what if?

"Standby Time"

Why do many Americans not want the government to take over health care?  Is it because we're stingy?  Is it because we don't give a damn about those who struggle to pay for health care and/or insurance?  Is it because "we've got ours" and that's all that matters?  Is it because we're racists?

Maybe it's because we don't want the government to do for the medical field what it's done for the post office?  Let me introduce you to "standby time."

The U.S. Postal Service, struggling with a massive deficit caused by plummeting mail volume, spends more than a million dollars each week to pay thousands of employees to sit in empty rooms and do nothing.

It’s a practice called “standby time,” and it has existed for years — but postal employees say it was rarely used until this year. Now, postal officials say, the agency is averaging about 45,000 hours of standby time every week — the equivalent of having 1,125 full-time employees sitting idle, at a cost of more than $50 million per year.

Mail volume is down 12.6 percent compared with last year, and many postal supervisors simply don’t have enough work to keep all employees busy. But a thicket of union rules prevents managers from laying off excess employees; a recent agreement with the unions, in fact, temporarily prevents the Postal Service from even reassigning them to other facilities that could use them.

If you read further in this post, you'll see that even the postal workers don't much care for this.  Be that as it may - this is one more tale of your tax dollars "at work" - or, should I say instead "standing by."

How much more waste like this can our society tolerate?  How many more people must be out of work due to high taxation and excessive regulation, while postal workers "stand by" doing nothing and get paid?

Are you mad - and don't want to take it anymore?  I am

Taking Care of Their Own

Are you someone who believes that government workers get modest wages - despite nice benefits and retirements?

Well.  Guess again.

President Obama at the Helm of Housing

What could go wrong?

Land of Loons

Al Franken and Keith Ellison.  How did this happen to my home state?

If you happen to not know who the latter fellow is, then please read this.

On September 18, Rep. Keith Ellison spoke at the annual fundraising dinner for the Arizona chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). He did so even though, as the American Islamic Forum for Democracy notes, the FBI has broken all formal relations with CAIR because it is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial.

The Holy Land Foundation and five of its board members were found guilty on November 24, 2008 of illegally funneling more than $12 million to terrorist organizations. The trial raised significant concerns for the FBI about CAIR's connections to Hamas, which is a designated terrorist organization by the United States Department of State.

In short, Keith Ellison is helping to raise money for an Islamist organization with ties to terrorist organization.

Three members of Congress from Arizona -- Sen. John Kyl, Rep. Trent Franks, and Rep. John Shedegg -- wrote a letter to Ellison urging him to reconsider his decision to speak to the Arizona chapter of CAIR. Ellison went ahead with the speech anyway. Ellison claimed he "would never associate with anyone even soft on terrorism." He called the concerns raised by Kyl, Frank, and Shedegg "ridiculous." As noted, however, these concerns are shared by the FBI.

End of an Era

William Safire has died.

Philosopher-Realtor

For way too long, I've been planning on having a real estate blog.  As much as I enjoy my work, at times I believe that I should do more to promote both myself and the lovely homes of my clients.

So - although I haven't "formally" rolled out "Philosopher-Realtor" - here is a preview for you!

My project is being done in concert with my very dear friend and excellent Realtor, Bootsie Lynch.  Bootsie and I met one another many moons ago - 1980 to be exact! - in real estate training class.  We hit it off from the start, and have stayed close buddies ever since then.  Although we don't do all our work together, we do sometimes share projects and clients.  Having someone I trust and respect around as back up - and for a sounding board - is a huge plus.

Please take a look around our new blog and let me know what you think.  My clients all deserve the best, so I want to deliver it to them!  I also want a blog that is simply interesting and fun for folks.  Your input matters; thanks!

The Bias that Binds

Bias.  What a nasty word!  "He's biased," someone will sneer, elevating the rest of us above this woeful person.

Yet the truth is that we're all biased.  We all have our belief structure.  Some of us are far to the left; some to the right.  Some of us might be called libertarians - yet even that label has a broad reach, with varying subsets in-between.  Others of us think of ourselves "moderates" - but talk to several dozen "moderates," and you'll find that they do not think identically.

Equality: the Impossible Dream

Perhaps one of the most striking contrasts between left and right is this:  those on the left want everything to be "equal."  Those on the right appreciate that we must aim toward equality of opportunity and equality before the law ... but, even those goals cannot achieve perfection. 

We are not all equal.  Some of us are more beautiful, smarter, creative, healthy, energetic, positive, sensible, determined, courageous - and so forth - than others.  It is impossible to create scenarios where all becomes "equal" for everyone.  Are we to disfigure those who are handsome?  Should we stomp on the abilities of those who are brilliant?  Should we limit those with strong creativity?

