The focus of the national agenda this summer has clearly become reforming America’s health care system. Bring it on! There is no question that our health care system needs to be reformed to squeeze out the much inflated expenses and to assure high quality care. The American healthcare system is the most expensive in the world. And it is clear that, by any statistical measure, we are not getting value for money. Not only do these costs put proper health care out of reach for many middle class Americans, but these inflated costs are also making our products uncompetitive in the world economy, adding to our other economic problems.
Unfortunately however, in the proposals that have emerged, we seem to have taken our eye off the ball. The true challenge – the cost vs. quality issue – has become sidetracked. The debate has now become about health insurance, though this is only a part of the problem. Important as it is, insurance coverage is merely a way to pay for medical care. The focus should really be on the actual medical care delivery system, where the costs versus quality problems are to be found. To date, we have not touched those issues. We are, in effect, putting the cart before the horse. And if the acrimony over insurance is any guide, the storm from that debate will be even more ferocious than today’s.
Since the discussion is now centered of insurance, it is worthwhile considering the merit of the existing proposal otherwise knows as HR 3200 Two questions in particular seem to be the most contentious: 1) will such a system lower patient’s medical costs 2) how would the public option impact the existing medical insurance system. We would, of course, a ll like to see the 47 million currently uninsur ed people have access to quality health care, especially in catastrophic situations. But the stark reality is that suddenly adding such a large block of people in a total spectrum plan will cause a sharp spike in medical costs. It is a simple supply and demand calculation. Add to this the $1 trillion price tag and you get a big new shock to the system – at a time when the system can least absorb it. We should first streamline the system before we add a major new load onto it.
But the bigger issue is…
Look who stopped in at MTNP radio today…
We had a special "guest" today show up in the MTNP studio… "Some men just want to watch capitalism burn" The proud owners tell us that they owe a tip of the hat for the wording to our buddy John Hawkins of RightWingNews, who has been following the story of this image as it spreads around … Read more
Generation Y. Saving America from the ravages of the Boomers?
Guest post by Andrew Hemingway
There is so much happening in our world today that children and teens in the US really have no chance of keeping up. There is every imaginable toy, song, gadget you can think of to keep them from the reality that is their life, and when they are not listening to headphones, they are texting their friends. I sound like an old man here. I am on the leading edge of what they call Generation Y. There is in every society cycles, cycles of good (boomers) and cycles of bad (depression era), but not just in our own history, but in the history of civilization this has been true. Some generations ride on the coat tails of others, and some generations wake up to find themselves having to fight to retain their freedom.
Now, before you turn me off and think this is a young man bemoaning his lot in life- Think Again! My generation is the first generation that will not earn enough to pay for our parent’s entitlements. You see we are unfortunate to have parents in the Boomers. It is mathematically impossible for us to pay for them as the entitlements stand today. We can not pay for it! The upside is that like it or not FINALLY some politicians are going to have to acknowledge this and try to address it. I know you are laughing thinking of all the ways politicians over the years have lightly stepped around this issue leaving it for the next guy, as more and more seniors begin drawing on the system.
As a member of this special generation, the generation that is being robbed blind. Yes we are being robbed blind! The Federal Government has spent all the money that generations before us could ever earn, and with each new “Fantastic” program they are working on spending all of our money. They are taking from us not just our money, but they are taking our ability to start businesses, and our ability to graduate from college and find jobs, they are taking away from us the most important thing to any Liberty loving society- Freedom. Our government, in the name of “humanity”or being “green” or what ever other reason they can possibly think of are, bill by bill, stealing from us our freedom.
My generation is not graduating from college with high hopes, we are not our starting businesses as generations before us have. We as a generation, and as a country are on the path that only leads to one end- Tyranny. Soon we will not choose a college, or a career they will be chosen for us. And if your grades are not that great you will be sent to work with your hands and others will be chosen to go ahead of you. We are very quickly approaching this.
Health Care Compromise a Poison Pill for Small Business
Guest Post by Howie Rich
Much ado has been made of the tenuous "compromise" between President Barack Obama and "Blue Dog" Democrats in Washington on the issue of government-run health care. Sadly, the reality is that the latest version of "Obamacare" is still a poison pill for America’s small businesses and the millions of workers they employ.
Most small businesses spend between 60 and 80 cents of every dollar they earn on payroll, which is precisely where Obama’s plan would hit them. Not content with simply bleeding "the rich" to pay for the massive up-front costs of his $1.5 trillion socialized medicine proposal, Obama also wants to impose a massive new tax increase on American small businesses – one that will directly impede their ability to create jobs and stimulate economic activity.
In other words, Obama wants to choke off America’s number one job-creating engine in the depths of a recession that has already cost millions of jobs – all so he can create a government health care monopoly that will not only increase costs but also reduce the quality of care.
That’s a recipe for disaster, not real reform, and yet Obama continues to use rhetoric to mask his true intent. For example, in proclaiming a "National Small Business Week" three months ago, Obama touted small businesses as "the lifeblood of cities and towns across the country."
"(Small businesses) help enhance the lives of our citizens by improving our quality of life and creating personal wealth," Obama said. "Small businesses will lead the way to prosperity, particularly in today’s challenging economic environment."
Obama further claimed that he supported "economic policies that encourage enterprise" and "tax policies that promote investment in small businesses."
Unfortunately, Obama’s rhetoric of support for small businesses has been accompanied by policies that threaten to put them "out" of business. For example, while state and local government bureaucracies have been bailed out to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, small businesses remain overtaxed and frozen out of credit markets.
So much for "stimulating Main Street."
Exclusive: Kelly Ayotte’s First Public Speech in NH
After several weeks of maneuvering and meetings down in Washington, DC, former NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has hit the ground here in NH as she starts campaigning for the GOP nomination for the US Senate seat being vacated by Judd Gregg. As reported in this earlier post, GraniteGrok was on the scene when she … Read more
Book Review: The Israel Test
Noted author John Wohlstetter, a national security and foreign policy expert with expertise in the Middle East and Israel, has written an excellent review of George Gilder’s new book, The Israel Test, for the American Spectator. We are pleased to share the piece with our readers…
Israel Inside
The Israel Test
By George Gilder
(Richard Vigilante Books, 296 pages, $27.95)This latest book from one of the planet’s intellectual titans of the past generation is one of his most important. Given George Gilder’s astonishing range and foresight — including family structure, welfare, the practical and moral case for enterprise capitalist wealth creation, the transformation of the computer and telecommunications industries — this is saying a lot.
What Gilder sets out to do in his poetic prose is show how Israel’s accelerating migration over the past twenty years from a socialist to a capitalist economy has transformed the Jewish state from an economic basket case to a powerhouse player in the world economy. Gilder then applies the implications of this metamorphosis to the prospects for finding a way to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israel has become such a huge driving force in computing and telecommunications that Gilder intellectually riffs off the "Intel Inside" logo that sits on the exterior case of countless millions of personal computers, and says that today’s Internet and computers should be labeled "Israel Inside." Now Israel is making major moves in biotechnology, including drugs for plants used in agriculture. Symbolic of the more agile Israeli economy, one CEO noted: "The process is faster for drugs because the plants don’t have lawyers."
Calling Israel the central front in the war dividing two global camps, Gilder begins his book by framing the divide:
The prime issue is not a global war of civilizations between the West and Islam or a split between Arabs and Jews….The real issue is between the rule of law and the rule of leveler egalitarianism, between creative excellence and covetous "fairness," between admiration of achievement versus envy and resentment of it….
The test can be summarized by a few questions: What is your attitude toward people who excel you in the creation of wealth or in other accomplishment? Do you aspire to that excellence, or do you seethe at it? Do you admire and celebrate exceptional achievement, or do you impugn it and seek to tear it down?
The Palestinians, needless to say, epitomize the wrong side of these juxtapositions, while Israel and America generally are on the right side. But now America must look toward Israel, whose Prime Minister exemplifies the right side of these divides, whereas the newly elected American President is on the wrong side — despite his having been richly rewarded by the society he now wishes to turn away from its historical celebration of private capitalist enterprise.
