Lesson #2: Never forgive
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Palin Offers Real Healthcare Solutions
In the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 8, Gov. Sarah Palin discussed workable solutions to America's health care problems. She confronts her Marxist opponent, Barack Obama, and basically kicks him to the curb.
By SARAH PALIN
Writing in the New York Times last month, President Barack Obama asked that Americans "talk with one another, and not over one another" as our health-care debate moves forward.
I couldn't agree more. Let's engage the other side's arguments, and let's allow Americans to decide for themselves whether the Democrats' health-care proposals should become governing law.
Some 45 years ago Ronald Reagan said that "no one in this country should be denied medical care because of a lack of funds." Each of us knows that we have an obligation to care for the old, the young and the sick. We stand strongest when we stand with the weakest among us.
We also know that our current health-care system too often burdens individuals and businesses—particularly small businesses—with crippling expenses. And we know that allowing government health-care spending to continue at current rates will only add to our ever-expanding deficit.
How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree.
Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals "will provide more stability and security to every American."
With all due respect, Americans are used to this kind of sweeping promise from Washington. And we know from long experience that it's a promise Washington can't keep.
Let's talk about specifics. In his Times op-ed, the president argues that the Democrats' proposals "will finally bring skyrocketing health-care costs under control" by "cutting . . . waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and in unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies . . . ."
First, ask yourself whether the government that brought us such "waste and inefficiency" and "unwarranted subsidies" in the first place can be believed when it says that this time it will get things right. The nonpartistan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) doesn't think so: Its director, Douglas Elmendorf, told the Senate Budget Committee in July that "in the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount."
Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council—an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that "huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . ."
Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.
Working through "normal political channels," they made themselves heard, and as a result Congress will likely reject a wrong-headed proposal to authorize end-of-life counseling in this cost-cutting context. But the fact remains that the Democrats' proposals would still empower unelected bureaucrats to make decisions affecting life or death health-care matters. Such government overreaching is what we've come to expect from this administration.
Speaking of government overreaching, how will the Democrats' proposals affect the deficit? The CBO estimates that the current House proposal not only won't reduce the deficit but will actually increase it by $239 billion over 10 years. Only in Washington could a plan that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit be hailed as a cost-cutting measure.
The economic effects won't be limited to abstract deficit numbers; they'll reach the wallets of everyday Americans. Should the Democrats' proposals expand health-care coverage while failing to curb health-care inflation rates, smaller paychecks will result. A new study for Watson Wyatt Worldwide by Steven Nyce and Syl Schieber concludes that if the government expands health-care coverage while health-care inflation continues to rise "the higher costs would drive disposable wages downward across most of the earnings spectrum, although the declines would be steepest for lower-earning workers." Lower wages are the last thing Americans need in these difficult economic times.
Finally, President Obama argues in his op-ed that Democrats' proposals "will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable." Of course consumer protection sounds like a good idea. And it's true that insurance companies can be unaccountable and unresponsive institutions—much like the federal government. That similarity makes this shift in focus seem like nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention away from the details of the Democrats' proposals—proposals that will increase our deficit, decrease our paychecks, and increase the power of unaccountable government technocrats.
Instead of poll-driven "solutions," let's talk about real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. As the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and others have argued, such policies include giving all individuals the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage; reforming tort laws to potentially save billions each year in wasteful spending; and changing costly state regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care.
Democrats have never seriously considered such ideas, instead rushing through their own controversial proposals. After all, they don't need Republicans to sign on: Democrats control the House, the Senate and the presidency. But if passed, the Democrats' proposals will significantly alter a large sector of our economy. They will not improve our health care. They will not save us money. And, despite what the president says, they will not "provide more stability and security to every American."
We often hear such overblown promises from Washington. With first principles in mind and with the facts in hand, tell them that this time we're not buying it.
Ms. Palin, Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, was governor of Alaska from December 2006 to July 2009.
