1975

I've become quite fond of Bill Bennett's The American Patriot's Almanac. Today's entry contains the following quote from Cambodian Prince Sirik Matak in response to a letter offering him American sanctuary:

I thank you very sincerely for your letter and your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it. You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is no matter, because we are all born and must die. I have only committed this mistake of believing in you.

As we appear to be on track to abandoning Israel, Taiwan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, it's worth considering the aftermath of our evacuation of Saigon thirty-four years ago today. In that war, we defeated the enemy on the ground and then abandoned our allies in the region. It took a generation for the US military to recover and for the world to trust our word again. One wonders what it will take the next time we make the same mistake.

Shut Up!

If only this didn't ring true:

Reconciled

I suppose that's what I'll have to be since the Democrats have decided to take over the health care system through the budget reconciliation process. This latest power grab by Washington will receive a whopping 35 hours of debate. The next time you hear the term "the world's greatest deliberative body" from your Senator, you have my permission to vomit, preferably on your Senator.

Let's be perfectly clear here, "universal health care" isn't about health care, and it surely won't be universal. You doubt me? We now have a health care system said to under-serve roughly 40 million people. The actual number is debatable, but let's take it as a given. Plans for universal health care will inevitably result in a reduction of supply, and fewer people actually served.

Consider a little basic economics: prices rise when there is an under-supply of a particular good or service. Price serves as the rationing mechanism to ensure that the supply is distributed as efficiently as possible among the consumers of the product. At the same time, of course, the prevailing price acts as an incentive to producers, higher prices encourage more production, lower prices are a disincentive. Still with me?

Now, what happens when the .gov gets involved? As we see with current federal medical programs, reimbursements are capped at a fraction of the cost of production. This has the expected result, and fewer patients are able to obtain the service for the capped price. As is also predictable, this results in a sizable market for "supplemental" insurance to fill the gap, a market soon to be legislated out of existence. The result, again, will be a shortage of supply, but with capped prices, there will be no market incentive to producers and the supply will not rise to meet demand and fewer patients will be served.

What about the other mechanism for "cost control" being discussed, restricting the availability of "high cost" or "experimental" procedures? This has the perverse effect of restricting demand by killing off the patients, and while an effective mechanism for cost control from the government's standpoint, is certainly not in the best interests of the sick. Again though, the result is fewer patients being served.

Conspicuously absent from any current discussion of "universal health care" is increasing the supply, which actually would reduce patient costs. Why? Health care providers like the high prices they can now command, and lobby effectively to restrict supply. In short, they don't want, and work to prevent, competition.

One other point to consider; upper middle class small businesspeople, like doctors and dentists, tend to fall into the economic brackets the government wants to tax more. Again, reducing the incentive to produce.

So, if the goal of universal health care is to actually provide health care to the 40 million not being served now, why would any sane people (and politicians are sane people, mostly) support a program that will inevitably result in increasing the under-served population? That answer's actually pretty easy: votes. By creating a universal entitlement to health care, a vast new constituency, dependent on the government for a basic need is created. A significant side benefit will be the creation of a huge new bureaucracy staffed with people who will reliably vote to preserve their jobs.

Bottom line: the only people who win with "universal health care" are politicians and bureaucrats, and THAT is why it will happen.

Today in History

On this date in 1908, Teddy Roosevelt signed an act creating the Medical Reserve Corps, the first federal military reserve component. Since I'm a retired reservist, I thought you might like to know.

One More Reminder

that every Obama statement has an expiration date. Calling this guy mendacious is an insult to liars everywhere.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Where to begin? The One continued his worldwide apology tour with stops in Mexico City and Trinidad this week. While he's been out of town, his crew managed to insinuate that pretty much all conservatives and libertarians are potential "right-wing terrorists" and proved his education bona fides by teaching real terrorists worldwide how to resist our interrogation techniques. Not to worry though, I'm sure those of us still breathing after the attacks will feel better because we'll be saving the planet by being taxed for the privilege. Mustn't pollute the environment with that deadly CO2 we all exhale.

Not to be outdone by the underlings, he promised the President of Mexico that we'd register all to pesky guns up el Norte way and make sure to license all the bitter clingers. Speaking of folks clinging to their God, we can eliminate the Jesuits from the list since they were only too happy to cover up references to their namesake for the One. Moving on to the Caribean, our master signed up for Dictatorial Socialism 101 with Hugo Chavez and visiting professors Raul and Fidel Castro.

I feel so much better with all this change going around. Don't you?

What's it all About?

Glenn says it well.

