The federal government has done a good job of making a large number of people slaves to government and it has done so at the expense of those who work. The government does this by giving our tax dollars to people who pay nothing in taxes by allowing credits and other deductions so people receive money even though they paid nothing.

This is redistribution of wealth and government loves being involved in it. Recently, the government raised a lot of hoopla about cutting the Social Security tax by 2% and the battle to extend that cut received a lot of attention. The cut is not paid for and will lead to an even larger deficit in Social Security but government did manage to redistribute wealth in the deal. It added a fee to new or refinanced mortgages that lasts the life of the loan. The cut is for two months and even if extended will not last as long as the fee added to the mortgages. The money will go to the general fund instead of being used to offset the SS cut. No matter what it is used for, it was taken from producers who buy houses to pay for something else.

Another program exists that cost those who pay their own bills 1.6 BILLION dollars. That program provides low income Americans with free cell phones (not free, just no cost to them). The phones are paid for with the Universal Service Fee that people pay for their landline and cell phones. As you can imagine, it is poorly managed and has a lot of waste.

This is another example of where people pay a fee that is added to their bill to provide for those who don’t have something. There is no way to claim cell phones are a right or a necessity. Cell phones are a luxury and nothing else. People in this country existed and did quite well for a long time before cell phones ever existed. Why do we have to provide cell phones for people who cannot afford them on their own?

If you can’t afford a cell phone then you should not have one, period.

The poor in America, those who pay little or no federal income tax, would be rich in most other countries. This is what the poor look like in America:

The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau as taken from various government reports:

• 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• 92 percent of poor households have a microwave.
• Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.
• Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite TV.
• Two-thirds have at least one DVD player, and 70 percent have a VCR.
• Half have a personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers.
• More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.
• 43 percent have Internet access.
• One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD TV.
• One-fourth have a digital video recorder system, such as a TiVo.

Read more at Heritage and The LA Times

Being poor in America is not as bad as it is made out to be by politicians who are hell bent on keeping large numbers of people enslaved. Why would anyone who has all this stuff and is able to receive a welfare check or some other help plus a “free” cell phone have any kind of incentive to do better?

Why go at it on your own when you can get all this stuff from the sweat of another?

Politicians like people to be enslaved to government because it gets them votes. Yes, most welfare programs from food stamps to cell phones are nothing more than methods to buy votes. Sure, the programs do provide legitimate help to people who really need it but there are far too many people feeding at the trough. Most do not need to be there.

I read this somewhere and it is true, if you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on Paul’s support.

Government assistance, or safety nets, should be there for people who truly need them and they should be short term, temporary programs that are uncomfortable for those who use them. Most of all they should encourage people to get off them.

Unfortunately, government encourages people to get on them and stay on them creating generational poverty and increasing the Democrat voter block.

If you live off the taxpayer or off those who pay fees with their bills then you are a dependent of those folks.

Don’t forget that when we require you to take drug tests or provide some kind of community service to earn your keep.

Earn your keep? Get real. These folks get by because we earn their keep.

End dependence…

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Barack Obama has ordered all insurance providers to provide birth control with no costs and no co-pays. It is dubbed as free birth control but it is not free. The people who pay insurance premiums will see their rates rise and those who don’t use birth control (for whatever reason) will pay for a service for others. It is not free no matter what any moron in government says.

Houses of worship are exempt but religious based hospitals and heath care providers have a one year delay before they must comply even if it goes against their beliefs.

I have heard the arguments about a woman’s right and I am sick of hearing it. Yes, birth control is legal and women have a right to use it. That is where their right ends. What right do they have to pay nothing for it? What right do they have that requires others to pay for their medication?

People have to pay co-pays for just about everything and some of the costs to the patients are not cheap. Why is it that women have to pay absolutely nothing for birth control? People who need medications to live (inhalers, blood pressure, heart, etc.) all have to pay something for their medication.

Women though, pay absolutely nothing for a medication that is not needed to live. It is not life saving and it is not vital for existence.

I know that part of this is Obama pandering to women prior to the election but this goes much deeper. It involves more of the same regarding pitting people against each other and infringing upon religious institutions. Obama has no regard for religion and he has no regard for the idea of responsibility.

