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 posts by Shoebox.

September 13, 2010

Economy – Still Held Hostage

In what looked like some macabre version of a Norman Rockwell painting, President Obama sat a a picnic table with a family in Virginia who appeared hung on his every word as he attempted to explain why the bad part of the economy wasn’t his fault. In his comments, which were dutifully reported by the AP, he said that he would likely compromise with the GOP over deficits and other issues. He went on to blame the GOP and John Boehner specifically, for blocking the extension of the “Bush tax cuts.”

It’s funny that Obama looks for a GOP villian to blame whenever things aren’t going his way. Last I looked, the Democrats still have the majority in the House. Last I looked, it only takes a majority to pass a bill in the House. Last I looked, the logical extension of the previous two sentences is that in the House, Democrats alone, can pass any version of tax increases or decreases, without a single Republican vote.

My history may be a bit fragmented; did Republican votes in the House pass Obamacare? Were Republican votes in the House required to pass cap and tax? My recollection is that Democrats, whipped by Nancy Pelosi and President Obama, thought these issues were so important that they through their political bodies off of the Capital rotunda to pass these bills. Political courage is what President Obama and Nancy Pelosi called Democrat House members to have. Political courage they had and political consequences they will now reap.

Every one who has polled the topic has found that a significant majority of Americans want the tax cuts extended. One would think that those who had the political courage to go against the American majority on Placebocare and Cap and tax would find it easy to side with their constituents for an extension. They would, that is, if it was really what Obama wanted to do.

I can see November from here. In fact, I can see it in HD (Hardly any Democrats).

September 1, 2010

And Your Little Dog Too!

by @ 7:27. Filed under Politics.

So as not to have her name forever more uttered in the same sentence as Al Franken, Lisa Murkowski has conceded the primary to Joe Miller.  This all but assures Miller the Senate seat.  While we’ve been surprised and disappointed before with Democrats in Republican clothing, this should also move a Senate seat firmly away from the “let’s all get along” mentality that has put the government in charge of our lives.

Beyond the wicked witch reference, I believe the philosophy of Queen best sums up the situations:

August 25, 2010

It’s For the Chiiiiiiiiiiillllllllldren!

by @ 7:11. Filed under Economy, Economy Held Hostage, Education.

Quick, see if you can find the link between these two stories:

LA unveils $578M school, costliest in the nation

The RFK complex follows on the heels of two other LA schools among the nation’s costliest — the $377 million Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, which opened in 2008, and the $232 million Visual and Performing Arts High School that debuted in 2009.

Los Angeles is not alone, however, in building big. Some of the most expensive schools are found in low-performing districts — New York City has a $235 million campus; New Brunswick, N.J., opened a $185 million high school in January.

And:

EBay, Adobe Leave California for Utah

If you guessed: Ebay, Adobe and others like them, hate children, you are correct!

Disclaimer:  I received no consideration or payola of any kind for this message.  My name is Shoebox and I approve this message!

Revisions/extensions (12:38 pm 8/25/2010, steveegg) – I was going to put this in the comments, but upon reflection, I decided it needed to be part of the main post. Those prices almost makes the $50 million (roughly $23 million from private sources, including $20 million from the Pettits) spent building Milwaukee Public Schools’ Bradley Tech High School back in 2002 seem quaint. Of course, money spent on shiny new facilities are no guarantee of success – Bradley Tech is one of the 12 worst-performing high schools in all of Wisconsin.

August 20, 2010

Free Shoebox – at least his genitals!

by @ 6:26. Filed under Free Shoebox.

Hey, hey, ho, ho, Shoebox should be free to go!

Yes, I’m traveling again. Actually, it’s the first time in an airport since the Shoe family relocated to Kentucky. This morning finds me enjoying the hospitality of the TSA at Kansas City International (MCI).

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of passing through MCI, let me set the scene. MCI was built long before anyone ever worried about members of the “religion of piece” flying airplanes where they shouldn’t be flown. MCI has 3 separate half moon shaped terminals which were great in their day. However, since the addition of security walls, checkpoints etc., it now resembles a human version of a habitrail!

I got to the airport well in advance of my flight and was greeted with my first experience with a backscatter X-ray. Yes, this is the X-ray that is all the rage. Yes, this is the X-ray that takes images that shows more than just metal in your pocket! Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA claimed they do not keep the images of pseudo naked people. Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA has been forced to admit that they do keep images of pseudo naked people.

