Easy Opinions Outlink: Diplomacy and Terrorism

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Diplomacy and Terrorism

Diplomacy and Terrorism
12/30/08 - ChicagoBoys by Shannon Love

[edited] For nearly three decades people like Greenwald claimed that if Israel merely ended the occupation of the Palestinian territories it would get peace. Instead it got human bombs and rocket attacks. Ditto for the withdrawal from Lebanon.
Terrorists stop for only two reasons: (1) They win and graduate to despotic rule (Mugabe), or (2) they’re physically prevented from acting. Israel has decided to go for reason (2). The rest of us should hope it succeeds.

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Engineering motto: If the tolerance for error is zero, then the cost has to be infinite.
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09/29/09 - 09/08/09 - Happy Hospitalist
A four part chart shows why doctors order lots of tests, and patients like this. This is expensive. So what? (v)Via OverLawyered

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09/28/09 - NeoNeocon - Artfldgr comments
"Imagine 1/25th having no conscience at all, no guilt or remorse, no sense of concern for the well-being even of family members. Imagine no struggle with shame, no matter what kind of selfish or immoral action you take."

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A readable explanation of how freely set prices work. Prices are the incentives that make goods of all types available. They are more complicated than having one person say "this is the price for everyone", and they work much better.

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu [edited]: "Average folks don't have the know-how or will to change their behavior to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. They are like teenagers, not acting as they should. They have to really understand how important this is."
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¢ Memo - Health Plan Deficit Reduction We are going to rearrange it all, anyway. Just make it look good now.
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09/17/09 - EasyOpinions by Andrew Garland
An internal memo about the health plan, on how to remove any deficit. (satire) (M) 09/17/09 - OpenMarket by Hans Bader
Cap-and-Trade legislation would cost middle class taxpayers hundreds of billions. Household taxes could rise $1761 per year, a 15% increase. Jobs in steel, paper, aluminum, chemical, and cement manufacturing would migrate to countries with lower environmental costs than the U.S.
Taxes on business would be directly passed on to consumers.

» A Tale of Two Shortages: Coffee and Healthcare Our Dear Leader has given us these plantations for direct operation by the People's Cooperative. Comrades, who of you knows Excel?
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09/15/09 - Mises Daily by Doug French
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela benefitted peasant cooperatives by giving them the land of the coffee families. This redistribution produced uncertainty and reduced investment.
Coffee shortages raised the price to consumers. Chavez benefitted them by legally limiting the price.
Coffee became even more scarce. Chavez nationalized the coffee roasters to prevent speculating and hoarding. Chavez: "We will continue to nationalize monopolies and turn them into productive businesses in the hands of the workers, the people, and the revolution."
Future news: In 2009, Obama distributed healthcare to the people, capped its costs, and proceeded to root out abuse among the monopolist companies and physician groups."

» Obama's Speech On Healthcare We need quality healthcare, at low cost, with no restrictions, by friendly and unhurried doctors, and ... a chicken in every pot. That is my plan. Really. We should do it.
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09/09/09 - PowerLineBlog by John Hinderaker
A review of the main quotes and distortions.
Obama: "This insurance exchange will take effect in four years, which gives us time to do it right." But wait! Obama says this is an emergency, without a moment to lose. With four years to spare, he could stop cramming the bill down Americans' throats. (M) "You will all be rich and happy"
(When we get this darned bureaucracy working)
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09/09/09 - Cato by Michael F. Cannon
Quotes from Obama's speech, and the real-world translations. (v)Via Instapundit (M)09/12/09 - Ed Driscoll
Analysis from Mark Steyn, Thomas Sowell, and especially Shikha Dalmia:
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I have that analysis somewhere. Here it is. No, thats my grocery list.
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09/08/09 - OverLawyered
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Obama has utterly ignored or rejected proposals to promote private-sector job growth. The threatening environment of higher taxes and deficits causes companies to make only critical investments and slow down job creation. Obama cannot have a recovery by attacking private businesses while expanding government.
It turns out we need those private-sector employers. (v)Via Instapundit

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09/05/09 - Hot Air by Ed Morrissey
Barack Obama’s 31 czars are a dramatic executive overreach. This is far more imperial than any Bush action. (v)Via Instapundit

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Van Jones is the Green Jobs Czar. What part of recent news about Jones is new information to Obama?

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"We cure the acute illness, but there is a long recovery. The patient is too sick to go home, but Medicare won't pay for more hospital days or a nursing home. We must find a reason to keep the patient, so we run all the tests."
You see here the Medicare cat-and-mouse game. They pass rules to save money by shifting costs onto the hospital. Medicare plays a game to be "efficient" while going broke from the incentives of the program.

» JFK, Nixon, Khrushchev, Castro, Cuba Communist leaders have more guts and freedom to act.
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09/03/09 - American Thinker By Humberto Fontova
Castro was glad that JFK won. Nixon seriously supported the Bay of Pigs invasion. Nikita Khrushchev solidified Castro and got missiles removed from Turkey. JFK agreed to use US naval power to prevent further interference with Castro by Cuban freedom fighters. Khrushchev later wrote that war over Cuba was a bluff.

» Death Panels in Britain We don't kill them. They choose to die when we stop feeding them.
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09/02/09 - PowerLineBlog
Under NHS guidance, patients are diagnosed as close to death without allowing that the diagnosis could be wrong. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where food and fluids are denied until sedated patients die. Nationwide discontent is building up, as family and friends witness this denial of care. (M) Monty Python on Death Panels (humor, video 2:00)

» Prevention Costs 8x As Much This pill saves lives, 1/100th of the time.
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09/01/09 - ABC News by John Stossel
Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute: Suppose we enact measures to control heart disease and diabetes with complete success. The cost would be $8.5 trillion over 30 years, but would save only $1 trillion treating those diseases. Prevention improves health, but doesn't save money.

