"George Zimmerman Not Going To Let One Bad Experience Deter Him From Neighborhood Watch Responsibilities."...Breaking news on The Onion
- Do Republicans govern better? I asked myself that question after a report published that showed all 17 states that elected Republican governors in 2010 experienced a drop in unemployment. To be fair, of the 8 states that elected Democrat governors, 7 showed a decrease in unemployment albeit half still above the national average of 8.2%. Moreover, it's long been shown that most major cities with the highest crime and poverty rates have been run by Democrats for many, many years. These include, but are not limited to, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Newark, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. In fact, most of these democrat strongholds have been in power for a combined 400 years or more. Baltimore's mayors have been all democrat in the last 60 plus years with just one exception in 1963. Philadelphia has not had a Republican mayor since 1952. You have to go back to 1957 for a Democrat mayor of Detroit. And even Obama's former senior aid, Rahm Emanuel, now Mayor of Chicago, is challenged by a 38% increase in homicides from last year. You get the picture (CNN, Wikipedia, Yahoo News).
- Perhaps my question should not be: do Republicans govern better? Instead, it should be: why do Democrats govern so poorly?
- Have we become a "Food Stamp-Nation?" Many are asking that question today. In Rich Lowry's piece {"The Rise of Food-Stamp Nation"}, he makes an argument that we have. For example, in 2000, it was reported 17 million people received food stamps. Today, that number is 46 million and rising. In fact, when you go back just 40 years ago, 1 in 50 people were on food stamps. Now, it's 1 in 7.
- In yesterday's PWZ, I challenged Mitt Romney to come out swinging. I believe a lot of Republicans and conservatives want to see this guy with some fire in his belly. I say this because I feel he should be leading Obama in all polls by at least 5-10 percentage points by now. Yes, it's still early, and most opponents don't start revving up their engines in July. Many voters are still in the summer vacation mindset. Their attention spans are not focused on politics during these dog days. Nevertheless, with a president who has such a conspicuous poor track record, it's my opinion Romney should not be tied as he is in most polls with Obama. He should be running a few paces ahead of him by now. One thing is certain. He cannot run a campaign like Sen. McCain ran. If he does that, we'll be seeing Pres. Obama raising his hand and taking the Oath of Office again. And, in my opinion, that would not be good for America.
- Yesterday, Pres. Obama said he wants to end the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 a year. Does he realize that most small business owners fall into that category? In fact, The Heritage Foundation, reported that this tax plan directly targets "91% of the income earned by small businesses that actually employ workers...The biggest most successful small business fall into the target of his tax increase." In other words, this tax plan will tax job creators. Obama himself in 2009 on a visit to Indiana said, "...You don't raise taxes in a recession. So what's changed? Weekly Standard
- And for small business, nothing has changed in the last 3 years. As I've mentioned before, I like visiting small towns in the Philadelphia, NJ and Delaware region. I've never seen as many shuttered or going out of business signs in my life as I have in the last several years. In one South Jersey town, the dollar store actually went out of business. That's how bad the environment is for many in that job sector.
- It was just reported today that Scranton, PA, is so broke, all government workers had their salaries cut to minimum wage. The city is facing an almost $17 million budget shortfall.
- A survey by the Doctor Patient Medical Association found that 83% of physicians have considered quitting over ObamaCare. One reason is that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are much to low for many physicians to take part in the programs. Just recently, I heard an interview with a physician who said he billed $80 for his services, but was reimbursed only $10 bucks. Also, in the next 15 years, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of 130,000 doctors. As I've also asked on many occasions, when ObamaCare adds millions to the patient rolls---who will serve those patients? Be prepared to see more nurse practitioners and PA's rather than physicians. The VA does that already.
- Adding to costs at hospitals are obese patients. Hospitals are reporting they have to pay an arm and leg (no pun intended) for hospital equipment to serve obese patients. For example, a regular operating table costs almost $23k compared to one they need for heavier patients that comes in at $33,000. Regular beds cost about $10 grand, for an obese patient the bed price is a fat $22,000. Wheelchairs come in at almost $6 grand double the price of a regular chair.
- I'm proud to announce that PWZ, the acronym for The Political War Zone, is now included in the online publication called The Free Dictionary.
