I wrote earlier about Humana's attempt to write a letter critical of the health care reform and the Obama administration's subsequent gag order.
U.S. health officials announced Friday that private insurers can send seniors information on health-related issues as long as they allow their members to opt out of receiving the communications, apparently ending its probe of Humana.
"While we feel it is important to protect Medicare beneficiaries from potentially unwelcome marketing and other communications, we also recognize plans' interest in contacting their enrollees on issues unrelated to the specific plan benefit that they contract with CMS to provide to those enrollees," Teresea DeCaro, acting director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Drug and Health Plan Contract Administration Group, wrote in a memo.
The mailer prompted a complaint from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which passed its health care bill this week and would cut Medicare and Medicaid spending by about $500 billion over 10 years. The Montana Democrat says that would lead to greater efficiency, not reduced benefits.
I ask you people, where in the history of this country has the government been able to slash budgets and increase efficiency at the same time? Or hell, just increase efficiency?
You can find the original article here.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Spending More
Democrats are having a heyday with all the tax and spend crap going on. Even though the economy is starting to recover (with less than a quarter of the 'stimulus' being spent, by the way), the Democrats are looking to spend EVEN MORE.
Democrats are considering extending unemployment and health benefits, as well as extending and perhaps expanding a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and creating a new credit for companies that add jobs.
Extending unemployment benefits through 2010 would cost about $100 billion, according to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
It's unknown exactly how much it would cost to extend subsidies for laid-off workers to help them keep the health insurance their former employers provided, known as COBRA. That's because congressional leaders haven't settled on the length of an extension, or how to pay for it. But the current program, which covers workers laid off through the end of the year, costs nearly $25 billion.
Extending the homebuyer tax credit to next summer would cost about $16.7 billion, economists say. It's not clear how much the employer tax credit would cost. But a similar proposal that was dropped from the first stimulus package had a cost of $19.5 billion.
President Obama also wants Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no cost-of-living increase in Social Security next year. The total cost: $14 billion.
Taken together, the proposals could add up to nearly $200 billion, looking a lot like another economic stimulus package.
Just don't call it a stimulus. They hate that.
You can find the original article here.
Democrats are considering extending unemployment and health benefits, as well as extending and perhaps expanding a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and creating a new credit for companies that add jobs.
Extending unemployment benefits through 2010 would cost about $100 billion, according to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
It's unknown exactly how much it would cost to extend subsidies for laid-off workers to help them keep the health insurance their former employers provided, known as COBRA. That's because congressional leaders haven't settled on the length of an extension, or how to pay for it. But the current program, which covers workers laid off through the end of the year, costs nearly $25 billion.
Extending the homebuyer tax credit to next summer would cost about $16.7 billion, economists say. It's not clear how much the employer tax credit would cost. But a similar proposal that was dropped from the first stimulus package had a cost of $19.5 billion.
President Obama also wants Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no cost-of-living increase in Social Security next year. The total cost: $14 billion.
Taken together, the proposals could add up to nearly $200 billion, looking a lot like another economic stimulus package.
Just don't call it a stimulus. They hate that.
You can find the original article here.
Let's Go To War -- Against Fox News
So says the White House, and they say it because Fox News bothers to fact check statements they make.
White House communications director Anita Dunn branded Fox "opinion journalism masquerading as news."
On Sunday, Fox's Chris Wallace retorted: "We wanted to ask Dunn about her criticism, but, as they've done every week since August, the White House refused to make any administration officials available to 'FOX News Sunday' to talk about this or anything else."
The White House stopped providing guests to 'Fox News Sunday' after Wallace fact-checked controversial assertions made by Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in August. Dunn said fact-checking an administration official was "something I've never seen a Sunday show do."
"She criticized 'FOX News Sunday' last week for fact-checking -- fact-checking -- an administration official," Wallace said Sunday. "They didn't say that our fact-checking was wrong. They just said that we had dared to fact-check."
