OK CLASS, Repeat After Me….. R-E-P-E-A-L

   

Just last week Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (and final arbiter of all of your health care decisions) announced that the CLASS Act would not be implemented. The CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Support) Act was supposedly to provide long-term care for the disabled.

In a Friday afternoon news “dump” (designed for you to miss it over the weekend), Sebelius said, “Despite our best analytical efforts I do not see a viable path forward for Class implementation at this time.” In other words, it won’t work. Not that this is a surprise to them; it was never meant to work. The plan was based on collecting “voluntary” premiums for 5 years from the elderly with no benefits provided until the 6th year. Can you guess how many people signed up?

Here’s something about that story you will not hear on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the New York Times, or any of the other government mouthpieces…. The CLASS Act was scored by the CBO as 40% of the savings attributed to the cost of Obamacare. The cost of Obamacare has gone up again from what was originally shoved down the taxpayers’ throat. The CBO says that, without these savings (which were never real in the first place), the cost just went up by another $53.6 billion.

This plan was never intended to be implemented. They knew it would never work. It was part of the smoke and mirrors used to make a claim that the cost of the bill was under $1 trillion and would lower health care costs.

The cost of this bill, if you include interest, is most likely approaching $2 trillion and that is without any consideration of the massive job-killing infection it is spreading throughout the economy. Oh, and those lower health care costs? Where are they?

Two Black Men and One Ugly Word

 

 

On a recent visit to my son, my wife and I met a friend of his; a fine young woman, a student of history, and a truly funny individual. She happens to be black. We shared some drink and a dinner and thoroughly enjoyed her company. We also had the good fortune to dine with her and our son a few weeks later. Again, we laughed and shared and had a wonderful time. Several weeks later my wife noticed that she posted a comment on Facebook something to the effect of “How convenient, George Bush leaves us this mess and everyone blames it on the black guy.”

This was especially unsettling, as it was coming from a genuinely nice person with an education in history. The implication was that those laying blame on President Obama are doing it for no other reason than he happens to be a black man. She was voicing what seems to be a fairly common assertion among supporters of the President. It is time to put this notion to bed.

Without detailing them here, there are dozens of policy reasons why Barack Obama has sent the country into a death spiral. Even if you accept the premise that he inherited a mess, which this author does not (see: https://chronicleofchange.com/?p=380 ), President Obama has taken exactly the opposite course of what history has told us would be successful. The results have been exactly what should have been foreseen. All of these choices, their corresponding results, and the public reaction to them had nothing to do with his skin color.

It is so often repeated now by liberals that the Tea Party is racist that it seems whenever a liberal speaks of the Tea Party they almost always preface it with the word “racist.” This is nonsense. The Tea Party is not a political party, it has no headquarters, no leaders, and no membership. The Tea Parties were events. They were protests based on a few simple ideas; stop the runaway spending, stop government-run healthcare, stop the bailouts, and balance the budget. Having attended a few of these and seen hundreds, maybe a few thousand participants I can tell you first-hand that I never once witnessed anything that could have even been stretched into anything resembling anything racist. There were lots of flags, lots of copies of the Constitution, and lots of issue-oriented signs. These people are worried about their own government eating the country from within. Their fears are enough to bring out literally millions of people across the country who have never before been politically active in their entire lives. This phenomenon has nothing to do with the skin color of the current inhabitant of the White House.

Further, it appears that conservatives are, more and more, embracing the candidacy of Herman Cain. Polls show him gaining support from a wide variety of likely voters. In case you missed it, Herman Cain is black. You would think the response of the press and the media would be delight that conservatives are increasingly “color-blind” in their selection of candidates. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case.

From all quarters of the liberal press, Hollywood, and even members of Congress the attacks on Mr. Cain have begun. He is not “really” black….. He didn’t take part in the marches when he was in college….. He’s just a “plant” to hide the true racism of the Republican Party. A particularly disgusting attack took place in the form of an interview on MSNBC with Lawrence O’ Donnell which was obviously designed to bring into question Mr. Cain’s “blackness” You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmpBXFJLqw

I would like to suggest to Mr. Cain a response for the next time he is asked these types of questions (and, rest assured, he will be). “Although I was always sympathetic to the cause, it’s possible I didn’t make as much of a difference as I could have back then. There are many reasons why people act the way they act in their youth. I am attempting to make a difference now.  I am trying to show the world that the 2nd black Presidency can be good for the country, unlike the disaster of the first.”

The attacks on Mr. Cain reveal the greatest fears of the left. An independently thinking black man (or woman) cannot be tolerated. Any black person who steps outside of the pre-cut template liberals have designed for them must be destroyed. Black folks must never see that there is a world outside of the tiny little box that liberals have constructed for them. Herman Cain has crossed that line and you will see the consequences over the next several months. Can someone explain to me why it is “racist” to oppose President Obama’s policies but it is “not racist” to attempt to personally destroy Herman Cain, both black men?

The answer here is that none of this has anything to do with race at all. It has to do with the political left wing attempting to hide behind race to avoid the failures of their leader and to whip up the sentiments of those blacks willing to blindly follow them without questioning the real issues. The policies of this President are sinking the boat and we are all going down with it, blacks included. It’s time for a new captain.

Finally, for you young folks out there, I have to tell you that the constant use of the racism card is diluting the very meaning of the word and is dishonoring those who actually had to endure true racism. Racism is an ugly, evil, intolerable thing. Just ask someone who was there in the sixties when Martin Luther King was persuaded by the Chicago Police to turn around his intended march down Cicero Avenue because of the baseball bats and chains that awaited him and his followers. Ask someone who was there when black folks were threatened or beaten or murdered. Does using the word “racist” to describe someone opposing a President who happens to be black do those folks justice? I think not.

Let’s get real and discuss what is right for our country. We’ve got two black men to choose from (and a few others too). Let’s get down to business.

 

So Much Garbage, So Little Time

 

It seems that the absolute volume of outrageous trash generated by our government is growing by the day. It has been said that our current administration has adopted it as a strategy to throw out such a volume of government intrusion that the public cannot possibly recognize, much less combat, it all.  What is frightening is not so much that we have to deal with it but that our children and grandchildren might be forced to grow up in a world in which this is considered “normal.” We will be long gone and the stench of what our government left behind will linger for decades. Here are a few bags of trash for today.

According to the Wall Street Journal, there is a growing national trend of parents actually going to jail because they are trying to enroll their kids in better school systems.

From the article: “An African-American mother of two, Ms. Williams-Bolar last year used her father’s address to enroll her two daughters in a better public school outside of their neighborhood. After spending nine days behind bars charged with grand theft, the single mother was convicted of two felony counts. Not only did this stain her spotless record, but it threatened her ability to earn the teacher’s license she had been working on.” And this: “From California to Massachusetts, districts are hiring special investigators to follow children from school to their homes to determine their true residences and decide if they “belong” at high-achieving public schools.” And hang on to your hats for this: “Other school districts use services like VerifyResidence.com, which provides “the latest in covert video technology and digital photographic equipment to photograph, videotape, and document” children going from their house to school. School districts can enroll in the company’s rewards program, which awards anonymous tipsters $250 checks for reporting out-of-district students.” The full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903285704576557610352019804.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Our second bag of trash is filled with Obamacare. If you remember the “debate” over the bill just before it was rammed through, a major stumbling block was whether or not the bill would fund abortions. President Obama said he would issue an executive order so that no taxpayer money would pay for abortions and Democratic members of Congress insisted that abortions would not be covered. How’s that working out?

The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing the new regulation which would fully implement Obamacare. According to CSNS News, it includes a requirement for “preventive services” such that “all private health plans in the United States cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives–including those that cause abortions—without charging any fees or co-pay.” While touting the new regulation at a fundraiser in St. Louis this week, President Obama had an exchange with an audience member that went like this:

Obama: “Think about what that means for families all across America.  Think about what it means for women.” 

Audience member: “Birth control.”

Obama: “Absolutely. You’re stealing my line,… No longer can insurance companies discriminate against women just because you guys are the ones who have to give birth.”

Audience member: “Darn right!”

Obama: “Darn tooting,…..(laughter) they have to cover things like mammograms and contraception as preventive care, no more out-of-pocket costs.”

That sounds like a great deal. Fifty year old men have to be covered for mammograms, sterilization, and birth control whether they like it or not. A little further checking will tell you that they must be covered for psychological counseling, drug rehab, and so must their children up to 26 years old. Do you think it’s possible that you could buy cheaper coverage without all those benefits you don’t want or need? Sorry, that’s not allowed. Buy it, pay a fine, or go to jail. Oh, and by the way, part of your premium that you must pay is going toward free abortions.

Our final bag of trash comes from Charlotte, NC, the soon-to-be home of the Democratic National Convention. A small businessman selling commercial audio equipment on a busy thoroughfare in that city received a notice of zoning violation this week. The violation was for two recycling bins located outside his store. He was told that his dumpsters needed to be fully enclosed by a wall or a fence so that they could not be seen from the street. Hmmmm.

