Hysteria about the Supreme Court by Democrats

When I listen to the hysteria expressed at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, I can't help but remind myself that we've  had a Republican in office for less than two years.  If the Democrats were so concerned about he Supreme Court, why didn't more of the august seniors retire in the later years of the two term Democrat president we just had?

from The Economist

Could it be that these pillars of liberal thought preferred to allow the Clinton to make the replacement than Obama?  Why is that? Could it be that chink in their liberal armor is showing?

You had 8 years to ensure liberal replacements on the court.  You chose to stick around and not allow Obama to make any additional appointments.  If you are honest with yourself, justices, why is that?

Oh, and the correct answer is not, "We were sure Hillary would win?"  Nothing is certain,but death and taxes.

Just a thought.

Repealing the ACA

As a former Medicaid Director for a large eastern state, I would like to make the following recommendations on how to repeal and replace the ACA, ObamaCare, (Yes, Virginia, in a press conference our current President actually said he likes that the ACA is called Obamacare, "I do care." August 2011).

Here are my suggestions for how to succeed.  These and $5 may get up a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

On Medicaid Expansion:

• Discontinue marginal adjusted gross income (MAGI) for eligibility,  This income test requires a look back to confirm the income, and does not consider assets in the calculation,  One could literally have $1M in an trust account that pays all ones bills, but only yields $1000 per month spending change and qualify for Medicaid,
• Do not return to the days of requiring that a person live in a family with children to recieve Medicaid,  Income and assets should be the only determinate of eligibility (Prior to the ACA, single adults and couples without children could not qualify for Medicaid unless aged, blind or disabled).
• Allow tailoring of benefit packages to meet the needs of eligibility groups.

On Insurance purchases:

• Allow purchases across state lines
• Create pools or other mechanisms that guarantee issue for those in good health with preexisting conditions
• Do not reinstate lifetime/annual maximum benefits
• Allow individuals and groups to have more tailored benefit packages (i.e.--really I don't need or want to pay for transgender surgery or abortions) If contraceptives are important to you then buy a rider
• Discontinue high deductible plans unless the individual has the ability to participate in a Flexible Spending Account or Health Saving Account 
• Allow copay health plans again
• Define preexisting conditions by health status not by diagnosis

Just some thoughts.  Know that if the pricing is fair and weird requirements such as no plan can cost more than 4 times the lowest cost plan, more young people would buy in at a reasonable rate. As person with a preexisting condition, married to a person with a preexisting condition...I am anxious to see what comes out, but I understand the need for some ability for costs to reflect the health status of the individual.

The Future Meets Regulation and Fails

In the 1980s, as a newly minted Medicaid executive, I went to the Arizona town of Arcosanti.  Arcosanti was Architect Paolo Soleri's dream city meant to be eco-friendly, innovative and composed of a single structure.  The structure would be a laboratory for self-sustaining and self-contained  cities of the future. Arcosanti was meant to house 5,000 people, but to date, 47 years since its inception, it houses only 100.

What happened?  The dream met the  reality of government regulation and failed to thrive.  How often does this happen? Nothing has been built in Arcosanti for over 15 years.  Why? According to David Kidd in Governing Magazine, January 2017, "That's partly the fault of new building codes--the local fire company has put a halt to any additions until the dirt road that leads from the nearby interstate is paved."

Total government control is never a good thing. In picking the alternative energy winners and losers, being self-contained and self-sustaining is not a good thing.  One wonders what alternative the local fire company discussed with Arcosanti in terms of delegated responsibility, versus literal adherence to the letter of the law. Prehaps its funding from donations and the sale of Arcosanti Bells makes it just a little too independent for governement to work with.

I wonder how different the end of this story would be if Arcosanti were dependent on gvernment grants and alternative energy development?

What Color is Courage?

When I was 22, I shared an office with a very accomplished man at an association in DC.  He taught me that orange was the color of success.  Someone told me green was the color of prosperity.  What is the color of courage?

Yesterday I awoke to the story of the Black Lives Matter protestor speaking of being shot in the leg,  How she threw herself on her sons to keep them safe.  How she realized that there were other people lying on top of her and her sons to protect them from the flying bullets...the hate of the sniper.  The protectors were wearing blue.

