Third time is the charm?

The Children’s Advocacy Center has attempted to have a fundraising auction twice thus far this season in conjunction with the Delmarva Shorebirds. But both their May 29th and July 31st dates ended up being casualties of a sudden rainstorm that cancelled the contest that evening.

The idea behind this fundraiser is to auction off autographed, game-worn batting helmets, distinctive in a gold and pale blue color scheme. As one of the Children’s Advocacy Center’s main fundraisers, the money raised will go to a good cause and it could be an opportunity to meet and greet a future big-leaguer. After the game, winning bidders will have the opportunity to meet the player whose helmet they purchased and receive it on the field.

Even if you’re not interested in the helmets, rumor has it that the dunk tank will be returning and that a number of popular local celebrities will be on the hot seat. Let’s hope it’s only those participants who get wet this time and the rain (finally!) holds off.

Okay, I’ve been informed no dunk tank. But it IS the Shorebirds and a good cause so it’s worth doing anyway. Still hope the rain holds off – last time I checked Delmarva led the South Atlantic League in rainouts and that’s one category where you don’t want a championship.

The view from D.C.

I thought this an appropriate cartoon given the “let them eat cake” attitude many of our elected officials seem to exhibit.

This cartoon by William Warren seems to reflect the view Washington has of those areas outside the Beltway.

I’d love to see Mr. Warren do a cartoon of the view from Annapolis…perhaps it can show a view up and down I-95 with those vast wastelands known as Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore depicted much as flyover country is on his cartoon – home of the “uninformed masses” and “angry mobs.”

Tomorrow I’m going to get caught up on reading and return to meatier posting.

Why not audit the Fed?

With the controversy this summer over health care and the earlier passage of cap-and-trade, the stimulus package, and other egregious assaults on liberty and our economy, another attempt to ensure accountability in government has sort of slipped under the radar screen. This came from our friends at the Campaign for Liberty:

Campaign for Liberty is leading the fight to pass Ron Paul’s bill to Audit the Fed.  With 282 cosponsors in the House and 23 in the Senate, your efforts have so far proven very successful in establishing large, bipartisan support for Federal Reserve transparency.  We’ve come a long way in demonstrating to the nation that monetary policy is a critical issue, and every day more and more people are waking up to the harm that the Fed has caused our economy.
 
But our mission is not yet complete.  There are more Americans to educate, more signatures to collect, and more work to be done to combat the “big guns” that have come out against Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill.  That’s why today I’m proud to announce that we’ve taken the next step in our efforts by launching AuditTheFed.com, a focused, coalition website with one purpose: to push this historic piece of legislation through Congress, past the President’s desk, and into law.
 
AuditTheFed.com includes: contact information for your congressman and senators, petitions, widgets, and banners to promote the website, dynamic graphs of the bill’s cosponsors, a detailed summary of the Audit the Fed bill, a list of our growing coalition, a blog to keep you up to date on all the latest Audit the Fed news, a sign up for email updates, and social networks to help get the word out online.  This website was designed to put you, the liberty-loving activist, in a position to efficiently and effectively promote Audit the Fed to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers alike.

This new website is the latest addition to our efforts to Audit the Fed, but it is by no means the culmination.  Stay tuned to CampaignforLiberty.com in the coming days for information on how we plan to mobilize to gain not only more cosponsors for HR 1207 and S 604, but support for a vote in the House and Senate.

Obviously this is one of hundreds of advocacy websites that have popped up over the last half-decade or so, ones that seek to influence the direction government takes. But in a quest for accountability this site seems to be on the right side, and even though many of those who back the Campaign for Liberty were supporters of the failed Ron Paul Presidential campaign, for the most part I happen to think their idea of limited government is a good model to follow.

Observations on Cardin at the GraySHORE meeting

Guerrieri University Center was the scene of Thursday's GraySHORE meeting.

While about 40 people were protesting outside the meeting, there were just under 100 inside watching Senator Cardin spin his way through this meeting on health care.

The room, which could have held up to 400 people, was instead set up for about 100 with signing in required.

Each guest who was signed up had to check in at this table.

