Now that President Barack Obama has straightened out all in these United States of America that is in need of attention, and fixing, he is moving on.  Now, he seems to presume that he knows best how to define and implement what’s best for Israel.   Just in an honest day’s work.

I don’t get the gall of our political “leaders.”  Take Obama (and I mean that–please, take him, ’cause I sure don’t want him ).  What has Obama ever done to show that he’s qualified to do anything (other than to wage a very effective presidential campaign, which, to be sure, he did incredibly well)?  Well, let’s see:

Has he ever run a business, either started one up and made a success of it or taken over one that was already a success and kept it going?  Check.  As in, “No, he hasn’t.”

Has he even ever had a job in the private sector where he was accountable on the basis of merit and done well?  Check.  As in, “No, he hasn’t.”

Has he even ever held a job in the private sector, period?  Check.  As in, “No, he hasn’t.”

Has he taken on the problems of these United States of America and worked them out?  Check.  As in, “No, he hasn’t.”

So, what is it he’s done in his time here on our planet?

Well, as near as I can tell, he’s done two things.  As a student, he was an achiever.  He knew how to qualify to get into good schools and to get scholarships to pay his way.  Thereafter, he’s managed to figure out how to get people to elect him to public office.

So, then, what is there on Obama’s resume that makes him think he’s qualified to tell the sovereign and democratic nation of Israel how it should conduct itself, how it should maintain–or fail to maintain–all that it has accomplished under overwhelming odds?  Israel is a democracy; its people can decide for themselves how their country should and will conduct itself.

If Obama is running out of things to do here in the U.S.–now that he’s fixed everything here that needsd fixing–perhaps he can direct his attention to those countries surrounding Israel that would push Israel  into the sea, and whose tyrranical obscene leaders make a habit out of stealing billions of dollars of U.S. foreign aid (underwritten by we the people) from their suppressed people to line their own personal pockets.  Seems like Obama should be able to find something regarding those countries he can address, and fix.  Or, he could just mind his own business, and find a few more things here in the U.S. to work on.

The answer to why Obama presumes to tell Israel how to take care of its own business is that a large number of people here in the United States appointed Obama to do precisely that, and will probably be foolish enough to do so again in 2012.  The first time “we the people” did this, it was out of ignorance, our ignorance.  One might say, shame on Obama for fooling we the people.  If they do it again in 2012, it certainly won’t be out of ignorance.  This time, if it happens again, as it likely will, it will be shame on we the people.

In his first election, Obama was supported by a substantial majority of the “liberal” ”Jewish vote.”  Remarkably, a strong majority of the Jewish community continues to support Obama today, and may even vote for him again in 2012!  The Jews in this country who support Israel–but who somehow still support Obama–ought to be careful what they wish for–because…they just might get it.

Okay, so I’m back up on my feet after my…awakening, the rude shock of finding out I’m not…me.  Time to get past it, to get back in the saddle.

As you know, we here at NoPoli Network News, have been coming down on all of the bad stuff surrounding public employee pensions for at least the past year–not just the horrific impact they are having on the economy, but how they show our politicians at their worst.  First, for allowing it to happen.  Second, for not doing anything to fix it.  Remember, the single most frequent visitor to the White House during the Obama administration, with no close second, has been the Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union (otherwise known as the SEIU).

So, we’ve been shouting about this evil, over and over (among others doing the same as well).  Finally, “we the people” are beginning to get it.  Just this week, the Los Angeles Times has reported a survey here in California in which 70% of the several thousand polled want to bring this incredible boondoggle to an end.  Not just looking forward, but retroactively reversing past excess benefits before they are paid out.  This is extremely important because it is not enough to just reel this in looking forward, which only the State of Colorado has really been trying to do–so far.

