The GM Bailout is pretty complex and convoluted so most people probably do not get the fact that the taxpayers are getting absolutely screwed. I have been trying to simplify so maybe I can get a better understanding of just what this thing is costing us. I have to use some pretty round numbers in order to make it digestable. Suffice it to say that the taxpayers have over $40B still invested in GM. We own somewhere between 65-70% of the equity in this dog. That means that just based on todays stock action taxpayers lost about $800M, almost twice what we paid for that other famous dog, Solyndra. That is just one day people!

Additionally, at the time of the IPO(approximately $33/share) GM’s market cap would have been roughly $47B. At 70% ownership the taxpayer portion of that would be about $33B, still leaving us far short of recouping all the money transferred to this turkey. Since that time GM has experienced a 30% drop in the stock price resulting in losses to the taxpayers of about $8B. That is in just one year. That is about 15 Solyndras for those trying to keep score. Way to go financial wizards of the Obama administration.

Some estimates suggest that the market cap would have to rise to $60B in order for taxpayers to be made whole on this stinker. That is a 250% move up from the current stock price. Anybody besides me think this is a longshot? We don’t seem to be heading in the right direction, either. Maybe it is the $27B in unfunded pension obligations that is holding the Government Motors stock price down.

The worst part of this sordid saga is that we have to listen to Obama go around and tout this as some kind of huge government “success”. The fact that this represents government success is really the problem, isn’t it? Or, maybe the real problem is that the people are too stupid to see what is going on right under their collective noses even when it stinks.

So, have we lost this debate? No. There is still a chance for us to move our Conservative revolution forward if we play our cards smart. How Boehner and McConnell navigate the next 15 months is absolutely crucial to the long term health of our country. Do I wish we had better leadership? Yes, but these are our guys for the time being. I think even McConnell wishes he could take back the idiotic proposal he made this AM. On a positive note, at least he will get some credit for trying to move the ball forward. And, if nothing else, at least people are starting to get visibility into how deep the problems are that Congress has created. The question is this. Where do we go from here?

First, the debt ceiling is going up. Maybe if we were borrowing 10 cents of every Fedral dollar instead of 40 you really could hold the line on the debt limit but the fact that things have gotten so out of control doesn’t allow that to be an option. Given that reality, I would suggest voting out today an increase of $1.5T with no strings attached. That’s going to sound like a heckuva lot of money to most folks. What you and I know is that is about 10-12 months worth of credit on current course and speed. Then, I would start passing legislation every day that actually starts doing something about the real problem which is runaway entitlement spending. Tax reform. Medicare reform. Medicaid reform. Balanced Budget Amendment. Real spending cuts. Let the democrats be the ones who are standing in the way of doing the things that the American people want. If they choose not to go along then they will have to come with their tin cup out next summer when the elections are really heating up. Give Obama nothing. If Barack Obama wants to run on a platform of tax increases since that seems to be his only plan, I say get out of his way.

Then there is this. Why have the Republicans(other than Michelle Bachman) forgotten about how unpopular Obamacare is? The issue is jobs, right? Anybody beside me think that Obamacare is just one of the (many)things keeping businesses from hiring? Why not pass a new repeal of Obamacare every day until the Senate does something about it? They should go on the floor of the house and declare that unemployment will not improve until Obamacare is repealed. I would do the same thing on every issue. Unemployment is the GOP lever, not the debt ceiling. That way, as things start to improve they can take credit for it. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Stop using the word “Cuts”. It has a negative connotation.

All in all, this is a unique moment in our history. People are startting to see that the the slow drift to Socialism that we have been on for 75 years is the wrong path. Will the GOP leadership seize the day and put our country on the right path? I hope so. Or we will need new leaders.

There are no longer any races in play on the Lean D or Lean R side. NH, MO, and WI are still listed as Lean R but, let’s face it, we are winning all three of those. And as much as I would like to think Connecticut voters had more sense than to send the achingly boring Dick Blumenthal to the Senate it looks like we are going to have to put up with that guy for at least 6 years. Ugh. So the starting point is 48 D, 44 R with 8 Tossups. The GOP will have to take 6/8 to reach the magic number of 50. It is a tall order but eminently doable. Here is how I rate the races from most likely GOP to least. We have an outside shot at going 8/8 so we really need to keep enthusiasm high.

1. Kentucky- No poll has shown Conway closer to Paul than -3 and no poll has shown Conway with more than 42% while Paul has consistently polled 46+% and has gotten as high as 48%. The recent hit ad on Dr. Paul looked like and was seen to be an act of desperation and has generally been seen as a misfire. Guessing Conway had info the race wasn’t as close as some polls suggested before he played the college prank card. That’s 45.

2. WV- Polling has been all over the place in this contest  but the most reliable polling organization to publish a poll, Rasmussen had Raese up 7 and more significantly had him at 50% of likely voters. I’m just not buying the Daily Kos poll that shows Manchin with a lead and the Marshall University poll is a joke. This state went big for McCain and Manchin has turned out to be a less than effective campaigner trying hard to juggle his support and now opposition to unpopular Obama initiatives. His most recent statements about now opposing Obamacare because he is learning some of the things that are in it when his voters already know what’s in it have made him look even more buffoonish. That’s 46.

