I'm constantly telling anyone that will listen: Be very thoughtful about your online activities and about what you share online. Because, if a company doesn't seem to have a product, the product is YOU.
Facebook and Google have made incredible fortunes on that trade. And, they have accumulated power over the agenda and message that makes the Big 3 TV networks of the 1970's look like bit players. Your search results and news feeds online are not open and honest exchanges. They are centrally controlled and intentionally biased toward socialism and collectivism.
What can be done? Actively support organizations that support limited government and oppose wealth redistribution, "progressive" policies, economic interventionism, collectivism, totalitarianism, communism, socialism.
Former Haitian government official and outspoken critic of the Clinton Foundation commits suicide by gunshot to the head. Move along. Nothing to see here.
The Senate Bill offers "...Obamacare-lite: keeping the Obamacare subsidies, keeping some of the Obamacare taxes, creating a giant insurance bailout superfund, and keeping most of the Obamacare regulations.
Shame. Shame on many in the GOP for promising repeal and instead affirming, keeping, and, in some cases, expanding Obamacare. What a shame."
Exclusive – Sen. Rand Paul: Senate GOP Decides to Keep Obamacare
I miss the old days, when Republicans stood for repealing Obamacare. Republicans across the country and every member of my caucus campaigned on repeal – often declaring they would tear out Obamacare “root and branch!”
What happened?
Now too many Republicans are falling all over themselves to stuff hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ dollars into a bill that doesn’t repeal Obamacare and feeds Big Insurance a huge bailout.
Obamacare regulations? Still here. Taxes? Many still in place, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars.
Insurance company bailouts? Those, too. Remember when Republicans complained about Obamacare’s risk corridors? Remember when we called the corridors nothing more than insurance company bailouts? I remember when one prominent GOP candidate during a presidential debate explicitly called out the Obamacare risk corridors as a bailout to insurance companies. Does anyone else?
Now, the Senate GOP plan being put forward is chock full of insurance bailout money – to the tune of nearly $200 billion. Republicans, present company excluded, now support the idea of lowering your insurance premium by giving a subsidy to the insurance company.
Remarkable. If the GOP now supports an insurance stabilization fund to lower insurance prices, maybe they now support a New Car stabilization fund to lower the price of cars. Or maybe the GOP would support an iPhone stabilization fund to lower the price of phones.
The possibilities are limitless once you accept that the federal government should subsidize prices. I remember when Republicans favored the free choice of the marketplace.
The Senate Obamacare bill does not repeal Obamacare. I want to repeat that so everyone realizes why I’ll vote “no” as it stands now:
The Senate Obamacare bill does not repeal Obamacare. Not even close.
In fact, the Senate GOP bill codifies and likely expands many aspects of Obamacare.
The Senate Obamacare-lite bill codifies a federal entitlement to insurance. With the Senate GOP bill, Republicans, for the first time, will signal that they favor a key aspect of Obamacare – federal taxpayer funding of private insurance purchases.
The bill will transfer billions of dollars to people who will then transfer billions of dollars to insurance companies. What a great business model – encourage the federal government to use taxpayer money to buy a private company’s product. Great business model, that is, if you are Big Insurance. Remarkable.
The Senate Obamacare-lite bill does what the Democrats forgot to do – appropriate billions for Obamacare’s cost-sharing reductions, aka subsidies. Really? Republicans are going to fund Obamacare subsidies that the Democrats forgot to fund?
Doesn’t sound much like repeal to me. One might even argue it’s worse than Obamacare-lite because it actually creates a giant superfund to bail out the insurance companies – something even the Democrats feared to do.
I was first elected in the heady days of the Tea Party Tidal Wave, when tens of thousands of citizens gathered on the central city lawn to protest Big Government, Big Debt, and a government takeover of health care.
This citizenry won in four elections. Each time, the GOP establishment told conservatives, “We can’t repeal Obamacare until we have all three branches of government.” Finally, in 2016, that came to pass. Republicans now control all three branches of government.
And . . . the best that is offered is Obamacare-lite: keeping the Obamacare subsidies, keeping some of the Obamacare taxes, creating a giant insurance bailout superfund, and keeping most of the Obamacare regulations.
Shame. Shame on many in the GOP for promising repeal and instead affirming, keeping, and, in some cases, expanding Obamacare. What a shame.
A great interview of Randy Barnett (a Constitutional Originalist and law professor at Georgetown) on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch. As I said shortly after the election, there is reason to be optimistic. But, perhaps I should have said, "Optimistic for the first time since 1980."
Specifically, scroll down the page to the bottom (blue section). Click each of the links (and read the section) under the center heading MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
Sounds a lot like, "Mint the money and defend the borders."
I have been surprised by the crazy claims in the media about the impact of Britain leaving the EU (even though I know better than to hope for thoughtful coverage). Personally, I applaud the desire to be free of the central european government. On the other hand, the existence of the EU has coincided with a long peace (by European standards) and I have to wonder how long that will last if the Empire based in Brussels comes apart.
Here is an interesting take on the decision the UK made:
This is not surprising. But, I am sad to say it probably isn't rare:
Weatherford has been in talks with JP Morgan Chase to re-negotiate its revolving credit facility -- the only thing keeping the company afloat. However, in a move that shocked the financial markets, JP Morgan led an equity offering that raised $565 million for Weatherford. Based on liquidation value Weatherford is insolvent. The question remains, why would JP Morgan risk its reputation by selling shares in an insolvent company? JP Morgan is head of a banking syndicate that has the revolving credit facility.JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley also happen to be lead underwriters on the equity offering. The proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to repay the revolving credit facility.
Put your money in the Wall Street Casio, or else. In other words, bet against the Fed by keeping your money out of the market and get negative return. Bet with the Fed and eventually lose it all in a bust up that is bound to come. What else is this but Tyranny? Jefferson wrote, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Earlier this week, President Obama spoke at the White House Conference on Aging -- a once-in-a-decade summit where leaders came together to talk about issues facing Americans as they plan for retirement, care for older loved ones, and work to improve our quality of life as we age.
The conference was a moment to reflect, and celebrate some of the programs we've already built -- Medicare and Medicaid turn 50 this month, and Social Security turns 80 next month -- but also a moment to look forward to the upcoming challenges we face.
Nearly 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day -- more than a quarter million each month. We all have a responsibility to build on the progress we've already made, to make sure that we safeguard retirement security for every one of these Americans.
Let's be clear -- this goes beyond Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Those programs are a vital part of American society, and we have a responsibility to make sure they're going strong for decades to come.
But there's more to do -- especially in an age when pensions are less common, and not everybody has access to a 401(k).
The President had several suggestions in his speech last Monday. Paid family leave to take care of aging relatives would help many folks provide crucial support. Opening up IRAs to folks that don't have employer-sponsored retirement plans would help millions save for retirement. Updating safety and quality standards for nursing homes, and closing conflict-of-interest loopholes in financial retirement advice would help ensure that we all get what we're planning for in retirement.
These aren't simple steps, but we can't walk away from this because it might be politically difficult -- we've got to fight for it, in the same spirit that helped pass Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
So Thomas, let us know -- will you stand up for a society that includes a dignified retirement?
Greece cannot pay its debts ... ever. Nor can several other members of the European Union. That’s why Europe’s elite are loath to place Greece in default. If Greece is allowed to abrogate its debts, why should any of the other debtor members of the EU pay up? The financial consequences of massive default by most of the EU members is hard to predict, but it won't be pretty. Europe has built a financial house of cards, and the slightest loss of confidence will bring it crashing down.
The tragedy of Europe has socialism at its core. Europe has flirted with socialism since the late nineteenth century. Nineteenth century Bismarckian socialism produced two world wars. Leninist socialism slaughtered and enslaved hundreds of millions until it collapsed, mercifully without a third world war. Yet, not to be deterred, in the ashes of World War II, Europe’s socialists embarked on a new socialist dream. If socialism fails in one country, perhaps it will succeed if all of Europe joined a supra-national socialist organization. Oh, they don't call what has evolved from this dream “socialism,” but it is socialism nonetheless.
Socialism will not work, whether in one country, a multi-state region such as Europe, or the entire world. Ludwig von Mises explained that socialism is not an alternative economic system. It is a program for consumption. It tells us nothing about economic production. Since each man's production must be distributed to all of mankind, there is no economic incentive to produce anything, although there may be the incentive of coercion and threats of violence. Conversely, free market capitalism is an economic system of production, whereby each man owns the product of his own labors and, therefore, has great economic incentives to produce both for himself, his family, and has surplus goods to trade for the surplus product of others. Even under life and death threats neither the socialist worker nor his overseer would know what to produce, how to produce it, or in what quantities and qualities. These economic cues are the product of free market capitalism and money prices.