With this remarkable 70% vote, maybe our political “leaders” will start listening, and also start to get it.  They really don’t seem to care about what is right, but they do alway care about–might–the votes they need to keep their jobs!  If 70% of Californians want this ridiculous largess brought to an end, our California legislature may finally get it, and do something about it, even in the face of our historically union loving Governor, Jerry Brown, who, for the moment, seems like he wants to get the California economy fixed, even if he has to take on the Unions.  We’ll see.  We’re watching Mr. Governor.

If California pushes ahead on this, one can only assume that other states, many other states, won’t be far behind.  Who knows, as the 2012 election comes closer and closer, the Executive Director of the SEIU might actually find himself no longer so welcome at the White House.  Can’t you just see it, candidate for relection Obama saying to the 2012 voters “Who are those evil democrats who helped the unions create this mess that we are now having to clean up to get the deficit under congrol?  Never mind.  Just give me another four years and you can count on me to fix it.” Right!  (Or was that Left?  Left behind sounds right to me. )

          Our political “leaders” still don’t get it.  They think it’s all about…them.  What else is new?  They’re wrong.  But they’re right.

          Sarah Palin takes on her opponents with images of cross-hairs exhortations of “we don’t retreat, we RELOAD!”  President Obama put it ”if they bring knives, we’ll bring guns.”  The blood from last Saturday’s tragedy hasn’t even dried and the sound bites have started, our political “leaders” making it all about…them.  Democrats are seizing upon this sad “opportunity” to blame aggressive Republican rhetoric, apparently suffering from selective recall in ignoring President Obama’s earlier remarks.  Republicans are quick to remind us of those very “Presidential” words.

          This reminds me of the two kids standing off in the proverbial playground squabble:  “My dad’s bigger than your dad!”  “No, my dad’s bigger than your dad!”

           Well, guess what?  This really isn’t about the questionable remarks of our politicians.  Do guns kill people, as the left side of the aisle argues?  Is it people who kill people, as the right side of the aisle maintains?  Seems to me two things are clear:

          First, words do not kill people.  I doubt that Jared Loughner affirmatively fired on innocent bystanders as he did because of anything uttered by politicians, at least not any utterances of an “uncivil” nature.  News flash number one:  Jared Loughner is…sick.  He fired his semi-automatic weapon on other human beings with whom he had no grudge–at least no rational grudge–not because of Palin’s “RELOAD!” and ”cross-hairs” or Obama’s “guns,” but because he is…sick.  He is smiling out from that grotesque mugshot of his plastered all over the media, and enjoying his moment of infamy and ”glory” that he obviously so badly craved–the attention he had no competent way to muster–because he is…sick.

          Second, news flash number two:  It takes those guns AND the people who fire them to shoot down other human beings.  If people like Jared Loughner couldn’t get their hands on a gun–especially a semi-automatic weapon that can be used for rapid, repeated fire–then we wouldn’t now be burying the innocent people we are burying–and who depended on our political leaders to…lead.

     So, this is not about the uncivil words of our political “leaders.”  But what it is about is the failure of our political “leaders” to resist the frivolous constitutional arguments of those who say we must protect our cherished right to bear arms.  Make no mistake about it, our guns are not protected by the constitution; what they are protected by are lobbyists bearing gifts–votes and dollars–that too many of our politicians just cannot resist.

          That our forefathers meant our constitution to be “elastic” is too documented and recognized to debate.  When our constitution was enacted, people used guns to hunt for food.  News flash number three:  We don’t need guns any longer to hunt for food.  When our constitution was enacted, we didn’t have semi-automatic guns that could mow down tens of people in a matter of seconds, as we do today.  When our constitution was enacted, we did not have a strong military to protect us from other nations who would do us harm.  We do today.

          Nor are our constitutional precepts absolute.  Our country was founded on the right to free speech.  Our constitution protects that right, but not absolutely.  The United States Supreme Court ruled long ago that the right to free speech did not allow one to stand up in a crowded dark movie theather and yell “fire!”  Ironically, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is a strong supporter of the “right” to bear arms.  However, as I understand it, Ms. Giffords’ concern is not to make the right to bear arms absolute, but to assure that this right is consistently and evenly applied state by state across the country.

          The right to bear arms–especially semi-automatic arms–is not absolute and should not be unregulated.  We had the ability to know–and document–that Jared Loughner was/is mentally unstable.  He should not have been allowed to simply walk into a store and purchase a gun, especially a semi-automatic gun–which he did just this past November, long after his unstability was a known and documented fact!

          What would be so terrible if one wishing to buy a gun–especially a semi-automatic weapon–first had to register with some regulatory or medical body and fill out an appropriate questionnaire, and then wait a reasonable period, say 30 to 6o days, for a review to determine whether that person was “qualified” to own such a weapon, and had good reason to own such a weapon?  The answer to this question is:  NOTHING.

     Oh sure, I understand all the arguments.  Some are based on manipulated constitutional words.  Some are based on fear tactics that if we permit some amount of review, the next thing we know, our government will be spying on what we have for breakfast and what we do in the privacy of our own bedrooms.  Pshaw!  Somehow, we manage to require licenses to drive a car, and written tests, demonstrated proficiency to drive a car and the ability to pass an eye test.  Somehow, we have survived these encroachments on our “rights.”  We the people can also survive some degree of scrutiny on just who gets to own a gun, and why, and what kind of emotional tests they should have to pass.  We the people won’t crumble; we can survive this.  It’s our political leaders who are afraid they can’t survive (speaking out for) this.  John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, James Brady, Gabrielle Giffords.  How many more killed and wounded do we need to figure this out–and that, once again, our problem is–sadly–our political “leaders.”

P.S.  Not that I need any bolstering to express my opinions, but just as we were about to post this blog, HotAir.com announced the results of a CBS poll in which a majority of some 700 polled Americans also do not believe that the fighting words of our politicians in any way had anything to do with what happened in Tucson last Saturday.

          When the math is being done by…politicians!  Every time.

          The Republicans want to repeal Obamacare.  They say that repealing Obamacare will reduce the deficit.  The Democrats say that repealing Obamacare will increase the deficit.  Well, which is it?

          Math doesn’t lie, folks.  No matter who is holding the calculator, 1 + 1 = 2.  Period.  It’s our political representatives who lie–time and time again.  Here, the Democrats say 1 + 1 will be more than 2 while the Republicans say that 1 + 1 will be less than 2.

          Guess none of them ever read about Peter and the Wolf.  You know the story. Peter kept crying “wolf.”  Peter’s friends kept dropping what they were doing to come to Peter’s rescue.  But the wolf was no where to be found.  Then one day the wolf actually showed up.  Peter was in big trouble.  He yelled “wolf” at the top of his lungs, over and over.  But no one came.  They were all tired of dropping what they were doing to come to Peter’s rescue any longer.

          The Republicans cry wolf, “repeal Obamacare and the deficit will drop.”  And the Democrats cry wolf, “repeal Obamacare and the deficit will rise.”  So, which is it?  1 + 1 = 2!  How can the two parties add up the same numbers and get two different answers?  Billions of dollars apart from one another.

          Well, one reason is that they really haven’t done the math.  Not any of them.  So, they really don’t know what the answer is.  Not any of them.  Another reason is that they don’t really care what the right answer is.  They’re just saying what they want to say for whatever reason they want to say it.  They don’t feel accountable, not in the slightest.  They think holding office is a license to steal…and carte blanche permission to lie.  We all know–that’s what politicians do.  They lie.  They’ve been doing it so long, they think it’s okay.

          On November 9, I posted a blog pointing out that insurance companies were raising premium rates as much as 29%–in spite of the fact that they were enjoying record profits.  On November 17, I posted a blog pointing out that it was misleading to say that Obamacare was providing more people with insurance than ever before–because the insurance was becoming unaffordable.

          Well guess what?  Records are made to be broken, right?  This week, Blue Shield filed for regulatory approval of annual rate increases in California of…59%!  No.  You heard me right.  59%!

