This is what Andrew Breitbart warned us about and fought so courageously against. The lies of the left to advance their agenda. Do we roll over, or do we take up the torch and continue the fight? Click to read more
Lawyer
John R Lott, Jr. photo by fling93
About a year ago the state of Virginia allowed those who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon to be allowed to carry them into a bar, joining a number of other states. Gun control advocates predicted drunken shootouts like we used to watch on Gunsmoke and in the movies.
In article in the New York Times titled, “Squandering Medicare’s Money,” the article itemizes a number of procedures that are routinely perfomed under Medicare, but have little or no medical value. So why are they done? One reason is alluded to in the article while another is not.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a power grab to control the Internet and there is a raging debate on both sides. Rather than take a position to rollback the FCC action or let it stand, I offer a third alternative. Shutdown the FCC.
As President Obama said while campaigning to be President of the United States, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig!” How true. Yesterday President Obama reached for the lipstick to dab on four proposals suggested by the Republicans to the massive pig of a health care proposal clinging to life. The four proposals are:
- Use undercover medical professionals to conduct investigations to fight waste and fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other Federal programs.
- “Demonstrations of Alternatives” to the current malpractice mess.
- Increasing doctor reimbursement for Medicare.
- Expanding Heath Savings Accounts (HSA).
The pig smiled. She thought she looked beautiful. Just don’t try to put a bikini on her because, as President Obama famously said, she’s still a pig. Let’s look at the President’s magnanimous attempt at bipartisanship in detail.
1) Undercover Medical Professionals to Uncover Fraud
It is estimated that somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 billion is lost or stolen each year from Medicare and Medicaid. This program has been in place for 40 years. If those numbers are consistent over that period, that’s $4 TRILLION. Gone. Stolen from you and me. How much better shape would we be in if we had that money back? That’s government efficiency for you.
The President of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer in the country. The amount of Medicaid and Medicare losses each year are four times the entire budget of the Department of Justice. How’s this for a proposal? Create a Medicare/Medicaid fraud unit within the FBI and fund it so that we can stop these losses. If you stop the fraud, it’s free money. What you save in fraud should more than pay for the FBI funding. Why take medical professionals and give them law enforcement duties. Are you going to ask police to operate on you? Mr. President it’s your job to enforce the laws and prevent this widespread fraud. You don’t need a new act of Congress. Just Do It!
2) Tort Reform –No; “Demonstrations of Alternatives” — Yes
Trial lawyers are one of the biggest contributors to the Democratic Party. Do you think such “Demonstrations of Alternatives” will amount to anything other than hush money? “Shut up , we’re looking into tort reform.” The counter argument is that Americans have a right to their day in court when they have been injured. True enough, and I am reluctant to arbitrarily limit their awards through a fixed dollar limit. I would take aim squarely at the lawyers.
John Edwards, one-time Senator and presidential candidate, was involved in about 63 cases as a personal injury attorney and amassed a fortune of about $70 million. In one particular case, he stood before the jury and took on the persona of a child in the womb crying out for oxygen to appeal to the emotions of the jury and win the case. Oddly enough he voted against a ban on partial birth abortion. Gee, in the once case it’s a child who can actually speak while still in the womb! But on the other hand it is just a mass of tissue at birth that can be disposed of with the trash. We have learned a lot about the moral character of John Edwards. He is the poster boy for the old joke, “How do you know a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving.”
Here is a simple solution to tort reform. Fixed fees for attorneys and loser pays. The lawyers should set their hourly rate and bill according to hours worked, not how much they can squeeze out of the jury. The award should be for the benefit of the injured party, not the lawyer. The second part is to prevent frivolous lawsuits. The loser pays the legal fees of the winner. The argument here will be that the tables will be turned and no one will sue corporations for damages because of the risk of paying their legal fees. Right now lawyers are running a lottery fishing for lawsuits of any kind because they know that most corporations will settle for less than it would cost to defend the suit, even if they know they are right. All customers of that corporation pay more for their products (e.g., drugs, medical devices) and the lawyer gets rich. I am sure that if such a proposal as this gets passed a new market for “legal fee insurance” will open up where a plaintiff with a strong case can buy insurance to cover the cost of the other sides legal fees if they do lose.
3) Increasing Doctor Reimbursement for Medicare
So much for bending the cost curve down. The real way to curtail spending on health care is to eliminate 3rd party payers. (see It can be done).