By SARAH PALIN
Writing in the New York Times last month, President Barack Obama asked that Americans "talk with one another, and not over one another" as our health-care debate moves forward.
I couldn't agree more. Let's engage the other side's arguments, and let's allow Americans to decide for themselves whether the Democrats' health-care proposals should become governing law.
Some 45 years ago Ronald Reagan said that "no one in this country should be denied medical care because of a lack of funds." Each of us knows that we have an obligation to care for the old, the young and the sick. We stand strongest when we stand with the weakest among us.
We also know that our current health-care system too often burdens individuals and businesses—particularly small businesses—with crippling expenses. And we know that allowing government health-care spending to continue at current rates will only add to our ever-expanding deficit.
How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree.
Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals "will provide more stability and security to every American."
With all due respect, Americans are used to this kind of sweeping promise from Washington. And we know from long experience that it's a promise Washington can't keep.
Let's talk about specifics. In his Times op-ed, the president argues that the Democrats' proposals "will finally bring skyrocketing health-care costs under control" by "cutting . . . waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and in unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies . . . ."
First, ask yourself whether the government that brought us such "waste and inefficiency" and "unwarranted subsidies" in the first place can be believed when it says that this time it will get things right. The nonpartistan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) doesn't think so: Its director, Douglas Elmendorf, told the Senate Budget Committee in July that "in the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount."
Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council—an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that "huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . ."
Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.
Working through "normal political channels," they made themselves heard, and as a result Congress will likely reject a wrong-headed proposal to authorize end-of-life counseling in this cost-cutting context. But the fact remains that the Democrats' proposals would still empower unelected bureaucrats to make decisions affecting life or death health-care matters. Such government overreaching is what we've come to expect from this administration.
Speaking of government overreaching, how will the Democrats' proposals affect the deficit? The CBO estimates that the current House proposal not only won't reduce the deficit but will actually increase it by $239 billion over 10 years. Only in Washington could a plan that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit be hailed as a cost-cutting measure.
The economic effects won't be limited to abstract deficit numbers; they'll reach the wallets of everyday Americans. Should the Democrats' proposals expand health-care coverage while failing to curb health-care inflation rates, smaller paychecks will result. A new study for Watson Wyatt Worldwide by Steven Nyce and Syl Schieber concludes that if the government expands health-care coverage while health-care inflation continues to rise "the higher costs would drive disposable wages downward across most of the earnings spectrum, although the declines would be steepest for lower-earning workers." Lower wages are the last thing Americans need in these difficult economic times.
Finally, President Obama argues in his op-ed that Democrats' proposals "will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable." Of course consumer protection sounds like a good idea. And it's true that insurance companies can be unaccountable and unresponsive institutions—much like the federal government. That similarity makes this shift in focus seem like nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention away from the details of the Democrats' proposals—proposals that will increase our deficit, decrease our paychecks, and increase the power of unaccountable government technocrats.
Instead of poll-driven "solutions," let's talk about real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. As the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and others have argued, such policies include giving all individuals the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage; reforming tort laws to potentially save billions each year in wasteful spending; and changing costly state regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care.
Democrats have never seriously considered such ideas, instead rushing through their own controversial proposals. After all, they don't need Republicans to sign on: Democrats control the House, the Senate and the presidency. But if passed, the Democrats' proposals will significantly alter a large sector of our economy. They will not improve our health care. They will not save us money. And, despite what the president says, they will not "provide more stability and security to every American."
We often hear such overblown promises from Washington. With first principles in mind and with the facts in hand, tell them that this time we're not buying it.
Ms. Palin, Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, was governor of Alaska from December 2006 to July 2009.