• US Healthcare is 1st and 37th We've subtracted another 10 points because you're not government run.
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The writer Mark Twain said "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
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08/31/09 - WSJ Opinion by Drs. Groopman and Hartzband
The World Health Organization ranks U.S. healthcare as 1st in dignity, confidentiality, choice of care, choice of provider, prompt attention, access to social support during care, and basic amenities.
The U.S. ranks 37th overall from lack of universal coverage and higher cost.

» Interrogation Policy and Results C 'mon Khalid. Who did you work with? What were your plans and methods? Pretty please?
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08/27/09 - PowerLineBlog by Paul Mirengoff
Summary of a WSJ editorial about the CIA Inspector General's report on interrogations conducted on terrorists.
"Interrogations were carefully limited, briefed on Capitol Hill, and yielded information that saved innocent lives."

» British Health Care Scandal On the bright side, we have low administrative costs, and we cut staff.
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08/26/09 - Legal Insurrection by William A. Jacobson
The Patients Association in Britian reports hundreds of thousands in the past six years received nursing care that was often neglectful, demeaning, painful, and sometimes cruel.
Elderly people were left in pain, in soiled bed clothes, denied adequate food and drink, and suffered from repeatedly cancelled operations, missed diagnoses, and dismissive staff.

» Free To Choose The most important single fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.
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Governments never learn. Only people learn.
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Videos of the 1980, 1990 TV series about economics and freedom by the late Nobel economist Milton Friedman.
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» MSNBC and The Great Liberal Narrative:
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08/24/09 - Pajamas TV by Bill Whittle (video 12:56)
A "politically correct narrative" is literally a story that supports your ideology, facts be damned. The spinning of these stories has been an intentional strategy for those who want a better world, or at least a world that they direct for the common good.
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» Canadian Healthcare Is Sick Canada needs change. Maybe private healthcare?
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Dr. Anne Doig is president of the Canadian Medical Association. "We all agree, the system is imploding and more precarious than Canadians realize. We are all running flat out, trying to stay ahead of day-to-day demands. The current system is not sustainable." (v)Via Docs On the Web (M)08/15/09 - Docs On the Web
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Taking from specialty care to fund primary care will produce savings because more people will die. Here is the theory and the reality of preventive care.

» What Work Means in Life You say you are happy doing that?
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08/18/09 - Mike Rowe of the TV series "Dirty Jobs" (Video 20:34)
What he has learned from surprising and dangerous jobs. He describes his personal anagnorisis, the point, especially in a tragedy, at which the hero recognizes his true identity or situation, and peripeteia, a sudden change in fortune from learning the truth.
15:55 The war on work. We have forgotten the benefits and satisfaction of doing a trade and learning from others the practical nature of what life demands. (v)Via Docs On The Web

¢ Legislative Language The law is a giant puzzle filled with goodies. We make the puzzle, then we solve the puzzle.

» Electricity Situation in Britain Honey, no lights, no TV, no internet, and the food is warming up. Are we still environmentalists?
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08/12/09 - Chicago Boyz by Carl from Chicago
Electricity has to be generated from somewhere, and traditional sources are Coal, Gas, Nuclear, Hydroelectric, and Insignificant.
Britain’s electricity demand peaked at 59 GW (billion watts) in 2009. 45% from North Sea gas, 35% coal, 15% nuclear, and 5% other. By 2015, modest growth will require 64 GW. From where? Our generation plants are aging, and there is nothing planned to replace them. (M)Problems with Green Energy

» Obamacare Cycle of Life Out with the old and in with the new.
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08/11/09 - InsureBlog by Henry Stern
"The doctor shall provide an ‘advance care planning consultation’ at least every five years." The welfare of everyone in the program depends on affordable choices.

(sarcasm) I comment that the carbon footprint should be part of the discussion.

» Progressive Redistribution -> Low growth I gave up half my income for the good of .. something. That's what LBJ did in 1970.
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08/11/09 - Chicago Boyz
President Lyndon Johnson publicly admitted that his “Great Society” was a redistributionist scheme. He gloated that future generations would just have to live with it. This policy choked off growth during the 1970’s by doubling the Capital Gains Tax.
So what have we lost? Long term U.S. economic growth was 4.5% from 1780 to 1970. Recessions were followed by high growth recoveries. The per capita growth rate was 3.5%. In 1970 that growth rate dropped to 1.5% and stayed there.
GDP would have increased by 4x from 1969 to 2009 at the 3.5% rate. GDP has actually increased by 1.8x at the 1.5% rate. Without LBJ and “Limits to Growth”, our per capita economy would now be 2.2x larger. (M)Stimulus Shrinks the Economy. The money is nice; the taxes and inflation are a killer.

» Government Medicaid Rx Don't look, government healthcare and sausages are being made here.
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08/10/09 - The Independence Institute (Video 1:30)
Oregon provides Medicaid through government rules drawn up by political lobbying each year.
Government raises costs; it requires that many services be covered by regulated healthcare insurance, the services that provide income for influential provider groups.
Emergency services don't have a lobby, so forget about them. Priorities: (High) Stop Smoking, (Low) Head Injury. (v)Via Cafe Hayek by Don Boudreaux (M)08/25/09 - Insureblog by Henry Stern
Mandates increase insurance costs for Shelley Roche in Maryland. (Video 2:21)

• Cuban Health and Economic News Which of these things is not like the other?
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Cuba must replace tractors with oxen.
Cuba is running out of toilet paper.
Cuba is a model for a US health plan.

