Someone please explain....

Why is it that the left is so concerned about foreign interference and influence in our elections? I would think, based on their OWN actions, they would welcome that. Reason you say? Because they obviously welcome interference and influence in our law making! Otherwise, they would NOT have their panties in a wad over DACA!!!!!

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So you think Obamacare kept health insurance premiums down? Think again!

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the average exchange premiums were 105% higher in the 39 states using Healthcare.gov in 2017 than average individual market premiums in 2013. Average monthly premiums increased from $232 in 2013 to $476 in 2017, and 62% of those states had 2017 exchange premiums at least double the 2013 average.  This is NOT from a right wing think tank or Fox News.  It is not from Rush Limbaugh.  This is from the people who actually are responsible for this.  Read for yourself here.

Repeal THEN adjust by market forces, NOT REPLACE~!

ACA, aka ObamaCare is one of the worst pieces of legislation EVER passed into law.  It shouldn't be replaced.....it SHOULD be repealed in its entirety and allow the free markets, now that the publicity provided to the insurance industry has been digested, to provide the products and services that the market asks for at a price they are willing to pay.  It is bad legislation!

It is a bad legislation because it does MULTIPLE bad things:

1. It has mandates that require policies to include things that some people will NEVER NEED. A single man does NOT need birth control pills or mammograms….EVER! And NO women need prostate exams….EVER!
2. It allows people to pay a small penalty to the government (regardless of whether you say it is a tax or not) UNTIL they need insurance, THEN buy it. This becomes an actuarial nightmare. I would like to be able to buy car insurance or home owners insurance AFTER I need them!
3. It did NOT strengthen MediCare. In fact, the additional “free” items that the law mandates, like an annual wellness visit and elimination of the drug “donut hole” in Part D have actually weakened Medicare financially. The latest projections are that Medicare Part D spending will more than double between 2016 and 2025. When Medicare's trustees reported on the status of the federal healthcare program in 2015, they projected that the Medicare Part A hospital insurance trust fund would run out of money in 2030. Now the trustees estimate that the trust fund will be depleted in 2028 -- two years earlier than previously expected.
4. Most importantly is the slight of hand that the left has used to sell this canard! They have tried to make healthcare a RIGHT! IT IS NOT!! This is only about an attempt to create a single payer system in the US so the government controls a LARGE part (as much as 1/6th) of then economy. It started with a law they KNEW would eventually implode because it is financially unsustainable. It is obvious because they actually made plans to pay insurance companies for their losses in the first years. They KNEW that premiums HAD to go up and would go up substantially, regardless of their statements (remember save $2500/year?) and that choices would go down (remember keep your plan and keep your doctor?). They KNEW that the next step, after the “evil” insurance companies became the target, would be to say “OK, this has become too expensive! We need to take control!” They put the health insurance companies OUT OF BUSINESS and EVERYONE goes on Medicare, essentially.

Of course, they didn’t plan on Republicans taking control of the White House, Senate, and House. So unless we can repeal it and return to free market competition, the left will do what they always do….wait until they can pick it back up. Make no mistake, that is the price of NOT repealing the entire legislation.

Illegal Aliens and their children. Are "anchor" babies citizens?

Why do you suggest we treat parents who are illegal aliens and their children who are, also, illegals differently?  The liberal position seems to say if you have children, you don't have to follow our laws.  Now, what OTHER laws do they NOT have to follow?  I know we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 million illegals and it isn't practical to deport them all, but we have to start looking out for the best interests of Americans first.  We need to be very aggressively deporting ALL criminal aliens AND their families, regardless of where the children are born.  The parents go back and take their children with them.  Pretty simple.

