Posts
Yet Another Accused Transgender Murderer
1 hour ago
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Debt: Outrageous Numbers
Cal Thomas defines the reality of the debt numbers for the future. Outrageous Numbers
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Our Lagging "Educational" System
You don't need a dictator to make you feel queasy about the manipulation of children. The mindset that sees children in school as an opportunity for teachers to impose their own notions, instead of developing the child's ability to think for himself or herself, is a dangerous distortion of education. Too many "educators" see teaching not as a responsibility to the students but as an opportunity for themselves-- whether to indoctrinate a captive audience with the teacher's ideology, manipulate them in social experiments or just do fun things that make teaching easier, whether or not it really educates the child. So says Thomas Sowell in his article: A Letter from a Child
Kevin Jennings - Not Fit For Schools Czar
What Obama was thinking when he appointed Kevin Jennings as "safe Schools" czar, no one knows. Perhaps Obama knew nothing about this man which is an indictment against his leadership ability. You do not want Kevin Jennings anywhere near the schools your children are in. He is the type of person the laws should protect the children against. Read this article and you will be deeply concerned for your children if Kevin remains in this job. Commies, Fascists and Perverts, Oh My!
Contract From America
Tea Party Patriots has set up a site for every American to have access for their opinions on how to improve our government. The intention is to develop a contract of 10 ideas that we can point to in selecting our candidates for the election in 2010. Go to this website, register and give them your opinion. Take an active part in shaping the future of the good ole USA. Contract From America Site
PJTV Interview
PJTV Interview
Sheriff Joe: Wings Clipped
Sheriff Arpaio of Arizona, long a successful enforcer of our immigration laws, has again been restricted by the Obama Administration. By limiting the sheriff to only "jail checks", the administration is taking away "field arrest" authority, thus limiting his effectiveness. Sheriff Joe vows to forge ahead using Arizona State laws and if the Feds don't take the illegals he rounds up, he will ship them to the border himself. Keep up the good work Joe. Immigration Hard-Liner Has His Wings Clipped
The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act
When we should be encouraging small businesses to expand, Congress wants to burden them with regulations, the complexity of which will discourage new start ups and force many to close up shop due to the cost of compliance. Another Sarbanes-Oxley: Threatening Small Businesses with the "Beneficial" Ownership Bill
The Relation of Complexity Theory to Politics
In this article explaining the Complexity Theory and relating it to the current political climate, the author makes a good case that the sands are shifting and the populist is restless. There may be a new order developing that neither current Democrats or Republicans will be able to control. The Shifting Political Sand Pile
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Dollar - No Longer The World Currency
Deficits do have consequences. The strength of the U.S. Dollar, due to deficits and unchecked spending by Obama and the Congress, is in question and the rest of the world is fearful that their reserves will be eaten away by unchecked inflation. The demise of the dollar
ACLU - Religion Under Assault
The ACLU is at it again, supporting a nutcase that is objecting to a cross in the middle of the Mojave Dessert. Voters Seeing Red Over ACLU Attack
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Bush Years - Not So Conservative
This article by Vasko Kohlmayer at The American Thinker dissects the Bush years and the assault on the Federal deficit and Conservative principles during those years. Were we all lulled into thinking that a Republican President would fight to protect our liberties and practice fiscal restraint?
As the article states: It is becoming increasingly clear that the main problem facing this country is the growing state. It is threatening to smother this nation as it usurps ever more of our income and liberties while all the while it spends with insatiable abandon. We must admit that we bear a share of blame for the current situation. Let us resolve to never again become heedless of the danger of statism at home. Let us stay vigilant and remember Ronald Reagan's maxim: "Government is the problem, not the solution." They Call us Leftists By Vasko Kohlmayer
As the article states: It is becoming increasingly clear that the main problem facing this country is the growing state. It is threatening to smother this nation as it usurps ever more of our income and liberties while all the while it spends with insatiable abandon. We must admit that we bear a share of blame for the current situation. Let us resolve to never again become heedless of the danger of statism at home. Let us stay vigilant and remember Ronald Reagan's maxim: "Government is the problem, not the solution." They Call us Leftists By Vasko Kohlmayer
Specialized Health Courts - Tort Reform
"The most promising proposal is to send malpractice suits to specialized health courts with expert judges and no juries." This was written by Stuart Taylor in an article in National Journal Magazine.
