Friday, October 1, 2010
Patriot Post
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Sebelius Expounds on Her Recent Threat to Health Industry
Shortly after declaring that "there will be zero tolerance" for health insurers spreading "misinformation" about ObamaCare causing rate increases, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius wrote an op-ed claiming that health insurers "ran wild with no accountability" and previously had "free rein" for conducting business -- all while under the regulation of 50 state insurance departments. In a bit of cosmic irony that managed to elude her keen wit, this alleged insurer rampage somehow didn't occur on her watch as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner, a position that had the power to disapprove proposed health insurance rate increases since 1965.
Not satisfied with her Orwellian mischaracterization of the truth, Sebelius also misdiagnosed an insurer's recent premium refund in North Carolina. She claimed that the refund was the result of regulatory powers under ObamaCare when, in reality, the insurer had determined that ObamaCare had so badly damaged the state's individual health market that pulling out of that market was its only option. The refund was simply a return of the unused portions of subscribers' premiums.
As the Democrats are about to discover, the health "reform" that they designed to transfer health insurance regulatory power from the states to the national government may be a Pyrrhic victory come Election Day. Instead of being a Democrat electoral lifeline, ObamaCare is actually the anchor around their necks.
This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Awards
Patriot Post
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Words of encouragement: "People need to shake off this lethargy. People need to buck up. ... If people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place. ... It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. ... The idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible. ... People are frustrated, their anxious, they're scared about the future. And they have a right to be impatient about the pace of change. I'm impatient. But I also know this: Now is not the time to quit. ... It took time to free the slaves."
--Barack Obama
"[I want to] remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. This president has done an incredible job. He's kept his promises. ... And so those who don't get -- didn't get everything they wanted, it's time to just buck up here, understand that we can make things better, continue to move forward and -- but not yield the playing field to those folks who are against everything that we stand for in terms of the initiatives we put forward."
--Joe Biden, echoing the theme
Kentucky Senate: Paul (R) Still Out In Front
"Republican Rand Paul continues to hold a double-digit lead over Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race." Big difference from the last poll.
Southern Poverty Law Center Exposed
......Wayne Lutton, editor of The Social Contract Press, explains that his group has discovered the SPLC "is basically a money machine for one very liberal lawyer: Morris Dees."
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Schwarzenegger Marijuana: Governor Signs Decriminalization Bill
"California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed yesterday a marijuana decriminalization bill, the Senate Bill 1449, which reduces the charges for adult marijuana possession from criminal misdemeanor to civil infraction."
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It's about time. The war on drugs is totally useless except for the employment of more government employees who we don't need and can't afford.
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It's about time. The war on drugs is totally useless except for the employment of more government employees who we don't need and can't afford.
NC's 'Avett Brothers' heard banjo's siren call
'With their banjo/guitar/stand-up bass lineup, earnest vocal harmonies, and back story growing up on a North Carolina farm, the Avett Brothers seem like the kind of old-time folk band that emerges almost literally out of the soil...
Many of the brothers' songs — "Murder in the City," "Will You Return," "Laundry Room" — are played on acoustic instruments, and they channel brooding Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt and old-school Tar Heels Doc Watson and Charlie Poole. Their lyrics often assert old-fashioned values of family and tradition.'
Many of the brothers' songs — "Murder in the City," "Will You Return," "Laundry Room" — are played on acoustic instruments, and they channel brooding Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt and old-school Tar Heels Doc Watson and Charlie Poole. Their lyrics often assert old-fashioned values of family and tradition.'
A Sad Wow
"A consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time, and then keeps the watch."
-- Robert Townsend (1970)
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"As Billy Beck says, the Endarkenment cometh. We're not voting our way out of this."
Via Western Rifle Shooters Association
-- Robert Townsend (1970)
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"As Billy Beck says, the Endarkenment cometh. We're not voting our way out of this."
Via Western Rifle Shooters Association
Joseph Sobran, R.I.P.
"Right now, let us, if only for a minute, pray for the repose of his soul, to hope: That he abides now with his old boss, and they together with our Creator. For the peace that proved so elusive in this lifetime, Joe, may you now have it." Joseph Sobran, R.I.P.