Another Transplanted Southerner

Musings from Miz Mel'nie, a Southern Belle living in the Northeast.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

On Teddy Kennedy's Passing

Everybody is stumbling over themselves talking about what a great man Teddy Kennedy was, how he was the big champion of health care for all, etc. They seem to forget that it was Teddy Kennedy that put a stopper on health care for all, and other progressive ideas, in 1980. It was Teddy Kennedy that gave us Ronald Reagan and the "Greed Is Good And Poor People Suck" philsosphy of government we've had to live with ever since. Teddy Kennedy could have easily gotten health care for all during Jimmy Carter's second term, but because of Teddy Kennedy's ego there was no second term for Jimmy Carter.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sarah Palin: Socialist On Health Care, Too?

On Friday, Sarah Palin said: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care." (http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=24718773587)

In a purely Socialist society, all would be cared for, no matter what their productivity level. In a purely Capitalist society, only those that are productive would be necessary and the rest would be deemed to be unnecessary and "disposed of" like so much unwanted trash. So it seems she's promoting Socialism yet again.

In 2007, she increased taxes on oil and gas companies operating in Alaska - up to 25% on profits from North Slope oil - and gave every Alaskan a check for $3,269. (http://mccain.voterfactcheck.com/facts/11/palin_windfall_profits_tax_344511.shtml)

Do other states do this to industries that do well in their states? Do the credit card companies pay windfall profits taxes that get distributed to the citizens of Delaware? Nope. "Alaska is the only state that shares revenue profits with all of its citizens every Alaskan receives a check once a year for their share of the oil revenues." (sic)(http://www.thelandofthefree.net/conservativeopinion/2009/07/31/sarah-palin-an-alaskan-enigma/) This, of course, is in addition to the taxes oil and gas companies pay already.

In a truly Capitalist society, the oil and gas companies would not pay those excess taxes. Taking from the "rich" (oil and gas companies) and giving to the "poor" (the citizens of Alaska) is pretty much the definition of Socialism.

So, is she a Capitalist or a Socialist? She says she's a Capitalist but her words and deeds point to Socialism. So, what is she? Capitalist or Socialist? Or just a political opportunist who says and does whatever is politically expedient at the time and who actually doesn't know her ass from her elbow? I'll let you decide.

References:http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=24718773587
http://mccain.voterfactcheck.com/facts/11/palin_windfall_profits_tax_344511.shtml
http://www.thelandofthefree.net/conservativeopinion/2009/07/31/sarah-palin-an-alaskan-enigma/

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Health Care Reform

I've been busy for quite awhile and haven't had the time nor inclination to write, but the health care reform issue deserves attention. From what I understand, the reason that health insurance costs and health care costs are so high is because the insured are having to foot the bill for the uninsured and under-insured. The way to fix this problem is not to make sure everyone has the opporunity to obtain affordable health insurance, it is to make those who aren't paying pay. The first step in this is to reform the bankruptcy laws. Right now, medical costs can be discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. Student loans can't be discharged, so why should medical costs? If the medical cost debtors still don't pay, throw them in jail and make them work it off. William Morris, who was one of the upstanding signers of the Declaration of Independence and who financed the American Revolution, ended up in debtor's prison in 1798. While it is true that debtor's prisons pretty much went away in the early-to-mid 1800s, they can be brought back (except in Oklahoma and Tennessee, in which case there would have to be state constitutional amendments). If it was good enough for the financier of our American Revolution, it's good enough for modern debtors. In capitalist America, unlike the rest of the modern world, health care is a commodity like coffee or iron ore or a new TV. Therefore, if you can't afford to pay for medical care, you shouldn't expect to receive it. And those who do receive it should be expected to pay for it upon threat of prison.

References:
http://myvesta.org/history/history_debtorprison.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtors