosi and Reid from their leadership positions. And if Obama were to sign such a bill, who knows whether he would be dropped in 2012.

From his lips to God's ears.


Eyewitness account of Fort Hood shooting (unconfirmed)


Papa B sends this in from one of his contacts.

Subject: What Happened

Since I don't know when I'll sleep (it's 4 am now) I'll write what happened (the abbreviated version.....the long one is already part of the investigation with more to come). I'll not write about any part of the investigation that I've learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation). Don't assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate. They're not. They'll improve with time. Only those of us who were there really know what went down. But as they collate our statements they'll get it right.

I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you're supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it's this big itchy growth on your shoulder). I am probably alive because I pulled a ---------- and entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building). The Medical SRP building is off to the side. Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building. As I'm walking up to it the gunshots start. Slow and methodical. But continuous. Two ambulatory wounded came out.

Then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood. Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to "RUN!". I kept motioning people fast. about 6-10 minutes later (the shooting continuous), two cops ran up. one male, one female. we pointed in the direction of the shots. they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away). then a lot more gunfire. a couple minutes later a balding man in ACU's came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically. He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us. I don't think he hit the couple other guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car.

I've been trained how to respond to gunfire...but with my own weapon. To have no weapon I don't know how to explain what that felt like. I hadn't run away and stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that. I wasn't thinking anything through. Please understand, there was no intention. I was just staying there because I didn't think about running. It never occurred to me that he might shoot me.

Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed. Then the female cop comes around the corner. He shoots her. (according to the news accounts she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn't see it. he didn't go down.) She goes down. He starts reloading. He's fiddling with his mags. Weirdly he hasn't dropped the one that was in his weapon. He's holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go).

I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I'm about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, "He's reloading, he's reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!) You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point. The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon further away. I sprint up to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well.

She's bleeding profusely out of her thigh. We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we've been trained (I hope we did it right...we didn't have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had). Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures. I suppose I'll be seeing those tomorrow. Then a
soldier came up and identified himself as a medic. I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on "fire"). I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy). I then went over to the shooter. He was unconscious.

A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being. He also had a revolver. I couldn't believe he was one of ours. I didn't want to believe it. Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn't just some specialist with mental issues. At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured. He said he did. I then went over the slaughter house. the medical SRP building. No human should ever have to see what that looked like. and I won't tell you. Just believe me. Please. there was nothing to be done there.

Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner. I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending. I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound. He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound. A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding. He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so. He was 42, from North Carolina, he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well. His children lived with him. He was divorced. I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life. He smiled.

a young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck. A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can't move him, he has a head wound. we finally sat tight. I went back to the slaughterhouse. they weren't letting anyone in there. not even medics. finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests.

someone said the TBI building was unsecured. They headed into there. All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired. People shouted there was a second shooter. a half hour later the SWAT showed up. there was no second shooter. that had been an impetuous cop apparently. but that confused things for a while. meanwhile I went back to the shooter. the female cop had been taken away. a medic was pumping plasma into the shooter. I'm not proud of this but I went up to her and said "this is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention...do them first".

she indicated everyone else living was attended to. I still hadn't seen any EMTs or ambulances. I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok. but that was all other people's blood. eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they started landing choppers. they took out the big African American guy and the shooter. I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP
building. Everyone else in my area was dead.

I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters. I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters). they needed a secure LZ. but other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didnt' see a lot of them for a while. I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters. there was one female soldier, I dont' know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere who was everywhere helping people. a couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple. one civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform. I guess she had seen the shooter up close. a lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there was another gunman out there. this Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say. not the Army I saw.

and then they kept me for a long time to come. oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag. in the middle of it all.

this is what I saw. it can't have been real. but this is my small corner of what happened.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those touched by this madness.


The Health Care Bill in Ninety Seconds

The key 'features' of of H.R. 3962:

Cost

The CBO now estimates health bill spending at $3 trillion over 10 years. Since the CBO historically underestimates expenses, assume massive new deficits for a country that can ill afford them.

Personal Requirements

You'll be required to buy a 'qualified' health plan. A family earning $102K a year will pay $1,700 a month in premium and out-of-pocket expenses. 'Willful' failure to buy a plan will result in a fine of up to $250,000 and 'imprisonment of up to five years'. Illegal immigrants are exempt from fines and imprisonment.

Business Requirements

Every business in America must provide a 'qualified plan' for employees and pay 72.5% of the cost. Failure to do so results in an 8% payroll tax.

Impact to Seniors

Medicare reimbursements will be slashed by $500 billion. Medicare Advantage plans will be slashed by 20%. In many cases, seniors will be forced to see nurse practitioners rather than doctors.

Payments for Community Organizers, Translators and Racial/Ethnic 'Balance'

The bill provides grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications. The bill also provides translators for patients who do not speak English and offers grants to schools serving students with "disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities."

Illegal Immigrants Covered, Abortion Funding Still Possible

Proof of citizenship requirements were gutted, so illegal aliens will be subsidized. The legislation also "doesn't close the door to using taxpayer funds" for abortions.

This bill truly is, as Michele Bachmann describes it, the "crown jewel of socialism". Its implementation will result in an economic catastrophe of the first order as certainly as the sun rises in the morning.


Hat tip: Frogg at ChronWatch. Linked by: Linkiest, Memeorandum, Curmudgeonly & Skeptical, Protein Wisdom and Family Security Matters. Thanks!

PelosiCare's price controls will bankrupt health insurers in one year


Buried deep inside the 2,200 pages of H.R. 3962 ("The Affordable Health Care for America Act", A.K.A. "PelosiCare") is a section that mandates the profit margins of health insurers.

‘SEC. 2714. ENSURING VALUE AND LOWER PREMIUMS.

‘(a) In General- Each health insurance issuer that offers health insurance coverage in the small or large group market shall provide that for any plan year in which the coverage has a medical loss ratio below a level specified by the Secretary (but not less than 85 percent), the issuer shall provide in a manner specified by the Secretary for rebates to enrollees of the amount by which the issuer’s medical loss ratio is less than the level so specified.

No company has ever survived with a loss ratio approaching 85%.

What exactly is a 'loss ratio'?


Put simply, it is the ratio of the claims paid by an insurance company to the premiums collected. Usually the ratio is calculated on a yearly basis. And, in the context of legislation, loss ratios are price controls.

A 2008 document by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance describes state experiences with mandated loss ratios.

While many states have implemented loss-ratio requirements, few have ever tried loss ratios at or above 70 percent... states hope[d] that by squeezing down the [insurers'] administrative costs... insurance [would] become more affordable and more accessible. However, the experience of other states... provides little hope for success.

An 85% loss ratio, as mandated by PelosiCare, would bankrupt insurers within a year. No mandated loss ratio has ever come close to 85%.

Why would a loss ratio that permits only a 15% administrative margin for insurers cause companies to fail? Consider that the administrative expenses include collecting premiums; processing and paying claims; monitoring patient care; staffing customer service functions; paying costs to state and federal regulators; paying sales agents; and general overhead (rent, power, heat, light); etc.

I repeat: No company has ever survived with a loss ratio approaching 85%.

A loss ratio of 85% will bankrupt health insurers in less than a year


If you work for a health insurer, if your business is a supplier to a health insurer, or if you are customer or simply a shareholder, say goodbye to the private health insurance industry.

So, no, you won't get to keep your private insurance plan. That's guaranteed under H.R. 3962.


Update: An employee of a health insurer clarifies, "Congress voted to fire me last night." (hat tip: Larwyn).

Update II: Liberty died last night... to thunderous applause.

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