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 December 7th, 2010

Orville Redenbacher Never Had It So Good

by @ 20:41. Filed under Politics - National.

It’s hard to know exactly how to respond to the “compromise” reached by Obama and the Republicans on extending the current tax rates.  On the one hand, it’s a lot of fun watching the lefties lose all hope and be willing to vote to change Obama.  In some ways, I fee sorry for them.  Their looks are probably similar to the looks many of us conservatives had as Bush talked about immigration amnesty or nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.  However, my pity doesn’t prevent me from wanting to get one of those big, refillable buckets of popcorn and watching the event.  Heck, I’ve even contemplated what conflagration grenade Boehner or McConnell could toss in so that we could watch a full meltdown!

On the other hand I think, “what a missed opportunity!”  Obama was in a no win situation.  He knew that if he didn’t get a deal done now, the new Congress would have enough votes and public support, to extend the rates, perhaps permanently.  In that case, he would have the choice of vetoing the bill and dealing with that public relations mess or signing it and putting a permanent “don’t mind me” stamp on his forehead.  For that reason, I am challenged by the Republicans agreement to extend the unemployment benefits.  It’s going to be a long two years if this is how Boehner and McConnell do political calculating.

I don’t know what the exact reason was; attempt to gain favor with Obama, concern about public relations or sheer miscalculation but the Republicans could have gotten their tax rate extension with nothing added to it.  In fact, if Obama had pressed the issue of the unemployment benefits and assuming that the Republicans weren’t willing to face the stand off for principle, they should have made a counter offer.  In exchange for the increased unemployment, Obama would immediately remove all drilling moratoriums he had put in place.  The Republicans explanation, after all of the sputtering, would be that the unemployment extension was unfunded.  Nancy Pelosi herself has been telling us for two years how we should work on a “pay-go” basis.  While the best situation would have been to cut spending in the budget so the benefits would be deficit neutral, the second best option would be to remove the moratoriums which would have multiple benefits.  First, it would actually do something to increase employment, as opposed to the nothing but talk that Obama does about the topic.  Second, if you haven’t noticed, oil and gas prices have been going up again.  Folks, we haven’t even seen the US with much more then a faint economic pulse.  If/when the economy becomes a last mile of a marathon, heart pounding rate, the demand for oil is going to push gas well past the $4 mark.  Oh, and more expensive energy means more expensive food and more expensive other things.

The Republicans could have gotten more, much more for their deal.  That said, I hear the microwave beeping.  I think my first bucket of popcorn is ready.  Who’s head would you bet will explode first?

Doing the Wave!

by @ 19:34. Filed under Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

Jamie Dupree is reporting that the waivers from provisions of Placebocare continue to roll up on shore.

The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to one provision of the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

Amongst the new grantees are Waffle House and Universal Orlando.

These new grantees bring a particularly poignant irony to the debate over the merits of Placebocare.

In the case of both Waffle House and Universal Orlando, the companies were providing “mini-med” insurance policies. These policies cover medical conditions similar to how other major medical plans provide coverage. They differ from traditional plans in that they have an annual maximum that is typically much lower than a traditional plan. By providing a lower maximum payout, insurance companies are able to mitigate risk they would have on these plans. If they have less risk, it costs them less to provide the coverage. If it costs them less, they are able to charge lower premiums.

If you remember, among the various reasons we were told that Placebocare was required was that there were many, many people who didn’t have insurance and that market forces were unable to provide for these people. In the case of both Waffle House and Universal Orlando (as well as other companies like McDonald’s) they were providing insurance options for people who traditionally have few insurance options; part time workers. However, Placebocare, in its attempt to force compliance on all, mandates that insurance policies can no longer have any annual or lifetime caps on coverage. The result is that without the exemption, companies like Waffle House and Universal Orlando would no longer be able to offer their current coverage which would mean that their employees would have no coverage at all.

Oh, those mean employers! I mean, who would want a policy that has a smaller annual cap? Who wouldn’t want a cadillac plan? Young, part time workers, that’s who. Think about it. Young people are typically the healthiest amongst us. They don’t tend to get major major illnesses which are what drive the high annual or lifetime caps. However, being young and especially if they are part time workers, even a single medical issue like a broken bone, could cause them severe financial challenges. In the competitive world of labor, Waffle House, Universal Orlando, McDonalds and others saw this need and in order to obtain and maintain quality talent, found a market based solution to solve the problem. A market based solution that would no longer exist without the waiver and will no longer exist after the year waiver is up!

Hey, wait. I thought we could keep our coverage if we liked it?

Wednesday Hot Read – Nathan Gonzales’ “Russ Couldn’t Re-Create ’92 Magic”

by @ 18:39. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Kevin Binversie, whose critique is also worth reading, and not just because he was on the Ron Johnson campaign)

Where do I begin with the teaser for Nathan Gonzales’ post-mortem on Roll Call? I’ll go with the section titled The Redefinition of Russ:

“We zoned in on those two things and had the ammunition from the last two years with Obama,” said Johnson’s media consultant, Curt Anderson, Wes Anderson’s brother, who worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 1992 when Feingold defeated Kasten.

