Fight the power
It’s late notice to be sure – and that was probably intentional – but Senator Ben Cardin is holding a Medicare and Social Security Forum TONIGHT (Thursday) at 7 p.m. in the Worcester Room of Salisbury University’s Commons.
The reason I say this omission was intentional is that the TEA Party wasn’t exactly welcomed at the last event, nor is this meeting on Ben’s public schedule insofar as I can tell. But in order to get a full hearing and not just something from a relatively pre-selected crowd, it might be a good idea for the younger generation to attend as well – after all, we’re paying for seniors’ health care and Social Security.
While the protest outside may or may not occur, getting the right people inside may open a few eyes.
For President 2012: Entitlements
First of all, let me define the parameters of the discussion: to me, entitlements are Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, and the like. Anytime the government redistributes wealth that wasn’t earned by the recipient, that’s an entitlement – which means Social Security and Medicare do count once the amount originally contributed by the recipient is reached. Thirteen points are at stake this round.
Michele Bachmann has as her “number one priority” to repeal Obamacare, and decries the “entitlement mentality” many Americans have. She advocated “reform” before she got into the Presidential race, and what she said is a pretty good start. I’d like a faster pace myself, but she’s got the right ideas. Seven points.
He starts down the right road, but doesn’t go all the way down it. Moreover, he advocates more tinkering with the tax code and that conflicts with some of his other positions. Nevertheless, Herman Cain has the right ideas about who should be the safety net, though, so I’ll give him nine points.
I have a big problem with some of Newt Gingrich‘s so-called solutions because they begin with the argument that the current Medicare/Medicaid model just needs to be tweaked, with government remaining firmly in control. It’s the replacement of Obamacare he calls for rather than a repeal. I don’t buy it as “fundamental reform.” And this from the guy who got welfare reform passed? His record on Social Security is a start, but doesn’t go far enough. He gets only three points.
Jon Huntsman hints at the idea of using states as laboratories, calls Obamacare ‘top-heavy,’ and likes the Ryan Medicare plan. But I’m troubled that he’s ‘comfortable‘ with a mandate. I’m not sure where he stands on other entitlements, though, so I can only give him five points.
“Responsible entitlement reform” is Gary Johnson‘s mantra. He wants to “revise the terms” of entitlement programs as well. But I thought he’d be more bold than the tinkering around the edges he seems to be advocating – a better step is doing away with Medicare Part D. I’ll give him eight points.
Fred Karger thinks the size of entitlements needs to be on the table. But that’s about all the service he gives to it so I have no idea what else he wants to do. I’ll grant him one point.
There’s a lot to like about the approach that Thad McCotter takes, but he has the same basic flaw Newt Gingrich does – he maintains entitlement programs with some tweaking. If the current systems are “unsustainable” I don’t think making a few fixes (which could be wiped away at any time) is the answer. Only weaning people off dependence is. He’ll get five points.
I like one statement Roy Moore makes: “Churches and charitable organizations should be encouraged to help the needy and poor.” Now, if he has fidelity to the Constitution as he says he does I think he should follow through on eliminating entitlements altogether – please find for me the point in that document where Americans have a right to entitlements. I’m going to give him nine points.
You know, I thought Ron Paul would go farther in health care, But abolishing Social Security – that’s a winner in my book. Let’s hope he hasn’t changed his mind – he gets 12 points.
Tim Pawlenty made some aggressive health care reforms in Minnesota. He also worked to “slow down, limit, or negate Obamacare” while governor. He’s a little more tepid when it comes to Social Security, though, as he favors means testing and perhaps raising the retirement age. While he makes sense at a state level I’m not sure his ideas there will translate nationally. And as for Social Security, that’s not real reform, so I’ll only give him six points.
Like many others, Buddy Roemer will ‘reform’ items within the system rather than change a flawed paradigm. He likes the Ryan Plan, “but it’s not good enough.” I like his idea of the opting out of Medicare option, though, so I’ll bump him up seven points. Maybe we can get Medicare to ‘wither on the vine’ yet.