"Let's fact-check Anita Dunn, because last Sunday she said that Fox ignores Republican scandals, and she specifically mentioned the scandal involving Nevada senator John Ensign," Wallace added. "A number of Fox News shows have run stories about Senator Ensign. Anita Dunn's facts were just plain wrong."
And let's not forget, Dunn was the one who said Mao Tse-Tung was one of her heroes when speaking to high school students.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that President Obama does not want "the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox."
Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization."
"Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."
Not that you have to worry, White House folks. There's no doubt in anyone's mind whose corner ABC and CNN are in.
I have to pose this one question: why is it that Obama goes around the world to apologize for America and bows to kiss the ass of people like Hugo Chavez, and then decides to take on a news organization in the U.S. that checks his facts?
Does this seem backwards to anyone else out there?
You can find the original article here.
White House communications director Anita Dunn branded Fox "opinion journalism masquerading as news."
On Sunday, Fox's Chris Wallace retorted: "We wanted to ask Dunn about her criticism, but, as they've done every week since August, the White House refused to make any administration officials available to 'FOX News Sunday' to talk about this or anything else."
The White House stopped providing guests to 'Fox News Sunday' after Wallace fact-checked controversial assertions made by Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in August. Dunn said fact-checking an administration official was "something I've never seen a Sunday show do."
"She criticized 'FOX News Sunday' last week for fact-checking -- fact-checking -- an administration official," Wallace said Sunday. "They didn't say that our fact-checking was wrong. They just said that we had dared to fact-check."
"Let's fact-check Anita Dunn, because last Sunday she said that Fox ignores Republican scandals, and she specifically mentioned the scandal involving Nevada senator John Ensign," Wallace added. "A number of Fox News shows have run stories about Senator Ensign. Anita Dunn's facts were just plain wrong."
And let's not forget, Dunn was the one who said Mao Tse-Tung was one of her heroes when speaking to high school students.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that President Obama does not want "the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox."
Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization."
"Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."
Not that you have to worry, White House folks. There's no doubt in anyone's mind whose corner ABC and CNN are in.
I have to pose this one question: why is it that Obama goes around the world to apologize for America and bows to kiss the ass of people like Hugo Chavez, and then decides to take on a news organization in the U.S. that checks his facts?
Does this seem backwards to anyone else out there?
You can find the original article here.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Open Post 10/16/09
It's Friday so that means another open post. Sound off on anything you want and feel free to comment on another post.
Let's get a conversation started!
Let's get a conversation started!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
CBO: Cap and Trade Will Negatively Impact Jobs
Obama and the Democrats tell us that passing even more government regulation aimed at the environment will help revive the economy.
Oops, somebody forgot to tell the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). They say there will be a net loss of jobs.
"The shifts will be significant," the CBO director said. "We want to leave no misunderstanding that aggregate performance -- the fact that jobs turn up somewhere else for some people -- does not mean that there are not substantial costs borne by people, communities, firms in affected industries and affected areas. You saw that in manufacturing, and we would see that in response to changes that this legislation would produce."
I have written before about the estimated cost of this cap and trade nonsense. Don't drink the Kool-Aid when Congress tells you it's only a little bit per day.
You can find the original article here.
Oops, somebody forgot to tell the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). They say there will be a net loss of jobs.
"The shifts will be significant," the CBO director said. "We want to leave no misunderstanding that aggregate performance -- the fact that jobs turn up somewhere else for some people -- does not mean that there are not substantial costs borne by people, communities, firms in affected industries and affected areas. You saw that in manufacturing, and we would see that in response to changes that this legislation would produce."
I have written before about the estimated cost of this cap and trade nonsense. Don't drink the Kool-Aid when Congress tells you it's only a little bit per day.
You can find the original article here.
Letter to a Cub Scout
You may remember poor Zachary Christie, who was suspended from school for bringing his combination knife/fork/spoon from Cub Scouts to school. He was later given a reprieve from the school board, which lessened his suspension but didn't end it entirely.