I hope the fact that the police officers put her family's safety over

and above their own tells her something about duty and honor.  I hope that the police officers' actions reminds her daily that the few bad actors are the exception not the rule, and yes, they should be addressed as the individuals they are. I hope she always remembers that going home to her family after a night of protest, was always a given for her.  Going home after a shift of work is never a given to police officers.  They put protecting her family above the desire to go home to loving husbands, wives, parents and children..

When the time comes to stereotype a class group of humans again, I hope that all Americans, regardless of their skin color, remember the courage of these officers.  I hope that they acknowledge that this courage is the rule not the exception, and thank God for those who leave home every day knowing that being home at the end of shift is not promised.

May the love of Christ cover all the families who are mourning losses due to hate.

The Color of Courage? In this case--Blue.

A supporter hugs a Dallas police officer at a makeshift memorial at police headquarters. Photo: carlo allegri/Reuters

Planned Parenthood and Survivors' Guilt

Today I was working out in the fitness center of yet another hotel in my University of Pennsylvania Penn for Life t-shirt.  It made me think about the last couple of generations of college students.  Roe v. Wade passed in  1973. The students in college now have never lived in a time without legal, government sanctioned infanticide, in the name of freedom, in the name of fulfillment, in the name of women's rights?

These students are  a generation whose parents have not been shy or reserved about mentioning the children that they choose not to have for whatever reason.  Because my generation and their parent's generations have been so open, these children have survivors' guilt.  They wake each day with a thought deeply buried in their consciousness, wondering why they were the siblings that their parents chose to let live.  They wonder what was wrong with the missing siblings, or what was right about them.

Since this is also a generation that was raised in a time where we are not to speak of Judeo-Christian values in school or society, they are left to attribute there survival to chance or happenstance. 

So is it any mystery that this is the generation that operates 714 college chapters of Students for Life? Consider having a pro-life organization on a college campus in the 1970s or 1980s? Not really.  That this is the generation that has, in its search for meaning, rediscovered the phrase "there, but for the grace of God go I." That this is the generation that is investigating organizations that prosper from procedures such as abortion, and asking moral questions, not cultural questions.

Their survivors' guilt may just be the attitude that will generate the actions that save their children from feeling the same shame and uncertainty.  I am grateful for their action and voice.

Sticks and Stones....

When I was growing up I was taught the phrase, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."  We lost that bit of common sense somewhere along the way. We knew the difference between words and actions.  When we taught our children to take every word as a threat, we lost our minds as a culture.

My mother was not the most orthodox mother on the planet, but she raised resilient children. One day walking back from school, a group of black kids called me a half breed (one of the kids involved actually had a white mother and a black father, unlike me with two black parents).  A little further along a group of white kids called me the n-word.  When I walked into the house, Mom took one look at my face and knew that I was fit to be tied.

After telling my mother the story of my afternoon, Mom just laughed.  Mom explained that people only bother to do this to those they are intimidated or jealous.  Her approach was take the complement and move on.

My mother did not tell me that I was a victim of bullying. Or that I should know that I would be scarred for life.  Her ability to laugh at my bad day did something miraculous.  She made those who tried to injure me with their words small and harmless.  By contrast she made me strong and powerful.

Let's make our children strong again--Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me...unless I let them.

There are Things One Cannot Unsee

Today I watched the torture and desecration of the living body of a Jordanian pilot murdered by ISIS.  I can not unsee this barbarism.  I watched it on the website of Walid Shoebat, a former radical Muslim who found Christ.

To the mother of the pilot, my heart breaks for you.  My prayers cover you.

To those who say this is an unprecedented level of vileness--read your history.  On Shoebat's website he notes that the ISIS capturers asked followers to submit their suggestions on to kill the pilot.  The way chosen was not the most barbaric suggestion. Think about this...burning a man alive was not the most barbaric suggestion.  Women, mothers, made even viler suggestions.

To the rest of us I say--know you enemy.  This is a primitive, barbaric enemy who is not dazzled by our let's fight a kind war, can't we all just get along idiocy.  Our enemy is fueled by religious zeal and a need for us to submit or die.  Submit to Islam, or die.  Are you willing to denounce your religion for peace? 

Islam means submission from the word al-slim.

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Yes, Mr. President, these are devout Muslims. They are practicing their religion as fundamentalist.

What part of religious war are you having problems understanding?

Qur'an 2:191-192 




Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.
And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.

Please tell me Coexist bumper sticker people, where is your coexistence in these statements.

I urge all to see the  video, in order to understand that this is an enemy with whom the is no diplomacy, no-coexistence.   Prepare...for this is the war of a lifetime, and our leaders are either blind or complicit. 

Let us not have another mother watch her child die like this.

Charlie Hebdo--more than terrorism

First, I my condolences to the families of the workers and contractors at Charlie Hebdo who were killed or scarred by the actions of the Muslim, Extremist Terrorists in Paris. Know you are in my prayers,though I suspect you will find that statement offensive if you relate to the work of your family members who were casualties of this vile attack.

This attack is not about free speech.  It is about more than terrorism.  It about who we are as a society.I suspect that few if any have actually Googled the images of what Charlie Hebdo considered funny and literary.

It was vile and offensive.  While I think that the terrorists are wrong in their methods, where were the rest of us when these vile images were being peddled.  Where are the parents in France?  Where are the Christians?  The non-violent Muslims we hear so much about?  The Jews? And all citizens of France, regardless of faith--how did you ever consume this horrible tripe?


This publication should not have survived financially to be offensive to anyone.  Who was buying this trash and how depraved were they? It speaks volumes about our society that our first statements after sincere sorrow for those who were killed and injured (espically the unarmed police officers who were expected to protect the French with...strong words?  A stern expression? A wagging finger?  All not very effective against any weapon--bat or knife or gun) were about freedom of speech.

Maybe we should substitute a statement about how vile and offensive the publication was.  About how sad it is that people of good conscience had not spent time expressing disgust at the work of Charlie Hebdo.  About how most of the Muslim and Christian world does not have our low brow, modern society  concept of tolerating anything just to say we are cool!  When in reality, it just tells the less developed world that we are so corrupt in the defense of our faith and core values that we will  tolerate any affront without a single word.

And, finally we should hae a discussion about how there were other ways to stop the vileness, which may have stopped the violence.  We as a society should speak out about what offends us, loudly and openly, including the actions of those who defile our beliefs.

We can condemn the killers without venerating the victims.

Who Protects Those Who Protect and Serve

We do.

Everyday about 780,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) get up each morning and go to work to protect and serve us.  Unlike our other protectors, those in military uniform who travel to deployment for a defined period of time, our police, state troopers and sheriffs live and work in the war zone everyday. Their families are within that war zone.

We have counted on them to stop crime, investigate crime and put the bad guys away.  Now our police are under attack.

We have the duty to protect them by:

• Letting each and every officer, trooper and sheriff we meet know that we appreciate his service
• Keep a protect eye on the families of our protectors
• Report and testify against those who commit crimes
• Be vigilant

We are better than this.

I am grateful for all you do.  And pray for God's blessing and protection for all of our protectors.

America: Imagine a World Without Her Part I

 

The gift of this movie is that it makes one think about our country and role in the world.  This is the first of a series of thoughts triggered by America: Imagine a World without Her.
I challenge you to tell me where would you go if you could not live here, in America? Whatever your ethnicity, where are people like you better off than here?


We spent our Fourth of July attending picnics, sharing time together and watching the movie America: Imagine a World without Her.

It is hard to tell our robust history in 2 hours, but Dinesh D'Souza did.  The movie starts by listing the indictments against America, but most impressively by letting those who are committed to the each indictment state their own case. Then Mr D'Souza calmly and factually puts those points of view into perspective.

I am often mystified by those who live here, profit here and hate being here.  In my travels, I often meet people who have moved to this country and can't stop telling me what was better where they are from.  My question is always, "What forced you to give all that up to be here?" Followed by "How long are sentenced to live here?"

The answer is most often that they are here for the opportunities that are not present in the country that they left behind. The very opportunities that would not and could not coexist with the government provided service or good that they are lamenting not having here.

When teaching I start my first class of the semester with a question and a rule.  The question--where does government's money come from?  The answer is simple, from you.  So when you say "I want government to pay for something." Tell me you are willing to write a personal check for that service, even if you will not receive the benefit yourself.  Because that is what you will be doing. And governments and corporations are made of people--us.

