SOCIALIZED MEDICINE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

President B.H. Obama has thrown down the gauntlet to the "special interests" as he calls the insurance companies, and today asked Congress to ignore their pleas and I guess money that they use to get their way. So he can have his socialized medicine.

He reminded all that he campaigned on the promise to deliver medical care for all. and he is bound and very determined to get his way. I have no doubt he will find a willing Congress to give him his socialized medicine despite the fact that in doing so he will destroy the best medical system in the World.

If you doubt me, spend and hour in the waiting room of the Mayo clinic and listen to all the foreign languages spoken. People from every where come to the USA for medical care, but they won't if he does to medicine what the government has done to the Postal Service and the IRS!

There are not many people I know who have experienced socialized medicine in a life threatening situation. I am one who has! So I have republished a blog I posted in 2006 that explain the horrors of "free" medical care.I put free in quotes, because even when socialized medicine is passed it will no be free. You taxpayers will pay for the "crap"" that is passed off as medicine for all!

NOT ONLY DOES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HEALTH CARE RIGHTS, BUT THIS INITIATIVE IS NOTHING MORE THAN BLATANT SOCIALISM WHICH WOULD ROB FROM THE "HAVES" TO PAY FOR THE "HAVE NOTS".
THIS IS NOTHING MORE OR LESS BUT WHAT THE GREAT SENATOR FROM NEW YORK, HILLARY CLINTON, TRIED TO DO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS THE FIRST YEAR HER HUSBAND WAS PRESIDENT.
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I USUALLY DON'T WRITE ABOUT MYSELF IN THESE FLEDGLING ATTEMPTS TO BE A BLOGGER. BUT THIS SUBJECT IS SOMETHING I CAN WRITE ABOUT FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. A YEAR AGO THIS PAST MAY MY WIFE AND MY YOUNGEST SON WERE IN ROME FOR OUR 32 ND ANNIVERSARY WHEN I AWOKE IN A HOTEL ROOM AROUND 5AM WITH THE DREADED ELEPHANT SITTING ON MY CHEST! YES, IT WAS A HEART ATTACK! I WAS SCARED AS HELL!
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IN ITALY THEY HAVE TOTAL SOCIALIZED MEDICINE---EVEN FOR VISITORS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES. KIND OF LIKE OUR MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR ILLEGAL MEXICANS. I DID NOT KNOW THIS UNTIL I CHECKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL 4 DAYS LATER TO FLY HOME FOR DEFINITIVE TREATMENT OF MY HEART. BUT AT ANY RATE AN AMBULANCE FINALLY CAME TO OUR HOTEL AROUND 7:30 AND TOOK ME TO A LARGE HOSPITAL NEAR THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT. THE RIDE ITSELF WAS AN EXPERIENCE. SIRENS BLARING AND WEAVING IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC I WAS LUCKY I WAS STRAPPED IN. WHEN I GOT TO SAN JACQUIMO HOSPITAL I WAS ROLLED INTO A HALLWAY WHERE I WAITED FOR 50 MIN. OR SO, WHEN A NURSE WHO COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH TRIED TO GET MY HISTORY,ETC. FROM A MAN WHO SPEAKS SPANISH FAIRLY WELL BUT KNEW ONLY A FEW WORDS OF ITALIAN. AFTER SOME TIME THEY GAVE ME A SHOT THAT RELIEVED MY PAIN,DREW BLOOD AND ROLLED ME BACK OUT INTO THE HALLWAY WITH DOZENS OF OTHER PATIENTS. FINALLY A DOCTOR CAME TO TELL ME IN FAIRLY GOOD ENGLISH THAT, YES, I HAD A HEART ATTACK. HE TOLD ME THE CARDIAC CARE WARD WAS FULL, BUT HE WOULD TRY AND GET ME A BED IN THE SURGICAL WARD.THE CARDIAC WARD HAS FOUR BEDS!
