John's Blog

President Obama and the big Democratic majority in Congress seem hell bent on shoving government run health care down our throats. They have been forced to make a "tactical retreat" and they won't get their health care bills through by Obama's end of month deadline, but make no mistake about it, they will be back with a vengeance in September in an attempt to wrap up what they've started.

And if they succeed in passing government run health care for all, what can we expect? Well, we need to look no further than Medicare, the government run health care for senior citizens that we already have to see where we are going with this. The fact is that Medicare is a multibillion dollar boondoggle that is running out of money and may soon crash and burn without an infusion of billions if not trillions of dollars that the government doesn't have. And yet the Democrats want to force such a dysfunctional system on all of the rest of us.

Medicare is a disaster. A lot of physicians will not accept patients with Medicare because Medicare does pay high enough reimbursements. How can doctors accept Medicare when they lose money on each Medicare patient? The answer is that either they refuse to treat patients on Medicare or they pass their losses from Medicare patients on to everyone else, and that greatly contributes to the high cost of medical care.

As I said on this blog before, government involvement in health care is one of the main causes of the high cost of medical care in America. So it stands to reason that if government gets even more involved with what is tantamount to a total government takeover of health care, it will only make things worse.

Do you want medical decisions to be between you and your doctor, or do you want a government bureaucrat making those decisions? Again, let's take Medicare for an example. One common complaint of Medicare Part D participants is that if their doctor prescribes them a drug, Medicare won't necessarily cover the drug if some bureaucrat doesn't want to pay for it. There we have it. It's a clear case of how the government comes between patient and doctor, and it's happening now with Medicare. And yet that nightmare scenario is what the Democrats want to bring to all of us.

There can be only one solution to the high coast of medical care. Government needs to get out of the way and let the markets take over. Free market reforms can bring down the cost of medical care, and controlling costs is the only long term solution to our health care crisis. Getting the government more involved and placing taxpayers and future generations even more on the hook is the exact opposite of what we really need to solve this crisis.

I don't know if a Democrat lead takeover of health care can be stopped or not. If it is not stopped, there will be no turning back later. Again take Medicare for an example. Even though Medicare costs continue to spiral out of control, it's too late to do anything about it now because the Medicare system has reached it's tentacles everywhere and there is no way to excise it now. If a total government takeover of medical care happens, sometime down the road when we finally realize that it was a mistake, by then it will be too late to do anything about it just like in the case of Medicare. So the time to stop a government takeover is now.

Obama's shoddy treatment of Israel is getting noticed and many people in the Jewish State don't like it.

Calling on Israel to simply say "no" to US pressure to freeze settlement activity and to divide the capital, close to a thousand people rallied outside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem home Monday evening.

http://www.jpost.com/

Demonstrators on Monday called upon Bibi Netanyahu to stand up to the pressure being applied by the Obama Administration to halt the natural expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. If Obama has his way, a Jewish family wouldn't even be allowed to add a bedroom to their existing house if they have a new baby and need more space. That is just ridiculous and the demonstrators are very justified.

Of course we all know that Obama's long term goal is to drive Israel completely out of it's ancestral home on the West Bank which it won fair and square during the Six Day War. The Obama would allow the formation of a hostile Palestinian state on the West Bank which would be in a position to thrust a dagger into the heart of Israel. We Americans who support Israel cannot allow that morbid scenario to happen.

The Jerusalem Post article pointed out that Israel has stood up to American pressure before.

David Ben-Gurion founded Israel in spite of American pressure... Menachem Begin destroyed Osirak in spite of American opposition, and Yitzhak Shamir rejected American demands to stop construction.

Now it's time for Bibi to follow in the footsteps of those great Israeli leaders of the past and let Obama know that Israel is a sovereign state and does not accept orders from Obama or everyone else.

Yes, Israel has been the recipient of American foreign aid, and I hope that it continues. But if Obama threatens to cut that aid off if Israel does not kowtow to him, Israel should call his bluff. Israel has one of the strongest and most professional militarizes in the whole world, and they could hold out indefinitely even if Obama were to cut them off.

And if that were to happen, Obama would surely be a one term president. In fact, he might very well be impeached by Israeli supporters in Congress. So let's see if Obama turns out to be foolish enough to try that.

And in the meantime, Israel should thumb it's nose at Obama and continue to build in the West bank.

This video is right on. Obama’s health care plan will destroy the economy and ruin the health care service in this country. There is no way a government run program can allocate limited resources the way the free market can. The current state of health care proves the point. Government meddling in health care has only made it worse and now Obama wants to go full speed into a complete government takeover.

Get your hands off my health care!

It slaps America in the face. It rewards those that did not care/do not care about their health or their job. They get FREE health care while everyone else pays for it. It takes away our freedom to choose what we want. We will end up paying for abortions for innocent children. Obama's health care plan is a disgrace to America and everything we once believed in.

