Free-Market Death Panels

Liberals give themselves a big pat on the back when they point out the inconveniences and imperfections of the free market:

"You don't like government bureaucrats? Private health insurance companies have bureaucrats, too."

"You don't want rationing? Well, private insurance companies ration by denying claims."

"You're afraid of Federal death panels? Private companies have their own death panels. They deny treatment and people die!"

Sorry, but these arguments don't work for me. I can't ignore the fact that the Federal Government is infinitely more powerful and belligerent than any single private insurance company.

I can't ignore the fact that there is only one Federal Government from which to choose. If the Federal Government becomes abusive, I don't have 1,300 other Federal Governments competing for my future business.

I can't ignore the fact that when governments are entrusted with health care, they tend to crush the private alternatives, create shortages and punish those who seek refuge elsewhere.

If we give the Federal Government the power to squeeze out the private insurance companies (whether we give it the power to do so immediately or over time), the health care freedom we now take for granted will probably be lost forever.

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Death Panels: The Freedom Lover's Worst Nightmare

Death Panels: The Government Lover's Worst Nightmare

British Health Care: A Pregnant Woman's Nightmare

Aloha, From Maui!

RightKlik is coming to you today from Maui, enjoying the fruits of hard work and the blessings of a quasi-free market capitalist system.  Too bad capitalism is going out of style.

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Cheney: Release interrogation success stories

Following the Obama administration's controversial release of memos that approved of interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, former Vice President Dick Cheney has called on the White House to make public additional documents that reveal the interrogations yielded crucial results for U.S. national security.

Read this: Are You an ‘Extremist’?

Obama's Fearless Critic

The Dow-Jones Industrial Average since the passage of the stimulus bill.

There's one critic Obama can't silence—one critic Obama can't ridicule or intimidate.

There's one critic who will never be afraid to point a finger at Obama and condemn his stupid ideas, and this critic has a very harsh assessmet of Obama's performance.  

Obama's toughest critic is the market.  At this point, there is no question that the market is circling the drain as a result of Obama's plans, policies and propaganda.

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The DJIA since the passage of the Spending Bill. 

Looks like a vote of “no confidence” to me.

Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan

I don’t make enough to put me in the $250K+ bracket that Obama will be targeting. Despite that, I am doing everything I can to lower my tax footprint by maximizing my 401K contributions and perhaps working less overtime at work. I simply do not want to work harder so I can fund these socialist programs that will damage our economy.

I have a friend in Denmark who tells me that workers there don’t especially value pay raises because they’ll lose 70% to taxes. Instead, their preferred bonus is extra vacation time, as the government can’t claim 70% of that (yet).

Me? I’ll probably go back to school and ride out the recession with education entitlements instead of doing anything productive. The best way to fight entitlement programs, after all, is to bleed them dry instead of feeding them.

I wonder if our intrepid social engineers simply don’t understand basic human behavior and the correlation between productivity and quality of life, or if they simply see economic equality as a more noble goal for society than high quality of life.

A Tax Code Based on Fairness?

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said that Obama's budget reflects "a deep moral imperative to make our society more just.  But it's very good economic policy too.  It will mean there is again a fairer, more equitably shared tax burden on the vast majority of Americans." Excuse me, but what in the h*%! is this tax cheat talking about? "More Just?"  Geithner and Obama are absolutely dependent on the ignorance of the American people here.

Lawmaker Wants Barbie Banned in W.Va.

Barbie could get an unwelcome present for her 50th birthday: outlawed in West Virginia.  A state lawmaker proposed a bill Tuesday to ban sales of the iconic Mattel doll and others like her.

A Warning to Obama

Pop quiz.  

Who stated the following?

The state's increased role in times of crisis is a natural reaction to market setbacks. Instead of streamlining market mechanisms, some are tempted to expand state economic intervention to the greatest possible extent.

The concentration of surplus assets in the hands of the state is a negative aspect of anti-crisis measures in virtually every nation.

In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state's role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost [them] dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.

Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.

And one more point: anti-crisis measures should not escalate into financial populism and a refusal to implement responsible macroeconomic policies. The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are just as destructive as adventurous stock-jobbing.

So who said it?  Was it Newt Gingrich?  Ron Paul? Would you believe it was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month?

It's interesting to note that Putin understands that it's not even in Russia's interest for America to go socialist. Obama worshipers worldwide need to understand that a weakened, impoverished America is not necessarily what they need right now.

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Stimulus Bill Railroaded through Congress before Obama cabinet ready to spend it

Of course, the New York Times waits until AFTER the bill passes to point out the obvious; with precious few cabinet people in place and Bush holdovers manning many desks, there's no one in the departments who can authorize spending the $787 billion that the president swore to us we had to pass NOW or else: 

Rush to Wait 

A 1,000-page bill passed in two days sat unsigned on the president’s desk for three.

Were They At The Same Meeting?

Charity requires that one concede the possibility that genuine piety was a part of Pelosi’s (rather boorish, and certainly irregular) insistence on being given a private moment with the pope during her current taxpayer-funded junket to Rome. But her office’s statement on today’s meeting makes it clear something else was afoot...

'NY Post' in Obama-Chimp-Stimulus-Racism Flap

Gas Prices At Five Year Lows, Obama Hasn't Even Invaded Canada Yet

The price of gasoline is as low as it has been in five years. How did this happen? Was it the result of a socialist redistribution scheme, tax credits, or some kind of bailout? Was it because we punished corporate executives at the oil companies? Did we finally get those speculators under control? Did the federal goverment develop a new kind of energy-saving technology?  Did we threaten to go to war with the Canadians unless they increased oil production? Was it something Obama did?

No, gasoline prices did not decrease because of government intervention.  Prices went too high, demand went down, prices dropped. Economics 101.

The invisible hand of supply and demand works very well. But on the downside, when we let free markets solve our problems, politicians don't get credit and the news media don't get to write scintillating headlines demonizing corporate executives.  

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A Saudi court has rejected a plea to divorce an eight-year-old girl married off by her father to a man who is 58, saying the case should wait until the girl reaches puberty...  Please remind me why we care what this part of the world thinks about us?

Obama and a new Congress can’t forget about energy policy.

Obama worshipers: don't expect things to change overnight. Rice says Obama likely to follow Bush on foreign policy. Ms Rice’s words could damp expectations that the incoming administration will represent a complete break with its predecessor on foreign policy.

The Laffer Curve...Very Funny

Understand why socialism and progressive taxation are so awesome with a stupid but funny video demonstration of the Laffer Curve:

Here is a more serious (and accurate) video description.

And finally, a few words from Laffer himself.

Never mind... this is undoubtedly a load of corporate propaganda.