National Health Care - The Straw That Breaks the Camel's Back

I have to admit, I became physically ill when the "stimulus" bill passed Congress because I knew that we were basically going to flush hundreds of billions of dollars down the toilet in the name of rescuing the economy. I didn't think that anything could ever top that monstrosity as the biggest mistake this side of the Iraq War, but now I have read that the House of Representatives has just topped the stimulus bill and the war combined in one fell swoop. WARNING: The picture attached to this article includes the horrific mug of Nancy Pelosi - view with caution.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23943.html

I for one would be thrilled if we could actually have health care reform. Again, I describe health care reform as insuring more people while lowering costs and NOT increasing the national debt. What the clowns in the House are pushing as "reform" will certainly insure more people, but the cost will be the final straw that breaks Treasury's back.

What I can't figure out is why Congress and the President think that it is such a good idea to rush any old plan through? If Citizen Zane were to reform health care, I would first put together a committee of industry stakeholders representing insurers, drug companies, doctors, patients, taxpayers, employers, and (oops gagged for a second) the trial lawyers. Oh yeah, toss a few Congress folks in there too. How about a nice mix of three Democrats and three Republicans. I'm sure that I'm missing somebody in there, but Committee would be smart enough to add them. Then I would look at models from other countries and see what works, and how all of the stakeholders could compromise on different points and actually come up with a plan that makes the most sense. Then we have to figure out how to pay for it.

What we are going to get is a bunch of STUPID pie-in-the sky ideas from the far left that are going to cost trillions and provide shi**y care for everyone. I like how the Dems are casting the Republicans as the Party of No. Guess why they say "NO" to everything? Because you are so far out on the edge of fantasy land with your legislation that they would be irresponsible not to. Want a better plan? Don't lock the Republicans out because 1/4 of what they say may actually make sense and improve the dipstick plan that you are going to hammer down our throats.

Here is the other outrageously large problem that Congress is conveniently ignoring. Health care is expensive because there are a lot of cost drivers that make it expensive to provide. Let's put together a quick and dirty list, shall we?

• Malpractice insurance and the need for doctors to perform unnecessary procedures to CYA
• The cost of drugs: R&D and clinical trials cost $$$$$ and drug companies are going to cut it off if they don't make a return on their investments.
• Illegal immigrants and the indigent leaching off of the system without paying in.
• The cost in time and money to become a doctor (my buddy is $250K in debt and still in residency - think he wants to be a govt. employee??).
• Equipment, labs, supplies, etc.
• Profit for insurance administration

I'm sure that this list is the tip of the iceberg too. The problem I have is that Congress has to address ideas for cutting into those massive costs before signing up 40 million new people to add to them. I have heard that a public option will drive down costs by eliminating the profit the insurance providers and administrators earn. This makes me laugh out loud! The government is going to be that efficient? The government employees will be the usual barely-care winners we get at the DMV who are surly, slow, and don't care if they get anything done. Oh yeah, full pension and health benefits too please! Trust me, the private sector and their profit will cost us a lot less. Add that on top of the brilliant method used by the government to select those who will benefit from the nationalization of health care (click below for further outrage and inconvenient truth).

http://timeforpitchforksandtorches.blogspot.com/2009/05/wishing-it-could-be-so.html

Another major problem: Who is going to pay for this boondoggle? So far, Congress hasn't figured that out. Guess what? I have. If you are on this list, consider yourself fairly warned:

• Currently insured
• Taxpayer
• Employer

Chances are, there won't be enough blood to suck from the above noted list and the remainder will be tossed onto the mountain of national debt. The final effect will be to either break the unfortunate listed above or the Treasury. Yep, when we add another trillion or two on top of the mess that is already projected to be spent in deficit, only fools will continue to loan us money. At that point, the treasury will add a few printing presses and the dollar will fall like a piano out a six-story window. Mmmmm, back to Jimmy Carter inflation and interest rates. Go back and look at the Pelosi photo again. It is only slightly less horrifying than the results of her handiwork - Citizen Zane

Your Bill for Health Care Reform Will Be Arriving Soon

As Congress and the President fire up continued talks on health care "reform", the problem of paying for providing the uninsured with health insurance is starting to be addressed. You will never guess who Congress has in mind to pay for it all...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31106408/

