Obama says government will go bankrupt unless health care reform is passed
This is pretty much the topper in deceit and fear mongering. ABC's Karen Travers reports:
President Obama told ABC News' Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government "will go bankrupt."
The president laid out a dire scenario of what will happen if his health care reform effort fails.
If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee....your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you," he said. "Potentially they're going to drop your coverage, because they just can't afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. "
The president said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an "unsustainable" trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, "the federal government will go bankrupt."
"This actually provides us the best chance of starting to bend the cost curve on the government expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid," Obama said.
Ed Lasky provides the necessary reality check:
Does he have any idea of the economic disaster he and his fellow Democrats are unleashing? Yet, he has the audacity to claim not passing it will cause the federal government to go bankrupt. Economic literacy - not something our brilliant president has. The government really won't go "bankrupt." It can just keep borrowing and spending and printing money. Besides, medical care costs are not going up 25-30% every year.
This might just be the stupidest thing Barack Obama has said yet.
One might wonder how spending at least $1.5 trillion over the next ten years is going to help keep the government solvent.
It might not be stupidity. It's possible the president is just employing plain old fear mongering and lying; he's done it before. But it shows how absolutely desperate the president is to get his health care reform bill passed.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Federal Government Recalls Window Shades
How did we Survive before the Consumer Product Safety Commission?
This morning we have a recall of historic proportions. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the window blind industry are recalling virtually every Roman blind and roller shade on the market -- around 50 million sets -- because the cords pose a strangulation hazard to children.
Massive recall is due to the cords posing a strangulation hazard to children. There must have been many, many children who suffered under the neglect of the Bush administration, right?
Actually, only 5 children have died and another 16 have nearly strangled in the cords of the Roman shades and three children's deaths have been linked to roll-up blinds, which is why the CSPC negotiated the massive recall. But the agency said it's frustrated that it was necessary since the products should have been safer in the first place.
Thank goodness parents don't have any responsibility for this nightmare!
The CPSC urged owners of Roman blinds or roll-up shades to call the Window Covering Safety Council for information on the repair kit at (800) 506-4636 or visit http://www.windowcoverings.org/. Consumers can also buy roll-up blinds with a breakaway device that gives way if a child is caught in the cord, or use blinds that do not have cords at all.
In addition to the CPSC's recall, some major retailers are issuing recalls of their own. Walmart issued recalls for 500,000 Roman shades and 600,000 roll-up blinds. JCPenny recalled more than 2.2 million Roman shades and about 340 roll-up blinds. The Pottery Barn recalled about 305,000 Roman shades and 45,000 roller shades.
This morning we have a recall of historic proportions. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the window blind industry are recalling virtually every Roman blind and roller shade on the market -- around 50 million sets -- because the cords pose a strangulation hazard to children.
Massive recall is due to the cords posing a strangulation hazard to children. There must have been many, many children who suffered under the neglect of the Bush administration, right?
Actually, only 5 children have died and another 16 have nearly strangled in the cords of the Roman shades and three children's deaths have been linked to roll-up blinds, which is why the CSPC negotiated the massive recall. But the agency said it's frustrated that it was necessary since the products should have been safer in the first place.
Thank goodness parents don't have any responsibility for this nightmare!
The CPSC urged owners of Roman blinds or roll-up shades to call the Window Covering Safety Council for information on the repair kit at (800) 506-4636 or visit http://www.windowcoverings.org/. Consumers can also buy roll-up blinds with a breakaway device that gives way if a child is caught in the cord, or use blinds that do not have cords at all.
In addition to the CPSC's recall, some major retailers are issuing recalls of their own. Walmart issued recalls for 500,000 Roman shades and 600,000 roll-up blinds. JCPenny recalled more than 2.2 million Roman shades and about 340 roll-up blinds. The Pottery Barn recalled about 305,000 Roman shades and 45,000 roller shades.
