But the more Mr. Obama talks about his plans, the worse it gets for him. The problem is that he hasn’t presented it properly. As an aid to Democrats everywhere, these are the positions they should be pushing to make this dream reality:

1) Socialized Medicine is free. I don’t know how they do it, but, by golly, nobody has to pay for it. Now if they could do something about the rising cost of cigarettes, gas, sodas, and my tanning bed treatments.

2) Socialized Medicine protects medical professionals and hospitals from extraordinary lawsuits. Right now Republicans and many physicians are  pointing out that to control medical costs, tort reform needs to be initiated to rein in the runaway costs of medical malpractice lawsuits. With Socialized Medicine there would be no need for this legislation. As the government would run the health care system how would anyone be able to sue Uncle Sam? Especially if he wasn’t in the mood to be sued. Socialized Medicine means never having to say “Oops!”.

3) Socialized Medicine covers all diseases. Time and again we see insurance companies denying care for unusual diseases or treatments. Now everything will be covered up to and including euphoria, apoplexy, and miner’s squint. And you won’t have to pay for those pills and medical devices you saw advertised on late-night TV.

4) Socialized Medicine means you will be able visiting many foreign countries. Recently Danny Williams, the Newfoundland/Labrador Premier, came to the United States to get immediate treatment for a heart condition rather than wait for treatment in Canada. As we will not be allowed to visit the United States many of us may sample the medical care in India, Mexico, Argentina, and Mongolia for quick treatment of deteriorating ailments. As many of you may say, ole!

5) Socialized Medicine will give you time to think it over. Haven’t you ever done things on the spur of the moment which you ended up regretting when you sobered up? Things like getting a tattoo, buying a Hummer, or signing up for a lifetime subscription to “Boys’ Life”. Since it will take months, perhaps  years, to see a doctor or schedule a treatment, you will have plenty of time to ponder whether you really want that gallbladder surgery, that liver transplant, that hernia operation, or that brain tumor removed. No longer will we see people who rued the day they had their gallstones taken out.

6) Socialized Medicine means more jobs for the unemployed. While real doctors may become disillusioned and leave the medical profession, this only opens the door for medical school dropouts, incompetent phlebotomists, clumsy surgeons, mediocre radiologists, unskilled nurses, alcoholic anesthesiologists, and backyard mechanics to fulfill their dream of a career in medicine. No medical degree, no problem!

7) Socialized Medicine offers incentives to stay healthy. Since the average patient may be called upon to visit a doctor as described in Reason No. 6, there will be a good reason to pay attention to one’s shape. I’d start jogging right now if I were you.

8. Socialized Medicine will improve the gene pool. Death panels, natural selection, bad luck, call it what you will but the waits and overall medical incompetence associated with Socialized Medicine will mean you will die sooner, rather than later, of your genetic ailment, thus the better off mankind will be if you don’t get a chance to procreate. Future Americans will never again see people afflicted with prickly heat, vertigo, or political idiocy.

9) Socialized Medicine will give the government something to do. Rather than raise hell with the public through IRS audits, unending bureaucratic regulation, or random airport strip searches, the government will find its hands full, day and night, creating paperwork, scheduling payments, and coming up with excuses for why no one answers the medical clinic phone at 2:00 in the afternoon.

10) Socialized Medicine will come in color or black and white. No. just yanking your Obama nose ring. Actually, it won’t but I couldn’t come up with any other reason you would want Socialized Medicine.

So to Mr. Obama and the Democrat Party, instead of using the nuclear option of reconciliation or writing up an executive order, the best way to get Americans to go along with Socialized Medicine is to tell them why they need it.

And you could also tell them it’s available, for a limited time, in tan.

Look at the facts, these days government dictates how to make a product, the government dictates what to put in a product, the government dictates shipping methodology if the U.S. Postal Service is used, the government dictates working conditions with OSHA, the government dictates minimum pay for employees and who to hire with EEOC laws, the government dictates salaries and bonuses for management in some industries, and, at the end of the day, for its efforts, the government will be on hand to collect its fair share of the company’s profit through taxation if a company is fortunate enough to make a profit on its transactions.

