HillBuzz is a website I first found during the 20008 Presidential Primary Elections.  It is run by a group of gay Chicagoans who support Hillary Clinton for President.  I don’t spend a lot of time at that site, but there was a link I stumbled across in my internet surfing that intrigued me. 

One of things that we have been struggling with in American politics for a while is civility.  There are problems on both sides, but I seem to notice that they are more common on one particular side.  One of the things I have not liked from either side is the personal attacks on whoever holds the office of President.  Unfortunately, there have been some unfair personal attacks on President Obama and the unfair personal attacks on George Bush continue even after he has left public life.

The linked article at HillBuzz is a thank you to George and Laura Bush for the time they spent (without seeking publicity) with the Fort Hood soldiers.  The article notes the compassion, class, and willingness to solve problems of our former President.

This website was set up to help Hillary Clinton run for office, so there may be an underlying purpose in this article.  I believe that President Obama may be challenged in a Democrat primary in 2012.  He is vulnerable to challenges from his left and from his right.  You can’t vote “present” continually when you are the President of the country and expect to stay in office.  This article may be the beginning of a challenge to the President from his right.  The other challenger from the right may be Evan Bayh.  Watch his actions in regard to the healthcare bill.

At any rate, it was nice to read the article.

This post is based on an Associated Press article posted at Yahoo News yesterday and an article posted at Boston.com yesterday.

The Associated Press article states that President Obama has decided not to accept any of the plans suggested so far on how to move ahead in the war in Afghanistan.  He is looking for another option (as the war continues).  The Boston.com article comments that the number of troops wounded in Aghanistan has increased dramatically. 

It has been more than two months since General McChrystal submitted his troop request and plan for winning the war in Afghanistan.  General McChrystal is the General picked by President Obama to lead the war.  General McChrystal is experienced and capable.  It is a disgrace that an American general asks for reinforcements because he needs them and those reinforcements are delayed for months.  Even if President Obama decides today to send the troops, there is still some time required to put the force together.  We will eventually lose not only the war, but the trust of our allies if the President continues to dither.

War does not provide the option of setting an end date.  If the Generals in charge of World War II had looked at D-Day, the losses, the future prospects, and the French government at the time, and acted by reconsidering and delaying sending more troops, you would probably be reading this article in German.

Strength against bullies works.  The bullies in this case are the Taliban and Iran.  If we choose not to stand up to them, we can expect the bullying to continue and we can expect eventually to be seriously impacted by that bullying.

I know there is something called the First Amendment, and I know that part of the college experience is the exposure to a variety of ideas, but at some point common sense needs to be part of the formula.  Today’s Boston Herald posted an article about the speech domestic terrorist Raymond Luc Levasseur was scheduled to give at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst tomorrow night. 

Because Mr. Levasseur was forbidden to travel to Massachusetts by his Parole Officer, Mrs. Levasseur is expected to speak in his place.  (One of the comments posted on the article stated, “Scott Brown filed a complaint with the US Parole Commission that the out of state travel violated parole regulations and voila! Brown for US Senate!”)  Interesting.

According to the Boston Herald:

“Levasseur, 63, served 20 years in federal prison for a string of New York bombings, His radical United Freedom Front was also responsible for the 1976 attack at the Suffolk County courthouse in Boston. Members of the group were convicted of the 1981 murder of New Jersey state trooper Phil Lamonaco.”

Who in the world is sponsoring this speech?  Why would a group on a college campus bring in as a speaker a man who blew up buildings and murdered people?  Why is he on parole?  My children have long since graduated from college, but even then, sending them involved serious expense.  If this is the kind of speaker the University of Massachusetts is bringing in to talk to the students, the parents should refuse to pay tuition!! 

Yesterday Yahoo News posted an article about the Code Talkers of World War II.  This was a group of Navajo Indians whose role in the war was kept very quiet until recently.  Since there are only about 50 of these 400 men still alive, it is time to tell their story.

According to the article:

“… on Tuesday, 13 of the Code Talkers, some using canes, a few in
wheelchairs, arrived in New York City to participate for the first time
in the nation’s largest Veterans Day parade, set for Wednesday.