Monday, August 31, 2009
If Obama Can Take Vacation
To all who come here so regularly, I'll be returning with regular blogs posts on Friday, September 4. Have a great week. -- Steve Maloney
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Teddy Kennedy Flirted With Treason
Thanks to Rich Johns' for the following reminder of how Teddy Kennedy favorted the Soviet Union over the US in the 1980s:
Unlikely to be much recalled this week is the fact that, in 1983, Senator Edward Kennedy offered advice to the USSR on how to defeat U.S. efforts to build up the Western nuclear deterrent in Europe; sought the assistance of the USSR in Democratic Party efforts to defeat Ronald Reagan in the election campaign of 1984; and proposed the staging of a public Kennedy visit with Yuri Andropov in Moscow to help attain these ends. Senator Kennedy's intermediary in his communications with the KGB and Yuri Andropov was John Tunney [Kennedy friend and former Senator from California].
An internal Soviet memorandum detailing Kennedy's offer of assistance to the USSR was unearthed by a Times of London reporter in the 1990s when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the KGB files were opened.
The memorandum was written by Victor Chebrikov, who succeeded Yuri Andropov as head of the KGB when Andropov became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Chebrikov directed the KGB from 1982 to 1988.
The full text of the Chebrikov memorandum was published in the appendix (pp. 317-320) of Paul Kengor's book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.
In his book, The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World, (pp. 197-198), John O'Sullivan also discussed the 1983 Kennedy overture to Andropov, noting that "Kennedy made several subsequent attempts to advise the Soviets on the best way to outwit Reagan", adding that "The only mystery is why Andropov turned down Kennedy's offer. The answer seems to be that, when it came to left-wing Western politicians hoping to assist the Kremlin's foreign policy, the Soviets were suffering from an embarrassment of riches."
Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=EnMVq0jcIUEC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA197&ots=w2uxfRTTzM&dq=Edward+Kennedy+Andropov&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
Unlikely to be much recalled this week is the fact that, in 1983, Senator Edward Kennedy offered advice to the USSR on how to defeat U.S. efforts to build up the Western nuclear deterrent in Europe; sought the assistance of the USSR in Democratic Party efforts to defeat Ronald Reagan in the election campaign of 1984; and proposed the staging of a public Kennedy visit with Yuri Andropov in Moscow to help attain these ends. Senator Kennedy's intermediary in his communications with the KGB and Yuri Andropov was John Tunney [Kennedy friend and former Senator from California].
An internal Soviet memorandum detailing Kennedy's offer of assistance to the USSR was unearthed by a Times of London reporter in the 1990s when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the KGB files were opened.
The memorandum was written by Victor Chebrikov, who succeeded Yuri Andropov as head of the KGB when Andropov became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Chebrikov directed the KGB from 1982 to 1988.
The full text of the Chebrikov memorandum was published in the appendix (pp. 317-320) of Paul Kengor's book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.
In his book, The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World, (pp. 197-198), John O'Sullivan also discussed the 1983 Kennedy overture to Andropov, noting that "Kennedy made several subsequent attempts to advise the Soviets on the best way to outwit Reagan", adding that "The only mystery is why Andropov turned down Kennedy's offer. The answer seems to be that, when it came to left-wing Western politicians hoping to assist the Kremlin's foreign policy, the Soviets were suffering from an embarrassment of riches."
Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=EnMVq0jcIUEC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA197&ots=w2uxfRTTzM&dq=Edward+Kennedy+Andropov&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Conservatives4Palin: Great Web Site
Thanks so much to Adam Brickley, founder of The Sarah Palin Movement, for nominating me (on my birthday!) on Conservatives4 Palin for the Palin. I'm honored and humbled . . . and give special thanks to the Conservatives4Palin site, one I urge you to visit regularly. I'd also like to give a tip of the hat to Gov. Palin and her remarkable family.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Award Nominations
By Adam Brickley, aka "ElephantMan"
Doug Brady wrote a great post earlier proposing August 29, the anniversary of Gov. Palin's nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate, as "Sarah Palin Day". This is a fine idea. He also nominated yours truly for some kind of award (thanks!). However, I would be remiss not to throw in a few nominations myself. I get a lot of credit for launching the original Draft Palin site, but there are definitely two or three people who did at least as much work as I did and hence deserve awards. So, I would place the following nominations for the Sarah Palin Day Award:
1. Steve Maloney - Steve was the second-ever Palin blogger, and my lonely partner in crime for most of 2007. To be honest, Steve drove some of our earliest endorsements and did a lot of heavy lifting during a time when I couldn't (retirees have more time to blog than intern/college students). No Steve, no Palin Movement - period. By the way - Steve is still involved with a large network of Palin bloggers, C4P is big, but Steve and his gang do a lot to keep together all of the little bloggers for Sarah. If you don't know him, you should.
2. Kristopher Lorelli - Started his own Palin site in early 2008, PalinForVp.com (prompting me to buy up PalinForVP.net, PalinForVP.org, and PalinForVP.info). Despite the odd name similarity, Kris was a great partner, and did even more work behind the scenes than he did with his site. From what I heard, quite a large amount of pro-Palin literature and email was sent to McCain campaign officials by Kris. He's now one of the major brains at the other team blog I contribute to - Race42012.
Commenter of the Year Award - "The Original Ted"For any hard-core, long-time Palinite who was involved in the movement before Sarah's nomination, Ted needs no introduction. If you got involved later - I'm sure many old-schoolers in the comments section will be happy to tell you about his efforts. I will leave the Ted stories to the commenters - as it seems only right that our commenter award nominee should be lauded primarily by his compatriots below the fold.
Award Nominations
By Adam Brickley, aka "ElephantMan"
Doug Brady wrote a great post earlier proposing August 29, the anniversary of Gov. Palin's nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate, as "Sarah Palin Day". This is a fine idea. He also nominated yours truly for some kind of award (thanks!). However, I would be remiss not to throw in a few nominations myself. I get a lot of credit for launching the original Draft Palin site, but there are definitely two or three people who did at least as much work as I did and hence deserve awards. So, I would place the following nominations for the Sarah Palin Day Award:
1. Steve Maloney - Steve was the second-ever Palin blogger, and my lonely partner in crime for most of 2007. To be honest, Steve drove some of our earliest endorsements and did a lot of heavy lifting during a time when I couldn't (retirees have more time to blog than intern/college students). No Steve, no Palin Movement - period. By the way - Steve is still involved with a large network of Palin bloggers, C4P is big, but Steve and his gang do a lot to keep together all of the little bloggers for Sarah. If you don't know him, you should.
2. Kristopher Lorelli - Started his own Palin site in early 2008, PalinForVp.com (prompting me to buy up PalinForVP.net, PalinForVP.org, and PalinForVP.info). Despite the odd name similarity, Kris was a great partner, and did even more work behind the scenes than he did with his site. From what I heard, quite a large amount of pro-Palin literature and email was sent to McCain campaign officials by Kris. He's now one of the major brains at the other team blog I contribute to - Race42012.
Commenter of the Year Award - "The Original Ted"For any hard-core, long-time Palinite who was involved in the movement before Sarah's nomination, Ted needs no introduction. If you got involved later - I'm sure many old-schoolers in the comments section will be happy to tell you about his efforts. I will leave the Ted stories to the commenters - as it seems only right that our commenter award nominee should be lauded primarily by his compatriots below the fold.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Death Panels Exist in Oregon
Is Barack Obama just getting older -- or is he starting to look like Dr. Jack Kevorkian, also known as "Dr. Death?"
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sounded the alarm about the death panels implicit in ObamaCare, with its emphasis on refusals to pay for lifesaving care for the elderly. (Thanks to Anne in Texas for the following.
Despite all of the denials, death panels already exist in Oregon. Here's how they work:
A woman's doctor recommends she get medical treatment. The state-run healthcare system says no and refers her to an assisted suicide specialist. The bureaucrat in charge of what amounts to a real death panel admits that the money could be better spent elsewhere, so the patient is going to have to die. It is an inevitable fact of life that the more the government outlays to keep you alive, the more your life becomes subject to a cost/benefit analysis...
Here's the video proving death panels are, in fact, real...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
