A Washington UPDATE (December 2009 Edition)

Nick Wukoson
From FaceBook


In the month of December, we have seen record breaking activity on the hill and in the White House. This after an already record breaking year in spending and monster bills packed with government growth in a time when we all been forced to downsize at home and watch our local economy crumble. There have been so many things occur in December, that it requires a update all by itself. So lets make like M.C. Hammer and break it down!


Obama's Promises Broken

(1) We heard then President-Elect Obama claim in January that he would NEVER SIGN a bill with earmarks in it. NEVER! Then we see him sign a spending bill packed with earmarks only to respond that this bill was already written before taking office and that moving forward he wont sgn anything with earmarks in it. Okay, I can kind of buy that! So what just happened this week when the newest spending bill (for 2010) was put on his desk with even more earmarks in it? He signed it! What do you have to say to that Mr. Obama? Did you think with everything else going on this month that we wouldnt notice that?

(2) Obama also promised during his campaign that he would open up the nations borders so that people can buy prescription drugs in other countries where the same drug is so much less in cost. He made this promise often. So what did we learn this month after we found out that Obama was offered $150 MILLION from the big Healthcare companies to break his promise? He took it and now stands against Americans having the opportunity to buy drugs from over seas or in Canada.

(3) The promise of "transparancy" is standing out. We the people, will be able to "watch the healthcare bill dsicussed and debated" on the floor on CSPAN. We were also promised all the bills would be available to the public "5 days" before the vote on the hill. Not even those voting are giving that luxury now. There is nothing transparant about this administration and there are power and control hungry reasons behind this broken promise.


Obama's Grade

I couldnt believe that Obama fell for the request to grade himself. A President should never do that and state that the people should grade him. But maybe this is a President who knows he is failing badly and needs to trick his followers into believing he is doing well. A B+ is a pretty good grade afterall. Remember, this is a President who swore that we would never see unemployment above 8% if we approved the huge Stimulus bill and gave him our tax dollars. He stated that if we didnt, we would see unemployment rise to 10%. So we gave it to him, even though we dont have it, and we still saw unemployment rise above 8% and even above 10%. How is that not failure? His plan simply failed. Growing the economy and job growth has failed and the war is still going strong, if not stronger than it ever has. The list goes on and on.


Holiday Games

Okay, if you havent noticed the massive amounts of bills and spending being saved for the holiday season, then you are missing out on a huge game being played. In a time when legislators are wanting to be home with their families, they are being told they cant go anywhere until they pass these bills. They know the bills are to large to understand in such a short time but are forcing them to vote on it regardless, holding time with their families over their heads. Is this the "change" so many voted for? Honestly, is it? Who's needs are being represented here?


Global Warming

For all those huge supporters in the belief that Global Warming is real, this is hard to accept I am sure. See my recent post "A GREEN wake-up call". And with all the actual evidence pointing to the truth, the Copenhagen summit has gone on to see all the smaller and poorer countries taking advantage of countries like us. In a time none of can afford to pay our electric bills at home, we see Hillary out there throwing BILLIONS of our money into a annual fund (yes BILLIONS more to come from our pockets too.) that will go to these third world poorer countries. All to support an agenda they know is a lie, even those scientist who created this lie have been in caught in it or admitted it already. Doesnt stop our government from trying to save face and spend more of our money!


OMNIBUS bill (end of year)

With all the healthcare and global warming topics floating around and being discussed over our dinner tables, Congress (including both parties) slid in a $1.1 TRILLION spending bill for 2010 packed with earmarks. Bringing a total of $600 Billion dollars worth of earmarks to date under Obama. It is an annual record breaker under a man promising "change" and "no more earmarks". And to those Republicans who campaign as a conservative but yet put earmarks into this bill, and we know who you are, you should be thrown out. Like we have seen unfaithful men and women in the media and in real life, you have been just as unfaithful to your party and all those conservative Americans who supported you! You should hang your heads in your failure to come together as a party of conservatives and deliver that message in a time your country needed you to. Now, you are no better than those you oppose. What ever happened to the GOP being a party of conservatives and supporters of small government? I admit, my GOP blinders have been up through the BUSH days when it comes to this topic, but they are off now and I want my conservative party back! I WANT IT BACK!


Healthcare Reform

In a recent post of mine, I broke down what we know about this bill to date. I stress "to date" because the bill is still incomplete. Only a portion of this bill has been released to Congress with even Democratic leaders not knowing what is in it. We can only believe that Harry Reid and the Obama folks are the only people who do know. Now Congress has seen incomplete bills presented to legislation before but what they are not used to is having them shoved down their throats with demands to vote on them before they are completed with any realistic time beyond that to read them and understand them. Forget party affiliation and where you stand, on this point alone, you shouldnt be happy. Yes, they have staffers to help them break it down, but we did not elect those staffers to represent us. I want my elected representative to read and understand everything he or she is voting on. Why I have to even state that is beyond me. What has happened to Washington?

The games being played with this bill are also record breaking through the media. While the incomplete bill is being forced to the vote, we are seeing the Republicans stand together in not supporting it. The Democrats will stand in front of the cameras all day and tell you Republicans just want to stall everything and how bad that is for our country. We even saw Reid come to the floor and complain that this is the same as when a certain party did the same thing when debating slavery and the rights of women. What he failed to mention, while trying to associate those tactics with the Republicans, was that it was HIS PARTY (the Democrats) who was the stalling party who played those games when debating slavery and the rights of women. Does Reid and his gang of power hungry tyrants really believe we are that stupid? So is it really a game the Republicans are playing when they ask for more time or is it the right thing to do? Considering the bill isnt even completed yet and it affects 1/5 of our entire economy, I think even a little time after the bill is completed is fair to ask for.