Obviously the event was geared toward senior citizens, with the local MAC (Maintaining Active Citizens) group well-represented.

The Maintaining Active Citizens group also maintained an informational booth at the event.

After a series of introductions and welcomes, the show finally got on the road about 11:00, or a half-hour late. Senator Cardin eschewed a slide show he had for the event in order to make a statement and answer a few questions.

Maryland's junior Senator spoke to a crowd of about 100 at Salisbury University last Thursday.

Originally the meeting was set up back in March and wasn’t intended to be a town hall; however, once the health care controversy blew up this became a hot ticket. The intention was to get the perspective of residents who are over 50 and live on the Lower Shore, and the ground rules were pretty strict. There would be no questions during Senator Cardin’s presentation, the ratio would be one question for a GraySHORE member for each one from a non-member, and questions would have a 30-second limit.

In the welcoming remarks, it was noted that the state as a whole is getting younger but the Eastern Shore is aging. While the state is a “net exporter of seniors” at least 7 of the 9 Shore counties are net importers. We are also older and poorer than the state at-large. The idea behind GraySHORE was to brief elected officials with policy recommendations.

Something I found intriguing was the mention of Senator Cardin’s career. He has been our Senator since 2007, but served in Congress since 1987 and was a member of Maryland’s General Assembly for almost two decades before that – he was first elected in 1966. Basically, Senator Cardin fits the definition of a professional politician and I thought that was worth mentioning before I got too far.

When Senator Cardin came up, he noted that he was skipping the slide show to get to the questions. He also commented that this size group was a “manageable” group for dialogue.

As he had on prior occasions, the Senator couched the health care question as one of “what happens if we do nothing?” Health care costs were rising faster than income and would double in the next decade. As well, Cardin gave that mythical 46 million uninsured figure as part of his case and claimed that it cost each of us “an extra $11,000 per year to pay for (those not covered).”

The idea behind reform was to bring down costs through wellness and prevention and through better recordkeeping, while creating individual and employer mandates through the bill. It would provide a “level playing field” for private insurers and remove the caps on coverage, but above all reform “must reduce costs and be paid for.” Cardin compared the idea to Medicare, which has worked “extremely well” over its lifespan and was put into place because insurers wouldn’t cover the elderly or disabled.

Something I found odd was Senator Cardin’s several references where he “(couldn’t) tell you with certainty what will be in the final bill” but also stating they’re “not going to cut Medicare” and “not going to reduce benefits.” “Most of the offset will come from the industry itself” said Cardin.

Also, if he couldn’t tell you what will be in the final bill, how is he “trying to get (the) facts out” with the “lots of misinformation” that some who are “intentionally misleading” are putting out?

I also had a hard time believing Senator Cardin’s assertion that if the bill is successful that companies are “much more likely” not to shift their healthcare costs to the government, with the federal program simply serving as a “backup plan.”

There were three questions that GraySHORE provided, with remaining questions provided by audience members. This will be a brief rundown because there were a number of people recording the event so the actual questions and answers should be available – one is shown below and posted here.

Chuck Cook of the local blog Two Sentz was among those recording the event for later posting.

The first GraySHORE question asked about protection for small businesses, and Senator Cardin asserted that small businesses, who had been “discriminated against”, could “get the advantage of large rating pools”. Cardin blamed the insurance companies for creating some of the problems.

The second question asked what happens if a senior loses his or her job. This, noted Cardin, “will be an affordable option for those under 65” with federal help for people making up to 4x-5x poverty level. (As I recall that runs up to $80,000 for a family of four – hardly a poor family.)

GraySHORE’s third question asked about tort reform, something that Cardin is “open” to and “welcomes the discussion.” He holds insurance companies responsible for some of that problem though.

The first audience member to ask a question thought Senator Cardin was in a tenor of speaking to “uninformed” people but in reality he was the “uninformed” one. In essence, she was against the bill and Cardin assured her that he’s “not going to support a bill that doesn’t bring down costs or is not paid for.” (I’m just afraid of the “paid for” part.)

