in response to free market in China

my friend Ethan told me...

But not really free market like we have here, regardless of how it looks. Making money takes precedence over the welfare of the people, as is the case here, so it's "free" in that sense. However because the members of the Communist party are totally on the take, it's all got oversight by the Communist party, which has it's pros and cons. The ... See Moretaxes are allowing China's military to explode in size and technological advancement which is NOT good, but on the flip side the gov has a strong grip on business, mostly to make sure the cash flow is maintained to The Party. If their bankers did what our bankers here did, they'd probably be taken out and publicly executed as it would be seen as damaging to their national security. (funny thing, it was damaging to our national security and what'd we do? Gave them huge bonuses!!!) They don't tolerate that crap. Here's the real kicker......interestingly, while we're in a severe recession, along with the rest of the world, China is experiencing about 10% growth....and it's because the gov. is standing by with a very large club (or noose or bullet) watching what the corporations do (plus we've sent all our manufacturing jobs there per the "free" trade agreements we have with them. Not so "Free" for the American worker, no?). So the oversight part of it I like very much. Makes for a much more stable system when the banks and corporations don't take irresponsible risks for fear of repercussions from the gov, a fear that is totally absent here. It doesn't allow for the crazy bubbles to develop and thus, while it's better for the cronies in the Communist Party, it's also much better on the people as their jobs aren't as risk the way ours are. I know they've felt the ripples of the economic downturn, but the masses didn't see their life savings go *POOF* and disappear. I'm afraid what is happening in China totally flies in the face of the Milton Friedman/Jeffery Sachs philosophy my friend. I know you're not a fan of regulation, but strong, decisive oversight/regulation that isn't written by lobbyists, as is proven by the Chinese system, is a good thing. And the rich are still getting richer in China regardless of regulation....as I'm sure you're seeing on your trip. The development is impressive!

A friend of mine in Hong Kong didn't understand some of his points...
Here are her questions

"Making money takes precedence over the welfare of the people, as is the case here, so it's "free" in that sense."

-I don't understand what he means here

A big business does business in China because the workers don't have as many rights, and the labor is cheap. So the welfare of the people aren't well represented. Ethan's opinion is that a totally free market leads to poor working conditions, such as in China. I disagree with him, but that's his point.


"The ... See More taxes are allowing China's military to explode in size and technological advancement which is NOT good"

-why not good to develop that? National security

Sure military is necessary; but not if it's already too big. I'm in favor of spending less on our own military; we have too many bases overseas.

"It doesn't allow for the crazy bubbles to develop and thus, while it's better for the cronies in the Communist Party, it's also much better on the people as their jobs aren't as risk the way ours are."

-why their jobs aren't as risk the ways yours are?

Ethan believes that communism (as corrupt as it is) helps the greater good better than a free-market. I believe differently.

"I'm afraid what is happening in China totally flies in the face of the Milton Friedman/Jeffery Sachs philosophy my friend."

- who are Milton Friedman/Jeffery Sachs

Friedman and Sachs are of the "Chicago School" of economics, I agree with a lot of what Friedman and Sachs say, but not all of it. I agree more with the "Austrian School" of economics which stresses more free market competition and less big corporation.

Political banter on Facebook...

My friend Damon had some really brilliant comments



Jesse
How about the thousands of our soldiers, plus the innocent civilians who have died in the middle east. Get out now!!!! Mr. President, time to end the war.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/soldiers-killed-fort-hood-shooting/story?id=9007938

Nathan
There are a lot of people who are messed up by this tragedy, and need prayer and support...so incredibly sad.

David
No, don't get out. Get in and win. WE are in a war with Islam, whether anybody wants to admit it or not. It is not the Iraqis we are at war with. I have two Iraqi friends on Facebook (they are Christians that are glad we came to help them). They are wonderful people, not because they are Iraqis, but because they are Christians. We must help the defenseless.

Jesse
Certainly Nidal Malik Hasan deserves the death sentence. I'm not really a fan of the death penalty, but I think there should be some exceptions. Let's get out of foreign entanglements like our founding fathers intended and protect our own country at home. David, we cannot continue to kill Muslims and expect more peace, there is no logic in that.

David
I don't believe in the death penalty as you know - but a life time of water boarding etc. would be good for Hasan.

Nathan
2 things:
1) This tragedy shouldn't be used for political fodder.
2) David, why don't you finish our conversation?

Jesse
Nathan, this tragedy is being politicized beyond respect. But people need to wake up, we need to end these foreign entanglements.
I'm praying for the families, can certainly understand not using these situations to simply bolster one's point.

Nathan
David, I just have to ask if you really believe that Christianity is in a war with Islam? I hope you stop saying We in that, and change it to I, as I am both Christian and American, and am not at war with Islam. I hope you read my 2nd last musing on pacifism, Islam and the Isa.

Katie
you go nathan.

David
Yes you guys are right - Islam is not at war with Christianity, and Hitler love the Jews too. Chamberlain was way smarter than Churchill. Obama is a conservative. Pigs actually do fly.
The earth really is flat. The moon really is made of cheese. A cow really did jump over the moon. Blah, blah, blah, blah. blah. :D

Jesse
thanks for showing up Katie

Erika
So there is no real evidence besides his name that this had anything to do with Islam. This, in my opinion, might just be some cowardly asshole whos years of schooling to be a phsyciatrist apparently did nothing to cure him of his own neurosis. We aren't at war with Islam, we are at war with the spread of Hate and Fear. That two headed monster disguises itself in many religions, including Christianity.

Tim
praying for ft hood

David
Erika - ". . . real evidence besides his name. . ." ? You're kidding right? Of course schooling to be a psycholigist didn't help him - mine shot himself (of course maybe I drove him over the edge like Bob did). He was a "devout" Muslim all his life. He attended the same mosque that 3 of the 911 terrorists did. He handed out Korans. He did ... Read Moremany other things too numerous to list here. Mohammad and the Koran taught spreading Islam by military conquest. The New Testament and Jesus Christ does not.

Michael
I read that witnesses reported that he was shouting 'Alahu Akbar' (Allah is Great!) when he opened fire. Do any of you guys know if that's been confirmed?

Erika
K, well that wasn't in anything I read, but I can believe the guy was a muslim. That doesn't make him a terrorist. He could be a crazy muslim terrorist, but that doesnt mean that I am at war with Islam or that I should be. As long as my muslim neighbor can respect my right to worship how I choose, I will return that respect. Actually, Im not sure what being "at war" with Islam would entail. Could you enlighten

David
We did not declare war on Islam - they can worship as they please, but not kill us because we're not Muslim. They kill those who convert from Islam to Christianity (it is often called honor killing and is part of their "law" they want to impose in every nation. All the nations that are Muslim were conquored through war, not through conversion. ... Read MoreWhat is now Turkey use to be Christian, now it is all Islamic due to war, not conversion. The Koran tells Muslims to not be friends with Jews or Christians. The purpose of Islam is conquest of the world, not conversion. I could quote the Koran and Hadith to show you, but space is limited right now.
You have the sweet Christian attitude, just don't be naive - be vigilant.

Erika
K, but how do we war with Islam? What exactly do you suggest we do?

David
First educate ourselve and others about Islam. Second don't be afraid to speak up and NO be politically correct (cowardice). Third know their history. Four (should be 1st) convert them to Christianity. Islam says they believe Jesus was a great prophet, but that Mohammad was the last and greatest. Islam says Jesus was is NOT the Son of God and ... Read Morethat to say so is deserving of death. Islam says Jesus was NOT crucified and died for our sins. Acknowledge Islam wants to make all nations Islamic and under Islamic shiria law.
Acknowledge there are good people who are under Islamic control, but would like to escape it and can't for fear of death.

