Saturday, November 30, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/30/2013

A holiday observation with a political slant.
 
For no special reason, but primarily due to professional or vocational experience over time, most folks in and around our family tend toward the political right. For the most part though, while some isolated social issues have significant bearing, economic policy and practices are by far the issues of most importance.
 
There is, however, an older female individual whom supports the Democrat party fervently, and at present believes the incumbent to be the most perfect human on earth. Therefore, for every family gathering she attends, it’s understood by all others that the subject of politics is verboten, never to be brought up.
 
This Thanksgiving, however, an out of town guest arrived who is not only ideologically on the left, but deeply involved in the political leadership of her state. And, as to be expected, at a point in the evening the two engaged in an exchange heard by most other guests.
 
I mention this because every time I hear Democrats converse, the subjects covered never seem to have any real substance or depth. For the most part, feelings, hopes, wishes and wants take precedence, while realities such as the failures regarding the economy, health care, taxation, foreign policy, education, free enterprise, governmental interference and environmental misgivings never arise.
 
What’s particularly galling is the continual brushing over of subjects in the most general terms, ordinarily summed up regardless with the catch phrases that any Democrat is good, but “W” is bad and all the ills of the world are his fault.
 
But, what’s really most tragic is most of the public’s (and many politicians) lack of knowledge required to grasp subjects as complex as how the U.S. economy actually works. That leads to ignorance of the ramifications of income suppression coupled with growing debt that will, sooner or later, cause the artificially created appearance of growth to collapse. Then add to that, the rising costs of taxation, especially one as widespread as those on health care, and the financial picture can only get worse.
 
But, unfortunately, in the case of Democrats in particular, reality rarely enters the picture while broken promises are quite acceptable if there was good intent. And yet, with this particular administration, intentions don’t seem to be very honest either.
 
Which is why if the plan is to have a peaceful, pleasing Thanksgiving dinner, it’s best to just sit there and only say things like, “Please pass the sweet potato's,” and leave your political opinions at home.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

Friday, November 29, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/29/2013

Fox News on-line this morning reports that, “The Obama administration's effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has hit a new stumbling block with some detainees now fighting the administration's push to have them repatriated."
 
Apparently, two Algerian citizens held there “fear that Islamist recruiters may harm them if they discover they don't share the extremists' commitment to terror, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.”
 
The article then quotes Robert Kirsch, a lawyer for one of the detainees, who told the newspaper the administration's planned repatriation is "the most callous, political abuse of these men," one of whom was arrested in 2001 in connection with an alleged plot to blow up American and British embassies in Bosnia.
 
The administration’s push to close the facility stems from 2009, when “on the second day of his presidency, Obama ordered the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within one year. Obama long has derided the facility, where critics say detainees have been abused, interrogated and held illegally, as a blow to American values and credibility worldwide.”
 
Reading the story just now stirred a memory of my entry for November 18, which included the following details, “Purely from an economic point of view, the administration says Guantanamo is too costly. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress that annual spending on Guantanamo was $454 million — or about $2.7 million per detainee.”
 
Now, while certainly have no first-hand knowledge of what goes on in Guantanamo Bay, I can still recall stories of how the current administration's gone overboard in attempts to make up for prisoner  mistreatment under “W” Bush. Which leads me to believe that if I was a detainee with almost $3 million bucks a year being spent on me and my welfare, I doubt I'd want to leave either.
 
In fact, if I had that much money coming my way annually, I might even able to afford health care this year.
 
That's it for today folks.
 
Adios

Thursday, November 28, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Although Thanksgiving’s cherished by families as the day of the year for gathering together in a holiday spirit, many folks traveling from afar to attend, for some it’s simply an opportunity to push a failing political agenda which is seen by them as more important than traditional celebration.
 
Ben Domenech of the Federalist on-line presents an example this way, “We probably all know at least one: the person who comes to a family gathering primed to talk about politics.”
 
And then he goes on to note: “Thanks to the White House and Organizing for Action, there may be a marked increase in such guests this holiday season, thanks to this push to have you come to Thanksgiving dinner – and the other holidays too! – with your administration-approved talking points in hand.
 
The president wants to insist on inserting his priorities into family gatherings across the country. “I understand you worked hard to brine this bird, but let’s refocus on what matters: why you haven’t signed up at healthcare.gov yet. Did you hear it’s getting much better? Don’t talk about the Iron Bowl or Aunt Jenny’s wedding, let’s turn this conversation back to what really matters: avoiding a death spiral and ensuring stability in the insurance market!”
 
While reading Mr. Domenech’s recap illustrated clearly that nothing really matters much to the incumbent other than forcing his upside-down views on others, it became apparent that this holiday push for  his health care tax fits the situation perfectly.
 
The program itself was conceived by turkeys, designed for turkeys, aimed at paying the way for turkeys and is now in the throes of totally botched implementation by turkeys. And you couldn't find a better tie-in than Thanksgiving for Democrats, because turkeys are by far the dumbest species on earth.
 
In the meantime however, in addition to attempting to use holiday gatherings as a forum for pushing a floundering program, Fox News.com  reports that; “A self-proclaimed non-partisan organization has been given a $1.1 million grant to establish a database of ObamaCare “success stories,” as the Obama administration tries to rehab the law’s image amid the rocky rollout.”
 
So, on top of the hundreds of millions already spent on a program yet to work, having new delays arise practically daily, many more taxpayer’s dollars are being spent to seek out satisfied applicants. Which makes me wonder again, how much would be saved if the whole health care tax was scrapped and those without coverage were simply given a check in the case of illness.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Fox News Channel’s, Chris Stirewalt, writes that: “President Obama is back in attack mode. Obama’s tone, which was briefly contrite following his admission that he had misled voters about being able to keep their insurance policies, turned combative during his West Coast campaign swing. He blamed Republicans for problems with his faltering health law, promising that “anybody who is going to keep on pushing against that, they will meet my resistance.”
 
The incumbent’s positioning is quite interesting because, his health care tax passed with only Democratic votes and was then enacted solely by his own administration. The only Republican involvement of any material kind was a shutdown of government for 16 days in an attempt to derail or delay the law’s implementation. Consequently, it’s doubtful that any but the most devoted or uninformed followers will buy a word that was said out west.
 
On the other hand, also according to Mr. Stirewalt, “A new Quinnipiac poll shows 61 percent of Ohioans disapprove of Obama’s job performance and records the lowest approval rating for the president – 34 percent – of any national or state poll conducted by the school. Fifty-seven percent of respondents did not feel Obama was trustworthy, with 59 percent disapproving of ObamaCare. Forty-five percent of respondents said they expected the quality of their health care to be worse a year from now."
 
So, here we have what seems to be confirmation of the public’s thinking regarding the value of empty presidential/political rhetoric and threats.
 