» Advertising for Healthcare Dollars "We are the most open and honest administration in history." Gentlemen, how much advertising will it take to sell that to the American people?
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08/09/09 - PowerLine Blog by John Hinderaker
Lobbyists are thriving as never before during the Obama administration. Everyone wants to get their hands on your tax dollars (or your children's, since pretty much all the money in question will be borrowed).
The Obama administration claims that Americans who oppose socialized medicine must be in the pay of "moneyed interests." This is a sick joke to anyone who understands today's actual political dynamics

» Spot the Astroturfers They're fanatics. They made their own signs.
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08/06/09 - Looking at the Left by El Marco
A picture essay with commentary about political demonstrators at a health clinic for-and-against healthcare reform. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi visited that clinic. Which are the concerned citizens, and which are the hired demonstrators?
El Marco: This is the first time in my life that I can recall a government in North America organizing protests of one group of citizens against another. This is standard operating procedure in countries with left-wing governments.
Pelosi said recently, about critics at town hall events: "I think they’re AstroTurf. You be the judge. They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care."(v)Via Ed Driscoll

» Economic Reality for Ashley Let's redistribute other people's money.
They are all coupon-clippers.
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08/09/09 - Roger Kimball
Whether a real letter or a parable, it presents the realities of redistribution.
"I received your request for assistance. Ashley, you know I love you dearly and I’m sympathetic to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times have changed. With the election of President Obama, your grandmother and I have had to set forth a bold new economic plan of our own, The Ashley Economic Empowerment Plan."

» Obama - A Face in the Crowd Promise them anything, but give them - whatever.
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08/09/09 - PowerLine by Scott Johnson
Scroll down to the video clip (6:07). General Haynesworth advises presidential candidate Fuller that he needs a slogan like "Time for a change", "The mess in Washington", or "More bang for a buck." Lonesome Rhodes advises Fuller to act as one of the people. A hilarious and timely scene.

» Testing National Healthcare Don't worry. You go first.
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Nationalized healthcare is a big step. How do we know it will work? Shouldn't we test it first? The world is a complicated place. We would not want it to seem good, then find out it works badly.

» Is the Science Debate Over for Climate Change? We have our own consensus here in government. The debate is over.
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08/05/09 - OpenMarket by Marlo Lewis
There are three basic issues in the climate change debate: How much has the world warmed? How much from greenhouse gases? What will more greenhouse gases do? These issues are not settled, not even close, and here is why.
One of many points. The U.S. surface temperature record is supposed to be the best in the world. But, it is riddled with false warming biases. "We found stations located next to exhaust fans of air conditioning units, surrounded by asphalt parking lots, on blistering-hot rooftops, and near structures that absorb and radiate heat. We found 68 stations at wastewater plants, where waste digestion raises the air temperature."
Nice graphs with medium scientific detail. Readable, or watch the video. (M)Dispelling the Global Warming Myth

» Nomenklatura It isn't what you know, it's who you know.
The little people don't know anyone.
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08/05/09 - ChicagoBoyz by Carl from Chicago
Nomenklatura - A bureaucratic élite that enjoys special privileges. Example: Soviet Union.
These new government institutions will not be transparent or fair. A parallel system of privileges and favors will replace our current, largely cash based system. As the government controls more of society, the friendship and favor of the Nomenklatura will control access to opportunities and prestigious posts.

» Medicare Example for Higher Costs Government motto: We must spend money to save money.
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08/04/09 - PowerlineBlog by Scott Johnson
The government is already the largest health care insurer through Medicare. From 1968-2007 Medicare costs increased by a factor of 85.5, from $5.1 to $436 billion.
In 1965, the government projected that costs would be $10 billion in 25 years. Instead, 1990 costs were $107 billion, 10.7 times the estimate! Plus, about the same amount is spent by the states due to federal mandates, unreimbursed by federal payments.
We are now told ObamaCare will save money.

» Chronic Pain and Health Insurance Rest assured that your care is free. We just don't have an approved protocol for treating your illness, if it is a real illness.
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[edited] My injuries propelled me online over ten years ago, to guide my decisions and to read about others who suffered similar problems. Patients in Canada and Britain deeply affected me. They didn't worry about insurance, but they were the most miserable of all the chronic pain patients.
They waited forever for tests. They often could not choose their doctors. Often, few specialists in-country knew anything about their injuries. Their medical systems generally saw their problems as unimportant and they were given low priority.
I was always horrified of not having medical choices. I paid extra for the freedom to go to other states and not be bound by the recommendations and restrictions of a primary care physician. This supported my nine year search.

» Ten Questions For Your Congressman Do you expect me to have answers for everything?
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08/03/09 - Washington Examiner by Hugh Hewitt
Ten questions and honest answers about current healthcare reform. Ask your Congressman or Senator. Question 4: "If seniors will be allowed the expensive, most effective treatments, how will costs be controlled?" (v)Instapundit

» Medicaid Not Sensitive to Waste It's just Graham again. Pick him up and send the bill to the Feds.
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Graham doesn't have a job, insurance, or car. He calls 911 to have an ambulance drive him to the hospital, 603 times in 3.5 years. Medicaid seemed more interested in how we found out, rather than how much it cost taxpayers. Fraud and abuse costs $60 billion per year.

• Plants Make Their Own Pesticides It seems that they don't want to be eaten.
But, their resistance is futile.
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Our plant foods contain carcinogens, natural pesticides that cause cancer in rats. These occur at enormously higher levels than the amounts of man-made pesticides remaining on the plants. The good news is that the risk of cancer is negligible, even at these levels.

» Creative Job Creation We can create 1000's of new jobs. Fire everyone on Friday, and hire them back on Monday.
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07/27/09 - Don Surber quotes the AP
In Oregon, Democrats claim that its $176 million stimulus has already created 3,256 jobs. Those jobs each lasted about a week.
By the state’s accounting, a job is a job, whether it lasts three hours, three days, three months, or a lifetime. “Sometimes some work for an individual is better than no work,” said Oregon’s Senate president, Peter Courtney.

» Health Care Reform Removes 5 Freedoms We are all in this together, so you will pay for us.
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07/24/09 - Fortune at Money.CNN by Shawn Tully
The fine print in the Congressional plans removes many freedoms of the current system: To choose your doctors, To keep your existing plan, To choose what's in your plan, To choose high-deductible coverage, To pay your real costs and be rewarded for healthy living.(v)Instapundit

» Medical Malpractice Affects Access to Medical Care Doctor, help me! Be perfect or I'll sue you.
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The American Hospital Association reports 50% of hospitals have trouble recruiting physicians in medical liability crisis (MLC) states. 40% say MLC causes less physician coverage for their emergency departments.
MLC forced closing trauma centers in Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, at various times in recent years.
Specialties including neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and general surgery have incurred particularly high premium increases. Emergency patients most frequently require those services.

