County-Employed Jackasses

Question:

How many hundreds of thousands of enhanced-pension dollars did Dick Buschmann take when he retired from "service" at Milwaukee County?

Think he deserves them?

"It doesn't do us any good to spin our wheels and revoke people if they are still being paid in the system," she wrote in an e-mail to her then-supervisor Dick Buschmann.

She also questioned the process of referring fraud cases to the district attorney's office after finding a husband and wife stole thousands of dollars from the Wisconsin Shares program.

"We have identified $39,000 that was obtained under false pretenses that we are recouping," she wrote in a 2001 e-mail to Buschmann and another supervisor, Jackie Rice. "This case is very well documented and should be referred to the DA for review."

Buschmann repliedthat Romero was overstepping her bounds.

"The decision to recoup any overpayment is a civil not a criminal determination. It is not an automatic basis for criminal prosecution.  . . .  It is not a certifier's role to make direct referrals to the DA," Buschmann wrote.

Now and then the term "blanket party" comes to mind.

Clinton's Challenge: Cui Bono?

Over the weekend, Bill Clinton remarked that it is important 'to the Democrats' to pass ObamaCare.

That's Move One in what will be the chess-game between HRC and Obama over the 2012 Democrat nomination for President, folks.

It is manifestly clear that ObamaCare--currently HR 3200) is extremely unpopular. Large numbers of people show up to oppose it; and only small numbers show up to praise it--and those small numbers show after incessant flogging by SEIU, AFSCME, UEW, and UFCW--none of which are small-number unions.

So when Bill Clinton, who has a Ph.D. in poll-reading, throws down a gauntlet at Obama, you must ask "why?" After all, when HillaryCare began to self-detonate, Bill simply walked away and went center-right, securing his re-election.

Now he DARES Obama to push on?

Waaaaayyyyyyyyy in the background, I see Lady MacClinton rubbing her hands......

Re: Kennedy Eulogies

There's some foofafferie on the intertubes regarding the eulogies given at Kennedy's funeral.

The governing rule is here: (scroll a bit in the combox)

Order of Christian Funerals No. 170: "Following the prayer after communion, the priest goes to a place near the coffin. The assisting ministers carry the censer and holy water, if these are to be used. A member or a friend of the family may speak in remembrance of the deceased befoe the final commendation begins."

Some folks are quoting GIRM which appears to forbid eulogies altogether; in fact, that part of GIRM only prohibits the HOMILIST from giving a eulogy.

Yes, there were a lot of disappointing things about that funeral Mass, including the reading of the Democrat Party platform as "intercessory prayers." But that goes to the weakness of the Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston, folks.

The McChrystal Report and the Larger Question

The report is out, accessible here.

The Captain's Journal has a number of questions, too, beginning with McC's apparent "0/1" argument that 'killing the enemy' is not related to 'protecting the population.' Captain (and I) believe that it's both. Frankly, I have a hard time reconciling McC's position with common sense. In the end, it's likely that McC will ask for a LOT more US troops in Afghanistan.

There's plenty more hard-headed criticism which should be absorbed.

But there is The Larger Question, also raised (with inflammatory language) by Mel Laird: is Afghanistan worth it?

A lot of people don't think so, and I'm inclined to agree with them, unless one can find "Global CopShop" somewhere in the Department of Defense's charter. Clinton's forays into the Balkans and other places, and Bush's yappaflappa about "building democracy" do not hold as arguments for deploying troops to Lower Noplace.

We note that "the Taliban" is not directly an enemy of the US, for openers--and even worse, Afghanistan is barely on the edge of being a 'state' in the conventional sense. The Afghan army is not much more organized or disciplined than a gaggle of grade-school boys playing Army in the alley.

The Tali is very effective at guerilla warfare, and (last I heard) it takes about 7 regulars to defeat (or contain) 1 guerilla. That's fairly high stakes in an area where logistics are damn near impossible.....

Who are we trying to kid here?

NON-ObamaCare Solutions? Sure!!

Aside from at least three (R) healtcare plans and at least one bi-partisan plan, there are plenty of ideas for healthcare reform.

Torinus highlighted a couple drawn from the forum held near Wausau last week.

What does ObamaCare lack?

...No provision to deal with the $30 trillion unfunded liability for Medicare. The absence of a trust fund for Medicare makes it a Ponzi scheme, Stossel said

...No provision for allowing insurance to be sold across state lines. Gerald Frye, a benefits expert from Brookfield, said legislative mandates for coverage varied in add-on insurance costs from 8% to 28%. Wisconsin is at 25%, he said, so 17 points could be saved by someone purchasing a policy in a low-mandate state

...No provision for mandatory transparency on discounted prices for treatments, so people could act like intelligent consumers.

There's a lot more at the link.

HT: BeerBikeetc.

Simply Dump ALL of Congress! The CPSIA Reason

Some pollster finds that a large majority would simply dump all Congresscritters into forced retirement, immediately.

No need to wonder why; here's just the latest from the execrable buch of scumsuckers.

[Under CPSIA], Toy-makers, clothing manufacturers and other companies selling products for young children are submitting samples to independent laboratories for safety tests. But the nation’s largest toy maker, Mattel, isn’t being required to do the same. --AP

Says Agitator:

So while small companies and independent toy makers are getting socked with costly testing requirements, the big toy company whose screw-ups were responsible for the law, who then lobbied for the law, and who then hired a top Hill staffer away to help with its lobbying efforts, was then able to get itself an exemption from the part of the law that’s going to be most expensive for all of its competitors. And the regulatory agency that granted the exception kept it all quiet.

Don't let that last sentence fool you. Just like with ObamaCare, the day-to-day screwing of the public is engineered and managed by "regulators."

That's because the wormbastard crapweasels in Congress prefer to evade responsibility for their legislative emanations and deliberately assign the scutwork to "regulators."

Frankly, I think 'retirement' is far too kind for them.

(For other examples of Congressional evasion-of-responsibility-by-legislation, see Jacobson here.)

HT: Agitator

The Incredibly Incompetent Doyle Administration, Part 3549

Oh yah. You'll hear more about the Million-Dollar "Child-Care" Mama soon.

Here's an interesting tidbit that the JS's intrepid reporter, Raquel Rutledge, dug up:

...fraud investigators ordered surveillance on her house. They nailed her. Her boyfriend, Greg Wilder, was living with her and he was making $88,000 a year driving a van for another day care center, investigators learned.

$88K/year to drive a van? I drove the family's van with my children in it for about 10 years. So does the Incredibly Incompetent Doyle Administration owe me $880,000.00??

It took the Incredibly Incompetent Doyle Administration 10 years to pull the plug on the Million-Dollar Mama--

But not because they wanted to. They pulled the plug when they learned that JS was going to publish the story.

Wisconsin, North Korea, Canada, and Cuba

Jim Doyle joins Kim and Fidel......

...Canada is one of only 3 countries where citizens are forbidden, by federal law, to pay a care giving medical facility for treatment. Hence the long waitlists. The good news is that, unlike the other two - Cuba and North Korea ...

Yah, well, in BadgerCare (Dental), one cannot pay cash to obtain service, either.

Missing Data.....

There was a rally supporting ObamaCare last night in Milwaukee.

Here's the news story.

OK.

Now that you've read it, what is missing?

............

Yup. An estimate of the crowd size.

"Filled a parking lot" is as close as the reporter gets. WHICH "parking lot"? The giant one across the street from Summerfest? Or the postage-stamp one just north of the grounds?

Well, the photo gallery gives you a hint: it's the little lot just across from the main gate. But the photographer seemed unable to take a wide-angle shot.......

And the photo-gallery headline says "...draws hundreds."

HUNDREDS?

You mean to tell me that SEIU, UFCW, and AFSCME could only find "hundreds" to support ObamaCare?

The Suicide of Lodge 1947

Hmmmm.

A last-minute decision Saturday to have a second vote on a labor contract at Mercury Marine Inc. was effectively killed early Sunday when the company said it would not accept the results of any ballots cast after midnight.

Late Saturday night, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 announced there would be a second vote on the contract proposal that was scheduled to expire at midnight. Voting began at the union hall in Fond du Lac shortly after 10 p.m., was expected to last until midnight and continue on Sunday until 6 p.m.

But early Sunday morning, union officials said a Mercury Marine executive told them the company would not accept any ballots cast after midnight.

Thus, the polls will not be open Sunday as announced earlier, said Dan Longsine, the union’s chief negotiator.

Ballots cast Saturday night will probably be voided, Longsine said.

One suspects that Mr. Longsine and other lodge officers will not be very popular people in Fond du Lac over the next 3-5 years.....

Seeking Riefenstahl

Also noted by Planet Moron:

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has begun a nationwide campaign to encourage artists to create works that are supportive of the current Administration’s progressive initiatives.

Of course, Nazi comparisons are verboten.

So it's not Riefenstahl, actually. It's Eisenstein! Da, gozpodzin!

KrugSlut, Economista

Noticed by Planet Moron

...it's the biggest budget deficit in the history of the world - but it's a budget deficit that as a share of GDP is right up there.”

“It's comparable to the worst we've ever seen in this country.”

“So, we have a deficit, which is—which our political system is now unwilling to be realistic, unwilling to contemplate doing what has to be done to bring it down significantly.

--Krugslut, 2004

"As I said, deficits saved the world.”

“In fact, we would be better off if governments were willing to run even larger deficits over the next year or two.”

--Krugslut, 2009

Funny? Not Exactly: Doyle's Incompetent Gummint

Tim Hawkins does a parody of "Candyman."

TEA Party, anyone?

Hawkins' work focuses on the grand scale; this JS report by Crocker Stephenson tells us about the local corruption. It's all the same, in the end. Power corrupts, you know.

Officials responsible for reporting to the state that a Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare social worker had impregnated a bureau client did not report the incident until Thursday, months later than required by law and only after being contacted by the Journal Sentinel.

...Under state law, the bureau, a part of the state Department of Children and Families, was required to report Nelsen to the Department of Regulation and Licensing within 30 days of his departure.

Doyle's Government will be noted as the worst, ever, in Wisconsin history.

Y'All Remember the Clinton Expansion?

Yah--the Clinton economic expansion--the one that ran on the road paved by Reagan.

That one.

Peak growth in the last expansion? 3.6%.

Not bad. But it is Milorganite compared to what President Jesus predicts for HIS expansion.

Obama's glide path to fiscal responsibility -- where we merely run nearly a trillion dollars in deficits every single year -- relies upon the assumption we'll rocket to 3.8% growth by 2011 and then in excess of 4% growth for three years running, 2012-2014.

Ace points out that those numbers are wildly improbable. Perpetual Motion machines will exist before that level of growth occurs, folks.

But hey! TOTUS says it can happen.

Rockefeller (D) Concocts Vague Internet-Siezure Bill

Of COURSE it is vague and indecipherable. It's meant to be that way.

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency

..."I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

Like, for example, what is a "cybersecurity emergency"? Would that be when some Conservative publishes something about Statism? or Fascism?

The Death of Newspapers--A Different Look

Interesting.

...when newspaper chains began cutting personnel and content, their industry was one of the most profitable yet discovered by Wall Street money. We know now - because bankruptcy has opened the books - that the Baltimore Sun was eliminating its afternoon edition and trimming nearly 100 editors and reporters in an era when the paper was achieving 37 percent profits. In the years before the Internet deluge, the men and women who might have made The Sun a more essential vehicle for news and commentary - something so strong that it might have charged for its product online - they were being ushered out the door so that Wall Street could command short-term profits in the extreme.

...In short, my industry butchered itself and we did so at the behest of Wall Street and the same unfettered, free-market logic that has proved so disastrous for so many American industries. And the original sin of American newspapering lies, indeed, in going to Wall Street in the first place.

When locally-based, family-owned newspapers like The Sun were consolidated into publicly-owned newspaper chains, an essential dynamic, an essential trust between journalism and the communities served by that journalism was betrayed...

Quoted in What I Saw

Wage/Salary Growth: Where, Exactly?

Ticker quotes the BEA report for July.

Private wage and salary disbursements increased $6.7 billion in July, in contrast to a decrease of $24.5 billion in June. Goods-producing industries' payrolls increased $1.4 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $10.0 billion; manufacturing payrolls increased $5.0 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $5.9 billion. Services-producing industries' payrolls increased $5.3 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $14.5 billion. Government wage and salary disbursements increased $2.1 billion compared with an increase of $3.5 billion.

Your Government at work!

"Reconciliation"? Not Likely, Folks

Kilkenny did some homework on the idea of "reconciliation."

Doesn't look like a real smart idea--which makes Feingold's comments even more credible.

ObamaCare down.

Tax-n-Cap next!

Fat Union Thuggery, Part 2

C.W.A. got some fat slobs to show up at a townhall--and they were stiffed by the crowd who was not buying their "Aid For Union VEBA Plans" shilling. (The NY C.W.A. fatsos look remarkably like the O.E. fatsos in Green Bay, no?)

And their overboss--some bozo from a Long Island labor HQ--was booed out of the room.

Gateway has the film.

The Kagen Fakery

Berry has an account of the astroturfed love-in for Kagen and Hansen in Green Bay.

Observations:

SOME signs are more equal than OTHERS.

SOME 'security' (goons) are ........uhhh.......very visible.

Far more revolting are the actions of the UW-GB police chief. (No surprise. The UW cop-shops are known Statist havens.)

AFSCME and OE can't get more than 400 people to an Obamacare rally......

The Rule of Law

Here's a guy who understood how the Rule of Law works.

It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow---James Madison

In a few cases, stare decisis is fo' suckas. Roe and Plessey come to mind. But continuous changes in law (and even more in regulation) will lead to disaster.

HT: McCain

Gnashing Teeth, Remembering Ron

Folkie goes on a rant about Paul Ryan (R-WI).

In passing, he mentions that Ryan (R-WI) has been in Congress for 10 years.

I'll remind you that Ryan IS a Republican.

He's been elected from WI-1 every time--and WI-1 contains cities like Janesville, Kenosha, and Racine--every one of which has significant UNION population.

Nothing scares a LeftOWacky as much as a Republican who wins Union-members' votes.

Know why?

Reagan (R) did the very same thing.

(And if you are dumb enough to think "it's just Folkie, healthcare blahblah, Folkie's always partisan, blahblah, strictly co-incidence," then you don't understand (D) political strategy.

Matt Flynn is no dummy. He's wrong most of the time, but he's no dummy.

"You'll Keep Your Insurance, Except When You Won't"

Games.

Two weeks ago, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said in a now legendary "viral" email that, "It's a myth that health insurance reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits." This was sent out the day before Mr. Obama told a Montana town hall that he'd pay for health-care reform by "eliminating . . . about $177 billion over 10 years" for "what's called Medicare Advantage."