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SOME HOURS LATER I WAS TRANSPORTED TO A ROOM THAT HAD TO BE UNLOCKED BEFORE THEY COULD ROLL ME IN, AND WAS LOCKED AS SOON AS I ENTERED. HAVING OVER 30 YEARS AS AN ORAL SURGEON ON THE STAFFS OF TWO HOSPITALS I WAS SUDDENLY TRANSPORTED INTO THIRD WORLD MEDICINE! INSIDE THE ROOM WERE FOUR BEDS THREE OF WHICH WERE OCCUPIED BY MAJOR SURGERY POST OPERATIVE PATIENTS. ONE LADY HAD A MASTECTOMY, ONE MAN HAD A THROAT OPERATION, AND THE THIRD WAS A LADY WHO HAD SOME TYPE OF ABDOMINAL SURGERY. I WAS THE ONLY ONE WITHOUT A HEALING, OPEN WOUND.
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THE FIRST THING I NOTICED BEFORE THEY RAMMED A TOO LARGE CATHETER WITHOUT LUBRICATION UP MY URETHRA ,THAT MADE ME BLEED FOR TWO DAYS, WAS THAT THERE WAS JUST ONE WINDOW IN THE ROOM AND IT WAS WIDE OPEN WITH NO SCREEN ON IT! THIS WAS A ROOM FOR SURGERY PATIENTS HOPING TO RECOVER AND THE FLYS WERE MERRILY FLYING IN AND OUT OF THE WINDOW.
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AFTER THE IVs WERE INSERTED I WAS AWARE THAT ALL THE DRESSINGS REMOVED FROM THE SURGERY PATIENTS WERE BEING PLACED IN AN OPEN BOX LINED WITH A PLASTIC BAG ABOUT 4 FEET FROM MY BED NEXT TO THE LOCKED DOOR. THE IV THAT WAS PUT IN HAD PUNCTURED MY VEIN WALL, AND ABOUT AN HOUR LATER MY RIGHT FOREARM WAS SWOLLEN AND HURT LIKE BLAZES. SINCE NO ONE IN THE ROOM COULD UNDERSTAND A WORD OF ENGLISH. I YELLED THE UNIVERSAL DISTRESS, "HELP" AS LOUD AS I COULD. IF I HAD KNOWN WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO "JUST GEORGE", AS THEY LEARNED TO CALL ME, WAS ABOUT TO BECOME A PIN CUSHION FOR TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE I THOUGHT WERE NURSES. I MIGHT HAVE SAID NOTHING EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT WASN'T INSERTED CORRECTLY. IF I KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO JAB ME SO MANY TIMES WITH LARGE NEEDLES(nine times unsuccessfully). FINALLY AFTER RIPPING UP MY VEINS IN BOTH FOREARMS THEY CALLED A FEMALE DOCTOR TO HELP. SHE SPOKE ENGLISH AND HAD THE IV IN MY HAND ON THE FIRST TRY. NICE LADY, BUT I NEVER SAW HER AGAIN.
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SINCE THERE WAS NO IV INSERTED FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS THEY STARTED TO STICK ME IN THE BELLY WITH INJECTABLE HEPARIN . I VAGUELY REMEMBER 8 OR TEN JABS IN THE BELLY WHICH MADE MY STOMACH LOOK LIKE I WENT TEN ROUNDS WITH "JOE LOW BLOW" BOXER! AT DINNER TIME I LEARNED THAT THE HOSPITAL PROVIDED NEITHER FOOD NOR WATER, NOR TOILET PRODUCTS SUCH AS SOAP AND TOOTHBRUSH. THEY EXPECTED THE RELATIVES OF THE PATIENTS TO BRING IN THE FOOD,ETC. THE ONLY THING THEY PROVIDED THREE TIMES A DAY WAS A GRUEL LIKE WATERED DOWN SOUP AND 3 "ZWIEBACK" TYPE CRACKERS. I LOST 12 POUND IN FOUR DAYS!
