About Nationalized Health Care

From the CATO Institute

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has proposed an ambitious plan to restructure America’s health care sector. Rather than engage in a detailed critique of Obama’s health care plan, many critics prefer to label it “socialized medicine.” Is that a fair description of the Obama plan and similar plans? Over the past year, prominent media outlets and respectable think tanks have investigated that question and come to a unanimous answer: no. Those investigations leave much to be desired.

Indeed, they are little more than attempts to convince the public that policies generally considered socialist really aren’t. A reasonable definition of socialized medicine is possible. Socialized medicine exists to the extent that government controls medical resources and socializes the costs. Notice that under this definition, it is irrelevant whether we describe medical resources (e.g., hospitals, employees) as “public” or “private.”

What matters—what determines real as opposed to nominal ownership—is who controls the
resources. By that definition, America’s health sector is already more than half socialized, and Obama’s health care plan would socialize medicine even further.

Reasonable people can disagree over whether Obama’s health plan would be good or bad.
But to suggest that it is not a step toward socialized medicine is absurd.

Read the whole thing. It's very enlightening.

Also see: Blocking Obama's Health Plan is Key to the GOP's Survival

American War Mother

American War Mothers

In 1917 Army Captain Robert L. Queissner of the 5th Ohio Infantry designed and patented a simple flag to reflect the World War I service of two sons. The appeal of this flag quickly caught on, and on September 24, 1917, an Ohio congressman read into the Congressional Record:

"The mayor of Cleveland, the Chamber of Commerce and the governor of Ohio have adopted this service flag. The world should know of those who give so much for liberty. The dearest thing in all the world to a father and mother -- their children."

Three days later the American War Mothers organized in Indiana, and that organization quickly grew in other states. It was a close-knit group, composed of women with one thing in common...a child at risk because of their choice to answer their Nation's call to military service. Throughout the war, these mothers displayed a flag with a blue star in their window, denoting the service of a son or daughter. These mothers also sought other ways to serve the military community, whether by direct services to men and women in military service, or by promoting important causes to the war, such as the National Government's call for food conservation.

When World War I began claiming the lives of many of these young Americans, a new flag developed. When a son was killed in action a GOLD star was sewn over the blue one, completely covering it. In May 1918 the Women's Committee of National Defenses suggested to President Woodrow Wilson that those mothers who had lost a family member in the war should wear a black band on their upper-left arm, adorned with a gold star. In a letter affirming his support for this proposal, President Wilson referred to these women as "Gold Star Mothers". It was the beginning a a new tradition of patriotic support for those who serve our Nation in uniform.

They also serve who watch and wait!

By 1924 the American War Mothers organization had 23,000 members and an official magazine: The American War Mothers Magazine. On February 24, 1925 the U.S. Congress granted the American War Mothers a national charter. The first National President of AWM was Alice French. (The charter was later amended in 1942, and again in 1953, during the periods of World War II and the Korean War.) The following year, Armistice Day 1926, the American War Mothers saw their flag raised for the first time over the Capitol.

In the years that followed the War Mothers Flag continued to be flown every Armistice Day, usually for three hours. In 1970 the original woolen flag was replaced with the new, synthetic fabric flag we use today. Along the way the practice was changed to keep the flag flying beneath the National Colors until sundown.

I look at my Blue Star Service Flag every single day and swell with pride and dread because it represents two of the things I love and regard with great pride; my Country and my son. I dread the time I still have to watch and wait, worrying every day about... well everything.

Respect to you on Veteran's Day, PFC.

To all our Veterans I say thank you.

An Affront to Freedom of Speech

h/t: XisDshizL

Flashback! Tim Russert Asks "The Question"

Bush Shuns, Obama is Keen

I realize that if I commented every time media bias reared its ugly head, I'd never sleep. This one, however, really bugged me. A lot.

Before the election, Obama told others that he favors declaring that carbon dioxide emissions are endangering human welfare, following an EPA task force recommendation last December that Bush and his aides shunned in order to protect the utility and auto industries.

Robert Sussman, who was the EPA's deputy administrator during the Clinton administration and is now overseeing EPA transition planning for Obama, wrote a paper last spring strongly recommending such a finding. Others in the campaign have depicted it as an issue on which Obama is keen to show that politics must not interfere with scientific advice.

Protecting the utility and auto industries is made to sound like a bad thing with the use of the word "shunned". They were so unreasonable THEY JUST SHUNNED IT! Meanwhile the ever more educated and intellectual *cough* Obama is keen. Keen about sounding non-political even.

What media bias?

Obama's Attack Ad on Himself

What the.

There are no words.

Wounded Warriors

New Service Announced for Wounded Warriors, Families and Caregivers

DoD announced today that the Military OneSource service has established a Wounded Warrior Resource Center telephone number and e-mail address for service members and their families, if they have concerns or other difficulties during their recovery process.

Service members and their family members can now call (800) 342-9647 or e-mail wwrc@militaryonesource.com 24/7 to request support. Assistance provided by the resource center will not replace the specialized wounded warrior programs established by each of the military services, but it will offer another avenue of assistance for military facilities, health care services, and/or benefits information.

"The department is committed to aggressively addressing the needs of our service members and their families," said Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.

Specially trained consultants will ensure consistent, quality customer-centric support. The consultants will identify the appropriate "warm hand-off" to either a military service or federal agency with authority to resolve the matter. The resource center consultant will maintain communication with the caller until the issue or concern is resolved.

"The term 'wounded warrior' encompasses the entire population of wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans," said Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Michael L. Dominguez.

The Wounded Warrior Resource Center meets the requirements of Section 1616 of the "National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2008" for a centralized number and ensures wounded families and caregivers have a number to call at any time.

If you're looking for a way to help our soldiers, this is a good one.

Bankrupt Coal

Media Matters offers a recent audio interview Obama did with the SF Chronicle. Text partially below.

Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.

I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.

If Obama is elected POTUS, the trail of carnage will be deep and wide.

Audio at link.

UPDATE!
Coal official calls Obama comments 'unbelievable'

Indeed

Conyers Finds More Outrage

In regard to Auntie Zeituni:

The Democratic nominee last heard from Zeituni Onyango, who attended his swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and is a half-sister of Obama's late father, two years ago, when she called to say she was in Boston, the campaign said. Campaign officials said they did not assist her in getting a tourist visa and had not known that she was living in America.

News of Onyango's legal status, which the AP confirmed through sources, including a federal law enforcement official, provided an unwelcome diversion for the Obama campaign during its final push toward Election Day and stoked suspicions among supporters of a political motive behind the timing of the leak.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has written to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff requesting an immediate investigation of the leak, which he deemed "deplorable" and said "was not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming presidential election," referring to an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

Hey Conyers, where's your outrage about the illegal use of government computers used to investigate Joe the plumber? I'm glad you don't pretend to be partisan. Let Pelosi know because she's been lying to me about that.