By: halsted (Diary)  |  July 2nd at 08:47 PM  | 

The infamous “stimulus” bill has about $19 billion in it for implementation of technology to improve safety and connectivity. A substantial portion of that funding is for electronic medical records. Per CNS news, about $5.7 billion in incentive payments has been spent so far. In order to provide the desired connectivity, either a physical or virtual central repository of healthcare patient information must be established. | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  June 23rd at 06:05 PM  | 

One thing I never see mentioned among all the pundits regarding the potential VP nominees is that taking control of the Senate is also a huge issue. These two considerations of candidate and taking the Senate intersect at the potential VP pick. If you have a popular sitting Republican Senator, such as Marco Rubio, Kelly Ayotte, or Rob Portman  selected to be the Vice Presidential | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  June 21st at 06:22 PM  | 

In an interview, along with Jim Baker at the State Department, on the Charlie Rose program today, both Secretary Clinton and former Secretary Baker were discussing Pakistan and what to do about our policies there. During the discussion, Secretary of State Clinton raised her voice and said that the strongest obligations of a sovereign nation were to 1) “protect the people” and to 2) “secure | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  June 18th at 11:41 PM  | 

So, Juan Williams is carrying the President’s water on the O’Reilly Factor and he justifies the President unilaterally deciding which laws to enforce (Defense of Marriage, Immigration, etc.) by saying that the President can’t get them passed in Congress. How does this guy get on television since he clearly has no understanding of the US Constitution? When it was pointed out on the show, he | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  March 28th at 10:57 AM  | 

While everyone is debating the individual mandate and the cost fallacies in the Affordable Healthcare Act, one of the most potentially damaging aspects of the bills is being largely ignored. The idea that a bill can be passed in Congress which would have wording that states it can never be repealed or changed is insane. The founders of this country meant for making and changing | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  March 27th at 11:12 PM  | 

With the current review of the Affordable Healthcare Act (which is anything but affordable), most of the political posturing about health insurance reform has now gone back to the old political methods of presenting heart-wrenching cases as justification for sweeping reform. It is much akin to how the media produces a sad case to promote their agenda. During the middle of the Bush administration, when | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  March 6th at 01:59 PM  | 

Barack Obama’s social and political views are clearly outside the mainstream of American thought but that’s his privilege in the US. He was elected. He has the right to his own opinion about issues, like everyone else.  What he doesn’t have the right to do is to be above the law. This administration decided unilaterally to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. Think about | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  April 27th at 05:46 PM  | 

Sometimes small examples point out huge issues. Two local radio commentators were talking yesterday morning on a Charleston, SC radio talk station about the issue of providing IPad2’s to children in a few local schools. One caller pointed out that it might be preferable to use the money for merit pay for better performing teachers. One of the hosts stated that “the money was allocated | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  January 29th at 10:46 PM  | 

Mister President, thank you for taking the time to meet today. POTUS: You’re welcome Today, your approval ratings sit at near lows and the economy is still in the doldrums. Do you see things turning around soon? POTUS: I still believe that the stimulus package saved us from catastrophe and will help the economy gain strength. Mr. President, I would argue the stimulus package hurt | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  April 20th at 09:11 PM  | 

The first amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I was considering the arguments about separation of church | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  April 5th at 05:14 PM  | 

The Ku Klux Klan, founded by Nathan Bedford Forrest, originally the militant wing of the post-Civil War Democratic Party The Civil Rights Act of 1964…. originally filibustered by a group of Senators, 18 Democrats and 1 Republican, including Al Gore, Sr. Democrat; yep, father of Vice President, Al Gore, Jr. The longest filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, fourteen hours and thirteen minutes…. | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  April 5th at 04:47 PM  | 

The only potential explanations for Chris Matthews slide into zombie-ness must be Creutzfeld-Jakob, Kuru, Alzheimer’s, neuro-syphilis or something pathological. He appears to be losing his mind. He says astonishingly incoherent and obviously biased things that any rational person would not dare to say, knowing that it exposes outright hypocrisy and lack of thought. He is either completely shameless, jumping the shark for his failing ratings | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  February 26th at 04:57 PM  | 

The problems are: 1) We have people without health insurance who are afraid they cannot get care. 2) Doctors get less and less reimbursement from Medicare/Medicaid every year and shouldn’t have to lose money taking care of patients. 3) Medicare/Medicaid run out of money 4) The current proposed bill sucks. Here is a start (it fits on one page): Anyone eligible for Medicare/Medicaid or uninsured | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  February 15th at 01:10 AM  | 

In the first year of this presidency, the current administration has displayed deference, almost subservience, to organized labor. Deference would not be surprising, since organized labor is the single largest contributor to the Democratic Party. Organized labor is now getting treatment which discriminates against non-union workers and those policies are now forming a disturbing trend. First, the automobile industry bailout: Money was given to prop | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  February 4th at 06:06 PM  | 

Fred and Diane are sitting at a car dealership. Fred: “I sure hope we can get a good deal on this car.” The salesman walks in with a huge stack of paper. Salesman: “Just sign this contract and you are on the road. woo hoo” Diane: “How long is that contract?” Salesman: “It is 2074 pages” Diane: “That seems awfully long. Can we look at | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  February 4th at 05:56 PM  | 

Fred is sitting at the dining room table… Diane walks in Diane: “Honey, I was looking at these bills and we are getting in trouble. When we started spending more last year, we overdid it. Every month, we spend $500 a month more than we make.” Fred: “You’re right, this is a crisis. I have an idea that I got from the Democrats. We’ll freeze | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  February 3rd at 05:44 PM  | 

The old saying goes something like, “When you see your enemy committing suicide, there is no reason to intervene”. Rep. Alan Grayson might be the best thing to happen to conservatives in a long time. Every time he appears on television, it is equivalent to the Democrats hiring Charles Manson as their national spokesman. He is so outrageously repulsive that any Democrat or left of | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  November 23rd at 07:37 PM  | 

When O.J. Simpson nearly decapitated his wife and killed Ronald Goldman, the event happened in Brentwood, a very affluent area of Los Angeles. The subsequent circus trial and the nearly irrational acquittal of Simpson was made possible only by the decision of the Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti who, for politically correct reasons that only he could have understood, moved the trial to downtown | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  November 15th at 10:27 PM  | 

There is a disturbing trend in the actions of the Obama administration when it comes to how they spend the money. There are many different examples which will highlight the trend. First, the automobile industry bailout: Money was given to General Motors and Chrysler instead of allowing the companies to reorganize under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Therefore, public money was taken from auto workers in | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 29th at 06:29 PM  | 

I noticed that the Democratic Congress and Vice President Biden are talking up the results of the stimulus package. Everyone who paid attention knows that the stimulus package was not intended for stimulus or, if it was, it was only a peripheral goal. The idea of that package was to use the crisis to advance liberal programs which would not have been passed through the | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 27th at 05:02 PM  | 

With education clearly on the decline in the nation’s public schools, one has to ask why it is happening. There is a movement afloat which began in the 1920s which theorized that there was too much information available to be taught and that new information was created at a rate that defied the ability to have it taught. The theory suggested that a better way | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 23rd at 06:18 PM  | 

The administration continues to talk about the health care “crisis” and is prepared to spend over one trillion dollars to insure about 16 million people (of their estimated 40 million without insurance). That works out to about $62,500 per person. Why not just buy them a policy at a few thousand a year and save a bunch of money? Because that is not what this | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 23rd at 12:51 AM  | 

I was commenting on the health care issue in a discussion about the “right” to health care. A rhetorical question I ask is whether the government is allowed by the Constitution to force individuals to purchase health insurance? Liberals almost always knee-jerk and state that the government requires auto insurance for all drivers. It is an apples/oranges comparison. You have no right to drive. You | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 22nd at 05:40 PM  | 

Recent political discussion has brought up the concept of the “right to health care”. It is the view of some folks that If there is something you need, you have a right to it. In order to have a “right”, first you need to understand what is meant by a right. Let’s start with this example: if you are hungry, do you have a right | Read More »

By: halsted (Diary)  |  October 20th at 06:15 PM  | 

Most of the political posturing about health insurance reform has now gone back to the old political methods of presenting heart-wrenching cases as justification for sweeping reform. It is much akin to how the media produces a sad case to promote their agenda. During the middle of the Bush administration, when the financial outlook was really good, liberal news outlets would find some obscure person | Read More »