The Rest of the Story

From the Last Embassy blog:

Does this sound familiar?

"But the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem for the uninsured. Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too. More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day." -Barack Obama September 9, 2009 

Painting a picture

Lets paint that picture onto a canvass. John Q. Public has a health insurance plan through ABC insurance company. John has paid his premium for years. Suddenly John has a kidney stone. John enters treatment and about half way through treatment John is booted off his health insurance because he is "sick". Sounds rather sinister.

Rescissions

The practice of insurers dropping coverage is actually known as "rescissions". Recissions is an underwriting review process based on insurers sometimes reviewing an individual's initial application and cancelling the policy if the application is found inaccurate.

How widespread?

Exactly how widespread is this "rescissions" process? One hundred thousand rescissions per year? Half a million rescissions per year? If you no longer have to worry about losing your health insurance because you are sick, and this is a major talking point regardingObamaCare, then the phenomena has to be affecting a major portion of the population. Right?

Wrong. Sorry, its yet another ObamaCare riddle.

"According to a congressional report, there were actually fewer than 5,000 recissions per year, and at least some of those were actual cases of fraud....". 

Hence the talking point of "losing your health care when you are sick" is really the subject of less than 5,000 annual recissions based on inaccurate applications "and at least some of those were actual cases of fraud..".

If Paul Harvey was here, you know exactly what he would say.

How Free are our "Free Markets"?

Something to keep in mind:


Most Americans think of the U.S. as a free-trade country with open markets, and countries like China and Japan as protectionist countries with closed markets. And yet the U.S. is quite protectionist, when we consider that there are more than 12,000 tariffs (i.e. taxes) on imported products that are sometimes as high as 350% in the case of tobacco; 164% on peanuts; 100% on jam, chocolate and ham; and 48% on sneakers.

Sign of the Times

Where Our Money is Being Spent

Can you say WELFARE NATION:

What Happened to the American Socialist Party?

As you will see below, when you have the kind of success The Socialist Party of America has had in achieving its Platform since 1928, I guess there really isn't a need to exist anymore. Socialist Party of America, Platform of 1928
	1. "Nationalization of our natural resources, beginning with the coal mines and water sites, particularly at Boulder Dam and Muscle Shoals."
	2. "A publicly owned giant power system under which the federal government shall cooperate with the states and municipalities in the distribution of electrical energy to the people at cost."
	3. "National ownership and democratic management of railroads and other means of transportation and communication."
	4. "An adequate national program for flood control, flood relief, reforestation, irrigation, and reclamation."
	5. "Immediate government relief of the unemployed by the extension of all public works and a program of long range planning of public works ... All persons thus employed to be engaged at hours and wages fixed by bona-fide labor unions."
	6. "Loans to states and municipalities without interest for the purpose of carrying on public works and the taking of such other measures as will lessen widespread misery."
	7. "A system of unemployment insurance."
	8. "The nation-wide extension of public employment agencies in cooperation with city federations of labor."
	9. "A system of health and accident insurance and of old age pensions as well as unemployment insurance."
	10. "Shortening the workday" and "Securing to every worker a rest period of no less than two days in each week."
	11. "Enacting of an adequate federal anti-child labor amendment."
	12. "Abolition of the brutal exploitation of convicts under the contract system and substitution of a cooperative organization of industries in penitentiaries and workshops for the benefit of convicts and their dependents."
	13. "Increase of taxation on high income levels, of corporation taxes and inheritance taxes, the proceeds to be used for old age pensions and other forms of social insurance."
	14. "Appropriation by taxation of the annual rental value of all land held for speculation."

Gotta Love Senator Coburn

From Senator Tom Coburn:


Did you know that nearly 100,000 civilian Federal employees owe back taxes totaling $962 million? 

Or that Congressional staff were delinquent on their taxes to the tune of $9.3 million last year? 

In other words, the two entities responsible for writing tax law, collecting your taxes, and spending it are failing to live by the same rules. 

This past week, I introduced two bills aimed at correcting this situation. 

S. 3790 will bar Federal employees who are seriously delinquent on their taxes from further Federal employment. Exceptions will be made for those who have agreed to payment plans or who are still pursuing their due process rights. 

