This guy is clearly a liberal, but I agree with his message of wastefulness. This is cool art, I think.
chrisjordan.com
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Questions For My Liberal Friends (Response to Bill Maher Monologue)
I enjoyed the Bill Maher video posted by the liberal menace. I am one of the few people in the country that can still stomach Bill Maher, and I actually think he is funny and makes the occasional "good point". As I said earlier, I agree with 75% of his Libertarian views, but it is his liberal points I have trouble understanding. So, I have some questions for him, because I know he reads this blog.
1) Corporations - What is so wrong with corporations? Why are they the bad guys in every liberal mind in America? I have the chance to speak with a few libs in my life and they all have the same mantra as Bill Maher: corporations are evil and ruining America and we can thank Reagan for that. What is so wrong with corporations? I agree with Bill Maher's libertarian stance that the bailouts were wrong. Most conservatives do. Bush is not a conservative, let's just make that clear right now. Corporations provide jobs, pay tons of taxes, give health insurance and benefits to their employees, help everyone in the stock market make more money for retirement, and provide products to the world that people want/use (although we may not like all of their products, someone does, which is why they make them).
So, what is so wrong with them? They are only concerned about making money? They lobby the government to get legislation that is beneficial to them? Who cares. When they make money, they expand, hire more people, promote people, etc. Sure, not everyone benefits when a corporation makes money, but some do. Plus, the government gets more tax dollars which we can use for the greater good. Who cares that they lobby? Environmentalist groups lobby. GLAAD lobbies. NAACP lobbies. PETA lobbies. Suffice it to say, every legislation passed is a result of some organization lobbying to get something done. Unfortunately our politicians have stopped listening to us and started listening to special interest groups. If we are going to attack lobbyists, attack ALL lobbyists, not just the lobbyists you don't like. Not to mention that envionmentalist lobbies, GLAAD, NAACP, PETA and other activist lobbying organizations do not provide AS MUCH good as corporations do. Sure, they do provide jobs, and benefit some people, but corporations do much more for the world than these groups, IMHO - please let me know if I am wrong here.
Just a note on corporate corruption, which is a legit point against corporations. There is corruption in everything. Let's not single out corporations. Not all corporations are corrupt. Let's not paint all corporations with the same brush. Let's throw the corrupt in prison and replace them with upstanding people, if there are any left.
2) Obama is not a liberal? Compared to who? Come on, even the liberal menace has to admit that Obama is a liberal. As are some Democrats, but I will agree that Congress as a whole is center-right. They should be. Our country as a whole is center-right, according to the last stats I heard. That may be different now, but I don't think so.
3) Bill Maher oulines some things he wishes Congress would do, if they were liberal. I will briefly attack each one...
a) cut military budget - in this world, at this time? He must be joking. You may not like war, but you have to be realistic enough to know that there are evil men waiting for America to cut the military budget so they can attack. I agree cuts can be made in some areas, but we must ramp it up in others.
b) gun control - 2nd Amendment anyone? Just because you don't like something doesn't mean we can throw away the Bill of Rights. Kinda like the Fairness Doctrine.
c) gay marriage - should be a state's rights issue. Is a state's rights issue. What is the problem? Lib states will have it. Conservative states will not. I see no problem here and no reason to whine. It is not a federal issue.
d) high taxes on rich - why? Aren't we all Americans? Shouldn't we all pay taxes? I am not a believer in the fair tax and do believe that the rich should pay more taxes than the poor, but we have almost half our country that pays no taxes at all. Shouldn't they be "patriotic" and "have a skin in the game" like the Obama administration like to say? Let's stop categorizing Americans based on race, wealth, religion, etc. Can't we all just be hard-working, tax-paying, empathetic Americans?
e) universal health care - dead horse, I know. But, the government doesn't do anything well. What is the logical argument for turning our entire health care system over to the government who is grossly abusing, ruining, and rapidly bankrupting Medicaid and Medicare?
f) legalizing pot - I'm all for it. Been all for it my whole life.
g) steeply tax polluters - aren't we all polluters? Again why do we need to separate Americans into groups? "You all are heavy polluters, you all are slightly heavy polluters...etc."? That makes no sense to me and only creates inequality and animosity. Stupid.
But, he is right. The truly liberal (and the truly conservative) in this country do not have a political party that represents them. Unfortunate, but that is the way it works. The two parties inevitably drift towards the center and even switch roles sometimes. What can I say? Politicians are just messed up humans.
A note on Bill Maher personally. Again, I like him and think he is funny. I enjoy getting his point of view and like his delivery. But, for someone that preaches equality and tolerance on issues he agrees with, he is very intolerant of religious people, Republicans, conservatives, corporations, etc. Shouldn't he be tolerant of all groups assuming he is genuine in the way he feels about the poor, the gays, the environmentalists, and the left? Just a thought.
But, the monologue was funny. Liked the iRan joke. Like the "liberal women go to college" joke. Liked the Dave Letterman joke - I don't understand the big dust-up there. We need to stop taking offense at everything anyone says. Come on, let's toughen up, America.
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador - taking over the new world one windmill at a time
1) Corporations - What is so wrong with corporations? Why are they the bad guys in every liberal mind in America? I have the chance to speak with a few libs in my life and they all have the same mantra as Bill Maher: corporations are evil and ruining America and we can thank Reagan for that. What is so wrong with corporations? I agree with Bill Maher's libertarian stance that the bailouts were wrong. Most conservatives do. Bush is not a conservative, let's just make that clear right now. Corporations provide jobs, pay tons of taxes, give health insurance and benefits to their employees, help everyone in the stock market make more money for retirement, and provide products to the world that people want/use (although we may not like all of their products, someone does, which is why they make them).
So, what is so wrong with them? They are only concerned about making money? They lobby the government to get legislation that is beneficial to them? Who cares. When they make money, they expand, hire more people, promote people, etc. Sure, not everyone benefits when a corporation makes money, but some do. Plus, the government gets more tax dollars which we can use for the greater good. Who cares that they lobby? Environmentalist groups lobby. GLAAD lobbies. NAACP lobbies. PETA lobbies. Suffice it to say, every legislation passed is a result of some organization lobbying to get something done. Unfortunately our politicians have stopped listening to us and started listening to special interest groups. If we are going to attack lobbyists, attack ALL lobbyists, not just the lobbyists you don't like. Not to mention that envionmentalist lobbies, GLAAD, NAACP, PETA and other activist lobbying organizations do not provide AS MUCH good as corporations do. Sure, they do provide jobs, and benefit some people, but corporations do much more for the world than these groups, IMHO - please let me know if I am wrong here.
Just a note on corporate corruption, which is a legit point against corporations. There is corruption in everything. Let's not single out corporations. Not all corporations are corrupt. Let's not paint all corporations with the same brush. Let's throw the corrupt in prison and replace them with upstanding people, if there are any left.