Now libs will be screaming at the top of their lungs "if you are born here, you are a citizen!!!!"  and will cite SCOTUS precedent (which is rooted in completely inane footnote in a case by William Brennan, an extremely liberal "activist" judge who refused to hire women and probably the most inexplicable appointment EVER made by a Republican president) and the 14th Amendment, conveniently ignoring the fact that the 14th Amendment was intended to ensure that freed slaves were citizens.  It had NOTHING to do with immigrants.  In fact, in 1884, in Elk v. Wilkins (112 U.S. 94), the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment did not grant Indians citizenship.  The first sentence of the 14th Amendment "was to settle the question, upon which there had been a difference of opinion throughout the country and in this court, as to the citizenship of free negroes and to put it beyond doubt that all persons, white or black … should be citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside.”  It says NOTHING about immigrants.

Regardless of what MANY people think, SCOTUS is not infallible.  Remember, Dred Scott was the law of the land for 50+ years.  They DO make mistakes when they allow politics to enter into their decisions.  

Wealth, power, and open borders.

You ever wonder why so many billionaires, like George Soros and Mark Zuckerberg, are such ardent supporters of liberal policies and goals? It sure seems like they ALL think alike, doesn’t it? But that can’t be the case, because one of the traits of these types of people is the willingness to take a risk, to do something nobody else has, or can, do. I have a theory and it revolves around open borders, their place in the economic pyramid and their unwillingness to let others have the same opportunity to join them there. 

Imagine for a moment that you are one of the chosen….you’ve acquired wealth that can’t even be imagined by most people. You have more money that you and your family could ever spend for generations. There literally is nothing in the world that you can’t afford. Your wealth affords you something that is not easily attained….power and influence!

Power is a fickle thing. Political power, even more so. Political power is based on nationalistic structures. Constitutions can be very annoying when you are trying to make sure that the power that your wealth now gives you isn’t chipped away by others attaining the same, or even more, wealth than you have. And God forbid if it is eroded by someone elected by the dirty masses! Ergo, we see the influence of open borders in economically advanced societies like the US and Europe. 

As more and more immigrants with no concept of the “nation” that they now occupy, there is less and less “nation”…and less and less economic success due to the fact that the VAST majority of immigrants don’t possess the education or skills that will allow them to succeed in a capitalist system and the welfare state that was a shining beacon to them now becomes their means of support. Remember, even if you are entirely dependent upon the welfare state for your subsistence, that subsistence level in the US is orders of magnitude greater than the life BEFORE immigration. They become reliant upon the welfare state, sometimes for generations. As they attain citizenship, their allegiance stays with those who feed them without considering the notion that they are “kept” for a purpose. With fewer and fewer people likely to attain the wealth they have, it becomes less likely that the subsequent generations of the mega-wealthy will have to compete for the power and influence attained by their scions. And the band plays on!

Islam: A Political Ideology Masquerading as a Religion

When will someone have the guts to talk about Islam realistically?  Islam is a theo-political construct. It is just another branch of the totalitarian branch, very much like Marxism. Look at the similarities....a single, all powerful leader...not elected. A "puppet" legislative branch with elected "representatives" who are required to rubber stamp the will of the supreme leader....a judiciary that does the same. Economic stratification that is not reflected by a statistical bell curve where the "middle class" has a large population but instead has a statistically insignificant size of upper class and a MASSIVE percentage of economically disadvantaged who either have no allegiance to the political system (see Kurds, Bedouins,etc) or total reliance upon government for subsistence. It simply wraps itself in the guise of religion as a way of control. 

Think about it....Marx said "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs)". In other words, it is required of the individual to produce as much as he can and it is then given to the "distribution" mechanism (government) to redistribute as it sees fit. It actually DECIDES who needs what and how much and if an individual decides that he needs more than is given by the government, that individual becomes an enemy of the state subject to punishment by the state.

Then along comes Mohammed, who doesn’t have a “state” for redistribution of production but he needs to figure out a way to punish those who don't follow his commands. Now remember, you have to make sure that your subjects don't do too much thinking for themselves.  So you start by saying women can't go to school.  That's a good start.  Need them breeding and making more subjects...don't need them wasting time with things like reading...and writing...and being exposed to other cultures.  That takes care of half the population right there!!!! 

As for the other half, he comes up with a pretty good idea….get the people who he controls to believe it is not the state that will punish them for going against his will…..but GOD! Do what you are told and you will be rewarded in the afterlife! Don’t worry about now….this life…it’s not really important. In fact, if you are particularly submissive, you may be rewarded with 72 virgins in Heaven. Not really sure how that is a reward but….. Oh, and, just for the record, if you do commit transgressions against God’s will (actually the state’s will) it would not be a simple flogging or life in prison….no….it will be an eternity in HELL!!!!!  So if you are a goat herder that can’t read or write and probably the only people he knows that CAN are the very people I’m talking about above, you aren’t going to be in any position to dispute what they say…..unless you are willing to spend eternity in Hell.

  
So now, because it is God making the rules and doling out the punishment, that makes it a religion.  Huh.....pretty good scam, if you ask me!  

Income Inequality in America

Today I read an article about the statistics of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and how unfair it is. 

I am constantly amazed by the “conspiracy” pundits surrounding the “wealth” inequality in the US. The social engineering aristocracy that invented this “issue”(just like global cooling (1970's), global warming (1990's) and climate change (21 century)) and their socialist followers never consider that when one spends less than they earn, their wealth INCREASES! That is the bottom line. Literally!

The wealthy, even though they spend what may appear to the less wealthy as an exorbitant amount of money to live, are, as a group, spending less than they earn.  And this is NOT an illusion.  I know that the income my wife (MBA with a bunch of computer certifications) and I (less academically achieved with just a BS and a few certs) allows us to live comfortably in a large metropolitan suburb in Texas.  However, we also know that it won't go quite as far as it would in other suburban locales here.  That same income would not go NEARLY as far in Manhattan...or San Francisco.  So, besides some of the obvious reasons why we don't live in those places, too cold, taxes are ridiculous, way too politically correct for my tastes, etc, we choose NOT to live there. 

If you want to live in those places, that is your choice, but all things income wise being the same, you either have a lower standard of living or you make more money to maintain that standard.  If you spend more than you make, you get..... poorer! Spending less requires choices that may not be fun, and making more means, usually, new skills that may be difficult to master or simply working harder. However, since both choices are not, by definition, easy or fun, it is just written off as inequality and the pitchforks and torches come out.

Time For An American Day of Rage

You have to hand it to Barack Obama.  He has said for 8 years now, since he started running for President, that his goal is to fundamentally transform OUR country into HIS vision.  A socialist utopia with an imperial president with powers beyond review.  If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, that's a pretty good indication that it's a duck. In this case, if he talks like a Marxist and acts like a Marxist, HE IS A MARXIST who is hell bent on destroying the most successful economic and social experiment in  the history of mankind. 

He has essentially destroyed the healthcare system that was the finest in the world.  He did it by demonizing insurance companies while at the same time enriching them with a new channel of business they couldn't get on their own.  Next, in a few years, when the government mandated insurance premiums become unaffordable, that industry will be, to borrow a phrase, next against the wall, and it too will be destroyed....all in the name of fairness and equality. 

The Internal Revenue service has been turned into a limitless power state secret police with the aim of stifling free speech. 

We enrich our enemies abroad and show disdain and disrespect to our allies who, in many ways, share our values. 

Now, today, 11/20/2014 which is Mexico Revolution Day by the way, Barack Obama has announced that he is taking executive action to "legalize" 5 million ILLEGAL ALIENS in the US.  Lawbreakers that, for the most part, don't speak the language, don't pay taxes, and WILL NEVER DO SO!  If our leaders don't, why should they?  All with the idea that when they are "legal", they will become, or produce, a growing population of democrat party voters.  They don't want to become Americans.....they only want to TAKE what they can get for free.  And let the taxpayers of America pay for it! 

All of this has been done with the complicity, to be sure, of the leadership of the GOP.  Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader McConnell, and their cabal of timid lackeys have no intention of standing up to this assault on American sovereignty.  Because they are, both democrat and republican, two sides of the same coin.  Once, our elected leaders went to Washington to do the work of the people….FOR the people. Now, it is all about “what’s in it for me?”  Campaign contributions, PAC contributions, cushy “consulting” and think tank jobs after “serving” in government….just the tip of the iceberg.