          Aren’t we lucky that more and more of we the people are now insured under Obamacare.  Too bad we can’t afford it.  And don’t really have it.  “Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”

          If Obamacare is repealed, you’ll have to feel sorry for all those millions of Americans who’ll lose the insurance they don’t really have because they can’t possibly afford the premiums (especially those Americans who remain unemployed) and the coverage they don’t really have because the doctors can’t afford to provide the service for the reduced fees they are now paid.  Yet the insurance companies say they need to raise premiums 59% because medical costs spiraling out of control require it.

          The only thing that is for sure is that our politicians can’t really tell us what 1 + 1 actually equals.

          The vote of NoPoli Network News’ Board of Editors was unanimous!  Every single member of NoPoli.org’s staff volunteered to give up their Christmas shopping day off today to write this right-eous blog.  We had to draw straws.  I won.  Of course, as publisher/editor-in-chief, I was the one doing the drawing:)  No small wonder that…I won!  That’s why I get the big bucks:)

          Senator Harry Reid personifies all that is wrong with our political “leaders.”  He is the…”best.”  Our Board of Editors gave him a standing proclamation.  Five nominees were considered for the award.  Harry lapped the field.  There was no close second, a pretty remarkable statement given the “caliber” of the other candidates.  I would tell you who the other candidates were, but I don’t want them found guilty by…association with Harry.  I will tell you that the initials of the first names of the next two finishers are “B” and “N.”  (Can you believe I am a registered…Democrat?  Always have been.  True story. Doesn’t mean that’s how I always vote.)

          Harry wins it hands down.  No close second.  Harry Reid is NoPoli.org’s 2010 Hypocrite of the Year.  Before explaining why, I need to share just one small story first.  As you know, NoPoli.org was launched in August, 2010.  So this is the first of an annual award we hope will be a tradition for many years to come.  I really wanted to call it NoPoli.org’s Scumbag of the Year award.  I was overruled by our Board of Editors.  They absolutely forbade me from calling Harry Reid a scumbag.  They said it wasn’t dignified.  They weren’t seeking to protect Harry.  They were seeking to protect NoPoli.  I play by the rules.  I can’t call Harry a scumbag.  I won’t call Harry a scumbag.

          Okay, I feel better now, got that outta my system.  Don’t need to call Harry a Scumbag–with a capital S–any more.  Now, let me tell you why Harry Reid is a hypocrite, and easily the 2010 NoPoli Hypocrite of the Year–among the many hypocrites who fancy themselves our…political represenatives.  Because I can smell that egg nog waiting for me, I’m gonna give you just two quick recent examples and get outta here for the rest of the year:

          1.  Some group (I refuse to promote their cause by using their name) has been protesting at military funerals.  Harry, champion of our finest, supposedly takes exception with anyone who would invade the privacy of our private citizens.  Having gone on record against this protest group, Harry was asked how he feels about unions who this year have been taking their picket lines to the homes of private citizens who don’t support their wish lists.  Harry disingenuously professed not to know that this has been happening–in spite of the fact that it has repeatedly been in headlines all across the country since June of this year.  These unions are  trying to have their way by extorting and threatening private citizens who don’t agree with them–and by frightening and confusing their young children as well.  Nothing less than terrorism!  (In case, you may not be aware of this recent insidious union behavior, don’t take my word for it.  Just check out Kerry Picket’s editorial blog in yesterday’s December 23 Washington Times.  Kudos to Terry for reminding us of this latest hypocrisy of Sir Harry.)