I do not believe that we should have a society where we don't aim for help for those in need.  Provide welfare for those unable to care for themselves.  Do our best to have a legal system that is as equitable as possible.  Educate our young.  Yes; we should do what we can so that everyone in our nation can achieve their best.

But the notion that we can have "equality" for all is a fiction, a chimera that can never possibly be realized.  So it is with healthcare.  Harvard econ prof Greg Mankiw explains.

The push for universal coverage is based on the appealing premise that everyone should have access to the best health care possible whenever they need it. That soft-hearted aspiration, however, runs into the hardheaded reality that state-of-the-art health care is increasingly expensive. At some point, someone in the system has to say there are some things we will not pay for. The big question is, who? The government? Insurance companies? Or consumers themselves? And should the answer necessarily be the same for everyone?

Inequality in economic resources is a natural but not altogether attractive feature of a free society. As health care becomes an ever larger share of the economy, we will have no choice but to struggle with the questions of how far we should allow such inequality to extend and what restrictions on our liberty we should endure in the name of fairness.

In the end of our day of philosophizing, however, we face a practical decision:

Who gets the magic pills, and who pays for them?

Once we acknowledge that equality cannot be achieved, we can then judge what is sensible and possible and as "fair" as we can do.  Attempt to do that which is possible - or frustration and failure will be our lot.

Cogent Thoughts from Instapundit

What could go wrong??

BUT DON’T WORRY, THEY’LL DO FINE WITH HEALTHCARE:

“The U.S. government failed to send promised college tuition checks to tens of thousands of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars before they returned to school this fall, even after being warned that it was inadequately staffed for the job.”

BUT THOSE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS WILL BE A SNAP:

Baucus Claims It’s Too Difficult to Put Health Care Bill Online. They don’t want you to know what’s in this stinker until it’s too late. That’s the real “difficulty” with putting it online.

JUST for Fun!

Lalalalalala!

Speaking Out

If you believe that more Democrats are supportive of gay rights than Republicans, then your views would align with mine.  I'm not citing any specific polls; just seems like my impression.

Nevertheless, even if the above is accurate, never assume that individuals cannot "buck the trend".  They can step out, have courage and speak out about what is right.

So it is with this Republican congresswoman from Florida at the U.N.

As world leaders gather to address the United Nations, few (outside FoxNews, the conservative media and blogs) are paying much attention to the prominence of representatives of repressive regimes in the leadership of the world body.  And most people, including many heads of gay organizations, remain silent as officials from anti-gay governments serve in various councils, including those on human rights.

And while the leader of a national lesbian organization may use 9/11 to rail against alleged right-wing hatred in the United States, a Republican Congresswoman, Florida’s Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, uses the occasion of the opening of latest session of the United Nations General Assembly to chastise that body for electing Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister of Libya (i.e., in the government of Muammar Qaddafi) and “a vocal advocate for the criminalization of homosexual behavior” as its new President:

The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance. Likewise, the leadership of the UN Development Program is held by the Iranian regime, which denies the presence of gays in Iran even as it murders them and other innocent citizens. We must ensure that billions annually in U.S. taxpayer dollars no longer foot the bill for the UN’s anti-freedom agenda without significant reform. Congress must demand better by enacting pending legislation that would leverage our contributions to the UN to produce sweeping, meaningful reform of that body.

The next time you hear someone castigating Republicans about gay rights - remember Illeana Ros-Lehtinen.  And my thanks to Dan Blatt, Gay Patriot West, for the head's up.

Indictment

Many times at this blog, I have commented on how the tides of technology have delivered tough, tough times to the newspaper industry.  That their organizations must calculate a new and improved way of dealing with these changes is a load to bear - but ultimately when it's figured out, a boon for us all.

This, however, is something different.

Results from a national Sacred Heart University survey released today reveal that many news consumers believe the media played a significant role in electing President Barack Obama and that the media continue to promote his presidency.

Titled "Trust and Satisfaction with the National News Media," the national survey of 800 Americans renews attention to the issue of liberal media bias and its effect on political coverage.

"A large majority, 89.3 percent, suggested the national media played a very or somewhat strong role in helping to elect President Obama," according to a summary of the findings. "Just 10.0 percent suggested the national media played little or no role. Further, 69.9 percent agreed the national news media are intent on promoting the Obama presidency while 26.5 percent disagreed. Some, 3.6 percent, were unsure."

And 86.6 percent said they believe the news media try to influence public opinion and that they have their own public policy and political positions.

The role of journalism should be to report.  Yes, opinion has its role, but the foundation of journalism should be to inform and educate.  Public opinion is that journalism has utterly abdicated this function.