As I’ve said before, I have no personal issue with the backscatter technology and the images the TSA does or doesn’t keep. This is likely a guy thing but I figure if you can see my genitals while my clothes are on, that’s OK!

So, I head through security and towards the backscatter X-ray. As I get to the stainless steel tables where I normally take all the metal out of my pockets, remove my shoes, liquids and electronics, I am greeted by a TSA employee who informs us that they are now using a “new security system.” He goes on to inform us that this new fangled security system that is costing gross millions of dollars to deploy, is no longer satisfied with just having shoes, metal, liquids and electronics removed. Nope, this new fangled thing is so advanced that you now have to empty every last item out of your pockets; paper, vitamin pills etc…and your belt! If you don’t, I was informed, you will be patted down!

Yup, that’s right; the newest the TSA has to offer for security, the backscatter, a technology that can take a photo of my genitals without a microscope, can’t tell the difference between a piece of paper and something that could be used to threaten aircraft saftey!

Nice job TSA! You’ve taken a process that was inconvenient at best, and made it dehumanizing. You’ve inserted new “better security” and once again in the process, managed to make it further impacting on the public you serve while arguably not making a lick of difference in air security. Nice job TSA!

As an aside…do you know what you call 100,000 government employees at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start!

August 19, 2010

What? Me Worry?

Alfred E. Neuman was and is smarter than Joe Biden!

Jobless claims at 9-month high

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 in the week ended August 14, the highest since mid-November, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

From Biden – the Oracle of the Economy

I have to admit that I thought we were all being set up when at the end of April, Vice President Biden said:

Well, I’m here to tell you, some time in the next couple of months, we’re going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month.

I thought for sure that Biden was just giving us another chorus of happy talk from the administration. I didn’t see anyway, at least by looking out my economic window, that the economy was about to do anything regarding jobs, that would be at a level of nearly 500,000!

I was wrong! Vice President Biden was right!

Today, in another unexpected surprise, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment insurance rose to 479,000! Admittedly, that’s not 500,000. However, I have to give VP Biden kudos for having the foresight to predict a number that appeared incredibly outlandish to us rubes on the sidelines. 500,000 would have been great but 479,000 is nothing to sneeze at! Great job Vice President Biden! It surely is “Recovery Summer!”

Uh, what?…He predicted 500,000 new jobs but we have nearly 500,000 new people collecting unemployment? Um….that’s not good!

Never mind!

I doubt Obama’s unpopularity will be improving anytime soon. In the event that any of the Libs are still wondering why the American people have become so “stupid” as to turn against the rainbows and unicorns in every pot…..It’s the economy, stupid!

August 11, 2010

I’ll Call Ya Harry and Raise Ya Three!

by @ 7:31. Filed under Politics - National.

Anyone doubting that the Democrats are feeling a lot of pressure, isn’t paying much attention.  The gaffes are coming so fast and furious that even Joe Biden has to be wincing once in a while!  The “latest” (and I use that term VERY loosely at the rate they are coming)gaffe is from Harry Reid.

Apparently, Harry and President Obama have now completely separated their strategies.  While President Obama has been running as the racial healer (cough, cough) Harry is now running as the ratial slash and burn candidate:

Yup, Harry is now determing how you will vote based upon your ethinc heritage!

Well Harry, if we’re going to start throwing down the racist gauntlet, let’s throw it down!

If Charlie Rangel were a white Republican, no one would bother to investigate him!

Ditto for Maxine Waters!

Finally, I want an investigation of the 2008 election. There is no possible way that Barack Obama received the number of votes that were tabulated for him because we all know that it is categorically impossible for any sane, white individual to vote for a black President.

Cmon Harry, your turn to say more stupid stuff!

August 9, 2010

Beware! Gonorrhea Lectim possible outbreak!

by @ 7:37. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I don’t typically post things circulating the internet but this was too good to let pass:

Information about Gonorrhea Lectim: The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It is pronounced “Gonna re-elect ’em,” and it is a terrible obamanation. The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008…but now most people, after having been infected for the past two years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is. Gonorrhea Lectim is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout (vote-’em-out). You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012, and simply don’t engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life, as we know it. Several states are already on top of this, like Virginia and New Jersey, and apparently now Massachusetts; with many more seeing the need.