...an estimated 10.2 million seniors—one out of five in America—have enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Mr. Obama is proposing to cut the program by nearly 20% and thus reduce the amount of money each will have to buy insurance. This will likely force most of them to lose the insurance they have now. Yet Mr. Obama promised in late July in New Hampshire that, "if you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan."

Well, yah, sure, except when you're over 65 or so, what do you CARE what insurance you have? You're on the short-timers' list anyway. And if you're not there, we'll PUT you there. See "Dr." Jeckyl Emanuel.

So shut up already.

HT: Ace

Bishop v. Bishop--Weakland in the Crosshairs

Gracious. THIS doesn't happen often.

It strikes me that critics of Archbishop Weakland should be at least a little restrained in their umbrage, for after all there are many redeeming qualities of the Archbishop’s life and ministry. He responded willingly to the Lord’s call to the consecrated life; he has served the Church generously in a variety of difficult leadership positions; he has shown a determined commitment to the progress of the Church and the implementation of the Second Vatican Council; and he has consistently reached-out to the poor, the weak and the disenfranchised members of the Church and society. If his service has been marred by human imperfections, so be it. So is mine, and so is yours.

OK. Points well-taken.

On the other hand, supporters of Archbishop Weakland should also be able to recognize the self-serving inconsistencies and contradictions contained in his story.

For example, although the Archbishop always took pride in his liberal theological tendencies and his public pronouncements on controversial issues, he seemed to be genuinely puzzled, even hurt, when others labeled him a dissident.

He passionately promoted the dignity of the laity and their role in the governance and ministry of the Church, but had little hesitation about quietly using their money to cover-up his egregious sexual offense.

[AND the sexual offenses of other priests of the Archdiocese...]

He disparaged the secrecy of the Holy See but for twenty years hid his own indiscretions behind the walls of the chancery, indiscretions that were not just a matter of personal behavior but also profoundly affected the reputation and welfare of the Church.

He railed against what he considered the authoritarian pontificate of Pope John Paul II, but clearly used his own persona and authority to impose his vision of the Church upon his own fiefdom in Milwaukee, easily dismissing those who opposed him as conservative, right-wing nuts.

[And he was inclined to use his power not just to 'dismiss' opponents, but to crush them, by the way.]

In short, like many dissidents in the Church, throughout his life Archbishop Weakland benefited generously from the support of the institutional Church, but never hesitated to criticize the Church whenever it served his own purposes to do so.

As mentioned at Insight, the "d" word is almost NEVER used when one Bishop describes another Bishop. Draw your own conclusions.

Catholic Funeral for Ted?

Here's the authoritative take.

Now, any man with a 100% rating from NARAL (to highlight just the tip of the iceberg of Teddy's decades-long campaign against natural rights) has, to put it mildly, the burden of proof in seeking a Catholic funeral (okay, technically, his executors have the burden of proof, but you see the point) in that notorious pro-aborts seem to be "manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful.

"Unless, that is, "they gave some sign of repentance before death." And there is at least some evidence that Ted Kennedy did just that.

...among things, "The Rev. Mark Hession, the priest at the Kennedys' parish on the Cape, made regular visits to the Kennedy home this summer and held a private family Mass in the living room every Sunday. Even in his final days, Mr. Kennedy led the family in prayer after the death of his sister Eunice . . . [and when] the senator's condition took a turn Tuesday night a priest, the Rev. Patrick Tarrant of Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, was called to his bedside."

Folks, my reading of the canonical tradition behind Canon 1184** says that those actions suffice as "some signs of repentance", making Ted Kennedy eligible for a Catholic funeral. Of course I wish that Teddy's repentance, if that is what it was, had been more explicit, for the scandal the man left was enormous and demanded great atonement in this life (or more dreadfully in the next). But on the narrow question as to whether Edward Kennedy is eligible for a Catholic funeral, the information before me suggests that he is, and that a bishop who permits such rites can find support in the Code of Canon Law for his decision

OK.

You Got Change, Maybe No Hope

The President of the Atlanta Fed:

The real US unemployment rate is 16 percent if persons who have dropped out of the labor pool and those working less than they would like are counted, a Federal Reserve official said Wednesday.

"If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking -- so-called discouraged workers -- and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart.

Stimulated yet?

HT: Ace

Doyle Knifes Walker, Again (And Holloway, Too!)

It's not real hard to despise Doyle for his thievery and fraud--stealing $1Bn++ from the Highway funds comes to mind immediately--and stealing from the State's doctors' patients compensation fund is a close second.

But he continues to do his best to have everyone--absolutely everyone--conclude that he is the quintessential virus.

The state has rejected a bid by Milwaukee County to use a county building to continue to house food, medical and health assistance programs.

The decision could cost the county up to $1.2 million next year, unless the county is able to rent the space to outside vendors, Lisa Jo Marks, interim director of the county's Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday...

Not only Walker, whose County will have a shortfall in income---but Holloway, who slapped Doyle on the KRM deal.

Evidently Doyle wants to retire out-of-state, where the taxes will be lower.

Did Doyle Think About THIS?

I know--using "Doyle" and "think" in the same sentence when dealing with budget matters....

Oh, well.

Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released their “summer update” publication, in which they update their baseline budget and economic projections for changes in the economy and legislation enacted so far this year

...Based on CBO’s forecast for the average unemployment rate in calendar year 2010, 2.3 million fewer people will be employed on average next year than they projected in January.

No doubt the Wisconsin Budget contains a reserve against the possibility of a bit tax shortfall.

No DOUBT.

HT: Hennessey

Detainee Abuse!!

Jacobson has the list.

After you read his post, remember that Obama is a Chicago-style politician.

When Your Employer Suspended 401(k) Contributions...

Yes, that's happened to a lot of folks--the 401(k) matches have been suspended. Thankfully, some have been re-instated.

But in the meantime the P-I-Gs have not been bothered with such things as 'hardships.'

A month after they voted to punish some corporate executives for taking hefty bonus payouts, members of the House of Representatives quietly gave their own staffers a new potential bonus by making even their top-earning aides eligible for taxpayer dollars to repay their student loans.

Wait until you read the f'n excuse the Bozotwits gave for that move, folks.

Find it here.

HT: Ace/Laura

That Deficit? Even Worse!

It's the SPENDING, STUPID!!!!

With today’s release of new budget projections from the Obama administration showing deficits totaling more than $9 trillion over the next 10 years, The Concord Coalition said that cost control must be the primary focus of health care reform and called for a bipartisan deficit reduction plan. Furthermore, the administration’s numbers are optimistic when compared to what would occur if we simply extended current policy. The Concord Coalition Plausible Baseline, created using the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) updated projections, shows that current policy would lead to $14.4 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years.

Quoted (and lots more here) by Ace

The Effects of Grand-Larceny-Doyle

Obviously, Jimbo's grand larceny of DOT funds will have effects.

Besides the danger of falling-down-ramps and bridges at 894/94/45 intersection, there's this:

Wisconsin’s transportation budget faces the latest in a long line of blows — a $49.1 million budget shortfall for 2009.

The state’s Joint Committee on Finance on Thursday will discuss a Wisconsin Department of Transportation plan to help cope with the shortfall: lapsing $33.3 million in major highway development and state highway rehabilitation money for the next year.

[Montgomery (R) Green Bay]: "This lapse is just the latest on top of $1.2 billion that’s been moved out of the transportation fund for other purposes.”

"Other" is payback to WEAC, the Casinos, and Trial Lawyers.

HT: FoxPolitics

Stimulus Comes to Door County

"Stimulus" in action:

Bay Shipbuilding Co. filed a notice with the state Tuesday that it anticipates laying off as many as 405 people this fall due in large part to the economy.

State of Wisconsin (and Door County) employees will remain on their payrolls.

HT: FoxPolitics

Panetta Quits?

Rumors, but certainly not without credible foundation.

The SPLC's Latest Manifestation of Paranoia

Seeking Federal grants, SPLC has issued a new "report."

"This next generation of hate incorporates elements of the militias, gun advocates, “nativists” opposed to immigration, tax protesters, and “birthers,” who have questioned the place of birth and citizenship of President Obama.

"The alignment of these groups could provide a dangerous mix that is susceptible to violence given the right combination of encouragement and firearms.

"Gun shows are attracting hordes of militia types, with firearm manufacturers and the National Rifle Association (NRA) feeding the demand for guns among right-wing zealots.

"Meanwhile, the voices on the right are growing angrier and more pointed by the day, as has been seen in the town hall meetings Members of Congress have hosted to discuss health care reform."

Honestly, I did NOT read Arms/Law's entire post before I wrote the header for this post--but great minds, (etc.,)...

"Nil Nisi...."

So, for Ted, I choose "nil."

How Big Is Really, Really, Really Big?

Jed posts a start to the answer here.

Atheists will tell you that it just sorta magically appeared.

Yah, sure.

It's Bozo Season in Madison

Not just Bozos.

Twit-Bozos.

Bartenders would have to maintain absolute sobriety under a proposal debated by a state Assembly panel Tuesday

Being under the influence of alcohol or partying with customers is problematic for servers, bill author Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) told the Assembly’s Committee

Zepnick is nuts. I know plenty of barkeeps who have a pop or two with their customers, usually just before the joint closes up for the night.

Bury his "bright idea."

Why the Unions Support ObamaCare

Union support for ObamaCare is obvious: they provide thugs, placards, "volunteers", busses to transport members all over the countryside to agitate, phone-banks, emails--you name it.

There's good reason for that, too.

Union bosses who have mismanaged benefits for their own members are poised to receive a $10 billion bailout from U.S. taxpayers in the form of a “reinsurance program” that has been folded into the healthcare bill, according to the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI).

...Section 164 of the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 provides that the government pay 80 cents on the dollar to corporate and union insurance plans for claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees age 55 to 64. Union health insurance funds only have about 30 cents available to cover each dollar of anticipated claims, according to the Lewin Group and other research outfits

See, when union members find out that their 'leaders' have screwed up their health-trust-funds, union members might become PO'd. A LOT of PO'd. And since unions are good at thuggery, those "leaders" are justifiably concerned about their longevity in office.

Much easier to have the taxpayers bail them out, no?

Speaking of Leviathan's Self-Interests

A $Zillion in deficits, but some things are simply sacred.

For last August's BIG conference, the Department of Justice alone spent $288,000 to send 162 employees, according to agency information compiled by Republicans on the Senate Federal Financial Management Subcommittee. (DOJ was frugal -- in 2006, the State Department had spent $280,000 to send just 65 employees to BIG's conference.)

The 2008 event took place in New Orleans, and the keynote speaker was the recently indicted (and since convicted) Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. Some of the 2008 workshops taught bureaucrats to navigate the bureaucracy, and are at least sort of related to training for government work -- for example, "How to Win" when suing the government through an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint, or "How to Succeed (get Promoted) in Government." Many were self-help workshops on personal finance, maintaining one's credit rating, and "Starting Your Own Business Using Government Money/Buying Investment Properties."

The BIG Conference is certified as a "training" event. Federal employees may attend on PAID TIME OFF, plus expenses, plus registration fees, paid by the taxpayer.

But that's merely a pimple on the ass of the elephant.

The Justice Department spent $311 million on conferences between 2000 and 2006. A group of 18 major federal agencies that includes Justice spent a combined $2 billion on conferences during the same period. Department of Defense was the biggest spender at $515 million, but others in the group include the Agriculture Department ($91 million), the Environmental Protection Agency ($104 million), the State Department ($164 million), and the Department of Health and Human Services (at least $349 million)

That would be under the aegis of the Bush Administration.

The Party-In-Government (PIG Party) rolls on.

Don't Trust Government? You're Right! TEA Party Time!

TEA Parties aren't 'just about taxes.'

They are far more than that: they are about reclaiming control over a Leviathan Governmental machine created by and for the benefit of itself. That's why the Gadsden flag; the TEA Parties are not protests against ObamaCare, or Clunkers, or the parabolic increases in regulation/controls--nor even about Obama. He's merely a catalyst.

The TEA Parties are about this:

...Many of the current budget assumptions are laughably implausible. Both the White House and CBO predict that Congress will hold federal spending at the rate of inflation over the next decade. This is the same Democratic Congress that awarded a 47% increase in domestic discretionary spending in 2009 when counting stimulus funds. And the appropriations bills now speeding through Congress for 2010 serve up an 8% increase in domestic spending after inflation.

Another doozy is that Nancy Pelosi and friends are going to allow a one-third or more reduction in liberal priorities like Head Start, food stamps and child nutrition after 2011 when the stimulus expires. CBO actually has overall spending falling between 2009 and 2012...

And this:

The real fiscal crisis in Washington is that neither Congress nor the White House are offering any escape from these trillion-dollar deficits. Mr. Obama has not called for automatic and immediate spending cuts. He has not proposed eliminating hundreds of wasteful programs. To the contrary, the White House still hasn't ruled out another fiscal stimulus, as if a $1.6 trillion deficit isn't Keynesian stimulus enough. The Administration's celebrated scrub through the budget this summer identified $17 billion in agency savings. That's what Uncle Sam is borrowing every three days

More from Heritage, (HT Sykes):

While the costs of the financial bailouts and economic stimulus bills are staggering, they are only a fraction of the coming costs from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that each year Medicaid will expand by 7 percent, Medicare by 6 percent, and Social Security by 5 percent. These programs face a 75-year shortfall of $43 trillion--60 times greater than the gross cost of the $700 billion TARP financial bailout.

Heritage also mentions the Big Lie from O'ma about the Iraq War "savings." But there's more:

Federal spending per household (adjusted for inflation) remained constant at $21,000 throughout the 1980s and 1990s, before President Bush hiked it to $25,000. In 2009, Washington will spend $30,958 per household--the highest level in American history--and under President Obama's budget, the figure will rise above $33,000 by 2019.

As the budget deficit increases over the next decade, so will net interest spending, from $173 billion (1.2 percent of GDP) in 2009 to a record-level of $774 billion (3.4 percent of GDP) by 2019. In fact, net interest costs will account for 84 percent of the 2019 budget deficit. *President Obama's budget includes $1.4 trillion in tax increases, all of which would go toward new spending rather than deficit reduction.

"Deficits don't matter" in the alleged minds of those who will not pay the interest...

Of course, that's mirrored in Doyle-land, where Gummint workers "sacrifice" by taking 8 days without pay, and private-sector workers take several MONTHS without pay in exchange.

Helluva trade, eh?

The outright lies and distortions told by Obama (and Doyle), with Governments circling their own wagons at the expense of the remaining taxpayers, and the callous disregard for the next two or five generations of US and Wisconsin citizens, must come to a stop. Frankly, I think Doyle quit for a good reason: there was no way to keep all the balls in the air anymore, and his massive theft-and-fraud scheme is about to crash.

Let's hope for his sake that he retires in a distant place.

One way or the other, it WILL stop. TEA Parties may well morph into something a bit more serious in order to make that happen if Obama, the Congress, and the State don't make changes.

