Destroying the country to “reduce the deficit”

Today, the big news in the media was the “non-partisan” Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) preliminary report. This report suggested that the Democrats’ socialized medicine proposal would reduce the national deficit. For the moment, let’s forget that the CBO did not grade the actual bill because the actual bill had not been released. Also, let’s forget that this optimistic estimation of the bill’s costs was almost certainly wrong. For the moment, let’s simply consider the failed logic behind such a dumb selling point.

ANY proposal involving cuts to spending (i.e., to Medicare), combined with tax increases, would reduce the deficit. For crying out loud, what a non-story! Even if the socialized healthcare takeover did reduce the deficit (which it won’t), we could reduce the deficit even more by cutting those same costs, jacking up those same taxes, and NOT crippling the medical industry.

Think about the problematic logic this way: If Uncle Sam suddenly seized 100% of every citizen’s assets, would that increase or decrease the budget deficit? Despite the improved budget, would the country be better off?

To put things simply, even if the government were made financially better off by this bill (which it won’t be), the people will be worse off. The people will be forced to buy insurance they didn’t choose while subsidizing all the leeches in society who themselves are also forced to “buy” insurance they didn’t choose. And aside from the usual government waste, the taxpayers will be forced to fund the slaughter of unborn babies. (And if I took the least bit of effort, I could probably list several other troubling issues with this legislation, but suffice it to say all the different, conflicting hidden bills and amendments have confused the heck out of me.) So whether Uncle Sam is better off or not under this socialist scheme, American society will verge on collapse. Think about that, non-partisan CBO!

Obama: Putting the Bully in ‘Bully Pulpit’

Pundits who follow middle east news were saying even before the election that once Obama’s appeasement failed to effectively engage Iran and other thugocracies, that he would turn his attention to bullying Israel.  And so he has.  His recent – and shockingly disingenuous, even for him – interest in Jerusalem real estate is the most recent example.

Issues in which Obama apparently has no interest:

  • Islamic child marriages
  • Gays being executed in Iran
  • Women being stoned or whipped for the crime of having been raped
  • Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel
  • Palestinian desecration of Jewish holy sites
  • Gilad Shalit
  • the non-massacre at Jenin
  • Palestinian television shows for children that glamorize suicide bombing
  • Pallywood propaganda that would make Leni Riefenstahl blush

I could go on, but… you get the idea.  All of those things are less important to him than the entirely legal and normal construction of some apartments in Jerusalem.

Like water, bullies follow the course of least resistance.  When the Islamic thugocracies thumbed their noses at Obama, he turned to Israel as a more attractive target.  Here’s hoping Bibi Netanyahu chooses to stand his ground, both rhetorically and literally.

“You can’t love through the federal government.”

Tom Coburn attempts to educate a single payer advocate, but the part that interested me most: “Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. And you can’t love through the federal government.”


h/t to the blog prof

It does not advance the church’s mission – or increase our individual sanctification – to allow government to do our jobs – Social Justice, For The Glory of Government.

Reposted

From a Federal Republic to a Banana Republic Overnight

I am absolutely sick at the Democrat’s evident intent to ram their healthcare takeover through without even having a proper vote.  They are now planning to just “deem” it passed. Sick with rage – how dare they?  Sick with fear – can they?  Sick with worry – will we, the people, tolerate this?  And if we won’t, what exactly would that look like?  It’s that thought that makes me sick with fear. But not, perhaps, as fearful as I will be if we will tolerate it.

This is a naked abuse of power – the likes of which the now-silent moonbats screeched about for eight years of the Bush administration, and he never even came close to this level of abuse of the Constitution.  If they rammed it through by virtue of winning a real vote – they have the majority in both houses, after all – that would be enraging since I so heartily disagree with it, but it would not be blatantly unconstitutional.  If it is “deemed passed”, the legislation itself ceases to be the main problem.  Not that it will not be bad, really bad – the entitlement state is already collapsing.  Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable.  But if they ram through legislation federalizing one-sixth of our economy, allowing government to essentially make public utilities of formerly private companies, and to dig this deeply into each citizen’s daily life without having a real vote, then that means that Congress has entirely abdicated our current system of government.   We will have gone from a federal republic to a banana republic overnight.

It doesn’t help that I’m also sick in a more mundane way – physically ill. My head is splitting, I can hardly breathe and my throat is so sore it’s difficult to speak.  So doubtless that’s contributing to my discouragement level.  But apart from that, this is truly sickening.

If the time for talk is over, why don’t Dems shut up?

President Obama is fond of announcing that “the time for talk is over.”  (Shut up, he explained.)  Just one question.  If the time for talk is over, why don’t they shut their yaps and vote already?  Oh, right… it’s because they don’t have the votes they need to ram this monstrosity down our collective throat.  Yet.  They know they’re going to be beaten like a rented mule in November, regardless of whether it passes.  They know it’s going to be a long, long time before voters welcome them back.  So for the foreseeable future, this is their only chance to expand government power, and they’re desperate to take it.  It would be funny, if it weren’t so pathetic and scary.

God and Dog

Okay, we can get a dog now.

(HT: David Heddle at He Lives)

Stem Cells Work

It’s working right now.  Some doctors in Colorado – sans FDA approval, because they don’t need it for what they’re doing – are helping people avoid surgery and drastically improving their lives right now.  And they don’t have to kill a single baby to do it.

They’ve treated 348+ patients with 800+ injections and show no signs of slowing down. According to RSI’s own surveys, 89% of their knee patients showed marked improvement, as did 75% of their hip patients! Within months some patients can walk or run in ways they haven’t been able to in years.

Simply amazing:

Faster, please.

 

Do Christians care about Muslim attacks?

In the last week or so, we’ve seen attacks by Muslims against Christians in the Phillipines, Pakistan, Iraq, and Nigeria.  Media coverage has been disingenuous, failing to note the religious motivations behind the attacks, and shifting blame onto the victims to at least some extent.  John at Powerline wonders if Christians care that our brothers and sisters in Christ are being slaughtered.

No doubt readers can refer us to some Christian sources–evangelical, most likely–who have tried to draw attention to the plight of Christians in Africa, the Middle East and Asia who are being exterminated. But any such effort has wholly failed to gain traction in the “mainstream” Christian community.

I think I understand what John means – why hasn’t mainstream Christianity mobilized with the enthusiasm and energy they – we – express when someone has the temerity to call a Christmas tree a “holiday tree?”  (Don’t even get me started on how silly that is.)  Why isn’t the AFA boycotting someone over this?  I have no idea.  Speaking for myself – which is all I’m qualified to do – yes, I care.  But lacking the ability to do anything but pray, I’m not sure what my response should be.  I haven’t got any particular sources which would enable me to add  to the knowledge about these attacks.  It seems pointless to build a website about it – if I have something to say I can post it here or in the Greenroom at Hot Air.  I don’t know anybody I can give money to help these people, and I’m not sure money would even help.  I’ve told people, and they’re also praying, and really, that’s the best thing – and probably the extent – of what I can do.