IF ELECTIONS ARE ABOUT THE ECONOMY Then Latinos may be voting for Trump. I'll talk to Job Creators Network (JCN)president and CEO Alfredo Ortiz about how the Trump economy has led to a increase in revenue for Latino and Hispanic owned businesses. That's coming up at 1!
WATCH THIS LIBERAL COLUMNIST WRITE A WHOLE COLUMN ON HOW MUCH BETTER SHE IS THAN YOU And I generally don't pay attention to columns but this one caught my eye because for JUST ONE SECOND I thought it may be a window into how to bring us all together in some sort of civility or something. But alas, Jennifer Weiner just wants us to know she REALLY, REALLY hates Trump but it's not her fault because HOW COULD SHE NOT but she at least has the decency to FEEL BAD about hating him so much. Sigh. We are done for.
SPEAKING OF DEPRESSING COLUMNS This one by Dennis Prager about the messages the Hard Left is selling our young people is a real doozy. Unfortunately from where I sit, he's right and the messages are just a collection of everything wrong with the world. No wonder this generation is serious and angry, they think we've ruined everything and we're not teaching them anything about societal resilience so they really think they are going to die. Nice. We all owe this next generation a big apology.
A PUBLIC OPTION WILL DESTROY PRIVATE INSURANCE And this is the same argument, still valid, that killed a public option during the Obamacare debate. See, Medicare doesn't pay it's "fair share" of health care costs. From a column in National Review:
More than a quarter of the country’s health-care spending is already covered by the federal government, largely through programs that directly insure patients. And since the government has such powerful control over what will be paid for millions of people’s health care, it can simply underpay providers on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. As the health-care expert Robert Laszewski recently noted, “Medicare pays close to half the price commercial insurers pay hospitals and pays about 20% less than commercial insurance pays doctors.” A study commissioned by the hospital lobby, for what it’s worth,estimates losses in the tens of billions of dollars each year from treating patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
If the Democrats are successful in creating a public option, more of the costs NOT being paid by the government will be shifted onto private insurers, meaning costs will go up and people will ditch it for the public option which creates more of a strain on the system already strained by Medicare and Medicaid. Get it? And THIS is what the "center" Democratic candidates are proposing. Just keep that in mind.
JEFFCO VOTERS, DON'T GET SUCKED INTO 1A WITHOUT READING THIS Good column on how the Jefferson County government is playing fast and loose with some language to get it's voters to support a really big tax increase while doing nothing to curtail it's massive budget growth in the last five years.
BECAUSE PEOPLE FROM THE MIDWEST TALK WEIRD
I'M SORRY, WHY AM I SUPPOSED TO VOTE REPUBLICAN AGAIN? I'm a deficit hawk. I happen to be one of those nutters who looks at history and already realizes we are going to spend ourselves into oblivion so it sort of matters to me a LOT. So when I see that tax revenue is at a record high AND WE'RE STILL RUNNING A NEARLY TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT I am worn the *bleep* out. And the ONLY member of Congress who seems to be the least bit concerned is Senator Rand Paul, who ran a bill which would cut the budget sensibly and over time and REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST IT. I hate everyone right now.
SPEAKING OF RAND PAUL... he talked to John Stossel about ending our involvement in foreign wars.
REP. NANCY PELOSI WILL HOLD AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY VOTE AFTER ALL And she's doing so later this week after House members have had a hard time getting witnesses to cooperate without such a vote. This is going to play into the election as members will have to tout or defend their vote on the matter.
NO KATIE HILL, THERE IS NOT A DOUBLE STANDARD HERE Defenders of former Congresswoman Katie Hill are trying desperately to make her resignation in the wake of revelations of a "throuple" relationship with her husband and young campaign staffer into some sort of proof that a double standard exists between male and female members of Congress. There is no such double standard. However, there IS a double standard when it comes to party affiliation. A Republican accused of sexual impropriety is expected to step down IMMEDIATELY. Hill maintains that she was the victim of a vindictive husband who released naked photos of her with her young lover as revenge. Maybe so, but why take the photos in the first place? That in and of itself is evidence of stunningly bad judgment. And they were taken WHILE she was in Congress. Sucks to be her, but this was a situation entirely of her own making.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, INTERNET! The internet is 50 years old today! It doesn't look a day over 21, much like the girls in all the porn found there now. Nevertheless, it's been a game changer for sure!
TO SHARE OR NOT TO SHARE, THAT IS THE QUESTION And I'm talking about eating out. This has two columns each making the case for or against sharing while out to dinner. I find myself in both camps, depending on the situation and how comfortable I am with the people I'm with. But certain foods are mine. Don't. Touch. Them.
IS IT TIME TO PIVOT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST TO LATIN AMERICA? And I don't mean in a meddling military way, but a "hey let's help build up our neighbors" sort of way. This column makes a very compelling case for a redirect of our attention.
SPEED BINGEING IS A THING NOW AT least some Android users are reporting a feature that allows them to speed up the playback of a series without muting the sound. This means you can watch an entire series 1.5 times faster than normal. Industry creators are NOT happy. I'm genuinely confused as to why someone would want to do this. I don't get it.
DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXERCISE? YOU'RE LYING TO YOURSELF IF YOU THINK THAT'S TRUE And a new study shows that we have PLENTY of time to exercise, we just choose to do other things with it, like watch tv or play with our phones. Time to get off your duff and stop making excuses.
NOW YOUR TOILET CAN LET YOU KNOW IF SOMETHING IS AMISS A Chinese company says they have developed a toilet that analyzes each and every poop to check for things that might be wrong. It then sends a message to your cell phone to let you know if there is anything you should check with your doctor about. This is actually really, really cool.
HEY MEDICARE FOR ALL PEOPLE, HOW DOES A 32% PAYROLL TAX SOUND? That's just one option to pay for Medicare for All that was floated by a non-partisan budget group. Here are all the ways they found to pay for it:
We find that Medicare for All could be financed with:
A 32 percent payroll tax
A 25 percent income surtax
A 42 percent value-added tax (VAT)
A mandatory public premium averaging $7,500 per capita – the equivalent of $12,000 per individual not otherwise on public insurance
More than doubling all individual and corporate income tax rates
An 80 percent reduction in non-health federal spending
A 108 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increase in the national debt
Impossibly high taxes on high earners, corporations, and the financial sector
A combination of approaches
Which of these sounds awesome to you? I especially love the 42% VAT tax, which is a sales tax on steroids. I can't wait to find out what supporters think of doubling their own income taxes.
HERE'S A FIREPLACE TO KEEP YOU WARM TODAY No, seriously, it's 10 hours of a burning fireplace. You're welcome.