The problem with Mitt Romney is that this sounds reasonably good but it belies his record as governor of Massachusetts. And I don’t want to reform entitlements, but set ourselves on the path to eliminate them entirely. I’ll give him five points for saying nice things.
Once again, the vision of Rick Santorum is “reform” and not eliminate. He’s absolutely right when he says the entitlement ‘addiction’ is bad for the country, but doesn’t go far enough to end it. We need more like cold turkey for the younger generation – including myself. He gets seven points.
So it’s beginning to look like a two-person race. But notice that Ron Paul has come back into contention, Roy Moore is still hanging close, and Rick Santorum is still a dark horse. The rest are fading farther behind because they don’t have that vision thing about limited government or they wish to limit some of the wrong things.
- Michele Bachmann – 53 points
- Herman Cain – 50 points
- Roy Moore – 46 points
- Ron Paul – 42 points
- Rick Santorum – 40 points
- Thad McCotter – 38 points
- Newt Gingrich – 33 points
- Tim Pawlenty – 26 points
- Buddy Roemer – 26 points
- Gary Johnson – 24 points
- Mitt Romney – 23 points
- Jon Huntsman – 6 points
- Fred Karger – (-15) points
There’s one word for Barack Obama: Obamacare. That alone is worth the full thirteen point deduction.
“We will run ads talking about, in honest terms the end of entitlements.” That’s what Randall Terry said in January. “All entitlements should be phased out.” I can’t wait to see them, but for me that message is winner, winner, chicken dinner. He gets 12 points, but only because I haven’t seen the actual plan. It puts him ahead of a couple GOP stalwarts; then again, he’s running as a Democrat only to be in Obama’s primary. I bet he’d be in decent shape if he were more forthcoming.
- Randall Terry – 11 points
- Barack Obama – (-60) points
We move next to trade and job creation. Most Republicans should score well, but this has some potential to shake up the top contenders – particularly when 14 points are at stake and five players are within that margin (not counting negative totals.)
Friday night videos – episode 56
Coming back at’cha with a lot about Obamacare and the prospects for repeal.
How about beginning with this commercial brought to you by the “Defeat Obama Campaign” – it’s a part of the Our Country Deserves Better PAC umbrella:
I’m all for defeating Obama. Newt Gingrich doesn’t wish to stop there, though. He has his ideas on what else the House should do. This comes from Human Events.
Targeting the 23 Democratic Senators up for re-election in 2012 may be working – at least two (Kent Conrad of North Dakota and former VP candidate Joe Lieberman) have decided to retire rather than run again.
And the Center for Individual Freedom claims this the beginning of the end of Obamacare.
But what would replace Obamacare? Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia has some ideas, and he spoke to Americans for Limited Government about it recently.
You may need blood pressure medication yourself after watching this video. It’s from last February but represents how Washington watches out for itself – corporatism at its finest.
Nice work if you can get it, right?
Some of you may be familiar with the term “Darwin Award”, facetiously given to someone who offs him- or herself in some bizarre manner before they can damage the gene pool by passing on stupidity. Well, this person may be one to watch as a future recipient.
On the original post I saw this at, people are debating whether he hit 195 mph as he claims. Me, I’m debating whether he’ll take someone out with him or manage to only kill himself when he wraps a car around a tree. I guess it’s a good thing he’s trying to sell the Corvette.
I was in the mood for something I hadn’t heard in awhile, so I picked out something from October 2009. This was one of my first music videos from my friends in Semiblind, and I believe it’s the only one where they’re doing one of their original songs. Yes, the sound is a bit rough.
If you know an agent who specializes in getting bands a place to play, please hook Semiblind up so they can write more originals! Love that guitar lick in the middle of the song.
Well, until next time, enjoy the rest of your Friday night!
Friday night videos – episode 39
Whew! After a week of political developments it’s nice to wind down this one with some good video.
Dan Mitchell of the CATO Institute takes a few minutes to come to an obvious conclusion – government is too large to sustain economic growth.
Another look at the dismal science in a more humorous vein comes from the folks at Bankrupting America.
