Category Archives: Health Care

Living the numbers…

Youth-UnemploymentRichard Clark, owner of Supreme Janitorial Services in Jacksonville was speaking on one of the weekend news programs Saturday, and described his company as the “proverbial poster child” for the impending disaster that is “Obamacare”. A typical small business owner about to be pummeled by the mandates, taxes and fines of the “Affordable” Care Act, was very candid about not being able to hire full-time workers because of the staggering costs associated with the President’s signature law. He went on to say the recent implementation “delay” was nothing more than a political stunt, fueling the uncertainty which any economist worth his paycheck would tell you is kryptonite to small business.

I watched that segment while digesting some of the jobs and growth data which came out at the end of the week, and I was struck by a couple of ironies. The unemployment rate remains a reflection of how the numbers are calculated, persistent “underemployment”, and a critically high youth unemployment number of about 16 percent. Moreover, those same numbers continue to drive the market as the “Fed stimulus” lives or dies by any fluctuation. Make no mistake, our economy is a shadow of its former being, sputtering on fumes in the tank of ideological foolishness. The notion that it is somehow showing “resilience” is unrealistic and a fools play to be sure. Repeal “Obamacare” now, and unchain our nations free market economy so “We the People” may have real recovery! This classroom experiment has failed…

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The Definition of Success…

BernankeandobamaLooking at some fresh numbers today, and as always I’m a little confused by the “Lame Stream Media” portrayal of our current economic posture. For starters, nearly 23 million households and 48 million individuals partake of the “Snap” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Now these numbers in and of themselves expose the Obama Administration’s  claims of any “recovery” for what they are, carefully contrived deception (with the help of a complicit media), designed to instill a false sense of progress. I also looked at some video from the past week and heard even a few “Conservative” economists characterizing 175,000 jobs created as a “moderate” pace. Now putting aside the fact that number will likely be revised down in the coming week, the reality is that about 200,000 is more traditionally “moderate” in terms of job creation, with 300,000 a sign of true momentum.  I’m simply having a hard time understanding why we continue to revise reality for the sake of this Administrations’ efforts.

The hard truth is our economy remains a shell of its former being. Housing numbers are driven by unsustainable Fed rates propped up by monopoly money, with the DJIA hanging precariously on Bernanke’s every syllable. Companies large and small continue to hire part-time to offset the impending cost of Obamacare and crippling regulation. The class warfare gap has never been wider with more and more people receiving some form of government assistance. Local governments are literally going bankrupt, an unthinkable occurrence one never would have imagined in this country. And most regrettable, our focus is now compromised by the myriad of scandals plaguing President Obama’s second term. This is always what happens when we substitute flawed ideology in place of “truth and reason”.

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Ten Gallon Tax Expert…

Jim Hightower

I try and stay away from most Facebook debates as they tend to morph into ideological wars, leaving behind any productive and factual exchange of ideas. But recently I was compelled to investigate a post comment by a clearly Liberal individual regarding the IRS scandal, and how he felt these “Right Wing Groups” somehow got what they deserved. He cited an article by stalwart progressive Jim Hightower concerning what “he” believed was illegitimate application of the 501 (c) (4) tax status. Moving past the obvious bias of the author, I did read the article and was somewhat amused by it. Hightower refers to the many abuses of the C3 and C4 as if “Rush Limbaugh” wrote the classifications into the tax code himself. His continual references to “whining and notorious” political players like Rove and the Koch brothers made it clear there would be little substance contained in the rest of the article. Nevertheless, I read on and then decided to do a little of my own homework. Here’s what I discovered.

For starters, let’s look at the obvious. The U.S. Tax Code reads like a Bernie Madoff manifesto. Generations of smooth talking politicians and bureaucrats have manipulated the Constitutional basis for taxation, (the 16th Amendment etc…), into what in many ways resembles something which should be investigated under the organized crime statutes. In any event, after hours of perusing this categorized collection of fiscal injustice imposed upon a complacent citizenry over the last couple of hundred years, I narrowed my search and found a PDF file, readily available through our POTUS’s personal information gathering company, “Google”, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopicm95.pdf which basically tells us everything we need to know. There you will find fairly easy to understand criteria which one would have to meet in order to qualify for the exemption. Hey, what do you know? It appears the witnesses who testified freely before “The Ways and Means Committee” last week, and their respective initiatives, seem to fit right into those categories rather nicely, despite what some would have you believe.

irsoverhaul12Inevitably there will always be those (on both sides) of the political argument who misuse or misrepresent the tax code. Having said that, the notion or implication that these mostly “Average Joe” or “Tea Party Types” are somehow assaulting the American Taxpayer by seeking a particular exemption, is just another example of Liberals using, “the best defense is a good offense” strategy that they use quite often as a means to navigate around the facts. Moreover, when one looks closely at the number of organizations joining Mr. Rove’s on any list receiving the aforementioned exemption(s), one finds the ACLU, NAACP, AARP, DLA, The Humane Society, The “Colbert” Super Pac, and so on and so on…

