Americans Turn on ObamaCare

It seems the more Americans hear about ObamaCare the worse it sounds.

Those concerns may be having an impact on the public, according to the poll, which showed 49 percent of respondents approving of Obama's stand on the issue compared to 57 percent in April.

Those saying they disapproved rose to 44 percent from 29 percent during the same period.

I think this is just more of the case of liking the man but hating his policies. The problem I am having now is this asinine statement during today's health insurance hard-sell.

And over the past decade, premiums have doubled in America. Out- of-pocket costs have shot up by a third. Deductibles have continued to climb. And yet even as America's families have been battered by spiraling health care costs, health insurance companies and their executives have reaped windfall profits from a broken system.

I hope he knows that health insurance operating margins are an average of 4.16%. He does know that software companies usually have operating margins in the 30% range. Does that mean they are "reaping windfall profits" and the US Government should be providing OSs, Office Productivity Software, and Search services? Of course not that would be idiotic.

The idea of providing health insurance for 47 million people to the tune of $1 trillion just because health insurance companies are making a profit is just laughable. Just reform their industry and provide incentive for them to cover that 47 million and we aren't out another $1 trillion+ and it should be okay.

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What the Hell is Google Mobile?

On looking at some Google earnings I came across some analysts talking about something called a Google Mobile service. So I delved a little further and came across this.

There is a new Google mobile service that Google doesn�t want you to know about. We�re not sure why they would keep it from you; it�s actually pretty cool. Google mobile "LCB" was uncovered by picking apart a publicly available file containing a list of all pages that crawlers shouldn�t be able to see. Essentially, LCB is an interesting move away from Google�s typical offerings. A "searchless search" in a sense, it allows the user to input a location and then browse through seven predefined categories such as Food / Restaurant and Entertainment to find a business listing. Once a desired result is listed, users can quickly and easily map the address and surrounding area.

This sounds a lot like a "Where should I eat" app that is tied to the GPS in your phone. I can see this as a great way for Google to collect local advertising money as restaurants and such sign up to push themselves higher up in the search results.

I would download this service in a heartbeat because sometimes I am in an area and I want to eat a plate lunch or something. I could just run this thing and it can tell me the closest plate lunch place and maybe pull up some reviews as well. Hell, you could have the thing pop up with the closest McDonalds and have it automatically text you a coupon as well if you check an opt-in box.

I think the idea is to get Google in front of as many eyes as possible and this Google Mobile is a very interesting new way to do it. I can see this service making money right out of the box and tie Googles growth right into the growth of smart-phones.

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Googles Numbers Dissapoint; Although They Might Make Money from YouTube

It seems that ad spending is still sluggish even though they had a record quarter but this part seems pretty promising though.

Google also defended its YouTube video service. Critics have pointed out that the company spends an estimated $500 million a year on YouTube, without getting much in return. But company executives said advertising, such as pre-roll ads, were gaining traction and could soon pull the video business out of the red ink and into profits, Google executives said.

I can see those pre-roll ads as quite a lucrative commodity especially when some web videos have millions of hits. It would especially be cool if they can be targeted so that a funny cat running around is preceded by a Friskies ad or something.

I mean Hulu does it and it is not very intrusive at all. The only problem with Hulu is that the ads are exactly the same over and over. Maybe Google can change up the ads so you see a Friskies ad then a PetCo ad then a Purina ad right after it. As long as there is only one ad people won't be too put off by them.

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Rafsanjani Comes Out With Pro-Protest Sermon

It seems that Rafsanjani has now picked his side and has come out forcefully behind the protesters by taking their grievances to the Friday sermon airwaves.

The cleric got tears in his eyes as he spoke of how Islam's Prophet Muhammad "respected the rights" of his people. He said the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, "would always say that if the system is not backed by the people, nothing would stand."

For Iranians listening across the country, the weekly Friday sermon in Tehran is the voice of the leadership and a symbol of its backing by God.

This part is especially telling and should be pushed forward by anyone who is opposed to Iranian nukes.

Inside the prayers, worshippers traded competing chants with some hard-liners in the congregation. When the hard-liners chanted "death to America," Mousavi supporters countered with "death to Russia" and "death to China," a reference to Ahmadinejad's alliance with both countries.

A truly democratic Iran allied with the West will prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It is just that simple. I think it might be time for Obama to throw his weight behind a reformer like Rafsanjani rather then Khomeini and Almadinijoke.

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Holy Crap! ObamaCare Bill Will Make It So You Can't Change Your Individual Health Insurance Carrier?

Yup it sure seems that way according to this. This comes from page 16 of the bill that probably no one has read yet.

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised � with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

So if you own your own business and buy individual coverage I hope you like it because you are stuck with it. So what happens if Humana changes some of the rules on you or raises your co-pay or something. You can't take your business to Blue Cross/Blue Shield because you are stuck with Humana by law.

Or you can simply enter the public plan and be at the whim of the same people that gave your the DMV and the Post Office. It is such a sneaky little way to get people into the public plan that it is ingenious. Freeze people in their insurance carrier and then force them to either sign up for the government plan or pay a 3.5% penalty for not having insurance. This one paragraph is a dagger aimed right at the heart of the private contractor industry.

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Americans Don't Want to Pay To Fight Global Warming

I could have told you this.

With the climate change bill narrowly passing in the House, a new poll released by Rasmussen Reports shows that a majority of Americans - 56 percent - are unwilling to pay more to support the fight against global warming. Only 14 percent of Americans are willing to pay more than $100 a year to fund the cap and trade measure.

It seems that only politicians care about cap-and-tax. While Americans don't want to pay higher taxes on everything they buy just to maybe reduce temperature by a minuscule amount 20 years from now.

"Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Mainstream Americans say they are not willing to pay higher taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming, compared to only 17% of the Political Class," reported Rasmussen Reports.

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National Black Chamber of Congress CEO Goes After Senator Boxer For Playing the Race Card

I sure wish more people testifying before Congress would tell it like it is like Harry C. Alford did. This is regarding Cap-and-Tax as well.

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University of Texas Physicists Figure Out How to Recycle Nuclear Waste

Well, I think it might be time for Mike Kotschenreuther, Swadesh Mahajan and Prashant Valanju, of the IFS, and Erich Schneider of the Department of Mechanical Engineering to win the Nobel Prize for Physics because they may have solved one of the only drawbacks left to nuclear power. Here's how they did it.

First, 75 percent of the original reactor waste is destroyed in standard, relatively inexpensive LWRs. This step produces energy, but it does not destroy highly radiotoxic, transuranic, long-lived waste, what the scientists call "sludge."

In the second step, the sludge would be destroyed in a CFNS-based fusion-fission hybrid. The hybrid's potential lies in its ability to burn this hazardous sludge, which cannot be stably burnt in conventional systems.

"To burn this really hard to burn sludge, you really need to hit it with a sledgehammer, and that's what we have invented here," says Kotschenreuther.

One hybrid would be needed to destroy the waste produced by 10 to 15 LWRs.

You could even make these hybrid reactors a part of the system so the act of destroying the waste will actually generate power as well. Now that is a cool deal. I wonder how they will be getting the sludge to the hybrid reactor though? I guess in barrels in the back of a truck or something. Either way these Physicists just earned themselves $1.5 million dollars and may have solved the global warming problem in one fell swoop. Hook 'Em Horns!

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Republican Stimulus Plan Provides Immediate Relief

Unlike the Dem Plan which is all about the pork-barrel and $500 next year sometime. Here is the highlight of the GOP plan.

McConnell also said Republicans favor cutting the two lowest tax brackets as a way to " put money back in people's hands directly." If adopted, that would reduce the tax rate from 10 percent to 5 percent for the first $8,350 in individual income for the current year, and $16,700 for couples. The tax rate would be lowered from 15 percent to 10 percent on income between $8,351 and $33,950 for individuals and between $16,001 and $67,900 for couples.

So that means they will start getting more money in their next paycheck and not next year after we are already recovering from the recession. Nobody can argue against receiving more money each paycheck. The other part of the plan tackles mortgages:

The goal was to have banks lower the interest rate to 4 percent or 4.5 percent on 30-year fixed rate loans for many primary residences, by directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy the mortgages.

In other words the US Government will provide a low interest/fixed interest loan that is below the rates other mortgage brokers charge. That means Uncle Sam has become a mortgage market monopoly that will funnel all new mortgages into government controlled Fannie and Freddie. In other words nationalizing the mortgage industry in the US. Let's hope the cure is not more destructive then the cause.

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Pork and Eugenics in Stimulus Bill?

That may be the case according to this CNN article. Here is the pork:

I'd settle for removing more of the ridiculous items that House Democrats slipped into the legislation to advance their sociopolitical agenda. Like $350 million for child care on military bases. Or $335 million to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Here is the creepy eugenics part which amounts to $200 million for birth control funding to stimulate the economy.

When ABC's George Stephanopolous asked Pelosi to explain how birth control helps the economy, here's what the speaker said: "The family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now, and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those -- one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

You know the nation's cupboard is bare when politicians propose limiting the number of births as a way of improving the economy. That's a conversation we shouldn't be having.

The bad part is that the people with higher birthrates are usually Latino or Black. So Pelosi pretty much said she wanted to lower the birthrates of minorities in order for "states to meet their financial needs." Pelosi must really be losing it when she considers reducing the number of future Latinos and Blacks as a way to "reduce costs."

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Michael Steel Elected GOP Chairman

He seems like a pretty decent choice for GOP chairman according to his background. He was an Air Force brat, has a international relations degree from Johns Hopkins and was a seminarian for 3 years. Then he pursued a law degree from Georgetown. Then he was a lawyer and then Lt. Governor of Maryland then failed at a Senate bid. He also has some fire in his belly as well judging from these comments:

"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said.

I'm just waiting for the MSM to say that Steele got the job because he was black. Just like how the New York Times said that Sarah Palin got the VP nomination because she was a woman.

O.K., the women thing might have been a little bit of a selling point. Not nearly so much as the national guard commandership, of course. But if the millions of Democratic women who are still ticked off at Obama for stepping in front of Hillary in the line want to look elsewhere ...

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Obama Creates Middle Class "Task Force"

It seems that this could have been part of Biden's stipulations on being the VP because he will be heading this thing up.

Obama set several goals for the task force, including expanding opportunities for education and training; improving the work-family balance; restoring labor standards, including workplace safety; and protecting retirement security.

The president and vice president said the task force will include the secretaries of commerce, education, labor, and health and human services because those Cabinet departments have the most influence on the well-being of the middle class. It also will include White House advisers on the economy, the budget and domestic policy.

Biden pledged that the task force will conduct its business in the open, and announced a Web site, http://www.astrongmiddleclass.gov, for the public to get information. He also announced that the panel's first meeting will be Feb. 27 in Philadelphia and will focus on environmental or "green jobs."

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Amazon Kills Numbers: Could they be Cloud Computing King?

Now this is a real recession proof stock all right.

In North America, Amazon�s total sales rose 18 per cent, contrasting with the overall 3 per cent decline in US holiday e-commerce sales estimated by ComScore Media Metrics this month.

Amazon�s global net sales also rose 18 per cent to $6.7bn. International sales � including the UK, France, Germany, Japan and China � rose 19 per cent to $3.07bn. At constant currency rates, the international sales would have risen 31 per cent.

So their revenue rose 18% in the US and if not for dollar strength they would have gained 31% overseas? That is just nuts during a recession like this. It seems like Amazon and Netflix are the recipients of this nesting and hunkering down as people lose their jobs.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown on how many people are using their Amazon Prime service to buy everyday goods at a discount. It might be time to ride the Amazon rocket again because this stock trades great whenever they blow out numbers like this. This part is especially interesting as well.

Bezos said the environment was now ripe for Amazon to begin discussing providing web services for larger companies. Amazon provides a cloud computing platform that offers far-flung users access to storage and computing power in Amazon's data center.

"People in this macro environment, they're looking for ways to save money and cloud computing does that. There's a lot that can be done there," Bezos said, calling it a "silver lining" in the grim economic environment.

This is a high margin business because you are pretty much charging companies to store data and run applications on Amazons trusted servers. Amazon has the infrastructure in place so all they have to do is sign up companies that want to cut costs and they get a nice fat revenue stream in the process. Why would think that a web retailer has the chance to become the "king of cloud computing?"

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Senator McConnell Tells it Like it is to GOP

I have to agree with some of the sentiments of Sen. McConnell.

McConnell called for the GOP to embrace its conservative principles � and resist diluting its message � to bring people back and attract new rank-and-file. Still, he added: "It's clear our message isn't getting out to nearly as many people as it should ... Too often we've let others define us. And the image they've painted isn't very pretty."

He acknowledged GOP fears that certain demographics from certain regions have shunned the party. And, he warned: "In politics, there's a name for a regional party: it's called a minority party."

I have to agree that the GOP needs to cleave back to conservative principles of small government, no more meddling in the private lives of Americans, low taxes for everyone, and a strong military presence in the world.

Also the letting others define them is as big a problem as any. The MSM has painted the GOP as a bunch of white war mongers, who torture people, and are listening to peoples private phone calls. The GOP is also portrayed as religious nutjobs who care more about gays getting married then they do about what the majority of Americans care about.

They aren't even the party of the rich anymore since billionaire hedge fund guys and upper middle class exurbanites are all switching to the Dems. They are currently the party of rural America and the South.

I think the demeanor of the party needs to go from Dick Cheney to Mike Huckabee. That means the GOP needs to be civil, respectful, and push their issues with a quiet forcefulness. No more in-your-face neocon wrestling matches.

When someone like Bill Maher says that Martin Luther King was deranged because of his religious beliefs Huckabee just said paraphrasing "do you really believe Dr. King was mentally insane?" Don't attack Maher as a person but attack his beliefs. Assume the Dems are nice enough people but they are just strait-up wrong when it comes to some things. Then go about telling people why the Republican way of doing things is better.

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Stimulus Bill Passes the House: $819 Billion Final Tally

Now that is a lot of money but it seems that the Senate Bill may be much more palatable to GOP members.

Already a more bipartisan � and costlier � measure is taking shape in the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation advances.

Rahm Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who is Obama's chief of staff, invited nearly a dozen House Republicans to the White House late Tuesday for what one participant said was a soft sales job.

If there are no business tax cuts in this thing then I think it will just be a half-measure that won't prevent businesses from shedding yet more workers. It seems that the FED is working on the mortage side and the Congress is working on juicing the supply side. Let's hope John Maynard Keynes is right because $819 billion is quite a price to pay to be wrong.

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