Yep, its going to be the currently insured - at minimum. Just in case you didn't know this, if your employer is offering health insurance, he or she kicks in a good chunk of change every month to pay for that insurance. At a company I worked for a few years ago, it was public knowledge what the Company paid on your behalf for insurance. In my case, it was about $1,200 per month. Assuming health care costs have not gone up and I still worked there, that would mean that the Zane Family is receiving the benefit of $14,400 per year for health insurance. Right now, that benefit is received tax free. Under the proposal now being considered by Congress, that would mean that I would have to pay taxes on some portion of that income to cover somebody else's insurance. Assuming that my marginal tax bracket is 25%, I could be asked to kick in up to an additional $3,600 for other people's insurance.

Want to hear something scary? The President himself told Senators that he would back this outrage, even though he specifically campained against it when running against John McCain. In fact, he hammered McCain on this very point. The article even includes a video clip of the President taking McCain to task about taxing these benefits. How do you spell hypocrite? O-B-A-M-A.

The article blesses us with a photo of illustrious Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who seems to favor taxing insurance benefits. His rationale? Taxing those benefits would be "fairer and more equitable for everyone". HUH??? How is sucking my hard-earned money up and using it to pay somebody else's health insurance fairer and more equitable to me? He did say "everyone" did he not? Obviously, when the liberally stupid mention fairness and equity, they really mean paying off the people who put them in power by transferring the wealth of others. Fair and equitable my A**! If you live in Montana and don't vote Maxie out of office, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. Get off your lazy butt and go to the polls and send him packing.

Want to know what your additional tax bill will be? Assume that your employer spends about $1,000/month on your insurance. Also, assuming you are married and the government taxes the entire benefit, your bill will be as follows (Citizen Zane can find tax tables online!):

$1,200 if your taxable income is less than $15,650
$1,800 if your taxable income is between $15,650 and $63,700
$3,000 if your taxable income is between $63,700 and $128,500
$3,360 if your taxable income is between $128,500 and $195,850

I am guessing that there will be some portion of the benefit that is exempt, especially for the lower income groups, and that the above calculations would be on the high side. But, with this wacky Congress, you never can tell. Remember how fired up we all were about soaking the rich to pay for everything???? You can now look your insured a** in the mirror and spot the rich guy who will be paying - Citizen Zane

Health Care Reform or Musical Chairs?

A regular reader (making him or her one of the more intelligent people on the Internet) passed on this link which is remarkably balanced considering its source.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/13/obama-announce-deal-health-care-reform/

It seems that our grand elected officials are going to go out and reform health care to provide universal coverage for all. It's a truly noble idea - which means that it has to be coming from the liberal leaning side of the isle. And, as with all noble ideas from the left, its going to cost a fortune and we aren't going to worry about paying for it.

I, for one, would actually really like to see universal coverage. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to do some consulting work in an area where I thought that I could maybe carve out a nice little niche for myself and start my own thing. Realizing that if I left my company at the time, that my family would be without health coverage, I asked a friend who is a building contractor about what he was doing for health care. "Paying out of my a**!" he grumbled back. I got the lowdown on the coverage and its cost and that pretty much put an end to my attempt to go solo. Maybe if there were universal coverage....well, I'd probably be in the soup line, but that is another story.

I listened to President Obama give a speech today on the issue, while my co-workers debated back and forth about what we could do to fix the system, and just about all of us had different ideas, but the person who made the most sense said, "If we could just take the politicians out of it and get a team of industry stakeholders together to hammer out a workable plan...." No, that makes too much sense. One Kool-aid drinking liberal came up with, "The rich should have to pay for all of us," which is simply brilliant except that the rich are already the ones funding the health insurance that most of us have along with $4 trillion worth of other government spending. Rich as they are, they only have so much money.

The problem with the government getting mixed up in this mess is: 1) Its the government and we are facing another Social Security/Medicare disaster; and 2) The private sector - the people who actually profit by improving the system will be crowded out of the market and things will get worse. Its going to be like a giant game of musical chairs. The music will start and all of the stakeholders in the industry, including the insurance companies, drug makers, the doctors, the patients, the tax payers, employers, the illegal aliens, the lawyers who sue everyone else, etc. will walk around in a big circle and then the music will stop and only some of those people will get a chair and life will be rosy and everyone else will get seriously hosed. Here's guessing that Nancy and Harry will save a seat for everyone who votes for the Democrats. Great, you say, if you are a Democrat. Well, not exactly. Cause anyone who understands rudimentary economics knows that when the government picks winners and losers, we get these little things called 'externalities', or the negative side effects that pop up as a result.