"Incivility"? Maybe. There are times when "civility" fails. This could be one of them.

John McCain: Kinda Stupid AND Old

I've never had much use for John McCain; aside from his sterling military record, the guy's been a self-promoting opportunist.

Now he's an old self-promoting opportunist, and getting stupider by the day.

One suspects that he'll see primary opposition next go-round...

Feingold: Likely NO ObamaCare

Three interesting out-takes from this report:

Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens," Feingold said. "The divisions are so deep. I never seen anything like that."

Feingold reiterated his appraisal a bit later.

"We're headed in the direction of doing absolutely nothing, and I think that's unfortunate,"

Hmmmm.

Later:

Feingold said he supported the stimulus package earlier this year because of the recession, but he said he would not guarantee his vote for a second stimulus if one was proposed.

"This was an emergency situation to get the economy going," Feingold said. "And I have told the administration not to count on me for another stimulus package. You can't just keep doing this because it creates hyperinflation."

Feingold also said he has not been a supporter of so-called cap-and-trade proposals, and he compared the issue to global warming, at least with respect to gaining cooperation from other nations.

Thanks, Senator!

However, you are wrong about whether HR3200 covers abortion with taxpayer dollars; it does, albeit it's a real smoke-and-mirrors deal--that is, the bill's authors did their very best to hide it. No wonder you couldn't find it in there.

Obama: Cynic, or Ignoramus?

For me, the term "cynic" hardly covers the Obama territory, but the Bishop was trying to be nice.

"Common ground" is a phrase the President Obama and some of his supporters have been using to describe their efforts to work for health care reform. But Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is taking them to task for abusing the Catholic concept, calling any labeling of the current reform proposals as common ground "a lie."

...No system that allows or helps fund – no matter how subtly or indirectly -- the killing of unborn children, or discrimination against the elderly and persons with special needs, can bill itself as 'common ground,' Archbishop Chaput insists, adding that, "Doing so is a lie."

...the growing misuse of Catholic 'common ground' and 'common good' language in the current health-care debate can only stem from one of two sources: ignorance or cynicism."

ObamaCare--Lies or Cynicism? would be a better blog-post title...

HT: ProEcclesia

A Convenient List of The Usual Suspects

This is a handy reference guide!

Chris Frates reported that the "grassroots" organizations including Organizing for America (Obama's campaign website) and the liberal comglomerate Health Care For America are organizing rallies in support of Obamacare in the coming weeks.Here's a few of the "grassroots" members of HCFA:

Abundant Children and Family Services
ACORN*
Adventists Community Services
AFL-CIO*
AFT*
AIDS in Action
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Family Voices
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees*
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
American Medical Student Association
American Nurses Association
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Americans United for Change*
AskSlim.org
Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association for Better Insulation
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Brave New Films
Bus Federation
Cafemom.com
Campaign for America’s Future*
Campus Progress Action
CareTALK
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
Center for American Progress Action Fund*
Campaign for Community Change*
Center for Rural Affairs
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Social and Economic Justice
Child Advocate Network
Children’s Defense Fund Action Council
Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare
Commonweal Institute
Communications Workers of America (CWA)*
Community Action Partnership
Community Service Society
Clergy Strategic Alliances, LLCCREDO Mobile
Democracia Ahora
Democracy for America
Direct Care Alliance
Eagle Medical Services
Future Majority
Gamaliel
Generational Alliance
Health Care for the 21st Century Consulting
Healthcare United
HIV Medicine Association
Holman Healthcare Consulting
Hope for Hepatitis C
Human Rights Campaign
International Federation of Black Prides, Inc.
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)*
Jobs With Justice
Latinos for National Health Insurance
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
MDI Imported Car Service, Inc
Moms for Universal Health Care on cafemom.com
MoveOn.org*
Muscular Dystrophy Foundation for Independent Living
My Rural America (Action Fund)
NAACP*
National Abortion Federation
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
National Association of Certified Professional Midwives
National Association of School-Based Health Care
National Association for State Community Services Programs
National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Beauty Culturists’ League, Inc.
National Cervical Cancer Coalition
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Community Action Foundation
National Consumers League
National Council of Urban Indian Health
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza*
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
National Education Association*
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
National Institute for Reproductive Health
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Minority Quality Forum National Partnership for Women and Families
National Physicians Alliance
National Women’s Health Network
National Women’s Law Center*
Northwest Federation of Community Organizations
Out with Cancer, Inc
Paint Lick Family Clinic, Inc
PHI/Health Care for Health Care Workers
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Courtesy Gateway

Quid/Quo for Hospitals Pushing ObamaCare

The hospitals agreed to "reduce" costs by $155Bn or so and are pushing ObamaCare.

Why?

Simple.

They will also GET $171Bn or so from ObamaCare.

There's more here, HT: HotAir

Bomber, Democrat Strategist--All the Same

Uh huh.

A federal search warrant obtained by the Post-Dispatch connects a former Democratic campaign strategist to a Clayton bombing last year that seriously injured an attorney.

About two months after the October bombing, federal law enforcement officials searched the downtown loft of Milton H. "Skip" Ohlsen III, seeking "evidence related to the planning, execution, and/or cover-up of the bombing in Clayton, Missouri, on October 16, 2008." Ohlsen in recent weeks has been at the center of a swirling political scandal that is threatening the political careers of at least two Missouri Democratic legislators.

Quoted in Gateway.

It's Nanny Day in the State Capitol

Legislators need a real life.

Children could no longer drink in Wisconsin bars and restaurants under a bill scheduled to be heard Tuesday by a state Assembly committee

...Under the bill, only those 18 or older could drink with their parents' consent in a bar. The legal drinking age is 21 --AP

Other than the Nannies, who really gives a rotten damn? We're not seeing reports of falling-down-drunk kiddies injured on their tricycles, are we?

Bozos.

DPI's Idiotic Rules

Think bureaucracy is stupid?

You're right.

...some high schools that had been holding freshman-only days the first day of school have had to alter plans after being notified that such days did not count as an instructional day because not all students were in school.

You get the freshmen into the joint. You put them in classrooms with teachers who teach stuff. You run them on the typical school-day schedule. You send them home with homework.

And it is NOT an "instructional day."

*Sigh*

Next up: Bureaucrats improving HealthCare!

Doyle's Rationing Foreshadows ObamaCare Rationing

Oh, yah, Jimbo--THAT was a good idea.

When Greg Cicione called his regular dental office recently, he was told he no longer could make an appointment for his 14-year-old son to get a checkup.

The reason: Cicione's son is now a BadgerCare recipient...

...Cicione decided not to make a big stink. He simply offered to pay cash, just as he always had done in the past when he didn't have dental insurance, for the desired services.

But then staff told him the office couldn't accept his cash either because they knew the boy was on BadgerCare

This is the result of rationing. Doyle's program reimburses dentists at about 40% of typical rates, and of course, the dentist will go to jail if he takes cash instead.

Timberlake, however, said the state can't afford to raise reimbursement rates at a time of historically high budget deficits, so she appealed to dentists to do all they can to alleviate the dental access crisis for low-income residents.

Doyle's priorities are WEAC, the Trial Lawyers, and casinos. Screw the poor.....

Oh, yes, there will be rationing.

The Left's Achilles Heel: Delivery

In a word, the Left is enraptured with its own mythology.

...the push for health care "reform" is in one important way, as your title states, a recklessness borne of arrogance -- or if not arrogance exactly, then of the echo-chamber quality of a liberalism that can no longer hear the outside world or, increasingly, itself. This is again related to the way Obama campaigned and has governed. The fact that big majorities are satisfied with the health care system in general and their care in particular just does not register with him. What registers are the Queen for a Day stories -- the cancer-stricken granny whose insurance company cuts her off three days before chemotherapy was to have begun, etc.

Putting a single human face on policy choices that will affect 300,000,000 people paints a powerful picture. But in short order it succumbs to the defects of its "virtues." The public is not yet so dumbed-down that it's going to cashier a system it knows and likes in favor of the Government Sponsored Unknown, and still less is it going to do such a thing on the basis of a handful of anecdotal horror stories -- stories that it senses are deeply dishonest for attempting to convey as routine something people know is anything but.

Shark has repeatedly mentioned the fact that 85% of the population is satisfied with the healthcare system in the US. His interlocutors keep yapping about the 15% who (evidently) are NOT satisfied.

But that is 'at the margins' dissatisfaction. What ObamaCare proposes--and cannot possibly deliver--is 100% happy-ness with healthcare.

Worse, for the Left, is the existence of two massive and highly-publicized "FAILS": 'Clunkers' and 'Stimulus.' In the background hovers the real possibility that TARP is also a fail, and even deeper background is the Fail of the "War on Poverty."

And in the foreground is another Massive Fail: 'Cap-N-Tax', whereby the Left claims that it will calm the seas and Save the Earth.

Nobody but the Left actually believes that stuff. Nobody else is looking into Narcissus' mirror.

HT: PowerLine

Cap-N-Tax: Crippling Wisconsin

You don't really need money for food, right?

Good.

You'll be paying the tax for your electricity instead.

Alliant projects that it could be saddled with higher costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars beginning in 2012. Wisconsin Energy puts the tab for its customers at $70 million to $90 million in year one, 2012, with the costs increasing each year.

Your employer, your school district, and your governments will ALSO pay that tax, courtesy of two Congresscritters--one from the East Coast, one from the Left Coast.

How long will we be able to afford that?

One more thing: supposedly this will reduce "global warming."

It won't do that, but that's only the cover story anyway. The real purpose is to enrich Goldman, Sachs and a few others--yes, AlGore--and the Federal Government.

HT: Glenn

HOO-RAH!

Wow! Patrick found a Marine doing what they do best: demolishing.

The victim was some LeftOWacky Congresscritter.

WOLVERINES!

JS' "Scary BPA" Doesn't Mention Fenton Communications

Gee.

You'd think that in an article as lengthy as this one, the JS would have the room to mention Fenton Communications and its pals, the personal-injury lawyers.

Like we did here, for example.

You know, just to sorta let readers know that "public relations campaigns" are run by BOTH sides in a scientific matter. And that there might be really big money--a large payoff--for someone.

Nah. You don't need to know that, do you?

The Reform of the Reform Is Underway

Noted by Rorate:

The document was delivered to the hands of Benedict XVI in the morning of last April 4 by Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. It is the result of a reserved vote, which took place on March 12, in the course of a "plenary" session of the dicastery responsible for the liturgy, and it represents the first concrete step towards that "reform of the reform" often desired by Pope Ratzinger. The Cardinals and Bishops members of the Congregation voted almost unanimously in favor of a greater sacrality of the rite, of the recovery of the sense of eucharistic worship, of the recovery of the Latin language in the celebration, and of the remaking of the introductory parts of the Missal in order to put a stop to abuses, wild experimentations, and inappropriate creativity. They have also declared themselves favorable to reaffirm that the usual way of receiving Communion according to the norms is not on the hand, but in the mouth.

For the remaining (and aging) LeftyLitWonks, both clerical and lay, this will occasion exploding heads.

For anyone with a lick of common sense, it's long overdue.

ObamaLies

Pretty soon the poor bastard will be reduced to mere babbling and drooling, one hopes.

Obama said illegal immigrants would not be part of the health care overhaul, taxpayers would not be mandated to fund abortions and he does not intend a government takeover of health care — all claims that critics have made at contentious town hall-style meetings with members of Congress. --AP

Full of crap on all three counts. Never thought I'd say it, but thank God for Clinton, who taught all of us how to parse, parse, parse.

Resume Enhancement for AEP's CEO--on Your Dime

What a jerk this CEO really is.

Utility giant AEP has applied for $334 million in stimulus money to construct the first commercial scale CO2 capture and storage project at a West Virginia coal-fired power plant. That’s about half the money needed for the project. The project goal is to capture 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 per year and then to store it 1.5 miles below the surface.

Following a bunch of mathematical stuff, we get here:

That works out to a rate of between $7.3 trillion to $24.3 trillion spent per hypothetical 1 °C rise in global temperature avoided. Remember, this is only a hypothetical temperture difference; it’s not at all certain that any temperature difference would actually occur!

All to make AEP's CEO's resume look oh, so green!

Not even Dick Abdoo had that gall.

Clunk

By the way, Rahm-a-Jamma, Obama, and Axelrod don't respect you, either--morning, noon, or night.

HT: OlFreezingBroad

"Reducing Costs of Health Care" My Foot!

In the name of "cost reduction," ObamaCare includes a few new highly-efficient/SixSigma/Lean hydra-headed G-15-laden paperpushing nincompoop havens for Public Servants.

Jacobson mentions them (it's not an exhaustive list) here.

The Incredibly Incompetent Doyle Administration

What a brilliant executive this Doyle is!! And how well he picks administrators!!

The overwhelming demand for BadgerCare Plus Core, the new Medicaid-funded insurance program for low-income childless adults, has the state struggling to process the large number of applications filed in the program’s first two months.

The lag is frustrating applicants, community health workers and health officials alike.

...From June 15 to Aug. 7, the state Department of Health Services received 37,211 applications for the Core program, of which only 5,000 were processed.

“Two months in, we’re continuing to strive to improve the efficiency and speed with which we process applications,” said Karen Timberlake, secretary of the department.

Bozos.

HT: Kilkenny

ObamaDeficit: Approaching Revolutionary Territory

Oh, yah.

We're reminded of something here:

It was only six months ago to the day, on Feb. 22, when Barack Obama proclaimed that he was going to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. And let’s be sure to recall that this was after TARP was already in play and Porkulous was under construction like a fully operational Death Star. The economy had begun to collapse the previous fall, so nobody could say it was coming as a surprise.

HopeyChangey BS, folks.

The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.

$9Tn here, another $1Tn spend on ObamaCare, then collapse the entire Upper Midwestern economy with Cap-n-Tax, run out of Medicare dollars..........

That's not just 'deficit.' That's the trigger for revolutions. And I'm not the only one who is concerned:

"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" --John Voight in the WashTimes

A very good question. Same asked by the Gay Patriot:

"Is the US in a low-grade Civil War?"

And VDH, in less direct language:

Because of his inexperience and unfamiliarity with political hostility, I think Obama will press ahead on the present course, heightening partisan tensions, dividing the country, and ultimately diminishing his presidency further still. Again, the voters wanted youth, charisma, competence, fiscal sobriety, non-partisanship, and are getting radicalism with an increasing edge to it.

HT: HotAir, McCain, BeerBiker

VERY Expensive Clunkers and Zombies, Too!!

You thought handing out $4K/car was a bit......ahhhh.......imprudent?

Wait until you get the REST of the bill.

A relative of mine is a GS-15 in one of the agencies in the Department of Transportation. He called his wife, who is visiting us, to say that he was going to answer an urgent request made by DoT for people to come in this weekend to help handle the backlog of paperwork for the Cash for Clunkers program. He said that he would earn time-and-a-half in his pay grade for the hours he works.

