Freedom of Philadelphia

Both Merlyworm and I have done many posts here regarding the slippage of our world into the Randian (is that a word? If not it should be) world of Atlas Shrugged. So many that I’ve created a category for it now and will start moving posts into it! I’m calling what’s going on the “Atlas Effect“.

Over the last couple of years we’ve seen the world start shifting radically towards the bleak future describe by Rand. Lately people have been saying “Who is John Galt” in relation to the wealth redistrubition efforts of our Media sanctified and elected President Obama. With a stimulus bill designed to primarily spread government money around to those recipients that it deems most worthy i.e. government itself.  There have been mass protests called “Tea Partys in multiple cities decrying the spending of our childrens inheritance. Oh what’s that you say? You haven’t heard about it on your local media? Of course not, you can not tell the emperor he has no clothes! Do a google search “Philadelphia Tea Party Inquirer“ and you’ll find nothing in Philadelphia’s largest newspaper about it. Ironically the 3rd link listed is one talking about how the owner of the cities 2 largest newspapers filed for bankruptcy! We’re told that the stimulus plan and the coming tax hikes on the rich are for the benefit of the middle class and for the poor. What’s that Vice President Biden, it’s our duty to be patriotic and pay more taxes?  When people start talking like that, when they use words like “fair for everyone” and “equalization of wealth” it’s a sign of the “Atlas Effect”.

We’ve seen people start to discuss whether or not it’s worth it to work so hard and make what they make. So imagine if you’re a small business owner. You’ve worked hard to build a clientele and it’s paying off for you now. You’re income is starting to rise above that 250k a year line. What do you do? Do you expand, hire some more people and build on your clientele or do you pull back and make less? Sure you could make more money but is it worth being classified as “rich” and falling into an excessive tax bracket? Of course it isn’t, you’d end up working even more just to bring home as much as you did below that line so you don’t hire those few more workers, you don’t expand you product line. You go Galt. Going Galt hurts the government by hurting it’s ability to rake in tax revenues. Unfortunately, it has the collateral damage effect of really hurting the economy. Another sign of the “Atlas Effect“.

We also need to remember that this is not just an American problem. We live in a global economy and an ever shrinking world. The “Atlas Effect” just doesn’t show up here in America. Rand wrote about things that would happen in other countries. An integral part of her book was how Venezuela’s nationalization of the copper mines and Mexico’s nationalization of an American built railroad effected situations here. Well guess what folks, Venezuela has nationalized energy production, steel plants, cement plants, telecommunication companies and just today nationalized a rice processing plant owned by American company Cargill. Cargill operates 13 plants in Venezuela (well I guess 12 now), when Chavez turns his eye towards the other plants don’t you think that might have an effect on Cargill here? Perhaps the loss of that plant causes them to rethink opening a new feed mill in Arizona while they recoup those losses? Once again, the “Atlas Effect” in action.

When you look at all that’s going on through a larger scope, looking at all the pieces as they are falling in place you have to be worried. Events unfold every day here in America and throughout the world that are practically cribbed right from Rands book and if you read it, you realize there was no happy ending in it. Have we started to slide down this slope too fast? Are we too far gone to avoid the ending? I don’t know. I like to think that the country that survived the Great Depression, that basically saved the world 3 times (WWI, WWII, and the cold war) will not be brought down so easily. It does make me all wonder though, if this much of her story is coming to pass then who and where is John Galt now?

I love my iPod. Nevermind that I dislike Steve Jobs more than Bill gates. I refuse to think about it.

Anyways, I load my iPod every morning from a couple of radio shows I never get a chance to listen to, and listen to them on the way to work, on break, and on the way home. One of these is a silly FM rock-jock morning show. They’re VERY funny, but they usually only put 1-2 short segments on their site. One of these was an interview with John Ziegler.

Who is John Ziegler? Well, the press really doesn’t want you to know, or even hear about him. See, he made a movie called, “Media Malpractice: How Obama got Elected and Palin was Targeted.” Interesting, eh? This is something most of us on the ‘right’ know about and see everyday: the fairness of the liberal press. This movie points out, using very hard to argue with facts and polls of voters, just how badly the press was backing Obama over everyone else. I would suggest you watch the clips on his site. Some of them are seriously depressing. Like the college student looking woman saying “Redistribute wealth? That sounds like a great idea!” Man. I’ll be ordering the movie as soon as I can. (Kids eat too much. heh)

Which leads me to the main point I wanted to make. The press has become more than what was expected of them by our founders. The Press (capital intended) has become the driving political force in this country. More and more people get their information from only the Press, thus the Press controls the flow of information..and more importantly, DISinformation.

The Press has become the true power in the country. THEY control everything. Even the economy! A recession such as we have now can be created and driven by the perception that there’s a recession. I firmly believe that this recession was created, purposfully, by the Press. Why? To get Obama elected. To oust the Republican party from power. All because the electorite really doesn’t try to find out facts. They accept as facts the things they are told. Like Palin is incredibly stupid. That Obama will save us all. That Dubya is a moron.

What can we do? Spread facts. Dont let the Press take over the country. Read for yourself the things going on in the world and around you. The Press is ruining this country.

-Merlyworm

Seems like the Obama administration has decided to create a logo for any projects funded by the massive porkulus steal from our kids Stimulus plan.

See now this picture is going to be used on projects funded by the stimulus plan. That way, you and I as the taxpayers know where our money went and that it’s being put to good use. Isn’t it purty? See the leaf represents green technologies paid for by the carbon cap and trade taxes. The gears represent the factories closed down after Card Check forced the owners into bankruptcy and the stars represent the dreams of so many Americans that will never get fulfilled.

So as we walk to the unemployment lines because we can’t pay the carbon tax to drive our cars there we’ll be mollified just a bit. So as we stand in line waiting for our cheese, we won’t be quite as hungry. When our kids ask us where their inheritance is, where is the shining city on the hill we were supposed to leave them? When the words fail us to explain how we got suckered in and spent their money on rainbow shitting unicorns full of empty projects we can point to the sign. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case 9000 earmarks.

Of course there was another culture in recent memory that had to go through the same things we’re heading towards America. They had a sign too, there’s was a little different in appearance but the sentiment and results were the same as ours will be.

Wake up America and welcome to the new proletariat.

A couple days ago, I was at work and talking to a couple of my coworkers about the stimulus package. Its amazing how little people understand about simple economics. Its depressing as hell.

All everyone is worried about is getting a check from on high. Not a single person understands where the money is coming from. When I pointed out that the money is being borrowed and will have to be paid back by our children and their children, they either don’t believe it, or even worse don’t care.

What has happened to education in this country? I know everything I have learned about economics has not come from my public education. I had to learn it on my own, and use logic to think things through. Not a single bit of it comes from school. Hell, most people don’t even understand that government spending and raising taxes will make the recession worse, not help it.

I firmly believe that this is not an accident. An ignorant public is exactly what our government wants. This way they can tell you whatever they want and the public, not knowing better, just believes. Joe Public believes that Obama and Nancy Pelosi have their best interests at heart. When in reality, they dont care a bit. All they want is to further their own schemes and socialistic morals.

“Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem” – Ronald Reagan

There’s a song “Where have all the Cowboys Gone.”  My question is “Where have all the conservatives gone?” Why can’t we get a real conservative to run for President? McCain is a RINO. Dubya wasn’t really a conservative either.

Really, tho, this isn’t the fault of the Republican Party so much as the fault of the voters:

“In a democracy, people get the government they deserve.”

And considering what I’ve seen, we deserve it.

-Merlyworm

So, hope and change has hit America. President Obama is bringing hope and change to whatever he can. First he crammed the stimulus bill down our throats. Sure for a minute it looked like it wasn’t going to make it but then 3 Republican (in name only) Senators blinked. Even then it looked like public opinion was working against it but a series of high profile speeches and tv appearances turned the tide and now our kids and grand kids will have to pay for it.

So the first part of the plan to change America is underway, the bankrupting of our future, but wait too many people might notice! What’s a good socialist to do then when faced with, what might be a generation of people staunchly against his plans. Well how about taking away their access to health care? Wait, what’s that you say? President Obama promised universal health care to all! We’d get benefits from an economy to scale, force hospitals and health care systems to service everyone. He promised us all that we’d have a system like Canada or one of those countries where everyone is covered! Snicker..well what he DIDN’T promise is that there would be a hospital for everyone.

