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(Last updated 03/08/10. Don't mind the date above.)

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We Guarantee It  -
Government Caused the Economic Crisis
The government bought bad loans, guaranteed them, pressured bond ratings agencies, and ignored experience, restraint, and regulation. The massive losses of $2 trillion (2,000 billion) killed our economy.

Poll - Politician IQ
Should politicians take an IQ test?

The Political Dictionary
Political words have unusual meanings.
bad luck

The Secret Political Manual
The hidden guide to politics has been discovered.

Political Speeches - Satire
Standard political speeches for all occasions.

Posts and Links

Legend

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+   My Post Update.
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» Medicaid Delivered at the ED
Fred:  When we subsidize insurance for everyone, like Medicaid, we will cut the huge expenses of providing care through hospital emergency departments.
Mike:  Great. I'll tell the Medicaid patients crowding the ED right now.
- -
03/07/10 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
  [edited] We are overwhelmed by out-of-state Medicaid patients. Their own medical centers avoid Medicaid and are on "divert" for almost everything. So, the patients go to out-of-state emergency departments, where by law they must be seen regardless of cost or reimbursement. Medicaid pays next to nothing, driving our centers further into the red.
  Federally designed Medicaid insurance does not pay for reasonable costs. The rest of healthcare will collapse if the Feds expand the Medicaid model.

» Privatize the Elephant
Fred:  I thought elephant ivory is illegal.
Mubono:  Not here. We harvest it from our large herds out back. Care for a burger?
- -
03/05/10 - Daniel Hannan quoted at Mises.org
  [edited] Kenya banned elephant hunting, yet they were almost totally destroyed. Zimbabwe let landowners own the elephants, and their numbers rapidly increased.
  AMG: Allow people to benefit from something, and they will preserve and expand it. Allow people to benefit from producing wealth, and you will see wealth preserved and expanded.

» Father of the Economic Crisis
Fred:  Fat cat bankers made loans to poor people who couldn't pay them back, and ..
Mike:  .. and immediately sold those loans to government agencies, who encouraged or required them to do it, overseeing and approving the entire operation.
- -
03/04/10 - Edd Driscoll
CNBC interviewed banking analyst Dick Bove [edited]:
  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bankrupt today, the government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars supporting them [actually many billions -ag], and hundreds of thousands of people are losing their homes.
  Mr. Andrew Cuomo was secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1997-2001. He is the "father of the subprime loan crisis" through his actions at HUD. He pushed Fannie and Freddie to buy more subprime mortgages, to increase home ownership among the poor. Many of those homeowners defaulted, and the mortgage-backed securities market collapsed.
  AMG: Bankers and mortgage lenders are blamed for being predatory, selling risky loans to the poor. They were carrying out government policy, and creating the loans that Fannie and Freddie wanted to guarantee and buy. Now, the government blames everyone else for the policies that it encouraged and often required.  
(M)   We Guarantee It -
The Government Caused the Economic Crisis

» Toyota : The Driver, not the Pedal
Fred:  Did you try shifting into neutral?
Mike:  I was too busy calling 911 on my cellphone. What is "neutral"?
- -
03/02/10 - Professor Bainbridge
  [edited] Outside the world of trial lawyers and Democratic congressmen, investigators know that the vast majority of sudden, unintended accelerations are the fault of the driver applying the gas pedal instead of the brakes. Efforts to prove otherwise have proven to be frauds or failures.
  The overall chance of a fatal auto accident is 1/800 each 10 years. The alleged fatality rate for sudden acceleration is 1/200,000 recalled Toyotas. Even if all the worst things about Toyotas are true, and you aren't smart or calm enough to shift to neutral, your overall risk of death is 250 times greater than from unintended acceleration.

12/2009 - Car and Driver
  [edited] The natural reaction to a stuck throttle is to stomp on the brake pedal. Brakes by and large can rein in an engine roaring under full throttle.
  We pinned the Camry’s gas pedal while going 70 mph. The brakes easily overcame 268 horsepower and stopped the car in 190 feet, just 16 feet more than without the gas pedal. That is 1 foot less than a Ford Taurus without acceleration problems

03/03/10 - Popular Mechanics
Mechanic's Diary: Toyota's Gas Pedal [edited]
  The injuries, a few deaths, and the mechanical problems are real, but statistically only a very small blip. Sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) is notoriously difficult to diagnose, and most often cannot be repeated for a mechanic.
  In the 1980's, the NHTSA investigated SUA in the Audi. It found no mechanical problem, blaming driver error. For context, there were about 24,000 complaints of SUA in the last 10 years involving almost every major automaker. The NHTSA investigated fewer than 50.
  What about the claims that vehicles run away with no input, despite attempts to stop them? Probably, some drivers want to get rid of their car, and some drivers pressed the gas instead of the brake. It's happened to me. I recognized my mistake and corrected before it went bang. Others may not have had the presence of mind.

03/05/10 - Popular Mechanics
Handling SUA - Sudden Unintended Acceleration
Mike Allen stops his car at 55 mph with the throttle open.
Do:  Brake hard, Shift to Neutral, Steer to a safe place.
Don't:  Pump or ride the brakes, Shift to Park, Turn off the engine - except as a last resort.
Video 2:08 and text summary.

(v)   Via Instapundit

» Wage Slaves
Fred:  I'm hungry.
Mike:  Give me your freedom, and I'll give you a sandwich.
- -
03/03/10 - EconLog by Arnold Kling
  [edited] A history of slavery in Africa claims that 30-60% of the entire population were slaves in historical times. If so, the number of people enslaved in Africa far exceeded the number taken into the slave trade.
  People afflicted by famine bought food with anything they possessed, including offering themselves as slaves.
  The ideal of freedom and equality may exist only rarely. The most natural human condition may be dominance and submission. Different starting points may eventually lead to a few people dominating the many, with some people quite willing to submit.

•  Terrorism is Thug Advertising
Waheed:  Join Al Qaeda or Islamic Jihad? How to decide?
Achmed:  Al Qaeda is in the news. They're happening. Let's try there.
- -
03/01/10 - Cato by by Julian Sanchez
  "Terrorism is primarily a symbolic act. Terror groups execute sensational attacks as PR stunts. They don’t love blowing up planes; they do it to establish their own credibility versus more locally-focused Islamist groups. They compete for recruits with such groups, whether violent or peaceful."

» Alternative Power Is and Will Remain Useless
Fred:  My calculator works on solar cells, even in room light, and has no batteries. It is really cool.
Mike:  Let's scale that up, connect it to the power grid, and transform the way we make and use power.
- -
02/28/10 - Chicago Boyz by Shannon Love
  AMG: Here are the physical and technical reasons why alternative energy is a political scheme, not a useful way to produce bulk power. The commentary also adds to understanding this vital topic.
  Love [edited]: There exists no alternative energy source or combination of such sources that can fully replace a single, conventional electric plant, a plant fueled by coal, gas, oil, or nuclear power. Even hydro-power needs conventional backup.
  Yet, many want us to rely on these functionally useless technologies to be the primary energy sources for our entire civilization.
  Most discussions consider the cost and reliability of electricity at the place it is generated. However, energy is useful only where and when you need it. Plenty of power in Arizona won't help you in Michigan. A roaring fire in July doesn't warm you in January. The only real factors that count are the cost and reliability of power at the place it is consumed. Bulk alternative energy is mismatched to its uses.

» Misandry
Fred:  Three men robbed the bank.
Mike:  Thankfully, eight police personnel caught them.
- -
02/26/10 - Classical Values by Eric
  [edited] "The word "misandry" was flagged in red, unknown to the spell-checker, even though it is hardly a new word. Misandry is the hatred of men."
  "Men do not exist unless they commit crimes or do bad things. Men are "people" or "personnel" when they do good things. They are "men" when they do bad things.
  There is a connection between misandry and feminism. This has been slipped by me, over the years. I'm pissed off. I don't take kindly to being manipulated."
  YouTube video 7:35.
(v)   Via Instapundit

» NPR: Medicare Payment Policy
Medicare Policy Board Meeting:
Fred:  What should we pay the doctors?
Mike:  How should I know? It's complicated.
Bob:  Let's pay whatever they're getting privately.
Fred:  Idiot. We need a scientific, insightful analysis.
Jim:  OK. Let's pay them 40% less.
- -
02/28/10 - Cafe Hayek by Don Boudreaux
  National Public Radio reports on evolving government policy.
  Boudreaux [edited]: First, pay was set politically to buy support for Medicare. Congress was genuinely surprised by exploding costs, paying for services that used to be provided as charity. Following changes were influenced by skilled lobbyists representing doctors.
  Current policy is based on a comically childish, Marxist labor-theory of value. This isn’t working so well. Now, 45 years after Medicare started, government still searches for a sound method to determine physicians’ pay.

+ Is Macroeconomics a Science?
Fred:  Why did the Great Depression last so long?
Economist:  I just don't know, but I'm willing to guess.
- -
02/26/10 - WSJ.com by Russ Roberts, professor of economics at George Mason University
  Roberts [edited]:  Which theory is the "right" way to think about the boom and the bust? Or are they all wrong?
  I once thought applying statistics to economic questions would settle these disputes. I now believe that there are too many factors and connections between the variables which we don't understand and can't model or identify.
  We should expect less of economists. It should be enough that economics organizes thinking about the complexity of the world around us. We should admit publicly what we know, what we don't know, and what we may never know. That is the first step toward respectability.

» On Being Against Torture
Fred:  They tortured him by blasting loud rock music all night.
Mike:  That would be my usual Friday night.
- -
02/19/10 - Armed and Dangerous
  "I think it is very important to have a clear, morally serious, and shared definition of the word “torture” for the same reason it is important to have a clear, morally serious, and shared understanding of the word “genocide”. There are some acts which civilized societies should put utterly beyond the pale of acceptable behavior. It is important that we not trivialize the terms that apply to such acts, otherwise we will actually make it more difficult to condemn and prevent them."

» Health Care: Ryan Instructs Obama
Fred:  I'm making my own lunch to save money and pay off my credit card.
Mike:  But, you buy lunch every day.
Fred:  That is a separate issue.
- -
02/25/10 - Powerline
Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin spoke to President Obama at the health care summit [edited excerpts].
  We have a law that automatically cuts Medicare payments to doctors. The cut would be 21% next year. We have stopped those cuts every year for the last seven years, now called the "Doc Fix".
  [The Doc Fix is rated as costing money, by continuing to pay doctors enough so they can treat Medicare patients. The cost of Medicare continues to be accounted ("scored") as if these pay cuts will be implemented. After all, the cuts are in the law that is accounted by the Congressional Budget Office.]
  According to your numbers, the doc fix costs $371 billion. It was in the first legislation, but was removed and put into separate legislation because it increased the deficit and made the score look bad. This is the most cynical gimmick in this bill.
  Ignoring these costs does not remove them from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending does not reduce spending. It just doesn't add up.
  There really is a basic difference between us. We don't think the government should be in control of all of this. We want people to be in control. That is the big difference at the end of the day.

» Off Budget, Out of Mind
Wife:  I've been looking at our savings.
Husband:  We have $80,000.
Wife:  But, what is this note at the bottom "Aces Casino gambling debt: $105,000"? Do we owe that in addition?
Husband:  Yes, but don't worry, that is off budget.
- -
Put Housing GSEs in the Budget and then Privatize
02/25/10 - Cato@Liberty by Tad DeHaven
  [edited] The Congressional Budget Office accounts for the cost of subsidizing new loans and loan guarantees by Fannie and Freddie at $370 billion through 2020. The CBO concludes that these institutions are effectively government entities whose operations should be included in the federal budget.
  Treasury Secretary Geithner dismissed this idea: “It is not necessary to consolidate the full obligations of those entities onto the balance sheet of the federal government at this stage.” [It is not counted into any deficit projections.]

+ Prosecuted For Being "Bad"
Prosecutor:  I don't like you, or what you do, or how you structure your life, or anything about you. You are going to jail, my friend.
Mike:  What law have I broken, exactly?
Prosecutor:  You must have disappointed someone at some time. That is enough, in my view.
- -
02/23/10 - Minding the Campus - Reforming Our Universities by Harvey A. Silverglate
  [edited] "George Orwell wrote his critique 'Politics and the English Language' in 1946: 'One must let meaning choose the word, not the other way around.'   Administrators and legislators ignore this truth. They have crafted imprecise regulations which give campus disciplinary staff and federal government prosecutors enormous and grotesquely unfair power."
  "It did not matter that no particular law was transgressed. A federal prosecutor might feel in his gut and in his sole discretion, that a defendant had somehow deprived someone of 'honest services' that were due. The defendant could end up serving a decades-long prison sentence. It was rather like prosecuting a citizen for being 'a bad person', with the government defining badness."
(v)   Via Instapundit

» Validation by Sacrifice
Mike:  What is the Marxist/Elitist theory of value?
Jim:  When it costs more, it's better.
- -
02/23/10 - Ed Driscoll
The New Criterion by Theodore Dalrymple [edited]:
  These books give compelling evidence of the horrors of the Soviet Union in the 20's and 30's, all of them now accepted as true.
  The Soviet Union was valued by contemporary intellectuals not for the omelette, but for the broken eggs. They thought that if nothing great could be built without sacrifice, then so great a sacrifice must be building something great.
  The Soviets had the courage of their abstractions, which are often so much more important to intellectuals than living, breathing human beings.

» Free Trade Makes Us Richer
Fred:  I do most of my cooking from scratch.
Mike:  Do you grind your own flour?
- -
02/18/10 - Cafe Hayek by Don Boudreaux
  Free trade makes us better off, especially if the other country is underpricing its goods, either directly or through an undervalued currency.
  They are selling us things for less than we would spend to make them ourselves.

