First, President Barach Obama has Al Sharpton proclaiming that the health care bill was simply the fulfillment of his promise of socialism, here. Now, Fidel Castro himself endorsed the plan as a socialistic victory. In the meantime, conservatives are on fire about a clip of Ed Schultz calling for a socialist take over of talk radio, here.
Castro celebrated the passage of national health care on Thursday, calling it a “miracle.” Castro wrote
“We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama’s) government.”
Why do I think there are Sharpton/Castro clips being developed as I speak for the mid-term elections? I can see it now: “Better Meds Than Dead”
For the full story, click here.
Viva Fidel
Prof. Turley:
I don’t know if you meant to, but very nice positioning of the Chavez and Obama stories. A not so subtle link on the possibility of muzzling the free press in this country. And with it the implication that this administration may have certain tendencies toward censorship or at the very least sympathies in that regard.
Bdaman:
one thing you can say about commies is that they have good national anthems, the International is one of my favorites. But as with communism itself the promise of the music does not match reality. Soring notes for crawling through the mud on their bellies.
Of course Castro would pimp it as a win for him.
He’s a politician.
This totally neglects that this “reform” isn’t socialist anything. It’s insurance regulation and taxation. A sell out from what the majority of Americans want (if put to a vote solely on this issue) which is what citizens of many other Western countries have (like Canada, Great Britain and Sweden) and that is health care as a right from a single payer system.
But come on.
Please justify the raw inefficiency of multi-tiered multi-payer health care systems. Systems that skim money out at every level even if they are not allowed to discriminate against pre-existing conditions. Systems that give preferential treatment based on payment.
You can’t when it comes to raw numbers, but it’d be funny to watch the attempt.
Start with the fact that insurance works from risk pools and the cost of claims is directly related to the size of the risk pool as a risk pool is a tool specifically designed to spread risk and ergo cost.
Is Rush a Liberal for the “Right”?
The Dinner Roll ..
Once upon a time I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President.
I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics.
There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a FREE country. There’s nothing that the government can do to me if I’ve broken no laws. My wealth was EARNED honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.
I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room.
We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.
The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen..
“Sorry ’bout that,” said the President. “Andrew is very hungry.”
“I don’t appreciate…” I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. “Of course,” I concluded, and reached for my glass.
Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp. “And his brother, Eric, is very thirsty,” said the President.
I didn’t say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I withheld my comments and decided to play along. I don’t want to seem unkind..
My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.
“Eric’s children are also quite hungry.”
With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me.
I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room.
And their grandmother can’t stand for long.”
I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken.
I turned back to the President.
“Their grandfather doesn’t like the cold.”
I wanted to shout, “that was my coat!” But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled.
Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table.
I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home.
Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn’t moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.
“Andrew’s whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven’t planned for retirement and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do.”
My hands were shaking. I felt faint I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor.
The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak, and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.
“By the way,” he added, “I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories.
I’m firing you as head of your business. I’ll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind.
There’s a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can’t come to you for jobs groveling like beggars…we need to spread YOUR wealth around…”
I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been hiscrème Brule.
He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.
He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if it were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss.
I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle.
Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.
What had I done wrong?
As if answering the unspoken thought, President Obama suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.
“You should have stopped me at the dinner roll,” he said.
When did this become a repository for fiction, bdabadwriter?
” Ed Schultz calling for a socialist take over of talk radio, here.”
I think this illustrates what that means for you.
bdaman,
Where did you find this? Sounds like you love good Fiction. How about Leon Uris QBVII. If uou can read that without wincing once let me know. I started it on a Friday at about 5pm and did not put it down until 10 am Sunday morning.
The fat ladies on the Supreme Court must sing their anthem before the curtain falls.
With the case filed against the health care law by several states attorney general, the door may become open to an era of judicial activism of the conservative type.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2010/03/rise-of-machine-hypocrisy.html
The little plagiarist has posted Dinner at the White House – a parable by Richard Gleaves, available all over the net, and palmed it off as if it is his or hers own writing. It is a stupid little right wing fantasy that teaches nothing of value. What a waste of time.
Marxism is as Marxism does.
You can claim that you are not a Marxist until the cows come home, but when you walk like a duck, squawk like a duck, look like a duck, swim like a duck….
oh, you get it.