Oh, take the earmuffs off. It helps to get the sound for the next several videos. Another way to get a message across is to walk the walk, as Matthew Perdie did – for 3,500 miles coast to coast, ending July 4th.
Something tells me this will be a movie, coming soon.
Then again, given the intelligence of some people in this country about our roots they may think the walk was to celebrate our right to watch fireworks. This is a “Jaywalking” segment regarding July 4th.
Obviously, they picked the worst offending answers out for airing, but making this into a 6 1/2 minute segment shouldn’t have even been possible.
Perhaps freedom and liberty can be best achieved at the moment by repealing Obamacare. Renee Giachino explains in this edition of the Freedom Minute.
Finally, this comes from a group of Marylanders fed up with our Governor – you can add me in to the “furlough Owe’Malley” crowd too.
There’s no music video this week because my next episode of FNV will be all music videos, so be on the lookout for that!
The first of many, I’m sure
Today Sarah Kliff at Politico reports that a small Virginia-based health insurer will be closing its doors, effective December 31. The reason nHealth is shutting down?
“The uncertainties in the regulatory climate coupled with new demands imposed by national health care reforms have made it challenging to sustain the level of sales required to remain viable over the long run,” according to a letter given to company employees.
Cynics and critics of Obamacare pointed out the regulations would indeed drive private insurance companies out of business and it appears that the Richmond-based company will be the first.
What’s most sad about this particular closing is that the company, “specializes in high-deductible insurance plans, meant to cover larger medical emergencies, that are paired with health savings accounts, the tax-deductible accounts used to pay for medical expenses” – exactly the sort of plan which would be most beneficial to the large percentage of the uninsured who are relatively young and healthy.
Part of the problem with the future outlook of companies which specialize in HSAs is that the regulations (which haven’t been written yet) may leave insurers in limbo.
According to Heritage Foundation blogger Kathryn Nix,
“the worst news for those using HSAs is the provision requiring all policies to cover at least 60 percent of the actuarial value of the benefits offered. What’s the actual value? No one really knows—not until the Health and Human Services Department issues regulations on how to calculate it.”
Obviously if the saved portion is counted toward the value those who are just starting out or have little in their HSA wouldn’t qualify. It will be up to career bureaucrats and lobbyists to make this decision and chances are good Fedzilla will want to exert maximum control over consumers.
It’s areas like this where defunding may not have the desired effect and all-out repeal of Obamacare is the only solution.
Friday night videos episode 28
This won’t be the longest edition of FNV but I think it will be a good one.
The TEA Party Express 3.0 is off and running. While they are coming no closer than Washington, D.C. they had quite the shindig in Searchlight, Nevada as I understand.
With success come imitation, and a candidate billing himself as a “Tea Party” candidate weaseled his way onto the Nevada ballot. The real TEA Partiers want him off.
Another real group of TEA Partiers express their fears of Obamacare thanks to fellow blogger Bob McCarty.
Note to self: remind Bob some of us need a 480-pixel wide format. Same for whoever put this next one up.
Just remember: the speaker in this next one is a Democrat who voted for Obamacare. This video has been viewed over 750,000 times and is proof positive a Congressman is no smarter than us average folk – and in some cases not nearly as bright!
Getting a little more local, fellow Red Maryland blogger Brian Griffiths put together Martin O’Malley’s first campaign advertisement. Surprised? You won’t be after you see this.
Last but certainly not least, here’s the musical portion of the program – old friends and a video shot by my significant other! She taped this last Friday night at Skip Dixxon’s Spring Luau at Pickles Pub in Ocean City. It’s foreshadowing of a post I’m going to try and put up this weekend – another weekend of local rock! But the sizzling coda at the end of this only comes out in video form, darn it!
Until next time, have a great weekend and hopefully I’ll have more goodies for the next edition of FNV!
Rancor rises about Viagra for sex offenders
There’s no question that last week’s series of reconciliation votes on Obamacare was designed to give Republicans the opportunity to put Democrats in the embarrassing position of casting a number of controversial votes – as I noted, one amendment was placed in there to keep convicted sex offenders from securing Viagra on the federal dime. Regardless, both Maryland Senators followed all but a couple of their Democratic counterparts in voting to kill the Viagra amendment sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
(continued on my Examiner.com page…)
My sentiments exactly
Thanks to the Patriot Post. Didn’t have a lot of desire to write this weekend, so I’ll use this cartoon instead.
