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“Nothing else matters unless the American people are working.”
Don’t expect this president to create anything more than a economy hostile to job creation. Instead, expect him to continue his never ending campaign, offer platitudes and play golf.
Hat Tip: Dittos Rush
Every sales person knows that it is critical to successful selling is truth in advertising and a clear, sincere sales presentation. Unfortunately, in the health care debacle, we are being fed lies and false promises that a true analysis shows to be false.
The true costs of the reorganization of 1/6 of our economy is still being computed, but the facts that are coming out are quite concerning, at best. Mr. Rove, who is known for his analytic abilities gives us a glimpse today in the Wall Street Journal:
The problem for Mr. Obama is that the Baucus bill is being sold on the strength of accounting tricks that make it appear that it won’t add to the deficit. This is true for the other health-reform bills, too. If fiscally conservative Democrats sign on to the bill now after publicly saying they are doing so because it doesn’t add to the deficit, they may end up bailing once the tricks are revealed to the public.One trick is easily explained. The bill imposes tax hikes and benefit cuts right away, including $121 billion of Medicare reductions between 2011 and 2015. But new spending really doesn’t start until five years out 2015 and isn’t fully operational until 2017. The bill uses 10 years worth of tax hikes and benefit cuts to fund a few years worth of benefits.
And that is just a start.
Some governors are also figuring out that the proposal in the Baucus bill to expand Medicaid will shift a big chunk of the federal health-care tab to states. States, after all, pick up an average of 47% of Medicaid’s costs—and expanding it will force states to spend more.
Then there are $400 billion in benefit cuts that are frightening seniors. Jeffrey A. Anderson of the Pacific Research Institute has pointed out that the Baucus bill cuts Medicare payments to physicians by 25% within two years and keeps payments at that level forever, without adjusting for inflation. If this becomes law, doctors who take Medicare patients will see their real income decline each year.
via Karl Rove: Obama Hasn’t Closed the Health-Care Sale – WSJ.com.
Karl makes the point that The President hasn’t sold his snake oil to us yet and the numbers, if made public will not strengthen his sale at all.
No wonder the leadership of the democratic houses in Congress are holding their meetings to complete the legislation behind closed doors! For a President who promised the most transparent administration in history and promised that C-Span would be broadcasting the proceedings for all of us to see, the hypocracy has reached absurd levels! And the ‘traditional media’ is ignoring the whole thing! Where is Bob Woodward when we need him?
Our president is everywhere and speaking on TV almost every day, 5 times on Sunday and then Monday at Troy, NY and NYC for Letterman. Tuesday, he was at the UN in the morning, played basketball with his friend in the afternoon and spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative in the evening. Wednesday he is at the UN and then later this week he heads to Pittsburgh to propose a new world order for global finance! He has had the report from General McChrystal since August 30 and is still “analyzing” whether to try to win or not.
“McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’
Top U.S. Commander For Afghan War Calls Next 12 Months Decisive
By Bob Woodward Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, September 21, 2009
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure,” according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says emphatically: “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.”
His assessment was sent to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30 and is now being reviewed by President Obama and his national security team.
McChrystal concludes the document’s five-page Commander’s Summary on a note of muted optimism: “While the situation is serious, success is still achievable.””
(Source.)
No matter how bright he is, it is hard to believe he has time to think and to perform his presidential duties. He seems to be following his record from IL of voting present and ‘speechifying’ while others do the heavy work. We (not me, but a majority of voters) elected him to be president not just to look the part. We deserve to know who is doing the work and telling him what to do and what to say. Somehow the jokes about the teleprompter of the USA (TOTUS) don’t seem as funny as they did at first. With the number of radical czars who did not require Senate approval surrounding the Oval Office what can we believe about the change he promised in the campaign? I have a hard time believing that “We the People” knew what we were voting to change and what the goal is.
