Dan Mitchell on Obamacare (includes cartoons on Obamacare)

Some very good points by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute on Obamacare:

I’m going to make an assertion that seems utterly absurd.

The enactment of Obamacare may have been good news.

Before sending a team of medical attendants to cart me off to a sanitarium, allow me to elaborate. I’m not saying Obamacare is good policy. After all, I’ve written over and over again that it is a budget-busting boondoggle that will exacerbate our real healthcare crisis of third-party payer.

What I am saying, though, is that Obamacare may turn out to be a major political mistake for the left, one that sets the stage for sweeping free market reforms.

Here’s my six-part hypothesis.

  1. Our healthcare system as a mess before Obamacare. Normal market forces were crippled by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and also undermined by government intervention in the tax code that resulted in pervasive over-insurance that exacerbated the third-party payer problem.
  2. These various forms of intervention led to all sorts of problems, such as rising prices and indecipherable complexity, and most people blamed that the “free market” and “private” healthcare.Health Freedom Meter before Obamacare
  3. Obamacare was enacted in 2010, and it was perceived to be a paradigm-shifting change in the healthcare system, even though it was just another layer of bad policy on top of lots of other bad policy. Immediately after the legislation was approved, I offered a rough estimate that we went from a system that was 68 percent dictated by government to one that was 79 percent dictated by government.Health Freedom Meter after Obamacare
  4. Not surprisingly, all of the same problems still exist, but now they’re exacerbated by the mistakes in Obamacare.
  5. But because people think we’ve had a paradigm shift and government now is in charge (pay attention, since this is my key argument), they will be much more likely to blame “Obamacare” and “government” for all the warts and inefficiencies of the healthcare system.
  6. This means the public will be more receptive to pro-market policies, such as Obamacare repeal, tax reforms to reduce over-insurance, as well as the Medicaid and Medicare reforms in the Ryan budget.

All this will be much easier said than done, of course, and it is disconcerting that we’ll probably have to rely on feckless Republicans to implement these reforms.

But at least there’s a plausible scenario for systemic reform, and that wasn’t the case before Obamacare was enacted. In other words, the President’s signature achievement may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the left.

P.S. Watch this excellent video from Reason TV to see how a genuine free market could deliver health care at lower cost and with greater efficiency. For another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in action.

P.P.S. This post is part of my let’s-be-optimistic series. Previous editions include:

Third-Party Payer is the Biggest Economic Problem With America’s Health Care System

Published on Jul 10, 2012

This mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation explains that “third-party payer” is the main problem with America’s health care system. This is why undoing Obamacare, while desirable, is just a small first step if we want to reduce costs and boost efficiency

____________________

I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism,  Greece,  welfare state or on gun control.

These cartoons are sad but true.

I’m not sure why political cartoonists have been revisiting the issue of Obamacare in recent days, but I’ve been enjoying their humor.

I shared three funny cartoons a couple of days ago, adding to my collection of Obamacare humor (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Now let’s enjoy three more, beginning with this gem from Lisa Benson.

Obamacare Cartoon 4

Though we shouldn’t laugh at this cartoon. As we saw with both Medicaid and Medicare, entitlement programs routinely cost far more than original projections.

If you somehow think Obamacare might be different, watch this video.

Gary Varvel hits a different part of Obamacare, noting that the President’s promise of lower premiums is an utter fantasy.

Obamacare Cartoon 5

And Michael Ramirez looks at the big picture.

Obamacare Cartoon 6

I want to close with an optimistic point about the prospect of changing this terrible law.

Thanks to government programs and other forms of regulation and intervention, we had a bad healthcare system before Obamacare.

And even though it was government that was causing the system to malfunction, many people blamed the free market. And the President took advantage of that misunderstanding to push he legislation.

So now we have Obamacare, which has made the system a bit more statist.

But most people think Obamacare was much bigger than it actually was, with some actually thinking we used to have a free market!

Anyway, this flawed perception works to our advantage since it will now be possible to blame any bad news in the healthcare world on  Obamacare.

As such, I expect that Obamacare will remain unpopular.

The real question will be whether reformers will rally behind proposals to not just repeal Obamacare, but to actually restore a free market.

If you want to understand what needs to happen, I encourage you to watch two short videos, one from Reason TV and the other from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.

 

 

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Obama up to his Chicago style politics and tricks with Obamacare

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Will President Obama keep his word concerning Obamacare?

A Red-Ink Train Wreck: The Real Fiscal Cost of Government-Run Healthcare Uploaded on Nov 9, 2009 This CF&P Foundation video explains why healthcare proposals in Washington will result in bloated government and higher deficits. This mini-documentary exposes the pervasive inaccuracy of congressional forecasts and succinctly lists 12 reasons why Obamacare will be a budget buster. […]

Republicans in Arkansas messing up by endorsing Obamacare

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog on Obamacare

Third-Party Payer is the Biggest Economic Problem With America’s Health Care System Published on Jul 10, 2012 This mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation explains that “third-party payer” is the main problem with America’s health care system. This is why undoing Obamacare, while desirable, is just a small first step if we […]

Obamacare cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

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Lots of reasons to still oppose Obamacare (includes editorial cartoon)

Here is a great article I read on November9, 2012 in the National Review: November 9, 2012 4:00 A.M. Obamacare Is Still Vulnerable Now is not the time to go wobbly. By Michael F. Cannon President Obama has won reelection, and his administration has asked state officials to decide by Friday, November 16, whether their state […]

Michael Cannon on Obamacare (editorial cartoons on Judge Roberts and Obamacare)

Representative Bollinger asks CATO Institute Michael Cannon about Obamacare Published on Mar 19, 2013 The CATO Institute’s Michael Cannon spoke at the Arkansas Conservative Caucus on Tuesday March 19th. Several conservatives were present. Cannon talked about how to defeat Obamacare in Arkansas & how the states can stop Obamacare on a national level. Representative Bollinger […]

An ObamaCare Debate Challenge by Michael F. Cannon (editorial cartoon)

Obamacare is a poorly written and because of that the majority of states may never have to put into practice.   February 28, 2013 2:13PM ObamaCare Debate Challenge: Lawrence Wasden Edition By Michael F. Cannon Share Tweet Like Google+1 Congress empowered states to block major provisions of ObamaCare, including its subsidies and employer mandate. All […]

States response to Obamacare and Medicaid expansion

Great article from Heritage Foundation: Chart of the Week: The States That Have Expanded Medicaid T. Elliot Gaiser March 13, 2013 at 5:30 pm         «Expanding Medicaid will be costly for most states. The authors of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Obamacare) threatened to strip all federal funding […]

I hope Arkansas follows the lead from other southern states and flees from Obamacare (includes editorial cartoon)

I hope Arkansas follows the lead from other southern states and flees from Obamacare. Morning Bell: Obamacare’s Medicaid Trap Amy Payne March 13, 2013 at 7:07 am While Members of Congress are arguing about defunding parts of Obamacare, the rubber is meeting the road in the states. Governors and state legislatures are sweating decisions about […]

April 10, 2013 – 9:37 am Categories: Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, President Obama | Post a comment

Margaret Thatcher and the Battle of the 364 Keynesians (includes editorial cartoon)

The stimulus program was a failure here in America and President Obama should have known better than to try that. He should have been a better student of history like Margaret Thatcher was.

APRIL 9, 2013 3:24PM

Margaret Thatcher and the Battle of the 364 Keynesians

By 

STEVE H. HANKE

With the death of Margaret Thatcher, and the ensuing profusion of commentary on her legacy, it is worth looking back at an overlooked chapter in the Thatcher story. I am referring to her 1981 showdown with the Keynesian establishment—a showdown that the Iron Lady won handily. Before getting caught up with the phony “austerity vs. fiscal stimulus” debate, the chattering classes should take note of how Mrs. Thatcher debunked the Keynesian “fiscal factoid.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a factoid is “an item of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.” The standard Keynesian fiscal policy prescription for the maintenance of non-inflationary full employment is a fiscal factoid. The chattering classes can repeat this factoid on cue: to stimulate the economy, expand the government’s deficit (or shrink its surplus); and to rein in an overheated economy, shrink the government’s deficit (or expand its surplus).

Even the economic oracles embrace the fiscal factoid. That, of course, is one reason that the Keynesians’ fiscal mantra has become a factoid. No less than Nobelist Paul Krugman repeats it ad nauseam. Now, the new secretary of the treasury, Jack Lew (who claims no economic expertise), is in Europe peddling the fiscal factoid.

Unfortunately, the grim reaper finally caught up with Margaret Thatcher—but not before she laid waste to 364 wrong-headed British Keynesians.

In 1981, Prime Minister Thatcher made a dash for confidence and growth via a fiscal squeeze. To restart the economy, Mrs. Thatcher instituted a fierce attack on the British fiscal deficit, coupled with an expansionary monetary policy. Her moves were immediately condemned by 364 distinguished economists. In a letter to The Times, they wrote a knee-jerk Keynesian response: “Present policies will deepen the depression, erode the industrial base of our economy and threaten its social and political stability.”

Mrs. Thatcher was quickly vindicated. No sooner had the 364 affixed their signatures to that letter than the economy boomed. Confidence in the British economy was restored, and Mrs. Thatcher was able to introduce a long series of deep, free-market reforms.

As for the 364 economists (who included seventy-six present or past professors, a majority of the Chief Economic Advisors to the Government in the post-WWII period, and the president, as well as nine present or past vice-presidents, and the secretary general of the Royal Economic Society), they were not only wrong, but also came to look ridiculous.

In the United States, the peddlers of the fiscal factoid have never suffered the intellectual humiliation of their British counterparts. In consequence, American Keynesians can continue to peddle snake oil with reckless abandon and continue to influence policy in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

_________________

I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism,  Greece,  welfare state or on gun control.

Classic Cartoon on So-Called Stimulus Is Amusing and Economically Accurate

February 6, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

People often ask why I put so much political humor on this site. The easy answer is that I like a good joke.

But I also find that some cartoons and jokes do a very good job of helping people understand economics. I’ve always liked this cartoon, for instance, because it cleverly illustrates the impact of government handouts on the labor market. And looking at that cartoon is a lot quicker than taking a class about labor economics.

Well, you can also skip the class about public finance. Here’s a cartoon that shows the economic burden of government “stimulus” spending.

Very funny and very intellectually sound. Indeed, the only thing that would have made the cartoon even better would have been showing that the jockey became bloated by eating the horse’s food. But I reckon it’s not easy making multiple points with one picture.

Anyhow, I’m disappointed that I didn’t notice it at Reason.com a couple of years ago when the debate on the faux stimulus was taking place. It probably would have helped more people understand that you don’t boost economic performance by draining resources from the productive sector of the economy to finance a larger government.

By the way, if you want to understand in greater detail why the cartoon is accurate, this video on Keynesian economics is helpful, as is this video explaining the failure of Obama’s $1 trillion boondoggle.

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 2

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“You-Didn’t-Build-That” comment pictured in cartoons!!!

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Obama on creating jobs!!!!(Funny Cartoon)

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2 cartoons illustrate the fate of socialism from the Cato Institute

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Cartoon demonstrates that guns deter criminals

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Gun control posters from Dan Mitchell’s blog Part 2

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We got to cut spending and stop raising the debt ceiling!!!

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Taking on Ark Times bloggers on the issue of “gun control” (Part 2) “Did Hitler advocate gun control?”

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April 10, 2013 – 9:09 am Categories: President Obama, spending out of control | Post a comment

“Woody Wednesday” Trivia about Woody Allen Part 2

Dick & Woody get semi-metaphysical

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of his own secular view. I salute him for doing that. That is why I have returned to his work over and over and presented my own Christian worldview as an alternative.

My interest in Woody Allen is so great that I have a “Woody Wednesday” on my blog www.thedailyhatch.org every week. Also I have done over 30 posts on the historical characters mentioned in his film “Midnight in Paris.” (Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway,T.S.Elliot,  Cole Porter,Paul Gauguin,  Luis Bunuel, and Pablo Picasso were just a few of the characters.) Check out these trivia facts below.

Here is some trivia about Woody Allen:

Suspended from New York University.

He loves Venice, and helped to raise funds to rebuild the Venetian theater La Fenice, which was destroyed by a fire.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#89) (1995).

Adopted his second daughter Manzie Tio Allen, named after Manzie Johnson, a drummer with Sidney Bechet‘s band, after she had been born in Texas. (February 2000).

Older brother of Letty Aronson.

Was once invited to appear with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stanley Kubrick also considered casting him in Sydney Pollack‘s part in Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

Among his biggest idols are Ingmar Bergman, Groucho Marx, Federico Fellini, Cole Porter, and Anton Chekhov.

One of the most prolific American directors of his generation, he has written, directed, and more often than not starred in a film just about every year since 1969.

Accused British interviewer Michael Parkinson of having a morbid interest in his private life and rejected questions about the custody battle for his children during his appearance on the BBC’s “Parkinson” (1971) in 1999.

Born at 10:55 PM EST.

Despite the advancement of sound technology, all of his films are mixed and released in monaural sound, although later ones have a mono Dolby Digital mix.

Made his first appearance at the Oscars in Hollywood to make a plea for producers to continue filming their movies in New York after the 9/11 tragedy (2002).

Wrote the concept for the film Hollywood Ending (2002) on the back of a matchbook. Years later, he found the matchbook with the notes for the film on it and made the film.

Attended the Cannes Film Festival for the first time to receive the Palm of Palms award for lifetime achievement (2002).

He has more Academy Award nominations (14) for writing than anyone else, all of them are in the Written Directly for the Screen category.

After completing his first musical, Everyone Says I Love You (1996), he stated that he’d like to do another in the future with an all-original score. Since making that statement, however, nothing has yet to materialize.

In addition to being a comedian, musician and filmmaker, he is also a respected playwright.

Legally changed his name to Heywood Allen. Goes by “Woody” in honor of Woody Herman.

Graduated from Midwood High School at Brooklyn College.

Son of bookkeeper Martin Konigsberg (December 25, 1900-January 13, 2001) and his wife Nettie Konigsberg (November 8, 1906-January 27, 2002).

Related posts:

I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I have done over 30 posts on the historical characters mentioned in the film. Take a look below:

“Midnight in Paris” one of Woody Allen’s biggest movie hits in recent years, July 18, 2011 – 6:00 am

(Part 32, Jean-Paul Sartre)July 10, 2011 – 5:53 am

 (Part 29, Pablo Picasso) July 7, 2011 – 4:33 am

(Part 28,Van Gogh) July 6, 2011 – 4:03 am

(Part 27, Man Ray) July 5, 2011 – 4:49 am

(Part 26,James Joyce) July 4, 2011 – 5:55 am

(Part 25, T.S.Elliot) July 3, 2011 – 4:46 am

(Part 24, Djuna Barnes) July 2, 2011 – 7:28 am

(Part 23,Adriana, fictional mistress of Picasso) July 1, 2011 – 12:28 am

(Part 22, Silvia Beach and the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore) June 30, 2011 – 12:58 am

(Part 21,Versailles and the French Revolution) June 29, 2011 – 5:34 am

(Part 16, Josephine Baker) June 24, 2011 – 5:18 am

(Part 15, Luis Bunuel) June 23, 2011 – 5:37 am

“Woody Wednesday” A 2010 review of Woody Allen’s Annie Hall

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]

“Woody Wednesday” In 2009 interview Woody Allen talks about the lack of meaning of life and the allure of younger women

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]

Woody Allen video interview in France talk about making movies in Paris vs NY and other subjects like God, etc

Woody Allen video interview in France Related posts: “Woody Wednesdays” Woody Allen on God and Death June 6, 2012 – 6:00 am Good website on Woody Allen How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter? If Jesus Christ came back today and […]

“Woody Wednesday” Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life by Toby Simmons

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]

Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham (Woody Wednesday)

A surprisingly civil discussion between evangelical Billy Graham and agnostic comedian Woody Allen. Skip to 2:00 in the video to hear Graham discuss premarital sex, to 4:30 to hear him respond to Allen’s question about the worst sin and to 7:55 for the comparison between accepting Christ and taking LSD. ___________________ The Christian Post > […]

“Woody Allen Wednesdays” can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 If you like Woody Allen films as much as I do then join me every Wednesday for another look the man and his movies. Below are some of the posts from the past: “Woody Wednesday” How Allen’s film “Crimes and Misdemeanors makes the point that hell is necessary […]

“Woody Wednesday” Great Documentary on Woody Allen

I really enjoyed this documentary on Woody Allen from PBS. Woody Allen: A Documentary, Part 1 Published on Mar 26, 2012 by NewVideoDigital Beginning with Allen’s childhood and his first professional gigs as a teen – furnishing jokes for comics and publicists – WOODY ALLEN: A DOCUMENTARY chronicles the trajectory and longevity of Allen’s career: […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 6)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 3 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 3 of 3: ‘Is Woody Allen A Romantic Or A Realist?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca ______________ One of my favorite Woody Allen movies and I reviewed […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 5)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 2 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 2 of 3: ‘What Does The Movie Tell Us About Ourselves?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca _________________- One of my favorite Woody Allen movies and I reviewed it earlier but […]

In 2009 interview Woody Allen talks about the lack of meaning of life and the allure of younger women

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]

“Woody Allen Wednesdays” can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 If you like Woody Allen films as much as I do then join me every Wednesday for another look the man and his movies. Below are some of the posts from the past: “Woody Wednesday” How Allen’s film “Crimes and Misdemeanors makes the point that hell is necessary […]

Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life by Toby Simmons

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 4)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 1 of 3: ‘What Does Judah Believe?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca _____________ One of my favorite films is this gem by Woody Allen “Crimes and Misdemeanors”: Film Review By […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 3)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 3 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 3 of 3: ‘Is Woody Allen A Romantic Or A Realist?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca ______________ One of my favorite Woody Allen movies and I reviewed […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 2)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 2 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 2 of 3: ‘What Does The Movie Tell Us About Ourselves?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca _________________- One of my favorite Woody Allen movies and I reviewed it earlier but […]

“Woody Wednesday” Discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (Part 1)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 1 of 3: ‘What Does Judah Believe?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/ antons@mail.ubc.ca _____________ Today I am starting a discusssion of the movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” by Woody Allen. This 1989 […]

April 10, 2013 – 7:15 am Categories: Current Events | Comments (3)

Remembering Dr. C. Everett Koop with pictures and quotes Part 32 (includes editorial cartoon)

C. Everett Koop on being Surgeon General

Uploaded on Nov 3, 2008

Dr. Koop shares his journey to becoming Surgeon General in Part 1 of this interview at Wheaton College, IL. http://www.christianethics.org

___________________

Dr.Koop

On 2-25-13 we lost a great man when we lost Dr. C. Everett Koop. I have written over and over the last few years quoting Dr. C. Everett Koop and his good friend Francis Schaeffer. They both came together for the first time in 1973 when Dr. Koop operated on Schaeffer’s daughter and as a result they became close friends. That led to their involvement together in the book and film series “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?” in 1979.

Why Defend Partial-Birth Abortion?

by C. Everett Koop

Hanover, N.H.

The debate in Congress about the procedure known as partial-birth abortion reveals deep national uneasiness about abortion 23 years after the Supreme Court legalized it.  As usual, each side in the debate shades the statistics and distorts the facts.  But in this case, it is the abortion-rights advocates who seem inflexible and rigid.

The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to join the House in overriding President Clinton’s veto of a bill last April banning partial-birth abortion.  In this procedure, a doctor pulls out the baby’s feet first, until the baby’s head is lodged in the birth canal.  Then, the doctor forces scissors through the base of the baby’s skull, suctions out the brain, and crushes the skull to make extraction easier.  Even some pro-choice advocates wince at this, as when Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan termed it “close to infanticide.”

The anti-abortion forces often imply that this procedure is usually performed late in the third trimester on fully developed babies.  Actually, most partial-birth abortions are performed late in the second trimester, around 26 weeks.  Some of these would be viable babies.

But the misinformation campaign conducted by the advocates of partial-birth abortion is much more misleading.  At first, abortion-rights activists claimed that procedure hardly ever took place.  When pressed for figures, several pro-abortion groups came up with 500 a year, but later investigations revealed that in New Jersey alone 1,500 partial-birth abortions are performed each year.  Obviously, the national annual figure is much higher.

The primary reason given for this procedure–that it is often medically necessary to save the mother’s life–is a false claim, though many people, including President Clinton, were misled into believing this.  With all that modern medicine has to offer, partial-birth abortions are not needed to save the life of the mother, and the procedure’s impact on a woman’s cervix can put future pregnancies at risk.  Recent reports have concluded that a majority of partial-birth abortions are elective, involving a healthy woman and normal fetus.

I’ll admit to a personal bias: In my 30 years as a pediatric surgeon, I operated on newborns as tiny as some of these aborted babies, and we corrected congenital defects so they could live long and productive lives.

In their strident effort to protect partial-birth abortions, the pro-choice people remind me of the gun lobby.  The gun lobby is so afraid of any effort to limit any guns that it opposes even a ban on assault weapons, though most gun owners think such a ban is justified.

In the same way, the pro-abortion people are so afraid of any limit on abortion that they have twisted the truth to protect partial-birth abortions, even though many pro-choice Americans find it reasonable to ban the procedure.  Neither AK-47s nor partial-birth abortions have a place in civil society.

Both sides in the controversy need to straighten out their stance.  the pro-life forces have done little to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, even though that is why most abortions are performed.  They have also done little to provide for pregnant women in need.

On the other side, the pro-choice forces talk about medical necessity and under-represent abortion’s prevalence: each year about 1.5 million babies have been aborted, very few of them for “medical necessity.”  The current and necessarily graphic debate about partial-birth abortion should remind all of us that what some call a choice, other call a child.

C. Everett Koop was Surgeon General from 1981 to 1989.

(This editorial appeared on the OP-ED page–A19 of the national edition–of the New York Times on 9/26/96.)

___________________

In the film series “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?” the arguments are presented  against abortion (Episode 1),  infanticide (Episode 2),   euthenasia (Episode 3), and then there is a discussion of the Christian versus Humanist worldview concerning the issue of “the basis for human dignity” in Episode 4 and then in the last episode a close look at the truth claims of the Bible.

In this 1979 film series they dealt with the big social issues and predicted what social problems we have in the future because of humanism. For instance, they knew that the Jack Kevorkians of the world would be coming down the pike. They predicted that there was a slippery slope from abortion to infanticide to youth euthanasia brought on by the materialistic worldview.

Dr. Koop

Dr. C. Everett Koop is pictured above.

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 1) ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

Published on Oct 6, 2012 by

Is the unborn baby the woman’s property or not? Take a look at this editorial cartoon.

The End Is Not the End

Dennis Brack / Newscom

C. Everett Koop
Dr. Koop

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Open letter to President Obama (Part 293) (Founding Fathers’ view on Christianity, Elbridge Gerry of MA)

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

There have been many articles written by evangelicals like me who fear that our founding fathers would not recognize our country today because secular humanism has rid our nation of spiritual roots. I am deeply troubled by the secular agenda of those who are at war with religion in our public life.

Lillian Kwon quoted somebody that I respect a lot  in her article, “Christianity losing out to Secular Humanism?” :

“Most of the founding fathers of this nation … built the worldview of this nation on the authority of the Word of God,” Ken Ham said. “Because of that, there have been reminders in this culture concerning God’s Word, the God of creation.”

At the time I started this series I was in Boston, MA which was the home of John Adams. I have toured his home and found it very interesting. SO MANY FOUNDING FATHERS ARE FROM MASSACHUSETTS!!!

David Barton, 05-2008

A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and  early Statesmen on Jesus Christianity and the Bible

Today we look at Elbridge Gerry who is also from Massachusetts like John Adams was.

Elbridge Gerry

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

He called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .

  • with one heart and voice we may prostrate ourselves at the throne of heavenly grace and present to our Great Benefactor sincere and unfeigned thanks for His infinite goodness and mercy towards us from our birth to the present moment for having above all things illuminated us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, presenting to our view the happy prospect of a blessed immortality.32
  • And for our unparalleled ingratitude to that Adorable Being Who has seated us in a land irradiated by the cheering beams of the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . let us fall prostrate before offended Deity, confess sincerely and penitently our manifold sins and our unworthiness of the least of His Divine favors, fervently implore His pardon through the merits of our mediator.33
  • And deeply impressed with a scene of our unparalleled ingratitude, let us contemplate the blessings which have flowed from the unlimited grave and favor of offended Deity, that we are still permitted to enjoy the first of Heaven’s blessings: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 34

  • Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

    Sincerely,

    Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

April 10, 2013 – 7:02 am Categories: David Barton, Founding Fathers, President Obama | Post a comment

Taking on Ark Times Bloggers on various issues Part H “Are humans special?” includes film ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE) Reagan: ” To diminish the value of one category of human life is to diminish us all”

I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control  and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline Republican.

On 2-22-13 on the Arkansas Times Blog  the person using the username “Doc” asserted: 

SR – Although I don’t normally think of Widipedia as an authoritative source, this article contains sufficient citations to peer-reviewed literature to make it more trustworthy than most:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_a…

On 2-22-13 on the Arkansas Times Blog  I responded: 

Doc thanks for the link to the article but I found lots of mixed messages from it. For instance look at this passage:

Even at the scale of the individual, IQ may not directly cause more disbelief in God. Dr David Hardman of London Metropolitan University says: “It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief.” He adds that other studies do nevertheless correlate IQ with being willing or able to question beliefs….Doc said, Sagan plagiarized fiction from the Bible?”

No he didn’t do that but his book “Contact” did show us a lot about his struggle to answer the big questions of life. Sagan’s writings indicated that he was an agnostic and he said he would consider new evidence and is why I started writing letters to him back in 1992 and was fortunate to receive a personal letter back from him.

Carl Sagan could not rid himself of the “mannishness of man.” Those who have read Francis Schaeffer’s many books know exactly what I am talking about. We are made in God’s image and we are living in God’s world. Therefore, we can not totally suppress the objective truths of our unique humanity. In my letter of Jan 10, 1996 to Dr. Sagan, I really camped out on this point a long time because I had read Sagan’s  book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors  and in it  Sagan attempts to  totally debunk the idea that we are any way special. However, what does Dr. Sagan have Dr. Arroway say at the end of the movie Contact when she is testifying before Congress about the alien that  communicated with her? See if you can pick out the one illogical word in her statement: “I was given a vision how tiny, insignificant, rare and precious we all are. We belong to something that is greater than ourselves and none of us are alone.”

Dr Sagan deep down knows that we are special so he could not avoid putting the word “precious” in there. Schaeffer said unbelievers are put in a place of tension when they have to live in the world that God has made because deep down they know they are special because God has put that knowledge in their hearts.We are not the result of survival of the fittest and headed back to the dirt forevermore. This is what Schaeffer calls “taking the roof off” of the unbeliever’s worldview and showing the inconsistency that exists.

Doc do you think we are special or is the human race just another animal like Sagan argued?

————–

On 2-22-13 on the Arkansas Times Blog  the person using the username “Doc” replied: 

SR, I don’t think we are special to anyone/thing other than each other. We do all go back to the dirt, except for those traces of us that we leave for others in our genes and in our works. That is what makes this life special, and it shouldn’t be cheapened by some belief in a “better life” after this one. All we have is each other, now.

“I accept the fact that like all living things I shall soon cease to exist. For a time, some of the genes I have carried will be replicated in my children, and something of me will survive in the books I have written and in the help I have given other people. Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished.”

— http://www.scientificmindfulness.com/2010/…

Doc thanks for the thoughtful response and I do respect you as a good representative of the secular humanist point of view just as I respected Dr Paul Kurtz who started the magazine “Free Inquiry” which you linked to. Here is the first part of 4 parts of my tribute to Kurtz. https://thedailyhatch.org/2012/10/23/debating-with-the-gentleman-paul-kurtz/

I subscribed to “Free Inquiry’ for several years and had letters published in it….Doc you are admitting that humans are not special except for the fact that ancestors inherit our genes?

I would love to hear from any atheist that would present a case for lasting meaning in life apart from God. It seems to me that the British humanist H. J. Blackham was right in his accessment of the predictament that atheists face:

On humanist assumptions [the assumption that there is no God and life has evolved by time and chance alone], life leads to nothing, and every pretense that it does notis a deceit. If there is a bridge over a gorge which spans only half the distance andends in mid-air, and if the bridge is crowded with human beings pressing on, oneafter another they fall into the abyss. The bridge leads to nowhere, and those who are pressing forward to cross it are going nowhere. . . It does not matter where they think they are going, what preparations for the journey they may have made, how much they may be enjoying it all . . . such a situation is a model of futility (H. J. Blackham et al., Objections to Humanism (Riverside, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1967).)

Woody Allen’s film does a great job of showing the need for the “enforcement factor.” One reviewer made it sound like the movie was unrealistic and Judah could have smoothtalked his way out of this. However, Woody Allen anticipated this objection and that is why he threw in the illegal financial dealings of Judah that his former girlfriend knew about. Now instead of just losing his marriage he may have to go to jail.
Could you tell me Doc or Olphart or any other brave how a moral absolutist would justify not having Judah’s girlfriend killed? On what basis?

_____________

In the film series “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?” the arguments are presented  against abortion (Episode 1),  infanticide (Episode 2),   euthenasia (Episode 3), and then there is a discussion of the Christian versus Humanist worldview concerning the issue of “the basis for human dignity” in Episode 4 and then in the last episode a close look at the truth claims of the Bible.

I truly believe that many of the problems we have today in the USA are due to the advancement of humanism in the last few decades in our society. Ronald Reagan appointed the evangelical Dr. C. Everett Koop to the position of Surgeon General in his administration. He partnered with Dr. Francis Schaeffer in making the video below. It is very valuable information for Christians to have.  Actually I have included a video below that includes comments from him on this subject.

Many liberals actually truly do argue for abortion rights over human rights. Prochoice advocate Elizabeth Williams came out and said that on 1-23-13 in her article on Salon. We hear reasons for abortion such as poverty,and  child abuse,  but why not consider adoption? Instead, the political left will stop at nothing to push the pro-abortion agenda. Why not stop and take an honest look at when life begins for the unborn child and when she begins to feel pain?

Dr. C. Everett Koop is pictured above.

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 1) ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

Published on Oct 6, 2012 by

____________

Great  quotes from “Whatever happened to the human race?”  by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop (from the shelter website):.

Summary

Francis Schaeffer and, former Surgeon General, C. Everette Koop deal directly with the devaluing of human life and its results in our society. It did not take place in a vacuum. It is a direct result of a worldview that has rejected the doctrine of man being created in the image of God. Man as a product of the impersonal, plus time and chance has no sufficient basis for worth.

Modern humanism has an inherent need to manipulate and tinker with the natural processes, including human nature [through genetics], because humanism:

1. Rejects the doctrine of Creation.
2. Therefore rejects the idea that there is anything stable or “given” about human nature.
3. Sees human nature as part of a long, unfolding process of development in which everything is changing.
4. Casts around for some solution to the problem of despair that this determinist-evolutionist vision induces.
5. Can only find a solution in the activity of the human will, which — in opposition to its own system — it hopes can transcend the inexorable flow of nature and act upon nature.
6. Therefore encourages manipulation of nature, including tinkering with people, as the only way of escaping from nature’s bondage. But this manipulation cannot have any certain criteria to guide it because, with God abolished, the only remaining criterion is nature (which is precisely what humanist man wants to escape from) and nature is both noncruel and cruel.
(Francis A. Schaeffer and C. Everette Koop, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, Ch. 1)

Sarah Torre

January 22, 2013 at 3:52 pm

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade that overturned state abortion laws and sanctioned abortion on demand across the United States.

Despite the proclamations of supporters that the Court’s pronouncements in Roe and its accompanying case Doe v. Bolton had “settled” the abortion issue, nothing could be further from the truth.

Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, comments that these cases “remain the ultimate in unsettling law, upending the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and creating conditions where human lives are not seen as created equal in value.”

It’s a decision that has come at an unspeakable cost: Estimates suggest that more than 55 million abortions have occurred since 1973.

Just a few years after the Roe decision, then-President Ronald Reagan recounted the steep toll of the Court’s ruling on society and the future preservation of American values:

Abortion has denied [these children] the first and most basic of human rights, and we are infinitely poorer for their loss. We are poorer not simply for lives not led and for contributions not made, but also for the erosion of our sense of the worth and dignity of every individual. To diminish the value of one category of human life is to diminish us all.

Supporters of the Roe decision have felt the pressing weight of that truth for 40 years. No longer able to convince new generations that denying life to some will lead to greater happiness for others, the philosophy of Roe—like its original champions—isn’t so vigorous today.

Polls indicate that roughly half of Americans identify themselves as “pro-life”—including many millennials, who will make up a significant part of the March for Life in Washington, D.C., later this week.

According to Americans United for Life, at least 60 new pro-life laws were enacted in states across the country last year alone. Thousands of community-based pregnancy centers have harnessed the best of the power and spirit of civil society, providing compassionate counseling, holistic support, and accurate information to women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Since 1973, the pro-life movement’s many foot soldiers have charged the hill of American law and culture to victories so impressive that even Time magazine has recognized that pro-abortion advocates are on the losing side.

Still, the challenges to life, conscience, and freedom that inevitably stem from sanctioned abortion on demand persist.

Every year, the federal government entangles taxpayers in the abortion business, sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, which performs one out of four abortions in the United States. Washington also funnels federal aid to a number of international groups that promote and perform abortions—at least one of which has been implicated in abetting China’s coercive one-child policy.

Then there’s Obamacare. The health care law that is wreaking havoc on religious liberty through its anti-conscience mandate also provides weak and limited conscience protections for medical providers and opens avenues for increased individual and taxpayer funding of abortion.

Though these and many other challenges continue to test their resolve, pro-life leaders have a winning strategy that has proven effective in changing hearts, minds, and laws: “Witness to the truth matters for its own sake,” writes Heritage’s William E. Simon Fellow Ryan Anderson on the anniversary of Roe, “but persistent, winsome witness also tends to bear good fruit, even if it takes 40 years and counting.”

With the courageous efforts and continued victories of many leaders in the pro-life movement, hope remains that it won’t take another 40 years for government to respect the conscience rights of individuals, medical providers, and taxpayers and ensure the basic rights of liberty and life for everyone—including those yet to be born.

Related posts:

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 7) “Poverty not good reason for abortion, why not give up for adoption?”

Dr Richard Land discusses abortion and slavery – 10/14/2004 – part 3 The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” Over the years I have taken on the Ark Times liberal bloggers over and over and over concerning the issue […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 6) For many pro-abortionists ” …the problem is not determining when actual human life begins, but when the value of that life begins to out weigh other considerations”

The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” Francis Schaeffer pictured above._________ The 45 minute video above is from the film series created from Francis Schaeffer’s book “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” with Dr. C. Everett Koop. This book  really […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 5) “Slavery issue compared to rights of unborn child”

The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” Over the years I have taken on the Ark Times liberal bloggers over and over and over concerning the issue of abortion. I asked over and over again for one liberal blogger […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 4) “How do pro-lifers react to the movie THE CIDER HOUSE RULES?”

Francis Schaeffer pictured above._________ The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” Over the years I have taken on the Ark Times liberal bloggers over and over and over concerning the issue of abortion. I asked over and over again […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 3) “What should be the punishment for abortion doctors?”

The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” On 1-24-13 I took on the child abuse argument put forth by Ark Times Blogger “Deathbyinches,” and the day before I pointed out that because the unborn baby has all the genetic code […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 2) “The pro-abortion child abuse argument destroyed here”

PHOTO BY STATON BREIDENTHAL from Pro-life march in Little Rock on 1-20-13. Tim Tebow on pro-life super bowl commercial. Over the years I have taken on the Ark Times liberal bloggers over and over and over concerning the issue of abortion. Here is another encounter below. On January 22, 2013 (on the 40th anniversary of the […]

Taking on Ark Times bloggers about abortion on the 40th anniversary date of Roe v. Wade (Part 1)

Dr Richard Land discusses abortion and slavery – 10/14/2004 – part 3 The best pro-life film I have ever seen below by Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop “Whatever happened to the human race?” Over the years I have taken on the Ark Times liberal bloggers over and over and over concerning the issue […]

April 10, 2013 – 6:43 am Categories: Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Post a comment

We have too many people getting dependent on food stamps

We have too many people getting dependent on food stamps.

April 4, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Newscom

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that even with improvements in the economy, food stamp participation rates have reached all-time highs.

Since 2008, enrollment has increased by 70 percent, reaching a record 47.8 million this past December. Funding for the food stamp program—or, as it’s now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—has doubled since 2008, hitting nearly $80 billion in fiscal year 2012.

A significant portion of the increase in enrollment is due to the “sluggish job market and a rising poverty rate,” as WSJ puts it. However, there’s more to the story.

Under the Clinton Administration, a “broad-based categorical eligibility” rule was put into place. This allowed states to ease income and asset requirements and thus expand eligibility. With encouragement from the Obama Administration, 43 states have now adopted broad-based categorical eligibility. WSJ reports:

The resulting change in the program’s structure has been profound. In 2006, 18.7% of SNAP households qualified through an easier screening process. In 2011, that number reached 65.8%. The change didn’t mean the majority of SNAP beneficiaries had large savings accounts. Rather, it meant that states were no longer checking, according to state guidelines and program officials.

On top of broad-based categorical eligibility, in 2009, as part of the stimulus bill, the Obama Administration suspended food stamps’ work requirements for able-bodied adults. The suspension was to be only temporary and end in 2010. However, Obama’s last two budgets called for a continuation of the suspension. Instead of waiting for Congress to act, the Administration began issuing work requirement waivers.

Food stamps are just one of nearly 80 federal means-tested welfare programs and only one of a dozen that provide assistance specifically for food. Another dozen provide funding for social services and another dozen provide educational assistance. There are 11 housing assistance programs, 10 cash assistance programs, nine vocational training programs, seven medical assistance programs, three energy and utility assistance programs, and three child care or child development programs.

The government’s welfare system has continued to expand in size since the “War on Poverty” began in 1965. Total government welfare spending is nearly $1 trillion annually, and under current projections will continue to climb. Yet, while a larger government welfare system may mean more aid to address the symptoms of poverty, the welfare system fails to address the underlying causes of poverty and can often lead to a trap of dependence.

Like the 1996 welfare reforms that resulted in major declines in the welfare rolls and a surge in employment among low-income Americans, the food stamp program should similarly be reformed to promote work among able-bodied adults.

Heritage’s Robert Rector and Katherine Bradley note that in 2010

[a]ltogether, each month, some 7 million to 7.5 million work-capable households received food stamps while performing no work or working less than 30 hours per week. These low levels of work are not simply the product of the current recession: They are typical of food stamp recipients even in good economic times.

Welfare should aim to help those in need but must at the same time promote work and self-reliance. It’s time to reform food stamps to meet this goal.

Related posts:

Republicans for more food stamps?

Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth __________________ We got to cut spending and we must first start with food stamp program and we need some Senators that are willing to make the tough cuts. Food Stamp Republicans Posted by Chris Edwards Newt Gingrich had fun calling President Obama the “food stamp president,” but […]

Obama promotes food stamps but Milton Friedman had a better suggestion

Milton Friedman’s negative income tax explained by Friedman in 1968: We need to cut back on the Food Stamp program and not try to increase it. What really upsets me is that when the government gets involved in welfare there is a welfare trap created for those who become dependent on the program. Once they […]

400% increase in food stamps since 2000

Welfare Can And Must Be Reformed Uploaded by HeritageFoundation on Jun 29, 2010 If America does not get welfare reform under control, it will bankrupt America. But the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector has a five-step plan to reform welfare while protecting our most vulnerable. __________________________ If welfare increases as much as it has in the […]

Which states are the leaders in food stamp consumption?

I am glad that my state of Arkansas is not the leader in food stamps!!! Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which State Has the Highest Food Stamp Usage of All? March 19, 2013 by Dan Mitchell The food stamp program seems to be a breeding ground of waste, fraud, and abuse. Some of the horror stories […]

Food Stamp Program is constantly ripped off and should be discontinued

Uploaded by oversightandreform on Mar 6, 2012 Learn More at http://oversight.house.gov The Oversight Committee is examining reports of food stamp merchants previously disqualified who continue to defraud the program. According to a Scripps Howard News Service report, food stamp fraud costs taxpayers hundreds of millions every year. Watch the Oversight hearing live tomorrow at 930 […]

“Friedman Friday” Milton Friedman remembered at 100 years from his birth (Part 4)

April 10, 2013 – 1:04 am Categories: spending out of control | Post a comment

Dan Mitchell’s blog has great cartoon that demonstrates what President Obama has been doing the last 4 years!!!

I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism,  Greece,  welfare state or on gun control.

 

 

The President is supposed to release his FY2014 budget tomorrow, more than two months later than required by law.

Based on what it’s rumored to contain, I’ve already explained that nobody should be tricked into thinking that Obama is moving to the center. Though he may not be as far to the left as Senate Democrats.

Not that it would be easy to get to the left of that plan, as cartoonists have ably illustrated.

Anyhow, much of Washington is buzzing about what might be in the President’s proposal.

Well, time to sate your curiosity. I have a leaked copy of the budget for your enjoyment.

Leaked Obama Budget Cartoon

We won’t see actual numbers until tomorrow, but I’m guessing that I’ll be sharing something very similar to the analysis I provided last year and the year before.

P.S. If you enjoy political humor, the Glenn McCoy cartoon in this post is a pretty good summary of what Obama will say in his budget message.

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 2

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 1

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Great cartoon from Dan Mitchell’s blog on government moochers

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Gun Control cartoon hits the internet

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“You-Didn’t-Build-That” comment pictured in cartoons!!!

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Cartoons about Obama’s class warfare

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Cartoons on Obama’s budget math

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Funny cartoon from Dan Mitchell’s blog on Greece

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Obama on creating jobs!!!!(Funny Cartoon)

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Get people off of government support and get them in the private market place!!!!(great cartoon too)

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2 cartoons illustrate the fate of socialism from the Cato Institute

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Cartoon demonstrates that guns deter criminals

John Stossel report “Myth: Gun Control Reduces Crime Sheriff Tommy Robinson tried what he called “Robinson roulette” from 1980 to 1984 in Central Arkansas where he would put some of his men in some stores in the back room with guns and the number of robberies in stores sank. I got this from Dan Mitchell’s […]

Gun control posters from Dan Mitchell’s blog Part 2

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We got to cut spending and stop raising the debt ceiling!!!

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Gun control posters from Dan Mitchell’s blog Part 1

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Taking on Ark Times bloggers on the issue of “gun control” (Part 3) “Did Hitler advocate gun control?”

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Taking on Ark Times bloggers on the issue of “gun control” (Part 2) “Did Hitler advocate gun control?”

On 1-31-13 I posted on the Arkansas Times Blog the following: I like the poster of the lady holding the rifle and next to her are these words: I am compensating for being smaller and weaker than more violent criminals. __________ Then I gave a link to this poster below: On 1-31-13 also I posted […]

April 9, 2013 – 3:52 pm Categories: Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama | Comments (2)

Sequester did not hurt job growth!!!!!

If you blame the Sequester for blaming job growth then you don’t have a good grasp on economics.

When the monthly job numbers are released, most people focus on the unemployment rate.

On many occasions, I’ve cited that number, usually to point out that the unemployment rate is far higher than the Obama Administration promised it would be if the so-called stimulus was enacted.

That episode should be additional proof that Keynesian economics is misguided.

But that’s not the issue we should be worrying about now. Instead, our concern should be what appears to be a permanent reduction in the share of the working-age population that is employed.

As I explain in this interview for Blaze TV, our ability to produce is governed by the quality and quantity of labor and capital in the economy. Unfortunately, it appears that the Bush-Obama policies of bigger government have had a negative impact.

To build upon that interview, here are the very latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To be fair, the drop you see on the chart started before Obama took office. But he can be fairly blamed for the fact that there’s been no recovery.

Obama Jobs Legacy

The moral of the story is that bigger government is not a recipe for prosperity.

The burden of government spending is too high, the tax code is too punitive, red tape is hindering entrepreneurship, and various handouts are creating a dependency culture that discourages work.

Should we be surprised that the employment-population ratio is grim?

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Dan Mitchell, Ron Paul, and Milton Friedman on Immigration Debate (includes editorial cartoon)

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Dan Mitchell on Texas v. California (includes editorial cartoon)

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog on Obamacare

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Obamacare cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

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Editorial cartoon from Dan Mitchell’s blog on California’s sorry state of affairs

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Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute:HUD has to go!!!! (includes political cartoon)

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Dan Mitchell: Cartoonists React to the Senate Democratic Budget

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 6

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Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 3.3 (Unemployment laws)

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April 9, 2013 – 7:30 am Categories: Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Post a comment

Taking on Ark Times Bloggers on various issues Part G “How do moral nonabsolutists come up with what is right?” includes the film “ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE”)

I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control  and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline Republican.

I have discovered that is very difficult to get moral nonabsolutists to tell me how they come up with what is right and what is wrong. After asking this question of them over and over it is very rare for  me to get a straight answer. I think that is because they don’t really know themselves how to come up with a basis for their relative moral system.

On 2-21-13 on the Arkansas Times Blog  the person using the username “mudturtle” asserted: 

Saline “By absolute we mean that which always applies, that which provides a final or ultimate standard”

Absolutes? Not so much. “Thou shalt not kill” sounds pretty absolute, but even a 6 year old knows about capital punishment, wars, and the food process. “Honor your father and mother” doesn’t apply so much when you’ve been raped by your dad.

Absolutes? Go for them Saline.
As for me, I prefer to go with what’s “right”

On 2-21-13 on the Arkansas Times Blog  I responded: 

Mudturtle you said, “Absolutes? Go for them Saline.As for me,I prefer TO GO WITH WHAT’S RIGHT.”

Really you can figure that out how? Let me challenge any moral nonabsolutist to answer this question below concerning a morality issue.

Remember back in April of 2012 when we saw some newly released pictures from Hitler’s bunker?

Hitler’s last few moments of life were filled with anxiety as they should have been. He went on to face his maker and pay dearly for his many sins. When I look at the never before released pictures of Hitler’s bunker, it makes me wonder how anyone can claim that this life doesn’t count for all eternity and people like Hitler are home free like Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” suggests.

Mudturtle answer this one question. HOW COULD JUDAH HAVE REMOVED HIS TROUBLESOME MISTRESS FROM HIS LIFE WITHOUT KILLING HER? Woody Allen knew what he was doing in this film and he was showing that without God and an afterlife then there is no reason not to murder!!!!

Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS , is concerning the need of God while making decisions in the area of personal morality. In this film, Allen attacks his own atheistic view of morality. Martin Landau plays a Jewish eye doctor named Judah Rosenthal raised by a religious father who always told him, “The eyes of God are always upon you.” However, Judah later concludes that God doesn’t exist. He has his mistress (played in the film by Anjelica Huston) murdered because she continually threatened to blow the whistle on his past questionable, probably illegal, business activities. She also attempted to break up Judah ‘s respectable marriage by going public with their two-year affair. Judah struggles with his conscience throughout the remainder of the movie. He continues to be haunted by his father’s words: “The eyes of God are always upon you.” This is a very scary phrase to a young boy, Judah observes. He often wondered how penetrating God’s eyes are.

Later in the film, Judah reflects on the conversation his religious father had with Judah ‘s unbelieving Aunt May at the dinner table many years ago:

“Come on Sol, open your eyes. Six million Jews burned to death by the Nazis, and they got away with it because might makes right,” says aunt May

Sol replies, “May, how did they get away with it?”

Judah asks, “If a man kills, then what?”

Sol responds to his son, “Then in one way or another he will be punished.”

Aunt May comments, “I say if he can do it and get away with it and he chooses not to be bothered by the ethics, then he is home free.”

Judah ‘s final conclusion was that might did make right. He observed that one day, because of this conclusion, he woke up and the cloud of guilt was gone. He was, as his aunt said, “home free.”

Woody Allen has exposed a weakness in his own humanistic view that God is not necessary as a basis for good ethics. There must be an enforcement factor in order to convince Judah not to resort to murder. Otherwise, it is fully to Judah ‘s advantage to remove this troublesome woman from his life. Tell me what should have Judah done Mudturtle? What is right?

_____________

In the film series “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE?” the arguments are presented  against abortion (Episode 1),  infanticide (Episode 2),   euthenasia (Episode 3), and then there is a discussion of the Christian versus Humanist worldview concerning the issue of “the basis for human dignity” in Episode 4 and then in the last episode a close look at the truth claims of the Bible.

I truly believe that many of the problems we have today in the USA are due to the advancement of humanism in the last few decades in our society. Ronald Reagan appointed the evangelical Dr. C. Everett Koop to the position of Surgeon General in his administration. He partnered with Dr. Francis Schaeffer in making the video below. It is very valuable information for Christians to have.  Actually I have included a video below that includes comments from him on this subject.

Many liberals actually truly do argue for abortion rights over human rights. Prochoice advocate Elizabeth Williams came out and said that on 1-23-13 in her article on Salon. We hear reasons for abortion such as poverty,and  child abuse,  but why not consider adoption? Instead, the political left will stop at nothing to push the pro-abortion agenda. Why not stop and take an honest look at when life begins for the unborn child and when she begins to feel pain?

___________

Francis Schaeffer pictured above.

_________

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 1) ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

Published on Oct 6, 2012 by

On the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade: A Public Discourse Symposium

January 21st, 2013

Witness to the truth matters for its own sake, but persistent, winsome witness also tends to bear good fruit, even if it takes 40 years and counting.

“Supreme Court Settles Abortion Issue”: So declared a front-page New York Times headline the day after the Court handed down its Roe v. Wade decision. Of course, as the past forty years have made painfully clear, there is no question less settled in American public life than abortion. But it wouldn’t have seemed that way in the years just after Roe, when public opinion shifted strongly in favor of abortion access.

Day after day, another pro-life public figure—Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, Bill Clinton—would have a change of heart and come to embrace abortion on demand. Elites ridiculed pro-lifers as being on the wrong side of history. It looked like a losing battle; how easy it would have been just to give up and go home.

But courageous people refused to sit silently.

Academics such as Germain Grisez, John Finnis, Thomas Hilgers, and Hadley Arkes developed the philosophical, scientific, and legal arguments that now roll off our tongues so easily. Activists such as Nellie Gray, Mildred Jefferson, and L. Brent Bozell, Jr., organized the marches, advocacy groups, and think tanks that still fuel the pro-life movement.

Statesmen such as Henry Hyde, Ronald Reagan, and Ed Meese pushed for the laws, policies, and nomination criteria that changed our political and legal culture. And at the heart of it all were good shepherds like Pastor (later Father) Richard John Neuhaus, John Cardinal O’Connor, and Francis Schaeffer, nourishing the flock for what, in the final analysis, is a spiritual struggle for the Gospel of Life.

And now, well, the pro-life side has, in a word, won. No, Roe hasn’t been overturned. But can anyone find a law professor who actually defends Roe as good jurisprudence? Even the Supreme Court—in its Casey decision upholding Roe, after two decades of attempted rationalizations—couldn’t bring itself to declare Roe right on the merits. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a serious moral philosopher who cogently defends abortion without also justifying infanticide.

If the choice is killing newborns up to age two or protecting life in the womb, the pro-life side wins, hands down. Even socially, abortion is on the wane. Hollywood doesn’t celebrate abortion; Juno, Knocked Up, and Bella all celebrate choosing life. “Pro-choicers” can’t even bring themselves to say which choice it is that they affirm; “abortion” has become an ugly utterance.

Last year, Frances Kissling, the pioneering former president of Catholics for Choice, took to the pages of the Washington Post to confess that her side was losing and to plead with her allies to change course before the loss became final:

[Our] arguments may have worked in the 1970s, but today, they are failing us . . . The “pro-choice” brand has eroded considerably. . . . We can no longer pretend the fetus is invisible. . . . It may not have a right to life, and its value may not be equal to that of the pregnant woman, but ending the life of a fetus is not a morally insignificant event.

Indeed.

Studies show that the past few years have set new records for the amount of pro-life legislation at the state level. Thirty-two states since 2010 have passed over 100 pro-life laws. And the latest public opinion polls show the current generation of young adults to be more pro-life than their parents. Forty years after Roe, a majority of Americans identify as pro-life.

There are lessons for us as we continue in this struggle and gear up for new ones. As a young person, I basically inherited pro-life arguments, organizations, and strategies ready-made. New challenges call on my generation to produce the next Grisezs, Grays, and Hydes. No matter what the media, intellectuals, and other elites may tell us, there is no “wrong side of history,” unless people of moral integrity choose to sit idly.

As Fr. Neuhaus (paraphrasing T. S. Eliot) reminded us in one of his last public addresses, “there are no permanently lost causes because there are no permanently won causes.” As he saw it, “To be recruited to the cause of the culture of life is to be recruited for the duration; and there is no end in sight, except to the eyes of faith.”

Just so, and so too for the fights for religious liberty and the protection of marriage. Arguments must be developed, coalitions formed, strategies devised, and witness borne. Witness to the truth matters for its own sake, but persistent, winsome witness also tends to bear good fruit, even if it takes forty years and counting.

Faithful witness also builds community. What started as Christian-Jewish and Catholic-Protestant-Orthodox co-belligerency in a culture war on Roe has developed into real interfaith and ecumenical understanding—fraternity and charity at least as great as any achieved by formal dialogue.

Celebrating four decades of gains, let us pray and plan for many more. For as Fr. Neuhaus reminded us, we must persist—argue and write, advocate and march, vote and repeal and propose, counsel and console—“until every human being created in the image and likeness of God is protected in law and cared for in life.” Until then, “we shall not weary, we shall not rest. And, in this the great human-rights struggle of our time and all times, we shall overcome.”

* * *

The Public Discourse symposium on Roe at 40 features the following six articles; check back each day for the new essay:

Ryan T. Anderson, “On the Fortieth Anniversary of Roe v. Wade: A Public Discourse Symposium”

Elise Italiano, “Forty Years Later: It’s Time for a New Feminism”

Michael New, “Abortion Promises Unfulfilled”

Daniel K. Williams, “The Real Reason to Criticize Roe”

Gerard V. Bradley, “The Paradox of Persons Forty Years After Roe”

Michael Stokes Paulsen, “The Right to Life Forty Years from Now”

Ryan T. Anderson is the William E. Simon Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the Editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, NJ. He is author, with Sherif Girgis and Robert P. George, of What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense just released by Encounter Books. This piece originally appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of the Human Life Review.

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Support the work of Public Discourse by making a secure donation to The Witherspoon Institute.

Copyright 2013 the Witherspoon Institute. All rights reserved.

__________

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April 9, 2013 – 6:36 am Categories: Francis Schaeffer, Prolife | Comments (3)