Lol...

I fear that Obama's penchant for government intervention will have us in a permanent depression at least until he is removed from office somehow. Stimulus plans will only worsen our economic troubles but Obama will never understand such a thing.

Sometimes I think we'd be well served to kick Illinois out of the country.

I am of the belief that Michael's death was in the best interest of him and his family.

If we move to kick IL out of the country, please make sure to extract me and mine!

The Fail Train keeps chuggin' along!

*shaking head* We need a bailout for the bailouts.

Great post, Bro!!!

@JJ_Ames - 

Ala pulling Lot's family out of Sodom and Gommorah before the brimstone rain, eh?

More bailouts... I am now convinced Obama is purposely tanking our economy. Really. I just can't believe he could be that completely stupid.

Disgruntled Californians are asking why taxpayers should pay for Michael Jackson's memorial. The state is looking at a 24 billion dollar debt, and are needing to pinch some pennies. The Jackson memorial cost about 1.4 million dollars, but the total could come out to be more like 4 million.

GOOD NEWS: Michael Jackson was a multi-millionaire, which means he paid as many millions in taxes as he had in earnings after taxes. California certainly benefited from his residence. They also would have made money from tourism as a result of the memorial service that brought fans from around the globe. The state should have to pay for the memorial.

BAD NEWS: Michael Jackson died with $400 million in debt, and the state is suffering from that. The funeral for a man burried in a golden casket was carried in movie theaters and broadcast worldwide. Someone made some bank off of this thing. Someone else should have to pay for it.

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The President has said that the nearly $1 trillion stimulus package "has worked as intended" responding to criticism that the program has failed to rescue the economy.

GOOD NEWS: This is just the beginning. The President has only been in office for about six months. Give it some time. It takes a while to see any effects from the $43 billion in tax relief given to American families and businesses. Even though that claim from the President only amounts to 5% of the stimulus package.

BAD NEWS: This is just the beginning. This president has already spent more money than every American president in history. Who has to pay the bill on a $1 trillion stimulus package for America? Gasp! Americans do! Of course! "Hey, why didn't someone mention that in a meeting somewhere? Find them and blame them for not speaking up." This is going to get much worse. What goes around comes around.

One thing about economic stimulus ... like a drug, it's addictive. Seriously ... a drug addict is used to thinking about his "high" as the new normal. So when the drug wears off, he needs another hit to keep "normal" going.

Eventually the Federal government is going to have to learn what we as citizens are already painfully aware ... you can't keep charging your credit card and carrying a balance. At some point, you have to scale down your standard of living so you can pay off the debt. And when you do, it's going to pinch. There's just no avoiding it.

We need a government that stops thinking of itself as a provider of services. Here's a good place to start: make health insurance like car insurance.

With car insurance, (1) the car owner is required to obtain a minimum level of liability-only coverage in order to protect other people, (2) car owners have the option of obtaining better-than-minimum coverage if they want to pay for it, (3) the insurance is purchased from a private-sector company, where competition keeps prices down, (4) since there is no government-option for having car insurance, none of the potential clients are siphoned away from the private sector, which is important because if there aren't enough customers there won't be enough companies pursuing their business.

So, my proposed solution: (1) establish a uniform baseline for minimum healthcare insurance, and require it for anyone expecting emergency-room care, and (4) abolish the current Medicare/Medicaid system (with its associated taxes). This would require some kind of transition plan, but that's just a hurdle not a wall. Steps (2) and (3) are already in place, except that the existence of Medicare and Medicaid keeps the pool of customers low, thus preventing effective competition.

There are, of course, those who can't imagine life without government "protecting" them. They can be consoled by the fact that a healthcare insurance company, like any other insurance company, is regulated by the state government to keep the companies in line. And some will say "everyone should be entitled to good healthcare insurance", or it's little-brother variant "it's cruel to deny treatment to people who can't afford it". Well, is everyone entitled to good car insurance? If you like your good health, insure it. If they think their premiums are too high, then just like car insurance they can accept lower coverages or do something to remove risk factors ... like put down the tobacco and booze, or pick up the fork less and pick up the barbells more.