clickabiggenThursday, March 19, 2009
A Lesson From Across the Pond
It's already March and Obama still hasn't transformed health care.... good. From Breitbart:
Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period at the National Health Service (NHS) hospital.....
.......Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "I apologise on behalf of the government and the NHS, for the pain and anguish caused to so many patients and their families by the appalling standards of care at Stafford Hospital.
"Patients will want to be absolutely certain that the quality of care at Stafford Hospital has been radically transformed, and in particular, that the urgent and emergency care is administered safely," he added.
OK so let's rush into government run health care then. Maybe we'll do it better. Course, maybe there will be more observations like these:
"We saw patients drinking out of flower vases they were so thirsty.
"There were patients wandering around the hospital and patients fighting. It was continuous through the night. Patients were screaming out in pain because you just could not get pain relief."
But you know what really has got me curious? Why the silence about the proposed Change and Progress national medical database? The privacy rights crew would be apoplectic if George W had proposed a government database like this. But I've heard not a peep from them. Heck, I'm kind of easy going about my privacy and it's got me concerned. Think the government will protect your personal information? Ask Joe the plumber about that.
I guess we'll just have to see how deep they get into health care. If they get deeply enough into it you would do well to only get diseases that are common, easy to cure, and not exacerbated by long waits. Me, I just made an appointment with my doctor. Just in case health care goes the way of the DMV.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Krauthammer Right Again
Krauthammer on the AIG bonuses, from last night's All Stars, as reported by NRO:
When you get politicians ahead of the mob running companies, you get madness and idiocy here. The contracts are legal contracts, and it wasn't as if these bonuses were unknown or sprung at the last minute. They were written into these agreements over a year ago, long before AIG was even nationalized or partially nationalized.
And the problem here is that by the Congress now trying to break the contracts by a ruse, essentially a 100 percent taxation or confiscation, they're going against a few hundred years of common law where you don't do retroactive confiscation or bills of attainder, which are laws aimed at particular individuals. It's just not done.
And to sacrifice all of those principles of democracy and business and contract over, as Rich indicated, a tenth of one percent of the bailout, is absurd, particularly in a Congress which just a week ago signed a bill with enough pork to fund these bailouts for about 20 years.
Which is exactly right. Sure, it's a butt bite that these highly paid people are doing well in a company that is eating taxpayer money like Rosie at the International House of Pancakes, but a contract is a contract. Is this a new America where contracts don't mean anything? (btw - these bonuses were an inducement for key people to stay with the company as it was going down the tubes -- those people may have missed out on opportunities that they won't get a second chance at)
A big brained friend who works in international development once described one of the biggest problems the FSU countries were having in coming up to speed with the rest of the world: It seems that a large percentage of the population didn't believe that contracts were binding. Even after all parties signed, and the contract was in place, they thought you could insist on changes. Which, duh, kind of makes contracts meaningless.
Class
A sense of propriety:
CALGARY, Alberta – Former President George W. Bush, making his first public speech since leaving office in January, says he wants Barack Obama to succeed and that it's "essential" to support the new leader.
Bush declined to critique the Obama administration in Tuesday's speech, saying the new president has enough critics and that he "deserves my silence."
What this is, is a president not cheapening the office by using his position as a former president to harass his ideological opponents. We owe a debt of gratitude to Jimmy Carter for illustrating how not to do it.
Those of us who aren't former presidents are still expected to speak our minds though.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Live Like You're Amused
Some people are upset that Wisconsin is trying to trademark: "Live like you mean it" Well, mainly it's people who have been using that phrase for some time now. But it's silly anyway. How else would you live? Live like it was an accident? Live like you're joking? (though I guess some of us do that)
Anyway, free of charge, I fixed it for them. No need to thank me Wisconsin. The Cabot family has taken care of it.
or maybe...
or
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