The National Review had an interesting editorial the other day entitled "Calling Doctor Rudy". They argue that although Mitt Romney's health care proposal and Rudy's are both superior to anything the Democrats have offered, they think Giuliani's is superior to Romney's. It's an editorial well worth reading.
Funny how we really haven't heard a lot about this little fundraising mishap. It seems Hillary took thousands of dollars from Norman Hsu, who just happens to have an outstanding felony arrest warrant in California. Mr. Hsu failed to appear in court for sentencing in a fraud scheme more than 15 years ago.
John Hawkins, writing for Townhall says it is time to get over Katrina. He argues that people lose their homes in this country every day of the year, in various natural and man made disasters, yet no one sits around and worries about someone who lost their home two years ago. Mr. Hawkins also argues that nobody is owed a living for the rest of his life because he had a bad break two years ago. What do you think? Is John Hawkins right? Is it time for the people of New Orleans to get over it and move on?
The New York Times has a really scary story about a vast spider web crawling with million of spiders that is spreading across several acres of a North Texas park. As a person who is terrified of spiders, this is surely a place that I never want to visit.
Ten Minute Misconduct has a cool story about a possible Chupacabra being found in Texas. Don't ask me what the heck it is. I read the story and still don't know, but the people in Texas and Pete do. Check it out.
When I first heard this story being discussed on a talk radio show, it sounded like the United States was going to turn any Mexican truck driver who wanted to come, loose on our highways. Well, it's not quite that bad. Under the 1994 NAFTA agreement broader access for ground shipments from Mexico and the United States was approved. The Clinton administration never bothered to comply with the provisions of NAFTA, but a special tribunal ordered the Bush administration to do so in 2001. Under the pilot program that will go into effect this weekend Mexican long haul trucking companies that have met safety, licensing, and other US requirements will be allowed to operate their rigs throughout the country. The United States will have the same rights in Mexico. It seems to me that this is a bad time to be starting a pilot program in this country that has anything to do with immigration.
Jonathan Weisman and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, two liberal journalists, have an article in today's Post that unfortunately spells out the problems facing the Senate GOP. The article points out that there are 22 seats to defend, very little campaign cash, and now two open seats, in Virginia and Colorado. Also up in the air is the seat in Nebraska, because Chuck Hagel hasn't announced whether he will retire or not. The only Democratic targets for the Republicans are the seats of Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Tim Johnson of South Dakota. It seems unlikely that Republicans will lose enough seats to give the Democrats the 60 Senators they need to have a veto proof majority, but they will probably lose a few more seats.
Now comes the information that John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, and Joe Biden have pledged to boycott states that break party rules by holding early primaries. I think the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman, Karen Thurman said it best "A pact to ignore tens of millions of diverse Americans by a selfish, four-state alliance of party insiders." Notice that so far Hillary Clinton hasn't signed the pledge.
The Associated Press has an interesting article about the GOP race for President. The AP points out that the entry into the race on September 6 will reconfigure the race. They also offer an excellent analysis of the key primary states.
The New York Times is reporting that Senator Fred Thompson is planning to air a 30 second advertisement that will be carried by FOX just as viewers are tuning in to watch the debate on September 5, 2007. It should be very interesting.
Culbertson Elementary School in Pennsylvania decided that it was ok for kindergarten students to invite their parents to read books about witches, but not ok to invite their parents to read the Bible. It seems a kindergarten class was given an assignment in which parents were invited to read their child's favorite book. One child was denied permission to have his Mother read a Bible story. The United States District Court sided with the school's decision. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund has submitted amicus briefs in the pending legal action. It will be interesting to see the final outcome in this matter. My thanks to River West for this article.
Just a few minutes ago, Senator Larry Craig resigned as Idaho's Senator. Senator Craig apologized to his family, the people of Idaho and his Senate colleagues. He made no admission of guilt, but did say that he intends to fight the charges and can't do so as a Senator. It is a sad day for all Republicans, but the right thing for Senator Craig to do.