          2.  Just last week, Harry brough to the floor of the Senate a vote on the so called Dream Act, to give amnesty and citizenship to young illegal immigrants, knowing full well that this legislation–in its present form–had no chance of passing.  Why did Harry do this?  Because he passionately feels these young illegal immigrants are deserving?  No way!  Harry simply wants to drive a wedge between the Latino vote and the Republicans who would not support this bill–in its present form.  All Harry had to do was revise the proposed bill to close the loopholes that would have allowed undeserving illegal immigrants to ride the coattails of those who are deserving–and the bill would have passed in a New York minute.  (As for NoPoli.org’s already published position on doing the right thing by our hard working “illegal” youth who definitely deserve our support, please click here.)  Harry threw these deserving young immigrants to the wolves just so he could try to embarrass the Republican party.  Shows you what Harry really thinks of the Latinos in our country, that he can so easily manipulate them.  That’s why Harry is a…is a…is a S…a Sc…a Scu…a Scum…a…hypocrite.  

          Alright, Harry is now preserved in our hearts for all posterity–and I’m outta here.  See ya all next year.  On behalf of Nopi, Leah Klein, Paige Norman and yours truly, and our entire Board of Editors at NoPoli Network News and NoPoli.org, I want to wish all of you, our growing family of NoPoli followers, happy yearend holidays and a very happy and healthy and prosperous New Year!  Better times for we the people.  Keep the faith.  And keep coming back to visit us:)  Thanks, Steve

So, let’s see.  We’ve just had our midterm elections.  Lots of veterans banished to the salt mines, and deservedly so.  Lots of new freshmen.  And what do we have to show for it so far?  Not much.

Check out today’s guest blog and see a very easy to follow, nuts and bolts explanation of yesterday’s court ruling that Obamacare is unconstitutional, at least in part.  In his guest blog, Judge Ponath explains why.  It’s a great read, but my focus is a little different.

Three different judges have now ruled on the constitutionality of Obamacare.  The first two found nothing unconstitutional about Obamacare.  The third, yesterday, found Obamacare to be unconstitutional in its requirement that all American’s buy insurance.  Inconsistent decisions?  Not really.

What I find interesting is that the two judges who found Obamacare to be constitutional were appointed to the bench by Democrats.  And the judge who found it to be unconstitutional was appointed by a Republican.  Inconsistent decisions?  Not really.  All three judges ruling in favor of…their sponsors.  Just a coincidence?  Maybe.  Hard to say.  But it does kind of look like…and the beat goes on.

Still, I’m pleased to see the result.  It is a start at unraveling an ugly law that needs unraveling.  It is only yesterday’s decision that will be the subject of further appeals, no doubt all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.  And the sooner the better.  Stay tuned!

And did I say…and the beat goes on?  Didn’t we just have a big to do about no more pork barrel legislation?  Take a look at the pending “compromise” tax bill.  That’s a bill to address the issue of income tax relief, right?  Here’s what else is tucked away in this pending income tax bill:

1.  Subsidies for the ethanol industry.

2.  Subsidies for film and television producers.

3.  Subsidies for Puerto Rican rum manufacturers.

4.  Subsidies for auto racing track owners.

Oh, and there are also estate tax provisions, payroll tax provisions and unemployment benefits provisions built into this income tax bill.  And I’m sure I missed some more stuff buried in there somewhere.

We the people pay and our political leaders get paid for slipping in these benefits for…their sponsors.  This is how our representatives work out a ”compromise” on income tax relief!

And the beat goes on.

          I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but it ain’t dead yet and the bad stories just keep getting worse.

          We keep hearing about how Obamacare is going to make it better, insurance for more and more.  Just the other day, I posted a blog questioning that, pointing out how more and more are having to forego any meaningful insurance because Obamacare is making it even more expensive than available.  Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their disciples claim that more are now insured.  Maybe in form, but certainly not in substance.

          In the November 16 issue of USA Today, U.S. Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson, reported–admitted–that one in sevenMedicare patients are experiencing “serious” harm during hospital stays.  Mr. Levinson acknowledged that this is particularly shocking inasmuch as a study of the Institute of Medicine ten years ago placed “preventable errors among the leading cause of death in the United States.”  What did Mr. Levinson mean when he spoke of “serious” harm?  He explained that he meant an event ”that prolonged … hospital stay, caused permanent harm, required life-sustaining intervention or contributed to … deaths.”  The numbers today:  134,000 Medicare patients suffering “serious” harm per month, 15,000 of them dying as a result!