Adding a bit more to yesterday's item on the local Tea Party, the local county chairman of the Republican Party showed up to defend our own congressman, Doc Hastings, and I have to say, he was the perfect caricature of a Republican pol. Overweight, untucked shirt, and a lousy suit, telling people that work for a living why they should support the one guy who might have done something as the chairman of the House Ethics Committee to prevent the Republican melt-down in '06.

Doc could have spoken out and named names like Duke Cunningham, demonstrating that Republicans won't stand for corruption. Instead, not a word on national tv when Charlie Rangel can get in front of a microphone or camera on a daily basis.

I've got to tell you, I agree with Doc on a lot of issues, but when it mattered, he let us down and if I thought I had a snowball's chance in hell, I'd give him a primary challenge myself.

Ya Sure, You Betcha

So here I sit, awaiting transportation to the reeducation camp.

Richland WA Tea Party

At one point, the organizers estimated the crowd at 600, but I think it peaked closer to a thousand. Three hours of good people airing their grievances against the government. Yours truly spoke extemporanesously on the DHS's Right Wing Extremist report. Mrs. Attila expressed pride in her husband, but neglected to capture the moment for posterity with her camera.

Untrained Teens

That's what our Secretary of Defense calls the pirates who attempted to take the Maersk Alabama. He went on to say:

"As long as you've got this incredible number of poor people and the risks are relatively small, there's really no way in my view to control it unless you get something on land that begins to change the equation for these kids."

Mr. Secretary, let me remind you, because you seem to have forgotten, IT'S YOUR JOB to ensure the risks are NOT relatively small.

You might also want to spend just a wee bit of time learning the history of the Navy you purport to lead. Here's a hint from the Naval Act of 1794:

Whereas the depredations committed by the Algerine corsairs on the commerce of the United States render it necessary that a naval force should be provided for its protection:

Finally, since the Commander in Chief seems a little confused about the powers routinely granted naval officers without need of further authorization, here's article 0920 of the Naval Regulations:

0920. Protection of Commerce of tbe United States.
Acting in conformity with international law and treaty obligations, the senior officer present shall protect, insofar as lies within his or her pawer, all commercial craft of the United States in their lawful occupations.

These were not "kids" and the only therapy needed is swift retribution. If your administration can't handle it, get the boss to ask Congress for a letter of Marque and Reprisal to Blackwater/Xe and let them deal with it on contract.

QOTD

President Barack Obama has recently completed the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. - Gerald Warner in the Telegraph

Read the whole thing.

A Hard Right

That's what I'd like to give Chucky. Silly me for believing in Hamilton, Madison, and Jay rather than Nancy, Harry, and BO. Why the hell would I want to compromise with that crowd?


Change is coming, Senator, and you aren't going to like it.

Stop Spending Our Future

Tragedy

The Seattle Times is running a letter to the editor claiming the need for a ban on handguns and assault weapons in light of the 53 people who've died the past month in mass shootings. While each death is tragic, a sense of perspective is necessary to assess the real need and ensure that we are addressing our most serious problems. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 41059 people died in automobile crashes in 2007. That unfortunate number works out to over 3400 per month. Breaking that down further, 4654 pedestrians died in automobile crashes that year, averaging 387 per month. Some of these automobile deaths are even the deliberate product of sick minds. Despite our best efforts at regulating this scourge (We test and license each and every authorized automobile user, require accident insurance, federally tax automobile, gas, and tire purchases, and mandate automobile safety features.) these deaths continue. Clearly the AAA is on the side of death, and we need to ban these instruments of destruction now before we address a comparatively minor issue like guns and the NRA.

QOTD

Breda's balls are bigger than the CinCs. Here's the money quote:

Not in my name. I am an American. I bow to no one.

Amen, sister. Amen.

A Little Matter of a Revolution

Just a quick note: our apologist-in-chief is bowing to the man responsible for the following (via NR (subscription required))

Our great friends the Saudis have a way of setting the highest standards of cruelty. In the city of Jeddah, an unmarried woman of 23 was abducted and gang-raped. Finding that she was then pregnant, she desperately tried to have an abortion. Brought to court, she explained what had happened, whereupon the judge ruled that she had committed adultery. Result: a sentence of one year in prison, and a hundred lashes once she has had the child.

A more astute student of history than that exposing his ignorance with his ass above would remember the words of Thomas Paine, "All hereditary government is in its nature tyranny." We fought for such ideals once.

QOTD

What does a true grandiose narcissist do when he begins to fail, openly, visibly and in public, right in front of 300 million people, over and over and over again?

I think we're all going to find out. Soon.

H/T Hugh Hewitt

You Still Can't Make This Stuff Up

So, the Obama administration has given the Queen an iPod. Yet another thoughtful, generous gift to a Head of State. One has to wonder whether they included a charger suitable for the UK. Given their track record, I have my doubts.