UPDATE ON HEALTH CARE, THE ECONOMY, OBAMA, SEATTLE SCHOOLS, SO MUCH MORE…..
FIRST, LET ME APOLOGIZE TO you all for not having posted anything substantial in a week or so. Demonstrations, AFP work, it’s been busy. Please understand that sometimes, ideas for rallies and demonstrations are thought of the day before, or maybe two days before, so I don’t always have a lot of time to tell you, but better late notice than no notice. There will be many tea party demonstrations on April 15, morning, noon and night. If you know of one, plesase let me know and I will post it at the AFP website for all to see. www.americansforprosperity.org has a link on the title page to all known tea parties in the state on that day, at least it will as of Monday.
IT IS AMAZING what is going on in Olympia. The Democrats have a 20+ vote margin in the House, a 13 vote margin in the Senate and they hold the Governorship, yet they are about to enter the third week of a special session and they have no budget. No budget after three months of a legislative session whose purpose is to devise a budget. They shut the R’s out of the process from the beginning, so they have no excuses, except, they are obviously unable to govern. And, that is why we elect people to Olympia, to govern. The state Democrats are unable to govern, and this should be the Republican battle cry this election year. The Republicans have some incredible candidates, especially in the suburban crescent of King County, like Andy Hill in the 45th, Greg Bennett in the 48th, Joe Fain in the 47th. The theme should be ” they ( the Ds ) can’t govern!”.
LOTTERY PROFITS ARE down in Oregon, some 20% this year, so the answer the legislature came up with is to cut programs for gambling addicts. Actually, those addiction programs are funded by 1% of lottery profits, so there is less money to fund them, but as Josh Barro recently noted in National Review, the growing dependence of states on gambling revenues is a disincentive for the state to discourage and help addicts. The state encourages us to eat healthy but encourages us to gamble. And, state-sanctioned gambling is a tax that preys on lower income people and addicts: 50% of video lottery revenue in Oregon comes from the 10% of gamblers who lose $500 or more a month. Think about that.
THE NEW YORK TIMES reported last week that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a “major policy revision” that aims to give walking and bicycling the same policy and economic consideration as driving ( italics mine ). Read that again. The same consideration. ” This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of nonmotorized.” wrote the Secretary in his blog. Stop the world, I want to get off. Enjoy shipping your freight by bike.
THE WASHINGTON POLICY BLOG, brought to you by the Washington Policy Center, told a story last week, on March 29, of the editor of Seattle Business magazine, Leslie Helm, who, along with other parents with kids in the Seattle schools, hired an outside teacher for their kids to learn Algebra I. For two years in a row, Leslie’s son had the same incompetent math teacher, he wasn’t learning anything, so Leslie used Craig’s List and hired a woman with a PhD in philosophy who had taught math at the college level in California. Thirty kids were divided into two classes for 45 minutes a day. They paid $250 each to cover the teacher’s salary, and completed the entire Algebra I curriculum. Kids who had hated math learned to enjoy it. A twist: the private teacher had applied for a job with Seattle schools but was told she wasn’t qualified.
ON FRIDAY, MARCH 26, the Seattle Times reported that the Public Disclosure Commission cleared Dino Rossi of allegations he illegally coordinated fundraising with the Building Industry Association of Washington during his 2008 gubernatorial campaign. These charges were levied against Dino and BIAW during the campaign and undoubtedly hurt his chances. Now, 18 months later, he and BIAW stand cleared of the smear. Too bad it didn’t come 17 months ago.
SURPRISES KEEP POPPING UP about what’s in the Obamacare bill. For instance, W-2s must now declare the value of your health care benefits; businesses of 50 or more employees MUST provide a private area ( not a bathroom ) for nursing mothers to use their breast pumps for a year after giving birth ( not sure where in the Constitution they get that power ); insurance premiums are expected to rise 17% for young people after the mandate kicks in, because insurance companies are prohibited from charging older folks more; tanning salons now have a 10% Federal tax imposed on them.
