Big Dogs House

Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste

Oct 24, 2009 Political

Today, Barack Obama declared the H1N1 flu outbreak a national emergency.

The White House on Saturday said Obama signed a proclamation that would allow medical officials to bypass certain federal requirements. Officials described the move as similar to a declaration ahead of a hurricane making landfall. Yahoo News

When a hurricane is about to make landfall we know what can happen and we can mobilize resources like FEMA, the Red Cross and other organizations that can help. What, specifically, can we mobilize with a flu outbreak. How does declaring this a national emergency equate to a hurricane?

The declaration allows medical OFFICIALS to bypass certain federal regulations. Notice it does not say doctors or health care providers, but officials. What officials? What federal regulations will they be allowed to bypass? Will they now be allowed to get lists of people who refused the vaccine? Will they be allowed to circumvent HIPAA and other privacy regulations in order to get information? Will they be able to FORCE people to get the vaccine?

What, specifically, will this declaration allow these unspecified officials to do?

Rahm Emanuel said that they should not allow a crisis to go to waste. Obviously, a crisis needs to exist before they can run roughshod over the country so is this declaration the manufactured crisis that allows government to enact rules and ignore our rights in order for the Obama Reich to do what it wants?

Yes, there have been deaths from the Swine flu and the numbers given include those who died in the Spring. What is the death rate, the infection rate and the recovery time of those who are getting it now and how does it compare with the normal seasonal flu which kills about 36,000 people per year?

If ObaMao has a good reason for declaring this emergency then he needs to elaborate and tell us exactly why it is an emergency and what federal regulations may be bypassed.

He also needs to tell us exactly who these officials are and what they will be doing.

Be very weary of these kinds of declared emergencies. This is not like a hurricane. The only thing FEMA could possibly do if activated at this point in time is to send health care professionals with vaccine to administer it. FEMA could possibly provide other services in the event of widespread death (set up morgues) but they could do little to curb the outbreak or make it less severe.

Seems to me that we have plenty of health care professionals who can give the vaccine. The issue right now is the shortage and problems with distribution which rest on the shoulders of the government.

What is behind this and what does he plan to do?

If these medical officials start making decisions that affect us then it is further proof that government, and not you and your doctor, will make decisions that affect you with regard to your health.

A thorough explanation is in order.

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Tags: crisis, flu, h1n1, national emergency, Obama, rahm emanuel

On Economics, He Knows Not What He Does

Sep 7, 2009 Political

BHO, our “Beloved” Resident, has been tinkering with the economy, and like a child who doesn’t know when to step away from his finger-painting, has been producing mud, instead of something we might want to put on the refrigerator with magnets.

His biggest problem is total ignorance of life in general, and the lessons of the Great Depression in particular. That would be OK if only he had advisors who were steeped in real- world economics, but instead, he chose to surround himself with cronies who believe as he does, a dangerous thing if you are trying to run a country, especially a country in economic trouble.

Now, because he has been listening to the wrong people, and also because he chose to string this crisis along, so people would have their attention diverted, and he could (hopefully) push through pet causes while we were distracted, we could be looking at another Great Depression, one that reduces our capacity as a country to respond to the world’s needs.

This is not good, and only serves to point out the ineptness of this administration.

There are “troubling similarities” between the US President’s actions since taking office and those which in the 1930s sent the US and much of the world spiralling into the worst economic collapse in recorded history, says the new pamphlet, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In particular, the authors, economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute, claim that the White House’s plans to pour hundreds of billions of dollars of cash into the economy will undermine it in the long run. They say that by employing deficit spending and increased state intervention President Obama will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the US economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years.

telegraph.co.uk

Too true- but then one asks the question, “Is this intentional?” I mean, if you take Rahm Emanuel at his word, where he states to “Never waste a crisis”, you have to ask yourself if the “crisis” is being extended artificially merely to push through more of an agenda than the people would freely accept. If so, then this administration is deceptive at best, and treasonous at worst, allowing the people they are supposedly “governing” to suffer needlessly.

The paper, which recommends that the US return to a more laissez-faire economic system rather than intervening further in activity, has been endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan, who said: “We have learned some things from comparable experiences of the 1930s’ Great Depression, perhaps enough to reduce the severity of the current contraction. But we have made no progress toward putting limits on political leaders, who act out their natural proclivities without any basic understanding of what makes capitalism work.”

telegraph.co.uk

Bingo! An economist who gets it- not some Krugman poseur economist wannabe, who just happened to get a prize for “showing up”- rather than for real world economic theory. Hussein’s administration, rather than listening to Soros and his ilk, (and yes, he is part of an ilk), should be listening to economists who know what they are talking about- that’s always a good start.

The policy responses to the debt bubble demonstrate crude political consideration rather than economic understanding. If excessive government indebtedness is a major source of the problem, why increase the government debt? Why encourage households to go yet further into debt?

The prognosis is catastrophic if projected government policies are not cut back. According to the White House’s own estimates, the federal budget deficit in 2009 will be $1.6 trillion, approximately 11.2pc of the overall economy, the highest on record since the end of the Second World War. In 2019, the national debt will represent 76.5pc of the US national economy, the highest proportion since just after the Second World War. In such circumstances, the international reserve status of the US dollar will not survive. As it fades, so interest rates on government securities will rise and the real burden of servicing the debt will increase. In such circumstances, the US economy will teeter on the edge of a black hole.

telegraph.co.uk

We are already there, and  falling fast- what this administration has done has not helped, but rather pushed, or as one of the Residents really great “advisors”, or Czars, Cass Sunstein, has said, describing his technique of “social engineering”- “nudged” us towards the precipice. 

Prosperity and full employment in the US will only be restored by a return to laissez-faire capitalism. Our study outlines a radical, but politically feasible, approach. Monetary policy should be expansionary. But, on the micro-economic side, tariffs and other trade barriers should be repealed unilaterally; a “Right-to-Work” Act should reduce the minimum wage and curtail the powers of unions; and business regulation should be reduced. Individual banks and their counterparties should not be bailed out, although the system should be protected by ensuring that failing banks are wound up in an orderly fashion – this is the only way to restore market discipline.

telegraph.co.uk

This administration should listen to these people- they actually make sense, rather than the “Looking Glass” theorists there are now. Quit naming “Czars”, and start learning how to govern- something that has been remarkably lacking from your agenda until now. Yes- I know that this will really piss off your “base”, but most of them can be placated with just a slight increase in their meds. 

Do it, do it now, do it for your country.

And quit listening to those idiots.

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Tags: crisis, economy, idiocy, reason, Soros

The Crisis Will Hatch Universal Health Care Next

Jun 8, 2009 Political

Never let a good crisis go to waste. So far the Obama administration has not let this sentiment go to waste because it has pushed a number of things through at break neck speed all under the blanket of the crisis. The stimulus, the omnibus, the bailout of auto companies (and subsequent loss of taxpayer money in bankruptcy) are all the result of the crisis, emergencies that cannot wait. The time is now.

We have not spent very much of the allocated stimulus and things are starting to improve though we will have a way to go. We should rescind the rest of the spending and let things work themselves out.

No, we will spend that money (unwisely) and the Obama folks will continue. Next up on the plate is universal health care. The Democrats want every person in the country covered and they have a number of ways of doing it. All of them will mean tax increases and those increases will affect everyone.

Obama wants to tax the wealthy. He is pushing for a cap on tax deductions (and an increase in the marginal tax rate) for the wealthiest of taxpayers so that they will pay more into the government. That money will be redistributed to pay for health care. The cost will be staggering, the quality of care will decrease and everyone will be affected by the tax on the wealthy. Plus, there is no guarantee they government will spend the money on health care. Look at how the government has raped Social Security.

One plan on the table is to require all employers to provide health care coverage or pay part of the costs. This will only result in an increase in the price of goods. Employers ALWAYS pass costs on to consumers so everyone will end up paying. The plan also mandates insurance. People will be required to get health care coverage. You can be a billionaire and able to afford health expenses out of pocket but you will be required to get coverage.

I want to know where in the Constitution it says I HAVE to have health care coverage. Where is that mandate located?

