Bydio

It is fashionable to talk of America as the supplicant. That misreads the strategic balance. Washington can bring China to its knees at any time by shutting markets. There is no symmetry here. Any move by Beijing to liquidate its holdings of US Treasuries could be neutralized – in extremis – by capital controls. Well-armed sovereign states can do whatever they want.

If provoked, the US has the economic depth to retreat into near autarky with NAFTA and retool its industries behind tariff walls – as Britain did in the 1930s under Imperial Preference. In such circumstances, China would collapse. Mao statues would be toppled by street riots.

via China has now become the biggest risk to the world economy – Telegraph.

Lots of laughs, much fun, I’m watching it.

Home | Secret Girlfriend | Comedy Central.

In the 1925 case Linder v. United States, Dr. Charles Linder had been convicted for prescribing morphine and cocaine to addicts, which the federal government held was not a legitimate medical practice. Dr. Linder appealed, and the Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction, holding the federal government had no such power to regulate the practice of medicine.

“Obviously, direct control of medical practice in the states is beyond the power of the federal government,” wrote Justice James Clark McReynolds for the unanimous court. Even “Incidental regulation of such practice by Congress through a taxing act cannot extend to matters plainly inappropriate and unnecessary to reasonable enforcement of a revenue measure.”

The Linder case is often described as having been partially “overruled or superseded.” But the Constitution has never been amended to authorize such federal regulation. In fact, the rationale of the Linder case was used to stop the Department of Justice from interfering with Oregon’s assisted suicide laws in the 2006 case Gonzales v. Oregon.

via Vin Suprynowicz » Blog Archive » Members of Congress channel John McEnroe.

The Republican Plan

Republicans claim that the health care plan that they have, I think it is H.R. 3400 or H.R. 4400, can save more money, cover more people, and reduce the deficit more than anything that the House and Senate have out. Is there any way the CBO can score this and can your team research the bills to see about their claims?

George Sandidge
Winnsboro, S.C.

FactCheck.org responds: The Congressional Budget Office hasn’t scored H.R. 3400, but it has analyzed the Republicans’ proposed “amendment in the nature of a substitute” for the House bill. CBO found that the proposed substitute would cost much less than the Democrats’ bill — a net cost of $8 billion over 10 years — and would reduce the ranks of the nonelderly uninsured by about 3 million, leaving 52 million uninsured by 2019. The bill passed by the House is projected to have a net cost of $891 billion and reduce the uninsured by 36 million. The CBO estimated that the GOP plan would reduce the deficit by a net $68 billion over 10 years, while the House-passed plan would reduce the deficit by more — a net $109 billion.

via FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Nov. 3-Nov. 9.

According to this unconstitutional math, $8 Bil to pay off 3 Mil non-seniors and reduce deficit by $68 Bil vs $891 Bil to pay off 36 Mil people and reduce deficit by $109 Bil.

Why am I paying for any of this shit?

Two seemingly unrelated events on opposite sides of the globe occurred this past week.

One was the closure of an aluminum plant in Montana, and the other is the president of a European metals association threatened to move production overseas citing environmental rules and energy costs escalating due to emissions trading schemes.

via A tale of two overkills.

9/11 was neither the first nor the last time that Muslims have killed Americans on U.S. soil in terror attacks. In fact, since that day, Muslims have killed at least 52 people in 31 separate acts of terrorism in the United States (by the standards that Muslim-American groups set for hate crimes). Perhaps more importantly, there have been quite a few planned mass murders of Americans by Islamic terrorists that were thwarted by the FBI, law enforcement and overseas intelligence operations both before and after 9/11.

By contrast, Muslim-Americans do not appear to be in any special danger from murderous (non-Muslim) religious fanatics, even in a nation awash in firearms. Identity groups, such as CAIR, whine incessantly about relatively trivial incidents while turning a blind eye to the horrible violence that is meted out daily in the name of their religion. This distasteful petulance offers insight not only into the character of Islam, but also the impressive religious tolerance that Americans manage to maintain.

For anyone wondering about the history of deadly Islamic terror on American soil in the last 35 years, here’s what we could find:

via List of Islamic Terror Attacks in America.

Restaurant chains are offering free meals to U.S. military personnel in conjunction with Veterans Day.

via Free Meals for Veterans.

If the President and the progressive Democratic party get their way every one in America will be forced to purchase health care whether they wish to or not.  There are those who point to the fact that many states require drivers to buy liability insurance for your car as evidence that the government can force you to purchase health care. One problem with that opinion is the reason for forcing people to buy car insurance is to protect the “other guy.” Hence liability insurance is required but collision. which protects your own car is not.

If Obamacare is passed the only way to stop the government from taking over your health care, rationing medical treatment and taxing you out of existence may rest in the Supreme Court. The big question is does the constitution allow the government to force us to purchase something?  If so where is the line. Instead of mothers, will it be the federal government forcing children to eat their veggies? Now that we own GM and Chrysler,can we be forced to purchase one of their cars?

Our constitution was written to keep government OFF our back, is heathcare the government’s opportunity to jump back on our shoulders ?:

via Can The Government Force You To Buy Guacamole ?.

That’s what I’ve been sayin’, yo! It’s unconstitutional all the way. If the whole point of the United States Constitution is to limit government power, how can all these huge expansions of power be in the spirit of the Constitution, let alone the letter of the Constitution? Limited government is the only way to keep your liberty.

Mitchell Paige — and all those proud veterans who contacted me this week, wanting only for their service and their sacrifice to be remembered — didn’t fight for medals or booty. Most of them left the service with little more than a bus ticket and the clothes on their backs.

They fought for people whose names they didn’t even know, they fought so that people like Solly Ganor and his math teacher, Mr. Edelstein, would no longer be shot in the head for the crime of owning a book.

via VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Some things are worth fighting for – Opinion – ReviewJournal.com.

Image by yewenyi via Flickr

Insurers are starting to not only deny the claims of homeowners who dare file claims related to the drywall’s effects, which include, apart from the horrible stench, corrosion of pipes and wires. Trouble is, since homeowner’s insurance is a requirement for mortgages, losing that insurance can result in instant foreclosure.

via Insurers Drop Homeowners With Stinky Chinese Drywall [Homeowner's Insurance].

Another reason why Insurance companies are evil, and why laws forcing us to buy insurance are Pure Evil.