http://www.youdecidepolitics.com Covering the fallout of the 2010 elections Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:30:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en President Obama today, in his infinite wisdom, stated explicitly that his health care reform plan would drop the amount paid by your employer in health care premiums by 3,000%. That's three-thousand percent. Simply doing the math here explains how there might be a minor issue with that statement considering that ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/16/obama-premiums-will-drop-3000-percent-with-obamacare/ We have taken to the streets, altered public opinion polls, motivated interest from the politically uninterested, participated in town halls, written to our representatives and stepped up to biased media reporting: none of it appears to matter when it comes to the Democratic view of health care legislation.   The health care ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/15/renaissance-of-necessity/ At this point, we all know the public is solidly against ObamaCare as a majority. There are small aspects some voters like but by and large, all polls show solid opposition yet the Democrats in congress and the White House are totally blind to this fact. Two top Democratic strategists/pollsters, ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/12/obamacare-spells-certain-doom-for-democrats-in-2010/  Universal Health Care, Insurance Reform, Health Care Reform, 2,500 pages, 2,000 pages, yes to a Public Option, no to a Public Option, abortion funding in, abortion funding out, threshold to single payer, or not?  Bribes accepted then rejected, bribes accepted and not rejected.   Deals with PHARMA, AMA, AARP, Insurance providers; ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/11/democrats-best-advocate-for-market-solutions/ The suggestion that the Tea Party folks will “be a force” when they: A) get organized nationally, or B) get clearly defined leadership, misses two critical points.  They’ve done just fine without a national organization and they are already a force.  It will be tempting for some in the movement to ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/06/principals-organizations-and-tea-parties/ In the spirit of the moment, I have donned my white lab coat to once again, play my part in the health care debate on the heels of the President’s address. The President, after all, encourages us to make our voices heard; twice, in paragraph 25. But, he also intimates ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/04/got-my-lab-coat-on/ There are very few people in Washington willing to admit the obvious fact that the government has run out of taxpayer money and we need to stop spending. Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, however, is one of the few who tried to stand for fiscal discipline only to be railroaded into ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/03/jim-bunning-was-right-deserves-standing-ovation/  All the signals point to somehow, some way; some manner of federally mandated health care “reform” is coming your way, again. Despite the pressure and the promise to focus on the economy, health care is back as priority one.  No matter public opinion.  No matter concerns about government intrusion.  No matter ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/03/01/it%e2%80%99s-not-over-not-even-close/  If indeed the President is as committed to national security as he says, he might want to consider sitting down with Congressional leaders and putting a finer point on his commitment. In February of 2008 in a state of incredulous disbelief I wrote about the House Intelligence Committee’s hearings concurrent with ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/27/the-no-intelligence-committee/ I can tell you right now, having seen what came out of Obama's health care summit, none of it was good news or good publicity for Democrats. They looked irritated that they were even dragged into the room and had to sit listening to their failures read back to them ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/25/the-obamacare-summit-helps-gop-backfires-on-obama/ President Obama's newly introduced health care plan contains many of the already hated items from both the Senate and House versions previously debated. First and foremost, a slew of new taxes and tax increases to help pay for the massive entitlement program. Americans have spoken out harshly both in polls ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/23/obama-proposes-tax-increases-calls-it-health-care/ Now standing with Texas and Alabama, the Commonwealth of Virginia's Attorney General has filed suit with the Environmental Protection Agency challenging the classification of carbon dioxide as a "harmful gas". Nothing gives me a greater thrill up my leg than states advocating on behalf of citizens against a federal power ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/20/virginia-joins-texas-in-challenging-epas-co2-power-grab/  Ahhh, yes, this is what we need, a fiscal responsibility commission.  A commission will surely set us on the path to fiscal solvency; take on those entitlements, cut that budget and create political cover for the inevitable tax increases.  The original Senate idea for a commission crashed over language that ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/20/omission-by-commission/  Darth Cheney is right; it’s the mindset!  Darth’s point that policy is a reflection of mindset is undeniably correct.  No matter the subject; ideology, experience, bias and philosophy are important to identify and understand, that is a mindset’s point of origin; or, at the very least, the point from which ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/19/darth-cheney-has-a-point/ Last week, during Congressional hearings top security and counter terror executives agreed; another attempt at a terrorist attack was, essentially, imminent. The President has placed severe limits on rational, legal intelligence gathering in the interest of protecting our “values”. The inherent problem with that sound bite is that the “value” that ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/13/effective-security-policy-you-decide/ Alice Kingsley has nothing on Washington. Never has the ability of democratically governed peoples to access information and express themselves been more significant. Opinion polling, 24 hours cable news, Blogs, opinion journals, instant communication capability with Senators and Congressman and political movements organized by little more than e-mail, web sites and ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/02/washington-in-wonderland/ Iranian politics have, since the revolution, been guided by a reasonably consistent core.  The core reflects what a self declared “Islamic Republic” must be, guided by Islam, in the temporal form of an elite Iranian Clergy.  Religious, civil, legal and social issues are all a reflection of Islamic law.  The ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/02/01/one-day-or-another/  On the surface it’s not hard to agree with a wide variety of what President Obama said in the state of the union address.  It is particularly easy to agree if you happened not to be paying close attention over the past year.  “They’re (us) tired of partisanship and the shouting ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/01/28/the-state-of-the-confusion/ Take a necessary idea that Obama ran on to get elected, make it real, affordable, and get it done now. Idealism that the populist voted him into office with is essential. CSPAN, open debate, and true bipartisan support. Sunshine and fresh air in every step of the process. For fresh air to ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/01/24/cbo-confirms-gop-plan-will-lower-health-care-premiums-and-lower-the-deficit-without-tax-hikes-on-families-and-small-businesses/ Amazing week!  Lots of political repositioning, searching for “correct” positions,  attempting that prove your “new” positions justify ignoring you’re old ones, explanations, spin, finger pointing, all manner of spurious analysis, looking for the magic mix of revised positions that might spare you from the apparent presence of a political tsunami ... http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/2010/01/23/the-tsunami-and-the-question-of-relative-movement/