Is it time for ala carte government?

I have been wondering for a while (sometimes aloud to my husband) if we have reached the point in the USA where all the conservatives need to move to the red states and all the liberals need to move to the blue states so we can all live the way we want. This would require a lot of moving (including me), and "moderates" (all 2% of you) would have to decide once and for all where they want to be. Of course, I would much rather prefer that we just return to the way the founders intended, with limited government so that people can individually order their personal lives in the way they see fit. But listening to some radio commentary today made me realize that there are probably a lot of liberals out there that just won't be happy without a lot of government.

So if we can't all move, what about ala carte government? Liberals, go ahead and set up a big, warm, caring government that provides everything you think everyone should need or want---but just provide me with an "opt out" check box for each set of services I don't want. Of course, there would be a few things that I can't opt out of, like police/fire protection and basic national defense. But if I don't pay for selected public services, then why don't we just agree that I am ineligible for them? That's fine with me. And a lot of people will still "opt in," so you would still be able to fund them with the very high tax rates that you favor. What say you?

Will the last person to leave Seattle turn the lights off, please?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011949127_apwapugetsoundtolls.html

Executive Summary:

The Puget Sound Regional Council General Assembly (a conglomeration of local governments and agencies in the area) is calling for tolling on ALL major roads in the area by 2020. They suggest taxing vehicles by miles travelled instead of a fuel tax.

Opinion:

This is what we get for buying more fuel-efficient cars. Does anyone really believe they will just substitute the fuel tax for a mileage tax, or will they keep the gas tax and add the new one? Gee, I wonder... The day that transponders are required on all automobiles to determine miles travelled for taxing purposes is the day that many people will en masse leave the state of Washingon. I hear Montana is pretty.

Hey, representatives, I am not your trained seal!

I just observed an online chat featuring a transportation reporter for our local paper, in which the conversation covered the upcoming replacement of a large bridge. When someone brought up the fact that our lawmakers are about $2B short in funding for the new bridge, this is what the reporter said:

"Key lawmakers are gradually training the public to accept the notion of tolls throughout the region."

"Training"? "Training"? Aren't my lawmakers to represent my views, not the other way around? I find the idea that my lawmakers are going to "train" me to "accept" anything so very offensive. Also, I specifically chose my current home a year ago in part to avoid the rumored tolls for the new bridge, so aren't my lawmakers really "training" me to refuse to play their games? How about you pay for that bridge with all the billions of dollars we already give you?

Private insurers quietly buying up doctor's practices

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wSyh0LAtUIYJ:online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575250264210294510.html+no+you+can't+keep+your+health+plan&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

Executive Summary:

Driven by the new healthcare plan passed in March, healthcare providers are engaged in efforts to stay afloat when the new rules kick in. One of these strategies is for doctors to sell their private practices to hospitals and private insurers, essentially becoming a salaried employee of these organizations instead of a private business owner, or to join a very small network of physicians under one insurance company.

These efforts are expected to curb costs, but only because there will be longer waits for routine appointments and even stricter control of a doctor's decisions by the hospital or insurance plan that employs that doctor.

Opinion:

Ah, the unintended consequences of legislation. Or were they unintended? Since Obama and other Democrats aren't stupid, I think this is exactly what they were hoping for. They knew that mandating a business model for the insurance companies and doctors that is not economically feasible would drive these providers to desparate measures. When enough of this consolidation occurs, and people start to complain about the drop in service, Obama can step in, decry the "greed" of doctors and insurance companies, and nationalize the system. Simple.

Mt. St. Helens, 30 years later

On the 30th anniversary of the Mt. St. Helens eruption, let's pause a moment and...

1. Remember those who died in the blast.

2. Reflect upon the staggering ability that nature has to pollute itself in a matter of hours.

3. Realize that nature usually cleans itself up much quicker than anyone predicts.

Food, Inc. thoughts

Just finished watching Food, Inc. because I was concerned by some of the fearful comments I saw in a discussion some friends (mostly moms) had about the movie on FB. Here were my thoughts as I watched it:

What about the government? Aren’t they one of the biggest purchasers of food, especially given military needs? Why didn’t they mention them along with McDonald’s as the biggest customers of the food industry?

No one wants to see people, especially children, hurt. But here is a news flash---we are mortal. Children drown in swimming pools and die in car accidents every day. Should we ban swimming pools? Or cars? Or require that everyone wear a life jacket in a pool and drive no faster than 5 MPH?

