Tennesseefree.com

President Obama, this weekend, said that the passage of healthcare will be a historic event in American history. He is right. If this disaster passes, it will be historic, just like the trail of tears was historic, or Plessy v. Fergesun was historic. Being historic, or as he puts it, being “transformative”, is not always a good thing. There is a such a thing as bad history.

This healthcare bill is more than a disaster. It is a mindless tragedy. It does absolutely nothing that the President claims it does. First off, it imposes an unconstitutional mandate on American citizens. Secondly, it burdens the states with a huge unfunded mandate, one that can only be paid for with higher state taxes or services cut in other areas. Taxes will be raised on individuals, and businesses that provide the service our government claims to want to reduce the cost of. Medicare will be cut, and Medicaid will be expanded, which means that doctors will be reimbursed by these government entities even less than they already are, forcing them to either make up the cost on the rest of us, or deny care to old and poor people. This thing is an absolute disaster. There is no other way to put it.

Any honest constitutional scholar will tell you that, not only is a mandate to buy health insurance unprecedented, but it is also unconstitutional. Never before has the Federal government required you to purchase a product simply because you are breathing. That’s not liberty folks. That’s tyranny. Congress simply does not have the power to require an individual to enter into a contract with another. The backers of this idea always mention the states and their mandates to buy car insurance. First off, we are talking about states and not the federal government. I realize that many of you do not believe in the concept of federalism. Hell, many of you don’t believe in a lot of constitutional concepts. But the framers of our constitution did. Also, there is quite a bit of difference in requiring a driver of a car to be insured, than there is in requiring somebody to purchase insurance simply because they were born. You don’t have to own and drive a car. That is a choice, and it is done on roads owned by the states. As far as I can tell though, you do have to breathe.

We here in Tennessee, better than anybody else, know what happens when you expand Medicaid and make it attractive for employers to drop their benefits and allow the “government” to take over. Remember TennCare? How did that work out for you Tennessee? How is Medicaid expansion working out in Massachusets? They say the states are laboratories, but obviously not in this case. Forcing all of the states to adopt TennCare is mindlessly idiotic. It is senseless. Many of these states are already in deep trouble. Now the federal government is going to pose another burden on them. Unbelievable!

The only way that the states will be able to fund this national TennCare program is through higher taxes. But not only will we face higher taxes from our state governments. We will also see an increase in the tax on capital gains. Yes that’s right. In a time of high unemployment and stagnant economic growth, our government is going to raise the tax on capital gains. But wait, it gets better. Remember how those evil insurance companies, that make (gasp!) those huge two percent profits, remember how they charge us too much for insurance. Well guess what, they are going to be taxed too. Thing about the stupidity of the logic here for a minute. The government is complaining about the cost of insurance, so the government is going to raise taxes on insurance companies. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? ARE PEOPLE REALLY THIS STUPID?

Caterpillar recently stated that the Healthcare bill would cost their company an extra $100 million a year. And some of you still believe that the President gives a rats ass about Jobs. Are you people even able to feed yourselves? I mean seriously, is the forty percent that support this idiocy out there on the roads with the rest of us? God help us if they are.

So basically, this bill is going to increase the cost of doing business, which will either cause higher unemployment, lower wages, or an increase in the price of the products being produced. Either way you look at it, that means less money in our pockets. It is going to raise capital gains taxes, which will depress jobs and decrease wages. It will force health insurance companies to raise premiums to account for increased taxes. But wait, there is more costs hidden in this disaster.

More people will be forced into Medicaid, and Medicare will be cut. Will they take these benefits from old people? No of course not. What they will do is reimburse doctors less. How does that affect us, you might ask? Well the doctors have to make that money up somewhere don’t they? Look for the costs of healthcare, for the rest of us, to increase quite rapidly.

So basically, not only does this healtcare bill do nothing that President claims it will do, it actually does the exact opposite. It really is nothing but a government take over. There is not even a short term benefit. I really don’t see how anybody could support this embarrassment. It just doesn’t make any sense, but socialism never does.

My main blog, Lean Left, is temporarily down for a domain migration, which is presently not going well.  While it’s down, enjoy absolutely everything that was wrong with the 80s:

Take that, Sadly, no!

The Christian Science Monitor poses the question of whether jobless benefits have become a sort of entitlement. It’s about time!

You know, I appreciated Senator Bunning’s stand last week on the idea that we should be able to pay for something like extending unemployment benefits, rather than adding to the deficit.

But I wish the subject of the debate would have been about the benefits themselves and not just how to pay for their extension. One fact about government meddling into economics is that you will always get more of what you subsidize. Unemployment benefits, which were meant to be a short term safety net, have now effectively become subsidies for unemployment.

Yes if you subsidize something, like for example unemployment, you get more of it. It’s called economics, a science that often runs contrary to political populism.

