Yesterday’s Boston Herald posted an article about the Tea Party Express (featuring Sarah Palin) visit to Boston yesterday.  Her basic message is simple–lower taxes so Americans can keep more of what they earn and “drill, baby, drill.”  The Tea Party Express began its journey across America on March 27th at Searchlight, Nevada, and will conclude today in Washington, D, C.  Their basic goal is lower taxes for Americans.  As they tour, they highlight those Congressmen in Washington who have voted to increase taxes and government. 

The basic message on the Tea Party website, Tea Party Express, is “Just Vote Them Out.”  That’s not a bad place to start, but I think the real solution to the current American political morass is term limits.  Congressmen should be sent home after one of two terms and forced to live under the laws they pass.  They should not be exempt from any legislation they are responsible for.  The Founding Fathers envisioned a ‘citizen legislature’ that would serve the public for a short while and then return to their previous occupation.  Unfortunately, too many people in our government today have no previous occupation and do not understand how the laws they pass impact the average American.

On a personal note, through a series of unplanned events, I heard Sarah Palin speak in upstate New York last year.  My husband and I were there for a family wedding and just happened to stay in a hotel across the street from where she was speaking.  She is a charismatic speaker who draws a large crowd.  Sitting next to us was a group of college students who were totally impressed by what she said.  I feel that the media has attempted to do a hatchet job on her personally and that they have been somewhat successful.  I am not sure what impact that will have on any political plans she may have for the future.  She was a successful governor of the State of Alaska and a successful small-town mayor, and I feel that she has a contribution to make in American politics.  She stood up to oil industry special interests as governor of Alaska and seems to have a good understanding of how energy policy works.  I’m not sure she is a viable candidate, but if a Republican becomes President in the near future, he (or she) would be smart to include Sarah Palin in his Cabinet.

This is a picure taken in Reykjanes, Iceland.  What you are looking at is the place where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.  (If you look closely toward the middle of the bridge, you will see a white spot–that is my hat!  The picture was taken in February 2007.  Please note the gray quality of the ground–it is lava rock occasionally covered by moss.) These plates are drawing apart at the rate of approximately 2 centimeters a year.  Iceland is a breathtakingly beautiful island build over a volcanic hot-spot in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is used to an occasional volcanic eruption.  The latest eruption was Wednesday under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier.

Yesterday’s Washington Post reported on the eruption.

According to the article:

“The Icelandic Civil Defense Authority ordered 700 people to evacuate their homes and said melting ice from the glacier had caused big floods that threatened to damage a highway and several bridges, an official told Reuters.”

The danger to the population in the area of the eruption is flooding as the ice from the glacier melts.  The civil defense people in Iceland are digging holes to attempt to take the pressure of the flood waters away from the bridges in the area.

Iceland is an amazing country.  They have truly discovered ‘green energy’.  Because they sit on a volcanic hot-spot, they use the heat of the volcanoes to produce energy.  When we stayed there, the hot water in the hotel came from the volcanoes and the cold water came from the glaciers.  The floor of the hotel was hot-water heated, so you never stepped out onto a cold floor in the morning.  However, you never knew when you stepped into the shower how strong the smell of sulfur would be!  We saw greenhouses everywhere–again the electricity to heat them was inexpensive and ‘green’.   I am hopeful that the two recent volcanic eruptions are not an indication of things to come.  The people of Iceland are wonderful, and I wish them safety as they deal with this recent event.

Yesterday, Dick Morris posted an article at The Hill opposing the current financial reform bill in Congress.  If passed into law, the financial reform bill that passed the House last year would give the power to the President and the Treasury Secretary to take over any financial institute that they deemed “too big to fail.”  There is no judicial review written into the process, and there is no level of evidence required to trigger a takeover.

After the government takes over a company, it has the right to fire the board of directors and the management, wipe out the stockholder equity, and sell off divisions of the company.  It seems to me that this is more than a little unconstitutional. 

Mr. Morris points out that the bill contains consumer protection provisions that he supports, but no one is paying attention to the federal power grab in the other parts of the bill. 

The problems that caused the financial crisis that led to the housing bust had more to do with federal intrusion than bankers’ failures.  The pressure on banks to make sub-prime loans caused the banks to find a way to offload questionable assets.  Eventually the whole house of cards collapsed.  The way to avoid a repeat performance is to let the banks make wise business decisions rather than forcing them to make risky loans.  One of the banks in the area of Massachusetts where I live came through the mortgage meltdown beautifully.  They had very few foreclosures and were secure.  They then got a letter from the government criticizing the bank for not lending enough, slapping it with a “needs to improve” rating under the Community Reinvestment Act (see rightwinggranny.com article of March 20, 2009).  Business does better with less regulation–not more!

America is a nation of immigrants.  Many of our leaders in science, industry, and entrepreneurship have been new Americans or first generation Americans.  I believe in immigration.  I believe in legal immigration.  I also believe that our current immigration laws need to be looked at carefully and updated to reflect the world in which we currently live.

Today, The Hill reports that Harry Reid wants to tackle immigration reform this year.  The political pundits in Nevada point out that mobilizing Hispanic voters could mean an election victory for Reid in November.  I guess I’m just cynical, but I don’t have enough confidence in the wisdom of Harry Reid to want to see another 2,000 page bill that no one has read passed this year.  The article at The Hill points out that conservative Democrats do not want to deal with this issue right now.

At some point we have to reevaluate our immigration rules.  The idea of immigration is that you want people to immigrate who will contribute something to the country.  Many of our ancestors were dirt poor when they arrived here, but they were willing to work, and in doing so contributed greatly to the country.  I am willing to let anyone come here who is willing to work and wants to be an American (learn the language, assimilate, etc.).

On a personal note, through a series of events a number of years ago, I found myself in a church service with a group of Russian worshipers.  Very few of them spoke English.  As we mingled after the service, through some of the bi-lingual people there, I learned that some of these people had been scientists, engineers and highly skilled workers in Russia.  Now they were doing factory or assembly jobs.  Because they had not (for whatever reason) learned English, they were not able to use their gifts fully in the American economy.  Forcing someone who is in America to learn English is not mean–it will open doors of opportunity for them that nothing else will.  We need an immigration policy that draws people who want to work and want to be part of this country.  Seeing a pro-immigration protester flying a Mexican flag does not encourage me.

According to the website Gene Expression, in 2002 the population replacement rate in the USA was 2.1.  Unless we want to be a nation of old people (not that there is anything wrong with old people), we need to consider how to change our immigration policy so that it meets both our needs and the needs of the people who want to come here.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal posted an article about the coming shortage of doctors.  According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, at current graduation and training rates, the nation will face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next fifteen years.  We are facing a shortage of Primary Care Physicians, doctors whose role will in patient care will grow under the new healthcare reform bill recently passed. 

According to the article:

“The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now, and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical-school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007.”

Currently, there are efforts being made to solve this problem.  There are incentives in the healthcare reform act to encourage people to become doctors and there is a 10 percent Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors.  There have also been some new medical schools opening around the country.  There is, however, a bottleneck in the planned growth in the number of doctors–there is a shortage of medical resident positions.

According to the article:

“There are about 110,000 resident positions in the U.S., according to the AAMC. Teaching hospitals rely heavily on Medicare funding to pay for these slots. In 1997, Congress imposed a cap on funding for medical residencies, which hospitals say has increasingly hurt their ability to expand the number of positions.”

There is a map at the bottom of the article showing the number of doctors per patient in each state.  Please follow the link above to view the map. 

This problem is not totally the result of the new healthcare reform bill, but because of the number of people who will suddenly be insured and seeking primary care physicians, the healthcare reform bill will make the doctor shortage more obvious more quickly.

Today’s Washington Times has an opinion piece by Wesley Pruden on the coming Supreme Court nomination by President Obama.  President Obama has stated “that in a democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.”  (What does he think the SEIU does???)  Mr. Pruden points out that powerful interests should not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens, but that didn’t used to be the concern of judges.  The job of a Supreme Court justice is to uphold the Constitution.  That is supposed to be the basis of his decisions. 

Mr. Pruden points out that because the Democrats have 59 votes, they will probably be able to confirm pretty much anyone.  However, the Republicans have 41 votes.  With their 41 votes and a spine, the Republicans could turn this nomination process into a teachable moment.  Now is the time to ask the questions that will let the American people see what is happening to our Republic.  If the Republicans ask valid questions that educate the American people, they could accomplish good things for themselves and for our country.

This is a chart that was posted at Fox News yesterday.  The title of the article was “Obama’s Secret Power Grabs.”  The chart shows how the Obama Administration has by-passed Congress when Congress was not going to vote the way President Obama wanted it to vote.  One of the interesting things to me is the recess appointment of Craig Becker, which will probably result in the loss of the secret ballot in union votes.  Recess appointments have been used before to place people who were not confirmed in specific positions, but I don’t believe a recess appointment has been used before to push through a law that Congress would not pass.  If this trend continues, our democracy will be endangered.  There is a ‘working model’ of this chart at Americans For Prosperity which explains each section as you click on its box.  Please visit their website for further details.

Yesterday Hot Air posted a story about a slight oversight in the new healthcare reform bill.  Evidently there is something in the bill that forces Congress to leave the federal employees healthcare plan and be part of the insurance exchange programs that will begin in 2014.  Unfortunately, the way the law is understood, Congress will be required to leave its current healthcare plan immediately to take part in the exchange programs (that don’t begin until 2014).  I realize that this is a silly little thing, but it is an example of what happens when a very large bill is passed without giving anyone the time to study its implications.

The article concludes:

“I’d call it comedy gold if not for the obvious point raised by the Times: “If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?””

I think that’s about right!

Star Parker has posted an article at Townhall.com today entitled, “Why I’m Running For Congress.”  Ms. Parker has worked for urban renewal and to fight poverty for a number of years. 

In her article she states:

“All of this effort has been aimed to deliver one basic message. That the barrier between America’s chronically poor and the American dream is the welfare state socialism which was supposed to be our answer to poverty.”

She recalls being on welfare as a young woman and describes it as, “A dehumanized culture of dependence and irresponsibility that encourages behavior exactly the opposite of what a successful life demands.”

She further points out that fifty years and more than a trillion dollars after President Lyndon Johnson began the War on Poverty, the rate of poverty in America is unchanged.

She states in her article:

“As I wrote a little over a year ago: “I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of poor black communities and replacing it with wealth producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction. Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich America on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.” “

Please follow the above link to read the entire article.  She explains the issues that have caused her to decide to run for Congress in detail. 

We have fought the war on poverty for almost fifty years now; and we have obviously lost.  Our government has funded and subsidized behavior that leads to the continuation of poverty, not the end of poverty and the beginning of success.  When the government pays people who do not work and takes money from people who do, there will be fewer people who are interested in working.  The fact that almost half of all Americans now do not pay income tax further complicates the problem–they have no reason to care if people who work pay more taxes. 

I wish Ms. Parker well in her campaign.

Today’s Washington Examiner posted an editorial on how we got to the subprime mortgage mess.  This subject is also explored in a YouTube video called “Burning Down The House”, which I have linked to in previous posts.

The Washington Examiner points out that the mismanagement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac combined with the obstruction of Congressional regulators played a major role in creating and bursting the housing bubble in the early 2000’s. 

The article points out:

“Rather than offer a serious discussion of how to reform the two government-sanctioned enterprises (GSEs), however, President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress are only offering legislation to punish bank CEOs and stiffen regulations for private sector banks.”

The problem had more to do with the government interference with borrowing standards of the banks than it did with the banks.  When community organizers began showing up at meetings of bank stockholders to protest that not enough money was being lent to people who could not pay it back, the problems began. 

The article concludes:

“So now the question is whether the FCIC (Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission) will name names in its forthcoming report of those in Congress and the executive branch who protected and advanced Fannie and Freddie, at grievous expense to American taxpayers.”

 

Every American was affected in some way by the misbehavior of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and its Congressional overseers.  It would be nice to see the truth come out!

Carol Platt Liebau posted a note at Townhall.com yesterday about some of the tactics planned to discredit theTea Parties that are happening around the country this week.  A website called CrashTheTeaParty.org has been set up for that purpose. The premise of the website is that they are a group of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who plan to expose the fact that the people involved in the ‘Tea Party’ movement are “racists, homophobes, and moron.”  Their stated goal is “to dismantle and demolish the Tea Party by any non-violent means necessary.”  Why????