Now the government wants to dictate to companies what they will charge for their products. 

What decision making is left for a company under this administration? Helping pick the color of tablecloths in the company mess hall?

This proposal will be the final nail in the de facto take-over of American business. And it neatly avoids the messiness and expense of actually having to buy or run companies ala General Motors or AIG. Free companies! What socialist politician wouldn’t be giddy with excitement over the prospect?

You just gotta admire that crazy Capitalist Socialism.

“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.

There has never been a pure free market capitalistic system just as there has never been a pure communist or socialist system, where there is government ownership of the means of production and each individual has equal access to society’s resources. However, we can rank economies as to whether they are closer to capitalism or closer to communism or socialism. If one ranked countries according to whether they were closer to the capitalistic end of the spectrum or the socialistic or communistic end, then ranked countries according to per capita GDP and finally rank countries according to Freedom House’s “Map of Freedom in the World,” he would find a pattern that is by no means a coincidence. The people in those countries closer to the capitalist end of the economic spectrum have far greater income and enjoy greater human rights protections than those toward the socialist and communist end.

According to the London Telegraph article, Moore’s film features priests who say capitalism is anti-Christian by failing to protect the poor. This is pure nonsense and revealed as such by asking, “If you’re an unborn spirit, condemned by God to a life of poverty but allowed to choose the country in which to be poor, would you choose a country near the communist end of the economic spectrum or the capitalist end?” If you chose the United States, you’d find that according to the government surveys, the typical “poor” American has cable or satellite TV, two color TVs, and a DVD player or VCR. He has air conditioning, a car, a microwave, a refrigerator, a stove, and a clothes washer and dryer, and whether he has health insurance or not, he is able to obtain medical care when needed. Try to find that in Cuba, Russia, China or North Korea. If we buy into the nonsense of Moore’s priests, the world’s poor people are incredibly stupid. Whether fleeing legally or illegally, their destination country is likely to be closer to capitalism than their departure country.

Go read the whole article here.

By Bob Burg, bestselling author, speaker, and advocate of a free market economy

Well, it’s coming down to the wire; the Obama Administration is perhaps just weeks away from enacting legislation that will put our loved ones’ health in the hands of a colossal government bureaucracy comprised of nameless/faceless administrators, drive up job-killing taxes through massive spending, create huge waiting lists for life-saving procedures, cause a shortage of doctors, significantly harm the middle class and poor, elicit health-care rationing as we’ve never before experienced, and, in the end, bring us an inferior level of healthcare.

All of these are certain to be true…and presenting our case like this is exactly the WRONG way to win the hearts and minds of those we are trying to persuade.

Instead, we must communicate the issue at the very heart of this matter and which – as far as I can tell – no one; including any of the usual “Pro-Economic Liberty” pundits, are explaining.

In fact, the Pro-Universal Crowd has done a brilliant job of framing a false argument:

“Do we stick with a Free-Market Healthcare system which is not working?”

or…

“Do we at least do something to try and help; for example, go to a system of Universal Healthcare?”

And (anti-Constitutionality aside), that question would make sense, except…

WE DON’T CURRENTLY HAVE A FREE-MARKET BASED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. (Sorry for shouting but has nobody noticed that??!!)

Actually, we haven’t had a market-based healthcare system in over 50 years. When we did, it worked magnificently well for everyone, including the financially disadvantaged. Only after government first inched its way in and then eventually controlled nearly every aspect of it did we find ourselves in the predicament we are currently in, with the masses now asking the government to solve the very problem they created (I can’t think of anything more nonsensical).

While I explain all this in my five-part series, Check Your Healthcare Premises, it hardly matters if we don’t effectively communicate this faulty premise to those who advocate Socialized (i.e. Socialistic) Healthcare.

We must “control the frame” and re-direct the argument from a choice between a current “free-market” system (which it is not) that doesn’t work (and it doesn’t) and a socialized system of healthcare that will be absolutely disastrous…and offer a third choice; indeed, the only choice that can work, and – even better – has proven to work; a healthcare system based on the free market.    

The next time someone presents the argument as the false choice of two, simply tell them (with no defensiveness): “We don’t have a free market healthcare system.”

They will say, “Of course we do; how can you say that we don’t?”

You respond: “There are 133,000 pages of health care regulation in the U.S. Federal Register. Please tell me why you would consider that to be free market.”

You have just reframed the debate. Now, he/she must explain why today’s system IS market-based instead of you explaining that our current government-controlled system works just fine (which it doesn’t, and everyone knows it doesn’t and it doesn’t do anyone any good when anyone tries to say differently).

They might, in desperation, say, “but something has to change.”

You respond: “Absolutely healthcare needs to change. Wouldn’t you agree that the right change is to the system that worked before; the free market? After all, you are genuinely concerned that people who truly need medical care get it, aren’t you?”

Again, you’ve reframed this to highlight the benevolence of the free market rather than an “I don’t care about others” attitude that they wrongly believe.

Important: Once the person recognizes (or, your reader or listener understands) that the free market is not to blame for our current healthcare woes, you can offer a third alternative; that we get government OUT of our healthcare system and go back to the excellent system we once had (either read my five-part series or utilize information you already know that provides the benefits of a free-market healthcare system).

The key is that – once you set the correct premise and offer the third alternative, you must remain totally disciplined to not get “sucked into” arguing their false dilemma and continue to bring it back to the correct premise.

If we can do this consistently, and teach our fellow lovers of liberty how to do the same, then not only will we not be saddled with a socialized system of healthcare that we’ll never be able to reverse, but we’ll provide everyone, including the children, the elderly and the financially disadvantaged with the benefits of the one healthcare system that truly works…the free market.

—————————————

I’ve gotten some feedback on the subject of deregulation, and the effect of greed.  Many are quick to demonize it, but I think we all need to slow down and take a look at what greed really is, before we admonish the “greedy”.

Interestingly, greed, is one of the 7 deadly sins, so we should strive to not be greedy, right?  Well, greed is defined in several different ways, but the most unbiased true definition (not relating to material wealth – I’ll explain why this is important in a moment) of greed is: An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain.  Is this not merely an extension of self interest?  What is self interest?  Self interest is defined as personal interest or advantage.  Everyone acts in ways of self interest, some more than others.  The reason is because life is a competition, like it or not.  You cannot beat the self interest out of anyone, and that is the paradoxical nature of self interest, i.e., greed.  To clarify my point, allow me to give several examples.

1. Early in life, we play games.  The object of a game is to win.  The desire to win is an act of self interest.  Yes it is fun to play, but winning and losing is part of the game, and the desire to win is part of human nature.  If the true object of the game is only to have fun, why do we keep score?  Why do we play at all?  Can we not find more fun and productive things to do if the object is “fun”?

2. When we go to school, we get graded on our performance.  We strive to get good grades based on our performance, and to gauge how we are faring against our peers.  Some learn faster, or in different ways, than others.  It is in our self interest to get the best grades possible, so that we not only know we are learning, but to ensure that our future will be bright, by being accepted into higher educational facilities which boast better educational practices than others.

3. When we are done with school, we hope that we’ve learned what we needed to, and that we have the skill set necessary, for a particular job.  It is in our self interest to get the best job possible (best environment, best pay, best benefits, etc) that most closely fits our needs.  We hope to climb the ladder (if we work for someone else) because we bust our humps every day to try and prove that we are worthy of higher pay, better benefits, better environment, more responsibility, etc.

4. If we open our own business, it is in our self interest to ensure the business survives so that we can support ourselves and our family, so that we do not go on the government doles, which brings me to my next point.

5. Those on welfare also act in self interested ways.  Some would say that they are selfish, others would say greedy, and I can certainly see that point.  This is not to say that I think we should not help anyone, we should be able to help those that cannot help themselves (disabled, physically or mentally, children with no family and cannot fend for themselves yet).  A hand up, not a hand out.  For those that can help themselves, they are simply acting in a self interested way to “get something for nothing”. It is far too easy to “game” the system.  Want more money?  Have another kid.  Get hurt to collect disability also, etc.  Getting a welfare handout check is acting not only in a way of self interest, but it is also at the expense of others.  Does anyone seriously believe that the government can make the poor “rich” by “spreading the wealth around”?  Where is the incentive to work?

6. Politicians act in self interested ways.  It may not be for money, but for position and power.  If you think that those you elect to office, no matter D or R, really want to “help” the little guy, you are sadly mistaken.  Politicians are no different than the public.  George Carlin said something like, if you have a greedy, ignorant population, you will have greedy, ignorant politicians.

7. People who vote do so in self interested ways.  What will my politician do for me, or my group?  As if we’re all oppressed, right?  Many seem to have forgotten how friggin awesome our country is/was because of our Constitution and it’s limits on government, and the personal freedoms our Bill of Rights protects.  It only ever has been, and always will be, the other guy who was at fault, right?  As I’ve pointed out before, when the government gives someone something, it has to do it at the expense of someone else.

8. Even religion and clergy act in self interested ways.  They always want a little more.  The church needs an addition, they need to grow their congregation, etc (and notice how it’s almost always tied to “you need to give more to the church”).

Here’s my point.  We cannot prosecute or persecute people for acting in self interested ways, and so quickly take it to the level of “greed”, because we all do it.  If you think you do not act in greedy ways, you are kidding yourself.  I only cherry picked the most politically palatable examples above.  Really, make an honest assessment of your actions and see how many you can classify as acting only in the interest of others.  There was a Friends episode (unbelievably) that dealt with this.  Even when you give your time and / or money to a charitable (by your own free will, by the way, not by government mandate) organization, it still makes you feel good, so even it is not completely selfless.  Put yourself in the position of others who you classify as greedy.

Take a corporate CEO for example.  You think they make too much money.  Compared to what, the average worker?  Do you have any idea the kind of pressure they are under on a daily basis?  Do you really know how much they sacrifice in regards to a truly coherent family life because of their work?  I highly doubt it.  They are generally in the spotlight more than they’d like, and have to put up with the stress of the livelihoods of hundreds, or thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or demanding employees, stockholders, boards of directors, and the general public.  Do they create that much wealth for the company and for the stockholders?  Maybe, maybe not.  But you cannot, and should not, demonize them for what they make.  If you were in their position, I seriously doubt you would turn down a luxurious contract.  And besides, there are free market mechanisms in place that deal with this already.  Boards of directors hire and fire CEO’s.  Stockholders elect the boards of directors.  If you don’t like the company, or think the CEO makes too much, don’t buy the stock of the company.  Don’t buy products the company makes, nobody is forcing you to buy what they sell .  If you own their stock, elect a board, or appeal to the board, that will act in your interest (aha, there’s that caveat again – self interest of the best stock price possible – oops).  If they are truly incompetent managers that don’t deserve the pay, the company will go bankrupt.  If you don’t buy the product they sell, or have stock in the company, why do you care at all?  Why do you want to control them?  What gives you that right?

Now here’s where we’ve really jacked up.  The politicians we’ve elected are not allowing this to happen.  The free market mechanism that deals with incompetence (bankruptcy) is not being allowed to function.  Is it in my interest to bail out a car company?  No, but I’m being forced to pay for it anyway, for the “greater good”.  Sooooo, now I’m technically paying for cars with my, yes, my, tax money (or eventually, inflated fiat currency), but I’m not actually getting a car?  That’s wrong.  How can anyone justify that to save some jobs in the short term?  Why doesn’t the government just start their own car company?  They know what’s best for us, anyway.  They’ve already appointed a car Czar.  Welcome to Communist Russia, we’d be glad to sell you a Trabant.  It only costs $99,999, but with tax incentives, the cost to you (that you can see) is only $29,999!  (You will actually pay the full $99,999, but we’ll tell you that we’re taxing those “greedy rich” more).  Isn’t that great?!  You are supporting American workers, and inflated, over powerful unions!  Everyone is happy!  Until they’re not.

