The abandoned Detroit Public Schools book depository

While perusing the news on the possible (probable) government shutdown I ran across this paragraph, which crystallized for me the long term implications of what the GOP is trying to do this week in the budget battles with Obama and Reid:

The two chambers are on a collision course, a standoff that could lead to the first government shutdown since 1996.

This is just the first round of an entire fall filled with fiscal fights. In just days, Congress must figure out how to raise the debt ceiling — Congress must increase the national borrowing limit before Oct. 17. A discussion over government funding for the next fiscal year will also sprout up again before the new year.

The GOP is trying to stave off the looming – and much larger – fiscal meltdown of the most successful country humanity has experienced

Why is all this coming to a head now? Simple, we – America – are on the cusp of financial ruin. We spend much, much more than we have, and what we spend on (domestic policy-wise) is pretty much wasted. Look at the 100’s billions wasted on The Stimulus – which never appeared. Or the money flushed down Green Technology sink holes. How about the War on Poverty? Where we are clearly losing the battle as the ranks of those on food stamps and other government assistance sky rocket.

A record 23,116,928 American households were enrolled in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—AKA food stamps—during the month of June, according to data released this month by the Department of Agriculture.

That outnumbers the 20,618,000 households that the Census Bureau estimated were in the entire Northeastern United States as of the second quarter of 2013.

There are Rred flares shooting off all around us, and the liberal media and big-government politicians feeding at the federal budget trough are mindlessly running towards disaster.

In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo, pedestrians walk by the abandoned Packard plant in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

One of the biggest red flares to go off in the last decade was the city of Detroit. If people think Detroit is an isolated instance, and not the first of many cancerous tumors that are rising from liberal mindless spending, then they are in for a rude shack in the coming decades. The situation in Detroit is the direct result of not stopping the spending madness when there was time left to avoid disaster, as I posted recently:

Detroit is broke, but it didn’t have to be. An in-depth Free Press analysis of the city’s financial history back to the 1950s shows that its elected officials and others charged with managing its finances repeatedly failed — or refused — to make the tough economic and political decisions that might have saved the city from financial ruin.

…

Decades of mismanagement added to Detroit’s fiscal woes. The city notoriously bungled multiple federal aid programs and overpaid outrageously to incentivize projects such as the Chrysler Jefferson North plant. Bureaucracy bogged down even the simplest deals and contracts. In a city that needed urgency, major city functions often seemed rudderless.

When all the numbers are crunched, one fact is crystal clear: Yes, a disaster was looming for Detroit. But there were ample opportunities when decisive action by city leaders might have fended off bankruptcy.

Emphasis mine.  This is a historically important article. It is post-event report by the media on what happened. It is not a real time political spin job trying to support the pols (as is the usual fare in the news media).  Read the article and extrapolate the decision points in Detroit to those now faced by our nation. We are there now, at the point where we can avoid Detroit’s financial ill consuming this great nation. If we are willing to pay attention.

What happened in Detroit and our choices now are frighteningly similar.

Even the Feds have had to surrender to their impotence regarding Detroit. The problem is now so bad, the debt so deep, even the Democrats and Liberals are running away [Note, the pictures in this post are from this article, please go to the link and view all the damage in Detroit, there are 53 heart wrenching pics in all]:

The U.S. government directed more than $100 million in grants Thursday to help bankrupt Detroit tear down vacant buildings and spur job growth, but the help falls far short of the wider bailout some city leaders had sought.

…

But considering the Motor City is at least $18 billion in debt, it will take a far larger infusion of cash or historic deals with bond holders, insurance companies and other creditors to correct the problem.

…

“There is not going to be a bailout,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We have enough problems with the federal deficit. We need to be creative and look at existing programs. There are still some funds there.”

And what are some of the solutions being proposed? Not surprisingly, removing the gold-plating from government benefits:

In addition, Kevyn Orr, the city’s emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder, has told the city’s two municipal retirement systems he wants to freeze Detroit’s pension plans and move to a 401(k)-style system.

Yep, got dump those over priced pensions and get back into market based investments. Duh!

It is not just some cute phrase or spin to state the private sector could never operate like a government bureaucracy and survive. It is a cold hard fact – and a life lesson for those who think government is more efficient and innovative that the private sector.  It is also an important life lesson when it comes to massive global companies, which lose their efficiencies and innovative capabilities as they grow into bureaucratic behemoths themselves. Small and innovative created this country and drive its economic engine. If we forget this we will lose our way and our way of life.

Michigan Central Stationis Detroit’s most famous ruin, with the train station last open in 1988. Designed by the same architects as New York’s Grand Central Station.

Detroit (as well as other US cities now in bankruptcy) are warning signs for the federal level. This nation is up against the stops fiscally. After the liberals toyed with the Home Mortgage business in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, and destroyed the equity built into millions of homes to bring on the Great Recession of 2007, they are at it again. This time with Obamacare.

By all measures Obamacare is not ready for prime time and is causing enormous upheaval in the economy. Instead of low cost health insurance to go with good jobs, we are going to get high priced, government-run healthcare and a massive number of part time jobs instead:

Appearing on PBS’s McLaughlin Group, Zuckerman said, “88 percent of the jobs that have been created this year are part-time jobs. A large part of the reason for that number of part-time jobs which is unprecedented in American history is because people are apprehensive about the impact of ObamaCare on and the costs of ObamaCare on full-time jobs.”

This is one of hundreds of details we had to learn the hard way about Obamacare. No more full time jobs, no more career paths. All the while the cost of implementing Obamcare is skyrocketing. The only full time jobs being created are at the IRS to hound Americans into buying into the madness:

The IRS is unable to account for $67 million spent from a slush fund established for Obamacare implementation, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report released today.

The “Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund” (HIRIF) was tucked into Obamacare in order to give the IRS money to enforce the tax provisions of the healthcare law.  The fund, totaling some $1 billion of taxpayer money, was used to roll out enforcement mechanisms for the approximately 50 tax provisions of Obamacare.

Not sure which is worse: the lost $67 million or the $1 billion slush fund for IRS harassment? Neither is good of course. The nation is going to part time work while the bureaucrats get paid full time to screw up as usual.

We at the Stratasphere are personally going to pay for any government shutdown – so this is not some theoretical issue for us. We are federal contractors, and will be ‘furloughed’ if the White House and Senate won’t give up on Obamacare and fund the rest of government. Given all the glitches in Obamacare, the roll out is premature and too costly to salvage. As I have seen evolving in my quarter century of work on government contracts, the focus is in government is on schedule – not readiness or maturity.

And this is why DC wastes almost all of its money. It throws out half baked solutions in an attempt show progress against schedules. The result is a mess which requires 10 times more money to fix (instead of doing it right, albeit delayed). Trust me, 80% of waste derives from this systemic problem.

The House is right on this issue. DC needs to stop wasting our money and stop deploying half-baked solutions that do more damage than good. Obamacare is turning a really bad recession into a potentially disastrous financial period of stagnation. Right now most African Americans and Young Adults are not in career level jobs. They are barely treading water. And Obamacare is going to make it much, much worse (and permanent).

Now nearly all new jobs are part time, which is why the future looks bleak for most Americans.

If the GOP wanted to play politics, they would let Obamacare role out and flop. That would allow each American to experience the disaster on a deeply personal level. But they are trying to do the right thing. They are going for the principle, not the ‘I told you so’. I think the GOP is right – do what is needed, let the chips fall where they may.

And that position is going to cost me dearly if the Dems decide to shut down government to save Obamacare.

Funny enough, if Reid and Obama win this round they will lose the war. 2014 will be the year of assessment on Dems. Are we better off than we were in 2008? Is the future brighter now? Is Obamacare helping or hurting?

Knowing how well the Feds execute these things, the fact is Obamacare will be an unmitigated disaster when it rolls out, and it will piss off Americans who were not paying attention or were fantasizing about how wonderful bureaucracies (like the DMV) are in terms of service to their customers.

Only time will tell if we are now a nation of boiled frogs – or not. Because we are neck deep in financial hot water right now, and we are being offered a ladder out of the boiling pot.

 

Where do liberal/socialistic policies end? Is it Nirvana or Death & Decay?

It seems the answer to this question can be found in what once was an economic powerhouse in the heartland of America:

Detroit is broke, but it didn’t have to be. An in-depth Free Press analysis of the city’s financial history back to the 1950s shows that its elected officials and others charged with managing its finances repeatedly failed — or refused — to make the tough economic and political decisions that might have saved the city from financial ruin.