          We are not a third world nation.  Are we?  How can this be happening in the United States of America today?

          The answer is…priorities.  Our political “leaders” are more concerned about sound bites–patting themselves on the back.  Now, we have more people covered by insurance than ever before, supposedly providing access to the finest medical care that our (tons of) money can buy.  As I reported, they just can’t afford the Obamacare coverage they now “have” and one in seven of them is receiving dangerously inadequate care when they resort to it.  Where are our political leaders when it is so obvious for at least the last decade how badly we need to have a medical oversight mechanism in place (180,000 unnecessary deaths per year among Medicare patients alone, $4 billion in Medicare costs per year for unnecessary prolonged hospital stays because of these “serious” harms)?  And make no bones about it:  these are just the costs, in human life and money, for the serious Medicare incidents.  What about the cost of those errors that fall short of “serious” or are not covered by Medicare?

          How much could insurance premiums be reduced if Medicare didn’t have to waste that $4 billion per year on unnecessary prolonged hospital stays due to preventable errors?  How much preventable serious harm could be avoided if we stopped worrying about record profits on the part of insurance companies and reallocated a serious chunk of those profits to the medical profession, or at least to those in the profession who demonstrate over sustained periods that they avoid preventable serious harm?

          I don’t know the answer to these questions.  Why don’t you ask your political representatives what the answers are?  And what they are doing to find out?  And to prevent this unnecessary and shameful human suffering and waste?  Instead of patting themselves on the back for providing insurance that isn’t insuring that much of anything.

          Our President has done it…once again.  Mispoken to we the people.  Broken his promise to us.

          Without our consent, Obama used we the people’s hard earned tax dollars (and the futures of our children and grandchildren) to bail out General Motors, Wall Street and the banks.  He said the devil (spelled “Republicans”) made him do it.

          He also promised we the people that we would reap the benefits of the recovery of those enterprises because we would own the stock–and when that stock climbed back up, we the people would be the beneficiaries.  Really?  Let’s take a look at what’s actually happening, as we speak:

          1.  The U.S. Treasury will be selling off a good chunk of its stock holdings in General Motors.  So, any corresponding future gains in the value of General Motors will not benefit we the people through any ownership interest of the federal government in General Motors.  That resale by the U.S., coincidentally, just happens to be facilitating a profit taking by a number of investors, but not we the people.  Read on.

          2.  General Motors is about to come out with an “IPO” (initial public offering) of its stock–not only the sale of its shares by the U.S. Treasury, but also some new shares that General Motors will be issuing and selling as well.  According to the media and Wall Street, this is the “hottest” IPO to come along in some time.  General Motors will benefit by the resulting infusion of additonal capital that will result from this sale of its newly issued shares.  Wall Street will profit in the form of serious commissions from the sale of the stock to its premier customers, the big folks, the only ones who will be allowed to buy the stock.  Those big folks, including Wall Street itself, the banks and other large investment funds, all salvaged from their own mistakes with our tax dollars, will be the only one’s allowed to buy–and profit, when the stock goes up in value based on General Motors’ resurgence with the infusion of your and my money by President Obama.  That’s right, we took the risk, without our permission, but we are now being frozen out from participating in the rewards of that risk!

          Doesn’t feel right to me. Our risk.  Their benefit.  Another misstatement and another broken promise on the part of our President.  How’s it make you feel?

          Keep this in mind two years from now, when Obama asks you for your vote…once again.  That’s when you will have a chance to let him know how it makes you feel.

          But they should have stayed home.