Unlike the song “Beautiful Disaster” this will be quite ugly.
It’s not so much the questionable Constitutionality of the whole bill and its voluminous fixes but the effect on the economy this will have. Several large corporations have already claimed Obamacare will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, and what’s the easiest way to shore up the bottom line? You guessed it, layoffs.
Another worrisome provision ratchets up the percentage of revenue which needs to be paid out in claims. Well, if the insurer has to pay out a larger percentage of its revenue to policyholders, what will they have left to service all those people or providers wishing to be reimbursed for their preventive care? Once again, jobs will be lost.
For each effect something like Obamacare is intended to address, somehow government creates 1,001 unintended consequences. Naturally someone will come along and want to “fix” the problems (after all, the ink on the Obamacare bill was hardly dry before a repair was in order) and that in turn will create even more chaos. It’s getting harder and harder to walk things back, especially with the accelerating pace of government involvement in my lifetime.
But try we must. Certainly I would like to see repeal of the bill as a good first step, but it’s just a baby step in the right direction to repeal this monstrosity. Multiply Obamacare and its control of 1/6 of our economy by the other 5/6 and you may begin to see the scope of what is involved. It’s a fight that will take generations to win, and even that doesn’t take into account threats from without.
I just noted on Facebook in response to some other person that my task is to educate Marylanders and anyone else who wants to listen about the benefits of limited, Constitutional government. America in the 21st century thus far is (with the possible exception of the 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts) certainly not the poster child for the concept. Yet we must struggle on, and indeed I plan to.
Fighting the good fight
It was a battle which began last spring and it took the side of right nearly a year to fall despite the odds against it. As I write this, the nationalization of one-sixth of the nation’s economy and the ability for government to pry further into all aspects of your personal life – indeed, control the fate of your very being – is essentially one House vote and one Presidential signature away from happening.
Here’s yet another lesson to show elections mean things. Despite the turnover which played a vital role in the outcome, most of the main players were elected in 2008, the year America believed in hope and change. What we hoped for and what we’d change into were simply taken at the face value of that which was promised by most, but a few thinkers foresaw this entire drama coming and, like Paul Revere, attempted to sound the alarm.
And there were hopeful moments even after the 2008 elections played out. The dreaded 60-seat Democratic majority in the Senate didn’t occur right away – while Al Franken and Norm Coleman battled out a protracted election recount, Saxby Chambliss easily won re-election to his Georgia Senate seat. This denied the Democrats their 60th vote for a time, although that possibility was reborn last April when Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter switched parties from the GOP to the Democrats. A few weeks later, Coleman conceded, Franken was sworn in, and the Democrats had their precious 60-vote majority.
That Democrat victory was short-lived, though. On August 25th Ted Kennedy died, and it took a few weeks for Paul Kirk to be named his replacement. Yet even after Kirk was sworn in, Senate Democrats still needed until Christmas Eve to hammer out their health care bill. Most importantly, there were significant differences in the bills approved by the Senate and House – changes put in place to mollify particular Senators. The term “Louisiana Purchase” gained a new meaning and we learned more than we ever wanted to know about the “Cornhusker Kickback.”
Conventional wisdom held that Congress would come back from their holiday break and figure out the details. But Scott Brown’s election on January 19 ended the prospect of a conventional conference process and bill opponents were buoyed by the presence of “Mister 41” when he was sworn in on February 4th.
However, Obamacare was resurrected from the dead once again as the House employed a number of questionable tactics to allow their membership to swallow a Senate bill few liked. That’s where we are today.
All of the drama came about despite TEA Parties, acrimonious town hall meetings, a number of Capitol rallies (including two in the last week,) and the ominous threat that those who voted for Obamacare would be committing political suicide. Perhaps it will turn out that some did, as most national polls reveal the people are against Obamacare and a poll commissioned last week by Independent Women’s Voice showed 60% of respondents would vote for a candidate who opposes “the current version of healthcare reform and wants to start over.”
