Politicians are the same all over.
They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
Nikita Khrushchev
NO DEAL: Obama Puts Lipstick on a Pig:
Too Little, Too Late: Thumbs DOWN
The Birth Control "Compromise"
MONEY IS FUNGIBLE! We are dealing with no more than an accounting shell game. Let's take a hypothetical organization X which offers, say, breast exams and abortions. This organization has two principal potential donors: donor A has no problems with funding abortions, and donor B only wants to give for the breast exams. Organization X says to Donor B, "Donor A is willing to pay for all the abortions out of his half, and so your money will only go for breast exams. Happy?" Of course not! Donor B is still implicitly funding abortions because he's funding an organization performing abortions. From Donor B's perspective, there are only two viable options: (1) Organization X drops its abortion business; (2) Donor B finds Organization Y which provides a pro-life health services bundle.
Obama is resorting to the same old same old sophistic smoke and mirrors characteristic of the ObamaCare funding problem. He has a nuanced compromise position: (1) employees of the Church and (2) those at religious-affiliated institutions (i.e., schools, hospitals, etc.) He's willing to waive the birth control mandate in the former; he won't force the Church to pay for birth control coverage for the latter, but insurers will be required to make the coverage available, at "no cost", to church-affiliated female insured.
First, there is no such thing as "free birth control" (well, of course, there's always abstinence...) Those costs have to come out of someone's pocket; the idea that the government can force you to operate at a loss is blatantly unconstitutional. Not to mention an equal protection argument here: why should secular organizations have to pay for the birth control expenses of their insured, but not religious ones? Trust me, it will eventually be passed on to all employers (including the Catholic Church!), in one way or the other, hidden in those inevitable rate increases. (A Reuters news analysis piece makes similar points (my edits): "Insurers may still seek less obvious ways to pass it through, either to the same employers or other corporate clients. Thomas Carroll, an analyst for Stifel Nicolaus, said that 'it doesn't seem like a material cost to be added to the managed care company or the employer.'")
Well, everyone's pocket except for that of the sexually active, fertile woman; it's not like she has a vested interest here: birth control is too expensive to pay on her own (by some estimates, $15-50 a month, say, a full tank of gas). Everyone knows that having a child is so much easier on the pocketbook, and it's common sense that your employer should pick up the tab for your lifestyle choices (yes, readers: sarcasm). Not to mention the partner's responsibility. Yes, he may try to talk his way out of using a condom: it doesn't feel as good. (You would think child support for 18 years should be more than enough incentive, but use of that organ tends to be subordinated in the presence of attractive women.)
OH PLEASE. Guys will do or say anything... If I was attracted to a female progressive, and she was turned on by Barack Obama speeches, I would bring a copy of his best speeches with me (granted, there would be a lot of space left on that index card, but I don't mind repeating myself) and recite all the best Obamaisms I know, e.g., "I am the one you've been waiting for..." And then run a video of Obama smoking after the encounter...
What really annoys me, though, is the total, utterly clueless nature of the Administration that says things like this (from the Reuters story: you can't make this stuff up): "The administration says insurers should ultimately make up any initial costs by avoiding expenses associated with unintended pregnancies." I'll tell you an even better way: women can JUST SAY NO. It doesn't even cost $15 a month.
And don't you just love the way these people think of pregnancy like some disease to be prevented? And, oh yes, $15/month seems like a small price to pay versus, say, an average cost of pregnancy and delivery at about $7600. It seems like a no-brainer. Except when you take into account that most children will more than pay back those costs as contributing members of society. Some of the most wonderful, productive people in the world were unplanned pregnancies; I mentioned at the passing of Steve Jobs, the iconic Apple co-founder, that he had been put up for adoption at birth; Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, the market-leading database company I once worked for, who ranks just below Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in net worth, was also an unplanned pregnancy. (For an impressive list of celebrities who were adopted, see here.)
But the sheer audacity of the most anti-business administration, with almost no legitimate business management experience, trying to lecture the health care insurance industry why it should give away something that is an ordinary expense and costs real money in the drugstore. Thank God we're blessed with six-figure lawyers in the White House whom know how to compare pregnancy costs against birth control! It never would have occurred to the health insurers. But can we expect anything more from this mediocre Administration than trite observations and condescending lectures? Is there no end to this megalomaniac delusion that an administration which has been borrowing 40 per cent or more of what it spends from the outset (something no viable business can afford to sustain) and has multiple entitlement systems running towards insolvency but thinks it has the credibility to micromanage an entire market segment?
I got an email from the libertarian Cato Institute which teased the REAL problem associated with the birth control kerfuffle. I haven't even read the article yet, because I'm fairly sure I know what they are going to say. You know, when we take out auto insurance, we don't expect the auto insurers to cover our gas, oil changes, insurance, tolls, etc. We expect them to handle the big bills, like property damage or pedestrian/passenger bodily injuries. Let people self-insure for ordinary expenses; this would immediately implement the best cost controlling mechanism available: people will be vested in the purchase decision. If they could handle ordinary expenses, say, out of a medical savings account, it would leave health insurers to focus on the big ticket items. The government needs to get out of the birth control business. I'm tired of replaying the same episode of "Obama Knows Best."
