Recreational Sex

I’ll get right to the point.  The Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that all health insurance companies pay for birth control.  I’m not going to link to a story.  You can read the internet as easily as I can.  The mandate is probably unconstitutional, but I don’t want to argue about that.  In fact, I don’t want to argue about the merits of the mandate at all.  I simply want to make two points that illustrate the macroeconomic ripple effect.

Point  #1 – The purpose of insurance is to protect against casualty.  Every day expenses are called, “out of pocket,” for a reason.  Expecting your health insurance company to pay for recreational sex – that is what birth control is for, after all – is like expecting your car insurance company to pay for your gas.

Point  #2 – There aint no such thing as a free lunch.  To an insurance company this new mandate is simply a new business expense the same as the wages of the actuary, the rent on the building and the toner cartridges for the copier.  They are just going to pass on the cost to the insured.  If your employer provides your coverage you’ll pay for bells and whistles with lower wages.  Everyone else will see premiums go up.

People, we’re going to have to start discerning between wants and needs. The country is headed for financial ruin.  Is this really a priority?

Screwing around on a snowy day...

I just discovered Windows Movie Maker.  This is kinda kewl...

Relax. They'll make more.

Money that is.  From  CNS News:

Fed Now Largest Owner of U.S. Gov’t Debt—Surpassing China 

"At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve. 

"The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal government’s debt into two general categories: debt held by the public—the type owned by the Chinese and the Federal Reserve—and “intragovernmental debt,” which consists of what essentially are IOUs the Treasury gives to government trust funds such as the Social Security trust when it takes and spends their money on other things."

We can't survive as a nation doing carrying on like this.  Sooner or later there is going to be a day of reckoning. 

The price of one job...

And that one job would be, of course, would be the presidency of the united states.

From Fox News:


State Department Won't Budge on Call for Pipeline Review Despite Rerouting 

"A day after Canadian oil company TransCanada agreed to reroute its proposed Keystone oil pipeline around Nebraska' ecologically sensitive Ogallala Aquifer, the State Department refused to budge on a new environmental review of the project that is not slated for completion until 2013 -- after the presidential election."

Here are the relevant facts:

Canada is going to continue extracting petroleum from their oil sands whether environmentalists like it or not.

There is no safer way to move petroleum than by pipeline.

If we don't buy this oil from Canada, Canada is going to sell it to China.

China is going to burn that oil with utter disregard for the environment.

We all use the same atmosphere.

China's oil supply will become more stable.  America's oil supply will become less stable.

The Obama campaign's cowardice borders on treason.  Life as we know it depends upon cheap and abundant energy.  It's madness to use our energy supply as a political pawn.

Dave Ramsey for president

I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey.  I wish I could send half the people I know to Financial Peace University.  Recently Dave wrote an open letter to the Occupy Wall Street Crowd.  His analysis is brilliant, as usual, but I particularly enjoyed this excerpt:

“Wealth Redistribution Is the Answer!”

"I’ve heard a lot about wealth redistribution over the past few years, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too. Call it whatever you want, but this is how it usually sounds to most Americans: “We are the 99% of Americans who don’t have as much as the 1%, so we’re mad and think the government should take their wealth and property away so that I can have a piece of it. Wealth inequality is a moral breakdown! We should all spread the money around so everyone gets a fair share!” 

"I have my toughest critique for those who believe this: You are a thief. When someone takes my money and gives me no say in the matter, that’s called theft—whether they’re using a gun or the government. At the core of this demand is envy. And that’s not the same as jealousy. Jealousy just says, “I want what you have.” Envy is a different beast. Envy says, “I don’t think I can ever have what you have, so you shouldn’t have it either.” Decades of horrible economic teaching and the politics of envy have kept this monster alive and growing and moving forward. 

"This way of thinking makes you assume that all rich people are evil and have scammed their way into wealth. That may be true in the tale of Robin Hood, but I choose to live in the real world. Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates changed the world in ways we’re just now starting to realize. Their positive impact on the world has helped all of us live better lives, and they made fortunes for themselves by doing so. Why is it that you’re holy if you help one person but evil if you help a million? That’s just stupid."

Right on , Dave!

Now all you people go visit Dave's web site and find a radio station that plays his show.

The kindest cut

No, I'm not talking about neutering your pet.  I'm talking about the kind of cut that we're not likely to see any time soon.  From Bloomberg:



"Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show. 

"The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046."

Put another way, the average employee of the federal government makes two and a half times what the average tax payer makes.  That's about right, don't you think?  They work twice as hard as you, don't they?  They provide great value for your money?

I don't mean to disparage all federal workers.  I know a few of them who work hard (and a helluva lot more who don't).  The point is that our elected officials don't feel constrained by reality.

Do you really think we can't cut federal spending?

Have you considered community college?

These, "Occupy," people are really starting to piss me off. It 's not that they are assembling to air their grievances that rubs me the wrong way. Peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience are among the most cherished rights of Americans. What frosts me is that they are railing at a system that has made their carping possible. Take this asshole for example:

How fortunate for him that he didn't try that in Iran, Egypt, Syria, Cuba or Venezuela where he would have been beaten or shot for that little stunt. He takes his rights for granted. I'm sure the families of those who died to protect his rights are proud of him.

In particular I note that a fair number of these, "occupiers," are in a snit because they have $600,000 in student loans but there are no, "good paying jobs." Fine. Go get yourself a bad one and work at that until you find something better. It's called, "working your way up," and it has been the way most of us have got where we are. I cleaned toilets, mowed grass and manhandled canoes 80 hours a week to pay my way through college.

If you went that far in debt for a degree in underwater basket weaving then you are a fool who deserves to be separated from his money. Take your i Phones back to your parent's basements and figure out how to move forward. If you don't want to flip burgers or stock shelves at the big box store, do a hitch in the Peace Corps. Or even volunteer at a local church or shelter. It'll be the first time in your pathetic, over-indulged lives that you haven't been totally self centered.

The bottom line, children, is that the world doesn't owe you a six-figure salary the day you graduate from your ivy league college. That house your parents let you crash in is something they probably worked 20 years to afford. Grow up and quit whining. And quit comparing yourselves to those who marched for civil rights in the 1960's. Those people were courageous. You are simply spoiled.