Yep, Let’s Turn Healthcare Over to These Folks

If you wonder what your interaction with the healthcare czar/governing board/committee of DC bureaucrats might be like should government health insurance be imposed on you, just hope and pray it’s not like my experience today with a federal agency. Prompted by a filled-with-bureaucrateze letter I received, I called the agency.

The first thing the voice on the other end asked for was my social security number. I declined and then was told that my address might do. When I asked to be transferred to someone who might know more about the letter I received, I was told I couldn’t be transferred without having completed a questionnaire, which would be mailed to me.

Then the person told me he was having computer problems. He was very polite and seemed to be used to computer problems. After a very long pause he told me he would transfer me to someone whose computer was working better, and with a very polite, gee I hope this works comment, I was disconnected.

Yep, let’s turn the healthcare system over to this type of operation.

Left Hand, Meet the Right Hand

Just as the Democratic budget writers in the General Assembly get ready to ink a billion-dollar tax hike, the state is ramping up for next weekend’s “sales tax holiday.”

Clearly, logic and economics play little or no role in the General Assembly’s policymaking.

This is a Race I’d Pay to Watch

The Herald-Sun reports that Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy is considering a run against Sen. Richard Burr, who’s up for re-election next year. You know the country has taken a major left turn when an ultra liberal like Foy believes he can make the leap to Capitol Hill. It would make for fascinating debates on just about every issue and policy. The story includes an interesting comment from Democratic political consultant Brad Crone about what a potential tug-of-war in the Democratic Pary.

Crone added that he expects the upcoming campaign to play out as a battle between the Democratic Party’s old guard, as exemplified by office-holders like Marshall and Gov. Beverly Perdue, and a new guard exemplified by candidates like Cunningham and Foy.

Single w/ Taxable Income of $60K: Legislators Think You’re Livin’ Large

The latest tax hike plan coming from the Democratic budget writers in the North Carolina General Assembly reflects a fascinating look at what the body’s majority deems to be living large in our state. From the News & Observer:

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate settled on a plan that would tack a 3 percent surcharge on the income tax liability of North Carolinians who report income of more than $250,000 a year. Taxpayers who report between $100,000 and $250,000 would get hit with a 2 percent surcharge. Those levels are based on the taxable income of married couples filing jointly.

That’s bad enough, but wait, there’s more.

Perdue has two concerns, according to legislators. She was uncomfortable because the 2 percent surcharge, while affecting couples who make more than $100,000, would reach down to single taxpayers whose taxable income is more than $60,000.

I wonder what all the teachers, principals, and myriad school administrators who will be hit by this tax on a tax are thinking, since they -for the most part – helped elect the very people who clearly think they’re livin’ large in Carolina and not paying their fair share.

Rasmussen: Obama Approval Rating Continues to Drop

From Rasmussen Reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 28% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -12. That’s the lowest rating yet recorded for President Obama.

Apparently Americans are paying attention to the administration’s endorsement of astronomical spending and borrowing, and its wrongheaded approach to healthcare reform.

Bypass surgery for an 87-year-old? Would ObamaCare allow it?

Down here in Alabama (I’m on vacation) the heart bypass surgery of former Gov. John Patterson has been big news. One wonders, though, if ObamaCare were a reality, if this would have been possible:

“This is an 87-year-old guy who had chest pains, the doctor sent him to the hospital and determined he needed heart surgery and today we completed the surgery in good order and his surgery went fine. The diagnosis is there were no complications and the prognosis is a full recovery.”

Or would doctor-assisted suicide been offered instead of a bypass?

Yet Another Reason Not to Hike Taxes

State legislators should read this USA Today story before voting to raise taxes, which is simply makes it more costly to live. Local governments are now seeing growth in the number of people who are failing to pay their property taxes. Could this be the next trend in North Carolina, where the unemployment rate stands at 11 percent and is predicted to rise to 13 percent in 2010?

At a time when the nation’s housing crisis has put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes through bank foreclosure, a growing pile of unpaid bills has put tens of thousands more in danger of losing them to tax seizures. That has caused multimillion-dollar shortfalls for some already-struggling local governments that rely on property taxes to pay for everything from schools to police.

Because property taxes are almost always collected locally, there is no single national measure of just how many people have fallen behind. But tax collectors and treasures in communities across the country say they’ve seen a sharp jump in the number of delinquent homeowners and businesses as the nation’s unemployment rate grew. They’re bracing for even more unpaid bills ahead.

Gallup: Early Read on 2010 Suggests Midterms Could Be Competitive

The abrupt left turn the country has taken appears to be having an impact, as this Gallup data indicates.

The president needs protection from potholes?

Not since the Swamp Rabbit Attack of 1979 has a president been so weirdly imperiled. According to The News & Observer:

Expect brief delays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on likely routes from RDU. That would include Interstate 40, Wade Avenue, St. Mary’s and Peace streets.

If local officials decide to protect the president from the potholes of Wade Avenue, they might look for an alternative route. But Glenwood Avenue and Hillsborough Street are bumpy, too.

Gee, you’d think a city named after Sir Walter Raleigh would be able to muster a few gentlemen to spread their coats over the offending holes in the ground¹ to save the dignity of the dainty leader.

Note
1. This would, however, require leaders in Raleigh able to discern the proverbial holes in the ground, a decided deficiency at present. We don’t want them throwing coats over each other or, worse, our distinguished guests.

And Who Decides What Are “unhealthy foods”?

The idea of taxing soda has been around for years but this week the head of the Centers for Disease Control endorsed the idea of taxing “unhealthy foods.” And just who would decide what is “unhealthy”? Government, of course. The soda industry is already fighting back. In the ad, the industry steps into politically incorrect territory by pointing out that Americans would be healthier if we got off the couch and ate balanced meals. The sad fact is, a lot of people don’t want to hear that. They’d rather just have the government wave its magical make-me-thin wand as part of their “free” healthcare. Will we ever behave like responsible adults again? I fear not.