For a GS-15, that would be about $90 an hour. Apparently, the call only went out to current employees in the agencies under the DoT's umbrella. So GS-15 in Washington, D.C., all of whom make over $100,000 and get superb benefits (including early retirement and better health care than the rest of us) might be able to pick a couple grand over the weekend for reviewing applications. --quoted in PowerLine

Frankly, that pay arrangement is ridiculous. In the Real World, if you're knocking down $70K or so as a salary, "time-and-a-half" is almost unheard of.

And Citigroup evidently found work for 300 of its people as temps for DoT. It was a Zombie-to-Zombie deal........

Whole Foods' HR Policies

The CEO of Whole Foods doesn't think national-socialist ObamaCare is a good idea. So he's been raked over the coals by the usual suspects, including the UFCW.

Maybe UFCW has its own motives. Check out this (partial) list of HR policies for Whole Foods:

*Employees have full say in who they work with - a new employee must receive a 2/3 vote in order to make it past probation.

* Employees also vote on all company-wide initiatives

* There’s a salary book in every store - “no secrets” management believes everyone should know how much everyone else is making

* Executive salaries are capped at 14 times the lowest workers salary - If they want more money, everyone else has to get more money first

* Non-executive employees hold 94% of company stock options

* Pay is linked to team performance - profit sharing

* At least 5% of annual profits go to local charities

* Full-timers get 100% of their health care costs paid for - under plans the employees have selected

Not exactly the standard-fare HR policy playbook. So gee, whiz: maybe UFCW has a hard time sinking their dull-witted hooks into the chain?

VanHollen's Right, As Usual

He cannot defend the indefensible.

Defending the [domestic partner] law would require him to ignore the voters' approval of the marriage amendment in 2006 because he believes the budget provision recognizes a legal status that is substantially similar to the legal status of marriage, Van Hollen said in a statement.

"My duty to is to the people of the state of Wisconsin and the highest expression of their will - the constitution of the state of Wisconsin," Van Hollen said. "When the people have spoken by amending our constitution, I will abide by their command. When policy-makers have ignored their words, I will not."

Undies became bundled forthwith.

"The attorney general's job is to represent the state and defend state law when there is a good-faith defense to be made," Doyle said in a statement. "His representation should not be based on whether he likes the state law."

Really, Jimbo?

During his 12 years as attorney general, Doyle declined to represent then-Gov. Tommy Thompson in a handful of lawsuits the state ultimately lost.

You signed a law which was blatantly un-Constitutional, jackass.

Maybe you should hire a bar-admitted in-house counsel for advice next time.

Speaking of Moral Problems: Jim Doyle Surfaces!

Oh, yah. Doyle, who claims to be Catholic, may wind up defending a lawsuit.

As Gov. Jim Doyle was telling Wisconsinites on Aug. 17 that he would not seek a third term as governor, the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin were letting the faithful know of their "deep concern" about the recently approved state budget that requires them to provide contraceptive services to those for whom they provide health insurance. "This mandate will compel Catholic dioceses, parishes, and other agencies that buy health insurance to pay for a medical service that Catholic teaching holds to be gravely immoral," the bishops wrote.... "This mandate violates not just our religious values, but also our constitutional rights. The right of conscience established in the Wisconsin Constitution protects the minority from the majority..." the bishops wrote.

There is the usual shilly-shallying for publication:

The bishops wrote that while they are assessing "our options to contest this policy," they will continue to provide health insurance for church workers. Asked if the bishops might challenge the mandate in court, Huebscher said, "It would be premature to say it would lead to litigation."

One suspects that (barring some sort of walk-back from the Capitol) the only question is whether Federal or State court.

HT: Jester

ObamaFiction, Part 2: "Costs"

Hennessey observes that Obama is either seriously mis-informed about the costs of ObamaCare, or he's seriously mis-leading YOU about them. (Your choice, folks.)

Obama uses "$80-$100Bn/year to cover everybody" under ObamaCare. That's an "average" figure--and he uses that for a reason. The actual figures are hair-on-fire scary.

CBO estimates the “effects on the deficit of insurance coverage provisions” in the House bill, H.R. 3200, to be $1,042 billion over a ten year period. (See page 2 of the estimate.) The $800B – $900B figure cited by the President may be his expectation of the still-private Baucus bill.

But the program is in effect for only about five of these ten years. In the House bill, the new coverage provision begins in year 4 (2013) and phase up to full effect only in year 6 (2015). To calculate the per-year cost, therefore, you should divide by roughly six, rather than by 10.

In addition, the new spending grows really fast, so the spending in year 10 (2019) is much bigger than in year six. CBO estimates the new coverage provisions would cost $202 B in 2019, rather than the President’s $80 B (last Saturday) or $100 B (last Thursday) annual cost figures

Obama has been pretty careful to avoid telling you a few factoids. First off, the tax increases to support HR3200 go into effect 2 years before the program does--meaning that for a very short time, there will be an "ObamaCare surplus." He NEVER mentions the cost picture beginning Year 11 and forward, preferring the cute little numbers that he "averages" in the first 10 years.

And he doesn't mention what Hennessey points out: that lying with averages is STILL lying.

The Limits of Pragmatism

Neatly summed up by Rahm-a-Jamma's brother, Zeke the MD:

“[S]ervices provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens [in the body politic] are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” --quoted in RedState

In other words,

"We will spend money we don’t have to pay for health care, or we will prioritize who gets treatment. It is an inevitable fact of life that the more the government outlays to keep you alive, the more your life becomes subject to a cost/benefit analysis."

Kinda sounds like the Capitalist Mantra, eh?

Except I don't know any capitalists who apply c-b-analysis to their mother's life.

Mencken's Timeless Truths

Spotted by Arms/Law.

In discussing the (mostly) execrable Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mencken made a side-observation about the other pack of hyenas:

"There is, in fact, no reason for confusing the people and the legislature: the two, in these later years, are quite distinct. The legislature, like the executive, has ceased, save indirectly, to be even the creature of the people: it is the creature, in the main, of pressure groups, and most of them, it must be manifest, are of dubious wisdom and even more dubious honesty. Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle- a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could be applied to him he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism."

Well, H. L., some lawmakers ARE in favor of polygamy; they just don't bother with the second (or third) formal ceremony. See, e.g., Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, John Edwards (etc.)

Back to Holmes--with a far more devastating indictment.

In three Espionage Act cases, including the Debs case, one finds a clear statement of the doctrine that, in war time, the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment cease to have any substance, and may be set aside by any jury that has been sufficiently alarmed by a district attorney itching for higher office. In Fox v. the State of Washington, we learn that any conduct "which shall tend to encourage or advocate disrespect for the law" may be made a crime, and that the protest of a man who believes that he has been jailed unjustly, and threatens to boycott his persecutors, may be treated as such a crime. In Moyer v. Peabody, it appears that the Governor of a state, "without sufficient reason but in good faith," may call out the militia, declare martial law, and jail anyone he happens to suspect or dislike, without laying himself open "to an action after he is out of office on the ground that he had no reasonable ground for his belief." And, in Weaver v. Palmer Bros. Co. there is the plain inference that in order to punish a theoretical man, A, who is suspected of wrong-doing, a State Legislature may lay heavy and intolerable burdens upon a real man, B, who has admittedly done no wrong at all."

"Over and over again, in these opinions, he advocated giving the legislature full head-room, and over and over again he protested against using the Fourteenth Amendment to upset novel and oppressive laws, aimed frankly at helpless minorities. If what he said in some of those opinions were accepted literally, there would be scarcely any brake at all upon lawmaking, and the Bill of Rights would have no more significance than the Code of Manu."

It strikes me that Holmes will be oft-cited by AG Holder in the future. After all, it worked for Roosevelt and the Progressive Fascist Icon Wilson (may a camel s^%$ on his grave.)

And that reminds me:

BUY MORE AMMO!!! Remember that the 2A is what actually protects the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Why Clinton Missed Bin-Laden

Hmmmmmmm.

A St. Martin’s Press book set for fall release by Bin Laden’s son Omar and first wife Najwa, “Growing Up Bin Laden,” appears to credibly answer the question of how the Saudi terror kingpin narrowly dodged - by two hours - the Clinton administration’s biggest attempt to assassinate him.

...After a few days at Al Farouk, Osama Bin Laden “received a highly secretive communication” on Aug. 20, Omar writes. The family immediately left Khowst for Kabul - only two hours before the camp was obliterated by 75 cruise missiles.

Wasn't TOO difficult for a Paki to figure out, as we had parked a bunch of the fleet off the coast.

HT: CounterTerrorism

ObamaCare Modeled After (D) Voting Games

Sometimes politicians lie outright. Sometimes they make you figure out how they're lying.

Here's a "figure it out" lie--or How ObamaCare Covers Illegals.

Title II, Subtitle C, Section 246 of the House health care bill (H.R. 3200) stipulates “no federal payment for undocumented aliens.” The Senate bill states that beneficiaries of federal health care programs must be a citizen or national or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States. But neither bill has a provision for verifying citizenship status, according to these experts.

Rector said people signing up for government-run health care programs would not have to substantiate that they are in this country legally. “The health care reform legislation turns that on its back and tramples it into the dust,” Rector said. “It basically says, ‘We will not verify, we will not check, we have a complete open door for every illegal immigrant, current and in the future, to simply enroll and receive benefits under this program.

So, Mr. Rector, what's the problem?

After all, this is just like Democrat Party vote-schemes, is it not?

ObamaFiction: "No Abortion Coverage"

It appears that the US Bishops are not playing softball any more.

The nation’s Catholic bishops have told Congress that they oppose H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, as it currently stands, because the health-care reform bill would mandate funding and insurance coverage for abortion.

But, but, but, ......Obama says that's not true!

Well, that's ObamaFiction, to be polite.

...Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia, Pa., pointed out in the letter that the legislation would give the secretary of health and human services the power to make unlimited abortion “a mandated benefit” in the “public health insurance plan” the government will manage nationwide."

In other words, Obama is playing games. Gee! Golly! I'm shocked!!

Because some federal funds would be authorized and appropriated without passing through the Labor/HHS appropriations bill, Rigali pointed out they “would not be subject to the Hyde Amendment or other federal provisions that prevented federal funding of abortion and of health-benefits packages that include abortion.”

It's time to scrap HR 3200 and start over.

The Ups....The Downs....His .......Frowns...

Are second nature to me now,
Like breathing out and breathing in,
It's so easy to remember when He Won the E-lec-tion,
Now it's only mem'ry--'cause his numbers: de-fla-tion,
I've grown accustomed to his voice,
Accustomed to his face,
Accustomed to the Polls.

President Barack Obama's popularity has plummeted to a record low, with just 45 percent of voters now approving of his performance as commander in chief, according to the latest Zogby International poll.

Asked whether they approve or disapprove of the president's job performance, just 45.3 percent of likely voters say they approve. That compares with 50.5 percent who disapprove of the job Obama is doing.

And he's doing a helluvalot better than Congress, folks.

HT: Ace

ObamaBot HQ's New Fear-Mongering

You'll note the new FearMongering which has recently entered the Secret Decoder-Ring Circle and Intertube-Communications Device from ObamaCare HQ.

It's at Jay's place.

"The Under-Insured" (which will soon be a film noire starring Nurse Rached and perhaps the Joker) have made an appearance.

In addition, we have "Those in Fear of Losing Their Insurance"! (Maybe it will be a double-bill. "Those in Fear" will be played by a cast of millions. Or hundreds of millions. Who knows?)

"Let Me Be Clear," Said Obama...

AOSHQ pretty much nails it:

Let Me Be Clear, As I Have Always Said, Abortion Funding is Not in My Health Care Plan, and, As I Have Also Always Said, Abortion Funding is "At the Center and Heart of" My Health Care Plan: In a question specifically about abortion funding, at Planned Parenthood, he says "reproductive care" which will provide "all essential services" is "at the center and heart" of his plan.

Now who do you believe? Obama, your lyin' eyes, or the lyin' Obama?

Kohl and Feingold Won't Answer This Question, Either

Heh.

In an extended discussion of Planned Parenthood's attack on the US Bishops (and most of the Catholics they shepherd), Dick Doerflinger makes this point:

Doerflinger said the bishops’ materials about health care reform have been centered on supporting universal coverage, but opposing mandated abortion coverage.

“She [the PP harpy] keeps talking about how we’re trying to diminish a right,” he said of Richards. “A mandate is not consistent with a personal choice. If what she’s talking about is people’s personal ability to choose whether or not to buy abortion coverage, we’re not going to oppose legislation that allows that.

“We’re talking about the government mandating that people purchase abortion coverage against their will. Why would she be against that if she favors ‘choice’?

Both of Wisconsin's US Senators are openly pro-abortion. And neither of them has bothered to respond to precisely that question from Yours Truly.

Nor will they, unless they are forced to in a public forum--say a 'Town Hall' on the topic of Aborto-Facilitating "health" care.

HT: Fr.Z

Rumor: You're Going to Pay to Read JSOnline

It's been a long, long time since I've paid for a newspaper subscription, for good reason: I can read the damn thing FREE on the Intertubulars.

Yah, there are some cheesy pop-down Milwaukee Brewer ads, and the site-design resembles a junkyard with neatly-painted trash.

Regardless, it is free-to-read.

And I have repeatedly told a JS staffer that their "free-stuff" policy is absolutely stupid.

An acquaintance of mine who is knowledgeable told me recently that "free-to-read" is likely to stop, very soon, at the Milwaukee JS.

Dammit.

Insults? Nasty, Filthy Insults? Coming Right Up!!

There is a certain creativity to insulting someone--although in the cases below, there is certainly crudity. And crude innuendo. And non-innuendo crudity.

But they are also a bit creative. You may cut/paste for future use, but by all means credit the author, (Ace) or you know what could happen to you.....

[A certain female MSNBC "journalist"] is a dirty, lying, pus-mouthed whore.
A cheap, sore-riddled nasty bit of gutterscrunge who'll rent you her mouth for the change in your pocket.

A tawdry wallow-trollop oozing with syphilitic fester who raises her filthy skirts at the scent of crack-smoke.

A disease-dripping pincushion, the media's vile mattress of last resort, a pathogen in garish vinyl high heels, a loose-toothed croup-breathed nightcrawler reeking of bathtub gin, fungicide, and the genetic stink of human desperation.

A skanky bit of mung-trash sloughing off diseased skin like a leprous snake. (A leprous snake who whores out her verminous cloaca for two bits a pop, I mean.)

This sad clown of a whore, oozing with foul custard and slack and sloppy as an over-used trash bag, is too stupid to know how to lie judiciously, and so lies promiscuously and wantonly, demonstrating all the discretion she once showed in junior high when her nickname was "Automatic" [ X ].

Not the sort that gained your Mom's approval, eh, Ace?