2) Obama is not a liberal? Compared to who? Come on, even the liberal menace has to admit that Obama is a liberal. As are some Democrats, but I will agree that Congress as a whole is center-right. They should be. Our country as a whole is center-right, according to the last stats I heard. That may be different now, but I don't think so.
3) Bill Maher oulines some things he wishes Congress would do, if they were liberal. I will briefly attack each one...
a) cut military budget - in this world, at this time? He must be joking. You may not like war, but you have to be realistic enough to know that there are evil men waiting for America to cut the military budget so they can attack. I agree cuts can be made in some areas, but we must ramp it up in others.
b) gun control - 2nd Amendment anyone? Just because you don't like something doesn't mean we can throw away the Bill of Rights. Kinda like the Fairness Doctrine.
c) gay marriage - should be a state's rights issue. Is a state's rights issue. What is the problem? Lib states will have it. Conservative states will not. I see no problem here and no reason to whine. It is not a federal issue.
d) high taxes on rich - why? Aren't we all Americans? Shouldn't we all pay taxes? I am not a believer in the fair tax and do believe that the rich should pay more taxes than the poor, but we have almost half our country that pays no taxes at all. Shouldn't they be "patriotic" and "have a skin in the game" like the Obama administration like to say? Let's stop categorizing Americans based on race, wealth, religion, etc. Can't we all just be hard-working, tax-paying, empathetic Americans?
e) universal health care - dead horse, I know. But, the government doesn't do anything well. What is the logical argument for turning our entire health care system over to the government who is grossly abusing, ruining, and rapidly bankrupting Medicaid and Medicare?
f) legalizing pot - I'm all for it. Been all for it my whole life.
g) steeply tax polluters - aren't we all polluters? Again why do we need to separate Americans into groups? "You all are heavy polluters, you all are slightly heavy polluters...etc."? That makes no sense to me and only creates inequality and animosity. Stupid.
But, he is right. The truly liberal (and the truly conservative) in this country do not have a political party that represents them. Unfortunate, but that is the way it works. The two parties inevitably drift towards the center and even switch roles sometimes. What can I say? Politicians are just messed up humans.
A note on Bill Maher personally. Again, I like him and think he is funny. I enjoy getting his point of view and like his delivery. But, for someone that preaches equality and tolerance on issues he agrees with, he is very intolerant of religious people, Republicans, conservatives, corporations, etc. Shouldn't he be tolerant of all groups assuming he is genuine in the way he feels about the poor, the gays, the environmentalists, and the left? Just a thought.
But, the monologue was funny. Liked the iRan joke. Like the "liberal women go to college" joke. Liked the Dave Letterman joke - I don't understand the big dust-up there. We need to stop taking offense at everything anyone says. Come on, let's toughen up, America.
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador - taking over the new world one windmill at a time
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Funniest President Ever?
Love him or hate him, this guy is funny. And Chris Matthews doesn't get the jokes. Come on man! Of course the jokes would be funnier, if they weren't so true (I had to get one conservative jab in).
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Amen, Liberal Menace
Amen. Touche. Whatever is appropriate at times like these. I agree with what you said. Let's review this point by point.
That stinks that there are doctors like that. I am 100% positive that there are more than 2 of them. I am 100% positive that you could go on and on with health care stories about bad doctors, people getting abused by the system, etc. I cannot and will never argue that point. You are right. Just like businesses, doctors are human beings with egos, feelings, etc. They cannot be entirely trusted.
The Japanese doctors are good. My friend had a hernia while there and said his surgery experience was great. There is just something about foreign medical professionals. I don't know what it is. Maybe I don't trust the training. I don't know.
The Socialism lifeboat is all we have (we have lost representation in DC on both sides of the aisle). Politicians, like business owners and doctors, are humans looking out for their own interest. We conservatives feel ignored just like the anti-war types were ignored for years (and are still ignored, unfortunately). It just doesn't seem that Obama, the Democrats, or the Republicans care one iota about what the American people want. That is why Obama's approval rating is sky-high but the approval rating for his policies are tanking. We like Obama. Even conservatives will admit he is a good orator, smart man, nice guy, good family guy, etc. But, his ideas are what we take issue with.
As for your question of voting out socialism. That is a GREAT POINT. We live in a democracy where different people with different ideas can come to power at any time and give their ideas a try. But, we conservatives look around the world and throughout history and see that once Socialism is implemented, it is hard to stop. How is someone supposed to win an election by telling people he/she is going to take away their healthcare? That has been a Democrat scare tactic for as long as I have followed politics. Republicans say Democrats will be weak on national defense. Democrats say Republicans will take away Social Security and Medicare. Age old arguments, neither of which are true. But, once the people get comfortable with the government running things, it is a tough sell to tell them "Now you have to work" "Now you have to pay taxes just like the rich" "Now you have to pay for your health care", etc. At least, that is what we fear. There is just something about government control that grates at conservatives. We can't help it. It's in our blood. And, make no mistake about it, Obama did not start our country down this path. The government has been taking more and more control for decades. Bush didn't help. Bush accelerated it. He ballooned the deficit, spending, and size of government. We conservatives resent Bush for that. Obama is even accelerating it more - to scary levels - and he has a rubber-stamp Congress which is also scary (yes, Bush had one too but he didn't use it).
About the life expectancy. Who wants to live on this earth that long anyway? 72 years is plenty (or whatever our life expectancy is).
About the caps. Can't argue with facts. I just think that would lower the amount of tests doctors feel the need to run, thus reducing costs. I would think Obama would be all over that, but he told the AMA yesterday he does not support that. I hope his aide talks some sense into him.
You can beat me over the head with the whole war thing all you want. That is a legit concern. It is important to recognize that there are millions of Americans that are against the war. This is a tough topic, even for a staunch red-blooded conservative like myself. I don't want to be at war. I don't want Americans dying on the battlefield. I don't want to be seen as an aggressor and an attacker. But, I also feel that there is no such thing as being rational and civil with radical Islam. Maybe I am wrong. That is just how I feel. I really, honestly feel that we are in a kill or be killed situation here. Again, maybe I am wrong.
I like the channeling of John Lennon. I like Utopia. I think it is perfectly ok for Americans to feel that way. I do. As a Christian, I would love to be trusting and assume that everyone is doing the right thing all the time. I agree with your comments about business being removed from the people. I think the only entity more removed from the people than business is...yep, you guessed it, the federal government. They certainly should not be making decisions for us, because they have no idea the consequences their actions have (nor do they care, and I am speaking of ALL politicians, not just lefties).
I want you to bash my commentaries. That is why I put them up here (the same reason I read dailykos.com and watch Keith Olbermann and anything on MSNBC). I love learning all angles of every topic. I know that I don't have all the answers. I need to know what the opposite point of view is so I can either change my view, change it slightly, or become more resolute. I would be disappointed if you ever gave in. You have convictions, facts, and principles. That is more than most politicians can say. I hope you never take offense at my blatant sarcasm. I'm only sarcastic with those I love. Ask my wife. She will tell you. Ask your sister or Anonymous. They will tell you. And just know this, you can never offend me. Short of mocking my wife and child, nothing you say, write, attack, ridicule, etc. can ever offend me. I have learned that with as much crap as I dish, I need to learn to take it right back. And I can. So, bring it on.