This cannot be blamed upon technology.  This is not the fault of the internet or the price of oil or unions.  This is due to those who have chosen as their life's work to report the news deciding instead that they are in advertising....  Advertising for political choices and individuals that they prefer over others.

Where will it lead?  What will happen?  I don't know the answers.  I only know that when responsibility is abdicated, something or someone will step in to rectify.  It surely will be fascinating to see where this all leads .... and sad that it came to this originally.

For Srik

To my friend Srikanth Kodayam, on becoming a U.S. citizen today.  "I remember coming from Kaula Lampur and touching the ground in Los Angeles.  It meant a lot to me then.  It meant more today."

Both of us so appreciate the bounties of living in a free nation.  Still - I am confident Srik will always understand far more than I ever could. 

Enjoy your big day, Srik!!

"Hitler=The President"

Do you think it is terrible when people equate our president with Hitler?  Me, too.

But if so - then why did almost no one in the press make a fuss when people made these comparisons and called for the death of George W. Bush when he was president?

Watch the video - and think about this.

Perhaps the Post Office Would Hire Me?

I began selling real estate in 1981.  Interest rates topped out at 18% and finding the combination of someone able to purchase a home and actually get a new loan was slim or none.

The current real estate market makes those days look like a piece of cake.

So.  What does our government, in its great wisdom wish to do? Create regulation that will mean almost no one ever moves anywhere!

Perverse Incentives

What happens when you set up artificial tariffs and laws to circumvent free markets?

This.

Hope and Change

Coming into the election of 2008, many were wishing for hope and change.

Well, we've gotten the change.  But - what exactly is it all?  Some think that the change we're seeing may send us back to a time that few would wish to revisit.

The damage caused by high taxation during the Great Depression is the real lesson we should learn. A government simply cannot tax a country into prosperity. If there were one warning I'd give to all who will listen, it is that U.S. federal and state tax policies are on an economic crash trajectory today just as they were in the 1930s. Net legislated state-tax increases as a percentage of previous year tax receipts are at 3.1%, their highest level since 1991; the Bush tax cuts are set to expire in 2011; and additional taxes to pay for health-care and the proposed cap-and-trade scheme are on the horizon.

Do read the entire column.  It's technical.  Yet, knowing the technical underpinnings of both our economy, government policies - and history - are important.

PrisonCare

Will ObamaCare do what PrisonCare has done for California?

Yikes!

In a June speech, President Obama justified a government takeover of the entire health care system with an observation on rising costs. He stated, “…more and more Americans are forced to worry about not just getting well, but whether they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afford the routine care necessary to stay well. Even for those who have health insurance, rising premiums are straining family budgets to the breaking point—premiums that have doubled over the last nine years…”

Compare and contrast: over the last eight years, costs for California’s single-payer prison health care system — controlled by Democrats for decades and heavily laced with unions at every level of government — have increased more than four times.

Getting it Wrong

Paul Krugman, noted economist and columnist for the New York Times, is like a god to some.  Yet, as we all truly know - no man is a god.

Here is another economist, John Biggs, who not only appreciates the flawed humanity of us all - he acknowledges the flaws in revered Paul Krugman.

Crises have been ubiquitous throughout history. While we can't forecast them we do know how to learn from them. And we certainly have a good idea what not to do in response: do what Chile did successfully - fail banks and recycle them, not do what Japan did unsuccessfully - keep the zombie banks limping feebly around. Like me you saw the bank bailout plan for what it was - not a necessary step to save the credit sector from collapse but a give-away of taxpayer money to investment bankers. But the stimulus plan? How can you be arguing for more? Since we are recovering before most of the stimulus money has entered the economy - isn't that evidence it isn't needed? How can you write as if you are proven right in supporting it?

I Love Rush

Yes, that Rush; Rush Limbaugh.

Although I almost never turn on Rush in the house, if I'm in my car during 11AM to 2PM, Rush is on the radio.  Rush is funny and fascinating, sarcastic and caustic, politically incorrect and full of information that few or no one on NBC, CBS, ABC, NY Times and so forth and so on will tell you. 

Is Rush ever wrong?  Sure.  Sometimes he admits it and apologizes.  Other times, he simply has beliefs that conflict with my opinions:  abortion, gay rights, immigration reforms, preferences about politicians and more.

Yet, some of what I truly love about Rush is this.  He judges people for who they are.  Fat, thin, young, old, black, white, yellow, red, brown, male, female, rural, urban - he doesn't care.  Rush cares about what you think, and if you are a lover of freedom and free speech, free markets and opportunities.  Rush cherishes the rights enumerated in our Constitution and given to us by God.

Here is a little bit of Rush at his best.