Health Insurance "Profits"--the Propaganda

You've heard that health insurers are making obsceeeeeeeene profits, of course.

Well, they are, if you don't apply any common sense to the numbers the Democrats use.

Bert Ely, a financial analyst and monetary policy consultant at Ely & Company, Inc., told CNSNews.com: “The HCAN numbers are not a relevant measure of the profitability of the health insurers. The relevant profit measure is their profits per premium dollar collected. Those profits are just a few pennies per premium dollar.

The ACORN/MoveOn-related (!!) HCAN prefers to just add up profit numbers without relating them to anything at all. That's no different than noting that the sales of Kohl's Department Stores have risen by 500% in the last 10 years--without saying that they have opened a bunch of new stores in the same timeframe.

IOW, they're lying with numbers.

Fascist? Statist? Nope. TAX-ist!

Jacobson:

...the Senate [HELP bill] gives the Secretary of the Treasury (who is in charge of the IRS) the power to come up with whatever amount of taxation (euphemistically called a "shared responsibility payment") he or she deems necessary to achieve compliance with the health care mandate.

So?

...the very nature of the tax is unrelated to the cost of coverage. It is a tax to compel compliance. So the more people resist coverage, the more discretion the IRS would have to raise taxes to achieve compliance.

This is taxation unrelated to the federal budget needs or any rational cost of providing a federal government service. It is unprecedented taxation as law enforcement tool, and a complete abdication of Congressional accountability and responsibility.

"Abdication of accountability and responsibility" is the middle name of Congress, Professor. Other than that, your estimation is dead-on.

The more one learns about ObamaCare, the more one wants to BUY MORE AMMO!!

No "Death Panel"? No Problem for the VA!!

If it weren't Ace, I wouldn't believe this.

Last year, bureaucrats at the VA's National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, "Your Life, Your Choices." It was first published in 1997 and later promoted as the VA's preferred living will throughout its vast network of hospitals and nursing homes. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices."

Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill

...I was not surprised to learn that the VA panel of experts that sought to update "Your Life, Your Choices" between 2007-2008 did not include any representatives of faith groups or disability rights advocates. And as you might guess, only one organization was listed in the new version as a resource on advance directives: the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically known as "Compassion and Choices").

Win the war, lose your life at your friendly local VA.

Mob Member Henthoff (!?!)

Nat Henthoff joins the mob (see right).

Emanuel writes about rationing health care for older Americans that "allocation (of medical care) by age is not invidious discrimination." (The Lancet, January 2009) He calls this form of rationing — which is fundamental to Obamacare goals — "the complete lives system." You see, at 65 or older, you've had more life years than a 25-year-old. As such, the latter can be more deserving of cost-efficient health care than older folks.

Quoted by Vox, who goes on to observe:

Saying that a form of age-related discrimination is not "invidious discrimination" is an open admission that it is discrimination, you just happen to think that it's justifiable. Clearly, that's where the anti-civil rights forces went wrong... they should have argued that race-based discrimination wasn't "invidious discrimination" and was therefore perfectly acceptable.

Some pigs are more equal than others.

ACORN at the Door: Your "Home Visit" in ObamaCare

You certainly want THIS visit, no?

The health care reform bill approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) would provide federal grants to state and local governments and a "national network of community-based organizations" to "promote healthy living and reduce disparities" and to monitor people's weight, eating, exercise habits and other individual behaviors that affect health at the community level. The language instituting the program, entitled "Community Transformation Grants," is on pages 382-387 of the bill as posted on the committee's Web site.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-Mozilo, Fannie, and Freddie), thinks that ACORN could well be that "community-based organization."

Wonder if open-carry when I answer the door will 'affect the health' of the stooge who rang the doorbell?

HT: Moonbattery

Here's an Idea for Chief Flynn

Probably not too expensive, either.

PEORIA, Ill. -- This industrial city, hard hit by the recession, has found a new, low-budget way to fight crime: Park an unmanned, former Brink's truck bristling with video cameras in front of the dwellings of troublemakers.

Police here call it the Armadillo. They say it has restored quiet to some formerly rowdy streets. Neighbors' calls for help have dropped sharply. About half of the truck's targets have fled the neighborhood.

"The truck is meant to be obnoxious and to cause shame," says Peoria Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard.

The Armadillo has helped alleviate problems like drug dealing that can make neighborhoods unlivable.

You probably don't even have to have OPERATING videocams...

HT: Lott

Gummint Car Care

Oh yah.

Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They're also worried about getting repaid. --AP

Nationalized ObamaCare should be a snap compared to trading in a car, no?

Reality (Not Advertising)

The story may or may not be true, and I don't really give a rip. It's still funny.

Carnation Company is looking for their advertising pitch and offers $5K (real money in those days) to the contest-winner. A woman in Oconomowoc responds.

She is awarded $2K because this WAS realisitic and conveyed the right idea--but not exactly the way Carnation wanted to be remembered.

From a delightful lady correspondent........

We're Burying Another Wisconsin Industry

With one short line:

Janesville will lose the remaining operations tied to Parker Pen and 153 jobs, according to an announcement Tuesday

...the end of what was an institution.

Parker Pen began in Janesville in 1888 and at one time employed more than 1,000 workers there.

RIP

Doyle's Thefts Lead to "Restricted" Bridges

Just great.

The deterioration of concrete support girders on three bridges in the Zoo Interchange has added another snarl to the state's busiest interchange, forcing the state Tuesday to restrict the loads trucks can carry on those three ramps.

How'd THAT happen?

...By restricting heavy loads, we decrease wear and tear on the bridges and preserve the integrity of the structures until they can be rehabilitated or replaced." [said the Doyle sockpuppet Frankie Busalacchi.]

When that will happen is unclear, given the reduced funding for the engineering and design work. Gov. Jim Doyle put $20 million in the current for the planning work over the next two years, about one-tenth of what the DOT had requested. The Legislature approved that amount.
By contrast, the 2007-'09 budget provided $240 million for engineering and design on the I-94 reconstruction from the Mitchell Interchange to the state line. That work began this year, and the work on the Zoo Interchange had been set to follow that project.

The DOT had been preparing plans for a reconstruction to begin in 2012, but the start of the work has been pushed back for several years because of the state's fiscal difficulties and the projected cost of the project - more than $2.31 billion for the most expensive alternative

Doyle has stolen well over $400 MILLION DOLLARS from the Highway Trust fund, which would be sufficient to bolster the bridges until the rebuild.

So.......when and if one of those bridges goes *boom*, remember Jim Doyle. He'll be enjoying his departure from office.

Others may be departing their life because of him.

Consider Yourself Warned: Taxes WILL Rise

Buffett:

“Once recovery is gained, however, Congress must end the rise in the debt-to-GDP ratio and keep our growth in obligations in line with our growth in resources,” Buffett said. “With government expenditures now running 185 percent of receipts, truly major changes in both taxes and outlays will be required. A revived economy can’t come close to bridging that sort of gap.”

Too bad there is no political party that understands 'changes.....in outlays', eh?

Don't pitch your TEA Party gear. It will be required often in the near future.

Eagleburger: Jackass Extraordinaire

Eagleburger is a Wisconsin product--I once rode a YX flight from DC when he was also on the plane (so was the BowTie Senator from Illinois, and Herb Kohl.)

But Eagleburger was a jackass.

For those who believed the Cold War should be won, Novak’s Sonnenfeldt Doctrine column was a gift that kept on giving. Eight years later I was director of the Reagan Administration’s Voice of America when top State Department official Lawrence Eagleburger summoned me to his office. He was enraged by tough VOA editorials damning Polish strongman Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski as being “Soviet imposed” on the people of Poland.

Shameful.

"Stink?? What Stink? This Is the Chicago Way!"

Whassa problem, folks? The fact that a very, very, very close adviser to Obama....

Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising for Barack Obama’s White House run last year have profited from his top priority as president by taking on his push for health-care overhaul.

One is AKPD Message and Media, the Chicago-based firm headed by David Axelrod until he left last Dec. 31 to serve as a senior adviser to the president. Axelrod was Obama’s top campaign strategist and is now helping sell the health-care plan. The other firm is Washington-based GMMB Campaign Group, where partner Jim Margolis was also an Obama strategist.
This year, AKPD and GMMB received $12 million in advertising business from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, that is seeking to build support for a health-care overhaul, said the coalition’s spokesman, Jeremy Van Ess.

Hewitt points out the problem here. Cliff's Notes version:

Axelrod sells the company, but he's owed $2 million by the purchaser (his kid.) The Company makes the payments at least partially with the money it collects from PhRMA--the drug company front which is now campaigning for ObamaCare.

Hmmmm.

Was Axelrod involved in any way, shape, or form with the PhRMA/Obama mutual back-scratch?

Hewitt:

If Axelrod has been negotiating any part of any deal involving any of these players which are funneling money to the firm that owes him money, or if he is advising the president on the deals with any of these groups, that's a conflict of interest. Laundering the money through a "coalition" doesn't remove the conflict much less the appearance of impropriety. The coalition is in effect partially funding David Axelrod's severance package though its members might have done so unknowingly.

Politico will run a story on this today, and according to Politico's Vogel, Axelrod ain't talking.

HT: Memeorandum

Immorality Preservation: Planned Parenthood in HR 3200

Guess who'll be teaching your children about sex?

In Title V of H.R. 3200, Subtitle B, called School-Based Health Clinics, outlines a new federal program where the government would fund health clinics near or in the nation's public schools.

However, Section 399Z indicates that school officials won't be responsible for administering the clinics. Instead, that responsibility falls to the clinic sponsor, which could be Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion business which does more than 350,000 a year...

"The clinics would be funded by federal grants awarded by the Obama administration, which has made it clear that they expect Planned Parenthood to play an active role in their proposed health care system," [Victor Medina] says.

Is this 'health care' or is it "immorality-preservation"?

HT: The Papist, again.

Bishop Nickless on "Health Care"

There are a few very important distinctions made by the Bishop which should be circulated.

...First and most important, the Church will not accept any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research. We refuse to be made complicit in these evils, which frankly contradict what “health care” should mean. We refuse to allow our own parish, school, and diocesan health insurance plans to be forced to include these evils. As a corollary of this, we insist equally on adequate protection of individual rights of conscience for patients and health care providers not to be made complicit in these evils. A so-called reform that imposes these evils on us would be far worse than keeping the health care system we now have.

Nothing new there; as Abp. Dolan made clear, the Catholic hospitals will close down before they bow to the altar of abortion.

Here's the part of great interest:

Second, the Catholic Church does not teach that “health care” as such, without distinction, is a natural right. The “natural right” of health care is the divine bounty of food, water, and air without which all of us quickly die. This bounty comes from God directly. None of us own it, and none of us can morally withhold it from others. The remainder of health care is a political, not a natural, right, because it comes from our human efforts, creativity, and compassion. As a political right, health care should be apportioned according to need, not ability to pay or to benefit from the care. We reject the rationing of care. Those who are sickest should get the most care, regardless of age, status, or wealth. But how to do this is not self-evident. The decisions that we must collectively make about how to administer health care therefore fall under “prudential judgment.”

You get the idea that the Bishop is not happy with the USCC's web-page, which does not distinguish sausage from shinola?

Third, in that category of prudential judgment, the Catholic Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care. Unlike a prudential concern like national defense, for which government monopolization is objectively good – it both limits violence overall and prevents the obvious abuses to which private armies are susceptible – health care should not be subject to federal monopolization. Preserving patient choice (through a flourishing private sector) is the only way to prevent a health care monopoly from denying care arbitrarily, as we learned from HMOs in the recent past. [Left-o-Wackies would prefer that you forget all about HMOs, which were enabled by Ted Kennedy.]

...While a government monopoly would not be motivated by profit, it would be motivated by such bureaucratic standards as quotas and defined “best procedures,” which are equally beyond the influence of most citizens. The proper role of the government is to regulate the private sector, in order to foster healthy competition and to curtail abuses. Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect. Private, religious hospitals and nursing homes, in particular, should be protected, because these are the ones most vigorously offering actual health care to the poorest of the poor.

Well-said.

Fourth, preventative care is a moral obligation of the individual to God and to his or her family and loved ones, not a right to be demanded from society. The gift of life comes only from God; to spurn that gift by seriously mistreating our own health is morally wrong. The most effective preventative care for most people is essentially free – good diet, moderate exercise, and sufficient sleep.

So there are problems with HR 3200 AND the Senate proposal (albeit that is not finalized).

The current House reform bill, HR 3200, does not meet the first or the fourth standard. As Cardinal Justin Rigali has written for the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, this bill circumvents the Hyde amendment (which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions) by drawing funding from new sources not covered by the Hyde amendment, and by creatively manipulating how federal funds covered by the Hyde amendment are accounted. It also provides a “public insurance option” without adequate limits, so that smaller employers especially will have a financial incentive to push all their employees into this public insurance. This will effectively prevent those employees from choosing any private insurance plans. This will saddle the working classes with additional taxes for inefficient and immoral entitlements. The Senate bill, HELP, is better than the House bill, as I understand it. It subsidizes care for the poor, rather than tending to monopolize care. But, it designates the limit of four times federal poverty level for the public insurance option, which still includes more than half of all workers. This would impinge on the vitality of the private sector. It also does not meet the first standard of explicitly excluding mandatory abortion coverage.

Good, clear, concise, with the important distinctions.

HT: American Papist

Did We Say "Statist"?

In an NRO piece slapping the oh-so-correct (and testosterone-deficient) Exalted Intellectualoid Editor of NRO, Rich Lowry (!!), Steyn mentions this:

...NR's editorial defines "death panel" too narrowly. What matters is the concept of a government "panel." Right now, if I want a hip replacement, it's between me and my doctor; the government does not have a seat at the table. The minute it does, my hip's needs are subordinate to national hip policy, which in turn is subordinate to macro budgetary considerations.

***You're accepting that the state has jurisdiction over your hip, and your knee, and your prostate and everything else. And once you accept that proposition the fellows who get to make the "ruling" are, ultimately, a death panel.

The State, the State, the State.

And some cannot bring themselves to say "Statism."

HT: ProEcclesia

EPA To Strangle the Upper Midwest? Bring It On!

Game on.

The Obama EPA is explicitly saying for the first time that a pending greenhouse gas (GHG) vehicle emissions rule, when finalized, will define carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHGs as regulated under the Clean Air Act and will therefore trigger mandates for new power plants and other stationary sources to limit their GHGs. --Carbon Control News, quoted in GreenHell

From the top:

1) There is no measurable anthropogenic global warming.

2) CO2 has nothing to do with global warming, anthropogenic or not--it comprises 0.3% of the atmosphere.

3) EPA is threatening Congress in order to secure passage of Cap-N-Tax, which would limit EPA's authority over CO2. Far more important, EPA is threatening the Midwestern States' economic viability by threatening coal- and gas-fired electrical generation.

If EPA wants a war, fine. Bring it on! You, too, can meet the "bought and paid-for" unwashed, just outside your regional or local offices, or in DC. It may not be pleasant........

HT: GreenHell

M.A.S.H. Re-Written for ObamaCare

From one of the best, Planet Moron.

Through early morning fog I see,
Visions of a drip IV,
The feeding tube withheld from me,
I realize and I can see...

Suicide is painless,
It brings on fiscal changes,
And they can choose it if they please.

It appears it is too late,
For me to change my fate,
Seems they have a way to rate,
Your expiration date.

Suicide is painless,It brings on fiscal changes,
And they can choose it if they please.

The game of life is hard to play,
I'm gonna lose it anyway,
Might as well die today,
Cost too much to X-Ray

Suicide is painless,
It brings on fiscal changes,
And they can choose it if they please.

Plenty more where that came from, right here

All Those CSI Shows Down the Drain on DNA

Oh, well.

Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

But you have to admit--DNA was oh-so-much-neater than planting narcotics and guns.

HT: JustOneMinute

Obama Scrambling for Support: Wants Repeal of DOMA

Looks like the President figured out that he's losing support on Cap-n-Tax and ObamaCare.

So he's looking for rear-guard support, so to speak.

Maybe it's good tactics, but I don't think that it's good strategery.

Obama issued a statement Monday affirming that he would continue to seek repeal of the [DOMA] law, which has been upheld by federal judges in Florida and Washington state. The president said that he would "examine and implement measures that will help extend rights and benefits to (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) couples under existing law."

By choosing to double down (or triple-down) on his extreme-liberal agenda, Obama is going to put a lot of Congressional Democrats at risk of their seats, just as he has done with ObamaCare and Cap-n-Tax. This may play well in Manhattan, SanFran, and Madistan, but it's rotting carrion everywhere else.

Go ahead. Lose another 3 million voters every time there's a protest, Obama.

Running on Batteries

Neat stuff!

...a team of specialists in advanced materials and electrochemistry has produced what could be the single most important breakthrough for clean, alternative energy since Socrates first noted solar heating 2,400 years ago.

The prize is the culmination of 10 years of research and testing -- a new generation of deep-storage battery that's small enough, and safe enough, to sit in your basement and power your home.

...Ceramatec says its new generation of battery would deliver a continuous flow of 5 kilowatts of electricity over four hours, with 3,650 daily discharge/recharge cycles over 10 years. With the batteries expected to sell in the neighborhood of $2,000, that translates to less than 3 cents per kilowatt hour over the battery's life. Conventional power from the grid typically costs in the neighborhood of 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

...A small three-bedroom home in Provo might average, say, 18 kWh of electric consumption per day in the summer -- that's 1,000 watts for 18 hours. A much larger home, say five bedrooms in the Grandview area, might average 80 kWh, according to Provo Power.;Either way, a supplement of 20 to 40 kWh per day is substantial.

The other large plus for this system is that it will not require a "do-over" of the entire electrical grid. It will be a supplement.

The Lessons of California and Jim Doyle

Wonder why Jim Doyle quit?

From a speech by Tom McClintock, a California (R) politician:

"I know that everybody likes to poke fun at California - but I can tell you right now that despite all of its problems, California remains one of the best places in the world to build a successful small business. All you have to do is start with a successful large business."

And that's the only humorous part. There's one graf which is almost scary for Wisconsin residents, though:

You can trace the collapse of California's economy to several critical events: the rise of environmental Ludditism beginning in 1974; the abandonment of constitutional checks and balances that once constrained spending and borrowing; and the rise of rule by public employee unions. There are other factors as well: litigation, taxation, illegal immigration - but for the sake of time let me concentrate on the big three.

The Doyle Budgets correspond to #2 above; there's little doubt that WEAC and AFSCME are the 'shadow government' in the Capitol and many other cities in Wisconsin (#3); and Doyle's Luddite EnviroWacky program will be the Fall Session's main course (#1).

Agreed, California politicians have been creating its problems for longer than Wisconsin's.

But here's the upshot:

Today, California is like the shopkeeper, who leased out too much space, ordered too much inventory, hired too many people and paid them too much. Every month the shopkeeper covers his shortfalls with borrowing and bookkeeping tricks. Ultimately, he will reach a tipping point where anything he does makes his situation worse. Borrowing costs are eating him alive and he's running out of credit. Raising prices causes his sales to decline. And there's only so much discretionary spending he can cut. That's the state's predicament in a nutshell. California 's borrowing costs now exceed the budget of the entire University of California and it is increasingly likely that it will fail to find lenders when it must borrow billions to pay its bills at the end of this month.

You don't really have to speculate on "why Jim Doyle quit." The answer is found by looking west to California.

HT: The Hatted One

"Life Expectancy" Lines

Picking up on a Rick E. post, we have Jacobson.

...for the frequent assertion that we spend more per person on health care, but have a shorter life span than other industrialized countries. True, but there is a failure to state material facts necessary to avoid the misleading impression that the shorter life span is a result of our health care system.

Auto accidents and murders, folks.

If we adjust those OUT of the US 'life expectancy' numbers, the US becomes #1 in the world.

The AARP's Liar Proves Conservatives Right

Yesterday on FoxNews Sunday, the AARP sent some guy to lie for defend ObamaCare.

And he did what he could: he lied by omission. AND he proved the Conservatives right!

Specifically, when discussing interstate purchasing of insurance, he said that such purchasing 'would raise the price of insurance' because the demand for el cheapo policies would eventually load the cohort with people who would drive up the price of insurance in those locations.

Hmmmmmnnnnn.

First off, he deliberately forgot that SOME insurance packages are 'el cheapo' because the governing State does not have burdensome mandates. We all know that New York State, for example, has much more significant mandate-costs than Wisconsin(!!!)

Secondly, Conservatives have said, repeatedly, that adding 46 million people to "insured" status will drive up demand and prices.

Just like The AARP's Liar said.

Too bad that Chris Wallace didn't catch that for a followup, eh?

The End of the World As We Know It

Overused phrase, perhaps, but hey:

Reader's Digest Association Inc [RPPLER.UL], publisher of the widely-read Reader's Digest magazine, said on Monday it would likely file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its U.S. businesses to cut its debt load

READER'S F*&^n' DIGEST?

HT: McCain

The Czar of Broadcasting's Diktat

Curious notion here:

"Federal and regional broadcast operations and local stations should be funded at levels commensurate with or above those spending levels at which commercial operations are funded," Lloyd wrote. "This funding should come from license fees charged to commercial broadcasters. Funding should not come from congressional appropriations. Sponsorship should be prohibited at all public broadcasters."

Umnnnhhhh...really? 'Funded at levels [at] or above ...commercial operations'?

Says who, aside from you, Mr. Lloyd?

Is that in the Constitution? If so, where?

IIRC, the First Amendment does not promote speech-by-Gummint, Mr. Lloyd.

HT: MoonBattery

"EEEEEvil Banks"? Damn Right!

WaMu got a well-deserved slapping from a NYState judge.

Seems that WaMu was owed a buncha money on a multi-tenant building and the owner missed two payments.

THEN the owner wanted to pay off the entire loan--but WaMu pressed for default instead.

Why?

...the note required 11.6% interest once the loan went into default (5% above the original rate). Since the building was worth more than the amount owed, by pushing for foreclosure, WaMu could collect this higher interest rate, legal fees, and other fees.

WaMu was a leader in scuzzy practices from A to Z--that is, in originations and (now, clearly) in pushing for default foreclosures.

Evil, yes.

HT: Calculated Risk

How Much More Will House Dems Take?

Ace/DrewM makes an interesting observation.

Also fun...the rift between the House and Senate Democrats. After walking the plank on Cap and Trade only to see the Senate walk away, House Democrats can't be too happy with their colleagues in 'the other body' for not being able to get this done, despite having 60 votes.

Umnnnhhhhh....actually, I suspect that the House Democrats are far more PO'd at QueenNancy and Hoyer than at the Senate Dems. They took a couple of large risks with Porkulus and Cap-n-Tax at the behest of that dragonlady and her assistant Igor, and there they are: sitting ducks come 11/2010.

Meantime, the Senate (D)'s won't touch Cap-n-Tax, have taken out 2 odious provisions on ObamaCare ('grannykilling' and the public option), and Conrad also stated today that there will be NO taxpayer funding of abortion in the Senate ObamaCare bill.

So that makes 3 odious provisions.

S'pose the House Dems will now pass Immigration Reform and big new tax measures?

Cookie Crumbling: ObamaCare

Well.

First Sarah Palin ensures that the "kill Granny" clause was removed.

Now the "unruly mob-like Nazi gangster crowds" have forced a semi-removal of "Gummint Option."

Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new U.S. health care system.

Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan --AP

But Clinton taught us a lot, Obama. Until Clinton, the term "parsing" was used only by grammar-arcana-lovers.

We'll be very interested in how you parse "co-ops." Frankly, I smell the same rat as GummintOption; just a few yards further away in the sewer.

Barrett Whacked With Pipe

At one time, the Mayor always had a security detail composed of one (or more) MPD officers.

Looks like things changed.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was recovering Sunday morning after beating beaten with a pipe after leaving the Wisconsin State Fair with his family Saturday night.

The mayor is said to be in good condition this morning.

The incident occurred at about 10:45 p.m. in the 8800 block of W. Orchard St. in West Allis, according to a joint statement from the West Allis police and Milwaukee police.

Barrett and his family were returning to their car when they saw an altercation and heard a woman shouting that someone should call 911. Barrett began calling 911 when the suspect who had been attacking the woman, ran toward Barrett and began striking him with a metal pipe.
The suspect then fled the scene.

Police are still searching for the man, who police said had a criminal arrest record.

Based on the last sentence, it looks like a DV situation, not your basic normal hooligan-assault deal.

Stupid Wisconsin Legislature Tricks

A post wherein we pick up information from McIlheran but digress from his otherwise salient and important point.

When your employee says she needs time off under Wisconsin's family leave law and says it is to tend her live-in boyfriend - you know that now qualifies as family, yes?

It's true: The state budget that Gov. Jim Doyle signed in June says employers who had to grant unpaid family leave on behalf of sick spouses now must grant it for couples who are merely shacking up. This isn't about the state's "domestic partner" registry for gay couples, either: The leave law also applies to unregistered couples of any gender combo.

That part has business miffed. "I don't think it was well thought out," said John Metcalfe, who oversees human resources policy for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. To be an unregistered couple, you just have to meet some criteria: adult, unmarried, unrelated, sharing a home, feeling like a family and "responsible for each other's basic living expenses." A couple needs no official document, and while employers could ask for proof, said Metcalfe, "what are you going to do, go over to their house?"

Our leaders apparently don't care; it's not their money.

Not their money, indeed.

If Doyle can't chase business out of the State with high taxes and crippling regulation, then he'll just bankrupt them by other means.

While it is true that 'family leave' is un-paid, it also leaves a hole in staffing. Could be a very critical position, but hey! "Not OUR problem!!" say Doyle, Risser, and Sherman. "Your business lost customers/money/inventory/production scheduling (pick one) for a few weeks? Tough. WE gave people what they want: free time for which they are unaccountable."

This is not 'hard case' legislating; it's two worse evils combined: 1) another reason for business to leave Wisconsin, and 2) a wrecking-ball aimed at marriage.

Of the two, the latter is far more inimical to the health of the State in the long run. Great. We can have businesses choose other States and demolish the foundation of civilized society, in that order.

Ain't it just Progressive??

Buh-Bye, Harry Reid?

The desert-dwelling Badger reports:

According to Danny Tarkanian, who is challenging Harry Reid, Tarkanian is beating Reid by 8 percentage points. On the news, they reported it as 50-42%.

http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=10937258

Now, I am not convinced that this poll is totally accurate. It was commissioned by Tarkanian. However, this poll is in line with other polls that shows that Reid cannot get more than about 42% of the vote, if he is lucky.

An incumbent polling <42% is in trouble, although it IS early.

Rahm-a-Jamma Taxin' Free!!

(Rahm is related to Ollie, who owned oxen.)

Rahm-a-Jamma, who is the personification of "FIB", has a couple of neat-o tax tricks up his sleeve, eh?

Here's one:

The Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Trust was formed in 2002, when the Chicago lawmaker was first elected. The former Clinton White House aide and his wife, Amy Rule, are its only donors. Emanuel was an investment banker after serving in the White House.

The trust reported having $2,900 on hand at the end of 2005 after receiving $34,000 from Emanuel and donating more than $31,000.

During the past three years, Emanuel's charity gave nearly $25,000 to the Anshe Emet synagogue and school [a private school that the Rahm/Rule children attend]..., and $15,000 to the foundation run by former president Bill Clinton. It also gave $14,000 to Marwen, a Chicago charity that provides art classes and other educational help to low-income children. Rule is on Marwen's board.

So....Emanuel writes off his donation to the "Charitable Trust," and then directs a 'charitable' donation to the Anshe Emet school--which donation allows his children to attend the school free of charge?

Well, maybe, and maybe not, but it's an interesting inquiry to pursue.

Next up: the PropTax question.

The Cook County Assessor's and Cook County Treasurer's online records indicate Emanuel's Chicago neighbors pay between $3,500 and $7,000 annually. However, Illinois Review has been unable to locate any evidence that the former Clinton advisor and investment banker is paying his fair share of Cook County's notoriously high tax burden.

Why wouldn't 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife A my Rule pay property taxes?

One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their personal non-profit foundation called the "Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation". As the non-profit's headquarters, their home could be exempt from paying property taxes.

It could also be that Cook County lost the tax records, I suppose.

Seems that some enterprising reporter could have a bit of fun with this.

HT: McCain, the Winner

"Remember When..."??

Today's "Day by Day" cartoon is spot-on.

The other night I got a call from some fundraiser (NRCC?? Who cares??).

He read a script telling me that I would have "not-yet-public" information from John Boehner, whose recorded message came online to tell me (and a few hundred thousand other 'select few') that he was planning on running for Speaker of the House.

Uh huh.

"Have a 12ga Serving of #4 Shot, Please!"

The NY DA hasn't made up his/her mind about charging Gus.

...The thugs entered a world of hurt when they barged into Augusto's Harlem restaurant-supply shop, Kaplan Bros. Blue Flame Corp., Thursday afternoon, pulling out a 9mm pistol and pistol-whipping an employee as they demanded cash.

"I told them there wasn't any money. 'Take your gun, put it in your pocket, and go home.' They had a chance to leave," Augusto said.

But they didn't listen.

So Augusto, 72 -- known to most as "Gus" -- channeled his inner Dirty Harry and pulled out the Remington shotgun he had hidden under his desk for 20 years. He opened fire three times, peppering all four men with buckshot. "I did what I had to do," he said. "It wasn't my choice; it was their choice."

