That depends on your definitions of "Efficiency"

This is such a stupid program on many levels... but what angers me the most is that viable automobiles are being trashed into landfills simply because some bureaucrats think they're not "efficient."

Well, I've got news for them: it's far less efficient to take automobiles than run just fine (but maybe use more gas than we'd like) and throw them away. Into what trash heap do they go, with all their waste oil, tires, rubber, plastic and other environment-polluting parts that make them what they are? Longer functional life of an auto, or any machinery, is the most efficient way to use it.

Duh.

Officials Say Government Set to Suspend 'Cash for Clunkers' Program - Political News - FOXNews.com:

"WASHINGTON -- The government plans to suspend its popular 'cash for clunkers' program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases, congressional officials said Thursday."

An Open letter to Congress on Health Care

Dear Congress,

I am very concerned about what the Democrats are forcing on America in the guise of health care "reform."

You are creating a problem where there is none, all so you, as a Democrat, can claim a sweeping change in American culture. This is not right. Changes in culture come in a slow process over time, brought about by the people who form that culture. Changes as large as health care should never come in a rush. Especially, they should never come in the form of legislation (meaning that's it's forced on the majority, who are unwilling).

Congress never takes a direct approach to anything, making me wonder what is being hidden? I recommend a direct approach in the case of health care for the poor, leaving the rest alone. If you think there are people who are not covered by health care now (and I disagree with that), then appropriate the money to pay for their health care and be done with it. Here are some ideas for health care so that you leave working people alone:

1. A simple suggestion is to just pay for the currently uninsured to be members in a low-cost HMO. Commercial HMOs can even bid on the service to the poor through a government contract. I really can't for the life of me understand why Congress doesn't simply do this.
2. A much larger idea is for the US Public Health Service to provide care for the uninsured. The PHS used to be much larger than it is now, and could easily be expanded using the VA as a model. Very expensive, but if you want a sweeping change, there it is.
3. Provide care for the indigent at VA hospitals. What's good for our vets is certainly good for the poor.
4. Give the uninsured the exact same insurance given to Congress.

It is clear that what Congress is doing is upsetting every American in the name of Democratic party progress, and control over the American health care system. I resent this. Government is not capable of running anything, and you know it. What the Democratic party is actually doing is ruining the American health care system, even for those coming from overseas to use it.

Don't ruin the best in the world!

STOP!

Cities go bankrupt

Brand name companies go bankrupt - Vallejo, Calif.: Like state, like city (13) - CNNMoney.com:

"The town on San Pablo Bay just north of San Francisco filed bankruptcy as plunging property taxes crippled the town's coffers and left the city unable to make-good on union labor contracts."

Acting Stupidly

Former President Bush is considered by the left as a stupid man. But did he ever do anything this dumb - making harsh statements without knowing even the slightest of detail? Words have consequences, as Obama will find out.

'Disgraceful': Cops Angry After Obama Slams Arrest of Black Scholar - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com:

Many police officers across the country have a message for President Barack Obama: Get all the facts before criticizing one of our own.

Obama's public criticism that Cambridge officers "acted stupidly" when they arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. could make it harder for police to work with people of color, some officers said Thursday. It could even set back the progress in race relations that helped Obama become the nation's first African-American president, they said.

"What we don't need is public safety officials across the country second-guessing themselves," said David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 15,000 public safety officials around the country. "The president's alienated public safety officers across the country with his comments."

The Cambridge Police Patrol Officer's Association president also strongly criticized the president's remarks in an interview with The Huffington Post.

"That was totally inappropriate. I am disgraced that he is our commander-in-chief," Stephen Killion said. "He smeared the good reputation of the hard-working men and women of the Cambridge Police Department. It was wrong to do. It was disgraceful," the web site quoted him as saying.

Obama was asked about Gates' arrest at the end of a nationally televised news conference on health care Wednesday night and began his response by saying Gates was a friend and he didn't have all the facts.