Do we hose the drug companies and make them slash their prices? Well, who is going to pay for the research, development, and clinical trials needed to bring a drug to market. Do we slash the doctors' incomes? Well, who is going to go $250K in debt for education and training for 10 years to make as much as a school teacher? Do we burden all employers with mandatory coverage? Well, how many small businesses do we drive out of the marketplace. Make any sense? Personally, I'd like to kick the lawyers out, but we do need defenders for malpractice, and well, the trial lawyers support the Demos to the hilt, so they ain't going nowhere. Hmmmmm....who can we stick it to? Guess what, my friends, when the music stops, the only sure bets in the bunch are the currently insured and the taxpayers. If you fall into one of those two groups, look down at the little red laser dot jiggling around on your chest. That's Congress taking aim at you. Take it to the bank - Citizen Zane

Insolvency Just Around the Corner

If this article doesn't scare the pants off of you, then you are either beyond apathy, have no prospects for ever accumulating a nickel in wealth, are just plain Stupid - with a capital S, or weren't wearing any pants to start with. Note: you may qualify for more than one above.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/InvestForRetirement/is-america-about-to-go-broke.aspx

This folks, is government gone horribly amok for too long. Read this line from the article to get an idea of just what kind of trouble we are in:

"According to the Federal Reserve flow-of-funds figures for year-end 2007, our collective net worth as consumers was $62.7 trillion. By the end of 2008, the same figure had fallen to $51.5 trillion. Another year of growth for Social Security and Medicare liabilities would bring total unfunded government promises to about $46 trillion. That's nearly 90% of our net worth."

To the truly stupid out there, that means that the government is going to need to take 90% of everything that everybody has in the nation to keep its promises on those two programs alone. So do you think that you are going to enjoy these retirement benefits when you are an old codger? Let's just say that dog food consumption is going to go through the roof in the next 25 or so years and not because there will be more dogs.

I remember when President Bush tried to do something to reform Social Security back a few years ago and the public and congressional outcry was overwhelming to the point that old Alfred E. had to back off. Oddly, the outcry against the Iraqi war didn't seem to be so forceful, even after it turned into a disaster. Instead, we kept hearing the same old rhetoric from our elected officials that Social Security was "safe". Yeah, like they care. If I remember correctly, they have their own retirement plan and are exempt from Social Security. This is the same government that is putting Bernie Madoff away for running a similar ponzi scam, but on a much more limited basis. He is small fry. The fact is, Congress does not have the political will to make the hard choices that we need to make because they fear that the short-sighted stupid among us will throw them out of office. Instead, they hand out more goodies and take in more money and get re-elected because people are too stupid to throw them out of office. It is time that we demand those self-serving fools represent us or get the hell out of Washington. VOTE THEM ALL OUT!

Right now, as Citizen Zane types away, your government is making plans to expand their programs to "benefit" us all. They are even BORROWING more money to get those plans rolling? Based on their track record with Social Security and Medicare, how can so many people actually think that all of this spending is a good idea? - Citizen Zane

Wow, This is a Revelation!

Don't look now, but the White House is forecasting higher budget deficits than first calculated:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/White-House-forecasts-higher-rb-15199396.html?sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode

Well no s**t Sherlock! Jeez, does this come as a surprise to anyone? I could have told you that the deficit was going higher than first forecast, and I am going to make a bold prediction here that it is going to go up from here. All right, I understand that the economy is slowing and there are going to be lower tax revenues and some higher social costs - that I get. What doesn't make sense to me is that the President and Congress are choosing NOW to try to institute a bunch of dips**t liberal policies that are going to cost us a fortune! Hey guys, how about getting things back on track to where we are generating some revenue and reducing some costs somewhere BEFORE you attempt your expensive social (socialist) experiments that are going to put us in an even deeper hole - and have about a one in 7,600 chance of actually working without creating an even bigger social/financial disaster? Hmmm, if I lose my job and have to take a 50% pay cut, should I contemplate buying a new house and asking my fellow unemployed neighbors to eat at my kitchen table every night too? Should I stand at a fuel pump and fill up every tank that rolls through if the person tells me that they can't afford to fill their SUV on their own?

