Freshman Anthony Davis lived up to his billing as national player of the year with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in the win over Louisville. He was 7 of 8 from the field and added to his personal highlight reel with a one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass and a flying leap off the court and over a row of media. One real positive was the way he called for the ball in the post in the second half as the Wildcats struggled from the perimeter.
COACH
This will be John Calipari’s second championship game. His first was with Memphis four years ago – an overtime loss to Kansas and coach Bill Self. Calipari’s strategy of not fouling with the lead before a 3-point shot could be attempted was questioned as Mario Chalmers buried a late 3 to tie the game and force overtime. Calipari did win the last meeting against Self, 75-65, at Madison Square Garden in the second game of the season.
KEY POINT
Kentucky’s roster is still loaded with NBA-level talent, but the Wildcats didn’t look like the offensive juggernaut it had been throughout the NCAA tournament, failing to reach the 80-point mark for the first time. But the defense was just as good, if not better, holding Louisville to 34.8 percent shooting from the field, a stat the Wildcats led the nation in this season. One player who will be looking to make amends will be freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who was limited to 23 minutes because of foul trouble but still managed a couple of big dunks as the Wildcats took control in the final minutes.
KANSAS
ROAD TO THE TITLE GAME
No. 2 Kansas beat No. 15 Detroit 65-50; beat No. 10 Purdue 63-60; No. 11 North Carolina State 60-57; No. 1 North Carolina 80-67; beat No. 2 Ohio State 64-62.
STAR
Thomas Robinson took over the semifinal in the second half, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds. It was his presence inside that allowed the Jayhawks to finish with a 42-30 rebound advantage and stymied Ohio State’s frontcourt of Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas, who were a combined 8 for 33 from the field. This matchup pits him against Davis, his competition for national player of the year.
COACH
Bill Self has a chance to join the select group of multiple championship coaches. He is 3-0 in his two Final Four appearances, and the latest win looked a lot like the Jayhawks’ others in this tournament – they found a way to win. Not much of a spotlight grabber, Self is considered one of the best in-game coaches, and his teams are known for the ability to shake off a poor first half, usually with a better defensive performance.
KEY POINT
Robinson did what is expected of him in the win over Ohio State; 7-foot center Jeff Withey had eight rebounds and seven assists; and Elijah Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds – a big effort from the guard who doesn’t get most of the attention. Tyshawn Taylor, the guard who’s considered Robinson’s co-star, had 10 points and nine assists. He also had five turnovers – including a potential devastating one with 3.8 seconds left – and was 0 for 3 from 3-point range, leaving him 0 for 20 from beyond the arc in the tournament.
THE SKINNY
These are the two winningest programs in college basketball history. Each has an all-America big man and guards capable of taking over a game. The coaches are on most short lists of the best in the sport. This game has all the angles covered. Come on, what more do you want?
THE PICK
Most of the bracket sheets that haven’t been shredded still have Kentucky, the overall No. 1 seed, winning it all. The dream scenario would be for Kentucky to have a slim lead with the clock ticking down. The flashbacks to San Antonio in 2008 would be popping into everyone’s mind. Why not the same result? Kansas 73-71.
Today I read an article that quoted John Calipari using the Buddhist term “karma” and it got me thinking about what his religious views are. Here an excerpt from the Lexington paper that got me thinking this morning: On several occasions this season, Kentucky Coach John Calipari counseled fans not to root against any other […]
Seth Davis discusses the question: “Did Pitino help Calipari get UMass job?” Published on Mar 27, 2012 by CBSSports CBS Sports Network college basketball analyst Seth Davis joined the Tim Brando Show to break down the matchup between Kentucky’s John Calipari and Louisville’s Rick Pitino as they prepare to face off this Saturday in New […]
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / U2 The Rolling Stones Satisfaction (rare) If you want to see the path that Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of the rock group Kansas took to find true satisfaction then listen to their song “Dust in the Wind” and then read their testimony at this link […]
John Calipari Pre-Louisville Press Conference Uploaded by uknationofblue on Mar 27, 2012 Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari talks about the upcoming game with Louisville in the Final 4. ______ Related posts: Calipari’s been to 4 final fours and his record is 1-3 so far March 26, 2012 – 9:35 am > Kentucky Wildcats head coach […]
Over and over in the 2012 NCAA Tournament the Louisville Cardinals have been counted out. Now John Clay has counted them out again. (Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is picking Kentucky.) The tables are now turned. Calipari’s program has the advantage in tradition, fan base and, in this case, talent. To whom much is […]