While it’s likely that the courts will be deciding on key aspects of the bill for months to come, it may not matter. Obamacare wasn’t slated to take effect until 2013 anyway.
The problem is that history has shown that once a new entitlement program is created, it’s impossible to kill. For all the brave talk of repeal it’s likely that we are stuck with Obamacare because of those who placed power before people. The people fought, but unfortunately they lost. We all did.
Michael Swartz, an architect and writer who lives in rural Maryland, is a Liberty Features Syndicated writer.
This cleared the LFS wire on March 23rd.
Friday night videos episode 27
Hey, two weeks in a row! How about that? Let’s see what I have this week.
I guess we have enough anger out there over the Obamacare bill (boy did I get an earful in one Facebook forum.) Let’s try a more amusing look at the pitfalls of Obamacare from a group called TalkPAC.
And Rep. Mike Pence is right – it’s time to condemn those who turn to violence to oppose Obamacare, but it’s also time to end the smears!
On the other hand, Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak may be the most reviled man in America, particularly for pro-lifers. Here’s one reason why – he wasn’t really a firm vote against Obamacare.
Yet I thought the focus for Obama now was going to be on jobs – didn’t you? Producing our own energy resources would fit the bill.
The are jobs in the legal community, but do you ever get tired of these ambulance chasers pitching the legal lottery of having a dread disease pay off? Bob McCarty did.
Let’s transition to the music portion of FNV with this politically-charged song. A little more country than I like, but the lyrics are sound.
Now it’s time to rock. Last weekend at Marina’s up in Blades, Delaware I recorded my friends from Semiblind doing this little ditty.
This post is timed so you can enjoy it, then head over to Pickles Pub in Ocean City and enjoy Semiblind as headliners of the 8th Annual Spring Luau – Semiblind goes on at 1:00. (Why do you think I do my FNV posts in advance most of the time?)
Hopefully I’ll get more good video tonight for use in future FNV episodes.
If Republicans are from Mars, are Democrats from Venus?
Given the heated acrimony between Republicans and Democrats in the wake of a bruising debate over Obamacare, perhaps this passage related as part of a press release by U.S. Senate candidate Carmen Amedori is apt. This was placed on her Facebook page and brought to my attention:
Carmen Amedori, Republican candidate for United States Senate in Maryland, states that the incumbent Senator’s remark that “the Republican Party is from Mars” shows just how out of touch she is with the electorate.
(More on my Examiner.com page…feel free to subscribe there and you can get e-mail notifications when I write there!)
A prelude to April
This is actually going to be about the Americans for Prosperity meeting last night, which I was told would be a planning meeting for next month’s Tax Day TEA Party here in Salisbury. But apparently much of the event has been planned – however, what I didn’t know is that Ocean City will have one as well. More on that later, though.
To open the meeting, AFP Wicomico co-chair Julie Brewington had a monologue where she noted the Obamacare bill was “a finger poked in the face of the people” and created “a nation divided (which was) a very sad thing.” But rather than being depressed, she was “more energized than ever.”
To her, people were “fairly ignorant” on the contents of the Obamacare bill, and because of the lack of transparency, “we must change who represents us” here in Maryland.
At that point, we received some key dates.
On March 31st there will be a town hall meeting sponsored by Wicomico County Councilman Bill McCain regarding the revenue cap. McCain would prefer to see it repealed and allow the county to raise our property taxes through the roof (since property values are so far down the millage rate will probably increase regardless) but wants public input. I’m sure we’ll give it to him. The sobfest will be held in the Danang Room at the Wicomico County Youth and Civic Center beginning at 7 p.m.
Five days later sanity returns to the Danang Room as state Republican Chair Audrey Scott hosts a town hall meeting of her own, April 5th at 6:30 p.m. Brewington noted that the Republicans were “begging” for TEA Party input and personally I welcome them into the fold. (Otherwise there wouldn’t be any GOP Central Committee people attending AFP meetings, although the College Republicans also meet that night so that may account for one or two others.)
On April 6th the Wicomico County Council has its quarterly night meeting, where we were urged by AFP member Matt Trenka to “pack the house” and take advantage of the public comments. When pressed, County Councilman John Cannon (who was in attendance) said he supported the idea and noted it’s one of the few items brought back to the Council’s attention after a decision was made – the quarterly meetings were a compromise measure. The current schedule was “terribly confusing,” said Cannon, and I imagine this may be a side issue for this year’s election.
Finally, the Tax Day TEA Party will be held April 15th (naturally.) That was the last subject we covered, so I’ll get to that shortly.
G.A. Harrison (of Delmarva Dealings fame) next spoke on the prospects of an elected school board. He noted that only 6 of Maryland’s 24 school districts (each county and Baltimore City) still had appointed boards of education, and only Caroline and Wicomico counties had that method here on the Eastern Shore. To get an elected board, we would have to have a non-binding referendum and there were two methods of achieving this:
- through the approval of County Council, or;
- via petition drive, with the signatures of 10% of county voters in the last election for Governor. For Wicomico County, this would mean we have to gather 2,821 valid signatures. The time is tight for this petition though: the language needs to be filed by May 1, with 1/3 of the signatures in by May 31 and the remainder by June 30.
Obviously the easier route is County Council, and recently the Republican Central Committee sent a letter to the County Council expressing our support (a letter I was pleased to sign.) Harrison noted that the Democrats may be on board as well, but for differing reasons – the teacher’s union would certainly try to influence the school board election.
State AFP head Dave Schwartz was also in attendance, and he spoke at some length about the recent fight against Obamacare. He told us that, “the American people are with us” and had it not been for all of our efforts this would have been done last June. After the 2008 elections the only question was when Democrats would pull the trigger, noted Schwartz. But Americans got to look at how things work in Washington, D.C. and they don’t like it – a CBS News poll released this week revealed 62% want Republicans to keep fighting this bill!
While the media wants to paint this as an “accomplishment,” continued Schwartz, it was only an accomplishment in the sense of getting a third mortgage when you had difficulty paying for the first two.
The next steps in our fight were:
- To “win the aftermath” by explaining the bill’s pitfalls (of which there are many) better than the other side explains the supposed benefits. After all, $500 billion in new taxes, $500 billion in Medicare cuts, and a “fast-forward” to single-payer only benefit the government.
- Signing the petition at NOvemberiscoming.com. (As I write this 343,138 have.)
- Attend the Tax Day TEA Party here – 600 did last year and we want double this year!
- Call and get the Health Care Freedom Act passed here in Maryland. The bill lost in committee 6-5 but we are asking two Democrats to reconsider.
Schwartz concluded by citing an AMA study which suggested that a high percentage of older doctors (over 50) will simply choose to retire as early as possible once Obamacare takes full effect, leaving fewer providers to care for an increasing number of insured patients who expect free medical service.
Two other quick pieces of information we received were that the Leadership Institute candidate school originally scheduled for Cambridge this weekend was cancelled, but there were still openings up in Dover. Also, the Worcester County AFP chapter asked for donations to purchase the use of a billboard along U.S. 50 to promote a message.
Finally, the Tax Day TEA Parties.
In Salisbury, the TEA Party goes on Thursday, April 15th from 3 to 7 p.m. About the only desired thing missing from the planning is a band, but everything else seems to be going as planned (aside from hoping for better weather, of course.) The venue remains the front lawn of the Government Office Building downtown on Division Street.
This year, Ocean City joins in on the fun! On Saturday, April 17 from noon to 3 p.m. theirs will be held in the plaza which hosts Trader Lee’s on the southwest corner of U.S. 50 and Maryland Route 611.
In either case, I encourage my readers to attend and they can register at this website. It looks like AFP has taken the lead in planning and promoting these events in Maryland, although each individual one is different.
Their next meeting will be April 28th at Brew River in Salisbury. Be there early to grab a seat because we had over 70 in a room set up originally for 50.
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