We're looking at a big battle in 2009 over health insurance reform. The "Harry and Louise" ads from 2004 helped save us from HillaryCare won't cut it this time. Here is a very effective video being used to push government healthcare:
And here is the fifteen year-old stuff that needs to be updated:
It's a shame that we're arguing about whether mindless bureaucrats or mindless corporate hacks should carry the day. Getting the government out of the way and introducing real competition into the marketplace would easily deliver lower prices and better service.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Political imaginations running wild
Some people try to counter the fact that outspoken people like Dan Rather and Katie Couric dominate a mainstream media with a bias toward a statist ideology by claiming implausibly that they actually veer to the right.
Here is another nail in that coffin. Lexington Herald Leader columnist Tom Eblen said this morning, in his description of the Fancy Farm picnic:
Lunsford hopes to join a party in the Senate that has quashed every effort to expand domestic oil exploration for many years. Joined by a handful of "Republicans" who agreed with them the last few years, they have been able to shut off the domestic spigot unimpeded for decades. Seeking to add one more vote to that sentiment, as Lunsford does, is indeed worthy of appreciation from Arab oil producers.
And that brings us to the next sentence in Eblen's column. How can Lunsford's support for rising oil prices be imaginary when the "Texas Oilman Mitch" character isn't worthy of any kind of derogatory mention?
Here is another nail in that coffin. Lexington Herald Leader columnist Tom Eblen said this morning, in his description of the Fancy Farm picnic:
"Young Republicans dressed as Arab sheikhs, “thanking” Lunsford for higher oil prices, through some stretch of the political imagination. Young Democrats dressed as characters with the names “Texas Oilman Mitch” and “Bush's Lapdog Mitch.”"
Lunsford hopes to join a party in the Senate that has quashed every effort to expand domestic oil exploration for many years. Joined by a handful of "Republicans" who agreed with them the last few years, they have been able to shut off the domestic spigot unimpeded for decades. Seeking to add one more vote to that sentiment, as Lunsford does, is indeed worthy of appreciation from Arab oil producers.
And that brings us to the next sentence in Eblen's column. How can Lunsford's support for rising oil prices be imaginary when the "Texas Oilman Mitch" character isn't worthy of any kind of derogatory mention?
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Another Kentucky education bombshell
Kentucky's faked high school drop-out rates missed another one.
When the Kentucky Department of Education figured out that the American Diploma Project they joined in 2002 was actually a serious effort and not marketing gimmicks and spin, they sat on the back row, put on their dark sunglasses, and went to sleep.
When the Kentucky Department of Education figured out that the American Diploma Project they joined in 2002 was actually a serious effort and not marketing gimmicks and spin, they sat on the back row, put on their dark sunglasses, and went to sleep.
Road trip!
Headed off for my first Fancy Farm. I have the technology to report from there and expect to do so. Please check back.
Here's one rumor for you.
UPDATE: I think I can sum up the meaningful political discourse from the whole day in one sentence. This fall's Congressional races are about gas prices.
Today was fun. Gov. Beshear did better than I thought he would. Neither Mitch McConnell nor Bruce Lunsford drew any blood. Heather Ryan and Todd Hollenbach did pretty well also. Secretary of State Trey Grayson had the best line of the day when he talked about Gov. Beshear studying another potential policy move and the Frankfort press going down to Grayson's office to see how it was working out in practice.
Here's one rumor for you.
UPDATE: I think I can sum up the meaningful political discourse from the whole day in one sentence. This fall's Congressional races are about gas prices.
Today was fun. Gov. Beshear did better than I thought he would. Neither Mitch McConnell nor Bruce Lunsford drew any blood. Heather Ryan and Todd Hollenbach did pretty well also. Secretary of State Trey Grayson had the best line of the day when he talked about Gov. Beshear studying another potential policy move and the Frankfort press going down to Grayson's office to see how it was working out in practice.
Problems reading blogs this morning?
For some reason, Site Meter is causing a bunch of blogs to not be readable in Internet Explorer. The fix appears to be simply to remove Site Meter from the site. You won't see the problem if you use Fire Fox, but anyone still on Internet Explorer will.
If you have a blog or know someone who does -- and you can't open it in IE, that's the way to repair the problem. Spread the word.
