Analysis for Critical Thinkers

These were some notes found by C.R. that were apparently left behind by a Democrat strategist who was rushing to see the latest Michael Moore film. (Ed. note- this is commentary by the oft-acerbic C.R. and not an actual incident. However, we welcome any comments – especially those from people who can provide rational insight into (and especially rebuttal on) the issues mentioned.)

Surrender as soon as possible in Afghanistan. People (voters) get squeamish when Americans are killed by terrorists whose existence Bush lied about anyway. No one cares about terrorists anymore- it is a tired scare tactic from the extreme right wing just to fool people into defending our country. Plus, we need that money to spend on other socialist programs that will create more dependency on Big Government. On a side note, let’s prosecute someone(anyone) from the Bush administration just to show people how stupid he was.

Prosecute terrorist interrogators past and present. We must show the terrorists that we are serious about how stupid the Republicans are.  If the terrorists like us, they will leave us alone and maybe even move to our country! Find some way to stop those 7 damned former CIA heads that keep on complaining about our relentless assault on their intelligence people. But wait, there are no terrorists anyway – it was all a big lie just to get free oil – and they had nothing to do with 9/11!

 Abandon our allies in Eastern Europe. It was all Bush’s fault anyway, whatever the problem was –  and we should use that money to get reelected.

Promote the dream of Global Warming. This catastrophe is vital in our efforts to seize assets from productive people in order to pay for our socialist projects. But let’s agree to not use the word “socialist” when in public.

Under no circumstances allow any discussion of an issue. We are doomed if actual issues are ever debated because our position will collapse under the simplest scrutiny. Instead, call people names to try to get them to defend themselves rather than continue prying into the issues. Suggested names: racist, nazi, evil, greedy, homophobe, stupid, unpatriotic, unAmerican, ignorant, misguided, liars. Change the argument to anything else as quickly as possible.

If someone catches you in a lie and calls you a liar, act indignant,shocked and offended and pass resolutions to punish this sort of rude name calling by these greedy extremists. There can be no place in society for such behavior by these stupid evil Nazi liars.

Go down into Mexico and start bussing tens of thousands of people into the U.S. with the promise of something for nothing. Point out to them how the evil Republicans want to send them home or otherwise deny them free medical care, housing, legal representation, amnesty and any other “right” which they would be willing to accept from us. This will help ensure that whatever the American people and the Constitution say, we will still get reelected, unless the Republicans cheat and steal the election again.

If you raise taxes and seize the assets from 49 percent of the country and give it to the other 51 percent, how can we ever lose an election?

On missile defense – we should be using that money to create more dependency on Big Government and buy the next election. There are no more terrorists because Bush is gone and he was stupid and evil. Everybody loves us now because Obama is a world hero. But just in case somebody does attack us with a nuclear missile, we are covered because we can blame the Bush Administration and the media will support us 100 percent. So don’t let anybody say that we do not have a missile defense strategy.

Conservative talk radio must be stopped at once. We control Big Government now and this is our chance to prohibit any thoughts or ideas contrary to our agenda. It is unpatriotic and un-American to express one’s views if they are different from ours. After all, we won the election – let them get over it! It is hard to simply outlaw talk radio because of the inconvenience of the First Amendment as well as a number of informed voters who are knowledgeable and vocal about that sort of thing. We can however force endless regulations and taxes that will make it practically impossible for these crazies to continue. Or – force people to listen to liberal talk radio. Liberal talk shows have never been successful in the evil free market so we could make it mandatory somehow – like in the public schools!

Regulate the Internet because right now, people have the freedom to express any view that they want. This could adversely affect our agenda. Many young and impressionable future voters may be poisoned by the evil greedy ideas of capitalism and self-sufficiency making our goal of complete dependency on Big Government more difficult to achieve. Consider an outright ban or perhaps a new tax, tariff, surcharge, fee, co-payment,Internet dues, activity charges, per-minute stipend, or mandatory payment. We can say that we’ll use the money for the good of all mankind or something else noble and progressive.

Call everyone a racist. We cannot stand people who prejudge based on generalities and stereotypes – and that is exactly what every single white Conservative Republican does all of the time! The great thing about calling everyone a racist is that they will hopefully forget about the issue in question and instead simply try to uselessly defend themselves against the charges.

Do not get mad. All I ask is that you simply define and defend your position with logic and reason. So write to us! -C.R.

It is interesting to me when I hear adult politicians make statements such as “Everybody knows there is a problem with health care in this country.” In 7th grade, I remember using a similar line in a research paper that I had written. My teacher rejected the statement with red ink and asked me who – specifically – I was talking about and exactly how I was able to come to that conclusion. “Give facts – use footnotes – cite your sources”. Broad unproven generalities did not work for me as a teenager but today we hear so many of them as the politicians of Big Government try to spend more of our money.

It seems that the only thing that people expect of politicians is to have them fight for more money to spend on whatever problem that they care about at the moment. It is common to see celebrities or special interest groups say or do things to “raise awareness” about a particular problem. The hope, of course, is to try to get laws passed to force someone else to pay for it all. It really doesn’t matter if the people are in fact “aware” as long as they will be paying for it.

All of this talk and rhetoric about “solving” the perceived problems with health care is really all about money and who should pay it.  For the people who have enough money, there is no problem since they can either buy medical insurance or pay for their own medical care. People who do not have enough money may find themselves taking advantage of Big Government bureaucracies and programs that already exist.  Still, there are apparently those who believe that “something” needs to be done – meaning that more money should be taken from…somewhere.

Even if it is agreed that “something” needs to be done, should it be the job of Big Government? They, of course, are the only ones who have become powerful enough to seize the assets of the citizens with the force of law so it is no wonder that people would use that route. But couldn’t we do “something” without Big Government?

If it is Big Government that you believe to be your saviour once again, let us look at how this would work. I would use specifics however no specifics actually exist regarding the Big Health Care Takeover. Whatever drafts and proposals exist in the various branches of Big Government, no one has actually read the whole thing – or understood it – or really explained it to the skeptics whose money would be seized to pay for it.

Apparently, a certain amount of money is being spent on health care each year in the United States. This money gives a certain level of quality to certain individuals. Some individuals get better quality than others. Some areas get better quality than others. Some people need more medical care than others. Different people are currently paying different amounts for this system, such as it is. Some people pay nothing into the system yet will still not be turned away at emergency rooms anywhere in the country. Some people pay a lot into the system but need nothing from it. Some people could pay into the system but they choose not to because they are young and healthy or perhaps they just don’t want to. Whatever flaws you may perceive in this system, that is what it is.

The proposal to “fix” the system, in broad terms, is to increase the amount of people that would get health care while at the same time, reduce the cost. But reduce the cost to whom? As it is, there are people who pay nothing yet they get medical care. How can this be done? Here are some possibilites and some actual proposals to give everybody health care but at the same time, make it cheaper:

– Require doctors to charge less. This is a nice way to discourage anyone from becoming a doctor in the future. It would be nice if we could simply portray these doctors as greedy and move on, but it of course just makes them be the ones to pay for your vision of Utopia. I’ll take a rich greedy doctor anytime that knows that he better be good to make me want to come back to him.

–Stop greedy insurance companies- It is so common nowadays for private companies to be called greedy when they make a profit. It is apparently forgotten that profit was the sole purpose of starting a company in the first place. Profit is good for companies! They can hire people and pay taxes and stuff. Competition is good too because now we can see which company can give us the best quality for the least cost. The Big Government “public option” is ridiculous because they plan on running at a loss. As a private company, how can you compete with Big Government who not only can run at a loss each year (just raise taxes and force people to keep it afloat!) but they are also the ones to make and to enforce endless regulations against any competition?

–Seize more money from rich people. This has become the standard operating procedure for Big Government for almost any perceived problem. Of course, the more you do this, the more people wind up falling into what you need to consider “rich.” Who cares, people say, until you yourself find yourself in the “rich” category. This also contradicts the premise that Big Goivernment will be making the health system better for cheaper.

–Cut down on waste and fraud. It has been claimed that this alone would pay for everything that ails us. If that is the case, we do not need another 1000 page Health Care bill. There must already be laws that would stop this fraud and waste. Enforce them. Unless perhaps Big Government needs to establish new guidelines for what is considered “waste” in health care.

–Print more money so that we can buy more stuff. This Monopoly-money strategy is what causes inflation and devaluation of the U.S. dollar. So does planting money trees. It is a fantasy that you can solve a lack of funds with the strok of a pen.

–Limit the medical care available. Although the actual words “rationing” and “death panels” may in fact not be in any proposed legislation, one can surely save money by denying people medical care that is deemed to be wasteful or too expensive by a Big Government bureaucrat.

You cannot get better health care that covers more people and have it cost less. You can only either ration the care or make certain people pay more. Seizing the assets of one group of people to give benefits to another group of people is unconstitutional tyranny. Big Government bureaucracy is not the answer, especially when no one really knows what exactly the question was in the first place.