EXCLUSIVE: Freedom Works Co-Chair Dick Armey Discusses His Controversial Remarks On Health Care and Immigration
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Former House Leader and current FreedomWorks Co-Chairman Dick Armey discusses his National Press Club interview: Is health care doomed to pass? Does he support Amnesty? Should citizens bother going to DC this Saturday for another push on The Hill? He also talks about Michelle Malkin’s perspective and why he feels that America is at a pivotal point in history.
Listen here.
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Obama Goes Belly Up
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010How much do people hate health care reform? They hate it so much they’re starting to hate President Obama because he won’t shut up about it. Gallup has the distressing news for President Obama: 47% disapprove. 46% approve.
Three more weeks of health care haggling? That should put President Obama over 50% disapproval or more.
I’ve heard people say that approval goes up as soon as it passes. Um, I doubt it.
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Up To 700,000 Lose Jobs Due To Health Care Reform
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Health care reform will be a disaster for Americans. We already know this. What we are having trouble quantifying is HOW bad health care reform will be for the country.
Americans for Tax Reform the Beacon Hill Institute share a study using the assumptions of the CBO and Center for American Progress and the results are stunning. From ATR’s website:
From the Executive Summary:
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has urged passage of the massive health reform plan moving through Congress as a way to create up to 400,000 jobs. Speaker Pelosi bases her claim on a report by the Center for American Progress (CAP) in which the Center estimates that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would create 250,000 to 400,000 jobs per year over 10 years.
This estimate by CAP amounts to a hurried effort to add academic heft to the claim that national health care reform offers a collateral benefit in the form of an economic “stimulus.” It turns out, however, that its methodology, stripped of unsupportable claims about savings in health care costs, shows just the opposite of what CAP intended. PPACA is a job killer, not a job creator.
The result is a loss of between 119,000 and 698,000 jobs between enactment of the bill this year and 2019.
There is much more data at the link.
Far from being the job creator the left would like to imagine this bill being, the legislation is going to kill jobs overall.
And as extensive as this study is, it doesn’t include the losses, specifically from doctors leaving the profession.
A commenter on my site asked how this bill would affect innovation and growth in the American economy. He said this:
If a bill were passed, it would not create new and talented doctors.
It would not create more medical teachers, or degree-granting
institutions. These professions are already at or near full
employment. If the government did go through the effort of increasing
the number of doctors over a period of years, what professions do you
suppose would people not enter, and what would society lack? One
isn’t likely to be a practicing physician and invent an ipod and
design a water treatment plant and write software, etc. In a sense,
for the federal government to favor one profession with grants,
subsidies, etc., is to punish another.
Well, the problem here, again, is that with the government monkeying with business, the results are likely to be incentive based. That is, if doctors get reimbursed less, but work harder, but have more security, the person seeking this job will change. Ditto health related research and development, etc.
Where will incentives lay with health care reform? Well, government workers will increase to try to lower costs from the private sector.
And the incentives in private industry, during a time of economic stress, will be to cut workers. Workers will cost businesses more money, so head count will become increasingly important.
I can see many tiny businesses being set up, to keep the number of employees/business smaller. Also, more workers will be contract workers because businesses won’t want to take on the liability.
All in all, though, this bill will not help business. It will stifle business. It will make it harder to do business.
I’m guessing that 700,000 jobs lost is being generous. I suspect far more workers will lose employment.
More at HotAir.com
America Would Never Be The Same & That’s Why The Democrats Fight To The Death
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Even though, by now, you’re as disgusted and fed up with the topic of health care as I am, I write about health care. Again. Why? Because it ain’t over ’til it’s over and goodness knows Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama aren’t quitting. They will never give up until they have the power to control your life from before birth ’til you’re in the grave.
Government run health care is a defining moment in American history.
Today, in my first Daily Caller column, I talk about why this bill is evil:
Health care reform tears at fundamental threads holding our society together. Should it pass, it will reshape the American psyche from a risk-taking, freedom-loving open-mindedness to a self-protective, risk-averting, and provincial desire to protect the tiny piece of pie the citizen is granted.
Health care reform is immoral. It changes the equation from creating a legacy and gift to the next generation, to stealing from them. The debt load is such that our children are enslaved because of their parents greed and lack of restraint.
Health care reform redistributes wealth. The government bequeaths a win on irresponsible unions and businesses hoping to avoid commitments they made. The government decides. Instead of individuals and groups being forced to make the tough decisions, the government rescues them–sends them a lifeline that’s at the other end of a rope that is a noose around the necks of the very same American people.
There is much more at the link. Please go read it all.
We cannot give up. The Democrats never will.
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Democrats And Health Care Bill: Bait & Switch & Switch & Then, Probably, Switch Again
Monday, March 15th, 2010Public option: In
School loans: In
And yet, it’s called a “shell” bill that will be stripped. Philip Klein explains it all. Here’s a bit:
Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Democrats released a 2,309 page health care bill that will start the process of reconciliation — but don’t let that fool you, it’s not the actual reconciliation bill with all the changes you’ve been reading about. Instead, as Rep. Paul Ryan, the ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee, explained to me last week, this is just the “shell” bill — the vehicle that Democrats need to get moving on health care. Once the bill gets approved (likely Monday), Democrats will send this phantom bill over to the Rules Committee, where it will be stripped, and then they’ll insert in all of the actual changes that they’ve negotiated.
Despite claims of transparency and calls for a “simple up-or-down vote,” there is nothing simple about this process. This convoluted legislative charade demonstrates how far the Democratic majority has wandered from real health-care reform and cost control, employing any means to achieve political victory.
Then the 2300 page non-bill bill aka “shell” will be sent for mark-ups. Link here.
Now, is the time to fight. Call your representative. Write. Pray. Do not sleep. This bill must die. Or there won’t be much left to fight for.
Michelle Malkin has who to call, where to go and what to do.
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Stories You Should Know: What You Missed Over The Weekend
Monday, February 1st, 2010Supposedly the news cycle ebbs over the weekend. Not this weekend. And there wasn’t even football.
Here are some stories I wanted to share:
U.N. Global Warming science was based on a college dissertation. No, I am not making this up.
SNL had a hilarious skit, for once, about Scott Brown’s effect on the Dems.
This is a must-read story from the WaPo of all places, about the way the Obama Administration is going wrong over terrorism. Speaking of those sweet, innocent terrorists: read this first-hand account of their actions.
And for just sheer viewing pleasure, watch Roger Ailes take down Arianna Huffington and watch for Paul Krugman flinching and rolling his eyes at Arianna. Hilarious. Personally, I flinch any time any of these no-minds speak.
This Is How You Message: YouTube Videos That Are Making TV Ads Look Sad
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010To the Democrats:
To the Republicans:
American Resurgence:
This last one was made by a teenager. Nice production value, don’t you think? And, by the way, I’m in it.
Massachusetts Miracle:
“Momentum” Ad By Scott Brown
*This is a TV ad but it is so good, I included it.
What do these videos/ads have in common?
1. They connect emotionally
2. The message is clear
3. The feel is positive, optimistic
4. They inspire action
5. They promote connection
These are great examples of videos that touch heart and mind with an understandable, actionable message. Note that there isn’t a lot of flash and dash with any of these videos, yet they’re all easy to watch and absorb.
Good stuff. I like it.
Podcast: David Almacy Refutes Obama White House Claims About Government Website
Thursday, November 5th, 2009David Almacy now of Edleman Public Relations as Senior Vice President for Digital Affairs and formerly White House Internet and E Communications Office Director of Media Affairs for President Bush, spoke with me about the White House’s claim that the website the Obama team received was archaic and out-of-date. This simply was not true. As part of the “smoothest transition in history”, President Bush had a brand new website ready for whichever new administration took office.
Evidently, it wasn’t good enough for the Obama team and they used more taxpayer money to recreate another website even though the website was new in January, 2009. David says at his personal blog Capital Gig:
Many stories have reported that President Obama’s team inherited an “old proprietary CMS which has been used by WhiteHouse.gov since the Bush Administration” built and executed by GDIT. However, that isn’t true. As I mentioned earlier, President Bush’s website, CMS Tool and all, was taken offline at 12:00 PM ET on January 20, 2009, President Obama’s Inauguration Day, and ultimately sent to NARA.
President George W. Bush is the first digital president, meaning that he is the first to have his entire presidency captured online via WhiteHouse.gov in the form of transcripts, photos, video and audio. However, Web 2.0 and social media was just gearing up around the time I left the White House in May 2007.
Clearly, the campaign had a huge impact on the growth of the Internet through social media and rapid programming advancements (WordPress 2.8.5 is now available already? I just upgraded to 2.8.4 two weeks ago!) but many of the tools that are being used today either weren’t available to us or hadn’t been tested or matured to the point that we could utilize them effectively within the E-Gov guidelines, privacy policies, security procedures and budgetary limitations that often presented challenges.
My bigger question as a taxpayer is how much did all this new-fangled stuff the President came up with cost? This administration acts as though they’re spending their own money. It seems that they forget that taxpayers have to pay for all their tech indulgences. But then, their tech solutions don’t feel like government solutions. They feel like Obama solutions–that is, the purpose to help put Obama in a good light not connect people with the office of the Presidency.
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Comparing iPhones To Lefty Socialists
Monday, November 2nd, 2009I must be a paradox: I’m a free-market capitalist and I love the iPhone. From Weissthaupt at Townhall:
Essentially the iPhone is safe from the Droid because most iPhone users are liberals. They are people who WANT a Mommy and Daddy watching over them. iPhone developers must navigate a Byzantine approval process that is so bad, that some even stoop to using Microsoft’s .NET to get things done. Apple tests and approves every application offered on the iPhone to make sure they all play nice together. This of course ensures the phone will deliver the beautiful and slick user experience Apple has decided its users will have. The iPhone is a good example of the “one-size-fits all” top-down mentality of liberals. If you want a different experience from what your masters thinks you SHOULD have and SHOULD want, you are just SOL. The lowercase “i” in iPhone doesn’t occur by accident. The individual just isn’t as important, and the “Phone” takes precedence. Many iPhone and Mac users come near to worshipping Apple and their products, going so far as to genuflect when they turn on a Apple device, ensure they face San Jose 3 times a day to give thanks for their iLife and to pray for the saving of the pagans who do not yet have one.
In contrast, Verizon’s Droid in Particular, and the Android OS in general are created for a different set of users who are interested in an I-Phone rather than a iPhone. They are interested in a “MY LIFE”, rather than an iLife. Open Development is a form of freedom that comes with its own attendant problems: some applications might conflict, the interface will be bit rough around the edges, and you have to look out for and solve these difficulties yourself. I-Phone users will sit down and write applications that fit them, break the new ground they want to explore , and they don’t need nor want a Master approving what they can and can’t do.
Wait just a minute.
There is a fallacy that people who are for free markets don’t want some sort of order. The mistake that the Microsoft and Android makers of the world, and for that matter, some libertarian types make, is that most people would prefer an unordered environment to a hyper-ordered environment.
That is simply not true. People want freedom within order.
The economy cannot flow when anarchy abounds. Exhibit “A”: Detroit. Or any war-zone for that matter. Too often, my PC was a war zone. It crashed. It spluttered. It had freedom to customize. But all I wanted it to do was stay stable so I could do my poopy word processing and multi-media stuff.
Apple, and now the iPhone met that desire while also giving flexibility. It’s not that someone cannot innovate on the iPhone, it’s that they must do so within the laws of the land. So, sadly for some, no porn Apps. Well, the Android will have them. The Android will also have all the weird bugs and viruses that come from this unprotected, aka “open,” platform. Like the PC, it will end up a war zone.
Will there be more innovation? Time will tell.
The lesson the conservatives and libertarians should take from the iPhone is that people want a user-friendly experience with enough flexibility to make it their own. That is, they don’t want to be inhibited by chaos. They also don’t want to be inhibited by over-regulation.
If people believe that Apple is getting too tyrannical, they’ll stop buying the iPhone. They’ll buy the Droid and Apple will have to respond and become more flexible or go out of business.
The iPhone metaphor failed from the beginning.
Do People Vote Democrat Because They’re Stupid?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009This Pew research passed along by Mary Katherine Hamm seems to indicate that might be the case:
Under a section called “Partisan Knowledge Gap,” we find Republicans were more knowledgeable by a double-digit factor on four issues. Although the Glenn Beck question is naturally easier for Republicans, the other three issues are basic political knowledge— what “cap-and-trade” means, who’s in control of the House, and who the new Supreme Court Justice is (a question that should perhaps be easier for Democrats). Republicans also led Democrats on identifying the unemployment rate, Fed chairman, Dow level, Max Baucus’ position. Republicans correctly answered an Iran/Israel question and an Afghanistan question more often than Dems. Republicans and Democrats were even on identifying the “public option” as a health-care plan.
If the Democrat voters were informed, they’d be Republicans.