Thanks for the poison ivy tips. This stuff is the worst (well maybe my rectum continually falling out, a doctor not being willing to take care of me, and some dude taping my cheeks together is worse, but I am a big baby). I get the windmill thing now. Thanks for 'splainin' it to me. Have a liberal day.
That stinks that there are doctors like that. I am 100% positive that there are more than 2 of them. I am 100% positive that you could go on and on with health care stories about bad doctors, people getting abused by the system, etc. I cannot and will never argue that point. You are right. Just like businesses, doctors are human beings with egos, feelings, etc. They cannot be entirely trusted.
The Japanese doctors are good. My friend had a hernia while there and said his surgery experience was great. There is just something about foreign medical professionals. I don't know what it is. Maybe I don't trust the training. I don't know.
The Socialism lifeboat is all we have (we have lost representation in DC on both sides of the aisle). Politicians, like business owners and doctors, are humans looking out for their own interest. We conservatives feel ignored just like the anti-war types were ignored for years (and are still ignored, unfortunately). It just doesn't seem that Obama, the Democrats, or the Republicans care one iota about what the American people want. That is why Obama's approval rating is sky-high but the approval rating for his policies are tanking. We like Obama. Even conservatives will admit he is a good orator, smart man, nice guy, good family guy, etc. But, his ideas are what we take issue with.
As for your question of voting out socialism. That is a GREAT POINT. We live in a democracy where different people with different ideas can come to power at any time and give their ideas a try. But, we conservatives look around the world and throughout history and see that once Socialism is implemented, it is hard to stop. How is someone supposed to win an election by telling people he/she is going to take away their healthcare? That has been a Democrat scare tactic for as long as I have followed politics. Republicans say Democrats will be weak on national defense. Democrats say Republicans will take away Social Security and Medicare. Age old arguments, neither of which are true. But, once the people get comfortable with the government running things, it is a tough sell to tell them "Now you have to work" "Now you have to pay taxes just like the rich" "Now you have to pay for your health care", etc. At least, that is what we fear. There is just something about government control that grates at conservatives. We can't help it. It's in our blood. And, make no mistake about it, Obama did not start our country down this path. The government has been taking more and more control for decades. Bush didn't help. Bush accelerated it. He ballooned the deficit, spending, and size of government. We conservatives resent Bush for that. Obama is even accelerating it more - to scary levels - and he has a rubber-stamp Congress which is also scary (yes, Bush had one too but he didn't use it).
About the life expectancy. Who wants to live on this earth that long anyway? 72 years is plenty (or whatever our life expectancy is).
About the caps. Can't argue with facts. I just think that would lower the amount of tests doctors feel the need to run, thus reducing costs. I would think Obama would be all over that, but he told the AMA yesterday he does not support that. I hope his aide talks some sense into him.
You can beat me over the head with the whole war thing all you want. That is a legit concern. It is important to recognize that there are millions of Americans that are against the war. This is a tough topic, even for a staunch red-blooded conservative like myself. I don't want to be at war. I don't want Americans dying on the battlefield. I don't want to be seen as an aggressor and an attacker. But, I also feel that there is no such thing as being rational and civil with radical Islam. Maybe I am wrong. That is just how I feel. I really, honestly feel that we are in a kill or be killed situation here. Again, maybe I am wrong.
I like the channeling of John Lennon. I like Utopia. I think it is perfectly ok for Americans to feel that way. I do. As a Christian, I would love to be trusting and assume that everyone is doing the right thing all the time. I agree with your comments about business being removed from the people. I think the only entity more removed from the people than business is...yep, you guessed it, the federal government. They certainly should not be making decisions for us, because they have no idea the consequences their actions have (nor do they care, and I am speaking of ALL politicians, not just lefties).
I want you to bash my commentaries. That is why I put them up here (the same reason I read dailykos.com and watch Keith Olbermann and anything on MSNBC). I love learning all angles of every topic. I know that I don't have all the answers. I need to know what the opposite point of view is so I can either change my view, change it slightly, or become more resolute. I would be disappointed if you ever gave in. You have convictions, facts, and principles. That is more than most politicians can say. I hope you never take offense at my blatant sarcasm. I'm only sarcastic with those I love. Ask my wife. She will tell you. Ask your sister or Anonymous. They will tell you. And just know this, you can never offend me. Short of mocking my wife and child, nothing you say, write, attack, ridicule, etc. can ever offend me. I have learned that with as much crap as I dish, I need to learn to take it right back. And I can. So, bring it on.
Thanks for the poison ivy tips. This stuff is the worst (well maybe my rectum continually falling out, a doctor not being willing to take care of me, and some dude taping my cheeks together is worse, but I am a big baby). I get the windmill thing now. Thanks for 'splainin' it to me. Have a liberal day.
a (sort of) apology to the conservative conquistador
let me tell you two doctor stories. the first being my own. the latter as related to me by another nurse.
new year's eve 1999. i was working the night shift at a local osteopathic hospital. one of my patients (among many other ailments) had a prolapsed rectum. every time she used the commode or bedpan - which was a lot because she was getting diuretics up the wazoo (pun intended) - it would fall out. that being beyond my scope of practice as a nurse, i was required to call the "HO" (house officer) in order to have him come remedy the problem. he was a nice enough guy. very personable. great bedside manner so to speak. he would come into the room, don gloves and ever-so-gently push her innards back inward. this happened on average of 2 to 3 times an hour. as the night progressed, his patience began wearing thin. keep in mind this was a holiday. that meaning doctors arranged their surgery schedules so that the patients would be discharged before the holiday; therefore, reducing the chance of being paged for anything. and that also meant that patients were only there because they needed to be as well. the hospital was in no means busy that night. finally, sick of being called for this, he came up, ordered her a sleeping pill (which she did not need or request) and taped her butt cheeks together. let me repeat that in case it didn't register HE TAPED HER BUTT CHEEKS TOGETHER. a doctor, who if i needed care would have easily gone to for anything, prescribed an unnecessary med (for his convenience) and did something quite unethical. i was very quickly dismissed when i brought my concern up to my superiors.
the second doctor (i'll be brief with this) is an ortho doc who does hip replacement surgeries on 95-year-olds with dementia. there are criteria to meet before any surgery, including orthopedics. one is the persons ability to "survive" or be strong enough to endure the surgery. another is to factor in the benefit the surgery will provide. most ortho docs won't replace a joint unless the recipient can get 10 to 15 years benefit/use of it. another consideration is the patient's ability to rehab. and let me tell you, rehab and dementia are like fire and gasoline. they are unable to follow/remember post-op instructions and often get re-injured. this doctor is the human equivalent of Ford's assembly line. he pumped out patients at an alarming rate. surpassing all of his contemporaries each week by an insane number. he would yell at (and on occasion HIT ) nurses as well as refuse to even enter a patients room while "rounding" on them. preferring, instead, to "assess" them from the hallway through concrete walls. when people (staff or family of the patients) complained about him, the hospital would ignore them. and do you know why? BECAUSE HE MADE THE HOSPITAL A TON OF MONEY!!!
