tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30527720618676042852024-03-07T23:59:49.573-08:00COS College RepublicansThis is the official Blog of the College of the Sequoias College Republicans. Check here for meetings, events, and information.Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-65255122327042210512011-04-11T11:35:00.003-07:002011-04-11T11:35:38.993-07:00Bad News<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/04/11/big_government_on_the_brink_109497.html">Budget suicide</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-12376810194333429712011-03-17T07:32:00.000-07:002011-03-17T07:32:04.399-07:00President Hamlet - Victor Davis Hanson - National Review Online<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/262335/president-hamlet-victor-hanson">President Hamlet - Victor Davis Hanson - National Review Online</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-30608297921412859112011-03-16T11:20:00.000-07:002011-03-16T11:20:29.513-07:00Reconstitutionalizing America - Letters from an Ohio Farmer<a href="http://www.ohiofarmer.org/2011/03/reconstitutionalizing-america.html">Reconstitutionalizing America - Letters from an Ohio Farmer</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-53093982901400714302011-03-15T10:50:00.000-07:002011-03-15T10:50:46.025-07:00George F. Will - The Supreme Court and the health-care mandate muddle<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/11/AR2011031105815.html">George F. Will - The Supreme Court and the health-care mandate muddle</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-37043314296951946422010-11-10T14:31:00.000-08:002010-11-10T14:31:31.320-08:00Goldberg<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/10/the_bashing_of_american_exceptionalism_107909.html">Mocking American Exceptionalism</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-23781988313014663372010-11-10T09:15:00.000-08:002010-11-10T09:15:46.878-08:00James Ceaser<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/10/the_2010_verdict_107908.html">The 2010 Verdict</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-70235012845780522042010-11-08T09:39:00.000-08:002010-11-08T09:39:34.537-08:00George F. Will<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110303844.html">A recoil against liberalism</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-65089913143254650432010-10-25T10:24:00.000-07:002010-10-25T10:24:22.977-07:00Write a Letter To the Editor<a href="http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/section/CUSTOMERSERVICE03">visaliatimesdelta.com | Visalia Contact Us | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register</a><br /><br />Fill out the form and make sure to select "Letters to the Editor" under "send message to" and "subject of message."Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-84419725172174367692010-10-21T07:44:00.000-07:002010-10-21T07:44:34.490-07:00Arthur Brooks<a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Arthur-Brooks-Top-10-ways-government-kills-jobs-in-America-105302968.html">Top 10 ways government kills jobs in America | Washington Examiner</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-73282909490454219632010-10-20T17:03:00.000-07:002010-10-20T17:03:57.706-07:00District 4<a href="http://valleyvoicenewspaper.com/vv/stories/2010/vv_district4race_0709.htm">Valley Voice Newspaper</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-7511329149094888502010-10-06T16:19:00.000-07:002010-10-06T16:19:18.269-07:004th district<a href="http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/vv/stories/2010/vv_district4_0694.htm">Valley Voice story</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-62388818343870662192010-10-05T08:50:00.000-07:002010-10-05T08:50:01.375-07:00George F. Will - The wisdom of Pat Moynihan<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/01/AR2010100105262.html">George F. Will - The wisdom of Pat Moynihan</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-65346741396458705862010-09-13T14:05:00.000-07:002010-09-13T14:05:41.586-07:00George F. Will - Americans have good reason not to believe in Obamanomics<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091006374.html">George F. Will - Americans have good reason not to believe in Obamanomics</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-2638851909994073522010-09-13T09:32:00.000-07:002010-09-13T09:32:17.933-07:00Arthur Brooks and Paul Ryan: The Size of Government and the Choice This Fall - WSJ.com<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575478141708959932.html">Arthur Brooks and Paul Ryan: The Size of Government and the Choice This Fall - WSJ.com</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-47385224627801562392010-08-30T09:33:00.000-07:002010-08-30T09:33:58.260-07:00American Politics with Michael Barone: Chapter 1 of 5 - Uncommon Knowledge on National Review Online<a href="http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=MGE5ZTBjNGU1NmFlYTBjMjgwODg0YzBhMDNmYWEyYTI=">American Politics with Michael Barone: Chapter 1 of 5 - Uncommon Knowledge on National Review Online</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-86166343008285398852010-08-26T13:46:00.001-07:002010-08-26T13:46:33.242-07:00<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rLSahbjR3k0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rLSahbjR3k0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-28084554328580335672010-08-23T10:16:00.000-07:002010-08-24T13:01:32.236-07:00Officer Meeting TodayOfficers meet today at 12pm in 715a.Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-13687665091190893592010-06-26T10:25:00.001-07:002010-06-26T10:25:44.583-07:00Elihu RootI was just doing a little research this morning and I came across this nice little quotation from Elihu Root:<br />
"...[I]n estimating the value of any system of governmental institutions due regard must be had to the true functions of government and to the limitations imposed by the nature upon what it is possible for government to accomplish. We all know of course that we cannot abolish all the evils in this world by statue or by the enforcement of statutes, nor can we prevent the inexorable law of nature which decrees that suffering shall follow vice, and all the evil passions and folly of mankind. Law cannot give to depravity the rewards of virtue, to indolence the rewards of industry, to indifference the rewards of ambition, or to ignorance the rewards of learning. The utmost that government can do is measurably to protect men, not against the wrong they do themselves but against the wrong done by others and to promote the long, slow process of educating mind and character to a better knowledge and nobler standards of life and conduct. We all know this, but when we see how much misery there is in the world and instinctively cry out against it, and when we see some things that the government may do to mitigate it, we are apt to forget how little after all it is possible for any government to do, and to hold the particular government of the time and place to a standard of responsibility which no government can possibly meet."<br />
It goes on, and the whole section is great.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="http://books.google.com/books?id=xB0sAAAAIAAJ&dq=elihu%20root&pg=PR1&output=embed" style="border: 0px none;" width="500"><br></iframe>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-8935403639658004932010-05-06T11:47:00.000-07:002010-05-06T11:47:56.887-07:00George F. Will - Japanese American heroes, bereft of bitterness<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042303350.html">George F. Will - Japanese American heroes, bereft of bitterness</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-42335564856719269862010-04-27T10:40:00.000-07:002010-04-27T10:40:50.811-07:00Book Review of Interest<a href="http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=23222">The National Interest</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-80227895410491378202010-04-22T10:55:00.000-07:002010-04-22T10:55:16.431-07:00The Anti-American Fallacy<a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-anti-american-fallacy-15402?page=all">The Anti-American Fallacy</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-1678386539308150552010-03-31T11:08:00.000-07:002010-03-31T11:08:27.171-07:00RealClearPolitics - The Hostility Follies<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/31/the_hostility_follies_104993.html">RealClearPolitics - The Hostility Follies</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-55677750450393309832010-03-25T11:12:00.000-07:002010-03-25T11:12:47.032-07:00The Day After by Andrew E. Busch<a href="http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/busch/10/dayafter.html">The Day After by Andrew E. Busch</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-89887548392742248312010-03-24T10:56:00.000-07:002010-03-24T10:56:09.075-07:00Costs of this debacle will be high - JSOnline<a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/88960777.html">Costs of this debacle will be high - JSOnline</a>Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3052772061867604285.post-73603518069574678542010-03-23T11:52:00.000-07:002010-03-23T11:52:26.601-07:0020 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms<a href="http://australia.to/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1651:20-ways-obamacare-will-take-away-our-freedoms&catid=73:oped&Itemid=165">20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms</a><br /><br />"Of course, the bill is supposed to provide us with security. But it will result<br />in skyrocketing insurance costs and physicians leaving the field in droves,<br />making it harder to afford and find medical care. We may be about to live<br />Benjamin Franklin's adage, "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary<br /> security deserve neither and will lose both."<br /><br />The sections described below are taken from HR 3590 as agreed to by the Senate<br /> and from the reconciliation bill as displayed by the Rules Committee.<br /><br />1. You are young and don't want health insurance? You are starting up a small<br />business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego<br />health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the "privilege."<br />(Section 1501)<br /><br />2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects that<br /> status? Tough. You'll have to pay for premiums that cover not only you, but also<br />the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of whiskey and eats chicken<br />fat off the floor. That's because insurance companies will no longer be able to<br />underwrite on the basis of a person's health status. (Section 2701).<br /><br />3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with lifetime or<br /> annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to<br />offer such policies, even if that is what customers prefer. (Section 2711).<br /><br />4. Think you'd like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn't cover preventive<br />care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health insurers will no<br />longer be able to offer policies that do not cover preventive services or offer<br />them with cost-sharing, even if that's what the customer wants. (Section 2712).<br /><br />5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn't allow<br />your employers' slacker children to stay on the policy until age 26? Tough.<br />(Section 2714).<br /><br />6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency<br />services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and<br />substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment;<br />prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices;<br />laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease<br />management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.<br /><br />You're a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric<br />services. You're a woman who can't have children? Tough, your policy must cover<br /> maternity services. You're a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance<br />abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section<br />1302).<br /><br />7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well, the best<br />you can do is a "Bronze plan," which has benefits that provide benefits that are<br /> actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits<br />provided under the plan. Anything lower than that, tough. (Section 1302 (d) (1)<br />(A))<br /><br />8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you'd like to<br />offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000<br />for families? Tough. (Section 1302 (c) (2) (A).<br /><br />9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 101 employees) and you do<br />not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you will pay a $750<br />fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under the reconciliation<br />changes). Think you know how to better spend that money? Tough. (Section 1513).<br /><br />10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements and<br />your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries for it?<br />Sorry, can't do that. (Section 9005 (i)).<br /><br />11. If you are a physician and you don't want the government looking over your<br />shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use<br /> your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use,<br />provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the<br />resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be<br />just for informational purposes. It's not like the government will ever use it<br />to intervene in your practice and patients' care. Of course not. (Section 3003<br />(i))<br /><br />12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you must be an<br />owner and have a "Medicare provider agreement" by Feb. 1, 2010. (Dec. 31, 2010<br />in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn't have those by then, you are out of<br />luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A))<br /><br />13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital? Well, you<br />can't (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a country where, over<br />the last five years, population growth has been 150% of what it has been in the<br />state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then you cannot increase your capacity by<br />more than 200% (Section 6001 (i) (3) (C)).<br /><br />14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet costs? Well,<br />if that increase is deemed "unreasonable" by the Secretary of Health and Human<br /> Services it will be subject to review and can be denied. (Section 1003)<br /><br />15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the<br />pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay<br />depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total<br />number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the<br />brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3<br />billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion,<br /> jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in<br />2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a<br />pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research<br />and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).<br /><br />16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device<br />makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your<br />share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical<br />devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or<br /> $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that<br />money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).<br /><br /> The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device<br />makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money,<br />say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).<br /><br />17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance<br />companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net<br />premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and<br /> administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7<br />billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8<br />billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion<br />in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better<br />spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)<br /><br />18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth<br /> more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).<br /><br /> 19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make<br />over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual<br />return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than<br />the government? Tough. (Section 9015).<br /><br />That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply<br />to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the<br />money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section<br /> 1402).<br /><br />20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the<br />cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better<br />than the government? Tough. (Section 9017)."Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.com0