Uploaded by gwain30 on Jan 29, 2012 A review of the new Liam Neeson film, the grey, as iI say there may be some minor spoilers but nothing too drastic, enjoy and dont forget to comment, rate and subscribe ________________ Uploaded by ClevverMovies on Dec 5, 2011 http://bit.ly/clevvermovies – Click to Subscribe! http://Facebook.com/ClevverMovies – Become […]
(If you want to check out other posts I have done about about Steve Jobs:Some say Steve Jobs was an atheist , Steve Jobs and Adoption , What is the eternal impact of Steve Jobs’ life? ,Steve Jobs versus President Obama: Who created more jobs? ,Steve Jobs’ view of death and what the Bible has to say about it ,8 things you might not know about Steve Jobs ,Steve […]
> Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari celebrated with the team after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, March 25, 2012. This is second half action. UK won 82-70. Charles Bertram | Staff HERALD-LEADER Buy Photo Calipari is going […]
Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]
We came close to get two in but only Kentucky got in. Calipari’s wife and son can be seen in this picture below: > Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari hugged his son, Bradley, and his wife Ellen after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played […]
Coldplay – 42 Live Coldplay perform on the french television channel W9. In 1992 Woody Allen took up with one of his adopted kids and lived in with her. He was given over to the pursuit of pleasure. Actually he has made that a major focus of his life. In the latter part of his […]
Brian’s Blues, Brian Jones on guitar in the early stones years. unreleased track Brian Jones died at age 27 just like Amy Winehouse did. I remember like yesterday when I first heard the song “I can’t get no satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. I immediately thought about Solomon’s search for satisfaction in the Book of […]
Papa Roach – Last Resort (Censored Version) Amy Winehouse died at the young age of 27 and she had lived a life filled with drug and alcohol addiction. This series on Papa Roach is meant to provide answers to those who feel trapped. Hopefully it will people to avoid troubles like Amy Winehouse experienced. Today I […]
Coldplay seeks to corner the market on earnest and expressive rock music that currently appeals to wide audiences Here is an article I wrote a couple of years ago about Chris Martin’s view of hell. He says he does not believe in it but for some reason he writes a song that teaches that it […]
Here we go for the battle of the best two teams in Kentucky and possibly this game on March 31st will determine our national champion. USA Today reported in October 2011: Louisville’s Rick Pitino responds to John Calipari’s Kentucky taunt Rick Pitino isn’t going to take John Calipari’s taunts lying down. Louisville coach Rick Pitino […]
This Economics 101 video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity gives seven reasons why the political elite are wrong to push for more taxes. If allowed to succeed, the hopelessly misguided pushing to raise taxes would only worsen our fiscal mess while harming the economy.
The seven reasons provided by the video against this approach are as follows:
1) Tax increases are not needed;
2) Tax increases encourage more spending;
3) Tax increases harm economic performance;
4) Tax increases foment social discord;
5) Tax increases almost never raise as much revenue as projected;
6) Tax increases encourage more loopholes; and,
7) Tax increases undermine competitiveness
_____________________
______________
President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Francois Hollande is a man on a mission—to increase the top rate of tax on income to 75 percent. The Socialist candidate, who is poised to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election, said, “Above 1m euros [£847,000; $1.3m], the tax rate should be 75% because it’s not possible to have that level of income.”
Hollande’s “unassailable” logic aside, the measure would remind those who are too young to remember the 1970s of what happens when the rapacious state makes work really unprofitable. I can just see the Whitehall mandarins wring their hands with joy as thousands of French high-earners, from actors to businessmen, pour across the English Channel to London. If anything, the disastrous effect of the French tax will be greater than four decades ago—the world, after all, has become even more competitive and the cost of relocation has fallen appreciably. Karl Marx is supposed to have said that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Hollande may well prove him right.
1) Tax increases are not needed;
2) Tax increases encourage more spending;
3) Tax increases harm economic performance;
4) Tax increases foment social discord;
5) Tax increases almost never raise as much revenue as projected;
6) Tax increases encourage more loopholes; and,
7) Tax increases undermine competitiveness
______________
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
If you wanted to get serious about budget cuts then why not eliminate the Dept of Education. These budget cuts mentioned below in the budget are just peanuts. We should have meaningful budget cuts that would BALANCE THE BUDGET.
The president’s fiscal 2013 budget includes a 213 page document that contains 210 proposed cuts, consolidations, and other savings. That sounds like a lot until one finds out that the alleged savings would only amount to $24 billion in a $3.8 trillion budget. Not only would the cuts do little to reduce the size of government, they would do nothing to reign in the scope of government.
