Red State Blue City

Worst Legislation In History?

2011-08-12T19:06:00.003-04:00

Three weeks ago, Democrats in the Senate led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defeated the Cut Cap and Balance Act of 2011, calling it "some of the worst legislation in history". In a nutshell, the bill would Cut spending, Cap the budget at a certain percentage of the GDP, and required a Balanced budget amendment. Here is the rundown of the bill's key points.

Cut
Cuts total spending by $111 billion in FY 2012. The savings is divided as follows:
Reduce non-security discretionary spending below 2008 levels, which saves $76 billion.
$35 billion cut to non-veterans, non-Medicare, non-Social Security mandatory spending.
Defense budget at President’s level.

CAP
Total federal spending is scaled back based on the glide path for the fiscal years below:

2012, 22.5% of GDP.
2013, 21.7% of GDP.
2014, 20.8% of GDP.
2015, 20.2% of GDP.
2016, 20.2% of GDP.
2017, 20.0% of GDP.
2018, 19.7% of GDP.
2019, 19.9% of GDP.
2020, 19.9% of GDP.
2021, 19.9% of GDP.

BALANCE
Requires the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment before raising the nation’s debt limit.

The bill was killed on a partisan vote 51-46 with all 51 being Democrats. John Kerry and Kirsten Gillibrand did not vote, but I'll give you one guess how they would have. John McCain was the lone abstaining Republican.

Fast forward 3 weeks to today. The S&P has downgraded the United States debt credit rating from AAA to AA+, and Democrats in government are pissed. They send the S&P to an SEC hearing as to why they downgraded the credit rating. The question was finally asked what kind of budget cuts would have saved the AAA rating. Joydeep Mukherji answered with this;
“What S&P wanted to see from the deal was a stabilization in the debt-to-GDP ratio over time,” he said. “We wanted to see something other than a line that kept going up. That’s what we didn’t see.”

Ironic how "the worst legislation in history" actually contained EXACTLY what would have saved the United State's AAA rating.

Laughing All The Way To The Polls

2010-11-28T22:02:00.003-05:00

This is way too awesome. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was one of the main proponents of ObamaCare last year, donating millions to Democrats to push ObamaCare, and now in response to the health care bill passing has this to say;
“In addition, new federal health-care reform legislation requires plans with dependent coverage to expand that coverage up to age 26...our limited resources are already stretched as far as possible, and meeting this new requirement would be financially impossible.”

Swick's Black Ops Review

2010-11-17T17:49:00.002-05:00

I picked up my copy of Black Ops the afternoon it came out (didn't want to be a part of the midnight mess) and have logged about 20 hours or so of multi-player game play in the past week. That has given me a chance to get a pretty good feel for the pros and cons of the games So with that, here they are;

Pros
1) Environment Visuals - If you have not seen the game in 1080p, you should. On a large screen (I have a 42") the environment is gorgeous, and very photo realistic. One of the things I did not like about Modern Warfare 2 was the "cartoonish" look of the scenery. A good thing that Treyarch needs to run with every time.
2) Difficulty - It was SO frustrating to start off initially with the game restricted to core with only the M16, a shotgun or a mule-kick LMG. This was very similar to World at War and I like it! MW2 was a very good pick up and play game. The M4 started off as my primary weapon from level 1 and it never changed. With that, there was no learning curve. This game had plenty of it.
3) ONLY Gun Kills for Killstreaks - This makes care packages worth the time. No more Predator, Harrier, Chopper Gunner combos.
4) Scavenger doesn't pick up equipment - No more Double coverage for snipers/campers. A big plus.

Cons
1) SPAWN ENGINE! - Countless complaints have emerged about this one. This to me is a MAJOR downgrade from WaW and MW2. Did it suck that you might respawn across the map from the enemies because of an AFK/camper? Yes, but it is much better than spawning 3-5 times in the middle of multiple enemies, or getting in a Spawn loop
2) Particle Effects - For items like dust, moths, and sparks, these items look rushed. Dirt in the air looks like an over-zoomed pixel in MS Paint. It looks like the deadline was coming and this was totally overlooked.
3) Enemy Footsteps - I'm an old school Counter Strike player. Footsteps in that game were amazing. You could tell the location and number of enemies through a wall with good headphones. MW2 and WaW you could at least hear one coming, but were unsure where from. In Black Ops, enemy footsteps have been silenced so much that what is the point? This makes the Ghost perk VERY powerful. At least in WaW and MW2 you had Dead Silence/Camouflage and Cold-Blooded/Ninja Pro that took up 2 perks. Stealth became a class in itself.
4) Massive Maps - Like World at War the maps are massive with lots of places to hide/maneuver. Unfortunately this can cause game play to get ridiculously slow (esp. in Hardcore) and encourages camping. MW2 had Derail, Estate,and Wasteland. Black Ops has Array, Crisis, Grid, and Jungle. Radiation isn't on the list but I would consider it a major camping map.

So there you have it. Overall the game is good, and with some quick patching it can be great.

Even More Fuel To The Enhanced Pat-Down Debate

2010-11-11T21:07:00.002-05:00

Via Prison Planet;
"As AirSafe News reports, “The current system of background checks may have allowed those convicted of rape and other sexually based offenses to join TSA.”

Indeed, back in March it emerged that TSA worker Sean Shanahan, who was employed at Boston Logan International Airport to pat down passengers, had been charged with multiple child sex crimes targeting an underage girl.

Given the fact that the TSA’s new policy allows workers to fondle breasts and genitals, expect a flood of sex perverts and rapists to eagerly sign up."

Obama Administration Edited A Safety Report To Support Their Political Agenda?

2010-11-10T17:33:00.004-05:00

Say it isn't so!

"...The latest complaint from scientists comes in a report by the Interior
Department's inspector general, which concluded that the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the administration's six-month ban on new deep-water drilling. The AP obtained the report early Wednesday.

The inspector general said the editing changes by the White House resulted "in the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer reviewed." But it hadn't been. Outside scientists were asked only to review new safety measures for offshore drilling.
...After one of the reviewers complained, the Interior Department promptly issued an apology during a conference call, in a formal letter and during a personal meeting in June.

All seven experts asked to review the Interior Department's work expressed concern about the change made by the White House, saying that it differed in important ways from the draft they had approved."

Now I'm not ignorant enough to think this has never happened before, but this is the second time in just a few months that reports surfaced about some one in or appointed by the Obama Administration used their power to edit a report.

Other complaints have been about the handling of the failed blow-out preventor. It was cleaned by Transocean back in September, but no other effort has been taken. This is vital to prevent corrosion, which could weaken the strength of the device.

Mmmmm Sexy.

2010-11-07T22:51:00.003-05:00

Enhanced Pat Downs

2010-11-07T13:10:00.002-05:00

I was flipping through Drudge and stumbled across an article about TSA's new Enhanced Pat Downs. Short story is that if you are randomly selected for a pass through the millimeter wave imaging machine and decline it, instead of a palm away frisk, the TSA has enacted what they call "Enhanced Pat Downs."

They are a palm forward once over of all areas of the body...ALL areas. For a woman wearing a skirt this includes a up-skirt run up the inside of both legs, and a bump in another area. For guys, the same. As far as I can tell right now there are no restrictions for same sex pat-downs and there are no limitations to the minimum age. I'm not even sure if you can request a different person to perform the pat-down.

I can sense lawsuits coming in the future for this and personally I am going to write my representative about the policy. Although I am ok with the scanner and would have one taken, I do feel this goes a bit too far.

Yes, I Can't Wait

2010-11-06T12:21:00.000-04:00

Black Ops Countdown by: http://lazygamer247.com

It's Been A Little While

2010-11-06T10:34:00.002-04:00

In the past couple years, as you saw I graduated, got a job, and got married. I haven't really blogged in the past year, mostly because I got sick of the crap being shoved down our throats by the Obama Administration and Dems in the Capitol Building.

But now we have our chance. But I have to disagree with conservatives who expect republicans to magically repeal ObamaCare. In order to do this, we need a little bit of legislation and a LOT of timing.

Part of the reason that we were able to gain this much ground was timing. The population was shown how Democrats don't care about what the country thinks with the passing of ObamaCare even though it was highly opposed and 60% of the country immediately wanted it repealed. Time allowed the fervor over that to subside a little bit. The Approval index soared to over 20 points, but then fell back to around 12 percent in September. The the question came back up about what to do about the tax rates instated by former President Bush. Democrats at first were planning on reverting all rates to the previous rates.

Needless to say, the electorate spoke, and suddenly it is back to the "promise" of "We're only going to soak the rich," from 2008. That wasn't enough and Republicans completely flipped the house and won 6 senate seats. But unfortunately that's not going to be enough to make massive changes quickly. The biggest chance are the 2012 elections where 21 Democrat seats are coming for reelection in areas where they are not well secured, compared to 19 this year that were in heavily liberal areas (East and West Coasts).

What we need is another case of good timing in September and October of 2012. Here's what we should do. I am not opposed to the idea of reverting the tax rates for income above $250,000 per year, under the strict stipulation that ALL budgets must be at or below their 2009 levels. If we are going to gain $700 Billion in tax income, it should ONLY go to paying down the principle on the national debt, not another stimulus. The other rates should extend for 2 more years.

The next and biggest thing that Republicans need to do is to do nothing on ObamaCare...for now. Very publicly try to make small changes to ObamaCare to remind people you are still looking out for them. But right away, very publicly announce that you will propose a bill in July of 2012 for a full repeal of ObamaCare. Put the democrats against the wall at the time where it hurts them the most. Make them choose their agenda, or their job...again.

This will put the reminder in people's minds about who Democrats really care about right before election time, and it will be before the major changes take affect.

A Little Update

2010-01-17T22:23:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged much recently. Partly because of work, and partly from going back to school for my M.B.A.

But one thing has kept me away more than any other...

I GOT MARRIED!

Boise Calls For High Caliber Opponent

2009-11-07T21:06:00.003-05:00

Yahoo has an article about how Boise State is looking for a high caliber opponent to face in the 2011 season to justify their current 9-0 record. Of course they are up in arms because they have 9 weeks still open.

Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier complains about how schools who gripe about Boise's unbelievably weak schedule are not signing up in groves to challenge them.

What Gene doesn't take into account is that those schools already have full schedules for the 2011 season. Florida, Texas, Southern Cal, and others all have full schedules even through 2012. In the SEC, Alabama and LSU would be able to challenge Boise, but only have a few days available. Other conferences are the same way.

The fact is that most schools are already booked up for the next 2, 3, sometimes 4 and 5 years. But that fact is ignored, and Boise gets to continue to play the victim of an unfair BCS system, and continue to defeat everyone else in the walk-over WAC conference (WAC teams are 17-18 out of conference, SEC teams are 33-6, Big 12 are 35-13, and PAC 10 are 20-9) without facing anyone of any difficulty outside of their conference.

Shut-up Boise, I hope you continue to win, Florida and Bama play undefeated in the SEC title, and the others above Boise fall out. I want to see Boise get crushed, and if this scenario plays out, I urge whichever team plays Boise to never let up.

Play first string all game, and settle for nothing less than 70 points.

Knee Jerk Much?

2009-10-28T18:34:00.002-04:00

A big face palm for HotAir today with the knee jerk reaction to Shepard Smith's pretty blatant sarcasm when "apologizing" for not being fair and balanced.

Shep gets a little smirk when he says the line and makes me think that it was a jab at fairness doctrine advocates.

In the clip, Shep asks when the Democrat candidate will be interviewed, to which she responds that he had ignored multiple requests. Even a longer clip done by Townhall.com has a pretty significant cut in it. I would like to see if the Fairness Doctrine was mentioned in the interview.

TTU Highlights MIT Department and Theta Tau Member

2009-10-17T11:37:00.003-04:00

It's always good to read breaking articles about your Alma Mater. In this case, even though I graduated in Mechanical Engineering, many of my Theta Tau brothers were in the MIT (Manufacturing and Industrial Technology) department. Recently, they have been highlighted in the effort to take used canola oil from the cafeteria and turn it into biofuel.
Now, granted I'm not one who believes that humans are the primary cause of "Climate change" (I strongly believe the sun is the main instigator in that), but the process of turning used oil into biofuel is just cool!

Another person highlighted is member, and girlfriend to another Theta Tau member, Azurae Johnson. Azurae is a chemical engineering major who is researching nanocomposites at TTU.

How awesome is that? GO TECH!

Fail And A HALF!!!

2009-10-01T18:57:00.001-04:00

Looks like the game plan of the Dems with a majority in the House, Senate and the presidency...BUT THEY STILL CAN'T GET ANYTHING USEFUL DONE!!!

Cash For Clunkers Delivers On Predicted Unintended Consequences

2009-09-22T12:55:00.002-04:00

Although it increased temporary demand in the short term, concerns for the C4C plan arose as early or even before the program was ended.
But, the government offered free money to entice people to buy a new car. What could go wrong?

A lot actually.

By artificially increasing the demand now, this dramatically decreased future demand. Another unfortunate consequence is based on government inefficiencies. There was such a large influx of requests for the government money, that they could not keep up. This forced dealers to sell cars at a loss, but promised them money after. This would not be a problem if the demand was sustained. Because the demand has dropped off, the dealers still have that loss, but now are not selling enough cars at full price to stay afloat.

On top of that the timing for C4C was picked poorly. Legislators were so concerned with getting a higher approval rating that they did not take the timing of the plan into account either. The program was implemented in July, and was stopped in late August. The new model year begins typically in September. Unfortunately the increase in demand was right before the new model year began when prices and profits would be higher.

Cash for Clunkers turned out to be a short term popularity boost for politicians, but it came with a long term cost for Auto manufactures and dealers.

Boo-Hoo EU

2009-09-22T11:23:00.003-04:00

The European Union has turned their Enviro-guns on the United States effectively as THE reason they believe that Global Warming has not been controlled.

“So far, we thought the basic problem was the Chinese and the Indians. But now I think the problem appears to lie most clearly with the US,” a European Commission official said.

Forget the fact that the United States has only increased their emissions by 0.7% while China has increased (and will continue to increase their emissions) by 2.6% and are not required by the Kyoto Treaty to reduce their emissions AT ALL...

The United States is THE cause for Global Warming!

China is projected to increase their emissions annually and by 2030 are projected to account for 34% of global carbon emissions. Right now they are at 21.5%. Based on the projection that the global CO2 emissions in 2030 will be 40.1 Billion Tons/yr, that is an increase from 6.1 Billion tons per year to 11.6 Billion Tons per year in China ALONE. That is a 90% increase over 25 years. The United States is projected to increase annually at 0.5% per year. In total that gives the United States a total increase in carbon emissions of 13.3% over the next 25 years, or 6.5 Billion Tons in 2030.

Sounds like the E.U. needs to point those guns someplace else.

TROJANS LOSE!!! TROJANS LOSE!!!

2009-09-19T18:54:00.003-04:00

Major kudos to the Washington Huskies for putting the always over-rated USC Trojans in their place.

And the Cardinals beat the suckies again (10-5 for season)! If only Tennessee had upset Florida!

Heh...

2009-08-31T21:19:00.003-04:00

With a 10 game lead in the NL Central and a month left to go, the Cardinals have shown that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.

CUBS
Completely
Useless
By
September

(They're just ahead of the curve this year)

Let's Get Rid Of The Rich?...

2009-08-29T21:06:00.002-04:00

Yeah...because it's not like they pay taxes or anything.

It was just mentioned to me by our esteemed speaker, “Did anyone say anything about the Cuban health system?”

And lemme tell ya, before you say “Oh, it’s a commu–”, you need to go down there and see what Fidel Castro put in place. And I want you to know, now, you can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met. [APPLAUSE]

And you know, the Cuban revolution that kicked out the wealthy, Che Guevara did that, and then, after they took over, they went out among the population to find someone who could lead this new nation, and they found…well, just leave it there (laughs), an attorney by the name of Fidel Castro…

And by the way, the Cuban system is actually appalling.

ANL Austrailia Packing Heat

2009-08-29T11:42:00.002-04:00

Even though the manifest stated that the machine was carrying machinery used to drill for oil, the actual cargo packed a little more punch; RPG's and other small arms headed for Iran.

What lies beneath the surface of this incident is to be determined. Why is Iran building up these arms, or are they simply acting as a middle man for some one else?

Senator Ted Kennedy, Deat At 77

2009-08-26T08:19:00.002-04:00

Despite the many ideological differences between myself and the now late senator, it was a tragic day when it was announced he had brain cancer, and today is a tragic day to hear that it has ended his life.

Rest In Peace senator.

Obama Advisors Profiting From Policies? NEVER!!!

2009-08-19T13:27:00.002-04:00

Unless your name is David Axelrod

Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising for Barack Obama’s
White House run last year have profited from his top priority as president by
taking on his push for health-care overhaul.
One is AKPD Message and Media,
the Chicago-based firm headed by David Axelrod until he left last Dec. 31 to
serve as a senior adviser to the president. Axelrod was Obama’s top campaign
strategist and is now helping sell the health-care plan. The other firm is
Washington-based GMMB Campaign Group, where partner Jim Margolis was also an
Obama strategist.
This year, AKPD and GMMB received $12 million in
advertising business from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the
Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known
as PhRMA, that is seeking to build support for a health-care overhaul, said the
coalition’s spokesman, Jeremy Van Ess. …
Axelrod was president and sole
shareholder of AKPD from 1985 until he sold his interest after Obama’s victory,
government records show. The firm owes Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay
in installments beginning Dec. 31. Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there. He
didn’t return a phone call. The firm’s Web site continues to feature David
Axelrod’s work on the Obama campaign.

Big whoop right? David left the company after being brought onto Team Obama. One word, Halliburton.

Dick Cheney not only left Halliburton before entering the White House, but the contracts signed were also competing bids with other companies, and the funds gained were placed in a separate escrow.

The contracts with AKPD Message and Media were neither placed in a separate escrow, nor were they even competed against.

Extreme Opinions In Times Of London Comments

2009-08-19T12:16:00.005-04:00

I found this in the comment section of ToL's article of the recent bombings in Baghdad (Any emphasis mine);

Shame on the US and UK for leaving Iraq in such a mess. Bush and Blair should have been hanged not Saddam Hussain. Saddam was ruthless, but atleast kept Iraq together and gave his people a better quality of life. The invasion of Iraq gave a god sent opportunity for Al Qaeda to spread its tentacles. Saddam unlike the US propaganda against him was anti-Al Qaeda (the blind right wingers in this forum from the US will disagree). This mess will take a long time to clear and the Iraqis will pay with thier blood for the folly of the Western powers.

Yes, because we left Iraq in such a bad place...Would you have rather the US and British troops had left in early 2007 when Democrats started pressuring President Bush to pull out?

And the U.S. allied with Al-Qaeda? Seriously? We are allies with an organization that attacked the same building twice, a U.S. Embassy, multiple U.S. Consulates, and a U.S. naval vessal? (Source: Icasualties.org)

And in response to another comment earlier that described hearing "glee in the Americans voices" when things of this nature happen; What glee? Does it sound like I'm happy when I yell;

"WE WARNED YOU ABOUT THIS HAPPENING! WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO US?"

Flying Solo On ObamaCare

2009-08-19T09:06:00.004-04:00

Not only do the Democrats not care what Republicans have to say about issues, they also are showing that they don't care what the American people have to say about issues.

The article from Mercury News makes it seem as though Democrats have actually tried to listen to what Republicans have said, and that the public opinion is in favor of the Health Care Bill.

The truth is just the opposite. With 53% of the country flat out opposing the bill, and 54% of the country saying that doing nothing is better than passing ObamaCare, there goes public opinion. As for the Republicans, they are not being listened to either. Democrats locked conservatives out of the debate on the stimulus bill, have made plans to eliminate the fairness rules in the "Contract with America," and have blamed Republicans for not passing ObamaCare, despite having majorities in both houses and the White House.

The Democrats have no interest in hearing any form of opposing views, whether from the Republicans or from the people who actually put them in power. They have gotten tunnel vision and are sprinting towards the light. Unfortunately that light is not the end of the tunnel...

Democrat Rep. #3 Admits True End-Goal Of ObamaCare

2009-08-18T13:58:00.003-04:00

Barney Frank

Jan Schakowsky

Now, add Anthony Weiner to the list.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

H/T: HotAir

My Townhall Question For Obama

2009-08-18T10:03:00.002-04:00

This is how I would word it exactly;
"Mr. President, while campaigning for the Public Plan there have been 3 key talking points that you have made. 1) That the plan will NOT add to the deficit. 2) That the plan will NOT be subsidized by the taxpayers. And last, 3) That there will NOT be health care rationing. With previous government ventures into health care such as MediCare and TennCare costing FAR more than their projected cost, how exactly do you plan on keeping all 3 of those promises?
How will you not add to the deficit and not subsidize the program, without rationing health care?
How will you not ration health care and not add to the deficit without using tax payer dollars to make up for a loss?
And how will you not ration health care and not use tax payer dollars to subsidize a shortfall without adding to the budget deficit?"

