AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

This is interesting.
The dems are the majority in congress...on the most corrupt members list.

http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/

8 of the top 15 are dems.
I thought the dems were all pure as the driven snow, incapable of being corrupt, and had only the best interests of the people in mind.

You missed my point.
The left makes a huge deal when they find a repub thats corrupt (as well they should), but they are strangely silent about the corrupt dems.

Why is that?

That's pretty funny.

Every time I see rick sanchez though I think back to this bit the Jon Stewart did on his show about sanchez. I'd post a link if I weren't on my phone.

I'm studying the two linked documents. Sunday, I'll cut and paste excerpts from them that I think support either of those two points:

1, it's still an open question whether tort limits will or will not lead to DECREASES, or slower increases in, health care insurance premiums.

2, there is evidence that tort limits do lead to slower increases in healthcare insurance.

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1257588/GAO-FINDS-MIXED-IMPACT-OF.html
GAO Finds Mixed Impact on Malpractice Premiums on Health Care

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03836.pdf
GAO Medical Mal Practice
Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1257588/GAO-FINDS-MIXED-IMPACT-OF.html
GAO FINDS MIXED IMPACT OF MALPRACTICE PREMIUMS ON HEALTH CARE.
Publication: Liability & Insurance Week
Publication Date: 02-SEP-03 Format: Online - approximately 815 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access

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Article Excerpt
Increases in medical malpractice insurance premiums appear to have been slower in states that have capped noneconomic damages, the General Accounting Office reported Aug. 29, and care of some patients has been affected in states identified as having a crisis in malpractice coverage.

But in each case, the congressional auditing arm said, data were scant.

"Limited available data indicate that growth in malpractice premiums and claims payments has been slower in states that enacted tort reform laws that include caps on noneconomic damages," says Medical Malpractice: Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care (GAO-03-836).

"For example, between 2001 and 2002, average premiums for three physician specialties - general surgery, internal medicine, and obstetrics/ gynecology - grew by about 10...

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03836.pdf
GAO Report to Congressional Requesters
August 2003
Medical Mal Practice
Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care

That's pretty funny.

Every time I see rick sanchez though I think back to this bit the Jon Stewart did on his show about sanchez. I'd post a link if I weren't on my phone.

You missed my point.
The left makes a huge deal when they find a repub thats corrupt (as well they should), but they are strangely silent about the corrupt dems.

Why is that?

http://www.atlassociety.org/cth-43-2249-protest_of_producers.aspx
Atlas Ideas

Protest of the Producers
by Edward Hudgins

September 20, 2009 - The past week saw two conflicting kinds of political consciousness that point to what is right and what is wrong with our culture today.

The first was on display on September 12 in Washington, D.C., as hundreds of thousands of individuals flooded Pennsylvania Avenue and the Mall in front of the Capitol building. This Tea Party was organized to protest out-of-control federal government spending and deficits, attempts by Congress and the Obama administration to control health care, economically destructive environmental regulations on businesses, and limits on economic liberty that make individuals more dependent on government.

This demonstration was the most dramatic of many this year that have taken place from coast to coast, complemented by citizen protests at town hall meetings held, often reluctantly, by elected government officials.

Consciousness raising

No doubt each demonstrator sought to voice his or her opinions about public policies with which they rightly disagreed. But something else was happening that could have effects much more far-reaching than stopping any particular piece of legislation. The demonstrators were beginning to expand their consciousness of themselves as producers who are proud of running their own lives and who are stung by the injustice of being punished and set upon by their government and fellow citizens for their virtues. Whether construction workers, retail clerks, software engineers, business owners, professionals, inventors, you name it, most were concerned that government is taking their fates and their futures out of their hands.

Most successful social movements, for better or worse, depend on enough individuals recognizing some important aspect of themselves that they share with others and that offers opportunities for mutually advantageous action. Individual blacks in the South in the 1950s and '60s rightly saw themselves deserving liberty to run their lives as they saw fit and to participate in the political process. They also saw, as they'd seen since the days of slavery, that they were victims of white political elites who used state force to limit those liberties. They saw that the time was well overdue for the shackles of state-enforced segregation to be removed. And they saw that they could act together to eliminate the injustice they suffered.

Many Americans today are becoming more conscious of themselves as striving to take responsibility for their own lives, their own families, their own careers, and their own material well-being, and as being the authors of their own happiness. They are growing more conscious of the government shackling them in the name of helping those who are irresponsible and who do not strive to better themselves but, rather, simply make demands on those who do. And they are growing more conscious that they can take to the streets and eliminate this injustice.

This consciousness of themselves as creators and producers is still emerging and evolving. This perspective of producers versus moochers still does not define how they view American politics and culture. "Liberal" versus "conservative," two very confused concepts, still organize and integrate their understanding of the world in which they live.

But to the extent that their consciousness of themselves as producers who hold up the economy and society becomes primary, these Americans will seek united action with other producers to demand that government leave them alone. They will no longer sit silently as they are denounced as "selfish" and "greedy" for wanting to run their own lives any more than black Americans will sit silently when racial epithets are hurled at them.

Collectivist mentalities

This first form of political consciousness is in stark contrast to a second form, one that was fostered by former president Jimmy Carter last week. Speaking about those who oppose President Obama's policies, he said, "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

Where did Carter get his evidence for this accusation? Surely not from some poll or survey! In fact, the charge originated in an ideological model that he chooses to carry around in his head. He, like so many on the left, sees the world in terms of group membership. That is why they find it difficult to understand that millions of individuals would oppose programs-whether offered by white or black politicians-that limit their liberty as individuals.

Indeed, the left's defense of government paternalism is based on this mindset, on group consciousness, on the notion that individuals acting in voluntary cooperation with others are too often impotent. And it is this kind of consciousness that Carter and collectivists like him must foster if they are to keep the producers in bondage.

Producers of the world, unite!

Protests against the policies of Obama and Congress will certainly continue and intensify as the 2010 elections loom. Those who want to effect a deeper social change and to reinforce the moral foundations of a free society should not only raise their own and potential allies' understanding of the benefits and hazards of particular policies; they should also foster in themselves and others their own self-consciousness as producers and creators.

Looking at the world this way will provide a surer guide not only for political action but for the kind of culture that will help vanquish the tribal mentalities that hold so many back in their own lives and that support a political system that, in the end, cannot stand because it destroys the producers.
----
Hudgins directs advocacy and is a senior scholar for The Atlas Society, the center for Objectivism.

For further reading:

*Edward Hudgins, "Thoughts on Racial Thinking." January 17, 2009.

*David Kelley, "A Museum for Capitalism." Navigator, June 2003.

You should be ashamed of peddling your villifications of other people's ideas with which you disagree. It is nothing more than an attempt to justify Envy, and those who oppose the maximization of Envy as some sort of greedy bums.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
Profile of the Sociopath
This website summarizes some of the common features of descriptions of the behavior of sociopaths.

Glibness and Superficial Charm

Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.

Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."

Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.

Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.

Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.

Incapacity for Love

Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.

Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.

Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.

Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet "gets by" by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.

Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.

Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.

Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.

Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.

Other Related Qualities:

(1) Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
(2) Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
(3) Authoritarian
(4) Secretive
(5) Paranoid
(6) Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
(7) Conventional appearance
(8) Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
(9) Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
(10) Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
(11) Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
(12) Incapable of real human attachment to another
(13) Unable to feel remorse or guilt
(14) Extreme narcissism and grandiose
(15) May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

(The above traits are based on the psychopathy checklists of H. Cleckley and R. Hare.)

Envy? What makes you think that I am envious of anyone, who is trying to maximize their personal greed?

Why would I be? I have seen no persuasive evidence whatsoever that Rich=Happy, and indeed, a great deal of evidence that the opposite is true. Why would I want to aspire for that, or envy others who have that, when I am quite happy now?

I think this is a major failing of the side of Greed; they can't conceive of any other motivation in life besides money. And they can't understand why others would want a different system, outside of Greed as a motivator - for it is what motivates them.