He thinks that we should all be paying for the stuff others get and this has got to stop.

You want birth control pills, abortions, aroma therapy or any other thing then pay for it yourself.

We are not our brother’s keepers and it is high time we put this man child in his place.

November cannot come soon enough.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

While a record number of people are on food stamps the number of obese children is increasing. There is actually no food stamp program now as people receive debit cards to use taxpayer money to buy food and then use their own money to buy tobacco, liquor, and lottery tickets. While many people work two jobs to make ends meet others are living off the food welfare program and enjoying vacation time along the way. Hell, if you have no food expense then it is easy to go on vacation. And when one considers that a number of people on food welfare have children in school getting free or reduced breakfast and lunch (two meals a day provided by taxpayers that ends up in the trash) then the amount of food that can be used to barter increases.

Yes, the food welfare program is also a bartering system where people use their debit card to buy authorized items and then sell them to get some spending money. Those $150 kicks and $200 Tommy Jeans have to be paid for.

This program is under attack, as it should be, and there are plans to cut back on the record 40 MILLION people (up to 44 MILLION for the last few months) receiving food welfare, a number that skyrocketed under Barack O’Bama. It would seem the folks at the Department of Agriculture want the billions of dollars spent on food welfare to go to other things.

I agree. The program should be cut and there should be a definite criteria list used to qualify people. Folks who have cell phones (then again, poor people get them from the government too), cable TV, big screen TVs and several cars should be excluded or severely reduced. People on food welfare think they are entitled to it and have no shame in getting it even if they can afford food. One only needs to look at the story of the man who won several million in the lottery and still kept food welfare. He claimed that people would not make him feel bad about continuing to get the welfare.

And I don’t feel bad about taking it away.

We spend way too much money on food welfare (and all welfare) as we enslave people to government programs. I think that cutting food welfare is a great way to make people step up and accept responsibility for their own lives.

It also helps Mrs. Obama and her eat healthy and make fat kids get skinny program. Childhood obesity is a major problem (which means kids get more than enough to eat) so reduce or eliminate the food welfare for many families and they will have to cut back. The kids will be healthier and Mrs. Obama will feel good about herself.

Perhaps they could also reduce the kinds of items people can buy with food welfare. Reduce or eliminate meat and seafood and make them get more fruits and vegetables. No soft drinks or snacks and more healthy food.

This will help the budget and will help the Obama skinny kid initiative and will force people to get off food welfare if they want to be able to choose what they eat.

Get rid of food welfare for our children’s sake.

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Let me start off by saying I applaud Barack Obama for announcing a freeze on the pay of federal employees. As many employers let employees go or freeze salaries it is time for the people who are paid by the taxpayer to have their pay frozen as well. Obama finally came on board with what Eric Canter had proposed quite some time ago. Back then Democrats thought it was a gimmick but at least they have come around.

I am serious when I say this is a good first start but Obama did not go far enough. If the people who work for government (and we can debate that there are too many and the number needs to be cut but we do need people to work for government to make it work) then those who receive money from the government and DO NOT work for it need to have their allotments frozen as well.

NO MORE extensions of unemployment. You have your 99 weeks (and we need to reduce that) and bam, you are frozen out. No more welfare increase, you get what you get and that is it. I do not care if costs go up, you need to learn to live on a tight budget. In fact, these programs need to be under more scrutiny so we can see who does not really need to be on them. If you have flat screen TVs (and/or cable), a few cars, a house and cell phones then you need to have your benefits (as if you deserve a “benefit”) cut or eliminated. We are in a budget crisis and we are freezing the salaries of workers who are paid with tax money so it is only appropriate that we freeze or eliminate the payments of tax dollars to those who are not doing anything to earn them.

Obama took a good first step but he needs to go farther. He needs to freeze out the people who are getting taxpayer money and not doing a thing to earn it.

If federal employee’s pay is being frozen (and I am on board with that) then those who are getting checks for doing nothing should be frozen or, better yet, pared down or eliminated.

While we are at it, we should force all elected officials to take a 20% pay reduction.

We will see where this goes because Congress needs to approve it.

