Obamacare in a nutshell.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 10:28 am, November 15, 2009

The Victim Mentality as Political Discourse

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 9:58 am, November 15, 2009

Cartoonist Keith Knight, in his comic The Knight Life, today asks “Do you think, when people say socialist, they mean something else?”

Clear The Bench Colorado continues Grassroots Revival tour – tonight at “Colorado Change the Change” in Parker, Colorado

by CTBC Director | 5:56 am, November 15, 2009

The resurgence of “We The People” in the form of local citizens banding together in grassroots civic action organizations to defend our constitutional rights is THE political story of the year 2009 in America…
Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold is both proud and humbled to have been invited as a guest speaker to several [...]

Two excellent political photos

by Rossputin | 4:17 am, November 15, 2009

Thanks to CMR for sending these along…

 

 

Market-based alternatives to big-government health care reform

by Brian Schwartz | 1:30 am, November 15, 2009

Congress to Healthcare Market: Drop Dead, economics Professor Mark J. Perry summarizes “market-based healthcare solutions have gone largely unnoticed, despite the fact that they have successfully lowered medical costs and improved both access and quality of service.” He describes the success of:

Retail clinics
Retail clinic-hospital partnerships
“full range of medical services, from flu shots to major surgery”
On-site [...]

Obama icon: the power & danger

by Brian T. Schwartz | 12:30 am, November 15, 2009

From Pajamas Media TV:

“Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign – utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present “O”, holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the …

Do You Need to Be Re|Educated? PPC to Host Third Re|Education Camp for Online Activists and Citizen Journalists

by T.L. James | 12:00 am, November 15, 2009

This post will be pinned to the top of the page until December 5. For new posts, scroll down… **Update 2–We are keeping registration open for the time being, but RSVP below ASAP to reserve your space! **Update–CCU students showing valid ID can attend Saturday’s camp for FREE, just RSVP to services@peoplespresscollective.org so that we [...]

State of Colorado’s Republican Race for Governor: After Penry, the Deluge?

by Ben DeGrow | 5:45 pm, November 14, 2009

Chuck Plunkett is one of the more liberal members of the Denver Post’s editorial board, but he’s a straight shooter. And his Friday posting on the state of Colorado’s Republican primary for governor — “Whither Tancredo?” — is full of spot-on insights, such as:
Party insiders say the problem is that the campaign [Scott] McInnis has [...]

Killer: National Organ Transplant Act

by Brian Schwartz | 3:07 pm, November 14, 2009

From the Institute for Justice:
Every year, 1,000 Americans die because they cannot find a matching bone marrow donor. Minorities are hit especially hard. Common sense suggests that offering modest incentives to attract more bone marrow donors would be worth pursuing, but federal law makes that a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Read [...]

AFSCME Sends Union Membership Cards to Colorado State Employees

by Ben DeGrow | 2:50 pm, November 14, 2009

Reports indicate that thousands of Colorado state employees received AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO) union membership cards in the mail yesterday. Many of them are wondering just why they received them, as they never signed up to join any union — especially not one that is spending plenty of member [...]

Clear The Bench Colorado continues Grassroots Revival tour – appearing this afternoon at “Ladies for Liberty” forum

by CTBC Director | 9:12 am, November 14, 2009

The resurgence of “We The People” in the form of local citizens banding together in grassroots civic action organizations to defend our constitutional rights is THE political story of the year 2009 in America…
Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold is both proud and humbled to have been invited as a guest speaker to several [...]

No beer summit for white girl?

by Rossputin | 4:25 am, November 14, 2009

The second half of this note is a guest blog post by one of my former Tahoe Trading colleagues who went by the acronym SAT; I thank him for finding the news report and contributing this piece to my site.

(First, in the section in brackets below, a few comments from Rossputin…)

[Ed: SAT’s comment is in reaction to a NY Post story about a male black Columbia University professor who sucker-punched a white female colleague in the face while discussing race relations in a bar.  As an alumnus of Columbia, I renew my often-stated opinion that it is deserving of our scorn and of none of our money.

The police have refused to charge Mr. McIntyre with a hate crime, though they did charge him with assault and harrassment.  And although I oppose the very existence of hate crime laws, I am disgusted by the police’s obviously treating this action differently than they would have if the colors of the assailant and victim had been reversed.  Is it not entirely obvious from the story that McIntyre’s actions were motivated by hatred of white people?

Separately from the so-called justice system, I want to see how hard Columbia will try to protect this racist.  Any reasonable place would fire him immediately. But Columbia represents the worst of America and while I think there’s a decent chance he will lose his job, I think it will take an unnecessarily long time with the forces of political correctness and black cries of victimhood initially getting the better of Columbia’s administration, which is not known for its good judgment to begin with.

FYI, here is an excerpt from a bio of McIntyre from a Columbia University site:

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, Professor McIntyre worked in civil rights and labor organizing in the deep South. His international experience began with travel abroad in 1972 as co-liaison for the first “People to People Friendship Delegation” to the People’s Republic of China and conducted a subsequent study tour in 1979. Other experiences in the international community have included planning studios in Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and South Africa. He also served as director of planning for the Harlem Urban Development Corporation from 1989 to 1994 and advisor to the president of Columbia University on community development and the Empowerment Zone.

While not an explicitly racist bio, it is nevertheless a bio of someone who wants nothing to do with whites. To be clear, I don’t have a problem with his wanting to work with, for, or among anyone he chooses.  I do have a problem with him punching a white person almost certainly because she was white, and then not being treated the same way a white guy would have been treated had he sucker-punched a black guy, much less a black woman.

With that preamble, here are SAT’s thoughts, with a philosophical focus that I particularly appreciate…]

PPC Citizen Journalists Query Ed Perlmutter’s Office on Pelosi Care

by Ben DeGrow | 6:11 pm, November 13, 2009

So yes, my Representative Ed Perlmutter voted for the costly, restrictive monstrosity known as Pelosi Care (HR 3962). But how does he justify his positions? How did his office respond to last week’s House Call on Congress rally? And how were citizen-journalists from the People’s Press Collective received when they came to discuss Perlmutter’s position [...]

Remembering the Victims of Communism

by Mr. Bob | 3:42 pm, November 13, 2009

#tcot #socialism #communism #che
With America hurtling headlong towards more socialism than free marketeering, we need to remember that socialism is communism without the testosterone to man the barricades and build the prison camps. The leap however is not far.

When Fear of Being Accused of Discrimination Costs Lives

by Mr. Bob | 12:56 pm, November 13, 2009

#tcot #redco #islam #gwot #PC
hat tip to Red County

Independence Institute: Founder’s Night with P.J. O’Rourke

by elpresidente | 12:23 pm, November 13, 2009

Dear Friends of Freedom, The Independence Institute is founded on the eternal truths of the Declaration of Independence. On November 19 at our 25th annual Founders Night, we proudly celebrate a quarter-century of defending and promoting these truths. This event is going to be a huge celebration of liberty! Book your seats now for this [...]

What is the Real National Debt? 56.4 Trillion

by Mr. Bob | 12:10 pm, November 13, 2009

Information from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation #teaparty #debt #socialism

“How exactly does a $56.4 trillion bill add up?” you ask. We know that the federal government carries both publicly held debt and debt for money it has borrowed from itself. Together, these sums are closing in on $11 trillion. This is the figure most commonly cited as our “national debt,” but actually, that’s only the start of the REAL national debt.

Right now, you are carrying a burden of about $184,000. That is each and every American’s share of the US government’s approximated $56.4 trillion in current obligations. And every year in which no down payments or reforms are made to these obligations, the total grows by $2 trillion to $3 trillion – or $6,600 to $10,000 per person – on autopilot.

How exactly does this $56.4 trillion bill add up? First, there are the federal government’s known liabilities that it is legally obliged to fulfill. These include publicly held debt, military and civilian pensions and retiree health benefits. As of September 30, 2008, these liabilities added up to $13.5 trillion.

Then there are various commitments and contingencies – i.e., contractual requirements that the government is expected to fulfill when, and if specified conditions are met. These include federal insurance payouts, loan guarantees, and leases. As of September 30, 2008, they added up to $1.4 trillion.

So where does the remaining $43 trillion or so come from? That’s what the government has promised to pay in Social Security and Medicare benefits in excess of related revenues. As of January 1, 2008, current and promised future Social Security benefits amounted to $6.6 trillion. And between Medicare’s three programs (hospital insurance, outpatient, and prescription drug), current and future promised Medicare benefits amounted to $36.3 trillion.

Keep in mind that although people rely on the promise of these benefits, the government can – and does – change these programs in ways that increase or decrease the value of the expected benefits, which has the effect of expanding or shrinking the total amount of obligations. Such changes can be made to the size of payroll tax contributions, cost-of-living adjustments, beneficiary premiums, eligibility ages and benefit levels, among other examples.

That’s how you get to $56.4 trillion. And remember: every year in which no down payments or reforms are made to any of the obligations above, this total grows by $2 trillion to $3 trillion.

Stick with www.pgpf.org to keep track of how much you owe.

