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Arnold Care Watch: Lease the California State Lottery
The governor’s latest claim on painless gain was issued this week in the form of a revised scheme to bring health insurance to the estimated 6.7 million Californians who lack it. The cost of providing such coverage is estimated at $14 billion a year, and originally, Schwarzenegger proposed “shared responsibility” taxes on hospitals and doctors, a levy on employers and a fingers-crossed assumption that the federal government would pick up about a third of the tab.
The plan quickly became bogged down in a political swamp of interests. Everybody was for the plan in concept, as long as somebody else was paying for it. The hospital industry eventually signed on after being guaranteed in writing that it would get billions more dollars than it would pay in taxes, but doctors and most employers continued to balk, and so did anti-tax Republican legislators.
Didn’t Flap tell you that Arnold Care was a boondoggle from the start? And would NEVER be implemented.
Why?
Because it is the same with Hillary Care 1.0 and 2.0 it is REDISTRIBUTIONIST POLITICS.
There’s been a lot of talk in the Capitol about asking voters to raise taxes to pay for expanding health care. But this week, Schwarzenegger took a new tack by proposing to lease the state lottery to a private operator and devote lease payments to health care, thereby negating the need for taxes on doctors and softening the financial impact on employers.
Implicitly, Schwarzenegger is promising that nobody would be taxed that doesn’t want to be taxed while many billions of dollars in new health care benefits will flow to the uninsured poor and medical providers — all gain and no pain.
The fiscal flaw is self-evident: If the lottery can be leased and the state can realize a $2 billion revenue gain, shouldn’t that money be used to balance a deficit-ridden state budget before launching new spending schemes? Or does Schwarzenegger intend to dump the mess on the next governor while he morphs into a senator-elect and/or self-appointed guru of global warming — all gain for him without any political pain?
Flap’s bet is that the Demcorats will NOT let Arnold’s plan out of the legislature because of the tax increases that would need to be approved by California taxpayers at the November 2008 Presidential election. Arnold’s plan is similar to Hillary’s and she doesn’t want to run on a tax increase next year.
Perhaps the Governor can now concentrate on reducing California’s budget deficit.
Don’t count on it.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Arnold for United States Senate in 2010
Arnold Care Vs. Hillary Care 2.0: Arnold Care Covers Illegal Aliens
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: California State Budget in Deficit as Much as $10 Billion
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hillary Care 2.0
Hillary Clinton Watch: Hillary Care 2.0
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: California Governor Considers 2008 Health Care Initiative
California Restaurant Owners Support Tax Increase to Pay for Health Care
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Health Care FLOP
Michael Ramirez on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Radical Health Care Proposal
Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: California Governor Schwarzenegger Proposes RADICAL Health Care Reforms
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Hillary Clinton Watch: Kill Guaranteed Student Loan Program
Sen. Clinton: kill guaranteed student loan program
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton proposed eliminating federally guaranteed student loans on Thursday, a move that would shake the foundations of the $85 billion student loan industry.
Lenders such as Sallie Mae, Citigroup and Bank of America do a big business in extending federally guaranteed loans to college students.
In a campaign Web site posting, the New York senator said she would pay for a range of higher education reforms “without increasing the deficit by eliminating the guaranteed student loan program.”
The guaranteed loan program was hit by deep federal subsidy cuts earlier this year under legislation passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush.
And, Senator, how do you propose dental students be able to afford their training?
For example, Flap would not have been able to pay his dental school tuition without the use of Guaranteed Federal Student Loans.
Does Hillary propose that the government pay their tuition like in the UK? How much will that cost?
Hillary Clinton is a tax and spend Demcorat like all of the rest. Fla will guarantee whatever government program(s) Hillary proposes she will raise taxes to pay for them.
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Hillary Clinton Watch: Voters Reject Clinton Baby Bond Proposal By 2-to-1 Margin
Hillary Health Care 2.0 Similar to Romney’s Health Care Plan Part Two
Hillary Clinton Watch: Convicted Criminal Sandy Berger Hired by Hillary Campaign
Bill and Hillary Clinton: Double Trouble
Hillary Clinton Watch: Norman Hsu Wants Plea Deal Withdrawn
Hillary Clinton Watch: Hsu Contributions Help Hillary Supporters
Michael Ramirez on Hillary Clinton and Norman Hsu
Hillary Clinton Watch: Will Return $850,000 in Norman Hsu Contributions? Maybe
Hillary Clinton Watch: Will Return $850,000 in Hsu Contributions?
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton
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Missile Defense Watch: Putin Continues to Say NYET to Eastern Europe Missile Defense
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, and U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, right, smile as Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with an unidentified member of US delegation, unseen, at the presidential residence of Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow, Friday, Oct. 12, 2007. In a tense start to talks on a range of thorny issues, President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned U.S. officials to back off a plan to install missile defenses in eastern Europe or risk harming relations with Moscow.
Putin Says Missile Plan Risks Relations
In a tense start to talks on a range of thorny issues, President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned U.S. officials to back off a plan to install missile defenses in eastern Europe or risk harming relations with Moscow.
Addressing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Russian president appeared to mock the U.S. missile defense plan, which is at the center of a tangle of arms control and diplomatic disputes between the former Cold War adversaries.
“Of course we can sometime in the future decide that some anti-missile defense system should be established somewhere on the moon,” Putin said, according to an English translation. “But before we reach such arrangements we will lose the opportunity for fixing some particular arrangements between us.”
Putin also said Russia might feel compelled to pull out of a 20-year-old arms control deal unless it is expanded.
Oh well.
Russia will have to do what it wants to do and the United States and its allies have to protect themselves. This includes protection from the totalitarian Putin as well as Iran.
There will be more negotiation but Russia is not in a position to be dictating anything.
By the way, United States Missile Defense is operational.
Previous:Missile Defense Watch: US Proposes Joint Missile Defense with Russia
Missile Defense Watch: Operational
Missile Defense Watch: Vandenberg AFB Ground-Based Interceptor Missile Test is Successful
Missile Defense Watch: Gates – Missile Defense in Eastern Europe Continues
Cox & Forkum: G-8 Party Crasher
Missile Defense Watch: Bush Talks Tough on Missile Defense
Missile Defense Watch: Russia’s Putin Blames America for New Arms Race
Missile Defense Watch: Russia Tests New ICBM – RS-24
Missile Defense Watch: Ground-based Midcourse Defense System Test – Postponed Until Summer
Missile Defense Watch: Ground-based Midcourse Defense System To Be Tested Thursday
Missile Defense Watch: USA and Israel in $205 Million Missile Defense Deal
Missile Defense Watch: Russia and USA Clash Over European Missile Shield
Missile Defense Watch: THAAD Missile Defense Test is Successful
Missile Defense Watch: United States Missile Defense Operational Within a Year
Technorati Tags: Missile Defense Agency, Missile Defense -
Fred Thompson Watch: The Great Communicator?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0EsY-aS7ws&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmarcambinder%2Etheatlantic%2Ecom%2Farchives%2F2007%2F10%2Fthis%5Fmean%5Funfair%5Fand%5Famusing%2Ephp[/youtube]
This is an exaggeration but a Ronald Reagan type orator Fred Thompson is NOT.
Marc Ambinder asks if the voters will pick up on this?
The answer is YES.
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Fred Thompson Watch: SNL Skit Highlights Thompson Foibles
Fred Thompson Watch: Not Going to Dance With James Dobson
George Will Asks Why the Thompson Candidacy is Necessary
Technorati Tags: Fred Thompson
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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Tommy Thompson to Endorse Rudy
Republican Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani makes a campaign stop at Spill the Beans coffee shop Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007, in Greenvillle,S.C.
Tommy Thompson to endorse Giuliani
Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani will pick up the endorsement Friday of former GOP rival Tommy Thompson, a one-time Midwestern state governor.
“Rudy Giuliani has shown that he is a true leader. He can and will win the nomination and the presidency. He is America’s mayor, and during a period of time of great stress for this country he showed tremendous leadership,” Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor, said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.
The former New York mayor is to accept the endorsement in South Carolina later Friday.
This endorsement helps the Mayor particularly in Wisconsin where the general election polls show Rudy and Hillary Clinton in a close race.
The presidential election is a toss up, at least in Wisconsin. A recent poll from Rasmussen Associates has the voters saying that when Hillary Clinton is matched up head to head with Rudy Giuliani, it comes out Clinton 43%, Giuliani 43%. When she is matched up against Fred Thompson, the margin is a bit bigger, 44% to 41% and with John McCain it is 43% to 40%.
But if her opponent were to be one of the other Republican candidates, she should do much better. Matched up against Mitt Romeny. Clinton gets 45% and the former Massachusetts Governor gets 35%.
Wisconsin has a history of being a very close state and its 10 electoral college votes are hard to gather up. For instance, in th last two elections, John Kerry carried the state by only 11,000 and four years before that, it was even tighter for Al Gore who won the state by 5,000.
Stay tuned for the official endorsement later in the day.
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Giuliani Poll Watch: 11 Point Lead for Rudy in the Latest Rasmussen Daily Presidential Poll
California Community Leaders Endorse Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani Strikes at Romney Consult the Attorneys GAFFE
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Leads in Michigan
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy and Mitt Duke It Out On Taxes
Rudy Giuliani Confirmed for Values Voter Summit
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani