You need to see this. Yet another beautiful little present that the Dems stuffed into the stimulus bill, which will end up stuffing us.

Now, I may just be an evil white woman, I dunno, but I saw real black child poverty up close and personal in the early 90’s when I was still a child myself. It changed me utterly and entirely. I was never the same after seeing the slums my friends lived in, the hell they went through as children, and the prejudice they faced from nearly everyone around them. Clinton changed that, Clinton changed the incentives for welfare funding, changed it so that the States could actually accomplish the supposed purpose of welfare: take care of people while they’re struggling, but get them back to work, get them self sufficient again. You know, that whole idea of, ‘give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for a lifetime.’

Obama has just killed that plan. And worst of all, he’s done it in the name of “racial equality” and “desegregation”. Sorry, Mr. Obama, I saw what real segregation looks like, and you’re bringing it back. It has your name all over it. Do you think black children will thank you when they finally see what you’ve done to them? Will they thank you for making them endlessly dependent on the government? Because I’m sorry, but you’ve tipped your hand and exposed that, in your mind, welfare is not about teaching a man to fish. It’s about getting him hooked on the fish you’re selling, so that he becomes your property to control. That isn’t just segregation, that’s slavery.

“We must not revert to isolationism and unrestrained economic egotism… Excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence is another possible mistake. True, 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… 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 us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.”

- Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin
Opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
January 28, 2009

It seems a shame that everyone in the world but us can recognize that the United States, under the leadership of the Democrats and their Messiah, is slipping ever further into the clutches of socialism. Why is it that we’re the only ones who still refuse to admit the truth? Even when our own newspapers and magazines are declaring, “We’re all Socialists now!”, so many people still refuse to believe it, refuse to acknowledge it. Perhaps what’s worse, the few that do see it, are still saying, “What’s so bad about socialism?”
Putin, of all people, just told us what’s so bad about socialism! Look at history, look at what became of the Soviet Union. Look at the horror it inflicted upon its own people, the people of Europe, the Middle East, and the entire world. The former head of the KGB is warning us not to slip any further toward socialism, or it will eat us alive, as it ate his country alive. Please, let’s listen before it’s too late.
If he can see it, why can’t we?

(hat tip to my friend Joey for sending me the link, and to Gateway Pundit for the info.)

I was going to name this title with a prayer, “God help us.” But as I was waiting for the “write post” page to load, I realized something. No, as much as we always need God’s help, right now we can’t rely on Him completely. We can’t rely solely on Him when there are still things that we must do to help ourselves. We only rely on him completely when there’s nothing left for us to do. At least, that’s what I believe. Sure, we always have faith, we always believe in what He can do for us, but no, so long as there’s something we can do for ourselves, we must do it, and we must do it now. That’s what free will, independence, and being an adult is all about, right?
Well, right now, we have something big we need to do for ourselves and we need to do it now. That something is opposing the Democrats’ bail out. Why? Because it’s not a bail out. Democrats may be saying it’s a bail out, but if you look closely at the language in the actual bail out bill, they’re also screaming at the top of their lungs, “Hello, my name is Socialism! Nice to meet you!” They’re lying with one side of their mouth and screaming out the truth with the other. We just need to wake up and realize which is which before it’s too late.

One of the bits of language in this bill that makes it obvious which bit is the truth and which is the lie, has to do with universal healthcare, i.e. socialized medicine. In that bail out – that’s supposedly SO important and SO critical and SO time sensitive that we have to do it NOW without thinking – is a short little snippet. Just a few quick sentences, but those quick sentences have one hell of a price tag. What is it?
Six hundred billion dollars “to address shortages and prepare our country for universal healthcare.” And yes, that’s a direct quote. (You can see the original here, the direct quote is from page 10. Pay special attention to the opening statement of the entire document. Note any fearmongering there? Funny, I thought only Republicans were the ones who did that…)
If this bill is SO important, SO time sensitive, SO crucial to save our economy that we have to do it NOW without thinking, why in the hell is that in there? Because it’s not a bail out. It’s yet another foot in the door for socialism. But rather than be clear, honorable, and direct with their intentions, Democrats are being sneaky about it. They’re slowly sneaking socialism in at night, under the cover of darkness, so we won’t know what’s going on until it’s too late.

Remember, please remember, the words of Rahm Emanuel. They may be trying to sneak this in, but their arrogance is getting the better of them. They’re giving themselves away, because they believe they’re unstoppable. That pride is dangerous for them, but a blessing for us. So please, don’t forget his words:

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before. This is an opportunity. What used to be long-term problems — be they in the health care area, energy area, education area, fiscal area, tax area, regulatory reform area — things that we had postponed for too long that were long-term are now immediate and must be dealt with. And this crisis provides the opportunity for us, as I would say, the opportunity to do things that you could not do before.”

His words. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” He said this shortly after he was announced as Obama’s new Chief of Staff. This is recent. He wasn’t speaking metaphorically, he was outlining the Democrats’ plan to shove socialism in through our front door while we’re looking the other way. With that quote in mind, think back to that $600 billion – $600 BILLION – “to address shortages and prepare our country for universal healthcare.” He told us what they were going to do, and they’re doing it. Now it’s our turn to stand up, stamp our feet, close that door in their faces, and say, “Not on our watch!” We have to say no to socialism now, before our country, our America, isn’t even ours anymore. The government is expanding under the guise of this crisis, they’re using our panic to gain an advantage over us. Please, I’m begging you, don’t let them do it.

Unlike most people who look at universal healthcare as a purely political issue, for me, it’s much more personal. I happen to have a very real, very urgent, very legitimate reason to oppose socialized medicine. That reason is a rare genetic condition known as Dercum’s Disease.
I won’t go into the details, because that would make this post even longer than it is. But suffice it to say, Dercum’s is fatal if it’s left untreated. It was discovered over 100 years ago, yet hasn’t really been to thoroughly studied. Because it’s not very well known and not very well understood, a lot of doctors are hesitant to try to treat it. Unfortunately this can mean that people are left to the mercy of the disease, left to die a very miserable, excruciatingly painful and drawn out death. It can take a few years or it can take a few decades. You die because your body is at war with itself, down to your very cells. The pain is unbelievable, unlike anything you could ever imagine. Every inch of your body screams constantly. Your bones, your flesh, everything. If left untreated, this constant fight will cause your body to enlarge at an exponential rate, until your heart and lungs give out. Or until a tumor forms on one of your internal organs and shuts it down.
Unfortunately, the disease also attacks your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to secondary infections. So if you don’t die directly from Dercums itself, you may be left to the mercy of a cold or the flu or something similarly simplistic. But if a doctor doesn’t understand how to handle Dercums, they won’t know how to handle the secondary infections. For instance, it took my doctors over 10 months just to diagnose me with mono when I was a teenager, simply because of the ways in which Dercums manipulates the systems of your body, which then alters the way medical tests are read.

Why am I telling you all this? Because while I’m fortunate enough to get care in the United States, I have friends with this disease who are dying because they had the misfortune to be born in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada; in countries with socialized medicine. My friends have been left for dead by their countries’ socialized medical systems, the same systems the Democrats are trying to shove down our throats right now. If we walk down that same path, if we accept universal healthcare here, it will mean death for me and people like me. Not just people with Dercum’s Disease, but anybody with a chornic complicated condition. For the sake of taking care of people with colds, we will be sacrificing caring for those with cancer.
This is not an exaggeration, as much as I wish it was. I’ve spent a great deal of time in England. I’ve seen what their National Health Service does to people. I’ve even been subjected to it myself. As my friend Alastair in London says, “If the NHS can’t fix you with a sticking plaster (band-aid), you’re screwed.”
He should know. He almost died when his lung was punctured by a random attacker on the street. He went into an NHS hospital bleeding to death and about to die from his lung collapsing. The NHS doctor told him he needed surgery immediately, but that they couldn’t fit him in for another two weeks. If Alastair hadn’t been paying through the nose for private health insurance, he would have been dead thanks to socialized medicine.

That’s the cold hard reality of socialized medicine. Democrats are feeding it to us under the guise of a new name, justifying it as “fairness.” They claim that socialized medicine will mean that everyone will have access to the same quality of care. What they aren’t telling you is that yes, everyone will have access to the same care, but that quality of care consists of – again, as Alastair says – if they can’t fix it with a band-aid, you’re screwed. The reality is, it will make the class gap even wider. Private insurance in England costs four times what it does here. The wealthy are still getting proper medical care, while the poor and the middle class are suffering under conditions four times as dismal as what we have here in the States. The supposed class warfare the Democrats are using as an excuse to feed us socialized medicine is nothing compared to the entrenched class warfare built into the National Health Service in England.

What makes me angriest of all, however, is when the Democrats use such sad stories of poor poster children who supposedly can’t get health coverage. They’re hoping that you aren’t aware that every child in this country is automatically covered by Medicare. They’re hoping you also aren’t aware of the fact that every pregnant woman is also covered, and that the elderly are automatically covered as well. They’re hoping you don’t realize that pretty much anyone can walk into an emergency room when their life is in danger and get care. The same can’t be said in England, France, Australia, Canada, Iceland, or any other country suffering under “universal” healthcare. If they can’t fix you with a band-aid, you’re screwed. If your case is complicated, they’ll stall you by any means necessary until you die. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen far too many times and it breaks my heart.

Please, we need to wake up. My life depends on it, the lives of so many of my friends. We have to stop this now. Rahm Emmanuel is making good on his promise to not waste this crisis. They’re urging you to just accept this while in a panicked state of mind, so that they can take advantage of you. Why should we trust anyone who seeks to take advantage of us?
Please, I’m begging you, don’t let them do it. Call your Congressperson, call your Senator. Please, please, put your foot down now before it’s too late. Tell them to stand up against this “bail out”, tell them you won’t tolerate anymore socialism in this country. Tell them you love what America is, tell them that there are other ways to solve her problems than by adopting socialism. Socialism has failed in absolutely every single country that has ever adopted it. Surely we can’t be so arrogant as to believe our luck will be any different, or that people won’t die in the process.

Please, just tell them no.

The Demons of Gaza
Only Hamas is to Blame for the War; Only the Palestinians Can Stop It
January 10, 2009
Ralph Peters
The New York Post

Israel hasn’t killed a single civilian in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred civilians have died, and Israeli bombs or shells may have ended their lives.
But Israeli didn’t kill them.
Hamas did.
It’s time to smash the lies. The lies of Hamas. The UN lies. And the save-the-terrorists lies of the global media.
There is no moral equivalence between Hamas terrorists and Israeli soldiers.
There is no gray area. There is no point in negotiations.
Hamas is a Jew-killing machine. It exists to destroy Israel. What is there to negotiate? When Hamas can’t kill Jews, it’s perfectly willing to drive Palestinian civilians into the line of fire – old men, women and children. Hamas herds the innocent into “shelters,” then draws Israeli fire on them. And the headline-greedy media cheer them on.
Hamas isn’t fighting for political goals. “Brokered agreements” are purely means to an end. And the envisioned end is the complete destruction of Israel in the name of a terrorist god. Safe in hidden bunkers or in Damascus, the Hamas leadership is willing to watch an unlimited number of civilians and even street-level terrorists die.

Lives, too, are nothing but means to an end. And dead kids are the coins that keep the propaganda meter ticking.
All Hamas had to do to prevent Israel’s act of self-defense was to leave Israel unmolested by terror rockets. All Hamas needs to do now to stop this conflict and spare the Palestinian people it pretends to champion is to stop trying to kill Israelis and agree to let Israel exist in peace.
Hamas didn’t, and Hamas won’t.
Now Israel has to continue its attack, to wreak all the havoc it can on Hamas before a new American president starts meddling. If Israel stops now, Hamas can declare victory just for surviving – despite its crippling losses.
While it’s impossible to fully eliminate extremism, killing every terrorist leader hiding in a Gaza bunker is the only hope of achieving even a temporary, imperfect peace. The chance may not come again.
And don’t worry about “creating a power vacuum.” Let the Palestinians pick up their own pieces. Even anarchy in Gaza is better for Israel than Hamas. Israelis, Americans and Westerners overall share a tragic intellectual blind spot: We’re caught in yesterday’s model of terrorism, that of Arafat’s PLO, of the IRA, the Red Brigades or the Weather Underground. But, as brutal as those organizations could be, they never believed they were on a mission from God.
Yesteryear’s terrorists wanted to change the world. They were willing to shed blood and, in extreme cases, to give their own blood to their causes. But they didn’t seek death. They preferred to live to see their “better world.”
Now our civilization faces terrorists who regard death as a promotion. They believe that any action can be excused because they’re serving their god. And their core belief is that you and I, as stubborn unbelievers, deserve death.
Their grisly god knows no compromise. To give an inch is to betray their god’s trust entirely. Yet we – and even some Israelis – believe it’s possible to cut deals with them.
In search of peace, Israel handed Gaza to the Palestinians, a people who had never had a state of their own. As thanks, Israel received terror rockets.
And the Palestinian people got a gang war.
Peace is the last thing Hamas terrorists and gangsters want. Peace means the game is up. Peace means they’ve disappointed their god. Peace means no more excuses. They couldn’t bear peace for six months.
This is a war to the bitter end. And we’re afraid to admit what it’s about. It’s not about American sins or Israeli intransigence. It’s about a sickness in the soul of a civilization – of Middle-Eastern Islam – that can only be cured from within. Until Arabs or Iranians decide to cure themselves, we’ll
have to fight.
Instead, we want to talk. We convince ourselves, against all evidence, that our enemies really want to talk, too, that they just need “incentives” (the diplomat’s term for bribes). The apparent belief of our president-elect that it’s possible to negotiate with faith-fueled fanatics is so naive it’s
terrifying.
Yet, it’s understandable. Barack Obama’s entire career has been built on words, not deeds, on his power to persuade, not his power to deliver. But all the caucuses, debates, neighborhood meetings and backroom deal-making sessions in his past haven’t prepared him to “negotiate” with men whose single-minded goal is Israel’s destruction – and ours.
If Obama repeats the same “peace-process” folly as his predecessors, from Jimmy have-you-hugged-your-terrorist-today? Carter through Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, he’ll be devoured before he knows he’s been bitten.
How many administrations have to repeat the identical error of believing that, deep down inside, terrorists, gunmen and warlords really want peace every bit as much as we do? Israel’s enemies aren’t just looking to cut a sharp deal. They want to destroy Israel.
Which part of what they shout in our faces is so hard to understand? Israel’s foes have been preaching Jew-hatred for so long that even the “moderates” can’t turn back now.
And why does the global left hate Israel so? Why would they pull out the stops to rescue Hamas?
Because Israel exposed the lie that a suffering people can’t lift itself up through hard work, education and discipline. Israel didn’t need the help of a hundred condescending NGOs and their misery junkies.
Because the Holocaust is a permanent embarrassment to Europeans. They need to believe that Israelis are kosher Nazis.
Because, from the safety of cafes and campuses, it’s cool to call terrorists “freedom fighters.” It makes you feel less guilty when you hit up daddy (or the state) for money. I mean, dude, it’s not like you have to, like, live with them or anything, you know?
(The preceding sentence is not a direct quote from Caroline Kennedy.)
Because, above all, the most-destructive racists in the world today are mainstream leftists. Want the truth? The Left codes Israel as white and, therefore, inherently an oppressor. Israel is held to the highest standard of our civilization and our legal codes – and denied the right to self-defense.
But the Left tacitly believes that people with darker skins are inferior and can’t be expected to behave at a civilized level. Leftists expect terrorist movements or African dictators to behave horribly. It’s the post-modern, latte-sucking version of the “little brown brother” mentality.
The worst enemies of developing societies have been leftists who refuse to hold them to fundamental standards of governance and decency. But, then, the Left needs developing societies to fail to prove that the system’s hopelessly stacked against them.
A battered, impoverished, butchered people built a thriving Western democracy in an Eastern wasteland. Israel can never be forgiven for its success.
In this six-decade-old conflict that Israel’s intractable neighbors continue to force upon it, there not only are no good solutions, but, thanks to the zero-sum mentality of Islamist terrorists, there aren’t even any bad solutions – short of nuclear genocide – that would bring an enduring peace to the Middle East.
And even the elimination of Israel wouldn’t be enough. The terrorists would fight among themselves, while warring upon less-devout fellow Muslims.
All Israel can do is to fight for time and buy intervals of relative calm with the blood of its sons and daughters. By demanding premature cease-fires and insisting that we can find a diplomatic solution, we strengthen monsters and undercut our defenders.