SOURCE: 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government. Social Security and Medicare benefits are present values as of January 1, 2008. Burden per person calculated using estimated December 2008 US Census Bureau data. Other data as of September 30, 2008.

The Peter C Peterson Foundation has a Citizen’s Guide to the State of the Union’s Finances. I recommend printing out and sharing.

“House Call on Congress” – Peoples Press Collective coverage of Washington DC rally against government takeover of Healthcare (the “Pelosicare” bill – HB3962) (Part 2)

by The Peripatetic Pundit | 9:39 am, November 13, 2009

Thanks to the generous contributions of Peoples Press Collective readers and especially the R Block Party grassroots organization, Peoples Press Collective was able to send a correspondent to cover the national “House Call on Congress” rally against government takeover of healthcare (the “Pelosicare” bill, HB3962) at the steps of the U.S. Capitol.  Unfortunately, despite the [...]

“House Call on Congress” – Peoples Press Collective coverage of Washington DC rally against government takeover of Healthcare (the “Pelosicare” bill – HB3962) (Part 1)

by The Peripatetic Pundit | 9:12 am, November 13, 2009

Thanks to the generous contributions of Peoples Press Collective readers and especially the R Block Party grassroots organization, Peoples Press Collective was able to send a correspondent to cover the national “House Call on Congress” rally against government takeover of healthcare (the “Pelosicare” bill, HB3962) at the steps of the U.S. Capitol.  Unfortunately, despite the [...]

Michelle Malkin: US gov’t to bring 9/11 mastermind to NYC for trial

by Rossputin | 8:22 am, November 13, 2009

I thought we’d never again have an Attorney General as bad as Janet Reno. But Eric Holder is making Reno look downright competent:

See “Bombshell: Obama bringing KSM to NYC for trial“, Michelle Malkin, 11/13/09

Yet the latest example of the Administration trying to bury horrible decisions in Friday news…

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold appearing at Candidate Search 2010 tonight at Budweiser Events Center

by CTBC Director | 7:57 am, November 13, 2009

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold is appearing as the “special guest” at tonight’s Candidate Search 2010 forum at the Budweiser Event Center, First National Bank West Exhibition Hall (program starts with dinner at 6PM, speaker presentations beginning around 7PM, Friday Nov. 13th).  The forum invites candidates (of all parties) for Colorado’s statewide offices (Governor, U.S. [...]

Gallup: Americans abandoning desire for government healthcare

by Rossputin | 7:44 am, November 13, 2009

In a new poll, Gallup finds that for the first time since they started asking the question (in 2001), “More Americans now believe it is not the government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage (50%) than think it is (47%).”

From the Gallup article on their poll:

Also, when it came to the question of whether to maintain or replace the current system, maintaining the system outpolled replacing it by 29%, close to its all-time strongest support:

Interesting notes:

The poll was taken in the few days before the House vote on healthcare “reform”.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the numbers were even more anti-government if the poll had been taken a few days later.

The results are very partisan, with 3/4 of Republicans saying healthcare is not government’s responsibility and 3/4 of Democrats saying it is.  I wonder how much of the Democratic response is because they really believe it is and how much is because they feel a need to support the president for whom they went “all-in” without any basis other than his being young, black, hip, and (the one part which is rational) not John McCain.

The opinion of Republicans has changed much more than the opinion of Democrats in recent years, with GOP believe in government health care making a significant new low, but Democrat opinion only roughly matching a level it’s reached in the past:

Regarding the partisan divide on the question of whether to maintain or replace the current system, 86% of Republicans (or Republican leaners) said maintain while 56% of Democrats (or Democratic leaners) said replace.

As we watch Democratic leadership plunge headlong into a government takeover of heatlh care (even if they claim that isn’t what’s happening, it is), one is hard-pressed to think of a time when government was trying to hard to pass something which was widely known to be unpopular.  Immigration reform comes to mind – and we know where that went.  But the political imperative for the Democrats is (or is at least believed by them) to be so large that they cannot afford not to pass something, even if it would be arguably the single wosrt, most destructive piece of legislation in American history, and even if it would substantially raise the chances of a political rout of Democrats in next year’s elections.

HealthcareSpy.com Website Launched

by wesley | 7:38 am, November 13, 2009

A new website creating quite a splash gives you the good stories and the horror stories of real people dealing with our health care system.  As the health care reform debate continues in DC, it seems that every progressive congressman and senator has no shortage of tear-jerking stories from constituents whose lives have been ruined [...]

