Guardians of Democracy - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Guardians of Democracy
by

THE SYSTEM AT WORK
Re: Philip Klein’s GOP’s Health Care Strategy Is Short-Sighted:

As a physician, and Republican, I have seen the “system” at work.

People with free insurance tend to overuse the system so minor ailments clog up the waiting rooms, thereby preventing the really sick from seeing the doctor. (Look at the military system if you want a good example.) There is no disincentive against using the health care you paid for. Unlike other forms of insurance such as disability, home, auto, where you hope you never have to use them, health insurance almost encourages the patient to ask for “all the tests” every time they visit the doctor.

The “cuts” always seem to come at the expense of the doctors. No one seems to know if any jobs were cut at Medicare or Medicaid during the recent job cutting.

Give doctors incentives to treat patients with health insurance such as better pay, tax credits for the deep discounts they are forced to accept and other incentives, and you will see them lining up to care for patients.

It is time for an end to large monopolies such as AARP, who reap billions by servicing those worthless secondaries and drug discounts (with kickbacks from Big Pharma). I know for a fact that they got over one BILLION dollars last year for advertising “cheap” life insurance with New York Life, a company which signed up 10-15 THOUSAND policies per week at an exorbitant cost.(The buyers figured it must be a deal because AARP was behind it.)
— Robert Mandraccia MD

No doubt the GOP and conservatives can do better, but not unless they get the present Baucus bill and all of the anti-democratic elements of the raucous Baucus process defeated.

Here’s what I wrote to my Pennsylvania senators (easily fit on a post card!):

Dear Senator Specter [Casey]:

Please do not allow the Baucus Healthcare bill to be voted on unless and until the full and final version has been published on the Internet, along with the cost as determined by the CBO.

Our Constitution is being savaged by people in Washington who have sworn to uphold and defend it, just as they are savaging our priceless tradition of being a nation ruled by law and not by men.

Please stand up for the Constitution, our country, and the citizens whom you represent.

Please do not be a party to this desecration of American values.

There. Inasmuch as it fits on a postcard and is not a thousand pages of “arcane legal language” so dreaded by all the lawyers in Congress, do you think either Senator will read it, let alone the bill itself?

Of course, if Baucus has his way, they’ll never even see the thousand pages of “arcane legal language” until after they have passed it. Nor know about the extra stuff he’ll pack into it after they have passed it, and cannot possibly know that he did so.

Baucus makes the Massachusetts legislature look like Guardians of Democracy by comparison.
— A. C. Santore

THE ENERGY MESSIAH
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.’s Freedom From Foreign Oil:

Isn’t T. Boone Pickens the self-styled Energy Messiah who said wind power is the only answer? Alas, his wind power scheme went bust, despite its dead-certain inevitability and the fortune Pickens spent on radio commercials telling us so. Whither wind power, T. Boone? And whither objectivity, R. Emmett?

As for the oil supply, I thought untapped U.S. oil reserves off our coasts — which the tree-huggers won’t let us drill — are greater than those of Saudi Arabia. And I’ll pass on the panic, so Emmett and Boone can have bigger portions.

Forcing semis to change from diesel to natural gas, within just seven years, is another big-government diktat with unknown feasibility or consequences on a resource crucial to the U.S. economy. One thing is certain: it would impose huge costs and significant hardship on shippers. And nothing ever goes smoothly with new, mandated technology. Can we afford this? That is a real concern in the real world, where real people have to buy stuff and make it work to apply the theories of the Energy Messiah and his Apostle Tyrrell.

Even if the facts are accurate (I have doubts about the alarmist statistics), this article read like nothing so much as a breathless, adoring paean to T. Boone Pickens and “Change, Energy Division.” Pickens appears to be auditioning for “National Energy Mountebank.” By publishing such drivel, American Spectator is enabling him.
— Mark Petrina
Benicia, California

UNDER REVIEW
Re: Matthew Vadum’s ACORN’S Prophetic Lawyer:

The last national presidential election outcome must be reviewed.
— George Korycan
Hollandale, Wisconsin

The directors of the various entities better hope that they were carrying super duper Directors and Officers liability insurance because they are looking at massive lawsuits.

The scope of the negligence and the ongoing participation in criminal acts, tax fraud and misappropriation of government funding after a warning from counsel may negate coverage for many of the directors.

It will be interesting to see minutes regarding board meetings, to see who was appointed, when they were appointed and when they resigned.

It seems pretty clear no sane person with personal assets will touch ACORN and the whole mess will get dissolved.

Lots of shredding parties are underway and a recent story on an abandoned ACORN office in Oklahoma and a treasure trove of documents indicates that rats are scurrying away.
— Chris Harley
Piedmont, California

Will justice listen?
–Anonymous

DEATH CULTURE
Re: G. Tracy Mehan III.’s Senate Committee Holds Fast for Abortion:

Is it now time to organize massive tax resistance? Maybe then the Democrat party, or at least its leaders, as well as liberals and leftists, will understand how unacceptable their death culture and American holocaust is?
Not sure if some of them will ever understand matters of conscience.
— C. Kenna Amos Jr.

THE RINO DISEASE
Re: Larry Thornberry’s GOP Soul Check:

Putting aside platitudes, such as “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees,” which is a sentiment shared by many Americans, certainly, if not especially, conservative Americans, losing while standing for principle still has ethical and moral repercussions, just as winning and leaving principles behind does. America is suffering under the rule of Obama, in part, because the GOP refused to offer a principled and true conservative alternative to The One. Time after time, Republicans have nominated candidates they believed could win elections knowing full well the candidate was a RINO. Better to have a Republican in office than a Democrat goes their thinking. While some elections did go in favor of the Republicans, the results consistently go against long term party interests. The candidates, once elected, diluted the philosophy and brand name of the party. The seismic shift of the last election was a direct result of Republicans’ fiscal irresponsibility.

Governor Crist is much like President Obama. Crist has charm and charisma. He is also a restless, political animal who is continually seeking the next higher office. Lastly, like Our Dear Leader, he is an empty suit. But unlike Obama, he lacks a core philosophy to which he can cling when the political storms strike. This very lack of political commitment would make Crist a particularly dangerous senator if elected.
If elected, Crist, along with current RINO Senators, Mike Enzi, Chuck Grassley and Olympia Snow, would give Obama and the Democrats the “bipartisan” cover they so desperately seek. The danger is not only would the Dems not need sixty votes to become veto proof, but that the loyal opposition would be held equally culpable for the financial and social destruction. Simply stated, RINOism is a disease that attacks the body politic.

Maybe Crist is more electable than Marco Rubio, but if the NRSC were to support Rubio, a Republican with solid conservative principles, a victory might still be possible. On the other hand, to paraphrase a Nazarene philosopher, what good does it do a party to gain majority control if it loses its soul?
— I.M. Kessel

ROGUE LADY
A beautiful woman who’s smart
Has spun on it’s head the art
Of wise punditry.
Oh, say can you see
A wink and a grin on her part.

We who cheer Sarah on will know
The satisfaction of “we told you so”.
Amid liberal rage
She took full stage
Saying “Mind if I call you Joe?”

Arriving with the speed of the luge,
She brought fresh air in deluge.
Rubbing sleep from our eyes,
Our spirits now rise
With the rogue lady in red wearing rouge.
Mimi Evans Winship

Sign up to receive our latest updates! Register


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Be a Free Market Loving Patriot. Subscribe Today!