» Free Speech, No Heckling
Fred:  My voice will not be silenced!
Mike:  Would you mind not standing on my coffee table?
- -
02/18/10 - Los Angeles Times by Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the UC Irvine School of Law
  "Those who yelled to keep the ambassador from being heard were not engaged in constitutionally protected behavior. Freedom of speech, on campuses and elsewhere, is rendered meaningless if speakers can be shouted down by those who disagree."
  "The law is well established that the government can act to prevent a heckler's veto -- to prevent the reaction of the audience from silencing the speaker. There is simply no 1st Amendment right to go into an auditorium and prevent a speaker from being heard, no matter who the speaker is or how strongly one disagrees with his or her message."
(v)   Via Advice Goddess by Amy Alkon

» Obama <---> Acorn:  Distant and Close
Fred:  How can Obama completely contradict himself?
Mike:  A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of tiny Republican minds.
- -
02/20/10 - Stop the ACLU
  Obama speaks calmly and firmly in two short videos. First, he reports only a distant contact with Acorn 13 years ago. Second, he tells an Acorn crowd that he wants their input, and will call them about his campaign if they fail to call him.
  Article and embedded video 2 min.
(v)   Via Don Surber
(M)   The video at YouTube 2 min

» What Defensive Medicine?
Fred:  You must make money from all of that testing.
Doc:  No, we get to keep our salary when we don't get sued.
Fred:  What tests does the patient need?
Doc:  No, it's what tests the lawyers say we could have done.
- -
02/19/10 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
  "Did the doc order the tests to make money? No, we aren't paid by the test. Was the second CT scan ordered as defensive medicine? The patient was intubated, spent time in the ICU, and suffered a heart attack from the injected contrast medium of the more sensitive second scan."

» Healthcare Review
Fred:  We need better medical care for everyone.
Mike:  We'll sue the doctors, pay them less, regulate them more, and tell them how much we need them. No more nursing homes; adult day care will do.
- -
02/18/10 - White Coat's Call Room
  A review of recent stories about medical care. Do you think the government is helping or hurting? Do you feel secure letting your politicians arrange and pay for your medical care? Are lawsuits maintaining the high quality of care?
  "California county supervisors have reduced reimbursement from 27% to 18% of estimated fees at private hospitals, for care by emergency physicians and on-call specialists."
  Who needs private hospitals, anyway?

» Failed Policies of Obama/Bush
Fred:  We can't have the same failed policies of the Bush years.
Mike:  We have more of them, and bigger.
- -
02/16/10 - Bankrupting America
  [edited] President Obama’s economic policies are strikingly the same as the failed policies under Bush.
  AMG: Remarkable, given Obama's repeated rhetoric that we can't have more of the failed policies of the Bush years. Increased spending on defense and social programs, stimulus packages, bailouts, and much more regulation.

•  Do Smart People Run The Market?
Fred:  Government is the best planner because it has the best, altruistic, educated people.
Mike:  Yeah, the best people who will work for the government.
- -
02/16/10 - Econlog by Shikha Dalmia
  Dalmia [edited]: The market rewards brilliant ideas, not brilliant people. Markets care only about the idea and its value to others, not its source. Markets are inherently anti-elitist.
  Smart, educated, credentialed people may lose in market competition, even to someone or some product they consider inferior. They regard this as a symptom of market failure and demand corrective government regulations.

» In pain? Too bad.
Fred:  Pain medications are dangerous. 435 people in severe pain died from acetominophen last year.
Mike:  Well, 698 people drowned in swimming pools. Fred:  We'll keep the pools. We can't take all the fun out of life.
- -
02/16/10 - Advice Goddess
  The US Government wants to remove valuable pain medications from the market. Their attitude is "grin and bear it", for your own good.
  Instead, allow people the freedom to take the medications that improve their lives.

» Poetic Call to Battle
Fred:  Are they all parasitic, bloodsucking, heartless, liars?
Mike:  No, that's an exaggeration, but funny.
- -
02/08/10 - Walt at Verse-Afire.com
The Vampires Of The Left   [excerpt]:

They lay in darkness, waiting dusk
They cannot stand the light
They smell of rotting flesh and musk
They hate us of the Right

» World's Smallest Political Quiz
Fred:  I didn't know that I was Authoritarian until I took the quiz.
Mike:  I knew.
- -
02/08/10 - Advocates for Self-Government
  Answer 11 questions of political opinion. See where you are on a graph of Liberal vs Conservative, Authoritarian vs Libertarian, and Centrist.
(v)   Via Classical Values

+ Canadians Wait for Treatment
Fred:  I have to wait four months for surgery.
Mike:  Beggars can't be choosers.
- -
02/07/10 - 10/15/07  CBC News (Canada)
  The average wait time for a Canadian awaiting surgery or other medical treatment is now 18.3 weeks, a new high, and an increase of 97% over 14 years, despite recent increases in spending.
  AMG: There is no competition to the government, so the patients and population have no way to pressure the system to do better. No way other than ending the government monopoly on health care delivery in Canada.

» Self Reliance Under Socialism
Fred:  We all work for each other under Socialism.
Mike:  I had a job once. Didn't like it much.
- -
02/05/10 - National Review by Victor Davis Hanson
  Hanson [edited]:  I knew a small hotelier at a seaside resort in Greece. He checked you in, cooked, did maintenance during the day, and landscaped at night. Why didn't he hire some help?
  He replied about the cost and filling out forms to hire an unmotivated, permanent worker in Greece, and the difficulty of ever firing him if he proved worthless. Almost everyone was on pension, disability, or government benefit, and were unwilling to work, leaving only illegal immigrants or broke foreign students.
  He blasted socialism and hated the government. He had to be an expert tax dodger and bartered whenever he could.
  He lamented that the people in Greece spend their time trying to get government money or avoiding the tax collectors, or preferably both.
(M)   Victor Davis Hanson describes more about socialism, with a section (4) on the Greek version.
  [edited] "The Greeks cheat in every way imaginable on their taxes. On an average day, a shopkeeper, repairman, or business person would offer a 30% discount for cash, off the books. Tax-dodging was a national pastime, practiced by dyed-in-the-wool socialists."

+ Medicare Admin Costs are Higher PP
Fred:  Order wine at a restaurant to save money.
Mike:  How so?
Fred:  The food cost drops from 90% to 66% of the bill.
- -
02/06/10 - Heritage by Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
  Medicare's administrative costs per person are actually higher than those of private insurance. Higher, despite that private companies incur costs that do not apply to Medicare. Recent history predicts that switching 200 million Americans to a public plan will increase administrative costs by several billion dollars.

» Is Waterboarding Torture?
CIA Operative:  How are you feeling?
Reporter:  (coughs, spits) Ghaaah! That was horrible. It took all of two minutes, and I would have told you anything. (pause) Can I try that again? I'm sure I could go longer the next time.
- -
02/03/10 - Pajamas TV (Video 16 min)
  Marc Thiessen wrote speeches for George W. Bush, and a new book "Courting Disaster". He explains how the CIA has used enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, to gain information which has prevented 9/11 style attacks.
  Obama now has tied the CIA's hands, and we are moving into dangerous waters.
  Topics:  How the CIA Kept America Safe;  Enhanced Interrogation is Not Torture;  Interrogation Debate;  The Real Jack Bauers;  Is Obama Inviting Attacks?;  CIA vs Obama;  Gitmo Back in Favor;  Future Terror Threats.

+ Why is Recovery So Slow?
Fred:  In past recessions, we would be bouncing back by now.
Mike:  We aren't bouncing. We are adapting to a new theory of government.
- -
02/03/10 - Cato at Liberty by David Boaz
  Employers, investors, and entrepreneurs are discouraged by higher taxes, more regulation, uncertainty, a larger share of GDP shifted to government, and expected Fed monetization and inflation of the soaring debt. They don't know what Obama will do next.

•  Myth of the Clinton Surplus
Fred:  Honey, I paid down the credit card.
Jane:  Did you get a raise?
Fred:  Nah, I used the kids' college fund.
- -
02/01/10 - 10/2007 at CraigSteiner.us
  It is a myth that President Bill Clinton created a surplus, which G.W.Bush promptly squandered. Clinton ran deficits, but Social Security receipts were even larger. Borrowing from Social Security covered the deficits, rather than borrowing directly from the public.
  Bush ran deficits also, but he wasn't a sinner following a saint.

» IPCC Shamed by Bogus Rainforest Claim
Fred:  Climate Change. The rainforest could become drier, and would be more likely to burn, maybe all of it.
Mike:  Let's shut down civilization to be safe.
- -
01/31/10 - Times Online UK by Jonathan Leake
  [edited] IPCC in 2007 by Rowell and Moore: Up to 40% of the Amazonian forests could react drastically to even a slight reduction in rainfall. The tropical vegetation, hydrology, and climate system in South America could change rapidly to another steady state. They would probably be replaced by tropical savannas, which have more resistance to temperature increases, droughts, and fires.
  Times: The IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. WWF is the World Wildlife Fund, an environmental pressure group. The source for IPCC was a WWF report, based on a paper in the science journal Nature which assessed logging and burning, not rainfall. That paper reported that drier forests were more likely to catch fire.
  Simon Lewis is a Royal Society research fellow specialist in tropical forest ecology: The IPCC report is a mess. The Nature paper is about the interactions of logging damage, fire, and periodic droughts, not the vulnerability of these forests to reductions in rainfall.

» Tax on Clunkers
Fred:  I didn't know there was tax on that.
Mike:  There is always lots of tax on that.
- -
01/30/10 - 08/25/09 - Government and Car Dealers Hose You Again
  [edited] You pay tax on the price of your new car only above the trade-in you present to the dealer. You are not taxed on the value of your trade-in. That is fair; you paid tax on the value of your old car when you bought it.
  But, when you sell your old car privately, you do not get that tax-offset on a following car purchase. This is an intentional favor to dealers.
  The $4,500 "cash for clunkers" is not a trade-in, but a check from the government. You pay sales tax on the full vehicle price including the $4,500, and the $4,500 is also taxed by your state as additional income.
  Further, dealers made customers so giddy over the "free cash" that they often sold cars at the full sticker price.

+ Disgusted Patient Nurses Others
Your care is provided free by the National Health Service of Britian. For the greatest satisfaction, we suggest caring for the patients around you, if you have the strength.
- -
01/30/10 - DailyMail.co.uk
  Janet Halsall, 74, stayed three days for a liver scan. Staff ignored pleas for help and left fellow elderly patients to ‘fend for themselves’.
  Halsall bathed, washed, and tucked in fellow frail, elderly patients. They were left without water and blankets. She washed one lady and took another pensioner to the toilet after staff repeatedly said they were ‘too busy’.

» The Real State of the Union
Show me the list. What is the next socio-economic faction to bring under rational, political management?
- -
01/28/10 - Chicago Boyz by David Foster
  Michael Ledeen: This fear is not limited to social class or domestic or foreign policies. Banks are not lending and companies are not hiring because they are afraid of what Obama will do next.
  Foster: Obama/Pelosi/Reid view America as a struggle of group against group. The winning and losing groups are determined by Progressive thought, by social prejudices, and by the political needs of the moment.
  Obama/Pelosi/Reid are creating a society in which the attitude of the federal government determines the success of every individual and business.

» Corporations Must Have Free Speech
Fred:  My friends and I support Jenkins for senator.
Mike:  OK, as long as you guys aren't incorporated.
Fred:  No way! We're union local 328.
- -
01/22/10 - Cato @ Liberty by Julian Sanchez
  The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United is a clear and needed support for free speech. It strikes down restrictions on corporations, allowing them now to contribute money toward political speech. Many liberal voices denounce the influence that a corporation, a legal construct, can now have in politics. Their opposition ignores the reality of an organized society.
  Sanchez [edited]: "What happens if politicians can limit freedoms because they are expressed through a corporation? Journalists would enjoy full freedom of the press as long as they don’t use the resources of the New York Times, Random House, or Comcast. Those corporations could be barred from using their property to circulate ideas."
  "You are free to practice your religion without interference. But, if it’s an unpopular one, you could be hindered from sending your kids to a religious school or building a church, because those tend to involve incorporating."
(M)   Speech For Me, But Not for Thee
  01/22/10 - Cato @ Liberty by Roger Pilon
  [edited] "The Citizens United decision will probably alter politics for the good. Corporations, unions, and their officers will no longer fear criminal prosecution under prohibitions that even FEC commissioners don't understand. There will be more political speech and more perspectives on the issues of the day."
  "The complex federal campaign finance system is only a way station to exclusive public campaign financing. At that end point, political speech in the form of campaign contributions would rest safely in incorruptible [hah] public hands. Except, of course, for contributions that take the form of editorials by such corporate giants as The New York Times, which the First Amendment would continue to protect.

•  Political Distribution of Wheat
Fred:  What does wheat have to do with health care?
Mike:  It is easier to understand.
- -
01/17/10 - The amount of wheat falls further. The politician explains that the wheat farmers are at fault for not growing enough and charging too much, that the warehouse operators are causing shortages by not stocking enough wheat, and the rich must be cheating by continuing to buy too much wheat.
  More political control is clearly needed.

•  Europeans Are Less Wealthy
Johan:  Our welfare state gives a wealthy life to us all.
Fred:  But, not a comfortable car.
Johan:  Please, have half of my lunch sandwich. I made it myself.
- -
01/17/10 - The chart shows US consumption at 152, Western Europe at 105, compared to a benchmark of 100 for the OECD. That is 44% more goods and services enjoyed in the US as compared to Western Europe. The biggest policy difference is the burden of government.
  An office worker in New York may go to a deli for lunch. In Norway, the home sandwich is ubiquitous, from classroom to boardroom.
  The most likely explanation for the larger volume of motorcycle traffic is that Parisians are less wealthy than Americans.