Instead, amid a huge exodus of residents, plummeting tax revenues and skyrocketing home abandonment, Detroit’s leaders engaged in a billion-dollar borrowing binge, created new taxes and failed to cut expenses when they needed to. Simultaneously, they gifted workers and retirees with generous bonuses. And under pressure from unions and, sometimes, arbitrators, they failed to cut health care benefits — saddling the city with staggering costs that today threaten the safety and quality of life of people who live here.

The numbers, most from records deeply buried in the public library, lay waste to misconceptions about the roots of Detroit’s economic crisis.

…

Decades of mismanagement added to Detroit’s fiscal woes. The city notoriously bungled multiple federal aid programs and overpaid outrageously to incentivize projects such as the Chrysler Jefferson North plant. Bureaucracy bogged down even the simplest deals and contracts. In a city that needed urgency, major city functions often seemed rudderless.

When all the numbers are crunched, one fact is crystal clear: Yes, a disaster was looming for Detroit. But there were ample opportunities when decisive action by city leaders might have fended off bankruptcy.

If Mayors Jerome Cavanagh and Roman Gribbs had cut the workforce in the 1960s and early 1970s as the population and property values dropped. If Mayor Dennis Archer hadn’t added more than 1,100 employees in the 1990s when the city was flush but still losing population. If Kilpatrick had shown more fiscal discipline and not launched a borrowing spree to cover operating expenses that continued into Mayor Dave Bing’s tenure. Over five decades, there were many ‘if only’ moments.

BUT – those Political leaders believed in the infallible wisdom of government run solutions. Those leaders brow beat industry, suffocated the individual with layers of Nanny-Government, and in the end were as corrupt and callous as the robber barons of old.

If you want to see where DC is taking this great nation, just read this article and realize the parallels that are even now rotting out the most powerful city and country in the world.

Really?

According to ABC News, in additional to a salvo of 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from four Navy destroyers stationed in the eastern Mediterranean, the US is also planning an aerial campaign that is expected to last two days.

This campaign potentially includes an aerial bombardment of missiles and long range bombs from US-based B-2 stealth bombers that carry satellite-guided bombs, B-52 bombers, that can carry air-launched cruise missiles and Qatar-based B-1s that carry long-range, air-to-surface missiles, both ABC News and The New York Times reported.

“This military strike will do more damage to [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s forces in 48 hours than the Syrian rebels have done in two years,” a national security official told ABC News.

Who is the idiot that released details of the US strike plan on Syria so it can be broadcasted on the internet? Who released the obviously classified fact we have B-1s based in Qatar?

For everyone’s information, Stealth bombers are not invisible.  Stealth works best if the targets don’t know what is coming. Even the best stealth bomber is visible, it is just reduced in Radar and IR signature. The stealth plane’s approach needs to weave in and out of the ground radar visibilities to minimize detection.

What this report does is identify the approach paths of the US bombers. The B-52s are the ones that fly high and carpet bomb (because they are not stealthy or nimble). The stealth planes employ other methods

Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air thinks this was some sort of butching up to gain back some GOP hawks, and makes this observation:

This raises a couple of questions about the “no boots on the ground” promise coming from Obama and John Kerry.  In order to make these kinds of pinpoint-accurate attacks with either bombers or cruise missiles, it’s usually better (although not entirely necessary) to have spotters on the ground lighting up the targets.  That means boots on the ground, even if everything goes perfectly.  What happens if our bombers get shot down over Syria?

Which of course ALSO puts everyone on the ground in Syria (both sides) to be on the lookout for scout teams.

What a cluster! I just can’t believe the ineptitude of this administration!

I suggest they throw all these plans in the trash now – they are of no use, and probably dangerous to our military personnel.

It is crazy to watch President Obama and President-Wannabe Kerry – two woefully naive politicians whose shameless anti-war at-all-costs rhetoric during the Bush administration is legend – try to rattle their sabers at Syria. Talk about your stumbling and bumbling!

It looks like there is a strong possibility the US is being played by Islamo Fascist elements of the Syrian Rebels to bring down Assad and open Syria to revolution. One bit of evidence to arise is the fact Syrian Rebels last year had over run a munitions depot that contained chemical weapons:

U.S. officials are increasingly worried that Syria’s weapons of mass destruction could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists, rogue generals or other uncontrollable factions.

Last week, fighters from a group that the Obama administration has branded a terrorist organization were among rebels who seized the Sheik Suleiman military base near Aleppo, where research on chemical weapons had been conducted. Rebels are also closing in on another base near Aleppo, known as Safirah, which has served as a major production center for such munitions, according to U.S. officials and analysts.

***

A former Syrian general who once led the army’s chemical weapons training program said that the main storage sites for mustard gas and nerve agents are supposed to be guarded by thousands of Syrian troops but that they would be easily overrun.

The sites are not secure, retired Maj. Gen. Adnan Silou, who defected to the opposition in June, said in an interview near Turkey’s border with Syria. “Probably anyone from the Free Syrian Army or any Islamic extremist group could take them over,” he said.

Syria actually has one of the third world’s largest chemical weapons arsenals, which means they could have ‘lost’ some of the weapons at any time in recent years.

The size of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal is not known with any precision, though the French government has estimated it to be more than 1,000 tons.

The lack of certainty poses a problem, according to intelligence and arms control experts. “No one but the Syrians knows the inventory, and if the rebels overrun one of these depots, there are worries about the physical control of the weapons,” said one U.S. official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity.

The experts say that Damascus’ program is distinguished by its size, diversity, quality and reliability. President Bashar Assad’s regime is believed to possess sarin, VX (a persistent form of sarin that could render a city uninhabitable “for some days,” according to the CIA), tabun (another older nerve agent) plus blistering agents like mustard, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide. In addition, it is believed to have large stores of “precursor chemicals” that it could use to create more of the toxic agents.

Of course, Assad would not report the theft of secret weapons of mass destruction to the world. And in this general assessment of Syrian capabilities, we learn this is not the first time Assad has been accused of chemical weapon use against his people:

The U.S. reported last week that Syria has used chemical weapons “on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year.” The British government places the number of attacks at 14 since 2012. Chemical weapons also were used under Assad’s father, Hafez, more than 20 years ago in Hama during a Muslim Brotherhood-inspired rebellion. According to a November 1990 Senate Foreign Relations Committee memo, Syrian army units went to every house suspected of hiding insurgents and pumped in cyanide gas, killing as many as 20,000 occupants. Later, the government broadcast a report saying security forces had taken fierce reprisals against the Brotherhood and its sympathizers, “which stopped them from breathing.”

Which tells me we have been able to resist reprisals in the past, so why now?

Is it really a surprise that rebels who are anti-western Islamists (i.e., are enemies of the US and Syria) would concoct a plan whereby they martyr some fellow Muslims in order to invoke the US military to do their dirty work for them?

How brilliant is that? Dupe the the US into destroying Assad’s power base and then waltz in and take over Syria – which neighbors Turkey, Jordan and Israel along with access to the Mediterranean Sea. Why not? Looks brilliant.

It looks like Congress was about to jump into this mess without out clear and unambiguous evidence as well. Before we take any military action we need to be sure we are not being played by our enemies. Hopefully Congress will slow down and engage their brains before setting the Middle East on fire.

Update: Hot Air has some great quotes reflecting the frustration Americans feel  as their leaders run over the cliff of war:

Federal lawmakers who plan to vote in favor of a U.S. military strike against Syria “might as well start cleaning out” their office, U.S. Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday.

Amash, R-Cascade Township, tweeted that the “unprecedented level of public opposition” to military intervention in the country should beg for dissenting votes…

Duh….

The debate in Congress over what to do about Syria is going to be interesting. If the parties stick to their core beliefs, Obama would lose as Democrats bailed on him given their anti-war obsessions. The GOP would be pushing the issue of maintaining the wrath of God on Earth over heinous crimes against humanity, but enough of them would also bail.

But party platforms and core beliefs become jello-like when it comes to questions of political power. So don’t hold your breathe on traditional roles from the parties in DC.

Now we have Obame, Biden, Pelosi and John Kerry rattling the swords of war – a twilight zone moment to be sure. And the GOP is probably struggling on whether one crime against humanity deserves another. Trust me, I am not going soft on national security – just pointing out the obvious political calculations. The GOP must be salivating over the opportunity to paint the Democrats as heartless war-mongers and themselves as patrons of peace.

The wild card is who is going to buckle on their beliefs more? There are plenty of anti-war democrats who are so serious about this issue they will not support their party leadership.  One wonders how a vote on war can follow within weeks of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther Kings march on Washington DC and not rip at the core of the Democrats. So everyone is looking to the GOP to be the ones that have to pull Obama over the top.