He is a Marxist and that is why the Marxists love him. I believe he is a temporary Marxist. Marxists know ahead of time that the quick establishment of Marxism always destabilizes a nation. Friedrich Hayek taught this to the world last century.
The goal of the destabilization via the establishment of Marxism? Well, isn’t that obvious?
(sorry for mixed metaphors)
Is the proper way to use a dictionary or encyclopedia eating it or reading it?
“Apes read philosophy, Otto. They just don’t understand it.”
Ahhh, that Jamie Lee Curtis! Is their no wisdom so sweet as from her lips?
Why is it that a reminder of the rules of civility must be issued on a regular basis; to the “regulars”?
Yesterday morning, I chastized bdaman, not so much for what he said, but for the timing of his comment. (I don’t take sides)
We all need to remember whose house we are in. If you don’t like what someone has posted, you have the option of refuting it, or you can simply ignore it.
Please help to promote civility.
PS. bdaman, It is customary to acknowledge the author of a work. If you don’t know who wrote it, but you can be reasonably sure it wasn’t you, “author unknown” would be acceptable.
Duh,
When this is your website, maybe then you can enforce the rules.
Trollbuster:
I didn’t think it was his own. I figured he found it somewhere. And I like it, it shows exactly what happens in a hard socialist country.
The thing about socialists that I find amusing is that a Capitalist system could provide them more than enough money for their social programs but they would rather have power than prosperity.
A prosperous person doesn’t need a government handout so it benefits a socialist/democrat to have the population feeding at the teet of government. A dependent people are easier to control than a free people. We will see what Americans are made of in November, are we going to sell our birth right for health care or will we have the spine that our ancestors did? We will know that first Wednesday in November.
The only thing that is owed a person born in this country is the opportunity to succeed or fail. A failure here is a rich man most other places.
Thank you Byron, after I read your comment I thought it was appropriate. It was in my inbox this morning and by the looks of other comments I should have stated so. I’m glad to see you were smart enough to figure out it was another copy/paste job from muaw.
PS. bdaman, It is customary to acknowledge the author of a work. If you don’t know who wrote it, but you can be reasonably sure it wasn’t you, “author unknown” would be acceptable.
Again my bad Duh, I’ll try to do better next time. Thanks for keeping me straight.
And for all you very smart or not so smart people you mean to tell me after the first two sentences you couldn’t figure it out. Here read it again.
Once upon a time I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President.
I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics.
Tootie, I don’t think I’ve ever directed a comment to you. All I can say is keep up the good work.
Dredd
The fat ladies on the Supreme Court must sing their anthem before the curtain falls.
============================================================
Harrumph! …. (from all ex-fat lady singers)
Bdaman! Hey, nice to “meet” you.
)
Tootie, more than likely your comment didn’t get zapped on the other thread it was probably a technical error. It happens from time to time. It happened to me yesterday and I restarted my computer and all was well again.
Bdaman: Oh, okay. Good to know. I think I’ll shut down now anyway and get some work done.
Thanks!
I think the Presidents spells his name “Barack Obama”.
Not Barach Obama.
Byron,
Capitalism produces wealth, but unrestrained capitalism concentrates it. To illustrate: 40 years or so ago, CEOs made about 20 times what the average worker did – today that number is about 400 times. Is that kind of disparity good for our country or is it a part of what’s killing the middle class? In Europe that number is still much closer to 20 than it is to 400. I don’t want to institute a socialist system in the US, I just want to temper unrestrained capitalism with social responsibility and get the money out of politics. This is supposed to be a republic, not a plutocracy.
Slarti:
Why did salaries rise so high? I think someone tampered with CEO compensation back in the early 90′s.
I think what is killing the middle class is a tax system that doesn’t allow wealth to be concentrated in our bank accounts. Another’s success doesn’t bring me down. The pie is not static it is ever increasing. If a CEO makes 40 million/year it doesn’t come out of my pocket but when government taxes me it does. The CEO is not the problem it is government taxation. Both of us loose when we are taxed.
Wealth creation has been restrained by government policies for almost a hundred years. Had government actually taken steps to help people create wealth we would have so much money that anyone with who couldn’t work would be taken care of. If Social Security had actually been a separate account we would all be millionaires at retirement. Our mixed economy has destroyed or prevented untold wealth. Oh well, maybe someday people will wake up.
I was thinking about Marxism and how he wanted workers to own the means of production. I think workers should own the means of production as well. From past experience with various economic systems in the last 160 years, it seems to me that the only economic system that has afforded workers that opportunity is Capitalism.
Marxism is appealing because people don’t want other people to suffer. But under Marxist governments that is all they do. Why the fascination for an economic system that doesn’t work? And socialism as a derivative of Marxism isn’t much better and the rich are still rich. Only the lower classes suffer. At least in a Capitalist system people have an opportunity to create wealth for themselves.
Social responsibility and free markets are not incompatible. By using the wealth creating power of capitalism you could afford to be very socially responsible. The poor are actually being denied services that could be paid for by virtue of having a free market. I don’t want people to suffer and think with a free market you help more people than you do with the mixed economy we have now.
If you have full employment what happens to workers wages? If you have extra money to put into savings what happens? If you have extra money to buy a new car or a new appliance what happens?
Capitalism is far more compassionate than socialism or Marxism and more egalitarian as well. Everyone has the same opportunity to fail or succeed.
Byron said:
Coercing citizens to purchase for profit insurance is as far away from socialism as you can get. If Mussolini hadn’t gotten his just reward he’d be praising this legislation.
“I just want to prevent the capitalists from controlling the government.”
I think you mean fascism. Which I am also against as is every capitalist I know. Now Geoffrey Emholt at GE I am not so sure of but he is an Obama supporter.
Why is the extreme always put up for a moral argument? Of course a crack baby and the Bush family don’t have equal opportunity at birth. But Detroit wasn’t screwed up by capitalism and that babies mother didn’t have to ingest poison. Sometimes people are just worthless pieces of shit (the mother not the baby) and there is no helping them. You cant make a horse drink and you cant turn a crack whore into a college graduate most of the time.
And as far as moderation or the Greek idea of the mean, which would you rather have-a milkshake or a milkshake with a dose of poison? Sometimes there is no golden mean and a thing is either right or wrong.
But Detroit wasn’t screwed up by capitalism.
Hmmm.
I guess those clowns running GM into the ditch were either commies or from the government then.
Or they were, what’s that thing, yeah, capitalists.
Unions
crooks
Bastards
‘Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in.’
it’s so much more convenient when we can import them secretly, pay them crappily, and then send them home when we are done with them
Slarti, thank you for this statement:
“Capitalism produces wealth, but unrestrained capitalism concentrates it. To illustrate: 40 years or so ago, CEOs made about 20 times what the average worker did – today that number is about 400 times.”
Some more stats:
The Wealth Distribution
In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.7%. Table 1 and Figure 1 present further details drawn from the careful work of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2009).’
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
The Hell Detroit is not screwed up by Capitalism, look at the former mayor, city counsel, the attorney’s representing the same and the 5 or 7 attorney’s before the Attorney Discipline Board.
Oh I am sorry, I confused Greed with Capitalism….
It’s an easy mistake to make, AY. They often look exactly alike.
I thought they were actually the same thing!
Having a good afternoon Buddha?
Woosty:
and if you distributed all of the wealth held by the top 20% to everyone equally everyone would have an additional 20 or 30k in their pocket and no job prospects. A billion is a 1000 million. Bill Gates net worth of 60 billion would give 300 million people an extra 200 dollars if it was confiscated and distributed. But guess what the government would keep most of it. So the amount of money would not be very much and there would be fewer jobs because you need the wealthy to produce jobs. Not everyone can create a large company and employ people. Thank god there are men and women that can so the rest of us can earn a living.
If you like to eat and have clothes and shelter thank a rich capitalist today.
And government isnt greedy? They just tax the life out of every living thing and leave us with a few crumbs so we can exist. At least capitalism produces something that the rest of us can use.
Hello all. Buddha too.
Buddha, can you recommend a program for the new laptop that has more sound that the one that came with it? It is week in volume or maybe its fine and it is nothing but my hearing….
AY,
Hello to you, might I suggest an audiologist
CE,
Yes I am.
I hope yours was good as well.
AY,
No software fix I know of but you are usually limited by the built on the motherboard sound that comes with a laptop. I know of no aftermarket laptop sound cards, you could line-out to a traditional amp of some sort.
Ms. Eh,
I do have artificial eardrums and that has been suggested before. It helps to be able to read lips.
Buddha,
So I am stuck with a case of the damned…
[Me]
“I just want to prevent the capitalists from controlling the government.”
[Byron] “I think you mean fascism. Which I am also against as is every capitalist I know. Now Geoffrey Emholt at GE I am not so sure of but he is an Obama supporter.”
I agree that most people are against fascism, but what I was talking about is the corrupting influence that money has on our political process. Politicians should not be allowed to take money from anyone.
[Byron] “Why is the extreme always put up for a moral argument?”
You mean like equating ‘capitalists controlling the government’ with fascism? The reason is that it shows the argument more clearly.
[Byron] “Of course a crack baby and the Bush family don’t have equal opportunity at birth. But Detroit wasn’t screwed up by capitalism and that babies mother didn’t have to ingest poison.
But babies don’t get the choice of whether to be born into the Bush family
[Byron] Sometimes people are just worthless pieces of shit (the mother not the baby) and there is no helping them.
If we don’t help the baby (and the mother for the baby’s sake) then we end up with another worthless piece of shit instead of a productive citizen.
[Byron] You cant make a horse drink and you cant turn a crack whore into a college graduate most of the time.
The baby should have the right to a high school education (I would be all for adding a 2 year degree or some sort of trade school to that).
[Byron] “And as far as moderation or the Greek idea of the mean, which would you rather have-a milkshake or a milkshake with a dose of poison? Sometimes there is no golden mean and a thing is either right or wrong.”
This reminds me of a Simpson’s episode where Homer is going to parent-teacher conferences and tells the kids that if the reports are good he’ll bring home pizza and if they’re bad he’ll bring home poison and Lisa asks what will happen in one is good and the other is bad and Bart answers ‘poison pizza’ to which Homer replies ‘Oh no, I’m not making two trips!’ There are plenty of examples that show that social programs are not poison to government (and examples that show undue influence of capitalism on government IS poison).
Woosty persists as felis domesticus,
Thanks for the statistics on wealth – you can find all sorts of statistics like that. My favorite is looking at taxes paid as a percentage of earnings (I don’t remember the numbers, but a small percentage of the population gets 50% of all earnings and pays much less than 50% of all taxes – I would guess the numbers get even worse if you include capital gains).
AY said:
“Oh I am sorry, I confused Greed with Capitalism….”
Buddha stole my comment
Byron said:
“At least capitalism produces something that the rest of us can use.”
Yes, I’m so glad that capitalism has given us a highway system, bridges, fire and police department, schools, the military*, social security, medicare, a social safety net…
*To be fair, capitalism has given us Xe (nee Blackwater).
Bdaman said:
“unions”
As someone who saw both sides of labor and management in the auto industry while growing up in Michigan (and being married to a white-collar GM employee with a blue-collar GM father for seven years), I can tell you that anyone who thinks that everything is one side’s fault is full of shit. If the unions disappeared workers would be making sweatshop wages (with working conditions to match) and if management caved the companies would be out of business inside a year.
Buddha,
I have enjoyed possibly the most relaxing Sunday afternoon that I can remember in at least 20 years
AY,
I had no idea that one could have artificial eardrums…in which case if you are having trouble hearing then an audiologist is a must. I have a friend who has been deaf since a very young age, tried the cohclear implants in early adulthood, but found that sounds became too loud. As long as I’ve known him, some 30 years now, I have always communicated with him via lip reading on his part and careful listening on mine!
AY,
Do you mean cochlear implants? I had a friend at Duke (and how about my Devils (and Spartans) today?) who did her thesis research on the cochlea.
Slarti:
have you ever eaten Nutria? It is some sort of swamp rat from Louisianan.
Buddha probably grew up eating it along with gator and possum belly and raccoon. A Cajun will eat just about anything or so I am told. Not that Buddha is a Cajun but when in Rome . . .
Nutria Etoufee bring it on
I’ve had both gator and raccoon, but I’m not eating possum or nutria.
I think I’ll stick to shrimp.
Buddha:
you are not the gastronome I thought you were.
Have you ever had moose lips and braised beaver tail?
How bout this, yummm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinuguan
or this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28egg%29
Bdaman:
see your Balut and raise you a 1000 year old egg:
Byron, the only way you could have known about this video is it must be your kin folk.