The sellers of this bill are pitching it with a price tag of $848 BILLION but what we have learned is that there is a solid costs of $1.244 TRILLION in the bill currently. And that does not include the $214 BILLION Physician SGR bill presented in June. I give them credit for finally breaking out the bill a little, but dont be fooled, the attempt was to keep the total selling price tag below a trillion and not for the right reasons. The true cost, to date, of this healthcare reform proposed by Reid and others is . . . $1.458 TRILLION!

And finally, we witnessed Obama just recently state that if we do not pas this healthcare bill of theirs, that the United States government will go "bankrupt"! My response to that statement is that Obama is already making excuses for what is likely with or without this healthcare bill. The monster spending already done by this President is enough to push us to bankruptcy. He knows it, his folks know it, but casting the blame onto a party who is together standing against this legislation is his intent.

So this has been the December UPDATE (to date) and though I am disqusted with how bad it has gotten, I have to stay encouraged and optimistic. I have to keep the faith that we will survive this and bring back the right government to Washington. True American leadership! Folks who serve us, represent our needs first and are responsible and strong in their defense of our great Constitution and national security.

God Bless You and Yours! Happy Holidays!

Reimportation of Drugs Promises to Destroy Innovation

Kevin Price
From Facebook

Innovation in health care, particularly in the area of developing new drugs, is one of the crowning achievements of US health care. According to Forbes Magazine, 80 percent of all new drugs are developed in the United States and one of the primary reasons for this is because companies still have an incentive to do such in this country. The profit motive creates the desire and provides the incentive to over come the fear of risk that comes with bringing new medicines to market.

"The fully capitalized cost to develop a new drug, including studies conducted after receiving regulatory approval, averages $897 million," according to a study by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. The expenditure of almost $1 billion to bring a product to market can only be done with some hope of reward. Thr hope businesses are looking for is a period of time of being able to sale that medicine without competition. Seven years is the standard period of time for such intellectual property to be protected. During that time, medicines can vigorously pursue recouping the cost of bringing a drug to market before other players can legally come along. This may be expensive, but that is a small price to be paid for innovation.

Policy makers who do not understand the economic dynamics of drug innovation want to fight the problem through reimportation, which is the US purchasing medicines from countries that receive them at a lower cost because they have less personal incomes and the drug companies change the cost accordingly. With reimportatin the drug companies would have to compete against themselves. Although the practice is currently illegal, many states have pursued the policy and now it has become front and center of the current health care debate.

Jack Calfee of American.com observes "This week, the Senate is expected to vote on an amendment to the healthcare overhaul bill that would incorporate the chief features of Senator Byron Dorgan’s drug importation bill. The Dorgan amendment would essentially require U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply importers from foreign nations with unlimited quantities of low-priced drugs, which could then be resold in the U.S. market." It is interesting because I am sure the foreign companies that resale it to the US will do so for a profit, so our policy makers are sending these jobs to foreign countries. The question is, for how long? With these companies being forced to compete against themselves, the development of new drugs will be hindered. Simply put, there may not be new drugs to export in the future.

The economics of this are bizarre, Calfee notes 'The central feature is 'forced sales,' not in the sense that any sales are literally required, but because a manufacturer that sells to any particular nation has to sell as much as buyers want at whatever price those buyers pay in that nation. The implications are bizarre. If Lipitor is 40 percent cheaper in Germany, a German importer could order enough to supply not only Germany but also the entire U.S. market. The manufacturer (Pfizer) could try to meet domestic German demand and no more, but the Dorgan bill includes provisions to make that difficult. But why worry about Germany? Prices are certainly cheaper in, say, Greece, Portugal, or one of the Eastern European nations (the Dorgan bill includes a list of acceptable nations). A lot of drugs could flow through Portuguese seaports, assuming that anyone bothered to ship them back and forth instead of directly to the United States.

"US health care certainly has problems. Most of them are created by excessive legal rewards, government mandates, and bureaucracy. Innovation is one of the crowning achievement of our system. If this amendment passes, innovation will certainly suffer.


Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Throw Out the Textbooks!

Wendy Lynn Day
From Facebook

Throw out the textbooks. There is no need to read the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution. No need to read about the Greatest Generation or Founding Fathers. No need to learn about America tearing herself apart and putting herself back together again to right the wrongs of slavery and segregation. Nope.

In fact, there is finally a book, and now movie, that gives the honest social progressive view of American history. The People Speak is a documentary to prove just how sexist, racist, and elitist America is.

Howard Zinn wrote A People's History of the United States and now brings us The People Speak. He is portrayed as a revolutionary, except that now most standard textbooks mirror his view of American history. The History Channel is showing The People Speak; and it may be coming to a classroom near you. The movie is social progressiveness at its best. There is a stream of Hollywood faces, including producer Matt Damon.

Here is one example from the movie:

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was originally "Life, Liberty, and Property." According to Howard Zinn, the "Property" label proves the Founding Fathers were elitists. He claims that the Constitution was designed so that slave owners could run the country; also that the Bill of Rights was only added after protest, against the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

The reality is that "Property" was changed to "Pursuit of Happiness" because the Founding Fathers didn't want further the cause of slavery by giving more credence to the terrible institution. The Founding Fathers originally wanted to include the term "Property" because without the right to own property, people cannot be free.

Do we need to hear voices of dissension to honestly look at our Nation's history? Yes. But the history so many of our children are learning is almost entirely voices of distention. What has fallen out of fashion is teaching about the good in our history, the heroes.

Howard Zinn tries to bring down the American heroes and undermine the greatness of our country. Yes, American is flawed- because people are flawed. But I, like so many of you, believe that America is great. America has always held the promise of liberty. That is why so many fight to come here.

What frightens me most about this one-sided negative view of America being taught as truth and beauty is that if we give up the will to fight for our country, we will surely fail. If we feel like offering apologies is more appropriate than fighting for freedom, we will fail. And if we believe this view of American history, we are more likely to land on the side of apology.

What kind of stories would have been in this book if written 100 years from now?

1. Cindy Sheehan, just a mom who wanted to stop an "unjust" war.

2. Nidal Malik Hasan,the misunderstood Muslim who shot 13-people in Fort Hood, TX.

3. Dr. Tiller, the great fighter for women's rights, unless of course you are a baby girl.


Actually, lots of the dissenters he would have written about are now part of the status quo; and those who are fighting against the system are those who actually love this country. Wonder what he would do with this reality? I imagine he wouldn't be so quick to write about those who love liberty and attend tea party rallies. He would probably wait five years, for the socialist policies to show their inability to provide "social justice" and then write about how it was racism, sexism and the rest of the "isms" that prevented Eden from taking root.

Bottom line- ask your child's teachers and your local school boards about this film. Will they be showing it? Will they be showing some counter story, like the HBO miniseries John Adams? This will be a good litmus test for the condition of our education systems and its treatment of the history of our great nation. Will your school pass the test?

The Popular Disdain for the Constitution

Kevin Price
From Facebook

At one of her recent press conferences, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's was asked by a CNS News reporter, "Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?" the Speaker was clearly agitated by the question and responded, "Are you serious? Are you serious?" The reporter said, "Yes, yes, I am." Without commenting further, Pelosi shook her head in disgust and took a question from another reporter. Later on, the Speaker's press spokesman Nadeam Elshami told CNSNews.com about its question regarding the constitutionality of socialized medicine that "You can put this on the record. That is not a serious question. That is not a serious question."

Like every member of Congress, Pelosi takes this sacred oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." She swears to defend the Constitution, but does not take this question seriously? The arrogance or ignorance is amazing. The question is legitimate, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists the enumerated powers of Congress and there is no provision for health care. Furthermore, the Tenth
Amendment makes it explicitly clear that the powers not listed in the Constitution are to be left to the states and the citizens.

For decades government has gone well beyond it Constitutional responsibility and has become more cavalier about the role of government. Essentially our government is on auto-pilot and simply picks up new duties as it deems fit.

I have said often on my radio show that to be for the Constitution is simply not "cool" and you will not be taken serious in Washington. I have had friends -- both Democrat and Republican -- smugly smile at me and say that arguments about the Constitution are laughable. Discussions about a "strict constructionist" view can only be academic.

I must ask the question, by what standard than are we going to judge government? If not the Constitution, what will be our measure of whether government is serving us properly? It cannot be popular opinion, because the masses can be convinced to believe anything. That is why the Founding Fathers put such safe guards against pure democracy.

This is why I have grown frustrated by the "liberal" versus "conservative" debate. All these two views argue is the pace towards socialism. Liberals ask why we are not fully under government control while conservatives want to argue to slow down the pace. What is there to "conserve" any more? Massive deficits and debts? Taxation out of control? A regulatory system that is hostile to freedom? If we are serious about the Constitution we should drop the conservative label and state we wish to restore the Constitution.

Until we have a serious debate about the Constitution we can only expect our freedoms to further disappear while are political leaders show extreme joy on the left or slight discomfort on the right. The leaders in Washington believe there is nothing government cannot do and they intend to only prove that in the years to come.

Economist Walter Williams recently noted that "in each new session of Congress since 1995, John Shadegg, (R-Ariz.,) has introduced the Enumerated Powers Act, a measure 'To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.' The highest number of co-sponsors it has ever had in the House of Representatives is 54 and it has never had co-sponsors in the Senate until this year, when 22 senators signed up. The fact that less than 15 percent of the Congress supports such a measure demonstrates the kind of contempt our elected representatives have for the rules of the game -- our Constitution."

How has your member of Congress stood on this important first step in restoring Constitutional government? Instead of arguing with politicians on specific policies, let us make them defend their view of the document they swore to defend .

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

ACORN And OBAMA Cookie Jar - Slap You In The Face WH Cookies

fingers in the dam

Dennis Thompson
from Facebook

The word says to never grow weary in doing well. I find that very important. It is indeed a good thing to do good in this world that needs a lot of good. This morning I am thinking of what someone said onetime that was in regards to the abortion issue. They said that instead of dealing with it at the root level, we seemed to always deal with it at what we could see above ground. Many times you can cut things down to the root, and although you think they are dead because you can no longer see them, its like the seed planted that you do not see but is growing. Life is still in it.


There is more than enough injustice in the world to go around. We can listen to cultural and political activists every day and get so aroused. So upset over what "they" are trying to do to us. There will always be a "they". There will always be groups and causes to be upset about. In most cases the roots have taken hold very deep under the ground. ou can only do so much.

I love the United States Constitution. In all honesty it has never been completely followed. To think that it ever will is not really logical. Yet it becomes our focal point and sounding board for our anger and displeasure. In the case of war, which no one is dor, you will find some extremists claiming we were never to have had a standing army. Life is so complicated. It is not always black and white. That is why the constitution allowed for amendments.

Personally I used up all my fingers in the holes of the dam a while ago. I saw that there were many more leaks than I myself could stop. It is good to try and fight the good fight. But ultimately God is bigger than any marxist movement. He will be with me nomatter what the outcome of all of this onslaught. I believe there are good and evil people just as there are also right and wrong people.

But where is the balance if each day we need to listen to someone telling us of the enemy's plans? Its good to be informed, but it is not good to be consumed with anything other than God's goodness. Nothing else is lasting and when the dust settles, what do you have but bitterness and anger. God would that we be balanced. That we have our jobs, and when we come home we have our families. Something always suffers when our focus is always about something going awry.