Universal health care is socialized medicine where bean counters get to decide what treatment is best or if you should receive it. Despite the claims, other countries that have socialized medicine are not in good shape. Would you want to get sick in Cuba? Would you want to wait for bypass surgery in England or Canada? Some people might like the system but those who do are the people who are not responsible enough to take care of themselves.

We have socialized medicine in this country. Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA (as well as military health system) are all government run. The VA and military are items provided as part of the work contract but they are overburdened with administrative red tape and administrators. The health care provided to our troops is top notch and many of the innovations are later used in the civilian world but the red tape is a nightmare.

Liberals went nuts over problems at Walter Reed (a political stunt to embarrass George Bush) but this is the same system they want to give to you.

We cannot afford the cost. If you think health care is expensive now just wait until it is free. We need to revamp the way things are done in the open market and make it a more competitive atmosphere. We need to remove some of the restrictions placed on companies and we need to allow individuals and small business to pool resources in order to get group rates.

What we do not need is government running health care. The federal government could not organize a child’s birthday party and if it did the cost would be three times required and taxes would be raised to pay for it.

The same government that wants all your records electronic and wants to administer health care is the one that published our nuclear secrets.

If we want well run health care perhaps we should have Wal Mart take it over. The Wal Mart people actually know how to run a business and keep costs down.

Related items:
Ludwig von Mises Institute
Heritage Foundation

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Tags: crisis, health care, taxes, waste, wealthy

Let’s keep the crisis going

May 12, 2009 Political

Well, Former President Bush put 350 billion dollars into the TARP fund, to try and stabilize the market, and left another 350 billion dollars for Barama to use IF he needed it- as if a Democrat wouldn’t know how to spend money. Then Skinny B and his posse come into the White House, and immediately scream fire in a crowded theater, so to speak, by announcing that they needed 787 billion dollars for “stimulus”. Heck, they could have stimulated me for much less. The WH claimed that they were targeting “shovel ready” projects, so they could get the money into the economy faster- sounds great, right?

Well, as with anything to do with liberals, the words sound great, but the deeds are non existent. Most of that money is not going to have an impact until 2011 or later, and that’s a bit too late for the economy. Turns out that “shovel ready” is determined by people like the unions, where most of the money will flow to, and the unions do not have the manpower to do what needs to be done, shovel- wise, not to mention a lack of brains.

Meanwhile, the liberals in the WH want to keep the fear going, because they can cram new, more intrusive laws down our throats, if we the people are busy looking at the banks, at the auto industry, and other related economic tragedies promulgated and encouraged by the liberal left, then laws restricting free speech, gun rights, and contract law can be passed in the dead of night, with little outcry.

Rhomboid Emmanuel says that one should never let a crisis go to waste, but he has no clever saying about how to SOLVE a crisis. Perhaps he is just as ignorant as I think he is, and truly doesn’t know. If that is the case, he needs to find a different job. If he is just milking this crisis for as much as he can get out of it, he is a traitor, plain and simple, for he is doing intentional harm to the American People for crass political gain.

So which IS IT, Rhomboid? Are you so stupid that you couldn’t find your butt with both hands and a map, or are you a TRAITOR? What about your boss, Rhomboid? Is he cut from the same cloth? Don’t you have any shame in keeping this crisis going longer than you should? You haven’t helped a single person in the United States, so the question arises- How do you sleep at night?

Bush, after 9/11, had only one job he had to be good at- that was to keep our people safe, and he was a success in that endeavor. Skinny B only has one job HE has to be good at- solving this crisis, and so far I would grade him with an F, for nothing has been done. Oh there are a lot of smoke and mirrors, but the unemployment is still going up, the GDP is so pitiful that if it was an animal, it would have been put down, the banks have been nationalized (and that’s NEVER a good thing), and we are about to lose the auto industry to a shell group that has the unions in control. The Unions, for God’s sake- they cannot even run themselves, how do they think that they can run a company? That’s just ridiculous.

So now, under Skinny B, we now have the United States of Fubar (F**ked up beyond all recognition), and it’s not looking good for the next two years, at least. The only lining in this thundercloud that I can see, is that the American people will wake up soon to what is really happening, and boy oh boy, are they going to be mad at the way these liberals have raped our economy mercilessly. Everyone, especially the less advantaged, are going to be outraged that their opportunities have been so extremely limited.