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FINALLY ON THE MORNING OF THE THIRD DAY I WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE CARDIAC CARE UNIT. IT WAS LIKE GETTING BACK TO THE 21ST CENTURY! THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THEY ONLY HAD FOUR BEDS! IN THIS LARGE VERY STERILE LOOKING ROOM WITH THE NURSES STATION BEHIND A DOOR AND LARGE WINDOWS WITH NO CALL BUTTON AT ANY BED. YOU WERE ON YOUR OWN.
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THE REAL CLOSE CALL CAME LATER THAT DAY. I HAD BEEN PUT ON AN IV DRIP OF NITROGLYCERIN AND AN IV WITH SOME NARCOTIC FOR PAIN. THERE WAS A VERY NICE CARDIOLOGIST WHO COULD SPEAK ENGLISH WELL ENOUGH FOR ME TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIM, BUT HE ONLY CAME IN ONCE A DAY. THE PROBLEM DEVELOPED WHEN I TOLD HIM I WAS STILL HAVING SOME CHEST PAIN. HE ORDERED A SLIGHT INCREASE IN THE NARCOTIC AND NITROGLYCERIN DRIP. THE DRUGS MADE MY SLEEPY AND I DRIFTED OFF TO SLEEP FOR HE FIRST TIME IN THREE DAYS. I WAS TOO SCARED TO FALL ASLEEP IN THE SURGERY ROOM AS THE STAFF SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME DAY AND NIGHT BEHIND A CLOSED DOOR JUST OUTSIDE THE WARD. AT NIGHT THE "HANK-PANKY GOING ON COULD WAKE THE DEAD!
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WHILE I WAS SLEEPING, THE SHIFTS CHANGED, AND APPARENTLY THE "NURSE" WHO HAD INCREASED MY IV DRIP HAD NOT MADE A NOTE IN MY CHART. SO WHEN THE NEW CREW CAME IN THEY INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF NARCOTIC AN NITRO DRIP. A SHORT TIME LATER WHEN I AWOKE LUCKILY, I BEGAN TO GO BLIND. EVERYTHING GREW BLACK, AND I THOUGHT I WAS DYING! APPARENTLY MY BLOOD PRESSURE DROPPED TO 50/30 AND ALL I COULD DO WAS WAVE MY HANDS AND TRY TO YELL HELP. LUCKY FOR ME A NEW NIGHT DOCTOR WAS IN THE NURSES STATION AND SAW ME WAVING FRANTICALLY. HE CAME AND AFTER CHECKING MY BLOOD PRESSURE HAD THE NURSING STAFF RAISE THE FOOT OF MY BED SO HIGH I SLIPPED UP TO THE BEDSTEAD, BUT IT SAVED MY LIFE ALONG WITH THE IV INJECTIONS OF MEDS. HE GAVE ME TO RAISE MY BLOOD PRESSURE. THAT WAS AS CLOSE AS I HAD EVER COME TO HAVING A STROKE.
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ON THE FOuRTH DAY MY WIFE, MY SON AND I DECIDED THIS HOSPITAL WAS DANGEROUS TO MY HEALTH AND MADE UP OUR MINDS TO FLY BACK TO THE U.S. I TOLD THE DOCTOR WHO SPOKE ENGLISH THAT I WANTED TO GO HOME BUT HE INSISTED I MUST STAY AND HAVE A HEART CATHETERIZING IN THE MORNING. I ASKED HIM IF I WAS IN A PRISON OR COULD I SIGN MYSELF OUT AGAINST HIS ADVICE. AFTER A LENGTHY TALK WITH HIS SUPERIORS HE BROUGHT ME THE RELEASE PAPERS TO SIGN. FOR ALL I KNOW THEY COULD BE A DEATH WARRANT OR DEED TO MY HOUSE AS THEY WERE IN ITALIAN. I SIGNED THE PAPERS AND TOOK A CAB TO THE HOTEL. THE NEXT DAY WE FLEW HOME IN A 747 WITH NITRO PATCHES CHANGED EVERY FOUR HOURS AND ROOM ENOUGH FOR ME TO LAY DOWN AND SLEEP MOST OF THE 10 HOUR FLIGHT. THUS ENDED MY EXPERIENCE WITH TOTALLY SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. SOME PEOPLE RAVE ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES IN COUNTRIES WITH SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET THE NIGHTMARE THAT WAS MINE ALL FOR FREE. IT DID NOT COST A CENT! Caps are for emphasis not shouting!!

SUBSTITUTING MONEY FOR WEAPONS

Everyone on the planet understands we are in the midst of a World wide recession, and more spectacular "the worst recession since the Great Depression" according to the President.
Instead of cutting welfare spending( it is presently 12.3% of GDP) and reducing the size of the government work force, Obama has determined that it would be more fair to eliminate the tax deduction for charity and the interest on your house if you and your spouse make over $250,000.
He also has promised to stop spending money for "cold war" defense projects. That sounds good, but some of the weapons that he and his minions plan to stop are the f-22 fighter jet that would replace the F-18 that is over 20 years old, and reduce the number of nuclear submarines that protect US from nuclear subs of enemies like Communist China, Russia and any other rogue country that decides to pose a threat to the USA.

Despite the economy problems, apparently the President feels that we can buy our safety through Foreign Aid, because despite his economic crisis,he plans to increase the amount of taxpayers money that will be sent to foreign countries.

The following is a quote from the Internet site of the Jerusalem Post. "The budget, according to the text put out Thursday by the Office of Budget Management, "puts the United States on a path to double foreign assistance. By increasing foreign assistance, the United States will reach out to the global community and renew its role as a leader in global development and diplomacy."

One Capitol Hill staffer who deals with these issues expressed relief that the administration wasn't "scapegoating" foreign aid as has happened in the past during times of economic trouble. Sounds to me as though Secretary Clinton is getting more money to distribute around the world to buy friends while the military gets the short end of the stick!
It appears to me that our new President and the Democrat controlled Congress is waging economic war against the American taxpayers. It started with President Bush and TARP, but has morphed into a 3 trillion dollar spending spree that will drain the monetary reserves to the point where if a foreign government decides to try to destroy our banking and economic systems, by setting up several multi- million dollar overseas hedge funds, and acting together they could dump U.S. stocks by targeting key U.S. companies, that predictably will cause panic within the stockholders.

Taking this point further, since the government has already(in 2001) pumped billions into the banking system to bolster the faltering New York banks.
And now that they have spent trillions on numerous "bail outs" with uncertain and unreported results. If the stock market continues to free fall,banks are unable to jump in and help prop up the market!
In the case of CITI bank the government now owns 40% of the stock, and the plans Obama has for National Health Insurance and his version of FDR's welfare employment program make the ability of the new owners to help doubtful,and noted Economists estimate that the present debt(Deficit)already held by the taxpaying public is 59% of GDP. The road ahead is filled with either more taxes from the middle class including taking away tax deductions or printing more worthless money that will ignite ferocious inflation and devaluation of the money we now have!

When President Obama said the other day that the "day of reckoning has come". I wonder if he meant as the Thesaurus defines reckoning as "settlement,debt due and score". That now is the time to punish those Americans who have been successful to satisfy his radical left anarchists who hate the "RIC"" and want redistribution of wealth. If so, he has made a good start in satisfying their "blood lust"!

Knee Jerk Reaction by The President?

