Category Archives: Politics

Economy, Immigration, Politics

Days Of Incrementalism Are Over

On Saturday, November 21, 2009, the Senate of the United States voted to move  health insurance reform (the Democrat version) to the floor for debate. This represents to the ‘T’ what Rahm Emanual meant when describing the political strategy he called ‘rule one.’ Which is “Never allow a crisis to go to waste, they are opportunities to do big things.”

So for now and the coming weeks, the American people will be able to see one side trying to get support to pass this takeover of one sixth of the private sector, clearly and obviously without any Constitutional authority to do so, and one side trying to stop it. That is our only choice since the GOP’s plan to reform health care within the private sector and without a government takeover is off the table.

What we can expect to see if this bill passes the Senate with zero chance that Obama will veto it, is this:

  1. New taxes on everyone that consumes medical care from a health care provider that is not ‘government’ approved.
  2. New taxes on those that buy health care insurance if your policy in not ‘government’ approved.
  3. New taxes on those that choose not to buy health care insurance. And the IRS will see to it that you will pay. Or, go to jail. How’s that for Choice and Competition?
  4. New taxes on everyone that provides medical care to Medicare patients. To the tune of $500 billion in cuts in payments to Medicare providers. And that is over and above the discount rates the government currently demands from them. An exodus of doctors in the profession and more people to cover means long waiting periods, lower quality health care, and rationed health care. All that good stuff.
  5. New taxes on those that find cures, both therapeutically and otherwise, like pharmaceutical and medical technology companies.
  6. New taxes on all who use certain medical devices. Like your father’s pacemaker and grandmother’s stint and your wife’s or girlfriend’s new breasts.
  7. New taxes on businesses with over 50 employees that don’t offer health insurance. Now there’s a job creator. Not.
  8. Expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, to include tens of millions more dependents and including illegal aliens. Without increasing the debt and without decreasing the quality of health care?
  9. Expansion of government subsidies for the poor and even middle-income people to help them ‘pay’ for it all. Subsidies for a plan that was supposed to decrease premium prices? Instead, we will have more people dependent on government. All without increasing the debt one dime?
  10. The plan would give states the option not to participate. This does not include an option not to pay for it.  Just not to participate in it. Make any sense to you?
  11. Insurance companies would be barred from excepting pre-existing conditions. (Probably the one and only problem sick people have that the government needs to be involved with, and accounted for in the GOP alternative.)  Barred from interstate competition. Barred from offering customer-based insurance policies. Raising insurance premiums for everyone. But this plan was suppose to decrease premiums.
  12. You will be forced into the government health insurance plan (you can’t keep yours if you want to) whenever you make any change in your current plan, like adding a dependent or changing your deductible, or changing your coverage in any way.
  13. A government-run insurance company, with artificially lower rates than private-sector carriers (see pre-requisites above) that will eventually cause that private sector industry to rot on the proverbial vine.

ultimately leading to the SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM that Obama wanted. Before he didn’t want it.

So, despite 60 years of history of the American people rejecting the notion of turning over their power and responsibility of health care to the federal government, most recently in 1993 with Hillary-care, we have come to this point. This is a hit right between your eyes. A hit on freedom and liberty, a hit on the Constitution, and a hit on your family’s health and finances for generations to come. The days of incrementalism are over. If this bill becomes law, there’s nothing except the next election that can restrain this power grab in Washington. And no industry will be safe from government control.

related links:  Senate Votes to Move Health Debate Forward | NYT, More Than Just Economic Stimulus

Immigration, Media, Politics

Unemployment Up, Arrests Of Illegals Down

In the most unreported news story of the month, and prepping the field for amnesty of all who are in this country illegally . . .

Arrests of illegal immigrant workers have dropped precipitously under President Obama, according to figures released Wednesday.

Criminal arrests, administrative arrests, indictments and convictions of illegal immigrants at work sites all fell by more than 50 percent from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009.

The figures show that Mr. Obama has made good on his pledge to shift enforcement away from going after illegal immigrant workers themselves – but at the expense of Americans’ jobs, said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the Republican who compiled the numbers from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

napolitano
Comprende?

In a speech last week  to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank headed by John Podesta and funded by George Soros, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano proclaims that border security is so good now that it’s now time to consider amnesty for the ’12 million’ illegal aliens already in the United States.

Right! It is so good now that there is still 400 miles of border fencing to be built.

”How can they claim that enforcement is ‘done’ when there are more than 400 open miles of border with Mexico, hundreds of thousands of criminal and fugitive aliens and millions of illegal immigrants taking American jobs?” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees immigration and border issues.

And it doesn’t stop there. The administration’s spin is that economic recovery would be enhanced by amnesty. And, that doing so would also enhance national security. What? With a 400 mile long welcome mat and a laundry list of free stuff? Dang, almost forgot about al-Qaeda. They like the welcome mat too!

Hearken back to the Sept 9 Joint Session of Congress where President Obama said, and was called a liar for it, that illegals were not covered in the bill, which at that time was H.R. 3200. That bill did not exclude illegals from participating in the health care plans. So yes, he lied.

Now there is a ‘better’ way. Make them all legal, problem solved. Now he’s no longer a liar. Feel better now?

related links:

Media, Politics

Caution:Bribery / Stimulus Money At Work

Harry Reid prepares for a big cloture vote in the Senate, late tomorrow night. Do you know what Reid is doing to prepare for it? He’s offering/bribing Sen. Mary Landrieu ( D-LA) who opposed this health care takeover, $100 300 million FOR HER VOTE. Even though it is substantially the same as the House Bill.

It’s a bit of parliamentarian gobbledygook, but Rush Limbaugh explains it better as to why a vote for cloture, although the vote Saturday night, does not enact the bill, it is a strong indication that the bill will pass.

All right, health care test vote on Saturday night. Let me explain why they’re calling it a test vote. There are two stages to a piece of legislation in the Senate, and both stages require 60 votes. The first vote, which is what’s going to happen tomorrow night, is being called a test vote because if it gets 60 votes, it then is moved to the floor and debate begins. The next vote after that requires 60 votes again to stop the debate. That’s called cloture. And that vote, the cloture vote, tells us whether or not the bill will pass.

You can bet your last dollar that if Bush was in The White House and Republicans were the majority party, that there wouldn’t be anything on TV OTHER THAN how corrupt the administration is, bribing Senators with your tax money. That’s your tax money that was supposed to be used to stimulate the economy, not to buy a vote to take over one sixth of it.

Proving that there is nothing beneath doing if it will advance the Democrat’s agenda. That, and that the media is purposely looking the other way to watch it happen. Is this the hope and change that Americans voted for?

There is a reason that for the last 60 years Americans refused to accept government control over our health care. Americans don’t want it. So what else is there to do but to act like Russia or Venezuela or North Korea and just do whatever you have to in order to get what you want. This isn’t America as we know it, or as we knew it.

related links:

updated: 11/21/09 15:53 and 11/23/09 23:49

Politics

What He Said

Check this opening statement on the opening for discussion of the first version of the Democrat’s health care bill, H.R.3200, by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI). Fact is, it still pertains to the new and future versions of the Democrats’ health insurance / health care bills.

Politics, War On Terror

This Is Military Commission Reform?

Relating to this post on giving the al-Qaeda terrorists civilian trials in New York City, Secretary Gates issues his statement. Reading between the lines, the fact that it is a joint statement that includes The White House, shows he is falling in line with his boss who likes diverse opinions as long as they are his own.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates  said . . .

Bringing terrorists to justice is an integral part of our national security. The reform of Military Commissions and today’s announcement are important steps in that direction.

Got that? Reforming Military Commissions is not to use them.

Politics, War On Terror

Civilian Trials For Gitmo Terrorists?

In keeping with the President’s agenda to close Guantanamo Bay, affectionately called Club Gitmo, Obama’s Atty General Eric Holder will be bringing KSM and  other prisoners who have already admitted their guilt, to New York and be given civilian trials with all the rights and privileges of regular American citizens instead of the military tribunals which are established precedent. This, after having spent $12 million at Club Gitmo constructing portable courtrooms for the military tribunals.