This almost always comes back to regulation, and deregulation.  The real job of the government is not to regulate the hell out of everything, it is arbitrary.  Prosecute fraud, yes.  But they should not dictate what people should make.  You vote with your dollars every day.  You vote for politicians every 4 years.  Do the math.  The market is absolutely, unequivocally, the most efficient and best resource for regulating the market.  The government is always a step behind.  Derivatives of mortgages blew up, so we need to regulate derivatives.  Uh, you don’t need to, Barry, the market has, or is trying to, learn it’s lesson and cleanse the mess of derivatives by bankrupting the businesses that engaged in it.  Miring us in propagandist nonsense that a company is “too big to fail” is utterly farcical.  I think that it is simply meant to paper over the real reason they failed, trying to make a profit (ooohhhh, greedy) in an over-regulated, ever changing regulation, and over-taxed environment, with governmental decrees on how to conduct business.  Here’s the slippery slope argument.  If the government thinks they can do everything better, why don’t they just do it and take over everything?  Oh, that’s right, I’ve said it before, it’s because socialism doesn’t work.  Liberty and freedom work.

Leftists say that those on the “right” (this includes me, as I’m a Libertarian, limited government kind of guy) are always the nay-sayers.  The party of “no”.  I say, that is separatist nonsense.  When I say no to bailout, I say yes to market consequences for poor decisions.  When I say no to over-arching government programs, such as the poorly run Department of Education, I say yes to private schools, like Charter schools and Montessori, and I say yes to variations in the education of our children.  Because I do say no to everyone thinking, acting, and feeling the same way.  When I say no to the regulation of food products and safety on a national scale, I say yes to victory gardens, community gardens, and farmers markets. I therefore, by extension, say yes to limitations of the contamination of the food supply, as large scale regulation increases the incentive for farmers to become huge corporate conglomerates that spray our food with herbicides and pesticides that have been proven to cause cancer, heart attacks, brain aneurysms, and myriad other health issues.  When I say no (by repeal) of all Presidential Executive Orders, I say yes to the true checks and balances nature of our three branch system of federal government.  I don’t want a dictator.  If I did, I’d move to Cuba, or Venezuela.  (psst, that’s why refugees flee those countries, because of the dictators)  When I say no to ethanol subsidies, I say yes to lower food prices.  When I say no to government spending, I say yes to sustainability without the destructive debt loads for the entire country!  And finally (for this rant) when I say NO to the Federal Reserve Bank(!) I say YES to sound and honest money.  Sound money is the foundational pillar of keeping our government and our markets honest.  Restore that, and most of these niggling regulatory issues will be solved.

“Permit me to issue and control the money of the nation and I care not who makes its laws.” — Mayer Amsched Rothchild

It’s a rigged game folks, and we’re bickering with each other over whether the ball should be pigskin or cowhide.  Here’s another great quote:

“There are a thousand striking at the branches of evil for every one who is striking at the root.” — Henry David Thoreau

1. complete economic collapse, or
2. revolution

It’s clear that the status quo will be protected at all costs, so #1 is inevitable unless #2 occurs first.  Americans need to wake up to current political and economic reality, and then rise together to demand reform.  Real reform, that is, which means radical abolition of major parts of our government, not symbolic do-nothing bills with the word “reform” in the title.

As Karl Denninger pointed out in today’s Market Ticker, Iran recently had an election, the results of which were pretty obviously rigged, and as a result a large percentage of their population has taken to the streets in protest.

…2 million people, out of 70 million population (roughly), or one in thirty-five Iranians in the entire nation who took to the streets to demand justice in a simple vote.

More strikingly, Tehran has a population of roughly 12 million; this means that one in six citizens of the city are standing in that crowd.

This, despite the fact that the government there has been shooting people, has arrested the opposition party and issued an order to burn the ballots so there can be no recount.

This, despite the fact that the Iranian population does not enjoy a Second Amendment, and thus is forced to fight a rogue government with makeshift molotov cocktails, rocks and clubs, should that rogue government choose to shoot.

And this was about an election.  A President.  One man.

Meanwhile, the United States is experiencing national fraud in a large number of areas.  Nearly every Congressman violates his Oath of Office to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution on a daily basis.  The President quickly signs unconstitutional laws, while seeking more and more power for the Executive branch.  Our 401Ks are going down the pump.  The Federal Reserve has debased our currency to 4% of its original value.  Our civil liberties are disappearing quickly.  Private businesses are being nationalized at an alarming rate.  Fascism is creeping.

Where’s the outrage?  Where are the riots?  Where is the demand for change?  Sure, you hear squawks from the political fringe (such as this web site), but the vast majority of Americans need to wake up and demand real change.

As Denninger put it, “The Iranians take to the streets; we take to our couches and have another beer. Grow a pair of balls America.“

Quote of the Day: “Absolute, arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority.” — Kentucky Declaration of Rights – Art. I, Sec. 2 also found in the Wyoming Declaration of Rights Art. I, Sec. 7

Massachusetts politicians have already run this experiment, with bad results.

Please use our generic health care campaign to tell your Congressional employees to NOT impose Massachusetts’s mistake on the entire country.

Use your personal comments to share the results of the Massachusetts mistake, as summarized by Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute…

Massachusetts politicians promised that the insurance mandate would reduce medical costs. They also estimated that health insurance premiums could drop by 25-40%. Instead…

* Premiums rose by 7.4% in 2007, 8-12% in 2008, and are expected to rise 9% this year
* This compares to an average nationwide increase of only 5.7% over the same period
* Annual health insurance costs for a family in Massachusetts average about $4,000 more than the national rate
* Health care spending has also increased in Massachusetts by 23% since the coverage mandate was enacted

We already know the results of the mandate idea. Congress MUST NOT inflict this mistaken idea on the rest of us.   We also know what the results will be if DownsizeDC.org keeps growing…

If we keep sending larger numbers of messages to Congress each month we’ll make them increasingly nervous, and have increasing influence. Last month we sent 36,512 messages. To stay on pace to beat that number this month we need to send 1,669 messages today.

We also know what the result will be of a constantly growing Downsize DC Army — we’ll eventually reach the point where we can apply relentless, overwhelming, resistance-numbing pressure on Congress. We grew by 17 net new members yesterday, which brings us to 1,151 net new members for the year. The Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,500. We’re half way to our next 1,000 increment of growth!

It took us 176 days to grow the previous increment of 1,000, but now we’re half way to the next one in just 35 days!

YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We also know what the results will be of constantly increased funding — we’ll be able to reach more and more people until eventually we can reach everyone, everywhere, every day. To achieve this result faster please consider starting a monthly credit card pledge using our secure contribution form.

Please also let us know if its okay to advertise your support here…

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN JUNE: David H. Abernathy, John Murphy, Jeremiah J Blanchard — IN MAY: Don Matesz, Silvy Berman, David Jones, Barbara Baxter, Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O’Brien, John C Houghton, James Alan Speedie, THREE unlisted

If a monthly pledge doesn’t work for your budget right now, please consider making a one-time donation using our secure contribution form.

And again, please let us know if its okay to advertise your support here…

NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN JUNE: Jan Berridge — IN MAY: Dorothy Davis, Arlene Lindstrand, Dee Clary, Joan Garro, Jennifer Tarling, Richard Linchitz, Steven Palmer, Bruce N. Liddel, Ernest P. Eusea, Chris Reulman, David Anthony, Christopher T Wagner, Thomas Sartwelle, Jr, EIGHT unlisted

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

Today, GM files for bankruptcy protection. It comes as no surprise to anyone. At the beginning of May I shouted, “Jesus H. Chrysler!“, when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection. At the end of that article I said, “Next up, GM.” Sure enough it is now GM’s turn.

From AP:

WASHINGTON – General Motors, the humbled auto giant that has been part of American life for more than 100 years, will file for bankruptcy protection on Monday in a deal that will give taxpayers a 60 percent ownership stake and expand the government’s reach into big business.