11/27/2014 is Thanksgiving.  A day to gather with family and friends and rejoice in the many blessings we enjoy.  Look at your children and grandchildren and realize that they will never have the same freedom and liberty that you have enjoyed UNLESS THESE PEOPLE ARE STOPPED.  Voting isn’t enough anymore.  It doesn’t speak loudly enough.  It is time for an AMERICAN DAY OF RAGE.  It is time for change…..time for standing up and speaking out LOUD that we are mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore.  11/29/2014!  We can do this!

#AmericanDayOfRage

 

Tony Soprano and Ukraine

One of the mainstays of the business model of organized crime is the protection racket. They walk into to your place of business and announce that, unless you pay up, they will make sure that certain things happen. Such is what's happening in Ukraine right now, at least that's how the Obama administration is viewing it.

The "Ukraine" shop sits on the corner of Europe and Asia. That location is, essentially, the dividing line between two neighborhoods. It's a very good location with lots of traffic. It does a lot of business with customers from both neighborhoods and, for the most part, their customers are happy. However, there is one, very large, customer named "Russia", who wants to be able to tell the "owners" of the "Ukraine" shop how to run their business. He believes that he is entitled to this because he is a large customer with lots of friends who do business there. He also USED to OWN the "Ukraine" shop until it was "taken" away from him. He even had to provide financing for the transaction and he is still not happy about that.

So, in the finest traditions of Tony Soprano, he decides the make them an offer! Now, the "Ukraine" shop is not nearly as well off as it's biggest customer. In many respects they rely on this customer. So when "Russia" says "You know, you bought this shop with a loan from me. You need to do what I say or else!", what are the "Ukraine" shop's owners supposed to do? If they don't bow to their customer's demands, "Russia" is going to burn down "Ukraine"'s shop. So "Ukraine" does the logical thing. He contacts his very powerful and rich friend, "USA", and explains the situation. "USA" says "Don't worry, friend. We'll take care of this. "Russia is reasonable and knows we aren't to be trifled with!".

So "USA" calls "Russia" and says "Hey, Russia, you don't want to do this. Ukraine is our friend and if you keep pushing him around, we might have to get involved. And you know how strong we are. Back off!". "Russia" replies..."We'll do whatever we want in our neighborhood and you can't stop us. You are neither strong enough to stop us here and nor will you do the things you say you can do because you don't have the guts to do it! You are a paper tiger!". So "USA" says "Don't make us get our other friend, "UN" involved because we will!". "Go ahead, says "Russia", because they are even more impotent than you and we have friends in that neighborhood that agree with us."

Now, what is "Ukraine" supposed to do? The can't resist the 'offer' from "Russia". And their rich friend, "USA", can't do anything because their bluff was called? Well, then "USA" says "Let's do what we always do....pay them off! You owe them $1 billion so we'll pay it off for you and then they'll love us and stop messing with you!".

Ask yourself one question.....when Tony Soprano got money one time, did he stop going back in the future or did he decide that this is a pretty good thing here. Maybe I'll try it on that shop next door called "Belarus"...or "Romania"...or "Lithuania"...or "Latvia".

Congratulations, Vladimir, Tony Soprano would be proud!

Who are Obama's People?

Who are Obama’s people? 

They are educated at the most prestigious universities in the US, yet utterly uneducated in the real world and often they are classless, foulmouthed buffoons who, for whatever reason, are convinced that their methods and actions are right regardless of the setting.

These are Obama's people.

They fill positions of power and authority throughout the “Dimocrat” party. They talk about free speech...as long as you agree with them.

These are Obama's people.

They talk about inclusivity....as long as you think like them.

These are Obama's people.

They talk about fiscal responsibility....as long as they get theirs first.

These are Obama's people.

They truly feel entitled, because of their status, to say or do anything without ANY retribution or consequence.

These are Obama's people.

Is this the kind of person YOU are? Is this the kind of person your mother would be proud of? Think about that when you vote.

The Genius of Milton Friedman

The weather has turned cold in Texas...yes, that is a bit odd, but it does happen.  And as a result, with no golf available, I've done some reading....light but "enlightening"....that has led me to a conclusion: 

Milton Friedman is of the greatest minds of our time, REGARDLESS of the subject.

Milton Friedman was a recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences and was a major contributor to the economic "good times" that were the 1980's as an economic advisor to President Reagan.  Philosophically, he was an ardent supporter of free markets with minimal governmental interference.  One of his great quotes: 

"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit."

 He has been called the second most popular economist of the 20th century after John Maynard Keynes, which is ironic since many of his theories were refutations of Keynes' theories as anti-free market and, in many cases, the implementation of Keynesian economic theory did more harm than good. 

To read more Friedman quotes:
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2011/11/29/10_of_the_best_economics_quotes_from_milton_friedman
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/milton_friedman.html

He also was a frequent guest on television shows and probably his most memorable appearance was on the Phil Donahue in 1979.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvNzi7tmkx0&feature=player_embedded

Immigration Reform is NOT dead in the House-Boehner

Immigration "reform" only makes them legal in the eyes of the law. It creates even more entitlements that the citizenry has to pay for. Even the most liberal estimates are that it will increase "revenue" to federal and state governments by around $50b a year yet it will produce "entitlements" in the area of $60b-$100b a year. How does this help the economy? It only helps the political class by cementing even more people into the "beholding" class, buying their votes. Unfortunately, the GOP has come to this realization too late and no amount of liberalization can undo the years of prior damage done in this arena. It won't help the nation to do this and it will do harm to the GOP.

Unfortunately, the leadership believes that the old guard is the future of the party.....the same old guard that got us into this mess by capitulation to the democrats at nearly every turn. Boehner, Ryan, Priebus, McConnell and McCain and the rest of the leadership has to be replaced or the party will become the Whigs and the country will become a place where the standard of living declines for the next 50 years.

So smart they are stupid....or vice versa?

I'm not sure if the libs are so smart they are stupid, or vice versa.
The entire ACA rollout has shown the absolute ignorance of the administration and congress of the realities of free markets in general and the health insurance industry in particular.  They have painted themselves into a corner from which there is no escape.

They were so ignorant of the insurance industry that they created a paradigm that requires them to sell something they couldn't sell previously at a price that nobody would buy.  Now that that has been made painfully clear, they are trying to fool people into believing that they had no idea this would be the case.  However, insurance companies have spent the last 3 years coming up with those products they couldn't sell, and all of the associated programming, actuarial, and marketing work only to now be faced with congress looking at a get out of jail free card....FOR CONGRESS!!!!  The beauty of it is that, if the democrats bring this up, republicans HAVE to vote for it but it makes no difference.  Those plans WILL NOT EXIST after 12/31.  The insurance companies simply don't have time, in 7 weeks, to do the work required to "restore" the world to the way congress says.  There isn't enough time to "recreate" all of those plans, program, and price them all based on an even DIFFERENT set of rules and marketplace.

They can't repeal it, they can't alter its plan, it's ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.  Libs are the leading practitioners of "unintended consequences" and they are NEVER in the interests of the people.

American Health Care Reform Act

A group of GOP representatives have introduced H.R. 3121, The American Health Care Reform Act of 2013, to the 113^th Congress.  There are 84 co-sponsors on this bill which is aimed at repealing Obamacare (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and promoting patient-centered health care while reducing government costs and cutting taxes.  Just those things alone make it worthwhile.  To see the details of this bill, which is now before the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs (because it has specific provisions dealing with their healthcare), you can read the text at

http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/house-bill/3121/text

A summary from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) can be found at:

http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/solutions/rsc-betterway.htm

This needs to be more widely discussed.  Ask your Representatives and Senators about this bill.  Get it moving!