This is simply wrong.  I attended the Tea Party in Providence, Rhode Island, last year and plan to attend the one in Worcester, Massachusetts, this year.  I don’t consider myself a racist, homophobe, or moron.  The people I saw in Providence last year were people concerned about job security, higher taxes, and increasing government interference in their lives.  There were people there from every generation–grandparents, parents, college students, teenagers, and young children.  Some of the signs were ‘edgy’ but I did not see anything racist or offensive to any minority.  I particularly enjoyed the people who took the time to attend dressed in the costumes of the Revolutionary War period.

It is sad that there are people in this country so threatened by free speech that they will try to undermine it.

When the government of the United States was formed, the idea was that people would go to Washington to lead us for a short period of time and then they would return home to live under the laws that they had passed.  Well, times have changed.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air reported yesterday on a move by the Obama Administration to make the use of unpaid interns in for-profit businesses illegal.  The Administration has stated that it feels the purpose of using interns is to avoid minimum-wage laws. 

Mr. Morrissey points out:

“It is amusing to see the Obama administration creating the image of poorly treated unpaid interns, when Mr. Obama’s Organizing for America offered internships to help elect the president in during his presidential campaign and are still offering up unpaid internships today. The Summer organizing program also does not even offer food, transportation, or housing stipends.”

Mr. Morrissey also notes that the unemployment rate among young adults is 26 per cent.  Internship programs in the past have provided young adults with work experience that has helped them in finding a job.  Ending internships makes finding employment more difficult for teenagers and new college graduates.

The rules ending internships only apply to for-profit organizations–the politically elite are exempt.

On Thursday, a San Antonio Newspaper posted a story about the reenlistment of Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford into the Marines.  It wasn’t your everyday reenlistment.  Cpl. Bradford is the first blind double amputee to re-enlist.  He was injured in Iraq while on patrol in Al Anbar province a few months into his first tour of duty there. 

The article states:

“Bradford said he wants to focus his energy on others, now that he’s come so far in his own recovery.

“He said he hopes to help wounded Marines cope with anger, depression and other demons that can fester if there’s not someone around to provide strong peer mentoring.

“”I’m paving the road for the rest of them who want to stay in but think they can’t,” he said. “I’m ready to get back to work.””

What an amazing man.  Please follow the link and read the entire article.  The story of his accomplishments since his injuries is inspiring.

On Friday, Investors.com posted an article about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deciding not to attend President Obama’s nuclear security summit in Washington this week.  Some of the countries attending the summit (Egypt and Turkey) had planned to say that Israel must sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons and has never threatened to use them against another country.  Why, then, were Egypt and Turkey planning to make this an issue?

The article also reports:

“Just last week we learned from the Israeli daily Maariv that the U.S. has refused visas for technicians and scientists at Dimona to get further nuclear training in the U.S. This will estrange our Israeli ally and weaken America’s security posture in the Mideast.”

There are reports that the White House has denied this charge.  I am not sure exactly what the status of the visas is. 

We need to remember that Israel exists in a dangerous neighborhood.  Its neighbors have invaded it on numerous occasions.  One of the things that has kept Israel safe is the general conclusion that it has nuclear weapons and the fear that they would be used.  To take nuclear weapons away from Israel is to make the world a more dangerous place.

Worcester, MA – April 8, 2010 – The Worcester Tea Party, a local grassroots organization dedicated to fiscal conservatism and constitutional integrity, will hold the 2nd Annual Tax Day Tea Party on April 15, 2010, from 4-6pm, Lincoln Square, Worcester. This family friendly event is open to all patriotic citizens in order to share in our appreciation of American values.

In 2009, the Worcester Tea Party organized the Tax Day Tea Party, the summer Rally for Responsible Government in Elm Park, and the Worcester Tea Party Forum featuring Holy Cross Professor Nick Sanchez. The group also sent hundreds of Massachusetts residents to the 9/12 Rally in DC and its members volunteered to help the campaigns of a variety of fiscally conservative candidates. For more information, seehttp://www.worcesterteaparty.com 
  
Contact:
Ken Mandile
Worcester Tea Party
wtp@worcesterteaparty.com
http://www.worcesterteaparty.com

As a resident ‘old person’, sometimes the changes in our society alarm me.  They seem to come from all directions, and a lot of them are not necessarily good.  If you want to look at where some of our culture has gone consider that Annette Funicello was a mouseketeer in the late 1950’s and Britney Spears was a mouseketeer in the 1990’s.  The contrast between the two is obvious.