Or ask your Congressman to sponsor the 2008 Blogger Hit Counter Bailout, Subsidy, And Nationalization Act. That could help, too.
If you have a blog or know someone who does -- and you can't open it in IE, that's the way to repair the problem. Spread the word.
Or ask your Congressman to sponsor the 2008 Blogger Hit Counter Bailout, Subsidy, And Nationalization Act. That could help, too.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Do you give a hoot about the McCain campaign?
I just got a call from Paul Farhi, a Washington Post reporter, who is writing a story about Sen. John McCain's online outreach program. He was curious about what he said was a rewards system for readers of the McCain site who post McCain talking points onto various sites on the internet.
I know the McCain site has me featured on there as one of the "other" blogs, but I didn't know anything about this.
Is that interesting? Well, no. But the fact that there is very little interesting about the McCain campaign and the guy is running even in the polls with Emperor Barack Obama is, in fact, noteworthy.
Just keep not being Barack Obama, there, Senator McCain.
I know the McCain site has me featured on there as one of the "other" blogs, but I didn't know anything about this.
Is that interesting? Well, no. But the fact that there is very little interesting about the McCain campaign and the guy is running even in the polls with Emperor Barack Obama is, in fact, noteworthy.
Just keep not being Barack Obama, there, Senator McCain.
Changing the world one YouTube at a time
I got off the airplane in Washington D.C. Wednesday morning and rushed over to the Americans for Tax Reform office for a couple of meetings. There I got dragged into a room and was told to talk for 45 seconds about something that should be on the Republican party's national platform. (The very nice young lady who took the video might have mentioned that my tie wasn't straight.)
If you haven't done this yet, you can go on here with your two cents.
If you haven't done this yet, you can go on here with your two cents.
Giving the welfare state one more chance to work
Sen. Barack Obama is proposing to raise taxes on oil companies to fund a $1000 "energy rebate." The energy rebate will spur demand and lead to higher prices at exactly the wrong time. This would necessitate President Obama, one supposes, to raise taxes further to provide further relief.
And around and around we go.
And around and around we go.
One more thing about the economy
Louisville blogger Jake Payne raises some key points in his missive about the economy yesterday:
First, the "Republican meme" is that the economy is bad and that it is the Democrats' fault. That works out pretty well because the Dems say it is the GOP. Partisan rancor is fun!
But they are both wrong. The economy is, as recently as a month ago, still growing. We are so far from going to hell in a handbasket -- as far as the economy goes -- that it isn't even funny. But Republicans in general aren't fighting the mainstream media sales pitch on this, they are just trying to reach a point of political advantage. And maybe that will work.
But if we are going to hold reasonable discussions, we need to be straight about what the facts are. The economy isn't the problem; government involvement in the economy is the problem. If you say you are worried about your ability to survive in this economy and yet you pay to watch television, pay to eat out as restaurants and eat popcorn at movies, spend money you don't have running up credit card balances and driving around in fancy cars instead of saving for retirement, you aren't worried about the economy but are instead counting on a government bailout.
That's the bad plan here.
We have a lot of economic freedom in this country and that works very well. It works so well, in fact, that we risk blowing the whole thing because we have been able to afford so much government nonsense for so long.
Just as we should get rid of some of the luxuries listed above in the name of belt-tightening, we should trim back the government we can't afford before it is too late.
First, the "Republican meme" is that the economy is bad and that it is the Democrats' fault. That works out pretty well because the Dems say it is the GOP. Partisan rancor is fun!
But they are both wrong. The economy is, as recently as a month ago, still growing. We are so far from going to hell in a handbasket -- as far as the economy goes -- that it isn't even funny. But Republicans in general aren't fighting the mainstream media sales pitch on this, they are just trying to reach a point of political advantage. And maybe that will work.
But if we are going to hold reasonable discussions, we need to be straight about what the facts are. The economy isn't the problem; government involvement in the economy is the problem. If you say you are worried about your ability to survive in this economy and yet you pay to watch television, pay to eat out as restaurants and eat popcorn at movies, spend money you don't have running up credit card balances and driving around in fancy cars instead of saving for retirement, you aren't worried about the economy but are instead counting on a government bailout.
That's the bad plan here.
We have a lot of economic freedom in this country and that works very well. It works so well, in fact, that we risk blowing the whole thing because we have been able to afford so much government nonsense for so long.
Just as we should get rid of some of the luxuries listed above in the name of belt-tightening, we should trim back the government we can't afford before it is too late.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Bill Clinton promises a night to remember
Couldn't resist showing this email I just got from the Hillary Clinton isn't running for President (until 2012) campaign:
Spend less, spend better, have more
Keeping anyone from a family, business, or government afloat in tough budget times involves managing fixed and variable revenue streams and liabilities. As people drive less and make other changes to better manage personal budgets, though, public officials looking at dwindling road funds struggle to understand what they are going to have to do to get our fiscal heads back above water.
In much the same way individuals cut back on entertainment and eating out, governments are going to have to spend less money filling the pockets of people who could do better taking care of themselves if they weren't so heavily incentivized to remain dependent.
In other words, we would have more money to build and maintain roads if we didn't waste so much providing health insurance to middle-class families who should be expected to get it on their own.
And putting government spending online so taxpayers can share in the decision-making is the best way to improve the quality of these necessary prioritization discussions.
In much the same way individuals cut back on entertainment and eating out, governments are going to have to spend less money filling the pockets of people who could do better taking care of themselves if they weren't so heavily incentivized to remain dependent.
In other words, we would have more money to build and maintain roads if we didn't waste so much providing health insurance to middle-class families who should be expected to get it on their own.
And putting government spending online so taxpayers can share in the decision-making is the best way to improve the quality of these necessary prioritization discussions.
Bad news for nation of whiners
The Great Depression of 2008 not only has not materialized, but we aren't even in a recession.
I bring this up to point out that the people who are moaning and complaining about how horrible everthing is really need to check their bearings. You remember the old Frank Sinatra song where he sings "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?" It's corollary might be this: if you can't make it in an expanding economy, it probably isn't the government's fault.
I bring this up to point out that the people who are moaning and complaining about how horrible everthing is really need to check their bearings. You remember the old Frank Sinatra song where he sings "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?" It's corollary might be this: if you can't make it in an expanding economy, it probably isn't the government's fault.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Mayor Newberry, sell the cars and save the kid
Sources with the City of Lexington report Mayor Jim "fire them if their kids get cancer" Newberry is still waffling about whether to do the right thing and give Rashel Coatney her job back.
A commenter on this post spelled out details of an alleged deal that Ms. Coatney is supposed to have gotten.
Newberry has been extraordinarily worthless is dealing with matters at the jail during his term. Forcing this young woman to compromise with the wolves at the facility is wrong on many levels.
He needs to step up now. Sell the cars your jail administrators are driving around in, Mayor Newberry, and do right by Rashel Coatney.
A commenter on this post spelled out details of an alleged deal that Ms. Coatney is supposed to have gotten.
Newberry has been extraordinarily worthless is dealing with matters at the jail during his term. Forcing this young woman to compromise with the wolves at the facility is wrong on many levels.
He needs to step up now. Sell the cars your jail administrators are driving around in, Mayor Newberry, and do right by Rashel Coatney.
Making racism a taxable event
I know there are still a few people in Kentucky who really hate people based on the color of their skin.
This isn't for them.
This is for the rest of us who are driving around in cars to destroy the earth; African Americans first.
Just raise our taxes and everything will be fine.
This isn't for them.
This is for the rest of us who are driving around in cars to destroy the earth; African Americans first.
Just raise our taxes and everything will be fine.
Reality TV bailout coming up next!
Just saw this from Associated Press:
We have already justified so many forms of unjustifiable government bailouts, how can we complain when our erstwhile celebrity recipients feel the need to do a little speculating?
LAKE CITY, Ga. - More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.
Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.
After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.
We have already justified so many forms of unjustifiable government bailouts, how can we complain when our erstwhile celebrity recipients feel the need to do a little speculating?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Ready for another tax scam?
It is almost time for Frankfort politicians to start talking up a back-to-school sales tax holiday just in time for free publicity in advance of the November elections.
Don't fall for it.