“The young Navajo Marines, using secret Navajo language-encrypted military terms, helped the U.S. prevail at Iwo Jima and other World War II
Pacific battles, serving in every Marine assault in the South Pacific
between 1942 and 1945. Military commanders said the code, transmitted
verbally by radio, helped save countless American lives and bring a
speedier end to the war in the Pacific theater.”

The Code Talkers, using a code based on the ancient Navajo language, changed the course of the war in the pacific.  The article reports:

“In the first 48 hours of the battle of Iwo Jima, six Code Talkers
worked nonstop, transmitting and receiving more than 800 messages about
troop movement and enemy fire — none deciphered by the Japanese. What
confounded the enemy most was that Code Talkers could use distinctly
different words for exactly the same message.”

Today is the day to honor all veterans.  We gratefully include the Code Talkers in the group that we honor today.

Yahoo News Canada is reporting today that Israel has released pictures and documents from the ship it commandeered last week near the coast of Cyprus. 

The article pointed out:

““Hidden among the dozens of other containers on board, and disguised
as civilian goods, the ship contained a consignment of 36 shipping
containers with 500 tones of arms en route via Syria to the Hezbollah
terrorist organisation in Lebanon,” the army and foreign ministry said
in a statement.

“”A total of about 9,000 mortar bombs of different types were seized,
along with about 3,000 Katyusha artillery rockets, 3,000 recoilless gun
shells, 20,000 grenades and over half a million rounds of small arms
ammunition,” the statement said.

“It was accompanied by photos showing the ship’s manifest, containers
bearing the logo of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and
cargo with Iranian armed forces customs labels.

“Among the weapons seized were 2,124 Iranian-made 107mm artillery
rockets and thousands of AZ111-A2 fuses manufactured only in Iran, the
statement said.”

It is very obvious that Iran, in its quest to be ‘the major player’ in the Middle East, and its quest to destroy Israel in the process, is doing anything it can to create chaos in the region.  It is understood that the weapons were headed to Hezbollah so that another round of fighting between Israel and its neighbors can begin.

The part of this that is so frustrating to me is that Iran is pulling the strings to create more conflict in the Middle East while they themselves are risking nothing in that conflict.  Although Iran is pulling the strings in Syria, Lebanon, and some of the territories the Israelis have given to the Arabs, there are other countries in the region who are opposed to the path Iran is taking.  Until Iran is dealt with–not only in terms of stopping its nuclear program, but in terms of fomenting unrest in the region–there will not be peace in the Middle East.

Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an article about the two hidden motives involved in the quest to pass Congress’ healthcare bill.  John Cassidy at the New Yorker points out that Congress is creating a new entitlement program that once it is put into place will be impossible to undo. 

The article states:

“…according to Mr. Cassidy, ObamaCare serves the twin goals of “making the United States a more equitable country” and furthering the Democrats’ “political calculus.” In other words, the purpose is to further redistribute income by putting health care further under government control, and in the process making the middle class more dependent on government. As the party of government, Democrats will benefit over the long run.”

The passage of ObamaCare will create a permanent welfare state.  The money needed to support ‘the public option’ will be money taken from people who work hard to get ahead and create wealth for themselves and others and given to people who choose not to work.  It will also mean the cutting of medical care for the elderly of our country and an unfair tax burden on the people just entering the work force in order to pay for the program.  If the policies of the Obama Administration in healthcare and cap and trade are enacted, we can expect a permanent unemployment rate of over 10 per cent.

Happy 234^th Birthday

To the

United States Marine Corps

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal and today’s Washington Post posted articles on the background of Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the man who opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas.  The article in the Washington Post is written by Frank J. Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security Policy, a columnist for The Washington Times and host of the nationally syndicated program, “Secure Freedom Radio.” 

Mr. Gaffney reminds us that immediately following the shooting, the FBI immediately stated that the shooting was not an act of terrorism.  President Obama cautioned us not to jump to conclusions.  (The President was less cautious in judging the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police department).  Mr. Gaffney further points out that Major Hasan is a devout Muslim who has followed the principles of Shariah since 2001.  One of the dictates of Shariah  is that the faithful must engage in jihad, or holy war, to achieve the submission of unbelievers to Islam.

The supposed excuses for Major Hasan’s behavior have been a bit much.  The Wall Street Journal article points out:

“As the meditations on Maj. Hasan’s motives rolled on, “fear of deployment” has served as a major theme–one announced as fact in the headline for the New York Times’s front-page story: “Told of War Horror, Gunman Feared Deployment.” The authority for this intelligence? The perpetrator’s cousin. No story could have better suited that newspaper’s ongoing preoccupation with the theme of madness in our fighting men, and the deadly horrors of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, than this story of a victim of war pressures gone berserk. The one fly in the ointment–Maj. Hasan had of course seen no war, and no combat.”

There were signs that there was a problem with Major Hasan.  According to the Washington Times article:

“Maj. Hasan gave away his belongings immediately before the shootings, saying to one recipient, “I am going away” – an act of charitable form of cleansing consistent with Shariah’s injunctions to would-be shaheeds (martyrs).

“The New York Times also reports that, in the words of a friend, the night before the shootings, Maj. Hasan felt he should quit the military because, “In the Koran, you’re not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christian or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.””

If Major Hasan is tried by the military under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it is likely that he will face the death penalty for his crime.  Although I believe that is an appropriate end for him, I am concerned that the death penalty will make him a martyr in the eyes of other terrorists. 

I hope our leaders view this shooting as a wake-up call to the fact that the safety of our troops is more important than political correctness.

The end of the Berlin Wall was symbolic as well as practical.  It represented the triumph of freedom over tyranny.  In view of that, I would like to share a few quotes with you about war and what it means to defend freedom.

“War has ended more evil than anything the left has every thought of.  In the last 60 years alone, it ended Nazism and the Holocaust; it saved half of Korea from genocide; it kept Israel from national extinction and a second Holocaust; it saved Finland from becoming a Stalinist totalitarian state; and according to most of the people who put “War is not the answer” stickers on their bumpers, it saved Bosnian Muslims from ethnic cleansing.”  –Dennis Prager

“None of the four wars in my lifetime came about becasue we were too stong.  It is weakness that invites adventurous adversaries to make mistaken judgments.  America is the most peaceful, least warlike nation in modern history.  We are not the cause of all the ills of the world.  We’re a patient and generous people.  But for the sake of our freedom and that of others, we cannot permit our reserve to be confused with a lack of resolve.”  –Ronald Reagan

“The most fundamental paradox is that, if we’re never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully.  We Americans don’t want war, and we don’t start fights.  We don’t maintain a strong military force to conqurer or coerce others.  The purpose of our military is simple and straightforward:  We want to prevent war by deterring others from the aggressions that causes war.  If our efforts are successful, we will have peace and never be forced into battle.  There will never be a need to fire a single shot.  That’s the paradox of deterrence.”  —  Ronald Reagan

These quotes are taken from the book, THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, by Hugh Hewitt.  It is a study of the role Christians should play in a democracy.  I strongly recommend it.

In remembrance of the twentieth anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, Power Line posted an article about Peter Robinson, the man who wrote the speech President Reagan delivered in Berlin on June 12, 1987.

Mr. Robinson was inspired to write the line “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” by a dinner conversation with a dozen or so Berliners (the dinner was hosted by Dieter and Ingeborg Elz).  Mr. Robinson asked his hosts if they had gotten used to living with the Berlin wall; the article reports what followed:

“The Elzes and their guests glanced at each other uneasily. Then one man raised an arm and pointed. “My sister lives twenty miles in that direction,” he said. “I haven’t seen her in more than two decades. Do you think I can get used to that?” Another man spoke. As he walked to work each morning, he explained, a soldier in a guard tower peered down at him through binoculars. “That soldier and I speak the same language. We share the same history. But one of us is a zookeeper and the other is an animal, and I am never certain which is which.”

“Our hostess broke in. A gracious woman, Ingeborg Elz had suddenly grown angry. Her face was red. She made a fist with one hand and pounded it into the palm of the other. “If this man Gorbachev is serious with his talk of glasnost and perestroika,” she said, “he can prove it. He can get rid of this wall.””

The US State Department and the National Security Council were not happy with that line in the speech.  They submitted alternative drafts of the speech on more than one occasion, but President Reagan insisted on leaving that line in the speech.  Thank God that we were blessed with a President with the courage to face important issues head on. 

On a personal note, I was attending a church conference when the wall fell.  I turned on the TV at one point and watched what was happening in Berlin.  I couldn’t believe it.  The wall had been there since I was a young teenager.  In the early days of the wall, there were stories in the media all the time about courageous attempts to escape from East Berlin.  I never thought the wall would come down.  It seemed to part of a permanent iron curtain.  I still remember the images on television of people streaming through the wall to greet friends and relatives they had been separated from for more than twenty years.  It was an amazing sight.

Today’s Washington Times is reporting that Senator Joseph Lieberman plans to start a Congressional investigation into the shootings at Fort Hood last week.  He has stated that if initial reports on the incident are true, the incident would be “the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11.”

Senator Lieberman wants the homeland security committee to investigate the motives of the shootings and to see if there were any warning signs that were missed leading up to the event. 

According to the article:

“Really, in the U.S. Army, this is not a matter of constitutional freedom of speech,” he (Senator Lieberman) said. “If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance. He should have been gone.”

Unfortunately, General George Casey, the Army Chief of Staff, has a slightly different take on the matter.  The article points out:

“But the Army chief of staff said Sunday that he is concerned that speculation about Maj. Hasan’s Muslim faith and the motives behind the shootings he is accused of could spark retaliation against Muslim soldiers and hurt diversity within the branch’s ranks.”

That is the kind of logic that will result in more of our military being killed or wounded.  When we reach the point where political correctness prevents us from seeing warning signs because the person involved is from a certain group of people, we are endangering all of our soldiers. 

Today’s Washington Times posted a story on vitamin D deficiency, a condition that millions of people are suffering from worldwide. 

Dr. Michael Holick, a Boston University professor of medicine and physiology, believes that the deficiency probably affects more than 50 per cent of the world’s population.  As more doctors become aware of these numbers, they are suggesting to their patients that they take over-the-counter supplements. 

Vitamin D is produced when skin is exposed to sunlight.  Because dermatologists have discouraged exposure to the sun, wanting to limit skin cancers, people are using sun blocks or staying out of the sun. 

According to the article:

“Dr. Holick said his advice was to “be sensible,” though he lost his job as professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine in 2004 as a result of his belief in the benefits of sunshine. “Fortunately, I had other appointments” elsewhere at the medical school, he said.”

I think this may be an area where balance is the answer.  Meanwhile, be prepared to hear both sides of this argument claim they are right!

Today’s Power Line reports on Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano’s, statements regarding the shooting at Fort Hood.  This is her statement:

“ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Homeland Security secretary says she is working to prevent a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.

“Janet Napolitano says her agency is working with groups across the United States to try to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday’s rampage by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim who reportedly expressed growing dismay over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

This is an amazing statement.  What about doing something to insure the safety of all American troops on American soil?

Today’s Washington Times is reporting that the House of Representatives passed their version of healthcare reform late last night by a vote of 220-215.  One Republican voted for the vote–Representative Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, the man who replaced William Jefferson. 

The only amendment that was allowed to the bill was the amendment that prohibits federal money being used to pay for abortions.  It is not clear whether that amendment will stand when the bill is combined with the Senate version.

According to the Washington Times, the bill that passed the House of Representatives would:

“…establish a government-run public insurance plan, require nearly all employers to provide insurance, institute insurance industry reforms and distribute tax credits to help the poor and middle class buy mandatory insurance coverage. It would cover 36 million of the nation’s uninsured population.

“It would be paid for with cuts to the Medicare program, which Democrats said would eliminate waste and fraud, and new taxes on single Americans reporting incomes over $500,000 or couples making over $1 million.

The bill will cost $1.2 trillion dollars.  The much less expensive Republican healthcare bill was rejected by a near party-line vote of 258-176.

Congress will not be impacted by the changes made to the healthcare system.  The rest of us will be required to go into government plans within the next five years.  It’s time the professional politicians went home to live with the laws they have passed. 

Channel 2 in New York reported Friday on Governor Paterson’s intention to seek another term.  The Governor’s poll numbers are at about twenty percent, and President Obama has asked him not to run in 2010–Republicans like Rudy Giuliani consistently beat him in the polls. 

Governor Paterson, encouraged by the fact that President Obama’s campaigning in New Jersey did not help Jon Corzine win the governorship there, has decided that New York politics are local, and he can win.  He has hired Harold Ickes, who was former President Bill Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, to help with his campaign. 

If there is a Democrat primary for governor, it is quite likely that Governor Paterson will be challenged by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Governor Paterson became governor of New York when Eliot Spitzer resigned because of a sex scandel.  Governor Paterson was sworn in as governor in March of 2008. 

According to Friday’s Wall Street Journal, one of the not discussed aspects of the Healthcare bill being debated tonight in the House of Representatives is that it will partially repeal tax indexing for inflation. 

According to the article:

“In order to raise enough money to make their plan look like it won’t add to the deficit, House Democrats have deliberately not indexed two main tax features of their plan: the $500,000 threshold for the 5.4-percentage-point income tax surcharge; and the payroll level at which small businesses must pay a new 8% tax penalty for not offering health insurance.

“This is a sneaky way for politicians to pry more money out of workers every year without having to legislate tax increases. The negative effects of failing to index compound over time, yielding a revenue windfall for government as the years go on. The House tax surcharge is estimated to raise $460.5 billion over 10 years, but only $30.9 billion in 2011, rising to $68.4 billion in 2019, according to the Joint Tax Committee.”

Because this is in the middle of 2000 pages of legalese gobbeltygook, the provisions hasn’t been very widely reported. 

The article points out that indexing taxes to inflation has been in effect for thirty years.  Both political parties have agreed that it is unfair to tax increases in income that represent inflation, rather than real gains in income.  As government spending policies lead us into an era of inflation, this is going to be a very significant point. 

Today’s New York Post took a look at some of the background of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army doctor who began shooting people at Fort Hood.  The Washington Examiner also has an article on the history of Major Hasan.

The Washington Examiner reports:

“Hasan reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar!” before the killings, wrote Internet postings justifying Muslim suicide bombings, considered U.S. forces the enemy, and opposed American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as wars on Islam. His rampage at Ft. Hood has the markings of an act of Islamic terrorism.”

I realize that a majority of Muslims who live in America are law abiding, peaceful, productive people, but unfortunately, there are some Muslims who have a more radical nature. 

Before being transferred to Fort Hood, Major Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.  The New York Post reports that Imam Faizul Khanis, who has been the main prayer leader there for a long time, is a friend of Hasan.

The New York Post reports that the Imam Faizul Khan:

“…is a leading board member of the Islamic Society of North America — the main Wahhabi-lobby group in the United States, established by Saudi Arabia to impose extremism on American Muslims. ISNA has a long and disgraceful record of promoting radical Islam.”

The New York Post also reports on some other connections of that mosque.  It seems as if there were some things in this man’s record that should have been a concern to his chain of command.   

NBC Chicago has a report today on the President’s speech following the shooting at Fort Hood yesterday.  It’s not news to anyone who reads this site regularly that I am not a fan of President Obama, but his lack of gravity at his press conference yesterday afternoon was unbelievable.  I realize that he had just ended an important conference that was not a somber event, but he needed to take a breath before walking out to make a statement about the events in Texas.  The article cited has a much more detailed political analysis of the impact of the President’s speech, I was just horrified by the human aspect of it.  The lightness the President conveyed at this time was inappropriate and an insult to a country that was stunned by the event.  I hope there will be some sort of restatement or apology.

Today’s CNSNews posted an article explaining the financial windfall that will come to the AARP if the current healthcare bill is passed into law. 

According to the article:

“Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) told CNSNews.com that it is possible AARP
could benefit financially from the passage of the bill, which includes
$500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicare Advantage. According to
Reichert, if the cuts to the programs result in reduced benefits, more
seniors will have to purchase “Medigap” coverage, highly regulated
private insurance that fills in holes in Medicare coverage.

“UnitedHealth Group offers Medigap coverage branded with the AARP logo, on which AARP collects royalties.”

Medicare Advantage is the Medicare program that many seniors choose because it gives them the most freedom and the best care.  It is a privately run program (although partially subsidized by the government).  If Medicare Advantage is discontinued, more senior citizens will be buying Medigap coverage.
 
Reichert has stated,  “What we know is that in 1999, their (AARP) total royalties (from gap insurance policies) amounted to 11
percent of their revenue, and today, it’s over 60 percent of their
revenue, and 38 percent of that revenue comes from their health care
royalties, and from United,” Reichert said. “I don’t want to wildly
fling accusations, but I think that there seems to be, and appears to
be, a conflict of interest that needs to be investigated a little bit
further.”

The AARP is hoping that its members won’t notice that they are being thrown under the bus in order to increase the profits of the organization.  Senior citizens vote and pay attention.  I am hoping they will not be fooled.

My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to those families
that were impacted directly or indirectly by the shooting at Foot Hood
yesterday.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article today on the alternative healthcare proposal the Republicans have put forth.  The Congressional Budget Office has scored that proposal and says that the plan:

“…which relies on interstate competition, HSAs, and tort reform, would only cost $61 billion in the first ten years of the plan — or slightly less than 6% of what Democrats plan to spend to overhaul the entire system.”

The bill would also reduce premiums 5 to 8 percent for individual healthcare plans, 7 to 10 percent in the small group market, and 0 to 3 percent in the large group market. 

This plan deserves a fair hearing as an alternative plan to a government takeover of health insurance.  Hopefully, Congress will pay attention.

Power Line reported today on Israel’s seizure of weapons on a ship bound from Iran to Syria.  The Israelis had been monitoring the ship for several days when Israeli Seals boarded the ship in the middle of the night and uncovered certificates within containers that documented Iran as the point of origin for some containers, with Syria as the intended destination. 

According to the article:

“The weapons seized on the ship included some 3,000 rockets of various types, as well as 60-millimeter mortars, 7.62-rifle Kalashnikov-ammunition, F-1 grenades and 122-millimeter Katyusha rockets. The ship’s cache was reportedly ten times the size that of the Karine A’s that Israel seized in 2002.”

There is little doubt that the intention was to eventually use these weapons against Israel.  It seems to me that when Iran threatens to wipe Israel off the map, we should take that threat seriously.  In the 1930’s no one was ready to believe there would ever be concentration camps run by the Germans, so no one took action.  Are we in the same place with Iran now?

Yesterday’s The Corner at National Review posted an article by Pete Hegseth about a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who will be in Washington, D. C., today to petition their Congressmen and the White House to fully support mission success in Afghanistan.  They want to encourage Congress to provide General McChrystal with the troops and support he needs to win the war. 

The group sponsoring the gathering is Vets for Freedom. a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who will be meeting with various Congressmen to encourage providing the American troops in Afghanistan with the things they need to win the war. 

Please read the article at The Corner at National Review to see the list of some of the veterans who are involved in this effort.  These veterans have served in these areas and have insight into what is needed to win.

Thank you to these veterans for their service in war and for their service in helping Congress see what is needed to win the war on terror.

Yesterday’s Washington Examiner posted an editorial about the ever-changing job saving numbers being claimed by the current White House.  It cites an Associated Press report that at the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council 935 jobs were saved.  That’s really amazing since only 508 people work there. 

According to Associate Press:

“The Georgia nonprofit’s inflated job count is among persisting errors in the government’s latest effort to measure the effect of the $787 billion stimulus plan despite White House promises last week that the new data would undergo an “extensive review” to root out errors discovered in an earlier report.”

Regardless of the number of jobs created or not created, the problem with government stimulus programs is that the money has to be paid back at some point.  This means that consumers have less money to spend and that economic growth slows down for that reason.  There is also the danger of numerous pork projects and businesses owned by major political donors receiving government money with no real jobs created.  If the government truly wanted more jobs, they would cut taxes on everyone, particularly small businesses, and get out of the way. 

Breitbart.com reported yesterday on an alternative healthcare proposal the Republicans in the House of Representatives are drafting.  The draft is 230 pages long, as opposed to the 1900 pages in the Democrat proposal.  A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that changes were still being made to the bill, but the hope is that the bill will be introduced  by the end of this week as an alternative to the Democrat proposal. 

According to the article:

“…the Republican plan increases incentives for people to use health savings accounts,
caps non-economic jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $250,000,
provides various incentives to states with the aim of driving down
premium costs and allows health insurance to be sold across state lines.

These proposals are designed to reduce the cost of health insurance for all Americans without raising taxes. 

The article reminds us that:

“Across the Capitol, senators are waiting to see the final language and price tag on a health bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid
and a few other top officials wrote in secret. It’s not clear when
those details will be available and Reid, D-Nev., may not be able to
begin debate on the issue until the week before Thanksgiving.”

Generally speaking it is possible to reform healthcare insurance in America without the government taking it over.  I believe that is what needs to be done.  It seems as if the Republican proposal is much closer to that than the Democrat proposal.