Source:
AP (via Yahoo)

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Nancy Pelosi is a shrewd politician but she is as dumb as a box of rocks. Her entire existence revolves around getting reelected and staying in power so she can institute Socialist programs. She lies constantly in order to push her agenda.

Remember, it was Pelosi who claimed TEA Party members (and others dissenting) were not patriotic and were violent. She had heard the rhetoric before and it was dangerous. Of course, the violence has come from the left and the stuff she heard before with the violence was liberal on liberal violence where Harvey Milk was killed over a political dispute among politicians.

The other problem with Pelosi is that she has no concept of what it is to run a balanced budget. She has no concept of how the economy works. She has no concept in what it means to make payroll, to produce profit, to provide for employees or to combat government intrusiveness as most business people do. This is evident in her latest bout of moronitis.

Nancy Pelosi said that unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs. Pelosi said this about unemployment; “It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.”

Only a moron would tell you that unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs. First of all, unemployment is paid out of taxpayer money and money paid in by employers. If people are receiving this money and spending it they are just redistributing taxpayer money from one pair of hands to another. Any sales tax collected will never reach the level of the taxes paid to fund unemployment.

Besides, when people on unemployment spend money in casinos and strip clubs, how many jobs are created and how is this activity needed in any way?

It is also well known that you get more of what you subsidize. If you pay people to be on unemployment then more people will be on unemployment. There are jobs being offered right now that pay $12 an hour and people are not applying because they get more on unemployment. Pelosi would have you believe that paying people to do absolutely nothing will motivate them to actually do something. As long as unemployment benefits (and the term benefit is misleading at best) are continually extended there is no incentive for people to get a job. If those benefits had an end date then people would be forced to find a job. By continually extending the end date the motivation to find a job is diminished.

Pelosi is a moron who does not understand this concept.

She is also working against what reasonable people can see. If unemployment is the fastest way to create jobs then why, after extension of benefits up to 99 weeks (nearly TWO YEARS), has unemployment not been fixed. If it is a way to create jobs then why are we losing jobs each month? Why is the unemployment rate hovering around 10% and why did we lose 125,000 jobs in June. Keep in mind that the unemployment rate would be much higher but the number of people who have quit looking and reportedly dropped out of the labor market has increased which means that there are fewer people looking for jobs so they are not counted in the numbers.

I wonder if they are receiving unemployment checks. We should be counting each and every person getting an unemployment check in the numbers even if they have stopped looking for work (I thought Pelosi said the checks would create employment).

If unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs then why has the Obama regime missed its job creation goals and why has Joe Biden been forced to eat his words about how many jobs would be created?

And perhaps the biggest question of all is, if unemployment benefits are the fastest way to create jobs why have we not seen massive numbers of jobs created? Millions of people are on unemployment and it has been a few years since this all started so we should see all these jobs that Pelosi says unemployment checks create.

No, it will not happen because unemployment will NOT create jobs. Spending taxpayer money will NOT create jobs. Government does not create private sector jobs which are the only jobs that will increase tax revenues (public sector jobs are paid for with taxes so they do not help anything).

If we want to create jobs and get people off unemployment then we need to decrease taxes and decrease government involvement in the private sector. We need to give certainty to the business world that it will not be punished when hiring employees. Government has failed to do this. It punishes businesses based on numbers of employees (if you have more than 50 employees you must provide this or that to them) and those things keep businesses from hiring people. Why hire 51 people and have to pay when you can make do with 50 and not pay?

Government is the problem, not the solution. And it continues to be the problem because it is imposing one rule after another and those rules are stifling the creation of jobs. Businesses are worried about the cost of cap and trade, health care takeover and the tax increases that will hit 1 January 2011. These will potentially cost money and businesses are not going to hire people when these business killing items are out there posing a real threat.

Government programs like these and unemployment are job killing measures.

Despite what that moron Nancy Pelosi says, unemployment checks do NOT create employment.

She cannot show this to be true because it is not. Once again, she is lying to people for political purposes.

But I have to wonder, if this is such an important issue (and if they are willing to compromise), why did Democrats go on their week long 4^th of July vacation (they come back the 12^th) without passing the measure to increase unemployment?

They refused a Republican compromise that would have required them to pay for at least some of the extended benefits (Democrats promised Pay Go meaning they would pay for everything they passed) and went on vacation instead.

