bnuckols

Blame it on Grover (the memo must have gone out)

If you believe that the multiple headlines focusing on Grover Norquist are a coincidence, I’ve got ocean front property in  Arizona to sell you.

Rick Perry via USAToday editorial: ‘Another federal power grab’

Governor Rick Perry explains why Texas won’t create a State Obamacare health insurance exchange:

 

Setting aside the obvious fact that health insurance is readily available under current conditions — the problem has been price, not availability — these exchanges represent nothing more than another federal power grab in the guise of a supposedly free market.

States were given the option to set up and execute their own exchanges — at their own expense. The fine print, however, specified that the exchanges would have to follow all rules and guidelines imposed by the federal government, with little to no flexibility. The kicker: Many of these rules and regulations are unknown.

Again, this is par for the course as we continue down the road to fiscal disaster at the hands of ObamaCare.

In Texas, Medicaid spending already accounts for nearly 25% of our general revenue spending, and its costs are only expected to continue skyrocketing.

While the president has promised to subsidize states for Medicaid costs in the near term, in the long term, states are going to be on their own.

ObamaCare has already begun to affect many companies, too, with some publicly announcing plans for layoffs in order to make up for increased insurance-related costs.

via Rick Perry: ‘Another federal power grab’.

Office of the Governor Rick Perry – [Press Release] Gov. Perry: Texas Will Not Implement State Insurance Exchange Under Obamacare

Governor Rick Perry wrote a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sibelius:

Gov. Perry’s letter said. “It would not be fiscally responsible to put hard-working Texans on the financial hook for an unknown amount of money to operate a system under rules that have not even been written.”

via Office of the Governor Rick Perry – [Press Release] Gov. Perry: Texas Will Not Implement State Insurance Exchange Under Obamacare.

Medical Regulation, Texas Style

The Texas Institute for Health Care Quality and Efficiency Draft Report is posted for public comment.

You only have a day and a half to comment, since the next meeting of our Board of Directors is Thursday, November 15th. All comments should be sent by 1 PM on Wednesday, November 14th.

Report to the Texas Legislature on Activities to Improve Health Care Quality and Efficiency
Report Number: 2012-001

The following downloads are available:
Report 2012-001: 2012-001-Draft-Report.pdf
Appendix E: AppendixE.pdf
Appendix F: AppendixF.pdf

Instructions on submitting your comments are here.

Now, for a few comments on my observations as a Board member:

Believe it or not, the time frame from the passage of the legislation in SB 7 last June, 2011, to today and in anticipation of preparing for legislation beginning in January, 2013, is too tight. The Institute’s staff and coordinators did a good job of herding cats in the Board. In addition, the Board members worked hard to make all the meetings, to participate, and to contribute. We have met at least once a month, sometimes more than twice, since our appointment. The Board isn’t paid or even reimbursed for expenses by the State, and many gave up work in order to attend meetings far from their homes.

I haven’t commented on the draft until now, because the Board received our first full copy for review and comment on November 2, and comments were due by 5 PM, Election Day, November 6th. We’re all appointed by the Governor — it stands to reason that a few of us would be actively involved in the election and campaigns. I didn’t even open the email until Nov. 7.

I’m not happy with the length of the report, but I guess the nuances of our discussions over the last few months needed to be documented somewhere. Go to the page 34 in the pdf, numbered “26” in the Draft, for the actual recommendations made by vote in the Board meetings.

Finally, my main concern has been with the bureaucracy and regulation that the members of the Board have sometimes appeared to support. In the end, I believe that we have limited recommendations for regulation and “hassle factors” more than some would like. My hope is that the Legislature will decide to focus initially on implementing any new measures in our own State health plans and not interfere directly in private health care practice and systems, except where and when the State foots the bill.

Since President Obama won reelection, I believe that the ability of the 83rd Texas Legislature to adapt and react to Federal Regulations  – Obamacare – will be improved by the work of the Institute.

Benghazi, bimbos, and the Petraeus spin

All women are potential bimbos, all media reports are reliable, and email is a secure way to threaten your romantic rivals, right? In the case of Paula Broadwell, the story doesn’t make sense. Next, we’ll hear comments from James Carville (or David Axelrod) about trailer parks and $100 bill.

Or, are we all being treated to the latest version of “bimbo eruptions,” the false trashing of women by the Clinton Administration of the 1990’s? If you remember that far back, every single woman who claimed that Bill Clinton had abused her was painted by the Clinton Administration and subsequently by the media as liars who were women scorned, jealous and mentally unstable.