» Screening for Terrorists My shrimp catcher is 99% accurate. So, why are there so many snails?
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If your test is wrong 1/100, and you are looking for 1 in 10,000, then 99% of your detained people are going to be innocent. (v)Via Schneier on Security

¢ Not Just Words Words are powerful. Numbers are cold.
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Obama doesn't respect numbers.

¢ A Few Words About Policy It's good for the country. What else do you need to know?
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Obama should have already released a detailed "white paper" describing his summary and justification for his health care proposals. We need proposed results, methods, justifications, comparative studies, past successes, funding sources, the works.
The absence of these policy papers is appalling.

» Hidden Victims of Health Reform Somebody is going to pay, but I don't think it will be me. Right?
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07/24/09 - WSJ by John Fund
Health reform will require some people to sacrifice. Democrats have kept that knowledge from those who would bear the brunt. They convinced healthcare industry groups not to run the “Harry and Louise” style ads that opposed HillaryCare in 1993.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.): "The pressure has bordered on extortion." Newt Gingrich: "Groups were told that they would give up their seat at the table if they ran ads. They weren’t told that they would be the lunch."
Losers: Young people, Small businesses, Health savings accounts, Medicare Advantage. (v)Via Instapundit

» Government Funds Distort Climate Science We don't fund studies critical of our policies.
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07/22/09 - Science and Technology News
The US Government has spent $79 billion since 1989 on research and support for climate change studies. Yet, scientific review and criticism is left to unpaid volunteers, who have repeatedly exposed major errors.
Dedicated, uncoordinated scientists around the globe test the integrity of global warming theory. They compete with a lavishly-funded, highly-organized, centralized purchaser of climate research.
The government pours money into a single, scientifically baseless agenda. It has created a self-fulfilling prophecy, not an unbiased investigation. Sound science cannot easily survive this grip of politics and finance.

• Minimum Wage Prosperity Fire them if you have to, but don't underpay.
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Why not set the minimum wage at $50/hour. That would send funds to poor people while lifting the economy, right?

» Congress Is the Health Care Problem We make laws. We don't repeal them.
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7/23/09 - Throckmorton's Other Signs
The President's news conference had more confabulation than I get from a gang banger explaining how he got shot minding his own business.
Congressmen say with a straight face that they are going to fix health care, without admitting that they caused all the problems!

» Health Bill 1000 Page Monstrosity 1000 pages of cost reduction. With more time, it could have been longer.
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7/23/09 Rep. Dr. Tom Price (R-GA) criticizes Obama's healthcare bill. (video 5:30). "You should be ashamed of what you want to do to healthcare and a free people".

» Why Doesn't Obama Get to Work? I was happy to be an inspiration to you all.
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3/11/09 - Small Dead Animals by Kate
Carol Platt Liebau was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review (from audio):
"Tom Pirelli is the one who did most of the day to day work. Barack Obama was nowhere to be seen. Occasionally he would drop in, talk to people, and then leave, as though his arrival had been a benediction in itself. But, not very much got done.
You see that and think, gosh, maybe that's the way the guy operates. He had his eye on bigger things. But, now he's President; there isn't a bigger or better thing." (v)Via Ed Driscoll

» Healthcare, Social Justice, and Thugs A strange buffet of crackers and peanut butter, with a 3 hour line for a roast beef sandwich or two shrimp.
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7/23/09 - American Thinker by John Dale Dunn MD JD
A doctor presents his long experience with medicine.
My experience with Medicaid was scary. It was intended as Medicare for the poor. I went to the Nebraska capital, desperate, and pleaded my case to Medicaid officials to hurry up their payments for my mostly Medicaid practice. I wasted my time.

» Will Doctors Just Say No? I majored in administration before becoming a doctor.
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7/23/09 - Open Market by Wayne Crews
What kind of doctors would Obama's system create? Who will go into medicine?

A fictional doctor from "Atlas Shrugged":
"I wonder at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, and to stifle my mind. What will they expect when they lie on an operating table under my hands?
Let them discover the doctors that their system will produce. It is not safe to entrust their lives to a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe if he is a man who resents it, and still less safe if he is the sort who doesn’t.

» Doctors On Strike The best men will not be made slaves.
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A serious site with great cartoons and jokes, mostly black humor as befits the current situation.
"It’s not a good idea to make the lives of medical professionals a living hell. Who do politicians think they are, really? I mean, honestly?" - Wayne Crews at OpenMarket

» 20 Questions for Obama I can restate my policy goals, but I'm not a detail man. (chuckle, smile)
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7/22/09 Economist Keith Hennessey
5. You proposed spending money from the TARP to prevent foreclosures, help small businesses, and to buy toxic assets from banks. In June, CBO found no evidence that any money has been spent for any of these programs. How many foreclosures have been prevented, how many small businesses have received loans, and how many toxic assets have been purchased? (M)11/3/08 National Review
All of Obama's promises have expiration Dates.

» The Good Intentions of Welfare I miss having responsibility for my life.
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Economist Walter Williams, 1983 (video 27 mins)
Influence and Access to Good Schools
Minimum Wage, Licensing, and Labor Laws
The Welfare System and Conclusions
The government offers help, but in a way that leads people to a life of dependence and broken families. (v)7/22/09 Cafe Hayek by economist Don Boudreaux

» Doctors Will Quit Obama-care He's an excellent doctor. Top of his class in data entry and billing codes.
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Many physicians will quit if Obama-care forces us to take orders about treatments, procedures, and medicines, by phone, from people hundreds of miles away.
They want a perfect record keeper. I would rather take care of patients. I am not a data entry operator who dresses in scrubs.