Late Wednesday afternoon the President appeared on television to advise the public that he was instituting new regulations for Wall Street. He said we need more regulation, and the fear is that the medicine may be more damaging than the disease that exists on Wall Street.
Wall street reaction was that Obama is being "mean spirited" and his actions will make us less competitive in the World Market place.
Source: Charles Paine

On the same day that Obama made this, I can only call it a threat, the EU was making the same move in their report presented to the European Commission on Wednesday. The report calls for two new bodies to boost financial oversight in the EU. Leaders are set to discuss the watchdog agencies next month.

The European Union wants to get serious about both financial oversight and monitoring risks to the economy. A new report presented to the European Commission on Wednesday recommends the establishment of two new watchdog groups in an effort to prevent a repeat of the financial meltdown that has European Union economies reeling.

The document will be used as a basis for a European Union discussion on financial supervision scheduled for next month and could also inform Europe's negotiating position at the G-20 summit in London at the beginning of April.

Running to 68 pages, the report is chock full of recommendations and ends with the warning: "Work must begin immediately." The report is careful to avoid proposing a single, all-powerful EU regulatory body -- an idea that many member states find unpalatable -- but does include some ideas that would require countries to delegate oversight powers to the EU.Sound familiar? Crisis in Europe and Crisis in the USA!

"A key lesson to be drawn from the crisis," the report says, "is the urgent need to upgrade macro-prudential supervision in the EU for all financial activities."This is Liberal speak for more government control over the financial sector! And it is on both sides of the Atlantic. One World anyone?

Expect that some time in the next 24 months the Congress of the USA will pass legislation to share our financial information controls with the EU.
Since the second measure would be the establishment of a European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) to coordinate the transfer of information and supervision throughout the 27-member bloc.

"The group believes that the world's monetary authorities and its regulatory and supervisory financial authorities can and must do much better in the future to reduce the chances of events like these happening again," the report states.Source: Der Spiegel

The legal problem with the government oversight in this Country, is the fact that the government is denied by the Constitution from making loans to Banks that prescribe what that business will do with the loans.
The right in the U.S. Constitution to make or enter into contracts prohibits the government from limiting whom the banks can contract with,including the obscene monies that Banks pay their CEO's!
So from my point of view this is just more of President Obama's bluster and talk about something he cannot do!

THE PRESIDENT PLAYS LIARS POKER WITH TAXPAYERS

In the game of Liars Poker. At the start of a hand, each player is given a unique eight digit serial number. The first person makes a bid, which is a guess as to how many of a certain digit is contained in the combination of all the serial numbers.
The bid will eventually get high enough where all other players will call the bidder a liar. When this happens, all serial numbers will be revealed, and the digits will be counted. If the bidders bid was untrue a point is rewarded.

Last night President made eight statements/promises that he said he would accomplish as a result of the Stimulus package and the other spending he plans to implement.
In a way he was playing a sort of game of sophisticated, semantic Liars poker with the American public.

The analogy may be tenuous for many, but try to follow me briefly.
Obama promised eight things that are either out right lies, or they are misstatements due to ignorance.
We cannot claim a Harvard educated lawyer who was editor of the Harvard Law Review is not intelligent, so we move to the point of bald face lies.
Lies that like the game of Liars Poker will not be determined for months, even years.

His first statement:""We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages. It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values".
The truth is:If the administration has come up with a way to ensure money only goes to those who got in honest trouble, it hasn't said so.

The second prevarication is probably an instance where his speech writers ignored history, and he cannot be blamed, but here it is:
" "And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it".
The true fact:A German Karl Benz invented a four cylinder motor car long before Henry Ford made his in 1908.

The third:"We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before".
The Truth is we have reduced our crude oil imports from a high in 2005 of 5 billion barrels to a present 4.7 billion barrels!

The fourth lie: " "We have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade".
The truth is that even if re-elected he will not be in office in 10 years so he can say any number he wants, and it is common for Presidents to to pass on the most painful steps to his successor, by putting off big tax increases or spending cuts until someone else is in the White House, but I doubt this President will put off the tax increases for very long!

The fifth lie:""Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day."