Your patriotic and economic duty: Fire a Democrat

by Rossputin | 5:01 am, November 13, 2009

Since before Barack Obama’s election, there’s been an urban legend “letter from the boss” that goes something like this (there are always multiple versions of such things):

As the CFO of this business that employees 140 people, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama will be our next President, and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way.

To compensate for these increases, I figure that the Clients will have to see an increase in our fees to them of about 8% but since we cannot increase our fees right now due to the dismal state of our economy, we will have to lay off six of our employees instead. This has really been eating at me for a while, as we believe we are family here and I didn’t know how to choose who will have to go.

So, this is what I did. I strolled through our parking lot and found 6 Obama bumper stickers on our employees’ cars and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can’t think of a more fair way to approach this problem. These folks wanted change; I gave it to them.

If you have a better idea, let me know.

Sincerely,
The Boss

While this note is meant as a half-joke, I’m coming to believe we should look at the non-joke side of it. Particularly when combined with the common wisdom that “a recession is when a neighbor loses his job; a depression is when you lose your job”, I am led by logic to make the following suggestion:

If you are an employer who will be forced to fire employees (or not hire) because of the damage done to your business either by the weak economy (made much weaker by the Democrats’ policies) or by Democrat-passed legislation, such as if health care “reform” or cap-and-trade were to pass, fire Obama supporters first.

Of course, you can’t actually say that’s your reason. But if Obama supporters work in the same way they think about politics, namely that the rest of the organization/society owes them something, they’re probably your least productive workers anyway and their firing would make sense in any case.

If you don’t hire someone, make sure they know that it’s the fault of Democrats that you are unable to afford to give that applicant a job.

Last month’s 10.2% unemployment rate is not despite the stimulus and other wrong-headed liberal economic policies; it is because of them.  And therefore, as we continue to be given doses of the same poison, we will continue to suffer the same symptoms.  I predict that unemployment will not improve in any substantial way (i.e. go below 9%) before the next elections – the single biggest thing the Republicans should campaign on.

Some will say that I am reveling in the despair of American citizens, wishing for failure, and they may ask how that’s different from the Democrat’s wishing for failure in Iraq as they did before The One became President.   The difference is that, in my view, the long term success – even survivability – of this nation is dependent on people learning that socialism is death.  And it may be that, as Ayn Rand posited in Atlas Shrugged, that Americans will keep drifting toward being a society of economic looters and moochers until capitalists, indeed capitalism itself, go on strike.

The average American voter supported “hope and change” in the absence of even a shred of principle.  It’s understandable that Barack Obama won. That’s not my point.  The Republicans had been simply terrible and Obama is a young, good-looking, charismatic black guy running for office during a time when the public has come to think that nothing really matters except iPhones, organic food, and American Idol.  Indeed, Barack Obama is the American Idol president, judged by young idiots with nothing better to do – but who will soon come to realize that they have voted for their own economic destruction.

But it’s not just “hope and change”. They voted for a guy who was an overt socialist (remember “spread the wealth around“?) and whose circle of friends and influences going all the way back to his youth was full of Marxist haters of America and politicians or “organizers” with an unlimited thirst for power, Chicago style.  Obama was not a mystery, but those voters, especially the young, simply refused to see it, seeing instead a haloed blank slate in which they could reflect their own hopes and dreams.

Unfortunately for America, our government schools don’t teach people what American hopes and dreams should be, or rather what they should not be.  They should not be the hopes to increase your standard of living by having government give you the money of someone else who earned it.  They should not be the dreams to have bureaucrats intruding into people’s private lives to make decisions for citizens too lazy to learn enough to make a wise decision for themselves.  American hopes and dreams must not be about dominating other Americans through the power of government.

Given that we have been given an Administration which wants to do just that, our options prior to the next election are limited.  Although Jefferson’s admonition that “the tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants” has a certain appeal, this is not a time for violence.  It is a time, however, for every forceful action short of violence to remind this nation of the inevitable result of their support of tyranny.

As long as the owners and managers of companies have the authority to run their own businesses (and who knows how long they’ll even still have that?), to the extent that government is doing you harm I urge those owners and managers to distribute the harm as much as possible to those who have caused it with their handout-grubbing, anti-American, anti-liberty votes for Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.

And don’t let the few “Blue Dog” Democrats who voted “no” on the health care bill fool you.  Until the Democrats lose their majority in at least one house of Congress, particularly while we have this Manchurian Candidate of a president, nobody’s liberty is safe.  Therefore, I encourage employers to be particularly aggressive firing (and not hiring) Democrats in those districts where a Democrat is serving in Congress representing an area that voted for Bush, McCain, or both – and making sure that former or would-be employees are told in no uncertain terms that the economic climate which is causing their unemployment is due to Democratic policies.