» How a Community Organizer Became President
Lesson 1: Rental housing complaints.
Lesson 2: Community Improvement Grants.
Lesson 3: Becoming President.
- -
01/14/10 - TCU Nation by dwood
  L. David Alinsky is the son of the famous Chicago radical, the late Saul D. Alinsky. The Boston Globe published his letter on 08/31/08 boasting that Barack Obama had made enormously effective use of his training in Saul Alinsky's methods.
  David Alinsky [edited]: "I am proud to see that my father's organizing model is being applied to affect the 2008 Democratic campaign. It is a fine tribute to my father as we approach his 100th birthday. My father produced a powerful strategy for initiating change and making it really happen, when executed meticulously and thoughtfully. Obama learned his lesson well."
  dwood: Obama's most significant education was not at Columbia or Harvard Law, but the years he spent training in the Saul Alinsky system for community organizing, and teaching workshops on Alinsky's methods. Obama, Saul Alinsky, Community Organizer
(v)   Via Amused Cynic

+ Why is Law School So Expensive?
Mike:  Many more people could be lawyers if becoming one was less expensive.
Jack:  Well, I don't need the competition. Do you?
- -
01/15/10 - Easy Opinions -> IdeoBlog
  The current system forces everybody who wants to practice any kind of law into three-year, high-priced law schools. Law School

» How to Predict Anything About Climate Change
John:  Northern Hemisphere temperatures have been rising rapidly for 4 months!
Mike:  You need to get out more often. It's Summer.
- -
01/14/10 - WattsUpWithThat by Roy Spencer, PhD.
  Spencer [edited]: We are uncertain about what is causing current warming, so researchers may tune their models to produce almost any amount of future global warming. It is difficult to prove them wrong, because there is no certain interpretation of the satellite data. When they assume that there are no natural causes of climate change, they conclude that our climate system is balanced on a knife edge.
  AMG: An analogy. You are having dinner at a friend's home when you suddenly feel warm and uncomfortable. You are happy to find out that your friend's child has set the thermostat up by 5 degrees. You thought you were sick when you assumed that there was no external cause for your personal warming.
  Warming data is uncertain and any cause is uncertain. Climate scientists should not be saying that "the science is settled" in the face of these uncertainties. That is not science, but only alarmist charting and extrapolation. We are not upset by the rapid warming during Summer because we know what causes Summer, and that Winter will follow. Global Warming, Climate Change, Models

» Vanishing Doctors
I studied to be a doctor, not to be a slave to the government.
- -
01/14/10 - Vanishing Doctors
  What do doctors think about government control of health care?
  Doctors comment on what health care reform means to them. Many of them say they will quit, to do something more pleasant and less bureaucratic.
  [edited] " 'Healthcare Reform' only makes the states, hospitals, and doctors responsible for your health care costs. The waste of defensive medicine will continue until there is Malpractice Reform. We have had 20 years of paying patients for anything that goes wrong in their lives."
  [edited] "Physicians are beginning to leave Medicare in droves. We are no longer taking new Medicare patients. The Mayo clinic, the example of efficiency touted by the administration, is no longer participating in the Medicare program, citing low payments."

•  The Good Side of Dictatorship
I will just tell them what to do, for the good of us all. No wasteful objections. Just do it. Eventually, they will all agree with me. I will put my statue over there. My history will be glorious.
- -
01/13/10 - Easy Opinions
  Totalitarian governments past and present are receiving some praise from liberal sources. This alarms me.
  What possible purpose is there in understanding the good parts of a dictatorship? I don't care if a much stronger government can do some good things, because the risk of harm is greater also. It is fine if you can isolate a policy that had a good effect and doesn't need dictatorial power to be implemented. In that case, why mention the dictatorship at all, except as a curiosity?

•  Saying "Negro" Does Not Make Harry Reid a Racist
He may be offensive, but his remarks weren't. Or, have it another way. His remarks were offensive, but he isn't. Is that better?
- -
01/11/10 - Easy Opinions -> Powerline Blog by Paul Mirengoff
  Democratic Senator Harry Reid described candidate Barack Obama as "light skinned and speaking without a Negro dialect". That does not make him a racist. If you oppose the restrictions and illogic of political correctness, then don't use confused political correctness against Harry Reid. Offer sweet reason, not more politics as usual.

» Gatekeeping for the Climate
Allowing questions would confuse the issues.
- -
12/22/09 - TWAWKI
  [edited] Gatekeeping is the preferred practice of climate alarmists, who censor and manipulate the data that doesn’t suit their cause, to manipulate public opinion.
  Liarpedia: William Connelly at Wikipedia has adjusted over 5000 articles on Global Warming, to write off inconvenient facts and opinions that expose his alarmist push as fraud. Wikipedia has done nothing in response.
  Googlegate: Google adjusted auto-suggest to minimise references to Climategate.
  Climategate: UNIPCC scientists manipulated temperature data and limited access to it. (v)
Via Climate Audit

•  Exchanging Gifts Cooperatively :)
Jim:  What do you want for Christmas?
Jane:  I want to be surprised.
- -
12/21/09 - EasyOpinions
  A couple gives each other the Christmas gift that each really wants. What can go wrong? With compliments to The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry.

» Who's Meaner - Corporate or Government Bureaucrats?
John:  We are heartless if we deny claims, and wasting public funds if we grant them.
Mike:  That's why we have civil service job protection. And, we're the Government. Who will they complain to?
- -
12/20/09 - 12/20/09 - Powerline Blog
  The American Medical Association has reported on national health insurers for 2008. Medicare denied medical claims at 1.77 times the rate of the average private insurer.
  Claims denied: Medicare 6.85%, Aetna 6.8%, Anthem Blue Cross 3.44%, Average of private insurers 3.88% . (M)
08/06/09 - ObamaCare and the Doctor by Zane F. Pollard MD
  Dr. Pollard describes the frightening current reality of Medicaid, and by extension the future of ObamaCare.
  Medicaid pays for medical services to the poor, and in this case to poor children who face vision impairment or blindness. Regardless, Medicaid denies and delays their care. Medicare and Medicaid are intentionally underpaying for the medical care that they mandate.

» Tiger Woods, Barack Obama, and Image
Mary:  Oh no! They see us and know who you are.
John:  Don't worry. It's only some reporters, and my guys will handle them.
- -
12/08/09 - American Thinker by Lisa Schiffren
  [edited] Schiffren: "We liked Tiger personally for an image that we now see is a fraud. We liked his low-key demeanor, manners, sweet smile, magazine covers, political analogies, and product endorsements. We feel betrayed. Even more, we see how much sustained, deliberate deception goes into the construction of a public image, when there is profit to be made or power to be had."
  AG: Surprise is discovering the real Tiger Woods. Shock is understanding that we were fooled by techniques used by both athletes and politicians. (v)
Via Ed Driscoll
  How On Earth Did We Miss It?
  [edited] Howard Kurtz: This exposes the dark secret of the celebrity beat: It’s a shared illusion, perpetrated by the media-industrial complex. We don’t really know these people, who are cloaked in the mantle of fame, despite their ubiquity on our front pages, television screens, and laptops.

» Spending Hurts, Not Just Deficits
John:  You will love the $20,000 boat I bought.
Mary:  You spent the college fund?
John:  Relax, it's on the credit card.
- -
12/15/09 - Cato at Liberty by Daniel J. Mitchell (video 6 min)
  Politicians fixate on the deficit to pull a bait and switch. They claim that they can raise taxes to solve the problem. That only replaces debt-financed spending with tax-financed spending. The likely result is that the required tax increases will weaken the economy and make us all poorer. (M)
01/13/09 - EasyOpinions
  The Real Tax Burden is everything that the government spends. It is your money, now or in the future. Borrowing delays taxes while paying interest, just like a credit card.

» Not Always Better to Have Health Insurance
Yes, our care is only $15. Fill out these forms, mail us two referrals, and we can see you two weeks after that. Apply pressure in the meantime; maybe the bleeding will stop.
- -
12/14/09 - BigGovernment by Dr. Jane Orient
  Insurance is good. But, the bureaucratic hoops of government supplied and managed health insurance stand in the way of timely care.
  The saying is: Good, Fast, Low cost - You can have any two. Medicare is low cost to the recipient, partly by delaying or denying care. You can't always wait.
  The current healthcare "reform" will make all medical care into Medicare.

•  Healthcare Price Controls
Exec:  Your shift is 8+ continuous hours as needed, treating the critially ill and injured, and the chronic drug-seekers. Plus paperwork and bureaucratic smoothing. Many will die, but no mistakes or bad outcomes. Being sued is a challenging hobby in your off-hours. Follow all 130 rules. $170/hour.
Doc:  I'm outta here.
- -
12/14/09 - EasyOpinions
  911Doc practices Emergency Medicine. He writes about what happens to doctors and patients when a bureaucracy sets prices and rewards.

» Motive for ClimateGate
Terry (Marlon Brando) in "On the Waterfront": You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.
- -
12/12/09 - ChicagoBoyz comment by VeryRetired
  For years, you’re just some guy who answers arcane questions about weather systems or historical climate trends. Nobody notices you at conventions, clamors for interviews, or gives you money or office space.
  Suddenly, you are the chief interpreter of the unknown. You are the expert in complex interpretations of obscure data that are predicting imminent, global catastrophe.
  Give all that up, just because some tree rings don’t fit, because some doubter somewhere might argue with your predictions? (M)
Quotes from "On the Waterfront"

•  Congressional Sports Team
It is painful to think of Barney Frank coaching pro-basketball, or running U.S. business.
- -
12/10/09 - ChicagoBoys by David Foster
  The politically connected will do well. This is not now the country for you if you want to build a better mousetrap. The American dream is dying.

•  Not Just One Rotten Climate Apple
Fred: I would like to check the latest paper from the CRU.
Mike: Just use the results. We have our own work to publish.
- -
12/07/09 - ChicagoBoyz by James R. Rummel
  The work of most other climate centers is also suspect. They claimed to have reviewed and reproduced the CRU’s work, and they defended those results against scrutiny.
  Link to a review of the emails and controversies.
  How government politics and funding distorts science.

» Chinchillas and Climate Science
Joe: Frank died.
Jim: Bummer! He was the only one who understood the experiment results database.
- -
12/04/09 - ChicagoBoyz by Shannon Love
  It is important to double-check scientific software. You might want to use the results for some important purpose.
  For example, critical software for the chinchilla study was assigned to a grad student who worked without oversight. The researchers didn't realize that one minor error in that software would invalidate the whole experiment.
  A year later, a completely independent team examined the code “with a fine-toothed comb” and caught the error. They reviewed more than the data the software generated.
  This was not done for the CRU climate software until a whistle-blower exposed it to the world.
  Commenter: When climate models are tested on “new” data, they have failed to predict temperature levels. "New" data is data not used to first build the model.

•  Sarah Palin in Wasilla
What's the story on her, anyway?
- -
11/29/09 - Op-ed at the Appeal-Democrat
  Wasilla gave her vital experience and showed her independence.

•  Peer Review Is Not What You Think
Jim: Congrats. I see your paper has been published.
Joe: Thanks. John and Mike told me they were the reviewers.
Jim: Weren't they your roommates in grad school?
- -
11/30/09 - ChicagoBoyz by Shannon Love
  [edited]: "Peer Review" says nothing about conclusions. Most such scientific papers will be proven completely wrong.
  Peer review protects a journal’s reputation. The journal hires experts to check for basic errors in math or methodology, along with grammar and spelling. This offloads responsibility for publishing bad papers onto anonymous scientists. It is a form of blame-passing that everyone would like to use. It does not confirm or refute experimental or theoretical conclusions.
  It is insane to base policy on scientific studies, claiming merely that have been peer reviewed.

» Pilgrim's Progress
Jim: Gack! This soup is terrible. You must put more effort into it.
Joe: I didn't much study cooking in Slave School.
- -
11/26/09 - Cafe Hayek by Don Boudreaux
  Plymouth Plantation in 1620 had communal property rights, holding food and supplies in common. Plantation officials distributed them based on equality and need. Residents received equal rations whether or not they produced food, and they were forbidden from producing their own food.
  The Pilgrims were starving under their communal system, and changed it to survive.
  This may remind you a bit of congress's healthcare plans. Let's learn from the Pilgrims and be thankful for their effort. (M)
11/27/09 - powerlineblog by Prof. Paul Rahe
America's First Socialist Republic
  [edited] We can learn from the history of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation. They conducted an experiment in social engineering akin to what is now contemplated.
  They cultivated the land in common, with dismal results. Their experience can instruct us today.

•  Biased Reporting
Jim: The senator replied "no comment" to my question.
Joe: Our headline is "Senator Does Not Deny Ethics Violation".

•  Anti-Capitalist Policies Are Anti-Job
Jim: Come with me to protest Capitalism!
Joe: How much does that pay?
- -
11/25/09 - BigGovernment by Thomas Del Beccaro
  The Left’s political policies destroy the economic process that encourages savings, rewards investment, and creates jobs.

» Diplomas ≠ Human Capital
Isn't the Renaissance like being Born Again? I once took a course on that.
- -
11/18/09 - Cato by Neal McCluskey
  President Obama hopes to make the United States into a diploma mill, and public university leaders shamelessly demand more taxpayer money. But, more college degrees don't mean greater human capital.
  "Passing a college course does not show more knowledge, just as going to a gym does not itself improve physical fitness."
  "Many college students do not improve at reading, writing, math, and logic. The priority at many colleges is not educational excellence or even modest progress, but collecting tuition from as many students as possible."

» TriCare Military Medical Care
The government thanks you for your service.
- -
11/11/09 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
  Tricare is the medical coverage for military families. It pays 60% of Medicare, so low that they often travel out of state to find a hospital or doctor who will accept it. Tricare requires pre-approved appointments for all specialists and outpatient visits.
  Those fighting for our country are the first ones to get government run, single payer healthcare.

Continued here ...

» Fort Hood Parallel Universe
It is shocking when a Christian commits violence.
- -
11/06/09 - DocsOnTheWeb by 911Doc
  "Bobby Lee Smith, in a rage fueled by his fundamentalist Christian beliefs, went on a murder spree at Fort X today, killing 13 and wounding thirty. The FBI has arrested all known acquaintances of Mr. Smith, and has taken his family in for questioning." (satire)

(M)  Will The Truth Be Hasan's Last Victim?
11/09/09 - LegalInsurrection by William A. Jacobson
  The facts about Nidal Hasan's killing spree at Fort Hood.

+ Democratic Trickle-Down 2
Mike: We were supposed to create jobs. Instead, we've enriched the bankers.
Ike: Well, let's be proud of that.
- -
11/06/09 - Megan McArdle
  Democrats: "Our agenda has kick-started a recovery on Wall Street, even if it hasn't yet trickled down to the job market."

+ Illinois Wellfare Promises
They will just have to eat less for a while. We aren't reducing staff here.
- -
The state is not a good social insurance company. It sets aside no investments to support its future promises. Instead, it spends whatever is available on whatever serves politicians at the moment. Illinois is out of money.

(v)  Via Don Surber

» CBO Rates Republican Health Plan
R: Let's do the obvious and uncomplicated things first.
L: You have no regulatory vision.
- -
11/05/09 - Washington Examiner
  The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the Republican health care plan. It would reduce insurance premiums and cut the ten-year deficit by $68 billion.
  It would create high-risk insurance pools, allow purchase of insurance policies from any state, and reform malpractice rules. It is not a government insurance plan.