Voters should remember this in November. Help Pelosi by putting lots and lots of Congress critters on unemployment.

Remember, she said it is the fastest way to create jobs.

Moron…

Get an Obama Tax Hike Exemption Card Today

Big Dog Salute to WT and Breitbart.

California is in financial trouble and that is an understatement. The state is near bankruptcy and has no viable plan for reducing debt and getting back on sound financial ground. Generous pension plans, unions and out of control spending as well as a welfare mentality has led this state to the precipice of insolvency.

Welfare should be for those who absolutely need a helping hand, or a hand up as opposed to a hand out. It should be sufficient to help people get on their feet and it should be short in duration. The longer people are on welfare the less likely they are to actually go out and make their own money. This leads to generational welfare where the entitlement mentality is passed from one generation the the next.

One would think that people who receive benefits because of the generosity of taxpayers (as if taxpayers actually have a say) would be responsible as to how the money is spent but that is just a pipe dream. Those who receive something for nothing usually care little about how they get “their checks” as long as they get them.

The aftermath of Katrina demonstrated the welfare entitlement mentality as the federal government issued $5000 ATM cards so that people could get necessities and make it during the turmoil. Instead of taking care of their families, many folks used the money to buy alcohol, tobacco products and other non necessities. Some folks spent the money are bars and strip clubs.

Why not? After all, it is free money…

California is experiencing the same issue with its welfare program. At least 1.8 million taxpayer welfare dollars were withdrawn from casino ATM machines. While one can argue that there is no evidence that the money was spent in the casinos a thinking person would have to ask why use the casino ATM when there are plenty of ATM machines around?

Welfare recipients used taxpayer money to gamble, that is the only conclusion that can be reached and while $1.8 million is a small amount of money when compared to California’s entire welfare expenditures, it is a substantial misuse of the money and puts a huge burden on an insolvent system.

The fraud is also not the only that is in the system. How many people use the welfare money to buy booze or cigarettes? Elaborate scams have been developed by welfare recipients and unscrupulous business people to circumvent the system and allow taxpayer provided money to be used for things that are not permitted by law.

Taxpayers in California should be outraged at the fraud in the system and should demand change. Governor Schwarzenegger has put a halt to use of welfare cards in casinos but this will not prevent people who can get cash for the cards from getting the cash and going to the casinos anyway (or from participating in the myriad of fraud schemes that run rampant in such a system).

The state needs to reevaluate the situation of every person on welfare and tighten up on those who should not be in the system or are abusing it. People should sign a contract when entering welfare so that they are clear on what is allowed and what the penalties will be if they defraud the system. Start by removing illegal aliens from the system and working to get them deported.

In addition, people who can work should be forced to get a job. If a job is advertised and they are able to do it (NO MATTER WHAT IT IS) they should be forced to take it. If they get fired or quit they are ineligible for welfare. People on welfare should be randomly tested for drug use and if they test positive they should be removed from the program. People who use welfare money for alcohol, tobacco, or gambling (and this is not an all inclusive list) should be removed and prosecuted. All fraud should be prosecuted in order to foster an environment of fear. People on welfare should fear being caught doing something wrong.

In addition, business people who assist in defrauding the system must be prosecuted. If workers in a business devise a scheme to defraud then they must serve mandatory jail time. If business owners are knowingly part of the scheme they should have their business licenses revoked and their businesses seized and sold to pay restitution. Obviously, they should serve jail time.

Continually rewarding people with “free” money makes them less willing to work and more willing to devise schemes to keep that money coming. They lose the desire to work for something and to contribute to society. Ignoring the illegal things that take place in the welfare system helps to foster this attitude and further degrades the system. It also makes it much tougher for people who actually need welfare assistance.

One more thing that should be considered. California should require people on welfare to work for the money. Obviously there are some people who will not be able (the truly disabled) but most will be able to participate. The state has plenty of roads and parks that need to be cleaned of litter. There are plenty of housing projects and parks that need the grass cut. There is a lot that can be done to earn the money from taxpayers and it is time we forced welfare recipients to do something to earn the money.

Sitting on the couch watching Jerry Springer or Oprah while waiting to squirt out another entitlement baby is not productive work.

And California is not the only state that should be doing these things.

Imagine how much money could have been saved if welfare recipients were required to shovel all the snow from this past winter’s brutal storms…

If we make welfare an uncomfortable way of life fewer people will be willing to go on it.

Who knows, maybe they can get a job at one of the casinos…

Articles:
LA Times
The Desert Sun

Never surrender, never submit.

Today’s the day- oh boy, I’ll bet the workers at the Chrysler dealerships who voted for Hussein are feeling a bit betrayed by the beloved leader. Oops— his bad. Yep, today, at least one third of all Chrysler Dealerships, with their salesmen, repair crews, make ready and body repair people, all are out on the street. Hussein must be so proud. Yes, in one bold stroke, he put another several hundred thousand people onto welfare. Democracy at work, as he does that voodoo he does so well.

As of today, those dealerships may not operate as Chrysler new-car showrooms, nor may they provide warranty service. 

The two courtroom triumphs were clear wins for the automaker, which filed for bankruptcy April 30 and has been blazing through what can be a drawn-out process.

They are also a victory for the Obama administration. 

It has lent Chrysler $8.6 billion in bailout funds and has pushed the automaker’s bankruptcy on a fast track, arguing that time is of the essence in ensuring the company stays in business. Under terms of its deal with Fiat, the sale of Chrysler into a new entity must be completed by Monday.

latimes.com

This is a total of 789 dealerships, and the reasons given are murky at best, and completely dishonest at worst. The fact that the dealerships have to actually buy the automobiles makes this a case of the government hindering commerce, something that should be unthinkable in a free market system, but as we have seen, Hussein wants to redistribute the wealth. You could see it in the way the government restructured the bankruptcy of Chrysler, and that of GM, giving the unions first grab at the candy, and shorting the creditors who by contract law rights, should have been first in line.

And now comes the flood- stuff flows downhill, and the dealers are at the bottom, and if you think Hussein cares about the dealers, think again.

The original motion to reject the dealers’ contracts was, in our view, extremely overreaching and appeared to preempt multiple state franchise laws,” said Stephen Lerner, an attorney representing roughly 340 of the targeted dealers.

He and other lawyers argued for several hours Tuesday that the automaker’s decision to eliminate a quarter of its dealer body was capricious, unwarranted and arbitrary. Further, they contended, the automaker had not shown that doing so would improve its financial situation. 

On May 14, the automaker notified the dealers slated for elimination that it would use the bankruptcy process to terminate their franchises Tuesday. Chrysler argued that its network of roughly 3,200 dealers was far too large, affecting profitability and customer service. 

In response, dealers sought to nullify the terminations or at least extend the deadline, giving them more time to unload inventories of vehicles and parts. But the bankruptcy judge, Arthur Gonzalez, soured those hopes. His ruling dictated that as of close of business Tuesday, those dealers would no longer be allowed to sell new Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, perform factory warranty service or display signage indicating that they are Chrysler retail showrooms.

latimes.com

This is just another in the series of “Let’s see just how badly we can run this Nation.”  Between this action, and the “Czars”, people Hussein appointed, who have noone but Hussein to be accountable to, we are on the way down the hill, with Hussein greasing the slide.

What will now happen, is that the jobless numbers will increase, and Hussein will use this CRISIS OF HIS OWN MAKING to ask for more power and more money, so he can do other stuff that doesn’t work either.

The man isn’t a man- he is ignorant, he is spineless (Yes, Virginia, he DID just tell Iran they could have nukes), and he is dedicated to the destruction of the Capitalistic system in this country. If you do nor believe this, just ask any dealer of American cars today- if they are not out of business, they are scared that they will be next.
And they will- no doubt of that- it’s only a matter of time.

On Friday, the automaker sent those dealers contracts guaranteeing reallocation of their remaining stock — amounting to roughly 26,000 vehicles as of last week, according to spokeswoman Carrie McElwee. 

But the automaker will charge dealers $350 for each car and truck that is reallocated, and in some cases the loss on the vehicles could be larger than that. McElwee said that closed dealers also would have the option of selling any remaining new cars on their own, but that they would not have access to any sales incentives, nor would they be able to advertise as Chrysler dealers. 

But because dealers had been scrambling to unload vehicles, many had sold cars for a larger loss, leading to frustration among those selected for closure.

“We had another dealer come by who basically wanted us to lose 10% of invoice price on every car,” said Gary Kihs, general manager of Larry Menke Inc., a Chrysler dealer in Seaside, Calif.

latimes.com

Don’t you just love it when the government orders you to lose money on YOUR cars- talk about arm- twisting- I can tell that Hussein simply must have our best interests in mind when he hurts us so lovingly. 

He amputates our businesses with all the subtlety  of a Civil War Surgeon using an axe on someone’s leg.

At least give them something to bite down on.

Once again the Socialist part of Hillary Clinton has reared its ugly head. Clinton was speaking at a transmission plant in Indianapolis when she started discussing Pentagon contracts. Ms. Clinton told the workers that the Pentagon would have to look at how a contract affected jobs in America during the award process. Hillary must have missed my article about the Pentagon NOT being a social welfare department.

Speaking at a plant here that builds transmissions for military vehicles, Clinton said she would limit the Defense Department’s ability to buy foreign-made products, in part by making the agency consider the impact on U.S. jobs when it awards contracts. WBAL

Clinton is obviously pandering to people working on a defense project. She is trying to portray problems as a failure of the Bush administration (she used those words) and that she would ensure Americans had work because she would make the Pentagon look at the impact on American workers. This is typical of liberals because they never expect people to have to produce quality in order to be rewarded. I am sure these workers do the best job they can and are proud to be working on items for our troops and I am sure they would not want troops saddled with substandard items just to appease politicians or to ensure jobs.

The Pentagon should not have to look at how jobs are affected. The goal of the Pentagon is to procure the best equipment for our troops regardless of who makes it (short of enemy or potential enemy countries). If American companies want to win contracts then they need to put forth a proposal that shows why they are the best for the job. They need to make superior products for a reasonable cost in order to win. The Pentagon certainly does not select companies because they are the cheapest or the worst so if American companies are not winning it is because their product does not match up, plain and simple.

Once again we have a Clinton using the military as a social program. In this case it is to provide jobs and in her husband’s case it was to make homosexuality socially acceptable by allowing gays to openly serve. The Pentagon is not the social welfare department and exists to make sure we have the best equipment and best troops to defend this nation. Besides, the Pentagon provides a great number of jobs already. People can enlist in any of the branches of the service and they will have a great job.

The Pentagon does not need Clinton or anyone else playing politics with the procurement process. This in and of itself shows why she is not fit to be the President.

Clinton also addressed the issue of security and ensuring our technologies are not sold off to other countries. I wonder why nothing like this was in place when her husband sold missile technology to the Chinese in exchange for donations. Somehow I don’t think the Pentagon is what we need to worry about with regard to security. Seems to me that the Clintons are a security risk in and of themselves.

Hillary has run an abysmal campaign. She has tried to be everything to everyone. She might have had a better chance if she actually took stands and stuck with them (and did not lie) but now she is toast and she is only hanging on because she is delusional (not that I mind them continuing to ruin the party). These recent remarks clearly demonstrate another reason Hillary Clinton should never run this country.

The Congress will try to override President Bush’s veto of the expansion of the S-CHIP program this week. I do not believe they have the votes needed to override the veto but the Democrats have spent a lot of effort on this expansion and want to pass this costly legislation. Unfortunately, many of those on the left who support this bill seem to lack an understanding of the system and the people this bill would cover. While they claim it is all for the children, the bill would cover people up to the age of 25 which hardly seems like a child to me though I suppose one could argue we are all someone’s child. It would also expand coverage to include families that make up to $61,000 a year. This is hardly the description of a poor family. Of course, if they did not have to pay 25% of the income in taxes [state, local, federal] they might have even more to spend on health care.