THE FACTS: This may be so, but it isn't only Republicans who pushed for deregulation of the financial industries. The Clinton administration championed an easing of banking regulations, including legislation that ended the barrier between regular banks and Wall Street banks. That led to a deregulation that kept regular banks under tight federal regulation but extended lax regulation of Wall Street banks. Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, later an economic adviser to candidate Obama, was in the forefront in pushing for this deregulation.Source:MYWAY.com

The six lie: "In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them. We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use. We will root out the waste, fraud and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn't make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas".
The truth is, his budget does not accomplish any of that. It only proposes those steps. That's all a president can do, because control over spending rests with Congress. Obama's proposals here are a wish list and some items, including corporate tax increases and cuts in agricultural aid, will be a tough sale in Congress.

Second, waste, fraud and abuse are routinely targeted by presidents who later find that the spending that a president might consider wasteful have staunch defenders in Congress who have fought off similar efforts in the past.

Lie seven is a whopper about energy savings. "Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years."
The truth is While the president's stimulus package includes billions in aid for renewable energy and conservation, his goal is unlikely to be achieved through the recovery plan alone.

In 2007, the U.S. produced 8.4 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, including hydroelectric dams, solar panels and windmills. Under the status quo, the Energy Department says, it will take more than two decades to boost that figure to 12.5 percent
Source: Associated Press

And the eighth whopper is his promise that the Stimulus Plan will create jobs. ""Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs".
The truth of the facts is that job creation projections are uncertain even in stable times, and some of the economists relied on by Obama in making his forecast acknowledge a great deal of uncertainty in their numbers.

The president's own economists, in a report prepared last month, stated, "It should be understood that all of the estimates presented in this memo are subject to significant margins of error."

Beyond that, it's unlikely the nation will ever know how many jobs are saved as a result of the stimulus. While it's clear when jobs are abolished, there's no economic gauge that tracks job preservation. The estimates are based on economic assumptions of how many jobs would be lost without the stimulus.
Source: Calvin Woodward and Jim Kuhnhenn

Just like liars poker we the voting public will have to take his word or call him a liar, and wait and see what the results are. But if we wait will it be too late?

I GUESS THE PRESIDENT DID NOT READ THEM!?

Just 17 years ago that the American Journalist Charles Krauthammer spoke of the dawning of a new era in which, for decades to come, the United States would serve as the epicenter of the world order. Only five years have passed since then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell told an audience at Davos that America claimed the right to initiate unilateral military action.

Fast forward to today, the day after President Obama's State of the Union speech. You will discover that we have elected a President that has forgotten what a Constitutional Lawyer should have ingrained upon his mind. Last night, Obama said he believes the role of government is to lay the foundation “for our common prosperity.”
Somebody should remind this Constitutional scholar that the Federalist Papers tell the President that his first responsibility is the safety of the PEOPLE!


Instead his speech detailed his three most important issues are National Health Care, develop a Carbon Trade system as part of energy conversion and pouring more money into a failed Education System. At the same time he is going to try to cure cancer, save Detroit auto works, save the banks or take them over and rebuild the infrastructure of America.

What he neglected to mention is what he will do to perpetuate the safety that former President Bush provided US with after 9/11/01! In fact a close look at his proposed budget shows that he will cut the Defense spending by cutting back the production of the F-22 fighter jet , reducing the size of the Nuclear Submarine fleet and stopping the construction of super carriers for the Navy.All this while the mullahs in Iran put together their nuclear bombs! And if you have not noticed the Russians are making overtures that appear to be a prelude to establishing Naval bases in Venezuela and even possibly Cuba!


Meanwhile,the government faces mounting pressure to put billions more in some of the biggest U.S. banks( B of A and CITICORP), two of the biggest Detroit automakers and the biggest insurance company(AIG), despite the billions it has already committed to rescuing them.

The government's boldest rescue to date, its $150 billion commitment for the insurance giant American International Group, is foundering. AIG indicated Monday it was negotiating for tens of billions of dollars in additional assistance as losses mounted.