The purpose is not to pursue a conviction on these terrorists. They’ve admitted their guilt and have already asked to be martyred. The purpose is to put the Bush administration and the CIA on trial as an unintended (not really) consequence. Throwing a big bone to the far-left base seems more important to him than established precedent for trials of enemy combatants. More important than the families of the 3,000 people that KSM and his co-conspirators killed. And more important than the morale of those who wear the uniform to protect this country.

All this happens under the backdrop of President Obama’s inability to make a decision on what to do next in Afghanistan. It’s three months and counting.

Who is surprised about all of this? Given the contempt that the President has for the U.S. Constitution and his disdain for the military, it wouldn’t surprise me if he delegated the Commander In Chief responsibilities to a Cabinet position or a Czar. He’s apparently too busy remaking America to adequately protect it. How does Dennis Kucinich, Secretary of the Department of Peace sound?

related links:

Florida, Media, Pensacola, Politics, War On Terror

The Crist – Obama Political Dilemma

Hot topic in Florida politics is Gov Charlie Crist, that well-tanned guy with bright smile. Not so much for his collusion with the RPOF to derail his challenger for the senate seat, but for his attempt to re-write history in his support for Obama’s so-called economic stimulus bill and subsequent loss of support. Editors on the Gulf Coast say Crist should ‘man up,’ quit pretending, and ponder what he needs to do to stop his slide in the polls.

It is demonstrative of what happens when a ‘leader’ is politically driven, instead of driven by core principles, always measuring the effects of a decision on a political bloc instead of just doing what you believe to be right.

President Obama finds himself in the same situation right now over any number of subjects. The most blatant of which is the war effort in Afghanistan. His dithering over not just what to do, but whether to do, will bite him in the butt as well. His core beliefs on that subject are beginning to show and becoming harder to disguise. If he does what is right, he ticks off his anti-war, anti-military, anti-American (as we know it) far-left base. If he caves, he loses those high-valued ‘independent’ voters who elected him.

The ‘real’ Crist is a political chameleon. Obama is the wizard of OZ. The only difference is in their motivation. Crist is denying whatever he has to, to get elected to the Senate. Obama is trying, with the help of the media, to keep people from knowing what he is all about and what his goal of remaking America is, so he can permanently stifle capitalism and personal freedom. In other words, ‘social justice.’ It’s what Marxists do.

If Obama had the guts to run on what he is doing to the economy and the private sector, Hillary Clinton would most likely be President now. Crist should man up. Obama can’t man up. But the more the folks learn about each of them, the slimmer their chances of election or re-election. And in both cases, if both lose, America wins.

Politics, War On Terror

Obama Making Excuses For Ft Hood Shooter

In direct contrast (almost) to how President Obama jumped to conclusions about the Cambridge police ‘acting stupidly,’ after stating that he did not have any of the facts, last night in an interview on ABC’s World News Tonight with Jake Tapper, the President jumps to the conclusion, despite all the shooters’ history of pro-jihad activities, that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan just cracked under pressure. Under pressure? Since he had not yet been sent to the war theater what is this pressure? Pre-traumatic stress disorder?

Tapper:

Are you concerned based on what you know about the case at Fort Hood that the government was not talking to itself the way that after 9/11 we tried to ensure that it would?

Obama:

We are going to complete this investigation and we are going to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again. Beyond that, I think it’s important for me to let the investigation play itself out so that we know exactly what happened, when it happened, how it happened, before — before I as president of the United States comment on it.

Tapper:

Philosophically, what separates an act of violence from an act of terrorism?

Obama:

In a country of 300 million people, uh, there are going to be acts of violence that are inexplicable, even within the extraordinary m-military that we have. Uh, and, uh, I think everybody understands how outstanding the young men and women in uniform are under the most severe stress. There are going to instances, uh, in which, uh, an individual cracks.

An individual cracks? Just ignore the radical Islamic background and contacts with the same radical Imam that two of the 9/11 terrorists followed? The very same Imam that is calling this terrorist a hero. Na, forget about that.

“It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy,” Obama said. “But this much we do know: No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts.”

It is blatantly obvious that the Commander In Chief cannot bring himself to utter the T word, terrorist, even when it hits him (Allahu Akbar) 43 times in one day.

