Equal Division of Misery

Behold the future of American health care!

An official report from an independent panel that advises the British National Health Service (NHS), revealed that the NHS delays operations 'as it waits for patients to die or go private,' and that the NHS also forces private hospitals to delay surgeries so that patients at private facilities can suffer just as much:

An independent watchdog accused the National Health Service of forcing waiting times for surgery even when unnecessary in order to reduce the number of publicly-funded procedures in an attempt to save money. In fact, as the Telegraph reports, the NHS forced private hospitals to delay surgeries, too, in a “levelling down” of health care service to keep the NHS from looking bad:

Health service trusts are “imposing pain and inconvenience” by making patients wait longer than necessary, in some cases as long as four months, the study found.

Executives believe the delays mean some people will remove themselves from lists “either by dying or by paying for their own treatment” claims the report, by an independent watchdog that advises the NHS. …

Under government targets, patients should be treated within 18 weeks of referral by a GP. But even when surgeons could see them far sooner, the study found that some trusts made hospitals wait as long as 15 weeks before operating. The tactic forced private hospitals, which were more likely to be able to treat patients quickly, to operate as slowly as overcrowded NHS units in an “unfortunate levelling down”.

Remember, the Obama administration openly aspires to pattern the American health care system after the British NHS:

Dr. Donald Berwick, nominated by President Barack Obama to run Medicare and Medicaid, praised the government-owned British National Health Service (NHS) for not letting their health care system 'play out in the darkness of private enterprise.'

Berwick is also quite fond of the British health care rationing organization, NICE.

Q: NICE is a bogeyman here in the United States.

A: I know that, and it’s a misunderstanding of the deepest sort. NICE is extremely effective and a conscientious, valuable, and — importantly — knowledge-building system. The fact that it’s a bogeyman in this country is a political fact, not a technical one.

I can think of no better real-world illustration of Winston Churchill's famous quote:

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, While the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery"

If Elena Kagan Isn't a Radical Socialist, Jeremiah Wright Isn't a Race-Baiting Conspiracy Theorist

As Media Matters persuasively explains, Elena Kagan walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, but she is clearly not a duck:

Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have falsely suggested Elena Kagan's college thesis shows she is a socialist or radical. In fact, Kagan's thesis did not express support for socialism or radicalism...

Rather, she explored the historical question of why socialism did not become a major political movement in the United States as it had elsewhere in the world. Specifically, Kagan discussed rise and fall of socialism in New York City in the early 20th century, with a particular emphasis on why the movement collapsed.

I report, you decide. Here's the conclusion of Kagan's 130-page thesis:

Why, in a society by no means perfect, has a radical party never attained the status of a major political force?

...Through its own internal feuding, then, the [Socialist Party] exhausted itself forever and further reduced labor radicalism in New York to the position of marginality and insignificance from which it has never recovered. The story is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after socialism's decline, still wish to change America. Radicals have often succumbed to the devastating bane of sectarianism; it is easier, after all, to fight one's fellows than it is to battle an entrenched and powerful foe. Yet if the history of Local New York shows anything, it is that American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.

You see...she's not a supporter, she's just a cheerleader.

In a crude thought experiment, let's change a few words in Kagan's statement, and let's imagine that these are the words of a Supreme Court appointee, nominated by a GOP president:

Why, in a society by no means racially pure, has a radical White supremacist group never attained the status of a major political force?

...Through its own internal feuding, then, the KKK exhausted itself forever and further reduced racism in West Virginia to the position of marginality and insignificance from which it has never recovered. The story is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after the Klan's decline, still wish to change America. White supremacists have often succumbed to the devastating bane of sectarianism; it is easier, after all, to fight one's fellows than it is to battle an entrenched and powerful foe. Yet if the history of the Klan shows anything, it is that American racists cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.

I think the left-wing statist media would conclude that these words are not those of a dangerous radical white supremacist, don't you?

Count me among those who believe that Lindsay isn't a milkaholic, that Jeremiah isn't a racist, that Barney doesn't have a boyfriend, and that Elena "is about the furthest thing from a socialist. Period. And always had been. Period."

Smack Down: Pro-ObamaCare Doctor Speaks Up

In yesterday's post I shared some quotes from Massachusetts state treasurer, Timothy P. Cahill. Cahill says Massachusetts is for all intents and purposes already on ObamaCare, and the state is going bankrupt as a result:

Our experience in Massachusetts tells us that [Obamacare] will burden future taxpayers with unfunded liabilities they cannot afford. Health-care inflation will continue. Mandates will increase insurance premiums. And the deficit will reach frightening levels as the law's costs greatly exceed the projections of its advocates.

I took this quote, and a few others from Cahill's Wall Street Journal article, and posted them on a health care website. A physician responded to me thusly:

You seem to be saying that if many American sicken, suffer, and die because they can't pay their medical bills, and if taxpayers object to paying these bills, then you believe these people should sicken, suffer, and die. That's the general feeling of doctors on this forum, and it strikes me as heartless.

With all due respect, good sir, this is one of the most shallow and simplistic arguments I've heard since 5th grade. If this kind of thinking is representative of a significant percentage of educated people, is there any reason to ask how we lost control of the health care system to the Federal Government?

Here's the response I posted on the health care website:

M****,

I'd like to see some evidence that the Democrats' health care agenda will result in less sickness, suffering, and death. Where's the evidence that the federal government can allocate health care resources more judiciously and more humanely than everyone else?

I'd like to know how empowering the Federal Government of the United States at the expense of individual patients is going to improve health care. Are politicians and bureaucrats uniquely virtuous? Are politicians and bureaucrats uniquely wise and knowledgeable?

Please explain how transferring more wealth and more power into the hands of a smaller number of politicians and bureaucrats can be expected to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.

You seem to have an unshakable trust in the Federal Government, M****. What is the basis of this zealous faith? What did the Federal bureaucratic machine do to earn your loyalty?

I think the Federal Government is as fallible as any other institution...and its future capacity to produce systemic failures and to perpetuate corruption will be proportional to its growing enormity.

You might appreciate this short video.

So far, no response from the good doctor. I'll provide an update if a response ever appears.

More

A Crazy Right-Wing Myth About Obama

Obama, transfixed by the teleprompter's hypnotic golden gaze, will say whatever it tells him to.

Which of the following is a bold-faced myth?

A. The president wants to raise my taxes.

B. Led by Obama, Democrats are planning to reinstitute the FCC's Fairness Doctrine (or some variation thereof), eviscerating right-wing talk radio in the process.

C. Obama is a socialist.

D. Obama can't function without a teleprompter, he even uses it for answers at press conferences.

Trick question. The answer is E, all of the above. According to Salon.com, if you believe any of that tripe, you're a feeble-minded right-wing nut job who's been had by the vast conservative propaganda machine.

Socialism? Perish the thought! The VAT? Ignore those silly rumors. While you're at it, forget what you've heard about Obama's plans to silence his critics. Mr. Eloquent is a champion of free speech.

Get your re-education here.

More

GREAT video: Rick Scott, standing up for your healthcare rights.

Funny video: Whatever you do, don't shut up!

hat tip: Z

Mission accomplished

29% of Iranians say they have favorable views of the US. Way to go Obama! Keep groveling!

Are you ready for "lifestyle taxes?"

Liberal Sexist Pigs

Fighting conservatism with misogyny

40 Compelling Reasons to Support Conservatism

These are the reasons I am a conservative:

• All men are created equal.  They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
  
• Once liberty is lost, it is rarely recovered.
  
• Private property and liberty are inseparable.
  
• The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. 
  
• The principal responsibility of the government is to the citizen. Otherwise, the government ceases to be legitimate.
  
• One-size-fits-all government fits no one well.
  
• A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
  
• An all-powerful government is the greatest threat to liberty.
  
• Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  
• The powers not delegated to the Federal Government by the Constitution are reserved to the States or to the people.
  

• The Federal Government should make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
  
• No person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
  
• Equality is the natural right of every individual to live freely under self-government, to acquire and retain the property he creates through his own labor and to be treated impartially before a just law.
  
• Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.  
  
• The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
  
• The conservative despises tyranny.
  
• Redistribution of wealth for the "greater good" is tyranny in disguise.
  
• You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
  
• The only thing that can cure poverty is wealth.
  
• That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
  

• The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
  
• The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish (without risk) to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder.
  
• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
  
• To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
  
• If the Constitution’s meaning can be erased or rewritten, and the Framers’ intentions ignored, it ceases to be a constitution but is instead a concoction of political expedients that serve the contemporary policy agendas of the few who are entrusted with public authority to preserve it.
  
• To say that the constitution is a living and breathing document is to give license to arbitrary and lawless activism.
  
• The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
  
• A people cannot remain free and civilized without moral purposes, constraints, and duties.
  
• The individual is more than an abstract statistic or faceless member of some group.
  
• Taxation of private property or the regulation of such property so as to reduce its value can become in effect a form of servitude, particularly if the dispossession results from illegitimate and arbitrary state action.
  

• The individual knows better how to spend that which he has earned than do large bureaucracies populated by strangers who see classes of people rather than individual human beings.
  
• Private property rights serve the common good: "What belongs to no one is wasted by everyone. What belongs to one man in particular is the object of his economy and care." 
  
• The conservative opposes crony capitalism where the Statist uses the power of government to subsidize one favored enterprise at the expense of another.
  
• The government is obligated to qualify immigration to those most likely to contribute to the well-being of the civil society.
  
• If a nation does not show and teach respect for its own identity, principles, and institutions, that corrosive attitude  is conveyed to the rest of the world, including newly arriving aliens.  And if this is unchecked, the nation will ultimately cease to exist.
  
• The moral imperative of all public policy must be the preservation and improvement of  American society.
  
• If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war.
  
• Great nations have responsibilities to lead and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile because they might just wind up lowering our flag.
  
• Civil society is a harmony of interest, not a zero sum game in which the politically powerful exploit the politically weak.
  
• Free people working in self-interested cooperation, and a government operating within the limits of its authority promote more prosperity, opportunity and happiness for more people than any alternative.

There are two options: liberty and tyranny.  Which will you choose?

Sources: The Constitution of the United States of America, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, the Declaration of Independence, and many others.  We stand on the shoulders of giants.

More

Must watch: The National Debt Road Trip

Can you sum up the Obama presidency in two sentences?

Geithner: Bailouts may never end, no exit plans

A victim of Obama's "ruthless pragmatism"

Pure socialism

Just what the Doctor ordered? The GOP Health Care Alternative.

What Can Cows‏ Teach Us About Capitalism?

Twenty-One Financial Models Using Cows

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.  The State gives one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away…

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

The other 13 financial models are described here.

More

Condoleezza Rice Talks Torture

Ms. Rice eviscerates a know-it-all little liberal snot who is questioning her on torture. Truth is a beautiful thing. 

h/t: CBW

Obama's Suicidal Policies

Obama has been working himself to the point of exhaustion trying to ensure that our economic crisis does not go to waste. If he can't get our country on the path to European-style socialism now, he might never have a better opportunity. Thus the sense of urgency.

With all the hand waving, grandstanding and parochialism that has been on display lately, let's not forget that there is at least one issue that is more important than our current economic woes: national defense.

While campaigning, Obama made several promises regarding national defense:

• I will cut tens of billions of dollars in spending.
  
• I will cut investments in missile defense systems.
  
• I will not weaponize space.
  
• I will slow our development of future combat systems.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we live in a world that is as dangerous as it has ever been, Obama has provided every indication that he intends to keep these promises.

In the short time Obama has been president, he has shown that he does not take seriously the threats we face. He continues to insist that we can reason with madmen who have nuclear ambitions; he has begun to formulate serious plans to make significant cuts in defense spending, he has taken steps to halt the development of missile defense systems; and on the domestic front, Obama threatened to make cuts in support for military service-related medical care. These are not the actions I would expect from a commander-in-chief who understands the reality of the post 9-11 world.

The Heritage Foundation has produced an excellent documentary that exposes the life-threatening myths about defending America. 33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age tells the story of the very real threat foreign enemies pose to every one us. The truth is brutal.

33 Minutes is the definitive documentary exposing the untold vulnerability we all face and the action plan necessary to revive a defense system that America uniquely can develop, maintain, and employ for its own defense and the peace-loving world's security.

Learn more

33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age

More

Obama Tries to Break Down Rising Resistance Over Budget.

Here's a great idea.

Reclaim AIG campaign contributions: Make members of Congress who have received campaign contributions from AIG — or any company paying bonuses — send the money to the Treasury.

Another Great Idea

Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers, so we can identify their corporate sponsors. Via: Humble Wife

What kind of president thrives on chaos?

Is it conceivable that a president would want matters to get worse?

33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age