4) Increase Health Savings Accounts
These plans exist today, however, they are not all available across state lines (see It can be done). I had such a plan in New York while employed by a company, but when I went out on my own I could not buy the same plan in New York State. We don’t need ObamaCare, we just need states to allow these plans to exist within their borders or allow individuals to buy across state lines.
The Pig Lives!
Three of the four Republican proposals that President Obama likes don’t cost anything. But he $1 trillion to $2 trillion health care catastrophe is still alive and until we slay that beast and start over we will go from a serious health care problem to a fiscal crisis and end up with both. If you don’t believe me, read how the model for ObamaCare is working in Massachusetts.
When you are waiting for someone an hour can seem like a long time, but when you really want to accomplish something an hour is really not that long. Here are some things you can’t do in an hour:
- Run a marathon
- Watch a feature length movie
- Read a novel
- Watch a baseball or football game
- Make a good batch of chili
However there are some things that you can accomplish in less than an hour, such as:
- Eat a doughnut
- Watch a M*A*S*H re-run
- Walk a mile
- Take a shower
- Brush your teeth
- Take out the garbage
- Change the oil in your car
- Order and pick up a pizza
- Check your e-mail
- Complete the interrogation of someone named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a plane using a bomb in his underwear
That’s right #10 was completed in 50 minutes before the FBI decided to read him his Miranda rights and put him into the criminal justice system. You will probably not be surprised to find out that he soon had a lawyer who advised him to stop speaking to the FBI. So now if they want him to divulge any information they will have to go the plea bargain route up to and including setting him free. Aren’t you glad we got rid of Bush and Cheney? I mean, seriously, don’t you feel safer?
What Did He Know?
Does anyone believe what the Obama administration is telling us that they got everything they could out of this 23 year old novice in 50 minutes. The kid was definitely talking, so why stop him? He just got back from Yemen and probably had a wealth of information to give up. He belongs in Guantanamo. Are we not, as Obama finally admitted, at war? Or are we at war, but just not with this guy? (And by the way, Obama has been in office a year now so why hasn’t he captured Osama bin Laden? During the campaign he snorted that McCain wouldn’t even follow him to his cave, as if Obama had the address).
Regardless of your position on “enhanced interrogation techniques” and let’s just say you put those aside. You want to keep this guy where you can interrogate him again and again. Where you can work to gain his trust, and where you can corroborate other information you find until he has been in your custody so long his information is stale and no longer of use. Here’s a little secret for the Obama administration… it takes longer than 50 minutes.
An Embarrassment of Incompetence
Close on the heels of Janet Napolitano’s blundering at the helm of the Department of Homeland Security we have this astonishing exchange between Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, as reported in the Washington Examiner by Byron York:
On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs whether President Obama was informed of the decision to read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights before or after it was done. Gibbs avoided the question, saying, “That decision was made by the Justice Department and the FBI, with experienced FBI interrogators.” Gibbs stressed that “Abdulmutallab was interrogated and valuable intelligence was gotten as a result of that interrogation.”
Wallace pressed. “But we now find out he was interrogated for 50 minutes,” he said to Gibbs. “When they came back, he was read his Miranda rights and he clammed up.”
“No,” Gibbs answered. “Again, he was interrogated. Valuable intelligence was gotten based on those interrogations. And I think the Department of Justice and the — made the right decision, as did those FBI agents.”
“Let me just press one last question,” Wallace said. “You really don’t think that if you’d interrogated him longer that you might have gotten more information, since we now know that Al Qaeda in Yemen — ”
“Well, FBI interrogators believe they got valuable intelligence and were able to get all that they could out of him,” Gibbs said.
“All they could?” Wallace asked.
“Yeah,” Gibbs said.”
Good Lord, do we have a Commander in Chief or not. It seems like Attorney General Eric Holder is now running national security. When the stupefying announcement was made that the 9/11 terrorists were being tried in New York, Holder told a Senate committee that the decision was his alone. Where was Obama on that decision? Now the Justice Department intervenes in the case of Abdulmutallab, shutting down the interrogation giving him a Miranda warning and a new team of agents. It appears that Robert Gibbs can wake Obama from a sound sleep to tell him that he just won a Nobel prize, but Holder makes two monumental decisions that gravely affect our security and Gibbs can’t seem to find Obama to ask, “You okay with this, boss?”
Fight, Fight, Fight
In the last few days we’ve been hearing President Obama tell audiences how much he is going to fight for them. The problem is he is more eager to fight with Republicans than he is with America’s enemies. Heads should be rolling at Homeland Security and Justice to send a clear message that the incompetence of these appointees will not be tolerated. But if nothing else, President Obama’s message has been muddled since he took office. His worldwide apology tour has emboldened our enemies and made us appear weak. If only President Obama had the same focus on our enemies as he has on President Bush we might get somewhere.
How much time do we have left before Joe Biden’s prophesy comes true that within six months of taking office Obama, and by extension we, will face an international crisis? Well, unless you haven’t been paying attention, I think he will hit his mark before his 100 days are up.
Obama and Biden and the rest of their supporters have confused the difference between being liked and being respected. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, while ambassador to the UN called the world, “A Dangerous Place.” When trying to be a leader in a world that is dangerous, it is far better to be respected than liked.
The Obama Feel Good Tour
As President Obama tours the world and grovels at the feet of the Europeans, the Saudis, and Latin American dictators, trying to “repair the damage,” done by President Bush, our enemies are licking their chops. The Europeans flocked to see him, touch him, kiss him, but when he asked for a commitment of more troops for Afghanistan, how did they respond? Awkward silence and an offer of 5,000 troops to train police while at the same time an insistence that the “world” should have some say in the regulation of the U.S. economy.
While President Obama achieved his goal of improving the U.S.’s likability quotient, pirates were taking ships on the high seas, North Korea sent an ICBM over Japan, Iran celebrated Nuclear Technology Day, and the Taliban made inroads in Pakistan. How did the popular leader respond? To North Korea, he scolded that actions have consequences and words have meaning and proposed more words from the UN to be piled on top of the words the North Koreans are already ignoring.
Disarmament
To continue with the feel good groove, we have stopped calling terrorists terrorists. Their acts are now to be called Man Caused Disasters and I guess the terrorists themselves are to be called Man Caused Disaster Causing Men (or Women). After all, we don’t want them to be offended by being called terrorists. Isn’t that was caused 9/11? It was merely a response to our bad behavior, no? Our lack of likability?
There is no longer a War on Terror. It’s an Overseas Contingency Operation. We don’t want to raise Osama bin Laden’s sensibilities thinking we might be at war with him, but we do need contingency planning in case something happens. As a further show of good faith, let’s start re-writing the Al Qaeda training manual for them by telling them exactly what kind of interrogation techniques we use so that they can best prepare the training of their members to resist them. Of course, we already swore we would never use them again anyway, but we have to make sure they are prepared for the infidel’s trickery. Repeat after me: “I am not going to drown. I am not going to drown. I am not going to drown.” There, it’s simple, now they can resist even our most diabolical torture. But we shouldn’t forget to tell them that if an interrogator so much as raises his voice they should do the following:
- Ask for a lawyer
- Insist on having their Miranda rights given to them in both English (so their lawyers can verify it) and in their native tongue
- A clean, untouched by infidels hands, copy of the Koran
- Immediate transport to the United States
- A green card
- A path to citizenship
- A tenured professorship at the college of their choice
If that doesn’t get them to lay down their arms, what will?
Respect Not Likability
The only time the United States is both respected and liked is when the bullets are flying and the United States is saving the hides of our new friends. When the shooting stops or it is confined to a theater far away from the talkers, the United States will be disliked but, however begrudgingly, respected.
Ronald W. Reagan may have been liked personally in private but when the klieg lights were on, he was “an amiable dunce,” and “a cowboy.” But Reagan stood firm and put Pershing II missiles in Europe against all protests. Such steadfastness led to the eventual arms negotiations and winning the cold war. At the moment President Reagan took the oath of office, the Ayatollahs in Iran released the American hostages they held for 444 days. They respected that Reagan would act, not just talk.
George W. Bush was not liked. He was another cowboy, one who was inarticulate to boot. But he was respected. After 9/11 the world respected that he would hunt down and kill America’s enemies. After the Iraq invasion, Libya publicly shut down their nuclear program. Quadaffi didn’t want to be next. President Bush kept America safe for seven years after 9/11. Now, this Congress and this President want set aside over 200 years of precedent and to put them on trial for doing that.
Preparing for Our Enemies
President Obama plans to keep America secure by cutting our defense budget by 25%. He plans on a staggering increase in our national debt and selling it to the Chinese. Picture the Chinese doing to the USA what Obama did to General Motors. Can you just see the head of the Chinese Communist Party saying to Obama, “Well, we own you now. You’re fired.”
Can this Juggernaut be Stopped?