what is the point of telling this? who knows. i don't know why you had an aversion to japanese doctors, but i'm quite sure that a good majority of them were better than this last example.
you will not be an outcast as long as you follow your oath and training. but you may be surprised to find that by doing that, you'll be in elite company. (one of these days i'll relate to you my OB story.)
i really wish conservatives would quit clinging to the "socialism" lifeboat. i know it is what is keeping them afloat, but it is getting pretty old. what percentage of business is run by the government in this country anyway? barely any. definitely less that 5 %. besides, our country is set up so that we can try something new. then if we don't like it, we can vote it out. let me ask you, if healthcare is so terrible in the socialist countries that hold elections, why don't the people get rid of it? here are some of the countries that outrank us in lifespan (we are 45th btw): japan (3) france (8) switzerland (9) sweden (10) australia (11) iceland (13) canada (14) italy (16) spain, norway and israel (19) south korea ( 29) germany (33) uk (37) and bosnia (42). this information was provided by the CIA.
as far as the cap on frivolous court settlements. i'm all for that. and an aide for obama said that he was open to that. so to say that he absolutely won't do it? well, we will just have to see the final product. and, by the way, studies have shown that states with those caps do NOT have lower malpractice insurance premiums than states with them.
http://www.saynotocaps.org/factsandfigures/justthefacts.htm
as for change, i'd rather spend the money for healthcare and energy than war. yeah, yeah. we liberals need to get off that train. i'll make a deal with you. i'll learn to let go of the whole war thingy if you can learn to let go of the whole socialism thingy.
profiteers should be drawn and quartered? business is evil? no. i don't believe that completely. but business is run by man. and though i don't believe man is inherently evil, i don't believe that he is inherently good either. we are all dual natured. we all have our own struggles to do what is right at times. i want to reduce the waste i produce, but i constantly find myself buying things in smaller packaging because that is what is on sale and what i have coupons for. i haven't purchased a hybrid car, because of the cost. for me, money is more important than my carbon footprint or how i will leave the earth for my kids. if we could all make the right choices, there would be no need for religion or government. there's a utopian dream for ya! i think i'm channeling john lennon. when we make everyday decisions, it is a little easier to do right because we usually see the direct result and have to live with the consequences. the upper echelon of business make decisions and don't fully see how exactly they impact the lives of others. they are removed from that feeling of guilt, so it is easier for them to fall into those trappings of poor decisions.
i'm glad you stated how a company needs to make adjustments or die. GM put all it's stock in big gas guzzling trucks and suv's (because they have the biggest profit margin) and their refusal to change led to their demise. and unfortunately, most businesses usually don't change. they just flail around like a fish out of water until they die or someone comes to save them by way of a merger.
i'm tired and i'm starting to ramble incoherently. so i'll stop here. and i promise i won't bash your commentaries anymore. i am IN NO WAY giving in. i just don't want any ill feelings to be felt.
as for your poison ivy. take benadryl and/or claritin and slather calamine lotion on it. aveeno makes some good chemical-laden stuff, too. if you are wanting a naturalistic approach, go for tea tree oil.
peace out...
oh yeah, the windmill reference is to your name - you know, don quixote?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thank You, Liberal Menace
I needed a good chuckle and it came down to reading liberal points of view or watching an episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and I have seen all episodes of IASIP a couple of times and needed something new. Thanks for the comedic posts, I always enjoy them (but I still have no idea what jousting at windmills means...I guess my conservative mind can't understand higher humor). Let me just say up front that I don't believe that our current health care SYSTEM is efficient either. Don't get me wrong. There can be many improvements made to it, but I don't believe we need to be taking the route of socialized medicine. I realize that the solution I gravitate towards is not perfect, but it is better than what we have. And history, Canada, and the UK have shown us that the path Obama is heading down is unmistakably worse than the system we have now...and it will be more expensive. Let me address your points, which are valid, one at a time. Please bear with me, I neither work in the healthcare industry nor do I use it very often nor do I claim to know everything about it and its workings, but I have heard both points of view and am trying to use common sense. Please ridicule my stupidity so I stop embarrassing myself.
1. Way to attack my anecdote. I was just using heart transplant as an example. But, we will play your little word game. There is not ANY AILMENT I would rather get taken care of in any other country. I have been to other countries and lived in Japan and I would go to a U.S. doctor over any other doctor, for anything. (BTW, I got into some poison ivy - any recommendations for getting it to go away faster, or do I just have to man up?). Let's address MM for a minute. Anything that guy says should be automatically discounted and ignored. He is a fool, he is flawed, he is ridiculous. This is the same man that was so excited (along with Keith Olbermann) when GM went down and the government took it over. They were giddy with excitement. How sick! But, he makes decent movies (albeit inaccurate and biased) so we will keep him around. Your "wait until you start your practice" comment leads me to think that I will be an outcast in the medical community for not going along with socialized medicine, which in my admittedly limited experience is false. Even the liberal AMA is not on board yet with socialized medicine, and that is not even to mention the hundreds of thousands of doctors that are "too conservative" to participate in the AMA. I am in good company with people that know what they are talking about - they deal with it every day.
2. Burd is trying to make money for Safeway? How dare he? He should be lynched. We don't encourage such practices in this country. Profits are evil. Profiteers should be drawn and quartered. This is an outrage! If only I had known that he was trying to save his company money, I would have never been supportive of his ideas. But, all sarcasm aside, his program works. It provided cheap, affordable health care to all his employees, kept his company profitable, kept his company in business during the recession, and just plain makes sense. As for the unhealthy products that he peddles, I will agree with you there. I am a conservative, but I also prefer to eat organic, unprocessed foods. But, last time I checked, Safeway does not force anyone to buy unhealthy products. Nor do they force anyone to shop at their stores. Go to Whole Foods if you don't like the unhealthy crap in Safeway. If enough people do that, Safeway will change. That is the American way. Capitalism. It works. If a company starts losing money, they will make the adjustments or die. It is up to them. Just a side note about Capitalism vs. Socialism. While Safeway cannot force anyone to shop at their stores or buy certain products, the government can force us to do anything they want us to do. That is un-American.
3. That may be true. I don't know where he got his statistics. The Op-Ed was well researched though, so I wouldn't be so quick to ignore his numbers. It is undeniable that genetics is a factor, but you also must concede the point that obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are very preventable for those of us blessed with good genes. All we need is self-control, the ability to not buy the crap that Safeway sells, and a little personal responsibility.
4. You are right. There is a lot of money in the food, drug, and insurance companies. But, even die hard liberals must admit that a lot of good comes from these industries. The U.S. is the innovator of most of our medicines and medical technologies. Profits and money are the motivator for such innovations. Take the money out of the equation and you will take away all incentive and they will move on to something else or give the technology to someone that will pay.
