One Man, One Vote Equals Secession Movements

A cabal of know-it-all libertines in blue state governments has sparked secession movements throughout the country. Hard-working Christians in rural communities are sick and tired of being ruled by a band of wastrels who have nothing but contempt for them and traditional values. Worse, they don’t have the power to protect their property, or paychecks from these popper sniffers. California is in the forefront of this movement and they’re not alone.


How did this come about? How can a small geographic area heavily populated with illegal aliens, drug addicts, butt bandits and Marxist activist commit a coup in Sacramento, California? Well, it all started with a bumper slogan: One Man, One Vote.



This bumper sticker slogan came into reality back in the 1960’s from a series of Supreme Court decisions. These decisions were/are an attack on our republican form of government as promised in Article IV of our Constitution. I blogged about this four years ago. Here is an excerpt:



A series of Supreme Court rulings dating back to the 1960’s subverted the political process by retarding the rights of a State’s self governance. These judges – this priestly class – molested federalism by dictating the manner with which States’ shall choose their senators and representatives. This was by no means a federal consideration. This was purely local.



The rulings in question are Baker v. Carr, Reynolds v. Sims, and Wesberry v. Sanders. The Supreme Court fundamentally changed the legislature of States by dictating their districts and how they were to be represented. Basically, rural citizens were to be dominated by urbanites. Degenerate values that breed on city streets would emanate from state capitols and spread throughout the countryside.


More importantly, this reconfiguration would benefit a political party that advocates centralized government. Having Democrats dominate state legislatures, they would draw districts that marginalize hard working, liberty loving citizens while packing federal congressional districts with teat squawkers, who are looking for an agent that would steal from his neighbors.



And because of activist judges, rural communities have been denied a republican form of government that safeguards their interest. Now we have secession movements within states. Here is an excerpt from a Fox News article that pretty much sums up this dilemma created by the wisdom of Supreme Court justices:



He looks at his home state of California and sees numerous clashes between the coastal cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the more conservative counties in the interior. This has led to the New California Movement, already organized in 35 counties, seeking to create two states where there was one. Other plans have California splitting into three states, or even six. It should be noted that these new states would still be bigger than many on the East Coast, and more populous than many in the West.

Kotkin feels this movement is driven by policies like the $15 minimum wage, “which makes sense in San Francisco, but doesn’t make sense in Fresno.” He adds those running California are “fundamentally authoritarian” with “not a lot of tolerance for any kind of economic or political diversity.” As he puts it, their attitude is “’We know the truth, we know what’s right, and it has to apply to everyone.”



We don’t have to create new states to resolve this problem. What we need is to repeal these unconstitutional rulings by an activist Supreme Court and restore a republican form of government as promised in Article IV.


Source:


https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-ruralurban-dichotomy-is-nothing-new.html



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/19/are-some-states-headed-for-splitsville-movement-grows-to-allow-sections-states-to-break-away.html

Blue State Governors Bitterly Cling to Tax Dollars

I don’t believe I’ve seen this much panic and outright lunacy in my life. These blue state, bitter clingers really need therapy; some probably need to be committed. Does anyone remember the one year anniversary of Trump’s victory over crooked Hillary? Hilarious!

Since Republicans passed their new tax bill we’re seeing a different kind of hysteria: Democrats bitterly clinging to tax dollars. Beforehand, citizens could deduct their state taxes from their federal returns; not anymore. Our new tax code has exposed the greed of progressive politicians in blue states. Now they’re scheming to find ways to dump their profligate spending on the federal treasury again, before the rabble screams for blood. Here is an excerpt from the Washington Times:


Some blue state governors and mayors are examining whether they can convert their income taxes into payroll taxes (which could be deductible off federal taxes as a business expense for employers) as a way to preserve federal deductibility. Some are even threatening to sue the federal government as if this tax deduction were a constitutional right.


California and New York officials are investigating whether their states can convert income tax payments into tax deductible charitable contributions to the state government. Good luck with that.



Oh yeah, when I think of charitable organizations, I think of state governments. Leave it to progressives to bastardize the language. Maybe they can declare themselves a religion, then we can sue them for violating the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution. That’s one way of getting rid of these greedy moneychangers.