(v)  Via Instapundit

(M)  Medicare Myth: Low Administrative Cost
We have millions of administrators in government, with more on the way
- -
July 09 - EasyOpinions
  Medicare claims 3% administrative overhead, compared to 12% for private insurance. But, Medicare doesn't count all of its expenses, and private insurance is burdened with taxes that are part of its "overhead". Medicare overhead per patient is actually 25% more than for private insurance.

•  We Can't Stop Government Growth
Jim: We will rise up to limit the government and restore our freedom.
Joe: Yes comrade. May I ask, do you intend to finish your soup?
- -
11/02/09 - Independent.org by Robert Higgs
  [edited] "Every genuine solution must be implemented by enough people and money, through ideological conversions on a substantial scale, if such conversions are possible at all."
  "The troubling fact remains, that if any truly effective measures are approved to limit the government, the rulers would likely resort to whatever legal or illegal violence proved necessary to prevent those measures from taking effect."

(v)  Via Cafe Hayek

•  Top Ten Political Statements
1   There is nothing strange about my policies. The incompetent former occupant of this office did many of the same things I have, but for selfish and stupid reasons. (satire)
- -
10   A short speech by President Obama that satirizes itself.

» Kids's Halloween Candy Economy
I'll give you three skittles for a tootsie pop.
- -
10/31/09 - Mises.org by Jeffrey A. Tucker
  Kids collect candy, making it their own through work. Afterwards, they happily exchange candy to get more of what they really want. They create their own trading organization and money as they go.

» Republican Health Care Plan
It's too simple. If you can understand it, it can't be real. And, there are no cost control laws or government commissions.
- -
10/31/09 - Don Surber presents Republican Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner's health care plan.
  Let insurance companies sell in any state. Allow individuals and businesses to form insurance buying groups. Free the states from restrictive federal regulation. End the lawsuit lottery.

» Two Page Rebuttal of Global Warming Claims
Jim: CO₂ isn't harming anything. It was 8,000 ppm for the dinosaurs, and only 380 ppm today.
Mike: Oh yeah? The dinosaurs are dead.
- -
10/29/09 - Mises.org: Howard C. Hayden Professor Emeritus of Physics at U.Connecticut
  [edited] "Some say that the "science is settled" about CO₂ and climate. I ask, which one of the twenty or more models settled the science? Then we can discard the rest, along with the research funds that have kept those models alive."
  "We are nowhere near a tipping point to catastrophic climate. The earth has seen CO₂ concentrations up to 8,000 ppm with no tipping point. After all, we are here talking about it. The CO₂ concentration during recent ice ages (200 ppm) and warm periods (300-400 ppm) is lower than it has been for the last 300 million years."
  "Cause has to come before effect. The historical record shows that climate change preceded CO₂ changes. How can we conclude that CO₂ is responsible for the current warming?"

» Rules For Radicals
They have money and principles; we have neither. Which do you want to take from them?
- -
08/04/2000 - OrangeJuiceBlog
  A version of Saul Alinsky's political handbook "Rules For Radicals". Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" in 1505 as a guide to getting and maintaining power from the top down. Alinsky presents ruthless tactics for gaining power from the bottom up, aimed at the underbelly of the tolerant modern state.
  This is a key to understanding current politics.

(v)  10/23/09 - Wall Street Journal by James Tarranto
  Rules for Presidents

(M)  10/24/09 - Vancouver Community Network
  A simpler version of Rules For Radicals.

(M)  "The Prince" by Nicolò Machiavelli, free online.

» Expensive German "Green Jobs"
We are proud to raise taxes and electricity prices to employ all of the people in "green jobs".
- -
10/19/09 - PowerlineBlog
  An economic report on German "green jobs".
  Job growth in renewable energy seems impressive, but doesn't count associated costs (impacts). These include at least:  jobs lost by not generating cheaper conventional energy;  indirect costs on upstream industries;  jobs lost in other industries from higher electric prices;  loss of private purchasing power due to higher electric prices;  and diverting funds from more productive investment.
  Proponents of renewable energy like the requirement for more workers to produce a given amount of energy. But, this lowers the productivity of the economy. Initial employment benefits from renewable energy turn negative as additional costs are incurred.
  Subsidies (extra costs) in solar-energy are as high as €175,000 (US $240,000) per worker.

» British Healthworkers Get Private Care
These people are especially important to Britain, not like the rest.
- -
10/18/09 - Times On Line UK
  The British National Health Service has spent $2.5 million over 3 years, to pay for 3,000 of its doctors, nurses, and other staff to have private health treatment.
  The NHS said that early treatment of sickness enables staff to return more quickly to work. Their own waiting lists for medical care were too long.

» Don't Reinflate the Housing Bubble
If we stoppped pushing houses, the voters might suspect it was wrong to do it last time.
- -
10/17/09 - Washington Examiner by Michael Barone
  [edited] "Our financial system broke down because government policies created a housing bubble of more construction and increasing prices. The bubble broke. Democratic policymakers are responding by trying to recreate the housing bubble.

(v)  Via Instapundit

(M)  10/16/09 - WSJ by Peter Walliston
"Barney Frank, Predatory Lender"
  Mortgage brokers are supposed to be the villians. But, they could only produce what bigger lenders wanted to buy. They could only respond to demand, not create it themselves.
  The principal buyers were government insured banks, government enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, federal housing agencies, and private companies forced to comply with government mandates about mortgage lending.

(M)  10/18/09 - Washington Post by Charles Lane
"Doubling Down On the Wrong Housing Policy"
  The government encouraged a teacher to put her retirement savings into a new house.

» Advice on Afghanistan
Prestige is not a fanfare at a diplomatic reception. It is what makes enemies think better than to attack.
- -
10/16/09 - Powerline by Paul Rahe
  [edited quote] "Prestige" is the respect earned by world powers, that they will help their friends and harm their enemies, which keeps the wolf at bay.
  We should follow the counter-insurgency strategy of General Stanley McChrystal. If pursued vigorously, it will renew our reputation and prestige in and beyond Afghanistan.
  If we withdraw now, it will be as it was in Vietnam, with our tail between our legs. Our timidity will support audacity in our enemies and panic in our erstwhile friends, especially in the Islamic world. This could easily have disastrous consequences in Pakistan, a nuclear power teetering on the edge of civil war.

•  Blunting Costs of Healthcare Reform
Healthcare reform is going to be great and less expensive. That is why we senators are excluding ourselves, federal workers, unions, and the people and political players in our own states.
- -
10/09/09 - WSJ Opinion by Kimberley A. Strassel
  Powerful senators want "reform" for the nation, so long as it doesn't disadvantage the people who support or vote for them.

(M)  10/14/09 - PJTV: Medically Incorrect (video 3m)
Baucus Bill Bull: Hypocrite senators Want To Pass a Doozy

» Remembering What Didn't Happen
Think about the wedding, the punchbowl, and spilling it all on your parents.
- -
10/06/09 - Advice Goddess (video clip 4m)
  Elizabeth Loftus is Prof. of Psychology and Law at U.Cal Irvine. She explains how 1/4 of study participants were given false memories of their childhood. A good reason to believe the evidence, not the story.

(M)  Prof. Elizabeth Loftus: What's the Matter With Memory (video lecture 71m)

» Diplomacy, Game Theory, Tit-For-Tat
I've been fooled 5 times so far, but soon he will see that I am sincere, and he will cooperate.
- -
10/05/09 - PJTV by Bill Whittle (9:30 Video)
  Be nice, Retaliate, Forgive, and Don't begrudge them their success. These are the elements of a winning, long term strategy in an uncertain world. You will always lose if you always offer cooperation. Is that why nice guys finish last?

•  Better Through Creative Statistics
Rework those statistics; I have a speech tomorrow.
---
Politicians redefine statistics to make themselves look good or to push an agenda. Unemployment, healthcare, and consumer prices are examples.

•  The Stimulus Resort Town
It will be tough, but I'm ready to spend the stimulus money for the good of us all.
- -
  People start in gridlock. A stimulus loan breaks the gridlock. They resume working and trading, and end up happy. The money involved is a true stimulus; it unlocks the local economy and is paid back.
  This is a vivid and amazing example. But, it is contrived and unreal, like finding five dominoes ready to fall by pushing just the first one.

•  TV Commercial For Healthcare Reform
Do they know they will be paying for this?
Nah, they think someone else will pay.
- -
Healthcare reform is available now for the very affordable price of an $81 billion reduction in the U.S. debt! No need to call in; We already have your credit card number. (Some restrictions and fees may apply.) Satire.

•  More Healthcare Spending - More Taxes
Reduced deficit. Yay!   By increasing taxes. Boo!   And $829 billion more spending. Bummer!
- -
The Senate healthcare bill promises to reduce the deficit by $81 billion while spending $829 billion more. How? By raising taxes and fees by $910 billion.

» What Is Defensive Medicine?
I love that rush of fear when I don't test for something.
- -
Engineering motto: If the tolerance for error is zero, then the cost has to be infinite.
- -
09/29/09 - 09/08/09 - Happy Hospitalist
  A four part chart shows why doctors order lots of tests, and patients like this. This is expensive. So what?

(v)  Via OverLawyered

» About Sociopaths
I wonder. Does a fly feel pain when I tear off its legs?
- -
09/28/09 - NeoNeocon - Artfldgr comments
  "Imagine 1/25th having no conscience at all, no guilt or remorse, no sense of concern for the well-being even of family members. Imagine no struggle with shame, no matter what kind of selfish or immoral action you take."

» Who Sets the Price?
I love your house, but not $100,000 more than that other one.
- -
09/24/09 - EconLib by Russell Roberts
  A readable explanation of how freely set prices work. Prices are the incentives that make goods of all types available. They are more complicated than having one person say "this is the price for everyone", and they work much better.

+ The Dog Ate My Global Warming Data
Data? I lost the original data. I am subject to confidentiality agreements. I don't have to show you no stinkin' data.
- -
09/23/09 - National Review by Patrick J. Michaels
  The data needed to verify forecasts of global warming have disappeared. Maybe they were lost or deleted from some discarded computer. A few people know what happened, they aren’t talking much, and what they say makes no sense.
  The responsible scientist complained: Why should I give you the data? You will try to find something wrong with it.

+ Flawed Statistics Show "bad"  U.S. Healthcare
We give your superior healthcare a low rank for being expensive and not government run. Ironically, you now have a low rank despite spending more. Ha Ha, this is another failure of the free market. :)
- -
Three statistics seem to imply that U.S. healthcare is bad. Lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and a low WHO rank for "quality".
  These statistics are flawed. U.S. healthcare is first when you adjust for confusing factors. But, why adjust when you have a political goal?

» Secretary Nanny of Energy
We need just a few small changes. The 800 page legislation expresses them nicely.
- -
09/22/09 - Cafe Hayek by Russ Roberts
  U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu [edited]: "Average folks don't have the know-how or will to change their behavior to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. They are like teenagers, not acting as they should. They have to really understand how important this is."
  Chu said the public would not throw the same political temper tantrum over climate legislation as in the healthcare debate. "We only need to make a few small changes."

•  Memo - Health Plan Deficit Reduction
We are going to rearrange it all, anyway. Just make it look good now.
----
An internal memo about removing any deficit from the health plan. (satire)

(M)  09/17/09 - OpenMarket by Hans Bader
 Cap-and-Trade legislation would cost middle class taxpayers hundreds of billions. Household taxes could rise $1761 per year, a 15% increase. Jobs in steel, paper, aluminum, chemical, and cement manufacturing would migrate to countries with lower environmental costs than the U.S.
  Taxes on business would be directly passed on to consumers.

» A Tale of Two Shortages: Coffee and Healthcare
Our Dear Leader has given us these plantations for direct operation by the People's Cooperative. Comrades, who of you knows Excel?
- -
09/15/09 - Mises Daily by Doug French
  Hugo Chavez of Venezuela benefitted peasant cooperatives by giving them the land of the coffee families. This redistribution produced uncertainty and reduced investment.
  Coffee shortages raised the price to consumers. Chavez benefitted them by legally limiting the price.
  Coffee became even more scarce. Chavez nationalized the coffee roasters to prevent speculating and hoarding. Chavez: "We will continue to nationalize monopolies and turn them into productive businesses in the hands of the workers, the people, and the revolution."
  Future news: In 2009, Obama distributed healthcare to the people, capped its costs, and proceeded to root out abuse among the monopolist companies and physician groups."

» Obama's Speech On Healthcare
We need quality healthcare, at low cost, with no restrictions, by friendly and unhurried doctors, and ... a chicken in every pot. That is my plan. Really. We should do it.
- -
09/09/09 - PowerLineBlog by John Hinderaker
  A review of the main quotes and distortions.
  Obama: "This insurance exchange will take effect in four years, which gives us time to do it right." But wait! Obama says this is an emergency, without a moment to lose. With four years to spare, he could stop cramming the bill down Americans' throats.

(M)  You will all be rich and happy
(When we get this darned bureaucracy working)
- -
09/09/09 - Cato by Michael F. Cannon
Quotes from Obama's speech, and the real-world translations.

(v)  Via Instapundit

(M)  09/12/09 - Ed Driscoll
Analysis from Mark Steyn, Thomas Sowell, and especially Shikha Dalmia:
[edited] Obama the bipartisan embraced every bad, big-government idea from both sides. If he prevails, the American public won’t get 'choice and competition', but will get a one-size-fits-all, government-prescribed health care plan that it can't refuse or challenge.”

(M)  09/09/09 - The Atlantic by Arnold Kling
Obama: "Reducing waste and inefficiency in Medicare/caid will pay for most of this plan."
Kling: "If we don't pass this plan, does Obama intend to keep the waste and inefficiency out of spite?"

(v)  Arnold Kling blogs at Econlog.Econlib.org

(M)  07/26/09 - EasyOpinions by Andrew Garland
I have that analysis somewhere. Here it is. No, thats my grocery list.
- -
Where is the policy paper, Obama's careful plan and research on healthcare reform?