Political Humor
As if Newt Gingrich didn't have enough to worry about, Kira Zalan's Washington Whispers column in this week's US News Weekly starts off with a lead segment titled "The Taller, the Better". There are some well-known studies correlating height with income, career advancement, leadership, etc. This also holds true for politics (although Barbara Boxer and Dennis Kusinich (with his 6-foot wife Elizabeth) will beg to differ): the taller Presidential candidate has won nearly 60% of the time. Mitt Romney, at 6'2", has the edge over 6'1" Barack Obama and average-height (5'10") Newt Gingrich. I can just see it now: Romney runs an ad at notoriously thin-skinned Newt, saying "I'll always be taller than you, Newt..." (Of course, neither Romney nor Obama measure up to 6'4" Abraham Lincoln...)
 |
| Courtesy of Ed Wexler/US News Weekly, 2/10/12 |
[Edit: 2/11/12. The original video was withdrawn after my initial post (maybe some added references to Crowder's Twitter account and the original hosting website, National Center?) Note that I originally published that link with the free mp3 offering below. I don't always review older posts to check if original videos are still online and replace them with more current links. I believe that I've posted an occasional Steve Crowder video or two in the past: he has his own channel on Youtube. If the currently embedded video is withdrawn, you should be able to find it on Youtube or nationalcenter.org. I don't claim any credit for the entertaining video; the artist(s) and his (their) sponsor deserve all due credit and publicity.]
Powdered Zombies, "Mr. America": Both Thumbs WAY UP!
Written by, and reprinted courtesy of, Steven Crowder & Chris Loesch.
The mp3 is available for free download here.
Yeah, lookin’ at the country, It’s not what I intended
Gotta start to make a change, Before you’re a Neverending
Story of a failed nation run straight out of luck
Like a million Tyler Perry movies
Uh, you suck
All you little haves lots you’re still selfish and want more
Votin’ in your own self-interests now instead of the core
Principles that made this country both honest and true
Free to speak, worship, pursuit of your happiness too
With all this money afly you gon’ be needin’ a big freeze
I hate the size of the fed like Jesus hated the fig tree
As the spending goes up, you gotta borrow some more
Borrowin’ from the Chinese, like Oh My lord
Instead you just tax more, increasin’ the size
Of the federal government yeah to George’s surprise
You’ll be done like Detroit man, no you ain’t comin’ back
Forget it, I’m out, I’m muzzle loading my gat
HOOK
Mr. America, look what you’ve done
You’ve traded your liberty and sovereignty for lies and promises
Mr. America, don’t you run away
Pick the pieces up and face the problems, you’ll be great again
Mr. America
I got tired of rolling over in my grave everyday
Makin a monarchy of my beloved US of A
You little glitches need remindin of what we were before
And the sitch that led us up to revolutionary war
High taxes to the throne without a voice of our own
Ruled top down from the crown we wanted left alone
All y'all so soft you takin it year after year
We were fighting Redcoats while we were brewing our beer
Now I'm drinkin, spittin cyphers through a grill made of wood
That's how it all went down in G Dubs neighborhood
Packin cap n balls black powder hammers were cocked locked
Click clack, the lobster backs lost the attack 'cause I rocked!
You chicken littles who don't know me, listen don't let it twist
We kicked the "Aaa's" of the "Bees" for much less than this!
So don’t deny the historical I’m climbing out of the mud
Follow me, believe this creed, plant the seeds and be free
HOOK
Mr. America, look what you’ve done
You’ve traded your liberty and sovereignty for lies and promises
Mr. America, don’t you run away
Pick the pieces up and face the problems, you’ll be great again
Mr. America
Unemployment’s at eight five, when it’s really at twelve
Hear me class is in session you can’t be saved by the bell
What happens when you keep printing mo dough
Both parties have gone green like their name was Al Gore
Yeah but right now you’re high, hey ain’t you big hitter
But I’m back from the dead now bringing back all my knickers
Man you think I’d say that, come on what’s wrong with you
I’m just talking about my short pants that tuck into my shoe
But let’s get back to the first point I was trying to make
The degradation of our freedoms and our country at stake
The government’s getting grand, while private sector grows smaller
Pour one out for your homies, cuz here comes the cold water
Unemployment’s still rising, our debt’s growing still
The only change that you’re gonna get is being left with the bill
HOOK
Mr. America, look what you’ve done
You’ve traded your liberty and sovereignty for lies and promises
Mr. America, don’t you run away
Pick the pieces up and face the problems, you’ll be great again
Mr. America
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Guess Who, "Clap For the Wolfman". This novelty hit focuses on iconic DJ Wolfman Jack, probably best known from syndicated radio in the 60's and 70's and particularly his memorable role in the George Lucas retro classic "American Graffiti".
This is the last selection in my Guess Who series, but I will briefly cover a well-known Cummings solo hit and founding member Randy Bachman's subsequent work in BTO before moving on to Paul McCartney & Wings. (Bachman left the group after "American Woman" hit #1, because as a then devout Mormon, he disapproved of his fellow band members' hedonistic lifestyles.)