5. Who said healthcare should be a right? As Americans living in a country that rewards technology and advancements in medicine, we are the beneficiaries of the best health care in the world. Is it more expensive? Yes. But, it is better. That is a privilege of living here. But, let's assume that healthcare is a right, just for argument's sake. I defy you to show me one person that cannot get the healthcare they need. As a volunteer in the ER, I saw how many people used the ER as their PCP. I don't have to tell you how people abuse the hospital rule that dictates they can't turn anyone away, no matter what. Everyone can get healthcare in any ER. Anytime. Whether they have money or not. There are free clinics and doctors doing "pro-bono" work all the time, in every city. Payment plans are available for more expensive care and many doctors are willing to work with patients that really need care, but can't afford it. Many of them are compassionate people. Healthcare is out there. Wal-Mart sells $4 prescriptions and those evil pharm companies have multiple programs to help people get the medicine they need for free. Gosh, they are so evil.
And my last note. The reason I disagree with liberal progressive socialist ideas is that they ignore one fact. Everything we have in this country that is worth anything is a result of businesses trying to make money. Electricity, the train, cars, tv, hospitals, medical technologies, medicines, music, air conditioners, etc., etc., the list goes on and on. They were produced by someone trying to make a dime. What has the government ever produced that is of any value? Nothing. Zip. Nada. The government, like Reagan and our founding fathers believed, is ALWAYS the problem and NEVER the answer.
But, please offer a little enlightenment for me, please.
1. How does Obama plan on covering everyone and cut healthcare spending? That is the whole premise of this "change". How will he do it?
2. Any doctor or patient will tell you that the worst health care out there is Medicare and Medicaid. Not only are they terrible, but they are going broke. Why would we want to set up the rest of our health care system that way? So, it can all be crappy and go broke?
3. In order to cut costs on unnecessary tests, why is Obama unwilling to go against his trial lawyer buddies and cap malpractice awards? That makes no sense.
4. Why do we think that socialized medicine will work in this country when it has never worked in any other country before?
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador
1. Way to attack my anecdote. I was just using heart transplant as an example. But, we will play your little word game. There is not ANY AILMENT I would rather get taken care of in any other country. I have been to other countries and lived in Japan and I would go to a U.S. doctor over any other doctor, for anything. (BTW, I got into some poison ivy - any recommendations for getting it to go away faster, or do I just have to man up?). Let's address MM for a minute. Anything that guy says should be automatically discounted and ignored. He is a fool, he is flawed, he is ridiculous. This is the same man that was so excited (along with Keith Olbermann) when GM went down and the government took it over. They were giddy with excitement. How sick! But, he makes decent movies (albeit inaccurate and biased) so we will keep him around. Your "wait until you start your practice" comment leads me to think that I will be an outcast in the medical community for not going along with socialized medicine, which in my admittedly limited experience is false. Even the liberal AMA is not on board yet with socialized medicine, and that is not even to mention the hundreds of thousands of doctors that are "too conservative" to participate in the AMA. I am in good company with people that know what they are talking about - they deal with it every day.
2. Burd is trying to make money for Safeway? How dare he? He should be lynched. We don't encourage such practices in this country. Profits are evil. Profiteers should be drawn and quartered. This is an outrage! If only I had known that he was trying to save his company money, I would have never been supportive of his ideas. But, all sarcasm aside, his program works. It provided cheap, affordable health care to all his employees, kept his company profitable, kept his company in business during the recession, and just plain makes sense. As for the unhealthy products that he peddles, I will agree with you there. I am a conservative, but I also prefer to eat organic, unprocessed foods. But, last time I checked, Safeway does not force anyone to buy unhealthy products. Nor do they force anyone to shop at their stores. Go to Whole Foods if you don't like the unhealthy crap in Safeway. If enough people do that, Safeway will change. That is the American way. Capitalism. It works. If a company starts losing money, they will make the adjustments or die. It is up to them. Just a side note about Capitalism vs. Socialism. While Safeway cannot force anyone to shop at their stores or buy certain products, the government can force us to do anything they want us to do. That is un-American.
3. That may be true. I don't know where he got his statistics. The Op-Ed was well researched though, so I wouldn't be so quick to ignore his numbers. It is undeniable that genetics is a factor, but you also must concede the point that obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are very preventable for those of us blessed with good genes. All we need is self-control, the ability to not buy the crap that Safeway sells, and a little personal responsibility.
4. You are right. There is a lot of money in the food, drug, and insurance companies. But, even die hard liberals must admit that a lot of good comes from these industries. The U.S. is the innovator of most of our medicines and medical technologies. Profits and money are the motivator for such innovations. Take the money out of the equation and you will take away all incentive and they will move on to something else or give the technology to someone that will pay.
5. Who said healthcare should be a right? As Americans living in a country that rewards technology and advancements in medicine, we are the beneficiaries of the best health care in the world. Is it more expensive? Yes. But, it is better. That is a privilege of living here. But, let's assume that healthcare is a right, just for argument's sake. I defy you to show me one person that cannot get the healthcare they need. As a volunteer in the ER, I saw how many people used the ER as their PCP. I don't have to tell you how people abuse the hospital rule that dictates they can't turn anyone away, no matter what. Everyone can get healthcare in any ER. Anytime. Whether they have money or not. There are free clinics and doctors doing "pro-bono" work all the time, in every city. Payment plans are available for more expensive care and many doctors are willing to work with patients that really need care, but can't afford it. Many of them are compassionate people. Healthcare is out there. Wal-Mart sells $4 prescriptions and those evil pharm companies have multiple programs to help people get the medicine they need for free. Gosh, they are so evil.
And my last note. The reason I disagree with liberal progressive socialist ideas is that they ignore one fact. Everything we have in this country that is worth anything is a result of businesses trying to make money. Electricity, the train, cars, tv, hospitals, medical technologies, medicines, music, air conditioners, etc., etc., the list goes on and on. They were produced by someone trying to make a dime. What has the government ever produced that is of any value? Nothing. Zip. Nada. The government, like Reagan and our founding fathers believed, is ALWAYS the problem and NEVER the answer.
But, please offer a little enlightenment for me, please.
1. How does Obama plan on covering everyone and cut healthcare spending? That is the whole premise of this "change". How will he do it?
2. Any doctor or patient will tell you that the worst health care out there is Medicare and Medicaid. Not only are they terrible, but they are going broke. Why would we want to set up the rest of our health care system that way? So, it can all be crappy and go broke?
3. In order to cut costs on unnecessary tests, why is Obama unwilling to go against his trial lawyer buddies and cap malpractice awards? That makes no sense.
4. Why do we think that socialized medicine will work in this country when it has never worked in any other country before?
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador
Sunday, June 14, 2009
once again, the conservative conquistador is jousting at imaginary windmills...
a few holes in your argument:
1) heart transplant? seriously, how many of those are really needed? we are talking about everyday health needs, not specialty services. and remember MM criticized the system not the providers. just wait until you start your practice, you'll see...
2) Burd? empathetic? get real! it was his job to save money for safeway. purely motivated by his desire to make a salary for himself and a profit for the company. if his intentions were truly altruistic, he should have stopped all the sales of food with refined sugars, msg, trans fats, and red dye no. 40, etc. - as well as tobacco and alcohol - in all safeway stores and sell only organic meats, fruits and veggies. that would have helped everyone, not just his employees. and don't get me started about the perfumes, dyes and other hazardous chemicals found in the household and health/beauty section of his stores!!!
3) as for his whack statistics of "preventable" diseases... he grossly misunderstands the pathophysiological role of genetics. you'll be learning about that soon enough.
those who want to "reform" the system ARE wanting a system that rewards healthy behaviors. unfortunately, the food, drug and health insurance companies have interfered because they know they won't make money off healthy people.
healthcare shouldn't be a business. it should be a right.
but, as always, you offer an entertaining glimpse into the conservative mind - no matter how deranged it may be.
keep up the good work CC.
1) heart transplant? seriously, how many of those are really needed? we are talking about everyday health needs, not specialty services. and remember MM criticized the system not the providers. just wait until you start your practice, you'll see...
2) Burd? empathetic? get real! it was his job to save money for safeway. purely motivated by his desire to make a salary for himself and a profit for the company. if his intentions were truly altruistic, he should have stopped all the sales of food with refined sugars, msg, trans fats, and red dye no. 40, etc. - as well as tobacco and alcohol - in all safeway stores and sell only organic meats, fruits and veggies. that would have helped everyone, not just his employees. and don't get me started about the perfumes, dyes and other hazardous chemicals found in the household and health/beauty section of his stores!!!
3) as for his whack statistics of "preventable" diseases... he grossly misunderstands the pathophysiological role of genetics. you'll be learning about that soon enough.
those who want to "reform" the system ARE wanting a system that rewards healthy behaviors. unfortunately, the food, drug and health insurance companies have interfered because they know they won't make money off healthy people.
healthcare shouldn't be a business. it should be a right.
but, as always, you offer an entertaining glimpse into the conservative mind - no matter how deranged it may be.
keep up the good work CC.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Where Were You On That One, "O"?
We have problems in this country, there is no denying that. The problem is, how do we fix the problems? Let's take one of the problems: health care. We know that all corporations are evil (we learn that from TV and from Obama). We know they are chuck full of greedy white men who are out to do the most harm to our society and minorities and the poor. They have a general contempt for everyone who does not belong to their country club or their Porsche club.
Obama is the smartest man to ever be born. He can solve any problem. Global warming? He's on it. Peace in the Middle East? He's on it. GM? On it. Banks? He's gotcha covered. There is nothing to which his brilliant, savvy, never before seen on this earth or any other planet mind can't figure out the PERFECT solution to (or so we are told on the TV and by Obama). But, where is he on health care? He's got nothing (well, nothing productive, effective, or able to improve on the "status quo" that he finds so offensive and horrific). All he does is bash and criticize the healthcare in this country. He has bought into this ridiculous Michael Moore fallacious fantasy that the US has the 37th best health care in the world. Alright. Question for Michael Moore and Mr. President. You need a heart transplant. Name 36 countries that you would rather go to for the operation than the U.S. Go ahead. Can't do it? OK, just give me one. Goingggggggg for one..... Nothing? Oh, so you would get the operation done here? With our crappy health care? How shocking! (gasp!)
Let's listen to this corrupt CEO talk about what he has done. He is the CEO of Safeway. This was in today's Wall Street Journal. You can tell by the way he talks that he hates poor people and thinks that they should just suffer because they are not greedy white CEOs like him. This man is completely without empathy, like all conservatives and executives.
By STEVEN A. BURD
Effective health-care reform must meet two objectives: 1) It must secure coverage for all Americans, and 2) it must dramatically lower the cost of health care. Health-care spending has outpaced the rise in all other consumer spending by nearly a factor of three since 1980, increasing to 18% of GDP in 2009 from 9% of GDP. This disturbing trend will not change regardless of who pays these costs -- government or the private sector -- unless we can find a way to improve the health of our citizens. Failure to do so will make American companies less competitive in the global marketplace, increase taxes, and undermine our economy.
At Safeway we believe that well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%. The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior. As a self-insured employer, Safeway designed just such a plan in 2005 and has made continuous improvements each year. The results have been remarkable. During this four-year period, we have kept our per capita health-care costs flat (that includes both the employee and the employer portion), while most American companies' costs have increased 38% over the same four years.
Safeway's plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable.
As much as we would like to take credit for being a health-care innovator, Safeway has done nothing more than borrow from the well-tested automobile insurance model. For decades, driving behavior has been correlated with accident risk and has therefore translated into premium differences among drivers. Stated somewhat differently, the auto-insurance industry has long recognized the role of personal responsibility. As a result, bad behaviors (like speeding, tickets for failure to follow the rules of the road, and frequency of accidents) are considered when establishing insurance premiums. Bad driver premiums are not subsidized by the good driver premiums.
As with most employers, Safeway's employees pay a portion of their own health care through premiums, co-pays and deductibles. The big difference between Safeway and most employers is that we have pronounced differences in premiums that reflect each covered member's behaviors. Our plan utilizes a provision in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that permits employers to differentiate premiums based on behaviors. Currently we are focused on tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Safeway's Healthy Measures program is completely voluntary and currently covers 74% of the insured nonunion work force. Employees are tested for the four measures cited above and receive premium discounts off a "base level" premium for each test they pass. Data is collected by outside parties and not shared with company management. If they pass all four tests, annual premiums are reduced $780 for individuals and $1,560 for families. Should they fail any or all tests, they can be tested again in 12 months. If they pass or have made appropriate progress on something like obesity, the company provides a refund equal to the premium differences established at the beginning of the plan year.
At Safeway, we are building a culture of health and fitness. The numbers speak for themselves. Our obesity and smoking rates are roughly 70% of the national average and our health-care costs for four years have been held constant. When surveyed, 78% of our employees rated our plan good, very good or excellent. In addition, 76% asked for more financial incentives to reward healthy behaviors. We have heard from dozens of employees who lost weight, lowered their blood-pressure and cholesterol levels, and are enjoying better health because of this program. Many discovered for the first time that they have high blood pressure, and others have been told by their doctor that they have added years to their life.
Today, we are constrained by current laws from increasing these incentives. We reward plan members $312 per year for not using tobacco, yet the annual cost of insuring a tobacco user is $1,400. Reform legislation needs to raise the federal legal limits so that incentives can better match the true incremental benefit of not engaging in these unhealthy behaviors. If these limits are appropriately increased, I am confident Safeway's per capita health-care costs will decline for at least another five years as our work force becomes healthier.
The Healthy Measures program currently applies only to our nonunion work force. While we have numerous health and wellness provisions in our union contracts, we are working with union leaders like Joe Hansen of the United Food and Commercial Workers to incorporate healthy measures provisions in our union work force as well.
While comprehensive health-care reform needs to address a number of other key issues, we believe that personal responsibility and financial incentives are the path to a healthier America. By our calculation, if the nation had adopted our approach in 2005, the nation's direct health-care bill would be $550 billion less than it is today. This is almost four times the $150 billion that most experts estimate to be the cost of covering today's 47 million uninsured. The implication is that we can achieve health-care reform with universal coverage and declining per capita health-care costs.
There is a very real possibility that we will see positive transformational health-care reform in the near future. I am encouraged by the effort I see on Capitol Hill, particularly the bipartisan effort in the Senate. While some tough issues remain, if we continue to work in a bipartisan manner I believe we will resolve these issues successfully and find agreement on meaningful reform.
Mr. Burd is CEO of Safeway Inc., and the founder of the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform.
Hmmm. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. And you wanna know the crazy thing, Mr. President? IT ACTUALLY WORKS AND IS NOT SOMETHING HE PULLED OUT OF HIS.... I'm sorry. I just get carried away sometimes. Let's stop trying to emulate countries that have failed and start aiming for policies that work. Let's stop the age-old political trap of being beholden to special interest groups. Let's stop giving political favors to small groups and making the rest of us pay for it. Let's promote personal responsibility and healthy lifestyles among our citizens. Let's get healthcare for all without giving more power to the government. All we have to do is look at countries with government health care to realize it is not a good idea. Let's get corruption out of our healthcare system. So far, the only incorruptible thing in the world is....wait for it...it's not a Democrat...it's not a Republican....it's not a corporation...it's not a non-profit...it's....THE FREE MARKET. It cannot be corrupted because it's not human. It's not run by humans. It's FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, like America should be.
POSTED BY: The Conservative Conquistador
Obama is the smartest man to ever be born. He can solve any problem. Global warming? He's on it. Peace in the Middle East? He's on it. GM? On it. Banks? He's gotcha covered. There is nothing to which his brilliant, savvy, never before seen on this earth or any other planet mind can't figure out the PERFECT solution to (or so we are told on the TV and by Obama). But, where is he on health care? He's got nothing (well, nothing productive, effective, or able to improve on the "status quo" that he finds so offensive and horrific). All he does is bash and criticize the healthcare in this country. He has bought into this ridiculous Michael Moore fallacious fantasy that the US has the 37th best health care in the world. Alright. Question for Michael Moore and Mr. President. You need a heart transplant. Name 36 countries that you would rather go to for the operation than the U.S. Go ahead. Can't do it? OK, just give me one. Goingggggggg for one..... Nothing? Oh, so you would get the operation done here? With our crappy health care? How shocking! (gasp!)
Let's listen to this corrupt CEO talk about what he has done. He is the CEO of Safeway. This was in today's Wall Street Journal. You can tell by the way he talks that he hates poor people and thinks that they should just suffer because they are not greedy white CEOs like him. This man is completely without empathy, like all conservatives and executives.
By STEVEN A. BURD
Effective health-care reform must meet two objectives: 1) It must secure coverage for all Americans, and 2) it must dramatically lower the cost of health care. Health-care spending has outpaced the rise in all other consumer spending by nearly a factor of three since 1980, increasing to 18% of GDP in 2009 from 9% of GDP. This disturbing trend will not change regardless of who pays these costs -- government or the private sector -- unless we can find a way to improve the health of our citizens. Failure to do so will make American companies less competitive in the global marketplace, increase taxes, and undermine our economy.
At Safeway we believe that well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%. The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior. As a self-insured employer, Safeway designed just such a plan in 2005 and has made continuous improvements each year. The results have been remarkable. During this four-year period, we have kept our per capita health-care costs flat (that includes both the employee and the employer portion), while most American companies' costs have increased 38% over the same four years.
Safeway's plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable.
As much as we would like to take credit for being a health-care innovator, Safeway has done nothing more than borrow from the well-tested automobile insurance model. For decades, driving behavior has been correlated with accident risk and has therefore translated into premium differences among drivers. Stated somewhat differently, the auto-insurance industry has long recognized the role of personal responsibility. As a result, bad behaviors (like speeding, tickets for failure to follow the rules of the road, and frequency of accidents) are considered when establishing insurance premiums. Bad driver premiums are not subsidized by the good driver premiums.
As with most employers, Safeway's employees pay a portion of their own health care through premiums, co-pays and deductibles. The big difference between Safeway and most employers is that we have pronounced differences in premiums that reflect each covered member's behaviors. Our plan utilizes a provision in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that permits employers to differentiate premiums based on behaviors. Currently we are focused on tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Safeway's Healthy Measures program is completely voluntary and currently covers 74% of the insured nonunion work force. Employees are tested for the four measures cited above and receive premium discounts off a "base level" premium for each test they pass. Data is collected by outside parties and not shared with company management. If they pass all four tests, annual premiums are reduced $780 for individuals and $1,560 for families. Should they fail any or all tests, they can be tested again in 12 months. If they pass or have made appropriate progress on something like obesity, the company provides a refund equal to the premium differences established at the beginning of the plan year.
At Safeway, we are building a culture of health and fitness. The numbers speak for themselves. Our obesity and smoking rates are roughly 70% of the national average and our health-care costs for four years have been held constant. When surveyed, 78% of our employees rated our plan good, very good or excellent. In addition, 76% asked for more financial incentives to reward healthy behaviors. We have heard from dozens of employees who lost weight, lowered their blood-pressure and cholesterol levels, and are enjoying better health because of this program. Many discovered for the first time that they have high blood pressure, and others have been told by their doctor that they have added years to their life.
Today, we are constrained by current laws from increasing these incentives. We reward plan members $312 per year for not using tobacco, yet the annual cost of insuring a tobacco user is $1,400. Reform legislation needs to raise the federal legal limits so that incentives can better match the true incremental benefit of not engaging in these unhealthy behaviors. If these limits are appropriately increased, I am confident Safeway's per capita health-care costs will decline for at least another five years as our work force becomes healthier.
The Healthy Measures program currently applies only to our nonunion work force. While we have numerous health and wellness provisions in our union contracts, we are working with union leaders like Joe Hansen of the United Food and Commercial Workers to incorporate healthy measures provisions in our union work force as well.
While comprehensive health-care reform needs to address a number of other key issues, we believe that personal responsibility and financial incentives are the path to a healthier America. By our calculation, if the nation had adopted our approach in 2005, the nation's direct health-care bill would be $550 billion less than it is today. This is almost four times the $150 billion that most experts estimate to be the cost of covering today's 47 million uninsured. The implication is that we can achieve health-care reform with universal coverage and declining per capita health-care costs.
There is a very real possibility that we will see positive transformational health-care reform in the near future. I am encouraged by the effort I see on Capitol Hill, particularly the bipartisan effort in the Senate. While some tough issues remain, if we continue to work in a bipartisan manner I believe we will resolve these issues successfully and find agreement on meaningful reform.
Mr. Burd is CEO of Safeway Inc., and the founder of the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform.
Hmmm. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. And you wanna know the crazy thing, Mr. President? IT ACTUALLY WORKS AND IS NOT SOMETHING HE PULLED OUT OF HIS.... I'm sorry. I just get carried away sometimes. Let's stop trying to emulate countries that have failed and start aiming for policies that work. Let's stop the age-old political trap of being beholden to special interest groups. Let's stop giving political favors to small groups and making the rest of us pay for it. Let's promote personal responsibility and healthy lifestyles among our citizens. Let's get healthcare for all without giving more power to the government. All we have to do is look at countries with government health care to realize it is not a good idea. Let's get corruption out of our healthcare system. So far, the only incorruptible thing in the world is....wait for it...it's not a Democrat...it's not a Republican....it's not a corporation...it's not a non-profit...it's....THE FREE MARKET. It cannot be corrupted because it's not human. It's not run by humans. It's FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, like America should be.
POSTED BY: The Conservative Conquistador
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Obama's Speech To Muslims
With how well connected I am in Washington, I was able to get an advanced copy of Obama's "much-anticipated" speech to the Muslim world this week. I was originally asked to Twitter his speech in Farsi for the Arab world to follow along, but I had to shave so I couldn't participate, but here is the gist of the speech for those of you who may miss it.
It is important to point out, first off, that you should not worry about fact-checking any of the statements Obama makes because the facts are irrelevant. The media won't fact-check his statements because there is a baby seal dying in the Atlantic Ocean and they might be able to tie that death to not using solar panels. All their investigative journalists are focusing on that at the moment. Plus, if asked about the lack of factual material in the speech, Robert Gibbs will something really articulate like "well, uh, uh, uh, uh, I think what, uh, the President, uh, was going for was to uh suggest that, uh", then he will remember his talking points and say "uh, we are just fixing the mistakes of the last 8 years. Yeah, that is what he meant by that statement." So, don't worry about the facts.
Here are the basics of his speech, point by point.
- America has been the most oppressive and tyrannical country over the last 8 years
- We are sooooooooo sorry for the unnecessary killing of fundamentalist Muslims
- There are just as many Muslims in the U.S. as there are in the rest of the world combined
- We are going to make the Quran required reading in preschools, all grade levels, prisons, colleges, synagogues and churches because Americans are so ignorant and if only we understood you guys a little more we could get along
- If only I could talk with Al-Qaeda, we could work this whole hatred of Western Civilization out. I can solve any problem...just ask me.
- 9/11 was America's fault
- America, for the last 8 years, has loved to hold innocent Muslims in Guantanamo for no apparent reason - plus we got lots of giggles out of torturing them. For that we cannot apologize enough and hope that there is something we can do to repay you - well, hey, I have an idea. We'll give you half of Israel. That will appease you, right?
- If only we had clean energy, there would be no fighting between Islam and the West. Coal, oil, gas, and power plants are the main source of the friction
- I will make the ocean levels drop (that is a repeat of a campaign promise)
- As an apology from the U.S. to you, take this Ipod filled with my speeches
- Hey, did y'all know I was Muslim for a couple years? I understand you
- I think the U.S. would be more than happy to live by Shariah law, if that is all you guys want.
- I am pretty sure that there are just as many Muslims in the 57 states as there are Christians
- We are not a Christian country
- From now on, any Arab or Muslim traveling to the U.S. will no longer need a passport. We welcome you with open arms.
- Hey, if you ask nicely, I will give ALL of Israel to you, not just half. And I will let Iran bomb it before I give it to you. Will that make you happy?
- We are going to implement the Bill Maher method of national security. That is, until terrorists kill more than 1 million people a year, we are not going to worry about it because at the moment hurricanes, alcohol, and cancer kill more Americans each year than terrorists. We don't even need to worry about terrorists until the problem gets much much worse. I think he is onto something there.
He will end with 83 more apologies and talking about how the "occupation" of Iraq is a mistaken policy of the last 8 years and that he will never allow that to happen on his watch. Then he will leave a gift for Bin Laden, and leave.
Hope that helps catch you up, in case you missed the speech.
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador
It is important to point out, first off, that you should not worry about fact-checking any of the statements Obama makes because the facts are irrelevant. The media won't fact-check his statements because there is a baby seal dying in the Atlantic Ocean and they might be able to tie that death to not using solar panels. All their investigative journalists are focusing on that at the moment. Plus, if asked about the lack of factual material in the speech, Robert Gibbs will something really articulate like "well, uh, uh, uh, uh, I think what, uh, the President, uh, was going for was to uh suggest that, uh", then he will remember his talking points and say "uh, we are just fixing the mistakes of the last 8 years. Yeah, that is what he meant by that statement." So, don't worry about the facts.
Here are the basics of his speech, point by point.
- America has been the most oppressive and tyrannical country over the last 8 years
- We are sooooooooo sorry for the unnecessary killing of fundamentalist Muslims
- There are just as many Muslims in the U.S. as there are in the rest of the world combined
- We are going to make the Quran required reading in preschools, all grade levels, prisons, colleges, synagogues and churches because Americans are so ignorant and if only we understood you guys a little more we could get along
- If only I could talk with Al-Qaeda, we could work this whole hatred of Western Civilization out. I can solve any problem...just ask me.
- 9/11 was America's fault
- America, for the last 8 years, has loved to hold innocent Muslims in Guantanamo for no apparent reason - plus we got lots of giggles out of torturing them. For that we cannot apologize enough and hope that there is something we can do to repay you - well, hey, I have an idea. We'll give you half of Israel. That will appease you, right?
- If only we had clean energy, there would be no fighting between Islam and the West. Coal, oil, gas, and power plants are the main source of the friction
- I will make the ocean levels drop (that is a repeat of a campaign promise)
- As an apology from the U.S. to you, take this Ipod filled with my speeches
- Hey, did y'all know I was Muslim for a couple years? I understand you
- I think the U.S. would be more than happy to live by Shariah law, if that is all you guys want.
- I am pretty sure that there are just as many Muslims in the 57 states as there are Christians
- We are not a Christian country
- From now on, any Arab or Muslim traveling to the U.S. will no longer need a passport. We welcome you with open arms.
- Hey, if you ask nicely, I will give ALL of Israel to you, not just half. And I will let Iran bomb it before I give it to you. Will that make you happy?
- We are going to implement the Bill Maher method of national security. That is, until terrorists kill more than 1 million people a year, we are not going to worry about it because at the moment hurricanes, alcohol, and cancer kill more Americans each year than terrorists. We don't even need to worry about terrorists until the problem gets much much worse. I think he is onto something there.
He will end with 83 more apologies and talking about how the "occupation" of Iraq is a mistaken policy of the last 8 years and that he will never allow that to happen on his watch. Then he will leave a gift for Bin Laden, and leave.
Hope that helps catch you up, in case you missed the speech.
POSTED BY The Conservative Conquistador
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