3. PA- Okay so we have one Daily Kos poll that shows Sestak ahead by +1. Big whoop. Two other polls since that one have Toomey +4(Rasmussen) and widening his lead to +5(Daily Tracking). Toomey has never polled below 47% and only once has Sestak gotten over 44%. That’s 47.

4/5(Tie). NV/CO- Close call between who is doing better, Sharon Angle or Ken Buck. They both have been prone to some rookie mistakes. I think they should be even having an easier time of it than they are if they were better on the stump. I’m going to give the edge to Angle because Reid was so ineffective in their debate that I think she closed the deal. Going after Reid for getting rich while in office was a smart tactic. I think Buck made a mistake to go on Meet the Press and let himself get grilled by hack David Gregory while Bennet just sat there. He has had a tendency to get off message occasionally. You don’t have to answer every question in detail, Ken. That all being said, I think Angle is pulling away and Bennet isn’t a good enough candidate himself to overcome the wave coming at him. That’s 48 and 49. 

6. ILL- I just got back from Chicago and this is one of the yecchiest elections I have ever witnessed. However, I do think the attacks on Alexi by Kirk are more substantive than the ones on Kirk. I got the sense while I was there that maybe Illinois was coming to grips with sending a Republican to take Obama’s seat. I see in the latest poll that Kirk may be opening a lead at +3. Yes, it’s Illinois but I think that state is in such a shambles and Brady is running well for Gov that I am feeling better about it all the time. That’s 50.

7/8(Tie). WA/CA- I think both these races are tough but extremely winnable. In case they figure out how to steal it in NV or ILL we still have a chance to pull one of these out. I think they are both within the margin of error. Boxer and Murray remain unpopular and I smell upset, especially in CA. Hopefully we won’t need them but how sweet to send one or both of these dingbats home.

Just a final anecdote about polling. I lived in Michigan in 1990 when John Engler was down 16 points in the polls just days before the election to Democrat favored son Jim Blanchard. Somehow, Engler pulled it out and went on to govern the state for 12 years. Don’t let polls get you too fired up or too down. It is hard work, money, and passion that wins elections. Vote and be heard.

That being said, we have what some would call a conundrum. We have the Bush tax cuts set to expire, a (Crook)Congress which has run up a $XX Trillion worth of debt, while robbing the Social Security trust fund I might add, 9.5% unemployment(it’s really probably 15% but don’t tell anyone) and a party in power which has spent the last eight years demonizing the aforementioned tax cuts, even though if they would have just extended them for ten more years we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in. Fun , isn’t it?

Well, something has to give. I heard Barney Frank saying today that probably the tax cuts expiration won’t be dealt with until the new Congress beginning in 2011. I think that is correct. I don’t think the current Congress is rational in a political season and certainly something so fundamental should not be considered in a lame duck session. Let’s see where the chips fall in November. This could be easily taken up in January and February and put into place early next year.

Given those parameters, here is what I would suggest. I think we need to make the tax code to be fairer and flatter. One of our problems is that the bottom 47% of earners currently pay no income taxes. This is a structural problem in that, of course, those that don’t pay any income tax are always going to be all for any government spending even if it is wasteful and doesn’t make any sense. I think below a certain amount we even pay tax credits(EITC) which sounds like a Devil’s workshop to me. BTW, those that don’t pay income taxes probably don’t read their phone bill or cable bill or cell phone bill or pay attention to gasoline taxes to see how hungry the Federal animal is. In any case, we need to get almost everyone with skin in the game to keep these damn Congress Critters in check.

So, here is what I propose. Let’s eliminate the EITC. I really don’t get what these transfer payments are intended to do. If you want to help working people out there are other ways to do it. First $50,000 of income is exempt from taxes, no EITC. $50,000-$150,000 you pay 20%. $150,000-$500,000 you pay 30%. $500,000-$1M you pay 40%. Everything over $1M you pay 50%. Keep the Child Deduction, Capital Gains, Dividend taxes, etc. where they are now. Lock it in for ten years. I bet this actually overall is a tax increase but it spreads it in the right way. It is fair, easy to understand, probably brings in more to the Treasury but is something everyone can live with.

One final word of caution. We need to start unwinding Government spending at every level, Federal, State, and Local. I am one of those flamethrowers that think the Department of Education and Department of Energy are a complete waste of money. State governments and even counties and cities are going to have to be held to account, too. This may be a tax proposal under which our private economy can flourish but I say let’s never again let our political class be so unreponsible with our funds as they have been over the last 80 years.

Social Security and Medicare are seperate issue to be dealt with another time. But let’s get a tax code in place that makes sense and allows us to grow for the next ten years. I would like to put rules prohibiting tax changes in the constitution or at least requiring super majorities but that is a debate fo a different time. Let’s get this first thing right and then we can build on it to create a more perfect union.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/03/30/the-numbers-don-t-lie.aspx

Just how bad is it? By 55-29% Americans feel the quality of care they will receive will go down while by 50-21% they feel costs are going to go up. Can you feel the love? Before Congress acted on this “crisis”, 85% of all Americans had insurance and 85% of those that had insurance rated it either “very good” or “excellent”. Guess that needed to be screwed up.

I saw one analysis that suggested that as few as 7-10 Million people would actually benefit from this legislation. That means we just passed a law that costs $1T(with a T), affects 300 million people and benefits less than 5% of our citizens. Only our beloved Congress could take something as screwed up as the American Healthcare system, spend a year thinking about it, throw a trillion dollars at it and make it worse. Oh yeah, and the benefits don’t kick in until 2014. Ugh.

Your call on what to do about it. Just saying.

1. There is no crisis- This whole “The sky is falling, The sky is falling!” has been the Allinskyites MO for as long as I can remember. I think the American people are on to them, though. Whether it be healthcare, global warming(I don’t even capitalize that anymore) or even this stupid H1N1 panic, they are sitting there like The Boy Who Cried Wolf talking to a bunch of non-believers. We still have, by far, the best quality healthcare in the world. Last time I checked there were not people dying in the streets, not even illegal immigrants. So, I would make the president define exactly what is the “crisis” we are trying to solve other then the Democrat party’s intense fantasy of taking over 1/6th of the economy.

2. Most people like their current health insurance- Over 85% of the American people already have health insurance and I think something like 80% of those rate their insurance as good, very good, or excellent. That means that 68% of Americans are happy about something. It seems to me that getting 68% of Americans to agree on ANYTHING is almost impossible so the President and his henchmen have really stuck their you know whats into a hornet nest by trying to take away something that generally people like. Make them explain why they need to screw everyone else in order to help 15% of the people who don’t have health insurance, many of whom choose not to have health insurance but will be forced to buy it under the President’s plan at the point of a gun. How American is that?

3. The real problem is skyrocketing costs- The Democrat proposals do nothing to lower the actual cost of healthcare delivery which would lead to lower insurance costs, as well. The average guy on the street(me) looks at this and says, “I already have health insurance that costs too much. Now we are going to provide insurance for a bunch of new people? What’s that going to do for me?” I think people know inherently that their costs are going up. Why don’t we instead do some incremental things that help bring costs down while at the same time providing some reasonable incentives for businesses and individuals to purchase their own insurance? Seems pretty logical, no?

4. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs- Why don’t we get the economy growing again before we go providing another big entitlement program? We have an employer based healthcare insurance system. Wouldn’t it make more sense to address the unemployment in this country(now, there’s a crisis) to see how many people we can get back to work before we go and screw up the world’s best healthcare system? The whole healthcare insurance “problem” looks a little different at 5 or 6 percent unemployment than it does at 10 percent unemployment. You said you were going to get focused. Get focused.

5. We’re broke- You know you just pissed away $787B on a “stimulus” that sent the unemployment rate from 7.5% to 10% and that was just you’re first year in office. We do have a fiscal crisis at every level of government and now you want to double down. Sir, with all due respect, it is not your money. Americans may have been dumb enough to elect you but the American Treasury is not your little private piggy bank to go and try some stupid Socialist experiment that has already been a failure everywhere else in the world. This is America, Jack! In just three short years you can go and take a teaching post up at Harvard with your angry buddy(can’t remember his name) and sit around and talk with him and Michelle about what a rotten country America is but, until then, get your hand off my wallet!

There’s more but that ought to be a start.

I am so sick and tired of being told that, while we disagree with Mr. Obama’s policies, the American people still like him personally. This is always held out by the hacks on the other side as BO’s big opportunity to turn things around. Color me skeptical. Let me count the ways.

1. He is humorless- Is it just me or has this guy never said anything the least bit funny? I mean I used to see pictures of him smiling but it always seemed like one of those fake, oily smiles you get from someone right before they explain how the new siding contract is going to work. I don’t see anyone laughing at his meetings. They don’t give him anything funny to say in his speeches that he reads. Guessing that he couldn’t pull it off. He had the Lakers over the other day and he tried to say something funny about Phil Jackson getting the Republicans and Democrats to play as a team and he mangled it so bad that everyone on the stage looked like they were sucking a lemon. I don’t know about you but I find people with no sense of humor a little scary.

2. He is self aggrandizing- This guy needed to get beat up on the playground more. Maybe the funniest thing he has said is that he deserves a “Solid B+” or even an A- if ObamaCare monstrosity passed. It is All about the O. Everything bad is someone else’s fault and anything good, and that is few and far between, is only because of him. Humility is something you can’t fake. BO has none.

3. He is dishonest- Everything Barry says has a shelf life. Sometimes it is days, sometimes no more than hours. That is why all his speechifying is falling flat now. Nobody believes anything he says anymore. Is that the kind of person you can’t wait to be friends with?