I think the timing definitely has something to do with the DNC,” said the owner. “Why hadn’t I seen this before if I’ve been in violation of some sort of city ordinance?” His business (dumpsters and all) has been there since 2007. The owner has gotten estimates to build the fence/wall ranging from $1000-$3800. Since he can’t afford that he’s getting rid of the dumpsters resulting in lost business for the recycling company and whatever environmental effects there might be from less recycling.

It turns out that this particular business is not alone. According to the local CBS News affiliate (WBTV), at least 100 businesses have received similar notifications in the last couple of months. One wonders whether the business lost by recycling companies (and others) will count as jobs “obliterated or destroyed.”

Snake Oil List of Ingredients – Episode #1

  

With the election season upon us both political parties will be attempting to tell us their version of where we’ve been, why we’re in the mess we’re in, and how they plan to get us out of it. There will lots of revisionist history offered up to try to cast blame on “the other guy” while telling a believable story.

The key word is “believable.” This recurring column will attempt to set the record straight on the snake oil offerings that have been and will continue to be offered for public consumption.

Today’s episode deals with old line that goes something like “Obama is not responsible for our debt problems. He inherited a complete mess from Bush that already included massive debt and two wars that were not paid for.”

Let’s begin with the debt record of that “evil” President Bush. Even with the economic shock of 9/11 and those two “unpaid for” wars you can see below that the worst Bush deficit was in the $400 billion range and the deficits were actually coming down from 2004 until budget year 2008. What was different about that year? If you remember, in January of 2007 Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House and Harry Reid became Senate Majority leader of the Senate, giving total control of the Congress to the Democratic Party. The first year of their policy influence was 2008. Democrats had complete and total control of both houses of Congress from that day until January of this year.

By every rational measure the health of the economy, the outrageous spending, and our debt crisis headed south with the onset of Democratic control. This is easily seen on nearly every chart of economic statistics you wish to consult:

Spendinghttp://www.heritage.org/BudgetChartBook/runaway-spending-tax-revenue

Debt: http://www.heritage.org/BudgetChartBook/national-debt-skyrocket

Spending on interest payments:http://www.heritage.org/BudgetChartBook/budget-net-interest-spending

Unemployment: http://www.thumbcharts.com/1339/unemployment-rate-last-ten-years

Since taking control, the Democratic Senate has not submitted even one budget proposal.

President Obama has submitted one budget. It was so bad he could not find even one Democrat to vote for it and it was defeated in the Senate 97-0.

With a continuing string of under the radar “spending resolutions” rather than a budget they have managed to spend unbelievable amounts of money without causing outrage among the taxpayers (at least some of them).

Let’s attempt to describe the amount of debt run up by this administration. If you could have been present on the day Jesus Christ was born and began to spend $1 million per day every day until today you would still need to keep spending until the year 2238 to reach one trillion. The 2009 deficit was $1.4 trillion. The 2010 deficit was $1.3 trillion.

Campaigning in July of 2008 then candidate Obama said of President Bush (#43), “#43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.” Let’s just concede that President Bush spent too much. What was now President Obama’s response to that “unpatriotic” spending? The $9 trillion in debt he was referring to was $10.6 trillion by the time he took office. It is now $14.639 trillion – roughly $48,800 for every man, woman, and child. That’s a 38% increase President Obama has added from those unpatriotic” levels in just two years. Think about that for a minute. In two years this President has added debt equal to 38% of all previous Presidents combined.

By the end of his term President Obama’s deficits will be fairly close to equalling those of all previous Presidents combined.

In closing, let’s explode the myth of those massive buget-crushing wars that George Bush left as a legacy. Whether you agree with the wars or not they have definable budget costs and this is where a little perspective is needed. Starting shortly after 9/11, massive amounts of money were spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Can you imagine how much money was spent for all those troops, all those jets, all those tanks and vehicles and hospitals for all those years? It boggles the mind how much money that must have taken.

On the other hand, President Obama, with the passage of the epic fail stimulus bill, ran up enough debt in his first ninety days to pay for the entirety of both wars for all those years. Now who, exactly, busted the budget? 

In can just hear liberals out there fumbling for an answer….. “b-b-b-but what about the housing crash? That was all Bush’s fault! That’s what caused all of this in the first place.”

Stand by for Snake Oil List of Ingredients – Episode #2.