The People Have Spoken

2009-08-16T15:08:00.003-04:00

And in one loud voice, they have said...."Waterloo."

Stay Classy Cubs Fans

2009-08-14T11:47:00.005-04:00

After officially having the fork stuck in them after the 4th inning, Cubs fans, angered at the 12-2 score the Philly's put up by the 5th inning, decided to douse Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino with a beer. The Cubs lost 12-5, then lost again 6-1 continuing their skid to 5 games, with hopefully 5 more to come as they start a series against the Pirates

So, if you know the tool-bag pictured on the left, please, feel free to kick his arse...If for nothing else other than the fact he is a Cubs fan.

After all Cubbies, it's not Victorino's fault your team is again flirting with .500, they just suck.

"I Feel Global Warming When I Fly"

2009-08-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

"Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes." - Senator Debbie Stabenow

Has anyone else woken up to the fact that it is Mid-August, and there has not been a single named storm in the Atlantic this year? Now granted 2005 was a bad year, but please Debbie, name me one storm since 2005 that has made landfall on the United States as a Catagory 3 hurricane...
Oh, there weren't any. 2006 did not have any hurricanes hit the states. 2007 had Humberto as the only Hurricane to hit, and it was a Category 1. 2008 had multiple hurricanes (Bertha, Gustav, Ike, Omar, and Paloma) but Bertha, Omar and Paloma didn't hit the states, and Gustav and Ike were both Category 2's when they landed in Texas.

Ironically, the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Hurricane seasons did about as much damage as the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Miami Hurricanes.

Facebook Community Says No To ObamaCare

2009-08-11T22:25:00.002-04:00

Out of over 693,000 people who have voted so far, 74.2% of them (514,473) have said that they do not want government health care.

America is speaking, but Democrats aren't listening.

Thanks For The Help Obama!

2009-08-11T17:11:00.002-04:00

In the Health Care debate, one huge point is that Private companies are run better than government operated ones, and that ObamaCare will be nothing different.

Leave it to our fearless leader to provide us with this lovely piece of Prime Red Meat.

A little more and Allah will be sold.

Finally Asking The Right Questions

2009-08-10T12:22:00.004-04:00

Although questions about the poor performance of the European style of medical treatment, the taxes needed to cover ObamaCare, and all of those are very good questions, there has been one question which has eluded Town Hall questioners...

Until now.

CONSTITUENT: My question to you, Congresswoman Tsongas, is that if this is such a great plan, why did you opt out of it when you took the vote? [loud applause, standing ovation]

TSONGAS: People often say why don’t the American people have what those of us in Congress have. [Audience erupts] Let me explain what I have. Let me explain what I have. What I have is a tremendous array — you know, last year when I went to a discussion — what I have is a tremendous array of choices. And I made a choice based on what I was willing to pay for and what made sense in terms of coverage for me and my family. [Audience shouts out: "We want choice! We want choice!] This is essentially what we are creating for the American people. We are creating greater choice.

[Smattering of applause overwhelmed by boos.]

Ed Morrissey sums it up at the end very well saying;

"This axiom applies: Beware the cook who won’t eat his own food. Perhaps the best way to make that clear to Tsongas is to get her out of Congress and make sure she loses that Congressional coverage as fast as possible."

(D)o as I say, not as I do.

How Do These Statements Work?

2009-08-09T14:02:00.004-04:00

First, a caller to Sean Hannity's radio show was speaking in support of the ObamaCare Bill being pushed through the legislative process. This is a summary of the conversation;

The caller talks to Sean about how this will give better coverage to Americans, and also include 47 Million Americans (While leaving 37 Million others uninsured). Sean counters asking the man to name one government run program that has been run well. Then Sean stops and says, "Well, I can think of one. The Military. The government does an excellent job taking care of the men and women in the military." The caller then responds with "Well, what about the V.A.? It's terrible"

Think about that statement for a little bit.

Done thinking? No? OK, take a minute more.

So Government Health care = Good. But Veteran's Health Care provided by the government is bad?

The next comes from this video, with a little back story from Democrat Talking Points. The past couple weeks, not only have the (D)'s gone to attacking protesters, but also claiming that Health Insurance Executives should be seen as villains. When Jared Polis was asked questions about ObamaCare, the cameras rolled, and caught the tail end of this conversation at 1:42...
Woman 1 (Pro-ObamaCare): "...Turn their company around by denying thousands of people."
Woman 2(Anti-ObamaCare): "And that's how they make their money? Is by denying coverage?"
Pro-ObamaCare protesters all agree.

This one may take a little longer so I'll give you 2 minutes.

Got it? If not here's a hint. How can Health Insurance companies be making money from people who are not paying premiums?

The way that insurance companies make money is that they take the premiums you pay and invest them under the idea that the amount they can make on the interest from your premiums will be more than the cost of your coverage. If your premiums to the health care industry over the course of 10, 15, 20 years isn't more than the cost of the coverage, is it really worth you paying the premiums to begin with? Why not find a way to finance the costs of the services?

Logic. ObamaCare has not.

Conservative Brawler Sums It All Up

2009-08-09T10:04:00.003-04:00

This is exactly my thoughts summed up into one long post capped with this phrase,

"I guess I'm supposed to feel good that I was right about all of these things; but really... I just hate to say I told ya so. I would have rather been dead wrong."

With all this foresight it's a shame we're just the "party of idiots."

Arrogant Little.....

2009-08-09T09:05:00.004-04:00

Charles M. Blow Speaking about Republicans in his NY Times Op-Ed,

"Let’s face it: This is no party of Einsteins. Really, it isn’t. A Pew poll last month found that only 6 percent of scientists said that they were Republicans."

You know what, for people to make blanket statements like this really irritates me. I'd like to remind Mr. Blow about my degree in Mechanical Engineering. A little bit of humility might come if he tried to solve some Differential Equations, Heat Transfer, Circuit Analysis, or Integral Calculus.

Didn't teach you that for your Mass Communications degree did they?

If you're going to talk the talk, make sure you can walk first.

Happy 48th, Mr. President

2009-08-05T12:13:00.002-04:00

I may not agree with the man, but today, Happy Birthday, Sir.

Current Reactions To The Un-Support

2009-08-04T23:29:00.002-04:00

Nothing says "What have we gotten into" better than Tim Bishop's reaction to getting a verbal bitch slap from a Veteran who puts him in his place after saying that the V.A. is Efficient and Effective without ever actually going to a V.A. Hospital.

Watch it. It's amazing

Some Statistics I Heard About Today

2009-08-04T23:05:00.003-04:00

As your Congressional and Senatorial representatives return home to hear from their constituents, be sure to ask them about these numbers from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) (Written by Scott Atlas, M.D., Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a professor at Stanford University Hospital, originally published Feb. 18,2009 in the Washington Times);

Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.

Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.

Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.

Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:

* Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
* Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
* More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
* Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).

Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report "excellent" health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as "fair or poor."

Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long - sometimes more than a year - to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.

Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either "fundamental change" or "complete rebuilding."

Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the "health care system," more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).

Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.

Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.

And Democrats want to move towards this style of ineffective government controlled health care?

Breast Cancer is something that is a very hot topic for me. It has touched me in many aspects between my family, and those around me. Seeing that the United Kingdom has a mortality rate that is ALMOST DOUBLE the rate here in the U.S. Disgusts me. And for Prostate Cancer, it's 6 times higher than the United States in the UK, and 4.5 times higher in Norway.

Tell your Representative and Senator that a Yes vote on ObamaCare is a trip to the Unemployment line.

So Much For The 95% Promise

2009-08-02T10:06:00.002-04:00

Obama claimed during his campaign that he would decrease taxes for everyone making under $250,000. There was even a nifty chart showing it.

The NY Post points out that top income earners in New York could be facing a 57% tax burden. They've got an interesting graphic of their own. But New York isn't the only state that will have this. According to the Heritage Foundation Oregon, Hawaii, New Jersey, and California would be included in the 57%+ tax rate (47% marginal fed tax plus state taxes).

And even with all this on the wealthiest Americans, it's not going to cover the ObamaCare bill. After they realize it still isn't enough what are they going to do? They have two options. They could try raising the taxes on the wealthy even more. But how much is too much? We've already seen one prominent Conservative pack up and leave due to the tax burden of New York.

If you've played one of the recent Sim City games, you know that the tax rates in your city can be used to determine the demographics of your city. Tax one group too much, and they leave for another city. Lower taxes and they flock to your city.

As for the other option, the NYT has an article that you have to read all the way to the last line in order to get to the real point of the story;

“There is no way we can pay for health care and the rest of the Obama agenda, plus get our long-term deficits under control, simply by raising taxes on the wealthy,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, a former Clinton administration budget official. “The middle class is going to have to contribute as well.”

Which one are the Dems going to do? Tax the rich out of the country, or start telling the middle class "it's your turn?"

My guess, both. In that order.

I'm Gonna Flat Out Say, No.

2009-07-30T07:04:00.002-04:00

Do I believe that Barack Obama is misguided in his political beliefs? Yes. Do I think the legislation he is trying to pass will severely damage the country? Yes.

Do I think he's the Anti-Christ?

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllll No.

Somebody needs to go smack who ever made that movie.

Democrats - "Read Our Lips...ALL NEW TAXES"

2009-07-28T09:05:00.003-04:00

First a tax on tobacco products, then a tax on Carbon Emissions, then a "You make too much" tax, and now this...

A 10% tax on Plastic Surgery.

Democrat Max Baucus called the ideas to help pay for the huge costs of ObamaCare, "interesting," "creative," and "kind of fun" ideas.

Interestingly, 86% of Plastic Surgery patients are women, and many of them are in households making under $100k, saving for years to have treatments done.

Included on the list of taxed surgeries, Liposuction, Lip enhancement, Nose jobs, Teeth Whitening, Botox, Hair implants, and I'm almost certain of the new big thing, Laser hair removal.

Is America Waking Up?

2009-07-28T07:00:00.002-04:00

Ben Stein has an good piece about why Democrats are trying to recklessly shove ObamaCare through the House and the Senate, even though they are finding major resistance from their own party.

CNN Realizes "Hey, ObamaCare Isn't That Great"

2009-07-26T13:08:00.003-04:00

Now here is an amazing realization. The opening portion for CNN Money's article about the 5 key freedoms you'll lose with ObamaCare (Emphasis mine);

A close reading of the two main bills, one backed by Democrats in the House and the other issued by Sen. Edward Kennedy's Health committee, contradict the President's assurances. To be sure, it isn't easy to comb through their 2,000 pages of tortured legal language. But page by page, the bills reveal a web of restrictions, fines, and mandates that would radically change your health-care coverage.

