Obama’s Gov’t ‘Non-Profit’ Insurance ‘Competition’ Idea is Uninformed

September 23, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In his desire to slander capitalism and impugn the integrity of all insurance companies in order to play up his “public option” idea, President Obama’s main claim has been that those evil insurance companies need “competition” from a government sponsored plan. This purported competition is supposed to “keep them honest.”

Obama presents this idea as if there currently isn’t any non-profit health insurance group keeping those for-profits honest. He acts as if he has some sort of new idea, one that currently doesn’t exist. But the truth is many states already have non-profit health groups. On top of that one of these non-profits is usually one of the largest insurance groups around.

That group would be Blue Cross and Blue Shield. John Lott, economist and author of “Freedomnomics,” gives us some of the facts:
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Wireless Innovation Regulation — ‘Believe it or Not!’

September 23, 2009 | Filed Under Business, Computers, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Inernet, Liberals, Scott Cleland, Society/Culture, Taxes, Technology | Comments Off

-By Scott Cleland

With due to credit to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!®,” so much odd and bizarre is happening in Washington in the “name” of “wireless innovation” and competition that the topic calls for its own collection of “Believe it or Not!®” oddities.

Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstom, also the co-founder of illegal-music-downloading site Kazaa, who had to avoid entering the U.S. because of copyright-infringement liability… is now seeking a U.S. court injunction to shut down eBay’s Skype for alleged copyright violations!

Amazon, a leading proponent of net neutrality legislation to ban Internet providers from blocking any content, abruptly removed without permission thousands of copies of George Orwell’s books from Kindle reading devices… just like “Big Brother” would have done in “Nineteen Eighty Four“!
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Guest Contributor: The Admiral Says Sorry

September 23, 2009 | Filed Under Afghanistan, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Foreign Policy, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Military, President, Security/Safety, Terrorism, War on Terror | Comments Off

- By Steve McGregor

Dissent over the Obama Administration’s strategy in Afghanistan is as close as the President’s top military advisor: the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.

Last month Admiral Mullen wrote an article critical of “strategic communication,” which happens to be a key tenant of the plan Obama presented in March. But the Admiral isn’t a critic for reasons you might expect. His essay in the Joint Forces Journal is a dangerous cocktail of one part self-loathing, one part delusion, with a dash of politicking. Has the Admiral been sharing too many drinks with the Democrats on Capitol Hill?

For example, Admiral Mullen claims, “The problem isn’t that we are bad at communicating or being outdone by men in caves… our biggest problem isn’t caves, it’s credibility.” I thought our problem was those pesky extremists who keep blowing us up. If only we could reason with the enemy—after all it worked in Iran.
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A Video Primer on Democrat Civility

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Ill. Blogger Running for State Legislature, 41st District

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Censorship, Chicago, Constitution, Cook County, Elections, Freedom, GOP, Government, Corruption, Republicans, Society/Culture, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Matt Burden of the blog BlackFive.net has announced that he is running as a Republican for the the State Legislature. Burden has announced his plans to run for the 41st District. The 41st covers parts of Oak Brook, Westchester, Villa Park, La Grange Park and Oak Brook Terrace.

The seat is currently held by Bob Biggins (R, Elmhurst) but Biggins recently announced he is not running for reelection. This seems to have opened up the floodgates for candidates. Burden joins a very crowded field including attorney Peter Breen, Rafael Rivadeneira, DuPage Co Board member Brien Sheahan and Chris Nybo from Elmhurst.

On his campaign website, Burden does have one disturbing thing as far as I am concerned:

While there is no campaign contribution limit in Illinois (something I will change)…

Something he “will change”? Is Matt Burden suggesting tromping on the Constitutional right of free political speech by using the force of law to stop people from donating to political candidates in amounts he deems gauche? That is not a good sign for Burden’s understanding of the Constitution, I have to say.
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More on Obama’s Lies in Pittsburgh…

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Speech, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Warner Todd Huston | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yesterday for RedCounty.com I wrote a piece on Obama’s hint that he might be open to newspaper bailouts. I noted that he hinted at the possibility that he wanted to regulate the blogosphere and said they never “fact check” anything they post.

But, Maggie Thurber of Thurber’s Thoughts found a few things in that same Gazette interview with The One that adds even more to his latest series of lies.

Thurber points out that Obama claimed that when he came into office “we were losing 700,000 jobs per month.” Turns out this is a bald-faced lie Thurber discovered.
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Obama is ‘Concerned’ About Blogosphere

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Censorship, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill is reporting that Obama is now “open” to a newspaper bailout. Well, welcome to the state run media.

Not long ago Senator Ben Cardin (D- Md.) introduced S. 673, the Newspaper Revitalization Act. It is supposed to give news media tax breaks if they restructure as a non-profit corporation. So far, though, the bill has little support among his colleagues.

The Hill reminds us that in May Obama’s spokesman down played the possibility of government assistance to the media.

But in a recent appearance with the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Obama seemed to say he’s open to the idea saying, “I haven’t seen detailed proposals yet, but I’ll be happy to look at them.”
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School Pensions Making Millionaires out of Retiring Employees

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Budget, Capitalism, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bill Zettler recently submitted a Freedom of Information request on the pensions of 13 retiring public school employees from District 211 in Palatine, Illinois and he found that the people of Illinois are on the hook for over $50 million in pension benefits promised to people retiring at the average age of 58.

Zettler found that these school employees are seeing an average of $96,000 a year in pension benefits whereas the average Social Security benefit is $13,500 a year. SS recipients also don’t get their benefits until they’ve reached 63 at least while the average retirement age of these public employees is 58.

I’ll get right to Mr. Zettler’s pullout quote, one that really puts the whole situation in perfect focus. “If the purpose of taxation is to provide for the common good,” Zettler said, “we may ask what common good is provided by making public employees multi-millionaires in their fifties?”
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McClatchy: School Reformers are Against Teachers

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

For the McClatchy news chain, Rob Hotakainen chose an interesting way to spin a discussion on the seeming failure of late of teachers unions to push their agenda. Instead of writing that it is teachers unions that are “feeling squeezed from all sides,” Hotakainen writes that it is the “teachers” themselves feeling this squeeze. In other words, Hotakainen tried to make it seem as if reform forces are against teachers, not the unions that represent them.

The truth is, of course, that no reform minded government official or non-governmental organization is against teachers. They are against the fraud and waste of union practices and are against union intransigence that fights against the best interests of our children’s educations.

Hotakainen points out that both the California NAACP and local Hispanic groups — groups that are traditionally on the side of unions — have supported recent moves to increase state funding for privately operated schools and instituting merit pay for teachers. He then claims that this is causing “teachers” to feel beset by all sides, left and right.
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Your House Is On Fire, Oh, I Didn’t Notice

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Society/Culture, Taxes | Comments Off

-By Dan Scott

Liberals, their plans, veracity and activities have been under a lot of public scrutiny lately. They seem to be very uncomfortable with the light of public gaze upon them, even to the point of walking on eggshells. When they can’t find what they believe is an non revealing answer which they know will anger the public to some very straightforward questions they pretend to be obtuse on the issue at hand. Feigning obtuseness seems to be the best they can do to not come clean on the issues. The point of feigning obtuseness is to avoid the really uncomfortable questions of why they failed to respond to something, which so obviously is inappropriate. It’s the old, “what did you know” and “when did you know it” quagmire. The failure to respond appropriately is a very telling disconnect of “affect” which calls into question one’s competence, motives or agenda.

The disconnect of affect was raised to the ridiculous with the growing scandals involving ACORN. Charles Gibson, an ABC news anchor was asked why the media wasn’t covering the cut off of funds by Congress to ACORN. Gibson claimed he didn’t know anything about it. How likely was his answer? Let’s add some background context to answer that question. A person working for the media doesn’t know anything (to the point of cluelessness) about an organization squandering public funds engaging in clearly unethical activity caught on video tape, the story gone viral on the internet, talked about on the radio waves and reported on by at least one media outlet and one print outlet. Furthermore, the standard procedure for all media organizations is to monitor their competitors so they aren’t scooped which would cause a loss of ratings share. A loss of ratings share means a LOSS of advertising revenue, and that’s their lifeblood. Is it likely Charles Gibson didn’t know about the ACORN story? NOT LIKELY. Why did Gibson give such a lame response? To not answer the question what did you know, when did you know about it and what was your reason to not report on it? You notice Gibson never answered the question why he wasn’t reporting on it. It makes one wonder what else the media hasn’t covered and what were their reasons.
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M-O-N-E-Y & Influence

September 22, 2009 | Filed Under Budget, Capitalism, Economy/Finances, Nancy Salvato, Society/Culture | Comments Off

-By Nancy Salvato

If you want that girl
Listen, son
Don’t you sit around and cry
Because, love
In this world
Ain’t nothing you can’t buy

– Lyle Lovett, Money

Money may not really buy love or make the world go round, but it certainly does help society to function efficiently. Money, which is assigned a value, is the item of exchange we use if we want to purchase something. The work we do to earn money is also assigned a value and the amount something costs reflects the value in producing or developing it. Most people would agree that the reward of money is the incentive they need to invest their time and labor into many of the tasks that demand their attention. While there may be additional reasons for applying ourselves to projects, a surplus of money allows us more freedom to devote our energy to additional pursuits.
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Dave Winters Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Cook County, Elections, Illinois, Society/Culture, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rockford TV reports the abrupt drop out of Republican Dave Winters in the race for Lt. Gov. This is the second drop out of the state wide race as Matt Murphy dropped his bid for Gov and will likely take up the race for Lt. Gov. instead as Andy McKenna’s running mate.

Dave Winters Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race

-By Whitney Martin

It’s a career move that has some local opponents not so happy tonight. Representative Dave winters withdrew his name from the race for lieutenant governor.

After spending three months campaigning for Lt.Governor of Illinois.. State Representative, Dave winters is dropping out of the race and instead will run for re –election

Was Insurance At Fault for Young Man’s Heart Disease Death?

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Podcasting, President, Publius' Forum, Socialism, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is the latest Publius podcast about the New York Times article on the sad story of Mr. Eric De La cruz who died at 31 from heart disease. He was denied government healthcare from Social Security and Medicare and he died as a result. Yet the New York Times blames the insurance industry?

What Mandates Do To Our Insurance

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, GOP, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

There has been a lot of talk about mandates emanating from the federal government to force each of us to buy healthcare insurance but what do those mandates do to the insurance itself? And are they even Constitutionally justified?

First of all we need to remind everyone that these mandates cannot possibly be Constitutional. After all, the Constitution does not give Congress the power to demand that the citizens buy a certain product. The Constitution only gives Congress the power to tax, not to serve as an arm of any industry. These mandates will essentially make the federal government an insurance salesman and this is most certainly unconstitutional.

Still, even if we are unfortunate enough to be burdened with this new system, what will it do to our insurance companies?
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Is it American to be Forced Into a Union? In Obama’s America it is!

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Jobs, Liberals, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Welcome to Obama’s America where you are forced to become a union member even if you had no idea you were being inducted into one. In fact, in Obama’s America you won’t even know you are IN a union until you notice union dues are being withheld from your checks.

This is the case in Michigan where Sherry Loar and Dawn Ives work out of their home talking care of children for low-income families. One Friday the pair realized that union dues were being withheld from the checks they receive from the state for the subsidized daycare they perform for local families.

As it happens, neither woman voted to join a union nor even knew that they’d be forcefully inducted into one. They didn’t even know their job had a union.
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Mandates Must be Unconstitutional

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Congress, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Imagine a day when a president could tell you that you have to buy something or become a criminal via federal law if you don’t. Imagine a day when you are not allowed to choose not to buy a certain product. In a land of true freedom and liberty worrying about the arrival of such a day would seem ridiculous. But what was once risible is now a frightening reality if Obamacare gets passed.

Now, if Obamacare passes, any citizen that does not “choose” to buy healthcare insurance will be deemed a criminal that will be penalized under the law. Obama’s IRS stormtroopers will come a’knockin to make sure you fulfill your duty to the state.

So what could stop these anti-liberty mandates? According to David B. Rivkin, Jr., and Lee A. Casey, the Constitution of the United States should. Rivkin and Casey maintain in recent Wall Street Journal piece that Obama’s forced insurance mandates are un-Constitutional.
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Guns are not the Problem: Crooks Are!

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Dr. Don Boys, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Guns, Health, Liberals, Security/Safety, Society/Culture | Comments Off

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

Almost every gun critic uses specious arguments to support the unsupportable. They are defending a castle in ruins. However, they keep trying by using the Bible and Christ to prop up their fallacious argument: only police and the military should possess guns.

The argument is not whether or not Jesus carried a weapon. After all, He was God. Why would He need a weapon? However, the question is should Christians have guns and use them when necessary? I have been accused of taking the position that guns are “godly” but I never took that position. My critics often opine that “Guns are evil.” Guns are inanimate objects, neither good nor evil, but they can be used for good or evil. Likewise, humans can use drugs, automobiles, knives, clubs, etc., in an evil and harmful way or in a good way.

Wimpy liberals lose total control of their thinking process when it comes to guns. It is better to have a gun and not need it than need one and not have one. Many wimps would stand by and permit intruders to harm, rape, even kill their family! I took a vow to protect my wife so that means anyone in our home late at night will be presumed a thief, rapist, and killer. He will be shot graveyard dead. The following day, I will contact the governor of Georgia and ask him when he wants me to come to Atlanta for an awards ceremony. I assume he will give me the key to the city of Atlanta and maybe designate the day, “Don Boys’ Day” in honor of me removing scum from our state and making innocent people more secure.
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Googleopoly IV: Monopsony Control over Digital Info Competition — New White Paper

September 21, 2009 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Computers, Congress, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Inernet, Scott Cleland, Society/Culture, Taxes, Technology | Comments Off

-By Scott Cleland

My latest Google antitrust white paper, “Googleopoly IV: The Googleopsony Case,” is the first antitrust analysis which connects-the-dots between Google’s search advertising selling monopoly and Google’s information access buying monopoly or “monopsony” by explaining and documenting how Google is harming competition in digital: news, books, broadcasting, artwork, documents and analytics; and harming consumers seeking quality digital information that is not free.

(Googleopoly I was the first public analysis of why Google ultimately would emerge as a monopoly and Googleopoly II & III were the first public antitrust analyses why the DOJ should block the Google-Yahoo ad agreement, which the DOJ did block 11-5-08.)

Anyone trying to see-the-world-whole and and understand how the Internet’s digital information ecosystem fits together and is devolving– needs to read this white paper.
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AFL-CIO Prez Tumka Asked a Few Tough Questions

September 20, 2009 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Socialism, Society/Culture, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

So what about those union pensions, Mr. Trumka? Your union has severely underfunded your member’s pensions for years. Don’t you care if your members have enough to retire on? Isn’t that what your union promised to them?

Well someone is asking these questions, anyway. Unfortunately, it isn’t the bought-off Obama administration. It’s the Free Enterprise Alliance and they are starting with these billboards in Pittsburgh.

Too bad AFL-CIO bosses don’t care enough about their members to answer such pesky questions, eh?

Of course, the pensions for the bosses and union management are fully funded, so why should Trumka care? Boss pensions are juuuuust fine. As long as he’s getting his, why worry about those foolish, annoying, lowly members?

They are such a bother, youse guys know whot I’m talkin’ about?
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Palin Enemy Denied Propaganda Effort

September 20, 2009 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Sarah Palin, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oopsie. Palin smear artist Joe McGinnis was denied his chance to make a mockery of the Palin diner auction when the good Guv nixed his ebay bid last week, sources say.

The New York Daily News reports that smear writer McGinnis, who is writing an unauthorized “biography” attacking Governor Palin, tried to top the winning $60,101.01 ebay bid for the dinner with Palin but the bid was voided by Palin herself.

Palin reserved the right to refuse bidders who failed to meet “standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors.”

Good for her. This yellow journalist was denied a chance to put himself in the news by snagging this dinner with Palin. McGinnis was denied his attempt at propaganda and self aggrandizement.

There is another reason why this denial of the smear writer is a good thing. His taking dinner with the governor would have overshadowed the charity for which the dinner was planned. Certainly the news would have focussed on McGinnis’ blather and the clash between he and Palin and the great charity that the dinner was to benefit would have been forgotten.

That charity, by the way, is Ride2Recovery, a great charity that helps our wounded military veterans recover their health and dignity.
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New Ill. GOP Head Speaks at Local Meeting

September 20, 2009 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Elections, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Republicans, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

TAPROOT, a local Downer’s Grove/Lombard area Republican association, received a visit by the new Illinois GOP Chairman, Pat Brady, at its Saturday, Sept. 18th breakfast meeting. TAPROOT Board Chairman Dave Dierson published this report on his GOPIllinois.com site:

Pat Brady and Pat Hughes speak at TAPROOT breakfast meeting

Spirited questions for Brady focus on SB600 and Rule 11

Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Chairman and National Committeeman Pat Brady and U.S. Senate candidate Pat Hughes spoke at an outstanding TAPOOT breakfast meeting Saturday, September 19, at the Old Country Buffet in Lombard.

8th District Debate Dawson vs. Rodrigues

September 19, 2009 | Filed Under Chicago, Congress, Cook County, Elections, GOP, Illinois, Republicans, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

**UPDATE**– Event to be rescheduled!! No New Date Announced**

Two of the three announced candidates running for the GOP nomination for the 8th District Congressional seat now held by Democrat Melissa Bean will face off in a debate on Friday, October 2.

Starting at 6PM John Dawson and Maria Rodrigues will debate the issues at the Elk Grove Village VFW Hall at 400 E. Devon Ave.

Prior to the debate, GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrezjewski is scheduled to address the crowd.

Three GOP candidates have announced for this seat.

School Board member John Dawson’s campaign website

Greg Jacobs’ FaceBook Page

Long Grove Mayor Maria Rodriguez’ Website.

Proft on McKenna: He Represents Those That ‘Ran Illinois Into the Ground’

September 19, 2009 | Filed Under Cook County, Elections, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Republicans, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

GOP hopeful Dan Proft, for one, isn’t taking the entry of Andy McKenna into the race for governor lying down, anyway.

He says that McKenna represents the monied interests that helped drive this state into the ground. Proft isn’t the only one in assuming that “the money” is the one pushing McKenna on the Illinois GOP, either.

One thing is sure, McKenna’s entry into the race is a slap in the face to Party man Bill Brady who most certainly probably expected the party establishment to give him the nod. After all he’s done for the party, one would think that party insiders would have bent over backwards to convince McKenna to sit this one out.
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Ill. GOP Minority Leader in Bed With Criminal ACORN?

September 19, 2009 | Filed Under ACLU, Campaign Finance, Conservatives, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Republicans, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Shockingly, it looks like Tom Cross (R- Oswego), the Republican Minority leader at the State Capitol in Springfield, has taken several large campaign donations from the criminal organization ACORN. Even worse, it looks like Cross indulged a quid pro quo to help the troubled community organization out on some of their favored legislative efforts.

Over at ChampionNews.net, Doug Ibendahl has uncovered some uncomfortable information about our Republican minority leader’s campaign coffers. Ibendahl has found that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 880 donated $17,750 to Cross in 2003 and another $10,000 from SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana PAC.

The SEIU is a public employees union that is closely linked with the troubled ACORN organization and SEIU Local 880 is close to ACORN, indeed. In fact, on the Local’s webpage you can see an email address it lists for contact info that settles the question. That email happens to be seiu880@acorn.org.
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Ill. GOP Central Committee Meeting Report

September 19, 2009 | Filed Under Cook County, Elections, GOP, Illinois, Republicans, Warner Todd Huston | 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Featuring: Laughs, Congrats and Some Disapproving Stares (See end of report for the controversy)

This morning I attended the first Illinois Republican Central Committee meeting chaired by new party chief Pat Brady held at the Double Tree Hotel, Oakbrook, Illinois (Cook County, West of Chicago). Over all, the public portion of the meeting was brisk and convivial as chaired by Brady. The new GOP head seemed comfortable in the role and appeared to be well liked and respected by the committee members in attendance. Whatever behind the scenes deals that may or may not have been struck at the State Fair such a short time ago when Andy McKenna abruptly stepped down with Brady hurriedly appointed to replace him, Brady seems to have settled into the position of GOP Chairman well.

Surveying the room it appeared that about 10 members of the committee was not in attendance — so near a third of the members did not answer the roll call — and I was one of the few folks that came out to witness the public portion of the meeting. As Dave Dierson so amusingly put it, we sat in the “peanut gallery.” Dierson is best known for his daily Illinois news update email so many of us get each day in our email in-box.