Separately, the Obama administration confirmed it was in discussions to aid Citigroup, the recipient of $45 billion so far, that could raise the government's stake in the banking company to as much as 40 percent.

In an unexpectedly assertive joint statement after two weeks of bank stock declines, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and bank regulatory agencies announced that the government might demand a direct ownership stake in major banks that do not have enough capital to weather a deeper downturn. The government will begin conducting a test of the banks' financial health this week

As the administration takes bigger stakes in companies, the value held by existing shareholders is being diluted, which could make it even harder to attract private money in the future. Timothy Geithner, the secretary of the Treasury, recently outlined a bank recovery plan that included a new program to attract a combination of public and private money to buy troubled mortgages and other assets.
The difficulty of shoring up AIG must weigh on the administration at this moment. The administration's banking statement amounted to plan of action demonstrating a way to demand a major and possibly a controlling stake in systemically important banks like Citigroup and Bank of America.


Yet the President had the fervor to pledge that he would cut the budget deficit in half by the end of his first term in office. That deficit reduction will be accomplished in part by tax hikes on high earners – those making more than $250,000 a year, he said. There goes the middle class of the USA!!!!

A CRISIS IS COMING EXPRESS FOR YOU FROM WASHINGTON DC

President R.Reagan said, "This is the issue: whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them for ourselves. ... Somewhere a perversion has taken place. Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation of government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment."

And it appears that President Obama his pulling hard on the fabric of freedom that we hold so dear. His Federally mandated confiscation and redistribution of more than $ 1.3 trillion to be spent over the next 10 years, and may grow to 3 trillion if he keeps pending like a drunken sailor! Will certainly devalue the dollar and cause rapid out of control inflation. It could get so bad that even the Communist Chinese will not buy our T- Bonds.
Between Japan and China we have outstanding $1.27 trillion in debt before Hillary went with hat in hand to Beijing to ask them to buy more. She never broached the subject of their air pollution(the worst in he world) or the horrible human rights record. It was as though she went to visit a friend not a Communist enemy who would like to bury us both economically and militarily.

And not be out done in the spending frenzy. The U.S. Congress is proceeding with plans to spend even more of the taxpayers money on their personal favorite, themselves and their voters.
The irony of it all is that on the day the President held a "fiscal responsibility" summit at the White House -- the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee released an omnibus budget measure designed to finance the dozens of federal agencies whose 2009 budgets were not approved in the last Congress.(they held this back just on the chance that Bush might have used his veto pen,which he seldom used).

True to Democratic rhetoric heard throughout the Bush years, the legislation would provide significant new funds to many domestic programs...US Rep. David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee, said in a news release Monday, "Congress...today presents a bill that will keep the government running and finish last year’s business. This bill works in harmony with the economic recovery package, making investments that address the country’s immediate needs while investing in our long term economic strength." Much of that spending is directed toward programs important to higher education.The legislation would provide an extra $347 million in funds for the Pell Grant Program for low-income students, an increase paid for in large part by taking money that the Bush administration proposed directing toward the Academic Competitiveness and Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant Programs that have gone underutilized by colleges.

Note: They are taking the money from areas where American students fall behind many Asian and European Countries, and giving it to students who will never attain the excellence we need in our schools and Universities.

Just a few of he programs that will receive multi-millions of dollars that I feel has nothing to do with stimulating the "Countries Immediate Needs", and everything to do with strengthening the Democrat voter base, are listed below.

Strengthening Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities $23,158,000
Strengthening Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions $11,579,000
Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities $ 238,095,000
Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions $58,500,000
Minority Science and Engineering Improvement $8,577,000
Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions $93,256,000
Strengthening Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving Institutions $2,500,000
Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Voc-Tech Institutions $7,773,000
I am all for education, but could this not wait until the taxpayer can breath again when and if the economy rights itself. Obama and Congress are doing everything they can to destroy it despite the Pious Platitudes!

THE FEAR FACTOR AT WORK

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

First it was the Global Warming warning from "alGoreites" that caused normally rational people to believe that man is destroying the planet because we use fossil fuels. As a result we are in the desperate position that relies on Countries for our economic life blood(crude oil) that basically do not like us. Even though we have enough oil off shore in the Dakotas and the ANWAR region of Alaska to provide the fuel that drives not only our economy but our military,and our defense.
While we beg Communist China to buy more of our treasury bonds.Secretary Clinton just left Beijing after trying to talk a reluctant communist country to help support Obama's $787 billion stimulus Bill!
One of the worst air polluters in the whole World is busy making deals in Africa to drill for more oil to run the economic giant that already holds 696.2 billion dollars of our T- Bonds!

Which brings me to the second fear tactic that has been perpetrated on the American public. President Obama is flying all over the Country crying Crisis and predicting a worst depression than the USA had in the 1930s if we do not spend more billions on his "rescue" package. This is a bold face lie and the facts prove that what he is doing is paying back those who got him elected, and laying the ground work for more government employees that will be dependent on the welfare state for their livelihood. Thus guaranteeing his voting base and the Congressional Democrats for years to come. The stimulus is costing approximately $3000 per American,and yet Obama and the Democrats are crying crisis about an economy that so far has only dropped by $120 per person. Perhaps the economy has more to fall, but it doesn’t make sense to spend billions of dollars in order to rescue a few auto industries and some banks that due to total mismanagement are failing.


Only a few people pointed out last year that chaos for the finance industry does not necessarily mean tragedy for the economy as a whole, so that bailouts and stimulus packages are worth far less than their price tag. Now we know: the economy as a whole continued to maintain high levels of production production and spending. Although the economy should be closely watched in 2009, taxpayers would be better served if their representatives would discern hype from real disaster, and thereby better protect taxpayer wallets from the alarmists.

In plain English: adjusted for inflation, total spending in the United States economy was about one percent lower in October-December than it was July-September. (The fourth quarter performance would have to repeat itself three more times – for a full year – in order for real GDP to actually fall the 3.8 percent in the headline.)

None of us likes to see our purchasing power fall, but it helps to put the one percent drop in perspective. That drop was pretty similar to what happened during the 1990 recession. Real spending has so far done much better than the 1981-82 recession, when it fell three times as much. The Great Depression of the 1930s was far worse.

Another way to understand the headline: spending fell $120 per person.The Bureau of Economic Analysis showed recently that so far this recession is mild by historical standards. Nevertheless, President Obama's fear-mongering continues.How else would he be able to spend so much money that we do not have to further his welfare state!
This despite the fact that a survey of 47 professional forecasters released by the National Association of Business Economists on Monday predicted the recession-hit economy would begin to recover in the second half of this year, returning to a potential growth trend in 2010.

Perhaps the real problem Obama and his "One World" supporters are worried about is the financial crisis in Europe more than what is happening here at home. During the past weekend two cheer leaders for Obama's "spendulus " Bill, Billionaire and Socialist George Soros(the bank roller for Obama's election campaign) said the economic World turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.
He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.
"We witnessed the collapse of the financial system," Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. "It was placed on life support, and it's still on life support. There's no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom."
He was joined by another Obama advisor Paul Volker,former Federal Reserve chairman who is now a top adviser to President Barack Obama.
Volcker said industrial production around the world was declining even more rapidly than in the United States, which is itself under severe strain.
"I don't remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world," Volcker said.

Volker is old enough(81 years old) and supposedly smart enough to know the history of recessions since the Great Depression, but if you are a wealthy elitist who thinks he knows what is best for us "ordinary" folks. Then he might think bankrupting this Country by spending money we do not have, and will have to borrow from Japan and Communist China is a good way for our Republic to go!