Along the same lines, the differences between politically slanted commentary and actual facts are illustrated clearly in the next two items, both addressing the exact same situation.  
 
Fox’s Chris Stirewalt reports that: “Liberal columnist Paul Krugman took to his NYT blog Tuesday claiming the administration’s “upbeat” tone on fixes to ObamaCare’s Web site indicates the health law is turning a corner. Krugman added, “They [administration officials] could be deluded or spinning; but after what happened two months ago one suspects that the last thing they want is to inflate expectations unduly.” He further contends the facts are getting better by the day and ObamaCare will turn into a “Benghazi-type affair where Republicans are screaming about a scandal nobody else cares about.”
 
However, at the very same time, Variety’s Senior TV Editor, Brian Steinberg, via Drudge, writes that CBS News correspondent Lara Logan and producer Max McClellan will take leave of absence from the network in the wake of a flawed “60 Minutes” report on last year’s attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
 
The suspension was a result of CBS News’ internal review of the Oct. 27 segment about Benghazi, which the network found to be lacking in its efforts to substantiate the assertions of a key source, security officer Dylan Davies. The review was disclosed in an internal memo from CBS News chairman Jeff Fager issued Tuesday.” 
 
So, evidently, many folks still care greatly about what actually took place in Benghazi. And if that were not so, it’s doubtful a major network like CBS would be taking action regarding employees failure to properly confirm assertions presented by "sources.” 
 
Therefore, if Mr. Krugman believes that because investigators have been stonewalled, while information's suppressed that it denotes lack of interest in the subject, he’s likely got two surprises to look forward to. Sooner or later the Benghazi cover-up will be thwarted by Congress while the health care tax will blow up just like the Benghazi compound did. 
 
That’s it for today folks. 
 
Adios

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

BloggeRhythms

When it comes to devotion to specific causes, one has to wonder if those in government ever talk to each other. Today’s example concerns the continuing misguided ideology regarding the fiction of “global warming.”
 
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association(NOAA) , which happens to be a part of the of the United States Department of Commerce: “The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends on Saturday, Nov. 30, had the fewest number of hurricanes since 1982, thanks in large part to persistent, unfavorable atmospheric conditions over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and tropical Atlantic Ocean. This year is expected to rank as the sixth-least-active Atlantic hurricane season since 1950, in terms of the collective strength and duration of named storms and hurricanes.”
 
Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, says, “A combination of conditions acted to offset several climate patterns that historically have produced active hurricane seasons.”
 
And here’s the most interesting part related by Dr. Bell: “This unexpectedly low activity is linked to an unpredictable atmospheric pattern that prevented the growth of storms by producing exceptionally dry, sinking air and strong vertical wind shear in much of the main hurricane formation region, which spans the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Also detrimental to some tropical cyclones this year were several strong outbreaks of dry and stable air that originated over Africa.”
 
Now, without having to be a meteorologist, climatologist , or even a cue-card reading TV weatherperson, it seems quite simple to grasp the key words in Dr. Bell’s  summary: “unexpectedly” and “unpredictable,” which is the way climate’s been since the beginning of time.
 
However, I guess when lobbyists and zealot environmentalists buy politicians, it really doesn’t matter what the truth is. Because those types always react the same way Dean Martin did many years ago when he said: “Don't hit me with logic I don't want to chit chat,” which for them still applies today.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

Monday, November 25, 2013

BloggeRhythms

There seems to be significant backlash regarding the incumbent’s desire to allow Iran to continue building nuclear weapon capability. And naturally, one of the most vehemently opposed to that happening is Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who delivered a tirade on Sunday, calling the agreement to ease sanctions on Iran a “historic mistake.”
 
Realizing the negative consequences, should Netanyahu continue his criticism, the incumbent called him yesterday, seeking to allay Israeli anxieties over the deal.
 
Now, considering the formerly close ties between the two nations, and the support  of all types Israel still receives from the U.S., the prime minister doesn’t seem to have many options other than listening as politely as possible and indicating intention to acquiesce.
 
On the other hand, however, imagine what must be going through Mr. Netanyahu’s mind. Because he certainly has to consider what the incumbent’s promises of any kind are worth, which to date include the keystones to health care reform: customers keeping doctor’s they’re happy with along with lower costs.
 
Then there’s the raid on Benghazi, which wasn’t a terrorist attack. The auto bail-outs that helped the U.S. economy; climate change concerns causing continued importation of foreign oil; employing the IRS as a political policy-enforcement tool; abandoning Iraq while losing control of Afghanistan and turning Middle-Eastern influence over to Vladimir Putin.
 
Therefore, considering the preceding partial list of presidential fabrications to date, all of them clearly demonstrating the incumbent’s continual reliance on untruths to better or protect himself, Mr. Netanyahu’s probably meeting with his leaders right now to make sure Israel's own military capability is functioning properly. Because with the “friend” Israel has in the White House right now, it's soon going to have to defeat a nuclear-armed Iran all by itself.
 
Making a different point about the same region, Fox News Security Analyst , K.T. McFarland: “considers the potential for a Middle Eastern arms race for Fox News Opinion: If we were independent of Middle East energy we would not be drawn into the internecine wars that have plagued the region for millennia. And, if the region is headed for a nuclear arms race, the last place we want to be is in the middle of it, still dependent on Arab oil.”
 
And then we come to a further example of how Dem’s change, or completely ignore, facts to suit them.
 
Fox's Chris Stirewalt reports the following: “The reality is, any big thing you take on, any big change, is hard to accomplish,’ said David Axelrod, the president’s longtime strategist. In America, he said, ‘we’ve created a sense that everyone can expect to win — nobody has to sacrifice.’ At the same time, Mr. Axelrod argued that widening income inequality has, to some Americans at least, changed the meaning of redistribution. ‘The whole redistribution argument has shifted in the country because there’s a sense that a lot of redistribution has been to the top and not the bottom,’ Mr. Axelrod said.”
 
So, here we have a top presidential compatriot totally ignoring the core of what’s transpired for the past five years in the nation. However, while the numbers refuting his argument about redistribution speak for themselves but are far to complex to dissect here, his upside down view of “sacrifice” can easily be disputed. Because under this administration, everyone has sacrificed somehow regardless, except those at the very top of leftist politics, which is how socialism has always worked throughout world history.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

Sunday, November 24, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Uncredentialed in foreign policy or affairs, I rarely address the subjects. The 6 month sanction-easing deal struck yesterday with Iran, however, stirred memories of the incumbent’s close relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Junior of Chicago whose views on Israel were well-documented during the incumbent’s first presidential campaign. I mention the close ties of these men because, it’s quite possible the reverend’s influence might have borne significant weight in the incumbent’s decision-making process regarding Iran.
 