We’ve been told that former Army General David Petraeus resigned as Director of the CIA because he had been having an affair. His alleged mistress, Paula Broadwell, a married mother of two, was an honor graduate from West Point, retired from the Army after attaining the rank of Major and recognition as a military expert. and a former intelligence officer. She was a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves and a member of the FBI anti-terrorism force. We are to believe that at 40 years old, this highly accomplished woman went around the bend, and became jealous of another woman, a friend of the Petraeus family, and the FBI discovered that she had been sending “anonymous” emails to the other woman.

(At 19 minutes into the speech, Broadwell mentions that General Petraeus was undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer when they met. This makes me even more doubtful about the affair story.)

It turns out that Ms. Broadwell may have come under heightened scrutiny after she spoke to the alumni association at the University of Denver (where she had studied  in October. During the question and answer period, she made the very controversial claim that the annex at Benghazi, where our Ambassador was killed on September 11, 2012, was being used to hold captured Libyan militia prisoners, and that’s why the US forces were attacked.

The video was posted online, although it’s been removed by the University  from many others, including Front Page News, At least as of 5 PM on Monday, November 12th, the video is available on YouTube, here,

and at Human Events,  that I found after a Google search on the title of the video, “Alumni Symposium 2012, Paula Broadwell.”  If the videos all disappear, here’s a quote about Benghazi , at least:

“The challenge has been the fog of war, and the greater challenge is that it’s political hunting season, and so this whole thing has been turned into a very political sort of arena, if you will,” she said. “The fact that came out today is that the ground forces there at the CIA annex, which is different from the consulate, were requesting reinforcements.

“They were requesting the – it’s called the C-in-C’s In Extremis Force – a group of Delta Force operators, our very, most talented guys we have in the military. They could have come and reinforced the consulate and the CIA annex.

“Now, I don’t know if a lot of you have heard this but the CIA annex had actually taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner, and they think that the attack on the consulate was an attempt to get these prisoners back. It’s still being vetted.

via Petraeus’ Mistress Claims Benghazi Annex had Libyan Islamist Prisoners.

A cold, dark winter

Perhaps we could convince the Powers That Be that recovery from Hurricane Sandy calls for emergency measures and a kinder EPA?

Take a look at this New York Times article on energy regulations from yesterday.  I fear that due to the Obama re-election, the limits on US Energy source production, the restrictions on new refineries and plants, the mandates that choke current mining, drilling, manufacturing and processing will get worse through regulations from the Executive Branch, especially the Environmental Protection Agency.

Believe it or not, there are supposedly educated people convinced that “fracking” contaminates our water sources, ignoring the fact that the gas is 8000 to 10,000 feet under ground and water aquifers are much more shallow, at an average of around 500 feet below the surface. Even that Scientific American article admits that it’s highly unlikely that fracking is the cause of any contamination, given the relative depths. Note that the testing was near “natural gas wells,” and the authors blamed leaky pipes for the presence of gas in water, not the fracking. However, they apparently did not test near other well types or near gas pockets that weren’t tapped by humans.

And finally, perhaps it’s time for We The People to convince our Governors, State Attorneys General, and both State and Federal Legislators to invoke the 9th and 10th Amendments.

Fiscal Cliff: It’s the Spending, Stupid!

Here’s the data:

The solution is to cut the growth in spending and to grow the economy.

Republicans need to understand that we Republicans who voted re-elected the Legislators that we re-elected and elected the new ones that were elected because we expect them to stand strong:  No increase in the debt limit. Continue all the current tax rates. Get out of the way of business and industry!

Canseco Alleges Voter Fraud in CD-23 — Updated

Triple and double counting early vote sheets? What else will be found?

Canseco’s campaign alleges that officials in Maverick County double- or triple-counted some of the early vote sheets. A complaint to the Secretary of State indicates that Canseco’s campaign found a minimum of 57 duplicate votes when reviewing a list provided by the Maverick County Elections Office. The campaign also alleges that another county used photocopied ballots, a criminal offense, and that an extended delay in counting votes from other counties left “other questions unanswered.”

via Canseco Alleges Voter Fraud in CD-23 — 2012 Congressional Election | The Texas Tribune.

 

Update from KUT news: “Editor’s note: The Secretary of State’s office updated the total vote count, reducing Gallego’s lead over Gallego from 13,534 votes to 9,222 in the final count, after the original publication of this article.”

Allen West: Cheated?

Is Florida’s Representative Allen West being cheated out of his re-election?

 

Late last night Congressman West maintained a district-wide lead of nearly 2000 votes until the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections “recounted” thousands of early ballots. Following that “recount” Congressman West trailed by 2,400 votes. In addition, there were numerous other disturbing irregularities reported at polls across St. Lucie County including the doors to polling places being locked when the polls closed, in direct violation of Florida law, thereby preventing the public from witnessing the procedures used to tabulate results. The St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections office clearly ignored proper rules and procedures, and the scene at the Supervisor’s office last night could only be described as complete chaos.

via Allen West: It ain’t over til it’s over – POLITICO.com.