I guess bending over and grabbing our knees just wasn’t the way to go as far as getting respect was concerned. Go figure.

A majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than it was two years ago and think President Obama and other Democrats fall short of Republicans on the issue of national security, a new poll finds.

The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds that by a 10-point margin — 51 percent to 41 percent — Americans think the standing of the U.S. dropped during the first 13 months of Mr. Obama’s presidency.

The next part is the funniest.

“This is surprising, given the global acclaim and Nobel peace prize that flowed to the new president after he took office,” said pollsters for the liberal-leaning organizations.

Heh! Didn’t surprise me. How about you?

Roll Tide! This is definitely one of Obama’s better moments. As for that 13 on the helmet, it has to do with national championships, in case you didn’t already know. Just figured I’d remind you. Everybody needs to be reminded of the greatest tradition in college football every now and then.

Btw, the Tide also gets it done in academics. Among Top 25 teams, they are second in graduation rates, and that’s only because so many guys leave after their third year to make those NFL millions. Roll Tide!

Oh God, here we go again. How long will they get to blame Bush before they have to start taking responsibility for their own idiotic actions?

What bothers me most about the “we inherited this mess” mantra, is the lack of elaboration on what exactly Bush did that was bad for the economy. An honest discussion on the subject will reveal that Obama supports the same big spending, big government policies that Bush advocated, except Obama is for much much more. Obama is Bush times ten. Whereas the GOP is quasi-socialist, the Donkeys are full blown Marxist.

So no, the parties are not the same. There is more than a dimes worth of difference between the two. Yes the GOP sucks. That’s true. But the Democrats suck a whole hell of a lot more. So when you step in the booth and pull that lever for the LP or some other third party, just remember you’re helping “sucks a whole hell of a lot more” win the election. Is that really what you want?

Have you ever noticed how often Democrats use emotional anecdotes to push their proposals? To me it shows how much the Democrats do not respect the intellect of most Americans. Modern liberalism is the default position of most people, in my opinion. I mean, who wants to see people suffer? But when a person begins to think, instead of just feel, that is when he stops being a leftist. That is when he realizes that this stuff just doesn’t add up. That is when demagogues like President Obama come across as cynical fools.

Just once, I’d like to hear a Democrat speak like Paul Ryan. Just once, I’d like to hear one of them use real data, and crunch real number. Just once, I’d like to hear them speak without some sob story.

But don’t believe for a minute folks that these Dems give a rat’s ass about any of these people. If they only wanted to help these people, then they could pass a bipartisan bill to do so for a fraction of the cost of what they are trying to push through now. Any time you hear a demagogue prey on your emotions, it has nothing to do with “helping” people. It has everything to do with power. If you disagree with that, then you are an idiot. Keep voting Democrat!

I have never heard a sitting governor, not in my lifetime at least, speak this way (three excerpts below). This is unprecedented folks. Is there any other governor anywhere this willing to take on the powerful public sector unions? In a time when government is expected to grow while the private sector shrinks, have you all ever heard of a governor proclaim that this has to stop?

States like New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and California have taxed their private citizens and businesses into oblivion, and it’s still not enough. Christie is right. It is time for all of this nonsense to stop. There is nobody else to loot.

Keep your eye on this Christie fellow. He just might be what we’ve been waiting for.

Part I

Part II

Part III

So apparently, nanny statist Obama drinks too much and can’t stop smoking. His doctors think he should cut back a little on the booze.

Well I disagree. To quote Bluto from Animal House, I think the President should “Start drinking heavily!”. Who needs “jobs summits” and “healthcare summits”, when you can have “beer summits”? Beer summits are much better. People are much friendlier at “beer summits”.

I highly recommend though that there not be any “tequila summits” or “whiskey summits”. Seriously, that might not be good.

This guy is something else, and to think he was only a few Florida votes away from being President of the United States.

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.

What is important is that the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged.

He just won’t quit. The guy is a nut. He’s a danger to his family and himself. It’s like he lives in his own little world devoid of reality. Yet some admire this buffoon, and they help him get rich, really rich. I don’t get it, and never have. Have some people become so ideological that they have lost the ability to think? Weird times we live in folks.

Thanks to the Examiner for compiling these quotes.

Barack Obama 4/25/05: “The President hasn’t gotten his way. And that is now prompting a change in the Senate rules that really I think would change the character of the Senate forever…what I worry about would be that you Read the rest of this entry »

From the OC Register: “Global warming alarmism never was about temperature. It’s about control and money – their control and your money.”

Amen brother.

From CNN:

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree.

As for that other 44%, they must be either government bureaucrats or net takers. These are the ones who would willingly give away their freedom for security. You see that’s the whole plan of the Obama administration, just as it was with FDR and LBJ. More net takers, more dependency, equals more Democrat control.

At some point though, there won’t be anybody to take from. What will the looters and moochers do then?

Mike “The Huckster” Huckabee blasts CPAC. Why? Because CPAC is too libertarian. Yes that’s right. CPAC believes in the concept of liberty way too much for a big government lover like the Huckster.

Huckabee, a 2008 Republican presidential contender and potential 2012 candidate who had spoken at the conference for years, said the reason he blew it off this year was that the meeting has become dominated by libertarian activists.

“CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show.

Hat Tip: Instapundit

I mentioned this long before anybody else was taking note of it. There is no way that the government has any credibility in dealing with Toyota when it owns 60 percent of General Motors and also part of Chrysler.

Guess what though. Toyota is on to this nonsense.

Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly,” a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker’s top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.

The “Activist Administration & Congress – increasing laws & regulations” is listed as one of “Toyota Challenges,” as is “Massive government support for Detroit automakers.

The Chrysler and GM takeovers/union handovers were despicable. The Obama administration is the most “Crony Capitalist” administration this country has ever seen. When you look at how these folks operate, why should we ever trust them to be fair, particularly when they have a stake in the success of this company’s largest competitor?

This isn’t tinfoil hat stuff folks. It’s common freaking sense! Wake up!

On one of my favorite weekend shows, Forbes on Fox, a few very smart people suggested a very stupid thing. Elizabeth MacDonald led the charge in calling for the establishment of a third party.

I understand their disgust with the GOP, but unless the goal is to see Democrats elected, I suggest they get serious. The Tea Party movement is and can continue to have an impact, as long as it stays on course and only focuses on fiscal issues like lower taxes, lower spending, deficits, and the growth of government. When it veers off course and is infiltrated by religious zealots and anti-immigration types, it will splinter and cease to exist.

The movement should not however, no matter how powerful it gets, decide to create a third party. What it is presently doing, in Republican primaries across the country, is exactly what it should continue to do. As it is now, the small government types are a powerful force in the GOP, scaring the hell out of the establishment. If they go and create a newer version of the LP, they will find themselves just as irrelevant as the Libertarian Party.

So the choice is simple. To remain relevant, and to keep statist Democrats from being elected, the Tea Party should work within the GOP, even if it requires a held nose on election day from time to time. If they secretly enjoy being ruled by statist Democrats though, then well, they should form their own party.

That’s what Glen seems to think. However, those dirty socialist bastards at IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers, and Moody’s Economy all disagree with Glen.

But hey, why should we listen to a broad range of business-friendly economists when there’s a two-bit hack with a website who tells us different?

Hot Blonde Chick From Memphis:

Legalize marijuana. That’s what a bill introduced to legislators in Nashville aims to do. Under the Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act, people with certain medical conditions could pick up pot with a prescription at their local pharmacy.
Former Fort Campbell soldier Chad Fowler is trying to persuade those politicians to pass the bill.

“I have got a herniated disc. I’ve got congenitive joint disease in my hips, my knees and my lower back,” Fowler said.

He says other drugs the military prescribed knocked him out. Now he uses marijuana.

“It would make me feel a lot better to know that I can go to the Walgreens that is right around the corner from my house to get my prescription, rather than have to sit in a parking lot and wait for someone to bring it to me,” said Fowler.

But opponents say the risks are too great.

“The problem with medical marijuana lies in the potential for abuse. We have seen that in California’s experience,” said Tennessee Rep. Hank Fincher.

Think for just a second how stupid Rep. Fincher’s argument is. I mean seriously, is he saying that there is no potential for abuse of Oxycotin, Hydrocodone, or Morphine? Oh no, people never abuse those prescription drugs. What an idiot!

I’ve never been much of a pot smoker myself. I’ve always preferred beer. But if somebody wants to smoke pot for medical reasons or simply because they want to catch a buzz, the government SHOULD LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE!

Legalized alcohol and illegal pot just doesn’t make sense to me.

 Nukes

First off, Obama should be praised for his support of nuclear power. Of course in his past life as “man running for President”, Obama was guilty of demagoguing Yucca Mountain. But thankfully, just like his positions on lobbyists, earmarks, and middle class tax cuts, President Obama really is different than candidate Obama. Let’s hope so, at least as far as this is concerned. Brian Sussman of the American Thinker isn’t too impressed though.

The “Success” of the Stimulus

Of course with Obama it’s one step smart and two steps stupid. Rather than bragging on the “success” of the Stimu Porkulus Bill, Obama should have pretended like this anniversary never came. First off, there is no such economic indicator than can measure “saved” jobs. It just doesn’t exist. Knowing this, the administration figured they’d make one up.

But let’s just pretend for a minute that they are right, and that jobs really were “saved and created” by the Pork Bill. With just under two hundred billion spent, and slightly under six hundred thousand jobs supposedly saved or created, that comes out to almost 100,000 per job. And these jokers are proud of this? What a joke!