On April 15th over 1 million people gathered at Tea Parties around the country to protest the growth of government, the taking of our liberty and out of control taxes. The Obama main stream media largely ignored the event, or willfully disparaged it.
A recent Rasmussen poll, “85% of mainstream Americans say the government has too much money and power, just 2% of the political class agree.” If they have no bread, let them eat cake! The poll went on to say, “51% of Americans have a favorable view of the Tea Parties but the political class strongly disagrees.” {emphasis added} How more out of touch with the people can they be? How more arrogant in their shameless grab for power can they be?
I will end this post, my friends, with a quotation from the Declaration of Independence.
“WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
July 4, 1776
I hope to see you at the Tea Party on July 4, 2009
Two Doctors Operating. A Lawyer, A Bureaucrat, and An Insurance Agent Oversee the Procedure
In the category, be careful what you wish for, Ted Kennedy should be careful about pushing through Universal Health Care reform. It has been reported that this effort has taken on a sense of urgency because of Mr. Kennedy’s brain cancer. But what if we already had national health care?
Would Kennedy Receive Treatment?
Ted Kennedy will be 77 on Sunday. I wish him well. However in an opinion piece by Betsy McCaughey, she quotes Tom Daschle, who nearly became the architect of health care reform before his tax problems derailed his nomination.
Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.
In other words, sorry Ted, since any treatment is not likely to significantly prolong your life such that the expense would be justified, no treatment will be paid for. You will just have to pay it yourself or die. I guess the good news is that Senator Kennedy, like Senator Dascle, and most of the ruling class who pass these commandments down from Mount Capital Hill, are rich enough to pay for private treatment, if it is allowed by law. If not, they are rich enough to take a “vacation” to, say, India and while on vacation wander into a facility their for treatment by American trained Indian doctors.
But what about you and me? Oh dear, you better get your affairs in order.
Health Care Reform You Can Believe In
As long as the treatment received by a patient is paid for by someone other than the patient, the patient really doesn’t care what it costs. The liberal solution is to have the government take it over, and a bunch of bureaucrats will “act on your/our behalf” and make those decisions. The outcome of which is that you better stay healthy. Because if you don’t, you may not get treatment until you wait a very long time for your turn, or you may not get treated at all, if the bureaucrats rule the resultant quality of life is just not worth it.
Here’s what we should really look at doing:
- Get the consumer of health care actively involved. How? It’s being done today with high deductible health care plans coupled with a Health Savings Accounts. The insurance company negotiates lower treatment costs and pays them only after a hefty deductible has been paid that year. The patient is then in a position of shopping for the best health care and deciding on what treatments and tests, in conjunction with their doctor they will or will not have. The Health Savings Account is where the patient can put funds, pre-tax, and then use those funds to pay the expenses not covered by the insurance.
- Tort Reforms. Get the Lawyers out of the Examining Room. Too many doctors, in my opinion, are practicing defensive medicine. They think of every possible test so that if something does not go perfectly with the treatment they won’t get sued for the test they didn’t perform. Let’s follow the British System — fixed fees for the attorneys instead of a percentage of the settlement, and loser pays. There are too many cases of people getting a $12 million settlement or judgment for something stupid (think of the woman at McDonalds who spilled coffee in her crotch and sued McDonalds because the coffee was too hot). In these cases the lawyers typically ask for no money unless they get a settlement and when they do they get 1/3 ($4 million in this example). It’s like buying a lottery ticket. Who wouldn’t take a free lottery ticket on a jackpot of millions? But who really pays for all these law suits and settlements? That’s right you and me in insurance premiums we cannot afford now.
- Increased Insurance Competition. Right now most insurance is regulated by the states and in many cases policies available in one state are not available in others. Let’s open up the competition. If we have more insurance companies competing for our business, we are likely to get better and more creative policy choices.
- More Tailored Insurance Policies If my wife and I are beyond the point of having children, then let me buy a policy that does not cover childbearing, birth control, well baby care. If I am young and starting out and I want those things, there are other coverages that pertain to older people that I may not want at this stage in my life. Let’s allowed tailored policies that reflect my actual insurance needs.
- Immigration Control. The same people who are pushing socialized medicine are, for the most part, the same people who favor open borders. However, where do all the illegals go for the health care needs including having babies (new citizens)? They go to the only health care provider they know, the local emergency room. This is also probably the most expensive form of health care delivery and since they are illegal, they’re not paying for it, the rest of us are. I think immigrants built this great country and almost each and everyone of us can point to our forebears who came here as immigrants. I am in favor of immigration now and in the future. I believe these are hard working and basically good people. BUT, they have to come here legally and follow the process. If they are not here legally, they should be deported.
- Medicare Reform. You probably want to sit down for this one, but shocking as it may seem this massive government programs loses billions upon billions of dollars every year to fraud. Who pays? Right! You and me. In higher payroll taxes, and in higher health care costs as doctors and hospitals have to make up the shortfall somewhere else to stay in business.
More Liberty Under Fire
The government in proposing universal health care wants to mandate that everyone must have health care coverage. You will not have the liberty to choose. The government demands that you comply:
“comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.”
That’s the requirement, now comes the heavy hand of government:
“The ideas discussed include a proposal to penalize people who fail to comply with the “individual obligation” to have insurance.”
You must obey! The government has spoken!
Here’s a novel idea. How about implementing the above points first and fix the broken system that we have before we throw it out and install another new, massive, government program. After all we can always go to the government solution in the end, confident in the knowledge that these programs work extremely well and efficiently. (e.g., Fannie Mae {bankrupt}, Freddie Mac{bankrupt} , Social Security {bankrupt}, Medicare {bankrupt}, US Postal Service {$6 billion deficit, while CEO get $850,00 salary}).
What Would the Founding Fathers Say?
A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. – John Adams
The battle lines are being drawn and the factions are jockeying for position.
- The UAW is standing firm that they are not contributing anything more (but the taxpayers should)
- Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM, says they are not even planning for bankruptcy (but recently news has come out that the board is now considering it, if they can’t get the taxpayers to step up)
- Congress wants a plan from the automakers before showing the money (they want to make sure that the auto companies adopt a green agenda and build a lot more cars that they can’t sell at a profit, and palm it off on the taxpayers)
- Some pundits are claiming that 3 million jobs will be lost if we don’t bail them out (but fail to finish the thought and tell us who is going to build the cars that the market demands but GM, Ford, and Chrysler won’t be building if they completely shut down as some predict)
The louder the hue and cry against bankruptcy and the need to empty my wallet, the more confident I feel that bankruptcy is the right thing to do. Without fundamental management change, union change, and structural change, no amount of taxpayer funding and bailout upon bailout, will enable the Big Three to crawl off their death bed and once again be giants of American Industry. Bankruptcy is bitter medicine, but without wrenching change that bankruptcy protection can provide, with a trustee making hard decisions and getting concessions from all sides, this patient on life support will die.
A Sad but True Parody
I came across this excellent joke on Evolving Excellence that was making the rounds a few years ago, but seems sadly relevant today. As I said it is a few years old, so don’t look too closely at the financials:
A Modern Parable.
A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.
They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to ‘equal the competition’ and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.
Sadly, the End.
Here’s something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US , claiming they can’t make money paying American wages. TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter’s results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses…
IF THIS WEREN’T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
It will be interesting to see when the auto executives go back to Washington, will they fly in three separate corporate jets? will they “jetpool”? will they fly first class? will they fly coach? or will they drive one of their excellent products to ask for a bailout? How much trunk space do you need to carry $25 billion? Remember that’s 25,000 million.
A Modest Proposal
About every three years when the labor contracts between the unions and the auto companies come up for renewal, a target company, Ford, GM or Chrysler is typically chosen. The purpose is to threaten a strike on that company while allowing UAW members to keep working at the other two (and still pay union dues), rather than striking against all three.
Here’s my proposal. Since GM seems to be in the worst shape, they should go Chapter 11 right away. Let Ford and Chrysler stand back and watch the result. If it works and GM successfully restructures, you can bet Ford and Chrysler will be scrambling to go Chapter 11 to get their houses in order. If it is a bust, then one of three things can happen. One, they can learn what GM did wrong in the process and perhaps craft a better and maybe even “prepackaged” Chapter 11 filing. Two, they can go back to Washington and try again, but at least they would have a stronger case for why bankruptcy is a bad idea. Three, they can wake up and get all the parties together including management, unions, retirees, suppliers, banks, bondholders, local governments, Congress and make the changes voluntarily that would otherwise be made under a bankruptcy.
What do you think?
Sandra Fluke – Putting the Lie in Play
by Bill O'Connell on March 7, 2012
When you try to manufacture a campaign issue it requires some deception and in the more extreme cases outright lies. This is because the truth doesn’t have to be manufactured. It stands tall on its own.
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