For my buddy Rob!
O.K., folks... now that today's newsbites theme song is set let's talk media and politics.
Bottom line... most of the media is in the tank for Obama and the Dems. This isn't debatable, you all know it's true. (At least those of you who are rational and honest with yourselves...)
My regular readers - and indeed anyone who has stumbled across Usually Right just in the last few days - know I have deep and specific complaints concerning Republicans across the board... from Mitch McConnell to John Boehner... from Paul Ryan to even Jim DeMint...
That said, what I rap Republicans for... say long timelines for reform... are issues the media ignores. (Ironic, isn't it?)
In any case, here's how the mainstream media (and yes, that includes the mainstream news pages of the Wall Street Journal and to a certain extent even Fox News) is portraying the budget debate: Supposedly President Obama wants to "compromise" and get a "big deal," while those nasty Republican Right-wingers are either "walking out on negotiations" or "refusing to take yes for an answer."
(*SNORT*)
What utter nonsense. Anyone with half a brain and a functional grasp of political and economic history over the past three decades knows that every time one year's Congress promises "budget cuts tomorrow" in return for "new taxes today" the cuts have never materialized while the taxes... have.
Folks... keep on reading Newsbites and I'll tell you the truth - in context... with explanations... - and that way you won't be manipulated by the hacks, fools, and toadies who dominate mainstream media.
You can trust me, folks - first... because I know what I'm talking about... second... because I call 'em as I see 'em and let the dust settle where it will. In other words, anyone who has so much as browsed this blog and a few different day's newsbites can see I slam Republicans when they deserve it and give credit to Democrats where and when credit is due.
I know... I know... I posted similar sentiments just the other day.
Folks... understand... the media is waging a full-court press! I'm seeing it across various stories and newswire pieces. And via network TV and CNN... it'll be even worse... the soundbites will be deliberately tailored so as to buttress whatever position Obama takes (on any given day) and make Republicans look like (at best) obstructionists... at worst... fanatics.
In other words, folks... the mainstream media is gonna continue to reflect a "Wonderland" vision of reality where if you assume the opposite of everything being reported is actually the truth you'll end up with a far clearer picture of what's really happening than if you were to take mainstream news "analysis" at face value.
I'm largely preaching to the choir; I get it; but, folks... please... do more than simply nod when you read a post of mine or a newsbite; spread the truth!
People are (by and large) sheep... cattle; they don't know much and so they can easily be stampeded and misdirected by the mainstream media echo chamber's social, political, and economic group-think.
Folks... as regular readers know... I "catch" the mainstream media in lies and distortions constantly. How do I "catch" them? I "catch" them because I have the education, background, and knowledge to pick up on not just the whoppers, but the more subtle distortions and lies of omission.
Please, folks... don't be sheeple yourselves! The country can't take much more of this!
5 comments:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576375323652341888.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
* FILE UNDER: ONE... MORE... TIME... (*SIGH*)
At the risk of heaping more misery on the struggling residential property market, an analysis of home-price and ownership data for the last 30 years in California - the Golden State with notoriously golden property prices - indicates that the average single family house has never been a particularly stellar investment.
* DUH!
In a society increasingly concerned with providing for retirement security and housing affordability, this finding has large implications. It means that we have put excessive emphasis on owner-occupied housing for social objectives, mistakenly relied on homebuilding for economic stimulus, and fostered misconceptions about homeownership and financial independence.
* DUH...!
We've diverted capital from more productive investments and misallocated scarce public resources.
(*BANGING MY HEAD ON THE DESK*) YES, YES... THOSE OF US WITH BRAINS AND KNOWLEDGE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THIS POINT ACROSS TO THE IGNORANT MASSES FOR DECADES! (*SNORT*) (*SMIRK*)
Between 1980 and 2010, the value of a median-price, single-family house in California rose by an average of 3.6% per year - to $296,820 from $99,550 . . .Even if that house was sold at the most recent market peak in 2007, the average annual price growth was just 6.61%.
* NOW PAY ATTENTION, PEOPLE... (READ ON...)
So a dollar used to purchase a median-price, single-family California home in 1980 would have grown to $5.63 in 2007, and to $2.98 in 2010.
* STILL WITH US...? ARE YOU FOLLOWING...? (READ ON...)
The same dollar invested in the Dow Jones Industrial Index would have been worth $14.41 in 2007, and $11.49 in 2010.
* DO... YOU... UNDERSTAND...?!?!
Here's another way of looking at the situation. If a disciplined investor who might have considered purchasing that median-price house in 1980 had opted instead to invest the 20% down payment of $19,910 and the normal homeownership expenses (above the cost of renting) over the years in the Dow Jones Industrial Index, the value of his portfolio in 2010 would have been $1,800,016. The stocks would have been worth more than the house by $1,503,196. If the analysis is based on 2007, the stock portfolio would have been worth $2,186,120, exceeding the house value by $1,625,850.
* FOLKS... IMAGINE IF THE AVERAGE SCHMUCK WAS EXPOSED TO THIS SORT OF KNOWLEDGE ALL THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL, AND COLLEGE INSTEAD OF BEING MISEDUCATED AND PROPAGANDIZED BY GOVERNMENT, ACADEMIA, AND SOCIETAL MYTH?
* NO! DON'T GET ME WRONG! I'M NOT SAYING NO ONE SHOULD HAVE A HOUSE. I'M NOT EVEN SAYING MOST SOLIDLY MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES SHOULDN'T LIVE IN HOUSES. I'M SIMPLY SAYING THAT INSTEAD OF BEING LIED TO ABOUT HOW BUYING A HOUSE IS THE ONLY SMART CHOICE, THE ONLY SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE CHOICE, IT WOULD BE PREFERABLE FOR FOLKS TO BE TAUGHT THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR OPTIONS!
* FOLKS... I URGE YOU... READ THE FULL OP-ED.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304760604576428300875828790.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Almost all discussions about Medicare reform ignore one key factor: Medicare utilization is roughly 50% higher than private health-insurance utilization, even after adjusting for age and medical conditions.
* DID YOU KNOW THIS? I DIDN'T KNOW THIS! (I'M TALKING THE PART ABOUT ADJUSTING FOR AGE AND MEDICAL CONDITIONS.)
When people are insulated from the cost of a desirable product or service, they use more. Thus people who have comprehensive health coverage tend to use more care, and more expensive care - with no noticeable improvement in health outcomes - than those who have basic coverage or high deductibles.
* ...WITH NO NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH OUTCOMES...
(*HEADACHE*)
In addition, Medicare's convoluted benefit structure encourages the purchase - either individually or through an employer - of various forms of supplemental insurance.
* AND DON'T FORGET, FOLKS... AARP MAKES A FRIGG'N FORTUNE OFF SELLING THIS "SUPPLEMENTAL" INSURANCE.
* HEY... BY THE WAY... CONSIDER: HOW BAD IS "INSURANCE" THAT IT HAS TO BE BACKSTOPPED BY... er... ADDITIONAL INSURANCE?
(*SMIRK*)
Medicare covers roughly three-fourths of total costs, but about 85% of the Medicare population has expanded coverage with small to limited cost sharing. This additional cost insulation pushes seniors' out-of-pocket costs toward zero, thereby increasing overall utilization.
ObamaCare's coverage of "free preventive care" - now being touted by the Obama administration in taxpayer-funded ads - further insulates seniors from costs and will drive up spending even more.
Another reason for such high utilization is Medicare's so-called delivery system. In 2007, MIT economist Amy Finkelstein explained in this paper the effects of Medicare's introduction in 1965: "By 1970, the program caused a 37% increase in hospital spending."
* CORRESPONDING TO A 37% INCREASE IN SENIOR'S HEALTH STATS...? AGAIN, FOLKS... TO REITERATE FROM ABOVE... "WITH NO NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH OUTCOMES."
That spending explosion led Congress to impose price controls on in-patient hospital expenses in 1983, on physicians' services in 1992, and on outpatient hospital expenses in 2000. Those price controls have led to countless economic distortions, forcing physicians and hospitals to look for ways to maximize the reduced reimbursements. Of course, price controls haven't controlled spending - they never do.
(*SIGH*)
Several studies have also shown that [artificially low] low Medicare reimbursements shift costs to private-sector health insurance, making premiums higher than they otherwise would be. The actuarial firm Milliman estimated that private insurers paid an additional $89 billion in 2006 and 2007 due to Medicare and Medicaid cost-shifting.
A third factor behind increased Medicare spending is fraud. In 2010, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in March, Medicare and Medicaid made about $70 billion in "improper payments," or payments that shouldn't have been made, or were made in an incorrect amount. (And many health policy experts think that estimate is low.)
Medicare needs to be totally revamped. The benefits package needs to be rationalized so seniors can tell what their financial exposure is and choose from private-sector, high-deductible options, including a Health Savings Account plan. Seniors need to benefit financially from good choices. Giving them more options and control is the best way to reduce that 50% additional utilization while preserving the program for the future.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-storm-central-city-amid-reform-talks-090421629.html
Syrian government supporters smashed windows at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday, raised a Syrian flag and scrawled graffiti calling the American ambassador a "dog" in anger over the envoy's visit to an opposition stronghold, witnesses said.
* ARE WE TALKING FROM WITHIN - AND WITHIN - THE EMBASSY COMPOUND OR ARE WE TALKING ROCKS THROWN FROM OUTSIDE THE GATES/WALLS AND GRAFFITI SCRAWLED ON THE OUTER WALLS...???
French Embassy guards in the Syrian capital fired in the air to hold back loyalists of President Bashar Assad's regime who also attacked that compound to protest the French ambassador's visit last week to the same restive city, Hama, in central Syria. Protesters smashed embassy windows and shattered the windshield of a diplomatic SUV outside the compound. The French Foreign Ministry said three embassy workers were injured.
* HMM... IT SEEMS "PROTESTERS" NEVER MADE IT INSIDE THE FRENCH EMBASSY. AGAIN... WHAT ABOUT OUR EMBASSY? WAS THE PERIMETER BREACHED?
"The people want to kick out the dog," read graffiti written on the wall of the U.S. embassy, along with another line cursing America. The protesters smashed the embassy sign hanging over one gate.
* O.K. IT SEEMS THE PERIMETER WASN'T BREACHED. THANK GOD FOR SMALL FAVORS!
The mob also attacked the residence Ford shortly after protesters breached a wall and stormed the embassy compound, U.S. officials in Washington said.
* HUH...??? NOW THE REPORTING IS THAT THE EMBASSY WAS COMPROMISED... THE WALL WAS BREACHED...??? (FOLKS... THE REPORTING SUCKS AND THE EDITING IS NON-EXISTENT.)
The U.S. said...no one was injured on the attack on Ford's home, which is not part of the embassy compound, but that there was damage to his residence.
A U.S. official said the Obama administration will formally protest the attack and may seek compensation for the damage.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
The official said the State Department would summon a senior Syrian diplomat on Monday to condemn the assault and demand that Syria uphold obligations to protect foreign diplomatic missions.
* CHANT IT WITH ME, FOLKS... HIL-LAR-RY! HIL-LAR-RY! HIL-LAR-RY! HIL-LAR-RY! HIL-LAR-RY!
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/07/09/mother-teenage-girl-mob-attacked-my-family/
A Minneapolis mother is looking for the public’s help in finding a mob of teenage girls that she says assaulted her family.
* OF COURSE, AS YOU'LL NOTE IF YOU FOLLOW THE LINK AND READ THE ARTICLE DIRECTLY, THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO... um... DESCRIPTIONS... OF THE ATTACKERS.
(*SMIRK*)
[W]hen police arrived at the scene, nobody wanted to come forward to tell them what had happened.
* NO, OF COURSE NOT. THERE'S THE "NO SNITCH CULTURE" TO CONSIDER.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* FOLKS... WE'RE LITERALLY LOSING OUR COUNTRY - LARGE AREAS - WHERE YOU MAY TECHNICALLY STILL BE IN AMERICA... BUT CULTURALLY SPEAKING... YOU'RE NOT; YOU'RE IN SOME THIRD WORLD HELLHOLE.
Police say there were witnesses to the beatdown, but no one has said who is responsible.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/panetta-makes-9-11-gaffe-iraq-153134925.html
Newly appointed U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told American troops in Baghdad on Monday that 9/11 was the reason they were in Iraq...
* FOLKS... YA CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP!
* WASN'T IT THE DEMOCRATS WHO HAVE ALWAYS INSISTED (AND CORRECTLY I MIGHT ADD!) THAT IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11...? (RHETORICAL QUESTION... THE ANSWER IS OF COURSE "YES.")
"The reason you guys are here is because of 9/11. The US got attacked and 3,000 human beings got killed because of Al-Qaeda," Panetta told about 150 soldiers at the Camp Victory US base.
* UH-HUH...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD AT THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL*)
"We've been fighting as a result of that," he said.
(*JUST THROWING UP MY HANDS*) AGAIN, FOLKS... YA CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP!
The new defence secretary also committed a faux pas in Afghanistan on Saturday, telling reporters the United States intends to keep 70,000 troops there until 2014.
* PERHAPS A FAUX PAS... PERHAPS AN ACCIDENTAL SHARING OF THE TRUTH! (*SHRUG*) I SUPPOSE WE'LL FIND OUT.
President Barack Obama's administration has said it plans a steady withdrawal of US forces until the Afghans can take over their own security. Panetta's aides immediately retracted his remarks.
(*RAISED EYEBROWS*) (*SHRUG*) FOLKS... YOU CAN'T BELIEVE A WORD OBAMA SAYS; YOU CAN'T BELIEVE A WORD ANY OF HIS PEOPLE SAY. THAT'S THE RECORD.
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