The Sun Will Still Rise in the East Tomorrow

The unpopular health care overhaul bill passed in the house tonight, 219-212. We all knew this was going to happen and you were fooling yourself if you believed otherwise. Already, Republicans are planning on repealing the bill should they win back the majority in Congress in November. You are fooling yourself if you think the Republicans taking over Congress in November will change anything. It won’t, I’ve seen that movie before.

The natural tendency of government is to get bigger, no matter which party is in charge. This is the natural way of things just like the sun rising in the east. Will this health care bill increase the size of government and take liberty from us? Probably, but no more than the Federal Reserve, the IRS, the Social Security system, Medicare, Medicaid, and countless other unconstitutional government programs already have. The politicians and pundits on the right have been ranting and raving about how this health care bill will destroy our country and our liberty, but our liberty is long gone. We are all slaves to the debt. Our debt didn’t just happen overnight or under one President, but we are doing nothing to stop it. If you think the Republicans taking over Congress will solve our debt problem, you are fooling yourself.

It’s easy to see what will happen to us if we keep going down this road. Just look at Greece. The only way to solve our debt problem is to drastically reduce the size of government. A 50% reduction would be great, but that would be only a start. A limited government with a responsible citizenry is the only way out of the mess. I know it’s a lot to ask for but with liberty comes sacrifice and responsibility.

First, we need to dismantle our empire. Our military occupies land in over 150 countries or territories. Why? What are we gaining from this? We need to bring our military back home to their families. We need to remove ourselves from the UN and stop giving them money. We need to remove our embassies from other countries. Our founders gave us a republic, not an empire.  Anything other than a republic is unconstitutional.

Next, we need to abolish our entitlement programs. All of them. We can no longer allow people to think that the government can or will be their “safety net.” We all need to learn to weave our own safety nets of personal responsibility. Asking for help from your family, neighbors, community or religious institution is fine, but you shouldn’t be able to ask the government.

Dismantling our empire and abolishing our entitlement programs would be the first of many steps we need to take to solve our debt problem and limit the size of government back to what the Constitution demands, and they couldn’t happen overnight, but they need to start happening soon if we want to remove from our necks the yoke of debt we have burdened ourselves with. Will the Republicans or Democrats start to make this happen? No, they won’t. They are too busy arguing about federal funding of abortion.

Am I happy about the health care bill? No. Am I happy about anything government does? Not really. Even if this health care bill were repealed, don’t fool yourself, it wouldn’t be a great victory for liberty. To have the liberty our founders wanted would require much more that repealing this health care bill. It is well worth fighting for, but no one in government from either party except Ron Paul is truly fighting for liberty right now. As much as I love Dr. Paul, he cannot lead us to the promised land. We will have to lead ourselves there, one individual at a time, rising up for liberty. I see hope in the Tea Parties, but they must fight from being overtaken by the Republican party or people like Sarah Palin. But that is a topic for another post.

The natural tendency of government is to get bigger and more powerful. It is the natural way of things, just like the sun rising in the east.

No Salt For You!

New York Democrat Assemblyman Fleix Oritz for now on will be known as the Salt Nazi here in Liberty Market Nation. The Brooklyn douchebag Democrat has introduced legislation in New York that would ban restaurants from using SALT. That’s right salt, you know, sodium chloride, the white stuff next to pepper. The bill reads:

No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off the premises.

If you get caught using salt in your restaurant, you’ll get hit with a $1000 fine. I’m guessing the food police will monitor this?

The Salt Nazi said that the goal of this bill is to “save lives.” He says that banning salt would save billions of dollars and thousands of lives. I’m not sure how he came up with that calculation.

Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks, but “you can live with salt in your diet” according to Sonia Angell, director of the cardiovascular disease and prevention program for the [New York] Health Department.

Many New York chefs are not too happy about the Salt Nazi’s proposal. Star of Top Chef  Tom Colicchio says, “anybody who wants to taste food with no salt, go to a hospital and taste that.”  For those of you who don’t understand the reference, hospital food sucks.

I’m guessing this bill has no chance of passing, but they did ban trans-fats in New York so who knows. Needless to say, I have a big problem with things like this. It is none of the government’s damn business how much salt we use. I think Jeff Nathan, the executive chef and co-owner of Abigael’s on Broadway, said it best: “The consumer needs to make their own health choices. Just as doctors and the occasional visit to a hospital can’t truly control how a person chooses to maintain their health, neither can chefs nor the occasional visit to a restaurant. Modifying trans fats and sodium intake needs to be home based for optimal health. Regulating restaurants will not solve this health issue.” 