Democrat Astroturfers in Portsmouth. The Movie
This is an excellent video report studying Democratic astroturfers (paid hacks & union thugs) in attendance outside yesterday’s Obamessiah sermon…
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: NH Teaparty Coalition Arrives in Portsmouth to Greet President Obama
NO NATIONAL HEALTHCARE! HANDS OFF OUR HEALTHCARE! NOBAMA! Remember, these are conservatives here in NH. While Live Free or Die is the state motto, the motto for many on the right could as easily be Live Free By Leaving Me The Heck Alone! For people who often go their own merry (dour sometimes) to get … Read more
More Video From Portsmouth: Duel Bullhorns, Dueling Protests
More video by Skip from the TeaParty protest rallies in Portsmouth where the One is holding court… This video was SO great! First, Joey Dauben (who has written for GraniteGrok in the past – we hope to entice him back again) was Iron Voice Man all day long for the Pro-Liberty Pro-Choice folks. He and … Read more
Oregon. A model for the whole country?
As Obama and his comrades continue the long march to socialized medicine under the guise of health care "reform," the state of Oregon’s present status in this area provides us with a glimpse of the future:
Editorial Writer Plants a Big Wet One on Jeanne Shaheen
Guest post by Dean Dexter. An editorial in the New Hampshire Union Leader yesterday congratulated the state’s junior senator for her hour long conference call from Washington with constituents the other night on Healthcare overhaul legislation. The event took place during a vote on the so called Cash for Clunkers bill, which is driving up … Read more
I’d rather be called “racist” than “comrade”
Keep pushing. It’s what’s at stake… [H/T: Kevin N.]
The Artful Dodger’s Apparatchiks are Well Trained in the Mold of their Boss.
Back in June of 2008, demonstrating powers akin to the great Karnac, I wrote in a post entitled Jeanne Shaheen- the artful dodger about some videos showing the then candidate refusing to answer questions about Card Check legislation: I know that Skip posted on this video last week, but it really can’t be shown enough, … Read more
Just following orders from Hillary
Protesting and debating and all that. As she says, "we are Americans and we have a right to debate up and disagree with any administration…" Don’t you just love Youtube? I’ll bet politicians do, too! [H/T Jane]
And we thought Chairman Buckles was in a “class” by himself!
Mirror mirror on the wall… Who’s the nastiest of ’em all? Warner Todd Huston alerts us to a story of a Democratic party chair "engaging" in the ongoing healthcare debate. Well, not really debating or anything like that, but in fact, name calling in a blog commentary post. And no, we’re not talking about … Read more
Apparently the AARP rank & file didn’t get the memo!
AARP members attending a "forum" apparently decided that they weren’t just going to fall in line like good little automatons and support the nationalization of health care. Despite the fact that the AARP apparatchiks were disinterested in what the gathered seniors had to say and ultimately took their sound system and left, the meeting carried … Read more
Hopefully we can trade UP when this clunker goes!
. . I know- he’s ever then genteel statesman, seeking the "compromise" so we can "govern" and all that crapola. I cannot wait until Judd Gregg "serves" his last day in Washington… This just in from Leslie Carbone via the email, under the subject heading Sotomayer confirmed: Empathetic Republicans: Alexander; Bond; Collins; Graham; Gregg; Lugar; … Read more
The “Town Hall” meeting that wasn’t. Shaheen playing “Whack-A-Mole”?
You won’t catch me, my little pretties! Heheeheheee! After being billed in an email by a well-financed (read: "astroturfed") Democrat activist network as a town hall event featuring Jeanne Shaheen, not only did the Senator not show, as reported earlier, it turns out that it wasn’t a "town hall" style meeting, either. Can’t they just make up … Read more
Monkees no see. Monkees no do.
NH Leadership, Democrat style:
Life imitates art [again]. Poor Obama. It wasn’t supposed to be like this!
Again from our friends at the ALG: