Finest Links in all of Christendom

Jo-Joe Politico starts with a post questioning whether we can afford to go green. It includes this unsettling fact, “According to a study from King Juan Carlos University in Madrid, Spain, for every "green" job created trying to generate energy from windmills and solar panels, 2.2 jobs were lost.” Then Joe has a post titled ‘Is This A Christian Nation.’ And along the same lines is a post about Jefferson’s religious views. Jefferson did not believe in miracles or in the divinity of Jesus but he was not a Deist either (though I think you could accurately say that he was within micrometers of being a Deist). Joe’s piece sets out where Jefferson stood with a number of quotes from his writings. This post about Jefferson seems to have arisen from a disagreement in the comments section. If Joe disagrees with you he won’t get nasty or personal: he gets all factual and logical. He is a teacher and his writing exudes harmony. He has the deep down calming effect of a man who knows clearly what he believes and knows what his purpose in life is. He’s a veritable Balm of Gilead for the net. He has also added some great music to his site.
Pundit and Pundette has a wide ranging post that starts with them attending an, “event [that] was teeming with large families and right wing extremism of all sorts.” The speaker believes, “"Live baby, good -- dead baby, bad." Something of a no-brainer.” They were at a commencement ceremony at a small Catholic college and the speaker was Jude Dougherty. Then the post moves to the demonstrations planned for Notre Dame and some discussion of the abortion issue. P & P also have a good post about the Uyghurs and our right to bare arms unrelated to the second amendment.
And So It Goes In Shreveport posts about conservative dissatisfaction with Charlie Crist. A money quote: “"Charlie Crist goes all wobbly in the knees every time he hears Barack Obama's voice.” (You had me puking at ‘knees’) Pat also has a post about Mitt Romney’s speech at the NRA convention. I called my father yesterday and in the middle of the conversation I was searching through Pat’s old posts for this one about Louisiana’s HonorAir program. It seems that when I reached my Dad he was on one of their buses in DC on the way to the WWII memorial. The program was set up to take the WWII vets to see the new WWII memorial in the capital. My father loved it. He even became tearful when talking about how kind they were to him and the other vets (my father has never been shy about crying, usually happy tears; my Mom used to tease him mercilessly about it but I think she actually loved him more because if it). My father fought in the Pacific and he inculcated in me great reverence for American exceptionalism. He’s a Stevenson Democrat but all through my childhood I can remember him saying with great conviction that only in America could someone like him expect to have so great a life. I am grateful to HonorAir for doing this for my Dad.
Jane Q. Republican has an accurate haiku about Nancy Pelosi. Then she has a post about some strange goings on at the White House. Quick summary is: Obama claimed health care industry spokesmen promised colossal savings but the spokesmen deny saying what the Prez said then a White House spokesgirl said the Prez ‘misspoke’ only to deny that there had been a misspeaking within the hour. Jane Q., of course makes it clearer than I did.

Tales From Socialized Medicine

". . . a report into at Mid-Staffordshire Hospitals trust found up to 1,200 people may have died needlessly due to “appalling standards of care” at a single hospital." Stop the ACLU has a great post about this ugly situation in just one out-of-control hospital. The good news, the people most likely to die in these inevitable bouts of failure, seniors, are also some of the least likely to vote Democrat.

Uncle Jay

ht/Important Stuff -- Or Not

At This Late Date We Should Expect Michael Moore To Start Telling The The Truth ??

ht/Wake Up Conservatives!

Dwindling Support for Wide Ranging Health Care Reform

Copied and pasted from Maggie's Farm
This survey also suggests that as in the past early support for a number of reform proposals could fade in the face of arguments that opponents might raise in a public debate. For example, seven in ten Americans (71%) say they favor the idea of employer mandates. But when given the argument often made by critics that this may cause some employers to lay off some workers support falls dramatically, to just under three in ten (29%). The same pattern holds on the topic of individual mandates. Roughly two in three (67%) favor requiring all Americans to have health insurance with help for those who could not afford it. When given the criticism that some people may be required to buy health insurance they find too expensive or do not want, support falls to two in ten (19%).

Americans seem most concerned that any health care plan not raise their costs or involve government limiting or dictating their choices. According to the survey, nearly two-thirds (65%) say they would be less likely to support a plan that would get the government get too involved in personal health care decisions, more than six in ten (61%) would be less likely to support a plan that increases people’s insurance premiums or out-of-pocket costs, and more than half (56%) would be less supportive of a plan that limits an individual’s choice in doctors.

“As we have learned from past debates, public support looms for health reform largest at the beginning of the debate, but it's relatively easy to chip away at that support with arguments about tradeoffs,” said Mollyann Brodie, Kaiser vice president and director for Public Opinion and Survey Research.

HT/Maggie's Farm

What are the Chances Health Care Will Be Reformed

There is about zero chance the next president will reform health care. When I hear this much talk about health care reform I know it's election time. The democrats all have a 'plan.' But the amount of money they take from insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies make their words ring hallow.When Bill Clinton ran the first time he talked endlessly about reforming health care. When he was elected he turned the whole thing over to Hillary. She formed a task force and then refused to allow the public any knowledge of or input into their deliberations. (I suppose this authoritarian style is what we can expect from a Hillary presidency.) Her final plan was too complex to be understood. And congress didn't even seriously consider it. If she had not wanted reform, one of the most certain roads to that outcome would have been exactly what she had done. The Clintons never again mentioned health care reform. And the failure to achieve reform did not seem to have ever caused any sadness to anyone in that administration. And why would they care since they all had good health insurance (I got to pay for it). The Clintons campaigning on health care reform was just a cold, calculated come on to get votes. They got the votes, put on a little act and then returned to their normal lives. As long as K Street finances our elections there will be no meaningful health care reform. But politicians will continue to make empty promises.