If you can’t afford fresh fruit, buy frozen or canned! Just as good and cheaper! And why does that lady keep her kids “on the run” from 6AM to 10PM? Perhaps she should look into adjusting their schedule so she has time to feed them better.

Are you willing to give up the amount of land we will need to give up to have all grass-fed beef? Do you want to see Seattle ringed by farms, live in 50-story high rises and have rationed food, because that is what we would have to do to all “buy local”?

Animals don’t use toilets---they walk in their feces all the time, whether outside or inside. How much do you want to bet that raising cows and chickens indoors came from environmental laws that were designed to keep their feces out of groundwater?

Junk food calories are cheap because the consumer knows they are “superfluous” calories. If they were more expensive than fresh food, no one would buy them, so they are priced accordingly.

The obesity and diabetes epidemic is absolutely related to parents not being at home to supervise their play or the amount of after school snacking they do as much as it is due to the quality of the food kids eat.

If we deported illegal immigrants, the food industry would mechanize more of their process. Sounds good! I bet the Democrat party and unions wouldn’t like this, though. They want those people exactly where they are for their dues and their votes.

Hey, at least that guy from Stonyfield admits that what he supports is a form of religion! Good for him!

Oh goody, let’s take advantage of the fact that few people understand what a gene is or what it does, and the fact that if you eat it, it does nothing to you. Nothing.

Sounds like the Montsano thing is a good example of crony capitalism, since they can’t arrest or prosecute anyone themselves---the government has to do that. Who supports that? No one. Isn’t this an example of too much government? Nice---passing the word “evil” across the screen while talking about Montsano before rearranging it to say “veil”.

Labelling would be fine if it applied to everything. For example, if you are going to require McDonald’s to post calorie content, you should also require it of the French Laundry in SF because most of their meals probably have more fat than a Big Mac.

Food problems in other areas of the world is due mainly to wars and distribution problems, not industrial food production.

What does the movie want me to do? I guess demand things that have no scientific basis, like demanding rBST-free milk. Or demand things that would be economically illiterate and result in food shortages, like put price controls on carrots. I don’t think they are interested in my freedom. They just want to use me just as much as they claim workers and animals are used by the companies they vilify.

Some numbers for your day...

I'm reading a good book about the Obama campaign and the youth vote (Obama Zombies by Jason Mattera), and there are a couple of startling numbers in Chapter 7 (on economics). Chew on these for a while:

The US has spent more on poverty reduction ($16 trillion) since 1964 (the start of the "War on Poverty") than it has spent on all military wars in its history combined ($6.4 trillion). We won most of those wars, of course, but we have yet to come close to eradicating poverty.

In 2007, the amount of money that would be required to raise all impoverished households out of poverty was $148 billion. However, the US spent $550 billion on poverty reduction programs in that year. If that doesn't show how wasteful and inefficient government is, and how undeserving of our money it is, I don't know what does.

"Corporate" failure

Based on an excellent point I heard on the radio today...

Imagine that a company promised you certain services, took your 100% downpayment on those services, and then failed to deliver 99% of those services as advertised. Wouldn't you be on the phone to the better business bureau and possibly talking to your lawyer? You might even contact a reporter at the local paper and tell all your friends not to patronize this company.

What's the name of this "company"? The United States federal government! (And for those of you living in blue states or cities, add your state and local governments as well.) Don't we need to start holding our government(s) as accountable to what they promise as some of us hold certain corporations accountable? Do we not need to start by not giving this organization MORE of our money (i.e. in the healthcare bill)?

Comedy Central has officially jumped the shark

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/05/comedy-central-developing-jesus-christ-cartoon-series.html

Executive Summary:

Comedy Central is developing a cartoon series based on the idea of Jesus Christ just wanting to live a "regular life" in NYC and escape his "domineering" father.

Comedy Central executive Kent Alterman said of the series, "Comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable."

Opinion:
It's official. Comedy Central is no longer cutting edge, or hip, or anything else. Their recent censorship of South Park material regarding Islam while they are working on this series proves once and for all that they only go after easy targets like Christians. This makes their "comedy" irrelevant, stale, unimaginative, lazy and not worth 5 seconds of your time. Lefties, it's time to leave Jon Stewart in the dust and find some new humor sources. Or start your own.