Well, how nice. I wonder if we’ll get an employee discount? I could ride around in a new GM car with a bumper sticker that reads:

Obama Pimped This Ride!
(yes it does exist!)

Then again, it will have to be a pretty deep discount for me to consider buying a Government Motors car.

Apparently, Obama took an oath to defend a different Constitution than the one we all know and love. Every page of Obama’s Constitution must have the following words: “This Page Left Intentionally Blank.”

Quote of the Day: “A centralized democracy may be as tyrannical as an absolute monarch.” — James Anthony Froud (1818-1894) British author and historian Source: Short Studies on Great Subjects, 1872

* Banks
* Insurance companies
* Car companies
* And, as we reported yesterday, they now fund the majority of state government expenditures

But it isn’t just companies and state governments. The Feds want to nationalize YOU too.

It’s important for our new members to know that Congress is weaving a net that will ensnare all of us in a centralized database that could not only track where you go and what you do, but also . . .

What YOU spend on health care, and the kind of treatment YOU receive.

This scheme started with the so-called REAL ID Act, which would standardize state drivers’ licenses to make a de facto National ID card. You’ll need this card to cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane, or engage in countless other activities. You’ll need it TO BE A PERSON.

Now that may not sound so different from today. You already need a driver’s license and a Social Security number to do many things. But your drivers’ license isn’t centralized at the federal level, and that makes all the difference. Here’s why . . .

The federal government has a huge problem with the Medicare program. They’ve made trillions of dollars in promises they can’t keep. But they have a plan to control costs . . .

* All of us will have REAL ID cards, issued by the states, but tracked in a centralized database
* The Feds will then force us to have electronic medical records too (this process is underway now)
* Your electronic medical records will be connected to the centralized REAL ID database
* The government will then start dictating which medical treatments you can receive and which you cannot

This last stage in the process is also being planned now. The supposed purpose is to protect us from ineffective treatments, but the real purpose is to control costs. In effect, the politicians will turn the entire country into a giant HMO. Do you want your health care needs being dictated by the same Keystone Gang who passed . . .

* The misguided lead regulation?
* And the self-defeating fossil fuels bill?

Well, here’s where all the threads tie together to create a net that will eventually strangle you. Twenty two states have refused to comply with the first step in this disaster scenario, the REAL ID Act. But how long do you think they’ll hold out now that . . .

The federal government funds half their budgets?!!!

Oh, what a tangled web the politicians weave when first they practice to intervene.

Many things are needed to unravel all the interventions by which the politicians have ruined our health care system. But we must also, at the same time, stop things from getting worse. High on this list is the need to repeal the REAL ID Act.

Don’t let Congress nationalize you. Use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to tell your Congressional employees to repeal the REAL ID Act.

Use your personal comments to tell them that . . .

* You oppose mandatory electronic medical records too
* You don’t EVER want federal bureaucrats to use REAL ID and/or electronic medical records to dictate what treatments you can and cannot receive
* You don’t want federal aid to the states to be used either to bribe state governments to comply with REAL ID, or punish them for failing to comply

We pounded Congress with more than 31,730 messages in April. To beat that number this month the Downsize DC Army needs to send at least 1,589 messages today. You can send your message at DownsizeDC.org’s “Repeal REAL ID” campaign page.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how much we’re growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Keeping Score

You can’t change the government by yourself. You’ll need a huge “army” to help you. That means these numbers must grow constantly . . .

The Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,225. It’s grown by 876 net new members so far this year, and 66 net new members so far this week. We’ve gone nearly 23% of the way to 26,000 in a little over a week, whereas previously it took us 176 days to get from 24k to 25k. The Army’s growth is accelerating!

YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We can also grow faster by mailing recruitment letters to potential DC Downsizers. If you can start a monthly credit card pledge to help make this happen please let us know on the secure contribution form if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN MAY: Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O’Brien, John C Houghton, James Alan Speedie, ONE unlisted

Or, if you’d prefer to make a one-time donation please let us know if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN MAY: Ernest P. Eusea, Chris Reulman, David Anthony, Christopher T Wagner, Thomas Sartwelle, Jr, FOUR unlisted

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation