Allahpundit channels Obama

Allahpundit tweets:

“Let me be clear: These protesters are subhuman Republican Nazi a**holes. But let’s be civil.”

Where two of N.C.’s Democratic congressmen stand

The Drudge Report had some quotes from a couple of North Carolina congressmen. Here they are:

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC): In the Tarheel State, Rep. Heath Shuler, D-NC, said during a telephone town hall meeting, per the Citizen-Times, “that he opposes the House health care reform legislation because it would increase the deficit, doesn’t reduce the overall cost of health care and doesn’t do enough to promote people living healthier lives… ‘I do not support HR3200 at the present time,’ Shuler said…emphasizing that the current legislation does not do enough to promote wellness, prevention and disease management. Nor is enough being done to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, he said.” http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090814/NEWS01/908140330/1200

Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC): I am not convinced that we should have the public option. I know there’s been a lot of debate about that, but I’m not convinced that we should do that, so as it stands now, I would be a no on the public option. With regard to the coops, I think there’s room for debate there on how that’s done, and I’m not in favor of just dumping federal money into it, I think that’s the essence of his question. http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/17942

Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC): “We Cannot Support Any Health Care Reform Proposal Unless It Explicitly Excludes Abortion From The Scope Of Any Government-Defined Or Subsidized Health Insurance Plan.” “We believe in a culture that supports and respects the right to life and is dedicated to the protection and preservation of families. Therefore, we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan. We believe that a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan, should not be used to fund abortion.” (Letter To Speaker Pelosi, 6/25/09)

Surprise, surprise, ACORN election fraud found

They call it “breaking news” on the Web site, but what’s so surprising about it?:

Eleven people hired to register potential voters in Miami-Dade County before last year’s presidential election were being sought Wednesday for falsifying hundreds of voter registration cards.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office issued arrest warrants for each of the 11 suspects, all of whom worked for the local chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, (ACORN).

Could our U.S. Census be in any better hands than those of President Obama’s old community organizing pals?

Patrick McHenry and the czars

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, wants to do something about all of President Obama’s unaccountable (to Congress, anyway) czars:

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) on Wednesday called for President Obama’s “czars,” or appointed high-level advisers, to testify before Congress about their “authority and responsibilities” in the executive branch.

The president’s “czars” have become a point of controversy among his opponents because they do not have to be confirmed by the Senate as cabinet-level officials do.

McHenry wrote to committee chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) asking the appointed officials to testify.

Funny how there’s no talk among the mainstream media of an “Imperial Presidency,” as there is whenever a Republican holds the office.

PPP: Perdue Job Approval at Just 26%

Despite just a 26 percent job approval rating, the folks at the Democratic polling firm of Public Policy Polling see a bright side – a “great opportunity” as they put it. From the PPP blog: (emphasis is mine)

As for Perdue, her weak numbers provide a great opportunity. It’s close to impossible for her to be any less popular so she should move forward with a more bold and transformational vision for the state and not worry about the political consequences of it. If she doesn’t do anything significantly differently for the next three years she’s going to be a one term Governor anyway, so she might as well shoot for the stars in terms of changing and improving how the state of North Carolina does things and not worry about what impact that’s going to have on her standing with this or that interest group or donor. You can’t make meaningful change if you don’t at least try.

So she’s so out of step with so many North Carolinians that she should enact a few more misguided policies? Wow.

Post-Hippocratic medicine in action

On Friday, CJ Online featured an interview with Dr. C.L. Gray, founder of the group Physicians for Reform, who earlier this year discussed “The Coming Age of Post-Hippocratic Medicine: What History Teaches Us About the Future of American Health Care” at a John Locke Foundation event.

By “post-Hippocratic,” Gray is referring to the slide of the practice of medicine away from the rules of the Hippocratic Oath into bottom-line, cost-benefit medicine. A story from Great Britain, creators of the template for single-payer, state-run health care in a democracy, reveals that in such a system Hippocrates holds little sway over doctors indoctrinated into the world and rules of bureaucratic medicine:

Doctors left a premature baby to die because he was born two days too early, his devastated mother claimed yesterday.

Sarah Capewell begged them to save her tiny son, who was born just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy – almost four months early.

They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment.

WRAL: State BOE Auditing Wake Rep. Ty Harrell’s Expenses

WRAL reports that the state Board of Elections wants more information from state legislator Ty Harrell (D-Wake) about his campaign expenses. The story says Harrell says everything is legit and that in some cases he was meeting with folks about his political future.

The bizarre reasoning of health-care marauders

When you put it down on paper, as Michael Barone has done, the rationale behind President Obama’s efforts to take over the health care industry are simply bizarre:

There is an element of convenient fantasy as well in Obama’s health care statements to date. We are going to save money by spending money. We are going to solve our fiscal problems with a program that will increase the national debt by $1,000,000,000,000 over a decade. We are going to guarantee you can keep your current insurance with a bill that encourages your employer to stop offering it.

The list goes on. We are going to improve health care for seniors by cutting $500,000,000,000 from Medicare. We aren’t going to insure illegal aliens, except that we won’t have any verification provisions to see that they can’t apply and get benefits.

This is a Parenting Problem, Not a Law Enforcement Issue

The News & Observer reports the town of Clayton has decided against a teen curfew. Good. If teenagers are roaming the streets at night, the problem is one of parenting, or the lack thereof. The role of government is to provide a necessary service the citizenry cannot provide for itself. Raising kids doesn’t fall into that category. If teenagers are engaging in crime, they should be arrested.

What’s a Few Billion Among Friends

It’s only money, and besides, we can just print some more. From today’s Washington Post: (emphasis is mine)

The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers’ rescue.

The report said that a $5.4 billion portion of the $10.5 billion owed by Chrysler is “highly unlikely” to be repaid, while full recovery of the $50 billion sunk into GM would require the company’s stock to reach unprecedented heights.

“Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount,” according to the report, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday.

The report also recommended that the Treasury Department act with more transparency and provide a legal analysis justifying the use of financial rescue funds for the automakers. The report was prepared by the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is overseeing the federal bailout programs.

Legal justification. Now that’s a novel idea.