Hanlon’s Razor

August 11, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Communism, Congress, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Rights, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Dan Scott

There is a lot of invective being flung around by liberals and conservatives these days regarding the each other’s motivations. We hear accusations of “un-American”, unpatriotic, astro-turfing, the police accused of acting stupidly, etc. All of these invectives are nothing more than an attempt to sidestep the legitimate concerns of people asking questions instead of properly showing leadership by addressing the concerns. It seems some people confuse leadership with salesmanship. A leader who expects people to follow them must engender trust for that to happen; clearly hurling invectives at the followers doesn’t engender trust. A salesman is expected to narrowly focus on the sales points of the product they want to sell; a leader has no such latitude. A leader’s responsibility is to explore both the positives and negatives. It’s a pretty incompetent leader who thinks they should horn swoggle people in order to persuade them. Incompetence combined with arrogance many times is mistaken for malice.

Whether it is the Federal Budget, Cap & Trade or Healthcare Reform, these issues are far more complex than the sales points and wrongly assumes everyone affected by these issues understands all the details. One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to assume everyone understands what the issues are, what the details are and then assign a negative motivation to those who don’t see things the same way. Given the inappropriate comments from Nancy Pelosi and President Obama towards those who disagree with their solutions and characterization of it they display their incompetence in engendering trust. They may be frustrated with the dissent, however, it is their failure the leadership to clearly articulate what they want to do and transparently write the language before Congress to implement their plans. You cannot blame people for misunderstanding your plans if you are not willing to answer their concerns by transparently CHANGING the language in the bill before Congress to address those concerns. It is not an act of transparency to presume upon people by saying, “trust me.”
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Journo Asks Why Can’t ‘Progressives’ Win?

August 10, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Communism, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Republicans, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The L.A.Times’ Dan Neil is confused. He thinks that the so-called progressive movement is right on all the issues, but he just cannot understand why they can’t win the public debate, especially on healthcare. Neil laments that they have all the “English majors” on their side but cannot win “any war of words.” Just what is going on here, he wants to know? He’s so frustrated that he took to his keyboard to ask these questions in a Pittsburgh Gazette article from August 9.

In his piece, Neil wonders why the “progressives” are so inept at debate and cannot convince the lowly voters of the merits of their argument even though they are obviously right? He goes on to bemoan that the “progressives” are trying, but are just too darn nice, too “anti-inflammatory” in their rhetoric. He concludes that it’s time for the “progressives” to take off the gloves and fight dirty like the “insurance companies” have been doing.

Now, Mr. Neil seems like a smart fella. All his words are spelled correctly, and all. But for all his moaning and gnashing of teeth about why the “progressives” just can’t seem to win he misses the elephant in the room. “Progressives” can’t win because they are liars. And, as his blather in the Gazette shows, Neil is a liar, too.
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Cash for Clunkers, Gatesgate, Plus A Special Treat

August 10, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Book Reviews, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, John Armor, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Republicans, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Welfare | Comments Off

-By John Armor

Let’s begin with the easiest subject to understand – economics. Last week two important events happened. The Cash for Clunkers program shut down when it burned through money planned for four months, in four days. And based on a previously passed federal law, the minimum wage went up again.

Now, the two programs are different in size. The minimum wage only increased by 70 cents an hour; whereas, the Clunker program is/was giving away up to $4,500 per transaction. So, the change was both larger and faster in the latter instance. I was on the road on family business and saw a hand-lettered sign in a Tennessee Tasty-Freeze that said, “Prices have increased due to wage increases.”

The bottom line is simple, and every student who was awake during the first day of Economics 101 knows it. When the price of anything goes up, people buy less of it. For sure, assorted studies by economists hired by labor unions have produced “academic” studies showing that raising the minimum wage does not cost anyone their jobs. But no honest studies support that conclusion.
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Democrats: Anything to Avoid Meeting With Voters

August 9, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Speech, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

After four decades of urging students, hippies, communists, and agitators to come out en masse to protest the U.S. government, protests that commonly turned to violence, Democrats are at last finding a protest they don’t like because, with the healthcare debate, this time it is a protest of them and not by them.

Amazingly, Democrats have suddenly discovered that government should be meekly accepted, wholly given in to, obeyed without question and a lap dog Old Media has seemingly agreed. Any of you that heard only as little as a year ago that “protest was patriotic,” or that “dissent was the highest form of patriotism” are now gravely informed that to say a cross word against the Obammessiah makes one “dangerous.”

And now, Democrat Party bigwigs are passing down the directives to their Congressional membership that townhalls are verboten from this point forward. Congressmen returning to their districts are being told to find ways to avoid their voters as much as possible.
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Some Chilling Things in Obamacare

August 8, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Rights, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Larry Schweikart, author of “A Patriot’s History of the United States,” has a nicely detailed piece on the Family Security Matters site that is must reading for anyone curious of some of the worst, most chilling things in the various bills now before Congress.

Mr. Schweikart has disturbing things such as:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill mandates the Government will audit books of all employers that self insure. Can you imagine what that will do to small businesses? Every one will abandon “self insurance” and go on Government insurance. So when Obama says that there will still be private health care, it’s simply a lie: this mandate will force employers to abandon their private plans.

Or, how about the truth of rationing and the fact that government not doctors will be deciding what care you are “allowed” to have.
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Obama’s Advance Care Planning: code words for ‘euthanasia’

August 8, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Children, Communism, Congress, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Family, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Marie Jon, President, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Marie Jon

President Barack Obama has proposed that every American’s medical records be set before mindless bureaucrats who will determine their fate. The eyes of scrutiny have been set into motion, and the American public had best beware. This is not about healthcare, or a choice to keep your private medical plan or doctor. It is out-and-out trickery and is evil, and the effects could be devastating.

Let us not forget what happened just prior to implementation of the Nazis’ “Final Solution.” They established a policy of direct medical killing. They arranged the means through medical channels whereby their medical decisions were carried out by doctors and their assistants. They called their program euthanasia. The word was mere camouflage; it was the murder of innocent people.

These diabolical murderers of the Nazi era based their justification for direct medical killing on the simple concept that certain people are unworthy of life. They put together protocols by which they carried out their principle. Eventually they would kill impaired children and adults.

ABC Reports: It’s Real People, REAL Mad

August 7, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Free Speech, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

ABC News seemed to file a report that refutes the left wing mantra that all the outrage over Obamacare is fake, manufactured, or invented by a “Brooks Brothers rent-a-mob” with coverage of the local folks that confronted Blue Dog Democrat Frank Kratovil (D, Maryland) as he attempted to avoid a townhall meeting on his recess.

Kratovil employed the Democrat’s newest form of avoidance by trying to set up one-on-one meetings with his constituents instead of the regular townhall styled meeting and in that way avoid the confrontations that whip up crowds.

The Democrats are hoping that the less volatile way to meet the folks back home will paper over the outrage so widely felt by voters. They also realize that their members returning home won’t have to see as many of those voters with time consuming one-on-one sessions instead of larger townhall meetings.

It’s all just a sneaky Democratic trick to keep their members from being forced to deal with the voters.
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Obama vs. Mathematics

August 6, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

There is a very important article on National Review Online that explains how “the rich” don’t have enough money to pay for Obama’s spending even if they were taxed at 100%.

“Obama vs. Mathematics” informs us very well what a disaster the Obama policies are. It starts with a subtitle that warns, “Health care plus entitlements plus higher taxes only on the ‘rich’ equals disaster.”

Here is a key paragraph:
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Political Correctness Is Purposely Making The UK Nuttier Than A Fruitcake

August 6, 2009 | Filed Under Ann "Babe" Huggett, Anti-Semitism, Censorship, Communism, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Europe, Foreign Policy, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Islam, Islamofascism, Liberals, Media Bias, Race, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Terrorism, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Ann “Babe” Huggett

Last week, in my article titled “Every Day Is A Bad Hair Day When You Send The Wrong Signals”, I explored the unhealthy appeasement to the Muslims in the UK’s Avon and Somerset Islamic communities by the secular state police force issuing head scarves to its female officers for their use when entering mosques on police business. I argued that by stripping female police and Community Support Officers of part of their uniforms, I held that they effectively lost an important part of the power inherent in those uniforms.

I then went on to mockingly write, “So, police women of Avon and Somerset in the UK and eventually Dearborn, MI and Huston, TX in the US, today it’s the scarf but maybe tomorrow it’s the burqa even topped off with the niqab.” So you can imagine my precognitive shock to find out that this week the South Yorkshire police force in Sheffield, UK actually ordered three of their non-Muslim female police officers to forsake their uniforms entirely and don burqas with two of the three also having to wear the niqab as well!

In what is an appallingly unilateral exercise called “In Your Shoes” geared specifically to understand the Muslim community better, Sergeants Deb Leonard, Deb Pickering and Police Community Support Officer Helen Turner all had to smile and say “cheese” as they sported burqas for a photo op before going out into the streets to be stared at in disbelief by their more rational fellow countrymen. Naturally, the three literally undercover policewomen were accompanied by four Muslim women guides, who eagerly explained Islam to them more than likely figuring that if they are dressing the part then they are ripe for conversion.
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Congress: Do As I Say, But Don’t Expect Me To

August 5, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Want to see how far our political system has fallen since the bight days of promise in 1776? Check out this quote from Federalist No. 57, published on February 19, 1788, penned by James Madison:

“The House of Representatives … can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interest, and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny.”

What happened to those “strongest bonds” that were supposed to connect the ruler to the ruled? It has disappeared as Congress constantly exempts itself from being forced to live under the rules it makes for the rest of us. A perfect example of this is the opulent healthcare enjoyed by members of Congress and their staffers, opulence that we all pay for and one that far outshines the sort of medical care that we lowly voters can get without great expense.
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Liberals Love to Write Conservatism’s Obituary

August 5, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Entertainment, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Patriotism, Republicans, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did you know that the election of Barack Obama means that conservatism is dead forever more? The New Yorker thinks it is anyway. Its recent piece on the authors of the “Little House on the Prairie” series not only pronounces conservatism likely dead but also imagines the same fate for capitalism itself. This is just another example of how the self-congratulatory, isolated left constantly announces the death of capitalism and conservatism as it has been doing since FDR, our second most socialist president ever, came to power.

So how does one get from talking about the beloved children’s classic of rugged individualists eking out a living in the wild, wide-open wilderness to the announcement that capitalism and conservatism are dead? It’s the sort of trick that only a left leaning publication like the New Yorker can do and it does it well here.

As it happens, the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and co-author of the “Little House” series, Rose Lane Wilder, was in her later life a high profile conservative or libertarian who hobnobbed with the likes of Ayn Rand. In the middle of the 20th century with their history of self-reliance, Rose and mother Laura shied away from the Democrats when FDR was elected because of he advocated statism. Rose Lane called FDR a “dictator” and decried the generous welfare programs that the Democrats were sponsoring.
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The Two Faces of California’s Steve Poizner

August 5, 2009 | Filed Under Budget, Business, California, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Elections, Freedom, Government, Corruption, History, Jobs, Liberals, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, Supreme Court, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the next Governor of California gears up his – or her – campaign we are witnessing a near complete collapse of state government in the Golden State. It is a situation that the next governor will be faced with immediately, leaving not a second to celebrate victory.

There are some obvious solutions to what ails California: lower taxes, an end to the opulent welfare state, cutting off the free ride for illegals, an end to the free ride that unelected, overly powerful state employees unions have been allowed to attain, and the like, but the question is do any of the candidates on the Republican side have the backbone for the tough decisions that will have to be made before it’s too late… if it isn’t already.

When I first began to look at California’s GOP candidates for governor, I was heartened by the fact that the one Republican elected to state wide office had thrown his hat in the ring. Unfortunately, the closer I look at State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, the more like a tax and spend Democrat he appears. It is becoming increasingly clear that Poizner does not represent the right direction for California, but more of the same failed liberal policies that have destroyed the state.
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BREAKING: Dems Win 35-24 Vote For Government-Run Health Care

July 31, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Republicans, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 6 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Just got word in that the Democrats seem to have overcome their so-called Blue Dog problem at least long enough to vote down any chance of stripping the “public option” from the Democrat sponsored Obamacare version of healthcare “reform” currently roiling the House of Reps.

U.S. Rep. Doctor Mike Burgess (R, Texas) tried to introduce an amendment that would strip the House bill of the public option. Burgess worries about the regressive price controls and rationing as well as the pressure that the public option would put on the medical and insurance industries that would, in the end, force millions of Americans to lose their current medical care plans — something President Obama keeps falsely claiming won’t happen.

So, as so many have said, don’t put your faith in the Blue Dogs to save us. They are still Democrats, after all.
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UN Putting Education in Government’s Hands and the End of Homeschooling

July 31, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Children, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Family, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, UN, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Homeschooling is a growing trend in the United States today. Many thousands of parents wary of government indoctrination of their children, not to mention tired of the plummeting level of actual education threatening our kid’s futures, are taking their children’s education into their own hands and setting up homeschools. The trend is also starting to alarm the bureaucrats in government that count on using our children as a device to bring in state and federal tax money as well as teachers unions that relish the power of controlling our progeny. Consequently, state governments are increasingly looking at regulations meant to hamper homeschooling efforts.

But it isn’t just American bureaucrats and unions looking to justify their jobs that homeschoolers should worry about. From outside the U.S. there is a looming threat to homeschooling. Not only education sits in the crosshairs but the very the rights of parents to decide what is best for their own children could be threatened. This threat will likely manifest itself if the U.S. ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Currently the U.S. is not a signatory to this treaty and it would be better for parents if that remains the case because the UNCRC, if ratified, could set the stage for a complete government takeover of all education regardless of the desires or religious convictions of parents throughout the United States. And as mentioned this treaty also has the potential to eliminate parent’s rights altogether and, not just with education. Current events in Great Britain, a signatory to the treaty, are being closely watched by American homeschoolers and evidence seems to be mounting that worries about the UNCRC are well founded.

SEIUs Healthcare Pact With Wal-Mart Annoys AFL-CIO

July 28, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Security/Safety, SEIU, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Wal-Mart is making unions mad… again. But this time it is for joining forces with one as opposed to merely opposing them. Wal-Mart has recently joined forces with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to help them push through the disastrous Obamacare policies that the SEIU is championing.

While the SEIU is one of the largest, most powerful unions in the country, not all unions are happy with the labor group’s teaming up with the retail giant.

“We’re not too happy with Wal-Mart. We don’t think they should be an example of how to fix the health-care problems in America,” AFL-CIO President James Hoffa, Jr. told reporters.

As it happens, I agree with Hoffa that Wal-Mart’s agreement with the SEIU makes it an imperfect example by which to push healthcare “reform.” You see, Wal-Mart is not pursuing what would be a good policy for the country. It is pursuing what would be a good policy for Wal-Mart and a bad one for Wal-Mart’s competition.

First Evidence of Gov’t Telling us How to Live in Obamacare

July 25, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the things that those of us against government run healthcare systems are wary of most is the probability that government will begin to mandate how we are to live our lives. This assumption of power by government would mean a loss of our individual liberty and a corresponding theft of that liberty by government. Naturally, advocates of a single payer, socialistic healthcare system laugh off such worries and say “it’ll never happen here” — famous last words, of course.

Sparking such worries anew, Senator Chris Dodd (D, Conn.) recently said that it was entirely possible that the criminally troubled community group ACORN could likely qualify for funds from the Senate’s healthcare bill. But what ACORN might use those government funds for should alarm everyone.

Apparently the “Creating Healthier Communities” provision of the bill (found on page 382), would see grants awarded to state governments, local governments and groups that are members of a “national network of community-based organizations.”

And what does “Creating Healthier Communities” mean?

Obamacare Means an End to Liberty and Freedom

July 22, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

It may seem silly, but the singular fact about freedom is that having it means you have the God given right to ruin your own health without government saying you can’t, or standing in your way to get the medical care you need to fix your own mess. Obamacare, however, will both tell you how to live (taking away your freedom) as well as withhold from you the medical care you need to fix yourself. In fact, by its very nature, government healthcare has to end up that way.

Do you doubt that statement? Do you think that the benevolent father in Washington would never withhold medical care from those in need just because they are fat, old, or because they smoke or drink too much? Is this just fearmongering on my part as far as you are concerned? Au contraire. It is already happening in countries that have national socialistic healthcare systems and the sad tale of Gary Reinbach (RIP) of Dagenham, Essex, U.K. is exhibit number one.

Time Warns President He Could Lose Healthcare Battle

July 18, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It looks like Time Magazine’s Karen Tumulty is getting scared that we could be losing the healthcare battle so she is urging Obama to “step in” and fix it all for us. Why, only the dulcet tones of The One could save us all from… wait, isn’t this whole thing his deal in the first place?

What is curious with this piece is the fact that Tumulty seems oblivious to the possibility that if healthcare is failing to win the day, that failure could be squarely laid at the president’s feet. After all, it is his campaign promise and his “highest priority” that we tackle healthcare. Yet Tumulty, while mildly scolding Obama for not being hands on enough, is all too willing to blame everyone but Obama for the floundering of the debate.

ACORN Shenanigans in South Carolina

July 13, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Health, Jobs, Liberals, President, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Recently, the Smosska Corporation swooped into Florence, South Carolina promising to instantly create some 400 new jobs with an assurance of 3,000 before next year is out. For an area that needs jobs this seemed like welcome news.

Last week a job fair was held in Florence by the new company at which free health care was offered those that would be hired. At that time an aptitude test was taken by applicants if, that is, they had the $40 fee to pay to take the thing. The company claimed this “fee” would be used to pay for drug tests if they were hired. This fee, however, made some people curious.

The fee and several other curious characteristics of this company caused suspicions to be raised about its legitimacy. It turns out, there is not yet an actual building in which this Smosska Corporation is housed, there don’t seem to be too many current employees, and there doesn’t seem to have been any actual products created by Smosska in the past — though the corporation is supposed to have been formed in 2001. Even the original email address given out was a Yahoo account, not an official corporate web host address.

Dems Address Paying For It

July 12, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Soak the “rich.” That’s the plan. In fact, that is always the plan with tax and spend Democrats. This time it is a new “surtax” on Americans making over $250,000 a year (or $350,000 per couple) to pay for Obamacare.

Ominously, the plan has a hike mechanism right at the outset as Charlie Rangel (D, NY), head of the House Ways and Means Committee, has inserted language that will raise the tax higher if they don’t get as much money as they want with this first dip into the rich folk’s wallets. If anyone thinks Democrats will imagine they’ve gotten enough the first time and that the hike trigger doesn’t need to be pulled… well, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

So, who will this hit? Can anyone doubt that it will be doctors themselves? After such a raid into American’s paychecks, it will be doctors that will find that they are being taxed in order to pay themselves further reduced rates by government reimbursements through this new healthcare system.

If Canada’s System is So Great, Then Why…

July 2, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The left continually holds up the Canadian socialized healthcare system as the best example, one we should strive to emulate. But as each week passes we find more and more reason to doubt the panacea in the Great White North.

Last week news came out that Canada forced an infant to flee its country and into our own to get life saving treatment. A baby was born 13 weeks premature in Ontario, Canada but there were no neonatal intensive care beds open for the child there.

Massachusetts Universal Healthcare System Breaking Down Already

June 30, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

When Governor Mitt Romney instituted a universal healthcare plan for Massachusetts in 2006 he proclaimed it a conservative idea. “It’s a conservative idea insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care,” he said. “I think it appeals to people on both sides of the aisle: insurance for everyone without a tax increase.” The plan passed and was put into practice. But has it worked? Has it been successful?

For a time, many thought it might but cracks in the system are already being seen. These cracks are instructive as a lesson on how Obamacare will crash and burn just like Romneycare is now in the process of doing.

One of the early claims that helped push Romneycare through to law was the insistence by its supporters that Emergency Room visits would fall as more and more citizens became covered under healthcare insurance. Since ER care is far more expensive than a doctor’s care, it was thought that more people with insurance would ease the overcrowding of ERs as well as lower the overall costs of healthcare.

However, a flaw in this logic has been seen throughout the state. As more people became insured, more people demanded the care of doctors. These doctors became overloaded with patients and waiting lists for doctors got longer and longer. As a result, ERs in Massachusetts have not seen a downturn in visits. On the contrary, it seems that ER visits are actually on the upswing in the Bay State. In fact, in 2007 they were higher than the national average by 20 percent.

Democrat Says Gov’t Doesn’t Have to ‘Live Within Our Means’

June 29, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, California, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, as a common citizen, what do you do when you are out of money and your credit is used up? Well, you go without don’t you? Like my Mother always used to say, “What are you gonna do, buy something with your good looks?”

Well, we are all getting woefully used to feeling that government can’t seem to understand that fraud, waste, and overspending is not a good idea. In fact, we are starting to realize that government is incapable of fiscal responsibility.

But, even as we realize this truth, politicians at least pretend that they are interested in fiscal responsibility. They pretend at laws that supposedly force government into a balanced budget, they make claims that they are fully funding their new causes, and they act as if they are concerned about the budget.

Well, apparently California Budget Conference Committee Chairman Noreen Evans (D, Santa Rosa) has decided to cast away the mask of fiscal responsibility. She has publicly announced that she believes that government does not have to “live within our means.” In fact, it is a duty to spend on just any old thing that government wants to spend on.

6 States Want to Nullify Obamacare With Opt Out Law

June 28, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, President, Rights, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Six states are currently looking to add an “opt out” law to their books to protect citizens from the possibility of a national healthcare plan imposed by federal fiat.

Arizona started the ball rolling by introducing the Health Care Freedom Act, a voting initiative that will be put before voters on the 2010 ballot. If accepted by the majority of the voters, Arizona will be able to opt out of any federal healthcare laws passed by Washington. Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming are considering similar measures.

The arrogance of Congress and the president worries many of these state lawmakers, some even consider Obama’s healthcare policies a naked power grab.

ABC/Obama Healthcare Special Not so Special in Ratings Game

June 27, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

For those of you that are curious, Obama’s super special, ultra spectacular healthcare infomercial was a dud in the ratings last Wednesday night.

ABC’s Brarackspactacular Healthcare Extravaganza (I think that was the official name of the show, wasn’t it?) went up against the NBC premiere of “The Philanthropist,” widely panned as disappointing, and a repeat of “CSI: NY” on CBS, widely seen as already once widely seen. Unfortunately for ABC, its prop”O”ganda special got a dismal 1.2 rating to the 2.0 and 1.8 ratings respectively for the entertainment competition.

Apparently the TV show where he’s president but plays a doctor on TV didn’t go over well. The “Super-dooper, Obamalicious, Doctor Spock medicine woman show” was only able to cajole 4.703 million viewers into watching while NBC picked up 7.414 and CBS got 7.393 in the ten O’Clock hour. Remembering that we have 300 million citizens and healthcare is supposed to be the biggest emergency in history, well, that is a paltry number of viewers that Doc Barack got.

Did Obama Say We Should Kill the Old Folks to Save Money Last Night?

June 25, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Rights, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am wondering when the euthanasia folks are going to start touting this one? I mean, it sure seemed to me as if the most caring, most civil, most intelligent president evah just said that healthcare could be cheaper if we don’t give old folks and the infirm the full measure of care they now get. It appeared that Obama said we should just let them die or suffer because they aren’t worth the effort. Imagine if Bush had said something like this? The left wouldn’t have hesitated to call him any manner of names.

Obama said during the ABC Special on Wednesday night that a way to save healthcare costs is to abandon the sort of care that “evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve” the patient’s health. He went on to say that he had personal familiarity with such a situation when his grandmother broke her hip after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Obama offered a question on the efficacy of further care for his grandmother saying, “and the question was, does she get hip replacement surgery, even though she was fragile enough they were not sure how long she would last?”

But who is it that will present the “evidence” that will “show” that further care is futile? Are we to believe that Obama expects individual doctors will make that decision in his bold new government controlled healthcare future? If he is trying to make that claim it is a flat out untruth and he knows it.

Screwing Over The Poor Again!

June 23, 2009 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Communism, Congress, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Family, Government, Corruption, Liberals, President, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Dan Scott

In another example of feel good legislation Congress has once again come up with a plan to help their primary constituents, the unions under the guise of advancing environmentalism and helping the economy. The cash for clunkers act as it is named will pay anywhere from $3,500 to $4,500 for any vehicle sold in a transaction to purchase a more fuel efficient one. As with most feel good legislation, it is ill considered with unintended consequences and a waste of taxpayer money.

Let’s examine the pertinent numbers. Under the act, $1 billion as a starter will be spent by the taxpayer to buy up (and scrap) a vehicle that gets less than 18 mpg. The better gas mileage the newer vehicle gets, the higher the amount of taxpayer money you get. Using an average $4000 as the credit that would take approximately 250,000 used cars off the road. As of 2006 there were roughly 135.4 million passenger cars, 6.7 million motorcycles and 99.1 million light trucks and SUVs. In that same year, roughly 42.6 million used vehicles were sold. Why is that important? Approximately one sixth of the total vehicles on the road are re-sold each year and that’s a sizable market. Taking 250,000 off the road would barely register at 0.6% of the annual sales volume of older vehicles. While this is a very small percentage, it will have a most pernicious effect of setting the base price for any used car at $3,500.
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Gov’t Healthcare Advocates: No Bi-Partisanship Required

June 12, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

There is no mistaking that I stand against a single payer, government controlled healthcare system. The last thing I want is a person with the same attitude as a DMV worker in charge of my health! By now, everyone here has noticed what direction I lean, I’m sure. Nonetheless, I do like to check out what the other side says about what they want, too. This is a report on one of those voices, that of the folks at OpenLeft.com.

Suffice to say, they want socialized healthcare with no private aspect to the system at all. They want all hospitals run by government, all doctors working for government, all research facilities funded and controlled by government. And, if Mike Lux of OpenLeft can be believed, they also want the Republicans to butt out of the whole debate.

This disinterest in the American system of debate, compromise and governance is a typical aspect of the goals of the authoritarian left that is coming on like gangbusters in this healthcare debate. They want socialist healthcare and that is that. They are not interested in capitalism, not interested in freedom, not interested in debate or compromise, not interested in any sort of bi-partisanship… in essence they want a tyranny of the minority. They want the whole cake and they want to eat it, too.

Hello GovernmentCare, Goodbye Personal Privacy

June 8, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Communism, Congress, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Science, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Do you want your government to know that you have bowel troubles? Do you mind if the president can discover if you have erectile disfunction? Would you be out of sorts if your local Congressman could discover if you’d had an abortion? How about if your state comptroller’s office or your governor could discover if you’d had breast implants? Well, a vote for Obamacare is a vote to give away your personal, private, maybe embarrassing medical information.

Do you think this is a silly claim? Well, don’t. In the newly released Obamacare plan, section 3102 titled “Financial Integrity” makes provision for state and federal governments to be able to investigate any medical care provider at any time. This provision gives government the right to look at any record that a doctor has in his files and that means your private medical information. Worse, they may do so without court approval, without a warrant, with no cause stated.

Illinois: New Gov. Same Old Garbage

May 20, 2009 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Media Bias, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

A Pandering, Union suck-up that wants to soak the rich. Is this guy any different than the last guy?

Did you know that unless we pass Replacement Governor Pat Quinn’s union appeasing, pension stuffing budget, Illinois prison doors will be opened for a flood of dangerous criminals to walk free? Did you know that the old and infirm will be left to die in the streets? Did you know that all our teachers will be sent home never to teach again? The busses will stop, health care will end, local governments will lose state aid, locusts will descend from the skies, we will find our skin erupting in boils and disease will plague the state? Did you know it’s doomsday?

Well if you didn’t, Replacement Governor Quinn has been so kind as to have informed us all of the pending doom to the state of Illinois unless he gets his way. Quinn issued his “doomsday budget” warning at an address made yesterday at Chicago’s City Club, a downtown civic organization popular as a platform for city and state politicians to issue political pronouncements. Sadly, the Replacement Governor’s doomsaying is no different than the previous criminal governor we had that did the same thing. It is little else but scare tactics designed to force the legislature to bend to his will.

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