Nathan
How do you expect to have a conversation? I appreciate that you aren't politically correct, but you should support your claims with evidence, otherwise you're just another blowhard.

How many Muslim friends do you have? Not one of mine have ever disrespected my religion as you do (to both mine and theirs). Have you ever read the poetry of Rumi or studied Sufism? What you say about Jesus is also true in Judaism. So two questions for you:

1. If the Jews under Hitler had been Muslims, would it have been OK? ... Read More

And then, 2. If Christianity is at war with Islam, whose side is God on?

David
Answers: #1 - no; #2 - Islam is at war with Christianity, and everybody are not Muslim.
Yes, I know several people from Iraq that escaped with their lives because they became Christians.
I do disrespect Islam, not individuals, but the false religion - including that of the Jews.

Damon
Classic demonstration of Hegelian dialectic...how the elite manipulates the masses into conflicts with each other instead of seeing what's going on at the top. Read Brzezinski's book Grand Chessboard to see why we're in Iraq/Afghan (he's the top US strategist). Has nothing to do with the media story. Has to do with energy, peak oil, natural gas... Read More, opium, China/Russia, and the psychopathic fear that controls people like Brzezinski, Kissinger, Rockefeller, and the rest of the scum that rule the world...they run DC...politicians don't.

The media you're paying attention to is the media that tells us Oswald shot JFK, WMDs were in Iraq, Gulf of Tonkin was real, McDonalds is good for kids, war is peace, taxes are investment, Dems and Repubs are good, etc. It's dangerous to trust what they say about Hasan, or anything else. When will humanity turnoff the TV and therefore the elite's ability to maintain control? I don't believe Jesus obsessed about getting daily updates on news coming out of Rome.


David
OMG! Are you telling me I've been sucked into believeing a conspiracy? What about the conspiracy of Islam? i'm listening to Savage Nation - He is a man almost as insightful as myself.

Damon
Conspiracies are what drive the course of human history. To do anything requires people getting together to plan it, so if people don't believe in them, they're completely delusional...they would have to believe humans don't exist.

But yeah you've been sucked in if you think poor people in deserts on the other side of the world are going to kill ... Read Moreyou. Whereas if they're believing the same thing about us, they're actually right...we've done it for ages, the Brits carved up their territories to split their tribes (I guess that's better than exterminating them like our natives), the Brits established the evil Arabian royalty, we made Saddam what he was, we put in the Iranian govts that pissed off the people so much the theocrats took over, we created Bin Laden, we put in Karzai an ex-Unocal guy (we're there for natural gas obviously), we stripped their territories with corporations, and now we're killing them in droves.

Focus on the billionaires and royal scum that make this stuff happen instead of the little people who get manipulated and used by them to fly planes into buildings. Go after the elite power structure as Jesus did with the money changers instead of joining the crusade to kill the little people.

Damon
Anyway with Hasan, doesn't anyone find it interesting that public support for Afghan/Iraq was down massively right at the time they were trying to ramp up forces in Afghan, and all of a sudden a middle eastern looking guy shoots a bunch of americans? Will surely crank up the fear factor and get the approval ratings back up. No doubt Obama will ... Read Moreget his massive increase in Afghan forces now. The dark side of the empire continues...kill 'em all!! I hope the more faithful, hopeful, loving sentiments of Nathan and Erika prevail in the midst of our crazy media matrix.

David
Darn that Illumanati! Darn those Masons! Darn the CFR! Darn the Bilderburgers! Darn Satan! Darn the Industrial Military complex! Darn everybody except the ones actually attacking us sin about 623 a.d.!

David
Actually, those darn Martians are behind everything. Martians killed all the Jews, not Hitler. Martians ran the crusades. Martians Killed Kennedy. Martians killed Lincoln.
Martians star blew up the Hindenburg. Martians started the Democrat Party. Yup, I see Martians - hey, maybe I am one -
you can't know for sure.

Damon
Sorry you can't process the facts I discussed.

CFR is real...we just handed trillions over to some of them. I know several of them. Went to school with them. Worked for them. If you're cool with handing over your kids' future wealth to them, cool. But if they can pull that off, what makes you think they can't pull off their foreign affairs ... Read Moreplans? I might as well join them since the people they stole trillions from just insult me for trying to wake them up. It's going to be way better to be on their side if the republic refuses to wakeup and take power back from Wall St/DC.

Regarding the people you claim have been attacking us. Note it's the forces of the state, the elite, the powers that be that manipulated the little people into doing it. Just like Islam has been hijacked by royals and nation-states, so has Christianity throughout history. The problem isn't people who think differently from you. The problem is the people who claim a monopoly of power over them (and us) to lead them (and us) into attacking you (and them). Watch Braveheart again for a lesson in how little people should realize their opponents aren't the little people on the other side of the border but the elite on both sides that pit the people against each other.

Damon
wow...I didn't think they'd prove my prediction true so fast...from CBS:

(CBS) Tonight, after months of conferences with top advisors, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for Afghanistan. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the president will send a lot more troops and plans to keep a large force there, long term.

this is... Read More what the planners really wanted...long-term US presence to create a vassal state and maintain control of the natural gas outside Russia's grasp. I know Fox and Savage haven't told you this David, but that doesn't mean it's from Mars...Brzezinski wrote a book saying this in the 90s. It's amazing that they can put their plans in the public domain in books yet people will still deny it.

Nathan
Damon, normally I would dismiss you as a conspiracy nut, but compared to David, you seem absolutely brilliant. I hope that wasn't too much of a backhanded compliment. I really don't know how to handle this news about AfPak. The man rejected the invasion of Iraq when it was "unpatriotic" to do so, and gave one of the most brilliant speeches on his ... Read Moreanti-war stance, that was right up there with Ike's speech on our "Military Industrial Complex." He's completely flip-flopped, and we now have more private Xe contractors in the area than ever before. I can't help but think something is afoot. I'd love to take a look at your "conspiracy theories."

David
Actually, I use to be a total conspiracy theory guru. I was a Chapter leader in the John Birch Society in the 1960's. My best friends in those days had worked for Robert Welch at the John Birch Society headquarters. I infiltrated Highlander Folk School (a Communist training center) and met Ralph Abernathy there and was given a book by Carl & Ann Braden called "The House UnAmerican Activities Committee: Bulwork of Segregation." I was attacked a 33rd degree Mason in Church when I was preaching about all this. I gave a speech to a group of Bankers and others about the Federal Reserve System conspiracy. I read "The Protocals of the Learned Elder's of Zion." I moved to Montana from Florida in 1976 because I thought the Communists were going to invade us.
I use to think the Lord Jesus Christ would return at any moment and the World would be destroyed. I use to believe Satan ruled this "present" world.

The World isn't going to end. Satan is not in power. There are conspiracies, but since Jesus Christ is the King of all now it really doesn't all make much differance.
... Read More
I have a positive outlook thanks to my Preterist World view.
I do believe the Communists and Muslims are at war with us, but they won't win. I just don't want the "Rock" to remain small any longer than possible - I want it to become a "Mountain" that fills the whole earth. Communists and Muslims cause suffering, death of innocent people.

I say a lot to create thought and study. Some of what I say I believe - some I don't. :)

Nathan
Christians cause so much of the worlds' suffering too, as do Atheists, Jews, even Hindus, and Buddhists. I want to bring my kids into a world where we can all hold our own sacred identities, creeds, and religious doctrines, but instead of walls to separate, build bridges into our self-identifying lives.
David, I assume you know who CS Lewis was. This is what he wrote in Mere Christianity:

"The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergymen."
"There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so. There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand." ... Read More
"There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it. For example, a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain other points. Many of the good Pagans long before Christ’s birth may have been in this position. And always, of course, there are a great many people who are just confused in mind and have a lot of inconsistent beliefs all jumbled up together. Consequently, it is not much use trying to make judgments about Christians and non-Christians in the mass."

I think you could learn a lot from him.

PS-Are you a universalist or a relativist, David? Because after the way I annihilate you in our online discourse, only a universalist would think he was still right. Of course I think that I'm always right, but I know that I'm probably right only about 70% of the time. The key is to figure out which 30% I'm wrong about, and let other people convince me otherwise. You, my friend have yet to contribute.

Damon
Nathan, just go with your gut, what you obviously see. Don't let the professional PR staffers that control both parties explain away what you're feeling right now in your gut...no doubt his script writers will have powerful heart-tugging words to say to keep people on board later. But just remember what you're seeing right now...he said one thing... Read More to get people to vote for him. Now he's doing what every other president has done--turned his back on the people who put him in office. Who do they work for? What agenda are they enacting if not the people's? The facts are clear. Just read Brzezinski to understand why Obama is doubling down in Afghan...the strategy is published, it's not conspiracy. Another good question to ask yourself: why did both parties steal trillions from us to payoff super rich folks? This is the one that got me to realize what the "conspiracists" say isn't crazy at all. It was the biggest mafia shakedown in history. If you understand the banking industry, the debt-based dollar, and the economic structures of big vs. small, it's very clear what's happening...we're heading toward a more feudal structure of society controlled by financial oligarchs. They've already destroyed many countries, so why would we be so arrogant to think it couldn't happen here? People don't realize they already have the ability to make us destitute over night...just take away liquidity at the top of the pyramid (almost happened Sep 08) and the entire corporate structure shuts down. Well, who supports themselves nowadays? Who can feed themselves? Who provides their own water supply? Who powers their life with their own fuel? We're in quite a pickle now that we're all completely dependent on mega-corporations, and they're all dependent on the mega banks, and there's only 3 of those now (JPM, Citi, BoA), all coordinated by the NY establishment, and they're all dependent on the asset owners behind the Banks of China and Japan. This is just the factual reality of the dollar hierarchy...presidents are almost irrelevant given this power structure...the president is completely dependent on the Fed and its sister central banks. You would do well to join local coops and start establishing some form of self-sustainability. We're all stuck under a control system we never knew existed--debt-based money and the bond/currency market--the stock market is puny in comparison. This market is about to restructure the world. By 2050 US and China standards of living will be the same. That means we have a long way down to go, and they have a long way up. This is why a lot of people who understand finance have already moved from the US to Asia.

Damon
David, I'm impressed you were in JBS. Take away all the higher stuff you mention like the Protocols, the commies, the illuminati, etc. and the basics of what they said about the Fed was/is true. I don't know about the higher level stuff...but whether it's true or crazy nutjob stuff is irrelevant. The mechanics of the dollar, debt, banks are ... Read Morebasic facts of a story that can be read if you know how to read it. What people said about the Fed in the 20's came true yet they were at the time dismissed as conspiracists. What people said about it in the 50's came true, yet they were dismissed. What people said in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's has come true, yet they're still dismissed. Now the WTO/G20 momentum toward global economic union is becoming more clear. The debt situation of the US is clear...we're owned by Asian bankers...national foreclosure is coming...it's not conspiracy, it's the economic facts of the situation we've been put in by the Fed's monetary system. The Fed, and therefore the Wall St cartel, are more powerful than the president. And their long-term agenda is clear.

Jesse
Nathan, I know you can annihilate me in some topics such as health care. However, I'm sure someone else can annihilate you on the same topic; does that mean you'll change your mind? Douglas Wilson and Christopher Hitchens have debates on topics of God; and Wilson admits Hitchens is the smarter man. There are many sources in which we derive our beliefs, and they aren't all from dialoging on facebook.

Jesse
That being said, it's no excuse for my laziness in my research. My other excuses are dealing with my personal relationships with my wife and God.

Damon
David, I forgot to mention, I wholeheartedly agree with you that in the end this fight is already won. That's comforting, but I still get caught up in the stress of fallen reality.

David
Nathan, I'm glad I'm helping you with your self-esteem. You just blew the hell out of mine. :)

Nathan
Trust me, the PR staffers have nothing on me. I'm an independent thinker, who usually votes for the green party candidate, but jumped ship during this last election. I'm still convinced I made the right decision as the alternative would have been, a repeat of GWBush and Dick Cheney, only a smokin hot Cheney.

I completely agree with your thought on consolidation of wealth and power, believe in co-ops and localizing money and capital. Are you familiar with David Korten? I'm still not convinced that money-as-debt is such a bad thing, when regulated, and think it is a far superior solution than a "gold standard."

Your prediction on China is, well, optimistic. They are moving quickly, as is India, but that prediction assumes a continual 7 -10% annual growth as well as consistent stabilization. There is just now way to tell. I can tell you that I work for a large contractor which earns a majority of it's projects from military construction. Right now there is an enormous build-up along the Pacific, and despise that we spend so much on self fulfilled prophecies, and creating our enemies. War gives us meaning. ... Read More

What do you think of the Carlyle Group?

Jesse
BTW Damon, thanks for the brilliant comments. I've heard of much you've said; but you articulated the evidence very well. Talk to you soon

Damon
But debt-based money is the vehicle to the consolidation of all the wealth and power. It creates the pyramid structure that is our dollar. The United States should not have to borrow money from a bank in order to have money. The constitution says the government should create it...should be an asset, not a debt. Jefferson tried to get an amendment to prevent the government from borrowing. He tried to prevent banks/corporations from ever transcending states. If only we listened.

Debt-based money and gold standard were basically the same thing...money created/lent/cycled based on the banker's promise to pay (whether he held gold or credit in reserve). The difference is without a gold standard the bankers can inflate beyond a sensible limit, which is the cause of the reset coming...the deflationary cycle we're about to go through.

You're right, neither is good. We need asset money. The government just needs to create it. Take it out of the hands of the private banking industry.... Read More

The math of debt-based money is the source of so many problems today. Given the nature of interest, the overall pile of credit must expand on a compound basis every year in order to keep the system afloat. That's an exponential growth model...inconsistent with life, physics, earth. Without jubilee or some other form of clearing out the system and putting the money changers on an equal playing field with everyone else, the debt-based system is guaranteed to result in a 2-class feudalistic world where the financiers and their servants in corporations have wealth and everyone else is a debtor.


more to come....

Socialized Healthcare vs. the Laws of Economics by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

The government's initial step in attempting to create a government-run healthcare monopoly has been to propose a law that would eventually drive the private health insurance industry out of existence. Additional taxes and mandated costs are to be imposed on health insurance companies, while a government-run "health insurance" bureaucracy will be created, ostensibly to "compete" with the private companies. The hoped-for end result is one big government monopoly which, like all government monopolies, will operate with all the efficiency of the post office and all the charm and compassion of the IRS.

Of course, it would be difficult to compete with a rival who has all of his capital and operating costs paid out of tax dollars. Whenever government "competes" with the private sector, it makes sure that the competition is grossly unfair, piling costly regulation after regulation, and tax after tax on the private companies while exempting itself from all of them. This is why the "government-sponsored enterprises" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were so profitable for so many years. It is also why so many abysmally performing "public" schools remain in existence for decades despite their utter failure at educating children.

America's Healthcare Future?

Some years ago, the Nobel-laureate economist Milton Friedman studied the history of healthcare supply in America. In a 1992 study published by the Hoover Institution, entitled "Input and Output in Health Care," Friedman noted that 56 percent of all hospitals in America were privately owned and for-profit in 1910. After 60 years of subsidies for government-run hospitals, the number had fallen to about 10 percent. It took decades, but by the early 1990s government had taken over almost the entire hospital industry. That small portion of the industry that remains for-profit is regulated in an extraordinarily heavy way by federal, state and local governments so that many (perhaps most) of the decisions made by hospital administrators have to do with regulatory compliance as opposed to patient/customer service in pursuit of profit. It is profit, of course, that is necessary for private-sector hospitals to have the wherewithal to pay for healthcare.

Friedman's key conclusion was that, as with all governmental bureaucratic systems, government-owned or -controlled healthcare created a situation whereby increased "inputs," such as expenditures on equipment, infrastructure, and the salaries of medical professionals, actually led to decreased "outputs" in terms of the quantity of medical care. For example, while medical expenditures rose by 224 percent from 1965–1989, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 population fell by 44 percent and the number of beds occupied declined by 15 percent. Also during this time of almost complete governmental domination of the hospital industry (1944–1989), costs per patient-day rose almost 24-fold after inflation is taken into account.

The more money that has been spent on government-run healthcare, the less healthcare we have gotten. This kind of result is generally true of all government bureaucracies because of the absence of any market feedback mechanism. Since there are no profits in an accounting sense, by definition, in government, there is no mechanism for rewarding good performance and penalizing bad performance. In fact, in all government enterprises, exactly the opposite is true: bad performance (failure to achieve ostensible goals, or satisfy "customers") is typically rewarded with larger budgets. Failure to educate children leads to more money for government schools. Failure to reduce poverty leads to larger budgets for welfare state bureaucracies. This is guaranteed to happen with healthcare socialism as well.

Costs always explode whenever the government gets involved, and governments always lie about it. In 1970 the government forecast that the hospital insurance (HI) portion of Medicare would be "only" $2.9 billion annually. Since the actual expenditures were $5.3 billion, this was a 79 percent underestimate of cost. In 1980 the government forecast $5.5 billion in HI expenditures; actual expenditures were more than four times that amount – $25.6 billion. This bureaucratic cost explosion led the government to enact 23 new taxes in the first 30 years of Medicare. (See Ron Hamoway, "The Genesis and Development of Medicare," in Roger Feldman, ed., American Health Care, Independent Institute, 2000, pp. 15–86). The Obama administration's claim that a government takeover of healthcare will somehow magically reduce costs is not to be taken seriously. Government never, ever, reduces the cost of doing anything.

All government-run healthcare monopolies, whether they are in Canada, the UK, or Cuba, experience an explosion of both cost and demand – since healthcare is "free." Socialized healthcare is not really free, of course; the true cost is merely hidden, since it is paid for by taxes.

Whenever anything has a zero explicit price associated with it, consumer demand will increase substantially, and healthcare is no exception. At the same time, bureaucratic bungling will guarantee gross inefficiencies that will get worse and worse each year. As costs get out of control and begin to embarrass those who have promised all Americans a free healthcare lunch, the politicians will do what all governments do and impose price controls, probably under some euphemism such as "global budget controls."

Price controls, or laws that force prices down below market-clearing levels (where supply and demand are coordinated), artificially stimulate the amount demanded by consumers while reducing supply by making it unprofitable to supply as much as previously. The result of increased demand and reduced supply is shortages. Non-price rationing becomes necessary. This means that government bureaucrats, not individuals and their doctors, inevitably determine who will get medical treatment and who will not, what kind of medical technology will be available, how many doctors there will be, and so forth.

All countries that have adopted socialized healthcare have suffered from the disease of price-control-induced shortages. If a Canadian, for instance, suffers third-degree burns in an automobile crash and is in need of reconstructive plastic surgery, the average waiting time for treatment is more than 19 weeks, or nearly five months. The waiting time for orthopaedic surgery is also almost five months; for neurosurgery it's three full months; and it is even more than a month for heart surgery (see The Fraser Institute publication, Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada). Think about that one: if your doctor discovers that your arteries are clogged, you must wait in line for more than a month, with death by heart attack an imminent possibility. That's why so many Canadians travel to the United States for healthcare.

All the major American newspapers seem to have become nothing more than cheerleaders for the Obama administration, so it is difficult to find much in the way of current stories about the debacle of nationalized healthcare in Canada. But if one goes back a few years, the information is much more plentiful. A January 16, 2000, New York Times article entitled "Full Hospitals Make Canadians Wait and Look South," by James Brooke, provided some good examples of how Canadian price controls have created serious shortage problems.

* A 58-year-old grandmother awaited open-heart surgery in a Montreal hospital hallway with 66 other patients as electric doors opened and closed all night long, bringing in drafts from sub-zero weather. She was on a five-year waiting list for her heart surgery.
* In Toronto, 23 of the city's 25 hospitals turned away ambulances in a single day because of a shortage of doctors.
* In Vancouver, ambulances have been "stacked up" for hours while heart attack victims wait in them before being properly taken care of.
* At least 1,000 Canadian doctors and many thousands of Canadian nurses have migrated to the United States to avoid price controls on their salaries.

Wrote Mr. Brooke, "Few Canadians would recommend their system as a model for export."

Canadian price-control-induced shortages also manifest themselves in scarce access to medical technology. Per capita, the United States has eight times more MRI machines, seven times more radiation therapy units for cancer treatment, six times more lithotripsy units, and three times more open-heart surgery units. There are more MRI scanners in Washington state, population five million, than in all of Canada, with a population of more than 30 million (See John Goodman and Gerald Musgrave, Patient Power).

In the UK as well – thanks to nationalization, price controls, and government rationing of healthcare – thousands of people die needlessly every year because of shortages of kidney dialysis machines, pediatric intensive care units, pacemakers, and even x-ray machines. This is America's future, if "ObamaCare" becomes a reality.

This article originally appeared on Mises.org.

Your Mortgage News Source Ron Paul: US Dollar Collapse When China Stops Buying Debt

In February of 2009 Ron Paul warned of a US Dollar collapse when China stops buying out debt in this video. There are many good points that Mr. Paul points out in the video but none were more prophetic then calling for the dollar bubble to burst. When the video was recorded the US Dollar index was around 86. Today the US Dollar Index is currently at 75.5.

Another ironic fact about this video is that shortly after this video was recorded President Obama went on 60 Minutes and made the statement that “the dollar is still strong.” Unfortunately the dollar was not strong and we have seen that as a 10% drop has happened since the president’s statement. For those of you wondering why the value of the dollar continues to decline it is truly supply and demand.

The Federal Reserve Bank continues to print money at will. The billions of dollars that have been created out of thin air because of the stimulus package are only decreasing the value of the dollar. Not only is the value of the dollar decreasing, the Federal Reserve Bank is causing people to do things that they normally would not do. With extremely low interest rates people are going to buy homes. There is no problem with people buying homes except that many of these home buyers cannot truly afford homes. For reference to this take a look at the subprime mortgage crisis.

Ron Paul has hope that things will get better though as many Americans are educating themselves to the situation at hand. The book End the Fed by Ron Paul remains on the Amazon.com Top 100 list when is encouraging. If we continue to do the research and better understand what is going on then we are more apt to make the changes necessary to avoid possible disaster.

Make sure to return to Subprime Blogger to get your Ron Paul news. We also write columns on Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff and Gerald Celente as these men have done a great job of pointing out some of the problems America faces. Each of these men correctly predicted the decline of the dollar and the subsequent commodity bull market. We will continue to keep you updated on the commodity bull market as well as commentary from these individuals. The columns are located in the Current News section with a link located below.

Current News

Author: Jesse Wojdylo

Massachusetts martial law bill on the swine flu H1N1

Here are some excerpts from the text of Massachusetts Senate Bill 2028:

119 Upon request or issuance of an order by the commissioner or his or her designee, or by a local
120 public health authority or its designee, an officer authorized to serve criminal process may arrest
121 without a warrant any person whom the officer has probable cause to believe has violated an
122 order given to effectuate the purposes of this subsection and shall use reasonable diligence to
123 enforce such order.
124 Any person who knowingly violates an order of the commissioner or his or her designee, or of a
125 local public health authority or its designee, given to effectuate the purposes of this subsection
shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or by
126 a fine of note more than
127 one thousand dollars, or both.


Read the text of the bill here: MA S. 2028

Still, nobody knows about the Hardin, MT jail.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is most likely the culprit in the situation now unfolding in Hardin, Montana. All across America, small towns are struggling to survive. Many rural areas have discovered the correctional industry as an easy fix for hard economic times. However, a look behind the scenes reveals that this small country town may have got more than it bargained for.


Private security firms like Wackenhut have been around for years and although they may have raised an eyebrow, no one thought too much of a private company overseeing the containment of prison inmates. After all, it provided jobs and nobody seems to be getting hurt.


Suspicion was aroused in Hardin when a number of Mercedes were spotted with an unfamiliar decal and the words "Hardin Police" prominently displayed. This along with the fact that the new correctional facility was abuzz with fresh activity prompted some questions. Problems began to arise when questions were asked and answers were not provided.

The facility had been under controversy since it had been built as a detention facility but did not meet the requirements for a correctional facility. Once the building was completed, Hardin officials were unable to secure a contract for the facility. Enter APF. Details remain sketchy about "American Police Force"; however, in an article in the Helenair newspaper, a source from APF revealed that his boss was retired U.S. Army colonel Richard Culver. Thanks to some investigative snooping by Ron Paul supporters from the DailyPaul.com, particularly "Liberty_Belle", on the connection between the American Police Force and Richard Culver, he is an executive with the security firm International SOS out of Trevose, PA. Culver is profiled in Portfolio.com's "Job of the Week" spotlight which states that in this particular job one could expect to earn between $100,000 to $350,000 annually. Not only does ISOS provide security services it touts itself as the world's largest "medical and security assistance company". In fact, it is keeping tabs on the swine flu pandemic and has its own "pandemic preparedness" page. Two items of note on this page under the topic "International SOS Capability" are "Medical Evacuation" and "RMR Capability".

Whether or not APF's duties were to extend beyond the detention facility is unclear. It is also unclear as to the relationship between APF and International SOS, other than sharing a security director. However, one disturbing fact regarding International SOS is that it is listed as a member of the International Peace Operations Association, which at one time provided an umbrella for Blackwater, and currently resides over Dyncorp as well as numerous other security and medical agencies. The IPOA's Wikipedia page defines the group as "created to support the burgeoning private military industry." For one, I am uncomfortable with the "burgeoning" of this particular industry, but maybe I have watched too many superhero movies lately.

What is disturbing in all of this is the growing trend which the government displays in "outsourcing" the fundamental responsibilities it has under the Constitution; namely, "to promote the general welfare, and to provide for the common defense". In a recent report, Moshe Schwartz, Specialist in Defense Acquisition, reported that the U.S. Department of Defense had 200,000 contractors and 194,000 military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He further states that,

DOD officials have stated that the military’s experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with Congressional attention and legislation, has focused DOD’s attention on the importance of contractors to operational success.

In other words, Congress is well aware that contractors now outnumber U.S. militiary forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The use of civilian personnel during war raises numerous concerns. Not only the obvious concerns regarding logistics, discipline, safety and protocol, but concerns regarding the reporting of
casualties and overall progress of the campaign. The reported torture of Iraqi prisoners, for example, takes on a completely different focus with the introduction of mercenary groups.

Overseas activities are not the only areas of concern regarding these para-military organizations. During Katrina, Blackwater troops were used extensively and were placed in positions of having to disarm American citizens. What are the ramifications of a private, civilian army violating the first and second amendment rights of American citizens for the purpose of financial gain? Numerous officers during the recent protests at the G 20 summit in Pittsburgh were unable to be identified by insignia. Undoubtedly, they were contracted by a private agency such as International SOS.

Ron Paul has stated that government does provide a function which is defined by the Constitution. It is for this purpose that we collectively authorize the government. We do not give authorization with the understanding that these essential functions will be "outsourced", whether by a Democrat or Republican administration.

Update: Justin Elliott of TPMMuckraker reports that APF contracted the facility for purposes of training for law enforcement sniper operations and DNA testing.
Update II: AP reporter Matthew Brown reports APF "Captain" has checkered past, contract elaborate scam.

Video of Hardin jail

Hardin Jail...What the hell is this! Thought police?

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/29/crimesider/entry5351491.shtml

American Police Force Corporation Takes Over Small Town Police Force and Prisoner-Less Jail

HARDIN, Mont. (CBS/AP) This is the strange story of how American Police Force, a little known company which claims to specialize in training military and security forces overseas, has seemingly taken control of a $27 million, never-used jail, and a rural Montana town's nonexistent police force.

After arriving in this tiny city with three Mercedes SUVs marked with the logo of a police department that has never existed, representatives of the obscure California security company said preparations were under way to take over Hardin's jail, which has no prisoners.

Significant obstacles remain - including a lack of any contracts to acquire prisoners from other jails or other states.

And on Friday came the revelation the company's operating agreement for the facility has yet to be validated - two weeks after city leaders first unveiled what they said was a signed agreement.

Still, some Hardin leaders said the deal to turn over the 464-bed jail remained on track.

The agreement with American Police Force has been heavily promoted by members of the city's economic development branch, the Two Rivers Authority. Authority Vice President Albert Peterson on Friday repeated his claim to be “100 percent” confident in the company.

The lead public figure for American Police Force, Michael Hilton, said more than 200 employees would be sought for the jail and a proposed military and law enforcement training center.

That would be a significant boost to Hardin, a struggling town of 3,500 located about 45 miles east of Billings. An earlier announcement that a job fair would be held during the last week never came to fruition.

The bonds used to pay for the jail have been in default since May, 2008.

Hilton also said he planned a helicopter tour of the region in coming days to look at real estate for a planned tactical military training ground. He said 5,000 to 10,000 acres were needed to complement the training center, a $17 million project.

But the company's flashy arrival this week stirred new questions. The logo on the black Mercedes SUVs said “City of Hardin Police Department.”

Yet the city has not had a police force of its own for 30 years.

“Pretty looking police car, ain't it?” Hardin resident Leroy Frickle, 67, said as he eyed one of the vehicles parked in front of a bed and breakfast where Hilton and other company representatives were staying. “The things you hear about this American Police, I don't know what to think.”

Hilton said the vehicles would be handed over to the city if it forms a police force of its own. The city is now under the jurisdiction of the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.

After meeting briefly with Hilton on Friday, Mayor Ron Adams said he wanted the police logos removed.

“This helps, but it doesn't answer everything until the contract is signed,” Adams said. “Talk is cheap.”

Hilton said the company's arrival in Hardin would help allay such concerns. And he promised that on Feb. 1, 2010, Hardin would receive its first check under a deal said to be worth more than $2.6 million annually.

Little has been revealed to date about American Police Force. The company was incorporated in California in March, soon after Hardin's empty jail gained notoriety after city leaders suggested it could be used for the Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainees.

Members of Montana's congressional delegation say they have been closely monitoring the events in Hardin, but the city has largely been going it alone.

In the two years since the jail was built, city leaders have clashed repeatedly with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who opposed efforts to bring in out-of-state prisoners.

After then-Attorney General Mike McGrath issued a 2007 opinion saying prisoners from other states were prohibited, Hardin successfully sued the state.

Despite the city's contention that the state has continued to foil its efforts to find prisoners, Montana Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Anez said his agency is no longer involved. “That's water under the bridge,” Anez said.

On Friday, American Police Force announced its first local hire: a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Becky Shay, who has covered events surrounding the jail since its construction. She will be the company's spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.

Shay said she intended to bring new transparency to the process, but declined to directly answer the first question posed to her: Where is American Police Force getting the money to operate the jail and build the training center?

“I know enough about where the money is coming from to be confident signing on with them,” she said.

Gazette Editor Steve Prosinski said he was first informed about Shay's decision to leave the paper on Friday. “We weren't aware that she was talking with them about employment,” he said.

Hilton said he also had a job discussion with Kerri Smith, wife of Two Rivers Authority Executive Director Greg Smith, who helped craft the deal to bring American Police Force to Hardin. Greg Smith was placed on unpaid leave two weeks ago for reasons that have not been explained.

Kerri Smith is one of two finalists in the city's mayoral race. Hilton said he asked her to call him about possible employment if she did not win the race.

Kerri Smith could not be reached immediately for comment. A message was left by The Associated Press at a theater owned by the Smith family. Her home number is unlisted.

Barry Goldwater Jr. Don't hire him for a speaker

Barry Goldwater Jr just spoke at the Republican Roundup in Bozeman, MT. First, he dissed Bozeman making an anal joke; followed by other jokes degrading women. Nobody I talked to learned anything from Goldwater, it was all dumbed down conservative talking points. I'd expect more from someone who endorsed Ron Paul.

My Friend's analysis of what is coming

Friend:
hi...just trying to insulate from the collapse. I'm shorting some indices and buying some put options but I'm mostly pushing money into T-bills and moving some to Switzerland and buying a little gold. we're going into hell. we're at the whim of the bankers behind the Fed and JPM Chase. no doubt the Fed will be dissolved as the collapse deepens but it will only be replaced by a global Fed...the BIS, IMF, World Bank. $'s will eventually not exist. so it's a horrible time to invest. if I choose wrong, I could be completely destitute once the bankers choose either hyperinflating away all our wealth or deflating all assets to nothing. yet we're supposedly a free country! what a joke.
Me:
Your right, it's a fucking joke out there. How would one move money to Switzerland? I don't know if hyperinflation will win, or an utter credit collapse that causes massive deflation. That's a scary thought, I'm a proponent of auditing the FED, but your right, a global bank of some sort will take over. That's why we need to declare state rights as soon as possible; I hope pockets here in America will stand up to the globalists; but I don't want some bloody war either.
Friend:
safewealth services is a company that can facilitate getting a swiss annuity ($100k minimum). I think we're going to have a severe deflationary credit collapse for a while, then hyperinflation once they decide to shutdown the dollar.yeah if it wasn't for my friggin house in bozeman still being for sale, I probably would've moved out of the US by now. it's not going to be pretty anywhere, but at least outside the US they don't have militarized police forces and NORTHCOMM to impose tyranny. I'd take anarchy any day over tyranny.

Death Panels for Veterans Jim Towey Wall Street Journal

Your Life Is Not Worth LivingThe frightening message a VA document sends to aging veterans.By Jim Towey
Pres. Barack Obama needs to ask the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) why its end-of-life planning tool, “Your Life, Your Choices,” deserves circulation throughout its vast health-care system. Despite the controversy that has angered many veterans and enveloped the VA since the “your life is not worth living” message in the document was exposed last month, the VA continues to make it available and has announced its plan to launch an online version of it in the spring of 2010.Why did the VA decide to use “Your Life, Your Choices” in the first place, and why is it stubbornly refusing to listen to the American Legion and other organizations that have asked the agency to pull it and start over? At a time when President Obama’s push for health-care reform may be jeopardized by a seemingly innocuous provision on advance-care planning, the story of “Your Life, Your Choices” turns out to be a cautionary tale worth telling.I discovered the existence of “Your Life, Your Choices” in September 2007 by accident. Then–VA secretary Jim Nicholson had arranged a meeting for me with officials from the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care so that I could share with them a living will I created — “Five Wishes” — and see if the agency headquarters might be interested in using it. (A living will is written instructions on the kind of medical care you want when you can’t speak for yourself. Together with a form designating a person who has legal authority to speak for you when you can’t speak for yourself, it constitutes an “advance directive.”)
My background as a lawyer who once lived as a full-time volunteer in Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s home for people with AIDS had enabled me to develop “Five Wishes.” In less than a decade it had become America’s most popular living will, with over 13 million copies in circulation throughout the country. It seemed like it might be of use to these top VA officials.It wasn’t. “Five Wishes” was dead on arrival with the VA’s top advance-care-planning official, Dr. Ellen Fox, director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care. She told me that the agency had completed the regulatory review process for a different document, “Your Life, Your Choices,” and was about to unveil it as a system-wide online offering on MyHealtheVet. She handed me this 100-page document, which was marked as “Second Edition, June 11, 2007.” ‘IF I’M A VEGETABLE, PULL THE PLUG’My first reaction was: How in the world would senior citizens navigate a document that was nearly an inch thick and contained dozens of pages of worksheets? But after I left the meeting and carefully read “Your Life, Your Choices” for the first time, I concluded that the unmanageable size of the document was the least of its defects. Taken as a whole, “Your Life, Your Choices” seemed to subtly steer individuals toward refusing care.Page 8 asked, “Have you ever heard anyone say, ‘If I’m a vegetable, pull the plug’? What does ‘being a vegetable’ mean to you? You can’t take care of yourself now and you’ll never be able to in the future . . .” Centered on the page were two photos of middle-aged men. One was of an unshaven man named Mr. Santini, with a furrowed brow and a quote next to him that read, “Life is sacred and has meaning, no matter what its quality.” The other photo was of a smiling, handsome man named Mr. Johnson, and his quote said, “I’ve lived a long and full life. I don’t want anything done just to keep me alive.”Then came case studies that sought to illustrate complicated critical-care issues. The one on page 11 told the story of Tom Rice, a 29-year-old who was hit by a car while riding his bike, went into a coma, and “would need help taking care of himself and would not be able to live alone.” It ended with Tom’s parents stopping treatment for him. Page 13 provided the case of Flora Parks, who had suffered a minor stroke that made her worry about a recurrence. The story ended with Flora saying, “I’d rather die quickly than suffer a long, slow decline.” While there was some effort to balance the presentations — the “personal and spiritual beliefs” section seemed even-handed, and one terminal-illness vignette involved a wife’s sending her husband to the hospital for treatment — it seemed the government was sending a message that cessation of treatment usually was the better path.This point became dramatically clearer when “Your Life, Your Choices” pivoted to a “Quality of Life” checklist. A number of possible scenarios were presented, such as “I can no longer walk but get around in a wheelchair”; “I can no longer contribute to my family’s well being”; “I live in a nursing home”; “I am a severe financial burden on my family”; “I can no longer get outside — I spend all day at home”; and, “I cannot seem to ‘shake the blues.’”
Right next to these statements, the checklist gave veterans the following options: “Difficult, but acceptable”; “Barely worth living”; “Not worth living”; or “Can’t answer now.” Couldn’t the VA at least let veterans communicate that life was in fact worth living and detail what they would need to find meaning and purpose in spite of the illness or disability?In the section entitled “Dementia,” there was a photo of a man with an anguished, despairing look on his face. In “Key things to think about” below the photo, it read, “If you had severe dementia and then became ill with a reversible illness, such as pneumonia, would you want treatment even though the treatment would not help your memory problems? What if the treatment included going to the hospital?”From personal experience I can attest that there are many “key things to think about” that weren’t mentioned. My wife, Mary, and I had moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 2001 to help my mother-in-law, Ann, care for her husband, three-star U.S. Army Gen. Harry A. Griffith Jr., affectionately known by the in-laws as “Pop.” Pop had dementia and became fully dependent. Nonetheless, he was surrounded with love the final years of his life, and while his caregiving requirements placed huge demands on all of us, it was well worth it. Pop was a source of life and love to all of us until the end. Pop could not talk and had not for some time, but it didn’t matter. His great human dignity was neither untouched by illness nor diminished by his approaching death.
So when I read the dementia section of “Your Life, Your Choices,” I wondered why the government would suggest to a veteran like my father-in-law, who fought in two wars, that if he contracted pneumonia but could recover, he should nonetheless consider forgoing treatment.DR. DEATHAt the bottom of page 99, listed as the sole resource for advance directives for veterans, was Compassion and Choices — that is, the former Hemlock Society.And the lead author of “Your Life, Your Choices”? Dr. Robert A. Pearlman, M.D., chief of ethics evaluation at the VA Ethics Center. Dr. Pearlman was quoted last week as saying the following: “I am not an advocate for physician-assisted suicide. I have studied the subject and done research to try to understand what motivates people to consider it. I stay away from making any kinds of statements advocating for or against physician-assisted suicide.” Sounds good, but is it true?Dr. Pearlman in 1996 was among a group of bioethicists who filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in the cases of Vacco v. Quill and State of Washington v. Glucksberg — the landmark cases on physician-assisted suicide. The brief argued “that the right to physician-assisted suicide should be recognized by this Court as a fundamental right.” The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 9–0 decision, disagreed. A book by Dr. Quill (from Vacco v. Quill), Physician-Assisted Dying: The Case for Palliative Care and Patient Choice, stated on its back cover, “In this volume, a distinguished group of physicians, ethicists, lawyers, and activists come together to present the case for the legalization of physician-assisted dying for terminally ill patients who voluntarily request it.” Dr. Pearlman was one of those individuals — he and a colleague, who by chance later became the co-author of “Your Life, Your Choices,” penned the sixth chapter. A group called “Compassion in Dying,” which eventually merged with the Hemlock Society, assisted Dr. Pearlman in his research. The group put out the following call for research subjects: “Dr. Pearlman and his colleagues are currently recruiting present and former Compassion in Dying clients. . . . Information from this study should have a substantially positive impact on the Death with Dignity movement . . . (and) the option of hastened death.” Dr. Pearlman’s advocacy of physician-assisted suicide apparently was no secret. As late as 2006, an Oregon-based proponent of assisted suicide, the group Death with Dignity, promoted a May appearance of his at the University of Washington in Seattle.So if an individual files a public document that concludes that physician-assisted suicide “will contribute to a more decent society, [and is] more respectful of patients’ basic rights and interests in the light of realities of the modern form of degenerative death,” and if that same individual publishes a chapter in a book that promotes the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, and is in league with national organizations committed to same, how is that individual “not an advocate for physician-assisted suicide”?Around the time that Dr. Pearlman presented his pro–assisted suicide views to the U.S. Supreme Court, he received a taxpayer-funded grant to write “Your Life, Your Choices” for the VA. This early edition, which was used as a “research tool” (the VA’s phrase), was half the size of the June 2007 edition, but evidenced the same bias. The 1997 version on page 6 asked the question, “What’s a vegetable?” and went on to say, “People have very different notions of what it means to be a ‘vegetable.’ Here are some examples: You sit in a chair and don’t do anything all day. You can’t read anymore. You’re just a body with life in it.” The “quality of life” checklists were virtually identical, as was the general thrust of the document. It came as no shock to me that the 1997 edition of “Your Life, Your Choices” also included only one resource for advance directives for veterans: the organization “Choice in Dying” (formerly known as the American Euthanasia Society).
THE BUREAUCRACY RECONSIDERSAfter reading “Your Life, Your Choices,” I immediately called Tom Bowman, chief of staff to the secretary of the VA, to tell him that the document was fatally flawed. Further, having worked at the Bush White House for over four years and been a member of his senior staff, I had a good sense of how the president would react to “Your Life, Your Choices” if he knew about it. It didn’t take the VA leadership long to act. Mr. Bowman called me on Nov. 9, 2007, and told me three things that were welcome news: First, that “Your Life, Your Choices” was being pulled off the VA intranet; second, that in a conference call scheduled for early the following week the VA Center directors would be advised to cease using the document; and finally, that the agency was going to create a work group to review the document’s appropriateness. Unfortunately, Dr. Fox and the staff of the VA Ethics Center were far from abandoning “Your Life, Your Choices.” In fact, their resolve to promote it only hardened. The subsequent “expert panel” of 13 outsiders and five VA employees that was organized failed to include representatives from disability-rights groups, the Catholic bishops, Orthodox Jewish leaders, or others the Bush administration would routinely consult.
The panel met in person only once — in February of 2008 — and only five of the outside experts attended. A second and final meeting was scheduled for March 21 — Good Friday, no less. That decision made me wonder whether the date chosen for the meeting was meant to force attendees to choose between observing a holy day and participating in a review process. When I protested to Mr. Bowman about the scheduling of this important meeting on a day many Christians hold sacred, his office contacted the Ethics Center, which reluctantly postponed the meeting. This further damaged relations between the Center and me, and in panel conference calls in May, the growing hostility between those within the VA defending “Your Life, Your Choices” and those outside challenging it was fully evident. After the final call, the expert panel was dismissed, and the VA Ethics Center was left to make its recommendations to Secretary James Peake, Nicholson’s successor.Meanwhile, I had already gone to the West Wing and brought this matter to the attention of senior officials, including Joel Kaplan, the president’s deputy chief of staff, and Karl Zinsmeister, chief domestic-policy adviser to the president. I had taken this extraordinary step not because I didn’t trust Mr. Bowman — he was as capable and trustworthy as any official at the VA. It was simply that time was of the essence because the Bush term was coming to an end and it would be wrong for the VA to restore “Your Life, Your Choices” in a power vacuum caused by a lame-duck presidency. My fears were not unfounded. In a Sept. 19, 2008, meeting with Dr. Gerald Cross, a senior official within the VA, I learned that he was as resolute in getting Dr. Pearlman’s document back in play as Dr. Fox had been. He told me flatly, “I have no problem with ‘Your Life, Your Choices,’” and that the matter was still being deliberated within the agency. He was well aware that the West Wing had weighed in.The White House’s intervention won the day. In late October, I received word from Mr. Zinsmeister that he had been assured by Secretary Peake that “Your Life, Your Choices” would “die on the secretary’s desk.” The VA pulled “Your Life, Your Choices” in November 2008. It was not publicly offered or used by the agency for the remainder of Bush’s term.
OBAMA TAKES OFFICEThis victory was short-lived, however. When the Obama administration came in, Dr. Cross and the VA Ethics Center wasted no time. A July 2, 2009, directive put “Your Life, Your Choices” back on the VA website and in the plans of practitioners. Last week, a journalist reported that Dr. Cross and his colleagues in fact had quietly continued to work on “Your Life, Your Choices” throughout President Bush’s remaining time in office. They had played the waiting game, and had won.Obama may be unaware of the existence of “Your Life, Your Choices” and the activities of mid-level bureaucrats in one of the agencies he governs; President Bush’s White House initially wasn’t aware, either. But he needs to learn the document’s story, and once he does, the question is primarily whether he will keep “Your Life, Your Choices.” And if he doesn’t, will he invite representatives from disability groups and religious organizations, who can speak for huge constituencies, and craft a mainstream approach that does not leave advance-care planning primarily to bioethicists, lawyers, and VA personnel?
Last month I wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal exposing that the VA had republished “Your Life, Your Choices,” and that the department was barreling ahead with an online tool developed from the 2007 edition. The article led to yet more puzzling VA actions. Initially, the version they republished in 2009 was the 1997 edition — without the page referring veterans to the former Euthanasia Society of America. Then they changed course and republished it on the web with the original referral, accompanied by a notice that read, “Since March of 2009, it is the official policy of the Obama Administration not to suppress or alter information or products resulting from federal research grants.” If that is true, perhaps the VA can explain why the June 2007 edition of “Your Life, Your Choices” is nowhere to be found on the VA site. It certainly was born of a research grant. Could it be that the reference to the former Hemlock Society and the other objectionable features previously cited make the 2007 version too difficult to defend? Indeed, if you call the VA Ethics Center today and ask for a copy of the 2007 edition they once freely handed me, you will be told that no such edition exists. In addition, the VA now provides apparently contradictory notices on its website. One says that “Your Life, Your Choices was officially retired from use in VA in 2007.” A different statement touts that an expert panel praised it “overwhelmingly.” The VA promises that a new version of “the ‘Your Life, Your Choices’ online module” will be launched next spring. I am not hopeful. From my experiences it seems that revision exercises at the VA are little more than damage-control efforts. Dr. Fox and her colleagues have their minds made up, and their embrace of Dr. Pearlman’s philosophy is unshakable. Since her center is charged with developing an online version it first tested in the spring of 2008 with the expert panel (based entirely on the 2007 edition of “Your Life, Your Choices”), what exactly can veterans expect? Will Congress be consulted? The American Legion and veterans’ groups? The American taxpayer? The stakes here are great. About half of the VA’s patients are over 65, and they tend to be sicker and poorer than similar non-veterans. This owes to the added physical and emotional sacrifices they made for our country. Too many continue to pay a steep price for our freedom as they live with disabilities or are haunted by memories of war. They deserve better than “Your Life, Your Choices.”I am hopeful that President Obama will insist that the new VA advance-care-planning tools be both uplifting and useful. Perhaps the debate over health-care reform will give him an opportunity to stress the importance of advance-care planning and the need for family discussions about health-care preferences before a health crisis erupts. Since 1996, when I founded Aging with Dignity, I have witnessed countless sad stories of what happens when individuals don’t make plans in advance. Unfortunately, about four out of every five adult Americans do not have an advance directive. So there is a vast chasm between the rights of self-determination that patients enjoy under federal law and their ability to exercise those rights. President Obama’s health-care-reform effort has been hindered by a provision in the House bill that would have had the government pay for advance-directive discussions with doctors. This provision proved unpopular because most Americans are skeptical about the government’s being involved in the delicate decisions of when to accept or cease medical treatments in times of serious illness. They worry that the government has a conflict of interest because when a patient ceases treatment, the government saves money. That is precisely why the “Your Life, Your Choices” approach at the VA again merits presidential attention. President Obama must permanently shelve “Your Life, Your Choices” and assure the public that the government will be scrupulously neutral when it comes to end-of-life decisionmaking, starting with those who arguably deserve it the most — our veterans.— Jim Towey is president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. He served from 2002 to 2006 as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Email from a friend about self-sustainable community in Bozeman.

yo Jesse, I've noticed a few things on facebook indicating you're a sovereign citizen instead of a dumbed-down subject of mass media and politicians like 90% of folks are. :) so I'm wondering if you're in touch with people in Bozeman who are interested in a community that can sustain itself if/when society breaks down (going off the grid, growing and storing food, etc)? any fan of Ron Paul probably understands Austrian economics, the role of currency, the corruption of the elite criminal syndicate between the repubs and dems and the Fed and their big banker buddies, how they have hollowed out citizens towns and states, and therefore how fragile this country is and how likely it is to breakdown in the next few years.

in the end it will be a wonderful thing as we return to a 19th century, locally based society where global banks don't control everybody's life. but until the adjustment happens, it will be hell and a prepared community will be critical.

so, let me know. Bozeman will be a decent refuge from other areas of the country if things completely breakdown so I've been thinking of moving back there, but only if there are some smart independent citizens who want to become self sufficient.

Will America follow in the way of Iceland?

Thousands of Icelanders demonstrated in Reykjavik on Saturday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde and Central Bank Governor David Oddsson for failing to stop a financial meltdown in the country. Should America do the same thing before things get bad? I've always been a Ron Paul supporter, and I support him all the more and his ideas that would prevent an economic disaster. Island is bankrupt, is America too big to fail. Many say yes, but how can we be so confident? I'm speaking in questions, because our politician say more bailouts is the answer, but most of Americans are speaking against the government bailouts. I'm spending as much money buying silver and gold as possible. All the data points to inflation, yet the dollar is still pretty stable as I'm now writing. (November 25, 2008) When will our dollar weaken, in 1 month, 3 months, or a year? Prices went up 1/3 in two weeks in Iceland. Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping and praying for a sound economy and prosperous times ahead.

Democrats' Stimulus Plan May Reach $700 Billion

However the conservative counterpart can't do any better. Hold on tight, the US dollar will be weaker. Simple economics tells us this, on the other hand if the world economy also stays in a recession, nothing changes in the strength of the dollar. What now? How can we make our country more independent of this global system. I would say localized government is a smarter government, we can still trade with other nations, but the Federal Reserve has got to stop it's utter nonsense.

Lincoln and Obama, would it really be great if they were alike?

For the past several months the media have reported stories of how much President-elect Barack Obama admires the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns-Goodwin, the theme of which is what an incredible political conniver, manipulator and string puller Abraham Lincoln was. Goodwin uses more euphemistic language, but that indeed is the theme of the book by the confessed plagiarist Goodwin.

Of special interest to Obama, according to news reports, is Goodwin’s lavish praise for Lincoln’s supposedly extraordinary "statesmanship" for having appointed former rivals for the Republican nomination, such as William Seward (secretary of state), to his cabinet. As this is being written the media are simply going nuts over the Obama-Lincoln theme in light of all the talk of Hillary Clinton, a "New Yorker" like Seward, possibly being appointed to the post of secretary of state by the new president from Illinois.

There’s one problem with the story about how extraordinary it was for Lincoln to have appointed former political rivals to his cabinet, however: It isn’t true. Many previous presidents did the same thing. Doesn’t it make sense that presidents would look to the most popular politicians within their own party to serve on their cabinets – either to share in their popularity, or to keep a closer eye on them since they were at one time, after all, rivals?

The Handy little Complete Book of U.S. Presidents by William A. Degregorio provides all the relative information on presidential rivals and cabinet choices (and much more). In it we learn that supporters of Secretary of War William Crawford of Georgia gave James Monroe a good battle for his party’s nomination in 1816. After he was elected, Monroe appointed Crawford to the post of secretary of the treasury.

Henry Clay competed with John Quincy Adams during the 1824 election, after which President Adams appointed the Kentuckian as his secretary of state. James Buchanan challenged James Polk for the Democratic Party nomination in 1844, after which President Polk made Buchanan his secretary of state.

William Marcy of New York challenged Franklin Pierce for the Democratic Party nomination in 1852, and later became President Pierce’s secretary of state. And President James Buchanan, Lincoln’s immediate predecessor, appointed his nomination rival Lewis Cass of Michigan as his secretary of state.

Lincoln did appoint four previous rivals to his cabinet, but three of them resigned during the first term, with only Seward staying on. In any event, it is a myth that what Lincoln did with regard to appointing rivals to his cabinet was exceptional, let alone extraordinary.

Currently, there is a raging debate in the ga-ga-over-Obama media over whether they should portray President-elect Obama as "the next FDR" or "the next Lincoln." The lie that FDR "got us out of the Great Depression" is being invoked by the Obama/FDR mythmakers in the media, whereas the cabinet rivalry lie is being invoked in an effort to create the myth of Honest Barack, the ticket splitter from Illinois.

by Thomas J. DiLorenzo