From the article:
Dear Zachary Christie,
Well you sure have had an exciting time recently. You joined the Cub Scouts. Good for you. I see that you are in the first grade so you must be either a Bobcat or Tiger. Before you know it you will be a Webelo and be on your way to becoming a Boy Scout.
I know you will follow the Cub Scout Promise, The Law of the Pack, and the Cub Scout motto. They will be the foundation upon which you will build your life as you grow from a boy into a man. I know that might sound like a long way off right now but it will come sooner than you think.
I also heard that you received a real neat camping tool that has a bottle opener, knife, a spoon and a fork. It will come in handy when you go on cookouts and camping trips with your Cub Scout Pack. Your Mom says that you like to eat with it at home. She sounds like a real good Mom. (When you get older ask her for a Swiss Army knife. It has a screwdriver, scissors and all kinds of other neat blades and tools!)
Then someone told me that you took your camping tool to school because you wanted to eat your lunch with it. And then you were called to the Principal’s office and suspended. I was very sorry to hear that since you did not do anything wrong.
I am also sorry that you had to learn that just like kids grownups do dumb things sometimes.
They make rules thinking they are protecting you from bad things happening to you but I think that they have forgotten what it is like to be a 6-year-old first grader.
You should be very proud of yourself that you stood up and defended yourself before the school board. Standing up for yourself when you know you are right is a lesson that you have learned at a very early age. It is a lesson that many adults often forget.
You are developing your character right now and I bet you don’t even know it. Character is one of those big words that adults use but I doubt many of them understand the meaning. I will make it simple for you. Character is how you act when no one is looking. That means if you do something wrong just because no one saw you do it, it is still wrong. And while you might think you got away with something there are two people who will always know what you did—you and God.
You have already showed that you understand that key element of becoming a good citizen and a good man. Never forget it as everything else you do in life is based on that simple principle.
Don’t let all this attention bother you. You know how grownups make a big fuss over things sometimes and then it all goes away. You just get back to being a good student, a good Cub Scout and a good son to your parents.
Someday Zachary you and your friends and other kids in other countries that you don’t even know will be running the world.
As a grownup, I hope I am around to see your generation take charge. Because after reading about you and recently having met some other kids who are like you, I know America will be in good hands.
Now go out and have fun being a 6-year old Cub Scout. Keep us all informed about how you are doing. And I hope someday you earn Eagle Scout rank. Somehow I think you will.
Your friend,
The Cowboy Libertarian
P.S. To all the grownups out there here is what Zachary is learning as a Cub Scout. 6 years old and he is learning a code of conduct that will stand him in good stead all his life. Atta boy Zachary!
Cub Scout Promise
I, (say your name), promise
to DO MY BEST
To do my DUTY to GOD
And my Country
To HELP other people, and
To OBEY the LAW of the Pack
Law of the Pack
The Cub Scout follows Akela.
The Cub Scout helps the pack go.
The pack helps the Cub Scout grow.
The Cub Scout gives goodwill.
Cub Scout Motto
DO YOUR BEST
From the article:
Dear Zachary Christie,
Well you sure have had an exciting time recently. You joined the Cub Scouts. Good for you. I see that you are in the first grade so you must be either a Bobcat or Tiger. Before you know it you will be a Webelo and be on your way to becoming a Boy Scout.
I know you will follow the Cub Scout Promise, The Law of the Pack, and the Cub Scout motto. They will be the foundation upon which you will build your life as you grow from a boy into a man. I know that might sound like a long way off right now but it will come sooner than you think.
I also heard that you received a real neat camping tool that has a bottle opener, knife, a spoon and a fork. It will come in handy when you go on cookouts and camping trips with your Cub Scout Pack. Your Mom says that you like to eat with it at home. She sounds like a real good Mom. (When you get older ask her for a Swiss Army knife. It has a screwdriver, scissors and all kinds of other neat blades and tools!)
Then someone told me that you took your camping tool to school because you wanted to eat your lunch with it. And then you were called to the Principal’s office and suspended. I was very sorry to hear that since you did not do anything wrong.