This is the downside to letting government control our health care. It starts off with banning trans-fat. Most people agree trans-fat is bad so they go along  with it and raise little protest. Next they ban salt. People say whoa, hold on, you can’t ban salt, but it’s too late. Next they ban red meat, or fast food, or sugar. Once the government controls health care they can regulate or ban anything and everything, because everything affects our health one way or another.

The Salt Nazi is not alone, there are many more like him in local and state governments all over the country. The Federal Government is full of them. They are people, from both parties, who think they know better than you and that they can make better life choices for you than you can make for yourself. These are the people who’ve stealing our liberty for over six decades. These are the people who should be eliminated from government. The sooner the better.

Media Weapons of Massa Distraction

The big story out of Washington this week is the resignation of New York Congressman Eric Massa. The details are a quick Google search away if you’re interested. Massa went on Glenn Beck’s show this week to tell his story. It was a boring interview and nothing interesting came out of it. Beck himself said he wasted our time by having the interview and that the story didn’t matter to any of us personally. I agree with Beck in this instance. This story doesn’t matter to any of us at all.

In the realm of political sex scandals, Massa’s scandal is farm league. There were no hookers or blow, no oral sex, no dead bodies- only ‘tickle fights.’ This should have been a one day story in the news at the most but it’s turning into a huge cabal. Today, the House Republicans are spreading rumors that they are going to ask the House Ethics Committee to investigate Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader for their handling of information about misbehavior by Congressman Massa. This is completely unnecessary and it’s obvious they’re doing this to get back at the Democrats for the whole Mark Foley scandal in 2006. Thank you House Republicans for standing up and fighting for the American people, I can’t wait until you guys are in charge again.  

This is a total waste of time. As Glenn Beck said, this story doesn’t affect any of us personally at all. It’s about as important as the Balloon Boy or Tiger Woods story. Unfortunately, stories like these that pass for ‘news’ today.

While everyone is distracted by this stupid story, Pelosi is no doubt behind the scenes, working alongside the White House, arm twisting the fence sitters in their caucus to vote for the unpopular health care bill that will literally affect every single person in the country. Did you know that they want to add a provision to the health care bill that would completely overhaul the nation’s student loan program and require the Education Department to originate all student assistance loans, effectively eliminating a role for banks and other private lenders. For those of you keeping score, Obama has taken over two car companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and potentially the entire health care system and the student loan industry.  Still think Obama isn’t a socialist?    

 Health care isn’t the only thing they’re working on right now either. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are meeting with Obama today to talk about immigration reform. According to the Politico, the Schumer-Graham plan “includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (a liberal must-have) while sweetening the pot for moderates by proposing tough new safeguards, including a biometric national ID card for workers.”

A biometric national ID card!?!? Are you f***ing kidding me? ‘Moderates’ are in favor of this? Apparently so. Bill O’Reilly talked about it on his show this week with Lou Dobbs and they were both all for it. The Wall Street Journal said the proposal was only “potentially controversial.” I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Does liberty even matter anymore?

As if a government takeover of health care/student loans and the National ID cards aren’t bad enough, ABC News reported that the Tresasury Department announced yesterday that “the government racked up a record-high monthly budget deficit of $220.9 billion in February.” (Remember, February is the shortest month of the year.)

According to ABC: 

The latest flood of red ink brings the total deficit for the first five months of the current fiscal year to $651 billion, far exceeding the $589 billion shortfall for the same timeframe in the last fiscal year. The government ended the 2009 fiscal year with a record $1.4 trillion shortfall. The Obama administration has forecast a $1.56 trillion deficit for this year.

 That speaks for itself. If you still believe anything that Obama says about ushering in a new era of responsibility, cutting deficits, deficit neturality, or reducing the national debt you’re an idiot. 

 So while everyone in the media is using the Massa scandal to get ratings the government takes away more of our liberty. I guess it’s just a slow news day.

SEIU Stages Mass Citizens Arrest. Shouldn’t They Be Working?

The Service Employes International Union (SEIU) is marching on Washington DC today to conduct a “mass citizens arrest” of the insurance companies. They joined forces with Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and  started a “posse… to put the insurance companies and every corporate enemy of change on notice.” Apparently Big Insurance CEO’s are having a gathering today at the Ritz Carlton to “kill health care reform once and for all.”  SEIU claims that “massive rate hikes are bringing in huge profits and perks for the insurance companies. Profits are at an all-time high, and companies like Anthem are spending tens of millions of dollars to fly their executives around the country for lavish retreats.”  

 

Supposedly “thousands” of people will attend this rally. That doesn’t surprise me since SEIU has over 2 million members and getting a group of them together shouldn’t be too hard. Especially when you can just bus them in. According to the SEIU blog: “Health care activists spilled off of buses that traveled from DE, CT, MD, MN, VA, NJ, NC, NY, OH, PA, RI to be here today.”  

 These type of demonstrations are textbook examples of “Astroturf” gatherings. These people went to this gathering because they were told to by their union bosses. They want health care reform because they were told they want it. They are nothing but drones. They chant cute meaningless slogans like” What do we Want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!” They all carry signs that were mass-produced (probably by an evil printing corporation) and handed out to them by the organizers.  

They can’t even think for themselves when using social media. On twitter they are all sending out this tweet: “ARREST THEM! Help put @AHIPHIWIRE under citizens arrest for crimes like denying care & blocking health reform: http://is.gd/9Mk2f” If you click on that link they invite you to “Saddle up” and join their “posse” and then they send a fax in your name. (I’m not sure where the fax goes.)    

Here are some pictures from the rally:    

    

      

       

       

We’re pretending to be corporate fat cats!

      

We can't think ourselves long enough to make our own signs!

Only 12% of the workforce today in the US are members of Unions. Nine out of every ten workers in the private sector do not belong to unions. They do not represent the interest of “the working man” anymore, if they ever did. Unions have helped destroy once great American industries like the steel industry and the auto industry. Unions are completely irrelevant in today’s economy and the only reason anyone pays any attention to unions at all is because they make a lot of noise. They are powerful only when Democrats are in power.   

       

Health Care: The Immortal Bill

Health-care reform. It was born over a year ago behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. It is IMMORTAL. It is not alone. There are other like it: cap-and-trade, card-check, immigration reform, and financial regulation reform. Now is the time of THE GATHERING when an up or down vote from the House and Senate and the stroke of the Presidents pen will release THE QUICKENING that will destroy our health-care system and take away our health-care liberty. In the end there can be only one: single payer.

 

Que Queen Music.

Coincidence? I Think Not!

Well, well, well, it seems that Barack Obama is engaging in corrupt behavior.

Earlier today the White House announced that President Obama nominated Scott Matheson to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Matheson is well qualified for the position. On any other day this nomination would be no big deal. Today, however, is a different story.

Scott Matheson has a brother named Jim Matheson. Jim is a Democrat Congressman from Utah. Jim voted against the health care bill when it went through the House the first time. Tonight, Jim and nine other Democrats who voted against health care the first time will meet with President Obama. Obama hopes he can persuade them to vote ‘yes’ for the health care bill this time around.

Put yourself in Jim’s position. You’re a back bencher Congressman from Utah who’s been invited to the White House because the President of the United States wants you to change your position on an issue. Now add to that the fact that the President just nominated your brother to the 10th Circuit Court of appeals. Wouldn’t you feel the pressure to change your vote? Wouldn’t you feel like you owe one to the President?

I’ve never heard of Jim Matheson nor his brother Scott. I’m sure they are both nice guys with clean records. But there should be an independent investigation into whether or not the White House used this nomination to buy the vote of Congressman Matheson. Perhaps there is a simple reasonable explanation. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I doubt it. It will be interesting to see how Congressman Matheson votes.

Obama: The Razzle Dazzle President

Many political commentators including Glenn Beck of Fox News and Kim Strassel of the Wall Street Journal have likened the Obama administration’s style of governing to the “Chicago Way” as described by Jim Malone, a character from the movie The Untouchables.        

 They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of your to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago Way.          

While I agree the Obama administration may use “bare-knuckle” tactics from time to time when engaging with opponents, as Ms. Strassel puts it, I don’t believe that the Obama administration is really all that tough. I think the Obama administration is inspired less by The Untouchables and more by Chicago: The Musical. Case and point, here’s an excerpt from the song Razzle Dazzle:         

 Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle ‘em
Give ‘em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate
Give ‘em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather ‘em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?      

…..         

Give ‘em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger ‘em
When you’re in trouble, go into your dance          

 ….         

Give ‘em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle ‘em
Show ‘em the first rate sorcerer you are
Long as you keep ‘em way off balance
How can they spot you’ve got no talent
Razzle Dazzle ‘em         

President Obama’s entire campaign was nothing but Razzle Dazzle. Hope and Change? That’s how he beaded and feathered his supporters. They couldn’t see because of the sequins in their eyes. Sequins like his iconic Hope poster, his fake seal or those Greek columns at the DNC convention. And who could forget “The Office of the President Elect?” This was all nothing but Razzle Dazzle. It worked beautifully during the campaign and the reaction was passionate; the hocus pocus worked.     

 As President, Obama and his team tried to continue the Razzle Dazzle that worked so well for them during the campaign, but it didn’t work so well in his first year. With almost unprecedented  majorities in both houses of Congress, President Obama and the Democrats should have been able to pass anything they wanted, but only managed to pass the failed stimulus bill. With his approval numbers sinking, a disastrous midterm election year forecasted for the Democrats, and recent Republican victories in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts, the Presidents’ team realized they needed to re-tool their Razzle Dazzle. The Politico’s Mike Allen explains how they intend to do it:      

“Reform is the new Change.” They are changing their language to make us think that they aren’t trying to “fundamentally transform the United States” quickly, but rather trying to take incremental steps to ”fundamentally transform” the country.    President Obama will also travel across the country preforming dog-and-pony shows ”a series of small but highly visible policy debates that clearly put the Democrats on the side of  middle-class families.” If the Democrats were really on the side of middle-class families wouldn’t Obama’s first year policies demonstrate that? Haven’t the Democrats always claimed to be on the side of the middle-class? Why does he have to do a bunch of stump speeches to prove this?   

President Obama also plans to place a new emphasis on his “transparency agenda” by giving the American people “a very important sense that they have influence and control, and access to information.” Would you rather have a “sense” that you have influence and control in Washington or would you rather have “actual” influence and control in Washington? This is a joke. The Obama administration will simply continue to put out Soviet style charts and other propaganda on their websites and call it “transparency.” 
 

President Obama is a big government guy. He can use whatever rhetoric he wants and do as many dances as he wants, this fact will not change. He will continue to increase the size and scope of government either through legislation or through executive order. He will never explicitly say that that’s what he’s doing, but that’s what he’s doing. He tries to get away with it using Razzle Dazzle, but more and more people are starting to wake up to this. As Dick Cheney said as CPAC, “Obama is a one term President,” and he should be remembered throughout history as the Razzle Dazzle president.

Get Ready for a Health Care Shortage

President Obama released a new proposal for health care today. You can read his proposal on www.whitehouse.gov. The main purpose of this proposal is to combine the ideas of the House, the Senate, and the Republicans into one…something. I’m not sure if this is a bill that will be voted on, an executive order, or just something to talk about at the bipartisan summit on Thursday. Regardless, it is full of bad ideas.

This ‘new’ proposal will still force ask everyone to buy health insurance. According to the proposal,  ”In order to lower costs for all Americans and extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, all Americans who can afford to purchase insurance will be asked to.” (emphasis mine)  It then goes on to say that, “To help bring costs under control for all Americans and cover all Americans with pre-existing conditions, all Americans who can afford insurance will have the responsibility to purchase it.” (emphasis mine) So which is it? Do we “have the responsibility” which implies that we don’t have a choice and will be required to buy health insurance, or will we be “asked” which implies we have a choice to refuse? Orwell would be proud of this kind of doublespeak. President Obama opposed this idea on the campaign trail and many have raised questions on the Constitutionality of forcing people to buy particular products from particular companies. Unfortunately, our leaders in Congress like Nancy Pelosi don’t take the Constitutional concerns about this proposal seriously.   

Be that as it may, the worst idea of the whole proposal is a new “Health Insurance Rate Authority to review and rein in unreasonable rate increases and other unfair practices of insurance plans.” The Health Insurance Rate Authority will basically be a price control panel. What will happen (most likely) is that this panel will set price ceilings on health insurance. Economics 101 tells you that when you put a price ceiling in place, a shortage will occur. This doesn’t mean that we will have less health care resources, it just means that there will be less health care providers willing to provide health care at a price fixed arbitrarily by the government. You need only ask someone who lived through the “gas crisis” of the 1970s. Price controls were enacted and there was a huge gas shortage which led to long lines at the gas stations and some gas stations setting limits on how much gas people could buy. The same thing will happen with health care. Is this what we want? I hope not. What good is having cheap or free health care if you have to wait for weeks or months to see a doctor, get test results, or have a surgical procedure? I would much rather pay a higher price to get medical care when I need it just like I would much rather pay a few more cents a gallon not to wait in line at a gas station.

There may be some good ideas in the President’s proposal, but forcing people to buy health insurance at prices set by the government is the type intrusion that will destroy our health care system. The Health Insurance Rate Authority is the new Death Panel.