As Charlie Cook reported in September,

Most House Democrats live in blue America and show little awareness that their party has a problem. However, the Democrats’ majority is built on a layer of 54 seats that the party picked up in 2006 and 2008 that are largely in purple – or even red – America. Democrats ought to keep in mind that 84 of their current House members represent districts won by President Bush in 2004 or John McCain in 2008.

A whopping 48 of those Democrats – eight more than the size of their party’s majority – are from districts that voted for both Bush and McCain. That America is very different from the Democratic base in blue America, and it sees many major issues very differently.

These are the politicians we need to unseat, the politicians whose vulnerability gives America the best chance to stop its descent into the economic hell which Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and their union masters are dragging us toward despite public opposition to their agenda.

And the best way to unseat an incumbent politician is for their constituents to be unemployed.  (Note: This strategy clearly does not work in Detroit…)

So, as the urban legend suggests, they wanted “change” and I encourage employers to give it to them.  The more Democrats who suffer from the policies of those they elected, the more likely America can return to a path of respect for the benefits for all which economic liberty brings.  The sooner that voters recognize that they are not owed anything, the sooner they start becoming more self-reliant not just in terms of earning a living but in terms of being informed, the sooner we have a chance to start undoing the tremendous damage of the past year (including damage begun by George W. Bush.)

So, here’s my new bumper sticker slogan:  “Save our country: Fire a Democrat!”

More “jobs created or saved” lies and errors

by Rossputin | 3:42 am, November 13, 2009

I reported a couple of weeks ago on an AP story describing how errors or lies are massively inflating the “jobs created or saved” number touted by the Administration as a sign of the effectiveness of the so-called “stimulus”. In that note, I pointed out that when as pro-Obama an organization as the AP is critical of the Administration, the offense must be grievous indeed.

If there is any publication to the left of the AP, it’s the Boston Globe.  And it’s that very Boston Globe which had a lead web site article on Wednesday entitled “Stimulus job boost in state exaggerated, review finds.“

The first sentence of the article, from the normally pro-Obama paper, reads: “While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started.”

The stories are becoming common-place: Private companies don’t understand the report filing instructions (and I actually believe that’s frequently true). Some recipients of taxpayer money are reclassifying money that wasn’t “stimulus” money as if it did come from the stimulus, giving credit where none is due. And government agencies are likely overstating the stimulus-related jobs intentionally. After all, even if a government agency is not dominated by pro-Obama people, it’s still likely to be dominated by people who believe in big government and who want citizens to believe that their tax money isn’t wasted (though most of us know better.)

As Glenn Beck has been saying lately, we’re seeing “scattered showers of journalism” appearing. Now we’re just waiting for the downpour…but I have rather little confidence in its impending arrival.

Health care bill: fewer insured, higher premiums

by Brian Schwartz | 1:30 am, November 13, 2009

Obama Care – more uninsured, higher premiums, writes economist Martin Feldstein in the Washington Post:
A key feature of the House and Senate health bills would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. The new coverage would start immediately, and the premium could not reflect the individual’s health condition.
This well-intentioned feature would [...]

Confirmed: Tom Tancredo to Run for Governor

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 11:08 pm, November 12, 2009

Former Congressman Tom Tancredo (CD-6) will run for Governor.  News of this possibility began surfacing on Monday, and it has now been confirmed by various sources.  The astounding development comes on the heels of the withdrawal of Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry – who Tancredo had originally endorsed – from the race on Monday. “Early [...]

Colorado Governor Candidate Forum Video

by T.L. James | 10:29 pm, November 12, 2009

I’m disappointed that it too so long to get these processed and published, but here are the videos from last week’s GOP governor candidate forum. With Josh Penry’s sudden withdrawal from the race they’re now somewhat dated, but they’re still informative and worth watching for the comments from Dan Maes and Scott McInnis.

Colorado Senate Candidate Forum Video

by T.L. James | 9:44 pm, November 12, 2009

It’s finally done processing, so here it is for your edification. Note that Jane Norton’s introduction is not included, due to a glitch with my camera.

Latest Colorado Political Survey Inspires Kataline Essay on “Big Tent” GOP

by Ben DeGrow | 4:33 pm, November 12, 2009

Our current survey of Colorado’s political temperature has inspired more than just a series of click-in-the-box responses.
Having read one of our test issue statements — It is important for Republicans to employ a “big tent” policy when considering candidates for office. — Karen Kataline decided to deconstruct the term “big tent” in a thoughtful new [...]

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