The American people will be comparing how Barama’s term looks versus Bush’s terms, and they are going to come to the conclusion that the economy went in the toilet when, and only when, the Democrats took over Congress in 2006- up to that time, the economy was doing well. The Democrats came in and immediately began manipulating the markets to their advantage.

Those are the facts, no matter how you twist them. Now, if the economy doesn’t improve soon, and we have, God forbid, a terrorist attack, I think you will have an impeachment coming down the line. The Democrats will have to eat their own, and I have to admit, I would pay to see that.

Now that would be entertainment.

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Tags: crisis, economy, liberals, lies

Swine Flu Diverts Attention

Apr 28, 2009 Opinion, Political

A great deal of attention has been given to the newest outbreak of the flu mostly because this is a strain that is not commonly associated with transmission among humans and there is no vaccine. While it is well and good to pay some attention to it one must wonder why all the CDC warnings and the elevations of threat levels. I certainly understand the travel restrictions but the reality is that there are only 40 confirmed US cases and no one in the US has died (as of this writing). Mexico has handled the issue fairly well and there have been just over 140 deaths in that country.

In the US each year about 36,000 people die from the flu and about 200,000 require hospitalization.

I think that the fervor over the flu is designed to take our attention away from the bad news that has come out lately. GM is getting rid of Pontiac (if you have a low mileage one put it away) and that will result in the loss of 21,000 manufacturing jobs. GM and Chrysler are preparing to file for bankruptcy and this will cause a lot of turmoil in the automotive industry. Ironically, Ford, the only one of the big three not to take bailout money, is doing OK, not great, but better than the others.

The Swine Flu scare is also a great cover for Congress who can work on passing more and more spending packages and enact things designed to give us universal health care coverage without the public debate. They can take advantage of this emergency to pass even more items to drive us ever closer to Socialism.

The Obama Administration has shown that it is a smoke and mirrors operation. They manufacture one crisis after another in order to tire people and wear them down. Then they can keep passing stuff unnoticed and before you know it, BAM, we have all these expensive things and even greater tax burdens. The economy was a crisis that we had to act upon immediately or we might not recover. Then it was not as bad as he thought. Of course, he came to that conclusion after spending a couple of TRILLION dollars to fix the spiraling economy. The stimulus will not kick in for some time. We are seeing some signs of working out of the economic downturn now. This means that things are turning around before the stimulus has had a chance to affect things. If we had done very little or nothing we would be turning around and we would have saved a couple of TRILLION dollars.

But Democrats had an “emergency” to exploit. Let us not forget that George Bush helped put this in motion. I did not agree with it then and I don’t agree with it now. I think the difference is Bush was making an honest attempt to fix things and not taking advantage of the situation. Obama is taking advantage of the problem to nationalize the banks and take over companies.

The Swine Flu, as of right now, is not a cause for alarm (just as Obama said). It is something we should keep an eye on and we should take the basic steps to prevent transmission of the disease. The number one way to do that is to wash your hands. Wash them frequently and the transmission of disease will be drastically reduced. Your mother told you to wash your hands for a reason.

The flu comes each year and makes a lot of people sick and it kills quite a few. These Swine flu reports might be sentinel events indicating a larger problem ahead. We need to keep track but we also need not lose sight of what is going on around us with regard to our politicians.

They will use this “emergency” to their advantage as long as we let them get away with it.

The CDC is tracking the outbreak and has a sign up for Swine Flu updates. There is also good information about the disease and what you can do to reduce your risk. Take the time to read it but don’t let the flu take your focus away. We can worry when it looks like this will become more widespread. Let’s keep an eye on it but let’s keep in mind that thousands get sick from the flu at any one time during flu season and they don’t go bananas like they are right now. This could certainly get worse but as it stands right now, it is a minor outbreak.

The sleight of hand artist The Amazing Obama wants you to look away.

How do the open borders folks feel now? ILLEGALS with swine flu could walk into this country at anytime undetected and spread the disease. This is what you get when you don’t uphold the law.

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Tags: crisis, emergency, gm, politics, pontiac, swine flu