Monthly Archives: February 2011

Obama’s health care Part 4

February 14, 2011 – 6:11 am

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

Obama’s health care Part 4

I am very pleased with the uprising across the country to try and stop Obamacare. Unfortunately the governor and attorney general in Arkansas are Democrats that want no part of that. The people are Arkansas in my home town of Bryant don’t see it that way though.

Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, accepts the challenge to debate the constitutionality of ObamaCare.

Ilya Shapiro delivered this testimony on Jan 24, 2011 to the Arkansas House of Representatives. This was later put into a paper “On the Arkansas Health Care Freedom Act and Its Relationship to Obamacare.” He stated:

Thank you very much for the invitation to share my thoughts on Arkansas’ proposed Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA) and how it relates to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, commonly known as “Obamacare”). In my capacity as a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute — a nonpartisan public policy foundation dedicated to advancing the principles of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government — I have been speaking and writing about how Obamacare destroys federalism and fundamentally transforms the relationship between citizen and government. I have also been extensively involved with the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of various parts of the law, including having filed several amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs.

The HCFA seeks to protect two essential rights. First, it protects a person’s right to participate or not in any health care system and prohibits the government from imposing fines or penalties on that person’s decision. Second, it protects the right of individuals to purchase — and the right of doctors to provide — lawful medical services without government fine or penalty.

No one questions the need for serious health care reform. Regardless of how such reform is fashioned, however, either at the state or federal level, the essential rights protected by the HCFA should be preserved. Indeed, supporters of provisions like the HCFA have a variety of perspectives on the form that health care reform should take, but they agree that no matter what legislation is passed, it should not take from Americans their right to control their own medical affairs. It is that precious right which is at stake here, for in many countries where the government plays a larger role in regulating or providing health insurance — including compelling individuals to join government-approved health plans — health care is rationed and individuals are prevented or discouraged from obtaining otherwise lawful medical services.

Now, as a matter of law, it is well established that the U.S. Constitution provides a baseline for the protection of individual rights, and that states may provide additional protections — and all of them do. For instance, some states provide greater protections of freedom of speech or due process rights.

Still, there is serious tension between the HCFA and certain parts of Obamacare. The Supremacy Clause establishes the Constitution as the supreme law of the land and provides that federal law prevails over conflicting state law where Congress has the legitimate authority — from its enumerated powers — to enact the legislation and where it does not impermissibly tread upon state sovereignty. The various lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare assert a number of claims relating to these principles. The Florida-led suit, which now boasts 26 state plaintiffs, is perhaps most famous, but the separate cases brought by Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively, are notable because they are based largely on those states’ HCFAs (the former enacted as state law, the latter as a popularly ratified state constitutional amendment).

As should by now be clear, the state lawsuits, among others, are serious challenges maintained by serious lawyers and public officials. They question an unprecedented assertion of power — literally without legal precedent both in its regulatory scope and its expansion of federal authority — that, if left unchecked, would gravely alter the relationship of the federal government to the states and to the people. Nobody would ever again be able to claim plausibly that the Constitution limits federal power.

Mississippi Center for Public Policy and The Federalist Society present: Is ObamaCare Good for Patients, Doctors, Employers, & State Budgets?

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Healthcare | Comments (0)

Ronald Wilson Reagan (Pro-life) Part 31

February 13, 2011 – 11:01 pm

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

Emancipation Proclamation of Preborn Children video of Reagan’s statement

https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/c29913-19a.jpg

President Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom at a White House Ceremony. 6/20/85.

Why did I get so involved in campaigning for Ronald Reagan? Simply put it was a combination of factors. I will going through them the next few days. Today I am going to just talk about the first influence and it was the film series Whatever happened to the human race? by Reagan’s Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Francis Schaeffer. I watched this film series over and over in 1980. Watch a clip below.

_________________________________________

NOW THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death, and I do proclaim, ordain, and declare that I will take care that the Constitution and laws of the United States are faithfully executed for the protection of America’s unborn children. Upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. I also proclaim Sunday, January 17, 1988, as a national Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in their homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life they enjoy and to reaffirm their commitment to the dignity of every human being and sanctity of every human life.

______________________________________________

Clip from the film series Whatever happened to the human race? by Reagan’s Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Francis Schaeffer

Little known presidential facts:

  1. Sally Hemings (ca. 1773-1885) was not only Jefferson’s slave, but also the half-sister of Jefferson’s dead wife. She is said to have been Jefferson’s mistress for thirty-eight years, and scholars have argued for years whether Jefferson was the father of her children. DNA tests in 1998 revealed that a male in Jefferson’s line was the father of at least one of her children, though it did not prove conclusively that Jefferson himself fathered them.c
  2. When Martin Van Buren wrote his autobiography after serving as president from 1837-1841, he didn’t mention his wife of 12 years. Not even once.i
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Prolife, Ronald Reagan | Comments (0)

Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 30

February 12, 2011 – 9:35 pm

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

Then Governor of California Ronald Reagan in a comedy skit with Sonny and Cher. Sonny gives Ronnie the coveted Bono Award.

Above you can see a funny skit with Sonny Bono and Governor Ronald Reagan of California. I followed with great interest Bono’s political career. Bono was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent California’s 44th congressional district.

This is the last portion from an excellent article by Peggy Noonan ”Ronald Reagan at 100,” (Wall Street Journal, Feb 3, 2011).

His most underestimated political achievement? In the spring of 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization called an illegal strike. It was early in Reagan’s presidency. He’d been a union president. He didn’t want to come across as an anti-union Republican. And Patco had been one of the few unions to support him in 1980. But the strike was illegal. He would not accept it. He gave them a grace period, two days, to come back. If they didn’t, they’d be fired. They didn’t believe him. Most didn’t come back. So he fired them. It broke the union. Federal workers got the system back up. The Soviet Union, and others, were watching. They thought: This guy means business. It had deeply positive implications for U.S. foreign policy. But here’s the thing: Reagan didn’t know that would happen, didn’t know the bounty he’d reap. He was just trying to do what was right.

The least understood facet of Reagan’s nuclear policies? He hated the rise of nuclear weapons, abhorred the long-accepted policy of mutually assured destruction. That’s where the Strategic Defense Initiative came from, his desire to protect millions from potential annihilation. The genius of his program: When developed, America would share it with the Soviet Union. We’d share it with everybody. All would be protected from doomsday.

The Soviets opposed this; the Rejkavik summit broke up over it, and in the end the Soviets’ arms spending helped bankrupt them and hasten their fall. Years later I would see Mikhail Gorbachev, who became Reagan’s friend. He was still grumpy about Reagan’s speeches. “Ron—he loved show business!” Mr. Gorbachev blustered. The losses of those years must have still rankled, and understandably. It’s one thing to be outmaneuvered by a clever man, but to be outfoxed by a good one—oh, that would grate.

comments email

President  and Nancy Reagan with Ray Charles after acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Dallas, Texas.  8/23/84.

_________________________________________

Little known presidential facts:

  • Calvin Coolidge liked to have his head rubbed with petroleum jelly while eating his breakfast in bed.b
  • Woodrow Wilson (born Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924) would paint his golf balls black during the winter so he could continue playing in the snow.a
    • By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Ronald Reagan | Comments (0)

    Dumas: Obama’s health care program popular in Arkansas

    February 11, 2011 – 10:49 am

    HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

    President Obama’s Health Care Myth #3

    Mississippi Center for Public Policy and The Federalist Society present: Is ObamaCare Good for Patients, Doctors, Employers, & State Budgets? (What kind of affect will Obamacare have on local state governments?)

    I got to talk to Rex Nelson the other day on Bill Vickery’s show the Sunday Buzz. He remember back in August of 2010 when I introduced him to Sherwood Haisty down at the Grady Fish Fry. Mr. Haisty has been involved with the Fish Fry since 1970 and many of his relatives have been all 55 of them. (Rex wrote on this too.)

    I told Rex that is funny the way the politicians all say the same thing during the fish fry. They come up to you and say, “I can see that you are enjoying your fish and I would hate to interrupt that…” Then they go ahead and interrupt your meal.

    It is a great experience to see all the politicians, and this year Mark Pryor can and visited with me. I just did not have the heart to say what I really wanted to. “Mark, do you see the political climate changing in Arkansas? Are you going to continue to support liberal ideas like Obamacare?” I have written on this before.

    On July 8, 2010 Ernie Dumas wrote the article “Health law gains acceptance in Arkansas: There is a lot to like, including cash infusion for state” which was published by the Arkansas Times.

    Dumas wrongly believes that President Obama’s Health Care Reform Act is popular with the people of Arkansas. Since Arkansas has voted as a red state the last two presidential elections, you would think that Fox News Poll would accurately reflect the views of Arkansans.

    On September 17, 2009 just a few months before the healthcare vote this article was released, “Fox News Poll: Americans Prefer Current System to Obama’s Health Care Plan.” Here is a portion of that article below:

    Most Americans see no upside for their family in the health care reforms being considered in Washington and don’t believe President Obama when he says his plan won’t add “one dime” to the federal deficit. The majority of Americans believe they will have to make changes to their health care coverage if the president’s plan is passed.

    These are just some of the findings of a new FOX News poll released Thursday.

    More Americans would rather Congress do nothing than pass Obama’s plan: 46 percent to 37 percent of people polled say they prefer the current health care system to the one the president has proposed.

    Similarly, more people oppose — 48 percent — the health care reform legislation being considered right now than favor it — 38 percent. While most Democrats — 65 percent — favor the reforms, majorities of Republicans — 79 percent — and independents (55 percent) oppose them.

    This is not surprising given less than one in four Americans (22 percent) think they would be better off under the reforms, and many (60 percent) think they will probably have to make changes to their health coverage despite Obama’s assurances that they will not have to. In addition, a sizable majority (67 percent) thinks the president’s plan will increase the national deficit.

    Michael F. Cannon wrote an excellent article (“Obama’s Health Care Myths Exposed,” AOL News, March 17, 2010) exposing the myths of President Obama’s heath care reform act.  I will be sharing portions of over the next few days.

    Myth: The public wants this legislation.

    Polls that ask whether respondents like the legislation’s supposed benefits (e.g., reduced insurance premiums for the sick) without asking about the corresponding costs (higher premiums for the healthy, insurers denying care to the sick) are meaningless.

    The public has consistently expressed its intense opposition to the Obama plan for eight solid months. Democratic pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen note that “four-fifths of those who oppose the plan strongly oppose it … while only half of those who support the plan do so strongly.” A small, radical, left-wing minority is foisting this legislation on an unwilling public.

    By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Healthcare | Comments (0)

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 29

    February 11, 2011 – 9:03 am

    HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

    This is the second of 11 parts. In this segment, Lucille Ball receives a surprise on-air phone message from Gov. Ronald Reagan. This show was first broadcast in November 1973

    My wife and I love to watch “I love Lucy.” The shows are priceless. Below you will see a picture of Lucy. The funny thing is that during the late 1970’s my parents and I would watch the show “Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. When they would not like a comedy, they would say, “That is silly as I LOVE LUCY.” They meant that in  a negative way and I know that my mother was ready to switch channels when they said that.

    The next few days I want to post some portions of an excellent article by Peggy Noonan ”Ronald Reagan at 100,” (Wall Street Journal, Feb 3, 2011).

    He ran for president four times and lost twice. His 1968 run was a flop—it was too early, as he later admitted, and when it’s too early, it never ends well. In 1976 he took on an incumbent Republican president of his own party, and lost primaries in New Hampshire, Florida, Illinois (where he’d been born), Massachusetts and Vermont. It was hand-to-hand combat all the way to the convention, where he lost to Gerald Ford. People said he was finished. He roared back in 1980 only to lose Iowa and scramble back in New Hampshire while reorganizing his campaign and firing his top staff. He won the nomination and faced another incumbent president.

    In Reagan’s candidacy the American people were being asked to choose a former movie star (never had one as president) who was divorced (ditto) and who looked like he might become the most conservative president since Calvin Coolidge. To vote for Reagan was not only to take a chance on an unusual man with an unusual biography, but also to break with New Deal-Great Society assumptions about the proper relationship between the individual and the state. Americans did, in a landslide—but only after Jimmy Carter’s four years of shattering failure.

    None of it was inevitable. The political lesson of Ronald Reagan’s life: Nothing is written.

    He didn’t see himself as “the great communicator.” It was so famous a moniker that he could do nothing but graciously accept the compliment, but he well understood it was bestowed in part by foes and in part to undercut the seriousness of his philosophy: “It’s not what he says, it’s how he says it.” He answered in his farewell address: “I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things.” It wasn’t his eloquence people supported, it was his stands—opposition to the too-big state, to its intrusions and demands, to Soviet communism. Voters weren’t charmed, they were convinced.

    https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/C14718-28.jpg

    President Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Tom Selleck, Dudley Moore, Lucille Ball at a Tribute to Bob Hope’s 80th birthday at the Kennedy Center. 5/20/83.

    __________________________________________

    Little known presidential facts:

    poker
    Warren Harding once lost priceless White House China playing poker
  • Harding was obsessed with poker and once bet an entire set of priceless White House China and lost it.k
  • During his second run for presidency, Teddy Roosevelt was shot by a would-be assassin while giving a speech in Milwaukee. He continued to deliver his speech with the bullet in his chest.i
  • Thomas Jefferson was convinced that if he soaked his feet in a bucket of cold water every day, he’d never get a cold.k
    • By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Ronald Reagan | Comments (0)

    Real American Heroes Series part 1 Leon A. McDaniel of Mt Ida, Ark (part B)

    February 11, 2011 – 6:27 am

    img001.jpg

    Leon McDaniel’s picture

    Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old VHS tape………. This is the story of the invasion and capture of the island of Okinawa in 1945–the last major land battle of WW2…..part 1 of 3

    _____________________________________________________

    This story was originally published in the Saline Courier.

    Okinawa
    Leon McDaniel said the battle of Okinawa proved to be the roughest on the Army, Navy and Marines. More men and ships were lost during this battle because of Japanese kamikaze attacks than any other battle.
    The USS George Clymer was targeted by a kamikaze plane, but it missed. The USS Bunker Hill aircraft carrier was not so lucky. On the morning of May 11, 1945, 346 men were killed in one attack by kamikaze pilot Ensign Klyoshi Ogawa of Japan.
    During the very intense battles, McDaniel would wait in the landing crafts a half-mile from shore for the troops to bring the wounded men down to the shore, where he then picked up the wounded and carried them to the waiting hospital ships.
    After Okinawa, McDaniel said, the USS Clymer and many other ships were near the Philippine Islands when they were hit by a typhoon. The ships were in the storm for close to 24 hours. Ships became separated, and a destroyer was never seen or heard from again.
    The swells were 80 feet high, McDaniel recalled, and the ship would ride to the top of many swells and then the whole bottom would fall out. McDaniel did have to serve on deck during part of that storm. He was tied to the watch station and at other times he was tied to his bunk.
    McDaniel had a twin brother named Louie (now deceased) who served on the USS George Clymer with him. Before receiving ship assignments they were told to ask for no special treatment or assignments. However, Leon had made a promise to his mother to bring Louie and himself home again. So he asked for special permission to be kept together because of being twins and was granted his request.
    Leon McDaniel said he participated in the attacks on Guam, Saipan, Leyte, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and for these battles he was awarded five medals.
    I have known McDaniel’s daughter, Linda Matyskiela and her husband, Terry, for 10 years as the owners of Bobby’s Country Cookin’ in Little Rock. Linda recently told me, “Daddy, for the last few months, seems to be living in those days that he once would never talk about. My sister Karen and I are so proud of what he did for our country in those many months. He lost friends and shipmates. He kept in touch with several of these men from the ship (from Texas) until the last few years. My family thanks you very much for wanting to share part of his time in World War II. We are so proud of him.”
    Linda told me that McDaniel was humbled by my plans to write this article. However, it is I and the readers of this newspaper that should feel humbled to have brave heroes such as Leon McDaniel who have served our Armed Forces and did what had to be done to get us to the point where we could celebrate our nation’s first VJ Day 65 years ago today.

    Everette Hatcher is a regular contributor to The Saline Courier and is the fourth generation in his family to work in the broom manufacturing business. Everette and his wife, Jill, have four children and live in Alexander.

    _______________________________________________

    This is the story of the invasion and capture of the island of Okinawa in 1945–the last major land battle of WW2…..part 2 of 3

    This is the story of the invasion and capture of the island of Okinawa in 1945–the last major land battle of WW2…..part 3 of 3

    By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Comments (0)

    Real American Heroes Series part 1 Leon A. McDaniel of Mt Ida, Ark (part A)

    February 10, 2011 – 8:30 pm

    https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/c29738-13.jpg

    President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85.

    I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured above with Ronald Reagan.  He enlisted in the army in World War I and became an aviator. After the war he earned a Ph.D. in engineering and remained in the Army Air Corps as a test pilot until 1930, when he became head of aviation for Shell Oil Co. In 1932 he set a world air speed record. Returning to active duty during World War II, he led a daring raid on Tokyo (1942), for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He commanded air operations on many fronts, including attacks on Germany in 1944 – 45. After the war he remained active in the aerospace industry. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.

    Here is a clip from the movie “Pearl Harbor” about Doolittle.

    WWII Battle of Leyte Gulf

     

    This was published earlier in the Saline Courier.

    (I have known McDaniel’s daughter, Linda Matyskiela and her husband, Terry, for 10 years as the owners of Bobby’s Country Cookin’ in Little Rock. Here is a story about Linda’s father Leon McDaniel.)

    A little after noon, Japanese standard time on Aug. 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito’s announcement of Japan’s surrender was broadcast over the radio in Japan. Some Japanese soldiers, crushed by the surrender, committed suicide, and well over 100 American prisoners of war were also executed by the Imperial Japanese Army. Nevertheless, the USA had arrived at Victory over Japan Day, or VJ Day.
    Getting to this day did not come easy for the United States. Major sacrifices had to be made by our soldiers, and many of them were from Arkansas.
    I wanted to recognize the service of just a fraction of the dedicated soldiers that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
    Today I wanted to start with Leon A. McDaniel.
    Currently McDaniel, 84, lives in Mount Ida with wife Joyce of 64 years, but he was born and raised in Nimrod in Perry County.
    McDaniel joined the Navy at age 17 and served from October 1943 until August 1946. He was based in San Francisco and served 23 months on the USS George Clymer APA 27. The USS George Clymer was a Marine and Army transport ship and was involved also in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
    After boot camp, McDaniel was trained to be the coxswain of the landing crafts. The coxswain is the person in charge of the steering of a boat.McDaniel drove both the larger crafts that landed the tanks on the beaches and the smaller crafts that landed the troops on the beaches. McDaniel said he transported many Japanese POWs to ships that took the Japanese to POW camps.

    Guam
    The Second Battle of Guam was from July 21 to Aug. 8, 1944, and resulted in the capture of the Japanese held island of Guam. The battle started with the Americans numbering 36,000 and the Japanese 22,000. It ended with 1,747 Americans killed and over 18,000 Japanese killed. There were 485  Japanese POWs taken captive.
    When the USS George Clymer was anchored off Guam from July 21 to Aug. 21, every other day at dusk Leon McDaniel would be responsible for driving the landing craft around the ship that carried the commanders of the task force. His all-night duty would end at dawn. It was his duty to make sure Japanese divers or torpedo boats did not surprise-attack the ship.

    Leyte
    The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought from Oct. 23 to 26, 1944,  in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon. It was and still is the largest naval battle of all time.
    The Imperial Japanese Navy brought together almost all of its remaining major naval vessels in an effort to keep the Americans from cutting off their supply lines to their fuel reserves.
    After their defeat at Leyte, the Japanese had to keep the majority of their surviving large ships at their bases because they did not have enough fuel to operate them. This remained the case for the rest of the Pacific War. Another interesting fact is that the Battle of Leyte Gulf is the first battle in which kamikaze attacks occurred.
    McDaniel remembers that the morning of the invasion of Leyte, 16-inch shells from battle ships and bombs from airplanes hit the invasion site every three seconds for approximately two hours. During the bombardment, McDaniel drove his landing craft along with hundreds of others, carrying tanks and troops and rendezvoused away from the ships until the shelling stopped. They were ordered then to land troops and tanks.
    On the first night in Leyte, the USS George Clymer was anchored off the beachhead of Leyte. McDaniel and others had to stay in their landing crafts tied to their ships. The air raid warning was sounded. A smoke screen was laid out all over the convoy of several hundred ships. This was done to keep Japanese bombers from seeing the ships. The difficulty of breathing and seeing your hand in front of your face was described as very trying and difficult by McDaniel.
    The second night of the smokescreen, several landing craft were untied from their ships to find the outer edges of the screen. But instead of finding the outer edge, they became lost in the screen, and McDaniel did not know whether they were close to their own ships or close to the Japanese beach somewhere. When the screen lifted they were able to relocate their ship and eased back in without anyone realizing they were gone. McDaniel said it felt like being back at home once they were reunited with their ship.
    During the three days in Leyte, there was a constant bombardment of the Island. The third night, as the ships were being escorted out, the sound of bombs, shells, planes, thunder and lightening echoed through the air as they left.
    Japan had lost more than 10,000 men while the United States lost nearly 2,000.

    (Next post we will look at some more war stories from Mr. McDaniel.)

    Battle of Leyte Gulf part 2

    Battle of Leyte Gulf part 3

     

    By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Ronald Reagan, War Heroes | Comments (0)

    Dumas: Obama Health care will contain health care costs

    February 10, 2011 – 8:23 am

    President Obama’s Health Care Myths #2

    HALT: Halting Arkansas Liberals with Truth

    Mississippi Center for Public Policy and The Federalist Society present: Is ObamaCare Good for Patients, Doctors, Employers, & State Budgets? (How will it affect employers?)

    The sun is coming out now and the 7 inches of snow are starting to melt. When I was coming into work at 4:30 am this morning, I thought I would avoid the traffic. I usually leave much later. I had to get up to 30 mph because I was coming up to a big hill, and a truck almost pulled out in front of me. I would have ended up in a ditch in order to avoid the truck. Thank goodness they did not pull out in front of me.

    On July 8, 2010 Ernie Dumas wrote the article “Health law gains acceptance in Arkansas: There is a lot to like, including cash infusion for state” which was published by the Arkansas Times. Dumas tries to make it sound like health care costs will be contained under this new system.

    Unlucky for Dumas just two months later the Associated Press reported on September 9, 2010 the verdict on the cost of the new health legislation according to a government forecast. The conclusion was that “the nation’s health care tab will go up–not down –as a result of President Barack Obama’s sweeping overhaul.” The Chicago Tribune went on to comment:

    “Well, duh. You can’t expand coverage by 32 million Americans and figure that will hold costs down. The Democrats sold health care to Americans with a lot of fuzzy accounting and shaky assertions about how relatively inexpensive all this would be”( September 23, 2010).

    Michael F. Cannon wrote an excellent article (“Obama’s Health Care Myths Exposed,” AOL News, March 17, 2010) exposing the myths of President Obama’s heath care reform act.  I will be sharing portions of over the next few days.

    Myth: The legislation would contain health care costs.

    The Obama plan would increase health care costs for the simple reason that it would put millions more patients, plus doctors and insurers, in a position where they are spending the taxpayers’ money. That never produces frugality.

    Its command-and-control approaches to cost containment have failed over and over in Medicare and Medicaid because they don’t change the incentives that encourage cost growth.

    The only provision that would change incentives is the president’s proposed tax on the sick and others with high-cost health plans. But he appears ready to abandon that, anyway.

    Stanford health economist Alain Enthoven writes, “The American people are being deceived.” The Senate bill would “do little or nothing to curb [health care] expenditures.”

    By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Healthcare | Comments (0)

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 28

    February 10, 2011 – 5:26 am

    HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

    https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/c23742-34.jpg
    President Reagan having a photo taken with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. 8/23/84.
    Here is a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger using an Airlight
    Broom as a prop for “cleaning house” in the California Recall
    Election as seen on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, ect in 2003. The
    Airlight Broom is manufactured by Little Rock Broom Works.
    Arnold Schwarzenegger got a hold of the most popular broom we make at Little Rock Broom Works and used it as a prop in his election run in 2003. Notice the above video.

    The next few days I want to post some portions of an excellent article by Peggy Noonan ”Ronald Reagan at 100,” (Wall Street Journal, Feb 3, 2011).

    The biggest misunderstanding about Reagan’s political life is that he was inevitable. He was not. He had to fight for every inch, he had to make it happen. What Billy Herndon said of Abraham Lincoln was true of Reagan too: He had within him, always, a ceaseless little engine of ambition. He was good at not showing it, as was Lincoln, but it was there. He was knowingly in the greatness game, at least from 1976, when he tried to take down a sitting president of his own party.

    He was serious, and tough enough. Everyone who ever ran against him misunderstood this. He was an actor, they thought, a marshmallow. They’d flatten him. “I’ll wipe the smile off his face.” Nothing could wipe the smile off his face. He was there to compete, he was aiming for the top. His unconscious knew it. He told me as he worked on his farewell address of a recurring dream he’d had through adulthood. He was going to live in a mansion with big rooms, “high ceilings, white walls.” He would think to himself in the dream that it was “a house that was available at a price I could afford.” He had the dream until he moved into the White House and never had it again. “Not once.”

    _________________________________________________

    Little known presidential facts:

  • James Garfield didn’t die from the gunshot wounds from his assassin’s gun; he died of blood poisoning after doctors and experts (including Alexander Graham Bell) tried to remove the bullet from his back with their dirty fingers and instruments, causing him to linger in pain for 80 days before dying. His assassin, Charles Guiteau, later claimed that he didn’t kill the president, the doctors had.i
  • At 325 pounds, William Howard Taft (1857-1930), who was dubbed “Big Bill,” was the largest president in American history and often got stuck in the White House bathtub. His advisors had to sometimes pull him out.b
    • By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Ronald Reagan | Comments (0)

    Obama’s health care myths Part 1

    February 9, 2011 – 7:02 am

    On April 30th, Cato Senior Fellow & UChicago Law grad, Ilya Shapiro, debated UChicago Law Professor, David Strauss, on the constitutionality of “Obamacare”. The event was sponsored by the University Republicans & the Federalist Society.

    HALT: Halting Arkansas Liberals with Truth
    On July 8, 2010 Ernie Dumas wrote the article “Health law gains acceptance in Arkansas: There is a lot to like, including cash infusion for state” which was published by the Arkansas Times. On the subject of Medicaid there is more concern though, at least from the governor. In that article Dumas attempts to get Governor Beebe to endorse his thesis but the governor is wise enough not to jump on board so fast. Dumas wrote: 

    He still is concerned that a sharply expanded Medicaid program will put a significant burden on the state, even if it is eight or nine years away.

    “It would be easy for me to say that it will be fine until 2017 or later since I won’t be here,” Beebe said. “I may not be here next January and for sure I won’t be here in 2017. But I have a responsibility to look at the impact things will have long after I leave.”

    Ilya Shapiro delivered this testimony on Jan 24, 2011 to the Arkansas House of Representatives. This was later put into a paper “On the Arkansas Health Care Freedom Act and Its Relationship to Obamacare.” He stated:


    But the individual mandate is only the highest-profile tip of an iceberg that, if not avoided, will sink our constitutional vessel. For example, going beyond the Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA) for a moment, it should concern you, as state legislators, that Obamacare impermissibly coerces states by forcing them to accept a greatly expanded and fundamentally transformed Medicaid program. States such as Arkansas face an all-or-nothing proposition that is effectively a Hobson’s Choice: either accept the new Medicaid regime and suffer devastating consequences to your already-strained budget, or forgo access to many billions of dollars annually which the federal government collects from all taxpayers and then returns only to those states that remain in Medicaid. Neither Obamacare nor any other existing federal statute provides a mechanism for states to withdraw from Medicaid, and no process exists to protect the health and welfare of the poorest residents of states that wish to transition away.

    Thus, contrary to the government’s suggestion in the Florida case, opting out of Medicaid is not a viable option by which states can avoid Obamacare’s ruinous effects. Accordingly, the legislation’s impositions on states, including Arkansas, “pass the point at which, ‘pressure turns into compulsion.'” South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 211 (1987) (quoting Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, 395 U.S. 548, 590 (1937)).

    In short, passing the HCFA would be a step toward protecting both individual liberty and state sovereignty as defined by our Constitution. I would support such a development and also urge you to seriously consider either joining the Florida-led lawsuit or, taking the example of Virginia and Oklahoma, forging ahead on your own. Should you need more information, I have found two websites to be invaluable resources regarding all of the Obamacare lawsuits: healthcarelawsuits.org and acalitigationblog.blogspot.com. I am also happy to answer any further questions you may have and can be reached at (202) 577-1134 or ishapiro@cato.org.

    Michael F. Cannon wrote an excellent article (“Obama’s Health Care Myths Exposed,” AOL News, March 17, 2010) exposing the myths of President Obama’s heath care reform act.  I will be sharing portions of over the next few days.
    Myth: This legislation won’t cut Medicare. 

    Reductions in Medicare outlays finance about half of the legislation’s $1 trillion in new entitlement spending. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office verifies that the legislation would reduce Medicare benefits. President Obama’s top Medicare actuary verifies that it would reduce access to care for Medicare beneficiaries.

    Of course, Congress needs to restrain Medicare spending. Otherwise, income-tax rates would have to double by midcentury. But the solution is to make Medicare more efficient, not to use price controls and bureaucratic rationing.


    By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Healthcare | Comments (0)