Well, I found out one thing yesterday – Michelle Malkin is on some pretty interesting e-mail lists too. She wrote about a missive she received from Moveon.org.
After the e-mail piece shrilly blared “…in Maryland, protesters hung a Democratic congressman in effigy to oppose health-care reform” (you mean like I show here?) they got to the (literal) money paragraphs:
We’ve got a plan to fight back against these radical right-wingers. We’ve hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama’s agenda for change. And we’re building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one.
But we need to scale up our efforts quickly to make sure this plan works. To really swing into action during this month’s congressional recess, we need to raise at least $250,000 immediately. Can you chip in $15 to support our work?
What, your special interests can’t cough up enough money? They must be busy hiring lobbyists to get a bigger hunk of Uncle Sam’s pie.
Needless to say, the check is in the mail. (/sarcasm)
People on the left have continually complained that Republicans support the status quo that allegedly leaves 47 million Americans uninsured (or whatever number they’ve picked out these days) and that insurance companies were behind the push to stop Obamacare. But wait – I thought the insurance companies had their “come to Jesus” meeting with Obama a few months back. Looks like they’re on board to me, and the insurers’ task now is to have the legislation written so as to be as rent-seeking as possible. The left won’t tell you that because they’re assuming the insurers to be useful idiots in their march toward fascism.
Another complaint is that many of the protestors are elderly and whine about subsidized health care for all when they are the beneficiaries of same. But many I heard at the protest would prefer not to be on Medicare and I happen to agree that there should be an opt-out provision available for both Medicare and Social Security. To borrow a phrase from Newt Gingrich, once better private-sector alternatives are established both will “wither on the vine” although in reality it would take decades. Unfortunately, we can’t reverse 75 years of creeping socialism in 75 days, although Obama has managed to reverse 25 years of prosperity in 25 weeks. (Definitely an easier task, particularly with a compliant Congress.)
And have you ever stopped to think (I know that’s difficult for some on the left, but give it your best shot) that perhaps these seasoned citizens are thinking about the FUTURE of their children and grandchildren? In truth, the Salisbury protest the Moveon gang referred to above was almost as much about Kratovil’s vote in favor of cap-and-tax and position on energy (read: refusal to consider additional oil exploration since he spews that tired old 68 million acre argument, leaving still millions of acres of prime oil-producing areas off limits) than it did on health care – today’s “leaning against” could be tomorrow’s vote in favor of Obamacare – for the right price. (We’ve seen that movie before, kids.)
How about adding an idea to the hopper? As you may guess, I frequently listen to talk radio and one heavy advertiser is a company which sells term life insurance. Why not scrap this bad Obamacare idea and lobby the states to allow high-deductable term catastrophic health insurance? Then those who are uninsured would have another option to consider. Chances are that most people under 50 and living an average lifestyle will need high-dollar treatment for just two major reasons: a serious accident or for certain types of cancer.
And while most people get their insurance through employers, I think there should be some incentive to decouple employment and insurance. Much as I hate rewarding/punishing behavior through the tax code, that could be a useful temporary solution until we reach the sanity of a consumption-based tax system. If I had the choice I’d just prefer my employer give me the extra money in my paycheck and let me shop for insurance, and I’m sure many agree with me.
So there’s two ideas right there. I don’t write in legalese but I’m sure that a bill such as this would take a lot less than 1,000 pages to write and maybe – just maybe – legislators might read the bill.
But since that’s not on the table yet, me and that “angry mob” that the special interest groups and DNC (but I repeat myself) like to mock aren’t going away anytime soon. You Democrats wanted absolute power, get used to absolute responsibility and accountability to your public – unless you continue to hide in closed-door, selected-audience “town hall” meetings.
Even so, we are resourceful – so try and hide all you want. Just don’t misunderestimate the side of liberty.
Update: I like to think I do a pretty good job of photojournalism, but I can learn a lot from this guy in Denver covering Nancy Pelosi’s appearance there (h/t Michelle Malkin.)
