Mustang Rambles

As Thomas Sowell said today in my paper, health costs are rising but so is health care capabilities. In his column about medical care costs he describes the rising costs of automobiles with all their improvements in safety that nobody seems to worry about, along with the rising costs of housing with all the new space and conveniences. You really need to read him with regularity.

Nobody (except the federal government) seems to care about these things. We are content to let the market keep track of how much we pay for them. Why should we worry about health care? What is so important about it that we need to knock the cost down? Look at another critical facet of American life where the costs have risen exorbitantly and no one seems to care, or at least protest.

Those who have to pay the costs seem to accept it, many get loans that they have to pay back for many years, just to gamble that their education will pay off in the end. Of course, I’m talking about tuition costs that have consistently risen about the cost of living year after year. Harvard, I hear, because of the bad economy and their great, open love of mankind, is reducing its’ increase to a mere 4.3% this year. How much was the COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) granted to our elderly (SS) this year? Some estimates have it a 5+%. In prior years, the COLA was around 2%, about 2.3% less than the Harvard cutback. This shows that Harvard has actually been doubling or tripling the annual cost of living increase in its’ tuition hikes for years.

I know that President Obama, who managed to get scholarships to his universities, has proposed to fund college for everybody. That is different from his trying to legislate control of the running-away tuition hikes. Or is that coming down the road? Hmmm, you university CEOs, (yes, I know that universities are run like businesses), might want to look at the monster liberal movement that you have put together in your closed-minded classrooms.

Macon, Georgia has the honor of being the 500th city in the USA to log into this blog. First question is, “What took you so long?” A bit of blog humor there.

Macon, Georgia, a thriving little city about 70 miles south of Atlanta on I-75, is one I have visited several times, once for a Cherry Blossom Festival, once or twice for business, and once when my wife and I took our teen Drama School participants to see the “Will Rogers Follies”. It was also a primary stop when I picked up my brother at the Atlanta airport and we were on the way home to Vidalia, a two hour drive.

Macon is an old Georgia town, ignored by General Sherman, and still has its’ section of old stately, Victorian homes. It is a good place for industry and business and a nice place to live, or so say the Maconites I have known.

Next time you’re near there, drop in.

I believe that Michael Jackson’s death was a good thing for him. His psyche and soul were tortured and tormented in ways we will never be able to understand. He has now gone where true healing can happen and he can be a happy soul.

The anguish of his fans and family is a manifestation of their grief that he is gone from them. If they truly loved him, they will know that his death has soothed his soul. Only the selfish will mourn because they would want him back to entertain them, and they do not care if he suffers his inner torment here on earth.

Recently, the Honduran Army arrested the sitting President and flew him to exile in Costa Rica. Many Central American heads of state, especially Leftist heads such as Castro and Chavez condemned the action as illegal. The Army acted under orders from the Honduran Supreme Court that declared a referendum vote the President demanded as illegal. The Court ordered the Army to confiscate all the ballots and make sure the vote didn’t take place. The vote was to place a question on the next national election to set up a new constitutional assembly to modify the constitution to allow the President to serve more than one term. I think that Chavez recently actually pushed multiple term permission through and effectively made himself president for life. Correct me on that if I’m wrong.

There is widespread dissatisfaction with the Honduran Army, especially from Heads of State who fear the example set, and by International Organizations who depend on the Heads of State for funding etc. Even President Obama said:

“I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” Obama said. “Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference.”

Apparently, he forgot that the President had ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court.

The really big question is this. If the Army is sworn to uphold the Constitution and not the current leader (as it is in the USA), was it lawful to fulfill the directive of the Supreme Court? Was it further lawful, to remove the President from power who was acting in direct contravention of the Supreme Court directive? If the answer to both is a “Yes”, then no wonder the Heads of State are outraged. They could be next. It is an example all Presidents would be wise to heed: Flaunting the Constitution can be hazardous to your career progression.

Here’s another good read from the Wall Street Journal with a clear description of events. It seems the main opposition to President Zelaya’s removal are

1. Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, extreme leftist
2. Fidel Castro, Dictator of Cuba, avowed Communist
3. Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, extreme leftist, one-time Sandinista
4. and Hillary Clinton, Democrat/Leftist, US Secretary of State appointed by President Obama. extreme leftist, clearly Socialist

Clearly, the freedom loving people of Honduras have given Latin revolution and propensity for dictatorships a dreadful setback.