And now from the AP:
“Fidel Castro praises Obama on climate change
By PAUL HAVEN (AP) – 3 hours ago
HAVANA — Barack Obama’s call for action on climate change and his admission that rich nations have a particular responsibility to lead has received strong praise from an unusual source — U.S. nemesis Fidel Castro.
The former Cuban leader on Wednesday called the American president’s speech at the United Nations “brave” and said no other American head of state would have had the courage to make similar remarks.”
It looks like we have a reading/speaking puppet and a teleprompter as our leader. Who is in really charge?
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform – Republicans: Press Release :: Report: Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a Criminal Enterprise?. This report that is available in full (88 pages) is available on the Internet for all to read.
It clearly states that ACORN has broken federal and state laws over and over again and yet Rep John Conyers has refused to investigate further! We need to demand that this be followed up immediately and that all funds be frozen until the full investigation is complete. The freeze should include all of the ACORN affiliates as the report explains that money to one is moved between the affiliates at the will of the leadership. This report’s executive summary should be broadly published. Where is the Media on this?
This is Glenn Beck’s coverage of the ACORN office that was willing to knowingly help a young girl set up a prostitution business and bring more than a dozen girls under the age of 16 into the country to be prostitutes. It’s worth watching the entire thing if you live under a rock and haven’t seen it yet.
The video is in 4 parts and includes hidden camera footage from the incident at the ACORN office and an interview with the girl who did the undercover work. Great stuff.
Lots more on this over at Breitbart’s biggovernment.com
(Another post of the wisdom of my father.)
The Law of Unintended Consequences is one law that Congress cannot change or ignore, they are forced to accept its effects. My question is simple, ‘Do they understand the ramifications and accept them when they pass legislation or are they oblivious to it?’
In the Cash for Clunkers bill they have created a number of consequences. Which ones were planned or anticipated?
Did they truly want to eliminate 750,000 serviceable cars from the used car market? Don’t they care about people who cannot afford to buy a new car and who would be proud to buy a newer or their first used car for less than $3,500? Many people who are seeking their first or next job at or near minimum wage could use one of these cars to get to work and to get to the grocery store.
Did they think of the car mechanics who service these cars and who will no longer have adequate employment opportunities?
Did they consider the impact on used car dealers when they remove 750,000 useable/drivable cars from their potential inventory?
Did they think about the effect of announcing to the world of less than honorable people the cheapest and best way to destroy an engine?
Was the motivation to build the business of GM artificially to make it easy for the government to sell its shares to the public before the real world of sales begins again? Since some portion of the buyers have simply accelerated their purchases, what will happen to new car sales over the year following the program?
I want to believe that these consequences were not planned for, but, if the people we trust to legislate did not think of them, are they competent to be in that position? If they did think of these things and still wanted to spend $3 billion of our money on this program, what does this tell us?
If this is the effect of The Law of Unintended Consequences on a simple program involving trading in old cars for new, what will the effect be on a complete overhaul of 20-25% of our economy by the healthcare bill now in Congress (HR3200)? Without a full public debate and lengthy hearings and careful reading of the final bill can anyone truly support it?
There is a great debate going on currently on HR3200 because the House and Senate did not meet the president’s deadline to pass it before they went on recess. But we should not get mired down and forget the need to look forward!
In September, when the Congress returns from their recess, The Senate will be completing their own bill and The House will finalize their bill. At that time there will be a series of conferences between the two houses and a compromise will emerge. If the Stimulus bill is any example, and especially based on the comments of the Speaker of The House and the leader of The Senate, there is likely to be a rush to vote within hours of the agreement, even potentially before the bill is complete, as was done with the Cap and Trade bill in The House.
We need to make our voices heard now, loud and clear, that we expect the final compromise bill to be fully written and distributed on the Internet at least 15 days before they vote, to allow the public to read it and respond to our elected representatives. Even more importantly we need to know that our representatives have had the time to read it and to communicate their feelings on it to us before they vote.
We should also let them know that we expect a list of basic principles, in clear language that a 5th grader can understand, that form the basis of the bill and are incorporated in it to provide guidance and control to the regulators who will be charged with writing all of the ancillary regulations that are required to implement the bill. These should certainly include some of the promises that we have been given such as, “There will not be any rationing of care for Senior Citizens,” and “Final decisions of care and treatment will be left to the doctor and the patient and their family and will not be subject to limitations by any government agency.” It should also state clearly that only US Citizens will be eligible for these services.
Having read large portions of the bill, I am convinced that much of it is unintelligible due to its many references to changes to be made to other bills including the original Medicare bill and subsequent related bills. There is a clear need to have the basic principles spelled out clearly and completely within the bill.
The funding should also be clearly spelled out in the bill in clear language for all to understand and verified by the Congressional Budget Office prior to any vote.
The limitations on existing providers of services that will be changed or eliminated should be summarized as well.
Throughout our history the documents that have had the most positive impact on our nation, from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the Gettysburg Address and The Emancipation Proclamation, all written in clear language that citizens can clearly understand. When Congress is attempting to change something that involves 16% of our economy, they owe it to us, to our future generations and to themselves to make their actions clear and readily understandable.
More importantly, they owe us and themselves a clear and open debate on the final bill before it is approved.
The left is doing their best to discredit the grassroots efforts of the right by calling the town hall protests “astroturfing.” Never mind the President calling out for unions to join in the meetings in order to drown out the voices of concerned constituents, the folks on the right are fake.
Well, check this video out. This is from the now infamous Castor town hall meeting in Florida. Prior to the doors being opened to the public, Obama’s Organizing for America was working the crowd, passing out signs and other literature in support of the Democrat’s health care reform.
Hundreds were waiting outside, some for hours, while this was going on. But the right, they are the plants:
Is this video being shown on the evening news, or is it being ignored?
The town hall meetings around the country were loud and intense, but it wasn’t until the president called out for the unions to join in the debate that things turned violent.
From The Caucus on August 6th:
John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, sent out a call to arms Thursday for rank-and-file members to counteract what he called the “right-wing ‘Tea Party Patriots’ ” who have been disrupting the meetings.
And the Service Employees International Union, the nation’s largest union of health-care employees, is deploying its members to the meetings to “reclaim our democracy,” according to a statement. Referring to the colorful T-shirts that the union’s members wear at rallies, a spokeswoman said the union was “unleashing the purple people.”
Following the arrival of Obama’s sycophants and myrmidons:
With the introduction of the unions, things have turned violent. Remember, it was Obama who encouraged his supporters to “get in their faces and argue” and the Democrats pledged to “punch them back twice as hard.”
Perhaps now you understand the danger of the Employee Free Choice Act. The AFL-CIO says they “need the Employee Free Choice Act.” The SEIU says they “support the Employee Free Choice Act.”
But card-check, the portion of the bill that most found to be very dangerous, has been removed. So what’s the danger?
Imagine the folks above, the type who stomp people and smash cameras into people’s faces, and consider the following:
…EFCA would mandate that businesses give union organizers access to their property and would restrict businesses’ ability to argue against union-organizing proposals. The organizing-campaign period would be shortened, thereby curtailing debate, and business owners would be prohibited from holding mandatory meetings to discuss union-organizing proposals with their employees. Which is to say, businesses will be forced to open their doors to union organizers, but will not be able to make the case against them on their own property. This is perverse, especially in a country whose constitution is alleged to protect citizens’ freedom of association, not to mention their property rights.
With union memberships at a historical low, should the federal government be mandating the above? Can you imagine one of these folks approaching you to discuss why you should join the union? How far do you think that discussion would go?
The current behavior by union thugs is nothing but foreshadowing of what will be if EFCA is passed.
Talking with conservative bloggers at CPAC
#OccupyOakland Protestor Kills Parents
"It's crippling," she said. "This is politics, and we are paying the price."