August 8, 2010

America’s Economy Continues to be Held Hostage

From the Financial Times:

Fed set to downgrade outlook for US

This sounds awful pessimistic for it to be included in Recovery Summer!

Faced with weak economic data and rising fears of a double-dip recession, the Federal Open Market Committee is likely to ensure its policy is not constraining growth and to use its statement to signal greater concern about the economy. It is, however, unlikely to agree big new steps to boost growth.

Do you think there is any coincidence between the Fed’s view of a deteriorating view and Christina Romer’s exit this week?  Maybe Romer finally got tired of carrying the fouled bucket of water that is Obama’s economic policy.

It’s a Small World After All!

The Shoebox’s are huge Disney fans.  Old or new, we love all Disney movies.  DisneyWorld?  We’ve been there at least once a year since the Things were about 5 and some years we clocked as many as 4 trips. 

We’ve been to DisneyWorld enough times that the heat and long lines, if there are any, don’t bother us.  We have our favorite attractions and know how to use Fastpass, extra magic hours and the other Disney mechanisms to manage lines, to our fullest advantage.  One attraction that hardly ever has a line is It’s a Small World.

For those of you who have been on this ride, bear with me while I bring the others up to speed.  It’s a Small World is a boat ride through various scenes of puppets dressed as children from countries around the world.  The attraction, originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair, may have been entertaining at the time but today, is nothing short of boring.  Along with the dated animation of the kitchy puppets, is the song that plays over and over and over again, just with different languages.  By the end of the ride, most people are considering diving out of the boat and swimming to the end of the ride.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 particularly despise It’s a Small World.  For this reason, Mrs. Shoe and I make sure that we ride it on each trip.  we usually set it up so that we “have” to do It’s a Small World before the Things get to do something they are really yearning to do.

But, I digress. This post has nothing to do with Disney.

In the same week that President Obama’s favorability rating as an average across all major polls, drops below 50% in the US, it is announced that Arabs have an even lower opinion of the President than his US constituents.

According to a recently released Brookings public opinion poll, 63% of Arabs labeled their attitude as “discouraged” by the Obama administration. In contrast, only 16% were “hopeful”. While those numbers alone are remarkeable given that the meme of the Obama phenomena was that the world would love the US if only Obama were kingPresident, what’s more amazing is how quickly the perception of Obama has changed. Just last year, the poll was nearly the exact opposite with 51% of Arabs saying they were optomistic and only 15% discouraged.

It’s hard to believe that only two short years ago the Left was decrying President Bush over his poor popularity amongst Arabs. At the time, only 15% of Arabs had a favorable view of the United States. Today, only 12% of Arabs have a favorable view of the United States and there isn’t a peep of concern about Barack Obama is impacting the position of the US in the world.

Most people would agree that the issues of the Middle East are very distant from those challenging the US. That said, when it comes to optimism in the Obama administration, it is a Small World After All!

August 5, 2010

Biden the Oracle of the Economy

I have to admit that I thought we were all being set up when at the end of April, Vice President Biden said:

Well, I’m here to tell you, some time in the next couple of months, we’re going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month.

I thought for sure that Biden was just giving us another chorus of happy talk from the administration. I didn’t see anyway, at least by looking out my economic window, that the economy was about to do anything regarding jobs, that would be at a level of nearly 500,000!

I was wrong! Vice President Biden was right!

Today, in another unexpected surprise, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment insurance rose to 479,000! Admittedly, that’s not 500,000. However, I have to give VP Biden kudos for having the foresight to predict a number that appeared incredibly outlandish to us rubes on the sidelines. 500,000 would have been great but 479,000 is nothing to sneeze at! Great job Vice President Biden! It surely is “Recovery Summer!”

Uh, what?…He predicted 500,000 new jobs but we have nearly 500,000 new people collecting unemployment? Um….that’s not good!

Never mind!

Profound Animosity

It’s now been almost four full years that Barack Obama has been running for office against George Bush.  Yes, some of us (almost all on the right) know that George Bush hasn’t been on the political scene, let alone been President, for 18 months.  None the less, President Obama (isn’t that odd how he carries the title “President” but still doesn’t know that George Bush isn’t?) continues to campaign against George Bush.

