Postage And Health Care Increases Show a World Apart

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In a short tale of two completely different worlds, I've always thought the complaints and criticisms of high costs and mismanagement towards the U.S Post office were unfair compared to the bonuses for failure issued in the free markets, particularly towards the exponentially skyrocketing premiums in the health care industry over the past ten years.

Consumer Watchdog Excerpt:
Over the past 10 years, premiums have risen 131 percent while wages have increased just 38 percent. In that time, inflation has gone up 28 percent.

In 1999, the cost of a U.S postage Stamp was 33 cents. Over the same 10-year period covering health care increases in the above chart, the cost of postage incrementally rose to 44 cents by May 2009, an increase of 33% which also turns out to be a reasonable medium between wage and price inflation.

In a imaginary scenario between the two industries swapping premium increases, if the HC industry lived by the modest cost/price standards of the nationalized U.S. Post Office, the $5,791 family premium in 1999 would only be about $7,546 today instead of $13,375. Conversely if the U.S post office lived by the profit-taking standards of the private health care insurance industry for the past ten years, a stamp would have been jacked up to about 76 cents in 2009. But even at that price it would still be a bargain.

Still I find it amazing how any industry including governmental bodies and agencies, post office included, have up until recently been able to survive absorbing the payroll shocks and runaway costs of the American health care industry.

If Tommy Runs, Will Sarah Campaign For Him?

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Capital Times Excerpt:
Speaking at a previously organized fundraising event at Madison's High Noon Saloon, Feingold delighted in contrasting his record as a critic of special-interest lobbying and campaign spending with Thompson's recent work as a high-profile lobbyist in Washington.

Feingold said of Thompson: "Instead of taking on the special interests, he's been taking them on as clients."

No doubt, Thompson's advisers will misconstrue even this blog posting as additional evidence that Democrats feel threatened by him.

Republicans Bankrupt Without Selling Government

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Morally and ethically bankrupt, the GOP asks itself...

RNC Leadership Excerpt
Page 30:

GOP: What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House or the Senate...?

...or your souls.

View full 72 page GOP program herePutting the Fun back in FUNdraising

a.k.a RNC Marketing 101

The headline that never was: Jim Bunning Throws Spitball at Unemployed.

One year later: Democrats Ramming HC Reform Down Our Throats

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March 3 -- "I believe as we stand on the abyss tonight, for those Americans who are want to turn to God for answers that this is a time to be doing that, to ask for his help supernaturally so that we don't make this fatal step pushing our nation into socialized medicine..."
-- Rep. Todd Akin (R-Regressive) Missouri.

Is the GOP counting on the “Rapture” to avoid the lakes of fire, marauding demons and the destruction of mankind on Earth that are to come, if health care reform passes through on reconciliation? Check out the riotous Jon Stewart video featured in the left sidebar.

GOP's 2010 Strategy: Fear. This is News?

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Salon Excerpt:
The Republicans' strategy for motivating their base this year -- is fear. Fear of President Obama, fear of change, fear of some giant socialist revolution, of death panels, of government bureaucrats and liberals and anything else that might pop up. Still, you wouldn't expect the Republican National Committee to come right out and admit to that.

Same old Republican Rovian tactics. Make baseless statements often, spin into fear and divide the load. Rinse. Repeat often. And what are Democrats doing...still trying to negotiate with the irrational.

A Word On Our Constitutional Collectivism

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Get Liberty Org. Excerpt:
(Titled: The Enslaving Folly of Shared Sacrifice)
The second point that Teacherken’s plea makes is one of collectivism. We are implored to take “collective responsibility” and accept “shared sacrifice.” But nowhere in our founding documents are we as a people or a nation submerged into the rancid stew of one big mass. Individual liberty was the watchword and is the goal to which we must now aspire.

To put it bluntly - Bullshit!

Our Constitution does not begin “I the individual” or “I the corporations.” It begins, "We the people" in big bold letters nearly five times the size of any other words on the document. Our founding fathers (and mothers) did this for a reason. That document could be burned to a crisp by cultist legislators and nazi-con judges, but as long as the words “We the people” remain visibly intact, we still have our constitutional government. At the same time, our Bill of Rights makes no restrictions or limitations on individuals, instead it grants us the right to rise above on our own accord within the means of the Constitution and human law.

Implying our Constitution and freedoms are threatened by the rewards of shared sacrifice is a direct affront to the collective known as “we the people.” Ideally viewed, the founders of our country wrote the Constitution as patriots not to themselves, but for the collective. It's "country first," not "me first."

State Republicans Receive "Best Buy" Rating From Payday Lobbyists

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Some numbers regarding "donations" to Wisconsin state legislative committees show the bargain the payday loan industry got from Republicans...

JS Online Excerpt:
Payday lenders and their lobbyists gave four campaign committees controlled by legislative leaders $28,350 in the second half of last year, the Democracy Campaign said - $13,900 to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, $7,600 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate; $3,850 to the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, and $3,000 to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.

The Wisconsin State Assembly eventually voted 56-41 to kill what the predatory lenders fought hardest against - the interest rate cap amendment that Sheridan stands accused of changing his position on. Of that roll call, Republicans voted 34 - 10 to reject the interest cap amendment, while Democrats failed to reject the cap by a 22 - 31 margin. Yet the industry "donated" $17,750 to Democratic committees and only $10,600 to Republicans. At that rate the industry paid members of the Republican bloc $312 each for their majority "kill the cap" votes while paying a Democratic "minority" $807 each for their industry favored votes.

Controversy aside, along with the obvious detrimental influence lobbyists carry in Madison, if the payday industry depended only on Assembly democrats to shut down the rate cap, it was an extremely poor investment.

In a few weeks, The Democracy Campaign plans on calculating how much money the payday industry gave to individual lawmaker's campaigns between July 1 and Dec. 30. It'll be doubly interesting finding out how much each legislator received from the industry correlates to which way they voted on the interest cap amendment. Stay tuned for that one.

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Rock County Coroner Hires New Chief Deputy

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Sunday's Janesville Gazette contained only a "short" brief on the new upper level hire to the Rock County Coroner's office.

The full official press release issued by the coroner's office was as follows.

Official Press Release
February 26, 2010

Introducing New Chief Deputy for Rock County Coroner's Office

Rock County, WI - The Rock County Coroner's Office is pleased to welcome Louis C. Smit to the position of Chief Deputy Coroner for Rock County. Lou was sworn in on February 22, 2010 by Coroner Jenifer Keach. Louis (Lou) Smit has thirty-three (33) years of law enforcement experience from local, county and federal agencies and has a Bachelor's degree from National University. Lou is a U.S. Army veteran, having served with the 82nd Airborne Division. Following military service Lou continued working in death investigations and later worked as a police officer in Southern Nevada.

Lou was recruited into federal service and worked as a Special Agent with the U. S. Customs Service. While a federal agent, Lou was assigned to the Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force and worked in Texas assigned as a Racketeer Investigator investigating organized and drug related homicides (to include a very high profile series of "Cult Murders" involving U.S and Mexican citizens lured into Mexico where they were murdered by a cannibalistic cult).

Lou returned to County law enforcement in Northern Nevada and later worked as a Medical Examiner Death Investigator in Washington State for over 13 years. Lou has served as a professor of Criminal Justice - Forensic Death Investigations for Del Mar College (TX) as an on-line Professor. Additionally, he has authored several death investigation training texts and death scene guides.

For the last nine years, Lou has been with the Kitsap Co., WA Coroner's Office as a Deputy Coroner and was assigned as National Medicolegal Coordinator. Following the terrorist attacks upon the United States on 9/11, Lou led a team that recovered victims at the World Trade Center and interacted with a second team at the Pentagon. Lou's duties also included testifying at the 9/11 Commission.

Lou participated with several Congressional committees related to Homeland Security issues, as well as provided consultation to the Executive Offices of the President and vice President during the Tsunami of 2004/2005 and later in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Lou received the "President's Call To Service Award" Life Time Achievement and Multiple Gold Awards from the Executive Office of the President and from USA Freedom Corp for participation in Emergency Management and Response for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2007, Lou was invited by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to consult about medicolegal investigative training and forensic programs to assist the newly formed government to function as a 21st Century medicolegal system within the Office of the Minister of State for the Interior in Eribil, Iraq.

The new chief deputy obviously brings a substantial background and a wide-ranging set of capabilities to the office.

Welcome aboard Lou!

Note: The full story was also published at WIFR.