I may be disgusted with the government right now, but here is what really gets my goat. Whenever some stupid, politically motivated, outsized spending bill comes up now, the excuse that I hear from the President and Congress is that its to help the economy or because the prior administration spent a lot of money and left a mess, blah, blah, blah. At least come clean - you are pushing some stupid left wing social movement to entrench yourselves deeper in power. The other thing that is irking me is that people all over are piling up on the rich and capitalists as being these evil guys who deserve to be taxed into oblivion. Citizen Zane is far from rich, and I do think that the prior administration gave the wealthy a few too many breaks, but without the people who take risks and generate large amounts of income that we all enjoy as employees and fellow taxpayers, we are going to choke the goose who lays the golden eggs. Hey lazy rich-hating moron, go out and make your own money. You are not entitled to your neighbor's wealth because he/she is successful. Stop embarrassing yourself - Citizen Zane.

Smack in the Fannie

I have heard some on the far left argue that its is capitalism to blame for our current economic disaster and that a turn toward socialism is actually a good thing. Well this story ought to set them straight - well except that they are COMPLETE MORONS to begin with.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fannie9-2009may09,0,3211158.story?track=rss

I argue that Fannie Mae and her buck-toothed sister Freddie Mac are two of the biggest causes of the financial melt down. How, Dearest Citizen Zane, you may ask? I'll explain. You know all of those really stupid loans that were handed out to people who couldn't afford them? The ones that were supposedly forced upon them by predatory lenders? Well, no sane lender is going to give $400,000 to someone too irresponsible to pay it back. Step in the government and their little friends Fannie and Freddie. They will buy those bad loans from the original lender and hold them so that the borrowers, who have no business buying homes that they cannot afford, can get into houses!!!! Its a wonderful idea if you are a liberal. Lots of 'deserving' people who otherwise would not enjoy the benefits of home ownership can have a neat new house! However, the downside to any liberal make-us-all-equal program: now we are looking at as much as $400 Billion in taxpayer money to bail Fannie out of all of those bad loans.

This is the problem with letting the government get mixed up in capitalism. They tend to allocate resources toward their political agendas rather than sensible choices. And Congress is now budgeting trillions more to be wasted??? I remember our excellent public servant Barney Frank proclaiming to all that Fannie was financially sound. And this nitwit is a big gun on the Senate Banking Committee!!! If Citizen Zane had looked into Fannie's books, I would have screamed bloody murder. I saw recently that Barney Frank was blaming the Bush administration for Fannie Mae not being solvent because of a bunch of deregulation. Can you imagine the uproar if Bush would have cut off sub prime loans to the poor? Maxine Waters would have been screaming from one end of the weekend to Thanksgiving. She said that Fannie was good too. Sure Alfred E. Bush wasn't minding the store, but c'mon Barney & Maxine, accept some responsibility! If I lived in Taxachusetts, I would vote his stupid ass out. I wish I still lived in Cali so that I could vote against Maxine too.

So now, I read that the Senate is now working on a national health insurance plan:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090509/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul_public_plan

Now I for one understand that the nation's medical care delivery system is ridiculous, but I can tell you right now what is going to happen if the politicians decide to run it. Click on that first link and read about Fanni Mae again. Citizen Zane would much rather leave the health care industry to Wal-Mart. Think I'm joking? Read this:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/InStoreClinicsBoostWalMartsHealth.aspx

My guess is that if the government took over the health care system, we would be rationing care, have the bored and hypochondriach contingent overusing the system, and probably cost the tax payers at least three times the amount per visit that they could pay Wal-Mart to handle the same job. Hmmmm, maybe they could put Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, and Donald Rumsfeld in charge of the whole thing too. Just food for thought - Citizen Zane

$17 Billion Down, $1.183 Trillion to go!