Now Logan don’t be crazy, there’s lots of hospitals! What’s the President going to do that could risk hospital closings? So glad you asked! What he can do, is challenge the Catholic Church to a game of gigantic chicken over one of the holy grails of the democratic party. Abortion. Now before anyone gets twisted, I couldn’t give a rats anus over the abortion issue. You want to get scraped, get scraped. You don’t want to, then don’t.  If there’s a God you can deal with Her over it. If there is no God, then well no life regardless of when it happens is sacred. I tend to stay out of abortion debates except for the caveat that some more consideration needs to be given to a mans rights in it (another post, another time, another jack and coke perhaps)
However, when the fight over abortion is something that might affect MY access to health care, now I gotta pay attention. So let’s look at what’s going on shall we?  The AP posted this article tonight, here’s an excerpt.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to repeal a Bush administration rule that has become a flash point in the debate over a doctor’s right not to participate in abortions. The regulation, instituted in the last days of the Bush administration, strengthened job protections for doctors and nurses who refuse to provide a medical service because of moral qualms.

A Health and Human Services official said Friday the administration will publish notice of its intentions early next week, opening a 30-day comment period for advocates on both sides, medical groups and the public

Wonder why that was released on a Friday night? Could it be that Friday night is the news graveyard and no one will notice it?  Nah, this is the most transparent government ever, President Obama says so. Of course, with any move by the government, some are happy with it, some are not. So the White House issued a release clarifying it all for us.

But the Obama administration was concerned that the Bush regulation went too far and could also be used to refuse birth control, family planning services and counseling for vaccines and transfusions.
The White House released a statement saying that Obama supports a “carefully crafted” conscience clause — not Bush’s version.
“He believes this issue requires a balance between the rights of providers and the health of women and their families, a balance that the last-minute Bush rule appears to upset,” the statement said.

There, all straight? Like any snake oil salesman they are trying to make their product sound good to everyone.

Now what’s this got to do with hospitals closing? Elementary my Dear Watson!  You see so much of what any government does is to try and balance itself on slippery slopes. This one is no exception. Where the rewriting of these rules slips into even more dangerous ground is what’s called the FOCA. Freedom of Choice Act, boy oh boy that sounds like a swell thing. We all should have the freedom of choices. See here’s the problem, if it forces doctors or health institutions morally opposed to performing abortions into doing them it’ll cause a showdown between the Catholic Church and the administration. Basically detractors of FOCA says it’s gives freedom of choice to everyone BUT doctors but people who support the plan say that those objectors are covered by current conscience laws.

So if President Obama rewrites those guidelines, then passes and signs FOCA (he’s gone on record as saying he’ll sign it, look it up) then what’s a doctor or health organization who is morally against abortion to do? Since our President is from Chicago, lets check in with the Auxillary Bishop of Chicago, Thomas Paprocki who says:

Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago spoke up about the threats to Catholic health care under the bill.

“It could mean discontinuing obstetrics in our hospitals, and we may need to consider taking the drastic step of closing our Catholic hospitals entirely,” Paprocki said. “It would not be sufficient to withdraw our sponsorship or to sell them to someone who would perform abortions. That would be a morally unacceptable cooperation in evil.”

“I do not think I’m being alarmist in considering such drastic steps,” he said. “We need to respond in a morally appropriate, responsible fashion.”

Hmm, ok so a few catholic hospitals shut down, don’t be such a chicken little Logan! Well, what do YOU consider a few hospitals? What if I told you that the Catholic church runs the 3rd LARGEST health care organization in America?

Catholic Health Care⁹

• Hospitals: 557 Catholic hospitals treated 83,795,186 patients
• Other Health Care Centers: 417 centers treated 7,271,716 patients
• Specialized Homes: 1,538 assisted 756,902 residents
• Residential Care of Children: 163 locations assisted 30,106 residents

And now you see where I was going with there being a lack of hospitals as the cost of this game of chicken! 557 hospitals (roughly 1 hospital for every one of Bidens gaffes in the last 9 months) could close. This wouldn’t be a situation where they close some hospitals and leave others open. It would be a Papal decision, give in or take a stand. If push comes to shove, who do you think would blink first?