Obamacare…The “left” doesn’t want it passed. “The fundamental failing of the newest Senate proposal (on healthcare) is that it requires individuals to purchase health insurance, but does nothing to rein in what insurance companies can charge. There is nothing to stop spiraling health care costs from eating up an ever increasing percentage of our national productivity.” Huffington Post 12/15/09. Wow! That’s the left wing stating that this bill doesn’t help, but hurts the cost issue! The Huffington Post goes on to say “ What the Senate is currently discussing will make health care more expensive for individuals, families and businesses, with no check on the insurance companies…they’re on track to make the problems worse rather than better.” That’s the left wing, Washington insider, Obama supporting Huffington Post.
The “right” doesn’t want it passed. “All Republican Senators now oppose the bill…” WSJ. (So much for the “post partisan era”).
The Independents don’t want the bill passed. Senator Lieberman has been widely quoted as saying that he won’t support the bill with a public option or a Medicare buy down to age 55. (So Majority Leader Reid reportedly took those critical parts of the left agenda out of the bill to win a vote for something). The Independent, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders said that his vote was “not certain” because the bill needed “a lot of work”. Brattleboro.com.
The past head of the Democratic National Committee (and a doctor) doesn’t want the bill passed. Howard Dean said “This is essentially the collapse of healthcare reform in the Senate and, honestly, the best thing to do right now is to kill the Senate bill.” ABC Morning News 12/15/09.
The American people don’t want the bill passed. The latest (Obama supporting) CNN poll (12/10/09) shows that 61% of Americans oppose the bill. 61%!!
The bill doesn’t meet any of the stated objectives. The latest CBO estimates for the Senate bill say that a family of four with a household income of $54,000/year should expect to pay 17% of their gross income on healthcare…that’s about $9,000/year. Wait a minute…that’s more than the average cost today (about $7,700/year)! So much for the “affordable healthcare for all”, and the portion of the uninsured because they can’t afford healthcare on moderate incomes.
The CMS (Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services) analysis reported (Dec.14th) that the Senate bill would cause total health expenditures to increase by $234 billion between 2010 and 2019. So much for “bending the cost curve down”.
The CBO estimates that the 15% of the population without health insurance will drop to (at best) 6% if the Senate bill were implemented. So much for “covering all Americans”.
But it will pass and become law for two reasons. The Democrats have a filibuster proof Congress that will pass something, anything, out of loyalty to the party and political payoffs that trump any loyalty to the citizens who voted for them or their own values. Senator Mary Landrieu is an excellent example. She bragged about her payoff, correcting a reporter when he suggested that it was worth $200 million for her to take home to Louisiana, she said “it’s closer to $300 million”. Anyone think she won’t vote “yes” in the final hour, no matter what’s in the bill?
The last few Senators will have their crafted objections overcome in the last hours (we have to have some drama) with broken armed analysts re-assessing the costs more favorably (or just saying it will cost less “cause Obama say so”); or Clintonian parsing of definitions, so that only dollars with even serial numbers can be used to fund abortion. Then there will be tears and a big celebration of the historic moment when the government started to take over another part of our lives.
The Old Man
Dec 12, 2009
Obama Tells Old Man not to breathe!
Okay, maybe the title was a little overstated. President Obama didn’t say the official EPA ruling declaring CO2 emissions are bad for the planet meant that I couldn’t breathe…he just said I couldn’t exhale. I guess this is one of the “half truths” he accuses us who have different views of propagating. And clearly, there are options if I cannot, in my selfish, capitalist body, do what’s good for the planet. I am looking into surgical procedures to implant a CO2 converter into my sinus passages, so that after taking in good oxygen, only innocuous, although odious, gases are emitted back into the air. I do, however, worry that this would make me a politician.
I am also waiting to see if this surgery is covered under Obamacare, or covered by a grant from the Cap and Trade bill. I am considering another alternative by exercising my lungs to see if I can build them up so that I can only inhale in the U.S. and exhale when I get to a country that gets paid by the global warming initiative, because it is poor and is exempted from limits on CO2 emissions. They will welcome me, I suppose, because this will increase that country’s CO2 emissions, qualifying them for more funds from the concerned global community. I’ve already heard rumors that some countries are planning special discount travel packages for “exhalers”.
There are other alternatives being proposed by the administration, to be fair, that would allow me to exhale here at home. After all, the president doesn’t really want me to leave, I pay a lot of taxes and he plans for me to pay more. Further, he loses a convenient enemy if I leave. So, the plan would allow me to have a “carbon offset” to compensate for my selfish, greedy pollution by paying China or India to plant a tree to offset their pollution. And I can feel good about that innocent tree having a better chance at survival in China, where there will be some CO2 left that it needs to survive. (China and India have asked, however, that I pay for that tree in something other than U.S. dollars).