And don’t believe the propaganda about this conflict rallying Gaza’s Palestinians behind Hamas. That’s more little-brown-brother condescension, assuming all Arabs are so stupid they don’t know who started this and who’s dragging it out at their expense.
Gaza’s people may not care much for Israelis, but they rue the day they cast their votes for Hamas. Hamas is killing them.

Ralph Peters is a retired U.S. Army officer and the author of “Looking For
Trouble.”

This has to be a first! CNN recently conducted a public opinion poll to determine the top three dirtiest, most corrupt, most scandalous politicians of 2008, and surprise surprise! They’re all Democrats!
Although, strangely enough, I didn’t hear about this from CNN. No, it took an affiliate of NBC in Chicago to break the news. *gasp* You mean, CNN might just be going out of their way to avoid tainting public opinion of their beloved Democrats?! Color me shocked!
So despite CNN’s bias, what did their own poll have to say about the most corrupt politicians of 2008? Let’s find out!

With 19% of the vote, former presidential candidate John Edwards is awarded the bronze medal! He admitted in August that he had cheated on his cancer-stricken wife with former campaign staffer – and certified holistic nutjob – Rielle Hunter. He’s still denying he fathered a love child with the “Being is Free” crazy chick, even though we’re pretty much entirely certain that, yeah, there’s another John Jr hanging around in a gratis love shack with the baby mama.
But perhaps more disturbing than the affair is the fact that the mainstream media took their sweet time in releasing the story. Yup, that’s right, yet again the msm bent over backwards for their beloved Democrats and did absolutely everything they possibly could to bury the story, for fear that some of the bad press might hinder Obama’s chances at the presidency. Eighteen months after the story first broke in the Enquirer (you know, that bastion of hard-hitting journalism), the msm were forced to finally open their mouths when Edwards was caught red handed sneaking out of a hotel in Beverly Hills, where he’d just met up with Rielle in an attempt to allegedly shut her up. Cause, you know, nothing says “Unbiased Journalism” like sitting on a red hot juicy story of corruption for over a year! So I’d say the MSM definitely deserves a special honorable mention for making this bronze medal all the more interesting and that much more damning.

Coming in at number two with 23% of the vote is New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who despite pledging to take down prostitution, ended up getting down with a prostitute instead. He was forced to step down in March after being busted, yet somehow, prosecutors will not be filing criminal charges against him. Anybody else just a tad bit disappointed with that? Cause gee, last I checked, prostitution was a crime and – at least as far as I’m aware – politicians aren’t immune from prosecution for such things.

So with all that delicious corruption on both sides of the podium, who deserves the top spot? That honor has been reserved for Governor Rod Blagojevich! (big surprise) As the scandal keeps spreading like a virus from the Illinois Governor’s office, slowly creeping out and infecting more and more people throughout the Democratic party, it’s easy to see why Rod deserves such a prestigious honor. The details get juicier and juicier every day, and as more names are added to this scarlet list of dirty dems, we can all sit back and giggle as the msm continues to taint their reputations as they repeatedly bend over backwards in an effort to keep the rest of us in the dark as to just how widespread this scandal really is. Now with word of a scandal brewing around New Mexico’s Democrat Governor Bill Richardson, there may be even more Democrats to add to that list come next year!
Gee, you’d think after the whole Edwards thing the msm would realize that Joe Q. Public is just a bit smarter than they give ‘em credit for? Naah, they can keep believing that we’re sheep, but by the time the next election rolls around, won’t they be surprised! They should know by now, thanks to their very own polling, that we’re at long last waking up, both to the corruption that’s running rampant in the Democratic party and the ridiculous elitist lap dogs of the Left that currently run the mainstream media. They may not have released their polling data, but sure enough, we still know about it.

Keep your eyes and ears open, people, cause more and more are waking up each and every day.

Obama’s been talking lately about a $1 trillion stimulus package. But he’s not the only Democrat who’s been throwing that number around willy-nilly all over the place lately. Therefore I think it would be nice if we could put that number in perspective for those of us who don’t have an inflated sense of excessive spending. For that, I turn to a lovely paragraph put together by Glenn Beck, which a friend of mine was kind enough to forward. Read it, it’s certainly worth it, cause if we don’t keep in mind just how insanely huge $1 trillion dollars really is, apparently our representatives won’t either.

Let me give you a handle on how big $1 trillion is. NASA has a budget. You know the people, they send up space planes and the space station and all the satellites and everything else that NASA does? NASA’s budget is $17 billion. The post office’s budget is $34 billion. The Department of Labor is 10, EPA is 7. Treasury, well, this has got to go up. Can you check on this, Joe? It’s only $12 billion, but they’ve got to be spending a lot more on ink and paper right now. Treasury department is $12 billion. Department of Energy is $24 billion. The Department of Transportation is $12 billion. Justice is $20 billion. Agriculture is $20 billion. Department of Interior is $10 billion. Department of Homeland Security is $120 billion. That’s $286 billion for all of those: NASA, post office, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, EPA, Department of Treasury, Department of Energy, transportation, justice, agriculture, and interior, $286 billion. Obama wants a $1 trillion stimulus package. By the way, if you add in the defense budget, the Department of Defense budget for 2009 is $515 billion. Half a trillion dollars. Add that to all of the other departments I just gave you, that’s $801 billion. You still have $200 billion left before you reach the new Democratic stimulus package of $1 trillion.

That puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? Lastly, let me just add one final thought; with all of the other problems that our federal government has chosen to simply thrown money at, how many of those problems have actually been solved by that course of action? Education? Poverty? Foreign Policy? Anything?

I just watched the whole original video. It’s so much worse. You have to see this.

If this doesn’t make you weep for your country, if this doesn’t shake you to the core, then we have lost what this country means. If this doesn’t scare you to death like it does me, then there’s no hope left for us. There aren’t enough expletives in the world to convey the shock, the fear, the outright devastation. This country has been sold to the absolute devil. I’m sorry, but this is too far down that road. In heaven’s name, what have we done?

Listen to Obama’s new Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on their new “civilian national defense force”. Surprise, it’s mandatory!

Two words: Holy. Shit.
Sorry, but those are the only two words suitable for that. Holy freaking shit. (Don’t worry, I’m not Joe Biden, I realize that now brings the total up to three.)
Yes, that was Rahm Emanuel saying that there would be a mandatory three month training program for a universal defense force for ALL 18 to 24 year olds. Ha, aren’t Democrats cute? And here they were all worried that Bush would be the one reinstating the draft! No, no, no, it was the Democrats all along! Although just like Obama and his clever “tax deduction” for 95% of Americans, they’re just redefining what “draft” means. They’re dressing it up, giving it a snazzier name, so they can resell the same product in a bigger, better, cuddlier package. But you know what? No matter how they dress it up, mandatory service is still mandatory service.
Yet another thing I can thank my generation for. Thanks, idiots! Obama said it on the campaign trail, did you seriously think he wasn’t serious about his intentions? For the man who’s supposedly so good with his words, do you really expect us to believe that something like that just slipped out and he didn’t really mean it? Wake up and smell the napalm, buddies, this is what they have in store for you. I wish I could say I was making this up, believe me, I really, really wish I was making this up. Then I think I could sleep better at night.
Like I said, two words: Holy. Shit.

From Tom Gross’ media blog over at National Review:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s home district includes San Francisco.

Star-Kist Tuna’s headquarters are in San Francisco, Pelosi’s home district.

Star-Kist is owned by Del Monte Foods and is a major contributor to Pelosi.

Star-Kist is the major employer in American Samoa employing 75 percent of the Samoan workforce.

Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, owns $17 million dollars of Star-Kist stock.

In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competition’s.

Last week when the huge bailout bill was passed, Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an “economic development credit in American Samoa.”

Pelosi has called the Bush administration “corrupt.”

She should know.

(Hat tip: David Steinmann)

I lost pretty much any shred of respect I had left for Nancy Pelosi after her “waaaa, we didn’t do it, it’s all their fault!” speech on the floor of the Senate about the housing crisis. That’s the spirit of “bipartisanship” I’m expecting from the White House over the next four years. Why? Because that’s all the bipartisanship I’ve seen them these clowns.
I swear, the Democratic Party would be so much better off if they could just boot Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid right out the door. With Howard Dean in particular, I’ve despised that man ever since I went to a rally of his while he was still running for the presidency in 2004. My liberal brother made me go, in an attempt to “open my mind to other possibilities”. The only possibility I discovered there was that, wow, there really are people in this country who love socialism, yet have never seen the effects of socialism first-hand. I hate to say it so bluntly, but seriously, that rally was scary as hell. I had to sit there in silence while Howard Dean literally railed against this country. One day I’ll write a post explaining everything that happened that day, cause seriously, most people would love to know what the chairman of the DNC had to say when speaking to a crowd of the fully converted, plus one little outsider: me.

One topic that is absolutely essential to my daily life, as I’m sure it is for so many Americans, is health-care. Unfortunately, however, I’m always completely disgusted by the way politicians handle this problem. But for the most part, the majority of my disgust is reserved for Democrats. Why? Because despite the luxury we have of being able to learn from the mistakes of others, we’re completely disregarding the plethora of evidence at our disposal and still pushing for socialized/universal health-care. This completely irritates me beyond belief, which is why it’s taken me so long to write a post about it. I’ve tried several times and just couldn’t get through it.

Before I explain why my life depends on our nation refusing the temptation of socialized medicine, let’s get down to some facts. The reason the Democrats are calling for universal health-care is because of the supposed crisis of the uninsured. They claim that there are so many millions of people in this country who are uninsured that we absolutely must drastically change our entire health-care system. What do they use as evidence to back up this claim? Their oft-repeated statement that 47 million Americans are uninsured.
That number sure sounds big, but there’s an even bigger problem with it: it’s just not true.

They’re pulling this number from the US Census Bureau, specifically their 2005 report on “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States”. Yes, in the report it does have close to that number as being “uninsured”, but the problem is, it’s just not that simple. The Democrats are completely ignoring the very important statistical breakdown of those 47 million people and what categories they fit into. This creates a very, very, very misleading picture of the current state of our country’s health-care system. So let’s break it down, shall we?

First off, the actual number of uninsured people living in this country is 46.577 million. That list happens to include 9.487 million people who aren’t even American citizens. Even Michael Moore, in his movie ‘Sicko’, agrees that being “an American” matters when it comes to getting health insurance. As he says, “That’s the only preexisting condition that should exist. I’m an American. That’s it.” Therefore, even according to one of the most liberal guys out there, the 47 million number is already debunked in one regard.

So now our total is down to roughly 37 million. Still astronomical, but not as bad as 47 million. Another big claim of people pushing for socialized medicine is that people simply cannot “afford” insurance. As Michael Moore said on CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ on July 10, 2008, “And when you’ve got 47 million people in this country with no health insurance, they don’t go to the doctor because they can’t afford it.”
Surprise, surprise, the Census Bureau study looked at that issue too.
Of the remaining 37 million people who are uninsured, 8.3 million of those make between $50,000 and $75,999 a year. On top of that, 8.74 million make more than $75,000! That’s roughly 17 million people who ought to be able to “afford” health insurance, because they make substantially more than the median household income of $46,326. According to every study out there that compares income, cost of living, and health insurance costs, those 17 million people can afford health insurance! The thing is, they flat out choose not to.

So when we subtract non-citizens and those who can afford their own insurance yet choose not to purchase it, we’re left with about 20 million. That’s less than 7% of the population. Yet even that number is still inaccurate.
Why? Because the overall total of 47 million people also includes those who are temporarily between work. These are people who are going to have insurance within the next four months. A whopping 45% of those 47 million people will have insurance within the next four months. That’s huge. According to my calculator, that’s 21,150,000. That’s more than we’re left with! Of course, that has to be figured in with those who are not citizens and those who make more than the median income. But still, that begs the question, how many of the remaining 20 million were simply between jobs at the time this census was taken?

In addition to those who are simply temporarily between jobs, the fact still remains that the majority of those who are uninsured already qualify for existing government programs. But just like those who can afford it and choose not to buy it, so many people simply choose not to participate in those government programs. Why?! Who knows! But does their inaction warrant the rest of us sacrificing the quality of care we are already blessed with in this country for the woes that exist under socialized medicine? NO!
We already know that the elderly are covered via Medicaid. Every child is automatically covered as well. There are even programs for the disabled as well! I have a friend whose stepdaughter is profoundly disabled. Even though both of her parents and her stepmother could easily – easily – afford to pay for her medical bills, the entirety of her medical bills are covered by government programs. While yes, I’m all for providing care for the disabled, in my opinion, that’s ridiculous. And what’s more, my friend agrees with me! If you can afford health-care for you and your children, there is no reason that burden should be shifted to the American taxpayer. It’s ludicrous and it shows us just how far down that slippery slope we are toward socialized medicine.

That 47 million statistic is so inflated and I’ve already shown just how inflated it is. But of course, with the Census Bureau’s study, we can’t continue to subtract so easily, since we can’t easily break down how many in each category are temporarily without insurance. So we’re at roughly 20 million, along with the overall 45% who are between jobs.
But that doesn’t mean we’re done. Thankfully, The Kaiser Family Foundation, a liberal non-profit frequently quoted by the media, has done a similar study. They have a figure for the number of uninsured American citizens who do not qualify for current government programs and make less than $50,000 a year. That number is between 13.9 million and 8.2 million. That is one giant leap from at best 13.9 million to 47 million. And that’s a liberal organization.

There you have it, that’s the truth behind the myth of the health-care crisis in this country. Yes, I think it’s so sad that there are people out there who are uninsured. But the government cannot make up for our own choices in life. The government cannot sacrifice the quality of our medical care to make up for the so very few who are without insurance. Especially when there are so many other options already out there to take care of these people! There are many, many answers in the private sector to address this problem.

The bottom line is, inflating the truth will not do us any good. I hate that on such an important issue, both sides have now succumbed to the lie propagated by the liberal left. When John McCain mentioned this save 47 million figure during the debates, I cringed. If we can’t hold on to reason, if we can’t cling to the truth, we are truly lost. This issue is too important for us to lose sight of the truth.

Now that we have the facts out of the way, if you’d like to read about my own personal experience trying to receive treatment in a country with socialized medicine, click “more” to read on. Also, as an extra special treat, I’ve also included a cute – albeit anecdotal – look at the supposed crisis of the uninsured. So go on, click “more”, you know you want to!