» Canada: Lower Malpractice Rates
I gave my tearjearker pleas to the Canadian judge. He applauded my performance.
- -
Maybe the outcomes for Canadian medicine aren't expected to be very good.
- -
09/08/09 - OverLawyered
  Neurosurgeons in Miami pay $237,000 for malpractice insurance. In Toronto, $29,200. Due to better laws and a cap on pain and suffering.

•  Leading the People
I love the well intentioned little people. They need a strong ruler to show them the way.
- -
Brad's Friends want to be elected, then use that power to make your life better, and you better, whether you agree or not. They want a grand experiment to make a better world. Eventually, they will make you agree with them.

» Why There Are No New Jobs
Marx revealed that business owners are leeches on society, draining away the wealth that rightfully belongs to the workers. At least, the ones who have jobs.
- -
09/05/09 - Commentary Magazine by Jennifer Rubin
  Obama has utterly ignored or rejected proposals to promote private-sector job growth. The threatening environment of higher taxes and deficits causes companies to make only critical investments and slow down job creation. Obama cannot have a recovery by attacking private businesses while expanding government.
  It turns out we need those private-sector employers.

(v)  Via Instapundit

» Czars in America
My Czars have my full support, but you can't hold me responsible for what they do. It is silly to think that I can watch every action of 31 people.
- -
09/05/09 - Hot Air by Ed Morrissey
  Barack Obama’s 31 czars are a dramatic executive overreach. This is far more imperial than any action by President Bush.

(v)  Via Instapundit

•  Van Jones: What's New?
Nasty conservatives have discovered bad things about my administration. Reluctantly, it seems that I must act to correct this.
- -
Van Jones is the Green Jobs Czar. What part of recent news about Jones is new information to Obama?

•  Obama's Green Jobs Snake Oil
We're lucky that we have global warming. Fighting for our lives is going to make us rich.
- -
Consider this to see the fallacy: If Obama could snap his fingers and make global warming disappear, should he do it? By his logic, no, because then we'd lose all those wonderful green jobs that will help pull us out of the recession.

» Find Something to Hospitalize the Patient
Good news. Your heart surgery went well, and you are going home today. This instruction sheet tells how to change the bandages. Remove the drain in about a week.
- -
09/05/09 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
  "We cure the acute illness, but there is a long recovery. The patient is too sick to go home, but Medicare won't pay for more hospital days or a nursing home. We must find a reason to keep the patient, so we run all the tests."
  You see here the Medicare cat-and-mouse game. They pass rules to save money by shifting costs onto the hospital. Medicare plays a game to be "efficient" while going broke from the incentives of the program.

» JFK, Nixon, Khrushchev, Castro, Cuba
Communist leaders have more guts and freedom to act.
- -
09/03/09 - American Thinker By Humberto Fontova
  Castro was glad that JFK won. Nixon seriously supported the Bay of Pigs invasion. Nikita Khrushchev solidified Castro and got missiles removed from Turkey. JFK agreed to use US naval power to prevent further interference with Castro by Cuban freedom fighters. Khrushchev later wrote that war over Cuba was a bluff.

» Death Panels in Britain
We don't kill them. They choose to die when we stop feeding them.
- -
09/02/09 - PowerLineBlog
  Under NHS guidance, patients are diagnosed as close to death without allowing that the diagnosis could be wrong. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where food and fluids are denied until sedated patients die. Nationwide discontent is building up, as family and friends witness this denial of care.

(M)  Monty Python on Death Panels (humor, video 2:00)

•  Obamacare Bails Out Medicare
We will all be in the same boat. Some have signed on, and others will be "persuaded".
-----
The promises of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security cannot be paid. Democrats want to put everyone in the same plan so that seniors don't feel as strongly about denial of care, and the young can be made to pay much more.

•  Google Analytics for the Last Few Days
An HTML page which holds links to Google Analytics, for showing data from the last few days. JavaScript constructs the links.

» Prevention Costs 8x As Much
This pill saves lives, 1/100th of the time.
- -
09/01/09 - Fox Business by John Stossel
  Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute: Suppose we enact measures to control heart disease and diabetes with complete success. The cost would be $8.5 trillion over 30 years, but would save only $1 trillion treating those diseases. Prevention improves health, but doesn't save money.

(M)  Sally Pipes in the Washington Examiner

•  US Healthcare is 1st and 37th
We've subtracted another 10 points because you're not government run.
- -
The writer Mark Twain said "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
- -
08/31/09 - WSJ Opinion by Drs. Groopman and Hartzband
  The World Health Organization ranks U.S. healthcare as 1st in dignity, confidentiality, choice of care, choice of provider, prompt attention, access to social support during care, and basic amenities.
  The U.S. ranks 37th overall from lack of universal coverage and higher cost.

» Interrogation Policy and Results
C 'mon Khalid. Who did you work with? What were your plans and methods? Pretty please?
- -
08/27/09 - PowerLineBlog by Paul Mirengoff
  Summary of a WSJ editorial about the CIA Inspector General's report on interrogations conducted on terrorists.
  "Interrogations were carefully limited, briefed on Capitol Hill, and yielded information that saved innocent lives."

» British Health Care Scandal
On the bright side, we have low administrative costs, and we cut staff.
- -
08/26/09 - Legal Insurrection by William A. Jacobson
  The Patients Association in Britian reports hundreds of thousands in the past six years received nursing care that was often neglectful, demeaning, painful, and sometimes cruel.
  Elderly people were left in pain, in soiled bed clothes, denied adequate food and drink, and suffered from repeatedly cancelled operations, missed diagnoses, and dismissive staff.

+ British Maternity Care
We find do-it-yourself is much cheaper.
- -
08/25/09 - blogs.DailyMail by Don Surber
Almost 4,000 women gave birth outside maternity wards lacking midwives and hospital beds, instead in places like elevators, toilets, and mobile homes. Maternity units shut their doors to an additional 553 women in labor last year.

» Free To Choose
The most important single fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.
- -
Governments never learn. Only people learn.
- -
Videos of the 1980, 1990 TV series about economics and freedom by the late Nobel economist Milton Friedman.
  A presentation about freedom, markets, capitalism, and prosperity. Friedman is clear and direct. It is a first course in free markets and free minds, and was a popular success on network television.

(v)  Via Chicago Boyz

» MSNBC and The Great Liberal Narrative:
The Truth About Political Correctness
A great story. We'll publish the parts that support our cause. Be sure to snip the video.
- -
08/24/09 - Pajamas TV by Bill Whittle (video 12:56)
  A "politically correct narrative" is literally a story that supports your ideology, facts be damned. The spinning of these stories has been an intentional strategy for those who want a better world, or at least a world that they direct for the common good.
  Search YouTube for "The History of Political Correctness" for more about The Frankfurt School. (The Institute for Marxism Social Research, founded 1924 in Frankfurt, Germany)

» What Work Means in Life
You say you are happy doing that?
- -
08/18/09 - Mike Rowe of the TV series "Dirty Jobs" (Video 20:34)
  What he has learned from surprising and dangerous jobs. He describes his personal anagnorisis, the point, especially in a tragedy, at which the hero recognizes his true identity or situation, and peripeteia, a sudden change in fortune from learning the truth.
  15:55  The war on work. We have forgotten the benefits and satisfaction of doing a trade and learning from others the practical nature of what life demands.

(v)  Via Docs On The Web

» Canadian Healthcare Is Sick
Canada needs change. Maybe private healthcare?
- -
08/15/09 - Google News by Jennifer Graham (CP)
  Dr. Anne Doig is president of the Canadian Medical Association. We all agree, the system is imploding and more precarious than Canadians realize. We are all running flat out, trying to stay ahead of day-to-day demands. The current system is not sustainable.

(v)  Via Docs On the Web

(M)  National Post Editorial: Canadian health care is no model.

(M)  08/15/09 - Docs On the Web
  The health care bill is the worst abomination since MTV stopped playing music videos.
  Taking from specialty care to fund primary care will produce savings because more people will die. Here is the theory and the reality of preventive care.

•  Legislative Language
The law is a giant puzzle filled with goodies. We make the puzzle, then we solve the puzzle.

» Electricity Situation in Britain
Honey, no lights, no TV, no internet, and the food is warming up. Are we still environmentalists?
- -
08/12/09 - Chicago Boyz by Carl from Chicago
  Electricity has to be generated from somewhere, and traditional sources are Coal, Gas, Nuclear, Hydroelectric, and Insignificant.
  Britain’s electricity demand peaked at 59 GW (billion watts) in 2009. 45% from North Sea gas, 35% coal, 15% nuclear, and 5% other. By 2015, modest growth will require 64 GW. From where? Our generation plants are aging, and there is nothing planned to replace them.

(M)  Problems with Green Energy

» Obamacare Cycle of Life
Out with the old and in with the new.
---
08/11/09 - InsureBlog by Henry Stern
  "The doctor shall provide an ‘advance care planning consultation’ at least every five years." The welfare of everyone in the program depends on affordable choices.
- -
 I comment that the carbon footprint should be part of the discussion. (sarcasm)

» Progressive Redistribution -> Low growth
I gave up half my income for the good of .. something. That's what LBJ did in 1970.
- -
08/11/09 - Chicago Boyz
  President Lyndon Johnson publicly admitted that his “Great Society” was a redistributionist scheme. He gloated that future generations would just have to live with it. This policy choked off growth during the 1970’s by doubling the Capital Gains Tax.
  So what have we lost? Long term U.S. economic growth was 4.5% from 1780 to 1970. Recessions were followed by high growth recoveries. The per capita growth rate was 3.5%. In 1970 that growth rate dropped to 1.5% and stayed there.
  GDP would have increased by 4x from 1969 to 2009 at the 3.5% rate. GDP has actually increased by 1.8x at the 1.5% rate. Without LBJ and “Limits to Growth”, our per capita economy would now be 2.2x larger.

(M)  Stimulus Shrinks the Economy.
 The money is nice; the taxes and inflation are a killer.

+ Vibrating Wind Farms
Look at the twirling blades. Any nausea?
---
08/10/09 - American Thinker by Thomas Lifson
  Neighbors of wind farms have discovered that they are far from the benign, clean, efficient ways of harnessing energy to our needs. "Wind Turbine Syndrome".

» Government Medicaid Rx
Don't look, government healthcare and sausages are being made here.
- -
08/10/09 - The Independence Institute (Video 1:30)
  Oregon provides Medicaid through government rules drawn up by political lobbying each year.
  Government raises costs; it requires that many services be covered by regulated healthcare insurance, the services that provide income for influential provider groups.
  Emergency services don't have a lobby, so forget about them. Priorities: (High) Stop Smoking, (Low) Head Injury.

(v)  Via Cafe Hayek by Don Boudreaux

(M)  08/25/09 - Insureblog by Henry Stern
Mandates increase insurance costs for Shelley Roche in Maryland. (Video 2:21)

•  Cuban Health and Economic News
Which of these things is not like the other?
- -
Cuba must replace tractors with oxen.
Cuba is running out of toilet paper.
Cuba is a model for a US health plan.

» Advertising for Healthcare Dollars
"We are the most open and honest administration in history."   Gentlemen, how much advertising will it take to sell that to the American people?
- -
08/09/09 - PowerLine Blog by John Hinderaker
  Lobbyists are thriving as never before during the Obama administration. Everyone wants to get their hands on your tax dollars (or your children's, since pretty much all the money in question will be borrowed).
  The Obama administration claims that Americans who oppose socialized medicine must be in the pay of "moneyed interests." This is a sick joke to anyone who understands today's actual political dynamics

» Economic Reality for Ashley
Let's redistribute other people's money.
They are all coupon-clippers.
- -
08/09/09 - Roger Kimball
Whether a real letter or a parable, it presents the realities of redistribution.
  "I received your request for assistance. Ashley, you know I love you dearly and I’m sympathetic to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times have changed. With the election of President Obama, your grandmother and I have had to set forth a bold new economic plan of our own, The Ashley Economic Empowerment Plan."

» Obama - A Face in the Crowd
Promise them anything, but give them - whatever.
- -
08/09/09 - PowerLine by Scott Johnson
Scroll down to the video clip (6:07). General Haynesworth advises presidential candidate Fuller that he needs a slogan like "Time for a change", "The mess in Washington", or "More bang for a buck." Lonesome Rhodes advises Fuller to act as one of the people. A hilarious and timely scene.

» Testing National Healthcare
Don't worry. You go first.
- -
08/07/09 - Insure Blog by Henry Stern - video 3:30
  Nationalized healthcare is a big step. How do we know it will work? Shouldn't we test it first? The world is a complicated place. We would not want it to seem good, then find out it works badly.

•  ObamaCare and the Doctor
Maybe we should ask the doctors.
-----
08/06/09 - American Thinker By Zane F. Pollard, MD
  I have practiced for 35 years in Atlanta, Georgia, in the only group there offering pediatric ophthalmology services to Medicaid patients.
  The government has involved very few of us physicians in the healthcare debate. The American Medical Association favors Obama's plan, but remember the AMA represents just 17% of American physicians.

  Also, Charles Krauthammer proposes two actions to eliminate current inefficiencies in the healthcare market before redesigning the whole thing.

» Spot the Astroturfers
They're fanatics. They made their own signs.
- -
08/06/09 - Looking at the Left by El Marco
  A picture essay with commentary about political demonstrators at a health clinic for-and-against healthcare reform. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi visited that clinic. Which are the concerned citizens, and which are the hired demonstrators?
  El Marco: This is the first time in my life that I can recall a government in North America organizing protests of one group of citizens against another. This is standard operating procedure in countries with left-wing governments.
  Pelosi said recently, about critics at town hall events: "I think they’re AstroTurf. You be the judge. They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care."

(v)  Via Ed Driscoll

» Is the Science Debate Over for Climate Change?
We have our own consensus here in government. The debate is over.
- -
08/05/09 - OpenMarket by Marlo Lewis
  There are three basic issues in the climate change debate: How much has the world warmed? How much from greenhouse gases? What will more greenhouse gases do? These issues are not settled, not even close, and here is why.
  One of many points. The U.S. surface temperature record is supposed to be the best in the world. But, it is riddled with false warming biases. "We found stations located next to exhaust fans of air conditioning units, surrounded by asphalt parking lots, on blistering-hot rooftops, and near structures that absorb and radiate heat. We found 68 stations at wastewater plants, where waste digestion raises the air temperature."
  Nice graphs with medium scientific detail. Readable, or watch the video.