For example, here’s an excerpt from an article in the American Thinker from January 16, 2008 by Ed Lasky, titled “Barack Obama and Israel.”
 
Mr. Lasky writes: “Saul Alinsky, whose philosophy infused community organizing in Chicago, emphasized the importance of churches as a basis for organizing. There are literally hundreds of churches on the South Side of Chicago that Obama could have chosen from. He selected one that was headed by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Junior. The anti-Israel rants of this minister have been well chronicled. Among the gems:
 
“The Israelis have illegally occupied Palestinian territories for almost 40 years now. It took a divestment campaign to wake the business community up concerning the South Africa issue. Divestment has now hit the table again as a strategy to wake the business community up and to wake Americans up concerning the injustice and the racism under which the Palestinians have lived because of Zionism.”
 
Mr. Lasky’s article is quite long, but well-worth reading to gain perspective on factors likely affecting the thoughts behind the region-changing deal. So, here’s a link:  Archived-Articles- Barack Obama and Israel - American Thinker
 
Moving along to another place on the map, The Week by D.B. Grady includes some input regarding the costs of our efforts in Afghanistan, which he begins with: “After 12 years of war, you would think the war planners and defense contractors have the situation in Afghanistan well in hand. And they do, if the goal is wasteful spending on such a colossal scale that it makes Healthcare.gov look like Amazon.com.
 
There is one oversight mechanism in place in Afghanistan that has been enormously effective in uncovering egregious irresponsibility on the part of the Departments of State and Defense, as well as international aid offices and the Afghan National Army and government. The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is an independent body designed to peek around at the $96.57 billion dollars appropriated thus far to Afghanistan's reconstruction.
 
What have they discovered? To choose from only recent findings, the office reported last month that the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan — the group in charge of training and developing the Afghan security forces — couldn't account for $230 million in spare parts it had ordered. Meanwhile, another $130 million parts were ordered without anyone knowing if the parts were on-hand or not. As it turns out, the Afghan National Army isn't keeping accurate records of which parts it has in stock, and because the spigot in Washington blasts money as though it were through a fire hose, whenever they need a new part, they just order it and send you the bill.
 
In a different release, the SIGAR reported that in at least one case, you were paying $500/gallon for diesel fuel. (The market price cap for diesel in Afghanistan is $5/gallon.) You might be surprised to learn that Sayed Bilal Sadath Construction Company, the contractor who received the $300,000 overpayment, hasn't sent it back. And why would they? They were paid $200,000 for thermostats only worth $2,000, and nobody complained. But here's my favorite part. Sayed Bilal Sadath Construction Company received this money for a contract to build a small, 100-bed hospital in Gardez, Afghanistan — an unfinished hospital that is almost two years behind schedule. Don't worry about it, though. The Afghan government has warned that it might not be able to use the hospital anyway, as its operation and maintenance costs are five times more than the hospital it's supposed to replace.
 
On October 10, [Special Inspector General for Afghanistan] John Sopko sent an urgent letter to the Secretaries of Defense and State, as well as the administrator at U.S. Agency for International Development, asking for guidance and support in expanding oversight to the other 79 percent of Afghanistan. (In northern Afghanistan alone, there are ongoing infrastructure projects worth $72 million that lack oversight.) Sopko requested a response in 30 days. Forty-one days later, none of the three men have issued a response and have each asked for more time.”
 
So, here we have two glaring examples of government bias and mismanagement of incredible proportion. Yet, in spite of overwhelming evidence proving that centralization of power leads to the poorest of decision-making, surrounded by unbridled waste, government seeks even more money and control.
 
Which is why this week particularly reminds us of what John F. Kennedy might have meant when he intoned, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Because those of us who still have bank accounts left surely know the answer to that one by now: "Dear DC, our checks are in the mail."
 
That's it for today folks.
 
Adios

Saturday, November 23, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Part of an article from October 25 remained in mind, and until this morning, I didn’t realize why.
 
John Fund  in The Corner column of National Review on-line quoted Valerie Jarrett, the incumbent’s Senior Adviser, as follows:
 
“I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. . . . He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. . . . So what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. . . . He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”
 
And now I think I understand exactly what Ms. Jarrett was striving to do.
 
By rightly or wrongly -because I have no way to conduct an IQ test- setting the incumbent up as an unqualified intellectual superior to virtually everyone else on earth, any failures in which he’s involved can be attributed to all others inability to grasp the depth and quality of any and all things he suggests. Nor are any others capable of implementing his vastly superior ideas, plans and strategies.
 
That also explains why virtually everything that happens within his administration is news to him. Because, obviously, no one can communicate at his superior level or in a manner sophisticated enough for him to grasp. Consequently, since he’s unable to adequately learn about what goes on around him, he rightly feels he might as well give up on communication attempts and instead; travel, campaign or go play golf.
 
Yesterday, however, George Will had a different take on the incumbent’s approach, as follows: ”After Obama’s semi-demi-apology for millions of canceled insurance policies — an intended and predictable consequence of his crusade to liberate Americans from their childish choices of “substandard” policies sold by “bad apple” insurers — Scalise said Obama is like someone who burns down your house. Then shows up with an empty water bucket. Then lectures you about how defective the house was.
 
What is now inexplicably called Obama’s “fix” for the chaos he has created is surreal. He gives you permission to reoccupy your house — if you can get someone to rebuild it — but for only another year.”
 
For others, matters boil down to nothing more than politics, such as why the new health care tax enrollment date has been delayed a month.
 
According to Fox News on-line: “Congressional Republicans accused the administration of shifting the dates for political reasons, to hide a spike in 2015 premiums, though information may already be available about 2015 premiums before the elections on Nov. 4.
 
"That means that if premiums go through the roof in the first year of ObamaCare, no one will know about it until after the election," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement. "This is clearly a cynical political move by the Obama administration to use extra-regulatory, by any means necessary tools to keep this program afloat and hide key information from voters."
 
Nonetheless, while Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., “Accused the White House of moving next year's open enrollment date to shield Democrats up for reelection next year who supported the law," he also plans to introduce legislation that would require insurers to provide Americans with "proper notice" of premium increases before open enrollment period on the exchanges starts.”
 
So, if Alexander's legislation’s passed, all the administration’s manipulations will have been for naught and political life will go on a usual.
 
In that regard, there’s this from Fox, “Taxpayers are on the hook for a multi-million-dollar tab after a U.S. Department of Energy gamble on a green automaker went into the red. 
 
The Obama administration announced Friday it will lose $139 million on a loan to struggling electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. after selling part of the loan to a private investor that immediately took the company into bankruptcy.
 
The transaction brings to an end another effort by the Obama administration to use public funds to stimulate green initiatives.
 