US Voters: Nebuchadnezzar? (Daniel 4)

Daniel 4:30-35  “And the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
“While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.’
” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.
“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?'”

(E-Sword English Standard Version)

“We the People” rule this Nation, which is a democratic republic. When I hear the usual justification of the fictitious “separation of church and state” as, “Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God,that which is God’s,” I know that the People are Caesar.

Not only that, but that we are each, individually, to do our own personal duty to the Lord. No where does the Bible say that we should take from others for the common good or force others to give unto either Caesar or God!

Are we more like another king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who thought his success and security lay within himself? Are we paying for our hubris and that of our neighbors because we don’t give God the glory He is due?

Pray that our reason returns to us.

Texas victory on Women’s Health Program. BTW: It’s our money!

Next stop: getting our money back from the Feds!

Granted a legal victory Thursday by a federal appeals court, state officials said they will begin working quickly to exclude Planned Parenthood from the Women’s Health Program, which provides contraceptives and health care to low-income women.

The state also reversed course on funding for the health program, saying it would seek to have the federal government continue funding it, rather than switching to a state-funded program as planned.

“In Texas we choose life, and we will immediately begin defunding all abortion affiliates to honor and uphold that choice,” Gov. Rick Perry said.

Thursday’s ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was expected because it reaffirmed an August opinion that said Texas could legally exclude Planned Parenthood — or any organization that provides abortions or promotes the procedure — from the program.

But in a new wrinkle, state officials said the court victory will prompt them to press the federal government to continue providing money for the program — a reversal of U.S. policy that could save tens of millions of dollars in state money but is unlikely to happen without a fight.

via Texas seeks to keep federal money for women’s health program | www.statesman.com.

A Survey of America’s Physicians: Practice Patterns and Perspectives

Think you can keep your doctor under ObamaCare? Look around at how many of your neighbors have lost their docs just this year, due to the new hassle factors, including mandates for electronic medical records, constant threats of cuts, and repeated delays in payment and changes in the rules.

For the last 10 to 20 years, the question has been whether your doc would keep seeing you after you turned 65 and became Medicare eligible.

Over the next couple of years, the question will be whether your doc will still practice. If he or she does, the question will be whether he will be allowed by law to continue to see you and how the local hospitals divide up all the ObamaCare “exchange” patients. If you’re very lucky, your doc, who will be forced to chose one and only one of the “Accountable Care Organizations,” will choose the same one you’re assigned to.

The Physician Foundation surveyed over 13,000 doctors about their plans for practicing as the regulations and requirements for ObamaCare kick in. The result of the survey, the largest in U.S. history, reveal that over the next 4 years, more than 50% of docs are planning to cut back their hours or services, change to a concierge, cash only, practice or quit the practice of medicine altogether.

The report is here, and this is the Executive Summary:
Executive Summary: American patients are likely to experience significant and increasing challenges in accessing care if current physician practice patterns trends continue, according to a comprehensive new survey of practicing physicians. One of the largest physician surveys ever undertaken in the U.S., the research was commissioned by The Physicians Foundation.

Physicians are working fewer hours, seeing fewer patients and limiting access to their practices in light of significant changes to the medical practice environment, according to the research, titled “A Survey of America’s Physicians: Practice Patterns and Perspectives.” The research estimates that if these patterns continue, 44,250 full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians will be lost from the workforce in the next four years. The survey also found that over the next one to three years, more than 50 percent of physicians will cut back on patients seen, work part-time, switch to concierge medicine, retire, or take other steps likely to reduce patient access. In addition, should 100,000 physicians transition from practice-owner to employed status over the next four years (such as working in a hospital setting), the survey indicates that this will lead to 91 million fewer patient encounters.

via A Survey of America’s Physicians: Practice Patterns and Perspectives.

Houston Chronicle, Detroit News endorse Mitt Romney

There’s a cold wind blowing in a formerly hot place!

The Houston Chronicle and the Detroit News have both come out in favor of Republican candidate for President, Mitt Romney!

Texas Attorney General: “Come and Take It”

Texas’ Attorney General, Greg Abbott, in a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, on the plans by the UN “partner” organization to “watch” our voting in Texas:

“The OSCE may be entitled to its opinions about Voter ID laws, but your opinion is legally irrelevant in the United States, where the Supreme Court has already determined that Voter ID laws are constitutional.

“If OSCE members want to learn more about our election processes so they can improve their own democratic systems, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the measures Texas has implemented to protect the integrity of elections. However, groups and individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons—including persons connected with OSCE—are required to comply with these laws.

via Texas Attorney General.

The Right to Life, Sonograms, and Your Vote

WingRight.org was referenced by another blogger who listed “a woman’s right to chose” as her first reason to vote for President Obama.

