Henry Louis Gate

OOO an old friend. I once became enraged in my "Black intellectuals" elective in high school reading his book about 12 great African American men and their stories which included the bigoted and hate spewing Louis Farrakhan. This incident has become ridiculous, gaining attention as much for being ridiculous as much as it has for being possibly a incident of racial profiling. So here is my two-sense from a twenty year old college kids "wisdomise" viewpoint...you dont mess with the police. As unfair and ridiculous as it sounds - police can pretty much do what they want in any instance. While maybe being unfair, this discretion is what keeps me safely curled up in my big bed every night not having to worry about being murdered. If a police man asks you to do something you do it. Questions later not during and most importantly not before. If I had done what Gates did [from the officer and Gates story this is without the official tapes which could shed light on what actually happened] I probably would have been dropped to the ground. The fact that Gates is African American probably caused the officer to handle it a bit more delicately than he would if it was a six foot white college kid getting in his face about being a "white college kid in America". And Obama's words about this irk me, they irk me in a way that not commander in chiefs words should. THESE people are here to PROTECT US. Protect you, protect me, protect Professor Gates and even protect Barack Obama. Most of the time police get no respect no thanks for what they do - especially where I come from, Colby College...but in certain times you are required for your own sake, you are in control of this - these times are when they approach you. Cooperate if you have nothing to hide dont act like it, if you dont have to get upset dont do shit. This was not the blatant misuse of power in the Oklahoma ambulance incident a couple weeks ago where the officer should have been fired but this was a police officer doing his job with someone trying to make it even harder for him to keep his neighborhood safe. Rule of thumb to anyone out there with potential cop hazards, do what they say - if they say get on the ground you sure as hell do it, if they say lick my feet dont hesitate - you will only be worse off for making their already tough job tougher.

A quick word, there are some people you love to hate and some people who you have to on principle because you think they are pretty awful human beings. But when some people are right you have to give them credit. Pat Buchanon - the racist, bigot anti-semite wrote an article on a website the other day saying how far off base we have gotten from what our forefathers mapped for us. I planned on writing a post about this but he beat me too it. I lost the address but if you are so inclined I suggest you read it, here is his most recent article http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=104833 I am sure there is a link to the previous one on there.

One more, a chance to attack Obama. I just kid. Where have all the promises gone?http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99J4SS80&show_article=1. During his prime time press conference he parred the question and didnt catch much flak for it. But seriously what happened to C-Span and I am not talking about the kick off party to your maligned health care bill, figure it out keep your promises to the American people. Right now people want the deficet solved then health care. I leave you with this question how can you implement such radical change without tests - maybe even "stress tests" for such a program to see if it actually work...figure it out

Solution - Credit Card Companies???

So I have fallen into the trap that I complain every person who talks politics falls into. I have just been complaining, I like to think of myself as an "ideas" guy or a "solutions" guy, but all I have done is gripe. So finally I will give some solutions that I believe will solve what I have been complaining about most, which is healthcare. If you know me or have been reading this blog you will know I am a huge proponent of private industry...I believe in order to retain the types of freedom and lives that we love so much right now is to keep government out and leave it to the private sector which I have a couple suggestions.

Here are the problems
Rising Costs
The Uninsured
Exclusionary Practices

So those major problems which have plagued the healthcare system in the United States are pretty big. How to solve this...

Rising Costs
-Go electronic
-Provide limited and sensible malpractice protection for physicians
-Insure the uninsured

The Uninsured [One of the biggest costs in the entire system]
-Mandatory PRIVATE insurance
-Subsidies in the form of tax breaks or write offs

Exclusionary Practices
-Institute ethics reform


So this all sounds well and good but how will this actually work. Its an innovative idea that I learned from an actual physician. The system would work like a credit card, and while you cant mandate it - the efficiency and genius of the plan would cause it to become the norm i.e. the way Obamacare would become the norm because of its ability to undercut the private insurers. So it is basically a credit card it keeps all of your information on the card, the plan you have and such and such [eliminating the paper] and any medical procedure it paid for on that card by the issuing company. You pay it back just like a credit card - while these plans would have to be subsidized in the form of tax write offs for delinquincies and things of that nature it would be by the private sector. My sense is that this would be affordable, profitable and easy to use. It would cut costs by doing away with the glut of paper and it could insure the uninsured by allowing for mandatory coverage without government interference. There could possibly be another medicade/medicare development in the realm of the uninsurable or those who are prone to illness but it would allow for most to be insured and someone to always foot the bill at the door. Generally speaking from a non-physician I believe that our medical practice needs to focus more on prevention and lifestyle coaching rather than solving an illness as it comes up. Read the China Study, read any health books they all say that much of our costs in healthcare come from the lives we live. We do have the best healthcare the WHO reports are misleading counting our cancer and heart disease death rates while ignoring others. My only thing is I believe healthcare is a solution for the private sector to find not for government interference.

Even more

After somewhat of a lull health care is being touted as "imminent" in some media outlets and again, for the time being talk about the cost is being muted - it is being muted by new reports about the tax hikes that will come should a bill like this pass. I have a question for all those who voted for Obama - didnt he promise no taxes higher than those in the nineties? Well low and behold we might be experiencing tax rates not seen since the early eighties! Just like the discrepencies between carbon in the atmosphere and the measurements of temperature I expect Obama's overall poll numbers to catch up in steep decline with the low poll numbers concerning his priorities and policies. It has even been said by the chair of Congressional Budget Office say that this plan would increase costs and explode to an even larger figure than has been estimated by congress. Think about this read some articles....its getting scary


http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907151403dowjonesdjonline000758&title=centrist-dem-leaderhas-committee-votes-to-block-health-bill

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003168293

The Punishment for Success: Healthcare

So maybe I was wrong, healthcare was just on hiatus to allow for the burial of MJ. Its back on the table and it looks like the Democrats have found a way to make up that short fall between cost and funding - tax what they consider to be the "super-rich" an inordinate amount, generating unseen revenue in order to pay for a socialized system. Is this what it has come down to in our country? Do people specifically the governing apparatus of our country understand what this will mean? This is going to hit small businesses especially hard - they demonize these people by linking them up with the Wall-Street honchos and the CEO's of the world but this hits at the core of America's entreprenurial spirit and our local and regionalized business who employ so many. The already struggling car dealer, the similarly struggling contractor and on and on until they have to start cutting jobs - but that wont matter because these people will have healthcare - paid for by those who will start to lose money. I read a story that I linked up in an earlier post about Norway and their healthcare system and studies that have been done. It rewards complacency, it rewards anti-innovation.

This really scares me, it truly does. This could amount to over 55% tax cumulatively on these households and small businesses THIS IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY. How can you expect growth in a climate like that, especially for those who look to earn money like that - it will be even harder to live the American dream if taxes are that high and the rate of inflation stays at what it is - despite our recent deflationary trend with the amount of money we are spending and printing at the same time/borrowing inflation is sure to skyrocket. While Dick Durbin has said his chamber is unlikely to back the taxes on the "superwealthy" its scary when you consider Obamas popularity and the way that most democratic leaders worship the ground he walks on. They also want to add a surcharge on capital gains taxes as well. It is getting ridiculous to pay for something that could be solved by getting costs under control and reforming the health care system not overhauling it and making it a government entity. This is not what we do in America, this is European this is scary. Tom Donohue the President of the US Chamber of Congress said it best "when did our country begin to punish success". It is a scary time people. Any bill over a thousand pages long is bound to smell of patronage, kickbacks and pork something both parties know all too well.

This except gives me hope

Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, said he’s “not hearing a lot” of support for a surtax on wealthy Americans. People in his state don’t like the millionaire’s tax “because they are looking someday to get there themselves,” Nelson told reporters on July 13. “It’s the American way.”

Maybe I was wrong - maybe the American dream is still alive and it has not transformed into one of complacency and being cared for by a big brother state. But you never know - the eerie predictions of George Orwell and Karl Marx sometimes creep into my head as I look at recent happenings in America. While we have strived for egalitarianism, we have lost an edge, we have lost our hides - we have traded them in for a cellofane skin that can be punctured by the smallest pointed remark. Our Cowboy days are done boys and girls - John Wayne is a distant memory, feelings a sense of security have replaced our renegade spirit to make a name for ourselves in any way possible. Healthcare is an example of that and finding a way to pay for that could turn out to be an egregious mess. I dont want to be taxed in the future when I acheive dreams of making big big bucks, to pay for someone who thought "eh I dont really have to work that hard to acheive the things that will make my life O.K. here - I can just sit around and be content". Because after reading that article about Norway and what has happened there - it is a very distinct possiblity

This is a good summary of what is going on right now
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUVZeh_GVBYM

Picture up top was released by House Republicans on the possible beauraucratic mess that would accompany Health Care reform

Ripe for our time

Some new things to think about. Again financial news dominates my mind as it does to most in these times in America. I don't blame President Obama for what he's walked into, he is the victim of circumstance. At this time he is a good thing for a faltering country, I just saw Ichiro Suzuki almost shriek in excitement when he met him. His mistakes might be legendary but his fame will forever define his existence, quite possibly his quickly diminishing fame or to use a more appropriate word popularity. During this time of what I would call restructuring for our country those who seek more and more power have found a vulnerable people and country willing to sacrifice for stability, facing a pipeline to the infamous Great Depression - individulas who once valued their over leveraged home that they wouldnt give it up for anything for fear of losing one of their most "stable and ever-increasing worth" asset. The time was ripe for those who looked to put unwritten rules into ink and rewrite those rules in the process. While it is true that the financial system failed in the long run was because of the financial process, I agree it needs to be changed but reformed dramatically. Respect the small business, respect the individual. Now on capital hill ethics charges could soon be coming. While Palaus refuses to name which banks got 2.2 Trillion dollars for fear of tarnishing them we now are seeing progress on investigations into them. So the justice department decided to interven but now are refusing to name the senators involved. Collusion could be one of the stories when the histories are written that is a pointed memory of what became the Housing Bubble. Maybe one day people will wake up again forgoing those promises of stability and act out against what could become great stories of collusion and a rapid increase in the size of government. While it is improbable that many senators engaged in or were successful in collusion some may have engaged in swaths of collusion. But I feel I digress, in the next election we should enjoy our, for the time being promise of security. But once we ascend the wall of negativity I hope we begin to vote for people more in line with a proper form of thinking. One against oligarchs, one against collusion - stop taxing the heart of our economy the small business. It may sound alarmist and I don't mean to sound like a right-wing cook because that is not what I am. I dont think I am extreme in one or the other. I believing in taking a dramatic look at the rapid increasing government in this country from both right-wing and left-wing initiatives. Look at the relationship between leaders in this country and private interests - but do not be swayed by just the common man - a natural checks and balance system between Private interests and Publics ones but influence may need to be tapered. Just as reforming the election laws. I digress which has most likely become the theme of tonight. He will be remembered for his rocky relationship with his own majority in the senate the first indicator in a real divergence in what the senate was meant for. They have become legislatively happy in a sense, their leaders have adopted larger egos while presiding over even larger constituencies. Soon the polls will turn into public demostrations, calls to senators offices etc. soon we the people will take it back. Until then Obama is what we need, he is a face. He is comfort food, he promised big things promised change had a comforting oratory but cannot control his own congress cannot control his spending and cannot control his own political bones failing to connect with those who see through his partisan and public bs. While I have less problems with his than I do with the Senate or Congress I feel neither represent my views. As we know confidence is at all time lows, that is at the center of this whole problem, Obama instills confidence in Moonbats and regular people alike McCain would not have done that, it's tough for me to admitt but Obama may be just the solution that we need - not on substance but on confidence alone.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

All this talk of taxes has me scared. Taxing health benefits? And Obama said we can keep our health plans if we liked them? This doesnt add up, the only thing it adds up to is fleecing the American population of their freedom of choice, their freedom to exist how they would like to exist. Healthcare after the MJ fiasco is back at the frontburner of the liberal media machine pushing constantly to change the minds of those Americans who see the flaws in the current reform talk. The problem is that anyone who opposes the democratic plan is labeled as a "conservative" or a "republican" a slur in these times. It is scary to me to see the potential for more taxes and less freedom of choice, specifically in the health care region but more importantly in the grand scheme of America. The word taxes always makes people cringe especially when it is talk of taxes being levied against themselves. But here is a reccomendation for anyone reading this, look up the VAT, a type of sales tax across the board. If your interested and I am sure you will be read the "Fair Tax Book" written by talk show host Neal Boortz. Dont be scared away by the connotations that come with his name, it is a completely true book. While I ascribe to many of his libertarian views this is the one that i adhere to religiously. Any code that needs thousands of pages cannot be viewed as fair. It can only be seen as an egregious abuse of power and attempt at extreme social engineering. Why not tax those things that we dont need, that second mercedez-benz....or the extra large tuna steak you bought at Whole Foods? Some say it is regressive, but I say it is fair. The only thing the income tax does is tax people more for working harder and using their skills and their lives in more productive ways....doesnt this sound a bit wrong to you? It does to me. But maybe we should be more empathetic, I could be called callous and jaded and priveleged and many different things...but one thing is for sure I dont want Americans punished for working their asses off to make their money. We should be taxed on our choices, the things we buy, the things we decide we need....not on our hard work. Some say a VAT wouldnt work, read the book...I am not mathemetician so I cant tell you here but it would work its all spelled out in the book. Give me your gripes but not until you read the book, dont tell me you dont agree with it on moral grounds so you wont read it. Read it give it a chance...see whats up.