"Obama said, "... the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And ...what I think we know separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

Critics Question Obama's Assertion No One Would Be Forced to Change Health Plans

Critics Question Obama's Assertion No One Would Be Forced to Change Health Plans - Political News - FOXNews.com:

"President Obama's repeated assertion that Americans content with their current health insurance can keep it doesn't include employees whose employers decide to drop their private plans for the government option.

"It will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it," Obama said.

But the president has been careful not to tread over the provisions of a massive health care reform bill that say private companies can decide at any time to elect a different health plan for their employees -- with or without the implementation of a public plan -- leaving employees forced to change their coverage.

In a June 23 interview with ABC News, Obama noted: "When I say if you have your plan and you like it, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don't have to change plans, what I'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform."

But private insurers warn that Obama's reform proposals eventually would lead to the demise of insurance companies because employers unquestionably would opt for a government plan.

"The American public will ultimately be the ones negatively impacted by a government-sponsored plan because it is fiscally irresponsible, will turn back the clock on quality, threaten patients' access and choice and worsen the existing cost shift between individuals on a government plan and those on employer-sponsored plans," Chris Curran, a spokesman for CIGNA, told FOXNews.com."

Making Hay from a Very Small Local Event

There stands United States of America President Barack Obama, hawking his ill-conceived heath-reform plan, when out of the blue comes a question about an event local to Boston, and relevant to nothing in the President's international address:

The question, which I believe to be planted by the administration as an opportunity to both deflect attention from the poor bill and to rehash the race debate, asked about one of Obama's friends, Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard university professor of African American studies who was arrested for disorderly conduct after visibly breaking into what was later determined to be his own home.

Cambridge Police Officer To Obama: Butt Out of My Arrest - Political News - FOXNews.com:

Asked about the incident, Obama, who is friends with the professor and documentary filmmaker, told reporters at a Wednesday night press conference that he didn't know all the facts. But he said, "the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."

A police report of the incident written by Officer Carlos Figueroa, who responded to the call with Crowley, says Crowley was already in the house when he walked in. The report says Crowley had asked Gates for some identification and Gates shouted that he would not give any information and called the sergeant a racist.

According to the report, Gates then yelled, "This is what happens to black men in America." When Crowley tried to calm him down, Gates shouted, "You don't know who you're messing with."

The report continues that the shouting went on after Gates and the officers walked out onto the front porch. When Gates allegedly wouldn't cooperate or calm down, Crowley arrested him.

Click here to read a copy of the police report (pdf).

Crowley told the radio station that he asked Gates to step outside because he didn't know who Gates was, and he was alone and didn't know if his safety was compromised.

"I had no other motive than to ensure my safety, or he could've been the homeowner who was unaware that there were people in his house unauthorized. I just didn't know," Crowley said.

The charge against Gates was dropped on Tuesday. The police department issued a statement saying the incident "was regrettable and unfortunate" and should not "be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department."

Crowley, however, has refused to apologize, and he told the radio station he did nothing wrong. He added he was surprised that a man as educated as Gates would start yelling epithets about Crowley's mom, part of the incident that never made it into the police report.

...Expanding on the implications of the arrest, Obama told reporters Wednesday that this incident shows that there is a long history of racial profiling in the United States.

"And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause," he said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the president does not regret his choice of language.

California Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she agreed that Gates' arrest was another example of racial profiling.

"It's part of the unfinished business of America," the Democratic congresswoman said.

Obama admits he didn't know all the facts; but that didn't keep him silent, did it? He called the Boston police's actions "stupid," and by extension calling the officer in question stupid. Seems to me like the offocer acted in good faith in responding to a neighbor's report of what was thought to be criminal activity.

And now, there's an official report surfacing by another officer that Gates was indeed disorderly.

Obama talks about racial profiling; yes, that Gates is black is what got him off the hook.