Reality TV Showcases American Stupidity
By Jonah Goldberg
December 15, 2009
Culturally, this has been the decade of the reality show. And what do we have to show for it? Not much more than the contestants themselves.Survey the wreckage. Richard Hatch, the "Survivor" champion, was just released from prison (he didn't pay taxes on his winnings). The marriage of the Octoparents, Jon and Kate, is a shambles. Richard and Mayumi Heene were so desperate to land a reality series, they concocted an enormous hoax, convincing the country their child had been carried away in a balloon. Michaele and Tareq Salahi tried to claw their way onto the sure-to-be-hideous series "Real Housewives of D.C." by brazening their way into a state dinner. And alleged wife-killer Ryan Jenkins, a contestant on two VH1 shows, is surely a stark reminder that fame is not a reflection of good character.Which brings us to "Jersey Shore." The show, which just started airing on MTV, follows a gaggle of barely literate bridge-and-tunnel steakheads and slatterns as they spend their summer at "the greatest meat market in the world." One of the absurdly tanned gibbons goes by the moniker "the Situation" because it gives him the excuse to ask women, "Do you love the Situation?" as he lifts his shirt to show off his washboard abs. One senses that if they all put their heads together, it's still doubtful they could beat a carnival chicken at Tic-Tac-Toe.In a teaser for the next episode, one of the girls is punched in the face at a bar. But, after "consulting with experts on the issue of violence," MTV announced it wouldn't show the actual assault. While I can't fault the decision, it is kind of funny. The producers see nothing wrong with glorifying drunken idiocy and moral buffoonery in every episode, but they "responsibly" draw the line at physical violence because MTV is loath to promote reckless behavior.Uh huh.When the not-so-hidden cameras catch one of the girls cheating on her boyfriend with a housemate sporting a pierced you-know-what, that's just pure entertainment. "You have your penis pierced. I love it," the drunken vamp exclaims.Now don't get me wrong; it's great television. But gladiatorial games would be great TV too.This newspaper reported the other day that the reality show industry is suddenly having a crisis of conscience about its impact on the culture. That's nice to hear, but it's not nearly enough.The British historian Arnold Toynbee argued that civilizations thrive when the lower classes aspire to be like the upper classes, and they decay when the upper classes try to be like the lower classes. Looked at through this prism, it's hard not to see America in a prolonged period of decay.It's not all bad news, to be sure. The elite minority's general acceptance of racial and sexual equality as important values has been a moral triumph. But not without costs. As part of this transformation, society has embraced what social scientist Charles Murray calls "ecumenical niceness." A core tenet of ecumenical niceness is that harsh judgments of the underclass -- or people with underclass values -- are forbidden. An added corollary: People with old-fashioned notions of decency are fair game.Long before the rise of reality shows, ecumenical niceness created a moral vacuum. Out-of-wedlock birth was once a great shame; now it is something of a happy lifestyle choice. The cavalier use of profanity was once crude; now it's increasingly conversational.Reality show culture has thrived in that moral vacuum, accelerating the decay and helping to create a society in which celebrity is the new nobility. One senses that Richard Heene thought -- and perhaps still thinks -- that the way to make his kids proud of him was to land a reality show. Paris Hilton, famous for being famous thanks in part to a "reality" sex tape released days before her 2003 reality show, "The Simple Life," is now a cultural icon of no redeeming value whatsoever.Whatever you think of what Toynbee and Murray would call the "proletarianization of the elites," one point is beyond dispute: The rich can afford moral lassitude more than the poor can. Hilton, heir to a hotel fortune, has life as simple as she wants it to be. Tiger Woods is surely a cad, but as a pure matter of economics, he can afford to be one.Lord knows I'm a critic of President Obama, but this is undoubtedly one area in which he is -- personally -- a force for good. Whatever the merits of his policies, the image Obama projects is one of reserved decency and diligence, even a healthy snobbishness.Wouldn't it be nice if his cheerleaders in Hollywood took that example to heart?
By Jonah Goldberg
December 15, 2009
Culturally, this has been the decade of the reality show. And what do we have to show for it? Not much more than the contestants themselves.Survey the wreckage. Richard Hatch, the "Survivor" champion, was just released from prison (he didn't pay taxes on his winnings). The marriage of the Octoparents, Jon and Kate, is a shambles. Richard and Mayumi Heene were so desperate to land a reality series, they concocted an enormous hoax, convincing the country their child had been carried away in a balloon. Michaele and Tareq Salahi tried to claw their way onto the sure-to-be-hideous series "Real Housewives of D.C." by brazening their way into a state dinner. And alleged wife-killer Ryan Jenkins, a contestant on two VH1 shows, is surely a stark reminder that fame is not a reflection of good character.Which brings us to "Jersey Shore." The show, which just started airing on MTV, follows a gaggle of barely literate bridge-and-tunnel steakheads and slatterns as they spend their summer at "the greatest meat market in the world." One of the absurdly tanned gibbons goes by the moniker "the Situation" because it gives him the excuse to ask women, "Do you love the Situation?" as he lifts his shirt to show off his washboard abs. One senses that if they all put their heads together, it's still doubtful they could beat a carnival chicken at Tic-Tac-Toe.In a teaser for the next episode, one of the girls is punched in the face at a bar. But, after "consulting with experts on the issue of violence," MTV announced it wouldn't show the actual assault. While I can't fault the decision, it is kind of funny. The producers see nothing wrong with glorifying drunken idiocy and moral buffoonery in every episode, but they "responsibly" draw the line at physical violence because MTV is loath to promote reckless behavior.Uh huh.When the not-so-hidden cameras catch one of the girls cheating on her boyfriend with a housemate sporting a pierced you-know-what, that's just pure entertainment. "You have your penis pierced. I love it," the drunken vamp exclaims.Now don't get me wrong; it's great television. But gladiatorial games would be great TV too.This newspaper reported the other day that the reality show industry is suddenly having a crisis of conscience about its impact on the culture. That's nice to hear, but it's not nearly enough.The British historian Arnold Toynbee argued that civilizations thrive when the lower classes aspire to be like the upper classes, and they decay when the upper classes try to be like the lower classes. Looked at through this prism, it's hard not to see America in a prolonged period of decay.It's not all bad news, to be sure. The elite minority's general acceptance of racial and sexual equality as important values has been a moral triumph. But not without costs. As part of this transformation, society has embraced what social scientist Charles Murray calls "ecumenical niceness." A core tenet of ecumenical niceness is that harsh judgments of the underclass -- or people with underclass values -- are forbidden. An added corollary: People with old-fashioned notions of decency are fair game.Long before the rise of reality shows, ecumenical niceness created a moral vacuum. Out-of-wedlock birth was once a great shame; now it is something of a happy lifestyle choice. The cavalier use of profanity was once crude; now it's increasingly conversational.Reality show culture has thrived in that moral vacuum, accelerating the decay and helping to create a society in which celebrity is the new nobility. One senses that Richard Heene thought -- and perhaps still thinks -- that the way to make his kids proud of him was to land a reality show. Paris Hilton, famous for being famous thanks in part to a "reality" sex tape released days before her 2003 reality show, "The Simple Life," is now a cultural icon of no redeeming value whatsoever.Whatever you think of what Toynbee and Murray would call the "proletarianization of the elites," one point is beyond dispute: The rich can afford moral lassitude more than the poor can. Hilton, heir to a hotel fortune, has life as simple as she wants it to be. Tiger Woods is surely a cad, but as a pure matter of economics, he can afford to be one.Lord knows I'm a critic of President Obama, but this is undoubtedly one area in which he is -- personally -- a force for good. Whatever the merits of his policies, the image Obama projects is one of reserved decency and diligence, even a healthy snobbishness.Wouldn't it be nice if his cheerleaders in Hollywood took that example to heart?
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