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POPSPages, Costs, and Agencies Added To The Obama/Pelosi Health Care Behemoth
“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense " we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit. “If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.” And listen…this is what our government believes will be the cost. But look at programs our government has run historically and you find decades of added costs and overruns that our forced onto the taxpayer. Insanity http://www.bizzyblog.com/2009/11/07/how-to-go-from-1200-to-2000-pages/
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POPSWashington cuts Wall Street's allowance But none of that stopped right-wing critics of Obama's alleged march to totalitarianism from piling on. "This is fascism," Rush Limbaugh burbled on his radio show. "They're still privately owned, but they're being run by who? Not even Obama, we're told. The freaking pay czar, who doesn't even have to tell Obama what he's doing. So he doesn't have to stop at the execs; he can limit the pay of the janitors. He can limit the pay of anybody he wants, and pretty soon it's gonna spread beyond companies that took TARP money." Fox News posted a lengthy article wondering whether Feinberg even had the legal power to set the pay caps, though there's broad agreement elsewhere that he does. "If bankers don't challenge this, if they supinely accept it out of fear of what the government will do if they do challenge ... then you have a nation of sheep," Fox's legal analyst, Andrew Napolitano, said.
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POPSThe Afghanistan Report by By Ikram Sehgal The population can also be a source of strength and intelligence and provide resistance to the insurgency. Alternatively, they can often change sides and provide tacit or real support to the insurgents. Communities make deliberate choices to resist, support or allow insurgent influence. The reasons for these choices must be better understood." The report addresses corruption and abuse of power but it does not give it the primary weightage it should. Karzai and his lot should not remain in power even a day. Abdullah would probably be worse. In the eight years since the Taliban were deposed in November 2001, "criminality has contributed to a pervasive sense of insecurity among the people. Extensive smuggling diverts major revenues from the government and increases its susceptibility to insurgent penetration. http://www.thenews.com.pk/editorial_detail.asp?id=201008
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POPSIn support of the UC Faculty/Staff/Student walkout My wife is one of the thousands of UC staff who are walking the union picket lines today. Save public education! Pay those who teach and keep the university running rather than lining the pockets of the upper-floor executives! Note: If you're inclined to get all anti-union, my advice is this: save it. Not today, not on this clip. Because my wife & her co-workers and fellow union members are walking the line today. And I'll ban you in a heartbeat if you feel like getting up in my grill over this. Save it for another day.
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POPSBritain facing blackouts for first time since 1970's Recipe for disaster: liberals and environmental whackos in charge of a government. Just think - wouldn't it be great if China and Russia had such leaders? We could watch as they strangle themselves. (Wake up - that is how they are laughing at us!) VOTE THE BUMS OUT IN 2010 !!!!!
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POPSPublic Option Dropped, Lefty Blog Hilarity Ensues! So, in this difficult time for Democrats, a visit to the left side of the blogosphere was warranted. Equipping myself with a Haz-Mat suit (suitable for Biosafety Level 4 Hot Zones) and a laptop, I've returned from that mission horrified and shocked at what I've seen. The overwhelming public mistrust of socialized medicine be damned! We've got socialist principles to install, so get the hell out of the way! • jimfromthefoothills firmly states, "Remember, we are going to rebuild every school, bridge and road in the country. We will fix healthcare. We will restore the constitution, end illegal wars reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses." ......... • sandra adroitly observes, "Obama has succeeded in showing us that the corrupt corporations hold the power, the crazy screamers have succeeded, and democracy has failed us, big time." ......... If by "corrupt corporations", you mean the companies that pay billions in taxes and employ millions of American taxpayers
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POPSSorry Snobs: Townhall Rage IS Real Democracy Then, public opinion intervened. Obama is now on the wrong side of a genuine grass-roots revolt by people who feel ignored by everyone who is supposed to be representing them. Consider the AARP. It has all but endorsed a plan to slash several hundred billion dollars over 10 years from Medicare. It is providing cover for the creation of a new system that, if it ever succeeds in "bending the cost curve," will have to scrimp on expensive end-of-life care. The AARP is overwhelmingly favorable to a plan opposed by the elderly more than any other age group. Who is the more authentic voice of seniors -- the AARP playing along with its Democratic allies, or the elderly at town-hall meetings wondering what the Medicare cuts will mean for them? The inside-Washington players are easily co-opted and cowed. The American Medical Association came out in opposition to a public option in June, and then -- after a stern talking-to by Washington's political barons -- immediately backtracked.
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POPSMy 1933 Nightmare
...as America's post-war hegemony began to erode internationally, and within the country white males were being challenged for their domestic dominance as well. These "Reagan Democrats" " i.e., consummately selfish pricks who were happy to take government largesse when it was helping to bring them into the middle class, but then immediately pulled the ladder up behind themselves afterwards, demanding tax cuts " began to lash out politically, responding to any line of crap that would harmonize with their embarrassing victimization trope by promising a feel-good response offering the muscular bludgeoning of women and dark people, both at home and abroad. In reality, of course, they were voting for a political movement that was talking tough-guy nationalism and scapegoating gays and other out-groups, but purely as a mask for further savaging the prosperity of these very idiot voters supporting their own undoing. In exchange for some cheap rhetoric and the occasional third-world war, they
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POPSCBO Pronounces ObaCare DOA But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill's $1 trillion price tag. July 25, 2009 CBO Deals New Blow to Health Plan For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the Democrat's health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25415.html#ixzz0MKFjA9Sd
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POPSHouse 'Blue Dogs' Flex New Muscle on Health Care to the deficit, may be just a coincidence. But it also could be a carrot that Obama and Democratic leaders hope will attract some Blue Dog votes for the health care overhaul. That bill appeared to be on track until last week, when Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, said it lacked steps to control the costs of health care in the future, one of the Blue Dogs' biggest concerns. Meetings on the health care bill between the Blue Dogs, Democratic leaders and the White House are continuing. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said he spent much of Wednesday in closed-door negotiations with Waxman and planned to resume them Thursday. "We didn't get an agreement," Ross said after Wednesday's meeting, adding that Obama's goal to have a bill passed by mid-August wasn't part of the talks. "I refused to discuss any artificial deadlines," Ross said. "That's not part of the talks."
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POPSWaxman, Blue Dogs Strike Deal on Health Plan Costs alerted members of his panel later in the day that they wouldn’t be resuming consideration of the bill until Thursday at the earliest, according to an e-mail from Republican aides. That news came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told her rank and file in a closed-door session that they were still on schedule to approve legislation before members leave town for the monthlong August recess. And that pledge, in turn, came after Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters that the House might recess for the summer without passing a bill. Democrats are still divided about the importance of the August deadline; while some members believe that delay means death for the health care reform, moderate members are lobbying the president for more time to consider such a sweeping piece of legislation. Help Stop Socialized Healthcare And $1.5 Trillion In New Taxes! Grassfire.org has launched this emergency petition http://www.grassfire.org/index.htm
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POPSMedvedev Resets The "Reset Summit" Mr Medvedev, speaking at the G8, also appeared to change his tone on the missile defence shield itself. During Mr Obama's visit he told the US leader, using markedly softer language than normal, that "no one is saying that missile defence is harmful in itself or that it poses a threat to someone". But in Italy on Friday, Mr Medvedev returned to the Kremlin's traditional posture on the system, describing it as "harmful" and "threatening to Russia". Aaaaand we're back to square one --- reset indeed. As I noted earlier in the week, the Russians are giddy that they pried loose a key concession from Obama in the form of linking strategic nuclear cuts to missile defense. Charles Krauthammer observes that not only is this linkage a terrible idea, but that Obama's faith in the power of anachronistic arms control mechanisms is comical ... and quite dangerous: Obama says that his START will be a great boon, setting an example to enable us to better pressure
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POPSSave Time Doing Laundry How to Save Time Doing Laundry By Ruby Bayan, Home & Garden One of the most dreaded, tedious and boring household chores is doing laundry. The sooner we can get it over with, the better. We can hardly wait for the day a genius inventor designs a gadget that can wash, dry, fold, press and hang our clothes without human intervention. But until that day comes, we must devote major chunks of our precious time to doing our laundry. How can we save time? Here are some minute-saving tips. Step 4 Use the appropriate wash cycle. Observe how long it takes for your washer to go through the "Normal" cycle. Are your clothes so dirty that they need to be subjected to an hour-long wash and rinse process? If your laundry is mostly regular casual wear, consider using a shorter cycle. It not only saves time, but also reduces the unnecessary abuse your wardrobe is getting from the "Normal" cycle.
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POPSCalifornians are sinking themselves The immediate source of California's financial problems is a lethal combination of ideology and rules. It is deeply politically divided, and its governmental mechanisms are completely broken. Bay Area leftists stare at Orange County conservatives across an unbridgeable abyss; a large and potent group of anti-government libertarians faces off against an equally powerful group of pro-tax, proactive government liberals. If California, like most states, required only a simple majority to pass its budget, the disagreements between these camps could be worked out; after all, the Democrats control the Legislature. But California requires a two-thirds majority, which gives the GOP, now dominated by anti-government, anti-tax ideologues, veto power over the process. The result is deadlock.
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POPSHere's How My Cap-and-Trade Plan Works You know the Cap-and-Trade bill that Democrats narrowly passed late last week? The bill -- the ill-named "American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454") -- consists of well over a thousand pages of government intrusions into every aspect of your life. Among other things, the bill regulates farming; fertilizers; animal husbandry and animal diets; feedstock; soil; light bulbs; home mortgages; banking; power generation and transmission; water and sewer systems; manufacturing; building codes; land use (forested, cleared, wetlands, etc); "manure management"; and creates gigantic new government bureaucracies (unionized, of course) to regulate, control, monitor and audit American citizens. It even reaches into your neighborhood and overrides Home Owners Assocation agreements. Most importantly for companies, it specifies "emission allowances" for carbon dioxide. You know, the stuff that plants breathe and we exhale.
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POPSCan't Get Enuf Of That Grafty Stuff (Cont) What the balking Democrats seem most determined to do is to kill the public option, either by eliminating it or by carrying out a bait-and-switch, replacing a true public option with something meaningless. For the record, neither regional health cooperatives nor state-level public plans, both of which have been proposed as alternatives, would have the financial stability and bargaining power needed to bring down health care costs. Yes, some of the balking senators receive large campaign contributions from the medical-industrial complex — but who in politics doesn’t? If I had to guess, I’d say that what’s really going on is that relatively conservative Democrats still cling to the old dream of becoming kingmakers, of recreating the bipartisan center that used to run America.
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POPS What A Load! All leftist progressive policy positions are ultimately intended to enhance the power of progressive statists at the expense of personal freedom; the only exception being the freedom to gratify oneself sexually without consequences. Are conservatives greedy? Yeah, some are, but not nearly as greedy as progressives, and not to the point where selfishness and greed are at the root of conservative politics. People argue that tax cuts are greedy, but the real motivation is to stimulate economic activity (which benefits everyone) and limit government power (starve the beast). Conservatives want to reduce and limit government power; which is an unselfish position for a political movement. The desire to have power over others, to force them to adopt your lifestyle, force them to live by your values… that is ultimate selfishness. That is progressive liberalism.
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POPSBand together now, or be herded together later. Basically, this family started a co-op, which is a private membership organization where families band together and buy food in bulk and many times locally. The power in this country (unions, retail, FDA, USDA and mega-farmers as well as Dow & Monsanto) are pulling out no stops to shut down small farms and anything not chemically created. We should have the right to eat food grown on a farm without a mega-corporation making money. We should have the right to band together to cut costs without the mega-grocery stores & WalMart taking their cuts. We used to have these rights and while we are busy blogging, twittering & texting-they are being yanked away by coercion and force.
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POPSEnvelope Stuffing From Home Giving You Paper Cuts? Envelope stuffing from home will not make you very much money and you would have to stuff so many envelopes just to earn even a little bit. Affiliate marketing is a good road to take for someone interested in starting a home business.
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POPSIcelandic Caretaker Government Wins General Election The Social Democrats emerged as comfortable winners under Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old lesbian caretaker prime minister. The Left-Greens, an alliance of old-style socialists and younger environmentalists never previously voted into power, got 21.5% of the vote.
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