Next was a question about “dumping” patients and how the practice of insurance companies raising rates would be prevented. The “possible pool would be higher” noted Cardin, but the “overall reduction…and greater access should bring down costs” as much as 10 percent.

Our next questioner held up a copy of the Constitution and asked why the bill was so complex. The bill “requires us to be more specific with policy” and “insurance companies would make more information available.” Cardin also planned “to read and understand what’s in the bill” before voting on it. This also related to the next questioner, who asked where health care was in the Constitution and was told that “the ultimate decider is the Supreme Court”, which Cardin thought would support reform based on the “general welfare” clause of the Constitution. (Nothing like a broad interpretation!)

In being asked about a waiver the state has for Medicare, Cardin was “satisfied” the waiver was safe provided the state maintains a less-than-average cost for medical care.

Another audience member asked about tort reform and who the uninsured were, with the Senator noting that 300-400 people a day lose insurance in Maryland every day. The group of uninsured includes young people who don’t want it, unemployed between 50-64, and the 20 percent who could enroll in some public option but do not – he “did not believe” the number cited included illegals.

In speaking about the statements President Obama has made regarding single-payer health care, the next questioner noted that taxes were also going up faster than income – “this has to stop.” Cardin again stated that “I stand by the statement I made…I will not support or be inclined to go with a single-payer system” and admonished the debate to “stick to the facts.” Moreover, taxes as a percentage of GDP were level but health care costs were increasing, according to Senator Cardin.

Question eight from the audience asked about the skyrocketing costs from malpractice insurance and Big Pharma. Cardin stated “the majority of cost savings will come from those”, using the example of Medicare Advantage being “12-17% more expensive” and vowing to “bring the down the cost of pharmaceuticals.”

Calling the national plan a “false dichotomy,” the next questioner asked about Cardin opposing a plan backed by the National Federation of Independent Business. Cardin claimed that the Maryland General Assembly passed a similar bill and the NFIB-backed bill would be undone – passage would be “inconsistent with the policies of the state I represent” because the bill allowed cherry-picking of customers.

The final question concerned dental coverage, which “should be part of the prevention package” but isn’t in the bill yet. This was a passion of Cardin’s so he would attempt to get preventive dental care in the bill.

To wrap up, Cardin said “I believe in town hall meetings” and hoped the bill is bipartisan.

Personally I think that Cardin will be a reliable vote for whatever comes along the pike. It’s noteworthy to me that Cardin hasn’t seen the bill yet but assured us what would be in it. And it’s quite unfortunate that we won’t have another shot to discuss this with Cardin prior to Congress resuming their affairs after Labor Day.

Cardin protest in pictures and text

This is the first of two parts, with part two coming along sometime this weekend. In this part, which will mostly be pictorial, I’ll try to give a flavor to the protest outside the Guerrieri Center at Salisbury University yesterday. Over the weekend I’ll report and observe on the actual presentation by Senator Cardin as I was inside the room.

I actually arrived onscene about an hour before the event and there was nothing going on yet. I was, however, greeted by this sign:

This was a closed-door meeting, which is fine. But shouldn't the Senator also have scheduled another meeting for the public?

Finally about 10:00 or so the first protestors started to trickle in. They were promptly greeted by the gentleman in the nice suit with the folder.

A protestor pleads his case with the security staff at SU. Essentially the protestors were pushed back to Dogwood Drive, a couple hundred yards from the venue itself.

Undaunted, the protestors set to waving their signs. All told, there were about 40 at the peak of festivities.

These protestors were a few who occupied the east side of the entrance off Dogwood Drive.

A few chose to stand on the west side of the entrance.

A closer shot of the protestors standing on the east side of the driveway. Notice the signs are hand-printed so this isn't Astroturf.

Here's the tighter shot to those who held their ground on the west side of the entrance.

A couple pictures up I noted in the caption that the signs were generally hand-lettered. While I was inside some new signs arrived but they didn’t have a lot of takers.

The phone number is Frank Kratovil's office. But I don't believe that calling him would do any good - hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

There were also flyers being passed out with a similar message and a nice bit of Photoshop.

As a guy who just got stuck with a couple needles last week, that picture makes me slightly ill just looking at it.

To me, the signage sometimes makes my day. Here’s one good example of a guy who doesn’t mind being blogged.

Given the end-of-life counseling in the House bill I'm not sure this isn't the overall intention. That's ONE way to save Social Security.

And this lady has some solutions which need to be tried before any further government interference in the health care market.

How about putting some of these ideas in the bill? Oh wait, the GOP has tried but they can't get the votes to do so. Democrats wouldn't even dream of giving up their cushy system by adopting the Fleming Amendment.

It’s not a sign but something tells me there’s someone making a small fortune off this image (and/or going to court soon on copyright infringement grounds.)

The new face of socialism - hey, at least there's no Nazi imagery or effigies. I just wish Obama were joking about his policies but unfortunately he's dead serious.

It was also good to see our protest getting its share of coverage from the two local TV stations.

This lady was taking video for Channel 16. I think their main reporter was inside with Senator Cardin at the time.

The other station, Channel 47, was actually doing interviews with the protestors. I didn't see the stories so I don't know what ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak.

Not only that, the protestors were making videos of themselves.

Andrew Langer (with camera) was taping this event for posterity. Here he's interviewing local Americans for Prosperity co-leader Julie Brewington.

If there was one message to be had from the protest, it’s in the photo I’ll close with today.

Don't tread on us. Say no to big government and socialized health care.

Next time I go inside the GraySHORE meeting. So no Friday Night Videos tonight, it’ll be back next week.

Shorebird of the Week – August 13, 2009

Rodolfo Cardona was all smiles before this game against Hickory back on July 1st. He would eventually go 1-for-2 in the contest with a double, RBI, and run scored.

This shot also came from that July 1st contest, one of Cardona's first with the team.

Rodolfo Cardona has done his share of traveling this year in the search for regular playing time, and it appears Delmarva will be his home for the rest of the season.

Having spent time with both Frederick (where he hit .238 in 14 games early on) and Bowie (overmatched at 0-for-14 in 6 games), Cardona arrived just before the league All-Star break in late June and got off to a torrid start, hitting .364 in his first 9 games as a Shorebird. While Rodolfo’s pace has certainly cooled, he’s done a nice job spelling the regulars around the infield.

The 22-year-old Venezuelan has been Orioles property since he signed at the tender age of 17 in June of 2004, but this season is his first full season in the minor leagues – he played in his native land from 2004 to 2006, made the jump stateside in 2007 to play for the GCL Orioles, and hit a solid .283 for Bluefield last year. The batting average has regressed to .236 for the 2009 season (.236/0/19 with a .706 OPS in 33 games here) but there’s still time for the Cardona to develop as he sees more and better pitching. Certainly he’s been valuable with his versatility.

We may see more of Rodolfo as the season wears on and Orioles brass dictates some of the younger players get a few more days off, and its quite likely that we may see even more of Rodolfo as thoughts turn to how the Shorebirds will look in 2010. While a promotion isn’t out of the question, I think it’s more likely Cardona will spend time here getting more experience at one infield position.

And yet a third update on Cardin in Towson…

Consider this an early Friday Night Video. Nick Loffer (the voice you hear asking the questions) was kind enough to pass this along.

Does anyone else think that tomorrow’s event is going to make SU briefly relive the Vietnam protest days that most colleges endured in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s? Heck, it may be some of those same people once again protesting government action.

Another viewpoint

I got a update on yesterday evening’s townhall meeting in Towson with Senator Ben Cardin from Lisa Fitzhugh, a Facebook friend and friend of monoblogue. I’ll start with her thoughts and close tonight with my observations about an upcoming event at Salisbury University.

Lisa notes:

I got in to the Cardin town hall and witnessed.

I saw people I know on the pro-Obama healthcare plan go to the head of the line and waltz right into seats. The main thing that these line-jumpers accomplished was keeping people who actually got there ahead of them stuck in the hot sun and out of the auditorium.

The questioners who eventually got to the mikes asked good questions that were clearly on everyone’s minds. I think there were 7 standing ovations for the questioners. In the auditorium I listened to the frustration build as Cardin worked to command the stage and run out the clock with his presentation of info that lasted until 7:35. Then he responded to culled written questions, and then he finally he took questions from the mikes.

He repeatedly said he supported town halls and pointed to his courage to hold one. I’d have more respect for him if he had just given his constituents their rare platform and let them ask questions instead of reserving so much time for himself.

Most of his rebuttals included “if we do nothing” (he must of mentioned that at least 10 times…if anyone has tapes I guess we can count). Questioners brought up difficulties with the proposals, and he usually worked into his reply “If we do nothing” then this dire circumstance will happen. This is part of the groundwork for this fall’s coming compromises where at the very least we will see a bill with incrementals of increased governmental intrusion. It is a tactical maneuver.

Notice how “universal healthcare coverage” is supposedly on everyone’s wish list? We are already halfway socialized; this is the reason for the consequences we bear today. There is little effort to push back away from socialized medicine and towards free market corrections. The proponents of nationalized solutions are still in control of the debate.

However, this audience was respectful and informed and angry. This audience is gaining more and more information daily and I do not believe they will be stymied.

On Thursday Salisbury will get its chance to question the Senator – or will it?

A frequent tactic in these healthcare meetings is to have supporters brought in simply to fill seats and allow less room for those members of the public who may be slightly less sold on the nationalization of healthcare.

According to the information I’ve received, Senator Cardin’s townhall will be in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri Center at SU. I looked up the capacity of the room and under certain conditions it can hold 400 people; however, more intimate settings can lower that seating capacity to less than 150. In any case, the room and its egress should easily allow the 400 people to see the Senator – might get a little hot with all the bodies but the room is designed to handle that sort of crowd.

So one question becomes how many people will be allowed in, and of those will some significant number be brought in to bolster the pro-Obamacare crowd?

The other question will be how many from each side will be outside wilting in the midday heat? From what I’ve read about the Towson meeting, the pro-Obamacare side was vastly outnumbered by supporters of liberty, and we’ll see if the same holds true Thursday morning.

We have gotten to the point where there is little dispute as to the facts – many of the protestors can read the portions of the bill they object to chapter and verse. The question becomes how the Senator will justify his future vote for Obamacare because let’s face it – Cardin along with his Maryland stablemate Barb Mikulski are sureshot liberal votes for whatever Obama wants. The dog and pony show should be fun to watch once it rolls into Salisbury and the unfortunate fact of physics that I can’t be inside and outside to cover the counter-protest at once makes Thursday a potential busy day for me. I’ll do what I can.

Radio days volume 15

This is my first “radio days” post since June 2008 so it’s been a long dry spell.

But I just got off the phone with Melody Scalley, who as some of you know is running for the House of Delegates representing the Eastern Shore of Virginia (District 100).

More importantly, she also hosts an internet radio show and invited me to be a guest on her show this evening – the time slot will be either 8:00 or 8:30 and I won’t know myself until later on. So just listen for the full hour, or jump right in at 7 when she starts!

Her 2-hour show, “Politics on the Edge”, airs from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday on RFC Radio. I’ll let you know what I thought of my performance in an update afterward.

**********

I had fun chatting with Melody. I did find it odd how she chopped up our conversation at the break. In actuality we recorded this earlier today and it was one long 25 minute (or so) conversation so I was a bit surprised to hear my part coming on about 8:20. Perhaps it could have been done better if the producer had put Mark Morano of Climate Depot in the slot after Francis Rice (the lady from NBRA) and just let me roll through uninterrupted.

There were a couple points I think I could have made a little better but on the whole I think I did all right. I do talk a little bit slowly when I’m trying to formulate thoughts and arguments which explains why I much prefer this blogging medium to the broadcasting one. And quite honestly not having done this for awhile I was out of practice.

Who knows, though – this could be a regular guest appearance sort of thing and perhaps it brings a larger national readership my way. I have no idea how many people listen to RFC Radio but even if it’s just 1,000 listeners having all of them read my site daily would vastly grow my audience and give it a more national scale.