We all know that what that woman is choosing is to end the life of her own child. Usually, nearly 97% of the time, both mom and baby are healthy. And far too often, she doesn’t feel like she really has a choice.

I contend that the protection of the right not to be killed  should be the first reason to vote against Obama and all Democrats, from the President on down to the local County and State offices.

The right to life – the right not to be killed – of a human being is the primary inalienable right. If that right is not protected, then all other rights are subject to the power of others; they are also infringed. What is liberty, if one human or the State can determine that some humans aren’t human enough to have their God-given right not to be killed defended by the rest of us?

The fact is that all women undergoing an elective abortion already have a sonogram.  The standard of care for abortion or any procedure requiring instrumentation of the uterus now includes a an ultrasound examination.  The law in Texas not only ensures that the standard of care is followed, but that the timing allows the woman to be fully informed before the abortion, and before she is sedated and prepped for the abortion.

The same law that ensures that the woman will be offered a chance to see her sonogram and hear the heartbeat also makes sure that she’s referred to agencies that will help her actually have a “choice.” The Woman’s Right to Know Act included the mandate that women and girls be given access to a ) list of all the resources (State, Federal, private and charities) that are available to help the mother while she’s pregnant and after the baby is born. The State Department of Health Services compiles the list, using funds raised by licensing those abortion facilities.

The purpose of Government, according to the Declaration of Independence is to “secure” our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States goes further, stating that the government not only protects those of us who are citizens, but must also  “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Vote to protect our “Posterity,” the children of tomorrow.

Benghazi emails not front page news on Google? (Updated 2 PM)

This is the front page of Google News — There’s no mention of the news about real-time emails and White House knowledge of the ongoing attack! I had to search “Benghazi emails” specifically to find coverage of the story.

Reuter’s and Yahoo each have a story about Secretary of State Clinton’s comments on the “Facebook” claim by a militant group – but no front page coverage of the real-time emails from the State Department in Libya about the attack in Benghazi.

Update, 2 PM CDT: Google News now has the story, 3rd or 4th on the page. However, the coverage still focuses on when the White House knew about the claim of responsibility. I’m glad that interest has forced the upgrade in coverage. However, I don’t believe that what they knew about the source of the attack should be the focus. Forbes has it right, with their article about the inadequate response to the attack.

Meet the Candidates in Comal County races

Here are 3 opportunities to meet some of those people on the Republican ticket that I hope you will vote for:

Justice Bob Pemberton,Republican and incumbent candidate for the Third Court of Appeals, will be at a reception hosted by (my) Comal County Commissioner, Precinct 4, Jan Kennady, on Wednesday, October 24 at the Emme Sealy Faust Library (Next to the Sophienburg Museum), 401 W. Coll St., New Braunfels, Texas, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

Dr. Donna Campbell, the Republican candidate for Texas’ Senate District 25 will be at a reception and fundraiser in her honor hosted by the Guadalupe County Republican Women on Thursday, October 25, at Lake Breeze Ski Lodge, 225 Ski Lodge Road, McQueeney, TX, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Tickets are $50. There will be refreshments and a cash bar. Please RSVP to “Sue” at 830-305-0371.  

Susan Narvaiz, the Republican who is facing “Layoff Lloyd Doggett” in the new Congressional District 35, will be at the reception in her honor at Frieheit Country Store on Thursday, October 25, from 5 PM to 7 PM. The Freiheit is pronounced “fry height” and is located in New Braunfels, at 2157 FM 1101.

Comal County Early Voting

The first day of early voting in Comal County yielded double the voter turn out on the same day in 2008, with more than 3100 voters compared to 1700.

I voted on the second day, and was pleased to find that the Comal County Voting Center on Landa Street in New Braunfels was up to the task. The County has designed an efficient and organized Center, with fast moving lines and 3 stations set up to check in voters.

I cast my first “straight Party” ticket since 1992, today. The first “page of the electronic ballot offers the option to vote for one Party or the other, and a vote for Republicans took me through each page of all the candidates and offices, allowing me to review and view the names of each candidate I voted for and to see who I wasn’t voting for. I hope that those of you who are tempted to just vote the top of the ticket or for a few candidates will consider taking my endorsement of the Republican candidates all up and down the ballot, with the ease of the straight Party vote! You’ll get the well known candidates, like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, Donna Campbell for SD 25, Susan Narvaiz for Congressional District 35 and Kevin Webb for Comal County Commissioner, Pct 3, and you also support judges like Scott Fields, Jeff Rose and Bob Pemberton!

