Congratulations, It's a . . . Cross-Border Incident! - Mark Steyn - The Corner on National Review Online

Congratulations, It's a . . . Cross-Border Incident! - Mark Steyn - The Corner on National Review Online:

"Here's the latest entry, from Hamilton, Ontario:

Hamilton's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was full when Ava Isabella Stinson was born 14 weeks premature at St. Joseph's Hospital Thursday at 12:24 p.m.

A provincewide search for an open NICU bed came up empty, leaving no choice but to send the two-pound, four-ounce preemie to Buffalo that evening.

Well, it would be unreasonable to expect Hamilton, a city of half-a-million people just down the road from Canada's largest city (Greater Toronto Area, 5.5 million) in the most densely populated part of Canada's most populous province (Ontario, 13 million people) to be able to offer the same level of neonatal care as Buffalo, a post-industrial ruin in steep population decline for half a century."

Read Mark Steyn's entire hilarious post. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll write your Senator to urge him oppose ObamaCare.

Fly-Over America Isn't Drinking the Kool-Ade

9 of 10 Americans worry about Obama's spending deficits: Poll | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times: "The shift in public assessments of the stimulus package has clear political ramifications: At the 100-day mark of Obama's presidency, 63 percent of people in states that were decided by fewer than 10 percentage points in November said the stimulus act had or would boost the economy.

Today, in the telephone poll of 1,001 Americans conducted Thursday through Sunday, the number has plummeted to 50 percent in those closely contested states, with nearly as many now saying the stimulus program will not help the national economy."

Wait and see how they feel when the bill for all this spending comes due. I wouldn't want to be a Democrat candidate in those states in 2010.

The Ministry of Information Requests The honor of Your Presence at the Premiere's Next "Press Conference"

Dana Milbank - Washington Sketch: Welcome to ‘The Obama Show': "The use of planted questioners is a no-no at presidential news conferences, because it sends a message to the world -- Iran included -- that the American press isn't as free as advertised. But yesterday wasn't so much a news conference as it was a taping of a new daytime drama, 'The Obama Show.' Missed yesterday's show? Don't worry: On Wednesday, ABC News will be broadcasting 'Good Morning America' from the South Lawn (guest stars: the president and first lady), 'World News Tonight' from the Blue Room, and a prime-time feature with Obama from the East Room."

The Obama administration is pre-arranging questions at press conferences and making arrangements for hand-picked questioners to be in attendance, front and center. The author of this Washington Post column is no conservative, but he has become increasingly concerned about the servile posture of the Washington press corps.

The RNC has created a good spot on this topic: http://www.gop.com/weeklytrunk/index.html

Color-Blind Justice, At Least Until Obama Gets His Second Pick

EDITORIAL: Sotomayor reversed again - Washington Times: "Martin Luther King can rest easy. His dream is being protected by the Supreme Court - against and over the opinion of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

The high court's landmark decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the New Haven, Conn., firefighters case, is a dramatic stride toward the cherished goal of achieving a colorblind society. In Ricci, the court told us that people of ability can succeed regardless of skin color, and government bureaucrats seeking racially biased outcomes can be thwarted in their racist designs."

It's sad that the court is already so far gone that this obvious conclusion was only decided on a 5-4 basis.

See No Evil

Target: Hawaii - WSJ.com: "The Pentagon recently announced that it is repositioning ground-to-air radar and missile defenses near Hawaii in case North Korea decides to launch another long-range missile, this time toward the Aloha State. So at least 1.3 million Hawaiians will benefit from defenses that many officials in the current Administration didn't even want to build.

But what about the rest of us? It's an odd time to be cutting missile defense, as the Obama Administration is doing in its 2010 budget -- by $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, depending on how you calculate it. Programs to defend the U.S. homeland are being pared, while those that protect our soldiers or allies are being expanded after the Pentagon decided that the near-term threat is from short-range missiles. But as North Korea and Iran show, rogue regimes aren't far from having missiles that could reach the U.S."

This administration's missile defense position is to ignore the threat and hope it will go away. Perhaps if we tour the world making grand speeches about a nuclear-free world, regimes like Iran and North Korea will beat their nuclear swords into plowshares.

Right.

Green Jobs and the Wishful Thinking of the Left

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Spain Tilts At Windmills And Pays Price: "The Spanish professor is puzzled. Why, Gabriel Calzada wonders, is the U.S. president recommending that America emulate the Spanish model for creating 'green jobs' in 'alternative energy' even though Spain's unemployment rate is 18.1% — more than double the European Union average — partly because of spending on such jobs?...

Calzada's report concludes that they [green jobs] often are temporary and have received $752,000 to $800,000 each in subsidies. Wind industry jobs cost even more, $1.4 million each. And each new job entails the loss of 2.2 other jobs that are either lost or not created in other industries because of the political allocation — sub-optimum in terms of economic efficiency — of capital."...

Calzada says the creation of jobs in alternative energy has subtracted about 110,000 jobs from elsewhere in Spain's economy.

Yet another example of the fallacies and myths behind Obama's policies. Cap and trade will "create" jobs? Perhaps, but he never tells you about the greater number of jobs it destroys. The last thing our nation needs during a very serious recession is to pass the largest tax hike in the history of the world. But Obama would have you believe it can be done without any cost to the society. He takes these mythical positions on virutally every issue:

- We can provide healthcare for all Americans and SAVE money - because of the efficiencies of electronic medical records and the mythical savings associated with disease prevention (see next post)

- We can SAVE money on healthcare without having to ration it

- We can divulge all of our interrogation techniques to our enemies and not make the country more vulnerable to terrorists

- We can triple the deficit in a matter of months, creating countless permanent new entitlements and not expect it to weight down our economy

- We can expect 5% of taxpayers to be willing and able to foot the bill for everyone else

- We can repeatedly raise taxes on the "rich" and not expect the taxes will change their economic behavior in any way

- We can cheat bondholders out of their money - and give it to our pals in the unions - and expect those bondholders to be willing to lend out their moeny to other industries that need it

- We can stand in the way of domestic energy production but actually become more energy independent

- We can cut the defense budget as we surge in Afghanistan, maintain the peace in Iraq, and face down lunatic nuclear regimes in North Korea and Iran

- We can close down Gitmo without having a plan for what to do with 250 incorrigible detainees that none of our "allies" want either

Nearly the entire agenda of this President is built upon wishful thinking and false promises.

A Doctor’s View of Obama’s Healthcare Plans - WSJ.com

A Doctor’s View of Obama’s Healthcare Plans - WSJ.com: "Prevention of a disease, we all assume, should save us money, right? An ounce of prevention . . . ? Alas, If only such aphorisms were true we’d hand out apples each day and our problems would be over...

It is true that if the prevention strategies we are talking about are behavioral things—eat better, lose weight, exercise more, smoke less, wear a seat belt—then they cost very little and they do save money by keeping people healthy.

But if your preventive strategy is medical, if it involves us, if it consists of screening, finding medical conditions early, shaking the bushes for high cholesterols, or abnormal EKGs, markers for prostate cancer such as PSA, then more often than not you don’t save anything and you might generate more medical costs. Prevention is a good thing to do, but why equate it with saving money when it won’t?"

The author is Abraham Verghese is Professor and Senior Associate Chair for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University.

Not sure what Dr Verghese's position is on nationalized health care - but what he is clear about is that it is not going to save money in any way EXCEPT by rationing health care. Once again - who do you want rationing health care, faceless bureaucrats in Washington, or you and your family? If we fix many of the government policies that currently distort the choices being made (procedure-driven Medicare reimbursement methodology, too-low deductibles, subsidization of employer-provided healthcare vs individual-provided, lack of competition in insurance market, plaintiff-slanted tort system, etc) we can make huge strides in improving what is already the best health care system in the world. And we won't have to give up control over the most personal decisions in our lives to get there.

Be the Party of No

George F. Will - A Regrettable 'Fix' on Health Care - washingtonpost.com: "As market enthusiasts, conservatives should stop warning that the president's reforms will result in health-care 'rationing.' Every product, from a jelly doughnut to a jumbo jet, is rationed -- by price or by politics. The conservative's task is to explain why price is preferable. The answer is that prices produce a rational allocation of scarce resources.

Regarding reform, conservatives are accused of being a party of 'no.' Fine. That is an indispensable word in politics because most new ideas are false and mischievous."

The GOP should EMPHATICALLY be the party of "no." It will serve both the nation and the party well.

Steyn on Sanford

Mark Steyn: Jacko, Sanford and weirdness | governor, state, bubble, sanford, one - Opinion - OCRegister.com: "As my National Review colleague Kathryn Jean Lopez observed, a sex scandal a week from the Republicans will guarantee us government health care by the fall – in the same way that the British Tories' boundlessly versatile sexual predilections helped deliver the Blair landslide of 1997. And once government health care's in place the game's over: Socialized medicine redefines the relationship between the citizen and the state in all the wrong ways, and, if you cross that bridge, it's all but impossible to go back. So, if ever there were a season for GOP philanderers not to unpeel their bananas, this summer is it."

Sadly, hilariously true.

We Have A Month or Two To Get the Truth Out

Despite living under "the most transparent administration in history," the truth about the global warming hoax is being suppressed. The only way the Dems can pass this is if the truth is concealed, as the EPA has tried to do:

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Carbongate: "the institute's Richard Morrison said 'internal EPA e-mail messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the administration's agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.'

Reading the report, available on the CEI Web site, we find this 'endangerment analysis' contains such interesting items as: 'Given the downward trend in temperatures since 1998 (which some think will continue until at least 2030), there is no particular reason to rush into decisions based on a scientific hypothesis that does not appear to explain most of the available data.'"

We have until the Senate vote, probably in September to get the truth out. It's not going to come from the mainstream media, but through the grass roots efforts of each of us to inform our fellow citizens.

Obama to Your Mama - Take A Chill Pill

Obama's Health Future - WSJ.com: "'Look, the first thing for all of us to understand that is we actually have some -- some choices to make about how we want to deal with our own end-of-life care,' Mr. Obama replied. After discussing ways 'we as a culture and as a society [can start] to make better decisions within our own families and for ourselves,' he continued that in general 'at least we can let doctors know and your mom know that, you know what? Maybe this isn't going to help. Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.'"

Of course, tough choices do need to be made at end-of-life - but the issue is WHO makes them? Do you want the President and his army of faceless bureaucrats to decide when doctors should throw in the towel on your mom?

The Candidate Who Wasn't Going to Raise Your Taxes Pushes for the Largest Tax Increase In American History

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Waxman-Markey: Man-Made Disaster: "It is the largest tax increase in American history — a tax on all Americans — even the 95% that President Obama pledged would never see a tax increase."...
And what would we get for all this pain? According to an analysis by Chip Knappenberger, administrator of the World Climate Report, the reduction of U.S. CO2 emissions to 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 — the goal of the Waxman-Markey bill — would reduce global temperature in 2050 by a mere 0.05 degree Celsius.

The cap and tax plan is all pain and no gain.

Haste Makes Waste

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Why The Rush?: "A pattern is emerging for this new presidency. The more radical and far-reaching the plan, the less time the public gets to debate it. Is this due to ambition or fear of push-back?"...

Obama may act supremely confident, but his haste here suggests insecurity. He acts as if he believes his political capital is dwindling so fast that it will be gone by the end of this year.

A stronger leader would take his time. He would not fear being called a wimp for appointing blue-ribbon commissions, because such drawn-out deliberation is actually what the country needs. Health care and finance both need work. But the first step is to understand the problems and think through the possible solutions.

Obama needs to cram this socialist agenda down our throats before the American people catch on. We need to slow him down at every opportunity. The more people know these plans the less they like them. America is not ready for nationalized health care or a centrally-planned economy. Obama knows that - which is why he's in a hurry.

Obama Misses the Point With Iran Response - washingtonpost.com

Charles Krauthammer - Obama Misses the Point With Iran Response - washingtonpost.com: "All hangs in the balance. The Khamenei regime is deciding whether to do a Tiananmen. And what side is the Obama administration taking? None. Except for the desire that this 'vigorous debate' (press secretary Robert Gibbs's disgraceful euphemism) over election 'irregularities' not stand in the way of U.S.-Iranian engagement on nuclear weapons...

And where is our president? Afraid of 'meddling.' Afraid to take sides between the head-breaking, women-shackling exporters of terror -- and the people in the street yearning to breathe free. This from a president who fancies himself the restorer of America's moral standing in the world."

I can't add anything. As always, I recommend you read Charles Krauthammer's column.

Inconvenient FACTS

OCRegister.com: "Then there was this report that followed not long after from Dr. Nils-Axel Moerner, author of 520 peer-reviewed papers on sea level during his 35-year career, which has been devoted entirely to studying the issue. Dr. Moerner concludes sea levels will rise in the 21st century by about 8 inches.

What’s that? Less than an inch per decade? Not exactly reason to abandon the beach-front home, hm?

Since 1993, Dr. Moerner says, when satellites first began to measure sea-level changes, the rate of increase has been a measley 1 foot per century. But - another oops coming here - there has been no statistically-significant sea-level rise during the past three years."

But don't let this get in the way of your cap and trade massive-tax-increase/power-grab-masquerading-as-environmental-salvation schtick, Democrats.

Pithy Take On Iran

Mark Steyn: Iran neutrality not an option for Obama | obama, president, leader, world, supreme - Opinion - OCRegister.com: "The polite explanation for Barack Obama's diffidence on Iran is that he doesn't want to give the mullahs the excuse to say the Great Satan is meddling in Tehran's affairs. So the president's official position is that he's modestly encouraged by the regime's supposed interest in investigating some of the allegations of fraud. Also, he's heartened to hear that O.J. is looking for the real killers."

Mark Steyn, again, naturally. Do read the whole column via the link above.

Pithy Take On North Korea Nukes

Transcript: "we have the Secretary of Defense of the United States making a serious, sober statement about protecting Hawaii from a nuclear attack by a state that has a lower GDP per capita than Zimbabwe. This is deeply damaging to American credibility in the world today."

Mark Steyn on Hugh Hewitt Show.

Chinese Students Know the Score Even if Mainstream Media Doesn't

UPDATE 3-Geithner tells China its dollar assets are safe | Reuters: "Chinese assets are very safe,' Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home." [italics mine]

First of all - I only learned of this startling event by reference made to it in a blog at NRO. Did anybody see this on the news or read about it in their newspapers? Had Geithner been a Bush cabinet member it certainly would have been all over the front pages.

Secondly, congratulations to Reuters for reporting it, but notice the words in italics. This is not an opinion piece, but supposedly a news report. Yet the reporter claims to know the motivation for the audience's laughter, and, what's more, his theory is ludicrous. Had Geithner just said, "China is wise to practice thrift, and invest in foreign bonds," perhaps this theory might have some credibility. But Geithner wasn't commenting on the wisdom of China stockpiling foreign reserves, he was commenting on the safety of the assets that had already been stockpiled (primarily in US Treasuries). It was the assertion that the already stockpiled debt was safe which prompted the loud laughter from the audience.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, or A Picture Can SAVE A Thousand Words...

This YouTube video is awesome. It's true, the President inherited a mess. But he loves to throw around numbers and plans and agencies and trillions of dollars in tax money based on bogus economic models and projections like the ones lampooned in this video. We all knew the stimulus wouldn't work as advertised by the President. In fact, we knew that the stimulus wasn't a stimulus at all, just long litany of pay-offs to Democratic sacred cows, approved in a frenzy, under the cover of an economic crisis.

Doctors Boo Obama's Obeisance To The Trial Lawyers

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Why He Was Booed: "HHS has further said that reasonable limits placed on noneconomic damages in malpractice cases would save $60 billion to $108 billion a year...'These savings would lower the cost of health insurance and permit an additional 2.4 million to 4.3 million Americans to obtain insurance,' the department said.

Nearly 10% of the cost of health care services, figures PricewaterhouseCoopers, is attributable to medical malpractice lawsuits. Roughly 2% is caused by direct costs of the lawsuits while an additional 5% to 9% is due to expenses run up by defensive medicine...PricewaterhouseCoopers also found that half of health care costs are due to wasteful spending and said that defensive medicine is the biggest producer of waste.

It would make sense to anyone who wants to bring down health care costs that caps on medical malpractice awards should be on the table — unless that person was beholden to the trial bar that is filled with members who make fortunes suing doctors."

Like the UAW, the trial lawyers are a Democrat sacred cow. And they are being paid off by this President with YOUR tax dollars.