Oh, have you heard about the Zoll Medical Corporation in Massachusetts? They make defibrillators, which save heart attack victims. The new tax on the medical device industry will cost the company between $5 and $10 million a year. Their profit last year was $9.5 million. Hope you don’t need one of their defibrillators sometime in the future. They may not be there.
ONE OF MY NEW HEROES is Dr Jack Cassell of Florida, a urologist, who posted on his office door a note saying that if you voted for Obama, you might want to go somewhere else. Of course, the left went nuts, and he did say he wouldn’t turn anyone down, he just wanted people to think about what just happened. He said he was particularly motivated upon seeing the timeline of when all the changes begin, especially next year, 2011, when significant Medicare cuts begin, a new annual tax on brand name drug companies starts, along with a new tax on private health policies, and your W2 will have to start to show the value of your health benefits, among many others. I hope more doctors speak up, heck, I wish more had before it passed. Nancy Pelosi was right, we had to pass it to find out what is in it.
FINALLY, I MUST MENTION THE THREE STOOGES, the three Democratic Congressmen who made really stupid comments last week. Congressman Steve Cohen from Tennessee, who said all that was missing from the tea parties were ‘robes and hoods’. Then, there was Phil Hare from Illinois who, when asked where in the Constitution the Federal government was given the authority to impose a health care mandate, said ” I don’t worry about the Constituion.”. When pressed, he cited ” life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”. When told that those words were in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, he said, ” Doesn’t matter. Either one.”. And, then there was Hank Johnson form Georgia, who at a Committee hearing, expressed concern to an Admiral that stationing more Marines on Guam might cause the island to capsize and tip over. My friends, this is the party of Obama, the 21st Century Democrat party, the folks that have brought you Obamacare, 10% unemployment and a growing national debt that will equal 90% of our GDP in less than ten years. May God bless the United States of America.
NIL DESPARANDUM – Never despair! Fight for your country, your future, your liberty, your kids. Remember in November. Join a tea party, or Americans for Prosperity. Wake up on November 3rd, saying ” We did it!”, not ” I should have done more.”.
6 Responses to “UPDATE ON HEALTH CARE, THE ECONOMY, OBAMA, SEATTLE SCHOOLS, SO MUCH MORE…..”
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Gregg says:
Repealing Healthcare Deform will require a number of steps, both at the Federal level and the State level. So don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen right away if we elect a Republican Congress in November. We need to change the Congress, the State Legislature, the President and the Governor to get the job done completely.
A good article today on NRO about how it took Kentucky ten years to repeal a state version of Hillary care they passed in ‘94.
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Theodore says:
Hi, Kirby,
I’m not big on posting, (or calling in) but I do a lot of reading and listening. Just wanted to express appreciation and thanks for your blog. I’m sure there are many more like me out there.
It would be great if you could starting filling in for Rush as one of his guest hosts.
Best wishes,
Theo -
Pat Luczyk says:
Thanks Kirby as always keeping us “The Real American’s” up on all the unbelievable corruption going on in DC and around the country! Where is the America our parents and grandparents knew?? I never cared much about politics until my husband got me hooked on your morning program, Carlson, David Booz and FOX NEWS programs. NOW I feel more informed on what IS happening to America! Yes,God Bless her…..we certainly need it now more than ever! God Bless you to Kirby!
Pat L -
NIL DESPARANDUM – Never despair!
If I might add…
Iligetimatti Non Carborundum – Don’t let the Bastards Grind you Down!
John in Puyallup
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Connie says:
Attention Kirby!
Happy to see you at the Convention.I am hearing quite a bit about the possibility of union types disrupting tea parties with misspelled and nasty signs.
We all need to be prepared and have some purple balloons in our pockets. When we see disturbing signs, we need not confront. Simply blow up a couple of purple balloons and stand right next to those people. When anyone takes photos of the signs to say how nasty WE are, there will be purlpe balloons all around.
I think it is the best way to ‘ballance’ the issue. SPREAD THE WORD!
Connie
Thanks, Kirby for the updates. Your positive enthusiasm is what helps keep me fighting on. Take care and have a good week!