          Congress is presently deciding whether to renew a moratorium on earmark and pork barrel legislation.  You know, that’s the “you scratch my back and vote for something sweet for my home state and I’ll then do the same for you and your home state.  Never mind whether it’s really needed or actually does any good, it allows me to tell my constituency that I’m really watching out for them–so they’ll re-elect me the next time around and let me keep collecting all my Congressional perks.  Perish the thought that I should have to go out and get an honest job!”

         Just two of many examples of these kind of practices: 

          Thanks to former Republican Senator Ted Stevens (AK), Alaska has a $200 million plus unnecessary expensive bridge that effectively goes nowhere, serving but a small handful of residents of a tiny Alaskan island that already had a short, seven minute ferry ride to get the job done.

          Thanks to former Democratic Congressman John Murtha (PA), Pennsylvania has a $150 million plus unnecessary expensive airport (surprise, surprise, coincidentally named the John Murtha International Airport) that also sits virtually empty around the clock, with but three flights per day transporting a grand total of 20 passengers per day to and from…Washington, D.C.  Even the current stimulus bill enacted to get the national country back up on its feet somehow managed to allocate $800,000 to “refurbish” this…oh so “busy” airport!

          Congress has felt entitled to enact these kinds of self-serving bills for ever and ever.  “Bills” are right!  This kind of legislation cost we the people some $16.1 billion in 2010 alone.   Just chump change perks to help our political representatives serve their and not our interests, and campaign on our nickel instead of their own.

          In case our political representatives haven’t noticed yet, times are tough.  We need to cut corners wherever we can.  Our political leaders argue that such legislation is good for the economy, creating jobs, etc., but a Harvard study demonstrates that such legislation does no such good at all.  It’s just another disguised perk for our political leaders, and not at all for all of us.  While perhaps just a drop in our federal budget, especially when it’s paid for by we the people and not by those who actually enact and benefit from it, the fact is that the issue here is not just economic.  It’s also a matter of public trust, confidence and credibility.

          We the people have made it clear that we are tired of (political) “business” as usual.  We need to know that our political representatives are truly listening and getting the message.  It appears that the House GOP has the message and is prepared to extend the moratorium that will prohibit such pork barrel legislation.  However, it also appears that there are seven members of the Senate GOP who don’t yet get it:  Mitch McConnell (KY) (202-224-2541) , Jim Inhofe (OK) (202-224-4721), Lindsey Graham (SC) (202-224-5972), Lamar Alexander (TN) (202-224-4944), Jon Kyl (AZ) (202-224-4521), John Barrasso (WY) (202-244-6441) and John Thune (SD) (202-224-2321).

          Loud and clear, we need to let each of them know that if they don’t listen–and hear–these little piggies will soon be crying wee, wee, wee, all the way home–for good.

          Many things are VERY wrong about the following picture, more precisely the following series of snapshots:

          SNAPSHOT NO. 1

          Three of the largest insurance companies in the country have just reported extraordinary profits for third quarter, 2010.  Contrasting third quarter, 2010 with third quarter, 2009:

                    Aetna enjoyed an increase in its third quarter profits of $170 million, up to $500 million–or profits of about $2 billion per year!

                    Wellpoint/Anthem Blue Cross enjoyed an increase in its third quarter profits of $15 million, up to  $750 million–or profits of  about $3 billion per year!

                    Healthnet enjoyed an increase in its third quarter profits of $129 million, up to $63 million (from a loss of $66 million)–or profits of about $126 million per year!

          SNAPSHOT NO. 2

          In 2009, the California Insurance Department approved premium rate increases for these three carriers ranging from 19% to 29%.

          Let’s put this in perspective.  On an annualized basis, these three insurance companies alone are realizing aggregate profits of about $5 billion dollars per year.  Yet regulators just allowed them to increase their premium rates by 19-29%!!!  How much did your wages increase over the past year?

          So, times are tough–for doctors and patients, but not for insurance companies!

