Monday, August 31, 2009

3:00 AM wake up call...

Its funny how an ex-Governor from a "backwater" state who is "dumb" and has "no chance of getting elected President" can have so much impact from a simple Facebook post.

The elites in Washington, the media and in both parties need to realize that us ordinary folk are fed up with the waste, corruption and nonexistent leadership in DC.

We've watched the Federal government grow unabated for 60 years. And taxes reach levels that destroy business and retard economic growth. Its time the ivy league trained nitwits that got us in this mess are sent back to their estates, or prison as needed, and let the adults fix the mess they have made.

God Bless America!

God Bless Sarah Palin and any American that believes in the Constitution!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Your "Stimulus" Dollars At Work...

Sometimes the irony of liberal-think is delicious. The Nashua Telegraph posted an article praising the way stimulus dollars have been spent (wasted) in New Hampshire. Here are a few highlights.

NH has received $336 million so far in "stimulus" stolen (or will be stolen eventually) from taxpayers and redistributed to others. The $336 DOES NOT include $200 million for Medicaid in NH, $160 million for "education aid" and $14 million for unemployment that gave folks an extra $25 a week!

The state has allocated $2 million for 15 months and hired a "Stimulus" Office Director (SOD) at $120,000 annually to track where the "stimulus" money is spent (wasted).

Through June, "Stimulus" dollars have "created or saved" 796 jobs with 700 of those being state workers who were not let go.

The SOD plans to have a website featuring a Google map with "...a push pin next to each community the public can click on to find a full listing of all stimulus grant dollars going to that city or town." Hallelujah!

At $3.5 million a pop, we got a bargain with those "new" 96 jobs. Of course funding for those "new" jobs is most likely temporary, meaning either the city or state will have to find the money after a year or so. Good luck with that.

Maybe you could make the case that some of these projects are worthwhile. But in the worst economy ever (thanks Obama and friends) every single dollar should be back in the hands of taxpayers and not be wasted like this.

If this is the way money is wasted in New Hampshire, I shudder to think what is happening in New York, Illinois and California. Yikes!

Now imagine if that $710 million would have just been given to taxpayers in NH. That's $575 for every resident. Probably three or four times that if you limit it to people who actually pay Federal taxes. What would have been the economic impact of that?

But then again, that doesn't allow you pay off your Democrat cronies and pals in unions and government jobs.


In the real world, if business is slow you cut costs, and when necessary, lay off workers. Why is this NEVER considered when it comes to government?


Here is the sad article. Notice the joy with which this data is reported.
Nashua ranks No. 4 when it comes to federal stimulus cash
The comments at the end of the story are priceless.

What's Good For The Goose Is NOT Good For The Gander!?

Let me get this straight...Obama authorizes a $2 BILLION dollar loan to Brazil to drill for oil offshore, but has all but shut down new exploration anywhere in the United States?

If the goal is energy independence, what better way to achieve it by unleashing AMERICAN workers and business and let them harness all the oil, gas, hydroelectric, coal, nuclear power options that the good Lord has given us? What possible motivation could you have to loan another country billions to explore for oil, but forbid your own countrymen the potential tax revenue, job creation and lower fuel bills possible by harvesting our own resources?

UPDATE: Obama supporter and major Dem donor George Soros invested $811 million into Petrobas, Brazil's state-owned oil company, shortly before this loan was announced. Coincidence? Nah, not from this White House.

If the goal is to stop "global warming," why would we be encouraging another country to drill for "evil fossil fuels?" Obviously this is even more evidence that liberals know "global warming" is a scam and no real threat to mankind. We see this by the continuing declines in global temperature and the continued release of studies that refute the terribly biased IPCC work done at the UN and breathlessly reported by the state run media.

For an administration supposedly trying their best to "stimulate" the economy, it seems they are completely oblivious to the opportunities that exist in our own backyard that cost taxpayers nothing!

The Marcellus Shale formation in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio is estimated by researchers at Penn State to contain 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The economic value to the state's economy? Try these numbers for size: it would add $14 billion to the state's economy in 2010, create more than 98,000 jobs and generate $800 million in state and local tax revenues! The Saudi Arabia Of Shale

Shovel-ready stimulus? How about one that'll create at least a million jobs, give our economy a multitrillion-dollar boost, make our nation energy-secure and won't cost us a penny? Crude Stimulus




For Further Reading:

YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK: FIRST CARS, NOW FOREIGN OIL. -- Sarah Palin, who knows a little about the benefits of a sane domestic energy policy, chimes in.

Will Russia Drill Off Florida's Coast? -- This is an excellent article of why you never elect Democrats. Thanks Jimmy Carter for this little bonus.

The Gas Prices We Deserve -- George Will from last year with an excellent piece.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Unfreakin' Believable!

How many dollars are we going to waste on "global warming" before we realize that there is not a darn thing that man could do, even if he tried, to change the global climate.

Here is one more item to add to the list. 10 senators, their spouses and their staff went out on a "fact finding mission" to Hawaii, Australia and Antarctica. This little 11-day joy ride only cost you and me $500,000. I bet snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and seeing the penguins was a freakin' blast.

Since 2007, the Democrat-controlled Congress has torpedoed our economy. The last 6 months of ridiculous spending has only made it worse. This is the type of wasteful spending that must be stopped now! Congress critters are NOT royalty. They are public servants, or at least they are supposed to be public servants. It is infuriating to read about this in a time when so many Americans are out of work and struggling to make a living.

I can't lay all the blame on Democrats for this. This was a bipartisan boondoggle with 6 Dems and 4 Republicans. They all should be forced to pay this back and be kicked out of Washington for good!

Lawmakers' Global-Warming Trip Hit Tourist Hot Spots
Penguins, a Rocket-Propelled Airplane (and Tax Dollars) Also Involved

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

"Death Panels" and Obamacare...

Democrats have their panties in a wad over comments made by Sarah Palin on her Facebook page. Here is the portion that resonated with me and many Americans:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.


I got a taste of this during my Father's final months on earth. Even at 91, almost 92, he was alert and sharp. He had slipped and broke his hip going to the restroom while in the hospital for a serious inner ear infection. They replaced his hip and he went on to rehabilitation and was preparing to move in with my sister.

The nursing home where he was doing the rehab continued to find things "wrong" with my Father. When I questioned why certain tests or medicine was necessary, I received a flippant response such as "don't worry, Medicare pays for it." That wasn't my question or my concern. My Father had supplemental insurance and would pay for whatever he needed. My question was more about the comfort and care of my Father. A man who had cooked and fed himself for the last 30 years was suddenly deemed a "choke risk" and given a feeding tube! Was this really helping him or the nursing home? I really felt the decisions being made at the nursing home were in the financial best interests and convenience of the nursing home and not my Father.

My Father got a bad case of pneumonia while at the nursing home and languished there before we insisted that they take him to the hospital. The nursing home had pushed all sorts of "what if" end of life scenarios on us and I did not trust them to give my Dad a fighting chance which is all he wanted.

In the hospital ICU, the staff was excellent, going above and beyond to provide care and treatment to get my Father back on his feet. But there was also the end of life planning always entering the equation. My Father was on a ventilator, but was sharp and aware. Aside from his lungs, he was remarkably fit for a 90+ year old. The first attempt to remove the ventilator caused my Father to slip. My Father decided that the next attempt would be the last, since the next progression would probably leave him permanently attached to tubes and wires, and he did not want to "live" that way.

The Sunday we removed the ventilator was awesome. For several hours the entire family visited and laughed with my Father who had seemingly defied the odds yet again and made a remarkable recovery. He started giving orders sending the grand kids back to school and his children back to work. We headed back to our hotel to rest when the calls came. He was slipping again. We hurried back as he drifted off to sleep and into the loving arms of God.

Frankly, I'm not sure my Father would have even received a hip replacement at 91 or a host of other treatments that kept him going strong during his last two decades with us. Under Obamacare, some bureaucrat would probably have denied him numerous times in favor of someone much younger.

I provide this story to illustrate how much government involvement is already encroaching on health decisions. Hospitals, nursing homes and care givers, are making critical life decisions based on how much government provides. How much Medicaid or Medicare pays factors tremendously in the type and quantity of care offered in any given circumstance. This is the ONLY way government can control cost - by rationing it.

Hospitals and doctors then have to charge insurance companies and individuals more to make up for the shortfall from government programs and/or losses from providing care to illegals or the poor who are not on government assistance.

This will only get worse as private insurers are forced out of business and more health care providers leave the field. Rationing is ALWAYS the result of socialized care along with the end of innovation as the profit incentive is removed.

The answer is more free market options not more government. A good start is heath savings accounts (similar to FSAs) that grow tax free, compounding for the life of the individual. They grow quickly during the young years when health care needs are minimal. By the time they are near retirement age, there is a nice nest egg to cover health needs for the remainder of their lives. I would also allow individuals who die young or live long healthy lives to pass their HSAs on to their children. Build "medical wealth" that can be used by the consumers to "shop smart" for their health care needs.

Catastrophic insurance would cover those really worst case scenarios and are a better, cheaper way to manage risk instead of HMOs and PPOs. You also have to address the lottery mentality of ambulance chasing lawyers and their clients suing for malpractice. This is a huge cost for the health industry and counterproductive for society.

The bottom line is government bureaucrats will never be better at managing your money or your health than you are. You would think after 60 years of government screw ups we would learn our lesson.

And for your edification, here are some articles on the subject. Enjoy!

Call 1-800-CHEST-PAIN -- The Great Mark Steyn

No "Health Care"? -- A Little Older But Still Relevant By Thomas Sowell

Sweden's Government Health Care -- Economist Walter Williams

A Real Free Market Health Care Solution -- Awesome piece by Frank S. Rosenbloom, M.D.

Open Letter On Health Care -- The Heritage Foundation