(M)  Dispelling the Global Warming Myth

» Nomenklatura
It isn't what you know, it's who you know.
The little people don't know anyone.
- -
08/05/09 - ChicagoBoyz by Carl from Chicago
  Nomenklatura - A bureaucratic élite that enjoys special privileges. Example: Soviet Union.
  These new government institutions will not be transparent or fair. A parallel system of privileges and favors will replace our current, largely cash based system. As the government controls more of society, the friendship and favor of the Nomenklatura will control access to opportunities and prestigious posts.

» Medicare Example For Higher Costs
Government motto: We must spend money to save money.
- -
08/04/09 - PowerlineBlog by Scott Johnson
  The government is already the largest health care insurer through Medicare. From 1968-2007 Medicare costs increased by a factor of 85.5, from $5.1 to $436 billion.
  In 1965, the government projected that costs would be $10 billion in 25 years. Instead, 1990 costs were $107 billion, 10.7 times the estimate! Plus, about the same amount is spent by the states due to federal mandates, unreimbursed by federal payments.
  We are now told ObamaCare will save money.

+ Obama on Single Payer
Our unbiased opinion here in Government is that single payer is the way to go. A single option is more equal.
- -
A 2 minute video of President Obama's remarks past and present, about a goverment option for healthcare leading to a government run, single payer system.

» Chronic Pain and Health Insurance
Rest assured that your care is free. We just don't have an approved protocol for treating your illness, if it is a real illness.
- -
[edited] My injuries propelled me online over ten years ago, to guide my decisions and to read about others who suffered similar problems. Patients in Canada and Britain deeply affected me. They didn't worry about insurance, but they were the most miserable of all the chronic pain patients.
  They waited forever for tests. They often could not choose their doctors. Often, few specialists in-country knew anything about their injuries. Their medical systems generally saw their problems as unimportant and they were given low priority.
  I was always horrified of not having medical choices. I paid extra for the freedom to go to other states and not be bound by the recommendations and restrictions of a primary care physician. This supported my nine year search.

» Ten Questions For Your Congressman
Do you expect me to have answers for everything?
- -
08/03/09 - Washington Examiner by Hugh Hewitt
Ten questions and honest answers about current healthcare reform. Ask your Congressman or Senator. Question 4: "If seniors will be allowed the expensive, most effective treatments, how will costs be controlled?"

(v)  Via Instapundit

+ Minimum Wage Equals Minimum Jobs
Fire them if you have to, but don't underpay.
- -
07/30/09 - Reason.com by John Stossel
  Why not set the minimum wage at $100/hour? That would send funds to poor people while lifting the economy, right?

(M)  The ones who are still working will thank us for the raise.
- -
07/03/2009 - WSJ Opinion - The Young and the Jobless
  Economist David Neumark wrote here that the $.70 /hour increase in the minimum wage would remove 300,000 jobs. Sure enough, it increased to $7.25 in July, and the August and September numbers show jobs disappearing for teenagers.

» Medicaid Not Sensitive to Waste
It's just Graham again. Pick him up and send the bill to the Feds.
- -
Graham doesn't have a job, insurance, or car. He calls 911 to have an ambulance drive him to the hospital, 603 times in 3.5 years. Medicaid seemed more interested in how we found out, rather than how much it cost taxpayers. Fraud and abuse costs $60 billion per year.

•  Plants Make Their Own Pesticides
It seems that they don't want to be eaten.
But, their resistance is futile.
- -
Our plant foods contain carcinogens, natural pesticides that cause cancer in rats. These occur at enormously higher levels than the amounts of man-made pesticides remaining on the plants. The good news is that the risk of cancer is negligible, even at these levels.

» Sotomayor Condones Discrimination
Judge Andrew Napolitano: [edited] When you elect a liberal Democrat as President, you get Sonia Sotomayor, a judicial nominee with strange ideas.
  Like, if you take a test, and you pass the test and you’re supposed to get promoted, well, you won't get promoted because not enough people from another race passed the test. A lot of Americans will reject that attitude which she embraced.

(M)  Sotomayor Snubs the Senate's Questions
07/28/09 - American Thinker by Rick Moran
  She repeated her bizarrely brief opinion that the statue outlaws racially disparate voting qualifications: "A law disqualifying felons from voting constitutes a voting qualification."

+ Expensive German Wind Power
We will pay 2.5 times more. Is that too much for a good cause?
- -
The wholesale price will be US 21¢ per KWH, plus retail markup to pay for distribution and billing costs. Compare this to the average US retail price of 11.28¢

(v)  Via Instapundit

» Creative Job Creation
We can create 1000's of new jobs. Fire everyone on Friday, and hire them back on Monday.
- -
07/27/09 - Don Surber quotes the AP
 In Oregon, Democrats claim that its $176 million stimulus has already created 3,256 jobs. Those jobs each lasted about a week.
 By the state’s accounting, a job is a job, whether it lasts three hours, three days, three months, or a lifetime. “Sometimes some work for an individual is better than no work,” said Oregon’s Senate president, Peter Courtney.

» Health Care Reform Removes 5 Freedoms
We are all in this together, so you will pay for us.
- -
07/24/09 - Fortune at Money.CNN by Shawn Tully
The fine print in the Congressional plans removes many freedoms of the current system:   To choose your doctors,  To keep your existing plan,  To choose what's in your plan,  To choose high-deductible coverage,  To pay your real costs and be rewarded for healthy living.

(v)  Instapundit

» Medical Malpractice Affects Access to Medical Care
Doctor, help me! Be perfect or I'll sue you.
- -
The American Hospital Association reports 50% of hospitals have trouble recruiting physicians in medical liability crisis (MLC) states. 40% say MLC causes less physician coverage for their emergency departments.
 MLC forced closing trauma centers in Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, at various times in recent years.
 Specialties including neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and general surgery have incurred particularly high premium increases. Emergency patients most frequently require those services.

» Screening for Terrorists
My shrimp catcher is 99% accurate. So, why are there so many snails?
- -
If your test is wrong 1/100, and you are looking for 1 in 10,000, then 99% of your detained people are going to be innocent.

(v)  Via Schneier on Security

•  Not Just Words
Words are powerful. Numbers are cold.
- -
Obama doesn't respect numbers.

•  A Few Words About Policy
It's good for the country. What else do you need to know?
- -
Obama should have already released a detailed "white paper" describing his summary and justification for his health care proposals. We need proposed results, methods, justifications, comparative studies, past successes, funding sources, the works.
 The absence of these policy papers is appalling.

» Hidden Victims of Health Reform
Somebody is going to pay, but I don't think it will be me. Right?
- -
07/24/09 - WSJ by John Fund
 Health reform will require some people to sacrifice. Democrats have kept that knowledge from those who would bear the brunt. They convinced healthcare industry groups not to run the “Harry and Louise” style ads that opposed HillaryCare in 1993.
 Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.): "The pressure has bordered on extortion." Newt Gingrich: "Groups were told that they would give up their seat at the table if they ran ads. They weren’t told that they would be the lunch."
 Losers: Young people, Small businesses, Health savings accounts, Medicare Advantage.

(v)  Via Instapundit

•  Minimum Wage Prosperity
Fire them if you have to, but don't underpay.
- -
Why not set the minimum wage at $50/hour. That would send funds to poor people while lifting the economy, right?

» Congress Is the Health Care Problem
We make laws. We don't repeal them.
- -
7/23/09 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
The President's news conference had more confabulation than I get from a gang banger explaining how he got shot minding his own business.
 Congressmen say with a straight face that they are going to fix health care, without admitting that they caused all the problems!

» Health Bill 1000 Page Monstrosity
1000 pages of cost reduction. With more time, it could have been longer.
- -
7/23/09 Rep. Dr. Tom Price (R-GA) criticizes Obama's healthcare bill. (video 5:30). "You should be ashamed of what you want to do to healthcare and a free people".

» Why Doesn't Obama Get to Work?
I was happy to be an inspiration to you all.
- -
3/11/09 - Small Dead Animals by Kate
Carol Platt Liebau was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review (from audio):
 "Tom Pirelli is the one who did most of the day to day work. Barack Obama was nowhere to be seen. Occasionally he would drop in, talk to people, and then leave, as though his arrival had been a benediction in itself. But, not very much got done.
 You see that and think, gosh, maybe that's the way the guy operates. He had his eye on bigger things. But, now he's President; there isn't a bigger or better thing."

(v)  Via Ed Driscoll

» Healthcare, Social Justice, and Thugs
A strange buffet of crackers and peanut butter, with a 3 hour line for a roast beef sandwich or two shrimp.
- -
7/23/09 - American Thinker by John Dale Dunn MD JD
A doctor presents his long experience with medicine.
 My experience with Medicaid was scary. It was intended as Medicare for the poor. I went to the Nebraska capital, desperate, and pleaded my case to Medicaid officials to hurry up their payments for my mostly Medicaid practice. I wasted my time.

» Government Funds Distort Climate Science
We don't fund studies critical of our policies.
- -
07/22/09 - Science and Technology News
The US Government has spent $79 billion since 1989 on research and support for climate change studies. Yet, scientific review and criticism is left to unpaid volunteers, who have repeatedly exposed major errors.
 Dedicated, uncoordinated scientists around the globe test the integrity of global warming theory. They compete with a lavishly-funded, highly-organized, centralized purchaser of climate research.
 The government pours money into a single, scientifically baseless agenda. It has created a self-fulfilling prophecy, not an unbiased investigation. Sound science cannot easily survive this grip of politics and finance.

» Will Doctors Just Say No?
I majored in administration before becoming a doctor.
---
7/23/09 - Open Market by Wayne Crews
What kind of doctors would Obama's system create? Who will go into medicine?

A fictional doctor from "Atlas Shrugged":
 "I wonder at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, and to stifle my mind. What will they expect when they lie on an operating table under my hands?
  Let them discover the doctors that their system will produce. It is not safe to entrust their lives to a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe if he is a man who resents it, and still less safe if he is the sort who doesn’t.

» Doctors On Strike
The best men will not be made slaves.
---
A serious site with great cartoons and jokes, mostly black humor as befits the current situation.
  "It’s not a good idea to make the lives of medical professionals a living hell. Who do politicians think they are, really? I mean, honestly?" - Wayne Crews at OpenMarket

» 20 Questions for Obama
I can restate my policy goals, but I'm not a detail man. (chuckle, smile)
- -
7/22/09 Economist Keith Hennessey
  5. You proposed spending money from the TARP to prevent foreclosures, help small businesses, and to buy toxic assets from banks. In June, CBO found no evidence that any money has been spent for any of these programs. How many foreclosures have been prevented, how many small businesses have received loans, and how many toxic assets have been purchased?

(M)  11/3/08 National Review
All of Obama's promises have expiration Dates.

» The Good Intentions of Welfare
I miss having responsibility for my life.
- -
Economist Walter Williams, 1983 (video 27 mins)
Influence and Access to Good Schools
Minimum Wage, Licensing, and Labor Laws
The Welfare System and Conclusions
  The government offers help, but in a way that leads people to a life of dependence and broken families.

(v)  7/22/09 Cafe Hayek by economist Don Boudreaux

» Doctors Will Quit Obama-care
He's an excellent doctor. Top of his class in data entry and billing codes.
- -
Many physicians will quit if Obama-care forces us to take orders about treatments, procedures, and medicines, by phone, from people hundreds of miles away.
  They want a perfect record keeper. I would rather take care of patients. I am not a data entry operator who dresses in scrubs.

•  Borrowing Costs Per Legislator
We'll pay you to put away the national credit card.

» EMP Attack
Honey, the TV is on the blink. And, everything else.
- -
Consider a nuclear explosion 200 miles up. It emits a powerful wave of radiation which causes a huge electrical wave. You won't feel much, but it will fry all the electrical systems and digital electronics that we depend on to run everything. How will we survive?

(v)  Via Instapundit

» Obama is Jimmy Carter Reborn
Make no mistake, no one can fix our problems. Don't blame me.
- -
Six months as President, Barack Obama is driving south into the political speed trap known as Carter Country. It is a sad-sack landscape in which every major initiative meets with failure and scorn from political allies and foes alike.

(v)  Via AdviceGoddess

+ Public Option Taxes Employees 8%
We'll tell them that we are taxing the employer. They won't figure it out.
- -
The costs of employment come out of an employee's gross wages. Payments on behalf of employees reduce cash wages. The employee pays any 8% fine supposedly placed on the employer.

+ The Chavez Playbook
Elections are less stressful when you know how they will turn out.
- -
Honduran authorities seized computers belonging to deposed president Mel Zelaya. They contain false referendum results favoring Zelaya, for the illegal referendum that was not held.

» States Give Themselves Phony Ed Grades
Higher scores build confidence.
- -
The Illinois Standards Achievement Test was altered in 2006 to comply with No Child Left Behind. School officials knew that the new test was made easier and produced higher scores. This accounted for almost all of the "improvement" since then.

•  Regulations are Too Complex and Dangerous
Here are the 274 rules. We'll tell you what they mean as we go along.
- -
The financial crisis was caused by the complex, constantly growing web of regulations designed to constrain and redirect modern capitalism. As a practical matter, it was impossible to predict the disastrous outcome of these interacting regulations.

» Cloward-Piven Plan for Socialism
Cloward: The ruling classes use welfare to weaken the poor. Poor people can advance only when the rest of society is afraid of them.
- -
 Columbia University political scientists Richard Cloward and Frances Piven proposed to bankrupt the welfare system and produce radical change. This is called the "crisis strategy" or the "bankrupt-the-cities" strategy.
  They proposed flooding the welfare rolls with new applicants, more than the system could bear. They hoped that the resulting economic collapse would lead to political turmoil and socialism.
  The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) used the Cloward-Piven strategy to produce the welfare crisis that bankrupted New York City in 1975.
  Veterans of NWRO went on to found the Living Wage Movement and the Voting Rights Movement. Both use Cloward-Piven and are spear-headed by ACORN.

(M)  Liberally Conservative: Cloward-Piven as it is being applied now to US politics.

» Hospital Sues Mass Medicaid
When the state won't pay, we raise prices on the sick.
- -
Boston Medical Center is suing Massachusetts for not paying $100 million if its bills. That expense increased the cost of everyone else’s health care.
  Elaine Ullian is CEO of Boston Medical: We believe in health care reform, but it was never, ever supposed to be financed on the backs of the poor, as has happened in Massachusetts.