I think by now that it is pretty obvious that the workers’ unions of America have donated sufficient dollars to buy the soul of the President, his Congress, and the Supreme Court. The deal worked out with the General Motors takeover where the unions came out way ahead of the legal, contracted, debt holders was the first blatant use of the unions’ power in Washington. The President and the Supreme Court were implicitly held up for public ridicule for their contempt of American business practices and legal history. Now, we have the chance to prove that Congress itself has been purchased by the union sweat and chicanery.

According to the Bloomberg article titled: Unions’ Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Proposal (Update1) , the health benefits of union workers may avoid the taxes that will be levied on health insurance provided by companies to help pay the exorbitant costs of Obama’s heath plan. Supposedly, they will fall below an artificial threshold set by Congress as delineated by Montana’s Senator Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. While exempting the 12.4% of Americans who belong to unions, Baucus says they will only tax the “gold plated” health benefits in America, including a company in Nevada called Zappos.com which pays its’ people only $11 per hour but gives them $7,500 health benefits annually. I have never seen such a blatant or more obvious payoff to politically favorite groups.

I don’t know how any self-respecting politician can sit in the Senate or House of Representatives and be a part of such a barbarous spoils division. You can almost see the blood of innocents dripping from the pens and speeches of the Democratic Party.

There are countless reports on how the unemployment rates are setting records, especially in the Western states. Rates of 10 or 11 percent are touted as record rates. Then the article states that they are the records since 1983. That’s not a very long time to be keeping records, but apparently it does make for sensational headlines and supports the Democratic Obamanation in its’ difficulties in pulling us out of this mess. Just remember, that 1983 is an artificial baseline determine by statisicians who can always use figures to lie and to prove any point they want.

For the real record, I was around in 1983, and I don’t remember any real headlines or angst over the situation. We were in a mild recession, but Reagan pulled us out of it by cutting taxes. The only time unemployment hit me was in 1975, eight years earlier when I got out of the Army and returned to my home in the Northwest. In my college town where I was born, unemployment was 18 percent, and it seems to have overwhelmed the 20 percent mark once. Most of the lumber mills were shut down and one had dismantled and sold off all its equipment to Paraguay. That was a tough time. While there were jobs, they were hard to get and I was over-qualified for most of them because I had a college degree. I spent six months on unemployment, went to grad school for a year on the G.I. Bill and did find work as a security guard for a nickel over minimum wage. After that school year, I lived in an old VW bus while on unemployment and looking for work again. I ended up living in a shed behind a farm house courtesy of the four nurses who lived there who felt that a man around the place gave it more security. I used kerosene lamps, had a wood burning heater, and carried my water.

What got me off the dole two years after I entered the job market was a government program called CETA, Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. I was picked up to work with the Oregon State Employment Office as a Disabled Veterans Outreach Planner. It was a Stimulus Plan of sorts that actually created jobs for a period of time. I was eventually hired by the Employment Office.

The point to all this is that while it may be tough now, it is not as tough as it has been in living memory. Maybe in the memory of all the young reporting and governing pukes who never read their history, but not for folks who have been through hard times. When the economy comes back, and it will, put the government accolades in perspective. Was it really the stimulus package of the Big O? Or did it happen because America does work for a living and that work brought us around while the Stimulus Package dollars were laying out there waiting to be diverted or misspent.

Obama reports that he loses sleep worrying about the increasing deficits. He even says:

he said once the recession ends, “we’re going to have to close that gap between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money going out.”

Of course, as long as the money keeps going out as it will with his health care programs, the only way to increase the amount of money coming in is to raise taxes. As if healthcare isn’t enough to drive the deficit, he also said:

I’m confident that if we take the steps that are necessary on healthcare, on energy, on education. If we get a strong financial regulatory system in place so people have confidence in the markets again, that we will end up seeing a recovery shortly.”

Healthcare equals spending huge amounts of money, as does his energy policy, and as does his free college education policy. So while huge amounts of debt pile up with his programs, he feels the economy will set records and will bring in so many tax dollars that the deficit will dwindle away and all our creditors will be quite happy.

He is still saying he can hold to his no tax pledge if we have a robust economic recovery. This recovery will have to come in the midst of the greatest spending splurge our government has ever had, probably eclipsing the spending of World War II! (I don’t have time to look that one up, so take it or leave it.)

It boggles the mind. I cannot even begin to think about how his mind must work. His words always say one thing, but his actions belie his statements.

Recently the FDA has gained immense control over the tobacco industry. This control allows the FDA to rule on listing of ingredients, advertising, sales, and taxes and will probably bring the whole tobacco industry down. The impetus behind all this is the costs of medical care for smokers that far exceeds the cost of care for non-smokers. Actually, as a reformed smoker who quit twenty-four years ago, it wouldn’t bother me a bit to see the industry shut down. It is the next step that bothers me.

Logic dictates moral superiority is gained by shutting down an industry because of health concerns and health costs. Lives are being saved, and medical costs and facilities are released for other medical procedures for diseases that are not self-induced. If we follow this logic, then we must proceed to the next possible disease and combat it.

Today’s poster child for society whippings, disdain, and disregard of humanity and human dignity is
OBESITY. Airlines are starting to sell second seats to the really obese. Food establishments are having to list calories for certain foods. It won’t be long before the FDA is called in to control the amount of calories, cholesterol, vitamins, and minerals you will be required to eat. In order to do this, it may be necessary to close down certain unhealthy venues of food, such as all fast-food restaurants, Italian restaurants, Pizzarias, and Sushi Bars. Country-style restaurants would have to go too if they failed to curtailed their fried food, biscuits and gravy, and their great cobblers and pies.

Citizens will be obliged by street weighers to weight and to pay fines if overweight. Overweight will not be allowed on public transportation without paying a “weight levy”. They may not be allowed in public theaters because they may “overflow” their allotted seating. Along with the “You Must Be This Tall” sign at amusement parks, there will be a scale stating “You Must Not Weigh More Than..”.

Once this is accomplished, logic would dictate there will be other things that need control. People who stutter won’t be granted public speaking venues and will be kept from the performing arts. Other handicaps will be denied access because of dangers of accidents and lawsuits. Breweries and distilleries will be shut down like the tobacco plants because of the wholesale slaughter of brain cells they cause.

The list of liberties denied just goes on and on as Big Brother cares for all its’ citizens in the most benevolent way.

President Obama is doing what he does best, avoiding an open debate on the necessity of national health care and the possible results of his programs. Stating that opposition to his programs are “scare tactics” Breitbart Article he is urging people to ignore what is often reasoned debate as in Robert Samuelson’s article in realclearpolitics.com titled: Naive, Hypocritical, and Dishonest.

The demonization of all dissent seems to be the hallmark of the administration’s and democratic party’s arguments. Rather than gather and assemble a round-table that will provide a variety of viewpoints on the subject at hand, those is power would rather curse and demean anyone with an opposing thought. Of course, we have seen this for some time in the eco-arguments and especially in the Global Warming propaganda effort. Silencing opposition is what Democrats, Socialists, and rabid partisans construe as meaningful dialogue. Obama won’t seek an alternative to his world domination path.

Two weeks ago some talk show host predicted that in one-to-two years, there would be no nationally syndicated talk shows. Someone else predicted that in two years people would start disappearing at night. While I think this is hyperbole, the way the government is going, there is some evidence that maybe we should make sure it doesn’t happen.

The only way to be sure we can beat back the Obamanation is to vote out everyone who supports his programs. Call your representatives and senators and let them know we are watching their votes and their support for the incredible spending and taxation programs that are coming from the President and his ilk.

David Letterman, in the aftermath of his horribly bad joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter at the ball game, still hasn’t said he is sorry, and indicates that Sarah can’t take a joke. If that was a joke and intended to be funny, then most of America has no sense of humor. It was tasteless, unfunny, and unfortunately, about as good as most of Letterman’s jokes.

Letterman, to his defense, didn’t have a clue as to which daughter was in attendance at the ball game and alluded to a statutory rape of the daughter by a well-known baseball player. I think, and I’m grasping at straws, that the humor was alluding to Sarah’s other, older daughter who had a child out of wedlock, an event that hardly raises a liberal eyebrow these days. The sad thing is that Letterman was clueless as to the moral and legal aspects of his joke.

Still, a decent man would not have made the joke to start with, and anyone with any conscience would have apologized by now. Letterman is a sleazebag. He has no respect for any remotely conservative person, drools openly over leftist celebrities (his only source of his miserable ratings), and doesn’t have the decency or the honor to apologize when his is flagrantly wrong.

I am proud that I haven’t watched his show since it bored me to tears years ago.