Considerations, similar to those enumerated in his article, explain why we already have specialized courts without juries for vaccine liability, workers' compensation, bankruptcy, and tax cases. To make health care available and affordable for everyone, we need tort reform to eliminate the need for defensive medicine and allow doctors to do what they have been trained to do efficiently. Wasting Billions, Doing Injustice
Considerations, similar to those enumerated in his article, explain why we already have specialized courts without juries for vaccine liability, workers' compensation, bankruptcy, and tax cases. To make health care available and affordable for everyone, we need tort reform to eliminate the need for defensive medicine and allow doctors to do what they have been trained to do efficiently. Wasting Billions, Doing Injustice
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Health Care Reform - An Educated Response
This article is well worth the time it takes to read it. I only wish our Congress would do so.
Gerald E. Harmon, MD, FAAFP: Health care reform
Congress and the Administration consider and pass hundreds of pieces of legislation and rulings annually and it is intriguing to note what captures the most attention of the media and the electorate.
We are quite used to our political leaders addressing international relations, national defense, etc., but we always pay the most attention when the legislators discuss very personal issues such as changes in taxes, changing and expanding the role of the federal government, or changes in health care.
Health care reform actually covers all these issues -- it affects our taxes, it potentially greatly expands the role of the federal government, and it sure is very personal.
So no surprise that everyone gets nervous and quite interested in Congress as they consider changing the system. And the need to change the system is undeniable -- the current course is not sustainable financially.
The real problem before America right now is how much of the system to change immediately (if any) and how much change needs to be incremental with significant discussion and debate and a realization of the short and long-term effects of our actions.
If there were enough resources/money available to cover our needs and commitments we would not be having the current debate.
However, we have a "perfect storm" of conditions moving us inexorable to reconfigure the health care industry in America.
We have an aging population demographic, a marked reduction in the primary care infrastructure of our system, an epidemic of unhealthy lifestyles highlighted by obesity and inactivity, and what can only be described as overconsumption if not exploitation of existing health care funding.
If those storm conditions were not bad enough consider that we find ourselves in a huge economic downturn so our resources are even more strained with an increased demand for capacity that does not exist.
What can we do quickly now and more deliberately later? There are some pretty straightforward answers that have been studied and proposed by smart people for many years and I think they deserve serious attention.
Even using the most favorable budget numbers from the Congressional Budget Office the leading proposals from Congress (HR 3200 and the Senate Finance Committee wording) increase the tax burden on Americans by almost $1 trillion-this change itself is unsustainable and cannot be seriously supported by our voters.
Let's take smaller bites at this apple and work at a viable solution over time.
For instance, it may be a "bridge too far" to attempt to provide universal coverage for all uninsured citizens -- many of the 47 million number that are frequently quoted as being uninsured would remain without viable health care funding under almost any legislative proposal now before Congress and yet the expenditures would be hundreds of billions of dollars for little gain.
We can, however, provide advanceable, refundable tax credits to families and individuals who meet economic criteria such as 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, and allow those credits to be used to purchase health care coverage.
Estimates are that we could reduce the numbers of uninsured by as much as 20 percent using this straightforward method and yet the overall impact on taxpayer obligation would be minimal.
We must face the fact that expanding health insurance for folks will not necessarily increase access to care.
Our nation has allowed our Primary Care safety net (family physicians, internists, pediatricians, obstetricians, etc.) to suffer marked reductions in staffing and we find ourselves critically short of those professionals.
Massachusetts many years ago expanded health care coverage to all its citizens and found the state unable to provide even minimal primary care for those newly covered.
Many of the bills currently in Congress pay lip service to more primary care doctors but really offer no meaningful resourcing to achieving the goal, instead using nondescript terminology such as "quality improvement" and "pay for performance" to indicate that providers can be enticed to enter primary care fields with the expectation of higher rewards somewhere down the line of government funding.