If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your company's Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests -- you may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under the rules proposed in the two bills that herald a health-care revolution.

In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and highly subsidized coverage -- including a lot of benefits people would never pay for with their own money -- but deliver it through a highly restrictive, HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can't have. It's a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.

ObamaCare is the epitome of a government run program. Make everything as equal as possible in as many aspects as possible. Charge the same for everyone, use the same treatment for every case of Disease X, use the same physician for everyone, etc... And as they state it is a revolution in the wrong direction

On top of that, Obama and Democrats continue to make the claim that you'll be able to keep your private coverage for as long as you want. Currently there are some 160 Million Americans who currently get their insurance through the company they work for. Their employer (Unless self insured) get their insurance through a private insurance company. That private insurance company is in business to make a profit. There is a specific amount of money that the HAVE to charge in order to break even.

Insert "Public Plan" which will likely be subsidized by the government. This means that they can charge LESS than the break even point, by A LOT (25-40% lower), but because it is subsidized, what ever money it loses, gets made up through either higher taxes or more than likely the selling of U.S. Treasuries (Adding more to the national debt).

Even self insured companies are going to see that the people who work for them can pay less and get the same coverage with the Public Plan, and will stop insuring their employees, and switch them over to the Public Plan.

My question to Dems and Obama is, "How do you expect private companies to compete against a plan that is allowed to perform at a loss? Do you truly believe that the Public Plan will not eliminate Private Insurance without the same subsidies that the Public Plan is covered under, and will you not include those same subsidies to the Private Plans in order to level the playing field?"

If CNN even begins to jump ship on this plan, there is definitely something wrong with it. Now if MSNBC comes out and states "This thing is garbage," then I think I'll have to start betting on the Snowball.

Obama Disapproval Rating Goes Up

2009-07-26T11:51:00.002-04:00

Obama may still hold 49% of the country saying they at least somewhat approve, but of the 50% that disapprove, 4 out of every 5 of them strongly disapprove. Only 29% strongly approve of his performance, giving an Approval Index of -11% for the strong feeling, and a -1% overall.

So, it has reached the point where a huge majority of Americans either think "Well, he's not bad" or they think "This guy is horrible."

Just think about that for a minute. If 10% more people switch to the Strongly Disapprove side, then the majority of Americans will begin to have the same opinion of Obama as they did for Bush; "Anyone but this guy!" And in less than a year after taking office.

The Sneaky Pain of ObamaCare

2009-07-25T09:19:00.004-04:00

Aside from "Just taking pain pills"there are hidden pains that you might want to buy a bottle of Aleve for if you are in these groups.

Young People
Small Business Owners
People with HSA's
People Enrolled in Medicare Advantage

The Young;

If the government mandates that everyone must have health insurance, healthy young people will have to buy policies that don’t reflect the low risk they have of getting sick. The House and Senate bills do let insurers set premiums based on age, but only up to a 2-to-1 ratio, versus a real-world ratio of 5 to 1. This means lower prices for older (and wealthier) folks, but high prices for the young. “They’ll have sticker shock,” says Rep. Paul Ryan, ranking Republican on the Budget Committee.

Small Businesses;

Employers who don’t provide coverage will have to pay a tax up to 8% of their payroll. Yet those who do provide coverage also have to pay the tax—if the law says their coverage is not “adequate.” Amazingly, even if a small business provides adequate insurance but its employees choose coverage in another plan offered through the government, the employer still must pay.

HSA Owners;

Eight million Americans, according to the Treasury Department, are covered by plans with low-cost premiums and high deductibles that are designed for large, unexpected medical costs. Money is also set aside in a savings account to cover the deductibles, and whatever isn’t spent in one year can build up tax-free. Nearly a third of new HSA users, according to Treasury figures, previously had no insurance or bought coverage on their own.

Medicare Advantage Participants;
To summarize, M.A. provides a higher standard of medical coverage than the standard Medicare, something that will vanish once the government decides which treatment option is best for each condition. The selection of prescription drugs will be reduced, and other things. Obama even described it as a prime example of where to cut costs in an interview with the Washington Post.

RCP Uses TennCare As A Model Of How Not To Run Health Care

2009-07-22T10:54:00.003-04:00

I have referenced the massive beast that is TennCare on GOPAC before, and now my parent's Congressional Rep. Marsha Blackburn (who I endorsed as my pick for the first female President) has posted about the topic over at the very visible RealClearPolitcs.

Universal Health Care was tried in Tennessee, and it failed...Miserably.

Questions Americans Need To Ask Obama And Democrats

2009-07-22T10:28:00.003-04:00

With a major Presidential Press Conference coming up, Keith Hennessey has compiled an excellent list of questions that need to be asked of Democrats and definitely of the President and his cabinet who can't decide whether the economy is doing well or doing bad.

A few Examples...
Economy;

"The U.S. economy has lost 2.64 million jobs since you took office. The
unemployment rate is 9.5% and rising. The good scenario is one in which the
unemployment rate begins to decline early next year. The Vice President said
your Administration misread the economy. You said you had incomplete information
when proposing the stimulus. Yet you have said you would not change anything
about the stimulus if you could. If the facts have changed, why doesn’t it make
sense to change your policy?"

"You proposed spending money from the TARP
to prevent foreclosures, help small businesses, and to buy toxic assets from
banks. In June CBO said they had found no evidence that any money has been spent
for any of these programs. How many foreclosures have been prevented, how many
small businesses have received loans from, and how many toxic assets have been
purchased?"

Health Care;

"You have insisted that health care reform “bend the cost curve down.” CBO
Director Elmendorf says the bills being debated would instead raise the health
care cost curve and would increase long-term budget deficits. Will you continue
to insist that health care reform not increase the deficit?"

"In a
February 2008 debate with then-Senator Clinton you opposed an individual mandate
to buy health insurance. In that debate you said, “In some cases, there are
people who are paying fines and still can’t afford it, so now they’re worse off
than they were. They don’t have health insurance and they’re paying a fine. In
order for you to force people to get health insurance, you’ve got to have a very
harsh penalty.” Now you are supporting a bill that would force people to buy
health insurance, and that CBO says would still result in eight million people
not having health insurance and paying higher taxes. How do you explain to those
eight million uninsured people why you now support the mandate and “very harsh
penalty” they would have to face, and which you opposed during the campaign?"

"Your party controls the White House, has a 38+ seat margin in the
House, and has the 60 Senate seats needed to overcome any filibuster. How can
Republicans be holding up health care reform?"

Energy and Climate Change;

"The Indian government told Secretary Clinton that India will not agree to limit
its carbon emissions. The Chinese have sent the same signal. Are you willing to
sign a new climate agreement that does not contain binding commitments by China
or India to reduce or slow the growth of their emissions?"

"Does it make
sense for the U.S. to impose higher energy costs on American workers and
manufacturers if the two largest developing economies are unwilling to slow
their emissions growth? Won’t that just disadvantage American workers with
little reduction in future global temperatures?"

"Do you support the
expansion of nuclear power in the U.S.? If so, what are you doing to encourage
it? And where are you going to store the nuclear waste, given the strong
opposition of Senate Majority Leader Reid to storing it in Nevada’s Yucca
Mountain?"

"The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Finance
Committee have called for you to submit to Congress for their approval the
signed Free Trade Agreements with U.S. allies Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
Why have you not submitted them to Congress? When will you do so?"

In total there are 20 questions and they hit the nail right on the head.

My question would be this;
Who prepares your taxes, and why? If you're philosophy is that it is the duty of the wealthy to pay more in taxes, why would you not fill out the standard 1040EZ, and would you be willing to only take standard deductions while in a public office?

Will the White House Press Corps ask anything remotely this tough? Doubtful, but with the rose colored glasses beginning to come off, there could be some interesting ones.

H/T: Instapundit

No Buyers Remorse?

2009-07-21T10:41:00.003-04:00

Rasmussen has a daily tracking of not only Obama's approval rating, but also tracks things like who they trust on certain issues.

Looking at the topics in terms of (%Trust in Dems - %Trust in GOP) with the rank in importance as their number
3) Health Care +4%
8) Education +3%

OK, so they have two. Let's dig deeper;
1) Economy -5%
2) Ethics/Corruption -1%
4) National Security -9%
5) Social Security -5%
6) Taxes -16%
7) Immigration -6%
9) Abortion -7%
10) War in Iraq -4%

Out of the top 10 issues for the country, America trusts the GOP more than Democrats on 8 of 10 issues.

Something else that should emphasize that the people elected politicians that don't give a rat's a$$ about them? These are in (Help - Hurt)%
Tax increases help or hurt economy? -31%
Tax cuts help or hurt economy? +31%
Increases in Gov't spending help or hurt economy? -23%
Decreases in Gov't spending help or hurt economy? +19%

So, America thinks that decreasing taxes and decreasing government spending are the best way to help the economy. Think about the results of these polls, and the plans of Democrats.

Cap and Trade (Tax on Carbon emissions)
Income Surtax
Tobacco Tax Increase
Eliminating Social Security Contribution limit (but keeping benefits same)
Tax on Executive Bonuses
Government run health care
Government run banks/financial institutes
Government run Auto Makers

The only thing I have to say is read the book Fleeced by Dick Morris. The book was published in June 2008 before the election, and the predictions are eerily similar.

To those who got caught up in the Hope n' Change bliss...Told you so.

The Boss Is Down!

2009-07-21T09:25:00.002-04:00

Malkin's site and HotAir are both blank right now. No clue why.

And they're back up.

Today, 40 Years Ago

2009-07-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

July 20, 1969

America was glued to their televisions and any news cast they could find as live streams of the Apollo 11 space craft touched down on the surface of the Moon.

On the 40th anniversary of that day, I take a moment to step back and pay tribute to a man who worked on the Mercury and Gemini Space Programs, and I believe worked for a time on the Apollo Program.

This man has been an influence on me my entire life, and those influences will continue to guide and inspire me for the rest of my life.

That man is my Grandfather, Harold Lankford.

Love you Granddad, and thank you to all the people who have contributed to the exploration of space.

"High Speed" My....

2009-07-20T21:46:00.005-04:00

So, looking at my COMCAST statement, I am paying $46 per month for 12MB/sec (not to be confused with Mb/sec, which is Mega-bits per second and there are 8 bits in a Byte, so I should get 96 Mb/sec)

I just checked my speed using the handy-dandy Speak-Easy speed test. How did COMCAST perform?

Well, you decide. 77 KB/sec out of 12MB/sec....Is that good?

Reason Numero Uno why I am all for competing companies within a market-area. Currently, I am looking at switching to AT&T-U-verse.

Time For A Little Follow The Money

2009-07-20T12:49:00.003-04:00

Drudge is reporting some very interesting expenditures on the "Stimulus bill that was never intended to stimulate the economy"

I think it's about time some one followed the money and figured out who is REALLY benefiting from this bill.

See what else you can find.

Oh My GOSH!!! SWINE FLU PANDEMIC!!!!!

2009-07-19T11:45:00.003-04:00

You'll see me here not caring. There's an article I saw the other day that said that in the United States alone, 36,000 to 40,000 people die EVERY YEAR from the seasonal flu.

Number of U.S. citizens that have died from H1N1 so far in the US...263. Total cases 40,617. So in 1 year H1N1 will kill MAYBE 1/40th the people of the regular flu.

Ok, the virus has spread world-wide, but it doesn't do anything. In my opinion, why bother? I think the media hyped the virus up so much that they can't just say "Never mind." I say the WHO is right to stop counting the number of cases, just not for the same reasons they are.

Let the virus take it's course, run through and people build an immunity to it, at which point the population gains an immunity to it and it just begins to go away.

A Moment For Walter Cronkite

2009-07-17T21:14:00.003-04:00

One of the most iconic men in all of the news world passed away today at the age of 92.

I take a long moment of silence to remember Walter.

".....And that's the way it is," Friday, July 17th 2009.

America Loses A WWII Hero

2009-07-17T17:27:00.003-04:00

Tom Hanks took a hint after the success of Saving Private Ryan, producing an absolutely AMAZING mini-series, Band of Brothers, about the valor of the men in the 101st Airborne from the night time drop before D-Day, through the end of the war in Berlin. Some of the more familiar characters such as Captain Lipton, Lt. (Later Major)Winters, Wild Bill Guarnere, and one other, Staff Sgt. Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

From Shifty's page on Normandy1944.com;

D-Day, Normandy, France
The jump on D-Day in Normandy was all "Screwed up!" Bill Keen, SGT. Taylor, and I were the last 3 men on the stick on our plane. I could hear bullets "pinging" through the plane as I jumped. Also, as I went out the door, the left motor was hit by antiaircraft. I do not know if the plane made it back to England. On the ground, Taylor and I got together in the shadows of a hedgerow. We were trying to decide the best way to find the other E-Company soldiers. While talking, we saw a soldier walking across the field. (The night was fairly light since there was a full moon.) I pointed my rifle at him and waited. Taylor clicked his "cricket clicker." (We issued the clickers to use as a recognition signal.) When the moon heard the click, he dropped to the ground. This move made us think he was a German. I started to shoot, but then decided to ask the oral password. Fortunately, he gave the correct response. As it turned out, it was our buddy, Bill Keen. He had lost his cricket and I almost shot him. This was the first incident in which I almost shot Keen.

Holland
The second incident occurred in Holland. The LT. Platoon called me into the Command Post. He told me there was a twelve-man German combat patrol in the area. My orders were take men and find the Germans. It was a dark night. (I mean really dark!). I knew I would not be able to see my rifle sights, so I took 2 pistols instead. We were moving down a road, stopping often to listen. I was leading the group mainly because of my keen sense of hearing. I stopped the column because, I could hear someone coming toward us. The Lieutenant had told me there would be no GPs out there, only the German Patrol. He advised us to shoot anyone we saw. I could tell this was just "one man", not twelve Germans. Instead of shooting, I asked him the password (which he knew). It was Bill Keen. He had been in the hospital and was returning to our platoon. We continued our search until almost daybreak, but never did encounter the Germans.

Note: (Bill Keen was later killed by artillery fire in Hagenau.)

Bastogne, Belgium
Another incident I will mention occurred in Bastogne. Easy Company was pulled off the line and put in reserve for a short rest. There was about 10-12 inches of snow on the ground. We were bivouacked in an area of Pine trees. We placed pine branches over our foxholes to keep out some of the snow. I climbed out of my foxhole at daybreak. I was standing among the trees all by myself. As I looked at the mounds in the snow, I thought how it looked just like a graveyard. Then the guys would pop up out these mounds. This was such a weird sight! It looked as if they were climbing out of their graves. One soldier asked me who was doing the shooting during the night. I told him that I had not heard any shooting.

Then I remembered the dream I had that night: I had dreamed that I was shooting at one of our own. I don't know why. When I remembered my dream, I thought, "Man, I better check this out!" I eased my pistol out and sure enough I had fired it twice during the night. Then I started watching the guys climbing out of their foxholes. I breathed a sigh of relief when saw they were all allright. I was glad that I hadn't shot anyone while sleepwalking during that snowy night in Bastogne. These are just a few memories of my experiences during World War.

Shifty passed away on June 17th.

H/T: Wyatt

A Conversation With My Mom

2009-07-16T19:49:00.002-04:00

I was talking to my mom on the phone and the topic came up of all the industries that Democrats in have started positioning to take over. First there was the banks, then came the Auto Industry, and now there's the Health Care industry.

After a minute, she mentioned how even though Democrats "Think the Public Plan" is so great...they can still keep their private health insurance penalty free.

Under the current draft of the Democrat healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health insurance option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating, and I challenge the American people to demand this from their representatives.

How interesting.

That got me not only thinking about Health Care, but also all the other crap that Democrats say YOU should do...but conveniently exempt themselves. I found 3 major ones. Health Care, Going Green, and Taxes.

I just mentioned the Health Care issue, and it seems like they also get a sudden case of the NIMBY's when an Eco-Friendly project comes near their property, but also when it comes to Environmental Responsibility.

Most people have heard about the outrageous electric bill that Al Gore racked up in a house that he doesn't even live in, and that he claimed that he offset the energy usage with carbon credits. But what was not reported was the fact that he is the CHAIRMAN of the company that he bought the credits from! Effectively, Al was able to have his cake with high energy usage while still claiming being green with Carbon Credits, and was able to eat it too by paying himself for the carbon credits.

As for taxes, you have to be pretty ignorant to think that those in congress simply fill out the standard 1040 EZ form. Of course not! They pay accountants THOUSANDS to do their taxes, and save them as much as possible from the heavy hand of Uncle Sam. And yet, those senators who, through appearances, books, etc. making MILLIONS per year, demand that those making over $250,000 have a DUTY to pay more to the government. Do you really think that a senator or congressman/woman would vote for a tax increase if they actually would have to pay more in taxes?

I closed the conversation with this one liner;
"Soon we'll be cashing our checks at Uncle Sam Bank, visiting the Social Doctor at St. Sam's Hospital, driving the latest model of the "Uncle Sam." A car whose hood ornament is pointing at you, and not using their index finger."

Cardinals Don Child Molester 'Staches?

2009-07-12T21:58:00.002-04:00

Following superstition started by Rick Ankiel's slump-busting chevron style stache, The Cardinal's have bonded further as a team by all growing lip-fuzzies.

None is more goofy looking than poor Skip Schumacher's. The baby faced 29 year old has a mustache that reminds me of Goose from Top Gun.

Either way, I don't care. The Cardinals are on top of the NL Central by 2 games and with a score of 4-2 going into the top of the 9th, appear that they will split the 4 game series with the Cubbies this weekend. That will put them 8-5 against the Cubs, and one game away from taking them for the season.

GO REDBIRDS!

Bonus Material - Most EPIC "CUBS SUCK" Message EVER!!!!!!!!!

Fine Job Matt Drudge, Fine Job!

2009-07-09T16:23:00.005-04:00

The Headline for Drudge right now is this;

MR. PRESIDENT!

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Obama becomes victim of the infamous Artist named..."Camera Angle"

From the looks of it I have to admit Obama looks to be an innocent victim of circumstances. The woman appears to have already passed him and he looks to be looking past her...but it still makes for an awesome headliner!

The Reverse Reagan

2009-07-07T18:21:00.002-04:00

That is what columnist Fred Hiatt is saying about "The One."

Since the Reagan era, some conservatives have hoped to shrink government by "starving the beast." Refuse to raise taxes, they figured, and eventually spending would have to fall.

It's beginning to look as though the new team may have a similar strategy, in reverse: Increase spending, and eventually taxes will have to be raised.

...The bottom line is this: You cannot run a progressive government of the kind Obama favors by collecting only 18 percent of the gross domestic product in taxes, which has been the norm over the past 40 years. Nor can you increase the tax take to 24.5 percent of GDP -- which is what Obama proposes to be spending in 2019 -- simply by making the rich pay more.

But rather than level with the American people about this, or lay out a plan to raise the needed taxes, the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress are putting the spending pieces of progressive government in place and apparently counting on the tax piece to fall into place later.

Hot Air has more.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

2009-06-11T21:51:00.003-04:00

Found this gem in a Photoshop Contest at Fark titled "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Classic

*Side note* This entry won with 133 votes

This one got 24 votes

Prayers to Lefty

2009-06-10T22:11:00.003-04:00

Phil Mickelson got hit with the bombshell of finding out his wife has breast cancer. From the sounds of it it isn't terminal, but with cancer, there are no definites.

After taking time to spend with his family, Phil is playing in the St. Jude Classic, and the U.S. Open.

His wife Amy will undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tissue over the 4th of July week, followed by a year of treatment.

God speed to Phil, Amy and their family.

My New Favorite Site

2009-06-09T22:01:00.004-04:00

After seeing these two videos, Political Math is now my favorite new site. It is AMAZING! The visuals are just AWESOME!

Check them out...

Government Idea of "Equal Health Care"

2009-06-08T12:48:00.009-04:00

The Kennedy Bill was released to the public over the weekend in a non-searchable version, but through the diligence of bloggers, a searchable text and PDF file is available for the public. Here are some of the things that were found in the bill (H/T to Keith Hennessey, emphasis mine)

Here are 15 things to know about the draft Kennedy-Dodd health bill.

1) The Kennedy-Dodd bill would create an individual mandate requiring you to buy a “qualified” health insurance plan, as defined by the government. If you don’t have “qualified” health insurance for a given month, you will pay a new Federal tax. Incredibly, the amount and structure of this new tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and Health and Human Services (HHS), whose only guidance is “to establish the minimum practicable amount that can accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage (as so defined).” The new Medical Advisory Council (see #3D) could exempt classes of people from this new tax. To avoid this tax, you would have to report your health insurance information for each month of the prior year to the Secretary of HHS, along with “any such other information as the Secretary may prescribe.”

2) The bill would also create an employer mandate. Employers would have to offer insurance to their employees. Employers would have to pay at least a certain percentage (TBD) of the premium, and at least a certain dollar amount (TBD). Any employer that did not would pay a new tax. Again, the amount and structure of the tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and HHS. Small employers (TBD) would be exempt.

3) In the Kennedy-Dodd bill, the government would define a qualified plan:

A) All health insurance would be required to have guaranteed issue and renewal, modified community rating, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, no lifetime or annual limits on benefits, and family policies would have to cover “children” up to age 26.

B) A qualified plan would have to meet one of three levels of standardized cost-sharing defined by the government, “gold, silver, and bronze.” Details TBD.

C) Plans would be required to cover a list of preventive services approved by the Federal government.

D) A qualified plan would have to cover “essential health benefits,” as defined by a new Medical Advisory Council (MAC), appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The MAC would determine what items and services are “essential benefits.” The MAC would have to include items and services in at least the following categories: ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and new born care, medical and surgical, mental health, prescription drugs, rehab and lab services, preventive/wellness services, pediatric services, and anything else the MAC thought appropriate.

E) The MAC would also define what “affordable and available coverage” is for different income levels, affecting who has to pay the tax if they don’t buy health insurance. The MAC’s rules would go into effect unless Congress passed a joint resolution (under a fast-track process) to turn them off.

4) Health insurance plans could not charge higher premiums for risky behaviors: “Such rate shall not vary by health status-related factors, … or any other factor not described in paragraph (1).” Smokers, drinkers, drug users, and those in terrible physical shape would all have their premiums subsidized by the healthy.

5) Guaranteed issue and renewal combined with modified community rating would dramatically increase premiums for the overwhelming majority of those Americans who now have private health insurance. New Jersey is the best example of health insurance mandates gone wild. In the name of protecting their citizens, premiums are extremely high to cover the cross-subsidization of those who are uninsurable.

6)The bill would expand Medicaid to cover everyone up to 150% of poverty, with the Federal government paying all incremental costs (no State share). This means adding childless adults with income below 150% of the poverty line.

7) People from 150% of poverty up to 500% (!!) would get their health insurance subsidized (on a sliding scale). If this were in effect in 2009, a family of four with income of $110,000 would get a small subsidy. The bill does not indicate the source of funds to finance these subsidies.

8) People in high cost areas (e.g., New York City, Boston, South Florida, Chicago, Los Angeles) would get much bigger subsidies than those in low cost areas (e.g., much of the rest of the country, especially in rural areas). The subsidies are calculated as a percentage of the “reference premium,” which is determined based on the cost of plans sold in that particular geographic area

9) There would be a “public plan option” of health insurance offered by the federal government. In this new government health plan, the federal government would pay health care providers Medicare rates + 10%. The +10% is clearly intended to attract short-term legislative support from medical providers. I hope they are not so naive that they think that differential would last.

10) Group health plans with 250 or fewer members would be prohibited from self-insuring. ERISA would only be for big businesses.

11) States would have to set up “gateways” (health insurance exchanges) to market only qualified health insurance plans. If they don’t, the Feds will set up a gateway for them.

12) Health insurance plans in existence before the law would not have to meet the new insurance standards. This creates a weird bifurcated system and means you would (probably) be subject to a different set of rules when you change jobs.

13) The bill does not specify what spending will be cut or what taxes will be raised to pay for the increased spending. That is presumably for the Finance Committee to determine, since it’s their jurisdiction.

14) The bill defines an “eligible individual” as “a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence or an alien lawfully present in the United States.”

15) The bill would create a new pot of money for state gateways to pay “navigators” to educate people about the new bill, distribute information about health plans, and help people enroll. Navigators receiving federal funds “may include … unions, …”

So As Keith Sums it up;
* The government would mandate not only that you must buy health insurance, but what health insurance counts as “qualifying.”
Health insurance premiums would rise as a result of the law, meaning lower wages.
* The government determines what items and services must be covered.
* Healthy people would pay the same premiums as high risk people such as smokers/drinkers.
* Well over half of all Americans would be eligible for subsidies, and likely less than 5% will foot the bill.
* The government has unlimited ability to levy taxes if you do not buy "qualifying" insurance"
The government can require you provide him or her with “any such other information as [he/she] may prescribe.”

I too strongly oppose this bill.
Image Courtesy of Malkin

Creating More Government Has Opposite of Desired Affect

2009-06-07T19:04:00.002-04:00

From AP;

"NEW YORK (AP) - The Federal Reserve announced a $1.2 trillion plan three months ago designed to push down mortgage rates and breathe life into the housing market.

But this and other big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect. Rates for mortgages and U.S. Treasury debt are now marching higher as nervous bond investors fret about a resurgence of inflation."

Really? The government creates a false influx of cash equal to 15% of the United States total GDP and expects interest rates to go down?

Here's a question of Economics 101...If you have a sudden demand of loans without an increase in savings, what are the banks going to do? They are going to raise interest rates of both the loans and savings. They increase the loan rate to decrease the demand of lending, and then increase the savings interest rate to attract savers since most banks are required to have $1 in the vault for every $10 they loan out. The opposite occurs when people save more than they borrow, interest rates go down on both loans and savings accounts to attract loans and discourage saving.

So the government pumps in trillions of dollars that were intended to create more credit/borrowing, and they are surprised that the interest rates suddenly increase?

You know, something seems oddly familiar about this...Inflation is caused by "an increasing amount of money chasing a fixed amount of goods,”

*Begin slow clap...*

Obama Picks A Candidate

2009-05-27T20:34:00.002-04:00

President Obama selected Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his candidate for Supreme Court Justice.

Many people point to the fact that 3 of her 5 decisions that were heard by the Supreme Court (Out of 380 total rulings) were overturned by the Supreme Court. At first glance that seems like a valid point to go after. I actually disagree.

The Supreme court hears approximately 80 cases per year. With that known, how many cases would they hear that the Supreme Court would simply agree with the judge. Probably not very many. I would think that the reason the Supreme Court would take on a case is when they feel it should be overturned, or that there is reason to believe that it could be overturned. Therefore a high overturn rate would be normal. Unless some one informs me otherwise, that will be my opinion on that.

HOWEVER, I do think that she is not a good candidate for SCoTUS for two simple reasons. 1) Her controversial statements that she has said on record, and 2) The fact that she has been chastised multiple times.

GO TECH!

2009-05-23T22:40:00.002-04:00

Congrats to the TTU Baseball team who beat Jacksonville State 4-3 in 10 innings to win the OVC Tournament Championship. Their overall record this season was 30-22-1 (one tie from a game called after 5 innings due to rain).

This win qualifies them for an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament next week.

Unsustainable?

2009-05-15T07:44:00.004-04:00

From Bloomberg.com;

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Really? Barrack Obama says that we are spending uncontrollably? NOOOOO! NEVER! Hey,why don't you try practicing what you preach, chump.

Barack Obama - Do as he says, not as he does.

Bill Miller Interview Podcast

2009-05-14T23:41:00.004-04:00

There were 4 people who at one time or another were in the hauler. There was myself and Bill of course, then also, my dad was sitting in since he was at the races with me, and at one point Bill's wife came in for a minute. And no, the loud blurps are not farts. This was done in Bill's Hauler in the pits before the first round of qualifying on Saturday, and the funny cars were preparing to run, and were testing the engines. So, for everyone...enjoy!

Interview Link

Obama Wants Government To Control Bank Policies

2009-04-23T15:58:00.002-04:00

Via The Hill;

President Obama showed his hand this week when The New York Times wrote that he is considering converting the stock the government owns in our country’s banks from preferred stock, which it now holds, to common stock.

This seemingly insignificant change is momentous. It means that the federal government will control all of the major banks and financial institutions in the nation. It means socialism.

The Times dutifully dressed up the Obama plan as a way to avoid asking Congress for more money for failing banks. But the implications of the proposal are obvious to anyone who cares to look.

When the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) intervention was first outlined by the Bush administration, it did not call for any transfer of stock, of any sort, to the government. The Democrats demanded, as a price for their support, that the taxpayers “get something back” for the money they were lending to the banks. House Republicans, wise to what was going on, rejected the administration’s proposal and sought, instead, to provide insurance to banks, rather than outright cash. Their plan would, of course, not involve any transfer of stock. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) undercut his own party’s conservatives and went along with the Democratic plan, ensuring its passage.

But to avoid the issue of a potential for government control of the banks, everybody agreed that the stock the feds would take back in return for their money would be preferred stock, not common stock. “Preferred” means that these stockholders get the first crack at dividends, but only common stockholders can actually vote on company management or policy. Now, by changing this fundamental element of the TARP plan, Obama will give Washington a voting majority among the common stockholders of these banks and other financial institutions. The almost 500 companies receiving TARP money will be, in effect, run by Washington.

And whoever controls the banks controls the credit and, therefore, the economy. That’s called socialism.

Obama is dressing up the idea of the switch to common stock by noting that the conversion would provide the banks with capital they could use without a further taxpayer appropriation. While this is true, it flies in the face of the fact that an increasing number of big banks and brokerage houses are clamoring to give back the TARP money. Goldman-Sachs, for example, wants to buy back its freedom, as do many banks. Even AIG is selling off assets to dig its way out from under federal control. The reason, of course, is that company executives do not like the restrictions on executive pay and compensation that come with TARP money. It is for this reason that Chrysler Motors refused TARP funds.

With bank profits up and financial institutions trying to give back their money, there is no need for the conversion of the government stock from preferred to common — except to advance the political socialist agenda of this administration.

Coming Soon To RSBC...

2009-04-20T20:10:00.004-04:00

While attending the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, I got to interview Business Owner and Top Fuel Owner Bill Miller of Bill Miller Engineering!

As soon as I can get it uploaded, I will have the 45 minute interview on a podcast!

WAY TO GO OBAMA!!

2009-04-20T19:08:00.003-04:00

President Obama is going to cut $100 Million out of department budgets!!!

OH MY GOD THAT'S SO AMAZING!

And now, he only has the other 99.99% of the $1,300,000,000,000 deficit to get rid of!

Seriously? This administration is going to make a big hooplah about reducing 0.01% of the budget shortfall for this year?

To put it in perspective, If Barack was buying a $1,000 HDTV, he would have bargained the salesman down a DIME.

Now that we know how AWESOME of a negotiator the president is, let's see how well he convinces Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to cut out the Anti-Semitic rhetoric at meetings meant to eliminate racism.

*Insert obvious sarcastic applause*

This Goes Too Far

2009-03-31T11:35:00.004-04:00

This is just not cool.

"Beyond AIG: A Bill to let Big Government Set Your Salary"

It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. Despite the overwhelming 328-93 vote, support for the measure began to collapse almost immediately. Within days, the Obama White House backed away from it, as did the Senate Democratic leadership. The bill stalled, and the populist storm that spawned it seemed to pass.