The memorial service at Ft. Hood today was touching, moving, and appropriate. I couldn’t help but notice that there was no mention of the enemy we’re all supposed to be fighting nor some assurance that these Americans did not die in vain. But I’ll allow that maybe the memorial service wasn’t the best time to do that. BUT, the next public appearance he makes IS the right time to do just that instead of looking for excuses for why a terrorist did what he did.

2010 Election, Florida, Pensacola, Politics

Who Has A Solution For Florida's Economy?

The political landscape in Florida is broad, but not very deep. There is more going on in the gubernatorial race and the Senate race than you know. More even than the media knows or is willing to share.

In the gubernatorial race, there is only one candidate that actually has a plan not only to fix Florida’s economy in the short term, but in the long term too. There is only one candidate that has a plan to maximize the health care dollars and health care productivity in the state, which will bring cost down, not up. There is only one candidate that is not running on endorsements and the boilerplate ‘I can do it better and smarter than him/or her’ but is running on a platform of real changes that will produce real and lasting benefits for Floridians, including jobs and lowering the costs of necessities like insurance, housing, loans and financing, energy and health care.

Did you know . . .

Florida is in a worse mess than you think. Our state’s economy is tanking, with 700,000 jobs lost, 300,000 foreclosures and more on the way. The banks just keep making it worse, and interest, insurance and energy costs keep going higher. This year’s $3.5 billion deficit got plugged by “stimulus” money, but next year’s will be worse. Most people don’t even know about the over $50 BILLION in losses at the State Board of Administration (SBA), for which Governor (and candidate for the U.S. Senate) Charlie Crist, Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Bill McCollum, and Chief Financial Officer (and gubernatorial candidate) Alex Sink are directly responsible. That’s almost $3,000 for every Floridian! They hope we won’t find out about this disaster until after the election. We can expect our taxes to go up by 25% in the next two years, because those same politicians are doing nothing to clean up the mess. They are too busy running for the next office. We can hardly look to them for solutions, because they are the problem! No one has offered a plan to fix Florida’s mess – until now.

The candidate with a plan is Dr. Farid Khavari. He’s an economist, not a politician. That’s probably why he has solutions that will work, instead of more of the same.

Don’t take my word for it though. Check out these three websites of the candidates, do your own research, and see who has a plan and who has more of the same.

Political Party Hardball. In an earlier post on how Florida’s Democratic Party is not Democratic, which was pertaining to the seven Democratic candidates for Governor, at which time you say ‘what? I thought it was only Alex Sink.’ I told you about how the party’s State Chairperson Karen Thurman chose Alex Sink at their state convention last month while ignoring Khavari and the other candidates. Well, the RPOF seems to be on the same track when it comes to picking their candidate for U.S. Senate. Don’t you want to have some say in this?

RPOF Chairman Bob Greer seems to have also taken sides on who he wants for Martinez’s senate seat, Gov. Charlie Crist. So much so that he is involved in some shenanigans to hurt Marco Rubio in an attempt to keep him off the ballot. And Crist and his hand-picked temporary senator George LeMieux have  been caught red-handed conducting a smear campaign against Rubio which includes of course, Hitler.

In an effort to bring party politics back into the open, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL, 01) is calling for the resignation of Party Chairman Greer. I concur.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAN McFAUL

November 7, 2009 850-324-4866

MILLER CALLS ON GREER TO RESIGN AS FLORIDA GOP CHAIRMAN

Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL-01) issued the following statement today:

“Jim Greer has shown on numerous occasions that he is incapable of running the Republican party of Florida (RPOF) and refuses to remain neutral in contested primaries. Mr. Greer has failed at managing the financial, political, and public relations aspects of the state party.

The latest scandal involving a RPOF operative and the use of a fake Twitter account to disparage a duly elected county Chairman is just another in a long list of management failures. Further, Greer has shown a bias in the primary of the United States Senate Seat in publicly supporting Governor Crist and has repeatedly ignored calls from county party organizations for neutrality. This behavior is inexcusable and Florida Republicans deserve better.

At a time when Republicans across the country are energizing and unifying to defeat the Democrats in 2010, Greer is dividing and deflating Republicans in Florida.

I call on Mr. Greer to resign as Chairman of the RPOF.”

Now who is going to call Thurman on her obvious bias?