Six months into socialized medicine...

The Obama administration this week is trumpeting the six-month mark of their foray into taking over nearly 20-percent of the Gross National Product.  

The anger I felt in March after the passage of the Health Care Reform Act has subsided a bit.   I now look on it with the inevitability usually reserved for ninth-inning collapses by the Tigers' bullpen, head-scratching losses for the Hokies, and Charlie and Hannah doing something that requires a painful loss of my time, money, and/or energy.

Still, it's worth noting which Health Care provisions are kicking in right now and what they represent for small businesses---not to mention the very idea of a free market economy.

As of today, it is now illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions.    Sounds great, right?   How DARE those companies deny coverage to little children with brain tumors!!!     Other provisions prevent lifetime caps on coverage, and allow slackers to sponge off of Mom and Dad's insurance until they are 26 years old!

There's a reason insurance companies have operated the way they have in the past.   They lose boatloads of money if they run things like the government is mandating.  If you're confused, google "ECON 101."

The insurance companies will, of course, abide by the law.   They'll open up coverage to untold numbers of minors with all kinds of ailments.   They'll let deadbeat 20-somethings leech off their parents a little longer.  They'll also lose lots of money.   Since the insurance companies are not in the non-profit sector, they will be forced to find a way to make up for this staggering loss.   Any guesses as to how they'll do that?

What will follow will make the premium increases we've seen the past couple of years look like chump change.   Health insurance costs will skyrocket.   What happens then?   Big-government advocates will demagogue the insurance companies, calling them "greedy, evil," etc. etc.    They'll then demand single-payer Health Care, which is Barack Obama's wet dream.

I'm not an ogre.   I have no desire to see five-year olds with heart conditions denied medical coverage.   But I also don't want an estimated 200,000,000 Americans being forced to submit to The State's whims about their basic health care.

And again, this underscores the liberal notion that all power derives from the government, then flows down to us.   Silly me.   I was taught that it was the other way around.

Purple Rain

I could feel it in my bones early on---and it was more than just the steady rain and wind pelting Lane Stadium Saturday afternoon.   

Virginia Tech's Hokies were struggling.   Five days after a heartbreaking loss on national television that dashed any hopes of bringing that coveted crystal football to Blacksburg, Beamer's boys tried to right themselves against an in-state 1-AA opponent with nothing to lose.

I felt the same thing in my bones on a sunny October day in 1998.   Tech's name was being bandied about as possible MNC fodder when they welcomed a woeful Temple team to town.   The Owls were playing with a freshman QB who had never started a game; going up against a defense that featured beasts like Corey Moore and John Engleberger.

Tech opened moving the ball well, but falling short on a few critical drives.   They still managed to build a 17-0 second-quarter lead against a team that was not their peer.   Then, the football Gods intervened.   Temple turned a short pass into a 70-plus touchdown late in the second to give them momentum at the break.   In the second half, Tech was stuck in neutral as Temple methodically cut into the lead, and took it midway through the fourth.   A last-ditch drive by the Hokies fell short, and they lost to a team that was a 38-point underdog.

The similarities on Saturday were eerie.   Tech came up short on a couple of long drives and struggled to a 13-0 lead.   Then, disaster hit.   JMU took a flare pass that should have resulted in a five-yard loss; took advantage of sloppy Tech tackling, and ran it in from 77 yards for a score.   Tech opened the second half with a long drive that resulted in only a field goal.   Then the defense gave way.   JMU's option befuddled Tech's young but vaunted defense.   The Dukes took a 21-16 lead, then forced a late Tech turnover to seal the deal.

It shouldn't have happened, but it did.   I saw it.   There's no denying it.

So what next?  Wholesale changes?   Not likely in mid-season.   Perhaps this will result in a little less pre-season braggadocio from the coaching staff---more realistic expectations from fans---maybe even a re-evaluation of who were are as a football team.

I can accept a hard-earned loss.   I can NOT accept a team that consistently performs well under its ability.  Congrats to the Dukes, who proved that mistake-free football can take you far.   For my Hokies, your high-school "Rivals" rankings mean exactly jack-shit now.  Play hard!

Some random thoughts for a rainy Monday...

***Labor Unions and the NAACP are, to quote from the movie Patton, "magnificent anachronisms." There was a time when each was necessary. Now, after having largely accomplished most of their core goals, their existence is solely center on self-preservation---the overwhelming need to remain relevant.

***The History Channel's "America: The Story of Us" is a feast for the eyes! It's historical accuracy is questionable and it takes broad liberties; but it sure is fun to watch!

***The number of new green jobs created in the last 15 months is only half of one percent of the eight million jobs lost since the beginning of the Great Recession.

***Did you know that the F.C.C. has a Chief Diversity Officer? That should send a chill down your spine.

***I don't give a rat's ass where LeBron James plays hoops next year.

***Riddle me this---aren't the provisions in the new Arizona anti-immigration law basically the same as are already part of the federal code? If current federal law hasn't already foster the "Nazi-ish" regime that opponents fear; how would it materialize under a state law?

***Remember folks, no problem that the federal government undertakes to tackle can ever be recognized as solved, because to do so would mean the dissolution of an agency. And if the federal program creates new problems, well, those are then excuses for new agencies.

All juiced up.

In an announcement right up there with "Man Walks on Moon" in terms of shock-value, Mark McGwire yesterday told us what we already knew.  He used steroids, human growth hormones, equine supplements (!) and God-knows-what else during the last ten years of his major league career.   Mister Magoo squinting at McGwire's 1987 rookie card and his 2002 Topps offering could have told you something was up.

Let me by the first to say that I had a hell of a time watching McGwire and Sammy Sosa smash dingers in 1998.  As a hopeless baseball geek, it was hard not to get excited about history being made right before my very eyes.   Add to the fact that McGwire and Sosa seemed like genuinely nice people who were having fun playing a little boy's game, and it was impossible for me not to get sucked in.

Each paid the proper homage to Roger Maris, his family, and his legacy.   They smiled at each other and at fans.  In short, they did all the right things.  But as we know today, they did them in the wrong way.

By the letter of the baseball law, I know that the substances taken by McGwire were not explicitly banned by Major League Baseball.   Neither does MLB ban rape, murder, jaywalking, or mail fraud.   Let's put it this way---if you have to go behind closed doors to do something, it's probably something you shouldn't be doing.  And you most certainly can't feign ignorance once the shit hits the fan.

This is also proving to be a lesson in contrition.  McGwire will likely be (for the most part) forgiven by the public.  He still won't get into the Hall of Fame, but his name will not be mud for the rest of his life.    Also included in the group of Forgiven are A-Rod, Andy Pettite, and Jason Giambi.  What do they have in common?  They 'fessed up!  They offered a mea culpa!

What do Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Manny Ramirez have in common?  They still act as though we're rock-stupid.  Therefore, they remain persona non grata in MLB circles.   Plus, they're all pricks---so there!!

Hummin' the Health Care Blues...

I am a good U.S. Citizen. I wouldn't do anything to harm the nation
that I love. This great social experiment in representative
democracy that started more than two centuries ago has revolutionized
thought on this planet. Serious bumps aside, it has worked far better
than anyone could have imagined.

But at what point do I break? How many fundamental powers have to be
removed from me before I say "enough is enough?" How much of my basic
decision-making power has to be stripped before I fight back?

The State now tells me what I should eat. How long before they tell
me what I CAN eat? The State strips a sizable portion of what I earn
to subsidize things about which I do not agree. I enjoy the military
and social protection provided by the military; but how much is that
worth when I am reduced to a ward of the state?

The Health Care debate is just the latest mile-marker on an inexorable
road to a Statist Utopia. I'd love to opt out, but I have little
recourse. The Collective doesn't function unless everyone participates.

This Conservative Libertarian is feeling pretty down in the dumps today.

Am I the only one who finds this disturbing?

From President Obama's interview today on CBS, pushing Health Care Reform:

"'I think the best way to fund it is for people like myself, who
have been very lucky and are in the top -- not just 1 percent, but top
half percent -- of the income ladder to pay a little bit more,' Mr.
Obama said.

"Lucky," Mr. President? LUCKY?!

This is the core of the Health Care debate, and so many others. Those
of us who have spent within our means, studied hard, avoided costly
habits, gone to work when we didn't feel like it, and rebutted the
temptation to run up huge debts are "LUCKY?"

You can cut-and-paste anything into "Health Care" above and it applies
in modern political discussion. Those of us who can (barely) afford
health care and other things are "lucky," We just woke up one morning
and found a way to pay the bills. To thank us for our frugality, our
Commander-In-Chief is ordering us to pay more for those who in many
cases made piss-poor life decisions.

I am doing everything in my power not to scream at this line of
thinking. This is NOT why government exists.

I need a beer.

More mindless musings...

From the "No Shit!" file.

"House Ways and Means Committee members are likely to propose a surtax on high-income Americans to help pay for an overhaul of the health-care system, according to people familiar with the plan."

The latest God-complex from Obama

ABC News reported that a senior White House official said the urgency of extending the expiring U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty "might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate's constitutional role in ratifying treaties."

Is it just me?

I'm no major Sarah Palin fan, but I have to admit I'm having trouble figuring out the vitriol being spewed in her direction. Hey, lefties---she's damaged goods, OK! She's not going to be President. Lighten up!

Broadcast News

The F.C.C. is being asked to ban the term "midget" from the public airwaves. Expect the vote to come up a little short. Obviously this issue dwarfs all other concerns. Midget.

Good luck with that

The President of the University of Florida wants to cut the number of places alcohol is sold at the annual football game against Georgia in Jacksonville. In other news, North Carolina's legislature is proposing trimming the number of barbeque outlets in the state by 50% and West Virginia is pushing a ban on the sale of false teeth.