All I’m trying to say here is that this is clearly a two-way street. But some folks and their efforts were certainly scrutinized far beyond what is acceptable, and in some cases what was legal. The fact that some fool doesn’t like the “Tea Party” or what they stand for should mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. Personally, I think the “Coalition to Stop Gun violence” is a sham which regularly spreads inaccurate data to further an un-Constitutional agenda. However, until the tax code says differently, they will continue to receive tax exempt status in compliance with the letter of the law. And one more thing, what do you think my “Facebook commenter” and Mr. Hightower would say if the IRS started asking the folks over at the AARP or Planned Parenthood how many times a week they pray or don’t pray, or if they planned on participating in any illegal protests in the near future. Answer that with a straight face…

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End-run around Congress???

Kathleen-SebeliusIt should come as no surprise that funding for the “Affordable” Care Act simply doesn’t exist in real money. So notwithstanding what we know to be the Administrations true desire for a “single payer” system of healthcare, it now appears HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is strong-arming health care execs for cash ahead of the official 2014 roll-out of all the budget busting parts of “Obamacare”.

As we watch the IRS scandal unfold before our eyes, and we hear the likes of Eric Holder attempt to explain away lying to Congress and breaking the laws he’s supposed to enforce, and as the truth of Benghazi ebbs and flows like blood through the cracks of an al-Qaeda prison cell floor, this latest departure from ethical government leaves me to contemplate the words of our President back in 2009. “I will also hold myself as president to a new standard of openness …. Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.” – President Barack Obama 

What a complete and total crock!

I ask the Left, as well as the media sycophants who unbelievably continue to turn a blind eye to the obvious, are you comfortable with this? Is this your idea of our children’s America? Is this your answer to the dreaded George Bush? Shame on you, all of you…

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Priorities…

Christie-ObamaJosh Lederman of the Associated Press writes in today’s Providence Journal on how Republicans may be conceding a place for Obama big government, albeit reluctantly. However the article seems more a swipe at Republican Governors like Fallin and Christie as they appear to embrace the POTUS in their time of need, and almost implies Mr. Obama may have written the checks himself. There are references to the “Affordable” Care Act and how other so-called Conservatives are warming to parts of the bloated law as a means to bolster their own state coffers, but you get my drift. I would suggest another angle (reason) however, for the perceived change of heart.

Notwithstanding some Republican’s lack of skeletal structure when it comes to staring down our less than thrifty Commander-in-Chief, the simple fact is we’ve spent most of our money in all the wrong places, and unwisely in others to be sure. Generations of targeted and un-Constitutional entitlement spending, complicated more recently by two wars our government won’t let us win, have finally caught up with Washington, making necessary and wholly appropriate spending like disaster relief and infrastructure repair seem like gifts to be begged for. Moreover, the President of the United States jets in and out of these wounded states at a cost of about $200,000.00 per hour, and is seen as a hero for giving the folks their own money back.

Regrettably, most Republicans are far too concerned with re-election to stand for a re-prioritizing, or “re-Constitutionalizing” if you will, of our federal budget. “We the People” are therefore left to wonder, “What is the role of federal government in time of crisis, and how long will it be before we are simply left to our fate for lack of funds?”

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Who the hell is Kermit Gosnell???

Kermit-Gosnell-Philadelphia-Abortion-Clinic-27054632What could possibly be more horrific than partial birth abortion? Inducing labor on a 17 year-old to cause the delivery of a living breathing baby, only to snip his tiny spinal cord with medical scissors and discard him in a plastic shoe box for later “disposal”, that’s what!

Now I try to temper my writing on the issue of abortion as it evokes strong personal emotions for me. I’m also inclined to see it in terms of the oaths I’ve taken over the years as opposed to any particular political belief. Having said that, I think it’s important to recognize the role, or lack of role the media has played in the case of accused abortion clinic murderer Kermit Gosnell. Clearly, we are witnessing a circling of the wagons if you will, as a complicit “lame stream media” barely raises a collective eyebrow to the monstrous and barbaric charges involved in this case, because they cast a wholly appropriate cloud of evil over the Left’s defense of everything “Planned Parenthood”.

Once again I would ask decent Americans to take a good look around. From the unsupervised birth control “rights” of a 15 year-old child, to the brutal rape and forced captivity of three innocent young women in Ohio, to Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” in West Philly, “We the People” seem lost for the outrage these types of events would normally elicit. Indeed for some, that outrage has been replaced by a morbid but disconnected curiosity satisfied only by the next 24 hour news cycle. Moreover, the news media we once sought to ask the tough questions on society’s behalf has now embraced a particular ideology in spite of truth and reason. What does all this mean for the value of human life, and ultimately for the longevity of a nation with our creed and Constitution? Anyone???