Furthermore, we can make health care insurance more affordable if we allow transparency in policy pricing and coverage across state lines and allow high risk pools that provide coverage for pre-existing conditions to be formed nationally-this has been done in 35 states successfully with funding for the pools from multiple sources, including fees on insurance providers and agencies that market in the states.
And if we allow federal anti-trust relief then health care providers such as physicians and hospitals can openly market their prices to the consumers and the health insurance companies and allow free market pressures to drive many prices down.
Currently, it is against federal law for individual doctors, practices, or hospitals to have even informal discussions about fees so there is little change of competition for market share or reduction in costs to the consumer.
And although many in Congress and the President have openly spoken against true Medical Liability Reform it cannot be denied that a large amount of our health care resources are devoted to what we call "defensive medicine" where testing and investigation and even some treatment is driven by the fear of litigation rather than by a clearly defined benefit for the patient.
Existing federal law mandates medical care and evaluation for patients who present to our nation's emergency rooms yet it does not resource that care nor does it provide any liability relief for any subsequent allegations of bad medicine or even unpreventable bad outcomes in an imperfect system.
Some reasonable estimates of the cost of such truly unnecessary medical care run as high as 180 billion dollars annually.
Even if we saved only half of that amount we would realize a savings of 900 billion dollars over the next decade if we considered real liability reform efforts such as medical courts, loser pays, etc.
Eventually we can enact some of the more far-reaching ideas contained in the draft legislation from Congress and the Senate-such things as mandated Electronic Medical Records, as Comparative Effectiveness Research, and rewards for health lifestyles and preventive medicine.
And we certainly need to address strategies to strengthen the existing Medicare program including the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Supplementary Medical Trust Funds that resource Medicare A (hospital inpatient) and Medicare B and D (doctor and outpatient charges, durable medical equipment, and pharmacy) commitments respectively.
All of the considerations outlined here have been touched upon in some form at town hall meetings, in editorials of leading newspapers, and in many Congressional hearings and committees.
The current health care "crisis" did not occur over a short period of time but rather over decades and the crisis deserves a measured attempt at management and reconciliation, not a hastily configured attempt at a long-term fix such as currently proposed by the Senate Finance Committee (that chaired by Senator Baucus) or by the 1000+ page House legislation known as HR 3200.
Let us take an incremental approach that will not markedly expand the role of the federal government and that will reduce health care expenditures in the short term while establishing qualified studies and commissions/committees to seriously address long term solutions bereft of traditional partisan politics that serve only those currently in power.
My patients -- my American colleagues and taxpayers-- deserve such a measured and thoughtful approach.
Let us not allow the mantra of "never let a crisis go to waste" to force bad legislation upon us.
Gerald E. Harmon, MD, FAAFP, Pawleys Island
Past President, SC Medical Association
Member, Council on Medic
Gerald E. Harmon, MD, FAAFP: Health care reform
Congress and the Administration consider and pass hundreds of pieces of legislation and rulings annually and it is intriguing to note what captures the most attention of the media and the electorate.
We are quite used to our political leaders addressing international relations, national defense, etc., but we always pay the most attention when the legislators discuss very personal issues such as changes in taxes, changing and expanding the role of the federal government, or changes in health care.
Health care reform actually covers all these issues -- it affects our taxes, it potentially greatly expands the role of the federal government, and it sure is very personal.
So no surprise that everyone gets nervous and quite interested in Congress as they consider changing the system. And the need to change the system is undeniable -- the current course is not sustainable financially.
The real problem before America right now is how much of the system to change immediately (if any) and how much change needs to be incremental with significant discussion and debate and a realization of the short and long-term effects of our actions.
If there were enough resources/money available to cover our needs and commitments we would not be having the current debate.
However, we have a "perfect storm" of conditions moving us inexorable to reconfigure the health care industry in America.
We have an aging population demographic, a marked reduction in the primary care infrastructure of our system, an epidemic of unhealthy lifestyles highlighted by obesity and inactivity, and what can only be described as overconsumption if not exploitation of existing health care funding.