The meeting began a tad later than the 11AM start date advertised and after Pat Brady called the meeting to order and introduced himself, and a few standard business items were taken care of (like approval of the minutes from the last meeting), Brady introduced the National GOP Committeewoman Demtra DeMonte to the room.
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A Million People Prove NPR Doesn’t Count

September 19, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, John Armor, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Tea Party | Comments Off

-By John Armor

How many people still listen to NPR (National “People’s” Radio) and take it seriously? Apparently that list doesn’t include the editors and reporters for NPR. Two cases in point, both having to do with numbers.

As I was driving up to D.C. for the Rally on the Mall on Saturday, I heard NPR gushing over (excuse me, reporting on) the President Obama’s speech to a Joint Meeting of Congress. In that speech, the President said that “there are 30 million uninsured Americans.” Notice that the number dropped from 45 million because that part of the uninsured are not Americans. They are mostly citizens of Mexico.

The polling of the American people on health care reform has made it crystal clear they do not want American tax dollars paying premiums for foreign citizens. Remember that Cong. Joe Wilson called out, “You lie,” when President Obama was claiming that health care “reform” did not include the illegal aliens. Joe should certainly apologize for interrupting the President, with a true statement.
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Brit Hasn’t a Clue About U.S. Politics

September 18, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Britain, Business, Capitalism, Christianity, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Europe, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Military, President, Race, Religion, Republicans, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many elitist American leftists like to go about claiming that it is only Americans that are dunces on foreign matters. There is some truth to the accusation that Americans are not knowledgeable about the rest of the world but if a column in the UK Telegraph is any indication it isn’t much better for Britain’s understanding of American politics. Worse, it is plain that even a British journalist hasn’t a clue what he’s on about when attempting to discuss the differences between a Democrat and Republican in today’s climate.

At issue is the incredibly garbled take on American Democrats and Republicans as posted by U.K. Telegraph writer David Lindsay, who claims himself to be a “freelance writer and tutor at Durham University.” One wonders why he doesn’t get a real job.

In “Why real American conservatives should register as Democrats,” Lindsay’s main point seems to be that Republicans really support what the Democratic Party supports and so GOP voters should resign from their party and join the left side of the aisle. But Lindsay’s reasons prove that he doesn’t know a thing about what he’s talking about.
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Poll: 45% of Docs Would Quit Under Obamacare

September 18, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Recently Investor’s Business Daily published the results of a poll that found that an astonishing 45% of doctors polled would rather quit the medical field than suffer under Obamacare.

This is in stark contrast to recent news that a majority of physicians support Obama’s healthcare “reform” policies. IBD disputes this poll and also points out that a recent L.A. Times story that trumpets the American Medical Association’s approval of the so-called public option is based on a group that only represents 18% of American doctors.

The major finds of the IBD poll are:
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Paper Editor: Conservative Writers Resort to ‘Cheap Personal Attacks on Obama’

September 18, 2009 | Filed Under Conservatives, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

I guess we know what the editor of the Montana Standard of southwestern Montana thinks about conservative members of the media; he doesn’t think much of them.

In the Standard’s announcement of the addition of columnist Byron York for a-once a-week column, Editor Gerry O’Brien was excited to tell his readers about their newest conservative columnist with some lovely praise of York’s style. York, O’Brien says, is wonderful because he doesn’t resort to “cheap personal attacks on President Obama” like all those other conservative columnists.

York, a staunch conservative, presents his arguments in a thoughtful, measured fashion, rather than resorting to cheap personal attacks on President Obama and others in the Democratic Party that seem to be the hallmark of the GOP these days, said Standard Editor Gerry O’Brien.

Well, there you have it. I guess we should be glad that Byron isn’t like his conservative brethren, eh?

It is also interesting to note that Editor O’Brien doesn’t seem all too concerned that folks can so easily come to understand that he is a partisan sort of fellow himself. So much for a newspaper that is non-partisan and only interested in the news.
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Dem. Rockefeller Says Baucus Plan Raises Taxes on Middle Class

September 18, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) says that the newly released healthcare plan crafted by Senator Max Baucus (D- Mon.) will raise taxes on the middle class. Imagine that, one Democrat accusing another of raising taxes. These are strange and wondrous times, indeed.

The Baucus plan features new taxes on so-called high-end healthcare plans obtained through employers. Beginning in 2013, a 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for “high-cost plans” will be instituted. These “high-cost plans” are “defined as those above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for family plans.”

This tax will be levied on the whole cost of the plan, not just the part that the employees pay.
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