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., vice chair of the House Energy "Once again, American taxpayers are losing out to foreign investors due to the Obama administration's failed green energy policies," Blackburn said. "Time after time this administration has fumbled the ball with their attempts to pick winners and losers when it comes to American energy."and Commerce Committee, called that small solace.”
 
But, while the administration still keeps up its unbridled misspending and pursuing its misguided agenda, trends keep shifting among its core supporters.  
 
Variety via Drudge reports that: “Leno saw a boost in his final months the first time he was ready to ankle “Tonight” in 2009, but it must be encouraging for NBC to see his replacement come on so strong this fall. In fact, Fallon is now outdrawing David Letterman’s CBS show in young adults even though the latter starts an hour earlier.
 
In total viewers, “Tonight Show” is leading with 3.69 million — up 9% from last year and its best start to a season since the fall of 2008 — and is followed by “Late Show” (2.94 million, down 5%) and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (2.60 million, up 36% from last year). Letterman is up 3% from last year in adults 50-plus, underscoring the fact that his audience is aging.”
 
So, as I’ve mentioned often before, younger people today are receiving input in different ways than in the past, and there's’ too much information available from too many sources for government to control as they used to.
 
Consequently, it really doesn’t matter too much any more what the New York Times editorial board wants to print, or how leftist outlets maintain their bias. Especially when younger folks, who communicate amongst each other continually, are trading information about their experiences and opinions which might very well turn unneeded. costly, attempts at socialism like the health care tax to implode.  
 
Which leads to the last item today, a link that demonstrates once again why government is incapable of managing anything effectively, regardless: USAID programs hit by fraud, corruption and bid-rigging allegations
 
That's it for today folks.
 
Adios

Friday, November 22, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Two items stuck out today as extremely confusing.
 
Jennifer Martinez of The Hill on-line via Drudge writes that “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Dropbox CEO Andrew Houston, were on hand Wednesday to help kick off a “hackathon” event at LinkedIn’s headquarters, where a group of 20 young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children, often called “Dreamers,” will spend the next 25 hours coding Web tools aimed at advocating for immigration reform.”
 
Now, if immigration reform is finally accomplished, in one way or another, there should be no problem whatsoever. Immigrants formed and built the nation from its beginning. But, then there’s always the others who’ve arrived here “illegally” that pose a perplexing, fundamental problem. Because by giving any of them special treatment, including any kind of amnesty or easing of regulations, every individual who gained citizenship by the rules is being made a fool, which is simply incomprehensible. So, why don't these high-powered business moguls have any respect for those who arrived here honestly?
 
The next conundrum arose from an article by Christian Toto of Breitbart, also via Drudge, that says, “Millions of Americans have already been forced out of their existing health care policies, a number that may skyrocket in the new year.”
 
The piece then goes on about someone named Russell Simmons, who “sees it differently,” as follows:
 
“The hip-hop mogul says ObamaCare is already so successful it's saved thousands, if not millions of lives.
 
Yes, we initially wanted single payer, and we had to compromise back in 2009 for the Affordable Care Act. But, it is a damn good piece of legislation that has already saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. So, let us not give up now.”
 
In this case,  what’s confusing is that, according to Mr. Simmons, legislation beginning November 1st which is still in the throes of unsuccessfully trying to allow subscribers to enroll has already saved all those lives. So, the question is, considering that the program itself didn’t even start yet, how did that life-saving happen?
 
During this past week alone, several examples have been clear illustrations of individuals, most of them far left leaning in ideology, who live in a world that’s simply non-existent. So, looking around as all their misguided fancies self-destruct in almost all aspects of governance, exactly what will it take to wake them up to reality? Because the way things are going now, there’s not going to be very much remaining when they finally arise. 
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

Thursday, November 21, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Amongst the barrage of problems surfacing each day as the incumbent’s health care tax implodes, there seems to be a less obvious, yet growing, factor doing considerable damage to the tax on its own.
 
Each rating period, Fox News shows, especially those of superstars Megyn Kelly, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Britt Baier, etc., keep reaching new records for viewership. Leftist bastions, however, such as CNN and MSNBC are losing audience size dramatically. Which raises the question: Why should that be?
 
The conclusions come down to simple logic, rather than some convoluted analysis of viewer’s psyches. 
 
At the moment, the nation’s going through a huge upheaval of its health care system, and in the midst of trying to adapt to a  government administered program that simply doesn’t work. Which means that what people need most is reliable, accurate information they can rely on.
 
If those confused folks, however, tune into someone like Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, or the biased talking heads frequenting most liberally-biased TV, they're more likely to get tirades, propaganda and anger, but very few facts that can actually help them. As a result,  they're now forced to go channel-surfing for valid information, sooner or later winding up on the highly accurate and informative Fox, making it very likely they’ll return there in the future.
 
Then, of course, finally receiving accurate, helpful input, they discover stories like this one from Chris Stirewalt, who writes that “The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday it is offering up contracts of up to $7 billion for ways to reduce spending under ObamaCare, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.”
 
Now, I ask you to consider the lunacy of this one. Because here we have an administration seeking ways to lower spending that’s gotten completely out of hand. But, they simultaneously think it’s perfectly logical to spend $7 billion of taxpayer's dollars to find out how and why they’re wasting those every same taxpayer’s money.
 
Further evidence of the administration's inability to grasp even the most fundamental aspects of economics can be seen in another trend. Mr. Stirewalt notes that “The participation rate among younger voters dropped precipitously between [the last] two elections, with Obama pulling 2.4 million fewer votes from 18-29 year olds in 2012.” And although, “The Democrats’ decline in popularity is not automatically the Republicans’ gain, Ken Cuccinelli won the 18-24 year-old vote against Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s race.”
 
So, here we have a growing trend of Dem disappointment within a population segment critical to the success of the health care tax. Because if these young folks refuse to be fleeced to pay for the infirmities of the older, sicker among us, the whole tax will almost certainly crumble. A point probably never considered by the ideologues believing that Socialism’s virtues of redistribution override hard-core economic realities. 
 
Then, lastly, there’s this one, also from Mr. Stirewalt: “As a former Democratic operative, Levar Stoney, admitted to covering up an incident in which Democrats slashed the tires of dozens of Republican vehicles in Wisconsin on Election Day, 2004. Stoney, a deputy manager for McAuliffe’s campaign, will now be Virginia’s secretary of the commonwealth.”
 
In this instance we have another reminder that for politicians there’s rarely consideration of how power’s abused. Because once they’re elected, as the incumbent proves daily now, whatever was promised is totally forgotten. Unbridled self-serviance and patronage are all that counts.
 
That’s it for today
 
Adios  

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Story’s appear almost daily now, further disclosing how the last presidential election win was fraught with doctored statistical data and outright fabrications.  
 
One of today’s items on Fox News.com says the “The House Oversight Committee wants the Census Bureau to provide more information about a NY POST report claiming that monthly unemployment numbers were fixed ahead of the 2012 presidential election. The agency has turned the claims over to its inspector general.”
 