The war is coming make no doubt

Kender MacGowan
from Facebook

The war is coming
I know this as the winds of change
flow steadily from the east
Evil festers in the halls of power
where lives are chosen, fates decided
The simple rules of yesteryear have been torn down
Replaced with an endlessly litany of
You shall not this and you shall that
You cannot and you must
Gone are the day of you can
Replaced with you cannot

Freedom? DEAD

LIBERTY? DEAD

Tyranny rules and the shackles
are being laid heavily upon our wrists
Shackles of laws today, shackles of steel tomorrow
Continue telling us we need this change
While we scream you are wrong.
Continue calling us ignorant racists
Hateful elitists
THE MAN
While ignoring that our lost freedoms
are your lost freedoms
Then who shall stand to protect you?
Not those in the festering halls of power
From whence evil winds blow


Those foul winds covering our land
portend a mighty battle
Fought between those defending
Their power
And those defending
Their freedom

Choose your side quickly
No mercy shall be shown
Evil must be eradicated
Not rehabilitated.
Physical deformaties are rehabilitated
There is no rehabilitation
For evil
You kill it or it kills you.

Those fetid winds flow from the east
Mordor is now a White Domed House
Sauron is entrenched and grows ever stringer
From whence will our Frodo appear?
Where lies this night the hero who will rise and saved us?
The winds of change are blowing foul
The darkness spreads
The war comes.

The War on Job Creation

Kevin Price
From Facebook

Back in the Dark Ages, doctors were known for bleeding patients to reduce fever and cracking skulls to relieve headaches. Everything old is new again as the Obama Administration pursues excessive taxes on job creators on both Wall Street and Main Street in order to create new jobs.

Elizabeth MacDonald brings the Administration's current efforts to light in a column at FoxBusiness.com. She points out that "A House bill now being drafted would raise $150 billion each year to pay for new manufacturing jobs by taxing securities transactions such as stocks, options, derivatives and futures...But the effect here would be the polar opposite-it would hurt job creation and even though Congress says they'll exempt trades made for retirement savings, chances are slim that will happen, and the fees will get passed along. And jobs in the finance sector, already flattened, will fly overseas if the US is the only country with this taxing regime."

MacDonald's article points out the obvious. Politicians develop and implement policies as if we were trees. They believe we will take a tax, regulation, or other cost of doing business without blinking. Unfortunately for government, we are not trees. I do not know about you, but if someone attacks me with an axe I am either going to fight or take flight. That is the same thing that happens in public policy. When government attacks with a tax on job creation, that job creator is either going to fight (which in this country requires a long term strategy that includes changing the people in power) or they are going to run (which is much easier to do in our current political environment and our abilities thanks to technology).

Where and how do people run? We have many examples of this in recent years and the Internet makes it very easy for people to move their money and the rest of their lives, wherever they need to go to do business.

For example, A recent study from the Empire Center for New York State Policy is showing that the state is suffering from a similar fate. The authors of the studies -- E.J. McMahon and Wendell Cox -- point out that between the years 2000 and 2008 and following massive tax increases for those with higher incomes, the families that have been leaving have income levels that were 13 percent higher than those arriving to the Empire State. In Manhattan and the New York County area, the impact was even more profound. Those leaving the Big Apple had an average income of $93,264, which was approximately 28 percent higher than those who were arriving (which made $72,726 on average).

What is most ironic about these type of policies is that they not only fail to create jobs, but also fail to generate new revenues. They simply do not work. The old saying remains true, "the more you tax something, the less you get of it." If you heavily tax job creators, you will lose them and the jobs they create. MacDonald believes that the bill being argued in this Congress will actually force some job creators out of the country. They, in turn would likely take the jobs with them. It is time to abandon ancient practices that do not work and pursue policies that simply make sense.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

futility of reality

Dennis Thompson
From Facebook


Someone is always looking for a hero. Someone is always trying to make sense of things that do not make sense. There is only one that is perfect in the end and that is Jesus. He is the only one that is for us. And yet we tend to complicate him. Its always Jesus plus this for continuing salvation.

Once our children are born to us, are they all of a sudden not our children because they may have broke a few house rules? No we deal with the issues with them. Our ways in doing that are so different than God's ways. He is the good father that know so much better how to deal with us.

Life is self inflicted on our part. We choose either good things or bad things.We try and get so many little pat answers that help us deal with what is, yet in many cases we are just upset and have to do something for the case of doing something.

Fight the good fight. What if our participation in the fight is that we have to watch daily the injustices in life and our government and get all worked up with that when there is just a lot of injustice nomatter what? I am trying to recall the scripture where it tells us each day has enough trouble as it is. Yes let not your heart be troubled.

However there is injustice and an onslaught everyday. There is always tragedy. Thats why stupid laws are over calculated because a few people did some things wrong and now the laws complicate everyones lives. Some answer huh? New stoplights at corners where they do not need them, because of one persons' carelessness? I have seen that too.

Its good to see what is going on, its also good to try and change bad issues that will hurt our country. But there is something wrong when a persons day is consumed with one talk show after another and one political TV show after another in the course of the day. Why? because it robs people of their peace. For a Christian, Paul encouraged us to strive to do one thing. Enter into the peace of the Gospel.

The founding fathers warned people here in the united states of the importance of having good people in office,or the great constitution would be negated. That is true. We have a big personal responsibility in our own ship here in America. However I see all of a sudden this surge to throw them all out. This is like a mob that gets angered and does irrational things.

Rational is finding the ones that are indeed doing well as a whole, because no one is perfect and supporting them. The second thing is key marking those that are destructive and finding poeple in their area that are good and raise them up. Are we really doing that? Are we fairly looking at some who proclaim to be something they are not.


America is about individual greatness. Obama is obviously greatly lacking in every aspect and is hurting America. He is viewed as being black, even though he is half white. There are mamny many great people of every race that are more than qualified to lead this country. However at the economic freefall we are in, there are few able to fix this and very few proven. That is why I looked long and hard and chose Mitt Romney. I also know what happened with Heathcare in Mass and that smear is no different than any smear against Sarah Palin or Ronald Reagan in his day.