Dr. Bill Frist keeps one of the busiest schedules that a human being can keep. The thing that amazes me is that he never seems to get tired. He just returned this week from Bangladesh, working with Save the Children and Thursday he spent the day in South Carolina working with One Vote 08. He is an incredible humanitarian.
Ed Morrissey has the transcript of Fred Thompson's press conference from the Minnesota State Fair on Monday, August 27, 2007. Ed also has some thoughts about Fred getting into the race.
The Washington Post first reported it, but Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarter really calls it right: "Harry Getting Desperate" As Captain Ed reports Reid now realizes that the coming weeks will be one of the last opportunities to alter the course of the war. Could it be because Petraeus is going to report good news when he gives his report to Congress? Anyhow, Harry Reid is now admitting that his stance this summer, when he ruled out any compromise with Republicans didn't work. So now, Harry wants to reach out to Republicans and invite them to join the Democrats. Will it work this time? Hopefully not.
There is a new Zogby poll out. According to Zogby, 54 percent of Americans believe Iraq is not a lost cause. Wonder where the media is on this one. Funny the New York Times hasn't reported this poll. Have you seen it anywhere?
Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Center appeared last night on Hannity & Colmes. He talked about the study done by MRC showing that from January through July, the three major networks morning shows devoted nearly twice the time to stories about, and interviews with Democratic over Republican presidential candidates.
Mike Huckabee appears to be gaining support in Iowa and across the Country. He has been calling himself the "real conservative" and after his second place finish in Iowa, he appears to be moving up in the polls. Of course, Fred Thompson hasn't officially gotten in the race. It will be interesting to see where Huckabee stands in October and November.
Big Lizards has another terrific article, this one about what one lowly county judge in Iowa did to the Iowa state legislature. Judge Robert Hanson overturned a nine-year old Iowa law and went against the opinion of a majority of Iowans and said that same sex marriage is permissible in Iowa, basically because he feels compassion for gays who cannot wed. Seems to me the Judge's job in this case was merely to determine whether the law that has been in existence in Iowa for nine years is valid. Nothing else. This is what happens when we get activist judges. They forget what their job is.
Well, the WWE (for those of you who are uninitiated, WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment) has finally taken action against some of its wrestlers who have evidently failed drug tests for steroids. It seems to me that they are about 50 wrestler deaths too late.
The Associated Press is reporting that Senator Larry Craig spent Friday making phone calls to Republican officials across the country to gauge their support for him, and finding none, has made the decision to resign his Senate seat effective September 30. A sad ending but a necessary one.
Big Lizards has a great blog titled "Next Time, Listen to Your Mother". The gist of the article is that it is never a good idea to cut a deal with terrorist hostage-takers. Specifically he is talking about the deal worked out between South Korea and the Taliban militants.
Larry Craig is under increasing pressure to resign his Senate seat immediately. The pressure is coming from the Republican Senate Leadership and the RNC. Senator Craig needs to heed their advice.
Senator John Warner, Republican of Virginia, has announced that he will not run for re-election.
Dear Friends,
On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, there will also be a National House Party, during which there will be a conference call with Fred.
We enter this campaign in a strong position. Fred is consistently near the top in the polls, and conservatives across the country have put together the closest thing to a draft in recent presidential campaign history in an effort to bring about this day. The next few weeks will only serve to build upon those efforts, with house parties, visits to the early primary states, and a homecoming in Lawrenceburg, TN on the 15th. To view the dates and locations of Fred's bus tour, please click here, and check back soon for more information on attending one of these events.
By announcing via webcast, Fred is able to take his consistently mainstream conservative message directly to the voters, who are already responding to that message with a strong upwelling of grassroots support. The webcast and the following campaign tour will play to Fred’s strengths, a consistent record of conservatism, his ability to clearly spread his message, and his ability to work with and connect with Americans from all walks of life. Be apart of this historic occasion by signing up to host or attend a house party today.
Sincerely,
Bill Lacy
Manager, Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.
The Washington Post reports that terrorism policies are splitting the Democrats. There are a lot of things that the Democrats are divided about, so I'm not surprised that this is on their list.
Robert Novak tells us who the contenders are to replace Alberto Gonzales. He also tells us why he was no fan of Mr. Gonzales.
An anti-war group, America Stands Watch, has announced that they will demonstrate in the Senate and House galleries. Shame on them.
Florida Democrats issued a strong statement saying they will go to court to try to prevent the DNC from stripping them of their delegates because of their early primary. The DNC is probably legally correct, but they should take into consideration that the Florida state Democratic party has nothing to say about the scheduled date of the primary.
John Warner will announce tomorrow whether or not he intends to run for re-election. Warner will hold a 2 p.m. press conference to make the announcement. With all the bad things happening to the Republican party these days, I fully expect him to announce that he will run again.
My friend River West has written a timely and important article about America and it's never ending battle with obesity. If River gets her way, we will all end up healthy River has posted her article on Senator Frist's blog Volpac. Good for River.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR BY RIVER WEST
We recently learned that 2/3 of USA citizens are obese. Never a time like the present to begin correcting that problem. After all you already know what health risks come with being overweight so no need wasting either my time writing or your time reading repeating them.....
To start at the beginning find you weight and height in the left-most column and read across the row for that height to the weight of interest. Follow the column of the weight up to the top row that lists the BMI. BMI of 18.5-24.9 is the healthy weight range, BMI of 25-29.9 is the overweight range, and BMI of 30 and above is in the obese range:
ch3fig2 2weightchart.jpg
(click here to view the chart)
Now you know. To maintain body weight in healthy range balance calories from foods and beverages with calories expended. To prevent gradual weight gain over time make smaller decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity.....Get preventive screenings and make healthy choices....
At least choose to move your body every day and select the foods recommended. 2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups ( nine servings) of vegetable per day. Consume 3 or more oz of whole grain products per day and lastly drink 3 cups per day of fat free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk product.
Ever wonder what is in your food? Here is a chart of Vitamins A, C, Folate , Potassium, E, Iron and Calcium.
A = bright orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes/and products, red sweet pepper, leafy green such as spinach, collards, turnips greens, kale beets, mustard greens, green leafy lettuce and romaine. Orange fruits like mango, cantaloupe, apricots and red/pink grapefruit are good for you.
C = citrus fruits and juices, kiwi, strawberries, guava, papaya and more cantaloupe. Broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage (especially Chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, and potatoes, more leafy greens. You know the routine.
Folate = cooked dry beans and peas, oranges/oj, deep green leaves like spinach and mustard greens.
Potassium = (makes your neurons fire so you can run and jump and think) cranberries and cranberry juice, baked white/sweet potatoes, cooked greens, winter squash (orange), bananas, plantains, dried fruits, oj, cantaloupe / honey dew melons, cooked dry beans, soybeans, tomato products, beet greens.
Whole Grain = Wheat flour is much more healthy than enriched white flour. Wheat flour includes more dietary fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and iron. Besides breads think wild rice. oatmeal, buckwheat rye, millet, sorghum and popcorn too.
E = ready to eat cereals, sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, pine and brazil nuts, peanut butter, tomato puree/sauce, avocado, carrot juice, dandelion greens and more spinach, sardine, crab and herring. Cooking oils like olive (extra light in pancake and cake batter works great) , corn, peanut and canola are good for you.
Iron = clams, oysters, organ meats, instant cooked and ready to eat cereals, soybean, pumpkin/squash seeds, white beans, blackstrap molasses, lentils, spinach, kidney beans, sardines, chickpeas, duck, lamb, beef, ground beef, prune juice, and shrimp.
Calcium = if it looks like a cow and walks like a cow and sloshes like a cow eat and drink it.....also sardines, tofu, pink salmon, collards, molasses, spinach, soybeans, turnip greens, perch, oatmeal, white beans, kale, okra, blue crab. rainbow trout, yogurt, all cheese, and milk.
Did you know if only 10% of citizens walked regularly America could save $5.6 billion in costs related to heart disease.....so select exercises that fit your pace but include 1) increasing your heart rate, 2) stretching for flexibility and 3) range of motion, 4) muscular strength, and muscle endurance. The latter could include playing tag with the kids, decorating a Christmas tree, yard work, dancing, walking, jogging and/or bicycling.
I neither mentioned cutting back on tobacco product nor for goodness sakes stopping substance abuse. Dont have to do I? You know.
No moaning! Think American ingenuity – think creatively when planning your daily activities and menus.....
Here you go now. and a one and a two and a three and a four and a.....
resource: whitehouse.gov
Republican Senators John McCain and Norm Coleman have called on fellow Senator Larry Craig to resign from the Senate. Both men said that Craig's guilty plea made him unfit to continue serving as Senator.
The Washington Times has an excellent editorial basically telling the Democrats to either give Judge Southwick a vote on the floor of the Senate, or admit to the American people that you won't confirm him because he is a Conservative, which of course, will come back to bite the Democrats.
Poor Larry Craig. It seems like everyone is bailing on him. Even the conservatives that he has counted on in Idaho are saying he needs to go. The Senate leadership has called for an Ethics investigation. Congressman Roekstra has called for him to resign. Most of the conservative blogs are doing the same thing. It's time for Senator Craig to do the right thing and resign.
Do you remember the iceman? He is the 5,000 year old mummy found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991. Originally researchers thought that he had bled to death from an arrow wound. Now researchers, using new forensic information and a CAT scan have determined that the Iceman was killed by blows to the head.
There's an interesting article in the Daytona Beach News Journal about poverty and health insurance. The paper reports that Florida is the third worst state for health insurance. The article also defines what the federal government considers to be poverty in the United States. According to the chart provided by the newspaper shows that in 2006 12.8% of Volusia County residents (my home county) are living in poverty, compared to 12.6% in the state of Florida and 12.3% nationwide.
Well, maybe the RNC is starting to get smart. They have hired a guy named Cyrus Krohn, a veteran of the high tech-industry to help them catch up with the Democrats. Good move.
The Politico is reporting that the Federal Elections Commission has fined a group called America Coming Together (ACT) $775,000 for using unregulated cash to help Democrat candidates during the 2004 elections. It is the third largest enforcement penalty.
TigerHawk has an article about the Katrina reconstruction. He asks the question: Will government's failure make people more self-reliant? This is a conservative idea that has been around for quite awhile. If we rely on the government to take care of us, we lose the ability to take care of ourselves. I don't know if I would go that far. I think government dependency becomes a habit that can be unlearned. TigerHawk asks some interesting questions:
1. will people be less likely to take on risks notwithstanding a subsidized government insurance scheme? style="font-weight:bold;">I believe that people will continue to take those risks, because the American people have a fundamental belief that a disaster can't happen to them.
2. Will they be more likely to rely on themselves to rebuild their houses and their lives notwithstanding the promises of politicians that governments will do it for them? I believe that most Americans expect the government to be there for them when there is a disaster. I don't agree with that philosophy, but I do believe it to be true.
3. Will Americans become more self-reliant because Katrina has taught them that they must be? Again, I believe the answer is no. Despite the lessons of Katrina, the American people have a very short memory span, and will expect the Federal government to rescue them during the next disaster.
Finally, TigerHawk says if you answer no to any of these questions and yet claim to be opposed to "big government" reconcile the inconsistency. This is an easy one. The majority of Americans don't think as I do.
GOP USA has an idea of who the top five contenders are for the Attorney General position being vacated by Alberto Gonzales. I think that the President will take his time making this pick. I don't know if it makes sense to select Michael Chertoff, with a Democratic Congress. That just means we would have two confirmation battles to go through.
I am certainly not a fan of John Warner. I think he should have retired years ago. But Reid Wilson has a good article in Real Clear Politics that explains very clearly, even to me, why we need Warner to hang around for at least another term. Mr. Wilson sees a virtual bloodbath in the Republican primary between former Governor Jim Gilmore and Tom Davis. That could certainly open it up for the Democrats, especially if Mark Warner is the Democratic candidate.
This is another example of the mainstream liberal media trying to rewrite the facts. The headline in the New York Times reads "A Scandal-Scarred G.O.P. Asks, 'What next?'.
The article goes onto quote a political strategist as saying "how low can you go". I have already stated that I think Larry Craig should resign. The Republican Senate Leadership, to their credit, moved quickly on this one, asking the Ethics committee to investigate.
Now the Republican National Committee has joined in the spectacle created by Howard Dean and the DNC. Guess they just couldn't stand to leave it alone. The RNC has announced that they will penalize at least four states holding early primaries by refusing to seat at least half their delegates at the 2008 national convention. The states are New Hampshire, Florida, Michigan and South Carolina.
Big Lizards has a great article about the piece in the New York Times talking about the President's use of Vietnam as an analogy for what would happen if we left Iraq prematurely.
By now almost everyone has red about Afghanistan cultivating 193,000 hectares of opium poppies. So our experts are trying to figure out what we can do to turn this horrible situation into a good situation for the free world. The most prevalent idea I have heard is that the United States or major pharmaceutical companies should buy the opium crop and use it to make legitimate medications. Sounds like a good idea. WRONG. According to Ambassador Thomas Schweich, licensing farmers to grow legalized opium puts Afghanistan in danger of becoming a narco-welfare state. Interesting. One of my favorite blogs Willisms has a good article on this issue.
The Further West has the story on another Clinton fundraising scandal. Check it out.
PennDot (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)says that 12.5% of Pennsylvania's more than 25,000 bridges are in poor enough condition to qualify for state and federal replacement funds. Wonder where other states stand on this?
That's the question Florida Democrats have to be asking themselves. Howard Dean and the DNC have told Florida state Democrat officials that they will forfeit all of their delegates to the 2008 Democratic Convention unless they change the date of the Florida Presidential primary from January 29 to February 5. The problem is the Florida State Legislature, which is controlled by the Republicans set the January date. And they have no intention of changing it. Of course, the Florida state Democratic party can change the date of the Democrats Presidential primary, but it will cost the state Democratic Party millions of dollars, since they will have to absorb all of the costs themselves. Having lived through the Election of 2000 here in Florida, I can't help but feel a little sympathy for the Florida Democrats. They must think they are snake bitten.
Is this a sign of desperate times for Senator John McCain's campaign? On Tuesday McCain became the first presidential candidate to qualify for public funds. This action will quickly put him at a disadvantage since it would cap at about $50 million the amount of cash his campaign can spend during the primary. McCain's camp will try to spin it as a prudent thing to do, but in reality, if his campaign wasn't in trouble they would never have considered accepting public funds.
Senator Larry Craig gave a brief verbal statement in which he said "I am not gay. I never have been gay." Senator Craig, you should have done the right thing and resigned.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and that Iran is ready to step into the breach. Now if that isn't enough to make people understand that we can't just abandon Iraq, nothing will.
Things are not going to get any better for Idaho Senator Larry Craig. It is time for him to resign. The Republican party, and the political process can't afford this kind of publicity involving a public official. The Idaho Statesman has a devastating story about Craig, that in my opinion, makes it highly unlikely that this scandal is going away anytime soon. Senator Craig, do the right thing, give it up.
The Further West really says all there is to say about the ugly incident involving Senator Larry Craig. I agree that he must resign for the good of the party and the Senate.