In that regard,  “Representative. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Megyn Kelly, “You’re talking about something that escalated over potentially the course of years and culminated right before an election.”
 
As far as numbers go, I seem to have made a mistake on Monday by using an Office of Management and Budget report to illustrate the administration's ridiculous demands for paperwork from businesses.
 
Now it seems the OMB “is blaming bad math after the conservative American Action Forum reported proposed regulation would result in 45.9 billion hours of new paperwork. A multiplication error resulted in the eye-popping number, AAF reports. After reworking the numbers, OMB says the regulations would result in just 9.9 million hours of paperwork.”
 
So, I guess I have to apologize, because only 9.9 million hours of totally wasted time is far more conducive to business productivity and would only cost them a mere $71,775,000, if accountants worked for the minimum wage.
 
Then, perusing links on Drudge, I came across a column by Brian Ellsworth and Daniel Wallis of Reuters that sounded very familiar to me, although their subject was Venezuela, as follows:
 
“Venezuelan lawmakers granted President Nicolas Maduro yearlong decree powers on Tuesday that he says are essential to regulate the economy and stamp out corruption but adversaries view as a power grab.
 
Hundreds of supporters of the ruling Socialist Party cheered outside the National Assembly as the so-called Enabling Law was passed, while a recording of Maduro's late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, singing Venezuela's anthem rang out inside the hall.
 
The power to pass laws without congressional approval gives Maduro a political victory in the run-up to December 8 municipal elections, although he still faces a severely distorted economy with embarrassing product shortages and inflation surging to nearly 55 percent.
 
"I want to thank the majority of patriotic and socialist lawmakers for approving this law that will let us advance, over the next 12 months, in defeating the economic war being waged against our people," Maduro said.”
 
Now, while its certainly true that we’ve yet to see product shortages or spiraling inflation, both possibilities aren’t out of the question for our own current administration, whereas socialism tends to create both.
 
But, what struck me most was the similarity of increases in outright governmental control which is undeniably what’s going on here in the U.S right now. Examples include; increasing rules, regulations, government growth and encroachment in huge economy segments like health care and intervention everywhere disguised as protection in such things as environmental control and the Federal Reserve’s money-market manipulation.
 
So, if you keep putting these pieces together, and pay close attention to the obvious trend, you won't be surprised a bit when the incumbent announces that for the good us all, and the sake of the nation, he’s going to unilaterally extend his term forever.
 
That's it for today folks.
 
Adios

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Once again Liberals have me remembering the famous Green Bay Packer fullback,  Jim Taylor, who when asked by a sports reporter what his greatest accomplishment was, replied something like going through LSU unscathed by education.
 
And that it seems, is how Liberals go through their entire lives. Totally ignorant of how the real world works.
 
Today’s example comes from Chris Stirewalt’s column on  Fox News, wherein he reports that Liberal Democrats are saying the president should have just leveled with voters about the need to destroy the policies in order to drive consumers into ObamaCare.”
 
Now, from a veracity perspective, these Liberals certainly seem correct without doubt. However, had the incumbent told the truth way back then, it would have created one small glitch. He wouldn’t have been reelected, and he surely knew it. 
 
But now that he’s been branded as a fabricator, it seems that the extent and frequency of untruths no longer really concern him. Because once the horse leaves the barn, its too late to recover.
 
In that regard, David Martosko, U.S. Political Editor of dailymail.uk writes that “President Barack Obama told a conference-call audience of progressive volunteers on Monday evening that 'more than 100 million Americans' – in a nation of less than 314 million – have successfully signed up for health insurance via the Affordable Care Act.”
 
Mr. Martosko continues with: “And at a time when his signature legislative initiative's website has made the White House the butt of jokes, the website hosting the conference call was plagued with its own connection errors and other malfunctions.
 
A weary-sounding Obama made his gaffe during the call, hosted by Organizing For Action, the nonprofit successor to his campaign organization Obama For America. The group claimed 200,000 people managed to listen, aided by an RSVP process that included a fundraising solicitation.” 
 
However, what Mr. Martosko either didn’t grasp, or perhaps is to gentlemanly to suppose, is that the incumbent’s saying that 100,000 had signed up for the health care tax wasn’t an error at all. It was simply another unbridled, purposeful lie. 

What’s also becoming more evident as each day goes by, is how much this move to Socialism has cost taxpayers, with no real relief in sight. 
 
Fox News also says that “The Obama administration gave states roughly $4.4 billion in taxpayer dollars to set up their own ObamaCare websites, according to a new analysis. Their report shows 24 states received money but decided to instead send residents to the federal HealthCare.gov site. it’s one point.” 

So, this incredibly expensive scam to give 30 million people free health care, paid for by the 285 million others, continues. But, the most incredulous aspect of this massive move toward redistribution of wealth, and governmental taking of funds from those that earned them, is that Liberals truly believe this is how our economy should work. Which, I guess, confirms why our nation is broke. 
 
That's it for today folks. 
 
Adios

Monday, November 18, 2013

BloggeRhythms

If folks in any other aspect of life, particularly those in businesses, made comments like most of Nancy Pelosi’s, they’d not only be thought to be total ignoramuses, they’d be ostracized completely.

Yesterday, she said that the incumbent’s “[G]racious and he’s taking responsibility. But that doesn't mean that there was anything in the law that said if you like what you had before [enactment] you couldn't keep it.”

However, aside from the fact that the incumbent’s not being gracious at all, he’s simply trying to cover his tail after getting caught in a flat-out lie, Pelosi’s comment is coming from someone who never even read the law before it was passed. So how would she know what was in it herself?

But she then went on to illustrate further that she either doesn’t truly understand most things she says, or doesn’t care about how ridiculous she sounds when saying them.

According to Fox News.com: “Pelosi suggested Republicans will have to answer for their part in the partial government shutdown that she says hurt the economy.

She also downplayed 39 House Democrats voting Friday on a bill to allow insurance companies to continue offering plans that don’t comply with ObamaCare, saying a similar number of them voted on legislation to delay the law’s employer mandate.”

In the first case, she’s absolutely right, the Republicans will have to answer for their part in the government shutdown, which will likely go a long way to their adding seats in the House, and perhaps gaining the majority in the Senate. Their objection to the horrendous farce of the health care tax is making them stronger every day. So, if Ms. Pelosi wants to denigrate competition, she ought to pick another subject.  

Then, when she went on to discount House Dem’s wanting to delay implementation of the health care tax as similar to those wishing to allow present plan continuance, she blithely ignored the quickly growing dissatisfaction of voters nationwide. But that’s typical Pelosi commentary, which is always done with little thought to facts or truths.

Moving along, I then saw a headline for a story reporting that the administration wants to close Guantanamo because it’s “too costly.”