          Doctors are earning less and less while patients are paying more and more.  Before you express a lack of sympathy for those “wealthy,” fat cat doctors, understand that record numbers of them are having to close down their practices because Obamacare is tightening the screws on them so much that they are losing money.  They are concluding that they are better off not working (something that many welfare recipients figured out a long time ago).  If that’s not enough to make you to think a bit more about this, who’s going to be providing you with all of these medical services now that Obamacare is making sure you have medical insurance?  And while we’re on Obamacare, the Los Angeles Times reported today on studies that show that record number of insureds are opting for greater deductibles in order to lower these exoribitant premiums permitted by Obamacare and those regulators.  In turn, we the people are going without medical services because we can’t afford to pay the higher deductibles required to lower our premiums!

          Let’s summarize.  We “all” have insurance now, we just can’t afford the higher premiums and the insurance does us little good because because we can’t afford the deductibles we have to agree to in order to offset somewhat the increasing premiums our representatives are permitting.  The result:  Actual overall medical costs are rising dramatically because instead of sound preventitive medicine at relatively lower (but still expensive) costs, only catastrophic medical emergencies are being addressed.  Kind of like the auto owner who could have paid $100 for a lube job, but who holds off until he is then forced to pay $5,000 for a new transmission!

          So, who’s benefitting by this wonderful Obamacare we now have?

          Not we the people, who need better and more strategic early preventitive medical service because we aren’t able to afford the deductibles for that on top of the “lower” catastrophy coverage premiums we are also paying.  The data reported by the Los Angeles Times today is compelling in the demonstration that use of advisable preventitive medical services is plummeting.

          And not the doctors either, they’re going broke subsidizing the record profits of the insurance companies in the form of reduced payments to the doctors for their services that no longer allow them to meet their rent, utilities, liability insurance, employee salaries and benefits, and other overhead, let alone take home a decent wage.

          The answer, then, is that only the insurance companies are making out under Obamacare.  First, they are being allowed to pay the doctors less for services.  Second, they are being allowed to charge increased premiums to we the people.  In other words, they are being allowed to charge more even though they are paying less.  This is why they are enjoying perfectly predictable record profits.

          And why is this happening?  Because, of course, the lobbyists for the insurance industry know whose bread to butter–that of our wonderful political representatives.  You know, those folks who, instead of properly regulating the insurance companies, are too busy spending time with their PR advisors–telling we the people what heros they all are for enacting Obamacare and making sure that we the people all now (supposedly) have insurance coverage we didn’t have before.

          So, how about you–are you feeling better now, and more serviced by your doctors now–now that you are covered under Obamacare?

          Make no bones about it, folks.  You aren’t benefitting by Obamacare and you aren’t going to in the future.  And who do you really have to “thank” for this?  The insurance companies?  Not as far as I’m concerned.  Snakes do what snakes do (with apologies to the snakes).  Give them the chance to make too much and they will.  So would you and so would I (or at least you:)).  The ones you really have to “thank” for all of this are our political representatives who passed and signed Obamacare into law and failed to put any limits on resulting profits for the insurance companies.  Instead of really thinking through the consequences of what they were doing, they were too busy patting themselves on the back and telling we the people what a great job they were doing for us.

          By the way, lest we forget, our political representatives don’t have to worry about all this like you and I do.  Most of them, first and foremost our U.S. Congress, have enacted their own special governmental medical plans–just for themselves–that provide them much greater coverage at little, if any, premiums and with little, if any, deductibles!  Just serving we the people they are!

          What our political representatives do have to worry about is we the people–IF we stay on top of them until we force them to go back and revise Obamacare so we end up with something that works.  Oh, yeah, and until they pass an excess profit tax to reduce those absurd profits the insurance companies are taking home in these “tough” times.  Here’s a novel idea:  If the insurance companies don’t voluntarily subsidize the cost of medicine today out of their obnoxious profits, our political representatives can just increase their taxes (ala President Obama) and use the resulting tax revenues to subsidize the cost of medicine today.  Or they can just limit excess profits directly and lower our premium and deductible costs–and maybe their take from those insurance company lobbyists!