If you want to bring down health care costs, get the government the hell out of health care and let the free market take over. Unfettered market forces will force down health care costs for everybody.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027024.php

Iraq has a centuries old Christian community which lately has been under siege. Fifty-eight bombings of Christian churches in the past five years have placed tremendous stress upon the Iraqi Christian community and have caused a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq.

Seven Iraqi churches bombed in 48 hours.

A church in Mosul became the seventh Iraqi church bombed over the course of just 48 hours.

At least three children were injured in the latest attack, caused by a car bomb that exploded near the church in eastern Mosul, according to CNN.

Around 7 p.m. the night before, a car bomb had exploded near the Virgin Mary Church in east Baghdad as worshippers left Sunday mass, killing at least four – three Christians and one Muslim – and injuring another 32.

Several hours earlier on Sunday, three bombs had exploded around other Baghdad churches that injured eight people.

The latest string of church bombings started midnight Saturday, when two bombs exploded at a church in western Baghdad that damaged the building but did not injure anyone.

In total, seven churches – including six Baghdad-area churches – were bombed within 48 hours.

It's no wonder that more than half of Iraq's Christians have fled their country since the start of the war. The followers of the religion of peace as Obama calls it don't seem to care about what happens to their Christian brothers and sisters. Can you imagine the uproar that would ensue if that many mosques were bombed? And of course there should be outrage, but where is the outrage over the bombings of Iraqi Christian churches?

God help the few Christians left in Iraq after the US completes it's military pullout. Of course I hope and pray that I am wrong about this, but it wouldn't surprise me if there is a blood bath.

What can be done about the plight of Christians in Iraq? I am afraid that not much can be done especially as long as a sympathizer of Islam such as Obama sits on the White House. I am not suggesting that Obama condones violence against Christians in Iraq, but will he try to do something about it, or will he stay silent so that he does not offend his Muslim friends?

We Americans have got to make it clear to Obama that we want Christians in Iraq protected at all costs. Maybe if we turn up the heat on him he will finally do something. After all, he is a sneaky politician, and if he sees a large number of voters angry over the violence against Christians in Iraq perhaps then he will take action.

Edit - To be fair, I just saw this and I thought I had better add it.

Trenches to protect Iraqi Christians

Will they be trenches or mass graves? Only time will tell.

My BS meter went off when I heard that claim.

John Boehner said it best. Here he is in this YouTube video.



And if you think it's bad now, just wait until the Obama Administration has even more time to screw things up. After all, they have only been in office for a few months. God help us.

Bibi Netanyahu is showing that he is no pushover.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would not take orders over Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, rejected on Sunday a U.S. demand to halt plans to build more homes for Jews in the disputed area.

You have got to respect someone in Bibi's shoes who stands up to tremendous pressure and refuses to compromise on core beliefs. He believes that a united Jerusalem must be the capital of Israel, and he is not going to take no for an answer. Barack Obama may well have met his match in Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Even Joe Biden has acknowleged that sovereign Israel has a right to conduct her own affairs. But this of course is not what much of the American left wants to hear. If the left has it's way, Israel will be neutered and Hamas will have free reign in Palestine.

And in the meantime, Obama wants Israel to suspend all construction on settlements in the so-called West Bank, including East Jerusalem. If Bibi were to go along with that he would be capitulating to the foes of Israel who do not want to see a Jewish Sate occupying historical Jewish land in the Middle east. Without the whole of Jerusalem, the dream of an independent Jewish state in the Middle East will be incomplete. Jerusalem has always been the capital of Israel and it always will be.

So I vigorously applaud Bibi for standing up to Obama. The Prime Minister is going to have to continue such a course for at least the next three and one half years since if is becoming increasingly obvious that there is no friend of Israel in the White House. The great tradition of American bipartisan support of Israel started by Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower is being threatened by a man who was raised attending Muslim schools in a Muslim Country.

To be sure, Israel continues to enjoy broad support from the American people. Unfortunately however the people are focused on the economy and health care right now, so I think that Obama might try to pull a fast one and withdraw US support for Israel while nobody is noticing.

We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said, calling the city Israel's united capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

"I can only imagine what would happen if someone would suggest Jews could not live in certain neighborhoods of New York, London, Paris or Rome. There would certainly be a great international outcry," he (Bibi)told reporters at the weekly cabinet meeting. "We cannot accept this edict in Jerusalem."

What a relief is is to find a world leader who actually has the courage of his convictions. Regrettably, we Americans cannot say the same about our current president. This has got to change in 2012.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56I12020090719

This is scary.

Say this about the 1,018-page health-care bill that House Democrats unveiled this week and that President Obama heartily endorsed: It finally reveals at least some of the price of the reckless ambitions of our current government. With huge majorities and a President in a rush to outrun the declining popularity of his agenda, Democrats are bidding to impose an unrepealable European-style welfare state in a matter of weeks.

Mr. Obama's February budget provided the outline, but the House bill now fills in the details. To wit, tax increases that would take U.S. rates higher even than most of Europe. Yet even those increases aren't nearly enough to finance the $1 trillion in new spending, which itself is surely a low-ball estimate. Meanwhile, the bill would create a new government health entitlement that will kill private insurance and lead to a government-run system.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124779717982855785.html

The article is correct. The Dems who control Congress are working with the Obama Administration to take us to a point of no return as a nation where many things that we have stood for will be thrown out the window. And what is left will be an unsustainable amount of federal spending that will at first make us a European style socialist state, and then later it will totally bankrupt and destroy us.

This is what the ignorant voters brought us last November. If it weren't for the fact that this is my country too I would say they (the voters) are merely getting what they deserve for such stupidity.

Since when does this country of freedom adopts a tax rate that is higher than most of Europe? Just think about it. Small businesses provide most of the employment in this country, and under the plan being pushed by the Democrats high taxes will drive many of these small businesses out of business, and if you think unemployment is high now just wait. You "ain't seen nothin' yet."

As I have said time and again, the so-called "health reform" being trotted out by the Democrats will only make things worse. It won't fix our health care system. Instead it will put a final nail in the coffin.

Congress's chief budget scorekeeper cast a new cloud over Democratic efforts to overhaul the nation's health-care system, telling lawmakers Thursday that the main proposals being considered would fail to contain costs -- one of the primary goals -- and could actually worsen the problem of rapidly escalating medical spending.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124775966602252285.html

So we will soon have the worst of both worlds. The price of medical care will continue to escalate to the point where only the rich can afford it while at the same time we get an unsustainable type of European style socialized medicine that will transform this country from one with the best medical care in the world to a country with third world level health care.

Is this what you the American people want? Well, it's probably too late now and you are going to get it whether you like it or not. And in the process this great nation, or perhaps I should say this "formerly" great nation will continue it's downward spiral.

When Obama threw out the first pitch at last night's all-star game, a chorus of boos greeted him. I thought it was funny. I thought that he was supposed to be a popular president, but perhaps the luster has worn off already. Are the American people finally beginning to see the real Barack Obama?

And what is really funny is that when George W. Bush appeared in a pregame video, he received a thunderous ovation. The comparison could not have been more obvious. Isn't Bush the unpopular one? That's what the left wing media would have you believe, but it looks like they won't be able to prop up Obama much longer. While most of the media bends over backwards to kiss Obama's ass, the American people know better. It was just last Thursday that I pointed out that Obama's approval index is going down. It now stands at -7 which is amazing considering the fact that it wasn't too long ago that it was better than +20.

The way things are going, I expect to see things getting worse and worse for Obama as time goes by. He is trying to shove a multi-trillion dollar health care boondoggle down our throats that will inevitably result in tax increases on almost all working people. Of course the welfare crowd that gets money from the government and pays no taxes will love it, but the average American as always will get the shaft.

And if you think that they will be able to improve the general state of health care in this country, think again. The government can't run anything right. If they get control of your health care, you'd better watch out. We will all be in a world of hurt then. If you think that health care has problems now, wait until Obama and friends have a chance to screw with it.

Obama is well on his way to sending this country to a train wreck. The federal deficit will be going through the roof to levels even unheard of during the previous administration. And just you wait. The same liberals who were screaming that Bush's deficits were too high won't even let out a peep when Obama does Bush one better when it comes to the deficit.

We are in a big mess and Obama and his cronies are making it worse every day. The 2012 election when we can get rid of him won't come soon enough.

I thought I had better update everybody about Obama's latest outrage.

http://article.nationalreview.com/

The release of the “Irbil Five” is happening while Iran still conducts operations against Americans in Iraq. Obama's release of the “Irbil Five” to be able to return to the battlefield and kill more Americans is inexcusable, and it's the latest indication that we have found ourselves with an appeaser as President of the United States.

There are a few things you need to know about President Obama’s shameful release on Thursday of the “Irbil Five” — Quds Force commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who were coordinating terrorist attacks in Iraq that have killed hundreds — yes, hundreds — of American soldiers and Marines.

First, of the 4,322 Americans killed in combat in Iraq since 2003, 10 percent of them (i.e., more than 400) have been murdered by a single type of weapon alone, a weapon that is supplied by Iran for the singular purpose of murdering Americans. As Steve Schippert explains at NRO’s military blog, the Tank, the weapon is “the EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator), designed by Iran’s IRGC specifically to penetrate the armor of the M1 Abrams main battle tank and, consequently, everything else deployed in the field.” Understand: This does not mean Iran has killed only 400 Americans in Iraq. The number killed and wounded at the mullahs’ direction is far higher than that — likely multiples of that — when factoring in the IRGC’s other tactics, such as the mustering of Hezbollah-style Shiite terror cells.

Second, President Bush and our armed forces steadfastly refused demands by Iran and Iraq’s Maliki government for the release of the Irbil Five because Iran was continuing to coordinate terrorist operations against American forces in Iraq (and to aid Taliban operations against American forces in Afghanistan). Freeing the Quds operatives obviously would return the most effective, dedicated terrorist trainers to their grisly business.

Obama took an oath to protect the American people. He has violated that oath.

Here is an update to yesterday's article. According to Scott Rasmussen, Obama's presidential approval index rating has gone down three more points since yesterday to –8.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/

Yes, I realize that a three point swing in just one day might not be that statistically significant, but the point is that the trend is down, not up.

Of course it remains to be seen if this downward trend will continue or not, but I strongly suspect that it will.

And Obama's public image isn't helped by news reported by the New York Daily News that on her trip to Russia with her husband, Michelle carried a $5,950 purse. Of course, as expected, the White House has denied the story, but something like this doesn't look good when so many Americans are struggling to make ends meet due to the severe recession that we are in. Mrs. Obama could try to be a bit more sensitive it seems to me. She doesn't need any expensive purse like that. If she has the spare change to buy something like that, instead she should be donating that money to charity, not flaunting her new found wealth and status. Did the Obama's get into office so that they could help this country, or are they in it for themselves just like most other politicians are? So much for "change we can believe in." LOL.

Voter disapproval of Obama hits new high

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –5.

According to Scott Rasmussen, Obama's approval rating continues it's nosedive. The American people seem to be finally catching on. He may have once been thought of as a messiah, but now he is more like a pariah.

One thing after another is piling up on Obama's desk and there don't seem to be any solutions. His trip to Russia was an abject failure with no meaningful agreements made. Yes, there was an agreement to reduce nuclear warheads, but that was simply an extension of an agreement forged by President Bush. Obama hasn't come up with anything new there. And as I have been pointing out in other articles, Obama's foreign policy in general is a disaster. He is siding with dictators and terrorists against our ally Israel and against the democratic aspirations of the people of Honduras.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to get worse and worse with no end in sight to the Obama recession. The so-called stimulus bill that Obama rammed down our throats has made things worse, not better. And now to top if off many Democrats wants to make things even worse yet by passing another multi billion dollar boondoggle which would increase our national debt all the more.

Then there is the cap and trade provision recently passed by Obama's friends and allies in the House that will cost thousands upon thousands of American jobs.

Look for Obama's popularity to continue to nosedive unless or until he reverses some of his wrong headed policies. But don't hold your breath on that one folks. The far left liberal in Obama won't let him. We are in for a rough ride for the next three and one half years.

Conservatives have got to continue their effort to inform the American people about all of the damage that Obama is doing. As things continue to get worse and worse, as our economy collapses, and as our foreign policy becomes a laughing stock, we need to make it perfectly clear where the blame lies.

The legal Honduran government did not let would be leftist dictator Manuel Zelaya return to Honduras today. That was the correct thing to do. As I have already pointed out, the change in government there was legal and was sanctioned by the country's supreme court. There is no need for Zelaya to return. The government should not bow to pressure from Zelaya's leftist allies such as Chavez and Obama. The people of Honduras need to stand firm for democracy.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/

Update - Hillary Clinton is going to meet with Zelaya and Zelaya is going to try again to return to Honduras. I wonder how this is all going to end. I hope that the people of Honduras have the fortitude to stand up for the best interest of their country, which would be to at all costs avoid taking their country in the same direction Venezuela has gone.

This is what Senator DeMint of South Carolina said in a statement yesterday about the situation in Honduras.

The people of Honduras have struggled too long to have their hard-won democracy stolen from them by a Chavez-style dictator. The Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, and the Honduran military have acted in accordance to the Honduran constitution and the rule of law.

I am hopeful that as President Obama grows in office, he will eventually turn away from despots like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, and Zelaya, and give the United States' full-throated support to the people of any country who are fighting for the same values we cherish and defend in America. The people fighting for freedom around the world, in Iran and Honduras, should never have to wonder which side America will choose between freedom and tyranny.

President Obama's call for the reinstatement of Zelaya is a slap in the face to the people of Honduras. And the resolution written by the Organization of American States tramples over the hopes and dreams of a free and democratic people.

The rule of law is working in Honduras. President Obama should not undermine the democratic institutions that guarantee freedom by forcing an illegitimate President back into power.

That is almost exactly what I said word for word on this blog last Monday. (Link) It's almost as if Senator DeMint read my article and got the idea for his statement.

It's gratifying that at least one person in a position of authority agrees with me that Obama is wrong in supporting leftist dictators while opposing the democratic aspirations of the people of Honduras.