One of the other areas that has changed drastically is political civility.  Ronald Reagan used to spend time with Tip O’Neill routinely after hours, and the men reportedly got along very well despite their political differences.  Things, unfortunately, have changed.  New York’s CBS 2 reported yesterday on a memo that went out from the leader of the Bergen County (NJ) Teacher’s Union.  The memo was rather simple. 

In the memo, the writer stated:

“Dear lord,’ this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor.”

The author of the memo, Joseph Coppola, did apologize for the memo.  He said that it was intended as a joke, but did admit that it was in very poor taste.  He also stated that it was definitely bad judgment to send it out. 

This isn’t even a question of civility–it’s a question of common sense and who people trust to be in leadership positions.  This is the sort of thing high school students occasionally say about their teachers (but only to each other), and they don’t write them down or email them.  Mr. Coppola should be long past that level of maturity.  The union might want to consider who they elect as their leaders.

Scott Johnson at Power Line posted a story today about Mohammed al-Madadi, the diplomat from Qatar who set off a bomb scare by smoking his pipe in the bathroom on an airplane.  When confronted by the crew, he joked that he was trying to light his shoes and refused to give up his lighter to the crew.  At that point, he was apprehended by the Federal Air Marshalls on the flight.  The article points out:

“Madadi’s mission is also worthy of note. Madadi was going to meet Ali Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar who is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to support terrorism. Fox News assures us that such diplomatic visits are routine.”

Scott Johnson at this point asks some very relevant questions–“Al-Marri as an imprisoned al Qaeda agent. How many of these guys do we have incarcerated in the United States? What countries are they from? Are diplomats from these countries in fact routinely meeting with them?”

Using diplomatic immunity for purposes other than diplomacy is not a new game.  The Russians did it during the cold war, and I suspect we have done it on occasion ourselves.

The article further reports:

“The Fox News account states that no explosives were found on the flight and that officials were satisfied that Madadi was not trying to hurt anyone. But might he have been probing airline security in the aftermath of Umar Abdulmutallab’s attempted bombing of the flight to Detroit this past Christmas? Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom just before he sought to ignite the explosives he was wearing.”

Is anyone at Homeland Security paying attention?

These story is based on two articles posted on the internet yesterday–one from the New York Times and one from Fox News.  You really need to read both to get the full picture of what is going on.

Bart Stupak announced Friday that he would not seek another term in the House of Representatives.  The New York Times article cited the reason that he had achieved his goal of reforming healthcare and was ready to step down.  The New York Times reminds us that Representative Stupak, who portrayed himself as a pro-life Democrat, only supported the healthcare reform act after President Obama agreed to an Executive Order prohibiting the use of federal money to fund abortions.  The article failed to mention that an Executive Order does not overrule laws passed by Congress and signed by the President.

The New York Times article concludes:

“Still, some Democrats insisted that the whole health care discussion would play little role in this race in the end. “I’ve talked to members of Congress, and the numbers of calls are down,” said Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. “That issue is quickly fading.” “

Fox News reports some other aspects of the story.  The Tea Party Express has been in Representative Stupak’s district this week, calling for his defeat.  The non-partisan Cook Political Report has moved Representative Stupak’s seat from “Solid Democratic” to “Toss Up.”

I have no idea what the man’s actual reason was for retiring, but I have an observation.  I don’t believe that healthcare reform will fade as an issue–the way it was passed is an much of an issue as what was in it.  There is also the matter of many Democrats who voted for it admitting that they did not know exactly what was in it and had not read it.  But I also have another theory on why Democrats in the House are resigning.  I just don’t think it’s all that much fun to be in the majority in Congress right now.  The programs that President Obama is attempting to push through are not popular with most of the American people, and thuggish tactics are being used to push them through.  I suspect many Representatives in the House feel that they have somehow begun working for Nancy Pelosi rather than working for the American people.  I also suspect that when you disagree with her, Nancy Pelosi is not a joy to work for.  I believe a political line was crossed in the way that healthcare reform was passed, and I suspect that the people who crossed that line may pay a high political price for doing so.