A Word to the Wise

I have not posted in a while. I have been busy aka this weather is really getting to me. Today I finally started watching the news again as I recently have been too tired by the weather to do anything more than read a bit, work, drink and sleep. I like everyone else in the country have been waiting for the positive economic news we were promised by the election of "CHANGE"! There has been little movement, little progress as we slowly dip into a deeper recession in my mind. I can see it at my own place of work where tips and patronage is slowly slipping every day at a New England institution. States are on the brink of bancruptcy and California is issuing IOU's which arent even being taken by some companies...we have some critical problems in this country and while conversation around spending has been muted recently, half because of the death of Michael Jackson and half because Obama realized it was not politically palatable option in this climate they still want to spend. Spending our way out of debt seems like an oxy moron doesnt it? Does anyone in this country look at history or listen to other world leaders and forgo our American exceptionalist attitude? Yes FDR brought us out of the depression but how much of that can be attributed to WWII. Maybe Angela Merkel is not as wrong as other world leaders think and maybe we should rely on what has made America a great country in the first place, limited government interaction with a heavy reliance on innovation and hard work to stimulate the economy. A DEFICET IS NOT OK, ESPECIALLY FOR MY GENERATION. Donna Brazille who is arguing for the stimulus bill just said "until the private sector gets back on its feet" but attributed the government to holding the fort until that happens. Why dont we stimulate the private sector quickly? We are focusing on the wrong things, social programs expanding the federal budget...help them forgive debts get back on their feet and back to buisiness and innovation.
Now a bit of enlightenment on the weather. Especially here in the north east we have been experiencing some very weirdddd weather patterns. Heres the deal all of you i.e. Rusch Limbaugh, Howie Carr etc. who are using this for fodder to "discredit" those who claim global warming you are ignorant. First of all the carbons that we have put in the atmosphere already are there and there to stay. The graphs show all the correlations except for an increase in temperature which is due to happen at any moment. Either way the weather we are experiencing is due to the massive fluctuation in weather and such around the globe. The rain is a product of global warming the mild temperatures are part of a 5-7 year cooling period predicted decades ago for our globe. Dont take the recent weather as any time to breathe as was shown today on Mount Rushmore "Obama America respects leaders not politicians act on global warming now".
The G8 meetings happening right now I think are going to be the toughest test to date for President Obama. He is facing considerable opposition from other global leaders trying to get a foothold in the place that America has owned for the past half decade - world superpower. But diversification of global reserves is not all a bad thing. While it will be harder to cover our debts I feel it might invigorate our American spirit. As I quoted before we have almost entered the state of complacency that comes with affluence. This may be a point in time where we revert back to hard work to get back to that affluence. We need a culture that is kind to buisness and affluence in order to raise the living standards of everyone, at least in this country.
A word about the general state of the world. Its interesting to watch the actions of leaders and populations around the world. Before the economic collapse recently we were witnessing a resistence to American power, hegemony that in the face of a resiliant George Bush somewhat failed as we strongarmed our policies to the rest of the world. Now that a window has opened up for others to take control of some of the power it seems they are all handcuffed with either fear or not knowing what to do. While we are being challenged eocnomically we are also looked towards to help bring the entire world out of recession. Basically most live and die by the prosperity of America. My viewpoint is though that America is not yet taking advantage of this point in time to firmly take back and stake a claim on their foothold in the world ladder. We/Obama is pussyfooting around issues and trying to push his own jaded agenda on a population that wants to regain this foothold, regain our prosperity. We are not Germany, we are not Italy, we are not France, we are not even the UK...we are America - We value leaders who value us, value us not just as numbers, ballots or votes but as America...you the President no matter how deified no matter how regarded are not Amerca, you are not Jesus Christ superstar you are a public servant...for someone who values polls so much listen to them, change the deficet right the wrongs of presidents past...make your mark as someone of the people not someone who tries to strongarm policies on the American people...review the constitution, read Adam Smith....see how that changes your viewpoint. Thats my rant for now.