Obama '08?

{I}n an OpEd yesterday in The {NYT} Week In Review by Peter S. Goodman discussing the state of the economy, Mr. Goodman tossed in this little gem…

Yet even as vital signs weaken — plunging home sales, a bleak job market and, on Friday, confirmation that the quarterly rate of economic growth had slowed, to 1.6 percent — a sense has taken hold that government policy makers cannot deliver meaningful intervention.

Wow! Now I’ll warn you ahead of time that this one paragraph has not just one but three quotables in it. This first one doesn’t say so, but since it’s’ coming from The Times I think it’s a safe assumption on my part to note that the “meaningful intervention” that can’t be delivered would be implementation of a total command economy run from the offices of the DNC. I happen to be a believer in the concept that real meaningful intervention could be delivered, and delivered quickly, but it would look like something neither TheOne™ or his acolytes at The Times could stomach. It would look like this:

§ a major overhaul of tax policy – namely something that looks like the “flat tax” where EVERYBODY pays a fixed percentage with no exemptions;

§ a major reduction of business taxes – “businesses” don’t pay taxes folks, their customers do;

§ and major reductions in the number of departments at the federal level along with about 100% of the budgets of those departments reduced to zero – think Education, Commerce and Agriculture on day one.

Frankly, even with the caveat, I’m pretty surprised that The Times would go so far as to admit that their preferred solution set is not achievable, even with a solidly Democratic Congress and an avowed Socialist in the Oval Office. The reason they give is utterly wrong as well.

I noted above that there are three notable quotables in the one paragraph, here’s number two…

That is because nearly any proposed curative could risk adding to the national debt — a political nonstarter.

It’s NOT because “a solution” will raise the national debt, nobody at The Times or the DNC gives a rip about the national debt (I doubt anybody at the RNC does either, to be fair). The reason is that the great unwashed masses in flyover country – and even a few in the northeast – understand that gummit solutions don’t work and THOSE FOLKS just happen to be paying attention right now.

And number three [drum roll please]…

The situation has left American fortunes pinned to an uncertain remedy: hoping that things somehow get better.

Yeah, it is The Times. But, I would point out that “HOPE” happens to be the platform that TheWon™ campaigned on and he did win. So, you guys are stuck with it. And just to be really clear about what you’re stuck with – and what you’ve stuck the rest of us with – reflect on how far we’ve come…

The difference between the unwashed masses in flyover country and the folks who carry on multi-syllable word conversations without moving their lips or chin is that we unwashed knew what TheWon™ was before the election.

If you read the rest of Mr. Goodman’s little piece, you’ll find the standard leftist prescriptions for fixing the economic nightmare that leftist policies have led us in to. Lots more of the same but just managed better.

Ending on a happy note, I really am encouraged that somebody over at The Times would at least note that what they want they’re not gonna get. Even if the reason they’re not getting it is because the problem happens be that they got a whole bunch of what they want in the first place.

Explaining ObamaCare To 'Stupid'

Written by CAA Opinion on August 24, 2010, 04:39 PM

MERRILL MATTHEWS

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Democrats were promised repeatedly by their leadership and the "professional left" that once ObamaCare passed, the public would embrace it. Voters would even reward Democrats at the polls in November.

Former President Bill Clinton, for example, told audiences that "the reason Democrats fared so poorly in the 1994 off-year elections, when Republicans took over the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years, was [his] failure to pass ClintonCare."

However, no one claimed in 1994 that Democrats were beaten for failing to pass health care reform; everyone understood it was because they tried to pass a massive government-run takeover of the health care system. Had Democrats succeeded, as President Obama has now done, the beating would likely have been worse.

And that's what we're seeing in the polls. The Rasmussen poll has consistently shown that 55% to 60% of the public wants ObamaCare repealed, even as Team Obama tries to convince the public of its benefits--and of leaving Democrats in charge of it.

But with oblivion looming in the November elections, the White House and its allies have decided that the non-Ivy-League-educated rabble--i.e., the vast majority of Americans-- [are] too stupid to understand how good ObamaCare is. So they've brought in the high-paid consultants to help with the messaging.

As Ben Smith of Politico reports, Families USA held a conference call featuring Lake Research Partners, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and the Herndon Alliance, which did some marketing tests on how to explain ObamaCare to Stupid.

"Use personal stories coupled with clear, simple descriptions of how the law works. One of the most powerful findings of this research is that a compelling personal story helps tremendously to make the health care reform law real, break down resistance, tap into anger about how things were under the old system, provide hope for how health care reform can make it better, and help voters retain knowledge of key provisions."

But some of the stories intended to "break down resistance" are just flat wrong.

In one illustration, a 23-year-old woman has a 6-year-old child with asthma. The family had coverage through the husband's employer, but he lost his job. He got a new job but the new employer imposed a pre-existing condition exclusion and wouldn't cover the asthma. ObamaCare is supposed to stop that.

Except that for most people with employer-provided coverage that wouldn't happen. Federal legislation passed in 1996 says that if you have "credible coverage," which the large majority of employer-provided coverage is, the new employer's coverage cannot impose a pre-existing condition exclusion.

The report also says, "It is critical to reassure seniors Medicare will not be cut." Except Medicare will be cut--by more than $500 billion over 10 years. That's how Democrats helped pay for ObamaCare.

And then there's a list of "don'ts," such as "don't say the law will reduce costs and deficit." Except that's exactly how Democrats sold the plan to the public, despite the fact that most economists and health policy experts warned that ObamaCare would force health care costs to explode.

ObamaCare is so unpopular not because the public is too stupid to understand it, but because millions of Americans understand the law better than many members of Congress.

We've already seen Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., lash out at companies that were taking a billion-dollar write down because of tax changes in retirees' drug benefits. The outraged Waxman demanded hearings until his staff explained to him that the companies were doing exactly what they needed to do under the law. He canceled the hearings.

And then there were four Democratic senators who sent a letter to the head of the IRS in July complaining, "Not only will a 1099 form be necessary for millions of new transactions, the stricter requirements force business owners to collect taxpayer identification information from vendors, contractors, and other companies." Yes, senators, and you voted for it, so it's a little late to complain.

By contrast, we've seen the remarkable phenomenon of Americans actually trying to read the 2,700-page health care monstrosity--which I suspect is more than the majority of the members of Congress have done to date.

■ H.R. 4872 "Health and Education Affordability" -- .pdf file here.


And the voters have been trying to get answers from their elected representatives--when they could find them--about specific provisions in the bill.

ObamaCare has been one of the most widely discussed and debated pieces of legislation in our lifetimes. The public has a pretty good idea about what's in the bill, and they don't like it.

Yes, ObamaCare needs to be explained to Stupid--and I suggest they start with the Democrats in Congress who voted for it --without reading it!

But with oblivion looming in the November elections, the White House and its allies have decided that the non-Ivy-League-educated rabble--i.e., the vast majority of Americans-- [are] too stupid to understand how good ObamaCare is.

Except that for most people with employer-provided coverage that wouldn't happen. Federal legislation passed in 1996 says that if you have "credible coverage," which the large majority of employer-provided coverage is, the new employer's coverage cannot impose a pre-existing condition exclusion.

We have no problem with the reporter cleaning up our quotes to eliminate "sloppy talking:" grammar, syntax etc. It makes us look a bit less like the total idiots we may be.

I worked for a newspaper that circulated among lawyers and bankers. I cleaned up their quotes constantly to make them sound more articulate.

THE TEA PARTY RESCUES AMERICA

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published on DickMorris.com on August 16, 2010

Printer-Friendly Version

For a decade, the left owned the streets. Subsidized by George Soros and energized by the Clinton impeachment in the 90s and the Iraq War since, it dominated the Internet and grass roots campaigning. Michael Moore's movies - however misguided - enthused their ranks and catalyzed their efforts. ACORN worked to commit massive voter fraud in the guise of stimulating voter turnout and the New Black Panthers worked to intimidate those with whom they disagreed. President Barack Obama was the result.

Now, finally, conservatives are answering with their own grass roots efforts in the Tea Party movement. Tea Party activists are bringing the battle to stop big government spending and taxes to the streets and parks of America.

And its working! The Tea Party movement, working closely with Americans for Prosperity (AFP), mobilized people against the Obamacare proposal and, in the end, will cost the Democrats their Congressional majorities - a fitting price for defying the will of the people.

Democrats are so threatened that they are demonizing the Tea Party as eccentric, extreme and racist. Speaker Pelosi compared them to the Nazis. These are the cries of those about to lose an election - big time!

Now a new film, The Tea Party Movie, shows the anatomy of the group and explains its motivations. With almost no funding or paid staff and all decisions made at the local level, the Tea Party people are reshaping American politics. A bottom-up movement, they are restoring values to our politics.

The film, sometimes moving, sometimes funny, and always interesting is available online at http://www.teapartymovie.com. Do yourself a favor and watch it!

And, on September 12th, pack your bags and migrate to Sacramento, St. Louis, or Washington DC for the three mega-rallies sponsored by the Tea Party folks. Its time to get out of the grandstands and onto the playing field. We need a massive show of participation and enthusiasm to kick-off, animate, and catalyze the effort to throw the big spending socialists out of Congress in November! Go to http://teapartypatriots.org/Recycle/Recycle.aspx to learn more about the rallies. Organize your friends and neighbors to go and attend!

The Tea Party is not only electing Republicans, it is cleansing them. Their victories in intra-party contests in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and South Carolina shows that they are no happier with big spending Republicans than with Democrats of a similar persuasion. Many worried that the Tea Party would be a third party movement, splitting the vote and electing the Democrats. No way. Instead, they are winning their primaries and purifying the Party.

What a great time to be alive and what a wonderful group to support!

Now, finally, conservatives are answering with their own grass roots efforts in the Tea Party movement. Tea Party activists are bringing the battle to stop big government spending and taxes to the streets and parks of America.

And its working! The Tea Party movement, working closely with Americans for Prosperity (AFP)

There is no aspect of the Tea Party movement which can in any way be called 'grassroots.' It is an artifice.

Cycloptichorn

Cycloptichorn wrote:

There is no aspect of the Tea Party movement which can in any way be called 'grassroots.' It is an artifice.

Cycloptichorn

"No aspect" ? None at all? Are you suggesting it is something like an SEIU or ACORN rally in which paid "demonstrators" are bussed in to give life to their synthetic protests? I don't think the facts are with you on this. Though it evidently comforts you to believe otherwise.

President Obama's top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall.

"ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday

Although the e-mail does not violate the Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from participating in political campaigns, Education Department workers should feel uneasy, said David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute.

"It sends a signal that activity on behalf of one side of a political debate is expected within a department. It's highly inappropriate ... even in the absence of a direct threat," Boaz said. "If we think of a Bush cabinet official sending an e-mail to civil servants asking them to attend a Glenn Beck rally, there would be a lot of outrage over that

Can you imagine the outrage if a repub admin official had sent out an e-mail like this?