So, is this how a black man in America is treated? Well, it's certainly how an asshole should be treated. And since Obama injected himself into this, maybe he should be lumped into the same bin as Gates, eh - just another angry black with an axe to grind?

I learned a long time ago that, to a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail. As a professor of African American studies, Gates sees himself first and foremost as a black in America - an America that oppresses minorities. On Wednesday he didn't see a Boston police officer enter his home for a legitimate reason; Gates saw a white authority give him a hard time, and he therefore went into a confrontational stance - the thing that the civil righteous do. Logic went right out of Gates' mind.

So who's the racist? And is this the caliber of professor at Harvard? God help Academia.

Obama hold on records raises hypocrisy charge

Obama hold on records raises hypocrisy charge - Washington Times:

"The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the administration, after the Secret Service refused its request for information on visits from executives representing health insurers, hospitals, doctors, drug companies and other interests. CREW said it was seeking the records in an effort to gauge the extent to which the industry players had affected Mr. Obama's health care policy.

The episode turned the tables on Mr. Obama, who during the 2008 presidential campaign accused Vice President Dick Cheney of unnecessary secrecy in refusing to identify which energy executives weighed in on energy policy early in the Bush years and who criticized his primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, of doing the same thing during the 1993-94 health care debate."

Mayo Clinic calls House plan bad medicine

Mayo Clinic calls House plan bad medicine - Washington Times:

"A world-renowned clinic that President Obama held up as an example of good medicine said Monday that the American people would be 'losers' under the House's health care proposal, joining the growing chorus of critics the Obama administration is trying to fend off as the debate intensifies from Capitol Hill to Main Street.

Minnesota's not-for-profit Mayo Clinic, which Mr. Obama has repeatedly hailed as offering top quality care at affordable costs, blasted the House Democrats' version of the health care plan as lawmakers continue to grapple with several bills from each chamber and multiple committees.

The Mayo Clinic said there are some positive elements of the bill, but overall 'the proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher quality, more affordable health care for patients.'

'In fact, it will do the opposite,' clinic officials said, because the proposals aren't [R]patient-focused or results-oriented. 'The real losers will be the citizens of the United States.'"

The Public Health Care Option

It's bad:
Think of health insurance like any other insurance - companies are hedging a bet that they will take in more money than they expend. The product they deliver - whether it be costs for a car accident or costs for healthcare - don't matter. What matters is that they make money.

In the case of car insurers, if you're bad risk, like having too many accidents or too many tickets, you lose you insurance. Here in MD, car insurance is mandatory, so if an insurance company drops you, you have to buy state-run car insurance, Called MAIF. That's the Maryland Auto Insurance Fund.

In my younger and wilder years, I found myself in their clutches. Their rates were about 3 times higher than the highest private insurer, and probably with good reason. The insurance was also bad. No such thing as insurance to cover your car - all that was covered was the other guy and the minimum PIP that was required by law. In other words, you could still get sued and lose everything if you had a bad accident.

Private insurance was only an option if you could find an insurer willing to pick you up. You know the drill - stay out of trouble for about 3 years, re-establish yourself as a good driver, and then you go with one of the expensive, ;ow-end private insurers for about another 3 years, then you're more or less clean, and can get with a decent company.

That is Maryland's car insurance public "option." I went through this; I know.

Now apply that to health care.

The problems created:
If we have a public option, expect it to be like Medicare and the VA put together. It would be so because there's no other way that the Feds know how to run an operation. Endless bureaucracy and low quality, because no one with any sense wants to work for them.

FYI: if you have no experience with the VA, know that they are not known for 3 things: Speed, efficiency, and up-to-date medical practices. Forget cutting edge; it simply costs too much. The VA relies on medicine that is old-school with low effectiveness, because it's cheap.

So with a Federal health-care option, you can expect to pay a good chunk of money (Medicare ain't cheap), for crowded services that are out of date. And overall, it will lose money due to systemic inefficiency and an apathetic workforce.