The following are a few examples of what I’m talking about:
The administration proposes to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Automotive Technology program for savings of $16 million. However, the proposed cut doesn’t reflect a sudden desire to end federal “green” subsidies to car manufacturers. Instead, the administration says “other Federal programs are better positioned to research, develop, demonstrate, and deploy a broad suite of advanced vehicle technologies.”
The administration proposes to cut funding for the Department of Health and Human Service’s Community Services Block Grant program from $679 million to $350 million. The administration cites reports from the HHS inspector general and the Government Accountability Office that “have documented failures in program oversight and accountability.” However, instead of proposing to completely terminate it, the administration says it’s going to fix the program and basically apologizes for having to cut it to meet discretionary spending caps.
The administration proposes to cut funding by $226 million for fossil fuel subsidies administered by the Department of Energy. These subsidies should be eliminated. But they should be eliminated along with all energy subsidies because the federal government should stop trying to pick winners and losers in the energy market. Unfortunately, it appears that the administration is really only interested in scoring political points with the “green” crowd.
The administration proposes to save a whopping $3 million by terminating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s public broadcasting grant program. The administration correctly points out that the program is duplicative of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. However, the CPB would get another $1 million in funding for an overall budget of $445 million. In other words, the proposed cut would have practically no effect on the federal government’s subsidization of PBS and NPR.
I could go on and on with examples but there’s no point. A glass-half-full type might say, “Well, at least the administration is proposing to cut something.” Unfortunately, the glass is nowhere close to being half full – it’s empty. The administration’s relatively paltry savings would still leave the budget with a projected deficit of $901 billion for fiscal 2013. And the deficit would only be smaller than last year because the government is projected to take in more revenue – not because the government would spend less. Worse, the federal government under this budget would continue to be an intrusive, metastasizing cancer on individual liberty and the economy.
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.Sincerely,Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
On Bloomberg, Sessions Discusses Astounding Gimmicks In President’s Budget
Today I read an article by Jerry Tipton that quoted John Calipari using the Buddhist term “karma” and it got me thinking about what his religious views are. Here an excerpt from the Lexington paper that got me thinking this morning:
On several occasions this season, Kentucky Coach John Calipari counseled fans not to root against any other team. “Even Duke?” one caller to his weekly radio show asked.
Yes, even Duke,
And even archrival Louisville, which plays Kentucky on Saturday in the national semifinals, would be best viewed dispassionately.
To root against a team is to risk a cosmic balancing of the scales, the UK coach said. Fate could be cruel in a boomerang kind of way.
“I just don’t think it’s good that you root against other teams,” Calipari said in Thursday’s Final Four interview session. “I just think if you start rooting against another team and you’re a fan of ours, turn the TV off. Walk to the other room. Make yourself a coffee. And go for a walk with the dog. Do something.
“I just think that karma comes back at you.”… (skipping to end of article)
Unwittingly or not, Calipari, a practicing Catholic who also attends a Methodist church on Sundays, follows a Buddhist path by stressing performance rather than purely victory.
“The only thing you can control is how you do something,” Leaman said of the Buddhist philosophy. “That’s different from the West, which is result oriented.”
Safe to say, UK fans are result oriented, especially so Saturday.
How would a Buddhist view UK fans?
“How should I put it?,” Leaman said. “I think they’d be perplexed by the passion.”
Jerry Tipton: (859) 231-3227. Email: jtipton@herald-leader.com.Twitter: @JerryTipton. Blog: ukbasketball.bloginky.com
“It’s important to me that people know I have a strong faith,” he said. “I couldn’t have handled the jobs I’ve had by myself.”One of the ways Calipari feeds that faith is by attending Mass during the week. In Lexington, he has been seen at the Cathedral of Christ the King and at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Church.Calipari was picked for the Kentucky job this spring, becoming the highest paid college basketball coach in the country. Heading into a Dec. 5 game against North Carolina, his Wildcats had a 7-0 record for the 2009-2010 regular season.Calipari credits God’s plan for his life and the life of his family. “I believe that things happen for a reason,” he said.As in Memphis, Catholics in Lexington are a minority. Like many families in the diocese, the Calipari family is interdenominational.”When we got married, my wife was a better Methodist than I was a Catholic,” Calipari said. He met his wife, Ellen, while he was working as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas.The Caliparis have raised their children — daughters Erin and Megan and son Bradley — as Methodists.Something — he doesn’t remember exactly what — pushed him back toward the Catholic Church eight to 10 years ago and Calipari began attending Holy Rosary Church in Memphis. “They called me a ‘Metholic,'” Calipari said. “I would go to the Methodist church with my family on Sundays and to the Catholic church during the week.”______________Related posts:
__________ UConn Wins National Championship With 60-54 Win Over Kentucky I have been around Calipari for 15 years and I know how the man thinks. When he hit the big time in Memphis and was the top 5 in the last 4 seasons at Memphis in the last regular season AP polls he brought up […]
Kentucky’s John Calipari on being a National Champion Uploaded by CBSSports on Apr 3, 2012 Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari talks to Tim Brando about what it feels like to finally win a national title ________ John Calipari and Darius Miller speak at UK championship celebration ____________ _____________ Related posts: If Calipari had stayed at […]
Post Kentucky, Assessing NBA’s One-And-Done Rule Uploaded by PBSNewsHour on Apr 3, 2012 As Kentucky fans celebrate their latest basketball championship, the team’s dominance has revived questions about the NBA’s One-and-Done rule, which requires players to be 19 and just one year out of high school. Gwen Ifill and guests discuss. ____________ Uploaded by worldnewslive4u […]
John Calipari’s Kentucky program isn’t just No. 1 in the country. It’s the hottest program since UCLA used to win it all every year. (Getty Images) The conventional thinking is that John Calipari won a national title because he went to Kentucky. However, when he left Memphis he had the best recruiting class in the […]
One Shining Moment 2012 HD Everything you will read below by Dan Wetzel is true, but it all started when Derrick Rose was taken first in the NBA draft after spending one year under Calipari at Memphis. John Calipari stuggled to recruit top players to Memphis the first 4 years he was there because the […]
Kansas will build a good lead going inside of two minutes and then Kentucky will hit some big shots and Kansas will miss some key free throws as Calipari’s Wildcats squeeze out a victory. I do think it will be dramatic and it will be totally opposite of what happened to Calipari’s team in 2008. […]
Today I read an article that quoted John Calipari using the Buddhist term “karma” and it got me thinking about what his religious views are. Here an excerpt from the Lexington paper that got me thinking this morning: On several occasions this season, Kentucky Coach John Calipari counseled fans not to root against any other […]
Seth Davis discusses the question: “Did Pitino help Calipari get UMass job?” Published on Mar 27, 2012 by CBSSports CBS Sports Network college basketball analyst Seth Davis joined the Tim Brando Show to break down the matchup between Kentucky’s John Calipari and Louisville’s Rick Pitino as they prepare to face off this Saturday in New […]
______________ I have dedicated several posts to this series on the Beatles and I don’t know when this series will end because Francis Schaeffer spent a lot of time talking and writing about them and their impact on the culture of the 1960’s. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds- The Beatles The Beatles: The Beatles […]
________________ I have dedicated several posts to this series on the Beatles and I don’t know when this series will end because Francis Schaeffer spent a lot of time talking and writing about them and their impact on the culture of the 1960’s. The Beatles: The Beatles and their album St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club […]
__________________ I have dedicated several posts to this series on the Beatles and I don’t know when this series will end because Francis Schaeffer spent a lot of time talking and writing about them and their impact on the culture of the 1960’s. The Beatles are featured in this episode below and Schaeffer noted, ” Sergeant Pepper’s […]
_______________ I have dedicated several posts to this series on the Beatles and I don’t know when this series will end because Francis Schaeffer spent a lot of time talking and writing about them and their impact on the culture of the 1960’s. Great Album The Beatles are featured in this episode below and Schaeffer […]
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / U2 The Rolling Stones Satisfaction (rare) If you want to see the path that Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of the rock group Kansas took to find true satisfaction then listen to their song “Dust in the Wind” and then read their testimony at this link […]
John Calipari Pre-Louisville Press Conference Uploaded by uknationofblue on Mar 27, 2012 Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari talks about the upcoming game with Louisville in the Final 4. ______ Related posts: Calipari’s been to 4 final fours and his record is 1-3 so far March 26, 2012 – 9:35 am > Kentucky Wildcats head coach […]
Over and over in the 2012 NCAA Tournament the Louisville Cardinals have been counted out. Now John Clay has counted them out again. (Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is picking Kentucky.) The tables are now turned. Calipari’s program has the advantage in tradition, fan base and, in this case, talent. To whom much is […]
Uploaded by gwain30 on Jan 29, 2012 A review of the new Liam Neeson film, the grey, as iI say there may be some minor spoilers but nothing too drastic, enjoy and dont forget to comment, rate and subscribe ________________ Uploaded by ClevverMovies on Dec 5, 2011 http://bit.ly/clevvermovies – Click to Subscribe! http://Facebook.com/ClevverMovies – Become […]
(If you want to check out other posts I have done about about Steve Jobs:Some say Steve Jobs was an atheist , Steve Jobs and Adoption , What is the eternal impact of Steve Jobs’ life? ,Steve Jobs versus President Obama: Who created more jobs? ,Steve Jobs’ view of death and what the Bible has to say about it ,8 things you might not know about Steve Jobs ,Steve […]
> Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari celebrated with the team after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, March 25, 2012. This is second half action. UK won 82-70. Charles Bertram | Staff HERALD-LEADER Buy Photo Calipari is going […]
Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]
We came close to get two in but only Kentucky got in. Calipari’s wife and son can be seen in this picture below: > Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari hugged his son, Bradley, and his wife Ellen after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played […]
Coldplay – 42 Live Coldplay perform on the french television channel W9. In 1992 Woody Allen took up with one of his adopted kids and lived in with her. He was given over to the pursuit of pleasure. Actually he has made that a major focus of his life. In the latter part of his […]
Brian’s Blues, Brian Jones on guitar in the early stones years. unreleased track Brian Jones died at age 27 just like Amy Winehouse did. I remember like yesterday when I first heard the song “I can’t get no satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. I immediately thought about Solomon’s search for satisfaction in the Book of […]
Papa Roach – Last Resort (Censored Version) Amy Winehouse died at the young age of 27 and she had lived a life filled with drug and alcohol addiction. This series on Papa Roach is meant to provide answers to those who feel trapped. Hopefully it will people to avoid troubles like Amy Winehouse experienced. Today I […]
Coldplay seeks to corner the market on earnest and expressive rock music that currently appeals to wide audiences Here is an article I wrote a couple of years ago about Chris Martin’s view of hell. He says he does not believe in it but for some reason he writes a song that teaches that it […]
Here we go for the battle of the best two teams in Kentucky and possibly this game on March 31st will determine our national champion. USA Today reported in October 2011: Louisville’s Rick Pitino responds to John Calipari’s Kentucky taunt Rick Pitino isn’t going to take John Calipari’s taunts lying down. Louisville coach Rick Pitino […]
Enlarge John Calipari address the press on his first day as Kentucky basketball coach. John Calipari stuggled to recruit top players to Memphis the first 4 years he was there because the “one and done” rule had not been put into place yet and many of the talented recruits of his skipped college and […]
#1 Kansas vs #1 Memphis National Championship 2008 (Part 3) The paths of Self and Calipari cross for championship By Kory Carpenter Sunday, April 1, 2012 More New Orleans, La. — Bill Self’s start in coaching is probably well known by now. A guard on the Oklahoma State basketball team, he worked at a Kansas […]
Memphis head coach Josh Pastner joins the Tim Brando Show to discuss the Final Four matchup between Kentucky and Louisville, and the rivalry between head coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari
John Brummett in his article “Prospects for 2014,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 27, 2012, (paywall) fears that potential governor Mark Darr “and his insurgent ilk, favorites of the Koch brothers, would shrink state government to lower taxes on the well-to-do, deregulate business and free poor people to navigate amid the lower taxes and unfettered commercial enterprises.”
Let us take Brummett’s conclusions and see if that is the type of world that we want to live in. Mark Darr wants to “free poor people to navigate amid the lower taxes and unfettered commercial enterprises.” I wonder what that would be like?
A version of this column appeared originally in THE DAILY BEAST.
Do proposed cuts in federal programs threaten to deny the downtrodden any chance for “a meaningful and productive life,” as claimed by one of the most prominent progressives in Congress?
The question is preposterous and the answer is obvious: long before Washington created such programs, millions of underprivileged citizens found ways to climb out of poverty and to build decent homes and brighter futures for their families.
But the office of Representative Andre Carson of Indiana issued a statement insisting that the “Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing.” Jason Tomcsi, Carson’s official spokesman, made these claims in an e-mail to the press, attempting to explain previous remarks in which the Congressman told an approving crowd in Miami at a Congressional Black Caucus event that “some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree.”
This outrageous accusation led Representative Alan West of Florida, one of two African-American Republicans in the House, to threaten to remove himself from the Congressional Black Caucus.
But while Carson’s office refused to apologize and stood behind the admittedly “strong language” in the charges of murderous Tea Party racism, their defense actually compounded the problem by insulting not just conservative activists, but smearing every American who receives federal assistance. To suggest that budget cuts would leave them “without the ability to improve their economic standing” suggests that recipients of government aid aren’t just “vulnerable” but helpless.
According to the official explanation, Carson’s “hanging on a tree” comment came “in response to frustration voiced by many in Miami and in his home district in Indianapolis regarding Congress’s inability to bolster the economy.”
Leaving aside the questionable notion that our political and economic system actually allows Congress to “bolster the economy”, the statement entered even more dubious territory by declaring: “We are talking about child nutrition, job creation, job training, housing assistance and Head Start, and this is just the beginning. A child without basic nutrition, secure housing, and quality education has no real chance at a meaningful and productive life.”
In other words, the many children who currently lack these advantages (despite lavish federal funding for programs meant to provide them) might as well give up, not only abandoning efforts to compete with kids from more fortunate backgrounds, but also renouncing all hopes for a life worth living.
Fortunately, Carson’s own grandmother – the late Congresswoman Julia Carson – never accepted that message. Born in Kentucky in 1938, long before the Civil Rights revolution or the costly Great Society programs her grandson now defends, she worked her way up to a job as a secretary in a union office, and then won a position in the Indiana Legislature.
My own grandfather, Harry Medved, had less success in the US after his 1910 immigration from Ukraine. He worked as a barrel-maker his entire life but somehow managed to raise a son (my father) who made his way through college and graduate school. My grandparents (who I remember vividly) would have laughed at the notion that they depended on generous funding from governmental bureaucracies for the chance they seized to create a “meaningful and productive life.”
On most occasions when Democrats and Republicans fight over the value of federal anti-poverty efforts they argue about the effectiveness of these programs. Many conservatives believe that these well-intentioned initiatives often do more damage than good because they foster a sense of dependence and discourage individual initiative and accountability, while most liberals insist that government plays a useful role in assisting the poor. But Carson’s statement suggesting that disadvantaged families are hopeless and helpless without Washington’s sustaining, life-giving hand–that they can’t possibly move ahead on their own without federal intervention–conveys a dismissive view of the poor that might be considered racist and bigoted had it come from a white conservative.
Moreover, the wildly exaggerated view of government’s power to transform lives, and the sad contention that the impoverished can’t possibly change their circumstances with any other form of aid, combine to illustrate the profound truth in an observation by best-selling author and radio host, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. “The Democratic Party is filled with ardent idealists who have decided to worship the little g – government – and feel uncomfortable with any worship of the big G – God.”
Though Congressman Carson presents himself as a devout Muslim, his recent comments leave no doubt as to which “g” inspires his deepest faith and most fervent prayers.
Michael Medved
Michael Medved’s daily syndicated radio talk show reaches one of the largest national audiences every weekday between 3 and 6 PM, Eastern Time. Michael Medved is the author of eleven books, including the bestsellers What Really Happened to the Class of ’65?, Hollywood vs. America, Right Turns, The Ten Big Lies About America and 5 Big Lies About American Business
It has been two years since Obamacare was signed into law, and although the major provisions don’t begin until 2014, some have already been implemented. The parts of the law already in effect were thought by its proponents to be its most popular, but as detailed in Heritage’s “The Obamacare Two-Year Checkup: More Reasons for Repeal,” the law is already proving ineffective in some cases and harmful in others. Here are some of the biggest failures of Obamacare highlighted by the paper:
The disappearance of child-only policies. Obamacare requires insurers who sell child-only plans to accept all applicants regardless of health condition. This allows parents to wait until their children are sick to enroll them in health plans. Two years later, one survey found that “17 states indicated that no insurers were selling child-only policies to new enrollees, and 39 states responded that at least one insurer exited the child-only market since the new law took effect.”
“Free” preventive services cost Americans. Obamacare requires coverage of certain preventive services with no cost-sharing for the individual. Two years later, the list includes abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and other contraceptives as mandated coverage—even for many religious organizations. Heritage analysts report, “This created an outcry from members of many faiths who feel this decision is an attack on religious freedom and their ability to serve communities across the country.”
A failing small business tax credit. Obamacare provides a temporary tax credit to small employers as an incentive for them to offer health insurance to their employees. Two years later, the IRS reports that only 7 percent of the originally estimated 4.4 million eligible small businesses have claimed the credit.
A broke program for early retirees. Obamacare established a temporary reinsurance program from May 2010 to January 2014 to pay a portion of companies’ costs to insure early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Two years later, the program ran out of money almost three years early and is no longer accepting additional applications. As Heritage analysts explain, the program “clearly shifts the costs of paying for unsustainable promises made to public and private employees to federal taxpayers and further underscores how the true cost of implementing the health care law exceeds original estimates.”
Low enrollment in high-risk pools. Obamacare creates high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months to purchase insurance. Two years later, using the Administration’s own numbers, enrollment in the high-risk pools remains low: only 13 percent of initial estimates. Heritage analysts point out, “At the same time, medical-claims costs have been 2.5 times higher than initially projected, and the high-risk pools may still exhaust or exceed the available funding, even though they serve such a small portion of those they were intended to help.”
A damaging medical loss ratio (MLR). Obamacare requires insurers to spend 80 percent (85 percent for large group plans) of premium revenue on medical claims or quality improvement. Two years later, Heritage analysts point out, “Seventeen states applied for the MLR waivers, arguing that the regulations would destabilize their markets.” The Administration has granted a full waiver to only one state; six received a partial waiver, and 10 requests were rejected. Some insurers have already left the market because of the requirement, and the strict medical loss ratio threatens the existence of health savings accounts, which are used by 11 million Americans.
An unsustainable new entitlement. Obamacare created the CLASS Act, a government-run long-term care insurance program. Two years later, the Administration has declared the CLASS program unsustainable and halted its implementation. Heritage analysts report, “On February 1, 2012, the House of Representatives voted 267 (including 28 Democrats) to 159 to repeal the troubled CLASS program, and it now awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.”
To read about all of the consequences of Obamacare chronicled in “The Obamacare Two-Year Checkup: More Reasons for Repeal,” click here.
I’ll have more to say later on Mitt Romney’s speech on federal spending, but his banal call for making government more “efficient” gave me an opportunity to share some good commentary on the subject. In a recent piece criticizing Indiana’s Republican-led state government for not doing “anything substantive to improve Indiana’s budgetary, fiscal or economic position,” Craig Ladwig, editor of the Indiana Policy Review, nails it:
Most troubling of all is that few in the leadership of either party share our belief that government must be kept small for smallness’ sake. The goal is not to run it “like a business” or make it more efficient (consolidate), but to ensure that government is simple enough that average citizens can understand and monitor its workings. The constitutional ability to do that and a passion for self-government (governing one’s self), thereby reaping the rewards and accepting the consequences, are what is meant by American exceptionalism.
Nor does the current leadership appreciate that government cannot by nature be proactively involved in prosperity, that it cannot create wealth but only refrain from taking it away or destroying it. Even Republicans busy themselves in such neo-mercantile schemes as tax rebates for politically favored companies and industries, or training programs to win more contracts from the federal government. At the same time, they slap a tax on entrepreneurial activity as soon as it finds success, most recently in Internet commerce.
Look, Democrats already work tirelessly to extract from us the revenue to support a bloated, systemically flawed and misguided state government. Do they need Republican help?
Milton Friedman famously described those trying to reform government without changing its makeup as being engaged in an attempt to transform a cat into a dog. This General Assembly may learn to bark, but it will still be a cat.
The “government efficiency” snake-oil salesmanship from politicians has become tiresome, especially when it comes from high-profile Republicans like Mitch Daniels and Mitt Romney. Unfortunately, I don’t see too many people “on the right” taking these people to task for it. So kudos to Craig.
A big majority of Americans are concerned about growing income inequality and government favor for the rich, and they understand that lower taxes do directly affect federal budget deficits, which Republican orthodoxy for 30 years has denied.
However, I like most Republicans would argue the problem is spending and not taxes. Take a look at this video and article from the Cato Institute concerning Illinios’ recent experience.
I’m mystified, though, why some Republicans are willing to walk into such a trap. If you were playing chess against someone, and that person kept pleading with you to make a certain move, wouldn’t you be a tad bit suspicious that your opponent really wasn’t trying to help you win?
When I talk to the Republicans who are open to tax hikes, they sometimes admit that their party will suffer at the polls for agreeing to the hikes, but they say it’s the right thing to do because of all the government red ink.
I suppose that’s a noble sentiment, though I find that most GOPers who are open to tax hikes also tend to be big spenders, so I question their sincerity (with Senator Coburn being an obvious exception).
But even if we assume that all of them are genuinely motivated by a desire to control deficits and debt, shouldn’t they be asked to provide some evidence that higher taxes are an effective way of fixing the fiscal policy mess?
I’m not trying to score debating points. This is a serious question.
European nations, for instance, have been raising taxes for decades, almost always saying the higher taxes were necessary to balance budgets and control red ink. Yet that obviously hasn’t worked. Europe’s now in the middle of a fiscal crisis.
Run up spending and debt, raise taxes in the naming of balancing the budget, but then watch as deficits rise and your credit-rating falls anyway. That’s been the sad pattern in Europe, and now it’s hitting that mecca of tax-and-spend government known as Illinois.
…Moody’s downgraded Illinois state debt to A2 from A1, the lowest among the 50 states. That’s worse even than California.
…This wasn’t supposed to happen. Only a year ago, Governor Pat Quinn and his fellow Democrats raised individual income taxes by 67% and the corporate tax rate by 46%. They did it to raise $7 billion in revenue, as the Governor put it, to “get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing” and improve the state’s credit rating. So much for that.
…And—no surprise—in part because the tax increases have caused companies to leave Illinois, the state budget office confesses that as of this month the state still has $6.8 billion in unpaid bills and unaddressed obligations.
In other words, higher taxes led to fiscal deterioration in Illinois, just as tax increases in Europe have been followed by bad outcomes.
Whenever any politician argues in favor of a higher tax burden, just keep these two points in mind:
1. Higher taxes encourage more government spending.
The combination of these two factors explains why higher taxes make things worse rather than better. And they explain why Europe is in trouble and why Illinois is in trouble.
The relevant issue is whether the crowd in Washington should copy those failed examples. As this video explains, higher taxes are not the solution.
This Economics 101 video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity gives seven reasons why the political elite are wrong to push for more taxes. If allowed to succeed, the hopelessly misguided pushing to raise taxes would only worsen our fiscal mess while harming the economy.
The seven reasons provided by the video against this approach are as follows:
1) Tax increases are not needed;
2) Tax increases encourage more spending;
3) Tax increases harm economic performance;
4) Tax increases foment social discord;
5) Tax increases almost never raise as much revenue as projected;
6) Tax increases encourage more loopholes; and,
7) Tax increases undermine competitiveness
You don’t need to log on to President Barack Obama’s Facebook page to find out who his friends are, and you don’t need to read tea leaves, gaze into a crystal ball, or consult a psychic to learn where his priorities lie. No, you only have to take a look at his 2013 budget, just released on Monday, to see what kind of company the president keeps and to what extent he will go to lend his pals a helping hand.
The folks seated at the president’s head table haven’t changed much in the past few years — the only difference is how much is being served up in the taxpayer-funded buffet. As in the past, the president has plenty of handouts for his big labor buddies. His budget delivers a fourth consecutive annual deficit exceeding $1 trillion — and that spending goes to yet another round of not-so-shovel-ready construction projects and government “investments” totaling $178 billion. Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen writes that the spending includes the president’s favored road, bridge, and school construction projects, but “then they go alarmingly beyond the usual ‘infrastructure’ arguments to fund teachers’ pay.” In other words, unions representing the construction site and the classroom win big.
Other winners in the president’s budget are those who fit into the Administration’s vision of a green economy that is propelled not by the market’s demand, but by Obama’s whim. The 2013 budget proposes to spend $310 million to make solar energy cost-competitive without subsidies by 2020, $290 million to expand R&D on energy efficient manufacturing techniques, and $421 million in fossil energy research and development. Heritage energy expert Nicolas Loris writes that the budget “rejects the notion of a market-based energy industry and wastes taxpayer dollars at a time when we desperately need to curtail out-of-control spending.” In other words, he says, the president’s blueprint is all wrong.
There’s no clearer example of just how wrong the president’s blueprint is than his decision to increase subsidies for electric vehicles like the $41,000 Chevy Volt while ending funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP), which gives low-income children in the nation’s capital a chance to escape underperforming schools. The White House intends to increase taxpayer-funded subsidies for those who purchase new-technology vehicles to $10,000 per buyer, up from $7,500. Keep in mind that the average income of a Volt buyer is $175,000 per year. That means that middle-class taxpayers are helping the rich buy pricy, politically correct cars.
With his other hand, President Obama is taking from the poor. The DCOSP provides $8,000 vouchers to 1,600 low-income children in the District of Columbia, empowering them to attend a school that they choose. The program has been a stunning success — though it has drawn criticism from the president’s teachers union allies. If the president gets his way, those children will pay the price.
They won’t be the only ones in their generation, though, who will suffer under the president’s budget. From a big picture perspective, the president’s budget rises from $3.8 trillion to $5.8 trillion in 2022. Putting that into context, that means outlays above 22 percent of gross domestic product — more than twice the New Deal’s share of the economy in its peak years. In constant dollars, outlays are more than three times the peak of World War II. With all that spending, someone will have to pay for it. Whose names will be on the bill? Those under 30 — America’s debt-paying generation. Their entire lives will be dominated by paying down today’s mountains of debt. And some of them are waking up to that fact.
“It will be my generation, rather than the retiring baby boomers, that will be paying off the national debt through higher income taxes,” says Amanda Winkler, 24, a Master’s Student at American University. Shaun Rabenius, 26, is a part-time construction worker and student. He says, “I have never followed politics much, except for when I vote. But in looking at the last decade, the presidencies, and the debt they have accumulated, I am scared out of my mind.”
They’re right to be worried. With a Senate that hasn’t passed a budget in well over 1,000 days and a president who seems intent on spending more, not less, without addressing the country’s underlying budgetary crisis, future generations will soon find that the winners today will make them losers tomorrow.
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Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com