So, maybe I overreacted a little. I think I’ll just suck it up and get on board with this great social cause
The Old Man
I am also waiting to see if this surgery is covered under Obamacare, or covered by a grant from the Cap and Trade bill. I am considering another alternative by exercising my lungs to see if I can build them up so that I can only inhale in the U.S. and exhale when I get to a country that gets paid by the global warming initiative, because it is poor and is exempted from limits on CO2 emissions. They will welcome me, I suppose, because this will increase that country’s CO2 emissions, qualifying them for more funds from the concerned global community. I’ve already heard rumors that some countries are planning special discount travel packages for “exhalers”.
There are other alternatives being proposed by the administration, to be fair, that would allow me to exhale here at home. After all, the president doesn’t really want me to leave, I pay a lot of taxes and he plans for me to pay more. Further, he loses a convenient enemy if I leave. So, the plan would allow me to have a “carbon offset” to compensate for my selfish, greedy pollution by paying China or India to plant a tree to offset their pollution. And I can feel good about that innocent tree having a better chance at survival in China, where there will be some CO2 left that it needs to survive. (China and India have asked, however, that I pay for that tree in something other than U.S. dollars).
So, maybe I overreacted a little. I think I’ll just suck it up and get on board with this great social cause
The Old Man
Dec 2, 2009
Shut up and Support the President
Shut up and Support the President!
I as a capitalist, a free enterprise devotee, a fiscal conservative, and a believer in a much smaller, less intrusive federal government whose primary roles are national defense, enforcement of a constructionist view of the Constitution for all of its’ citizens, and allowing free interstate commerce…have deep disagreements in many areas with the Marxist policies and “”one world” views of President Obama.
However, regarding the President’s speech last night on Afghanistan, I have a message for my colleagues who usually disagree with him. This is especially offered to those political leaders and pundits who call themselves conservatives, or view themselves as “loyal opposition”.
This message is (with all due respect): Shut up (the carping) and support the President. Leave the carping to the liberals, that’s what they do. This is War.
You wanted the President to stand up against terrorism, and commit to fight it to make us safer.
He just did.
You wanted the President to say that winning this war was vital to our national security, and that Pakistan and Afghanistan are important to us.
He just did.
You wanted him to “listen to the (military) commanders on the ground”.
He just did.
You wanted him to show courage and stand up to the left wing of his own party.
He just did.
Okay, we’re unhappy about setting a timeline (but with an out to assess conditions on the ground). And you’re not sure how he’ll deliver on his plan. But the President stood up, spoke up, and “manned up” in a difficult situation. We didn’t like it when others criticized the former president during war, showing the world and our enemies a divided country. There are legitimate arguments against being in a war in Afghanistan. There are legitimate arguments about how he will prosecute this war. But the President, for all intents and purposes, made the basic decision you thought he should make, and, so, if we're truly loyal opposition,…this is war…stand together, support the President.
The Old Man
I as a capitalist, a free enterprise devotee, a fiscal conservative, and a believer in a much smaller, less intrusive federal government whose primary roles are national defense, enforcement of a constructionist view of the Constitution for all of its’ citizens, and allowing free interstate commerce…have deep disagreements in many areas with the Marxist policies and “”one world” views of President Obama.
However, regarding the President’s speech last night on Afghanistan, I have a message for my colleagues who usually disagree with him. This is especially offered to those political leaders and pundits who call themselves conservatives, or view themselves as “loyal opposition”.
This message is (with all due respect): Shut up (the carping) and support the President. Leave the carping to the liberals, that’s what they do. This is War.
You wanted the President to stand up against terrorism, and commit to fight it to make us safer.
He just did.
You wanted the President to say that winning this war was vital to our national security, and that Pakistan and Afghanistan are important to us.
He just did.
You wanted him to “listen to the (military) commanders on the ground”.
He just did.
You wanted him to show courage and stand up to the left wing of his own party.
He just did.
Okay, we’re unhappy about setting a timeline (but with an out to assess conditions on the ground). And you’re not sure how he’ll deliver on his plan. But the President stood up, spoke up, and “manned up” in a difficult situation. We didn’t like it when others criticized the former president during war, showing the world and our enemies a divided country. There are legitimate arguments against being in a war in Afghanistan. There are legitimate arguments about how he will prosecute this war. But the President, for all intents and purposes, made the basic decision you thought he should make, and, so, if we're truly loyal opposition,…this is war…stand together, support the President.
The Old Man
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