During his campaign stop on Wednesday with the AFL-CIO Executive Council, he pledged his commitment to rebuild the economy (I wonder if VP Biden knows this as he’s already told us we’ll have 500,000 new jobs each month and that this is “Recovery Summer”), that he was not  “giving up or giving in” and he was going to change the direction from:

at least eight years in which there was a profound animosity towards the notion of unions.

Well, if “profound animosity towards the notion of unions” is what kept our unemployment rate under 5%, a GDP that was the envy of the world, the ability if not to shrink the deficit, at least keep up with the ridiculous Washington spending, then I’d have to say, “bring it on!”

Instead of “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” President Obama has shown himself to have profound animosity towards all forms of employment or enterprise that do not include unions.  When it came to the union shops i.e. GM, Chrysler et al, President obama rushed into the burning buildings to save his constituents.  In every other effort regarding the economy, you can determine President Obama’s position in advance by determining what would be the best solution in a free market, and take the opposite!

Even if it was proved true that George Bush had “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” I would take that back in a hearbeat over the profound animosity that President Obama has shown towards the 87.7% of us workers who can manage employment without paying a monthly allotment towards protection money.

August 2, 2010

Kids Say The Darndest Things

There are some advantages to growing older.  The most obvious is that when you consider the alternative, getting another year older, at any age, isn’t so bad.  Another is that you get to look back and remember fondly, some of your youthful experiences.

One experience that I remember is watching Art Linkletter do his “Kids say the darndest things” bit.  If you aren’t old enough, and haven’t seen one of the clips, Art Linkletter would get any number of kids together, all of whom were typically under the age of 10, and ask them questions.  Time and again, the answers the kids gave would leave the watchers in stitches.  The kid’s answers were innocent and top of mind.  While factual, they usually had a naive or certainly unnuanced view of the world.  Look at the following clip to get a sense of the fun that Linkletter had…all without paid actors:

The reason I bring Linkletter up is that I saw another video today in which a person was asked a question and the response left me in stitches. Like Linkletter’s kids, this respondent answered innocently with what was top of mind. In other words, the person answered honestly and without the bother of real world nuance. Here, watch the video and see if you don’t agree:

I’m glad we have free political speech in this country…at least for now. With free speech we get to see Pete Stark and people like him, lay out in simple, plain English, their contempt for the Constitution and for those who believe it actually has a purpose. He also lays out in plain English, why he and his ilk should be removed from office and offered a relocation package to the People’s Paradise of Cuba.

July 20, 2010

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

by @ 21:34. Filed under Global "Warming", Politics - National.

We all know about President Obama’s concern regarding global warming.  We all know he blames whatever warming he alledges on the use of fossil fuels.  To put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, President Obama has told federal workers to cut down on their travel and commuting by car:

In a statement, Obama noted that the government is the biggest energy user. “The government has a responsibility to use that energy wisely, to reduce consumption, improve efficiency, use renewable energy, like wind and solar, and cut costs,” he said.

By doing this, President Obama has set a goal of reducing greenhouse emissions by 13% a reduction by 2020.

President Obama for once, is practicing what he preaches and I applaud him.  In January, 2009 when President Obama took office, there were approximately 2.772 million federal government employees.  As of June, 2010 the Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are now 3.227 million federal government employees, an increase of over 16%!  I suggest that rather than chide employees to drive less, President Obama simply reduce the federal employee employment level back to 2008. By doing so he would not only reduce the greenhouse gasses, perhaps as much as 16%, but also reduce the budget deficit…another goal that President Obama tells us is important to him, and you know how fervent he is in achieving his goals.

Go ahead President Obama, use my idea, I won’t even charge you for my consulting time!

July 14, 2010

Excuse Me?

by @ 19:21. Filed under Immigration, International relations.

The AP is reporting that Bejing(that would be in China) is creating gated communities.  While in the US, when you say “gate community” you think of opulence, in China, gate communities are done to keep the low income, undesirables from running amok in the neighborhoods.

OK, China has a horrible record on human rights and they are still a Communist country so abusing some folks isn’t new.  What is new is how this is perceived and accepted by our left intelligentsia:

“In some ways, this is like the conflict between Americans and illegal immigrants in the States. The local residents feel threatened by the influx of migrants,” Huang Youqin, an associate professor of geography at the University at Albany in New York.