I realize that not all employers provide health care coverage but there are many that do. The left uses the argument (as evidenced in comments at And Rightly So) that it is the greedy health insurance companies that cause all the cost. They act as if somehow the government will reduce the cost by running health care for this expanded group and one person cites the “fact” that there is far less paperwork and overhead with the government. I do not know what planet this person is from but the planet is not named Reality. The government has huge overhead for its socialized medicine programs but the government does not include those costs in the calculations of the cost of the benefits. The salaries and such of health care company administrators and the associated paperwork and other overhead is part of the cost of a plan. In the government, these costs are absorbed by the taxpayer but not calculated into the cost analysis. Anyone who has ever filed income taxes knows that the government is paperwork intensive. There is also a track record that people seem to ignore. The government has never run a program at a cost under run. Every program always costs more than they estimate and every program is run with far less efficiency than in the private sector where cost control affects profits.

The left likes to trumpet how heartless the right is because it is taking away from the children. The Democrats paraded some kid out to talk about how the program benefited their family. Later reports indicated that this family sent its children to private schools and had the money for insurance. I do not know what they have, and it is really none of my business. Those who think it is wrong to attack that message should realize that if you parade anyone out with a message, that message is fair game and if one does not want to be part of the attack, don’t speak up (or at least make sure your message passes scrutiny).

There is this talk about how S-CHIP helps families who just cannot afford insurance, and on the lower poverty levels, I know this is true. However, the idea that people are sitting around fire barrels wondering about health insurance for their kids is just ridiculous. The poor in America would be classified as rich in nearly any other country in the world. In fact, the poor own homes, own cars, own color TVs and have air conditioning Heartland Institute. While the poor certainly do not live like Bill Gates they do not live like Tiny Tim (an allusion to a comment at one of the Liberal sites).

Health care is not a right. I know it is hard for the left to wrap its arms around that but it is a truth. Everyone in America has access to health care (why do you think ILLEGALS can get it) but there is no right that it will be provided free of charge. There are programs to help the truly destitute ans S-CHIP has been one to help poor kids but in its new form it helps people who should be able to afford their own health care. Cell phones, computers, cable TV, expensive cars, and fancy clothes are luxuries. I see children in poor neighborhoods wearing expensive sneakers and clothing that, had the parents bought bargain items, might have paid for health care. Living life is about choices and one of those choices is what you will spend you money on. If a parent spends disposable income for the luxuries then they are taking a decision to neglect buying health insurance. The old adage goes, you must pay yourself first. This is the key to saving and it is the key to health care insurance. After this, then what is left may go to the luxuries. The problem is, people have the priorities wrong. That and they believe that it is a God given right for them to have insurance at the expense of others. As an aside, libs will take away your right to own/carry firearms but demand we provide health care. Only one of those is a right under our Constitution.

If we want to reduce health care costs we need to reform the tort laws. Put an end to the lawsuits that stifle the health care industry and drive up costs. Sure, negligence should be dealt with but most of the suits are insane and cost lots of money. When I was in nursing school we were told that 19 out of every 20 dollars in health care goes to lawsuits. I cannot verify that but it would not surprise me. We also need to stop mandating what insurers must include in a package. States require certain items and this takes away choice. A basic package should have wellness visits and regular check ups as well as emergency care. Then, people can add on what they need. If you are going to have children, you can add the OB-GYN package and if you believe in and might have an abortion then you can add those services. It makes no sense for a 50 year old woman who cannot have children to have to pay for OB-GYN just as it makes no sense to have to pay for substance abuse counseling if you do not drink or use drugs. This is, after all, how we buy our cable TV services, and people seem to do fine with their choices.

We also need to allow groups to band together to get group rates. Civic organizations, clubs, and home owner’s associations could be offered group rates for insurance premiums. Those who do not belong could benefit if the Better Business Bureau or some other organization were included under the group plan and people could sign up.

One thing is for sure, there are problems but they will not be solved by throwing more money at them and by getting the government more involved. The educational system has gotten more money and more government involvement over the years and the only thing it has not gotten is better. Health care is the same.

As for those on the left who still think that the government is the panacea when it comes to health care. Keep in mind that the health care our soldiers get is provided by the government. It is not the military that makes the rules or runs things. We have some of the best medical people around doing truly amazing things. All the problems you read about are with access to care, paperwork problems, and cost.

While you libs are out there pretending to be horrified at the boondoggle that our military members face in health care, keep in mind that the boondoggle is caused by the very people you want running your health care. The government has had a long time to get that right and yet, it just hasn’t happened.

If you want your health care to be run like the VA, then you are on the right track.