On Friday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the “individual mandate” portion of last year’s health care reform law was unconstitutional. Republicans, of course, praised the ruling.

However, the ruling did not strike down the law in its entirety, as did an earlier ruling by Judge Stanley Vinson. Instead, the 11th Circuit Court opinion states that the rest of the law can stand, even if the individual mandate is unconstitutional. How does this make any sense?

The ONLY way that the law might even pay for itself is to expand the pool of insured, which is effectively what the individual mandate clause did. However, what happens when the pool is not expanded, but the tax increases and other stipulations remain in place?

The American taxpayers get screwed.

Now, you’ll not only be paying taxes to support a government run insurance product, but other private insurers will most likely still be forced out of the market, as they are not heavily subsidized by the American taxpayer.  How does a private business compete against the American government?  It can’t – if the government’s system goes into the red, they can just give it more taxpayer dollars to cover the loss.  A private business must make a profit.  Lacking that, they go belly-up.  So, what will the result be?

A single-payer system.  Either you get the government’s insurance, or you’ll get none at all.

Still sound like a Republican victory?

Apparently, President Obama is surpised at the uproar over his comments made regarding the arrest of Louis Gates, Jr., an African-American academian from the Boston area.

Gates was arrested after getting belligerent with a police officer who responded to a report of an attempted break-in at his Cambridge home.  As it turns out, Gates was returning from a trip and found his front door stuck shut.  He gained access to the home using a rear door, then attempted to force or jimmy the front door open with the assistance of his driver.  A passer-by witnessed this and, not knowing that it was Gates trying to gain access to his own home, made the report to the police.

Firstly, if Mr. Gates had responded coolly and shown his ID to the police officer when asked, the incident would have been over.  However I, like many homeowners, have been in Gates’s position…swearing over an inanimate object that’s giving me problems, and having a chip on my shoulder when some unfortunate soul comes along and undeservedly gets  the brunt of my frustration.  So, that being said, I have some measure of compassion for Gates.

However, when a police officer requests that you show ID, and he has a valid reason for that request, you must comply!  A report of an attempted burglary is certainly reason enough, in my opinion, to make that request.  In getting belligerent with the responding officer, screaming, becoming a nuisance, and whatever else Gates did…well, I’m surprised he didn’t get tased!

But this article isn’t about Gates – it’s about the President.   So let me take a moment to talk directly to Mr. Obama.

President Obama, you are the chief executive of this country.  You ultimately decide what laws are going to be on the books.  You’re the TOP COP.  Although I give you kudos for not (further) dragging race into the situation, in making the comment about the Gates’s arrest, you publically condemned the officer’s actions.  What you’ve done is to cause every police officer in these United States to have to take pause when acting.  That could cost officers’ lives.

Let me put it this way – if I made a decision at my job, then the Surgeon General (I work at a hospital, so he’s the closest analogue that I have)  made public comment denouncing my action without taking the time to talk to me or my superior about it, I’d be furious, and most of my department would be as well.  If you had a problem with the officer, you should at least have spoken directly to him – or to his superiors!  Otherwise, a simple, “I don’t know the specifics of the case; I wasn’t there, so it’s very difficult to hold an opinion either way” would have sufficed.

As a State-level politician, you used to know how to abstain (maybe you’ll remember your 129 “present” votes filed while you were an Illinois State Senator)…maybe you should learn to do so on the biggest political stage in the world.

Yes…he bowed.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOIK07xGiQ

Yes, it’s important – normal Americans, MUCH LESS the President of the United States, aren’t supposed to bow to foreign royalty!  To do so signifies that you are a subject to that royal figure.  It is an action of obesience, and the leaders of foreign countries are supposed to be equals, not one subservient to the other.

Also, I’m very upset because the President represents the people of The United States of America.  By bowing to King Abdullah, he bowed on behalf of you, me, and all of us!  

What the hell is President Obama’s protocol advisor doing??

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hMJVXt09E

Facts:

• US Population (est. 2009): 305,745,000
• US Labor Force: 155.2 million (includes unemployed) (2008 est.)

So we lose more jobs than our total population EVERY month that this bill does not pass?

I’ll let you draw your own conclusion…but if a Republican had said this, his intelligence/credibility would have IMMEDIATELY been under attack.

(Yes, she obviously misspoke.  I’m just sayin’.)

I keep hearing how the economic downturn “caused drivers to tighten the grip on their wallets” last summer as gasoline prices soared through the $4.00 / gallon mark.  Apparently, a declining economy is what caused us to stop driving, and to start looking for more economical vehicles.  In a nationwide game of  ”which came first?”, the prevailing theory is that people couldn’t afford to pay for gas because everything else was already screwed up.

Give me a break!

I would like to propose a differing opinion.  Although I believe that the banks and homebuyers were extremely foolish with credit options being extended through the past 10 years or so, I think that soaring gas prices played at least a contributing factor to the start of the economic downturn, and was secondarily responsible for the worsening and subsequent economic breakdown.  Pair this with the fact that, for most people, the amount of gas they use on a weekly basis is essentially fixed – after all, you have to be able to get to work! – and you’ve got the makings for our current economic crisis.

At the start of 2007, gasoline prices in the Cincinnati area –  and Cincinnati tends to be a touch lower than the national average – were right around the $2.00/gal. level, having averaged around $2.50 for the entire year of 2006.  An average car’s gas tank being 12 – 15 gallons, this means it took $24 – $30 to fill your vehicle at the start of 2007.  For most people, this price fit into their budgets.  Starting on January 25  the price trended steadily upwards, finally peaking on on May 21 at $3.40/gallon.  This represents a 70% increase in the price of gasoline.  The price bounced around the $3.00 mark until the start of 2008.  

It was around the end of 2007 that prices began to steadily rise on just about everything else as transportation costs started to be passed on to the consumer in the form of retail price increases and delivery charges being tacked onto things as inocuous as pizza.  This just served to increase the economic pressure on the consumer.  Now if your ARM’s percentage rate started to rise, like so many consumers’ did, your options became very few, indeed!   We’re still seeing the effect in Cincinnati, as December’s gas & electric bills nearly doubled over last years’…due to the fact that energy prices were locked down in July, at the height of the gas price surge.

So let’s stop ignoring the effect of soaring gasoline prices – the car and gasoline are inextricably a part of American culture…and when prices soar, it hurts average Americans.