For some unknown reason, the employee who was assaulted (J.B.) remains PO'd.

Augusto and his employees tried to get back to business as usual yesterday, although it wasn't easy.

When a woman came to place a candle outside the shop, J.B. angrily kicked it across the pavement.

"Who's this for?" he demanded of the startled woman. "For the guy who died? F- - - him!"

Ummmmnnnn---that would be necrophilia.

Ace: It's Over, and The Socialists Will Win

Maybe Ace is a pessimist.

...The Democrats know two things: 1, this is their last, best opportunity to socialize the health system, and they will not let this moment pass unless the consequences for going full-retard are politically catastrophic. A lot of Blue Dogs can be bought off, and not just with pork: Promises (illegal as hell) can be made that anyone who loses his seat due to his vote can be set up in style as a top lobbyist...

...for wavering Democrats, this is a lose-lose proposition. They can either lose the moderates and independents, or they can lose their base. Both are critical. Many Democrats, even the Blue Dogs are hopes are pinned on, will likely decide that if they're going to lose a critical bloc of voters, they might as well "do the right thing" and commit America to the grueling misery of socialism before they're out the door

(a position with which Kagen would be very comfortable, I think.)

The genesis of the post was the news that "doing nothing" is better to 54% of the country than "passing Obamacare." Ace would prefer 60%++ to 54%.

Umnnnhhhh...wait a couple of weeks--or until SarahCuda unleashes her next observation.

But whatever you do, do NOT wait for the U S Bishops to call a major-league press conference and denounce, forcefully, the Aborto-Enablement of ObamaCare.

Your Government: "Best and Brightest" Researchers

Recalling that Obamamama has plans for your healthcare, it's useful to study the "Best and Brightest" currently employed by the Feds in other Cabinet-level departments.

Somebody did that for us!

[R]emember that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "report" warning of the danger of domestic terrorist attacks by right-wing extremists? With only a few exceptions, major mainstream media outlets uncritically repeated the report's assertions, which were allegedly based on credible intelligence from official sources.

It was left to a conservative non-profit, Americans for Limited Government (ALG), to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the documentation used by DHS to prepare the report. And guess what ALG found? Instead of intelligence reports, DHS used unverified allegations and speculations it found on the internet.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's researchers liked one particularly apocalyptic web site so much that they cited it 11 times in their report. This site - called "What It Means" - often warns that the world is about to end, as with this recent headline: "Death Star Pandemic of 2009-2012: End of Age Begins." --quoted in Moonbattery.

Yes, indeedy! What with "Death Panels" and all, and a New Age ushered in with HopeyChangey himself, it's obvious that the "best and brightest" were absolutely correct in using that website as a foundation for slandering veterans, gun-owners, and bible-thumpers.

Any fool can plainly see that the website is propetic!

"Death Panels" or Not?

Well, maybe.

Unwittingly, this guy hit the nail on the head:

"It's reacting to ignorance and stupidity," said Tom Frazier, executive directive of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups. "That's not a way to run a government."

Precisely.

The Government should have NOTHING to do with end-of-life decisionmaking.

Mr. Frazier may well think that the Government should get its nose into the question. He's .....ahhh......dead wrong.

Great Ad!

Now THAT is an effective advertisement!

BugniniCare--A Whole New Perspective

Heh.

Taking his cue from post-war European national health care programs, Annibale Bugnini, assisted by a small circle of spiritual-care specialists and church policy makers, spearheaded a massive overhaul of the Catholic Church’s spiritual care system in the 1960s. The centerpiece of “Bugninicare” was a program known as Novus Ordo, so-called because it introduced a New Order into the regulation of the Church’s worship. The NO regulations were aimed at extending spiritual-care benefits to those for whom active participation was previously thought to be inaccessible. Bugninicare guaranteed that barriers to full participation were removed, thus permitting access to spiritual care on the part of ordinary believers. Bugnini and his consultants were convinced that the costs their programs would exact would not be excessive

Plenty more at the link right here.

"Clunkers", Indeed

Rumor has it that many car dealers are STILL waiting....

Not for the $250,000, or $500,000, or more in "Clunker" cash from the Feds.

No.

They are still waiting for the "Notice of Approval" of the deals they did.

THEN they'll wait another 10 days ++ for the money.

No doubt ObamaCare will be much better administered.

No doubt at all.

Obama in New Hampshire: Lies, Spin, and Demagog

Hennessey has the point-by-point goods on Obama's BS in New Hampshire.

Probably the same fertilizer he'll try to spread around the Mountain States over the next few days.

The PDF format does not allow for copy/paste, sorry.....but it's only 12 pages of utter and complete takedowns.

Townhalls: The Next Chapter

The Goracle may appear!!

Al Gore’s group Repower America apparently is looking to hold townhall meetings on Waxman-Markey, reports the News-Sentinel (Knoxville, TN). Stay tuned. This could be fun!

The Bozo Parade will try to convince you that a 20-30% increase in your utility bills combined with the annihilation of manufacturing in the US is GOOD for you!

That should make the current brouhaha over ObamaCare look like a series of church picnics....

HT: GreenHell

Just DUMP HR 3200 and Start Over

HR 3200 has justifiably become a Waterloo for Obama and his Statist coterie. He cannot win except by Rahm-a-Jamma, which might incite a very serious reaction.

Better for him to publicly disavow the whole damn thing now--or there may be no reforms whatsoever.

And reforms are needed. So the Administration should focus on the Necessary Things:

1) Devise a method to accomodate pre-existing conditions;

2) Ensure portability;

3) Require upfront, clear, understandable pricing notices from hospitals and other providers;

4) Allow "no-frills" insurance packages and let insurers devise them; (some might exclude abortion and contraceptives mandates);

5) Expand HSA and HRA limits, allow using them as premium-payment vehicles, and/or reviving the old "major medical" concept; allow States to contribute to HSA/HRA accounts for those who cannot afford coverage, perhaps 'inverse' to tax liability;

6) Remove the tax penalty for individual-purchase of policies;

7) Require the several States to abrogate mandates and require "open markets" across the country.

Start, and stop, there. See what happens.

It will be foolhardy to push Statism, "counseling" of any sort, or increased-deficit-dependent plans. It will be foolhardy to Rahm-a-jamma HR 3200.

You can have change. You cannot have Statism.

The Aborto-Enablers in ObamaCare

Here's the scoop.

MYTH: Pro-life groups want to strip reproductive health from health care reform.

Reality: Pro-life groups want to protect women’s reproductive health. And we do not want to deny women insurance coverage. However AUL, along with the vast majority of Americans, believes that “Real health care respects life!” No matter what Planned Parenthood says, abortion does not equal reproductive health. And health coverage should not include the destruction of unborn children. Furthermore, no one should be forced to violate their conscience by performing, referring for, paying for, or providing coverage for abortion. And make no mistake, that’s what the bills under consideration would do.

MYTH: The health care reform bills before Congress will not change the “status quo” regarding insurance coverage of abortion.

Reality: An amendment added to H.R. 3200 permits the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include abortion in the public health insurance plan, and requires abortion coverage if the Hyde amendment is ever reversed. The current Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, is staunchly pro-abortion and would certainly include abortion, allowing for immediate federal funding of elective abortion coverage. The provision also requires that all areas of the country contain one private plan that covers abortion and permits taxpayer funding of private plans that cover elective abortion.

The Senate HELP bill delegates to a “Medical Advisory Committee” the role of deciding what benefits any private or public health care plan must offer. This Committee is expected to include abortion as a required minimum benefit. Further, based on court precedent, private plans would be forced by the government to include coverage of abortion -- this is a drastic change from the status quo in which private plans may elect to cover abortion and individuals may choose whether or not to purchase health insurance that offers coverage of abortion. Ironically, “pro-choice” activists are trying to take consumer choice out of health care.

MYTH: The health care reform bills before Congress do not mandate abortion coverage.

Reality: Both H.R. 3200 and the Senate HELP bill mandate abortion in several ways:

--an amendment to H.R. 3200 permits and may require abortion coverage in the public health insurance plan, and permits taxpayer funding of private plans that cover elective abortion;

--prior court holdings which state that abortion is included within several of Medicaid’s mandatory categories of care (inpatient services, outpatient services, and preventative care) will certainly apply to any federal statute revising Medicaid and involving health care reform, and;

--the rejection of several key pro-life amendments in the House and Senate Committees, where the inclusion would have ensured that abortion was not funded in the bills, demonstrates that the bills are intended to mandate abortion.

It is most offensive that all taxpayers will be forced to pay for voluntary abortions, a point which Senator Feingold's office simply doesn't seem to 'get.' I'm sure that Sen. Kohl, should he be awake, would not 'get it' either.

Palin scored a victory over "death counselors." Pro-lifers should score a victory here, too.

Either torch the aborto-provisions or torch the whole damn thing.

(Source: Americans United for Life)

"It Didn't Mean Anything Bad, So We Dropped It"

Well.


The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member said Thursday.

The committee, which has worked on putting together a bipartisan healthcare reform bill, will drop the controversial provision after being derided as "death panels" to encourage euthanasia by conservatives

The Senate is confused. We have been told by the President that the provision did NOT mean anything. The House just put it into HR3200 to see if anyone was paying attention. So since it didn't mean anything at all, the Senate certainly didn't have to remove it.

But they did, anyway.

Uh-huh.

HT: Ace

RIP Les Paul

HT Lakeshore

Just a smidgin of Les' ability in this video.

There'll be more vids showing up, probably with Les and his late wife, Mary Ford. Good stuff all around.

"Fishy"? Now With Tracking, Too!!

It's only a full-reverse of privacy policy.

Since 2000, it has been the policy of the federal government not to use such technology. But the OMB is now seeking to change that policy and is considering the use of cookies for tracking web visitors across multiple sessions and storing their unique preferences and surfing habits. Though this is a major shift in policy, the announcement of this program consists of only a single page from the federal register that contains almost no detail.

Observant folks will notice that "since 2000" covered the entire BUSH Presidency.

Well, we got Change!

HT: AOSHQ

Think The Message Sank In? Think Again

Harry Reid (D-Land Developers) is certain that the protests are only skin-deep or something like that.

Reid left no doubt he intends to get a health reform bill passed in the Senate, no matter what erupts at town hall meetings and whether any Republicans support the end result. "We can't let the insurance industry win another round. We're going to win this round," he said.

If the bill doesn't have a public insurance plan to compete with private ones, do the insurance companies win? I asked. "The public option is something that the vast majority of Americans want. They know that the enemy is the insurance industry," Reid said.

...The House, with a large Democratic majority, is expected to pass a bill with a public option in it. If the Senate version doesn't have one, I asked, does the public option have a shot when Senate and House negotiators meet to smooth out their differences in a conference committee?

"I'm not going to -- I have to get a bill off the floor," Reid said with a low chuckle. "So I'm not going to be threatening or suggesting anything that might come in conference. Get the picture?" I did. --Jill Lawrence, Politics Daily

Maybe Reid can't get the message due to some sort of infirmity. And maybe he thinks that the SEIU thugs will protect him by roughing up the opposition in the streets.

OK, Harry.

HT: PowerLine

UW-M Student Thought Up "Carbon Tax"

Well, well......

Like other conscientious enviros, inventor Thomas Crocker favors a carbon emissions tax. It is straightforward, less prone to lobbyist mischief and is easier to adjust to reflect perceived environmental damage than a cap.

In 1966, Mr. Crocker, still struggling to finish his thesis at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, sketched out the cap-and-trade idea to deal with air pollution produced by fertilizer plants in Florida. Mr. Crocker first pitched the idea of trading at a conference in Washington.

By the way, Crocker thinks "cap-n-tax" is useless for the purpose of reducing global CO2 emissions.

"Watering the Plants"--Self-Enhancement Version

The President's 'plant'-ation gimmicks are well-known, if not original.

But now we have plants who self-confer MD credentials!

...here is video of Ms. Mayer’s appearance, in which she claims to be a “general practitioner” who has been practicing for “four years."

That was at the Cong. Jackson-Lee "listening session" (during which Cong. Lee listened to her cellphone rather than to a question from the audience.)

However, Ms. Mayer is NOT an MD. She did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn, either.

Did I mention that Ms. Mayer is a single-payer/universal insurance advocate?

MORE: Patterico:

But I can’t find any evidence that she’s a doctor. Instead, I find evidence of a Roxana Mayer who appears to be a graduate student studying social work at the University of Houston, where Jackson Lee’s husband is a vice president for student affairs

All strictly coincidental, of course.

HT: Memeorandum

Speaking of Dumb Senators......

If you thought Jay Rockefeller (D-Baronial Class) is kinda stupid--which is easy to determine--he has a long way to go to catch up with Senator D. Stabenow (D-UAW).

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) - recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee - made clear that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.

"Climate change is very real," she confessed as she embraced cap and trade's massive tax increase on Michigan industry - at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

OK, Senator.

Baronial, But Not Smart: Jay Rockefeller, (D)

Senator Jay Rockefeller is twice a member of the Elite. Once due to 'lucky seed', another because of his position. You could say "Baronial" and hit the target.

Thus he's not acquainted with the actualities of real life. And it shows.

CNSNews.com asked Rockefeller the following: “One of the main concerns of the opposition is that over time choice will be limited because if the public option is the more affordable option it will put private insurance companies out of business over time. So, there will be no option over time. People could lose their insurance that they are happy with under their employer.”

Rockefeller responded: “No, because they don’t--No, that’s the whole point. If they are happy--158 million people have insurance through their employer. If they are happy with that coverage, they get to keep it. If the public option offers them the same coverage at a lower price, but their just for whatever, you know, generational reasons or just a sense of comfort, they want to stay with their employer’s plan, they do that. They do that,” Rockefeller said.

Actually, Senator, in real life one's employer makes the choice of health-insurance plans. We are not Members of Congress who can choose from a menu of coverage-providers and plan-designs like you can, Senator. We get the plan our employer chooses to provide.

So if the taxpayer-funded "public plan" offers coverage at significantly less cost than the private-plan competitors, the employee does NOT 'get to keep' the private plan, unless there's a Union contract in play. And in real life, Senator, Unions are simply not a factor because they represent only ~14% of non-Government workers.

Get your head out of the Family Trust and the Senate Office Building, Jay.

Hoot and Jeer! The Crowd Loves It

Heh.

There's some tolerance for noisy disputes at town hall meetings. By 51%-41%, those surveyed say individuals making "angry attacks" on a health care bill reflected "democracy in action" rather than "abuse of democracy." However, by 59%-33% they say "shouting down supporters" of a health care bill was an abuse of democracy.

Ace adds that "hooting and jeering" until the Congresscritter actually answers the question is perfectly fine--actually, a lot better than sitting there like a numbnuts after you've been blown off by the typical crapweasel evasion-factory-Congressman.

Ace also has another excellent piece of advice:

Angry blowhards filled with hate and with shaky grasp of the facts shouldn't be on television.

They should start blogs, like I did.

I can resemble that.

Look What the WSJournal Endorsed!

This may not remain online for long.....

Most economic studies agree that states have more jobs and higher income growth when they tax consumption rather than savings, investment and business profits. --WSJ editorial discussing Arizona's new tax regime.

That happens to be an endorsement of the "Fair Tax" proposal and, indirectly, a slap at Steve Forbes' "Flat Tax" scam.

Wonder how long it will take somebody to realize that?

HT: AB

Another $700K "Ooopsie" From Doyle's Government

.....and you will pay for it.

Officials at the state Department of Veterans Affairs are asking state lawmakers to cover the cost of more than $700,000 in unauthorized purchases, including a fire truck, that exceeded the department's budget.

The purchases may have violated state laws regarding spending of state funds without specific prior authorization and spending in excess of budgets, the department said. It has asked the state Department of Justice to investigate the potential violations.

...The request for additional funding will be considered approved if no one on the Joint Finance Committee objects to it by Aug. 24. Joint Finance Committee Co-chairs Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) may decide to meet about the matter if members have concerns about it.

And maybe another "ooooops!" moment:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has also discovered additional payments of $25,000 each from the King facility to the Fox Valley Technical College, in December 2007, and Waupaca Area Community Foundation, in July 2008, that were made without proper authority.

Maybe DVA is getting its legal advice from Doyle's house-counsel?

Obama's Next Awful Proposal

Because ObamaCare has been sucking up the oxygen lately, not to mention Cap-n-Tax, his next horrendous move is almost un-noticed.

But not entirely un-noticed--thanks to Americans for Tax Reform.


President Obama’s $3.69 trillion FY 2010 budget, the misnomered [read "Orwellian-monickered"] “A New Era of Responsibility,” confirmed critics’ fears. According to a report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it would have increased total spending by $2.7 trillion over ten years over the current baseline, including interest. This would amount to an increase of $9,000 for every American. Furthermore, federal spending under the President’s budget would increase from 23.6 percent of GDP in 2011 to 24.5 percent in 2019, significantly above the past 40 year average of 20.7 percent. In 2009 alone it would total 28.5 percent of GDP and reach 25.5 percent in 2010.

That budget, ALL BY ITSELF, will cost you twenty days of labor.

ATR does not believe that deficits have a negative economic impact; only taxes and regulations do. But deficits DO have to be paid for, one way or the other, and the typical method is to raise taxes.

(You might have heard some talk about raising taxes.)

Our Governor, James Doyle, has seen to it that economic activity in Wisconsin will be squelched. That's because James Doyle has engineered a number of tax increases (and he lied like Hell about them).

How bad is it?

Wisconsin is now among the 12 worst States in the Union, measured by "cost of Government," and next calendar year will be worse. We rank 37th.

Wonderful.

What--"Forever Stamps" for Oldsters in ObamaCare?

No TOTUS.

Stuff happens.

Obama, not smart enough to shut up, managed to insert a whole new dimension into the discussion: that ObamaCare will be another version of the US Post Office. Mutatis mutandis, of course.

You know, the Federal bureaucracy with a monopoly on first-class mail (and a monopoly on 4th-class, by default) which will LOSE $Billions this year?

Yah, that one!

But the idea is not without some benefits.

The USPO could sell a lot of its trucks to ObamaCare as ambulance-prototypes, right-hand drive and all (to remind us of England's fabulous health system).

And all those stamps could be exchanged for Blue Pills!!

Many of the offices could be converted to waiting rooms. You could even double up--one line for stamps, the other for Rx services!

And those conveyors--ohhhh, wow. Transfer-lines for patients moving from "Blue Pill Ward" to (dare we hope) "See a Doctor" line!! Terrific for non-ambulatory patients!

Of course, if a patient expired in the process, there are those Cancelling Machines.....

I think Axelrod should get busy. This deserves a bunch of good spin.

"Edge-Pusher" or Nutcase?

You've all heard about the open-carrying character who showed up outside the Obama Disinformation-a-la-Palooza in New Hampshire.

So happens (IIRC) that New Hampshire has zero laws regarding concealed OR open carry, so it's possible that this guy straps it on every day, just like he puts on his shoes.

How-some-ever......

The "...tree of liberty" sign he's carrying kinda moves him from oddball to pusher-of-the-edge, to say the least.

And open carry near ~200 LEO's--local, county, State, and Federal--who are surrounding the President?

I vote for nutcase. He might be harmless, but he's a nutcase.

The Eschatology of the Progressives, Redux

Esenberg found this, from Walter Lippmann:

...men who call themselves communists, socialists, fascists, nationalists, progressives and even liberals, are unanimous in holding that government with its instruments of coercion must by commanding the people how they should live, direct the course of civilization and fix the shape of things to come ... [T]he premises of authoritarian collectivism have become the working beliefs, the self-evident assumptions, the unquestioned axioms, not only of the revolutionary regimes. but of nearly every effort which lays claim to being enlightened, humane and progressive."

Lippman provides example, too; he does not question the motives of the Progressives--that is, he does not accuse them of malevolence.

There is no doubt that the Left--the "communists, socialists, fascists, nationalists, progressives and even liberals"--are well-meaning for the most part. They want good things for everyone, an admirable goal.

Trouble is that that 'good things for everyone' goal is unattainable and Common Men know it. No 'expert' can remedy the human condition. No 'expert' can 'fix the shape of things to come.' And we know it.

The problem is in the Eschatology.

The Cost of Cap-n-Tax, Latest Edition

We can pay for this with health-care savings, no doubt.

...the federal Energy Information Administration released a report Wednesday that tallied up the costs of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the carbon cap-and-trade bill that passed the House of Representatives in May and goes to the Senate for a vote in the fall. The agency's analysis found that the bill would increase the cost of energy, pare economic output, curb purchasing power and cut $432 billion to $1.9 trillion from the nation's gross domestic product by 2030.

Other than that, what's the problem?

HT: Moonbattery

Don't Let Doyle Read This Post

.....or the jackass will get ideas.

Northeastern governors may ban home furnaces that burn oil in order to meet greenhouse gas emission limits.

The governors are expected to approve “a blueprint for slashing carbon dioxide from cars — and perhaps home furnaces — by January,” reports ClimateWire.

A new furnace is only about $3K or so. Pay for it with your health-care savings!!

Jim Doyle will not make this happen until the furnace industry coughs up $250K or so in "campaign bribes donations."

HT: GreenHell

"Preventive Care" Will NOT Reduce Costs

Hey--it's not just the Conservatives any more.

The Congressional Budget Office has now joined Phil Klein:

Although different types of preventive care have different effects on spending, the evidence suggests that for most preventive services, expanded utilization leads to higher, not lower, medical spending overall.

...when analyzing the effects of preventive care on total spending for health care, it is important to recognize that doctors do not know beforehand which patients are going to develop costly illnesses. To avert one case of acute illness, it is usually necessary to provide preventive care to many patients, most of whom would not have suffered that illness anyway. Judging the overall effect on medical spending requires analysts to calculate not just the savings from the relatively few individuals who would avoid more expensive treatment later, but also the costs of the many who would make greater use of preventive care...

HT: AmSpecBlog

The Actual Cost of ObamaCare: Add $1Trillion

Oh, what the hell's another trillion or so?

...The CBO is actually being kind to the would-be reformers. Its analysis likely understates—by at least $1 trillion—the true costs of expanding health coverage as current Democratic legislation contemplates.

The discrepancies between our estimates and CBO’s stem from our different assumptions about a key issue...How many people would opt for coverage under this public insurance? We believe that both large and small employers would have powerful incentives to shift their employees out of private coverage and into the public plan. Like the Urban Institute, we estimate that roughly 40 million people would make the shift. CBO seems to assume, however, that large employers would use the public plan only sparingly and that only 11 million people would move from private to public insurance—which would, of course, result in lower costs

29 million difference?

Yah. Those who are parroting the ObamaLine on this are colossal economic ignorami.

The 50th percentile overall average (mean) wage paid in the USA in 2005 was $14.96/hour, according to BLS. It's increased since then, of course--so let's round it up to $15.00/hour.

That's $31,200./year.

HR3200 envisions an 8% payroll tax for entities which do NOT provide health insurance--which would be about $2,500./year. Right now, a typical FAMILY insurance policy costs about $1,000/month.

$12K for insurance or $2500 for tax--which would YOU rather pay??

Scritch, scratch, scritch.........

Right-o, BeanCounter!! Pay the fine and dump the employees into "public option." Unless your workforce is covered by a union contract, of course--and by no co-incidence whatsoever, unions support (D) politicians!

So only about 14% of the private-sector workers will retain their health insurance, and a much larger percentage of Gummint employees (at all levels.)

Meaning that the Manhattan Institute and the Urban Institute are correct, and that the ObamaBots are wrong.

But hey! It's only $1Trillion or so...

HT: AmSpecBlog

Curious Defense Proposal, Indeed

Here's an interesting story.

A bipartisan pair of governors is opposing a new Defense Department proposal to handle natural and terrorism-related disasters, contending that a murky chain of command could lead to more problems than solutions.

How did THAT become an issue?

Though the Pentagon has said the legislative fix would increase the number of Defense Department personnel available to respond to disasters, Douglas and Manchin expressed skepticism, arguing that current law already allows the Pentagon to order personnel to key areas inside the U.S.

A similar fix was removed from the Defense Department appropriation measure in conference committee for fiscal 2009.

Curious. The appropriation was taken OUT, then "the Pentagon" proposes the same language?

A Little Overconfidence, Mr. Obama?

The guy can't be accused of code-speaking. From AP:

Mexico – President Barack Obama predicted Monday that Congress would pass his sweeping health care overhaul this fall as more "sensible and reasoned arguments" prevail.

Uh huh. Maybe more "sensible and reasoned" legislation would be appropriate, Bamster.

And the poor fellow expects that Congress will roll over and pass Cap-n-Tax!

...politically and legislatively, the matter [immigration reform] stands behind health care, energy legislation and an overhaul of financial regulatory rules on Obama's first-term agenda.

That agenda will be very stressful for Congresscritters who like their jobs, Won.

Abp. Dolan Condems Aborto-ObamaCare

Good SHOW, Archbishop!!

“Health care reform is a good thing,” New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan told CNA on Wednesday during in interview in Phoenix, Arizona. However, if it “leads to the destruction of life, then we say it’s no longer health care at all - it’s unhealthy care and we can’t be part of that.”

...Speaking directly to President Obama’s current initiative to reform health care, the archbishop said that “in principle” the Church says, “bravo!”

“That having been said, the devil is in the details,” he warned. While the Church agrees on the “what,” namely, “on the reform and renewed, reinvigorated health care,” it has some things to say on how it is carried out

...If health care begins to lead to the “destruction of human life” through avenues such as abortion, end of life care, or the discarding human embryos, then “we say it’s no longer health care at all. “It’s unhealthy care and we can’t be part of that,” Archbishop Dolan stated

Well, that answers our question about Abp. Dolan's position on the topic.

The Feds: Madness and Methods of ObamaCare

News item:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in its great wisdom, has determined that Belmont Abbey College discriminated against women when it changed a policy that had previously allowed women to have oral contraception covered by the College's medical plan.

This is discrimination against women, the EEOC says, because only women take oral contraception.

I hold that because Belmont Abbey is a Catholic college, it has a 1st Amendment right in this case. That may not be relevant in EEOC filings. I don't know.

The case, however, is significant in light of the ObamaCare debate. There is no question that the provisions of HR 3200 mandate taxpayer support of abortion. And when the "public option" plan is specified, it will undoubtedly require contraceptive coverage. You know the drill: the "public option" is only the first step on the way to single-payer, yada yada.

So the 'contraceptives required' violation of the 1st Amendment will be forced onto Catholics, too--just like abortion payments.

By the way, I think covering Viagra is insane, too, and if forced upon Catholic institutions, it is another 1st-Amendment violation.

The Real Eschatology (Not the Progressive Version)

Cdl. Levada to the K of C:

All Christians are called to give over their lives to Christ, to allow Him to live through them. Let me conclude with a specific application of that truth to us as Catholics in America, and for us as Knights of Columbus in our beloved country.

Our first reading offers us another image, not unlike that with which I began this homily:

"I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.”' (Rev 21:2-3)

The new Jerusalem does not rise up to heaven from the earth; that city is Babel, not Jerusalem.

In similar vein, Solzhenitsyn:

...This new way of thinking, which had imposed on us its guidance, did not admit the existence of intrinsic evil in man nor did it see any higher task than the attainment of happiness on earth. It based modern Western civilization on the dangerous trend to worship man and his material needs. Everything beyond physical well-being and accumulation of material goods, all other human requirements and characteristics of a subtler and higher nature, were left outside the area of attention of state and social systems, as if human life did not have any superior sense. That provided access for evil, of which in our days there is a free and constant flow.

The concept that 'the New Jerusalem rises up from the Earth', (the Babel construction), is the one utilized by the Democrat Progressives--or, for that matter, by the Republican Progressives. Thus the Utopian 'save the Earth' or 'national healthcare' schemes, or, for that matter, 'stimulus,' in its own way.

The moral obligation to care for the sick or to be good stewards of the earth is politely ignored while being re-constructed in positive law. Well-meaning, perhaps, but futile. Right action cannot be forced, any more than wrong action can be prevented a priori by any State.

Creating

ObamaBus Now Riding Over Drug Companies

Easy come, easy go.

Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion --NYTimes 8/5/09

Not really.

Caught between a pivotal industry ally and the protests of Congressional Democrats, the Obama administration on Friday backed away from what drug industry lobbyists had said this week was a firm White House promise to exclude from a proposed health care overhaul the possibility of allowing the government to negotiate lower drug prices under Medicare. --NYTimes 8/7/09

The drug industry is willing to spend $150 million supporting "reform." How's that working out for you boyzzz?

HT: AmSpecBlog

Who's the Astroturf??

Great post here (lotsa pix, too) about exactly who is Astroturfing whom.

(Hint: there are SEIU uniform-purple-shirts in some of the pix.)

HT: Randy/Kilkenny

The REAL Governance of Wisconsin is From.....

Dreyfus was right; Madison is 10 square miles surrounded by reality.

A state survey shows that more than 440 same-sex couples applied to join Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry in its first week.

Dane County reported the most by far with 115 couples. Milwaukee County came in second with 52.

Full employment and que-sera-sera "marriage." Whatever Dane County wants, they get.

Why Snipers?

This is why.

A CRACKSHOT Scots squaddie has killed a feared Taliban warlord - from a mile away.

Corporal Christopher Reynolds shot the high profile Afghan drug baron dead during ferocious fighting, notching up the longest range confirmed kill in Afghanistan.

The 25-year-old waited on a shop rooftop in southern Afghanistan for three days to