I ponder one thing as I think about the future, though. Having heard Melody and how she does her show, I wonder if things get different once she wins and gets inside the belly of the beast. Those special interests aren’t going to go down easily and they’re certainly not going to fight fairly.

I noted in the interview that I’ve become quite a bit more jaded over the time I’ve done my site. Perhaps it’s because I see a lot of good people harmed and ruined by the political process and lust for power, much as it occurs from those lusting for more wealth and/or fame. Like Melody, I used to think practically all politicians were good people and that’s still fairly true on a local level. But the higher up you go the less likely you are to find a humble public servant and the the more probable it is you find the ones who expect to be served by us.

That’s what needs to change in this country. The arrogance shown by our politicians could serve as yet another of many tipping points we see as America enters a new age. In the end, the question becomes whether that age sees morning in America rise once again as it did 25 years ago or if our sun is setting.

Random thoughts on the passing local blogging scene

(With apologies to Thomas Sowell.)

Many local residents, particularly those with children under his care (this group includes my significant other) were shocked and horrified to hear about the auto accident last Wednesday involving local pediatrician Dr. Jose Alvarado; sadly, late last night he succumbed to his injuries.

I don’t believe I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Alvarado but by all accounts his shoes will be difficult to fill and he will be missed by a wide circle of family, friends, a host of hospital associates and staff, and most particularly patients – some of whom eventually brought their children to the kind doctor they grew up seeing.

But his passing brought up a lot of thoughts and questions I have about the local blogging scene.

First, let’s go back to the day it happened. One local blogger (I’ll call him Blogger A) jumped the gun and said Dr. Alvarado had died. Obviously that created confusion for family and friends and when the truth came out Alvarado was still alive but in grave condition Blogger A had a LOT of egg on his face to wipe off (plus a retraction to make). In days of old spreading that sort of misinformation could get you run out of town on a rail.

His archnemesis, who I’ll call Blogger G, correctly pointed out that Blogger A had jumped to a conclusion before hearing the full story, gleefully bashing Blogger A. But aside from that, what contribution to the public knowledge was made?

Apparently none, because the next day the Alvarado family released a statement saying “members of our local media and local blog owners please respect their privacy”. (Emphasis mine.)

Blogger A blamed Blogger G for creating the negative perception by pointing out the mistake Blogger A had retracted, while Blogger G continued to blame Blogger A for making the erroneous statement in the first place. Again, what was learned?

The same person who told Blogger A last night that Dr. Alvarado died simultaneously (I presume based on his post time) sent me a text message regarding that fact. However, I didn’t notice this until later because I was otherwise engaged watching a Shorebirds game with Kim (my s.o.) last night. I’m not saying this as an excuse for why I didn’t post it, I’m saying this because this ongoing war of words between Blogger A and Blogger G escalated further during the accident aftermath with the family of Dr. Jose Alvarado being not just innocent victims of a tragic accident snuffing out the life of a dedicated and caring physician but also becoming collateral damage in a juvenile war that’s gone too far for too long.

In the interest of full disclosure, on at least three different occasions I have been asked by Blogger A or Blogger G to affiliate with their websites and crosspost, and on all those occasions I declined. While there would be an obvious readership increase because my writing would be placed on a different (and perhaps larger) stage I’ve politely refused because I thought the remainder of the subject matter therein wasn’t a particularly good platform for my work. I have chosen instead to crosspost with four other blogs: two are almost strictly political (one Maryland-based and the other of national scope), one is mainly political but delves into other life issues (it’s based in Delaware so many of my Delaware-based items crosspost there), and the fourth agreement mainly exists as payback to Blogger A for slighting a friend of mine – but I haven’t contributed there in over a year.

Personally I think Salisbury is growing weary of the childish games being played by both supposedly grown men. If you believe Blogger G and those who support him, the sole reason Blogger A gets readers is the same reason some watch NASCAR and root for the 14-car pileup. But if you believe Blogger A and his followers, Blogger G (and those others in this area who aren’t currently affiliated with Blogger A) has too puny of a readership to matter anyway.