No matter where you live in Comal County, or where your regular voting place is, you can cast your ballot at any of the early voting places or times. Here’s the early voting opportunities in Comal County:

• New Braunfels: 345 Landa, Suite 101. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Canyon Lake: CRRC Community Center, 125 Mabel Jones Dr. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Bulverde: Bulverde / Spring Branch Library, 131 Bulverde Crossing. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Garden Ridge: City Hall, 9400 Municipal Parkway. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Innovation, Not Debt, Key To Better Schools (Texas Local Debt #2 in US)

It’s not just Presidents and SenatorsL some of us will be asked to vote on school bonds and other bond issues when we go to the polls this year. How do you feel about Texas voters who have saddled ourselves with the Nation’s second highest level of local – county, city and school – debt?

The State of Texas lowered the level of local property tax, taking on more of the financial responsibility formerly covered by school and county property taxes. The next thing we knew, the local governments took the opportunity to raise those rates, again and to beg for bond issues, effectively wiping out the intended savings. The thing of it is that voters did this to ourselves and our neighbors!

But for the purposes of this discussion, let’s not worry too much about the debt. (Though it should be noted Texas is only barely trailing New York and California in terms of total state and local debt.)

We should instead confront the common claim made by proponents of school bond proposals: that it will make schools better. It will certainly make the buildings better, or at least more expensive. But will schools, the education provided, be improved?

Despite the hoopla, a new coat of paint, or even new walls, won’t ensure a better education. Only parents and teachers can deliver that.

When looking at the total spending reported to the Texas Education Agency, school districts only spend about 50 percent of your money on instruction. Building more buildings won’t improve that statistic, or produce better academic outcomes.

One thing that can immediately improve education is putting more resources – a greater percentage of school money – directly toward instructional expenses, and less on administration and non-teaching positions.

Let’s try spending more money in the classroom, rather than simply on a classroom.

via Innovation, Not Debt, Key To Better Schools | Empower Texans.

Florida’s Wasserman Schultz has “no idea” about “kill list.”

Reason Magazine points to the video of a revealing interview with the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Florida’s Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz by “WeAreChange.org” after last week’s Presidential debate. Watch this video!

Note: I corrected my original title.

Texas Medical Association @TexMed “Friendly Incumbent” rule

A fellow Texas Medical Association member asked me today how I felt about TexPAC – was it even worth giving them money and “what about their endorsements for judges?” He had been surprised to notice the TMA’s endorsement of some Democrat candidates after the Judicial endorsements caught his eye. (He even asked whether the list was just a pet of some of the more wealthy docs in the TMA.)

I explained that, while the TMA generally opposes ObamaCare, the Association unfortunately has what they call the “friendly incumbent” rule.  I also agreed that the policy doesn’t explain all of the choices on the TexPAC list. But for the most part, It’s virtually a given that the PAC endorses the incumbent in a race, even if the candidate doesn’t agree with the TMA on such vital issues as ObamaCare and the (Un-) Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) or even the “RAC audits.” (“Recovery Audit Contractors” – *private* contractors who audit Medicare “providers” – doctors and hospitals, and earn more for finding more “fraudandabuse.”)

The policy – along with the heavy-handedness of some of the leaders of the PAC –  leads to such debacles as their mistaken endorsement of Jeff Wentworth, who opposed tort reform, over  Dr. Donna Campbell, the eventual winner (by a 2 to 1 vote!) of the Texas Senate District 25 Republican Primary,

I suggested that he include a note about his disagreements with the PAC in any check he writes in the future. As for this election, I advised my friend – who is very opposed to ObamaCare – to ignore any recommendation that didn’t have an “R” for “Republican” in front of the candidate’s name – especially when it comes to the candidates for our Third Court of Appeals: Scott Fields is a much better choice for conservative voters than the incumbent. (I could say the same about Congressional District 35, where I hope my neighbors will vote for Susan Narvaiz, rather than Layoff Lloyd Doggett.)

Report on 2nd Presidential Debate, October 16, 2010

We had twenty good Republicans turn out to watch the Presidential Debate at the Comal County Republican Party Election Headquarters tonight.

I tweeted (@bnuckols) throughout the debate, (Twitter search, “#debates”) and read the new Dem talking points over and over and re-tweeted:

It turns out that calling “Latinos” “Hispanics,” is equivalent in the eyes of some to calling Black people, “Colored.”

According to a couple of Dems, it’s “racist” to use the word “illegals.” One even said that it’s racist for all races!

Several libs tweeted that the request for continued security in Libya was for Tripoli, not Bengazi Actually, wasn’t the security for the Ambassador and the staff?

 

Here’s some information you might find interesting:

From @EWErickson: “Here’s the Rose Garden transcript. President blamed a video, not terrorists. http://is.gd/PqIMAe  || Attn @CANDYCROWLEY”

From me, Beverly Nuckols, MD ‏@bnuckols

“natural gas production on federal and Indian lands has steadily fallen, . . began around fall 2002.” http://ow.ly/1OZYSi  #debates

“Pearl Harbor,” Iran, Panetta and Cyber Attacks

Leon Panetta  implied that World War is on the horizon, and that our Pearl Harbor may come in the form of cyber attacks on computers. In the briefing, he pointed to the increasing threat of such attacks from Iran. (Who needs nuclear power, these days?)

