Category Archives: Soapbox

We’re Headed Off a Cliff If ObamaCare Passes

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Cal Thomas with FOX News has a great column on how ObamaCare will share Medicare’s waste, fraud and abuse as well as it’s shrinking coverage and ever ballooning costs.

…Democrats now readily admit that Medicare is full of waste, fraud and abuse, but they want us to believe they can run an even larger venture without throwing additional money away. Amazing!

…Addressing critics of the bill, President Obama said no one is “going to pull the plug on grandma.” They won’t have to. Grandma will be denied treatment because she will be too much of a financial burden on government. It’s called rationing. Grandma had better start working out, eating lots of oatmeal and hope she doesn’t get sick. Why do you think the president kept mentioning sick children? It’s because children are the ones who will get the most – and best – treatment. Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ezekiel, has said government has a right to decide how many health care dollars you are worth. And if children with a lifelong taxpaying potential are worth more than grandma who is taking more from the tax pot than she is contributing, that’s too bad for grandma.

…The president promised again “you can keep your doctor.” But what if the doctor quits because he or she can’t afford to accept reduced fees mandated by government to keep costs down, while paying ever-increasing premiums for malpractice insurance to protect the doctor from lawsuits, which, by the way, is another reason the doctor did so many tests.

Companies sometimes test-market new products in regions of the country to see how well they sell. Government-run health care has been test-marketed in Massachusetts and it is a disaster. The cost of the state’s insurance program has ballooned by 42 percent, or almost $600 million. According to an analysis by the Rand Corporation, “in the absence of policy change, health care spending in Massachusetts is projected to nearly double to $123 billion in 2020, increasing 8 percent faster than the state’s gross domestic product.”

The cost of insurance in Massachusetts is the highest in the nation. Double-digit rate increases are expected again this year. Yet, President Obama claimed Saturday that under the Democrats’ plan, rates will go down. How is this possible? If Massachusetts can’t run a cost-effective health program, how can the federal government? And by the way, the only reason Massachusetts has not gone broke (but is headed there) is because Washington has conducted large transfusions of cash because it has a vested interest in protecting the illusion of Massachusetts’ success.

The president said we should support the health insurance bill out of “a sense of neighborliness and community.” When I was growing up, that meant you, not government, helped your neighbor. Government was a last resort, not a first resource…

Jobs will be lost because of this bill. Already, Caterpiller Company is laying-off workers because it estimates the health care bill will cost the company $100 million… – FoxNews

Racism Running Rampant?

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It seems like you can’t turn around without seeing another comment on racism today. Here’s the quick summary.

abc-news.jpgABC is pushing against inter-racial adoptions both on World News and The View:

On the Wednesday, March 3, World News on ABC, inspired by current efforts to adopt orphans in Haiti, correspondent Ron Claiborne filed a report promoting the view that black children may be harmed psychologically from being adopted and raised by white parents. Claiborne focused on the case of black filmmaker Phil Bertelsen who complains that “he and other black adoptees tell a similar tale, of feeling estranged, cut off from their own racial identity and culture.”

Monday, March 8, The View on ABC, as the group discussed the film The Blind Side which features a white family taking in a black teen, co-host Barbara Walters complained about those who criticize interracial adoption as the more left-leaning Joy Behar and guest co-host and actress Vanessa Williams complained that the film portrayed white parents as being the answer to social problems of troubled black kids. – NewsBusters.org

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter is not a fan of all the black imposters in MLB:

black-baseball-star-dominican-and-venezuelan-players-are-imposters.jpg“Even people I know come up and say, ‘Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?’ I say, ‘Come on, he’s Dominican. He’s not black.’ ” […]

“As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us,” Hunter says. “It’s like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It’s like, ‘Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?’

“I’m telling you, it’s sad.” – USAToday.com

And finally, Dan Rather had to apologize for his comment that Obama “couldn’t sell watermelons”.