4. He is arrogant- We all knew this back to the campaign when he talked about us “bitter clingers”. I think the rest of America gets it now, too. The disdain seems to drip from his eyes when he has to speak to mere mortals. Do you think he really relates to those wonderful young men and women that he commands in our military? Or is it possible that he sees them as photo ops? Oh, wait, he said so himself. I guess they can’t understand why it is so tone deaf for Barack to be running around on my dime playing golf 60 times and flying his wife up to Broadway for date night when we are at war and in debt.

5. He is a divider- I believe most in our country do want to come together to solve our problems. Obama’s approach? “I won”. Whether on race, healthcare, politics, you name it, Obama has done nothing to bring people together. His instincts are all Saul Allinsky Community Organizer attack dog blame the other guy. Nice leadership.

6. He is a poseur- Look it up. It is my favorite word to describe Obama. It is another reason people don’t really like him. I think the American people have a great sense of fairness. It might be one of our best national qualities. But we also know when someone is given something they haven’t earned. I hear alot of people saying, “You know, in retrospect, Obama really has never accomplished anything…..”

Okay, so I am saying Obama is humorless, arrogant, dishonest, egotistical, divisive, and phony. But the MSM is still telling us how much America loves this guy. I am not buying what they are shoveling.

While I am writing this I am listening to Mark Steyn sitting in for Rush calling Obama the “lonely guy”. So true. Where are all Barack Obama’s personal friends? Pretty sure he doesn’t have any.

December 24, 2009

 

 

 

Dear Friend:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform legislation in the United States Senate.

 

In November, I voted to bring the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) up for debate in the Senate. This legislation is the combined product of bills passed after many months of work by the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am a member. In a statement I delivered on the Senate floor the day of the first procedural vote, I made it clear that although I could not support passage of this legislation as it was introduced, I believed it was more important that we begin this debate to improve our nation’s health care system for all Americans rather than bypass an opportunity to improve our health care system entirely.

 

Health care in America is on an unsustainable path, with health care costs rising at rates far above the rate of inflation, and insurance premiums in Arkansas rising 5.8 times faster than paychecks over the past decade. Furthermore, there simply aren’t enough health insurance options available to most Americans today. In at least 17 states-including Arkansas-only one insurance company controls more than half of the insurance market, and in at least 22 states still only two carriers control half the market or more.

 

I believe that the health care provided in America is the best in the world. Our country trains the best physicians, builds the finest facilities and designs the best medical technologies, but the way we deliver and finance health care in America is not as efficient as it should be and fails to meet the current demands of the American population. Our country spends almost twice as much per person on health care than the average per-person spending of 29 other developed nations, and yet we still lag behind much of the rest of the industrialized world on many health outcomes and in access to health care coverage for our citizens. I’m confident we can do better.

 

I believe that Arkansans and other Americans deserve an honest and open debate on how to best achieve commonsense reform. There is no easy fix, and I have heard from thousands of Arkansans who have expressed to me their passionate views on the best way to achieve positive change as well as their concerns with existing proposals. I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues on these issues to shape legislation that benefits Arkansas.

 

For the past month, the full Senate has been debating the bill, and through my hard work and the hard work of other members, the bill has changed substantially into a final product that I believe offers significant improvement. I support the revised Senate health care plan because it will curb rising health care costs over the long term, expand access to quality, affordable, health insurance plans to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years-all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk. Furthermore I have made it clear that as the House and Senate reconcile their bills over the coming weeks, I will not support a bill that departs significantly from the current Senate bill.

 

The final Senate bill (HR 3590) changes the way insurance companies do business. For plans purchased through an exchange, they will no longer be able to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition, nor will they be able to raise your rates or drop you because you get sick. Insurers will be penalized for unfair rate hikes. We must put an end to these unfair practices that are symptomatic of market conditions that allow for little true choice or competition, and we must ensure that patients and their physicians are allowed to make treatment decisions based on the best science available to them and the individual needs of the patient. Bureaucrats, either in the government or private insurance companies, should not be allowed to interfere in care decisions. These are thoughtful, practical provisions contained in HR 3590 that I support and believe can make real progress toward expanding access to coverage and improving our health care system.

 

I have worked hard in this bill to ensure seniors will not see a reduction in the Medicare coverage and benefits they have always relied upon. I believe in the promise our government made to working Americans – that if we work hard, Medicare will be there to help us in our golden years. Medicare has made a healthy and secure retirement possible for tens of millions of Americans, and I am committed to ensuring that it continues to serve America’s senior citizens.

 

How Arkansans will be able to access health insurance coverage under the Senate bill is based on legislation I first introduced in 2004. Small businesses, the self-employed, their families, and other individuals will be able to shop for coverage from a range of quality, affordable, private insurance plans through the health insurance exchange to be established in Arkansas. Furthermore, I successfully pushed for an additional $14 billion in tax relief for our small businesses, for a total of $38 billion. Small businesses across the country will now get the help they need to access coverage, placing them at the competitive advantage large corporations have enjoyed. Approximately 50,000 small businesses in Arkansas, with 260,000 workers, will be eligible for the small business tax credit that I authored. I also successfully pushed to ensure there would be no mandate on small business to purchase coverage. This means that Arkansas small businesses with fewer than 50 employees will not be required to cover their employees. In my conversations with Arkansas small business owners, I learned that while many small businesses wanted to provide coverage for their workers, they could not find affordable options.

 

Employees of firms that do not provide coverage will be able to shop for a plan on the insurance exchange. Further, within the exchanges, and again based on the bill I authored in 2004, some health insurance plans including at least one non-profit plan will be sold in all 50 states, bringing new competition into Arkansas, with the Federal Office of Personnel Management negotiating rates to keep premiums affordable as they currently do for federal employees.

 

Now that the Senate is nearing the end of this long road, it is clear my primary goals have been met. Namely, this bill will expand access to 31 million Americans and more than 400,000 Arkansans, change the way insurance companies do business, provide stability for those who have insurance, and protect our seniors by closing the Medicare Part D ‘doughnut hole’ and ensuring seniors can receive quality Medicare benefits for years to come. It will do all of this without adding to our nation’s deficit and placing taxpayers at risk due to an unnecessary expansion of government. I am proud to support the Senate’s final proposal.

           

I understand the health care reform process is complex and there is an incredible amount of misinformation circulating on what is or is not contained in the bills currently under consideration. I can state clearly that I have not and will not support legislation that makes illegal immigrants eligible for any federal benefits or subsidies for health insurance, and the current bill includes clear safeguards that prohibit illegal immigrants from accessing such benefits. I have also worked hard to ensure that provisions in this bill neither expand nor limit current law regarding abortion through health care reform legislation, and I support provisions in the bill that prohibit federal dollars from funding elective abortions.

 

I have heard from many Arkansans who support medical malpractice insurance reform, which I have supported in the past and in the current debate. The Senate bill authorizes demonstration projects that will tell us more about how best to reform medical malpractice insurance in order to lower costs to patients and providers, while continuing to ensure that both are protected.

 

Throughout this process, I have pushed to ensure the Senate is conducting this debate in a public and transparent manner. Americans across the country and certainly many Arkansans have been actively engaged in this debate, and I encourage you to remain engaged. That is why I have worked to ensure that the public has had access to the bill language, amendments, and supporting materials before votes have occurred. For instance, before I would vote to allow HR 3560 to be brought up for debate, I called on Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the full text of the legislation available online for at least 72 hours before the vote, and it was. I also built a “Health Care Resources Page” on my web site at www.lincoln.senate.gov where anybody can access the bill text, as well as the full text of any amendments brought up for debate. There are also links to reports and cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

 

I appreciate knowing of your thoughts and concerns regarding the health care debate. While the legislation before us is complex, we are not re-inventing the wheel or moving to a single-payer, government-run health care system. I believe that we can build on what works, keep the insurance companies honest and restore the faith of most Americans in government’s ability to do the right thing.

 

Finally, while I remain optimistic that through this debate process we can craft a responsible, forward-looking bill, my first priority remains the people of Arkansas and not any political party or partisan organization, and I will not support legislation that does not serve the best interests of our great state.

 

Thank you again for contacting me. To learn more about my work in Congress, I encourage you to visit my online office and sign up for my e-newsletter at http://www.lincoln.senate.gov. I am proud to serve the citizens of Arkansas in the United States Senate and hope you will not hesitate to let me know whenever I may be of assistance to you.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Blanche L. Lincoln

 

BLL/mc

 

 For the record, here is my response:

Dear Senator Lincoln,

How can you even send a letter like this when this bill cuts Medicare by $500B? Also, you know the CBO scoring is a joke because the taxes start right away and benefits are deferred into the future. This is just another big Federal entitlement that will bust our budget and push our kids further toward dreary Socialism.

What about abortion, Senator? Are you happy with the Barbara Boxer crafted language that will undercut the Hyde amendment which prevents Federal funding for abortions which has been the law of the land since 1976 and is supported by over 75% of the American people? Congratulations. You arrogant Senators don’t even realize how much disgust there is out here in the real world with what you are doing.

It does not “expand” coverage. It mandates that people buy something whether they want it or not. I think that is dubious constitutionally but you all don’t seem to mind. I am guessing that Jefferson, et al, are rolling over in their graves. You must be SO proud of your statesmanship and oath to uphold the constitution.

Are you proud of the corrupt vote buying that your leader, Harry Reid, engaged in to cobble together 60 DEMOCRAT votes to get this turkey passed? How about the fact that Arkansas now has to take on an unfunded Federal mandate that Nebraska was given a pass on. Is that fair? Is that what our glorious founders had in mind? Or did you think us average Americans are too stupid to notice?

Good luck with whatever you were going to do after the Senate.

Spartan4Life

Do the Democrats really believe that people are going to stand idly by and allow their taxes to be raised while they sit in Washington and squander our hard earned money? Let’s see how they finesse this fly in their ointment.

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won’t cover illegal immigrants, but argued that’s all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered – a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

“Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don’t simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday evening in a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “That’s why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else.

Mr. Obama added, “If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all.”

So, let me get this straight. First, we won’t be providing free healthcare to illegals because we will make them legal first. Oh, that should make it okay.

Also, for the first time since welfare reform we are going to extend federal benefits to anyone who is in the country legally. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t some of the 9/11 bombers here legally, at least for part of their stays in this country? I believe they were here on student visas and such. Maybe we should assess a Taliban tax so we make sure that we stay “deficit neutral”.

OMG, we are spinning out of control. Who are these people?

We need to kill his big idea before it ruins not only the United States economy but the entire world economy. What is that big idea? That governments should spend money they don’t have in order to help their own people. Even Time magazine acknowledged this in naming Keynes one of the century’s most influential people:

“His radical idea that governments should spend money they don’t have may have saved capitalism”.

I mean, I never went to Harvard or anything, but that idea sounds kind of silly on it’s face, don’t you think? Unfortunately, it has become the prevailing economic philosophy in the world and is blindly accepted as truth in all the institutions of higher learning that pollute the minds of our would be congress critters. This, despite the fact that from Japan to Western Europe to California, the implementation of Keynes’ big idea has been an abject failure. Governments continue to spend more and more, going deeper into debt, and sooner or later, something has got to give. Wake up, America.

Make no mistake about it. Keynes was a liberal. While at Cambridge he was president of the Cambridge University Liberal Club(no, I’m not making that up) which later merged with Cambridge University Social Democrats. The group has a long history of “radical” politics dating back to the 1800s. He first gained prominence after WWI by arguing debt forgiveness for Germany:

Keynes’s analyses on the predicted damaging effects of the treaty appeared in the highly influential The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published in 1919. This work has been described as Keynes’s best book, where he was able to bring all his gifts to bear – his passion as well as his skill as an economist. In addition to economic analyses, the book contained pleas to the readers sense of compassion:

Also present was striking imagery such as “…that year by year Germany must be kept impoverished and her children starved and crippled…” 

Sounds like he might be running for Congress in Massachusetts, no? “It’s for the children….”.

Oh, and he was gay, not that there is anything wrong with that. He became an agnostic. He was part of the intellectual liberal elite of his day, palling around with Virginia Woolf and TS Eliot. While he rejected Marxist doctrine, not sure it was for the right reasons. In 1931 he wrote:

So, it wasn’t the idea of a state run economy that bothered him, it was ceding power to the boorish proletariat. Only the “intelligentsia” had the “seeds of all human achievement”. Obama would have loved this guy. Can you say elitist? Finally, even Keynes acknowledged that his own ideas were just that, ideas. He foretellingly wrote:

So true, John boy. We are now the slaves of a defunct economist.

Now, I may have only attended a meager state school, but even I know you shouldn’t spend money you don’t have. When will people realize that governments DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY. They do not produce a product or provide a service that anyone would buy unless they are forced to at the point of a gun or a threat of jail time. There are only three ways that governments get money. They either Tax, Borrow, or Print and all of them are bad.

So, instead of arguing about who will do a better job of running government, wouldn’t we be better off arguing against government in the first place? Discrediting Keynes would be a great first step.

I guess the way this is supposed to work is that, by increasing the number of food stamps, unemployment benefits, and medicaid, prosperity and growth will be generated throughout the entire economy. I think Isaac Newton would have a problem with that. Making things trickle upward takes just the kind of metaphysical faith that Obama’s supporters seem to have in him. I guess we should have faith, too, other than the fact that it has failed every time it has been tried in the recorded history of mankind. Check Plymouth Rock, Cuba, and Venezuela for a few examples of collectivism economic theory results, not to mention Europe’s 40 year malaise.

I have always felt that one of the major, among many, mistakes that the Republican party has made over the last 25 years is to have not defended the whole concept of supply side economics more vigorously. Dating all the way back to George H. W. Bush labeling it as “Voodoo Economics”, Bob Dole attacking supply side in his primary bid, and even Mike Huckabee’s populist appeal in the most recent election, there seems to be a reluctance on the part of the GOP to make something that HAS worked every time it has been tried a centerpiece of their economic approach.

The feeling seems to be that “trickle down” is not appealing to working people who only sit at home and seethe at rich people. I don’t think that could be further from the truth. Ask any cabbie in NYC and I think they could provide a better explanation of economics then your average Democrat party Congress Critter. A prime example is President Obama’s recent boneheaded attack on “trips to Las Vegas” as some sort of cultural indiscretion on the part of US corporations. Anybody think that every dealer, waiter, cabbie, showgirl, and hotel worker, many of whom voted for Obama, did not cringe when they heard these unfortunate remarks? And yet our idiots seem to be afraid make the counter argument that a rising tide lifts all boats, something even GED recipients can understand. So frustrating.

So, buck up, me hearties. I think the American public is starting to get it. They know on it’s face that Obama’s proposals won’t work. We just spent $800B for nothing. There is no talk of cutting taxes and providing incentives for business and investment, things that would re-invigorate our economy. If conservatives play their cards right, collectivism will be relegated to the junk heap of history before Obama is through. Now whether our GOP politicians get it, that is another matter. I can only HOPE for CHANGE.

As I type this, New York, California, and cities from Detroit to Atlanta all have their hands out saying, “Oh, please, bloated Federal government, give us billions and billions of dollars to save our failed models.”

I say, “Hell no!”. Let these poorly run states and cities who have been drunk on tax dollars for too long suffer for their sins. Why should I, who live in a conservative city and state, have to pay for the excesses of New York state? Apparently, Republican run states like South Carolina and Texas are doing just fine, thank you very much.

What I fear is that we are heading for a new Civil War. The battle will not be so much between the North and South but between those that have been paying the bills and those that haven’t. It is time for this to stop.

Meanwhile, Conservatives have already won the argument. Ask Europe.

That is what we have gotten from our leaders in Congress. I am out here in the real world and I can tell you unequivocally that these Congress Critters are ridiculed and despised. If the GOP can’t take these lemons and turn them into lemonade then I have no hope for them at all. As the party leading this ship of fools the Democrats have to be called to account. There is no George Bush to blame anymore. These people need to be gotten rid of.

The first place to go is The Senate. We should lose zero. My guess is that Arlen Specter and George Voinovich might be the two most exposed because of the changing electorates in their states but there are many more opportunities for the GOP. I like our chances in my home state of Arkansas(especially if Huckabee runs), North Dakota, Nevada, Hawaii, Colorado, and Wisconsin. Every state should be in play. Even defeating Schumer in New York. People will say I am crazy but I believe there is an appetite out here for a political revolution similar to 1994. The GOP has to get energized in every state and go on offense. We need to go after the dinosaurs like Boxer, Reid, Inouye, Murray, Feingold, and Dorgan. These people can’t just wash their hands of the last 20 years.

Next, how about the so called “Blue Dog Democrats”. We all know these people are a bunch of phoney baloneys. They talk a good game during the election and then go sip chardonnay with Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank. I would be surprised if they voted against their leadership more than 5% of the time. It totally befuddles me why the GOP can’t put up some good conservative candidates and take back some of these seats.

I am telling you, there is a lot of anger and resentment brewing in this country. Obama may have won the battle but conservatives can still win the war. Hopefully, strong leadership will emerge that can rescue this country from becoming a dependency society.

How does this happen? I call it the Massachusetts effect. The liberals take a state like Massachusetts and create a laboratory for their wrongheaded ideas. They take over the government by promising goodies to all their various parasitic interest groups. What follows are the predictable results. Rising taxes, increased crime, corruption, and a breakdown in family values. Those with the means to do so then leave for a better and more pleasant place to live(see New Hampshire). They then proceed to vote for the same party and the same ideas that drove them out in the first place. Listen, if they were smart, they wouldn’t have voted for these policies in the first place. Does anyone besides me not recognize the Granite State anymore? I remember in the early days of my Conservatism thinking that the libertarian ideal of New Hampshire was a shining city on a hill. Now they have sold themselves out to yuppie Red Sox fans.

To understand the spread of liberalism, look no further than the failing liberal laboratories that are already collapsing around the United States. I can think of Maryland, California, Michigan, and New York, among others. As people flee those high tax, high crime, low family values areas as real estate collapses and taxes head north, they will land inevitably in bordering states. I lived in Michigan and saw what was happening there. When we moved to Arizona, there were an inordinate number of California transplants. They were moving to the desert to escape the confiscatory taxes in Cali. But they continued to vote Democrat after getting out of town. Those that don’t learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Lest anyone forget, the stock market is a leading indicator. Markets are forward looking, anywhere from 6 months to 18 months, depending on who you listen to. That tells me that the markets are pricing in an Obama victory. Nobody is predicting a McCain victory, are they? I have a feeling that this has been going on since the Spring when it became apparent that McCain didn’t have much of a clue about where to take his campaign. Thanks, John.

It gets worse, though. Not only are US markets tanking but markets all over the world are headed south, as well. I think that they see what I see. What I see is that the election of Obama represents a continuing downward slide and the beginning of the end of American exceptionalism. Obama has already destroyed trillions of dollars of net worth and he hasn’t even taken office yet. Who will lead the world out of this recession? Europe? Sure. Japan? Doubt it. China? One thing people forget about China. They don’t really have alot of money. America? Frankly, I don’t see it. While we remain, by far, the richest company in the world, we have $10T in debt, soaring deficits, and we are talking about “stimulus” of extending unemployment benefits, makes me ill.

I heard an interesting fact recently. The stock market during the 30′s actually bottomed in 1934 after crashing in 1929. That means we had another 5 years of absolute malaise even after the markets bottomed. It doesn’t matter how grandly Obama fails. It will all be blamed on Bush. But make no mistake. Whatever is happening in the stock market is anticipating the outcome of the election and has been for some time.

I could not be more surprised. I actually think last night’s debate might become a pivot point in this election.

Not because of some stellar performance by Senator McCain. I find myself yelling at the screen when he makes his points, then telling my wife what he should have said. And not because Obama made some deadly screw up. I found him how I always find him. Boring. People have to have some pretty empty lives to be getting all excited by this guy.

No, I think the pivot point in this entire election is “Joe the Plumber”. Not because of his particular circumstance. But because he is articulating what Senator McCain hasn’t been able to. Americans kind of like America. We like freedom and free market capitalism. We don’t believe in wealth redistribution. We may want Change! but we don’t want to change into France, a once great power now mostly irrelevant. At it’s core, France is Socialist and Protectionist. That is what the Dems propose for us. It doesn’t work and could be disastrous.

OK, Mr. McCain. You have your narrative. No need to discuss Ayers, bailouts, tax plans, etc. Just say, “No Socialism!”. The American people will follow. You have 20 days.

As despicable a character as I think Ayers is, and as much as I despise the cynical Obama’s willingness to associate with the scumbag to further his own vain ambitions, this is not the issue that will win the election for the GOP. Heck, I felt Obama should be disqualified more by the anti-American comments of his ignoramus wife. But I think we, as conservatives, may overestimate the degree to which Obama’s anti-American tendencies might be playing with the electorate out there. Alot of average Americans aren’t too happy with their country, either, right now.

As John McCain well knows, a key part of any winning battle strategy is to be able to assess changing conditions on the ground and be able to react and respond appropriately. Think about it, folks. Conditions on the ground do not look anything like they did even a few short weeks ago. Parts of our economy are in free fall. The S&P 500 has dropped almost 30% since MAY! For the tens of millions of Americans that own stocks(probably 60-70% of likely voters) these are very scary times. I thought of this as I sat down with my wife to review our financial condition over the weekend. We, like many Americans have taken a significant body blow to our net worth. The numbers were a little eye popping when you really looked at them. We’re talking about adding 3-5 more years to retirement kinds of setbacks.

The last thing any investor would want to do when things are tanking is to add additional RISK. RISK is one of those words that people have an emotional reaction to. When something is new and unknown like Obama is, it can be portrayed one of two ways. It is either “fresh” or “risky”. Obama likes to portray himself as something fresh. McCain needs to let people know he is risky. And the last thing we need in troubled times is RISK.

I understand Mr. McCain doesn’t have the same personal appeal that Ms. Palin does. But she is showing him the way to a path to the White House and he doesn’t seem to be able to see it. Steve Schmidt is supposed to be sharp but I don’t think he gets it, either. There is so far no evidence that they have a plan for winning. If I seem a little pissed it is because I feel like we are handing the keys of our country over to the ship of fools that is Obama/Reid/Pelosi and that we are going to suffer greatly.

I have never been a McCain fan. Not conservative enough. Too willing to criticize his own team. Too anxious to have the press like him. Too willing to pass “bipartisan” legislation. But, I really solidified my views on McCain after Hurricane Katrina. It wasn’t just the fact that he gave cover to the Democrats that were trying to blame the whole thing on George Bush by criticizing the Administration. They probably deserved it. No, what bothered me was that I saw an interview with him and he was truly SHOCKED that FEMA had been so inept in responding. How can you be shocked that a bloated Federal bureaucracy that had just been folded into an even more bloated Department of Homeland Security would be ineffective in a crisis? I remember thinking at the time, “AHA, that’s it. McCain is a man of Washington”. I think he actually believes that with just better management, a little more regulation, a touch more oversight that the Federal Government can be a fine way to deliver solutions to the American people.

What Sarah Palin has tapped into is the exact opposite sentiment. The one thing a majority of Americans can agree on is that we HATE Washington. This belief is shared in Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina, and Arkansas, the four states I have lived in in the last ten years. I am guessing it is shared in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Nevada, too. The only places that seem to have a real fondness for Washington are New York City and Hollywood. I am guessing we weren’t going to win there, anyway.

Ms. Palin does a great job of selling herself as a Washington outsider. That is why people like her. They don’t trust DC and are more than happy to vote for anybody that is not part of the cesspool. McCain has one last chance to tie Obama and Biden to Pelosi and Reid and make them the issue. Make them Washington insiders. Tie them to Hollywood and Wall Street. I understand this is tricky for McCain. After all, he has been in Washington for more than 25 years. And, as I stated before, I think he believes in Washington. He may need to do something he is incapable of. He may need to fake it.

As I write this, Rush is reporting that out on the campaign trail Senator McCain is tossing out Warren Buffett and Algore as people he might get counsel from. My heart is sinking.

William Ayers
Tony Rezcko
Jeremiah Wright
Hamas
Most liberal voting record
No experience
No record of accomplishment
Berlin speech
Michelle Obama
Ahmadinejad
Franklin Raines
Jim Johnson
Barney Frank
Nancy Pelosi
Biden third most liberal Senator
Never led
Never Made Decision
Not Qualified

Start acting like you want to win and we will support you.