Effects on the Marketplace:
Now consider what this will do to private insurance: it will drive up the price. The reasons are simple: The health insurers will now be able to offload their worst cases (meaning those people with chronic diseases like MS, Lupus, diabetes, asthma, migraines, etc etc) onto the public plan. Remember, private insurers are all about efficiency and keeping costs low relative to income. They may be the insurer of choice for the young with no health problems. The public option will be the forced option for the elderly, the infirmed, and those with low and even middle income, as well and anyone with any degree of health issue. Forced there, because the private insurers will price their coverage for "pre-existing conditions" so high as to be only affordable by the wealthy. (That's probably fair, though, since they're the ones who will be taxed to death so that the Federal public option can exist at all.)

If you want examples, look to Hawaii and Tennessee.

So the mess proposed by the Democrats from President Obama on down is not at all what it seems; it's written by people who don't know the first thing about economics or business, much less heath care.

Urgent?
Congress's plan disrupts an entire nationwide health delivery service that is the model for the world, so they can deliver care to a small minority. Think about it: 315 million people will be disrupted to cover 16 million people. Stupid. It's throwing out the baby with the bathwater - bathwater that's actually pretty clean. Factor in that the 16 million uninsured do receive healthcare - usually through emergency medicine departments and free clinics. So it's not like they're dying in the streets. They just don't get their care in as organized a fashion as the rest of us.

So what's the rush?

The Solution:
How do we cover the 16 million uninsured? Stop looking at it as an insurance problem, and look at it as a health care delivery problem. Take money out of it for a moment.

Those with low incomes and uninsured - why can't they be rolled into either (or both) the Medicare and/or VA systems? It seems to me that if VA healthcare is good enough for veterans, it's certainly good enough for the poor. Heath insurance costs (meaning administrative costs) are removed from the equation this way, allowing the government to focus solely on delivery costs, as they do with the VA. Ideally, the Public Health Service would be expanded for the poor, separating their health care from the VA system. But the VA can be used as a model for the PHS delivery system.

If Congress is hell-bent on providing insurance to the poor, why not simply roll them into the Senate's health insurance plan? What's good for goose... But as usual, the Democrats want to give us something that's not good enough for them.

As always, the Congress has ideas that it thinks are good (for whatever reason), then rams it down the throats of the People. In this case, it's coming at light speed. That's not right. Something this big and far-reaching needs 2 things: deliberation and public input. But don't hold your breath.

Since the uninsured are now receiving healthcare, maybe the right thing to do is nothing.

Gagging on Health Care

Has it occurred to anyone that this is being rammed down the throats of Americans?

House Democrats Use Key Votes to Rally Support to Health Care Plan, Despite Hurdles - Political News - FOXNews.com:

"...a group of six Democrats and Republicans announced their opposition to 'timelines which prevent us from achieving the best result.'

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are pushing for legislation to clear both houses by the August recess, but the letter said, 'we believe that taking additional time to achieve a bipartisan result is critical.'"

Police limited from Arresting Illegals - What the Hell?

Obama's Homeland Security seems anything but. They're restricting the ability of local police to enforce Federal law. Let's hear that again - the police are restricted from enforcing the law. The feds want police to stop police from arresting folks for what they call "minor infractions." What's so minor about being in a country illegally? That'll get you arrested anywhere in the world. Unless that "anywhere" happens to be in the US, and the arrestee happens to be Hispanic.

Talk about racial profiling!

New Curbs Set on Arrests of Illegal Immigrants - WSJ.com:

"The new guidelines sharply reduce the ability of local law enforcement to arrest and screen suspected illegal immigrants. They are intended to prevent sheriff and police departments from arresting people 'for minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings,' according to Homeland Security. The program will instead focus on more serious criminals."

Rating Politics

Politics is intellectually and morally inferior to damned near everything.
- Former US Senator Dick Armey