Huh?  What?  Excuse me?

What China is doing is nothing like the Arizona situation!  First, China is doing this to their own residents, not illegal aliens.  Second, last I looked, I’ve seen no ghettos set up for illegal aliens.  In fact, we have a bunch of sanctuary cities that opening welcome illegal aliens.  Finally, the only “gating” done in the US is for illegal acts.  That said, I’m betting there are some countries that the illegals have left who think and act upon their residents in the same fashion that China does!

Moral equivalency my butt!

“NO” to “War on Terror”, “YES” to ETOC Complaints

by @ 14:42. Filed under International relations, War on Terror.

According to a report filed by Jake Tapper, President Obama has found a reason to fight Al Qaeda. No, it’s not because of their terroristic acts, well, not directly. No, the reason President Obama is unhappy with Al Qaeda is because they are racist!

In an interview earlier today with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to air in a few hours, President Obama disparaged Al Qaeda and affiliated groups’ willingness to kill Africans in a manner that White House aides say was an argument that the terrorist groups are racist.

Speaking about the Uganda bombings, the president said, “What you’ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself.  They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains.”

Have you picked yourself up off the floor yet?

So, let me get this straight.  The President believes that if Al Qaeda recruited more white suicide bombers, their human rights record would match right up along side whose exactly?

The spokesperson went on to explain the logic for this conclusion by using the African Embassy bombings as examples:

This can be seen, the official said, in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, when hundreds of Africans were killed and thousands wounded.

I may have missed part of this story but wasn’t Al Qaeda trying to kill the US Embassy employees at the embassies?  Is the administration suggesting that if Al Qaeda had calculated that the same number of white European innocents had been killed and harmed as collateral damage, that Al Qaeda wouldn’t have attempted the embassy attacks?

I know, you think I’m being loose and flip with the words.  You think I’m twisting what they’re saying into something it isn’t merely to poke fun at the administration.  Nope, this one is real:

“Additionally, U.S. intelligence has indicated that Al Qaeda leadership specifically targets and recruits black Africans to become suicide bombers because they believe that poor economic and social conditions make them more susceptible to recruitment than Arabs,” the official said. “Al Qaeda recruits have said that Al Qaeda is racist against black members from West Africa because they are only used in lower level operations.”

That’s right, if only Al Qaeda would have a proportional number of Africans in their upper leadership as they have in their human bomb division, the US would have no problem with what they are doing.

Can it be long before we have another Czar announced?  The Czar of ETOC (Equal Terrorist Opportunity Commission) will likely be made as a recess appointment during the next Congressional break.  I can’t wait for the first meeting between the Czar and leaders of Al Qaeda where the Czar will no doubt open the meeting by apologizing for Arizona’s discriminatory illegal alien legislation!

July 13, 2010

Economy Held Hostage – More Evidence

The hits, they just keep a coming….

and finally….

The White house is trying to ease tensions with business.  While I’m not in the habit of providing my consultations for free, I will make this one exception.  President Obama, the solution is easy.  Businesses of all sizes want you to get off their backs and quit making up new regulations by the minute.  If you abide by those 2 simple rules, they’ll be OK.

July 12, 2010

American Economy Held Hostage

by @ 14:32. Filed under Economy, Miscellaneous, Politics - National.

On June 17th, Vice President Biden kicked off “Recovery Summer.”  If you missed it, Recovery Summer was designed to be a celebration of the massive surge of jobs that was to result from the implementation of the various stimulus projects.

Vice President Biden was the perfect mascot talking head for Recovery Summer in that just 2 months prior, he was touting how the Obama rejuvenated economy was soon to be generating 500,000 jobs a month.

So, how’s that recovery going for us? In just the past week we’ve seen:

  • June employment numbers that are worse than any sub retirement age individual has seen during their working life.
  • The Canadian dollar closing in on parity with the US dollar because the Canadians, a country of just 34 million people and an economy of just 1/10th of the US, generated 93,000 net jobs in June while the US economy could only generate 83,000 private sector jobs.
  • Even though the US Government was denied a reinstatement of their gulf drilling moratorium, the risk for drillers is so high that the moratorium is, for all practical purposes, in effect.  The first big drilling rig has left the gulf heading for more sure work in Egypt.

Not yet recognizing the impact of his agenda and choices on the US Economy, President Obama is rumored to be pushing Congress to pass both Cap and Tax and card check during what will surely be a lame duck session for the Democrats. While the negative impact of card check would be harder for most Americans to discern, Cap and Tax, by the administration’s own admission, would increase the costs for the average family by over $1,700 each year.

If it wasn’t clear before, there is no longer any doubt that the happy talk from the Obama administration about “job creation” and “an economic recovery” are just that, happy talk. It’s now clear that the American economy is being held hostage by the Obama administration and won’t be released until Obama has accomplished the redistribution of wealth that the far left has only managed wet dreams about since the days of FDR.

Note the new counter on the home page. We’ll be incrementing until the month that 500,000 net, private sector jobs are generated. Until then, we’ll be counting the days of the American Economy Held Hostage!

June 22, 2010

Art Imitating Life?

by @ 19:53. Filed under Energy, Politics - National.

If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery then President Obama’s administration is just bustin’ buttons with pride tonight!

Yesterday, Iran offered to help the US, and specifically President Obama, plug the oil leak in the Gulf.

“If Americans and Britons and also the Western companies find themselves incapable of capping the oil spill, [they can] ask Iran, [we] will study the case, and send… IRGC experts to the region to help prevent the continuation of this serious crisis,” Qasemi added.

I know, your asking, “what about this is imitation?” 

Do you really think Iran is sincere about helping to plug the leak.  Or, for that matter, do you think they have better abilities than the rest of the world?  No, neither do I!

Using Rahm Emanuel’s own approach, Iran is taunting the US, never allowing a crisis to go to waste!

In a follow up question I need to ask, Rahm, when you uttered those now infamous words, did you ever consider that the crisis that you wanted to exploit just might be a real one that required real solutions?

June 21, 2010

Who Could Have Imagined This Coming?

by @ 19:41. Filed under Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

Two headlines from today’s news.

From the AP:
Borrowers exit troubled Obama mortgage program

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes is falling flat.

But the punch lines come from the reasons stated:

Treasury officials now require banks to collect two recent pay stubs at the start of the process. Borrowers have to give the Internal Revenue Service permission to provide their most recent tax returns to lenders.

Requiring homeowners to provide documentation of income has turned people away from enrolling in the program. Around 30,000 homeowners started the program in May. That’s a sharp turnaround from last summer when more than 100,000 borrowers signed up each month.

Yeah, imagine that!  People should actually be able to show that they can afford the loans they commit themselves to!  This must be an evil vast Right wing plot against low or no income people!

How about this from USA Today:

Doctors limit new Medicare patients

WASHINGTON — The number of doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government payment rates is setting a new high, just six months before millions of Baby Boomers begin enrolling in the government health care program.

But you have to love this quote from a Politico story about the Doc fix spat:

“This is no way to run a major health coverage program – already the instability caused by repeated short-term delays is taking its toll,” said AMA president Cecil B. Wilson. “Congress has finally taken its game of brinkmanship too far, as the steep 21 percent cut is now in effect and physicians will be forced to make difficult practice changes to keep their practice doors open.”

Ah, yeah.  That’s the same AMA that vigorously supported both the House and Senate versions of Placebocare, the final version accomplishing a “balance budget” by eliminating the perpetual doc fix!

Or this:

“I have never seen physicians more frustrated with the cuts and cynical about Congress’ willingness or ability to do the right thing for patient access,” said Bob Doherty, a senior vice president at the American College of Physicians. A short-term repair “will confirm the growing sentiment among doctors and seniors that Medicare is an unreliable and unstable partner that can’t be counted on to pay its bills, and more of them accordingly will limit how many Medicare patients and seniors they can afford to see.”
Yup, there again, the ACP was a supporter of Placebocare.
Hypocrisy, they name is thee whose particular Ox is being gored!

June 20, 2010

Israel and Arizona

by @ 18:52. Filed under Politics - National.

Nearly every time Hamas steps up its rocket barrage of Israel I hear a defender of Israel, usually someone from the Right, explain Israel’s response with an analogy similar to this:

Listen, if Mexico were lobbing rockets into Tucson, don’t you think the United States would retaliate?

