Is Opposing Health Care Reform a Crime?

Is Opposing Health Care Reform a Crime?

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2009–The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently launched an investigation into an attempt by the health insurance company Humana to enlist its customers to fight proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage. The investigation was initiated at the urging of Senator Max Baucus, who said, “It is wholly unacceptable for insurance companies to mislead seniors regarding any subject–particularly on a subject as important to them, and to the nation, as health care reform. . . . I’m not going to let insurance company profits stand in the way of improving Medicare for seniors.”

According to Don Watkins, a writer for the Ayn Rand Center, “It is painfully obvious–and alarming–that Humana is not being investigated for its ‘marketing’ practices. It is being investigated because it had the gall to challenge the assertions of a member of Congress.

“The implication of Baucus’s statement is that Humana must be investigated for in effect defrauding its customers by misleading them about the nature of Baucus’s proposal. But what did Humana’s ‘fraudulent’ claim consist of? No one disputes the fact that the budget for Medicare Advantage could be slashed under the health care bills now in Congress. The dispute is over the effects this will have. Humana claimed it could potentially lead to some of its customers losing benefits–not an unreasonable view–but Baucus insists ‘The health care reform bill we released . . . strengthens Medicare and does not cut benefits.’

“Think of what it would mean for politicians–hardly notorious for their scrupulous honesty–to be able to punish Americans because our claims about the effects of a proposed law conflict with their assertions.

“In a free country, it is not a crime to question the claims of one’s political leaders. If Baucus’s action is allowed to go unchallenged, however, free speech is gravely threatened.”

Fighting for the People. . .of Afghanistan?

Fighting for the People . . . of Afghanistan?

WASHINGTON, September 23, 2009–In a recent statement by top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, he criticized the U.S. military for being “preoccupied with protection of our own forces” in Afghanistan. He wrote that American forces should “share risk, at least equally, with the people” of Afghanistan. What makes our leaders think that they can ever win a war with this sort of philosophy?

The U.N. is Fundamentally Flawed

The U.N. is Fundamentally Flawed

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2009–Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s recent 90-minute tirade, and the anti-semitic ranting of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both at the United Nations general assembly, are yet two more reminders of what’s fundamentally wrong with the United Nations.

“The fundamental feature of the U.N. is its policy of opening membership non-judgmentally to all nations–whether free or oppressive, peaceful or belligerent,” says Elan Journo, a fellow with the Ayn Rand Center.

“The U.N.’s policy of neutrality accomplishes precisely the opposite of its putative effect; it actually protects and bolsters vicious regimes.

“That the U.N. benefits evil regimes is a necessary consequence of its avowed ideal of neutrality. The willful refusal to discriminate between good and evil, between freedom and slavery, can benefit only the vicious. It is only an evil regime that fears moral scrutiny, that needs to conceal its crimes, and that struggles for a veneer of moral legitimacy. The U.N.’s policy of moral neutrality is precisely what evil desperately craves: a license to commit any depravity and escape with a reputation for being decent.

“No organization can resolve conflicts if it evades the objective difference between right and wrong, and perversely treats an aggressor as the moral equal of his innocent victim. The U.N. is far from a means to achieving peace. Because it arms and bestows a moral sanction on vicious regimes, it is an accessory to their incalculable atrocities and murders.”

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Who Really Runs Brevard County?

Many people are asking what is going on in Brevard County.Who really runs Brevard, the elected County Commission, the Manager’s office, which seems to be in disarray, or the County Attorney Scott Knox?

A report filed Monday, February 9, 2009, by reporter Kevin Oliver of WFTV, detailed facts regarding the Courtney Roberts case v. Brevard County.

The report revealed the Roberts had properly obtained permits in 2002 to build their retirement home. In 2003, after work was well underway, Brevard County changed its mind, and a Stop Work order was issued.
Read more

R.I.P. Scottsmoor – Man Versus EELs

Scottsmoor, the last little community in very north Brevard, Florida, will gasp its final breath and be laid to rest August 5, 2008 if the County Commission approves the vast Scottsmoor EEL purchases. The dreams of any future small business and jobs in Scottsmoor will be dead on arrival as a result of the Board’s actions. Read more

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