I am also sorry that you had to learn that just like kids grownups do dumb things sometimes.
They make rules thinking they are protecting you from bad things happening to you but I think that they have forgotten what it is like to be a 6-year-old first grader.
You should be very proud of yourself that you stood up and defended yourself before the school board. Standing up for yourself when you know you are right is a lesson that you have learned at a very early age. It is a lesson that many adults often forget.
You are developing your character right now and I bet you don’t even know it. Character is one of those big words that adults use but I doubt many of them understand the meaning. I will make it simple for you. Character is how you act when no one is looking. That means if you do something wrong just because no one saw you do it, it is still wrong. And while you might think you got away with something there are two people who will always know what you did—you and God.
You have already showed that you understand that key element of becoming a good citizen and a good man. Never forget it as everything else you do in life is based on that simple principle.
Don’t let all this attention bother you. You know how grownups make a big fuss over things sometimes and then it all goes away. You just get back to being a good student, a good Cub Scout and a good son to your parents.
Someday Zachary you and your friends and other kids in other countries that you don’t even know will be running the world.
As a grownup, I hope I am around to see your generation take charge. Because after reading about you and recently having met some other kids who are like you, I know America will be in good hands.
Now go out and have fun being a 6-year old Cub Scout. Keep us all informed about how you are doing. And I hope someday you earn Eagle Scout rank. Somehow I think you will.
Your friend,
The Cowboy Libertarian
P.S. To all the grownups out there here is what Zachary is learning as a Cub Scout. 6 years old and he is learning a code of conduct that will stand him in good stead all his life. Atta boy Zachary!
Cub Scout Promise
I, (say your name), promise
to DO MY BEST
To do my DUTY to GOD
And my Country
To HELP other people, and
To OBEY the LAW of the Pack
Law of the Pack
The Cub Scout follows Akela.
The Cub Scout helps the pack go.
The pack helps the Cub Scout grow.
The Cub Scout gives goodwill.
Cub Scout Motto
DO YOUR BEST
Republicans Are Demanding Jennings Be Fired
Kevin Jennings, the so-called "safe schools czar" who focuses on furthering the homosexual agenda, is under fire from 53 Republicans. They say he does not have the qualifications or ethical standards required for his position and he narrowly focuses on the gay agenda. They have sent a letter to Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
We respectfully request that you remove Kevin Jennings, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, from your Administration. It is clear that Mr. Jennings lacks the appropriate qualifications and ethical standards to serve in this capacity.
As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools—an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children. As evidence of this, Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword for a book titled Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue About Sexualities and Schooling. Throughout his career, Mr. Jennings has made it his mission to establish special protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to the exclusion of all other students. The totality of Mr. Jennings’ career has been to advocate for public affirmation of homosexuality. There is more to safe and drug free schools than can be accomplished from the narrow view of Mr. Jennings who has, for more than 20 years, almost exclusively focused on promoting the homosexual agenda.
Equally troubling is Mr. Jennings’ self-described history of ignoring the sexual abuse of a child. In his book, One Teacher in Ten, Mr. Jennings recounts a 15-year old student confiding in him that he had a sexual relationship with a much older man. Mr. Jennings’ only response was to ask if the underage boy used a condom. As a mandatory reporter, Mr. Jennings was required by law to report child abuse, including sex crimes. Mr. Jennings cannot serve as the “safe schools” czar when his record demonstrates a willingness to overlook the sexual abuse of a child.
As the “safe schools” czar, Mr. Jennings is also charged with ensuring our schools and students are drug free. It is clear that Mr. Jennings is unfit to serve in this capacity, as well. His own history of unrepentant drug and alcohol abuse indicates that he is of the opinion that getting drunk and high as a young person is acceptable. In his memoir, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, Mr. Jennings describes his use of illegal drugs, without expressing regret or acknowledging the devastating effects illegal drug use can have on a person’s life.
