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Jerry Hughes did me a real favor by agreeing to guest host my Sunday radio show, the Downsize DC Conference Call, brought to you by Gun Owners of America and DownsizeDC.org. ::::::Jerry is so good at being a radio host — he’s such a natural — that there’s sheer joy just in listening to him. I could pay attention to him reading the ingredients of various generic condiments. ::::::But this show was “gooder” than that. ::::::At the end of most of my personal emails,
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”:::– Otto Von Bismark::::::Subject: Iraq on 9-11::::::General Petraeus yesterday, and 9-11 today. Things are following their natural order in Iraq, and we are one day closer to the next terrorist attack in America.
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: Sean Hannity responds, kinda, sorta::::::Last night, during “Hannity & Colmes” on FoxNews, Sean Hannity got a sour look on his face and said something like the following . . . ::::::”Ron Paul won the text messaging poll after last night’s debate, but you may be surprised to hear who our focus groups said won.” (It was John McCain.)::::::We report this, it’s up to you to decide if it’s enough that Hannity acknowledged Ron Paul’s victory in the text messaging poll. Does it make up for the fact that he implied the night before that Paul supporters gamed the poll by calling in repeatedly?
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: Ron Paul and Sean Hannity::::::Please forward this message to concerned friends . . .::::::Ron Paul’s downsizing message won the support of 33% of the viewers who participated in the phone-in poll after the September 5th Presidential debate on FoxNews. ::::::Sean Hannity of FoxNews didn’t like that result, so he fibbed to his audience about it.
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“The difference between salad and garbage is timing.”:::– Dan Kennedy::::::Subject: Salad vs. Garbage::::::The above quote is worth stressing: “The difference between salad and garbage is timing.” One moment you have a salad, full of ripe and tasty potential, but wait too long to eat it and all you’ll have is garbage.::::::We want to serve you a beautiful salad. We want to avoid it becoming garbage. Timing is the key.
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Spread the Downsize DC message to those you know. Forward this message to others.::::::Quotes of the Day:
“It has been said that the intelligence agencies have to be right 100% of the time, and the terrorists only have to get lucky once. This explanation for the devastating attacks of September 11th, simple on its face, is wrong in its value, because the 9-11 terrorists were not just lucky once. They were lucky over and over again. When you have this repeated pattern of broken protocols, broken laws, broken communication, one cannot still call it luck. If at some point, we dont look to hold the individuals accountable for not doing their jobs properly, then how can we ever expect for terrorists to not get lucky again?”:::– Mindy Kleinberg, one of the Jersey Girls (of the 9-11 Families)
“There was plenty of intelligence. That intelligence was mismanaged. Instead of addressing that mismanagement we gave the intelligence community more money, more authority, and they’re less accountable. That’s ultimately going to prove catastrophic.”:::– Mike German, former undercover anti-terrorist agent for the FBI, famed Whistleblower, and author of “Thinking Like a Terrorist”
::::::Subject: The Accountability Project::::::These are perhaps the most important insights we would like to share, with as many people as possible . . .::::::1. The institution of government tends not to work . . . because it does not have to. ::::::2. The institution of government pays no real price for failure . . . instead, it usually rewards itself for failure.::::::3. Rewarding government for failure leads to a dangerous spiral of bigger and bigger disasters. ::::::These three observations, in a nutshell, sum up the practical case for Downsizing DC — the bigger government is the harder it fails. The rest is commentary.
Downsize DC Conference Call – August 26, 2007
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Evangelize the Downsize DC message. Please forward this to others.::::::Quote of the Day:::::::
Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure.
::::::Subject: The Un-insured::::::Many people have asked: “What about people with no health insurance?” Or, “How many people die in America because they lack coverage?”::::::These are good questions. They were two of my main questions when I started researching this issue. ::::::The most commonly heard estimate for the number of Americans without health insurance is 45 million. That’s a whopping, scary number. Alas, it is also highly misleading. John Stossel of ABC News has used research by the U.S. Census Bureau to expose the deeper truth behind this scary number. It turns out that . . .
- 37% of the un-insured live in households earning more than $50,000 a year (and 19% live in households earning more than $75,000). Can people at these income levels afford major medical insurance? Yes. Should they be subsidized by you and me? No. Subtract this group and the number of uninsured people drops to roughly 28 million.
- 20% of the un-insured are non-citizens. Should you and I pay to insure them through a top-down federal monopoly? We think not. Subtract this group and the number of un-insured people drops to roughly 19 million.
- 33% of the un-insured are already eligible for existing government programs. No new program is needed for people who are already covered by current programs. Subtract them and the number of uninsured people drops to roughly 4 million. This is much more likely to be the true size of the problem.
:::45 million vs. 4 million — that’s a huge difference! Now here’s the kicker . . .
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: Today’s radio show with special guest host::::::Jim Babka is traveling on Downsize DC business. When last heard from he had survived a difficult trek through the Donner Pass, and was searching for decent food by the side of the road. ::::::Or on the road.::::::Or something like that. ::::::As a result, Jim’s radio show will feature a special guest host today . . .::::::Ed Brayton Superstar! (cue Andrew Lloyd Webber fanfare)
DownsizeDC Conference Calls – August 12 and 19, 2007