¢ Borrowing Costs Per Legislator We'll pay you to put away the national credit card.

» EMP Attack Honey, the TV is on the blink. And, everything else.
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Consider a nuclear explosion 200 miles up. It emits a powerful wave of radiation which causes a huge electrical wave. You won't feel much, but it will fry all the electrical systems and digital electronics that we depend on to run everything. How will we survive? (v)Via Instapundit

» Obama is Jimmy Carter Reborn Make no mistake, no one can fix our problems. Don't blame me.
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Six months as President, Barack Obama is driving south into the political speed trap known as Carter Country. It is a sad-sack landscape in which every major initiative meets with failure and scorn from political allies and foes alike. (v)Via AdviceGoddess

» States Give Themselves Phony Ed Grades Higher scores build confidence.
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The Illinois Standards Achievement Test was altered in 2006 to comply with No Child Left Behind. School officials knew that the new test was made easier and produced higher scores. This accounted for almost all of the "improvement" since then.

• Regulations are Too Complex and Dangerous Here are the 274 rules. We'll tell you what they mean as we go along.
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The financial crisis was caused by the complex, constantly growing web of regulations designed to constrain and redirect modern capitalism. As a practical matter, it was impossible to predict the disastrous outcome of these interacting regulations.

» Cloward-Piven Plan for Socialism Cloward: The ruling classes use welfare to weaken the poor. Poor people can advance only when the rest of society is afraid of them.
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Columbia University political scientists Richard Cloward and Frances Piven proposed to bankrupt the welfare system and produce radical change. This is called the "crisis strategy" or the "bankrupt-the-cities" strategy.
They proposed flooding the welfare rolls with new applicants, more than the system could bear. They hoped that the resulting economic collapse would lead to political turmoil and socialism.
The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) used the Cloward-Piven strategy to produce the welfare crisis that bankrupted New York City in 1975.
Veterans of NWRO went on to found the Living Wage Movement and the Voting Rights Movement. Both use Cloward-Piven and are spear-headed by ACORN. (M)Liberally Conservative: Cloward-Piven as it is being applied now to US politics.

» Hospital Sues Mass Medicaid When the state won't pay, we raise prices on the sick.
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Boston Medical Center is suing Massachusetts for not paying $100 million if its bills. That expense increased the cost of everyone else’s health care.
Elaine Ullian is CEO of Boston Medical: We believe in health care reform, but it was never, ever supposed to be financed on the backs of the poor, as has happened in Massachusetts. (M)More: Political Contributions required for Medicare Reimbursement in Illinois.

» Personal Tour of Canadian Health Care If you are tired of waiting, you can come back and wait tomorrow. Or pay at the private clinic.
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7/13/09 - PJTV (video 21m) by Steven Crowder
The wait times are cruel. A sick baby is sent home by one hospital after a quick look. Her parents try again at a 2nd one, and the baby needed a week of treatment.
That is what the world is like when you are a cost rather than a customer. When you want care under socialized medicine, you are a pure cost. (M)More: Begging for Medical Care

» Expensive Medical Screening I was tested for years, then died anyway.
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The absolute risk of a woman aged 60 dying from breast cancer by age 70 is 9/1000. Early detection by doing 10,000 yearly mammograms saves 3/1000 people over 10 years.
Health-care "systems" are supposedly critical to health. So, why is there so small a difference in outcomes? Life expectancy in the European Union is 78.7 years, in Libya, 76.88 years.
Universal health care may save lives, but it won't save money, and you will pay for it whether you want this testing or not.

» Global Warming Best Predictions May Be Wrong It is sad when you can't predict the past.
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Gerald Dickens is Professor of Earth science at Rice University. "There appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the way climate models link temperature and carbon. They do not explain what appears in the geological record." (v)Via Riehl World View (M)More: Dispelling the Global Warming Myth

• FDR Prolonged the Great Depression We didn't intend to cause the problem. Now we intend to fix the problem.
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"Why the Great Depression lasted so long had been a mystery. We worried about what conditions might produce another 10-15 year economic slump. We found that a relapse isn't likely, unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

» 'Cap And Tax' Dead EndEnergy will cost more. We will just do less.
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Sarah Palin 7/14/09: [edited] Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision for newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
American jobs are threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan.

» A Government Failure, Not of the Market Our policy: we can't go broke building more houses.
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We are told this was a systemic market failure, violating Capitalism's promise that self-correcting mechanisms would not allow this. So, we are told Capitalism is unworkable after all.
But, the housing bubble only burst after government subsidies pushed house prices up so fast that buyers could no longer afford to chase prices even higher. A bubble created by government rigged financial markets and a government-sponsored obsession with home ownership is not a result of market failure. It is a result of bad government policy.

» Federal Reserve Failures The government bankers will save us! They probably caused the problem in the first place.
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[edited] In about 1927, the Federal Reserve started buying large quantities of U.S. stocks on the open market. This produced an unprecedented stock bubble. The Fed only managed to reverse this in late 1929 by choking-off normal business credit.
The Fed stood by, pleading impotence during the following panic. The U.S. money stock lost one-third of its pre-crash value. This "great contraction" was the worst credit-crunch in U.S. history, producing the "national bank holiday" of March 6-12, 1933.
Regardless of this and later mismanagement, Congress rewards the Fed for its failures by giving it more powers. (v)Via Cafe Hayek

» Sotomayor Condones Discrimination Judge Andrew Napolitano: [edited] When you elect a liberal Democrat as President, you get Sonia Sotomayor, a judicial nominee with strange ideas.
Like, if you take a test, and you pass the test and you’re supposed to get promoted, well, you won't get promoted because not enough people from another race passed the test. A lot of Americans will reject that attitude which she embraced. (M)Sotomayor Snubs the Senate's Questions
07/28/09 - American Thinker by Rick Moran
She repeated her bizarrely brief opinion that the statue outlaws racially disparate voting qualifications: "A law disqualifying felons from voting constitutes a voting qualification."