Source:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/14/many-workers-have-already-benefited-from-trumps-ta/

President Trump: The Patron Saint of Blue State, Sh**holes

It’s an MLK Day miracle! Good news just seems to abound since Donald Trump became president. The unemployment rate for minorities has reached a low unseen since the Nixon administration. Here is an excerpt from IBD:


Almost unnoticed by the mainstream media, unemployment rates for Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians have not only fallen, but are now at all-time lows. That's right: Unemployment has never been lower for minorities, at least not since 1972, when such records first started being kept.


Over the past year, the unemployment rate has dropped 17% for Hispanics, 14% for African Americans and 11% for Asians.


More significantly, the jobless rate for African Americans fell to a record low 6.8% in December from 7.2% the month before. And it was the first time ever that unemployment for African Americans ever fell below 7%.


And blue state, shitholes are seeing an influx of manufacturing jobs. Fiat Chrysler announced they’re moving 2,500 jobs from Mexico to Michigan and they’re giving their employees bonuses thanks to President Trump’s revamping of our tax codes and NAFTA renegotiations.


If this keeps up, we’ll have to declare President Trump the patron saint of blue state, shitholes.


Source:

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/dont-look-now-but-minority-unemployment-is-at-record-lows-under-trump/


https://hotair.com/archives/2018/01/13/fiat-chrysler-bringing-back-jobs-giving-bonuses/

Americans No Longer Have a "Common" Sense

Don’t you love being lectured to by a sanctimonious prick like Sen. Chuck E. Schumer?  This man purports to speak for the American people.  He claims to be the arbiter of American values and common sense when in fact he understands nothing.  This man is a beltway troll with totalitarian aspirations.

Progressives, like Sen. Chuck E. Schumer, do not believe in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution.  I’m reminded of the time when he and a handful of his colleagues demanded the IRS violate the First Amendment rights of Tea Party organizations.  Now he’s using the NRA and its members as a foil to take away our Second.  This man is a menace to liberty and the American creed.  It is time we call out these people.  We need to expose their ideology for what it is: Marxism.

Mark Steyn summed it up on Tucker Carlson’s show by stating, “for a people to have common sense, we must have something in common.”  I can honestly say this country hasn’t been this divided since the American Civil War.  Back then, the fundamental difference was between North and South.  Today, it’s between rural and urban America; blue state vs. red state.

Just to emphasize the division within our country, one only has to look to our churches.  There are places of worship where parishioners don’t bring a Bible, the gospels are forsaken, and Jesus Christ is an afterthought.  They have transsexual preachers who emphasize the importance of not just embracing the sinner, but the sin itself; inclusiveness is more important than salvation.

Last July, I visited Shiloh Battlefield and came across a book that I’ve seen many times before, but passed over.  Because of the polarizing era in which we live, I decided to buy it  and just finished reading.   I recommend, The Cousins’ Wars: Religion, Politics, & the Triumph of Anglo-America.  I know the title will irk the snowflakes, but this book is a fascinating read.  Here is an excerpt on the politicalization of churches and divisions therein:

Of the Calvinist churches, closest heirs to the Reformation, the Congregationalists were almost nonexistent below the Mason-Dixon line, the Dutch Reformed  and German Reformed few and far between.  The Presbyterian Church had divided, in several stages beginning in 1837, into a southern-centered “Old School” denomination and a northern “New School.”  The latter was close to Congregationalism in Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes, overtly antislavery by the war’s outbreak, and a favorite church of Yankee businessmen.  The official regional separation came only as the war began.  Upon retiring back to Pennsylvania in 1861, ex-President James Buchanan, an old Presbyterian, refused to join the New School Church.

Church separatism was sectional politics by another name.  The Southern Baptists, too, broke away in 1845 to become a separate, pro-slavery church.  The Southern Methodists had done so in 1844.  The Southern Presbyterians not only defended slavery but worked up a biblical theology on its behalf.  As late as 1864, they formally avowed that “it is the peculiar mission of the Southern Church to conserve the institution of slavery and to make it a blessing both to master and slave.
 

No industrializing nation could have produced such theology, but that was part of what the South lacked: factories.  In 1860, Dixie had just 16 percent of U.S. manufacturing capacity, 35 percent of the railroad mileage, a small sliver of the bank deposits, and under one -third of the nation’s white population.  Northern states had manufactured 97 percent of the country’s firearms and 93 percent of its pig iron.  City dwellers constituted 36 percent of the 1860 population of the North, but only 9.6 percent in the South.

Prior to the Civil War, the citizens of the United States didn’t have common sense because they didn’t have anything in common as a people.  We have reached that point in 2017 and I’m afraid it will only get worse.

Liberal Myth: Blue States are Donor States

We’ve all heard the braggadocious complaints from blue state progressives about being net contributors to the federal coffers.  These so-called elites resent all those ingrates in flyover country who take more from Washington D.C. then they give.  Well, we’re finding out this is just another big lie perpetuated by a band of thumb suckers.  We can thank the Trump administration for exposing this liberal myth.  Here is an excerpt from USA Today:

Trump’s new tax plan would hit blue states hardest, by eliminating the federal deductibility of state income and property taxes. That’s going to make it harder for blue states to maintain the high tax rates they’ve traditionally levied.

Right now, if you pay state property or income taxes, you can deduct them against your federal income taxes. In effect, it means that if you’re in a high federal bracket, your state taxes may be offset by that federal deduction to the tune of 40% or more.

End the federal deduction, though, and high state taxes come straight out of taxpayers’ pockets with no offset.  As economist Nicole Kaeding told The Hill, by allowing deductions for state taxes, “the federal government is essentially subsidizing high tax rates in states like California and New York.”

Whoa!  Did I read that correctly?  If I’m not mistaken, Americans are subsidizing states like California and New York to a tune of about 40% or more.  I believe it’s time for these self-proclaimed elites to get off of their high horses and forgo all of those “loopholes” they level at everyone else.  What’s that saying, “Paying taxes is the highest form of patriotism”? Time to pay up, libtards.

Source:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/05/01/trump-test-democrats-tax-patriotism-glenn-reynolds/101159082/

https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2017/01/californias-progressivism-responsible.html?m=0

Blue State Revolution

I say bring it on!
H/T: The Lonely Libertarian

Drain the Swamp: Let Blue States Secede from the Union

The butt-hurt is strong in California and I’m not just talking about San Francisco.  These thumb suckers (amongst other things) want to secede from the union.  I for one would welcome it.  Hell, maybe we should rethink this whole United States thing and let these progressive bastions annex themselves to our socialist neighbors up north.  That’s one way to drain the Washington D.C. swamp.

Goodbye to California’s congressional delegation.  Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.  And this time let’s build that wall and make America great again!

Source:

https://twitter.com/ChadHarrisBC/status/797615421541126144/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Median Income Fallacy

Over the years, I’ve read countless editorials from local newspapers in the state of North Carolina bitching and moaning about the piss poor economic conditions of our teachers and the population in general.  These lamentations have reached a fevered pitch since republicans have taken control over the General Assembly and the governorship.  You ask, what is the basis for all of this woe?  Why it's the median income of course.  This measurement of economic prosperity is disingenuous.  Here is an excerpt from Investor’s Business Daily:

 One point needs to be emphasized: Commentators often talk about income per capita or median income as if they were good measures of economic performance. They aren't. Lower tax rates attract people and income, and higher tax rates universally repel both. Sometimes income is more sensitive to taxes than population, sometimes it's not.

Thank you, IBD!  Finally, somebody has taken up the cudgel and started to whack-a-mole these scurrilous progressives.  I’ve written about their sophistry here, here and   here. 

However, progressives will never admit their economic models are hurting people.  Instead they will move the goal posts in a naked attempt to deceive the citizenry.  Here is an example by IBD:

So now state government apologists are scrambling to invent statistics that show that blue states are doing better. Not long ago, the New York Times published a long article that concluded: "And despite what you may have heard, blue states are generally doing better."

How did they come to this remarkable conclusion?

They examined four variables. Life expectancy at birth, percentage of college graduates, median income (an inappropriate income per capita-type number), and number of patents per 1,000 people (what?). Did they analyze how people vote with their feet? No. Or how income migrates? No.