Under capitalism, man specializes to produce trade goods for the product of others. This is just one way of stating Say’s Law; i.e., that production precedes consumption and that production itself creates demand. For example, a farmer may grow some corn for his family to consume or to feed to his own livestock, but he sells most of his corn on the market in exchange for money with which to buy all the many other necessities and luxuries of life. His corn crop is his demand and money is simply the indirect medium of exchange.
Keynes attempted to deny Say’s Law, claiming that demand itself — created artificially by central bank money printing — would spur production. He attempted, illogically and unsuccessfully, to place consumption ahead of production. To this day Keynes is very popular with spendthrift politicians, to whom he bestowed a moral imperative to spend money that they did not have.
We see the result of 150 years of European socialism playing out in grand style in Greece today. The producing countries are beginning to realize that they have been robbed by the EU’s socialist guarantee that no nation will be allowed to default on its bonds. Greece merely accepted this guarantee at face value and spent itself into national bankruptcy. Other EU nations are not far behind. It’s time to give free market capitalism and sound money a chance: it’s worked every time it’s been tried.
The advent of camera phones has no doubt helped secure liberties. This fascist from Dallas wants to take a big step toward criminalizing free speech. Please write your representative.
DENVER (CBS4) - A federally regulated program providing free cellphone service and phones to the poor and needy in Denver appears to be riddled with waste, fraud and abuse, according to an undercover CBS4 Investigation.
The $2 billion a year Lifeline program has handed out more than 13 million free cellphone plans across the country in the first six months of this year. In Colorado, the program handed out more than 117,000 free cellphone plans in the first half of this year, or about 20,000 cellphones every month.
The free phones and their wireless plans are paid for by a monthly tax on your cellphone, called the Universal Service Tax. Although the Lifeline wireless program has been around since 2005 and started under president George W. Bush, it has exploded under President Obama’s administration and the phones are often referred to as “Obamaphones.”
"The website has never crashed. It is functional but at a very slow speed and very low reliability," Sebelius acknowledged.
Beautiful. Don't blame Obama the First. Blame me. Fantastic theatre. But, it is simply to take eyes off the ultimate issue: The government will provide all health care. Think VA (Veteran's Administration). Think Post Office. Failures by central planners and Collectivists always are because of not enough resources, not enough control.
The answer to failed ObamaCare will be MORE centralized control. This doesn't end with those involved dusting off their hands and saying, "Wow. That was a bad idea and it failed. Lets go with a free-market solution." It was ALWAYS their plan to co-opt, subjugate, and/or ruin the insurance companies and providers. Then take over completely.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jon Carson, BarackObama.com
Date: Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 11:31 AM
Subject: Do you want to raise the minimum wage?
To: John Galt
Organizing for Action
This is just awful:
The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour -- and if you work 40 hours per week making minimum wage, you're only making $14,500 per year. That's well below the poverty line.
President Obama is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage -- and today OFA supporters are getting behind him and other allied organizations to take on this fight.
If you agree that it's time for working Americans to get a raise, then add your name today.
President Obama said it best: "No one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty."
The President's plan will give 15 million American workers a much-needed raise. For many, it will be their first raise since the last minimum-wage increase back in 2009 -- and go a long way towards helping full-time minimum wage earners pay rent and put food on the table.
It makes sense for businesses, too. Maybe this is simple economics, but it seems pretty obvious that when workers make more money, they buy more products and services.
If you want to be part of this work, start with something simple -- say that you support raising the minimum wage today:
http://my.barackobama.com/Raise-the-Minimum-Wage
Thanks -- more to come,
Jon
Jon Carson
Executive Director
Organizing for Action
----------------
The other side will spend millions to maintain the status quo. We're fighting for change -- chip in $5 or more to support OFA today.
“The process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values, and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects.”
A sad day today. Respectful comments from a former adversary. Gorbachev is the only remaining of the four key people (Reagan, Thatcher, Gorbachev, Pope John Paul) that brought the cold war to a peaceful close.
