No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for September 21st, 2009

by @ 19:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Obama at Risk of Being on D-List of Presidents

Personally, I think he’ll have to ace his final to get a “D”…

Well, There You Go Again!

by @ 17:25. Filed under Health Care Reform, Politics - Minnesota.

Why is it that the man who is supposed to have been the brightest, best spoken, deepest thinker and yes, clean, has so much trouble with something as simple as a dictionary?

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, President Obama refused to admit that his tax was a tax:

STEPHANOPOULOS:  That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.

   OBAMA:  No.  That — that’s not true, George.  The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase.

   What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you any more than the fact that right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance.  Nobody considers that a tax increase.  People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that, if you hit my car, that I’m not covering all the costs.

   STEPHANOPOULOS:  But it may be fair, it may be good public policy…

   OBAMA:  No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.  Any — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 percent or 8 percent or 10 percent next year, and you say, “Well, that’s not a tax increase,” but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage, even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…

   STEPHANOPOULOS:  I — I don’t think I’m making it up.  Merriam- Webster’s dictionary:  Tax, “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”

   OBAMA:  George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now.  Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition.  I mean, what…

What?  “You can’t just make up that language?”  How can the use of Webster’s definition of the very word being debated be “making up language?”
OK, well, if the actual definition doesn’t count, can we look at how the item functions to determine its definition?
In an AP article, Clint Stretch, head of the tax policy group for Deloitte, a major accounting firm said:

If you put something in the Internal Revenue Code, and you tell the IRS to collect it, I think that’s a tax.  If you don’t pay, the person who’s going to come and get it is going to be from the IRS.

Well, that seems pretty obvious and conclusive.

Politicians have always played loose with definitions.  I have no doubt that if we looked hard enough we would find a Southern Democrat of the time claim that the Civil War was fought over the issue of state’s rights rather than the final resolution of an issue that wasn’t resolved at the founding of the country and had finally ripened within the enlightened nation to a point where its implications could no longer be ignored!

Yes, politicians have always been challenged to stay within the bounds of Webster’s definitions.  However, I don’t think it was until Bill Clinton told us that “sex” wasn’t “sex” that Democrats viewed dictionaries as yet another tool perpetuated by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.  So now we know, that because of Webster’s work, “sex” isn’t “sex” and a “tax” isn’t a “tax.”

If It’s Free, I’ll Take Two

by @ 5:25. Filed under Health Care Reform.

Here’s a Rasmussen poll that is sure to knock your socks off.  When asked, a majority of the uninsured thought Obamacare sounded pretty good to them.  I was a bit buoyed seeing that only 58% thought it sounded good.  Apparently the other 32% have some level of personal responsibility.

The survey found that when viewed on the basis of their political ideology, the uninsured’s perspective doesn’t look much different than the insured:

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of uninsured Republicans oppose the plan while 88% of Democrats favor it. Those not affiliated with either party are evenly divided.

Perhaps the most interesting bit of information from the poll was this:

Thirty-four percent (34%) of the uninsured voters are under 30. In Election 2008, just 18% of voters were that young.

People under 30 are the group easiest to insure.  In general, this age group is the healthiest and has the fewest by far, of any pre existing conditions.  This means that rates for their insurance would be relatively cheap, especially if they were getting only catastrophic insurance and that they would have few issues that would prevent an insurer from making them an offer of coverage.  Along with this, there are many state programs that provide financial assistance for low income, temporarily unemployed and other reasons that someone in this younger age group may not be able to afford insurance.  Yet, with all these advantages, they make up over 1/3 of the uninsured and likely a significant portion of the folks who think that Obamacare is just the thing we need.

Under all Democrat plans there will be a penalty or tax if you don’t have Obamacare.  The tax or penalty will likely be as much and possibly more than those same under 30s would pay today for catastrophic health care.  I wonder if anyone has explained to the under 30 crowd that Obamacare does not mean free health care?  I suspect not.  I suspect the reason that the under 30 crowd is so enamored with Obamacare is the same reason they are enamored with other government run programs.  For many of the under 30 crowd, if the government is paying for it, it’s free so they’ll take two.

Who’s The Racist Now?

by @ 5:12. Filed under Obama worship, Politics - National.

Saturday, I informed you about the new definition of racism.  No longer does racism have to do with someone’s race.  No, according to the Left, racism now is based on any disagreement with liberals, Democrats or elites.  This new definition would make all of us that don’t fall into the group of liberals, Democrats or elites, racist at all times regardless of what our views on race really are.  In contrast, this new definition would make it definitionally impossible to be racist if you were within the group of liberals, Democrats or elites can be racist.  Or does it?

New York Governor David Paterson has had an “unusual” term.  After assuming office as a result of the resignation of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution revelations,on his second day in office, both Paterson and his wife acknowledged having extramarital affairs, one with a state employee.  In his inaugural speech, Paterson called the New York legislature

the least deliberative and most dysfunctional in the nation.

After Hillary Clinton resigned her Senate position to become Secretary of State, Paterson was a character in Caroline Kennedy’s vaudeville like attempts to be appointed as her replacement.  In the final scene, after abruptly declaring she was not interested in the role, Paterson claimed he had “never intended” to pick her.

New York’s financial situation is perhaps the most vexing issue Paterson is facing.  Like many states, New York is facing a budget shortfall.  Being a large state, New York’s short fall has been, well, large.  Paterson’s budget called for tax increases on nearly everything one could imagine taxing.  By one account, the tax increases proposed by Paterson would increase the taxes on the average New York family by nearly $4,000 each year.

As a result of his policy and personal handling of issues, Paterson is polling a 60% disapproval rating.  Polls have also showed Paterson trailing possible Republican contender, Rudy Giuliani by 15 points.

Facing a possible rout by Republicans in an important, reliably liberal state, Democrats are now pressuring Paterson to back off of his bid for reelection (or election if you’re a purist) to Governor.  Some Democrats are even suggesting that Paterson ought to resign to allow someone else a chance to get a running start at the role.  In this article covered by NewsMax, even President Obama is now encouraging Paterson to drop out of the Governor’s race.  To date, Paterson has not obliged any of the requests.

While I’m sure there are many Republicans who are unhappy with Paterson as Governor, it’s not they who are making news asking him not to run; it’s Democrats.  That must mean that there are Democrats who are unhappy with a Democrat.  Further, that must mean that there are Democrats who are unhappy with another Democrat who happens to be black.  Finally, there is a Democrat President, who happens to be black, who is unhappy with Paterson, a Democrat who happens to be black.

If a Democrat, who happens to be black, is unhappy with the abilities of another Democrat, who happens to be black, and asks the second Democrat, who happens to be black, not to run for office, we now know the reason for the dissatisfaction is due to racism.  I’m left with just one question, who’s the racist; the Democrat who happens to be black or the Democrat who happens to be black?

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