Walgreens has announced they will no longer accept Medicaid for prescriptions in their pharmacies (which also include Happy Harry’s), citing the payout from the State of Delaware is not cost effective for filling prescriptions. This has put many citizens in Delaware in a situation where they have to find a new pharmacy to fill their prescriptions.
Now that national health care appears to be the next big issue, is the Walgreens situation going to be a precursor to a struggle between the private sector and government? Businesses need to have a certain gross profit margin to successfully pay employees, taxes, bills, and maintain cash on hand to successfully manage other aspects of their business. When the government on one hand demands you pay your taxes, yet with other hand gives you the short end of the stick when they do business with you. One could understand why a business would end that relationship with the government.
Could this be the situation if Health Insurance in Nationalized? A situation where businesses will not honor prescription cards from the government because they will lose money could be the future in America. Would legislation require and force businesses to accept the government health insurance and prescription cards? Will they institute price controls, production requirements, and other tedious mandates to hinder businesses? Why not just open up government pharmacies beside the future government doctor offices and eliminate the need for the private sector to worry about offering these services?
The most important thing is to first get government out of health care. When legislators and bureaucrats feel their relevance hinges on how complicated laws and regulations are, indicates to me that we no longer need those individuals.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"When important issues affecting the life of an individual are decided by somebody else, it makes no difference to the individual whether that somebody else is a king, a dictator, or society at large."
James Taggart (1992)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Friday's 2nd Amendment Quote
"I say that the Second Amendment doesn't allow for exceptions – or else it would have read that the right "to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless Congress chooses otherwise." And because there are no exceptions, I disagree with my fellow panelists who say the existing gun laws should be enforced. Those laws are unconstitutional [and] wrong – because they put you at a disadvantage to armed criminals, to whom the laws are no inconvenience."
Harry Browne, meetings with NRA's EVP, Wayne LaPierre and other panelists at a gun rights rally in Hot Springs, AR, 8/8/2000
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as "caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he's willing to try to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do good with his own money – if a gun is held to his head."
P.J. O'Rourke
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
Mark Twain
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
D-Day for Health Care | Red County
Michael Swartz does it again. Check out his article on Healthcare.
He also got featured on Red County.
D-Day for Health Care | Red County
Shared via AddThis
He also got featured on Red County.
D-Day for Health Care | Red County
Shared via AddThis
Wisdom from Milton Friedman
"Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion . the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals . the technique of the marketplace."
Milton Friedman
Wednesday's Hump Day Bonus Quote
"First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I'm not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I'm not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I'm not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me. "
Pastor Father Niemoller (1946)
They Sure Do Make Things Like They Used To
A couple of months ago I purchased this Bluetooth Headset. It is the Plantronics Explorer 233 and it cost me $30.00. I have been very happy with it and works much better than a Motorola I purchased last year for twice as much.
This past Sunday I had it with me and after I finished using it I put it in my shorts cargo pockets. I changed clothes and placed my shorts in the hamper and when my wife washed clothes on Monday, my headset was still in my shorts. She discovered it and apologized to me.
Later that evening I thought I would try just to see if it still worked. Low and behold it works perfectly fine. This Bluetooth Headset was washed and dried and still works. I could not believe it, I still don't believe it.
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"Can our form of government, our system of justice, survive if one can be denied a freedom because he might abuse it?"
Harlon Carter
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
New Socialist Society
Now that the "People" are majority shareholders of GM I say welcome to the Fourth Riech comrade.
Republican Senators neuter Federal Reserve Transparency bill
It’s time to pick sides…
While the world watches Susan Boyle lose the top prize and cowers in the wake of the dreaded swine flu, the world financial crisis deepens and worsens. The American people are slowly waking up to fiscal realities as our iconic car dealerships and banking establishments flounder in an ocean of red ink. Everywhere we turn something else blows up, and we can’t seem to find a bottom to the stock market. Prices seem inflated much beyond what government measurements are reporting.
As you are reading this, our entire financial system is being restructured. Now is the time for the American people to wake up and check their premises. We have a golden opportunity now that has not existed for 100 years since the inception of our Federal Reserve System. We can at last open up the books with HR 1207 to audit the monetary base. This would be extremely enlightening as to the depth of the financial crisis the country is in.
Your (Belated) Monday Message: Alan Grayson's latest "Mickey Mouse" idea
Dear friend,
I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day holiday, but should vacation be enforced by the government?
You may remember Congressman Alan Grayson as the camera-loving Florida Democrat who became a YouTube sensation after he was hammered in a nationally-televised interview for proposing a bill giving Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sole power to decide for himself when private sector employees earned “unreasonable” paychecks and to confiscate the money -- and claiming such authority could be found in the Constitution.
Think of him as Joe Biden without humility, weighty intellect or quiet restraint.
Well, now he’s back with yet another economically illiterate bill that once again has the federal government micromanaging the business practices of private employers.
His newest power grab, H.R. 2564, The Paid Vacation Act, forces every private business in America with more than 100 employees to give everyone a free week of paid vacation. That government mandate increases to two weeks in subsequent years.
You may reach his office at 202-225-2176 to let him know what you think of forcing expensive new mandates on struggling employers during a recession.
You don’t need to conduct a study to see what havoc such laws wreak on the economy because they are already in force countries like France, where then-ruling Socialist Party lawmakers long ago instituted “free vacation” proposals like Grayson’s.
In case you’re not aware, France suffers from higher unemployment, slower job growth and a slower economic recovery than the United States. The shortages of jobs have even led to deadly riots in Paris.
Even more disturbing than Grayson’s belief that the same people who brought us the IRS, Indian reservations and the Hurricane Katrina response are fit to centrally plan the economy is what inspired him to propose the legislation.
Grayson tells The Politico he got the idea for the bill while visiting Disney World, and deciding the government should let everyone join him.
“There’s a reason why Disney World is the happiest place on Earth: The people who go there are on vacation,” said Grayson.
Really. He decided to try and force struggling employers to lose more money in a recession because he thinks the government should make sure we all spend more time in a children’s amusement park. Again, he can be reached at 202-225-2176.
While I’m sure we’d all like a free week at the “Happiest Place on Earth,” most people realize not only is his scheme “goofy,” but it would push already high unemployment even higher and thwart economic recovery.
It’s also a little troubling when a member of Congress looks to a fictional cartoon mouse for economic policy. No word yet as to whether he’ll file banking reform legislation based on an old episode of “DuckTales.”
Actually, the inspiration for this slump towards socialism may be a bit more cynical than Grayson’s stated desire to ride in oversized teacups at someone else’s expense.
Grayson represents the Orlando area, where the local tourist-reliant economy is taking a quite a hit in the current recession. Coming up with some way to get more people to visit vacation spots would be a nice way to buff those re-election credentials.
So just how do you get more people traveling and pumping money into tourist havens when the economy just doesn’t allow it? The best and proven way would be to lower taxes and curb government spending, and then grant regulatory relief.
But that’s hard. It also prevents you from buying really cool stuff with other people’s money and you can’t take personally credit for it. That’s why you just threaten employers with the force of government if they don’t pay for everyone to have a free vacation.
The tourism industry is already on board. Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski tells The Politico the U.S. Tour Operators Association and the Adventure Travel Trade Association are both on board. Other tourism and, unsurprisingly, labor groups are expected to sign on in the coming days.
As you can imagine, while dictating “free vacation” policies to an entire nation would drive down productivity and economic growth and spike unemployment as more struggling employers are pushed into bankruptcy, all that “free” vacation money would work out quite well for a few tourist havens.
At least for a little while.
As Margaret Thatcher brilliantly pointed out, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. While Grayson’s socialist ideas may do a passable job of redistributing other people’s wealth to his district for the short term, the large-scale economic rot will eventually spread to Orlando as more and more employers are forced out of business by the rising costs of regulation.
Few industries bear the brunt of economic slump worse than the tourist industry. Foreclosure, unemployment and “underwater mortgage” rates are often higher in hurting communities like Orlando and Las Vegas.
But while any possible short-term spike may help in the current economy, Grayson’s socialist policies will leave the Orlando area reeling as the national economy looks more and more like the French model he seeks to impose by force – high unemployment, little innovation, large job losses, frequent strikes and deadly riots and even slower recovery to downturns. It also thwarts efforts underway in many tourist-reliant communities to diversify the employment base and create jobs that aren’t as easily buffeted by economic spikes and slumps, hurting residents in places like Orlando.
The Society for Human Resource Management has already responded with a warning that “a one-size-fits-all, government-imposed mandate is not the answer,” The Politico reports.
National Small Business Association also warns of indirect consequences, pointing out companies will realize a few employees over the 100-employee mark will burden the company with massive personnel costs – and simply stop hiring.
Now I’m not sure whether Grayson looked at a country where workers spend more time turning over burning cars than turning out products and said to himself “we can do that,” or whether he gets his ideas from a talking mouse who wears a shirt with no pants, but both lead to economic suffering for all Americans, including his own district. If you’d like to know which, you may reach his office at 202-225-2176.
Real prosperity comes from an economy where employers, entrepreneurs and innovators are free to create widespread wealth and jobs without government interference. Economically underperforming European socialist states – or fantasylands inspired by children’s fiction – are no place to come up with more already-failed policies that compound human suffering by forcing more and more currently struggling employers out of business.
With optimism,
Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian Party
Donny.Ferguson@lp.org
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws."
Ayn Rand
GM - Government Motors
The Obama Motor Co.
Today's Wall Street Journal editorial. You may read it in its entirety here or by picking up a copy of the Journal.
Back in December, in an economy far, far away, then-CEO Rick Wagoner tossed out the scary cost to taxpayers of $100 billion if General Motors wasn't saved by the government. Well, GM was saved in December and again in March, and as early as today the feds will rescue it a third time in a prepackaged bankruptcy that is already costing at least $50 billion, and that's for starters. Welcome to Obama Motors, and what is likely to be a long, expensive and unhappy exercise in political car making...
...Every decision the feds have made since December suggests that nonpolitical management will be impossible. First they replaced Mr. Wagoner -- whom they are nonetheless still paying -- with the more pliable Fritz Henderson as CEO and Kent Kresa as Chairman. The latter are good at playing Washington but unproven in making popular cars. Then Treasury bludgeoned the bond holders in both Chrysler and GM to take pennies on the dollar, which will not make creditors eager to lend to the companies in the future.
There's also the labor agreement that the UAW approved last week, which goes some way toward reducing costs but probably not enough to make the new, smaller GM competitive. The new agreement simplifies some work rules and job descriptions but makes no reductions in hourly pay, pensions or health care for active workers. The agreement must also be renegotiated in two years by an Obama Administration running for re-election and weighing the need to keep Big Labor happy against the risks to taxpayer-shareholders. Who do you think wins that White House debate?...
...Mr. Obama likes to say he's a pragmatist who only prefers a government solution when it will work. But in resurrecting an industrial auto policy that even the French long ago abandoned, the President has made himself GM's de facto CEO. Our guess is that he'll come to regret it as much as taxpayers will.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Impact fees on table again
Impact fees on table again
From the Daily TimesSALISBURY -- The time may soon come when growth has to pay its own municipal burden in Salisbury. But for many, the implementation of a fee structure to do so will come too late.
The Salisbury City Council is expected to bring impact fees to the table again today during a work session and could push legislation forward for a public hearing.
Impact fees are one-time payments used to construct system improvements needed to accommodate new development and can only be used for capital improvements. In Salisbury's case, that includes a fire house, police station or public park.
Councilwoman Debbie Campbell said she's heard murmurs of an impact fee ordinance since she's been on council -- five years -- and recently elected Mayor Jim Ireton, who touted growth paying for growth in his campaign, said heavy growth has already taken its toll on area resources, and it may be too late to stem it with impact fees. click here to read More**** My View****
I do not support impact fees or anything else that is going to hinder economic growth. Salisbury is already an unfriendly place to businesses. One more obstacle is not what we need in these tough economic times. We need to accommodate businesses who are willing to invest and create jobs in Salisbury.
Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov't Is Not Stimulus
The fallacy of Big Government proponents.
Monday's Prohibition Quote
"Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?"
Martin Luther
Libertarians: “Cap and tax” destroys jobs, punishes working families
House Energy and Commerce Committee warned to defeat Waxman-Markey
WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party warned the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday to not approve H.R. 2454, a “cap and tax” bill levying billions of dollars in new job-killing taxes on American businesses.
“Cap and tax legislation is the offspring of bad science and bad economics,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman. “Imposing massive new taxes on carbon production destroys jobs and drastically increases consumer prices with no proven effect on global temperatures.”
“Cap and tax compounds the suffering of so many in this economy, with no scientific evidence whatsoever it helps the environment.”
The legislation, sponsored by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and the Environment Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA), taxes carbon dioxide by imposing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and creates a complex system for employers to buy and sell credits allowing them to create carbon under the cap. As the cap lowers each year, employer can exchange allowances in a complicated auction market. Speculators, such as hedge funds, can purchase credits to sell.
“The research is in and the economic toll of cap and tax is inescapable. With cap and tax, job losses will rise by an additional 1,105,000 Americans each year. In the worst years, 2,479,000 will lose their jobs annually under cap and tax,” said Redpath, citing research from the Heritage Foundation.
“Electric bills could rise by an inflation-adjusted 90 percent. The price of gasoline could rise by an inflation-adjusted 74 percent. It adds $1,500 to the average family’s annual energy bill, which hits the poor and the elderly the hardest. The increased costs of energy also force any business using energy to raise their prices, making food, medicine and other essentials more unaffordable,” said Redpath.
“There is never a good time to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on job creators that send consumer prices skyrocketing and job prospects plummeting,” said Redpath. “But in this economy, voting for cap and tax is an easy way to send a member of Congress to an early retirement.”
“Even worse, it has virtually no effect on the environment. Climatologists calculate the full bill reduces temperatures only five one-hundredths of a degree in 2050 and no more than two-tenths of a degree at the end of this century – and even that’s based on the assumption man-made carbon dioxide can change the climate of an entire planet,” said Redpath.
“Members of Congress should be on notice. Anyone who supports this bill will face angry voters in 2010, because we’re going to let them know you’re working to eliminate their jobs, make their groceries more expensive and raise their energy bills,” said Redpath.
“The Libertarian Party is a fearless defender of small businessmen, workers and families. That is why we not only oppose this disastrous cap and tax legislation, but we will work to defeat anyone who supports it,” said Redpath.
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.
The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Ronald Reagan (1986)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Libertarians blast Sotomayor pick
Obama Court nominee ruled government should discriminate based on race
WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Tuesday criticized President Barack Obama’s nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, citing past rulings that public employers should discriminate in hiring based on race.
“While Judge Sotomayor deserves a fair and impartial hearing, Supreme Court justices should be nominated for their thorough knowledge of and adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman.
“By nominating Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama has made it clear he prefers an activist for his personal causes over a rational interpreter of law,” said Redpath.
Sotomayor is best known for the Ricci v. DeStafano case, in which the New Haven, Conn. fire department decided it didn’t like the results of an officers promotion exam in which whites and Hispanic firefighters outperformed black firefighters. The city threw out the results of the exam, denying several firefighters promotions solely because of their race. The firefighters sued the city, claiming racial discrimination under Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Sotomayor disagreed, ruling the city has a right to discriminate against white and Hispanic public employees to construct a politically correct racial mix in hiring, even if it goes against the results of a racially-neutral competency exam.
The case is now before the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times. In three of those cases, the Court ruled Sotomayor had incorrectly interpreted the law.
“It is troubling that Obama, who won the highest elected office in the world without racial preferences, would nominate someone who openly admits the government should racially discriminate against its own citizens to serve the needs of political correctness,” said Redpath.
“Libertarians believe that, while the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of association allows private parties to hire whomever they please, government has no right to discriminate. Public employers should treat all citizens of all colors, races and ethnicities with equal respect and value and Sotomayor’s radical rulings are a jarring departure from that principle.”
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.
The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
Sunday's Libertarian Sermon
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."
Daniel Webster (1834)
Libertarian Quote of the Day
"War has all the characteristics of socialism most conservatives hate: Centralized power, state planning, false rationalism, restricted liberties, foolish optimism about intended results, and blindness to unintended secondary results."
Joseph Sobran (1991)
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