(no subject)

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

ObamaCare, broken down via implementation date, via Reddit. I thought it was interesting.


( Cut because, just like the law, its damn long. )

And a follow-up post which--quite unintentionally--illustrates what's so wrong with this law.


( Moar cuts for length! )

Thread. If you go there, brace yourselves.

This accords perfectly with observation

[writerspleasure.livejournal.com]

And I'd be very interested to see the esteemed members of liberal, sf_drama, and rant_about_cons address it.

I've observed before that the Left constructs their sense of identity and quells their worry and self-doubt through a ferocious devotion to the idea that they, and they alone, are purely devoted to pure caretaking, compassion, and empathy - and that anything that threatens that image is subject to fear, rejection, hate, and insult. Their online behavior surely shows this.

And now ... I quote:

In a new study, the Pew Center for the Internet and American Life Project [found that] 16% of liberals admitted to blocking, unfriending or overtly hiding someone on a social networking site because that person expressed views they disagreed with. That's double the percentage of conservatives and more than twice the percentage of political moderates who behaved like that. The proportion jumps even higher when someone on a social site disagrees with a liberal's post. Only 1% of moderates would block or shut out someone who dared to disagree with them, compared to 11% of liberals, whose rate was nearly three times that of conservatives. The same 11% of liberals would block or unfriend people who offended them by daring to argue about political issues, vs 6% and 7% for other political views. Liberals (14%) even blocked or shut out those they deemed posted too frequently on politics, vs 8% and 9% for moderates and conservatives, respectively. - Of those who dropped or shunned someone over political disagreements, Pew asked a follow-up question: -- 21% of them blocked, unfriended or hid a coworker, -- 31% blocked, unfriended or hid a (formerly) close personal friend, -- and 18% blocked, unfriended or hid an actual family member. - http://news.investors.com/article/604124/201203130802/pew-center-study-of-american-online-habits.htm

(no subject)

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

What has your local news coverage of the ObamaCare decision been like? 

Mine has been skeptical in the verbal discussion, but all of the "stories" shared, its always these depressing stories of people who can't afford their own insurance for one reason or another and these emotional stories are what people pay attention to, not the talking heads.

Its really bothering me how unbalanced the coverage is. When the news shows a story about a toddler whose parents can't afford a life-saving operation, of course that is going to get sympathy and make ObamaCare look good since these people will now somehow be covered because Obama said so.

They just did this on my local newscast - went from a sob story about how ObamaCare is going to make this family's life better directly to some talking heads: two local doctors, one pro and one against. The Doctor Pro basically highlighted one of ObamaCare's (and the health system in general's) biggest flaws as a good thing: she said that ObamaCare will force all of the young and healthy into subsidizing the healthcare of the elderly and ill by making them purchase a product they don't even need, all while magically reducing costs (even as costs immediately go up). Doctor Con tried to point out how the entire law was pie in the sky denial of reality but there just wasn't enough time between the puff piece and Doctor Pro. 

I know we'll continue to see more of the "fluff" and less of the bad things as time goes on and Americans are slowly indoctrinated into believing they're being sold a miracle potion instead of snake oil. 

Obamacare and Sci-fi

[theglen.livejournal.com]

I was looking at Roberts' opinion on Obamacare, and I noticed a lot of flaws in the ruling.  The law now has noticeable and exploitable weaknesses, including us needing only 51 votes in the senate to kill it dead.  Justice Roberts put a cap on the Commerce clause and turned Obamacare into a tax.  Maybe this is wishful thinking, maybe I'm reading more into that I should, but maybe Roberts is pulling his own power play.  Obama ignores rulings and laws he doesn't like.  I know this, you guys know this.  Court says no, Obama just makes his own rulings and his own law.  The only way to stop him is to get rid of him.  Roberts may have just taken one for the team just for that.

There was a sci-fi story I read as a kid long time ago.  The bad guy had a good guy captured and trapped.  The villain told the the hero that he was powerless and nothing he could do would even stop the evil plan from going forward.  The hero said there was one thing he could do.  The villain taunted him with "What?". 

The hero lit a flare.  The waiting heroic army saw the flare and hit the villain with every gun they had, killing the villain and hero at the same time.  The hero saved his people at the cost of himself.

Roberts has lit a fire under the Right like nobody else could have.  We are angry, we are pissed and we are coming.  Romney is going into the White House come January if we have to physically drag him across the doorstep.  Obama has been tied to the biggest tax increase of all time.  He is tied to this monstrosity and it will be his downfall.  If and when Obama is thrown out of office his tax will be still fresh on the lips of the people that vote him out.  None of that would have happened without Roberts.  Whether he turns out to be hero or villian, he is the catalyst behind us now. 

To go back to an allusion, I hope I speak as Dilios, the Spartan storyteller that had to tell people that Leonidas being wiped out was a great victory for the Spartans.  That his sacrifice became a rallying cry that brought true victory.  If I'm like the Persian emissary talking about victory and demanding surrender, then somebody stab me now.

The current administration has committed egregious violations that have happened before, then we put them on the list of beefs that became our Declaration of Independence.  Today Roberts stood next to the most corrupt administration in our time and lit a flare letting us see it for what it is..  You know what to do next.