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Amnesty is expensive…

4_bill_richardsonFormer New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson should stick to what he knows. Unfortunately, that’s not a whole lot. Senator Ted Cruz is doing something right however, as he has invited the wrath of the one-time presidential candidate, who champions everything having to do with amnesty just short of complete forfeiture of most of the Southern United States to Mexico. Moreover, Richardson’s creepy affection for all things North Korean has always troubled me a bit. Nevertheless, the former governor “doesn’t feel Cruz is Latino” because he opposes amnesty, and he’s “rude” to his fellow Senators. Really?

Look, Washington politics has taken on a form and function most political observers would say is alarming. Consequently, if the Senators candid approach to addressing the cesspool that has become “The Hill” is somehow offensive to Progressive fools like Richardson, I say tough “you know what”. We don’t have 6 cents to cover the cost of amnesty aka (insanity), never mind $6 Trillion Dollars.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/06/study-pegs-cost-immigration-bills-mass-legalization-at-63t/

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“This is what change looks like.” – Barack Obama (2010)

Barack ObamaChange looks like economic instability fueled by ignorance and/or even disdain for a free market system which has made our nation the envy of the world. Change looks like the empty promises of an ideological demagogue, embraced by those who seek “promise” without price. Change looks like fast flight from accountability in all its forms and the validation of excuses as a way of life. Change looks like selfish manipulation of the nuclear family to the detriment of posterity and of society as a whole. Change looks like “Plan-B” for a 15 year old child, further relegating the sanctity of human life to that which is fueling our moral decay. Change looks like a Newtown Police Chief, wounded by unimaginable tragedy, but blinded by that same tragedy to all truth and logic, describing the Constitutional rights so many have died to protect as “entitlements” which must now be forfeit for the “greater good”. Change looks like higher taxes and the strengthening of an all-encompassing federal government far beyond that which our founders envisioned, and at the expense of historical fact and reason. And change looks like a President of the United States who feels “constrained” rather than empowered by two of the three greatest documents ever penned by the hand of man.

So you tell me my fellow Americans, what does change look like for your kids?

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Now what, Mr. President…

obamacare-cartoon-2-aPelosi: “We have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it”. Do you all remember that shameful moment in American politics when a sitting member of Congress embarrassed herself and her Democratic colleagues with that revelation? Well it turns out that her party did ram that bill through, (The “Affordable” Care Act), and there is apparently little about it that’s “affordable”. In fact, long-time Washington player Senator Max Baucus likens the coming implementation of some of the main components of the new health care law to a “train wreck”.

From the fight over who exactly is to pay for the so-called exchanges from state to state, to the plethora of tax increases associated with the law, and as doctors are walking out of meetings in protest of what they say is a lack of discernible forethought in terms of the implementation of the five-year roll-out plan, “Obamacare” looks to be just as Baucus suggested, a “train wreck”.

For those of us who predicted this very nightmare scenario, there is some vindication in the knowledge that when you allow a government bureaucracy to be involved in what should be left to the private sector to hash out, it will always go badly. Regrettably however, there will also and always be victims of ill-conceived and unrealistic legislation like this.

Not sure where we go from here on out, but the road ahead looks bumpy to be sure, and will no doubt be far more costly than Candidate/President Barack Obama was ready to admit when he sold us this bill of goods.

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Carson for President???

photo carson

Is it me, or does the POTUS look mad???

Dr. Ben Carson’s getting a lot of attention these days. When he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and basically poked fun at some of the President’s policies, it was immediately news because of the aura of political invincibility surrounding #44. Now whether you agree with his politics or not, the man is clearly objective, and not afraid of speaking the truth in places and situations normally reserved for those who would only pander. Moreover, it’s funny watching politicians and pundits alike struggling with just how to analyze the man. Even one of my local outlets, “GoLocalProv.com”, stumbled a bit as they tried to rationalize MSNBC’s “Toure” and his racial tirade about the Right rolling out black conservatives as part of a broader strategy to win the minority vote. I would only say to that, who cares?

Listen, coming from a state where Progressive Liberal’s regularly try to validate their radical agenda by calling themselves “independents”, we have to ask ourselves, is it the truth we seek, or is it a “version” of the truth which is easier. I will tell you this, I have been listing to this retiring neurosurgeon since he blasted onto the scene, ever so cleverly sidestepping the Obama handlers every inch of the way. He just makes sense. And adding insult to political injury, he espouses rational, sensible, and as he calls them, debatable solutions instead of just ideological rhetoric.

Not sure if I’m endorsing anyone for 16 right now, but I believe there will be a shifting toward our foundations next time around, and Carson gets that . Let’s face it, this trip down “hippie burn-out lane” has led us to “no-where land”, and “We the People” are growing weary of the re-run…

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