I’ve also found it irksome that on numerous occasions both men have vowed to turn over a new leaf then days later returned to form. Each seems to need some bogeyman on whom to blame the issues we all face as Salisbury-area residents and they conveniently turn to assailing one or more when things go wrong. (Admittedly, the list of Blogger A targets is much, much longer.)

That’s not to say either Blogger A or Blogger G aren’t doing some good for the community, particularly in plugging local charitable events and causes. But the additional readership comes at a cost because followers on one blog may see the other’s involvement as a reason not to support the event. Is that petty? Certainly. But it’s real and detrimental to the improvement of the community they claim to love.

Another victim of this blowback could be all the great new blogs (those are a few examples) which have surfaced locally in the last several months. These two are sucking all of the oxygen out of the room with their petty battles.

It reminds me again of an incident from 2006.  Three years after the fact I’m still incensed that a candidate – from my side, no less – called local blogs a “cancer” on the community because one brought up his past work on the zoo commission. That was essentially the work of one blogger but the statement tarred all of us with a broad brush. At the time, many weren’t familiar with the local blogging scene and it gave us a reputation which we are still trying to clean off that goo today. (Others seem to wallow in it – cases in point, Blogger A and Blogger G.)

I’m not naive enough to deny that most blogs have an agenda of some sort; even those which claim to be “news” will slant the stories at least a little to suit them as they see fit. (It’s why I say “news and views”.)

But readers need to consider the track record and, more importantly, the motivation of those who put out the “news” as well, particularly in this important time. Who are they trying to make look good, and how are they making the opponents look bad? 

I honestly hope that the latest incident forces readers to reevaluate their local news reading habits. I’m not saying all this to toot my own horn – you don’t have to come here for breaking news because that’s not my strength. (If you want a more in-depth analysis of local political items though feel free to stop back.)

I know that sooner or later either Blogger A or Blogger G is going to win their little war. With all the other issues we have, though, the fewer people who involve themselves in that fight, the better off we will all be.

The Astroturf is greener on the other side

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.)

Friday night videos episode 3

I’m going to start with an oldie but a goodie – I guess this would be considered the “classic” video. Barack Obama is shown here addressing a Big Labor conference in 2003 telling them we need a single-payer health system.

And then we have another Democrat from a safe liberal district who’s sure that Obamacare will pass. It’s from the Washington News Observer.

I like the guy in the background with the several signs. We used to do that at Republican gatherings when the candidate would speak on camera. But Congressman Lee might be surprised when the votes are counted unless the Blue Dogs want to dig their political graves.

I’ve had the opportunity to use the Clews-Todd Report before but passed it up. Carter Clews and Don Todd work for the Americans for Limited Government group and this week they discuss Obama’s sinking poll numbers. I also liked the Ellen Sauerbrey reference midstream, noting she won the Governor’s chair in Maryland until Baltimore recounted.

You may recognize a picture in the next video, although the one I took was at a different angle. It’s nice how the Democratic National Committee used a couple area pictures because the portion with the “birther” occurred in Delaware (the man she’s speaking to is Congressman Mike Castle.) As I noted in a comment yesterday, if you can’t refute the message kill the messenger.

Shows what the DNC thinks of us – perhaps it’s time to knock them off their high pedestal. So those of us who love liberty are an “angry mob”, huh? I got your angry mob right here, and look who’s in the middle.

It’s noteworthy as well that the Democrats have an issue with the Republicans using their franking privileges and wish to play editor on what the Democrats feel puts them in a bad light. Rep. John Carter explains in a video from the Washington News Observer:

I thought the Democrats were all about the First Amendment. Guess not.

Finally, I love the use of humor to make a point. Those Democrats are SO serious.

This video comes from the Sam Adams Alliance, and it’s a great play from those old instructional films we saw when we were kids.

Yes, I placed a lot of health care stuff in this week but that’s the top issue of the day. In the never-ending campaign American politics has become the effective use of video is key to swaying the great undecided on issues – particularly when the great majority of Americans are satisfied with their current health care situation. But then they’re just an angry mob, aren’t they?