In other words, if every lawmaker who votes for health reform agrees to personally pay for everyone else’s health care for any amount health care costs rise above the CBO estimates in the future I could support it.

This would include their “estate” continuing to pay after they die, perhaps from sub-standard government-run health care. If Obama and company really honestly believe that their plan would reduce costs why would they not stand behind that belief?

Oh, that’s right, they aren’t very big supporters of personal responsibility are they?

Blame-shifting is an art in DC, and our representatives are master artists.

Nevermind. Once health costs sky rocket under this plan, they would likely just raise their own salaries enough to cover the costs, thereby sticking it to the taxpayers anyway.

As I sat in the audience following Judge Andrew Napolitano’s speech during the Liberty Forum at CPAC 2010 I couldn’t help but wish he was delivering it in the main ballroom on the final afternoon leading in to Glenn Beck’s keynote. Then again, he may have been booed, but that wouldn’t have stopped him.

While Glenn Beck’s speech was very good and included arguments the GOP needed to hear, the Judge’s speech was an uncompromising and no-holds-barred session of truth-telling.

Watch Judge Napolitano’s speech below. If you’d like to watch the entire Liberty Forum the complete playlist is available here and the question and answer session is here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=640F410A38F85107

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I then made my way to the friendly environs of the Young Americans for Liberty Youth Summit. This young group of American patriots left me impressed. There is no doubt that these students of today will be the liberty leaders of tomorrow.

Following the summit was a panel of speakers discussing why good conservatives are anti-war. The room was packed with two rows of people standing in the back. Philip Girardi, Karen Kwiatkowski, Bruce Fein, and Jacob Hornberger took turns speaking. All were excellent, but for me, Jacob Hornberger, was the best at clearly articulating all of the major arguments for a non-interventionist foreign policy. He did it with passion. It rivaled Judge Napolitano’s speech from the Liberty Forum the other night.

As I was sitting there amongst my libertarian-conservative brethren I couldn’t help but dream that some day maybe a panel like this will be in the main ballroom and the interventionists would be the smaller wing of the party relegated to a tertiary room during the conference. In fact, taking my dream further, I think it would be appropriate to one day see a lone neo-conservative “activist” handing out paper flyers to people preaching an interventionist foreign policy, only to see every single flyer crumpled up in the trash later in the day.

Upon leaving the talk I noticed a long throng of people waiting to get into the main ballroom. I chose not to wait in the line and instead sat down in a nice comfortable chair inside one of the overflow rooms to await the straw poll results and to watch Glenn Beck’s closing keynote.

After enduring a few speakers it was time to announce the straw poll results. As the data was revealed bit by bit my excitement grew because the data being presented suggested a potential Paul victory. The kicker was Jim DeMint getting the most votes for the best “image” poll. DeMint is a huge backer of Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve audit and I knew that there was no one else on the list that a Ron Paul person could support.

When they revealed the poll results, sure enough, Ron Paul won with 31% of the vote. This drew loud boos from the main ballroom, but in my overflow room there were mostly clapping and cheers. If you boo Ron Paul then you boo your Constitution.

CPAC offers a Saturday only pass, which is likely the reason, there were so many boos in the ballroom. The Saturday pass people filled up the main room early in the afternoon, then around 4pm I witnessed a volunteer tell people that it was unlikely that they would get in to the main room. This left many Ron Paul supporters filtering into the overflow rooms.

The straw poll results are not a true measure of a candidates likelihood of winning. The results demonstrate that Ron Paul has one of the most active and dedicated group of supporters in the Republican Party. Paul was the leading straw poll winner during his presidential campaign of 2008. This win could mark the 1st win for his 2012 campaign, if he chooses to run again.

Then it was time for Glenn Beck. There are many Ron Paul supporters who despise Beck. I’m not one of them. I think Beck is really good at what he does and he proved it last night. He hammered on Republicans and Democrats. He utilized some Ron Paul (and Tom Woods) talking points.

First, he educated people on the recession of 1920-1921 and compared it to the Great Depression showing that cutting spending and lower taxes help the economy. Then, in the only portion of his speech that touched on foreign policy, he professed we shouldn’t go overseas looking to spread democracy. Instead, Beck said we should set an example for other countries to emulate. I suppose I could have done without the now ubiquitous “morning in America” Reagan homage and hearing him say “I love Dick Cheney” just before being critical of good ole’ sure-shot Dick.

You can watch the entire Beck speech here at CSPAN.

You can view the full CPAC 2010 Straw Poll results here [PDF].

I leave CPAC with hope for the future of America. As long as organizations like the Campaign for Liberty and the Young Americans for Liberty exist, there will always be hope for freedom.

The text of the legislation sponsored by Jill Holtzman Vogel reads as follows:

No resident of this Commonwealth, regardless of whether he has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his employer, or a plan sponsored by the Commonwealth or the federal government, shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage.  No provision of this title shall render a resident of this Commonwealth liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage.

This is a big win for Virginians, the 10th Amendment, and liberty. The fight is not over though. I highlight the word “individual” above because it worries me. Does this mean the federal government can mandate family coverage?

Hopefully this ambiguity will be remedied as the bill moves further along in the legislative process.

Five Democrats voted for the bill. You can find the vote tally on the bill’s tracking page here and more information is available here.

The evil triumvirate killing machine aimed at America is made up of:

1. The progressive agenda.
2. Bipartisanship.
3. The so-called “war on terror”.

Ever since Obama’s inauguration we’ve all become hyper-aware of the progressive agenda thanks to commentators like Glenn Beck. The progressives don’t even want the Constitution to be a “god-damned piece of paper“. That would mean it actually exists to them. They’d much rather it never have existed. Sure, Obama is a “constitutional scholar”, but all the evidence suggests he only studied the constitution in order to figure out methods to betray it.

For instance, this week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the 1st Amendment by overturning an old law that barred companies from funding advertisements specifically supporting or opposing a candidate for office. This is clearly the Supreme Court doing it’s job by upholding the 1st Amendment. But Obama and his progressive friends are quite unhappy about this. Obama vowed to fight the 1st Amendment in his weekly address this week:

Obama said the decision will make it harder to enact financial reforms, close tax loopholes, promote energy independence and protect patients from insurance company abuses — key elements of his domestic agenda.

“We don’t need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans,” he said. “And we don’t intend to.”

He said he has instructed his administration to work with Congress to “fight for the American people” and develop a “forceful bipartisan response” to the decision.

I’m not quite sure how dumping on freedom of speech is the right way to “fight for the American people”. His other comment about a “forceful bipartisan response” is equally troubling and brings us to the next evil force against our once great Republic.

I like to say, “Give me gridlock, or give me death” whenever I hear political Party drones tout bipartisanship like it is some universal good. We are a country of individuals, a great many of which wouldn’t be caught dead being called a Democrat or a Republican. The word “bipartisanship” to an independent is offensive and exclusionary. On top of that it’s bad for the American people.

There’s too much bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake. It gives politicians a nicely wrapped talking point and implies that the people were well-represented. How can this be when everyone knows that a horse designed by a committee ends up being a giraffe. Lawmakers start out with the intention of creating a bill that “helps” everyone and the law that comes out on the other end winds up helping some and hurting the rest. Isn’t it time to clean up all this “bipartisanshit” in DC? Lawmakers should have principles and stick to them.

The final evil element working to destroy America is the so called “war on terror”. The bottom line is that the terrorists are winning. How can this be true you may ask? After all, there hasn’t been a successful terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11 (that is if you exclude the Fort Hood massacre).

Terrorists don’t measure success by body count. They measure success by the erosion of liberties that result following their targeted attacks whether they are successful or not. They are kicking butt on that account. Here’s a short list of some of the evidence:

1. The Patriot Act
2. The Military Commissions Act
3. The TSA’s ever-changing regulations
4. “Report Suspicious Activity” signs on the interstates
5. Illegal FBI Wiretaps
6. Strip-search machines at airports
7. Fusion centers
8. The No-Fly list

All of these are under the guise of “making us safe” yet they also give the U.S. government, famous for its extreme ineptitude, way too much power over our lives. The U.S. Constitution becomes an obstacle rather than a clear guiding path. This plays directly into the hands of terrorists. In fact, with all of this going on, Osama probably feels like the game is over and he already won.

Our policy toward fighting terrorism is the primary contributing factor to making us less safe at home, not more. Every attack, successful or not, is followed by evidence that the attack was attempted due to our own interventions overseas. It’s akin to a never-ending gang war where each gang is seeking revenge for the latest murder. It’s expensive, both in blood and money. America can’t afford it. In short, it’s killing us slowly. Shifting focus to a true defensive strategy would save lives, liberties, and money. Why isn’t this obvious by now?

America’s ideas of individual freedom and natural rights are fundamental concepts of humanity that function in any era if given a chance. It is our duty to ensure these concepts remain essential  in our own lives and get passed down to future generations of American patriots.

He said the following (from CNN):

“A systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable,” Obama said, adding that the breakdown was “a mix of human and systemic failure.”

What he’s describing are the symptoms of a disease called government.

Rather than look down upon the “systemic failure” why not consider what did work? Once again, individuals on the plane were successful in thwarting the attack. This has happened many times in the years following September 11th, private citizens acting in their own self-interest working together to fight terrorism.

When it comes to these terrorist attack attempts, for every government failure there is an individual (or group of individuals) success. The fact that these successes occur in an era when the government promises us protection, gives us a false sense of security, and then disarms our ability to defend/protect ourselves should be all the evidence we need. The best path to security is more individual freedom, not less.

We now must submit to rather ridiculous security measures in order to board an airplane. We have to take off our shoes, make sure our toiletries are in government-approved containers and sizes, and so on. The TSA is working toward placing “strip search” security machines at many more airports. This means your friendly TSA agents can see you and your wife or girlfriend naked as they walk through security. Why is this acceptable in a supposedly free country?

Now, In response to this latest incident the TSA now plans to forbid movement during the last hour of flight:

Two foreign airlines, Air Canada and British Airways, disclosed the steps in notices on their Web sites. The airlines said the rules had been implemented by government security agencies including the T.S.A.

“Among other things,” the statement on Air Canada’s Web site read, “during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps.”

As is so often the case when government gets involved we become less safe. These new restrictions would prevent airline travelers from standing up and fighting any potential terrorist during the last hour of flight. I thought we were supposed to be making it harder for terrorists not easier! At this rate, five years from now all airline passengers will have to be handcuffed to their seats during the entire flight.

Isn’t it time we realized that all of these idiotic reactions to attacks only serve the terrorist’s purposes? Terrorists are winning the war on terror and they are using our own laws and rules as the weapons against us.

Obama, Janet Napolitano, and the TSA need to take their blinders off. The most effective way to fight terror is through maximizing individual liberty not minimizing it.

If all health plans would be required to cover mammograms, then my health plan would be forced to cover it, which would translate into higher premiums for me.  And I am a man.  Is this fair?

Sheldon Richman of the Future of Freedom Foundation does a beautiful job exploring this in his article entitled There’s No Such Thing As a Free Mammogram :

Mikulski’s amendment illustrates how irresponsible politicians are. It is so easy for them to stand on the floor of the House or Senate and “give” things away for free, with no thought to who will actually have to swallow the expense. Why do we tolerate that? At the very least, we ought to know how much the government costs us, but we can’t know as long as politicians can do what Mikulski and her colleagues have done.

Read the full article here.

Included among the questions was a more in depth answer as to whether Paul will run in 2012. Enjoy it below in the embedded playlist.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=480AB1A0512B260A

Details of the “mock” debate and the real bribery that is about to happen can be found in this nice overview from The Politico:

After months of buildup, the historic debate on health care reform opens on the Senate floor Monday — but the C-SPAN cameras won’t see the real action.

The next phase in the Democrats’ health care push will be waged in the privacy of the Senate leadership office, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will attempt to do something that has eluded him all year: negotiate a compromise on the public insurance option that can garner 60 votes and win over a public still leery of reform.

That is one thing I think the article got wrong. There will be no effort to win over the public. There will only be an effort to get 60 votes. They are stricken with Obama-induced tunnel vision. Meanwhile Obama is ready to send more troops to die… er uh.. I mean to “finish the job” in Afghanistan. The Democrats are spineless. If they had any guts they’d hold up the health care debate until Obama stops acting like Bush on foreign interventionism. Also, why the hell aren’t they making a big stink about Obama pushing to keep the evil portions of the Patriot Act the law of the land?

If the tea parties are to really mean something we need to start seeing the stupid Obama-Hitler signs replaced by signs that say something like:

Democrats suck, Republicans suck. Who speaks for Liberty?

100 years ago America’s leaders entered the bathroom and began soiling the Constitution in earnest. With Bush and now Obama, the toilet has been flushed and the water-logged Constitution is spinning down the drain.

The soul of America is withering toward its end. America is on its death bed barely breathing. Don’t give America a chance to whisper her last words. Stand up and act up. Remember…

Friends don’t let friends make laws while drunk on government power.

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H. L. Mencken

I’m tired of the health care debate. It’s not much of a debate anymore when the Republican lawmakers are arguing for socialism-lite and the Democrats are arguing for maximum strength socialism. It’s like asking the patient, “Do you want a government doctor or do you want a government physician?”

I’m tired of everyone calling it health “insurance”. It should be called health welfare. Medicare and medicaid are welfare programs. The proposed health care reform is nothing more than medicare on steroids. It’s certainly not insurance. Does auto insurance cover oil changes and tune-ups?

I’m tired of the argument that we should force insurers to cover preexisting conditions. We don’t force home owner’s insurance companies to cover a house already engulfed in flames. Forcing this upon insurers marks the beginning of the slow regulatory death of private insurance. This reeks of progressive incrementalism–a phasing out of private insurance to create a monopoly for government insurance. In other words, the public option becomes the only option. Obama highlighted his plan for this back in 2003 (see the video).

I’m tired of many arguing that health care is a “right”. Calling health care a right is a patently absurd and immoral logical fallacy. One cannot have a right to property or labor owned by someone else. Rights can only be based upon an individual’s own action. Leonard Peikoff put it best during the Hillary-care debate back in 1993.

Observe that all legitimate rights have one thing in common: they are rights to action, not to rewards from other people. The American rights impose no obligations on other people, merely the negative obligation to leave you alone. The system guarantees you the chance to work for what you want — not to be given it without effort by somebody else.

I’m tired of hearing Obama and his minions claim that the health care reform proposals will lower health care premiums and costs. My fatigue forces me to be blunt. If you buy in to this argument, find a mirror, look into it, and you will see an “It takes a village” idiot. After you wipe the drool from your chin and lumber away from the mirror, ponder the following 5 items:

1. We already have partial socialized medicine in the form of Medicare (elderly) and Medicaid (poor).
2. As of 2008 the number of people on these government-provided plans totaled 87.4 million.
3. Medicare will run out of money in 2017 according to last year’s government statistics. The previous year the government said it would be insolvent in 2019. I wonder what next year’s numbers will reveal, considering the rising unemployment and the struggling economy (less payroll taxes).
4. As of 2008 there were 46.3 million people without health insurance. About 36 million of these people are promised coverage with the House health welfare bill passed on Saturday evening.
5. How can anyone claim with a straight face that increasing demand for a product by nearly 50% in a newly taxed and regulated market will lower prices? (Better go find that mirror again)
   

I’m tired of writing about national health care. Part of me thinks that those of us fighting against it should just cave in and give the thieving looters what they want. They would certainly get it “good and hard”.

I then look into the faces of my children and see their complete innocence on display. They deserve better. In fact, we all do.

We may be beaten down and tired, but we must never stop fighting.

For the best health care “reform” information all in one place, check out CATO’s health care page.