S. 3791 will require members of Congress to disclose any unpaid taxes, face an ethics inquiry and garnishment of their wages. I believe that voters have a right to know if their federal legislators are failing to pay their fair share in taxes. 

No one should be above the law, especially those responsible for making and enforcing it on our behalf. Our leaders have an obligation to lead by example, and at a very minimum, they must be held to the same standards enforced on their fellow citizens. I am hopeful that S. 3790 and S. 3791 will get us one step closer to that goal. 

What I Have Learned from Sherlock Holmes

I am almost finished with the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, and I wanted to list the top ten things I have learned so far from the famous sleuth:

1) In the words of Mr. Holmes: "I never guess. It is a shocking habit — destructive to the logical faculty." Mr. Holmes also stated that "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Theorizing without appropriate and accurate data is not only useless but also potentially dangerous.

2) In the words of Mr. Holmes: .".....when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

3) Genius does not come from being conventional. Don't be afraid to think and act outside of the confines of your comfort zone.

4) In the words of Mr. Holmes: "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles." Mr. Holmes also stated that "It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles." There are no such things as insignificant details. There are only less significant details. The more we train ourselves to be curious and observant, the more likely it is we will be successful in our endeavors.

5) In the words of Mr. Holmes: "In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward." This mirrors the concept Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's business partner) so often mentions: Invert. Always Invert.

6) To the man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Sherlock Holmes is a man of many talents and curiosities and uses many different disciplines (science, psychology, persuasion, physical strength, etc., etc.) to solve problems.

7) In the words of Mr. Holmes: "Education never ends Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last." Never, ever, ever stop learning.

8) Distracting your mind is often the best way to solve a problem. Mr. Holme's greatest insights often came at moments when was doing a random science experiment, taking a walk, playing his violin, or smoking his pipe.

9) Develop odd friendships and learn to be comfortable in any setting. Mr. Holmes was as comfortable in the presence of royalty as he was in the boxing ring with someone trying to knock his block off. Don't be afraid to develop odd friendships with odd individuals.

10) Be just. Sherlock Holmes is not afraid to get his hands a little dirty every now and again, but he never loses sight of justice and righteousness.

When All Else Fails......Pull the Heart Strings

What do you do when the public catches on to the fact that your new Health Care Bill is going to do nothing but raise our health care costs and taxes and ultimately reduce the level of the care we receive? You tell tear-jerking stories like this (see below) and do everything you can to keep people focused on emotions and not facts.

I certainly believe we as citizens have a responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. However, I believe we as "citizens", not we as the Federal Government, have a responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

I do not believe the Federal Government should overhaul and socialize our entire health care industry and possibly put this country into a completely unsustainable situation as far as entitlement spending is concerned so that we can have a few emotional stories to tell.

How much more powerful would the story below be if it read that a concerned group of citizens, church leaders, etc., etc. in the community of Keene, NH banded together to provide for Gail O'Brien's needs.

It is has been said that the bigger the government, the worse the citizen. I think we are seeing that play out every single day in this country:

The White House launched a new website with a link titled "50 States, 50 Stories.’’ He was hosting more than 30 state insurance officials at the White House (including Bay State insurance commissioner Joseph Murphy) and visiting a Virginia family to discuss the legislation.

The effort to show tangible benefits includes a White House-produced web video of a Keene, NH woman – Gail O’Brien – who has non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She lacked insurance when she was diagnosed and said she was denied coverage because she was already sick. But since the law’s passage she has been able to buy coverage through a new pre-existing condition insurance plan established under the law. Obama said she was the first NH resident to sign up for the pre-existing plan.

On the administration’s promotional video, O’Brien receives what the White House describes as a "surprise phone call’’ from the president, who is shown speaking to her from the Oval Office.

"If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t be here right now,’’ O’Brien tells the president, from the dining room of her bungalow. The president replies: "You’re the poster child for why this is so necessary and why we’re so proud of the reforms we initiated.’’

545

This entire piece from journalist Charlie Reese should be required reading for all Americans:

545 PEOPLE--By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits..... The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power..

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

$111 Million for 55 Jobs

A recent audit has discovered that the City of Los Angeles has received $111,000,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment (aka our tax dollars) and created or retained 55 jobs.

It's always refreshing to see our tax dollars being used so efficiently.