Wow, two posts in a row where I have to apologize to the President. He is showing fiscal restraint that would make Herbert Hoover proud. Thanks to an anonymous reader, I got a hold of this gem:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/06/white-house-official-obama-cut-programs-save-b-budget/

I know, I know...Fox News. Well, I'll just concentrate on the quotes. This from the President..."All across this country, Americans are responding to difficult economic times by tightening their belts and making tough decisions about where they need to spend and where they need to save," Obama said Thursday as he unveiled the details.
"The question the American people are asking is whether Washington is prepared to act with the same sense of responsibility," he said. "I believe we can and must do exactly that." Holy cow, I didn't make that up. Washington is going to spend wisely - the President even said so himself. He's backed up by Democratic Rep. John Spratt, chairman of the House Budget Committee..."While the Congress is unlikely to agree with all the changes proposed by the administration, the process and the resulting proposals are a step in the right directions, and a sign of fiscal discipline." It is a step in the right direction, like step one in a stroll from Idaho to Naples, Italy. Fiscal Discipline??? Cutting $17 Billion off of a $1.2 Trillion deficit is not exactly my idea of fiscal discipline - sort of like Imelda Marcos taking back two pair of shoes.

Call me a cynic, but methinks that the Spender-in-Chief is feigning some fiscal responsibility. The crazy thing is that his cuts are going to annoy some entrenched spending projects enjoyed by some members in Congress. Let's see how this august body reacts. Here's a bet that they give the President his moment in the sun and the media falls into line and proclaims him a careful spender of our money. I'm a careful spender too. I'm going to pay my credit card balance off this month. Match that Imelda - Citizen Zane

I Owe the President and Congress an Apology!

Yes, even Citizen Zane is wrong on occasion. Here I have been pounding our honorable elected officials about the stimulus money being wasted and such, when suddenly, I came across this article that proves that jobs are being created as a result.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30522222

It seems like counties, towns, and other government organizations need to hire help to handle the paperwork involved with securing a spot at the government trough. This newly created job mentioned in the article has inspired me to do my part to keep the ball roling. I plan to pay myself to mow my backyard this Saturday. That will create a new job too! Everyone, get off your lazy arses and get out and create some new jobs just like me! With all of our newfound production, we will have this economy back and rolling in no time - Citizen Zane

So Goes California, So Goes the Nation

Although I now live in New York, I still consider California to be my home state and I plan to have my ashes spread accross the sand traps at the Los Verdes Golf Course (where I spent about half of my time when I played there) when I expire. Its often said of California that it sets the trends for the rest of the nation. If this is true, then this article from Forbes does not bode well for all of us.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/27/worst-cities-jobs-opinions-columnists-employment-opportunities.html

Although the article is about the worst cities for jobs, the author adds an editorial on the gross stupidity of the state's government that I felt like I had written myself. It should be manditory reading for all people who blindly vote Democratic. In case you have been living in a cave, California is now facing a budget crisis due to a multibillion dollar deficit that dwarfs the state budgets of all but a few other states. Here is the problem: The far left has taken total control over the state and implemented top notch liberal policies that have drained the state's coffers and driven away business. The lefties are supported by state employee labor unions, environmentalists, and the most dangerous of all, liberal elitists like Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein. Yeccchhhh, I cringe when thinking about that troika - I suppose hell would be if I were locked in the same room with them all for eternity. If I go OJ and kill someone, I expect that they will be wearing lingerie too.

You know all of that stimulus money that is supposed to go to create jobs and for investments? Well California is going to suck a bunch of that off to keep the state workers fat and happy. In return, they will continue to vote Democratic for life. Poor Arnold over in Cali is like the Little Dutch Boy with his muscular finger in the Dike trying to hold the state legislature back from turning the state into Soviet Union with better beaches. I just give thanks that Arnold kicked Gray Davis's useless ass out of the Governor's mansion before Mr. Davis could throw any more money to the state workers. I have some good friends who work for the state and they have his picture framed up on the wall for diverting so much money their way.

Here is where I get into big trouble, but I think that what I am about to say is the truth. State workers are bankrupting every state in the nation. California is an extreme case, but here is my case: State workers retire in their fifties or early sixties with most of their salary intact for life, plus super generous health benefits. My parents were both state employees and together they make six figures and have health insurance - retired for 10 years now. They are both in good health and should last another 10 years easily. This means that the state is paying them about $2 million in salary, and probably another $300K in medical in retirment for NOT working. That's $2.3 million!!!! Anybody have that left in the 401(k)? Here's news: neither do the states. Now multiply my parents by a couple of million and you start to understand the scope of the State budget crisis epidemics roaring through the land. Now consider how productive state workers tend to be...did someone say DMV? Boy this rant is getting off topic in a hurry.

Anyway, take a look at what is happening in California and you get an idea about where the rest of us are headed. I think that liberals are nice, well-meaning people, but their absolute stupidity with what is realistic as they build their liberal utopias is absolutely mind boggling. We saw what happened when a bunch of right-wing policies got stuffed down our throats all at once and I shudder to think what would become of us if the religious right came to power (full disclosure: Citizen Zane attends a very conservative Christian church, but he doesn't think that Sunday School should be manditory for non-believers). Instead of healthcare debates we would be kicking Darwin out of the textbooks. Even with that, I admit that the liberals scare me worse. With our representitives holding on to these ridiculous ideologies rather than looking for pragmatic, balanced policies that might actually work, they will continue to run the country into the ground. They have to go -ALL of them. Citizen Zane

The Slopfest in On!

With the stimulus money being fed into the national trough and the Presidents proposed budget lining up right behind, the pigs have come runnin' to eat from miles around. I ran into this gem of an article that notes that cities and counties from around the nation are hiring lobbyists to help them get what they all seem to describe as a "fair share" of the overflowing supply of federal government slop. Sooo-eeeeey!!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30547258//

Now I don't blame the town of Podunk, Mississippi for making a grab at the money. Its available for anyone who can get a piece. I do blame Congress. Is it just me or wasn't the stimulus money supposed to go toward upgrading our infrastructure, investing in energy, and in creating new jobs??? Wasn't there a plan in place for targeted spending BEFORE we allocated that money? Thank God that Joe Biden is there to make sure that the money is appropriated in a judicious manner! I can only imagine the trucks that we are going to need to haul the slop when the Presidents budget passes.

Guess what folks, with all of this slop going to the pigs of Farmers Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, what do you think is going to happen to the other farms out there that actually operate efficiently, are run by judicious landowners, and have producing employees who earn a fair wage? Yep, they are going to be crowded out - and have to send a few sacks of their hard won feed and some of their water rights over to Animal Farm as tribute. This porky pandemic is far worse than the swine flu that may take a few of us - it is going to drag us all down into the mud. Am I redundantly becoming redundant by saying the same things over and over? It is because I am fed up - time to stop the pork. Vote 'em all out - Citizen Zane

Where Did the Outrage Go?

It wasn't so long ago that it seemed like everybody was jumping all over former President Alfred E. Bush for running up huge budget deficits with his tax cuts and with two expensive wars. Today I read that our new President, Santa Claus, is about to make old Alfred E. look like a miser.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090428/pl_nm/us_obama_budget_healthcare_3

It appears that the House of Representative Socialists, are nearing completion of a new budget that will have a $1.4 Trillion - yes with a capital T - deficit for 2010. That pretty much embarrasses anything that the previous administration managed to borrow and spend over the past eight years in total. This budget includes making various tax cuts permanent. Haven't the Demos been screaming about the evils of tax cuts for the last 8 years? What a bunch of hypocrites! If you have been pissin' and moaning about Bush's wild spending, but suddenly stopped because now its Obama and the left hemorrhaging money, YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE TOO! Actually, you could argue that Citizen Zane should have been screaming for Bush's head too, and you are correct. I guess that the stimulus package finally sent me over the edge, so I do apologize to the Demos for appearing to bag on them for crying for years that President Bush was running up the deficit. Oh, jeez, are those the same Demos who are now gleefully spending to excess???? And the Republicans in the house who are now so outraged at the new spending while not being outraged at the old...well, you guys are hypocrites too. The whole lot of them need to go.

And herein lies the problems with our beloved two parties. On one hand, we have the Democrats who are noble, well-meaning people. They want nice housing, health care, retirement, and good jobs for all. The only problem is that those things cost money - lots of money. So when you play Santa and hand it all out to everyone who isn't producing enough to pay for it, well that money has to come from somewhere. Hmmm, let's take it from people who actually produce and drag them down to the misery level of everyone else. Can you imagine piling universal health coverage on top of Social Security, on top of Medicare, on top of all of the other handouts? Oh wait, now we need miles of red tape to make sure that everyone is safe from the evils of people who make money. That $1.4 Trillion is starting to look like chicken feed. I s'pose we have tax the hell out of anyone with a job. Guess what morons? You have now choked the goose laying the golden eggs that you have spent in advance. If I ran my household like the Democrats, I would live in a freakin' McMansion (refinanced 4 times), drive an SUV and a sports car, have exhausted my savings, run my credit cards up to the limit, and be taking the Gucci-clad family to Euro Disney next week. Oh yeah, the neighbor next door will bail me out when I'm broke and my house drops in value....wait a minute, this sounds a lot like how we got into this financial disaster in the first place!!!!!!

On the other hand we have the Republicans. Sensible folks who have a more realistic outlook on the world. They seem to understand that we need to support our producers. If fact, why don't we just tax everybody EXCEPT the people making money. Then let's legislate our morals on to everybody so that they can all be as happy and rich as we are! Woooooooo, wave that flag! While we are at it, we can pretend to be compassionate folks who care - and then waste a bunch of legislative resources in pursuit of silly ideas that don't work for everybody, but appease our far right supporters.

Is it only Citizen Zane who thinks that somewhere in the middle is the only reasonable place to park this bus? Am I the only one outraged by the continued irresponsibility of our government. Let's vote 'em out! Grab the pitchforks and torches - Citizen Zane

It Sounds to Me Like America is Just Plain High

I sure hope that the majority of Americans are smarter than I am, although I have serious doubts about it. No, I take that back - I have absolultely not doubt that the majority is definitely NOT smarter. Further proof: the results of this poll I saw on Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama100_days_ap_poll

I for one am hoping (slim as it may be) that the President does succeed and wildly so, though my measure of success will not be how many media folk kiss his ass or how his poll numbers go. My criteria will be based on 1) The size of the national debt that he has promised to halve; 2) The strength of the dollar and the US economy; 3) The amount of government intrusion into our lives; 4) Are we safer or less safe than we were before; and 4) Can he do something to reign in the out of control Congress that I propose that we vote out. Hmmmm, methinks that our leader has a big hill to climb. I'm pulling for you, Mr. President. Don't let us down!

Plastic for Everyone!

My wife’s credit card bill came today. I opened the envelope, checked the balance, shuddered, and then immediately thought about my various options.

I could:
A. Read the bill and make sure that all of the charges appear reasonable
B. Not read the bill

From there, I could:
A. Pay the bill in full
B. Make a partial payment and incur interest charges
C. Not pay anything and REALLY incur the interest charges

Finally, I could decide to:
A. Let my wife keep the card
B. Cut up the card
C. Order companion cards for friends and family

Now in the case of my wife’s card, I always read the charges. Every so often something like a charge for $425 by Al’s House of Custom Wheels, or $29 for Big Jim’s Tabackey Shop will appear that doesn’t look right. If she has no idea what those charges are either, then we call Citibank to protest. Second, I always pay the bill in full – no matter what. We haven’t carried a balance on any card since 1993.

For the last option, I could always attempt to cut the card up, but the ensuing divorce would cost me about 100 times the bill, so it’s cheaper just to let it go. Besides, my wife has a consistent track record for not spending more than we can afford to spend in a month. If she plans to buy something that might be higher than usual, we sit down together and figure out if we really need it and if it fits our budget. As for the idea of sending companion cards out to miscellaneous friends and relatives…are you kidding? Who do I look like, Congress????? Hell no, I happen to be fiscally responsible.

I think of the most recent stimulus bill that the President rammed through Congress and compare it to my wife’s credit card bill, and I want to throw up. In the case of Congress, there is absolutely no consideration for paying any portion of the previous bill off. Nope, all of our friends have a companion card, and they are going to charge it to the max at every opportunity. Somebody else is going to pay it off with interest someday, but it won’t be our problem then.

It’s bad enough that Congress has no intention of paying for their wild spending spree, but it seems like nobody bothered to read the whole bill before everyone voted to pass it. HUH????? No questioning that charge from Jimbo’s House of Whores? How about the 12 year subscription to Hustler? New rims for an Escalade that we don’t own? Should we talk about whether or not we can afford to buy all of the neighbors a flat screen TV? Nah, why bother, it’s only $700 billion. Besides, the President wants it passed in a couple of days, so we have to throw it together real quick and hammer it through.