If those storm conditions were not bad enough consider that we find ourselves in a huge economic downturn so our resources are even more strained with an increased demand for capacity that does not exist.
What can we do quickly now and more deliberately later? There are some pretty straightforward answers that have been studied and proposed by smart people for many years and I think they deserve serious attention.
Even using the most favorable budget numbers from the Congressional Budget Office the leading proposals from Congress (HR 3200 and the Senate Finance Committee wording) increase the tax burden on Americans by almost $1 trillion-this change itself is unsustainable and cannot be seriously supported by our voters.
Let's take smaller bites at this apple and work at a viable solution over time.
For instance, it may be a "bridge too far" to attempt to provide universal coverage for all uninsured citizens -- many of the 47 million number that are frequently quoted as being uninsured would remain without viable health care funding under almost any legislative proposal now before Congress and yet the expenditures would be hundreds of billions of dollars for little gain.
We can, however, provide advanceable, refundable tax credits to families and individuals who meet economic criteria such as 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, and allow those credits to be used to purchase health care coverage.
Estimates are that we could reduce the numbers of uninsured by as much as 20 percent using this straightforward method and yet the overall impact on taxpayer obligation would be minimal.
We must face the fact that expanding health insurance for folks will not necessarily increase access to care.
Our nation has allowed our Primary Care safety net (family physicians, internists, pediatricians, obstetricians, etc.) to suffer marked reductions in staffing and we find ourselves critically short of those professionals.
Massachusetts many years ago expanded health care coverage to all its citizens and found the state unable to provide even minimal primary care for those newly covered.
Many of the bills currently in Congress pay lip service to more primary care doctors but really offer no meaningful resourcing to achieving the goal, instead using nondescript terminology such as "quality improvement" and "pay for performance" to indicate that providers can be enticed to enter primary care fields with the expectation of higher rewards somewhere down the line of government funding.
Furthermore, we can make health care insurance more affordable if we allow transparency in policy pricing and coverage across state lines and allow high risk pools that provide coverage for pre-existing conditions to be formed nationally-this has been done in 35 states successfully with funding for the pools from multiple sources, including fees on insurance providers and agencies that market in the states.
And if we allow federal anti-trust relief then health care providers such as physicians and hospitals can openly market their prices to the consumers and the health insurance companies and allow free market pressures to drive many prices down.
Currently, it is against federal law for individual doctors, practices, or hospitals to have even informal discussions about fees so there is little change of competition for market share or reduction in costs to the consumer.
And although many in Congress and the President have openly spoken against true Medical Liability Reform it cannot be denied that a large amount of our health care resources are devoted to what we call "defensive medicine" where testing and investigation and even some treatment is driven by the fear of litigation rather than by a clearly defined benefit for the patient.
Existing federal law mandates medical care and evaluation for patients who present to our nation's emergency rooms yet it does not resource that care nor does it provide any liability relief for any subsequent allegations of bad medicine or even unpreventable bad outcomes in an imperfect system.
Some reasonable estimates of the cost of such truly unnecessary medical care run as high as 180 billion dollars annually.
Even if we saved only half of that amount we would realize a savings of 900 billion dollars over the next decade if we considered real liability reform efforts such as medical courts, loser pays, etc.
Eventually we can enact some of the more far-reaching ideas contained in the draft legislation from Congress and the Senate-such things as mandated Electronic Medical Records, as Comparative Effectiveness Research, and rewards for health lifestyles and preventive medicine.
And we certainly need to address strategies to strengthen the existing Medicare program including the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Supplementary Medical Trust Funds that resource Medicare A (hospital inpatient) and Medicare B and D (doctor and outpatient charges, durable medical equipment, and pharmacy) commitments respectively.
All of the considerations outlined here have been touched upon in some form at town hall meetings, in editorials of leading newspapers, and in many Congressional hearings and committees.
The current health care "crisis" did not occur over a short period of time but rather over decades and the crisis deserves a measured attempt at management and reconciliation, not a hastily configured attempt at a long-term fix such as currently proposed by the Senate Finance Committee (that chaired by Senator Baucus) or by the 1000+ page House legislation known as HR 3200.
Let us take an incremental approach that will not markedly expand the role of the federal government and that will reduce health care expenditures in the short term while establishing qualified studies and commissions/committees to seriously address long term solutions bereft of traditional partisan politics that serve only those currently in power.
My patients -- my American colleagues and taxpayers-- deserve such a measured and thoughtful approach.
Let us not allow the mantra of "never let a crisis go to waste" to force bad legislation upon us.
Gerald E. Harmon, MD, FAAFP, Pawleys Island
Past President, SC Medical Association
Member, Council on Medic
Nobody Likes Us? Who Cares?
An Op-Ed piece in the NYT today tracks the historical popularity of the USA through the eyes of the Europeans. The article concludes that our popularity decreases as our strength increases and envy sets in.
It appears that Obama's penchant for apologizing and running our economy into the ground is working (except for the Olympics), the popularity of the USA is rising. Nobody Likes Us? Who Cares?
It appears that Obama's penchant for apologizing and running our economy into the ground is working (except for the Olympics), the popularity of the USA is rising. Nobody Likes Us? Who Cares?
Friday, October 2, 2009
Obama's Way Around Cap & Trade
NYT article showing how Obama tends to get around Congress if Cap & Trade is not passed. E.P.A. Moves to Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions
What Obama Should Say To Iran
Talk about Iran and the inevitable question comes up, what can we do. The answer usually come down to two divergent viewpoints: 1. the military option 2. sanctions.
Recognizing the internal uprising after the last rigged election in Iran, it appears that there is considerable unrest and a hunger for more freedom throughout the country. Maybe some open support for their cause could awaken enough people for them to solve the problem from within.
This is a sample of what President Obama could say. What Obama Should Say To Iran
Recognizing the internal uprising after the last rigged election in Iran, it appears that there is considerable unrest and a hunger for more freedom throughout the country. Maybe some open support for their cause could awaken enough people for them to solve the problem from within.
This is a sample of what President Obama could say. What Obama Should Say To Iran
Employee Free Choice Act - Misnomer
Obama and the Democrats are bowing to their supporters, the labor unions, in proposing the Employee Free Choice Act, which is now being discussed in Congress. This article, by The Ayn Rand Center says it all. Read it here.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Taxpayers Help Soros Drill For Oil - In Brazil
On August 23rd, when I reported on the $2 Billion loan guarantee to The Brazilian Oil Company and the double standard it sets, I was unaware of Obama's friend and benefactor, George Soros's huge investment in the company. Read Obama Helps Soros Drill Oil In Brazil
One of my friends sent me the following:
: Another unbelievable fact
This is a perfect example why I refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN or NSNBC. Fox was the only news to report this (20 Aug 2009).
"Today even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for oil for this country. He signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil. The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and not the USA. The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil". We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever.
Wait it gets more interesting.
Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American Billionaire, George Soros, Liberal businessman who is a radical left wing supporter, finances MoveOn.org as well as other liberal programs and was President Obama's largest and most generous supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was on any of the other news networks.
Forward this factual e-mail to others who care about this country and where it is going. I did not think this was the type of change Obama meant. Also, let all of your Government representatives know how you feel about this. I wonder what President Obama is getting out of this?.....
One of my friends sent me the following:
: Another unbelievable fact
This is a perfect example why I refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN or NSNBC. Fox was the only news to report this (20 Aug 2009).
"Today even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for oil for this country. He signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil. The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and not the USA. The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil". We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever.
Wait it gets more interesting.
Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American Billionaire, George Soros, Liberal businessman who is a radical left wing supporter, finances MoveOn.org as well as other liberal programs and was President Obama's largest and most generous supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was on any of the other news networks.
Forward this factual e-mail to others who care about this country and where it is going. I did not think this was the type of change Obama meant. Also, let all of your Government representatives know how you feel about this. I wonder what President Obama is getting out of this?.....
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