The UK Telegraph posted an article yesterday reporting that grazing cows and sheep may not contribute to global warming.  A recent study in China showed that cows grazing in China actually reduced nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas.  The Authors of the study said that this does not mean that producing livestock to eat is good for the environment in all countries, but that in certain circumstances, letting cattle graze can be good for the environment.  Most of the article attempts to explain why these studies do not mean that it’s ok to eat red meat.  I posted this to make one point–we really don’t know as much as we think we do about global warming and what causes it.  Meanwhile, we really don’t understand how much of climate change is natural cycles in the life of the planet.  I will continue to eat steak.

Hugh Hewitt at Townhall.com reported yesterday on a Congressionally mandated bulletin board that will be set up by the Consumer Products Safety Commission next spring to track safety issues and recalls relating to American products.  It sounds like a really good idea, until you look at it a little more closely.  The problem is that there is no filter on the bulletin board.  A disgruntled employee, an angry ex-spouse, a competitive company (all posts are anonymous) can post something about a problem, a predicted problem, or an imaginary problem.  There is no way a reader of the bulletin board can evaluate a post, because they have no way of knowing who posted it.  The opportunity for abuse is immense.

The article points out:

“A few lawyers specializing in CPSC law have begun to warn their clients of the perils ahead, especially when the plaintiffs’ bar begins to both hunt for clients among the postings and to use the “reports” found there in courtrooms far and wide as evidence of a pattern or practice of corporate indifference to injury.”

Hugh Hewitt is a practicing lawyer who is familiar with how our legal system works (both the good and the bad).  He points out the dangers to American companies if this bulletin board goes up in its present form.  The amount of money an American company will have to spend tracking and responding to charges posted on this bulletin board (true or false) will significantly increase their expenses–not to mention to possible damage that could be done by someone who slanders a company or product for their own reasons.  This is another attack on American business.

Today the Wall Street Journal and the American Thinker both reported on the healthcare crisis that is going on in Massachusetts as a result of the state taking over the healthcare industry in 2006.  It has taken four years for the chickens to come home to roost, but they are here.  (Just a note–the link to the Wall Street Journal will only get you part of the article–it’s a subscribers only article).

One of the problems in Massachusetts is that no one can be denied insurance and pre-existing conditions are covered fully.  What is happening is that people who have major medical issues wait until they know they are going to need expensive treatment, sign up for health insurance, and drop the insurance after the treatment.  Harvard Pilgrim and Blue Cross (major insurance providers in the state) report that short term customers ran up costs well outside their normal expenditures, then dropped their insurance.  This makes the cost of insuring everyone go up.  When the companies asked for rate increases in their premiums, the governor denied 235 of 274 of the requests for premium increases.

According to the article at American Thinker:

“Massachusetts’ “insurance regulators have concluded the reason [that state’s] premiums are the highest in the nation is the underlying cost of health care, not the supposed industry abuses” imagined by President Obama and Governor Patrick.”

That should have been obvious before they passed the law.  As a result of the refusal of their premium increases, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim, and Tufts Heath Plan (the major plans in Massachusetts) have stopped selling policies in the state.  I’m not sure how this will end, but right now the state-run healthcare program that was supposed to be the example for Obamacare is in trouble.  It will be interesting to see what the eventual solution will be.

Yesterday, Paul Mirengoff at Power Line reported that Senator Leahy, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has announced that the hearings on the appointment of Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will proceed on schedule. 

Mr. Liu has just provided the committee with 117 previously withheld items that were requested.  According to this article, the material deals with his ideas on controversial items such as affirmative action, judicial activism, immigration, and “constitutional welfare rights.”

Mr. Mirengoff concludes:

“Under these circumstances, I wonder whether Leahy is making a mistake by rushing ahead. At the end of the day, the Dems will need some Republican votes to confirm Liu in the face of a filibuster. Even if they can stomach Liu’s radical positions on issues like reparations to African-Americans, the likes of Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, and Scott Brown aren’t likely to be happy about efforts to limit the ability of Republicans fully to explore Liu’s key writings and the reasons why he withheld many of them from the Senate.”