» Despair Among Business Owners Let them drop their pretenses and join the workers.
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Business is down 10-20% or more. They have laid off staff or have 4-day weeks to keep staff. They see nothing that will benefit sales, cost reductions, or efficiency.

What is happening is an outrage. We will all be casualties of being controlled by bureaucrats and politicians who never, ever, ran a business or created a job. Job losses, cost increases, and inflation will get worse. (v)Via Riehl World View

• Why Doctors Refuse Medicare We in government are efficient. Why do you spend so much on administration?
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Medicare claims very low administrative expenses, but doesn't count the administrative burden imposed on doctors. Even fines should be included. Doctors must charge more to cover these expenses, refuse Medicare patients, or close their practices.

» Obama's Climate of Fear That's a nice small business you got there, buddy.
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Obama utters soothing words as he acts against business: He is not really trying to stifle small business, not really trying to take over the banks, the auto companies, or whatever. He is just reacting to the crisis, reluctantly doing what must be done. That’s what he says. Business people don't believe him.

• A Hidden Cost of National Health Care You have a great drug, but it doesn't fit our plans.
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A bureaucratized healthcare system will squash medical innovation.

» Waiting for the jobs Obama is building a new society. I'll wait until he is done.
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Small business owners are standing by the fence and watching, paralyzed by regulatory uncertainty. They aren’t hiring precisely because of government intervention in the economy. So-called stimulus won't change that.

¢ The Actual Role of Government Psst! The back room is more fun if you can pay.
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Everyone is greedy, it is how you organize things that matters.

» How a Bill Becomes Law - Health Care (1) How the sausage is made. Don't look.
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Here is my tactical analysis of the legislative action. I was in the health care legislative fights 1995-2008. I'm a retired player, now serving as a color commentator.

• Who's the Materialist? You are a materialist. Give me some of your money.
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All the great champions of economic freedom ultimately justify capitalism because only it affords true dignity to individuals.

• Government Healthcare by Experts We're smart. We all went to school. We can do it better than those capitalists, doctors, HMO's, and insurance companies.
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The bills in Congress contain very little that reflects payment for value. Government bureaucrats claim they will do things they’ve never once demonstrated an ability to do.

» John Holdren is Obama's Science Czar. Be afraid. You have to break some eggs to make a world omelette.
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In 1977 he proposed forced abortions, sterilizations through drinking water, babies seized from teen/single mothers, sterilization of undesirables, and a global government through an international police force. In writing. No kidding. (v)Via Ed Driscoll (M)More at OpenMarket

• Overselling Science I'm a Phrenologist. I will diagnose you by feeling the bumps on your head. Then, we'll try some leeches.
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The problem with polling “scientists” is that there is a wide range in the predictive power of the studies that we lump together as “science”. Some science does not predict well at all.

• Be Skeptical About Scientists and Polls Let's quote a poll. That will convince them. Use the parts that support us.
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The poll interviewed "scientists", but they were selected as members of the AAAS, excluding grade school and high school teachers, and including administrators.

» Health Care Bill - Truth in Labeling Yeah, a medical golf course, next to the medical Farmers' Market
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The bill provides billions for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and farmers' markets, characterized as improving the nation's health infrastructure.
Advocates include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (MA). They say this spending is needed to promote healthier lives and cut medical costs in the long run. "These are not public works grants; they are community transformation grants".

• Obama Can Win The Chicago Way We strongly recommend that you play ball with Mr. Capone.
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Soros, Axelrod, and Obama intend to win the next election, despite 15-20% unemployment and inflation in 18 months. They intend to do it the Chicago way, to buy it with your money.

» Competition for Cheaper Healthcare Doc, I can get it for less.
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I told the office manager that my wife got an MRI for $575, not $1,500. Within 30 seconds, I was scheduled to have an MRI at my Doctor for $575.

» I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin Advice to Republicans: Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
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And so the word went out: Eviscerate Sarah Palin like one of her field-dressed moose. Turn her life upside down. Attack her politics, her background, her educational history, her husband, her family. ... You know what? It worked!

» When Politicians Go Bad -- The Government We Don't Deserve Hey, it's only money.
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California has spent all its money, and it is spending more. It's politicians think criticism is terrorism. Obama thinks CA is a model for us all. Bill Whittle at Pajamas Media. Video 5:30. (v)Via Instapundit

• Newspaper Influence Peddling Come on over for a nice talk, and bring a gift.
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Newspapers influence public opinion, and that influence is quite valuable. It seems that some newspapers are selling that influence. Do you still trust your newspaper?

» The Price of Shrimp Hold it right there. Is that a shrimp? Now then, you weren't thinking of selling that shrimp, were you?

» CAFE is killing GM Small cars are just cuter!
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General Motors specializes profitably in big vehicles, the best in the category. But CAFE penalizes them for not selling enough small cars to tip the averages. This statistical insanity is killing US manufacturing jobs.

» Obama: A Man of Principle Scroll down to the picture of Obama beside a US Flag. Other people placed their hands over their hearts, it seems for the Pledge Of Allegiance. Obama supports his own principles by not participating.

» A GM Bustout By Government I am shocked, shocked to see politicized decisions at a government owned company. We have subsidies. No profit needed.

» A hack-door bust-out Howie Carr: The public-sector unions are busting out the commonwealth of Massachusetts. You don’t have to be a gangster to bust out a joint, just crooked and greedy. Shady parties worm their way into a legitimate enterprise and then slowly strip it of all assets, reducing it to a hollow shell, driving it into bankruptcy, busting it out." (v)Via Instapundit

» Smallest Political Quiz Are you Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, or Statist? (v)Via Econlog: Personality Profile of a Free-Marketeer

¢ Obama Explains Millionaire Grants (smile) The government will make everyone rich. Next year. Or maybe a bit after that.

» Washington State - Liquor Shortage Last call at 9PM?
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They aren't out of booze, they just can't deliver it. They fouled up something that makes them money. How will they treat health care, which loses them money?