The rule the word government is always replaced with I or we, and free is never used as someone is always paying even if it is not the consumer of the good or service. You and me and everyone who is paid for a service or a good.

Mr. D'Souza shows Bono speaking at Georgetown University in 2012 about America. Bono said it best: Commerce is real. Entrepreneurial capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid. Extreme ideology is part of the unholy trinity, poverty and drought are the other two. (Personally I also liked the fact that he gave power to the nerd. Us nerds think you.) He preaches transparency.  He preaches capitalism. He preaches realizing that the population in Africa is a market.  He condemns that idea of aid--that does not develop abilities.  Aid that feeds corruption is wrong and detrimental. 

While it clinches my colon that he credits the Pelosi's and Leahy's of the world, But he also gives great credit to President Bush for his work in funding AIDS treatment in Africa.  Weirdly, he see taxpayer dollars as the appropriate seed money for this capitalistic activity versus people giving voluntarily to the cause.

Interestingly, we are losing transparency and accountability in America. The America that Bono describes as an idea.  He states that there are other countries, but America is the only country that is an idea. Why does this Irish rocker know and appreciate what our own President and his party treat with disdain? Now remember, I said before that the government and corporations are people so we are the ones being treated with disdain.

Is America perfect or beyond improvement. No. America is made of individual people and people can always do better.  The greatness of America is that its aristocracy is fluid.  My fear for America is that we have and continue to create a permanent Aristocracy that is made up of "public servants" who hold power through their convenient interpretation of the very documents that protected us from the rise of a none merit based aristocracy.

We are the only country that corrects its mistakes through order and protects the rights of those with no stake in our government. What do you think would happen without us.

Next Part II the ability to end slavery.

Clayton Lockett's 40 minutes of Fame

I want to tell you a story of a horrible death.  Her name was Stephanie Neiman.  At 19, she had just graduated from high school.  Stephanie had a brand new Chevy truck with the Tasmanian Devil on it and license plates that read TAZ.  She dropped a friend off at another friends house in time for a home invasion by three men with no empathy and no remorse.

Because this young woman stood-up to these three men.  She was beaten, bond with duct tape.  They beat both of her friends, and raped the woman. Beat the man who was with his 9 month old child.

This girl would not say that she would not contact the police after they were gone. So they let her watch as they dug a shallow grave.  They made her stand in the grave. Shot her with a shoot gun. The shoot gun jammed, so while they went back to the truck to fix it, Clayton Lockett, who directed most of the action remarked, about how tough she was. Then he shot her again, while she begged for her life. While she was still alive and bleeding, they buried her--alive.

The man who directed all of this, was executed this week.  Because this man who lived 15 years longer than the young woman that he tortured and killed, suffered for 40 minutes, we should feel remorse and hurt and sympathy for him.  Isn't this a little like caring more about the the two thieves who suffered and died with Christ than we cared about Christ?

I mourn for the innocent.  I mourn for Stephanie, aborted babies and the suffering of Christ.  I do not mourn nor regret the suffering of an evil man who enjoyed inflicting suffering on others. Do you really expect us to care about the other man who should have died that day--the one who raped and beat an 11 month old?

Brotherhood forged in Battle

Twice a month I have the honor of volunteering at  a service organization for military personnel.  Last Saturday night, I was escorting two troops out of the airport who had just returned from Afghanistan. Because of winter storms and FAA rule changes, they had spent three days together trying to get home.  They were leaving PHL to take the last leg of their trips home. One was going south and the other out west.  When we reached the point where they were going to separate terminals--they looked at each other. One said, "I'd like to have one last cigarette with my battle buddy before we separate."

I lingered for just a moment before I realized that I was intruding in a very personal moment.  They exchanged telephone numbers and quietly lit cigarettes. At that point I left.

As a military brat, I have always known that there are relationships, forged in battle, that are more intense and intimate than those many have with their families. In my life my father had such relationships.  From talking to veterans I know that these men may not see each other again, or for that matter, ever use the telephone numbers that they exchange. However, the bond they forged will last forever.

I  respect and I am thankful for the bond that these men and others who fight to protect us have forged.  I am grateful for the how they protect one another. Mostly, I am grateful that I have been honored to witness this relationship.

To one and all of our service men and women--thank you for your service, and God speed.

President--I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies!

If Butterfly McQueen's character from Gone with the Wind and Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes had a child, his name would be Barack Obama. Right now he "don't know nothing about birthin' no health insurance. He knows nothing, nothing."

I just need to know that someone else sees that the Emperor is not an emperor and that he has no clothes. The latest debacle, the health care market place should teach us the value of the truth.  In his shoes, I would have issued a statement that accepted responsibility for the mess; created a corrective action plan; indicated who was being moved or replaced; and, closed the marketplace for two weeks to implement the plan. Furthermore, silly statements like "no one is more disappointed than I am."  NO! You are a millionaire with full health care coverage provided by the citizens of the United States--you are not as disappointed as a mother of three without health insurance! Shame on you sir.

'Nuf said. She thought.  Thank you Wall Street Journal for this update:

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-opinion-commentary.html

I think I have recovered now!

Back in November 1980, when I was a wild-eyed liberal, I remember walking around asking everyone I knew who voted for President Reagan.  As I had spent the last 5 years of my life in higher education (oxymoron noted), I could not find anyone. I vowed never to be that unattached to the world again.

Fast forward to 2012, I work in and out of academia, and here I am just as shocked about the outcome of an election.  At least I know some of those who voted for...our President. I pray for them. The bottom-line is that I had to recover from my disappointment in the reelection, and my mourning for our traditions and values.  I know they have been eroding over time, but now we are on a quick, goose step to the loss of our culture.

So here are the things that have put me on tilt to date:

• The conviction of Professor Amy Bishop for shooting 6 of her peers,  killing 3 peers and wounding 3 others, in a gun free zone (University of Alabama faculty meeting) went unnoticed, while we keep talking about the Aurora movie theater and Connecticut. Did anyone notice that we now know what happened to her brother in the "accidental shooting in 1986".  No Sandy, guns don't just go off. And, hey, the common denominator of all the mass shooting is "gun free zone."  Even Jolting Joe Biden could see this pattern.
• Nidal Malik Hasan who killed 13 soldiers and wounded 32 others continues to be listed as a member of our military.  Our own elected officials refuse to classify him as a terrorist or call this a hate crime...oh these shooting happened in a gun free zone.
• The Republican party refuses to control its own image in minority markets and yet reacts to focus groups as if perception is reality.  News flash--editors of minority market media are just like those in other markets.  If you spend it they will come.  Why would any editor in the minority media support a group that does not even consider ad buys in their market?  Business is business.
• Dear Republican Party, You can not divorce the social issues from the economic ones.  Have you read the Constitution and Bill of Rights lately? Maybe you all should speak with Professor Robert P. George at Princeton. Rushing to deny truth  and morality will not strengthen Conservatism.
• Do the high number of suicides amongst our young soldiers coincide with the removal of God from our society?  Life is very disappointing and pointless if man is the highest power in your life. Without God and faith, how do you cope with all that you encounter in a combat zone. Oh, at least we did not let them have prayer in school.
• And yes, health insurance cost 40-80% more under Obamacare to date and the program isn't even in full swing.  I told you it was designed to kill the employer market. Oh, do you know anyone who has gained coverage under this bill?

So I am back! Loaded for bear and ready to survive the next 3.7 years. Like a convict with a calendar.

Holder, Nutter and Me

Ka'Nard Allen, center, at a May vigil for a 5-year-old cousin killed in New Orleans in a shooting that injured Ka'Nard. The city has received federal help in a crime-fighting plan that also is in place in Philadelphia

Side by side Attorney General Eric Holder and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, the head of the Conference of Mayors, announced the new surge in Philadelphia to fight crime,  Just a little background information from the Wall Street Journal article written by Evan Perez and published on July 24, 2012. Philadelphia has experienced an 8% increase in murders, and a 3% increase in shootings (please note that murders are not equal to shootings). In a city of 1.54 million people this is significant.  Philly is well past a murder a day.

So back to surge.  The surge means that Atty General Holder is assigning  more than 50 federal agents to investigate  crime for four months. Let's talk reality.  Last year I spent over a week in the trauma unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. While I was in surgery having my leg rebuilt, my husband and brother shared the waiting room with a group of city women who were discussing who and how the individuals who shoot their children would be identified and removed from society.  Unfortunately, some of the murder rate is vigilante justice. As Mr. Memeger,  the US  attorney in Philadelphia notes in the article, "The reality is that we have officers on the street, agents on  the street and people see something, but they reuse to say anything to us."    Much like the old mobster days, this society has chosen to police itself. They    lack any trust and faith in the leadership of the City. Why?  Let's take a moment to look at the stellar examples of law enforcement at the announcement.  

We have a mayor who has stated that his proudest accomplishment is making the City smoke free, and that his next goal is taxing sugary drinks.  A tax that will impact inner city families more than anyone else. Do you hear any focus on safety in those goals?  I guess an overweight, smoking kid makes an easier target.

Eric Holder is telling the community that they need to cooperate with law enforcement.  Isn't this the same Mr. Holder who is ignoring subpoenas from Congress, and refusing to cooperate in the investigation into the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry?  Isn't this the same Mr. Holder who has told the state of Arizona that he will not enforce federal immigration laws within the state's borders?  What an example of commitment to law enforcement.

I guess leadership by example is out of the question. And leadership in itself is absent.

Good luck Mr. Memeger, I wish you better bosses!

Internal Consistency from Liberals if You Please!

I am almost too frustrated to write!  Ok, these are the things that are driving crazy--

• Why do liberals believe in evolution and the survival of the fittest, but not when human being are involved?
• They believe that man is just another animal, but when man causes another species to become stressed, man must be controlled.
• This exception to the survival of the fittest applies to human business practices, too! If you are better at academic pursuits or business that is not an acceptable realm for survival of the fittest?
• Why do liberals call for all candidates to release all documents pertaining to their past practices except President Obama?
• Romney must release more tax records, but President Obama does not even have to release his academic records?
• And let's not talk about Congressional requests for documents
• Why can the President's health care reform legislation require physicians to request photo identification without disenfranchising those who need medical care, but the same requirement disenfranchises voters?

If its right its right, right? Conservative Black Barbie is going to take an aspirin and lie down now.

President Obama--I have a fundraising Idea!

I am holding out for the 50:50 drawing.  In Obama's voice, " You give us $1 and you have a chance to win 50% of all the donations.  At our drawing at the end of the ah, ah, ah donation period.  We all share equally, except your winning will be taxed."  I am not Barack Obama, and he did not approve this message.

What makes Mayor Nutter Proud?

Mayors Nutter of Philadelphia and Bloomberg of New York City seem to be engaged in dueling silliness unless you take a moment to ask...what's in it for them?  These two distinguished guardians of our City dwellers seem more like parents than public servants.  Mayor Nutter, recently elected President of the United States Council of Mayors, emphatically asserted at the First Annual Soda Summit, that he is "proudest of successfully implementing a smoking ban in Philadelphia." I can understand this.  If 182 murders and 442 rapes had occurred in my city by June 24, 2012, I too would be proud of my smoking ban...is my sarcasism too subtle?

Then there is Mayor Bloomberg.  Yes, I am embarrassed that we are both Johns Hopkins University graduates.  And yes, if they had to choose who to claim I would be left out in the cold.  I have to date donated no buildings to the university.  Mayor Bloomberg proudly attacked sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. He proudly implemented the legalization of marijuana.  Let's also remember that this staunch environmentalist had room air conditioners installed on his official vehicles.  Plugging in the window air conditioners is supposed to produce less pollution than idling his Chevy Suburbans...or he could just start the air conditioners when he gets into the car like us mere mortals.  Or may I suggest the Prius that automatically cools itself if the temperature exceeds a certain level.  Did I forget to mention that there have been 179 murders and 670 rapes in New York City year to date June 24, 2012?


"I am sorry madame, but please give me that 32 oz soda.  I must write you a citation.  Yes, I hear the screams.  Yes, those are gunshots.  Yes, someone has been knifed next door. Yes, there are legally using stoners on your doorstep, but I need to focus on that large, non-diet soda." Would you like to be the police officer with this job?


Oh, did I mention that the in Mayor Nutter's case, sugary drinks would be taxed at 10 cents an oz...I smell a tax with some heavy cha-ching.  


So health aside, education aside, parenting classes aside, personal responsibility aside...lets make some income here. Makes me want a Big Gulp to help fund Philadelphia's deficit.

Fear More than the Mandate in Health Care Reform

The June 13th issue of USA Today (or as I prefer--Useless News Today) had a cover story entitled, "Calcium, vitamin D benefits disputed (for some unknown reason this newspaper does not use capital letters in their titles)." This article quoted the findings of the august U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that "existing research was insufficient to assess the risks or benefits of taking vitamin D--with or without calcium to prevent cancer in adults." Note this is based on a literature review not primary research.

You may recall that this is the same group that told us in 2011 that women between 50-74 years of age did not need annual mammograms; and in 2012, that men did not need PSAs to find prostate cancer in the early stages.  Why?  It grows so slow, why treat it?  Too expensive, little return...unless it is your prostate or your husband's or your father's...

The health care reform legislation gave the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force the power to decide what qualifies as evidence as the PPACA moves us to the point where insurance and the government will only pay for evidence-based health care services.

In short, if the research is inconclusive then you don't get the service. Think carefully about all the treatments and cures we now benefit from that are not clearly proven by research--bone marrow transplants for certain cancers, off label uses of certain drugs, the accidental discovery of treatment side effects that improve the quality of life for patients with a disease for which it was not meant to be used. Then think carefully about this as a slippery slope issue--do you need a prosthetic limb when a wheelchair or walker will do as well at getting you around? After all the wheelchair costs $1000 and the walker costs $200. Are you worth the $5000- $10000 for the prosthesis? How many preventive service could that pay for? After all, you've already lost that limb.

Do you need a hip replacement at 75 years old? Society can immunize 500 children for the price of your hip replacement.

Who are these people who have been empowered to make decide your health care fate? They are a panel of academic-based physicians and one medical products vendor. Not one is a physician in private practice. A physician not based a facility dependent on government $s to support their practice and research.

Why are they now supported by a division of the federal government call the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHCRQ)? When you pass a bill with 1000s of pages you can hide a lot. When Sarah Palin said death panels and everyone laughed...well, maybe not death. But this group will decide how valuable you are to our society... and the acceptable cost of your quality of life. Hey, old guy! Are you earning wages through an approved government activity? Just golfing and playing with your grandchildren? Then give back that hip!

Conservative Black Barbie has to apologize to my readers for being away for so long.  All I have wanted to do is stand and walk. But I am back-- tomorrow "Mayor Nutter and YOU!

How do You Spell Recess?

Our president took a moment out of his campaigning and vacationing schedule to thumb his nose at Congress...no, at you an me.  In a very third world dictator manner, our president made a handful of recess appointments.  The problem...not that Congress was not in recess, but that lawyers actually said that it is ok to make recess apointments when the body being bypassed is not out of session -- actually in recess.

Only a lawyer, following the advice of other lawyers could decide this is a sound course of action. Even a first grader knows that recess happens when class is not in session.  Please God, please let the little children lead them.

Worse still, our president, told we the people that if Congress won't take care of us then Big Daddy Obama will.

 "When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them," Obama said in a speech in Shaker Heights, Ohio. "I have an obligation to act on behalf of the American people."

Would that be included in the "Presidential Obligation to act clause of the Constitution"? Hey, I am no Constitutional scholar, but I don't remember that clause.(What exactly will this Consumer Protection guy do that will improve the economy? Lessen my risk? Obligation?)

Even more maddening is the fact that unless K-Mart has a blue light special on cojonas in the near future, Congress will merely rollover and reveal its belly, hoping for a rub from the electorate.

Ladies and gentlemen of our elected bodies, either you act now to restore the balance of powers that our founding fathers inculcated in the Constitution, or stand-up now and admit that you will not trade your lauded positions, and lifetime titles (as in Newt Gingrich is not the Speaker of the House and Marion Barry is not Mayor of DC) for a principled action.

I remember learning to type.  (Yes, Virginia there was a time when we had to learn to type...keyboards did not link to anything...and we did not type before we could write...with a pen or pencil) The typing exercise was "Now is the time that tries men's souls." Yes, it is a paraphrase of Thomas Paine's, "These are the times that try men's souls." And, yes, it is as true now as it was then.

Congress, please find your souls or cojonas and stand-up for the limits of power that Thomas Paine and his fellows put in our Constitution. Amen!