Not to mention John Kerry’s Sunday road show of political TV did not go well for the administration. I doubt America is behind this no matter what Congress votes.

But another wild card is the fact that our nation is flat, …busted, …broke.  A huge government lie as been running for almost 4 months now. A lie that has been propped up by the Political Industrial Complex to hide it from We The People. A lie that is coming to a head this month:

The Treasury Department’s latest official daily accounting of the U.S. government’s receipts, expenditures and borrowings–released this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.–indicates that the legally limited debt of the federal government has now been exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for 100 straight days.

The statement for Aug. 23 said the federal debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress was $16,699,396,000,000—or $25 million below the current limit of $16,699,421,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since May 17 has also shown the legally limited debt at $16,699,396,000,000, or $25 million below the limit.

This of course is impossible. The nation runs a debt every month, every week and every day of the year. The deficit in July was nearly $100 Billion, dwarfing the supposed $25 million the treasury says we had on the books for that month.

It is a lie. A gross lie covered up by the news media, pundits and politicians.  DC has been spending money illegally and the crooks in DC are afraid to tell the people the true numbers.

So how is it Obama can pay for an attack on Syria? Heck, he did not have the money to send the ships he sent!

The new budget that is supposed to fund the government starting October 1 has no hope of becoming law, making Obama’s administration the first to basically run on Continuing Resolutions as Harry Ried’s Senate makes a hash out of our constitution by not passing budget for years on end. No money now, no money on October.

How can these lame-ass administrators of government find the money to attack Syria? With only France as a potential ally (an ally with no military force mind you)?

The question is will Obama’s war cries go down in a historic vote of no confidence – as we saw in the UK this week? Or will the Pols in DC start making their back-door deals for political power and once again throw honor, ethics and morals out the window?

Sadly, my bet is on the latter happening.

Update: Ed Morrissey catches a sad historic note on all this: Obama’s inexperience and an off-the-cuff comments seem to have the leader of the free world stuck on dangerous. Sorry, but the President should be able to fix a misstatement without going to war – end update

A lot of second term US President begin look to their legacy and what last gasps they can get past the normal headwinds that are generated when a President wins a second term. The challenge is to find something big to accomplish, before you become a lame duck.

But then there are times when you get a perfect storm, as we see with this President who has been lamed since 2010 when he lost Congress in a historic route.

Combined with this President’s inexperience, naivete and arrogance we have a dangerous mix converging with events brewing in the Middle East. President Obama is about to take a military action with no Congressional, Popular or International support. Think about that for a moment.

Is this really a Republic or a Democracy anymore? Or is it all about Obama?

Here is some background from the NY Times, and it does not bode well for our reckless Commander-in-Chief:

The negative vote in Britain’s Parliament was a heavy blow to Prime Minister David Cameron, who had pledged his support to Mr. Obama and called on lawmakers to endorse Britain’s involvement in a brief operation to punish the government of President Bashar al-Assad for apparently launching a deadly chemical weapons attack last week that killed hundreds.

The vote was also a setback for Mr. Obama, who, having given up hope of getting United Nations Security Council authorization for the strike, is struggling to assemble a coalition of allies against Syria.

But administration officials made clear that the eroding support would not deter Mr. Obama in deciding to go ahead with a strike.

And a new poll out indicates America is in no mood for Obama’s bullying arrogance:

In this new NBC poll, 50 percent of respondents oppose the United States taking military action in response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons, compared with 42 percent who support it.

However, those numbers flip when the military action is defined to mean launching cruise missiles from naval warships – 50 percent favor it, while 44 percent oppose it.

And 58 percent agree with the statement that the use of chemical weapons by any country violates a “red line” that requires a significant U.S. response, including the possibility of U.S. action.

Still, a whopping 79 percent of respondents – including nearly seven-in-10 Democrats and 90 percent of Republicans – say the president should be required to receive congressional approval before taking any action.

H/T Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. The left (not surprisingly) is sinking into shock over Obama’s intentions to bomb Syrians:

When Barack Obama took office, the era of “dead or alive” foreign policy rhetoric was over. Even George W. Bush agreed this was a good idea.

…

Obama was going to be the polar opposite. He didn’t pop off.  He was measured in his mind, and his words would be, too. He told us as much in an early press conference. Ed Henry, then with CNN, wanted to know why the president was slow to get exercised about abuses at insurance giant AIG. The president snapped (by his standards): “It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.”

But on the eve of the U.S. attack on Syria, President Obama is hemmed in by his own rhetoric in a way that many, back in 2008, would have associated with Bush rather than the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize based mostly on the quality of his words rather than his accomplishments.

Obama’s ‘peace’ can be seen in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is keeping America’s drone industry running at top capacity the way he shoots them off.

I am not surprised at all at this turn of events. Obama is the epitome of the elite political class who divides the world into the masses and themselves. With themselves playing the role of error-free White Knight, wise beyond the ages.

It is a common mental sickness inside the beltway, one which has grown more sever over the 5 decades I have lived right next to the DC looney bin. And the result is always the same: recklessness backed up by stubborn arrogance.

There are flashing lights popping up everywhere concerning Libya, yet the President and his team keep running head on – apparently frustrated anyone still dares to question is wisdom. Israel and the Arab Middle East could easily implode if the right match is struck. The place is a cauldron of Napalm and Obama is planning on lighting a match to see what happens.

Obama is just beginning to succumb to the mental illness of Lame Duck desperation and impatience. It will get worse, with his panic deepening as his legacy lays in tatters and his time runs out.

While a cornered animal can be dangerous, the most powerful man on the planet who is running out of time – and who is incapable of leading coalitions to historic successes – is probably the most dangerous of human conditions. Obama has the potential to slip into dictatorial fits.  And Syria may be his tipping point.

Before I address  the issues in Syria and America’s foolish war drums, I want to focus back on the spark that started much of the unrest and turmoil in the Arab/Muslim world: Egypt.

The turmoil in Egypt has been intriguing me for some time, mainly because it looks a lot like the pivotal event many outside the Muslim world have been waiting for. It looks like Egypt is will be where moderate Muslims are making a stand against the Islamo Fascists. I understand there has been a lot of politicizing and finger pointing, but in reality Egypt’s turmoil looks to be a huge turning point, and one for which the West needs to keep a low profile.

There has been a lot of reporting on the events in Egypt, but let me select just one to illustrate the opportunity we may be seeing:

The Egyptian government has had to react fast to events over the last few days and it now appears they had no prior strategy about what to do with the Muslim Brotherhood as an organisation at this stage.

Initially their position was that they welcomed dialogue with the Brotherhood and it was conceivable that in time they could even be allowed back into government, as long as they did not have blood on their hands.

But under pressure from the Egyptian media, this position appears to have hardened. Foreign intervention has complicated the situation further, as any sign of leniency on the part of the government is now seen as caving in.

In recent days the government has indicated the Brotherhood will be banned and on Monday the Egyptian authorities were quoted as saying the Freedom and Justice Party – the political wing of the Brotherhood – will have its licence to operate as a political party revoked, which in effect will dissolve it.

Such a ban would satisfy many Egyptians who view the Brotherhood as a fascist terrorist organisation. It would also force the Brotherhood back underground, where it used to be.

Emphasis mine.  The article goes on to claim this may not be a good idea, but from where I sit it would be a very positive result.

How many times have the West and Non-Muslim world wanted to see moderate Muslims stand up to the radical Islamo Fascists? How many pundits have lamented how moderates have allowed the radicals to over run the Muslim religion?

So now when we see Egypt stand up to the Islamo Fascists, we waste this opportunity with finger pointing and political opportunism?

When it comes to Egypt, the West (and America’s political industrial class) should shut up and show unity and support. They shouldn’t focus on the imperfections of the moment, but look at the sea change we could be witnessing.

This is not much different from when the Soviet Union collapsed. It took time for the world to stop hyperventilating and wringing hands before they realized a momentous event was upon them.

Syria could be the diversion that could derail Egypts fight against the Islamo Fascists. Or it could be the next domino to fall. All I know is Western intervention is not a good idea at this point. Let the Muslims work out which segment will take the lead into the future. It may be bloody and messy, but it could also be very good and needed. America’s revolution for Independence was no less bloody, yet look at what it brought to humanity?

Before we fall into the loose-loose game of political gotcha, maybe we should stand back and unify our support for the moderate Egyptians.

For a good assessment on Syria, this Hot Air article sums up many of my views quite nicely.

Tags: Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Syria

As a small business owner – and joint head of a family of 6 – the disaster that is ObamaCare is truly stunning.  As business owners we are lucky to have much more flexibility than most people. We decide on the price point we will spend as a company verses an employee (we are both of course).  Which means, within limits, we decide how much comes out of pocket pre-tax and post-tax for everyone in the company. Since we pay both sides, we know the true cost and there is little benefit in moving the premium cost one way or the other. We lean towards keeping the cost on our side of the ledger, not our hard working employees.  That may have to change.

Most Americans are not so lucky. Many will face higher premiums as their employers off load the ObamaCare price hikes onto them. Most Americans (us included) will lose our current insurance since it is easier for Insurance Providers to shift you to a new compliant policy than work out changes to your current policy (which in turn changes the price and you end up in the same place anyway). Instead of changing all the current policies to meet ObamaCare, it is easier and less risky (legally) to just move people to a common, approved policy.

Bottom line: we are all going to pay more and lose our policies. No doubt about it:

In Florida, for instance, officials constructed a hypothetical silver-level plan based on the offerings available today. Then they looked at how the cost of that plan compares to the average silver plan that will be available on the exchange. Florida found premiums will rise between 7.6% and 58.8%, depending on the insurer. The average increase would be 35%.

…

Ohio, meanwhile, said there would be an average increase of 41% by comparing a trade association’s report of premiums for all plans available today with the average premium expected on the exchange.

Indiana officials said prices would rise an average of 72%. But they were looking at the cost of providing care, not actual premiums.

Price pressures lead to one result: limiting services.  And where do insurers and exchanges hope to cut costs? On the backs of the needy of course:

ObamaCare’s cost-cutting board — memorably called a “death panel” by Sarah Palin — is facing growing opposition from Democrats who say it will harm people on Medicare.

…

A wave of vulnerable Democrats over the past three months has signed on to bills repealing the board’s powers, including Sen. Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Reps. Ron Barber (Ariz.), Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Elizabeth Esty (Conn.)

…

“The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them,” Dean wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

“Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on.”

Clearly the only path to save ObamaCare from financial implosion is to begin to pull back on services or let premiums skyrocket.  Their is no magical healthcare fairy out there.

One of the ways premiums were kept low prior to ObamaCare was to charge people with expensive and persistent conditions higher premiums (to cover their higher costs of service).  The rest of us were actually in a real insurance policy, where we were paying on the off chance we would incur a long term, costly condition. The expectation was most people spend most time dealing with short term issues, and then recover to good health to pay more premiums into the pot.

Insurance is like that. You buy car insurance to cover you against rare and occasional accidents, theft, etc. You don’t buy it on old cars to cover recurring, costly repairs as you slowly buy a new car one piece at a time (if you do, then you need to reassess what your doing).

ObamaCare is a joke. And if you want to know how bad a joke, even Congress won’t dare go near it:

Congress has won some partial relief for lawmakers and their staffs from the “Obamacare” health reforms that it passed and subjected itself to three years ago.

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers and their staffs will continue to receive a federal contribution toward the health insurance that they must purchase through soon-to-open exchanges created by President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The decision by the Office of Personnel Management, with Obama’s blessing, will prevent the largely unintended loss of healthcare benefits for 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives and thousands of Capitol Hill staff.

Emphasis mine on the BS. Unintended? Right….

So instead of fixing their mess, these morons simply exclude themselves indefinitely. Nice.

Supposedly this was to prevent a brain drain on Capitol Hill, but you first need some brains before that excuse will fly.

The average American is now left holding the bag of crap that is ObamaCare. Even small business is going to probably have to bail on Main Street:

Under the law, companies with 50 or more employees are required to provide affordable coverage for their workers. They also must offer health insurance to employees’ dependents, but don’t have to pay for it. And they aren’t required to offer insurance at all to employees’ spouses.

Mike Shoop got a taste of what buying insurance will be like under the ACA when he shopped for a policy that will take effect Sept. 1. His insurer quoted premiums 8 percent higher than his current policy, and warned Shoop that he’d get an even larger increase a year from now. Shoop, who owns a debt collection company in Greeley, Colo., said he may have to cut back on insurance for his employees’ families if rates keep soaring.

[H/T Ed Morrissey at Hot Air]. We might have to do the same. We are in 5 year federal contracts, with rates fixed for each year. If premiums spike, we will have no choice. We can’t increase our revenues to cover insurance company costs. Sadly, at the end of this ladder of life is the employee.  They are on the bottom rung.

Main Street America now has to pay for his/her family AND all those other people with expensive medical conditions. Welcome to the ugly truth of socialism. That is what ObamaCare was always going to be about – income redistribution.

Tags: Obamacare, Premiums, Small Business

AJStrata has been swamped with work and family issues, some good some bad, all involving giving up his free time. Feel free to start a new thread of discussion on any topic of the day and relevant to the nature of his blog.

LJStrata

Update: Here is a good reminder of the limitations of our legal system, and why ‘not guilty’ so many times does not mean ‘innocent’. – end update

Zimmerman’s defense team won a Pyrrhic victory yesterday. The prosecution had done its job in many respects. We all know Zimmerman chased down, confronted and – when losing the fisticuffs battle – killed an unarmed kid.

The prosecution proved Zimmerman’s statements were a series of lies. He lied where he first saw Trayvon. He lied about Martin circling his truck. He lied about not knowing the name of the street he was on . The prosecution had Zimmerman on tape with that lie:

Zimmerman’s problem came out during Officer Chris Serinos’ testimony when they played the reenactment video. It is just prior to time stamp 1:21:50 in this court video. At this point Zimmerman is in a police car talking through the incident. He and a policeman are parked in front of the club house and Zimmerman is explaining how Trayvon Martin – who he had seen back down the street a bit – had walked past his parked car and then down towards where he was staying.

The subconscious mistake Zimmerman makes is he automatically recalls the name of the street (Twin Trees Lane). I mean it just comes right out of his mouth. The same street he could not recall the night before!

Zimmerman, the effing punk, lied about how he could pull the gun from his pants and holster,all the while on his back with Trayvon on top.  He lied about his injuries (clearly not all from the concrete). He lied about being jumped (Rachel Jeantell testified and ‘witnessed’ that truth there). Zimmerman lied and lied and lied.

But the jury apparently decided that they could not prove what did happen. The prosecutions one big mistake was going for Murder 2, which relied on them proving what happened absent Zimmerman’s concocted story.

A variant on negligent homicide (like what happens when a drunk or reckless driver kills someone) would have been attainable. In that kind of trial Zimmerman’s recklessness would be clear. His reckless assumptions, his carrying a gun to confront a kid, his unwillingness to wait for police. That verdict was in reach of the prosecution under those kinds of charges.

With Zimmerman’s story now shredded by the prosecution, the only way out for George was the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ escape hatch. And that door was sadly open. Murder 2 requires more than recklessness, it requires motive.

Another problem probably was that the  jury never clearly got the fact that when Martin retreats (at a full run no less), Zimmerman cannot pursue him and retain any “self defense” rights. None. It is the right of retreat. Again, Rachel Jeantell testified clearly about Trayvon’s efforts to retreat.  And no, he was not required to retreat home (though the prosecution gave a good rationale for why not to lead some psycho stalker back to his 12 year old friend).

There is no doubt Zimmerman shot Martin. There is no doubt he pursued him for up to 4 minutes after getting off the phone with police. There is no doubt his story is a sham. And there is no doubt Martin had as much right to defend himself from a stalker as anyone else. The challenge is whether the incident was driven by hate and malice or just by a dumb, reckless, idiot? What I saw in court was a lot of both, but there was wiggle room on the Murder 2.

Zimmerman is not done yet. The Martins should go after him in civil court. The Fed should consider a case too.

His neighbors will mostly shun him, and they should demand he remain unarmed.

The vigilante who killed a kid is going to burn in hell. He may have side stepped justice for now, but he is damaged goods. Watching his father in court, I am pretty sure he knows his son killed Martin without justification. The killing of Trayvon will haunt ZImmerman and his family forever, and I for one hope it burns the entire time. He took a life without good cause.

More importantly, it will be hard to convince others to not become vigilantes now that Zimmerman has won his case. Zimmerman took the law into his hands and killed someone. Now he is going to find himself the target of others with a similar mindset. They will profile him, judge him, and possibly confront him. I pray to God no one does. This is not the time for an eye for an eye justice.

But those are the ramifications for not confessing, not plea bargaining, not coming clean. Sometimes you can do more damage trying to be found not guilty than doing your penance.

Zimmerman’s problems are still mounting, and rightfully so. And justice will be done in the end someway, somehow – even if it ends up being at the pearly gates of Heaven. This weekend the effing punk got away. But he cannot run forever from what he did.

Tags: George Zimmerman, Not Guilty, Trayvon Martin, Trial