SCHIP, Graeme Frost, and the Bloggers

Townhall.com ^ | October 11, 2007 | Amy Ridenour

[mewzilla]

As David Hogberg in his paper "SCHIP Expansion: Socialized Medicine on the Installment Plan" for the National Center for Public Policy Research pointed out, if the expansion plan is adopted, "it is not inconceivable that a parent with one child with an income of $13,690 will be funding benefits for two children in a family of four with an income of $82,600."

Nuff said.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

That’s the thing; where in the heck is all the money coming from. I suspect that “the lovable goofball,” as the neighbor writes regarding Halsey Frost, with his qualifications, could get his stinky ol’ sh!t together and get a high-paying architecture job with insurance. Instead, with apparently less faith in himself than what is necessary, he passes it off onto S-CHIP.

Bonnie Frost looks like she’s no dummy herself, and she could probably find a full-time position, if necessary.

And for heaven’s sake, sell one of those SUVs and use the money saved on payments to take care of your kids, Mr. Frost.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

It’s not Graeme’s fault. The objects of opprobrium are the adults; Graeme is an innocent, regardless of how his name is spelled, who was used by his parents and the DemonRATs to promote socialized medicine.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I regret that President Bush vetoed H.R. 976 and denied health coverage for 10 million children.

Eh, I stopped reading after he used 10 million "children" (some of whom would be over 21) as pawns in his screed against Bush's veto of S-CRAP.

[cgbg]

According to the Congressional Research Service, the price elasticity for cigarettes is between 0.3 to 0.5 in absolute value, meaning that a 10 percent increase in price would cause a 3 percent to 5 percent decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked.

The Congressional Research Service fell for the old phony "price elasticity" trick.

What they are actually measuring is cigarette sales _that they know about_.

As taxes go up the black market increases, off shore purchases increase, and roll your own increases.

These are transactions that they can't measure as a practical matter.

My guess (from a sampling of current and former smokers I know) is that about half of them quit as a result of higher taxes and half choose "off the books" methods of obtaining their smokes.

This reminds me of the old story (legend?) about houses in the Middle Ages. The story goes that the local noble decided to tax his subjects based on the number of windows in their residences. Being the good socialist that he was he concluded that windows were a good proxy for wealth.

Within ten years no home in his domain had windows. People just went outside if they needed a view. :-)

[an amused spectator]

When America was founded, 20,000 - 30,000 citizens were represented by one representative. Until about 1913, the ratio was still quite reasonable.

Since Congress unilaterally froze the number at 435 back then, the ratio has been climbing.

It is now about 600,000 - to 700,000 citizens to one representative.

This is why your representative can send you a letter flipping you off.

Peon.

Shut up and pay your taxes, worm.

[Bob]

It’s not Graeme’s fault. The objects of opprobrium are the adults; Graeme is an innocent, regardless of how his name is spelled, who was used by his parents and the DemonRATs to promote socialized medicine.

That's precisely why the dimocRATs and the MSM are lying about Republicans "attacking a 12-year-old". I've seen a lot of comments made but, aside from the fun poked at the kid's name, all of them are critical of the parents and the dims for putting them out there. (Come to think of it -- even making fun of the kid's name is more a poke at the parents than it is at him.)