I would encourage people to find some other things outside of the political realm There is a life. What exactly has changed but a daily anger of injustices? Yes there is plenty to be angry about. However what has really changed? Acorn is still getting money. Cap and Trade has passed its initial stages. Healthcare will pass in some form. The stupid stimulus has us on our knees in problems. The list goes on and on. It is good to be aware but it also is not good to be consumed. There is indeed more to life.

Global warming scientists E mail hacked. 23rd 11th 09.

Global Warming Campaign Proves to be Expensive Joke

Kevin Price
From Facebook

Conspiracy theorists have argued for years that government officials who support the massive regulation of industry in the name of environmentalism, do so in order to pursue even greater government control It is not about a cleaner environment, but a more powerful government. Meanwhile, scientists who have advocated Global Warming have often been accused of being professional "Chicken Littles," who make a living predicting that the sky is falling. After all, if research studies had indicated that things were fine or temperature changes were cyclical, there would be no need for future research and the funding that comes with it. There is a business side to everything, including environmental research, and fear has proved to be a successful element in obtaining increased funding.

The media has been quick to defend those in government and science in the alarmist camp, creating a powerful and effective troika supporting an ambitious agenda. They have apologized for the many exaggerations and have gone to great lengths to defending the most outrageous of claims. The recent release of some rather incriminating emails are embarrassing to the media, scientists, and government officials behind the Global Warming movement. Forget embarrassing, the movement is now on life support.

The Wall Street Journal discusses the content and the implications of the emails in question, quoting several including one stating that "The two MMs have been after the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the U.K., I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone. . . . We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind."

"So apparently wrote Phil Jones, director of the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) and one of the world's leading climate scientists, in a 2005 email to 'Mike.' Judging by the email thread, this refers to Michael Mann, director of the Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center. We found this nugget among the more than 3,000 emails and documents released last week after CRU's servers were hacked and messages among some of the world's most influential climatologists were published on the Internet."

"The 'two MMs' are almost certainly Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, two Canadians who have devoted years to seeking the raw data and codes used in climate graphs and models, then fact-checking the published conclusions-a painstaking task that strikes us as a public and scientific service. Mr. Jones did not return requests for comment and the university said it could not confirm that all the emails were authentic, though it acknowledged its servers were hacked."
The emails in question are in the thousands and the thread demonstrates a similar theme and are most enlightening. The Wall Street Journal article goes on to point out that "In them, scientists appear to urge each other to present a 'unified' view on the theory of man-made climate change while discussing the importance of the 'common cause'; to advise each other on how to smooth over data so as not to compromise the favored hypothesis; to discuss ways to keep opposing views out of leading journals; and to give tips on how to 'hide the decline' of temperature in certain inconvenient data."
In essence, the world has been duped by scientists driven by the desire of prestige and funding, politicians driven by a lust for control and power, and a media that makes a living by creating alarm. The cost of pursuing a battle plan against these false problems has cost countries like Spain millions of jobs in its "cap and trade" style legislation and countries through out Western Europe and the United States billions of dollars in regulations to date. What will these false prophets receive for their crimes against economies? Probably Pulitzers and Nobels. What a strange world indeed.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Health Care Debate: Lessons to be Learned from Cleveland

Joseph A Milan
From Facebook


For those unfamilar with Cleveland's Medical Mart, please do a news search. We have been paying taxes for years for a "plan" that has changed locations several times and has not become the income generator we were promised. The paralels between this and the health care plan that won't start paying benefits for years but we will get taxed on from the moment it becomes law should not be overlooked):

There is a lesson to be learned from the Medical Mart project that should be applied to the health care reform bills now being debated.Now ousted county commisioners voted for the medical mart with the promise of jobs and attraction of business that would bring our city back. Instead, county taxpayers have been footing the bill for years and plan after plan has been scrapped.We already know some facts abouth the current health care reform if it becomes law. If the bill were to pass today, no benefits would be paid out for years while the country's taxpayers pay into the plan. Many of the congressmen and senators who vote for this plan may not be representing us should we ever see any benefits from health reform.Does the country really want to go through the same process that Cuyahoga residents have been through? How many times will this reform be reformed before anyone gets to use it?Our U.S. congress and senate may have wonderful intentions on this legislation becoming law. So did our county comissioners, who have been asked by the voters to leave. Since our county revolted against the commisioners, it is possible health reform could have the same effect on our representatives in Washington

Liberalism: A Mental Illness, No Matter The Address

by Audrey Russo
From Facebook

I find Liberalism fascinating, in a macabre sort of way. When Liberalism has infected the brain for too long, the victim turns into an unpatriotic, seditious problem child...am I speaking of one of the 20% of Liberals in the US? Not this time, though that list would be interminable...this example comes from 'the land of the four seas'...

A former leader of the Meretz Party in Israel (self-defined as green, left-wing and socialist), Shulamit Aloni, told Ynetnews on her 81st birthday: "It's hard for me to say a kind word about the state today...We are a nefarious people. What we are doing in the West Bank is worse than all the pogroms done to the Jews (referring to the Cossacks)."

Hmmm...do I smell a 'mea culpa tour' in the near future? We have a paradigm for just such an outing...

"A nefarious people?" I believe Ms. Aloni is a wee bit confused. The criminals are those targeting innocents...and that would be the 'Palestinians', NOT the Israelis.

Ms. Aloni added: "No one should be speaking this nonsense about 'blood on the hands'. Since 2000, with the launching of the second Intifada, we have murdered thousands. We too have blood on our hands."

Ah...the effects of Liberalism on the brain...confusion, the convenient absence of truth...it doesn't get better than this.

Since 2000 and the 'Palestinian' war on Israeli innocents...Israel has responded in a defensive mode only. They targeted ONLY those terrorists (um, that would be the PA ['Palestinian' Authority] comprised of the terror groups Hamas and Fatah) that attacked their citizenry. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) work arduously to prevent collateral damage (the deaths of innocents)...with warnings to civilians well in advance of a defensive attack in a civilian area, because groups like Hamas hide among the civilian population and use them as human shields.

Ms. Aloni's remarks are reprehensible...and along with Goldstone and his paltering particulars...they make for a pernicious pair that aids-and-abets Israel's enemies globally.

But again...no surprise here...for these are the consequences of liberal dogma upon vulnerable prey: Those willing to entertain such tripe.

Shalom through strength...

Opposition to Obamacare Should be Unconditional

Kevin Price
From Facebook

Recently I received a request from a very well intended and concerned individual about the health care debate. She wanted me to promote a provision that would have a "whistle blower" provision as a part of the socialized health care bill. It is a great measure that those who want to protect our health care system should support, but avoid like the plague at this time. Meanwhile it is the type of provision that Obama, Reid, and Pelosi hates and they hope and pray that conservatives pursue such with a passion. The reason for this is simple -- it legitimizes the role of the federal government in the health care debate. Once we concede to this type of discussion, there is no longer a question as to whether there will be a socialized health care program, but what it will look like.

I hear people say, "government spending needs to be lower before we pursue such an ambitious program," or "the number one priority is unemployment and until it is below a certain level, we should not be even discussing health care," or other conditions that some deem necessary before we begin a health care debate. Our view must be different. Our opposition to this health care proposal should be unconditional. There should be nothing the federal government can do to make it worthy of consideration. The reasons for this are numerous, here are just a few:


Socialized medicine destroys innovation and will throw our health care into a new Dark Ages.

The federal system our republic is built on intended for issues like this to be addressed exclusively by the states and not the federal government. To date states like California, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Hawaii have attempted such programs and they have all been complete failures. Hawaii's socialized health care program almost put the entire state into bankruptcy and had to be discontinued in seven months.

Socialized medicine has not worked in other countries and, where applied, is noted for rationing and shortages. The average wait time to see a specialist in Canada after a general physician has noted a health care issue requiring further attention is 17 weeks (approximately four months). This is more than enough time to turn an early detected cancer into one that is inoperable. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, women with breast cancer have a 14 percent higher survival rate in the United States than in Europe. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Breast cancer mortality is also 9 percent higher in Canada than in the US. Less than 25 percent of US women die from breast cancer. In Great Britain, it's 46 percent; France, 35 percent; Germany, 31 percent; Canada, 28 percent; Australia, 28 percent, and New Zealand, 46 percent.

Finally, and most important in my opinion, socialized health care is unconstitutional. Our constitution limits the federal government to 17 specific powers and none of them include health care. The argument that the government is already doing many things beyond the mandate of the Constitution does not justify further expansion. The line must be drawn some where. This is the time and this is the place.

If those who oppose socialize medicine engage in the debate by discussing provisions "necessary" to make it "work," the battle is over and we lose. We must stand opposed to socialized health care and do so without exceptions.


Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Public Funding of Elections Provide Predictable Results

Kevin Price
From facebook


Many have been crying for government funding of elections as a vehicle to make elected office more accessible for those who are not rich and to weaken the influence of money on the policy process. A new report by the Goldwater Institute indicates that may not be the case. The Goldwater Institute is a state public policy foundation for the state of Arizona and its recent report shows that public financing has empowered substantially more "big government believers" than supporters of smaller government to the process, according to the Director of its Center for Constitutional Government, Nick Dranias.

The report takes a rather objective look of the impact of public funding on candidates by grading and ranking state legislators based on their commitment to small government as demonstrated by the bills they supported. The institution's philosophy is best described as classical liberal, meaning that government simply should tax, spend, and regulate as little as possible. Like those report cards you received in school, the grading looks familiar -- an "A" for those who would vote like the organization's namesake (Barry Goldwater) and an F of those who reflect the views of the current sitting President, Mr. Obama.

Here are some of the facts from the study:


As shown in the Institute's report, publicly-financed candidates in both the State Senate and House disproportionately receive failing grades.

More publicly-financed candidates rank in the bottom half than in the top half.

And publicly-financed candidates that rank in the bottom 10 are nearly double the number of publicly-financed candidates in the top 10.

The report went far and wide in its scope and its grading scale made the legislature's work very clear. The report was also quite thorough, going through over 1,200 bills, memorials, and resolutions introduced this pass session. It gives a solid framework for individuals to determine what work their elected officials are about: protecting taxpayers or exploiting them.
The National Center for Policy Analysis summarized the report by pointing out that, "Scores for the 49th Arizona Legislature remain around the 50 percent mark, indicating a near equal amount of votes that undermined liberty as upheld it. While legislators with the highest scores received a letter grade of A, it should be remembered that this rating represents a percentage score of 80, leaving much room for improvement. Likewise, these scores illustrate legislators' relative commitment to liberty. They are not absolute measures of a legislator's merit, and do not constitute any endorsement, says Dranias."


In my opinion, this study's findings should not surprise anyone. If one uses welfare to get elected (public funding), how can one expect them to hold a tough line on welfare for the general population once elected. That would be the epitome of hypocrisy. The moral legs necessary for supporting smaller government are wiped out by the power of government subsidies for these candidates. Like virtually every other area of discussion, more government in election funding is not the solution to our problems.


Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Clean Elections Debate

Is Palin’s lead a pitfall for the pro-life cause?

Alan Keyes
From facebook


I was not at all surprised to hear that Rudy Giuliani has lately expressed views that welcome the rising prominence of Sarah Palin in the GOP. Giuliani is the archetype of the politicians who wear the Republican label but staunchly support the pro-abortion agenda. Of course, he imitates the pro-abortion Democrats by using the "pro-choice" label to dress his position in deceptively American garb. The use of that term is one of the most clever rhetorical ploys in the history of American politics. If the slaveholders had thought of it, people like me might still be doing stoop labor for no wages. After all, what could be more American than choice? Isn't that what freedom is all about?

Actually, no; not in the sense of the political liberty the American people have up to now enjoyed. Our liberty is based on the idea of unalienable rights articulated to justify our nation's assertion of independence from Great Britain. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Unalienable rights give rise to opportunities for choice, but in a context that first takes account of the standard of justice from which the claim of right derives. Human life involves certain actions and inclinations that, as a rule, tend to support and preserve it, both for individuals and for the species as a whole. This rule is the result of determinations made by their Creator, whose will thus constitutes the standard for their actions. As they accept the gift of life and perform the actions necessary to sustain it, their respect for the Creator's rule sets the standard for their action. Right action preserves and perpetuates human life. Wrong action damages and destroys it. People are in the right when they act rightly. Should others, without cause or provocation, seek to interfere with their action, they have the right to resist and to defend themselves against that interference.

The concept of unalienable rights thus arises from respect for the rule of the Creator. People acting rightly (i.e., in conformity with the rule) act on the Creator's authority. They may use in defense of their actions whatever powers they possess in consequence of that authority. Their physical, mental and emotional capacities may all be brought to bear to enforce (that is continue with) their right action. These capacities include the ability to discern and choose among different courses of action that achieve the desired result. As they do so, they have a right connected with and arising from their respect for the Creator's rule.

In and of itself, therefore, choice is not a "right". Rather it is a consequence of the conformity to right. Yet the capacity for choice is part of human nature, which is to say the way human beings have been fashioned by the Creator. People have the capacity for choice. But they only have the right to do as they choose when they have used that capacity in accordance with the Creator's rule. Put simply, their choice does not involve a right when what they choose to do is fundamentally wrong.

Government exists because God made humanity with the capacity to do wrong, i.e., envisage and set our sights on a different course than the one that is, on the whole, compatible with the possibility of human existence. In light of this capacity, the purpose of government is to limit and/ or repulse the effective action of wrongdoers, thereby securing the rights (i.e., right courses of action) of those who respect the Creator's will.

This logic is the basis in principle for the pro-life rejection of the superficially potent argument that a woman may do as she chooses when it comes to taking the life of the child in her womb. Her freedom to choose does not extend to violating the Creator's demand of respect for the child's unalienable right to life. God's demand of justice limits individual choice. But it also limits how those entrusted with the powers of government may legitimately (i.e., lawfully) employ them. This is the substantive basis for the concept of limited government. The limitation does not arise from ideological whim, or from social or historical circumstances. It arises from the same determination of the Creator's will that sets the stars on fire and the courses in which planets revolve around them.

Just as the individual's choice is limited by the Creator's determination of what harmonizes with the possibility of human existence, so the use of the powers of government is limited to actions compatible with the aim of securing the unalienable rights of human nature (i.e., those connected with actions and inclinations compatible with the decisions of the Creator that make our existence possible.) No government (including the State governments of the United States) may, in law or action, justly depart from this aim by violating or tolerating the violation of the unalienable rights of anyone subject to its jurisdiction.

Sarah Palin appears to be pro-choice for State governments. (I invite readers to review the arguments I have made in this regard in Sarah Palin: Already Compromised? and Palin's Choice: an Afterword) Yet just as the principle of unalienable right places a limit on the individual choice of the mother it also limits the choice of the community of individuals (civil society) acting by means of the State governments. Except for the just demands of that principle, the intimate, personal consequences of the decision about pregnancy would favor giving moral priority to the mother's choice, not that of State legislators otherwise unaffected by its result. Herein lies the grave danger connected with identifying 'pro-choice for States' politicians as acceptable champions of the pro-life cause. They step away from the solid ground of principle provided by the Declaration of Independence reliance upon unalienable rights. By doing so, they set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the pro-life position. Sadly this also undermines the argument that the consent of the governed is the sine qua non of governmental legitimacy (lawfulness). For unless it respects requirements of right action, government based upon consent contradicts the Creator's rule, and so cuts the ground out from under the just demand it claims to represent.

Obamacare will Destroy Innovation

Kevin Price
From Facebook

In addition to costing (on the low end) approximately $1 trillion simply to launch President Obama's ambitious move towards socialized medicine, this proposal will also have a devastating effect on the nation's health care. In fact, I believe the passage of this bill will pave the way for a new Dark Ages in health care.

The entire debate on health care seems to be focusing on costs and covering the uninsured. The latter group is almost a misnomer because one can argue that our "uninsured" are better protected than many under socialized medicine in Europe and the former cannot be contained through government controls without sacrificing quality and fostering rationing health care system.

The United States is the only major nation with health care that is still (to some extent) market driven. There is an impetus in US health care towards innovation that other countries simply do not enjoy. The Cato Institute noted in a recent study that innovation should be the number one concern in the health care debate, according to Glen Whitman, an associate professor of economics at California State University, Northridge and Raymond Raad, a resident in psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

They make this case by examining four categories of innovation -- basic science, diagnostics, therapeutics, and business models. They found:

In the areas of basic science diagnostics, and therapeutics, the United States has contributed more than any other country, and in some cases, more than all other countries combined.
In the last category, business models, the researchers lack the data to say whether the United States has performed better. What is interesting is that other countries have their own problems in this area. Government bureaucracy has replaced business bureaucracy, how can that be better? "Government" is the common thread in all of these inefficient systems (including our own) and one should argue that should be the point of focus. We should look at reducing the role of government and increasing the role of the market.

The US approach, with all of its costs and inefficiencies, has provided the greatest innovations in health care for its patients, according to the authors. These include:

The quick adoption and broad use of new treatments and technologies, which in turn create an incentive to develop those techniques in the first place.
When the American people "subsidizes" medical innovation through higher costs, the whole world benefits; that is a virtue of the American system that is not reflected in comparative life expectancy and mortality statistics. It is almost humorous that the rest of the world is not denouncing the US for moving away from a system that other countries are benefiting from.
Medical treatments must be invented before costs can be reduced and its use extended to everyone. Becuase of that, innovation remains critical. If the incentive for innovation is not there, everyone (including those who are suppose to benefit from socialized medicine) will suffer.
Innovation has had virtually no role in the current health care debate and this shows how myopic supporters of socialized health care are. They too will find themselves suffering from the lack of options that are common in systems that are not market driven.
For more information I suggest Glen Whitman and Raymond Raad, "Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation," Cato Institute, November 18, 2009.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

These idiots cost you money

This is the place where we get to say, "I told you so" to every democrat who has annoyed you talking by about their Toyota Prius and how it will help prevent global warming. It's time to laugh at them. Laugh at the gullible sheep that they are. Laugh at their inability to think for themselves and their reliance on liberal media headlines to tell them what to regurgitate and pretend are their own opinions.

Global warming is a fraud. It has been exposed in resounding fashion. A hacker has exposed and made public over 1,000 e-mails between some leading figures in the global warming hoax. The Washington Times wites a good story I highly recommend, This is the place where we get to say, "I told you so" to every democrat who has annoyed you talking by about their Toyota Prius and how it will help prevent global warming. It's time to laugh at them. Laugh at the gullible sheep that they are. Laugh at their inability to think for themselves and their reliance on liberal media headlines to tell them what to regurgitate and pretend are their own opinions.

Global warming is a fraud. It has been exposed in resounding fashion. A hacker has exposed and made public over 1,000 e-mails between some leading figures in the global warming hoax. The Washington Times wites a good story I highly recommend,
Fraud Exposed
Here's the next issue for you to contemplate. Climate change legislation has been making things more expensive for you. Fuel efficiency standards have raised the cost of the vehicles we purchase by an estimate 2-4k per car. And as Glenn Beck notes, making lighter cars to help improve mileage costs an estimated 2,000 lives per year (more than 4x the rate of soldiers' deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined). Greenhouse gas restrictions on industry has helped make it cheaper to manfacture goods in China. How many people could be employed here if this fraud had not been committed against science? Remember, we are paying welfare to thousands of unemployed factory workers. This has cost you thousands of dollars.


Here's the next issue for you to contemplate. Climate change legislation has been making things more expensive for you. Fuel efficiency standards have raised the cost of the vehicles we purchase by an estimate 2-4k per car. And as Glenn Beck notes, making lighter cars to help improve mileage costs an estimated 2,000 lives per year (more than 4x the rate of soldiers' deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined). Greenhouse gas restrictions on industry has helped make it cheaper to manfacture goods in China. How many people could be employed here if this fraud had not been committed against science? Remember, we are paying welfare to thousands of unemployed factory workers. This has cost you thousands of dollars.

Thankful ? That I am!

It has been over a year since I have a had a job, and it seems that I have left no stone unturned in my quest to be employed again. Christmas is going to be tight this year and we are talking tight. Over the past year I lost my car, and have struggled to make ends meet with other bills. But I still have my values and core beliefs and will not waver for no one except God.

Sometimes I admit it gets real depressing in wondering when will I be working again. Will it be in Ohio or out of state? If I do find a job in Ohio how close to Cleveland? People are finding jobs out of Ohio, where am I not looking and what am I not thinking about? What advice have I not followed and what advice have I listened to too much of?
I have three different versions of my resume, which one is best? I have heard it has too much or not enough. How do I know which one is best to send to who or what?

Then I just focus on the bills, and that can kill ya alone! How are we going to keep the rent up and the car paid and the power and the heat on? And it goes on and on and on and on.

But then I just stop and watch whats going on around me. In my apartment complex I see families packing up and moving out. It's real hard to watch kids look at their Mom and Dads take down the Christmas decorations and pack it up and move out because they have been evicted. Then I look at my neighbors, what neighbors? They are gone and the parking lot to the complex has less cars in it. It seems now it is quieter than what it has been before. Wow! where have I been? I have been so busy in my own misery that I have not stopped to think that this is real, and it's not just me anymore.

And at that time I just bow my head and give thanks to God that I am not at that point, I am still surviving. While I don't have cable or internet but and I am borrowing a computer and can go to the libary to hunt for jobs and keep this blog alive because believe it or not, this blog helps keep my stress down, we still have a place to call home. And we have health Insurance, We still have one car and it has low mileage for now, so no car repairs for a while. If I do get a job in the city I know what RTA is.I have a vast job network that needs work and I am not sure how to make it work for me but I have it and it keeps getting better and I am learning something new everyday, and it may help with the next job.

I still get to go out and eat and take in a movie every now and then. My Wifes company canceled the Christmas party this year, but Christmas is still coming! I will find a party. I don't have to look for a place to have a meal and I know where I am having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

Why is this important you ask? Because I can push on and believe it or not enjoy the journey. Because no matter how bad or good the journey, it's the experience I gain and maybe pass it on to people behind me that I have learned from the ones in front of me. One lesson I have always learned in life is that you have to be a good follower to be a good leader.

So after I eat the Turkey and go back for seconds and maybe thirds , maybe watch a few DVD's and play on the X-BOX for a while and enjoy the weekend, I will wake up Sunday Morning go to Church, come home eat left overs, read the paper and yell at the Cleveland Browns, because there is a lot to yell about this year and after I settle down I will get out the now small employment classified section of the paper and start all over again.

And after I grumble about not much to apply for, I might just go to a window and look for an American Flag waving in the air, and be thankful for living in the greatest nation in the world where my Pastor can still get behind the pulpit and preach the word of God as taught to me from the Sunday School room to the sanctuary of an Apostolic Pentecostal Church. It is still my right to believe in the faith I chose and go to a Church of my choosing, and it is still my right to fight for my children and future grand Children, to have there freedom to fight for there Christianity and my right to teach them that same faith as I so believe. I am thankful to God for my Church, my Country, my Family and my many friends.

I would not want to live anywhere else.

Happy Thanksgiving America, and God Bless you all

Mark G Pogue