Idaho Senator Larry Craig, a conservative Republican, was arrested at an airport in Minnesota in June, and plead guilty to a misdemeanor of disorderly conduct. It's an ugly story, and already Hugh Hewitt is calling for the Senator to resign.
Being a non-golfer, with an avid golfer living in the house, I have long been aware that golfers are strange. Now comes this story that golfers are upset because some golf course are requiring them to use golf carts. Down here in Florida, with so many 80 and 90 year olds on the golf course, I can't imagine not making the use of golf carts mandatory. Otherwise, a foursome could take days to finish 18 holes.
According to Ron Kessler, writing for Newsmax, Alberto Gonzales resignation clears the way for President Bush to push his agenda without distractions.
There is a very lengthy and very intriguing article in Real Clear Politics entitled "Three Centuries of American Declinism" by Alan Dowd. The article is well worth taking the time to read. Mr. Dowd points out that declinism has a strange way of rearing its head when the United States is at the peak of its power. He takes us through the history of the country and explains why he feels we are no closer today to seeing the decline of America than we were in the 50's or 60's or 70's.
The National Review has a fascinating article by Robert Rector, senior research fellow in domestic policy studies at the Heritage Foundation about John Edwards and his poverty issue. According to Mr. Rector, Edwards has claimed that poverty in America is "a plague which forces 37 million Americans to live in terrible circumstances." Edwards also claims that "one in eight Americans lack enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need." According to Mr. Rector, the Census Bureau will release its annual report on poverty in America on Tuesday and there are some amazing facts that seemingly rebut much of what Edwards claims. For example, according to Mr. Rector and the Census Bureau 46% of all poor households actually own their own homes. 80% of poor households have air conditioning. Only 6% of poor households are overcrowded. 75% own a car, 31% own two or more cars, 97% have a color tv, and over half own two or more color tvs. Check out the full article by Mr. Rector. As he says, of course poverty exists in the United States, but much of it can be reduced.
Neal Boortz has responded to the column in the Wall Street Journal by Bruce Bartlett entitled "Fair Tax, Flawed Tax". Boortz makes several important points rebutting what Bartlett had to say. Read his entire article, and let me know what you think.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the federal deficit is shrinking significantly. The editorial gives credit for this to the Bush tax cuts.
I have spent the last several hours poring over Mitt Romney's health care proposal. Preliminarily, I seriously question the figure that I keep hearing that there are 45 million uninsured Americans. I believe that number to be extremely high, and would suspect that the number is closer to 35 million. Admittedly, even that figure is much too high. So, with that caveat, what does Governor Romney propose?
Basically, according to the Boston Globe, his plan consists of four parts:
1. The federal government must create an environment in which private health care insurers can expand;
Romney doesn’t really say how he proposes to accomplish this. For example, what kind of tax incentives, or business credits does he propose to offer to make private health care insurance a profitable business for the major insurance companies?
Republican administrations are traditionally inclined to be friendly to businesses. That is certainly not a bad thing. But it would seem to me, that the major objective in creating a business friendly environment is to find a way to get health care costs under control. That certainly doesn’t mean that I am implying that socialized medicine is the way to go. Nothing could be further from the truth. I favor a free market because I believe that competition will drive health care costs down in a fair and meaningful way. But, as long as hospitals charge $25.00 for a single aspirin and $30.00 for a band aid, it will be impossible for insurers to be competitive at lower rates. The same thing holds true for doctors.
2. The federal government will help states lower premiums by deregulating the insurance industry:
Absent any more information than this, it is impossible for me to comprehend what the Governor is talking about. Deregulating the insurance industry as a general proposition would be a major mistake in my opinion. If Mr. Romney is thinking of deregulation of the insurance industry regarding the types of medical plans they can offer and the circumstances under which they can offer them, I would certainly favor that. In a free market competition is the key. The insurance industry can become competitive without completely deregulating the industry.
