Tag Archives: Intimidation

Obama administration threatens health insurance company for dissent

This AP story explains how a private company sent out a mailing explaining the effects of Obamacare on seniors.

Excerpt:

“While these programs need to be made more efficient, if the proposed funding cut levels become law, millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable,” it said.

It urged seniors to sign up with Humana for regular updates on the health care legislation, and encouraged them to contact their lawmakers in Washington.

But Obama doesn’t like it when people question his socialist plans.

In a warning letter to Humana, HHS said the government is concerned that the mailer “is misleading and confusing” partly because the company’s lobbying campaign could be mistaken for an official communication about Medicare benefits.

HHS ordered the company to immediately halt any such mailings, and remove any related materials from its Web site. In the letter, the government also said it may take other action against Humana.

A later post by Ace of Spades updates the story. (H/T ECM)

Let me explain how socialism works. Socialists tell you that you are not responsible for your life outcomes. They say that other people are to blame for your troubles. They get elected by sowing division, hate and envy among the people. Then they try to take control of the economy to reward the people who elected them, using the money from people who did not elect them.

But when you start to rob one group of people to pay off the groups who elected you, the victims of the theft start to debate with you. Maybe they stop producing as much as before, so that less is stolen from them by the government. And that’s when socialists like Obama start to crack down on dissenters – first with intimidation, then with coercion, and eventually with violence. That’s just historical fact.

Most countries realize their mistake before it’s too late. But if a country has placed an ignorant, arrogant, unqualified buffoon in charge, it may be a long time before that happens. That is the way the world actually works, and has worked, for anyone with eyes to see. And that is why even socialist countries like Sweden eventually have to pull back from the brink by cutting taxes, in order to get people working and having children again.

I recommend the book “The Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek, and you can read a summary here. It’s the number one most recommended book on Human Events’ list of top books every conservative should read. Fascism is the natural endpoint of socialism, if it is not checked at the ballot box.

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A fishy statement by someone who needs to go on an enemies list

Sorry for the light posting, because I’ve spent more time spent replying to comments and reading e-mail.

Keith Hennessey has found a very fishy statement that could mislead the public about Obama’s health care plan.

Excerpt:

I call to your attention several fishy statements about health care reform legislation made by a gentleman named Dr. Douglas Elmendorf.  He claims to be Director of the “Congressional Budget Office” and has posted frequently about health care reform on his website, cbo.gov.  This information takes the form of personal posts on his Director’s Blog, as well as in-depth reports that have the veneer of competent, thorough, impartial professional analysis.  The IP address of his site is 206.106.246.254, and his organization has named their hideout the “Ford House Office Building.”

Elmendorf appears to have several hundred followers in his organization, which has extraordinary influence over many in Congress.  I understand that some right-wing Members of Congress support and even vote for his annual funding source.

CBO and Elmendorf make extraordinary claims about bills moving through Congress that attempt to implement the President’s plans for health care reform.  I bring them to your attention so that you can refute them.  I have included these allegations below.  Specifically, Elmendorf and his rabble-rousers make the following claims…

You have to click through to read the evil claims of this evil man! I certainly don’t want to anger Big Brother by re-posting those awful lies on my blog.

Further study

Learn more about health care with my previous posts on health care:

Coach suspended for 30 days without pay for being mean

Yes, he said a terrible thing, and yes, this was poor judgment. But does he deserve all this punishment just for saying something that offended some people?

The article is in the Salt Lake Tribune. (H/T Andrew)

Excerpt:

Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin has been suspended by the university for 30 days without pay for Thursday’s anti-homosexual comments he made toward the Notre Dame football program during the Western Athletic Conference meetings in Salt Lake City.

As a part of the suspension, McMackin has agreed to voluntarily coach the Warriors without pay during his suspension. His salary during that time will be used to support a student intern in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender program on the Hawaii campus.

As a part of McMackin’s punishment, he must participate in a public service announcement describing how words can hurt and support awareness training for the athletics program. He also must personally participate in activities directed at improving the environment for the LGBT community.

People say mean things to me all the time, and I don’t complain (that much). I have found that if I scare people by threatening them because they have offended me, then they don’t want to talk to me any more. But I want people who disagree with me to talk to me! So I try to be forgiving instead of intimidating people who want to express a different point of view.

Why can’t people just forgive people when they make a mistake and say they’re sorry?