I understand that the President has the power to appoint judges, and generally speaking, I think he should be allowed his choices, but do we really need to appoint a judge who believes in reparations and “constitutional welfare rights?”  It seems as if the Democrats in the majority have forgotten how even to be reasonable when they are in power.

Today, Daniel Mitchell, a Cato Institute senior fellow, posted an article at the New York Post about Paul Volker’s comments recently on the possibility of instituting a VAT (Value Added Tax).   Mr. Mitchell points out that a VAT will turn America into a slow-growth, European-style economy, rather than the dynamic economy we are accustomed to.  He points out that the proper way to grow the economy would be to reverse the explosion of government spending. 

A VAT tax is rather simple to institute–a tax is added to an item at every stage of the manufacturing process.  Mr. Mitchell uses the manufacture of furniture as an example.  A VAT would be imposed when the raw timber is sold; again when the sawmill produces lumber; again when the manufacturer builds the chair; a tax at the wholesale level, and a tax when the chair is sold to the consumer.  To avoid duplicate tax paying, each level of taxpayer is given credit for the previous payment, thus theoretically charging the consumer only the basic sales tax.  However, a tax was paid at every level of ‘value added’.  Doesn’t it follow that the businesses who pay that tax at every level will pass those costs on to the eventual consumer–thus increasing the price of every product you buy?  You won’t see a VAT tax–you will just notice that the price of everything went up abruptly.

The advantage of the VAT would be that if you used it to replace the income tax, it would save all of us a whole lot of paperwork and aggravation!   Unfortunately, Congress is looking at the VAT tax as something to add in addition to the income tax. 

Mr. Mitchell concludes:

“Today’s income-tax system is a nightmarish combination of class warfare and corrupt loopholes. But adding a VAT solves none of those problems, it merely gives politicians more money to spend and a chance to auction off a new set of tax breaks to interest groups. That’s good for Washington, but bad for America.”

What we need in Washington is not another tax to pay for the increased spending.  We need more of our money and less spending.  Please remember that in November.

Yahoo News yesterday posted an Associated Press story reporting that about 47 percent of United States households do not pay income tax.  Because of the tax credits for low and middle-income families, a family of four, with two children under the age of 17, with an income of as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009.  Tax cuts for low and middle-income families were expanded when President Obama signed the economic recovery package last year.  The top 10 percent of earners pay about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the government.  When you consider that these are the people who hire people and buy things, it is no wonder that the economy is not doing well–a major part of the disposable income that could grow the economy is going to the government! 

In 2007, 38 percent of households paid no income tax; in 2008, 49 percent.  This is dangerous for a democracy.  This means that nearly half the people in the country have no reason to care if taxes are raised.  It is also going to be interesting to see how this plays out as a VAT (Value Added Tax) is discussed to pay for the Obama Agenda.  A VAT affects everyone–regardless of how much money they make.  A VAT tax is an unseen tax–most of it is applied during the manufacturing process–that can increase the cost of any item as much as 20 percent.  As consumers, we may not be aware of the tax itself, but suddenly our spending power will decrease significantly.

I will be attending a Tea Party in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 15th.  I hope everyone reading this will at least stop by their local Tea Party on that day to compare what they see with what they hear on the news!

These are hard times for small business owners and small businesses.  There is no way they can be sure what their future federal tax burden will be, and at the same time, towns and states have raised some of their taxes and fees in order to raise revenue.  Of course, these taxes will be passed on to the consumer, making some consumers cut back on their consuming.

One of our local landmarks in Plainville is Don’s Diner on Route 1A near the center of town.  If you are on facebook, you can do a search and find them.  Every Wednesday, my husband and I take two of our grandchildren to lunch at Don’s Diner.  It is a great place, and the chef makes a great BLT!   But business in the world of diners is down, and Don’s Diner needs our support.  They are open from 6:30 am to 2:30 pm Tuesday through Friday and 7 am to 1 pm Saturday and Sunday.  Stop in and say hello.  It’s a friendly place with great food!!!  (The ‘hand-cut’ french fries are great!)