Everyone that deals with the education of the most vulnerable must be a positive role model. Our children are not blessed with the wisdom to discern and reject. Children presume the adults who educate them are approved by the larger society and their parents. Kevin Jennings cannot gain the approval of parents who want their children safe and their schools drug free. You should replace him with someone who has a record of educating children in a safe and moral environment.
Given these very serious issues with Mr. Jennings’ record, we urge you to remove him immediately.
The signers of the letter are: King; Alexander; Aderholt; Akin; Austria; Bachmann; Bachus; Bartlett; Barton; Boozman; Broun; Brown, H.; Carter; Chaffetz; Coffman; Cole; Conaway; Davis, Geoff; Fallin; Fleming; Foxx; Franks; Garret; Gingrey; Gohmert; Hunter; Issa; Jordan; Lamborn; Latta; Luetkemeyer; Marchant; McClintock; McHenry; McKeon; McMorris; Mica; Miller, J.; Myrick; Neugebauer; Olson, P.; Pence; Pitts; Posey; Rogers; Rooney; Ryan, Paul; Shuster; Smith, C.; Smith, L.; Wamp; Westmoreland; and Jones, Walter.
You can find the original article here.
Dear Mr. President,
We respectfully request that you remove Kevin Jennings, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, from your Administration. It is clear that Mr. Jennings lacks the appropriate qualifications and ethical standards to serve in this capacity.
As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools—an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children. As evidence of this, Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword for a book titled Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue About Sexualities and Schooling. Throughout his career, Mr. Jennings has made it his mission to establish special protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to the exclusion of all other students. The totality of Mr. Jennings’ career has been to advocate for public affirmation of homosexuality. There is more to safe and drug free schools than can be accomplished from the narrow view of Mr. Jennings who has, for more than 20 years, almost exclusively focused on promoting the homosexual agenda.
Equally troubling is Mr. Jennings’ self-described history of ignoring the sexual abuse of a child. In his book, One Teacher in Ten, Mr. Jennings recounts a 15-year old student confiding in him that he had a sexual relationship with a much older man. Mr. Jennings’ only response was to ask if the underage boy used a condom. As a mandatory reporter, Mr. Jennings was required by law to report child abuse, including sex crimes. Mr. Jennings cannot serve as the “safe schools” czar when his record demonstrates a willingness to overlook the sexual abuse of a child.
As the “safe schools” czar, Mr. Jennings is also charged with ensuring our schools and students are drug free. It is clear that Mr. Jennings is unfit to serve in this capacity, as well. His own history of unrepentant drug and alcohol abuse indicates that he is of the opinion that getting drunk and high as a young person is acceptable. In his memoir, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, Mr. Jennings describes his use of illegal drugs, without expressing regret or acknowledging the devastating effects illegal drug use can have on a person’s life.
Everyone that deals with the education of the most vulnerable must be a positive role model. Our children are not blessed with the wisdom to discern and reject. Children presume the adults who educate them are approved by the larger society and their parents. Kevin Jennings cannot gain the approval of parents who want their children safe and their schools drug free. You should replace him with someone who has a record of educating children in a safe and moral environment.
Given these very serious issues with Mr. Jennings’ record, we urge you to remove him immediately.
The signers of the letter are: King; Alexander; Aderholt; Akin; Austria; Bachmann; Bachus; Bartlett; Barton; Boozman; Broun; Brown, H.; Carter; Chaffetz; Coffman; Cole; Conaway; Davis, Geoff; Fallin; Fleming; Foxx; Franks; Garret; Gingrey; Gohmert; Hunter; Issa; Jordan; Lamborn; Latta; Luetkemeyer; Marchant; McClintock; McHenry; McKeon; McMorris; Mica; Miller, J.; Myrick; Neugebauer; Olson, P.; Pence; Pitts; Posey; Rogers; Rooney; Ryan, Paul; Shuster; Smith, C.; Smith, L.; Wamp; Westmoreland; and Jones, Walter.
You can find the original article here.
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