I think most right minded folks, even a majority on the Left would say, “Yeah, we would and should protect ourselves.”  Yeah, that’s what I used to think but, not any more.

Last Wednesday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service closed off access to over 3,000 acres of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.  It wasn’t because of wildfires.  It wasn’t because of floods.  It wasn’t even because some rare insect, rodent or bird had been spotted and they were trying to protect it.  No, 3,000 acres of U.S. soil have been closed because violence from Mexican drug and human smugglers has become so severe that it is no longer safe for U.S. residents.

Without one shot being fired by the world’s last remaining superpower, the US has effectively ceeded 3,000 acres to Mexico.

While it’s obvious that President Obama has little knowledge or even interest in effective international relations, I would think that at the very least, his Chicago instincts would kick in in this situation.  Under rules of the Chicago Way, any ceding of territory or turf is considered a sure sign of weakness.  And, we all know that President Obama is not weak.  Apparently in this case, he just hasn’t figured out whose ass to kick!

Those Who Do Not Learn From History….

by @ 12:15. Filed under Economy, Politics - National.

Is it just me or does President Obama’s hype around “Recovery Summer,” kicked off in this photo:

Feel an awful lot like how this event was received?

By the way, what’s the deal with the guy in the lab coat? Did the PR guys have some left over from the phony Doctor photo ops for Placebocare?

June 16, 2010

A Quick Thought

by @ 9:08. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Do you suppose that President Obama would have been willing to meet with the BP Executives earlier if they had offered to buy the beer for the meeting? Or maybe, President Obama wouldn’t meet with them because they told him they were bringing “ale” and he kept insisting on “beer?”

June 14, 2010

More Of The Same?

by @ 14:08. Filed under Miscellaneous.

President Obama is making yet another trip to the Gulf. After 3 trips and no change in results, what makes him think that a fourth time of making obvious to a blind man, demands and speaking in vulgarities could make any difference?

Our NRE paparazzi snapped the enclosed picture which provides the only logical explanation for a fourth, gulf trip.

June 1, 2010

Another Arizona Boycott

by @ 12:54. Filed under Immigration, Politics - National.

After Arizona passed its “we’re going to enforce the law if the Feds won’t enforce the law” immigration law, numerous members of the politically correct class called for boycotts of doing business with Arizona.  It got so ridiculous that MLB continues to be challenged to pull the All Star game from Phoenix and the Arizona Tea company, whose products have no affiliation with Arizona other than their name, have been suggested as a possible boycott target.

After the initial calls for boycotts, President Obama was queried as to whether he believed boycotts of Arizona were appropriate.  His response was that while he didn’t agree with the law, yet understood the frustration of the Arizona people:

“I’m the President of the United States. I don’t endorse boycotts or not endorse boycotts.”

So, President Obama has a dilemma. He doesn’t support a law that has been enacted by Arizona but obviously wants to do something about the problem because he also understands the frustration of the Arizona people (Oh, by the way, the people of Arizona are frustrated by the lack of effort, focus, urgency by anyone at the Federal level).

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, while approving of the Arizona law, also fees the frustration of the Arizona people.  As an executive leader who takes her position as one of action and not just show, she reached out to the White House in an attempt to meet with President Obama about their law and to discuss a future course of action supported by both Federal and State authorities.  Obama’s response? I’m too busy!

Too busy?  Doing what?  Dealing with that oil spill in the gulf?  Nope, he’s got a host of his lackey’s running interferenceso that Governor Jindal can’t do what he believes is right for his state!

Busy dealing with the events involving Gaza and Israel?  Nope, in fact, now has time on his calendar as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his visit to return home to deal with the issue himself.

Oh, I almost forgot. I’ll bet President Obama is working on that Korean issue. Opps, nope, he’s farmed that one off to the UN.

Early in his presidency, when one of his community agitator friends got in a tussle with the local police, President Obama, along with Vice President Biden, cleared their schedules to allow for a beer tasting photo op. This, over an issue that should never have elevated itself above the local community police/college relationship. Now, on an issue that clearly has national significance, President Obama is too busy to meet with Governor Brewer.

If I were the synical type, I’d think that President Obama’s shunning of Governor Brewer was in fact, his own, private boycotting of Arizona!

May 25, 2010

My Daily Stress

by @ 5:09. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Offically plummets as of today!

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