It’s More Than Just Politics aka What happens when you put Democrats in office pt.6 (Attack of the Republican Blogs)

Today on your favorite political blog for young Republicans: It’s more than just politics aka yet another example of the ridiculous consequences that occur when you put Democrats into any form of office.

It’s looking like this socialist, clusterf*ck of a healthcare reform bill will face its final committee vote on Tuesday according to top Senate Democrat Harry Reid.

The bill that the Finance Committee will be voting on is a 10-year, $829 billion proposal that supposedly covers 94 percent of eligible Americans while (allegedly) reducing the federal budget.

As you may already know, Reid and other Senate Democrats who happen to be in support of this misguided attempt at healthcare reform have been busy lately characterizing GOP leaders as “partisan protesters” and “divisive”. But the fact is, Senate Dems have purposely mischaracterized or blatantly left out several key details about this bill that many Americans are still not aware of.

It’s only so long that Democrat PAC ads featuring elderly citizens and children and puppies and pretty background music can fool the American people. As much more facts come out about this bill, I’ve noticed the tide starting to shift against this Democratic version of healthcare reform.

For one, this legislation is filled with tax hikes. It starts by taxing those who earn over $10,831 per year and don’t buy health insurance-a tax that increases to $3,800 as income rises. Health Insurance, health care devices and prescription drugs are also taxed, adding to the cost of health care, and decreasing the amount of competition amongst health care related businesses.

The bill also cuts $500 billion in Medicare spending, which includes over $130 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage and almost $120 billion in Medicare cuts for hospitals and facilities that care for seniors (remember the adorable elderly people featured in their TV ads?). The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) says they expect the Medicare Advantage plans to lose around 2.7. million enrollees over the next ten years as a result of this bill being passed, while also stating that “premiums in the new insurance exchanges would tend to be higher than the average premiums in the current-law individual market…”

In other words, the cost of insurance will increase, as opposed to the claims being made by the Obama administration otherwise. But wait…it gets a lot worse.

This current bill includes what’s being called an “individual mandate”, which in essence would force all Americans to purchase health insurance. Subsidies will be given to those who earn up to three times the federal poverty level, while those who don’t qualify for the subsidies will be taxed up to $3,800 if they don’t buy insurance. So basically, if you can’t afford to buy insurance then you’ll be taxed almost $4,000. Does that make any sense to anyone? Leaving people caught in between being unable to afford insurance and having to pay this nonsensical tax? Ask yourself: If someone living at or below the poverty line had $4,000 to spend in discretionary income-don’t you think they would buy their own insurance as opposed to being taxed for not having it? And where would the tax money come from? If someone’s in what’s considered to be a lower class tax bracket, chances are they don’t pay income taxes anyway and actually get a tax refund every year.

Again, this is just the type of absurdity that can be expected when Democrats get elected to any form of office.

I can go on and on about how forcing all the uninsured into insurance could bring as much as $200 billion a year in new premiums to insurance companies (including $465 billion in subsidies over the next ten years), allowing law enforcement agencies unobstructed access to medical records (do you want that?), how this bill does nothing to add lawsuit reform to help curb frivolous lawsuits…you get the picture.

As Garet Garrett famously stated, “social gains that cost more than society can afford, especially those that are founded on the doctrine of dividing what there is instead of producing more, are bound in a little time to annul themselves.”

Socializing health care will not solve the problem. Raising taxes will not solve the problem. Government intervention will not solve the problem (bailouts anyone?) Punishing those who can’t afford health care will not solve the problem.

The only feasible solution is to elect the party in 2010 and 2012 that’s committed to cutting waste, lowering taxes, lessening bureaucracy, strengthening our country and providing economic growth and opportunities to all Americans; that party is the Republican Party. Vote GOP!

In closing, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, Freedom Works, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News (thanks for the follow on twitter!), the best assistant/god sister/too many things to name aka Jeanette (your aura…get it?), Missy (I just do like Just had said) and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (We’ve already won), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (join us), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! Follow STL_Politics on Twitter.
Links: http://freedomworks.org

http://grandoldparty2011.blogspot.com

Class is Back in Session! A Republican State of Mind

Today on my Republican Blog: Class is back in Session! This is just a little something for everyone to think about when deciding who to vote for in this next upcoming election and also a life lesson for anyone who’s never taken a class in political science (you can apply this to any aspect of your life). Congrats to N. Reimer, D.W. Simon and J. Romance for enlightening the masses! The irrational actor model is coming next (thanks Wash U). And don’t forget to give thanks to our Armed Forces on this remembrance of 9/11. Enjoy:

What values, what understanding of political phenomena, and what grasp of public policy alternatives actually influence decision making? How adequate is the machinery available to decision makers? What are the consequences of our public policy decisions? How is power wielded, and how are political conflicts resolved?
To answer these questions we present the following models: (1) the rational actor, (2) the political actor, (3) the organizational actor, (4) the elitist actor, and (5) the idiosyncratic actor. While these models are not mutually exclusive, they emphasize different factors in, and different approaches to, decision making.
In the rational actor model of decision making, decision makers seek to accomplish four tasks: accurately identify the problem that confronts them; take into account the key factors that bear on the problem; critically examine alternative courses of action; and make a choice that will wisely maximize benefits and minimize costs.
In the political actor model, decision making is not essentially rational deliberation. Rather, it is characterized by decision makers involved in a struggle for power, and decisions emerge from that struggle. This kind of decision making necessitates bargaining, accommodation, and consensus, as well as controversy, conflict, bluff, threat, and even deceit. The bottom line is that key decisions are most often the result of bargaining among diverse political interests.
The organizational actor model affirms the organization’s crucial role in decision making, and it stresses the importance of the organization’s vital interests, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and capabilities. It emphasizes how the organization sees problems, obtains information, shapes alternatives, assesses costs and benefits, and makes choices.
The elitist actor model of decision making asserts that very powerful individuals or limited groups of influential people, known as elites, make the really significant decisions in politics, and they do so to protect their own self-interest and power.
Finally, the idiosyncratic actor model of decision making recognizes the role of personality in politics. Factors such as the personal intuition, communication skills, charisma, compassion, demagoguery, ruthlessness, or dogmatism of a leader become important to understanding his or her decisions. A decision maker’s role may be destructive, as in the case of leaders like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein, or it may be creative, as in the case of Winston Churchill, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

In closing, special thanks again to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News, my personal assistant /gf #2 Jeanette (partners in crime), Missy (don’t make me take this to twitter-say yes already), Kevin (you’ll get this…share it with your co-workers), Joe Wilson (thank you), and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (He’s lying), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (you know he’s lying), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (seriously; you know he’s lying. Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! And if John doesn’t get his truck back there’s gonna be an issue. Do Remember to follow STL_Politics on Twitter.