I haven’t seen three of the four in the editorial pages, yet.  But I’m sure it’s coming.

Source:

http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/red-states-really-are-the-model-of-economic-success/

Blue State Refugees Invade Red States

As a transplanted Yankee, I can attest to the paucity of jobs and opportunities in a blue state.  I left many years ago, and vowed I would never live in another one again.  To this day, I meet blue state refugees who relate similar experiences I had decades ago.  Nothing seems to change.

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of New York license plates in North Carolina.  I can only hope they’re passing through or just visiting.  If they’re here to stay, we can only pray they’re not a bunch of teat squawkers looking to leech off of productive citizens.

The citizens of North Carolina kicked the progressives out of power, and with good reason.  They tried to change the Old North State into a Yankee-esque hellhole.  However, an influx of blue state refugees with redistributive tendencies could change this mini-renaissance.  I’m sure the totalitarians seeing this mass migration are licking their chops in anticipation of regaining power.

One must ask, why do blue states fail?  Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation wrote an article on this very subject.  Here is an excerpt:

 So, if income redistribution policies are the solution to shrinking the gap between rich and poor, why do they fail so miserably in the states?

The blue states that try to lift up the poor with high taxes, high welfare benefits, high minimum wages and other Robin Hood policies tend to be the places where the rich end up the richest and the poor the poorest.

California is the prototypical example. It has the highest tax rates of any state. It has very generous welfare benefits. Many of its cities have a high minimum wage. But day after day, the middle class keeps leaving. The wealthy areas such as San Francisco and the Silicon Valley boom. Yet the state has nearly the highest poverty rate in the nation. The Golden State, alas, has become the inequality state.

In a new report called “Rich States, Poor States” that I write each year for the American Legislative Exchange Council with Arthur Laffer and Jonathan Williams, we find that five of the highest-tax blue states in the nation — California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois — lost some 4 million more U.S. residents than entered these states over the last decade (see chart). Meanwhile, the big low-tax red states — Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia — gained about this many new residents.

 It’s too bad red states are unable to form their own immigration policies.  Australia would have nothing on us. 

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/12/stephen-moore-residents-fleeing-high-tax-states/#ixzz3XmeLQM76

Obamacare's Red State Medical Tourism Potential

It’s one thing to enroll and obtain an insurance policy on the Obamacare exchanges, it’s quite another to find a doctor, or hospital that will participate.  Many are finding out the pickings are slim.

 

FRANKLIN, TN (WSMV) -

It's been less a month since the Affordable Care Act started providing health coverage for people who bought insurance through the exchange, and now some people who are going to the doctor for the first time are finding some complications.

"We have health insurance that is worthless," said customer Shawnna Simpson.

Simpson found out last week the new insurance for which she is paying $600 a month was a bad choice for her family.

Her 15-year-old daughter was hurt in a cheerleading accident, so Simpson called her family doctor only to learnthey don't take her new health plan: Blue Cross Network E.

Ever since, she's been on the phone with the healthcare exchange, looking for a family doctor in Williamson County that accepts her plan, but finding none.

"We can't use it in the county where we live," she said

Some Blue States are trying to remedy that predicament.  Legislators are making threats to force doctors to swallow the Obamacare snake oil.  If these physicians refuse, states will revoke their licenses, thereby denying them the ability to practice.

What we will witness is legions of doctors retiring, or moving to friendly Red States.  We could have a Canadian style health care tourism within the United States.  New Yorkers will travel to Texas to expedite simple medical procedures.  I can actually see health care cost decreasing in those states that refuse this Obamacare monstrosity.

 Since the third-party payer system would be eliminated, customers will have to pay cash.  Patients will know the actual cost of a procedure.  They will have the ability to shop around for cost effective health care.  What a novel idea.

 Maybe Obamacare isn’t so bad, after all.   

Source:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/dec/29/dean-administration-wont-be-blamed-if-people-cant-/#ixzz2osgfvbDP

http://www.wsmv.com/story/24560302/some-finding-coverage-problems-under-new-health-exchange

http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2013/11/25/when-will-the-government-start-forcing-doctors-to-see-obamacare-patients/

Look Away, Red State Land

It looks like the Divided States of America is having another great awakening.  Liberty loving citizens have signed petitions to secede from the union, as a form of protest, over an ever grasping federal government.  Red states are taking a stand against the totalitarians that infest Washington D. C.  Recently, Kansas passed a law protecting its citizens from federal gun-grabbing laws.  South Carolina’s state House passed a bill that would prohibit anyone from enforcing Obamacare on individuals and businesses.  And the whole country knows about Texas.

 

This is just the opening salvos of what is to be a long and contentious war of attrition.  Either we can accept the Democratic Party’s notion of America by disabusing ourselves of federalism and a constitution; or, we as a people can renounce the progressive movement by repealing the 14^th, 16^th, and 17^th amendments, and restore limited government and the genius of our founding.

Even libtards are coming to the realization that this country cannot stand; either we are free, or totalitarian.  Lee Siegel of the Daily Beast wrote an article about our nation's conundrum.  Of course, he characterized Southerners as a bunch of illiterate hayseeds completely devoid of common sense, education and culture. 

We hillbillies have come to expect that kind of condescending attitude from elitist snobs from New York City.  Their sense of superiority is something to behold, even as their citizens flee their collective utopia.  United Van Lines submits an annual report.  I don’t see anyone migrating to blue states.  I beg you Mr. Siegel, please put up a Berlin-style wall to keep your teat squawking carpetbaggers from invading the South.  We already have a problem with illegal aliens; we don’t need your ilk down here.

What Mr. Siegel fails to understand is this isn’t a repeat of the War of Northern Aggression.  What we have is a rural vs. urban conflict.  The last general election is indicative of what truly divides America.  Take a look at the county by county map.  That says it all.

 

 If we are able to repeal the aforementioned amendments, and if States can implement a proportional Electoral College system, we can marginalize the paternalistic tyranny of libtards like Lee Siegel.  I don’t mind the ranting and ravings of an elitist snob, just as long as they stay out of my life.

Source:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/30/memo-to-the-south-go-ahead-secede-already.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/2/attorney-general-eric-holder-kansas-gov-sam-brownb/#ixzz2S9yQjV55

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/2/south-carolina-house-passes-bill-making-obamacare-/

Should Red States Create a Confederation of Freedom?

Governor Rick Perry has extended a big Texas welcome to conservative citizens, gun manufacturers and businesses in New York, Connecticut, Colorado, and California. These states are infested with libtards who don’t value the principles of our founding. Hell, a New York town banned the Gadsden flag from flying at the New Rochelle Armory, because the city council members associated this historic symbol with the Tea Party. Have these people ever heard of freedom of association, or speech?

Their politicians are just a symptom of the problem. What we have is a full-on virus of apathy and stupidity in the electorate. Doubt me? Here is an open sore for all to see:


 

Governor Perry should be wary of his open invitation.  We in the land of freedom have watched in horror as states like New York and California destroy their economies, while at the same time, trample over the liberty of their citizens.  Texas must be careful.  Blue States might decide to employ their version of the Mariel boat lift by inundating the Lone Star State with unwanted teat squawkers. 

 

 

Actually, I believe the Red States should employ a migration policy.  Anyone who moves from a Blue State must have documentation proving their conservative bona fides.  Maybe, we should have a Red State Confederation, along with an outreach program for red counties in Blue States.  You know, kind of a modern day Berlin airlift for the conservatives besieged by the communist that have surrounded them.  It’s just a suggestion. 

 

 

Source:  http://www.infowars.com/californians-sign-petition-to-ban-and-confiscate-firearms/

http://washingtonexaminer.com/new-york-town-removes-flag-as-offensive-tea-party-symbol/article/2527031?custom_click=rss

 http://news.yahoo.com/texas-governor-connecticut-gun-maker-come-down-213053466.html

Blue States to Employ Proportional Electoral College Vote System?

Article II Section I

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed elector.

We are witnessing a movement in blue states whereas the winner-takes-all Electoral College system is coming into question.  These “blue states” want a system that is more reflective of their State’s political philosophy.  They want one that is more proportional.  Maine and Nebraska already have this system.  The dichotomy of states with a Republican dominated legislature and governor, and at the same time are Democratic bastions for presidential elections have people shaking their heads.  Should the citizens of a state, as a whole, be held hostage by an enclave of heavily populated districts whose values are counter to their own?

Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina have a republican dominated legislature and governor.  All had their Electoral College votes go to Barack Obama, except North Carolina.  Citizens of those states must be asking themselves if this is a fair representation.  Why should one district be subjected to the tyranny of another just because they have a higher population?

We’re all aware of interstate rivalries.  California doesn’t hold the same values as Arizona or North Carolina.  The same goes for intrastate rivalries.  Rural districts don’t have the same values as urban.  For instance, cities like Detroit trump a small Michigan town in national politics due to the size of their population.  Here is a map of the 2012 county by county election results for the state of Michigan, along with their congressional districts.    

A winner-takes-all system disenfranchises the rural citizen.  Obama and the Democrats wouldn’t take states like Michigan for granted if a proportional system were to be employed.  And for that matter, the 17^th Amendment should be repealed as well.  But that is a different bag of nails that need to be hammered.

  

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/gop-eyes-election-laws-091622720--election.html

Health Foundation Deems Red States as Fat, Ignorant Slobs

A new study by the United Health Foundation has deemed red states an unhealthy place to live.  According to this nonprofit organization, Southerners are a bunch of fat, ignorant slobs that dwell on the hinterlands of a blue state paradise.  The top tier of blissfulness is the following: Vermont, Hawaii (who knew Spam was a health food), New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Minnesota.

Here are the dregs of the union.  I’ll quote a Progressive website so you’ll get the full Monty:

 

The right wing craziness continues to be evident as the Counter-intuitive, Right to Work, Anti-Obamacare, Former Confederate Red States fail yet another test; the health of their citizens.

The United Health Foundation has just released a ranking of the 50 states by health statistics; Ranking from the healthiest (Blue Union State Vermont) to the most unhealthy (Red Right-to-Work-Confederate States Louisiana and Mississippi tied for last palace).

The ten healthiest states are Blue Union States, with the exception of Red Right-to-Work Utah (which was ranked 7^th because of the Mormon prohibition of alcohol, tobacco and coffee).

The ten least healthy states were all Red States and seven of them were also Right-to-Work States

Looking at all of the States we can see that 18 of the top 25 were Blue States and 16 of those were Union States. Blue States represented 72% of the healthiest 25 states.

Looking at the sickest states, the ones that ranked as the lowest 25, we can see that 18 of the sickest 25 were Red States. Red States represented 72% of the sickest 25 states.

As you can see, according to these blue state commies, we’re just a bunch of toothless rubes holding back the Socialist Republic of the United States.  If we would only reject our founding principles, we too would be as healthy, happy and as a mindless as a Maoist. 

The Progressives love to bring up the South’s past of slave ownership.  But at least they refused to become slaves themselves, unlike our northern brethren.  And that’s a heritage all true Americans should embrace.  But hey, we have our share of self-loathing citizens as well.  Here is one of them.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if she is a transplanted Yankee:

Compared to other states, North Carolina ranks near the bottom in low-birth-weight babies, infant mortality and public health funding, according to rankings from the United Health Foundation, a Minnesota-based nonprofit. A relatively high percentage of the state’s residents report having diabetes.

Education, poverty and neighborhood environments help determine how healthy people are, said Pam Silberman, president and CEO of the N.C. Institute of Medicine, and states that have moved up in the rankings over the years have improved in these areas.

The Progressives believe that if the South would submit to their ideology, we would be healthier and happier.  Sorry, I’m not buying your snake oil.

 Source:  http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/11/2539287/new-health-rankings-put-nc-near.html

http://www.americashealthrankings.org/rankings

http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/right-work-slavery-and-sickness

Blue State Stockholm Syndrome

Last year I read an article about a Michigan based company and their Obamacare dilemma.  An excise tax on medical equipment would cripple their industry, causing major layoffs.  Here is an excerpt:    

"If this tax is implemented in 2013, it will undermine our industry's ability to create and maintain good jobs in the U.S., and worse, will lead to higher costs for patients, undercutting one of the primary goals of health care reform," the head of a major medical device industry trade group warned in July

Stryker CEO Stephen MacMillan hinted at such a response to the Obamacare provision in September. "There is no doubt that we're already starting to think about actions that offset that additional tax," he said at a conference, according to MassDevice.com. ""Here we are, one of the greatest industries in the country, and we're staring down on January 1st, 2013 and the addition of a 2.3 percent excise tax, while meanwhile on the other side all the discussion in Washington is about creating jobs," he added.

Any reasonable person would’ve thought that the owners of this company would do whatever they could to defeat Barack Obama and his anti-business acolytes; not so.  Here is the political activities of the heir to Stryker Corporation:

Jon Stryker is heir to the Stryker Corporation, one of the largest medical device and equipment manufacturers in the world. Stryker’s grandfather was the surgeon who invented the mobile hospital bed. The company now sells $8.3 billion worth of hospital beds, artificial joints, medical cameras, and medical software every year.

Stryker, a member of the Forbes 400 list, was one of the top five donors to the Obama campaign. Having donated $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC, Stryker also gave $66,000 in contributions to Obama and the Democrat Party.

Prior to the 2012 election, Stryker contributed millions to help Democrat candidates in his home state of Michigan. He also gave nearly $250 million to groups supporting gay rights, transgenderism, and the conservation of apes. In January, his Arcus Foundation donated $23 million to Kalamazoo College for an endowment to fund a center for social justice leadership.

Stryker's corporation is part of an industry that has been a big loser at the hands of Obamacare. Having refused to get on board with the White House and the Senate Finance Committee when the law was being crafted in 2009, the medical device industry was punished with an excise tax of 2.3% of their revenues, regardless of whether they make a profit.

And what was the end result of Mr. Stryker’s generous contributions to Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and their one issue constituents:

Stryker Corporation has announced that it will close its facility in Orchard Park, New York, eliminating 96 jobs next month. It will also counter the medical device tax in Obamacare by eliminating 5% of their global workforce, an estimated 1,170 positions.

What could be the cause of this derangement?  Could it be Blue State Stockholm Syndrome?

Source: http://nation.foxnews.com/obamacare/2012/11/14/obama-donors-corporation-lays-employees-due-obamacare#ixzz2CLQgCFzy

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2011/11/obamacare-reason-for-michigan-companys.html

Neo-Red States Post Budget Surpluses

Neo-red states have turned budget deficits into budget surpluses. Wisconsin, after having a monumental fight with public sector unions, has had a near miracle:

Over the past six months, Wisconsin has been nothing short of a miracle. Newly elected Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans in the majority in Madison got just about everything they wanted during the past legislative session, and a state facing a projected $3 billion budget shortfall with no end in sight now has a projected $300 million budget surplus. The amazing successes in Wisconsin have emboldened the legislatures and political leaders of other states, who have seen the wonders resulting from a little political backbone and fiscal common sense.

Ohio’s Governor John Kasich declared a budget surplus in this video:

It’s not only Wisconsin and Ohio that have improved, so have other red states:

Now that state employment information for the first half of 2011 is available, one can’t help but notice which states are up, as well as a particularly telling example of one which is down.
Though admittedly the comparison isn’t apples to apples, it’s worth noting that of the 757,000 seasonally adjusted jobs added in the overall economy this year from January through June, the ten states with the highest percentage employment growth were responsible for well over half, or 390,000 of them, even though they only have about 20% of the nation’s population.

Even Michigan with its newly elected republican governor has seen a turnaround:

Six of the ten (Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming) have been conservative strongholds for decades. Montana, though its governor and two senators are currently Democrats, has been a red state in all but one presidential election since 1972. The final three highlighted above — Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin — were previously governed by Democrats who were replaced with GOP governors this year. All three are in the early stages of what may be remarkable turnarounds. I call them “the newly-reds.”

I guess those “blue states” are blue for a reason.

Source: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/hey-who-wants-to-talk-about-wisconsins-economic-miracle/?singlepage=true
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/data-show-majority-of-job-gains-in-red-states/