• Gaining Power Through Public Policy Why regulate? Because we make money at it.

» Saddam Lied About Nuclear Weapons Saddam convinced everyone that Iraq had the Bomb. He was bluffing Iran. Bush didn't lie, he acted on available information.

» Massachusetts Limits Health Services Commonwealth Care is three years old. Estimated at $245 million, it will cost taxpayers $1,300 million this year and require rationing of benefits.

» Brace yourself for higher taxes Catch me, I'm slipping.

» Health Care - Do Procedures in the Courtroom (smile) Plaintiff's counsel will make the opening incision.

• Obama: Honduras Should Accept Tyranny One man - One vote - Once

• Introduction to Medical Billing Doctor, how are my billing codes doing?

• Predicting No Climate Change The crystal ball is cloudy. Give me $1 trillion.

¢ Better Bank Robbery I didn't mind. It was for a good cause.

• EPA Supresses Climate Study That Gallileo fellow wouldn't toe the line either.

¢ "Do The Right Thing" Bill Why read legislation? It is complicated, and we will do what we want to, anyway.

• Windmill jobs are expensive We're creating jobs here. Don't look over there.

• The Medicare Tomato Market We used to buy great tomatoes when you were little.

• Military Healthcare is Not a Shining Example We're looking at the big picture. We'll fix the failures later.

• No progress on energy nuclear energy The lights are on. What energy problem?

• Medicaid and Its Children You can have all the care you want. We'll find the money later.

• Lack of Competition in Health Care Insurance You are a caring doctor. Treat the poor for free.

• Changing Oil Prices Are Not a Conspiracy We can't eat it, or save it, so we sell it.

• Universal Health Care in Italy A delay? But, I have already paid.

• Phony Jobs Claims I'm not lowering your salary, so that is a raise.

• Economists Surprised That People Read the Paper Don't read that! Do you want to ruin the economy?

• The Climate Change That Isn't How dare you criticise our consensus of government researchers?

• A Liberal Judge My personal history tells me what the law means.

• My Fantasy Beats Your Reality Follow me, my plan is on this cocktail napkin.

• Stimulus Shrinks Economy Look at the pretty money. Ignore the taxes and inflation.

• Access vs Honest Reporting If we tell the truth, we can't report at all.

• Obama and Sotomayor Are Anti-Gun The Constitution protects your gun rights, just not in any State. Huh?

• First, Let's Pay All the Lawyers Sue the wealthy person who is responsible.

• Homeopathic Waterboarding (smile) Talk to us Hamid, or we will do Homeopathy upon you.

• Medical Rationing Details Take two aspirin and don't call back.

• Did You Love "Life After People"? If only we didn't litter so much.

• The Will to Have Efficient Cars I say do it, and it shall be done.

• Good Guns Don't Make News Prevented deaths are hard to count.

• Treasury Recalls All Dollars (smile) We'll take the money now. You can earn it back later.

• Freedom Supports Our Humanity Freedom is more than money.

• Bombing Japan Was Not a War Crime War is life vs life. Killing some saved more.

• Personal Experience of Terrorism Life is wonderful and fragile. It must be defended.

• Together, We All Pay More For Healthcare Waiter, bring me two of everything.

• Fact Check on Obama Obama's facts don't hold up.

• Why Test? You Are Already in the Hospital Sorry, no CT Scan. We already know you are sick.

• A Quick Explanation for the Recession Will you believe it, if it is not complicated?

• We Can't Stop Carbon Emissions Only the rich dream about reducing carbon output.

• The Fake History of the Depression The government faked the numbers. World War II spending didn't end the Great Depression.

• An Artwork Thought to Have Merit You never know what will please the critics.

• Organic Pesticides Fail Safety Review That organic carrot doesn't look as good any more.
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03/30/09 - OpenMarket by Greg Conko
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has rejected 13 of 27 commonly used "organic" pesticides. Organic foods are thought to be "grown without pesticides." But, organic farmers use a variety of chemicals, including potentially dangerous substances such as copper sulfate, rotenone, and pyrethrum.

• Is There a Future for Business Schools? It took only one month to convert a doctor into a business consultant

• The Revolutionaries Ayers, Dohrn, and Rudd Together, they set bombs for a better world.

• Energy Can't Get Here From There No coal or nuclear plants, no transmission lines, just turn down your thermostat.

• Begging for Socialized Medical Care Does your socialized hospital have enough budget to care for you?

• The Policies of Bush -- I mean Obama Does not a rose by any other name still smell as sweet?

• ~~Obama Thanks Himself Reading Teleprompter~~ Retraction: Obama made a sophisticated joke, not a gaffe.

• The Godfather's White House Is Obama basing his administration on 'The Godfather'?

• Regulatory Costs 4,000 new regulations each year cost $trillions.

• A Close Look at the Business Bailouts John Stossel of 20/20 examines the bailouts (video).

• The Bank's Mistake was Trusting the Government Banks trusted the work of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Thus, the financial crisis.

• Using Inflation to Fool People Ha ha. Keynesian economists hope that inflation will fool people into working harder.

• Publicly Challenge Politicians Talk to politicians publicly, not one-on-one.

• Obama Team: No Nuclear Energy Current waste storage sites are cancelled.

• The Government Bailout IS the Problem The government is scaring the market into a freeze. Business won't invest in an unknown regulatory environment.

• Housing Crisis in a Nutshell Easy loans and old analysis fueled the market.

• Obama is a Gifted Talker Obama's words impress people. Reality is not persuaded.

• Government vs The Market Government intervention is causing the pain, not the market.

• Tolerance, Muslim-Style The Islamic republic of Chechnya, Russia, encourages honor killings.

• Keynes Likes Totalitarians Econimist John Keynes said his economic theory would work best under totalitarian government.

• Why Should I Believe You? Trust seems to be tribal, not intellectual.

• The Hamas - Israel War What each side does when fighting.

• You will pay, along with the Rich You will pay for big government with unemployment and high prices.

• I Won't Do the Paying The Rich have options. They won't work hard to pay high taxes.

• Politicians Like Thoreau They like his quiet observations and ignore his tax protests.

• Obama Challenges Us He challenges us to follow his plans and requirements.

• Iran Might Stop Killing Brits We'll stop killing you if you let us develop nuclear weapons.

• The Solution Is Simple Many people think they could solve all the problems if they were in charge.

• Where Did Barbers Go? They were regulated and trained out of business.

• Nurse Practitioners They are inexpensive, friendly, and can't help you much.

• Elevator Lawsuit Safety We don't unlock the escape door because you might sue us.

• Medicare Witch Hunt They will eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating doctors.

• Delayed Medical Tests Your doctor isn't allowed to do his own lab tests. Will three days be OK?

• AGW Scientists Can't Predict When you understand, you can predict. Global Warming scientists can't predict.

• No Sports Economic Multiplier Government subsidy of commercial sports teams does not benefit their towns.

• Teleprompter President Obama is a fine orator, with a teleprompter and an ear bug.

• Stimulus and Terpentine Stimulus spending will make us rich. If we are becoming poorer, we are obviously not spending enough.

• No Effect On Unemployment Spending during the Great Depression did not produce lasting employment.

• Obama Praises Lincoln He thanks Lincoln for making Obama possible.

• Charming the Barbarians They won't want to harm us when they know how friendly we are.

• Trusted Public Bicycles Paris supplied bicycles on the honor system.

• Audacity to Do Nothing Who built the economy? Not politicians. They should get out of the way.

• Non-Union Businesses Grow Faster Union activities slow the growth of businesses and jobs.

• Survive "Obama Care" How to survive medical problems under socialized health care.

• Failure of the New Deal A planner of the New Deal testified that it didn't work.

• Friedman On Greed Government is less greedy than business. Really?

• Obama's Feet of Clay We are quickly finding out about his feet.

• Spending Did Not Help Japan They spent a huge amount. It didn't help. Instead, it hurt.

• Will You Bet On Your Opinion? If you want to direct the economy, why won't you bet on it?

• We Don't Have Free Markets Government is and has been directing many things. Then, they blame the bad results on weak regulation.

• Leftist Arguments: A or B It depends on who they are talking to.

• Democratic Trickle-Down Economics Democrats help the little guy by giving money to their connected friends.

• Che Guevara's Message He wanted youth to conform and individualism to disappear.

• Benefits of Health Savings Accounts They benefit everyone, not just the rich.

• Macroeconomics is Astrology, Not Science The economists advising our government can't predict anything. They might as well be plumbers.

• Interrogation, Torture, and Rendition The possibility of torture saves lives in war.

• Embarrassing Claims About Global Warming James Hansen has embarrassed NASA with his unsupported claims.

• Man Made Global Warming Science Fraud Global Warming 'scientists' do not meet scientific standards for being open, careful, and honest.

• They pretend to pay - We pretend to treat The government is cutting the cost of healthcare by refusing to pay hospitals.

• Global Warming in 1000 Years Scientist: Global temperature has risen. It won't fall for 1000 years. Or go up.

• Child care loopholes for easy money I'll watch your kids and you'll watch mine. The state will pay us.

• The College Scam College has a monopoly on testing for intelligence. There is no proof that it efficiently trains for success.

• Modern Law Makes Us Powerless If it is new, it is probably illegal.

• Too Many Federal Laws Five years and a $5000 fine for everything.

• I Pledge to Obama Obama inspires celebrities to work for a better world (satire).

• Censored medical records The law protects your privacy. Your doctor can't see all of your medical history.

• Safe, But Also Sorry Children should not fear adults in an emergency.

• Good/Bad News on Parenting Children grow up to be themselves, no matter what you do.

• Geithner and SE Tax He was informed in writing to pay his tax, but didn't.

• Interrogation Rules Interrogation is limited to the techniques allowed to the footsoldier. "Pretty please will you tell us where the bomb is?"

• Predicting Doom is Illegal Being too negative in S.Korea is a crime.

• An Hystoricle Day Government will help us through the recession by making it longer. That is hysterical, not historical.

• Obama: Responsible Talk, Irresponsible Walk The era of responsibility starts with making it up as he goes along.

• War Between the Sexes I want to be liked for my personality.

• Stimulus Boondoggle Enjoy the view of the new roads and bridges. And, that is the good part.

• Fake Cashier's Checks They are just like a bad personal check. You will have to give back the money two weeks later.

• The Economy is Not a Machine Want to fix the economy? It isn't in any one place.

• No one can make a pencil It is the result of 100 years of practical research and cooperation.

• Pelosi-Obama-Reid Economy Productive people will not work for corrupt politicians.

• Tennessee Sludge Spill, Government Disaster Government ignored safety to save money.

• A British Political Arrest The British government bends the law to arrest a critic.

• Self defense and security Her parents died because she couldn't carry her gun into the restaurant.

• Job Creation - Elevators We could have 500,000 new elevator operators.

• People Versus Politicians Loopholes for sale.

• We Don't Raise Our Hands With Obama Obama doesn't like the wrong questions from the press.

• Dirty Secrets of College Admissions Admissions are arbitrary at top schools. There are so many applicants.

• Civil Disobedience via CFL Bring compact fluorescent lights to your legislator. They are otherwise hard to get rid of.

• Pelosi to Silence the Republicans They can't stop her legislation, so why should she listen to them?

• Carbon Dioxide Does Not Drive Climate Even if there is more, it can't absorb much more heat.

• Islamic Cultural Identity Firing rockets is in their blood.

• Crisis Hysteria Markets will adapt, but they need some time.

• H.L.Mencken on politicians He didn't give them compliments.

• Diplomacy and Terrorism Talk doesn't work. Either they win or we win.

• Effect of torture on morale It decreases US effectiveness.