Here are the details; “Purely from an economic point of view, the administration says Guantanamo is too costly. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress that annual spending on Guantanamo was $454 million — or about $2.7 million per detainee.”

Seeing the number: $2,700,000 per detainee, I went to my calculator to find that: The individual cost equates to: $225,000 per month, $51,923.07 per week, $7417.58 per day, $309.06 per hour, and finally, $5.15 per minute.

After finding that the 2011 Median Income of US households was $50,054 per annum, 53.9 times less than these criminals cost to maintain, I then looked up the the national average for a home loan in the U.S. which is $222,261 with a $1,061 average monthly payment for a 30-year mortgage at 4 percent, according to LendingTree. 

LendingTree also notes that the average home owner in Hawaii would have a monthly payment of about $3,234 for a 30-year mortgage, which is the highest state cost. 

Consequently, we could put each of these international criminals in a Hawaiian home and still have $221,776 left over monthly to pay for guards, clothes, food, utilities, healthcare, and whatever else is needed to keep these terrorists happy. So, I guess this is another example of our government at work. Because they keep talking and promising, but Guantanamo's outrageous costs keep moving right along.

After that, I came across another item on Fox from Chris Stirewalt, who writes that: “According to an Office of Management and Budget report, regulatory paperwork imposed by the government requires The IRS and National Credit Union Administration have proposed new regulations that would lead to 45.9 billion hours of new paperwork. The conservative American Action Forum points out that the new rules would be in addition to 10.3 billion hours of work from existing regulations, equal to “almost 5.2 million full-time workers exclusively to filling out government forms.”

So, I guess this is how the administration’s creating jobs. Because although absolutely nothing productive will be accomplished from adding paperwork, and businesses will be further prevented from operating efficiently, hiring will likely go up. Which is like unions who force employers to bring on “no-show” workers who do absolutely nothing except increase overhead and total costs, precisely the way our whole misguided government presently works. 

That’s it for today folks

Adios

Sunday, November 17, 2013

BloggeRhythms

Not very much going on in the world that’s really new or worth much discussion time. And, certainly, almost everyone’s focused on the incumbent’s health tax version of a Ponzi scheme.

While most folks, however, are still focusing on the roll-out fiasco, government ineptitude and the politics involved in the socialist scam, I did find an article on Fox from yesterday that three-quarters into the subject finally mentioned that “Politics is not the only consideration.” 
 
The story made the point that: “The people who are signing up now are likely to be those with unmet medical needs. Younger, healthier customers probably don't see much reason to spend their time tangling with the website. To hold down costs, the law aims for a mix that includes a hefty proportion of younger enrollees whose medical expenses are low.”

And, as I’ve been illustrating out for years now, this whole program is nothing more than Socialism 101, and a furthering of redistribution, unless folks really believe that perfectly healthy young people need total coverage for mid-life infirmities and men require things like natal services. 

But, aside from the dishonesty of the health tax itself, there’s also the fraud, abuse and heavy-handedness in the way that the tax has been introduced. A link from Drudge on those points is well worth reading. Gov't would prosecute Healthcare.gov execs if private entity

And then we move on to another favorite subject: Global Cooling

An article from Ski and Snowboard, also via Drudge, reports that "One half of North America’s largest ski area will open this weekend, thirteen days ahead of schedule. 
 
Whistler Mountain at Whistler Blackcomb will now open on Saturday, thanks to cold temperatures, intensive snowmaking and heavy snowfall. 
 
A statement from Whistler said: "Thanks to oodles of snow, Whistler Mountain will open 13 days early this season. Whistler is renowned, season upon season, for being the number one ski resort for guaranteed snow - lots of it - and this winter will be no exception.

A number of resorts are already open in North America and Europe, including Obergurgl in Austria, which opened today, and Cairngorm Mountain in Scotland which opened last weekend, its earliest start since 2008.”

So, in keeping with what’s become standard operating procedure for the current administration, facts, figures and reality continue to refute any and all things done by them. Which means that if their political rivals have an ounce of intelligence, they’ll just patiently sit back and wait while these unskilled, uninformed, unrealistic, totally inexperienced naïfs continue to self-destruct.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios 

Saturday, November 16, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/16/2013

I‘ve little doubt that Charles Krauthammer’s a brilliant guy. But, like the politician’s he dissects every day, he spends almost his entire life inside the beltway and thus usually sees only the political aspects of most issues.

On Thursday’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” Krauthammer said “President Obama’s proposed fix -- telling health insurers that they don’t have to cancel plans next year because of ObamaCare -- is a “sham.” 

Krauthammer further said that “the move is designed to shift blame to insurers and provide a way out for embattled Democrats in Congress. He pretended to want to restore the plans to people who lost them, because it is a sham, it was only intended to shift the blame. His intent is for these plans not to be renewed.”

But, what Krauthammer, and countless others in politics and the media,  are missing is that it no longer matters what the incumbent says, or to whom or when. He’s exposed himself as a flat-out liar which from now will override and discount every single word he utters. In fact, when insurers are unable or unwilling to implement his temporary heath-tax fix, he’s going to look far, far worse than he does right now which will serve to compound the untruths he pledged in the first place.

But, aside from the deceptions, the administration’s ineptitude, and the destruction caused to health care, 18% of the economy, I keep coming back to my basic question: Why would anyone, for political reasons or otherwise, ruin a perfectly good system like health care that works well for 285 million people, to provide coverage for 30 million others? It would be far more economically feasible to leave the system alone and mail the needy a check.

However, using their heads and adequately analyzing the economic effects of this unworkable tax in advance wasn’t considered, only the politics was. And the unequivocal fiasco that resulted reminded me of what the administration might have done if it had an iota of business sense, or really cared if the their program could survive financially.

Some of the most successful business decisions have been made by ones who apply their genius in the simplest ways, using common sense as well as considerable acumen and expertise.

I found the example I was looking for on a site called; “Innovate Mississippi” in an article by Mike Lorence, who writes that: “When Lee Iacocca took over Chrysler, the company was basically bankrupt and the government wanted to take over the business. (sound familiar?).  He was walking around the shop floor one day when two young, blue-collar men approached him and said something to the effect of, “Mr. Iacocca, we have an idea.  We think you should consider making a convertible. 
 
After thinking about it for a few minutes, Iacocca said, “Before you go home today, get a blow torch, cut the roof off of that car and drive it around town.  If girls look at you while you’re driving it, we’re gonna make it.”  Within six months, they had the first convertible rolling off the production line.
 
It was a smash hit.”
 
However, the difference here is that Mr.Iacocca realized that product popularity is the most critical thing of all  And when folks like what you’re trying to sell, they buy it and look for more.
 
But when you shove something unpopular down their throats, it’s only a matter of time till you ultimately fail and likely go broke. And that’s the problem with the health care tax. Because as each day goes by, another flaw will arise. There are just too many unhappy customers to control. who are being forced to pay for something they neither need nor want. Thus, the tax is doomed to implode almost no matter.
 
From the outset, though, the government ignored testing simple customer reaction before investing millions in a product doomed to fail for myriad reasons. And unfortunately for them, they couldn’t take the Iacocca approach to predetermining product viability, because for that you need some brains and marketplace acumen.
 
That's it for today folks.
 
Adios

Friday, November 15, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/15/2013

The incumbent’s healthcare tax is moving in a direction I’ve expected for the past three years; toward extinction. But, what I still don’t understand is, how or why so many people are shocked by the miserable job that’s been done and the disastrous results to date.
 
Predicting the tax’s failure was quite simple. It didn’t take political savvy, an iota of computer expertise, insurance industry insight or  any healthcare knowledge whatsoever  All that was needed to foresee the likelihood of calamity was simply realizing that once the government becomes involved in anything, large small or indifferent, politics overrides everything else, regardless. Consequently, proper planning, adequate R&D, product testing, market research, solid infrastructure development, effective management, and structured implementation all take a back seat to political needs.
 
In the health tax case, according to Fox News.com: “HealthCare.gov project manager Henry Chao in July feared that problems with ObamaCare’s online home could “crash the plane at take-off.” Emails obtained by Reuters show top officials involved in the development of the beleaguered Web site suffering a midsummer confidence crash.”
 
Nonetheless, the incumbent pushed the plan to meet his deadline, likely assuming he’d talk his way out of any glitches as usual. However, in this case the website job was so badly done he can talk for the next three years but can’t push the toothpaste back in the tube.
 
A further glaring example of why an endeavor the size of this one, 18.0% of GDP, is too much to handle when decisions are purely political was proven just yesterday when in reaction to Willy’s pressure, the incumbent blithely amended the legislation all by himself in front of TV cameras and the press.
 
Chris Stirewalt put it perfectly in his Fox column today by asking; “If Bill Clinton can make Obama do this – abandon a central tenet of the law – with a few lines on an Internet TV show, what depredations are to come?”
 
Charles Krauthammer too,  via Drudge wrote: “For four years, this debate has been theoretical. Now it’s real. And for Democrats, it’s a disaster. 
 
It begins with the bungled rollout. If Washington can’t even do the Web site — the literal portal to this brave new world — how does it propose to regulate the vast ecosystem of American medicine? 
 
Beyond the competence issue is the arrogance. Five million freely chosen, freely purchased, freely renewed health-care plans are summarily canceled. Why? Because they don’t meet some arbitrary standard set by the experts in Washington.”
 
So now it seems more pundits are waking up to the real threats to the nation’s healthcare. Because since decisions will continually be made this way, whether by the sitting POTUS or whoever’s to come in the future…how can the program possibly ever work correctly? And the answer is, once the government's involved, it can’t.
 
Moving on now. With the healthcare tax debacle taking up so much time and space in the press, readers might have missed this one, also from Fox: “A group of congressional Republicans introduced a resolution Thursday to call for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging Holder had committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” during his tenure as head of the Justice Department.
 
Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, claims Holder has committed “the offenses of lying to Congress, refusing to comply with a subpoena, and failing to fulfill his oath of office.” 

The resolution introduced by Olson cites Holder’s unwillingness to cooperate during the investigation into the botched Operation “Fast and Furious, his refusal to prosecute those involved IRS targeting of conservative groups, his failure to enforce laws including the Defense of Marriage Act, and his “false testimony” about the DOJ’s monitoring of Fox News journalist James Rosen as articles that are grounds for impeachment.” 
 
So, even though the health tax is so time consuming. Republican congressman are keeping their eye on all of the balls. 
 
And lastly, there may be some international happenings making headway in other areas of misconception and misdirection of our current administration and its stranglehold on the economy that might have some impact here at home.  

The dailycaller.com reports that: “Australia’s new conservative government introduced legislation that would eliminate the carbon tax and cut funding to green energy in a series of aggressive moves to scale back the country’s environmental laws. 
 
“We have said what we mean, and will do what we say. The carbon tax goes,” Prime Minister Abbott told Australian lawmakers that: “Repealing the carbon tax should be the first economic reform of this parliament.” 
 
The issue grew however, because:”While Australia’s actions to roll back the green agenda have environmentalists kicking and screaming, the country received praise from Canada’s ruling party — that country rejected a carbon tax in 2008. 
 
“The Australian Prime Minister’s decision will be noticed around the world and sends an important message,” said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Parliamentary Secretary Paul Calandra. “Our government knows that carbon taxes raise the price of everything, including gas, groceries, and electricity.” 
 
“Greenhouse gas emissions are down since 2006, and we’ve created one million net new jobs since the recession and we have done this without penalizing Canadian families with a carbon tax,” Calandra added.”

So, it seems that wherever you look, facts, figures, truths and events are making the leftist agenda harder to sell. But, as it seems to be turning out, those in disagreement really don’t have to do much at all. Because as each day goes by, their hare-brained ideas and schemes blow up one after another all by themselves.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

Thursday, November 14, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/14/2013

Today’s major item is quite simple and now defines the incumbent’s entire presidency, as well as his character in general.
 
Due to enormous pressure from just about every direction, the incumbent has finally admitted by his actions that he lied to the American people when selling his health care tax. And what that sets up is the ploy trial lawyers use to discredit witnesses they catch in untruths, by asking: “We know you were lying then. Are you lying now too?”
 
Consequently, going forward from now this kind of taint doesn’t go away, regardless, whereas the suspicion of falsehoods will always remain. And the only thing left to determine is the ultimate loss to come from the damage, which I believe will be huge for the whole Dem party.
 
In the meantime though, although the structure of the health care tax has now taken a significant hit, other substantial governmental mismanagement is taking place that should not go by unnoticed. 
 
Fox News reports that: “Officials working on healthcare.gov told a House Panel Wednesday they were unsure of how much it would cost to fix the site, after $600 million has already been spent.”
 
So, while the law itself is under fire, almost two thirds of a billion dollars have been spent on a website that doesn’t function properly, and will likely take a similar amount of taxpayer’s funds to fix.
 
And in the meantime, also according to Fox: “Environmental Protection Agency Director Gina McCarthy will be questioned by a House panel today about the agency’s 6,000 proposals for new regulations. This comes as a new AP investigation has revealed the EPA’s proposed regulations are not only overreaching but its push for ethanol production may be harming the environment as well.”
 
Well, we all now know some of the the disasters woven into the 2700 pages of the failing health care tax, and the troubles arising each time a new page is turned. But what on earth could possibly be contained in 6000 new environmental proposals? And how many more pages are in each of those? And lastly, who in the world has enough time to think up and write this stuff?
 
Which brings me to another example of our government at work, also from Fox: “Transportation Security Administration boss John Pistole faces questions from House investigators today over a new Government Accountability Office report that shows the agency wasted up to $1 billion on a failed behavioral profiling initiative.”
 
So, I guess it really doesn’t mater what the subject is, or what issues are involved, especially regarding the current administration. Once you bring in the government two things are unequivocally certain. There’s absolutely no chance of things going right and the costs to taxpayer’s of the wastes and mistakes will be in the stratosphere.
 
That’s it for today folks
 
Adios

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/14/2013

As most readers already know, when addressing Obamacare yesterday Bill Clinton said, “I personally believe even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got.”

Clinton’s comment had my mind doing handstands, because I couldn’t figure out why he made it. Neither Clinton ever says or does anything that doesn’t benefit them personally, and therefore I was totally confounded, because I couldn’t see where Bill’s gain was. And then it finally hit me.

The only thing that makes sense is that he’s certain that in one way or another, the law will be changed because of political pressure, taxpayer revolt, Congressional action, or perhaps simply relenting by the incumbent himself. But, no matter how it implodes, Slick Willy wants to be on the record as the first of his party to be publicly adamant, maintain the legend of his political acumen, and then figure how to profit from it if he hasn't already. 

However, even if Willy truly believes the law should be changed and folks are allowed to keep plans they like, its now too late to push the toothpaste back into the tube because insurers have all changed their program configurations to comply with the health tax as now written.

Chris Stirewalt of Fox News.com put it this way: “Millions of Americans are facing a Dec. 15 deadline for the entire federal government to be able to operate a single Web site or else they and their loved ones might lose their health coverage.

Team Obama built the law wrong in 2009 and 2010 and then couldn’t figure out how in the span of three years to build the Web site on which the law depends. But now they can fix it all in a month. Got it.

Obama can’t do what Clinton suggests because if he did, the flaking mortar that holds together the law would start to fall out altogether. If America does not endure the coming crash, health insurance cannot be transformed in a historic, monumental, Obamian way.

Clinton, on the other hand, knows that America won’t be very forgiving about people who crash the insurance system on purpose. If Obama doesn’t relent he might not end up with changes to the law but with republicans winning two wave elections and replacing ObamaCare with whatever the boys in the lab at AEI are brewing up.

In his interview Tuesday, Clinton defended the health care law as a whole, but explained how the broken promise on health coverage can hurt young people. He relayed the story of a young man who said his individual market plan was canceled and replaced with one whose premiums were twice as high. Though his deductibles and co-pays were lower, that savings is only realized if he gets sick, Clinton explained.”

And that’s the flaw in the whole system. Because no young folks ever evasion themselves getting ill, so why pay for something they’ve no use for? Which is why the tax is a law devised by out of touch morons believing the market's populated by fools.

But if nothing else, the incumbent’s probably quite happy that the health tax debacle is keeping most other news out of the headlines, such as this item from CNSNews.com
 
Ali Meyer reports that; “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in September the labor force participation rate was 63.2 percent, but in October it dropped to 62.8 percent—the lowest it has been since February 1978, when Jimmy Carter was president.”

And even worse for the whole Dem party, newsbusters.org reports in its blogs/noel-sheppard column that “The new prime time lineup at Fox News continues to demolish its competition.

Last week, FNC almost doubled the combined viewers of CNN and MSNBC from 8PM to 11PM. During this time period, FNC averaged 2.1 million total viewers and 376k in the important demographic of folks aged 25 to 54. MSNBC had 716k and 202k respectively while CNN brought in 433k and 146k.

For the week, only ESPN brought in more cable viewers than FNC in prime time.

TVNewser reports that this was Fox's second-best week of the year only bested by the week of the Boston Marathon bombing.”

So, not only are the Dem’s getting slammed by their leader whose popularity’s dwindling by the minute, the news outlets depended upon to deliver their leftist slant are losing viewers faster than he is. Which means, I guess, that reality’s finally beginning to sink in and rational folks want their country back again.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

BloggeRhythms 11/12/2013

Today’s news is mostly a continuation of the debacle regarding the failed rollout of the incumbent's health care tax. Not really worth writing about.

Instead, I found an item on Drudge, headlined “UN drafts dire report on global warming”

The text begins, “Climate change will disrupt not only the natural world but also society, posing risks to the world's economy and the food and water supply and contributing to violent conflict, an international panel of scientists says.” 
 
The warnings in a report drafted by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been distributed to governments around the world for review, and “could change before it is released in March.”

"We see a wide range of impacts that have already occurred ... on people, ecosystems and economies," said Chris Field, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-chairman of the group writing the report. "Looking into the future, we see increasing risks that are more pervasive and more severe with greater amounts of climate change."

The crux of the report, “describes a planet in peril as a result of the human-caused buildup of greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution, where glaciers are shrinking and plants and animals have shifted their ranges in response to rising temperatures. As global warming continues through the 21st century, many species will face greater risk of extinction, marine life will shift toward the poles and seawater will grow more acidic, the report says.

By 2100, hundreds of millions of people in coastal areas will be flooded or displaced by rising sea levels. The arid subtropics will have less fresh water, leading to more competition for resources.”

I then did some web surfing and found that according to Christine Dell'Amore of National Geographic News, “a colder Antarctica may contribute to a rise in sea levels. Colder temperatures mean less snow on the ice sheets, which makes more water stay in the ocean, he pointed out.

Overall, loss of polar ice has contributed about 11.1 millimeters (0.03 feet) to global sea levels since 1992, research shows. Sea levels are rising at a rate of 3.2 millimeters a year.”

Now, if you consider the size of sea level rise since 1992, it will take eons for the increase to have any real impact. But even so. Since rises in sea levels are caused by both rising and falling temperatures, folks on the coasts are going to get wet no matter what happens climatically.

In  the meantime however, while scientists argue vehemently on both sides of the global warming subject, and billions upon are spent on the issue, Mother Nature jumped into the picture herself this morning.   

Anthony Sagliani, Meteorologist at Accuweather.com, reports that: “With the start of astronomical winter still a little over a month away, it will feel a lot more like December than November across a large part of the Northeast into midweek.

A bitter cold air mass that has been building across Canada has become dislodged from the Arctic, and the bulk of this air will sweep across the northeastern United States starting on Tuesday.

The coldest temperatures will be on Tuesday and Wednesday as the winterlike chill spills into the Northeast behind an arctic cold front.”

So, once again, while credentialed experts in various aspects of science spend billons upon billions to study, examine, review and dissect information and hypotheses, expounding on what the future will bear regarding weather, if you really want to know what to expect climate-wise…open the window and stick your head out. 

That's it for today folks.

Adios