By the way, didn’t the President himself campaign on such issues as responsible spending, no earmarks, and full disclosure? Did he not break all of those promises when he blindly signed the check to pay for that boondoggle? How can the media not hold him to this? No wonder the wandering stupid among us don’t say a word. Heaven forbid that Fox News will almost sound credible when attacking the Demos on this!

Citizen Zane wonders whether it is prudent for him to hand out 100 companion cards to that can be charged to the max to irresponsible people to help stimulate the economy, and then declare bankruptcy and walk away Scott free……Hmmmm, that seems to be the government’s MO, because as sure as God made little green apples, that’s where we are heading – Citizen Zane

Are People Really This Stupid? Suppose so...

So I'm checking on the latest injury info on my LA Angels to see who pulled a hammy today in that horrendous, bankrupt, left-wing fish wrap known as the Los Angeles Times (Editor's note: Citizen Zane also thinks right-wing rags suck too), and I come across this story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-cooper15-2009apr15,0,3158535.story

The douche bag who wrote this opinion was questioning the sanity of the people who showed up for tax day "tea parties" to protest the government flushing their tax dollars down the toilet, claiming instead that they were Anti-Obama right wingers mindlessly following the orders of Fox News in order to protest tax hikes on millionaires. Now I can't figure out who is more stupid, the author or the editor who allowed this dribble into the paper. I noticed that there was a link for comments, and so I clicked it, expecting to see a bunch of people setting the author straight on the fact that the protests were about Congress and the President dropping trillions of dollars from helicopters (probably black ones too!) into their buddies' back yards. Yep those folks were there, but to my amazement, there were almost as many nutcases supporting the authors opinion. The basic rationale for that support seems to be:

1. George Bush screwed things up
2. George Bush wasted lots of money
3. Ha ha, the Republicans are out of power, so lets waste even more than they ever imagined
4. Obama is really cool!

Just because Alfred E. Bush sunk us into a trillion dollars worth of debt doesn't mean it makes more sense for the Almighty Obama to sink us four times deeper does it? You think? Well it seems that half of the knuckleheads responding to that article think so. Hey Stupid, guess what happens to all of that money being tossed onto the national debt pile? Yeah, we have to pay it back!

I question the sanity of anyone who questions the sanity of people wanting the government to stop this flood o' pork and waste.

The author did note that, "Nobody I know is very pleased with the billions ladled out to teetering banks and corporations. Yet a clear majority of Americans are sophisticated enough to know that these bailouts are a necessary evil and are intended -- unlike the lollipop Bush tax cuts -- not for personal profit but rather as a radical, emergency measure to help Americans keep their jobs, their homes and their retirement." Necessary evil? A $700 Billion plus 'stimulus package' allocating money to almost every pet project and left-wing political group that Congress could write into the bill before Nancy Pelosi's arm fell off from writers cramp? Necessary, no. Evil, yes.
Listen Dickweed, I have a masters degree in Finance. I graduated from the University you teach at in the top 5% of my class. I speak a foreign language that I learned from scratch while living in that country and have traveled extensively to various parts of the globe on business and for enjoyment. I read the Wall Street Journal and NOT the LA Times for everything but sports. I probably even eat at your favorite LA restaurant when I am in town, so maybe I'm almost sophisticated enough, but since I don't agree with you, well, maybe not.

Now if I were to post this same post into that comments section of the LA Socialist Times, I'd get 150 comments that I was a right wing lackey listening to Fox News, a racist, a George Bush bed mate, blah, blah, blah, because I think that the President is out of his mind. True? Nope, I'm just a guy who pays his bills and wants the government to do the same - Citizen Zane

What Would the Founding Fathers Say???

I think back to the brave men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to each other and to the United States of America. These great men risked EVERYTHING so that we could be free. Had they not been sucessful, there is no doubt that their property would have been lost, their families gone, and their very lives taken from them. Can you see Nancy Pelosi or any of our current crop of fools making such a committment? The Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves. I may be angry, but they must be fiercely PISSED at what has become of their work.

What happened to the days of Congressional compromises for the good of the nation? Now its I'll let you get away with your dubious spending project if you will bless mine - and get me a job on Fox News to supplement my rich pension when I am no longer in office. Sacred honor my ass!

These creeps make me sick. It's time to stand up and fight - one citizen at a time. Step up to the polls and vote these idiots out. If all of us who are fed up join together, we can make a difference - Citizen Zane