3. Make tax changes - so that everyone can use pretax dollars to buy coverage;
Of course tax changes must be made. But, in my opinion, Mr. Romney makes the same mistake that so many politicians make. If the idea is to provide a way to make healthcare insurance available to everyone, then tax changes won’t work. Most people who do not have healthcare coverage don’t have it because their priorities are such that healthcare insurance is not a top tier priority. Giving these people a tax break, and making pretax dollars available to buy coverage will not work unless they can be convinced that healthcare insurance must be a top priority, not a luxury. What makes more sense to me than giving individuals tax breaks is to give those kinds of tax breaks to businesses as an incentive for them to provide affordable health care for their employees. Businesses are much more likely to take advantage of such a tax incentive, especially if there is a carrot and stick approach taken. For example, if they do not provide a plan for their employees at a competitive rate, perhaps not only will they not get a tax break, they will pay a higher rate of tax, or some sort of penalty for failure to do so.
4. Medicaid program should be overhauled - the goal should be to provide states with block grants so they can create an insurance program freed from federal mandates and that are tailored to their individual state needs.
Well, of course Medicaid needs to be overhauled. Mr. Romney will probably not like the overhaul that is needed. There are a lot of able bodied people receiving Medicaid who are simply taking advantage of the system. They need to be cut from the program. Experts estimate that Mr. Romney’s proposals will cost approximately 6 billion dollars. Giving states block grants so they can create their own program is not the answer. You will end up with 50 wildly different programs, and most of them will have no resemblance to what Mr. Romney wants to see. Finding a way to make health insurance available at an affordable cost for even the poorest of Americans is the answer.
According to the Boston Globe, Governor Romney wants to continue the existing system of employer provided coverage. Romney says it only needs modified to expand coverage to the uninsured. Another point made by Romney is that health care costs will be tax deductible once the person enrolls in a plan. Also, no one would be penalized for failure to buy insurance nor would it sanction businesses that do not provide it for their employees. Individual states could set such rules, but the federal government would stay out of regulations. In order to help drive down health costs Romney says there would have to be changes in medical liability and more information provided to consumers so they could shop for better quality and prices.
Any program that is offered must have penalties for not taking advantage of it. Offering a program that will have no penalty for individuals and no sanctions for businesses is a toothless tiger. Letting the states set those kinds of rules will only create chaos. Everyone knows that our medical liability system is deeply flawed, but so far Congress has been unwilling to fix it. Mr. Romney has a lot of work to do to come up with a viable, consumer friendly system.
Fox News and the New York Times are reporting that the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, on Friday telephoned the President and told him he was resigning as the Attorney General of the United States. Too bad.
I must admit that I have never really understood how the Fair Tax could benefit the average American. Sure, I want to see the Internal Revenue Code simplified. But I'm not sure that the Fair Tax is the answer. The Wall Street Journal has a thoughtful editorial by Bruce Bartlett in which Mr. Bartlett argues that the Fair Tax is a flawed tax. According to Mr. Bartlett legislation has already been introduced in Congress to implement the Fair Tax. Under this legislation, a rate of 23% would be utilized. Mr. Bartlett argues that the Fair Tax rate is not 23%. He also argues that the Federal government would have to pay taxes on itself on all of its purchases of goods and services, as would state and local governments. According to Mr. Bartlett, Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation, in a 2000 estimate , found that the tax-inclusive rate would have to be 36% and the tax exclusive rate would be 57%. What do you think? Do you favor the Fair Tax?
There is a good article in the New York Times about the issue of John McCain's age. McCain is almost 71 and the question is raised repeatedly on the campaign trail. Is John McCain too old to be President? The older we get as a society, the less important age is to us. Although I have never been a John McCain supporter, I have always respected the Senator. I must admit, however, that as I have watched McCain campaigning, he looks old and sounds and acts old. Could that be one reason (along with his stance on immigration) that he has plummeted in the polls?
Posts
All Comments