Curt Anderson said the Johnson team believed Feingold’s independence was based on some “inconsequential votes.”…

But in an election in which voters were most concerned about the economy, Republicans focused on Feingold’s votes for the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, health care reform and Obama’s budget.

Democrats admit that instead of rewriting history and distorting Feingold’s record, Republicans were able to focus on what they believe he is now. By the end of the race, Feingold’s greatest strength was sapped.

It also helped us (and didn’t help the Democrats) that, much like the Republicans 4 years earlier, they refused to believe they were in serious trouble. From Kevin:

Out in DC last week, I had more than a few conversations with friends and a few web journalists (Off-the-record in those cases) who covered the race on the road with the Feingold campaign. Many of them told me they were amazed at how Democrats in Wisconsin were unwilling to accept the bad environment in front of them [Slate’s Dave Weigel personally told me out-going State Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) told him he was going to win his race. On Election night, Kreitlow lost to Terry Moulton 54% to 46%.].

Arrogance plus liberalism kills politically.

Never forget – Pearl Harbor, 1941

by @ 16:55. Filed under History.

69 years ago today, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and several other American possessions in the Pacific, plunging the US into an active role in World War II. Never forget…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uCGxk-v-Mc[/youtube]

Elizabeth Edwards passes away

by @ 16:19. Filed under Breaking news.

Raleigh news station WRAL reports this afternoon that Elizabeth Edwards has passed away from her six year battle with breast cancer:

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Elizabeth Edwards, the political wife whose public battle with breast cancer, coping with marital infidelity and continued advocacy for the downtrodden raised her profile above that of her husband, died Tuesday, WRAL News has learned. She was 61.

Edwards died at her Chapel Hill home, where family and friends had gathered in recent days after doctors informed her that her cancer had spread and recommended that she not undergo further treatment.

Edwards was first diagnosed with cancer in the waning days of the 2004 presidential campaign, when her husband, then-U.S. Sen. John Edwards, was the Democratic nominee for vice president. The couple didn’t disclose her illness until after the election.

The cancer went into remission after surgery and months of treatment, but it resurfaced in early 2007, as John Edwards was mounting a second run at the White House. The Edwardses agreed at the time that they wouldn’t allow the cancer to derail his candidacy.

Because the cancer had moved into her bones, her doctors said at that time that it was no longer curable but could be treated.

Read the rest for a write-up of who Elizabeth Edwards was beyond being the ex-wife of John Edwards.

It’s no secret at my blog that I absolutely despise John Edwards with a passion and have since well before it was revealed that he was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, and I never agreed with Elizabeth Edwards about politics, but I certainly did not wish on her any ill will. My thoughts and prayers are with her surviving three children (her fourth child, Wade, was killed in a Jeep accident in 1996), and other family members and friends at this difficult time.

RIP.

Cross-posted from the Sister Toldjah blog at the request of @steveegg.

Tuesday Hot Read – Daniel J. Mitchell’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

by @ 11:49. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

The Cato Institute’s Daniel J. Mitchell pretty much summed up my initial take on Le Grande Compromise between Obama and the Republicans on tax rates and unemployment benefits:

Compared to ideal policy, the deal announced last night between congressional Republicans and President Obama is terrible.

Compared to what I expected to happen, the deal announced last night is pretty good.

Point of order – there currently is no guarantee that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who weren’t exactly involved in the negotiations, are going to let this pass. I believe the applicable term when (I don’t believe it’s a matter of “if) this falls apart and all of the Clinton tax rates return full-force will be “poison pill”. Teh Won will bite his lower lip and whimper out, “I never tried so hard for anything as a middle-class tax cut” (if that sounds familiar, it should – that was what the last Democrat President said).

Even if this is a genuine and doable compromise, it’s essentially a punt into 2012 for everything except the reinstated death tax (at 35% with the first $3.5 million exempt for 2 years, compared to the previously-imminent (and now merely delayed until after 2012) 41%/$1 million exempt to 55%-beyond-$3 million), another 13 months of extended unemployment benefits (it’s still at the 99-week limit instead of 26 weeks), and the 1-year 16% reduction in the FICA tax (a reduction of the employee portion from 6.2% to 4.2%, in exchange for allowing the Make Work Pay tax credit). For the sake of argument, let’s look at the three:

  • The Death Tax returns – The number one killer of family businesses is back. Let me put it this way – that money was already taxed once (or in the case of unrealized capital gains, will be taxed when said gain is realized) – the government has no right to a second taxation that is at a higher marginal rate than the first taxation just because one died.
  • Extending unemployment benefits – Did the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy put you out of work? No problem – your 2011 can be as work-free as 2010 was. We’ll just borrow from the Red Chinese so you don’t have to worry about getting a job until 2012.
  • The 1-year FICA tax reduction – This is actually better than the old Subsidize Low-Paying Jobs welfare plan. If you work, you’ll get 2% more on your paycheck. So what if SocSecurity runs a cash deficit again? It was going to be in the red anyway (seriously, this has a less-than-6-month effect on the SocSecurity fund-exhaustion dates).

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