The Tax Foundation has a detailed discussion about this political game, but the bottom line is that if Frankfort really wants to give us a break, why don't they cut the sales tax from 6% to 5.9% for everything all year?
No takers on that suggestion, I'll bet. Wonder why?
Don't fall for it.
The Tax Foundation has a detailed discussion about this political game, but the bottom line is that if Frankfort really wants to give us a break, why don't they cut the sales tax from 6% to 5.9% for everything all year?
No takers on that suggestion, I'll bet. Wonder why?
It's the government involvement, Gov. Beshear
Just saw this from a recent gubernatorial trip to Somerset:
Sounds like more government programs are headed our way.
Lowering excessive government spending, regulation, and utilization could more effectively address medical costs than changing lifestyles the way Gov. Beshear wants to do ever will.
He is talking about educating people to choose good habits but continuing to subsidize the bad ones.
Getting rid of Certificate of Need and removing welfare benefits from illegal drug abusers would work better. Raising deductibles and co-pays for government workers and retirees would help.
Instead, of course, Beshear wants to dig the hole deeper by signing up more people on government health insurance:
“We need to start emphasizing preventative health care and wellness,” (Governor Steve Beshear) said. “That’s why health care is so expensive.”
Sounds like more government programs are headed our way.
Lowering excessive government spending, regulation, and utilization could more effectively address medical costs than changing lifestyles the way Gov. Beshear wants to do ever will.
He is talking about educating people to choose good habits but continuing to subsidize the bad ones.
Getting rid of Certificate of Need and removing welfare benefits from illegal drug abusers would work better. Raising deductibles and co-pays for government workers and retirees would help.
Instead, of course, Beshear wants to dig the hole deeper by signing up more people on government health insurance:
"Questions were also raised about the K-CHIP program, which offers free health care to children in families that are 200 percent or below the federal poverty level."
"Some 60,000 to 65,000 children qualify for the K-CHIP program in the state that aren’t in it, and Beshear said more must be done to give children the health care they need to stay healthy and develop well mentally and physically."
Which liar lied last, Stumbo or Beshear?
Here's a great passage deep in Ryan Alessi's Monday column:
And which issue is at the forefront of this unholy alliance? Is it raising taxes on you, expanding the welfare state one slot machine at a time, or finding fresh, new ways to slap each other on the back while public employee fringe benefits drive us to bankruptcy?
"Last week, Beshear said he would stay out of House leadership races and didn't speak to Stumbo about that subject when the two met in Prestonsburg earlier this month."
"But Stumbo had a different recollection."
"“What he asked me was if I was interested in getting back into legislative leadership. And I said, ‘Yeah, I enjoyed it (previously),'” Stumbo said. “Then he asked, ‘If you got back into legislative leadership, would you and I have any problems?' And I said ‘No.'”"
And which issue is at the forefront of this unholy alliance? Is it raising taxes on you, expanding the welfare state one slot machine at a time, or finding fresh, new ways to slap each other on the back while public employee fringe benefits drive us to bankruptcy?
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Greg Stumbo whines his way to prosperity
Ryan Alessi picked up Saturday on a 2005 law I may have mentioned once or twice. Great job getting this quote from Representative/former Attorney General/future pension glutton Greg Stumbo:
Boo-freaking-hoo.
That's pretty rich coming from someone who has spent decades scheming for new ways to gorge himself at the public's expense.
From the 7-22-2005 Big Sandy News:
"Stumbo said he doesn't have a problem with lawmakers receiving generous pension benefits.
”The General Assembly is a full-time job with part-time pay,“ he said."
Boo-freaking-hoo.
That's pretty rich coming from someone who has spent decades scheming for new ways to gorge himself at the public's expense.
From the 7-22-2005 Big Sandy News:
"Last week, Stumbo said in a statement that he did not have to register his businesses although the AG's consumer protection divisions advises people to do business with licensed and registered companies.
"The Attorney General's strong leadership on consumer protection issues is obviously unaffected by these facts," spokeswoman Glass said in a written statement.
Stumbo did not address a question from the newspaper about whether it is a conflict to develop lots on the golf course because while Stumbo was a state legislator, he helped secure millions in state and federal funds to develop StoneCrest which will also have recreational grounds."
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