I Love Political Correctness

Victor Davis Hanson has a good piece about political correctness run amok.

Quick Hit: Georgia Governor’s race

On Tuesday, there will be people holding their noses as they vote for governor in Georgia. The two candidates (sorry, but the libertarian candidate has about as much chance as winning as I do) are Democrat Roy Barnes and Republican Nathan Deal. Deal has made the news for numerous issues, including an ethics investigation that found him guilty of using his office to benefit his family business and for a loan that went bad when his son-in-law’s business went kaput. Barnes is a former governor who, while in office, pushed an education reform bill that, in spite of its good parts (more funding, reduce class size), proposed to make it possible to fire a teacher without a hearing.
So, many teachers, who tend to be union members and vote Democrat, remember what happened the last time Barnes was in office. But they don’t want to vote Republican Meanwhile, many Republicans look at Deal as tainted goods, but will never vote Democrat. Based on the polls, Deal is going to win. But its going to be very interesting.

Please…someone kill the ShakeWeights!

As if the Shake Weight wasn’t bad enough, they now have Shake Weights for Men. I’m not even going to comment–just watch the videos and…well, you’ll see.

Those Crazy Tea Partiers are VIOLENT! (Part 2)

Here are the videos to go along with the previous piece.
First, the video that made the original rounds, showing Valle being taken down:

Now the video that shows the full story:

innocent? not so much. Profitt deserves to be charged–but so does she.

Those Crazy Tea Partiers are VIOLENT!

At a recent even for Congressional candidate Rand Paul, a Paul campaign volunteer, Tim Profitt, was caught on tape supposedly head stomping Lauren Valle. Valle, who was hired by MoveOn.org, has been all over the news telling how she was basically minding her own business and simply wanted to hand Paul a mock award. Video (which did indeed show her getting wrestled down and a foot planted on her shoulder) appeared to show her getting unduly attacked by some goon-acting Paul supporter.
The left-leaning talking heads are going nuts, comparing things to German, circa 1930, and how Hitler’s Brownshirts (the folks that became the Nazis we are all familiar with) used to beat down the opposition. So, Tea Party=Nazis.
But hold on a second. A subsequent video shows that Ms. Valle is not as forthcoming with the truth as she should be. Let’s put aside that she was a person dressed up in disguise (which meant no one knew she was part of the opposition). She is seen not handing the so-called award to Paul, but shoving it through the passenger window at him. Once she realizes security is after her, she runs around behind the vehicle. Meanwhile, Paul gets out and starts walking towards the building. You then see Valle coming around the front of the vehicle trying to run at Paul again. At THAT point she gets taken down.
Any sane person can understand why she was taken down–security saw her as a threat. Not exactly how she’s telling it, no?
Let’s see if Olbermann, Maddow, and Matthews choose to address this or if they simply continue to use it as an anti-TP plot device (not to mention, Paul’s opponent’s use of the video in an ad).

Let’s sue that kid for everything she has!

A judge in NY has ruled that a 4 year old can be sued for negligence.

Citing cases dating back as far as 1928, a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence.

4 year old on bike runs into elderly lady. Elderly lady falls and has to have surgery. Accident, right? I mean, what 4 year old would maliciously run down a nice old lady?
Not so, I guess. The family of the elderly lady is suing the 2 children that were racing their bikes and their mothers for negligence. What?? What are you going to win in judgement? Animal crackers and milk? It would be one thing if the suit was to cover surgery expenses or something. But it doesn’t appear that is what is driving this case.
Ah, the society we live in.

“We need you to take one for the team…”

Former President Bill Clinton went to Florida and tried to get a Dem candidate to quit a race…

Former President Bill Clinton last week almost succeeded in persuading Kendrick B. Meek, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Florida, to drop out of the three-way race — but Mr. Meek changed his mind at the last minute, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton said Thursday evening.

If you were Kendrick Meek, what would YOU do?

Healthcare Reform–What is MLR and how it may affect you

Healthcare Reform.  A topic that dominated the airwaves for months as President Obama and the Democrats attempted (and succeeded) to passing major legislation changing the way we do health care in America.  Later, we will discuss how what was passed wasn’t as much healthCARE reform as much as it was healthINSURANCE reform, but we’ll discuss that later.  For now, lets discuss MLR.

MLR, or medical loss ratio, is the amount of each dollar an insurer takes in that much be used to pay for medical coverage.  The concept is simple:  when you the insured pays a dollar of premium to, say, United Health Care, UHC is required to spend a certain amount of that dollar on things related to patient care.

Currently, that ratio is all over the map and depends on carrier as well as individual state mandates.   One may find that one carrier’s ratio may be in the 70s, while another carrier may be in the 90s.  But that is about to change.  New rules will require all carriers to have a MLR in the 80% to 85% range.    If a carrier is found to have a ratio exceeding that, they will be require to pay a rebate or refund to plan participants.  So, consumers are definitely going to get more bang for the buck, right?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

There are at least 2 ways that the new provision will most likely negatively affect consumers.  First, there are already carriers that are getting out of the major medical insurance business because they will not be able to comply.  “Big deal!” most will say.  But we all know what happens when we have fewer providers to pick from.  The amount we as consumers spend goes up because each carrier gone reduces competition.  Second, carriers are going to begin cutting commissions to insurance brokers and agents.  For many, that’s not a big deal and they could care less about it.  But there are a significant number of consumers who prefer the ability to deal with an agent who is available to explain plans and coverages as opposed to calling a particular carrier’s customer service line.  When those agents disappear, consumers will find themselves on their own in regards to figuring things out.

All this isn’t to say MLR is a bad thing.  But knowing how it may affect you is a GOOD thing!

Let’s get this party started…

I was told once that I treat politics like its a sport.  That I spend too much time playing devil’s advocate just to tick people off instead of expressing my own opinions.  That being an independent means not taking a stand on anything.  That having a conservative stance on anything makes me a Republican.  That I never say anything good about Democrats or the left.  And so on, and so on.

 

I’ve found myself often trying to say “well, do you not remember when I said blah blah blah?”  of course, the answer is typically no.  So I’m looking forward to putting this space to good use.  Because everything i say or debate will be here for all to see, and easily searchable.  As will all of our good discussions usually reserved for my Facebook page.  Of course I’ll occasionally put up something good on Facebook.  It has served us well.  But here, we have lots of room to grow and play–its like turning a bunch of kids loose in the yard with a kickball!

 

Anyway, enough of the small talk, let the beatings begin!