(M)  More: Political Contributions required for Medicare Reimbursement in Illinois.

» Personal Tour of Canadian Health Care
If you are tired of waiting, you can come back and wait tomorrow. Or pay at the private clinic.
- -
7/13/09 - PJTV (video 21m) by Steven Crowder
The wait times are cruel. A sick baby is sent home by one hospital after a quick look. Her parents try again at a 2nd one, and the baby needed a week of treatment.
  That is what the world is like when you are a cost rather than a customer. When you want care under socialized medicine, you are a pure cost.

(M)  More: Begging for Medical Care

» Expensive Medical Screening
I was tested for years, then died anyway.
- -
The absolute risk of a woman aged 60 dying from breast cancer by age 70 is 9/1000. Early detection by doing 10,000 yearly mammograms saves 3/1000 people over 10 years.
  Health-care "systems" are supposedly critical to health. So, why is there so small a difference in outcomes? Life expectancy in the European Union is 78.7 years, in Libya, 76.88 years.
  Universal health care may save lives, but it won't save money, and you will pay for it whether you want this testing or not.

» Global Warming Best Predictions May Be Wrong
It is sad when you can't predict the past.
- -
Gerald Dickens is Professor of Earth science at Rice University. "There appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the way climate models link temperature and carbon. They do not explain what appears in the geological record."

(v)  Via Riehl World View

(M)  More: Dispelling the Global Warming Myth

•  FDR Prolonged the Great Depression
We didn't intend to cause the problem. Now we intend to fix the problem.
- -
"Why the Great Depression lasted so long had been a mystery. We worried about what conditions might produce another 10-15 year economic slump. We found that a relapse isn't likely, unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

» 'Cap And Tax' Dead End
Energy will cost more. We will just do less.
- -
Sarah Palin 7/14/09: [edited] Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision for newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
  American jobs are threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan.

» A Government Failure, Not of the Market
Our policy: we can't go broke building more houses.
- -
We are told this was a systemic market failure, violating Capitalism's promise that self-correcting mechanisms would not allow this. So, we are told Capitalism is unworkable after all.
  But, the housing bubble only burst after government subsidies pushed house prices up so fast that buyers could no longer afford to chase prices even higher. A bubble created by government rigged financial markets and a government-sponsored obsession with home ownership is not a result of market failure. It is a result of bad government policy.

» Federal Reserve Failures
The government bankers will save us! They probably caused the problem in the first place.
- -
[edited] In about 1927, the Federal Reserve started buying large quantities of U.S. stocks on the open market. This produced an unprecedented stock bubble. The Fed only managed to reverse this in late 1929 by choking-off normal business credit.
  The Fed stood by, pleading impotence during the following panic. The U.S. money stock lost one-third of its pre-crash value. This "great contraction" was the worst credit-crunch in U.S. history, producing the "national bank holiday" of March 6-12, 1933.
  Regardless of this and later mismanagement, Congress rewards the Fed for its failures by giving it more powers.

(v)  Via Cafe Hayek

» Despair Among Business Owners
Let them drop their pretenses and join the workers.
- -
Business is down 10-20% or more. They have laid off staff or have 4-day weeks to keep staff. They see nothing that will benefit sales, cost reductions, or efficiency.

What is happening is an outrage. We will all be casualties of being controlled by bureaucrats and politicians who never, ever, ran a business or created a job. Job losses, cost increases, and inflation will get worse.

(v)  Via Riehl World View

•  Why Doctors Refuse Medicare
We in government are efficient. Why do you spend so much on administration?
- -
Medicare claims very low administrative expenses, but doesn't count the administrative burden imposed on doctors. Even fines should be included. Doctors must charge more to cover these expenses, refuse Medicare patients, or close their practices.

» Obama's Climate of Fear
That's a nice small business you got there, buddy.
- -
Obama utters soothing words as he acts against business: He is not really trying to stifle small business, not really trying to take over the banks, the auto companies, or whatever. He is just reacting to the crisis, reluctantly doing what must be done. That’s what he says. Business people don't believe him.

•  A Hidden Cost of National Health Care
You have a great drug, but it doesn't fit our plans.
- -
A bureaucratized healthcare system will squash medical innovation.

•  The Actual Role of Government
Psst! The back room is more fun if you can pay.
- -
Everyone is greedy, it is how you organize things that matters.

» How a Bill Becomes Law - Health Care (1)
How the sausage is made. Don't look.
- -
Here is my tactical analysis of the legislative action. I was in the health care legislative fights 1995-2008. I'm a retired player, now serving as a color commentator.

•  Government Healthcare by Experts
We're smart. We all went to school. We can do it better than those capitalists, doctors, HMO's, and insurance companies.
- -
The bills in Congress contain very little that reflects payment for value. Government bureaucrats claim they will do things they’ve never once demonstrated an ability to do.

» John Holdren is Obama's Science Czar.
Be afraid.
You have to break some eggs to make a world omelette.
- -
In 1977 he proposed forced abortions, sterilizations through drinking water, babies seized from teen/single mothers, sterilization of undesirables, and a global government through an international police force. In writing. No kidding.

(v)  Via Ed Driscoll

(M)  More at OpenMarket

•  Overselling Science
I'm a Phrenologist. I will diagnose you by feeling the bumps on your head. Then, we'll try some leeches.
- -
The problem with polling “scientists” is that there is a wide range in the predictive power of the studies that we lump together as “science”. Some science does not predict well at all.

» Health Care Bill - Truth in Labeling
Yeah, a medical golf course, next to the medical Farmers' Market
- -
The bill provides billions for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and farmers' markets, characterized as improving the nation's health infrastructure.
  Advocates include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (MA). They say this spending is needed to promote healthier lives and cut medical costs in the long run. "These are not public works grants; they are community transformation grants".

•  Obama Can Win The Chicago Way
We strongly recommend that you play ball with Mr. Capone.
- -
Soros, Axelrod, and Obama intend to win the next election, despite 15-20% unemployment and inflation in 18 months. They intend to do it the Chicago way, to buy it with your money.

» Competition for Cheaper Healthcare
Doc, I can get it for less.
- -
I told the office manager that my wife got an MRI for $575, not $1,500. Within 30 seconds, I was scheduled to have an MRI at my Doctor for $575.

» I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin
Advice to Republicans: Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
- -
And so the word went out: Eviscerate Sarah Palin like one of her field-dressed moose. Turn her life upside down. Attack her politics, her background, her educational history, her husband, her family. ... You know what? It worked!

» When Politicians Go Bad -- The Government We Don't Deserve
Hey, it's only money.
- -
California has spent all its money, and it is spending more. It's politicians think criticism is terrorism. Obama thinks CA is a model for us all. Bill Whittle at Pajamas Media. Video 5:30.

(v)  Via Instapundit

•  Newspaper Influence Peddling
Come on over for a nice talk, and bring a gift.
- -
Newspapers influence public opinion, and that influence is quite valuable. It seems that some newspapers are selling that influence. Do you still trust your newspaper?

» The Price of Shrimp
Hold it right there. Is that a shrimp? Now then, you weren't thinking of selling that shrimp, were you?

» CAFE is killing GM
Small cars are just cuter!
- -
General Motors specializes profitably in big vehicles, the best in the category. But CAFE penalizes them for not selling enough small cars to tip the averages. This statistical insanity is killing US manufacturing jobs.

» Obama: A Man of Principle
See the picture of Obama beside a US Flag. Other people have placed their hands over their hearts, it seems for the Pledge Of Allegiance. Obama supports his own principles by not participating.

» A GM Bustout By Government
I am shocked, shocked to see politicized decisions at a government owned company. We have subsidies. No profit needed.

» A hack-door bust-out
Howie Carr: The public-sector unions are busting out the commonwealth of Massachusetts. You don’t have to be a gangster to bust out a joint, just crooked and greedy. Shady parties worm their way into a legitimate enterprise and then slowly strip it of all assets, reducing it to a hollow shell, driving it into bankruptcy, busting it out."

(v)  Via Instapundit

» Smallest Political Quiz
Are you Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, or Statist? (v)  Via Econlog: Personality Profile of a Free-Marketeer

•  Obama Explains Millionaire Grants
The government will make everyone rich. Next year. Or maybe a bit after that.

» Washington State - Liquor Shortage
Last call at 9PM?
- -
They aren't out of booze, they just can't deliver it. They fouled up something that makes them money. How will they treat health care, which loses them money?

•  Gaining Power Through Public Policy
Why regulate? Because we make money at it.

» Saddam Lied About Nuclear Weapons
Saddam convinced everyone that Iraq had the Bomb. He was bluffing Iran. Bush didn't lie, he acted on available information.

» Massachusetts Limits Health Services
Commonwealth Care is three years old. Estimated at $245 million, it will cost taxpayers $1,300 million this year and require rationing of benefits.

» Brace yourself for higher taxes
Catch me, I'm slipping.

» Waiting for the jobs
Obama is building a new society. I'll wait until he is done.
- -
Small business owners are standing by the fence and watching, paralyzed by regulatory uncertainty. They aren’t hiring precisely because of government intervention in the economy. So-called stimulus won't change that.

•  Racist Eyes
He was black, or white, or something. I'm not saying which.
- -
When you are identifying someone, it is not racist to describe what he looks like, even the color of his skin.

•  Medicare Myth: Low Administrative Cost
We have millions of administrators in government, with more on the way
---
Medicare claims 3% administrative overhead, compared to 12% for private insurance. But, Medicare doesn't count all of its expenses, and private insurance is burdened with taxes that are part of its "overhead". Medicare overhead per patient is actually 25% more than for private insurance.

(M)  Government employment is community service, not overhead.
- -
09/30/09 - OpenMarket by Hans Bader
  Federal government employment may grow between 200,000 to 600,000 over the course of the Obama administration.

•  Healthcare Reform Myths
#1 The government will be more efficient

•  Who's the Materialist?
You are a materialist. Give me some of your money.
- -
All the great champions of economic freedom ultimately justify capitalism because only it affords true dignity to individuals.

•  Be Skeptical About Scientists and Polls
Let's quote a poll. That will convince them. Use the parts that support us.
- -
The poll interviewed "scientists", but they were selected as members of the AAAS, excluding grade school and high school teachers, and including administrators.

•  The Present Tells Us About the Depression
Take the money. We'll spend it more wisely than the little people

•  The Department of Work and Production
Government management will make you efficient. It has a long track record and new principles.

•  They Are Profiting From My Needs
I hate it when they sell me things

» Health Care - Do Procedures in the Courtroom
Plaintiff's counsel will make the opening incision.

•  Obama: Honduras Should Accept Tyranny
One man - One vote - Once

•  Introduction to Medical Billing
Doctor, how are my billing codes doing?

•  Predicting No Climate Change
The crystal ball is cloudy. Give me $1 trillion.

•  Better Bank Robbery
I didn't mind. It was for a good cause.

•  EPA Supresses Climate Study
That Gallileo fellow wouldn't toe the line either.

•  "Do The Right Thing" Bill
Why read legislation? It is complicated, and we will do what we want to, anyway.

•  Windmill jobs are expensive
We're creating jobs here. Don't look over there.

•  The Medicare Tomato Market
We used to buy great tomatoes when you were little.

•  Military Healthcare is Not a Shining Example
We're looking at the big picture. We'll fix the failures later.

•  No progress on nuclear energy
The lights are on. What energy problem?

•  Medicaid and Its Children
You can have all the care you want. We'll find the money later.

•  Lack of Competition in Health Care Insurance
You are a caring doctor. Treat the poor for free.

•  Changing Oil Prices Are Not a Conspiracy
We can't eat it, or save it, so we sell it.

•  Universal Health Care in Italy
A delay? But, I have already paid.

•  Phony Jobs Claims
I'm not lowering your salary, so that is a raise.

•  Economists Surprised That People Read the Paper
Don't read that! Do you want to ruin the economy?

•  The Climate Change That Isn't
How dare you criticise our consensus of government researchers?

•  A Liberal Judge
My personal history tells me what the law means.

•  My Fantasy Beats Your Reality
Follow me, my plan is on this cocktail napkin.

•  Efficiency Breakthrough:
Small Cars With Small Engines
Better yet, just stay home

•  A Budget to Infinity -- and Beyond
We'll have fun, fun, fun 'til daddy takes the T-Bird away

•  2006 Tax Comparisons
What is that rich or poor guy paying?

•  Stimulus Shrinks Economy
Look at the pretty money. Ignore the taxes and inflation.

•  Access vs Honest Reporting
If we tell the truth, we can't report at all.

•  Obama and Sotomayor Are Anti-Gun
The Constitution protects your gun rights, just not in any State. Huh?

•  First, Let's Pay All the Lawyers
Sue the wealthy person who is responsible.

•  Homeopathic Waterboarding
Talk to us Hamid, or we will do Homeopathy upon you.

•  Medical Rationing Details
Take two aspirin and don't call back.

•  Did You Love "Life After People"?
If only we didn't litter so much.

•  The Will to Have Efficient Cars
I say do it, and it shall be done.

•  Good Guns Don't Make News
Prevented deaths are hard to count.

•  Treasury Recalls All Dollars
We'll take the money now. You can earn it back later.

•  Freedom Supports Our Humanity
Freedom is more than money.

•  Bombing Japan Was Not a War Crime
War is life vs life. Killing some saved more.

•  Personal Experience of Terrorism
Life is wonderful and fragile. It must be defended.

•  We Must Spend or We Are Going to DIE!
We are taking action. Who are you to criticize us?

•  Contact Congressmen, Senators, and the President
Who are you going to contact when you are a concerned citizen?

•  Richard Epstein Discusses Barack Obama
Obama is in complete control of himself, and believes wealth is manna from heaven.

•  A Trillion Dollars On Display
A massive amount. Want to pay it back?

•  Together, We All Pay More For Healthcare
Waiter, bring me two of everything.

•  Fact Check on Obama
Obama's facts don't hold up.

•  Why Test? You Are Already in the Hospital
Sorry, no CT Scan. We already know you are sick.

•  A Quick Explanation for the Recession
Will you believe it, if it is not complicated?

•  We Can't Stop Carbon Emissions
Only the rich dream about reducing carbon output.

•  The Fake History of the Depression
The government faked the numbers. World War II spending didn't end the Great Depression.

•  An Artwork Thought to Have Merit
You never know what will please the critics.

•  Organic Pesticides Fail Safety Review
That organic carrot doesn't look as good any more.
---
03/30/09 - OpenMarket by Greg Conko
  The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has rejected 13 of 27 commonly used "organic" pesticides. Organic foods are thought to be "grown without pesticides." But, organic farmers use a variety of chemicals, including potentially dangerous substances such as copper sulfate, rotenone, and pyrethrum.

•  Is There a Future for Business Schools?
It took only one month to convert a doctor into a business consultant

•  Dispelling the Global Warming Myth
The atmosphere warms and cools because of solar output, not carbon dioxide

•  Cause of the Financial Crisis: Left vs Right
A discussion about the financial crisis, choose your side

•  Cargo Cult Economics
The government sees spending and prosperity, and decides wrongly that spending causes prosperity
 I get it. People use umbrellas when it rains, so using umbrellas causes it to rain.

•  Obama and God
Obama has an ongoing conversation with God

•  The Revolutionaries Ayers, Dohrn, and Rudd
Together, they set bombs for a better world.

•  Energy Can't Get Here From There
No coal or nuclear plants, no transmission lines, just turn down your thermostat.

•  Begging for Socialized Medical Care
Does your socialized hospital have enough budget to care for you?

•  The Policies of Bush -- I mean Obama
Does not a rose by any other name still smell as sweet?

•  Obama Thanks Himself Reading Teleprompter
Retraction: Obama made a sophisticated joke, not a gaffe.

•  The Godfather's White House
Is Obama basing his administration on 'The Godfather'?

•  Regulatory Costs
4,000 new regulations each year cost $trillions.

•  A Close Look at the Business Bailouts
John Stossel of 20/20 examines the bailouts (video).

•  The Bank's Mistake was Trusting the Government
Banks trusted the work of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Thus, the financial crisis.

•  Using Inflation to Fool People
Ha ha. Keynesian economists hope that inflation will fool people into working harder.

•  Publicly Challenge Politicians
Talk to politicians publicly, not one-on-one.

•  Obama Team: No Nuclear Energy
Current waste storage sites are cancelled.

•  The Government Bailout IS the Problem
The government is scaring the market into a freeze. Business won't invest in an unknown regulatory environment.

•  Housing Crisis in a Nutshell
Easy loans and old analysis fueled the market.

•  Obama is a Gifted Talker
Obama's words impress people. Reality is not persuaded.

•  Government vs The Market
Government intervention is causing the pain, not the market.

•  Tolerance, Muslim-Style
The Islamic republic of Chechnya, Russia, encourages honor killings.

•  A Revolutionary States the Essence of Law
Thomas Jefferson proposes the limits to written law

•  The Department of GDP
The government spends your money so that you don't have to

•  No Need For Earmarks
Congress doesn't need to include earmarks when they can make phone calls

•  SEC Workers Explain Failure
They say that they don't have the resources to find fraud

•  They're Throwing a Party
What financial crisis? Congress is throwing a party

•  Political Truth in Labelling
Three Democrats call themselves Republicans

•  A Tested Stimulus Plan
The financial crisis is the result of the last stimulus plan

•  Rewarding Bank Management for Failure
They are corrupt, self-serving, and incompetent. Rather than firing them, we are cutting their salaries to $500K plus stock options

•  Selling Burned-Out Lightbulbs
The market finds a way to distribute light bulbs in Russia

•  Let's Counterfeit Our Way to Wealth
If you believe the Obama team, then counterfeiting would make us rich

•  Keynes Likes Totalitarians
Econimist John Keynes said his economic theory would work best under totalitarian government.

•  Why Should I Believe You?
Trust seems to be tribal, not intellectual.

•  The Hamas - Israel War
What each side does when fighting.

•  You will pay, along with the Rich
You will pay for big government with unemployment and high prices.

•  I Won't Do the Paying
The Rich have options. They won't work hard to pay high taxes.

•  Politicians Like Thoreau
They like his quiet observations and ignore his tax protests.

•  Obama Challenges Us
He challenges us to follow his plans and requirements.

•  Iran Might Stop Killing Brits
We'll stop killing you if you let us develop nuclear weapons.

•  The Solution Is Simple
Many people think they could solve all the problems if they were in charge.

•  Where Did Barbers Go?
They were regulated and trained out of business.

•  Nurse Practitioners
They are inexpensive, friendly, and can't help you much.

•  Elevator Lawsuit Safety
We don't unlock the escape door because you might sue us.

•  Medicare Witch Hunt
They will eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating doctors.

•  Delayed Medical Tests
Your doctor isn't allowed to do his own lab tests. Will three days be OK?

•  AGW Scientists Can't Predict
When you understand, you can predict. Global Warming scientists can't predict.

•  No Sports Economic Multiplier
Government subsidy of commercial sports teams does not benefit their towns.

•  Teleprompter President
Obama is a fine orator, with a teleprompter and an ear bug.

•  Stimulus and Terpentine
Stimulus spending will make us rich. If we are becoming poorer, we are obviously not spending enough.

•  No Effect On Unemployment
Spending during the Great Depression did not produce lasting employment.

•  Obama Praises Lincoln
He thanks Lincoln for making Obama possible.

•  Charming the Barbarians
They won't want to harm us when they know how friendly we are.

•  Trusted Public Bicycles
Paris supplied bicycles on the honor system.

•  Audacity to Do Nothing
Who built the economy? Not politicians. They should get out of the way.

•  Non-Union Businesses Grow Faster
Union activities slow the growth of businesses and jobs.

•  Survive "Obama Care"
How to survive medical problems under socialized health care.

•  Failure of the New Deal
A planner of the New Deal testified that it didn't work.

•  Friedman On Greed
Government is less greedy than business. Really?

•  Obama's Feet of Clay
We are quickly finding out about his feet.

•  Spending Did Not Help Japan
They spent a huge amount. It didn't help. Instead, it hurt.

•  Will You Bet On Your Opinion?
If you want to direct the economy, why won't you bet on it?

•  We Don't Have Free Markets
Government is and has been directing many things. Then, they blame the bad results on weak regulation.

•  Leftist Arguments: A or B
It depends on who they are talking to.

•  Democratic Trickle-Down Economics
Democrats help the little guy by giving money to their connected friends.

•  Che Guevara's Message
He wanted youth to conform and individualism to disappear.

•  Benefits of Health Savings Accounts
They benefit everyone, not just the rich.

•  Macroeconomics is Astrology, Not Science
The economists advising our government can't predict anything. They might as well be plumbers.

•  Interrogation, Torture, and Rendition
The possibility of torture saves lives in war.

•  Embarrassing Claims About Global Warming
James Hansen has embarrassed NASA with his unsupported claims.

•  Man Made Global Warming Science Fraud
Global Warming 'scientists' do not meet scientific standards for being open, careful, and honest.

•  Stop the Death from Quilts and Food
Thousands of small businesses that sell children's items are now regulated out of business. If this is good, then we should regulate home kitchens as causing even more death and disease

•  Musical Chairs - Stimulus Style
When the economic music of the stimulus stops, all the chairs will be removed at once

•  Global Warming Caused by Humans is a Scam
The proponents of Global Warming don't mind lying for the good of us all

•  Have Wages Been Flat?
Wages have gone up, but mostly in untaxed fringe benefits

•  Jefferson Warns about Debt: Discussion
Debt can ruin the country: a discussion

•  Thomas Jefferson Warns Us About Debt
Thomas Jefferson warned that debt can ruin a country

•  The Real Tax Burden
The real tax burden is what government spends, not just the deficit

•  USA Healthcare is First - Infant Mortality is Low
US healthcare is best in the world. The bad statistics are carefully chosen to contradict this for political reasons

•  Scam: Telemarketers with No Number or Location
How to fight the robot-call scam artists

•  Write the Rating Agencies Out of Our Law
The financial ratings agencies misled investors. They should not be supported and promoted by government

•  Ponzi Schemes Like Social Security
Social security is a Ponzi scheme. Current withdrawals are funded by current contributions. There are no investments to pay off the current investors

•  They pretend to pay - We pretend to treat
The government is cutting the cost of healthcare by refusing to pay hospitals.

•  The AIG Junket Fable
When the government owns the operation, they will blame you for winning sales awards

•  Keynes, Digger of Holes
Government loves the economic theories of John Manard Keynes. He recommended becoming rich by digging and filling holes

•  Global Warming in 1000 Years
Scientist: Global temperature has risen. It won't fall for 1000 years. Or go up.

•  Child care loopholes for easy money
I'll watch your kids and you'll watch mine. The state will pay us.

•  Modern Law Makes Us Powerless
If it is new, it is probably illegal.

•  Too Many Federal Laws
Five years and a $5000 fine for everything.

•  I Pledge to Obama
Obama inspires celebrities to work for a better world (satire).

•  Censored medical records
The law protects your privacy. Your doctor can't see all of your medical history.

•  Safe, But Also Sorry
Children should not fear adults in an emergency.

•  Good/Bad News on Parenting
Children grow up to be themselves, no matter what you do.

•  Geithner and SE Tax
He was informed in writing to pay his tax, but didn't.

•  Interrogation Rules
Interrogation is limited to the techniques allowed to the footsoldier. "Pretty please will you tell us where the bomb is?"

•  Predicting Doom is Illegal
Being too negative in S.Korea is a crime.

•  An Hystoricle Day
Government will help us through the recession by making it longer. That is hysterical, not historical.

•  Obama: Responsible Talk, Irresponsible Walk
The era of responsibility starts with making it up as he goes along.

•  War Between the Sexes
I want to be liked for my personality.

•  Stimulus Boondoggle
Enjoy the view of the new roads and bridges. And, that is the good part.

•  Fake Cashier's Checks
They are just like a bad personal check. You will have to give back the money two weeks later.

•  The Economy is Not a Machine
Want to fix the economy? It isn't in any one place.

•  No one can make a pencil
It is the result of 100 years of practical research and cooperation.

•  Pelosi-Obama-Reid Economy
Productive people will not work for corrupt politicians.

•  Tennessee Sludge Spill, Government Disaster
Government ignored safety to save money.

•  A British Political Arrest
The British government bends the law to arrest a critic.

•  Self defense and security
Her parents died because she couldn't carry her gun into the restaurant.

•  Job Creation - Elevators
We could have 500,000 new elevator operators.

•  People Versus Politicians
Loopholes for sale.

•  We Don't Raise Our Hands With Obama
Obama doesn't like the wrong questions from the press.

•  Dirty Secrets of College Admissions
Admissions are arbitrary at top schools. There are so many applicants.

•  Civil Disobedience via CFL
Bring compact fluorescent lights to your legislator. They are otherwise hard to get rid of.

•  Pelosi to Silence the Republicans
They can't stop her legislation, so why should she listen to them?

•  Carbon Dioxide Does Not Drive Climate
Even if there is more, it can't absorb much more heat.

•  Islamic Cultural Identity
Firing rockets is in their blood.

•  Crisis Hysteria
Markets will adapt, but they need some time.

•  H.L.Mencken on politicians
He didn't give them compliments.

•  Diplomacy and Terrorism
Talk doesn't work. Either they win or we win.

•  Effect of torture on morale
It decreases US effectiveness.

•  The College Scam
College has a monopoly on testing for intelligence. There is no proof that it efficiently trains for success.

Jokes

Communist philosopher Karl Marx revealed that business owners are leeches on society, draining away the wealth that rightfully belongs to the workers. At least, the ones who have jobs.

Bertrand Russell: The stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.
- Most people would rather die than think. In fact, they do so.

If you can keep your head, while others around you are losing theirs, you may not understand the real situation.

Government is more predictable and valued than businesses. Businesses sometimes make promises that they don't keep, surprising and angering their paying customers. Government makes promises that it almost never keeps. This doesn't surprise anyone, and they are grateful for whatever free help they receive.

» Football and the Existential Coin Toss
09/2009 The Onion - Video 2:32

(v)  Via Ed Driscoll

» Praise For Government Services
09/12/09 - Ramirez Cartoon
Government provides many vital services through large, publicly supported institutions. Why not healthcare? :)

» Debate About Modern Relationships
"Jane, you ignorant slut."
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09/01/09 - InsureBlog.   03/17/79   Saturday Night Live 2:00, Jane Curtin and Dan Akroyd discuss Lee Marvin's troubles with his girlfriend.

Government is the ideal director of medicine. Politicians are thoughtful, caring, and altruistic. They devote their lives to helping others. Contrast this to Physicians, who spend half their lives learning diagnosis and complex, delicate procedures, with the intent of charging sick people for these services.

ObamaCare: We lose money on every patient, but we expect to make it up on volume.

Those tea party people are fanatics. They even make their own signs.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs, unless he needs a lot of healthcare.

P.J. O’rourke: "The beauty of our system is not that we can elect the smartest person to office, but any nit wit we want to." This has been a strength of the American system for 100+ years.

» Earth Is Not Endangered - We Are
Why are we here? Maybe, to make plastic
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Comedian George Carlin considers the future of Humankind and the earth. He gives Earth the odds. Video 8 min.

(v)  Via Samizdata

» Duck, Bar, Nails
A duck walks into a bar ...

Obama's administration promises to unite White and Black, Left and Right, rich and poor, and True and False.

"If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he eats forever."
Can anyone in the Department teach fishing? Oh well, nevermind.

It doesn't much matter what you believe so long as you are not sincere.

What do you order at Obama's restaurant? "Oh, just bring me something different."

What is on the menu? "We're changing the menu, we hope to tell you later."

"I'll have the special, Duck a l'Orange with Potatoes au Gratin for $.99". "Sorry, the special has been changed to a hot dog and chips for $20.99. We'll bring you that. Most of that goes to help the poor. There is no need to pay now, we have your credit card number."

How many people are needed to screw in a lightbulb? About 1000, according to the stimulus plan.

Slogans

Show me the policy paper
If the politicians refuse, or deny that there is any written plan, shout "Show me the cocktail napkin".

No legislation without explanation.

Our politicans stand proud and shout "Un-American" to the people asking questions. All we can do is whisper "un-elected" to the politicians.