Tuesday, May 12, 2009

STOP OBAMACARE

The Weekly Standard, posted Monday:

[T]he Obama plan, whatever its tactical cleverness, will suffer from the key drawbacks of all government-financed and managed health insurance. It would make the government the gatekeeper--the controller of prices and the provider of coverage. Health care decisions would increasingly be made in Washington and subject to political pressures that take into account neither patient needs nor economic realities.

Hot Air, posted today:

[I]n the Senate Finance Committee hearings on health-care reform .... [t]he speaker, Professor Stuart Altman of Brandeis University, tells the committee that resources get wasted in the American health-care system, especially for one segment of the population. Professor Altman says he’s reluctant to mention it, but why waste money on in-depth treatment for people who won’t live long anyway? Better to warehouse them and save the resources for the young.

Need more be said?

DON’T PC ON ME

Letter of Amends from a Recovering Liberal in Berkeley.

I wish her well; in Berzerkley, she's going to need all the help she can get.

MEMO TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

I’ve received my third Republican fundraising letter in as many weeks. Each has been heavy on reasons to vote against Democrats and light on reasons to vote for Republicans. Here are some examples.

Democrats have/are/will:

unleashed a socialist revolution ....
declared war against capitalism ...
[using] free-spending, fear-mongering tactics....
unleashed a ... troubling socialist frenzy ....
grow government; increase spending ..., redistribut[e] wealth, and destroy the savings of millions ....

Well, yeah. So what does the Republican party propose?

... a government that encourages personal responsibility, expands freedom and stays off of our backs ....
... ideas and commitment ...
... budget carving ...
... streamlined government using the latest technology ...

Sorry, Charlie. I’m tired of the holier-than-thou “Democrats bad, Republicans good” pontificating. I’m tired of platitudes; what I want to see is a solid Republican philosophical foundation, some small set of common core beliefs, such as Liberty; Individual Responsibility; Limited Government; Religious Freedom. Then I want to see those core beliefs reflected in Republican policies and programs, such as

Social Security
Medicare and health “care”
Taxes
The environment
Immigration
Education

I also strongly recommend that the Republican Party scan the blogosphere for every scheduled tea party for the next six months - and go. Don’t attempt to co-opt the tea parties; don’t participate in them. Just go, be visible, pay attention - and listen.

Until then, I’m taking the advice of one of the blog commenters I read recently. I’m going to give the money to SARAHPAC and tell you to go to her for advice and support.

A REAL EYE-OPENER

I’m flying back to Texas next month and need to rent a car. Here’s the cost summary for an 8-day rental from Houston International Airport (IAH):

One week @ $141.68 /week - $141.68
Plus one day @ $22.99 /day - $22.99

Total? $164.67, a bit over $20 /day. Sounds reasonable, right?

Oh, wait. I forgot to add in the estimated taxes and fees from the booking agency. Here they are, unchanged from the rental confirmation:

4.49 BUS COST REC FEE - $4.49 /rental
24.00 FACILITY CHARGE - $24.00 /rental
11.11 PCT CONCESSN RECOV FEE - $20.70 /rental
3.60 ENERGY RECOVERY FEE - $3.60 /rental
13.52 FLEET RECOVERY FEE - $13.52 /rental
10.00 PCT RENTAL TAX - $23.10 /rental
5.00 PCT COUNTY RENTAL TAX - $11.55 /rental

Total? $100.96, 38% of the total rental charges of $265.63.

The booking company helpfully added that “The taxes and fees are calculated by the rental car company at the time of booking. It is possible that some charges may change by the time you pick up the car.”

The round-trip airfare is less ....

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?

“Montgomery County dropped a $55,000 contribution to Food & Friends because council members say the charity's executive director makes too much money ... Craig Shniderman makes $380,000 a year.”

Two thoughts: (1) This “charity” takes in just under $8 million a year. How many businesses do you know whose “chief executive officers” take in salary just under 5% of the gross? (2) Montgomery County has been whining about a $297 million dollar budget deficit and yet they were going to spend taxpayers’ dollars on this?

Tell me again why more government is better.

HYPOCRISY ALERT

"Companies that take TARP money can’t hold business conferences in Las Vegas, but politicians who run up $2 trillion deficits by throwing TARP money at businesses can hold fundraisers there. Ohhhhh-kay."

We’re politicians. Rules are for little people.