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates."

The bill passed the Financial Services Committee last week, 38 to 22, on a nearly party-line vote. (All Democrats voted for it, and all Republicans, with the exception of Reps. Ed Royce of California and Walter Jones of North Carolina, voted against it.)

Three words come to mind when I hear this...

OH...MY...GOD....

You Knew It Was Coming Eventually

2009-03-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

All of that money for the bail-out had to come from somewhere...

China "worried" about US Treasury Holdings

$2 TRILLION in U.S. debt to China. They have a reason to be worried. If something were to happen and the US defaulted on those loans, there would be at least 2 crippled countries.

SERIOUSLY?

2009-03-12T11:16:00.003-04:00

The Obama team is going to make retired veterans use private insurance to pay for service related injuries.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.
But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

...Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.

In the words of Hot Air...
"Most politically tone-deaf proposal ever."

Going Galt?

2009-03-07T09:43:00.003-05:00

In the book Atlas Shrugged, executives, and other leaders and innovators are becoming harder to find. They are objecting to the government's move towards socialism and statism, and to protest are no longer helping to pay for the government.

In the book, as these people leave employment and the government's revenue drops, the society begins to collapse.

Something like that is not too far off.

New York City has almost 9 million citizens, and according to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, 40,000 of those residents pay 50% of the total taxes the city takes in. This isn't only income taxes, but this is also sales taxes, property taxes, and corporate taxes. The thing people forget when they hear this "40,000 people pay 50% of taxes" is that chances are, the CEO's not only pay a ton in income taxes, but they also likely live in the city in a purchased condo/penthouse that they have to pay property taxes on. They also probably own the building that their business is in, and have to pay property taxes on that. Then they have to pay any form of corporate taxes and such to the city.

So yes, 40,000 people CAN and DO pay 50% of NYC taxes.

And if you don't think that those people might be looking to move to, say, Florida, just look at California. Start Thinking Right has a great piece on the subject and quotes the California Business Roundtable's findings;

1. The cost of doing business in California is 30 percent higher than the western-state average.

2. Almost 40 percent of the California decision-makers participating in the Roundtable survey plan to “outsource” jobs from California to other western states, preferably Texas.

3. Half of the companies have “explicit policies to halt employment growth in California while less than five percent of companies have retention policies in place to keep jobs in California.”

4. Last, California’s “regulatory environment is the most costly, complex and uncertain in the nation.” Regulatory costs are 105 percent higher in California than in other western states.

Outsourcing from one country to another is as legitimate as outsourcing from one state to another. It’s a principle from Econ 101. And, it works: Just monitor California.

Or, people could just use their wealth and stop working. I know if I were that wealthy, I could find something to occupy my time.

New "Compromise" Reached

2009-02-11T15:44:00.002-05:00

The "Bi-partisan" stimulus package (which republican conferees were frozen out of) which is estimated to produce 3.5 million jobs has reached a "tentative deal."

$789.5 Billion.

That amounts to $225,571.43 of government spending for each job that "should be produced."

Let's look at that $789,500,000,000 to "create 3,5000,000 jobs."

From Congress Daily, via Michelle Malkin;

It appears that Pelosi and Reid staff met all through the night in secret with Democratic conferees’ staff to cobble together the “stimulus” conference report. Republican conferees were frozen out.
The objective appears to be to produce a final conference report on the trillion-dollar spending bill by this afternoon so that floor action can take place in both chambers by Thursday.
They intend to ram this trillion-dollar spending bill through with as little debate and scrutiny as possible.
The House voted unanimously yesterday in support of a Republican measure stating that the American should have 48 hrs to review the bill prior to passage. Will Democrats follow through? Or will they do the opposite of what they voted to do yesterday?

Red State has more.

Mmmm, Tases Like...

2009-02-11T07:09:00.003-05:00

A CRAP SANDWICH!

Check out Bloomberg's analysis of the Health (No) Care package that is placed in the bill;

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

Some of it is good. For example, keeping your medical record on an electric file for hospitals to easily access your records and previous problems. But there's also this;

One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (pages 442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”
Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

Oh yeah, and after Wall Street dropped I don't think investors like the idea either. Can you tell when Geithner made his speech describing the bill?

My Kids Are Getting Their MMR Shots

2009-02-09T18:50:00.002-05:00

In Britain, MMR immunization has dropped from 95% in the late 90's to about 80% in the recent years. This has caused the annual number of measles has increased from 56 cases in 1998 to 1,348 cases in 2008, which is a 37% increase from 2007.

What kicked off the huge concern that has now grown world wide? One report released by Lancet taht based their theory off of a study of 12 children, 8 of which according to the report developed Autism related symptoms just days after the shot.

One problem. The "study" in no way agreed with the doctor's reports at the hospital. Let's look at it.

Child One - The boy’s medical records reveal a subtly different story, one familiar to mothers and fathers of autistic children. At the age of 9½ months, 10 weeks before his jab, his mother had become worried that he did not hear properly: the classic first symptom presented by sufferers of autism.

Child Two - Child Two, an eight-year-old boy from Peter-borough, Cambridgeshire, diagnosed with regressive autism, which, according to the Lancet paper, started “two weeks” after his jab. However, this child’s medical records, backed by numerous specialist assessments, said his problems began three to five months later. The difference between 14 days and a few months is significant, according to experts. Autism usually reveals itself in the second year of life, when the vaccine is routinely given. If there was no sudden onset after the MMR injection, as claimed for the “syndrome”, the condition could be ascribed to a conventional pattern.

Chid Three - Child Three, a six-year-old from Huyton, Merseyside. He was reported in the journal to be suffering from regressive autism and bowel disease: specifically “acute and chronic nonspecific colitis”. The boy’s hospital discharge summary, however, said there was nothing untoward in his biopsy.

Child Four - Had the same GP as Child 8, which raised suspicions of if the study was indeed "random."

Child Six and Seven - Child Six, aged 5, and Child Seven, aged 3, were said to have been diagnosed with regressive autism, with an onset of symptoms “one week” and “24 hours” after the jab respectively. But medical records show that neither boy was “previously normal”, as the Lancet article described all the children, and that both had already been hospitalised with brain problems before their MMR. Child Six received his vaccine at the age of 14 months, but had twice previously been admitted with fits. Child Seven was given his at the age of 20 months but, again, problems already showed.

Child Eight - Child Eight, aged 3, from Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear. She was reported in the journal as having suffered a brain injury “two weeks” after MMR. Her medical records did not support this. Before she was admitted, she had been seen by local specialists, and her GP told the Royal Free of “significant concerns about her development some months before she had her MMR”.

Child Nine - Athology report said: “No abnormality detected”, while the Lancet paper said: “Nonspecific colitis”.

Child Ten - Athology report said: “No abnormality detected”, while the Lancet paper said: “Nonspecific colitis”.

Child Eleven - When biopsies were done later, no evidence of the measels virus (the suspected cause of the link) was discovered.

Child Twelve - Diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder, in which language is not lost, and which is not regressive, nothing like what One and Two were diagnosed with.

Child Five was not listed as having inconsistancies

On top of that, check this out with the "Bowel Irritation" that was reported;

WHEN the children first arrived at the Royal Free, in addition to autism, they were also reported with constipation, diarrhoea or other common bowel complaints. This was the reason given for them travelling between 60 and 5,000 miles to London to enter the care of Wakefield’s team.

...
A Royal Free consultant pathologist questioned a draft text of the paper. “I was somewhat concerned with the use of the word ‘colitis’,” Susan Davies, a co-author, told the ongoing GMC inquiry into the ethics of how the children were treated, in September 2007.
“I was concerned that what we had seen in these children was relatively minor.”
However, after her challenge, it was explained, Wakefield’s team met for a “research review” of the biopsies. It was not an unusual move for a group of specialists to reconsider the evidence upon which their research was relying. It was nevertheless striking that their conclusion was that 11 of the children’s bowels were in fact diseased when their colleagues had found no abnormalities in at least seven of the cases.

California Can't Tax It's Way Out Of A Deficit

2009-02-05T19:18:00.003-05:00

A few years ago, Don "Do Nothing" Sundquist brought forward a bill imposing a sate wide income tax, promising that the sales tax would be eliminated. People went ballistic, and for a good reason.

Then later, the report was "Well, if we do the income tax, we can't eliminate the sales tax, but we'll reduce it from 9.75% to 6%. People went even more ballistic.

The sign that forever sticks out in my mind is one that basically said almost every state with a state income tax still had a budget deficit, even though it was supposed to "fix the problem."

No state sticks out in my mind more than California. The epitome of "You can't tax your way out of it."

California has some of the highest tax rates in the country with a 9.3% marginal tax rate on anyone making over $45,000, and a 7.25% (which can be up to 9.25% in some places) sales tax. OH! And the state has not had any money in the bank for the past 17 months. So much for taxes being the answer.

Could that be the reason people are leaving California for other, lower tax, states by the hundreds of thousands?

Units? Units?

2009-02-04T19:04:00.002-05:00

Verizon Wireless can't convert dollars to cents. In their mind $0.002 equals 0.002 cents. Think about that for 1 second. Any longer...and you need to learn your units.

Why is this important? Because even politicians need math lessons.

(*HINT* The US Population is 305,738,000)

And My Vote For Best Super Bowl Commercial Goes To...

2009-02-02T19:10:00.002-05:00

Hyundai?
Hyundai?!!

HYUNDAI!!!

Too Funny.

So Which One Is It Barack?

2009-02-01T09:43:00.002-05:00

Obama wants more "Clean Coal Plants...

But, he will Bankrupt anyone who builds a coal plant

So which is it? And why just "Clean Coal?" All "clean coal" consists of is capturing the CO2 emissions and pumping them underground. Why not use something that SOLVES the problem, rather than just putting it some place else? Something that removes the CO2, and produces biodiesel? That's a solution.

This quote sums up my opinion of people throwing their blind support of Obama, and part of it is to do with the frustration of the last 8 years;
"You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand."

Laies and Gentlemen...Start Your Engines

2009-02-01T02:32:00.002-05:00

The League 2 Tough 2 Tame is back in action. Sign up now so you won't have to start handicapped!

Here is the link to sign up. (Sign-up is free, by the way.)

The Group ID# is 16845
The Group Password is gordon.

Count Me As One

2009-01-30T22:43:00.003-05:00

Devil Ball wishes they were there, and so do I! The FBR Open is this week, which means the Tour boys are at TPC Scottsdale, and the famous 20,000 seat 16th hole stadium that rivals the 17th at Sawgrass in fame. It's Amen Corner meets Soccer Hooligans. And it's so much fun to watch!

TPC Scottsdale; One of the places I want to a) play golf at, and b) watch a tournament...From the 16th.

Heh, Heh, Heh, That Was Cool...

2009-01-30T22:20:00.002-05:00

Because Tiger is just that good.

Now, THAT...is a water shot.

The Coolness of Skype

2009-01-24T13:07:00.002-05:00

So, I was never one to use a webcam until now. And I've got to say, it's pretty darn cool. And Skype makes it easy to call, see, and speak with people over the internet

Just sayin.

2009-01-20T09:51:00.003-05:00

As millions descend to Washington D.C. I'm sending up a prayer for God to lay his protective hand over everyone there, and to keep them safe from any one who might see that gathering as an opportunity.

Lord I ask that you keep safe all of the millions of innocent people, and especially Barack Obama and all of the members of our government today. Watch over them, guide them and protect them in their journeys today.

Amen.

Help?

2009-01-10T13:00:00.002-05:00

The lady's Powerbook G4 has started to have display problems, and although this is not hers, it is exactly the same problem.

Also, it won't allow her to copy her HD files to an external HD. Not OS files, but pictures, documents, etc... Something about not having access to modify the disc.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking it's hardware related, like a bad graphics card.

Saw This Coming A Mile Away

2009-01-08T23:43:00.003-05:00

Oklahoma Sooners;
Avg 562 yards per game
Scored at least 58 points in their last six games

Seem like a good bet for the Title against the Gators?

Not what I thought.

Oklahoma might have the highest powered offense in the country, but they gave up 360 yards, and 24 points per game, and all of their "tough" opponents (Texas, Texas Tech,...) averaged the same.

In comes Florida who only allows 280 yards per game.

And tonight, the teams defenses performed exactly as expected.

Florida average allowing 12 ppg, and Oklahoma average 24 ppg. Tonight, Oklahoma got 363 yards of offense, and Florida got 479, so both teams got 100 yards more than the opposing team's defense averaged.

What does this tell you?

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Way to go Gators! Bringing the Championship back to the SEC for an unprecedented 3rd year in a row.

A Last Name I Would Drop

2008-12-30T07:12:00.003-05:00

Yahoo!'s story about the 5 largest drops in wealth around the world brought in this gem;

3. Anurag Dikshit
March net worth: $1.6 billion Current net worth: $1 billion
Dikshit designed the software for PartyGaming's successful PartyPoker game, which allowed live gambling over the Web. He left the company and sold a chunk of shares in 2006, the year the U.S. government banned gaming. He recently pleaded guilty to violating U.S. gaming laws and agreed to forfeit $300 million. He could face up to two years in jail but apparently won't be sentenced until 2010. He has already paid $100 million of his fine and will pay the rest in two installments next year.

So I'm A Sappy Guy

2008-12-01T22:05:00.003-05:00

I watched Wall-E with my fiancee last night, and I have to say, it WAAAAAY surpassed both of our expectations.

I wanted to see the movie in the theaters because I had heard it was a good movie, and she didn't want to see it at all. We sat down to watch it and I was fully interested in it after about 5 minutes, and she was enthralled after about 30.

Long story short, the movie is visually and conceptually amazing, and a very good movie to watch with your significant other.

Wha?

2008-11-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

I'm kind of confused at who the GBLT community is going to protest about the failure of Proposition 8 in California.

Among white voters, Prop 8 passed 51% to 49%. You know what killed Prop 8?

Los Angeles and San Diego.

Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernadino County and San Diego County combined to kill prop 8. San Fran County voted 75% against Prop 8, but with only a little over 320,000 votes, Orange County by itself wiped all of those votes out.

In the end it was the black and latino vote that killed the bill. At 10% of the vote, blacks voted for the bill by a margin of 70-30, and Latinos who make up 18% of the vote voted for the bill 53-47

So what are Liberals going to do? Who are they going to blame? And how is that group going to react to their scolding?

Let's Play Devil's Advocate

2008-11-13T18:10:00.002-05:00

Everyone is talking about how corporations that lose money have been giving hteir greedy executives "Golden Parachutes" for bonuses.

Well, what if they actually deserved it?

Say I were an executive that released a report stating that they had a loss of $2 Billion for that year. Do I deserve a $1 Million Bonus? No?

What if as an executive I saved the company $5 Billion dollars that year? Should I not be given a bonus because the company did not break even?

Just playing Devil's Advocate here.

Even Though I Don't Agree With The Man...

2008-11-09T14:54:00.003-05:00

I can't help but smile when I see a man who is devoted to his wife like this.

I have to say, it's a sweet picture of Barack and his wife.

President Elect, Barack Obama

2008-11-05T06:40:00.002-05:00

America has reached a milestone, and has elected the first African American President.

Congrats...President Obama.

Really Quickly...

2008-11-04T07:08:00.004-05:00

On election day, I thought it would be important to demonstrate the varying coverage by the media, and again, the equality given by the "Right Wing Media" at Fox News.

You see Fox's coverage of Obama and McCain...Almost Identical. Fair and Balanced.

Go out and vote, ONCE!

Mark Levin Kicks Teresa Ghilarducci's Tail

2008-10-29T19:03:00.002-04:00

Wow. Mark Levin put a Beat-Down on Teresa Ghilarducci on Monday. But it wasn't an "I'm gonna shove facts down your throat" beat down. It was an "I'm gonna let you sound like an idiot" beat down.

Levin asked Dr. G questions about her plan that made her think she was in a nice, warm, and inviting environment (and you can tell it worked by her tone), when really, he was asking very calculated questions, aimed at making her answer in a way that she believed was smart, but listeners think that she doesn't have a clue what she's talking about.

Like when he was asking her about the Social Security "Trust Fund," he asked her where the money is. Her reply was that it is backed "By the full faith and credit of the United States." After some pressing from Levin about the fact that the money has already been spent, she admitted that the money has been "Borrowed by the government."

There were even times where she COMPLETELY contradicted herself. Here is this woman saying that we need the government to control our retirement accounts. Then Levin asked her if she had a pension. to which she replies "I have a GREAT pension that goes into a fund that is professionally managed" and her "trustees bargain with WALL STREET to get the best prices."

The best part? At the end;
Levin: Alright my friend. Alright, listen to me...We've got to go, you're a good sport. Just do me one favor, will you?
Dr. G: Yeah?
Levin: Stop detroying my country. Thank you for your call.

It's amazing!!!!

Obama's First 100 Days

2008-10-28T07:09:00.002-04:00

From Pat Buchanan at RCP

What does the triumvirate of Obama-Pelosi-Reid offer?

Rep. Barney Frank is calling for new tax hikes on the most successful and a 25 percent across-the-board slash in national defense. Sen. John Kerry is talking up new and massive federal spending, a la FDR's New Deal. Specifically, we can almost surely expect:

-- Swift amnesty for 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens and a drive to make them citizens and register them, as in the Bill Clinton years. This will mean that Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona will soon move out of reach for GOP presidential candidates, as has California.

-- Border security will go on the backburner, and America will have a virtual open border with a Mexico of 110 million.

-- Taxes will be raised on the top 5 percent of wage-earners, who now carry 60 percent of the U.S. income tax burden, and tens of millions of checks will be sent out to the 40 percent of wage-earners who pay no federal income tax. Like the man said, redistribute the wealth, spread it around.

-- Social Security taxes will be raised on the most successful among us, and capital gains taxes will be raised from 15 percent to 20 percent. The Bush tax cuts will be repealed, and death taxes reimposed.

-- Two or three more liberal activists of the Ruth Bader Ginsberg-John Paul Stevens stripe will be named to the Supreme Court. U.S. district and appellate courts will be stacked with "progressives."

-- Special protections for homosexuals will be written into all civil rights laws, and gays and lesbians in the military will be invited to come out of the closet. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dead.

-- The homosexual marriages that state judges have forced California, Massachusetts and Connecticut to recognize, an Obama Congress or Obama court will require all 50 states to recognize.

-- A "Freedom of Choice Act" nullifying all state restrictions on abortions will be enacted. America will become the most pro-abortion nation on earth.

-- Affirmative action -- hiring and promotions based on race, sex and sexual orientation until specified quotas are reached -- will be rigorously enforced throughout the U.S. government and private sector.

-- Universal health insurance will be enacted, covering legal and illegal immigrants, providing another powerful magnet for the world to come to America, if necessary by breaching her borders.

-- A federal bailout of states and municipalities to keep state and local governments spending up could come in December or early next year.

-- The first trillion-dollar deficit will be run in the first year of an Obama presidency. It will be the first of many.

Welcome to Obamaland!

Barack Obama is just the man to sign all of this into law, Pelosi, Reid, Kerry, Frank, and other hardcore liberals will be the one to propose the legislation. And as McCain reminded Americans, Obama has rarely voted against his democrat constituents.

It could be at least a very rough 2 years, until the next congressional cycle comes around.

I Just Got To This

2008-10-27T19:58:00.002-04:00

Plot to assasinate Obama

With the first black candidate in history, comes the possibility of something like this happening. Although I have to acknowledge the presence of "Assassination Chic" towards the Bush Administration, there have been no actual attempts on his life, despite the "Zero Curse" looming over his presidency.

Although I do not like the proposed policies of Democrats, and more over Barack Obama, I do not condone ANY form of harm directed in his direction, especially in the name of racism.

Racism is something that is a very hot topic for me and one that I absolutely cannot stand. The rampant use of the N-word from whites, and blacks is deeply appalling to me, and I firmly believe that all people are created equal under God. The only difference in people is what they do with those God given talents, and that ANYBODY, with the will to succeed and the proper encouragement can accomplish the greatest of things.

Update To Previous Post

2008-10-27T19:18:00.001-04:00

I haven't written much in the way of letters to the editor in my life, but after reading the one my dad sent to The Tennessean, I had to send one to the AJC. This is what I wrote;

Did you know that Congressional Democrats are contemplating the elimination of the tax breaks on your 401k? It's true. Democrats invited Teresa Ghilarducci to "inform" them of her idea. In a nut shell;
1) corporations would no longer get tax breaks for matching your contributions
2) 5% of your income would be taken and placed in an account (with an additional $600 from the government) that would buy government bonds making only 3% interest per year, and,
3) your current 401k growth would be considered taxable income every year.
Just to demonstrate how much this could cost you, a person making $30,000 per year every year for 35 years would have all of $133,000 in the government retirement account, compared to having $310,000 by putting the same amount in a 50% matched 401k making 7% per year.
Is that (D) really worth $177,000 of your retirement?

Well, is it?