National security experts have long complained that the administration needs to be much more open about what the military could and would do if the U.S. were to be the victim of cyberattacks. They argue that such deterrence worked in the Cold War with Russia and would help convince would-be attackers that an assault on America would have dire results. Panetta took the first steps toward answering those critics in a speech analysts said was a thinly veiled warning to Iran, and the opening salvo in the campaign to convince Tehran that any cyberattack against America would trigger a swift and deadly response. “Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the capacity to locate them and hold them accountable for actions that harm America or its interests,” Panetta said in a speech in New York City to the Business Executives for National Security. And while he did not directly connect Iran to the Gulf cyberattacks, he warned that Iran’s abilities were growing. Security analysts agree. The presumed Iranian cyberattacks hit the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas using a virus, known as Shamoon, which can spread through networked computers and ultimately wipes out files by overwriting them.

Panetta called for regulation on the federal level, one way or the other,

“Congress must act and it must act now,” he said. “This bill is victim to legislative and political gridlock like so much else in Washington. That frankly is unacceptable and it should be unacceptable not just to me, but to you and to anyone concerned with safeguarding our national security.” Specifically, Panetta called for legislation that would make it easier for companies to share “specific threat information without the prospect of lawsuits” but while still respecting civil liberties. He also said that there must be “baseline standards” co-developed by the public and private sector to ensure the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure IT systems. The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 contained provisions that would arguably fit the bill on both of those accounts. While Panetta said that “there is no substitute” for legislation, he noted that the Obama administration has been working on an executive order on cybersecurity as an end-around on Congress. “We need to move as far as we can” even in the face of Congressional inaction, he said. “We have no choice because the threat that we face is already here.”

More on that Executive Order, here, at “The Hill.”

Keep alert, and your Constitution and anti-virus handy!

U. of Texas backs professor in battle with gay blogger

WingRight reported on the harassment of Mark Regnerus, a University of Texas at Austin Professor of Sociology, for his study on the differences in the adult children of homosexual parents. Dr. Regnerus was subjected to an investigation by the University, which confiscated his computer and emails.

The University has exonerated the Professor, and released this statement on September 12, 2012:

“The University of Texas at Austin has determined that no formal investigation is warranted into the allegations of scientific misconduct lodged against associate professor Mark Regnerus regarding his July article in the journal Social Science Research,” the school said in a statement. “As with much university research, Regnerus’ New Family Structures Study touches on a controversial and highly personal issue that is currently being debated by society at large.”The university expects the scholarly community will continue to evaluate and report on the findings of the Regnerus article and supports such discussion,” the statement concluded.

via U. of Texas backs professor in battle with gay blogger | Fox News.

Articles: Systemic Medicare Fraud Under Houston’s Sheila Jackson Lee

Did you hear about the 90 people, doctors and nurses, and “healthcare professionals” who were arrested for $430M in Medicare fraud? About a fourth of that money went to the Houston hospital where Mrs. Jackson-Lee’s husband is on the Board of Directors.

Since her days on the Houston City Council, Jackson Lee has pushed to use city funds to keep Riverside’s doors open. At that time, the councilwoman suggested that the facility was a good investment for the city.

Jackson Lee’s interest in Riverside goes back to the ’80s when her husband Elwyn C. Lee, now University of Houston vice-chancellor (see video), served on Riverside’s board from 1981-1988. In his last year at Riverside, Mr. Lee was made chairman of that board, and over the years, husband and wife have been influential in keeping the financially strapped hospital open. Jackson Lee was voted into Congress in 1994, representing the 18th district, where Riverside is located.

The president of Riverside, his son, and five others were arrested on October 4 as part of a nationwide Medicare fraud sweep. Earnest Gibson III, chief executive officer of Riverside General Hospital for 30 years, has been charged with bilking $158 million out of Medicare over the last seven years.

His son, Earnest Gibson IV, was charged with thirteen counts, including money-laundering and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The older Gibson became president around the same time Jackson Lee’s husband was appointed to the board in the early ’80s.

Friday’s arrests at Riverside came nine months after the arrest of Mohammad Khan, the hospital’s acting administrator, who pled guilty to his role in the Medicare fraud scheme and is now serving time.

via Articles: Systemic Medicare Fraud Under Houston’s Sheila Jackson Lee.

 

The Directors haven’t been charged with any crime, but don’t you think they should have been aware of questionable billing practices?

Gambling costs aren’t worth the revenues (& @JoePags is wrong)

@joepags “Joe Pags” on WOAI radio hung up on me – again – last night. It’s so frustrating to have the phone sudenly go silent – and, since I’ve turned off the radio while on the phone, I can’t hear Joe’s next comments.

This time, the topic was yesterday’s news about a push for legalized casino gambling in Texas and why Mr. Pagliarulo should be able to gamble legally in Texas, rather than take his money to Oklahoma, Louisiana, or Las Vegas.  I’ll give discuss the evidence and give references to studies showing the adverse effects of gambling later on, but first, let’s examine Joe’s poor arguments in favor of gambling.

Joe complained about our State property taxes, as one of the highest in the Nation. Yes, we are ranked in the top 10, for property taxes. However, Texas’ State sales tax is moderate and we have no income tax, making our overall tax burden number 45 in the Country.

He accused the first caller of “judging” him, because the man said that he believes that gambling is immoral. No, the man was judging the morality of gambling, never brought up the morality of people who disagree with him.

Besides, aren’t all laws based on morality?

Joe argues that “liberty” demands that those of us who object to gambling should allow gambling by those who don’t. He even told one caller that if he doesn’t like gambling, just don’t go to the casino. (Sounds like one of the shaky arguments in favor of abortion or same sex marriage, doesn’t it?) However, Joe is advocating a change in Texas’ State law. Those of us who vote are responsible for the consequences of our votes and for the laws our Legislators make, therefore we are complicit with what we consider immoral, whether we partake or not. Joe is still at liberty to go to a State where gambling is legal. To force us to be complicit with his gambling is “license,” not liberty.

Joe claims that everyone who objects to casino gambling should be carrying signs and protesting the Lottery and racetrack gambling in Austin. Joe may not realize that many of us objected to both of the above before they were legalized – and we were right in that they certainly haven’t solved the State’s revenue problems. Nevertheless, the fact that the rest of us have other priorities (like my own work for traditional medical ethics and pro-life laws), doesn’t mean that we are willing to sit still while the law is changed, yet again.

And then, Joe argues that the fact that Louisiana and other States continue to allow legalized gambling must prove that the benefits of gambling outweigh the costs to those States. That argument hasn’t proven to be true. At best, gambling is a (mostly) voluntary way of redistributing wealth. In fact, this report claims that States only benefit when people from outside come in, leave their money and then go home, and reports that the National Gambling Impact Study Commission goes so far as to report that the evidence that gambling benefits outweigh the costs is “poorly developed and quite incomplete.”

The economic benefits of gambling are often at the expense of other sections of the economy and are short term. In fact, analyses indicate that lotteries and horse racing may actually increase State revenues, casinos and grey hound racing do not. At least one statistical study finds no “relationship between real casino revenues and real per capita income at the state level.”

The societal or socio-economic costs of legalized gambling have been compared to those of drug abuse and include the social ills that accompany addictive behavior:

• “increased criminal justice system impacts
• “health-care related to the treatment of problem gambling
• “costs borne by individual problem gamblers and their families
• “displacement effects in retail, entertainment and food service sectors”

According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the economics of legalized gambling aren’t a good bet for Texas:

Costs associated with gambling include: (1) a reduction of approximately 10 percent in state lottery revenues; (2) an investment of approximately 10 percent of revenues in regulatory costs for gambling; (3) criminal justice costs underwriting an 8 to 13 percent increase in crime; (4) lost state and local revenue resulting from diversion of spending from goods and services to gambling; and (5) lost jobs resulting from decreased spending on non-gambling goods and services.

****

The financial costs of gambling are evident in experiences of communities and states:
• 24 out of 57 counties in the U.S. with casinos experienced job losses
• Atlantic City went from 50th in the nation for per-capita crime to first and violent crimes
rose by 78 percent, during the first three years of casino gambling
• Sales declined 10 to 20 percent in Natchez, Mississippi after gambling was legalized
• Counties with casinos have a bankruptcy filing rate that is 13.6 percent higher than in counties without casinos throughout the nation
• Delaware reports spending between $1 to $1.5 million annually on gambling-related costs and Wisconsin reports spending $63 million annually

The proponents of gambling ignore the costs and emphasize the benefits of tax revenues from gambling.

Bibliography

“Economic Development and Casinos. Do Casinos Cause Economic Growth?” Douglas M. Walker, John D. Jackson. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 66, No. 3 (July, 2007). http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/AJES-growth.pdf  (accessed 10/10/12)

“Gambling Economics: Summary Facts” Earl L. Grinols. April 2011 http://www.freedomfoundationofminnesota.com/Websites/freedomfoundation/Images/Gambling%20Economics-%20Summary%20Facts%20by%20Professor%20Earl%20Grinols,%204.29.11.pdf  (accessed 10/10/12)

“Is Gambling a Good Economic Development Bet?” Local Government Matters, Volume 4, Issue 13 Excerpt from Economic Development: Strategies for State and Local Practice, 2nd Edition. Steven G. Koven and Thomas S. Lyons. ICMA Press, August, 2010.   http://icma.org/en/icma/newsroom/highlights/Article/100498/Is_Gambling_a_Good_Economic_Development_Bet (accessed 10/10/12)

“Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States” Douglas M. Walker. College of Charleston, November 2011 http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/2012/OxfordCh_dist.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)

“Social and Economic Costs and Benefits of Gambling” Rhys Stevens. Alberta Gaming Research Institute http://www.abgamblinginstitute.ualberta.ca/en/LibraryResources/Bibliographies/SocialandEconomicCostsandBenef.aspx  (accessed 10/10/12)

“Social and Economic Costs of Gambling” John R. Hill, Ph.D. Alabama Policy Institute http://www.alabamapolicy.org/issues/gti/issue.php?issueID=189&guideMainID=9 (accessed 10/10/12)

“Social costs of gambling nearly half that of drug abuse, new book concludes” Mark Reutter. Inside Illinois Archives, News Bureau, Public Affairs, University of Illinois. March, 2004.  http://news.illinois.edu/news/04/0308grinols.html  (accessed 10/10/12)

“The Costs and Consequences of Gambling In the State of Delaware” State of Delaware, Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf

“Triumph, Tragedy or Trade-Off? Considering the Impact of Gambling”  Jason J. Azmier, Robin Kelley, Peter Todosichuk. August 2001. Canada West Foundation, Canada. https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/48165/1/200108.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)

“VLTs — What Are The Odds Of Texas Winning?” Chris Patterson Texas Public Policy Foundation http://www.texaspolicy.com/sites/default/files/documents/2005-03-vlt.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)

Prepared by Health Services Policy Research Group, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf  (accessed 10/10/12)

Ex-U.S. security team leader in Libya: “We needed more, not less” security staff – CBS News

(CBS News) The former head of a Special Forces “Site Security Team” in Libya tells CBS News that in spite of multiple pleas from himself and other U.S. security officials on the ground for “more, not less” security personnel, the State Department removed as many as 34 people from the country in the six months before the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.

Lt. Col. Andy Wood will appear this week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that will examine security decisions leading up to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi.

Speaking to CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, Wood said when he found out that his own 16-member team and a six-member State Department elite force were being pulled from Tripoli in August – about a month before the assault in Benghazi – he felt, “like we were being asked to play the piano with two fingers. There was concern amongst the entire embassy staff.”

via Ex-U.S. security team leader in Libya: “We needed more, not less” security staff – CBS News.

Sally C. Pipes, Founder of the Benjamin Rush Society, at Docs4PatientCare @D4PC

Health care policy expert, Sally C. Pipes, spoke to our @D4PC meeting this morning about the Benjamin Rush Society. The Society is an organization that she founded in order to inform and enable medical students and residents to defend the traditional medical ethic that the doctor should work for the patient, not a  third party, and “certainly not one that wields the coercive force of law.”

While the topic of the talk was the Benjamin Rush Society, Ms. Pipes also discussed her own experience as a former citizen of Canada and about her mother’s death from colon cancer after being refused a colonoscopy under the Canadian health care system. The reason given was that “Seniors” weren’t given colonoscopies and that those under 65 years old had a several months long waiting period, even if bleeding. When Ms. Pipes’ mother began bleeding from the colon, she spent 3 days in the Emergency Department and passed away 2 weeks later with metastatic colon cancer.

There were also comments from members in the audience about the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, which has even longer wait times for services, including heart surgery.

Ms. Pipes is married to Charles Kesler, whose book, I AM the Change, Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism, will be released on September 11. Mr. Kesler spoke to out group yesterday.

Another reason to vote Romney

Robin Alta Charo, the lawyer/ethicist-for-hire, one time Clinton advisor turned Obama transition advisor then FDA consultant, has been appointed to 2 new positions at the National Institutes of Health.

In her new role, Charo will advise on ethical and regulatory issues raised by translational research, such as privacy and civil rights concerns raised by research using human tissues residing in large biobanks or public health implications of deploying genetics and personalized medicine to target drug development toward narrower segments of the population. She will also participate in overseeing the peer review process for research proposals submitted to NCATS.

Ms. Charo, the inventor of the “Endarkenment,” supports sex-selection abortion, believes cloning will finally prove there’s no God, and frequently writes op-eds for the New England Journal of Medicine, specializing in her opposition to conscience rights. She likens Medicine to a “public utility, obligated to provide service to all who seek it. Claiming an unfettered right to personal autonomy while holding monopolistic control over a public good constitutes an abuse of the public trust — all the worse if it is not in fact a personal act of conscience but, rather, an attempt at cultural conquest.”