Reality Snows On Global Warming Parade

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Historic snowfall frequency and amounts this winter have Global Warming fanatics scrabbling.  We even had new record of simultaneous snow in 49 of the 50 states (poor Hawaii).  Here are some of the better bits:

MSNBC’s Ratigan tries to make the argument that the global warmed air holds more moisture then the winter (not global warmed yet?) air makes it snow… Seriously? (Video)

MSNBC journalist schools meterologist what she was “taught” on global warming. Classic. (Video)

Lastly with all the politicians trying to now claim that more snow proves global warming – here’s a look back at just a few of the time’s they claimed it was less snow that “proved” global warming. (Video)  Oh and I also liked Sen Byrd’s comment that he doesn’t need to talk to a scientist about it – because he knows what’s going on…

Tebow’s Critics Intolerant, Can’t Define “Choice”

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Sally Jenkins, a pro-choice sports writer, came to Tim Tebow’s defense today:

… As statements at Super Bowls go, I prefer the idea of Tebow’s pro-life ad to, say, Jim McMahon dropping his pants, as the former Chicago Bears quarterback once did in response to a question. We’re always harping on athletes to be more responsible and engaged in the issues of their day, and less concerned with just cashing checks. It therefore seems more than a little hypocritical to insist on it only if it means criticizing sneaker companies, and to stifle them when they take a stance that might make us uncomfortable.

I’m pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I’ve heard in the past week, I’ll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the “National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time.” For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do.

Tebow’s 30-second ad hasn’t even run yet, but it already has provoked “The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us” to reveal something important about themselves: They aren’t actually “pro-choice” so much as they are pro-abortion. Pam Tebow has a genuine pro-choice story to tell. She got pregnant in 1987, post-Roe v. Wade, and while on a Christian mission in the Philippines, she contracted a tropical ailment. Doctors advised her the pregnancy could be dangerous, but she exercised her freedom of choice and now, 20-some years later, the outcome of that choice is her beauteous Heisman Trophy winner son, a chaste, proselytizing evangelical.

Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn’t be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn’t. …

You know what we really need more of? Famous guys who aren’t embarrassed to practice sexual restraint, and to say it out loud. If we had more of those, women might have fewer abortions. See, the best way to deal with unwanted pregnancy is to not get the sperm in the egg and the egg implanted to begin with, and that is an issue for men, too — and they should step up to that.

“Are you saving yourself for marriage?” Tebow was asked last summer during an SEC media day.

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

The room fell into a hush, followed by tittering: The best college football player in the country had just announced he was a virgin. As Tebow gauged the reaction from the reporters in the room, he burst out laughing. They were a lot more embarrassed than he was.

“I think y’all are stunned right now!” he said. “You can’t even ask a question!”

That’s how far we’ve come from any kind of sane viewpoint about star athletes and sex. Promiscuity is so the norm that if a stud isn’t shagging everything in sight, we feel faintly ashamed for him. … [emphasis added]

Apple Does It’s Best To Stall Tablet Market

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steve-jobs-ipad.jpgWell the ultra-hyped Apple tablet has finally been revealed as the “iPad”.  Some are excited about it while others are disappointed.  But now that the dust has settled, I think it’s clear that Apple’s real purposes in their “launch” was simply to stall.

Let’s review:  As more and more companies looked toward the slate (keyboardless tablet) form factor as the next “netbook market”, Apple began to get worried they would be beaten to the punch.  Ironically it was probably the deluge of iTablet rumors that spurred the competition on towards creating the next great device before Apple cornered the market, but the advances made in more powerful and lower wattage processors didn’t hurt either.

As the various tablet designs began to leak out before CES 2010, the iTablet leaks became the norm replacing the wild speculation of the “fan boys”.  Apple effectively cast a shadow over CES and had people instead looking toward the Apple event.  Unfortunately while the Apple event was attempted to mirror the iPhone launches it failed to deliver.

Consider the following:

  • The iPad 3G versions won’t be available for 3 months which is much closer to the annual iphone launch timing.
  • The update of the iPhone OS from 3.1 to 3.2 instead of 4.0 which practically announces that very little extra functionality has been added.
  • The inability to handle full flash (yet) which is a staple of web browsing – which is supposed to be one of the core functions of the device.
  • To a lesser extent the lack of multitasking and a camera.  The slate/tablet was supposed to fill the gap between the iPhone and a notebook in functionality – not just size.

I believe that Apple intended to launch the iPad ready to ship with iPhone OS 4.0, full flash and at least limited multitasking this June alongside the next iPhone.  Instead, the competition came knocking and Apple acted quickly to stall the market and hopefully gain enough time to finish their product.  And if they scared off a few companies that were in the planning instead of prototype stage – all the better.