Private Health Care Alternative To Socialized Medicine
November 20, 2008 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Health, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture | No Comments
-By Dan Scott
If anyone has gone through their yearly renewal of health insurance plans either through their company sponsored plan or private insurance plan, the immediate shock was how much monthly insurance premiums actually are. For just a run of the mill plan for a medium sized company over 50 employees, monthly health insurance fees run approximately $400. Depending on the employer, they may pay half to all of that amount. If you want coverage for your spouse and child add another $500 a month usually at the employee cost. Even deductibles can be high in the $1,500/$3,000 (per individual/family). Then come the co-pays the employee pays for doctor and specialist visits which do not apply toward the deductible.
Medical care is not a cheap proposition when one requires it. However, the issue becomes who is responsible for the bill when it comes due. Medical care like any service in the market place is an individual responsibility for the consumer, not a government issued right at the taxpayer’s expense. This is where Socialists and Capitalists depart company since Socialists define health care as a basic human necessity that must be underwritten by society. To a Capitalist, medical care like eating, housing and clothing is a personal responsibility governed by individual choice, not subject to government meddling. The only common ground is providing for a legal means to recover damages when that care is done poorly or negligently resulting in injury or death.
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A nation of Peter Pans
November 15, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Family, Government, Corruption, Health, Media Bias, Michael Bates, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Socialism, Society/Culture | No Comments
-By Michael M. Bates
Author J. M. Barrie gave literature Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up. Government, by encouraging people to not assume the responsibilities of adulthood, is fashioning a nation of Peter Pans.
Many health insurance policies allow parents to carry their children as covered dependents until they turn 19 or, if a full-time student, around 23. That’s changing. Two years ago, New Jersey required health insurance companies to extend coverage to qualifying children up to age 30.
Tony Rezko’s favorite Democratic governor, Illinois’ Milorad Blagojevich, used his amendatory veto authority this year to do the same. The covered “children” need not be students nor even live with their parents.
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Just Say NO To A Jumpin’ Joe
November 7, 2008 | Filed Under Abortion, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Health, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Technology, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments
-By Warner Todd Huston
As election night began, there was a discussion on a news radio station about the Senate races. Joe was mentioned. No not “The Plumber,” or the one from Scranton, but Lieberman. The news anchor mentioned that people are now waiting to see if Joe Lieberman will switch his party and become a Republican. Well, as Republicans, we should all be saying NO to a jumpin’ Joe. A Republican Joe Lieberman will do no good for anyone. Not Joe, not Connecticut and most importantly not the Republican Party.
Now, one might disagree in light of the fact that the GOP is almost nonexistent on the East Coast and most especially among the Original Thirteen. Wouldn’t it be nice, some may say, to have at least one Republican among the blue mass to serve our needs?
To that, of course, one must answer in the affirmative. But, would Joe Lieberman, could Joe Lieberman be that man? To that, with a little reflection, one simply must say no. Joe Lieberman cannot be that man.
AIDS is 100 Years Old? So Much for Conspiracy Theories
October 3, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Gays, Health, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Science, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments
-By Warner Todd Huston
Negroists — that would be people who think “black” first, instead of American first — have posited for years that the U.S. government created AIDS to kill blacks and keep them down. But now geneticists are discovering that the HIV virus is at least 100 years old. That would sort of blow the ridiculous conspiracy theory out of the water, wouldn’t it? (And it would be contrary to what Barack Obama’s “spiritual adviser” Reverend Jeremiah Wright has said.)
According to a new report “The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests… Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.”
The researchers also said that it isn’t a surprise to find HIV is that old.
Experts say it’s no surprise that HIV circulated in humans for about 70 years before being recognized. An infection usually takes years to produce obvious symptoms, a lag that can mask the role of the virus, and it would have infected relatively few Africans early in its spread, they said.
Once again, we find that the wild-eyed conspiracy theorists are fools, easily led, and not very bright.
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Homelessness Falls Under Bush… Where is the Media?
August 2, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Health, Media Bias, News, President, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment
-By Warner Todd Huston
Have you noticed that the old media standby story of the homeless has not been pursued much in the last four or five years? Some may remember how the media constantly bemoaned the state of the homeless during the Reagan and H.W. Bush years in office, and how the media constantly used this tale as a club with which to beat those two Republican presidents over the head. Folks like Rush Limbaugh, I recall, noticed how this standard media go-to story disappeared once Clinton became president and postulated that it would fast return once G.W.Bush took the Oval Office. But, the homeless has not made much of a media come back. In fact, that meme has virtually evaporated as a major media focal point. And there is a reason for that. Under the Bush administration, homelessness has actually decreased by 12% per year between 2005 and 2007.
David Frum of NRO found the lack of media attention of interest as it does us. He notes that this report of the amazing improvement of homelessness, due to the hard work of Bush appointee Phil Mangano, has generally been absent from the media. Saying, “I’ll be very curious tomorrow morning to see where and how this story gets placed,” Frum wonders if the story will make much ehadway in the old media. He notes that the story didn’t make the Washington Post, but that The New York Times did pick it up (and I’ll note the AP story as linked above, too).
Abortion Provider Closes Doors Instead of Obeying Laws, Old Media Silent
July 27, 2008 | Filed Under Abortion, Democrats/Leftists, Health, Morals/Sex, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments
-By Warner Todd Huston
Now here is an interesting little story that doesn’t seem to be getting any media coverage. In South Dakota after being held up in courts since 2005, a new law finally took effect on July 21 requiring any abortion doctor to read a statement covering the possible ill effects that abortions have on women — both mental and physical — at least two hours before the procedure occurs. The one Planned Parenthood office in South Dakota had taken the state to court to stop this law being implemented, but lost their case on the 18th. On the day the law was to take effect, though, the Planned Parenthood office did not open its doors for “business,” refusing to abide by the new laws. Doesn’t this refusal to operate tend to confirm that Planned Parenthood is in the game for ideological reasons as opposed to being only interested in women’s health?
This is a big defeat for Planned Parenthood, and a great victory for anti-abortion supporters yet the media is silent on the issue. That seems rather curious.
The new notification law requires a doctor to read a prepared script filled with the sort of info that PP tries desperately to exclude in their normal day-to-day operations. The Washington Post had a story about the new law on July 20.