Back in September, I posted about an act of actual evil. Where an anonymous vote of a State body stopped a hospital expansion, including addition of services that did not exist in the area. Despite the efforts of a local reporter and yours truly, we never were able to pin down who torpedoed the approval.
I wanted to update everyone on the situation. It got better. And the best part of the story is that the scum who opposed this have now come out in the open:
A representative for state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, who also serves as a Mercyhealth board member, spoke against Swedes’ expansion plan on Tuesday. So did other representatives of Mercyhealth, including its CEO Javon Bea.
So the dirtbag politician with the conflict of interest (he serves on the board of a local competitor health group) that had been opposing this from behind the scenes, has now stepped into the light, to show his true asshat colors. And the CEO of the same competitor came in to throw around some slander and BS in an attempt to avoid competition:
Bea said he is “against unnecessary duplication” of SwedishAmerican’s 10-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. “They have higher death and disability rates because for 10 beds they cannot employ the entire range of pediatric subspecialties on-site,” he said after testifying before the Review Board.
Bea said SwedishAmerican will send its sickest babies to Wisconsin, forcing parents and families to travel. SwedishAmerican is a division of UW Health.
“Families will have to figure out how to take care of babies for months at a time,” Bea said.
Mercyhealth has 52 NICU beds that are part of its $505 million new hospital campus at Interstate 90 and Riverside Boulevard, which is expected to open in January.
Born said the claims that SwedishAmerican would operate a substandard Level III NICU are “insulting and absurd.”
“It’s insulting because of SwedishAmerican and UW Health’s long-term commitment to quality and safety,” Born said. “It’s absurd because a Level III NICU at SwedishAmerican would be held to the same standards of any other Level III NICU in the state.” [emphasis added]
Allow me translate Mr. Bea’s complaint…
“Hey, competition?! Dammit. I guess having a State Senator in our pocket wasn’t enough to stop it….so here, let me throw out a defamatory smoke screen and run away.”
So justice was delayed, but denied, in this matter. I have to give credit to the Rockford Register Star reporter – Georgette Braun – for shining some light on the dirtbags in this story. (This was the reporter I had contacted and found out we had both been stymied in our attempts to find out who had voted which way last year).
And an extended middle finger to both of you, Dave Syverson and Javon Bea.
This is a bittersweet result – while this individual injustice has been rectified, the intrusion of the State into this field is still there, ripe for continued abuse by preventing of medical care being expanded.
Comments
193 responses to “A Follow Up on The Evil That Regulation Can Do”
I thought we needed More Health care, not less? is his a CON thing like in VA?
No, we need more insurance, not more hospitals. Paying for insurance is what makes healthcare affordable, not hospitals having to compete for business/
Yes it is. The only way you can seemingly get around it is by convincing a hotel to open up nearby. Meaning you can get what you want only if the state and local government can bilk medical “tourists”. Government demands their cut and don’t want to look like they’re shaking down patients directly.
Fuck certificate of need laws. If anyone wants an in depth ruin down of the history if the laws and the current status of them in a state by state basis, this is a good rundown. Glad it eventually worked out in this case.
Excellent link – thanks.
Thanks for that – People should know if their state has this horrible apparat stuck into the body politic.
Fuck certificate of need laws
Not so fast…..we could definitely use some for legiscum and congressvermin.
“Sorry, we already have 12 card-carrying sociopaths shaking down the locals and railroading their competitors. Try the next state over.”
The safe maximum number of politicians in any geographic area is zero.
“No one needs 535 representatives!”
I am pleased to have practiced in three states that do not have CON laws, and even more pleased that my first foray into hospital lawyering led quickly to me arguing for the death of the CON law in Wisconsin (which was kilt).
Related to govt regulation, but of firearms not healthcare, given the current climate:
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty.”
-You know who
“All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.”
-Some psycho who believed fucking 15 year olds would grant him eternal life
However, these individuals were acting with such good intentions. Unlike this evil, white, male slave-owner:
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.”
Also, he who controls healthcare, controls the population.
Squirrels are now jumping posts!
Also, I think you’ll like the music link I put after your thoughts on the hot teacher and evo bio.
It’s excellent. I’d amend it to: wed an old, rich man, but have a side-piece.
Nice work, Swiss. This is the type of citizen guerilla journalism that the MSM gave up on long ago.
Also, has anyone checked the oil and fuel levels in the woodchippers lately?
I helped a bit in the first story – Georgette did all the work for round 2. When you do more than look at Twitter feeds and ask your friends what they think…look what you can do to show the populace what is going on around them.
It’s incredible what you can do with a few emails and phone calls, too. Some of the info for the articles I’m working on next was fairly easy to obtain, simply by reaching out to people and having a legit interest in the story one pursues.
But yeah, fucking around on FB and Twitter is going to save the world.
Fucking around here, on the other hand, at least helps me preserve my sanity.
Until SugarFree shows up, anyway.
That’s a real kick in the pants to the City of Rockford. Not only would a new medical facility provide competition, but also jobs and economic growth. Cronyism impoverishes everyone, except for the well connected
and in this case Wisconsin, Why is Illinois such a Shithole they can’t have a new Neonatal for the Chidruns?
The UW system is the one putting the $ into Rockford, IL. The local crony-competitor was the one seeking to use the state to block the $130M in building in the downtown of a miserable city (my hometown).
It’s not that miserable. You got that one guy from Cheap Trick who opened a bar or something.
New town motto for Rockford:
“Rockford Wants You to Want Them”
“Surrender…to Rockford”
Still better than their current motto:
“You’re About a Half Hour Away from Galena”
In the early 1980s, when Wisconsin had a tourism campaign “Escape to Wisconsin” – some local smartass made up bumper stickers in the same font/color scheme, etc that read “Escape from Rockford” – I used to see them around for many years.
There is a small core of people that endeavor to persevere. There are a few local spots and a couple of neighborhoods that are valiantly trying to keep livable. But the place sure has seen better days.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to make light of the situation in Rockford. I myself grew-up in a neighborhood of Chicago that has experienced the same issues as Rockford, due to the same fact that manufacturing was the backbone of the economy.
I had this queued up already, so…
At least in Cali, they keep that shit covered up, so as not to upset the Rabble
/Mostly
Careful pal, those are your betters you’re talking about. How could you possibly know more than the rich and well-connected Top Men?
Always, always, ALWAYS, follow the slimy trail of dirty pol money.
That is what makes this so infuriating – there isn’t even a trail… That shitbird is ON THE BOARD OF A COMPETITOR. And he went from behind the scenes trying to shut down approval, to open opposition, with no shame at all.
He should be ridden out on a rail.
“The Board determines that there are already a sufficient number of rails in the region, to serve corrupt scum, lining their own and their friends’ pockets.
Therefore it is the decision of the Board that Sen. Puffy Pants be ridden out, without the use of a rail. Bailiff, saddle him up!”
This is why we have 2A.
Is there not such a thing as government workers having to disclose conflicts of interests? I have to do so for my employer to keep me on his roles. why are pols not expected to disclose this sort of shit to their constituents?
Because you are Little People, and they are not.
Who would establish the rules that would require such disclosure, again?
Perhaps a letter to the editor, addressed to these local representatives, in the Rockford Register is in order. You could write a sternly worded cat butt. That seems to work here
First thing I am going to do is write Georgette and make sure she knows how much a service she has done by keeping up on this.
Then I might pen a missive to Senator Conflict-of-Interest.
And share it with us?
i’m sorry but I disagree. when you buy a dirty politician it is reasonable to expect to get advantages out of it. why else would you do it then? Incentives matter after all. How are politicians supposed to get bribes if they don’t shill afterwards?
Then again as a Romanian this shit seems tame to me
In older days, you at least had the decency to slip someone a padded envelop full of cash. Now, you openly appoint them to a board of directors and don’t make them refrain from openly engaging in a conflict of interest.
The lack of shame is the new part.
“State senator Shitbird, R blocked the conduction of pediatric beds at a hospital to enrich himself in blatant conflict of interest” should make for a slam dunk primary challenge. Unfortunately the entire body politic is rotten.
Our political elite class looks down on us plebes with contempt…
There was an article in the old magazine that discussed the evil that Boards of Need (or whatever the fuck they’re called) are.
‘You don’t need a NICU! There’s one just 15 miles up the road! Call an ambulance if you have a patient!’ – unless one isn’t available, and then, well, dead baby.
They’re doing God’s work in some of the worst neighborhoods in the country.
I can understand being a corrupt scumbag, but it amazes me that there are people who could actually make decisions that result in the deaths of others and not be bothered by that. Even for large cash payments. I’m no longer religious, but if a decision I made resulted in people dying, I would have a hard, hard time with that. Perhaps sociopathy is not as uncommon as we’ve been led to believe.
At least in politicians…
They do make their living from telling lies, Swiss…
Perhaps sociopathy is not as uncommon as we’ve been led to believe.
Among the general population? Probably not.
In the Political Class? Chronic. Pandemic levels.
I’d call being a socio/psychopath an asset in a political career.
Who led you to believe that BP?
Common as pig tracks.
So more common in the south and Iowa?
Old expression. I am showing my age. Now that you mention it, not so common anymore. We have a statewide leash law now. When I was a kid people ran their pigs and other livestock on what was essentially open range. You couldn’t set foot anywhere in the woods without stepping in a pig track. Thank god that came to an end. The ticks were horrible.
*Once my grandfather was on a timber job and some OSHA guys showed up out of the blue. He directed them to where the crews were working and said
“Follow that pig trail down the hill. Now, by God, dont get off of that pig trail no matter what! Stay right on it!”
In case you haven’t figured it out pig trails were swarming with ticks. Swarming. They would damn near tackle you to the ground and suck you dry.
and then, well, dead baby.
You say “dead baby”. I say “lucrative organ harvesting opportunity”.
Medicine as it should be.
https://www.beckersasc.com/lists/alternative-payment-19-surgery-centers-with-cash-pay-programs.html
When I didn’t have insurance my clinic had me pay up-front, but then if it was coded different than what they charged me for up-front they still billed me, but they only send out bills above a certain amount, so I would never receive the bills, then they’d send me to collections.
Related: https://www.dpcare.org/
I’m having a little trouble following the story. Hospitals help people, and government helps people, so why would government not help hospitals help people? It makes no sense. Government is the only thing we all do together. So if government tells us this hospital is unnecessary or harmful and doesn’t help people, we should listen. They know what helps people, because that’s what government does. People go into government to help people, that’s why government exists, to help people. And helping hospitals helps people, unless it doesn’t, and if it doesn’t it must mean that it’s harmful, and government is there to help people so if it stops a hospital from opening it must be helping people. It makes no sense.
Lemme Help you with that….
Even as sarcasm, these sentiments still boil my blood
And guns are bad, because bad people use guns to be bad, so we should take the guns away from the bad people so the bad people can’t be bad and they’ll be good instead, because people who own guns are bad.
Sadly this is about as in depth as most progs’ thinking goes. They’re intellectually stuck in about 3rd grade.
I know sarc…but
Once you understand government is not in the business of “helping-helping” people, it all begins to make mind-numbing sense.
Interesting Swiss.
Good work, Swissy. You should be proud. And, if possible, send my regards on to Ms. Braun.
On what planet is “unnecessary duplication” a thing? It’s sad to me that this sort of thinking still exists in people’s minds.
Damn. Read that as ‘good work, sissy’. And then I saw Swissy.
*narrows gaze*
My muppet eyes ain’t what they used to be I tell ya.
What are muppet eyes an euphemism for?
Small testicles. It’s a genetic trait of the Canadian race.
Having had a few Canadian women (back when people were sure of their gender) their reactions now explain a lot..
Then again, every woman tells me they didn’t know it came that big in white…
I can think of some examples.
* Doubling the number of federal bureaucrats that
* Being diagnosed with two, totally separate types of cancer
OK, that’s kinda just one example, but my point stands
This kind of stuff happens all the time in construction of ROADZ. When I was a kid, there was some big controversy about the company contracted to do a bunch of construction projects in ABQ was owned by some pol’s nephew. Of course the projects were horrendously late and over budget. This kind of stuff happens all the time. Fuck govt.
I’m glad there is a happy ending.
Happy ending charge more!
I hate to go OT on a Swiss link, but I was looking up gun laws around the world and I came across this 2016 article that I’d like 6 to verify.
It’s true. The key part is that the
king’sQueen’s men need to agree with your reasoning and sign of on you owning the weapon. So technically, you can own a very wide variety of long guns in England and Wales, (Scottish, Northern Irish, and various other places that are part of the UK may have different laws) but good luck actually getting your hands on them. It’s like how New York technically allows people to carry, but since the police have to sign off on it, good luck getting a carry permit if you’re not a cop, ex-cop, or politically connected.Counterintuitively, it’s just as hard to get a permission slip in Northern Ireland, but you can at least then own a BHP with a mag full of 9mm, or an uncrippled Mossberg.
I’ve probably told the story before, but I knew a guy in the UK who lives in the country and is an exterminator, so he has to be able to deal with foxes, badgers, injured game animals etc.
He actually owns a Glock 19. IIRC, it doesn’t have a wrist brace, and it might even still function as a semi-automatic because of some arcane exemption. However, the magazine is limited to 2 rounds. I never got to ask whether it was 2 in the mag AND one in the chamber, or literally 2 rounds.
In the land of the disarmed, the Mutant Glock owner is king.
I’d have nominated Mr. Webley as king, bit I think we can all be happy as long as Charles never sits on the throne.
Oh, no, it’s not a permit to carry. It’s a permit to own and transport really. Point A to point B.
I *think* the permits are honored across constabularies though, so if you have that Manton side-by-side in your country seat in Durham, you can transport it, properly secured, to your home in London and put it in a locked gun cabinet there without expectation of being hunted down like a dog. But you’d better lock it up well, because Plod could arrive tomorrow at 10AM to ensure you secured it.
I’m aware; I was using the New York carry situation as an analogue to demonstrate the difference between the de jure and de facto classification of what is allowed in Britain.
Substantially true.
A couple points that I don’t think are noted.
1. Effectively, long gun permission is a ‘may issue’ point. Very little opportunity for appeal if the local Boss Plod says no
2. Semi-auto long gun actions are disabled, Every round has to be chambered by hand.
3. Pistols are too tiny. If you want a pistol, they have to have a ‘wrist brace’ which means it’s intended to be too long to conceal
4. Permission for pistols is – if anything – even harder to obtain than long guns
5. Again, semi-automatic actions are disabled, rendering most modern semi-automatic pistols pointless
6. The police have the right to hassle you whenever they want to make sure you’re in compliance. You will have your premises invaded and plod will want to be satisfied.
7. As I understand it, they have the equivalent of California’s rule. The model has to be on the roster. It’s further my understanding that the roster is very specific.
8. Ammunition is a notifiable purchase. You have to sign for calibers bought, and quantity.
9. I think that all serial numbers are tracked and filed against your records.
I, for example, would never he able to own a gun in the UK because their records have some unsavory comments about my student days. I could possibly have them expunged, but who really wants to spend serious money so you can buy a 10/22?
Ah. That would actually make most semi-autos really awkward to fire because the charging handle is usually located more to be done during the reloading process; right?
Well, I think they’re permitted to make mods that put a holdback on the charging handle so it’s like a bolt action, but that makes a lot of firearms really unappealing. Which is, of course, a feature and not a bug.
Can you imagine hand-charging a .22 Uzi?
I love that “self-defense” is not a valid reason for owning one. What more valid reason could there be?
That’s the police’s job, citizen.
And they are actually not bad at defending themselves, if you don’t hold “false positive” threat identification against them.
Giving “self-defense” or “home defense” as a reason on a Canadian application for a firearms PAL (Purchase and Acquisition License) is an automatic disqualification for the issuing of a PAL. Even if you’re a retired cop who wants something to protect him/herself and his/her family from potential miscreants who want vengeance upon you. It’s the one “reason” for wanting a PAL that every instructor in every PAL course in Canada tells you not to put down on the application form.
So, they’re going to fight off the hordes of Islamist jihadis with MP15-22s I guess.
I doubt ‘assault weapons’ are on the roster.
More honestly, allowing AR-pattern rifles would be humiliating given how they’re primarily associated with the Provisional IRA.
Whoops.
My mistake – it seems as though semi-automatic rimfire .22s ARE a permitted type of firearm. Presumably they also have to be on the ‘approved’ list.
I enjoy (maybe the wrong word) reading about Switzy’s hometown but I’m disappointed that these articles aren’t filed under the Rockford files.
*narrows gaze, hums theme song*
*phone rings*
“Hi. This is Swiss in Rockford, leave your message after the beep”
*beeeeep*
“HI SWISS. THIS STEVE SMITH. ME THINKING OF VACATION IN ROCKFORD. BY VACATION MEAN RAPE”
*Snappy theme song starts*
I would pay real money to watch that episode.
Bea said he is “against unnecessary duplication” of SwedishAmerican’s 10-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. “They have higher death and disability rates because for 10 beds they cannot employ the entire range of pediatric subspecialties on-site,” he said after testifying before the Review Board.
Well, if it might not be perfect, fuck it.
They have higher death and disability rates because for 10 beds they cannot employ the entire range of pediatric subspecialties on-site
And this is just a flat-out lie. Most NICUs do not have the entire range of pediatric subspecialties onsite. Nobody does, 24/7, and unless you have a large academic medical center, you don’t even have the entire range of sub-specialists officing on your site during business hours.
We have a big NICU. I know for a fact that it is in the upper quartile for quality because I’m the one who defends the bad baby cases, and we have very few of them for an operation our size. You know how many sub-specialties we have on-site in any sense? Exactly one – the neonatologists who staff the NICU, the one specialty any NICU will have on-site. All the others? Not on-site, not employed by us.
OT: I’ve heard that Trump might fire Sessions. That would (obviously) be good news, but who’d be the replacement? Since he’d probably want a social conservative, I’d suggest Pam Bondi, Florida’s AG, since at least she’s hot.
Bondi Bitch.
… I’d surf that.
I’d Hoppo all over that
I heard the opposite, that it’s just more 32 dimensional Chess,
Well, this is definitely something we can wait on and see. It’s not like it’ll result in cities in dust for us.
Would.
Hell yes.
Trump doesn’t have 50 votes in the Senate to replace Sessions.
It depends on how bad he wants to get it done. Frankly, I’d kind of be okay if he gave a $100 million tax abatement to Delta (or whoever) to get rid of that shitstain.
I saw several reports on this and the WH has been clear they have no intention of firing Sessions (there are rumors that Sessions could resign).
Sen. Grassley has made it 100% clear that he will not prioritize confirmation hearings for a new AG.
Every day of delay saves the US taxpayer money.
Executive Branch, He doesn’t need a reason……
“government is simply the word for those things we choose to do together”
like accept/pay bribes, pay off cronies… the usual.
All of the detailed descriptions of firearms restrictions and modifications are depressing me. I dont even like combat style guns. Right now my hard-on is for a single shot rifle but all of the ban talk is making me want to buy a semi-auto with removable magazine.
Same here. I don’t even own guns anymore. But they are talking about restricting guns based on how they look, not how they function, and are completely ignoring that there are tons of other (some might argue more deadly) options for a mass shooter besides an AR-15.
Meanwhile they are hiding:
a) Mass shootings (real ones, not gang shoot outs) are still extremely rare
b) Overall crime is still down by a lot over the last 30 years
c) The media is encouraging the next school shooter with their sensationalist, 24/7 coverage
d) There are already some pretty simple security measures schools can take, similar to what you’d see at government buildings, concerts, and Disney World
Medicine.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3uC9KvFmsb0/TCuXVe78oZI/AAAAAAAAB54/zb2dlACYh88/s1600/Sexy+Dr..jpg
Take my temperature.
http://d3f650ayx9w00n.cloudfront.net/700/12509.jpg
GAH!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3uC9KvFmsb0/TCuXVe78oZI/AAAAAAAAB54/zb2dlACYh88/s1600/Sexy+Dr.jpg
Let’s play doctor.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/86/6f/74/866f7467c10d5ee212c074280ae19db3.jpg
Lachowsky hit First,
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/03/01/u-s-declares-trade-war-trump-surprises-staff-announces-new-tariffs-imposed-steel-aluminum/
Oh, good.
i was just thinking the other day that i should be paying much more for everything.
Funny, I was just thinking this is a great buying opportunity.
Since when can the president unilaterally impose tariffs?
Must be one of those bullshit XO things.
https://twitter.com/KatiePavlich/status/969261317449310209
Yes, the media is the enemy of (half) the American people. I really don’t know how you can argue otherwise anymore. Was doxing and smearing a woman in Florida by CNN not enough proof? Now some twenty-something year-olds are being attacked by the Daily Beast, because their mom holds wrong think and they once criticized Obama with regards to his policy on ISIS.
https://twitter.com/swin24/status/969265283474051072
Not to worry- this familiar bag of dicks is here to defend these brave reports who attack and smearing individuals for wrong think
ENB’s squeeze at it again, eh? I see he still has his “TRUMP AND THE RUSSIANS” image up.
Oh, I was dumb enough to scroll down and he’s anti-gun, too. Nobody could like these “sneering-tone” pieces and not be a dipshit through-and-through, but I already knew that.
They *are* the enemy of the American people and prove it everyday. Not just half either; fast forward and Dems aren’t going to like weaponizing the media very much when their monster turns on them (as it will certainly eventually do).
I used to worry about my employers prying into my online activities and disciplining or firing me for my, em, eccentric interests and occasionally intemperate posts. After six years, I’ve stopped caring; if anyone keeps an eye on my browsing habits at work, they’ve yet to say anything.
But now, given the censorious attitude progressives are rallying behind, I’m beginning to worry about the efforts my college might undertake to start punishing dissidents, especially given the current panic over firearms and mental health. It seems like just the thing administrators would want, an open window into their students’ minds, even better than standing over their shoulders and watching their keystrokes.
I suppose I should take heart in the fact that it’s a community college with a strong vocational bent, and I live in a state not especially prone to the political contortions of the coasts, but still, if politics has taught me anything, it’s that progressives can wheedle in through the smallest cracks and wreak havoc.
well, if you click the links to derp, your intentions will be indecipherable. One visit to glibs 3 visits to huffpost, 2 visits to the root, 6 visits to everyday feminism… What the hell can one decipher from that?
Low standards?
I’m reading comments to an LA Times article, I blame this place, and all of it’s Inhabitants
/Monsters
Insanity?
I used to worry about that too. Then I realized that they are really busy and only semi-competent.
I’m never sure whether to overestimate competence or their malice.
Harry Browne said that even if the govt could put a camera in every room to watch people 24/7, the camera probably wouldn’t work and nobody would be watching.
“I used to worry about my employers prying into my online activities and disciplining or firing me for my, em, eccentric interests and occasionally intemperate posts. After six years, I’ve stopped caring; if anyone keeps an eye on my browsing habits at work, they’ve yet to say anything.”
If they are like most of the people tasked with these sort of jobs, they just use it to fap to…
oh, how I laughed
Delta bars veteran from carrying on emotional support flamethrower
https://www.duffelblog.com/2018/02/delta-bars-veteran-carrying-emotional-support-flamethrower/
***
CHICAGO — A military veteran received a sick burn this week after an airline refused to allow him to board a flight with his emotional support flamethrower, sources confirmed today.
Marine veteran Eli Burroughs claims his pet flamethrower, named Smaug, helps him cope with all the other service animals and icky snowflakes that have begun to take up space on airlines recently. All the snakes, reptiles, ferrets, spiders, and Komodo Dragons other passengers claim for emotional support cause him an overwhelming amount of anxiety, he says.
“It’s like Noah’s Ark on flights now days, and it smells like a unwashed kennel,” said Burroughs. “The only thing you can smell on old Smaug here is the napalm, and that smells like victory.”
The incident comes as airlines are increasingly fired up over policy changes regarding emotional support and service. Carriers and passengers most recently have endured an outbreak of fleas and ticks, bubonic plague, and a tragic in-flight incident involving a 15-foot crocodile and a pack of therapeutic howler monkeys.
***
The emotional support animal craze couldn’t be a more appropriate symbol of our current society.
It’s funny, because I decided I really want an emotional support tapeworm.
See, I’d choose my pet from one of Q’s links.
Take two, they’re cheap!
“I’m boarding with my emotional support zoo.”
Some of them appear to be rather expensive.
But I fully support using them in pairs.
Still there little buddy?
*worm hanging from 6’s ass wiggles enthusiastically*
Pictured
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51fCbQM%2BpuL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
.. torn from the pages of a Max Cannon strip.
Trump’s little steel tariff is almost as awful as his gun grabber stint yesterday. Politically, though, I think he can sell the tariffs if he says they are going to hurt Russia (when, in fact they are designed to hurt China). If he said- “no, I’m just trying to impoverish Russia” then you’ll get a bunch of glowing think pieces from the WaPo and NYT (hell, even TOS wrote a front page article demanding trade restrictions against Russia). China is beloved within our media, because it is a super-duper free society and other nonsense that isn’t true.
FYI- there shouldn’t be punitive tariffs against China or Russia, I’m just pointing out that the same people who were screaming for more sanctions against Russia suddenly care about free trade again
I just assume everyone is an unprincipled hack these days. It’s easier that way.
Trump can sell on statistics alone:
Industry statistics show that in the year 2000, the US produced 112m tons of steel – a figure that had fallen to 86.5m tons in 2016.
In 2000, 135,000 people were employed in the industry – a figure that fell to 83,600 in 2016.
Former Nucor CEO was just on Power Lunch – fascinating interview.
Are you defending the tariffs?
I’ll say I’ve only ever heard two good arguments in favor of tariffs.
(1) Was the notion that there is no such thing as ‘free trade’, because the US has to expend money on its navy to ensure the freedom of navigation. Ergo, the US subsidies everybody’s trade and disproportionately pays to ensure ‘free trade’. I find this argument to be mildly persuasive
(2) This article from the American Conservative (http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-trade/) that exhaustively argues how no other country in the world actually engages in ‘free trade’ other than the US and a few other nations.
I’m not convinced, however
Politically, our economically? Politically RAHeinlein is correct, tariffs likely will be an easy sell. Economically, you’ll be hard pressed to find an economist that thinks tariffs are a good idea, outside of the few that still find mercantilism a viable economic model.
We put manufacturers that produce goods downstream of the steel industry at a disadvantage. Higher automotive and construction prices etc to benefit uncompetitive steel producers. No free lunch and all that.
Exactly.
American manufacturing hasn’t declined because of free trade or outsourcing. It’s declined because of labor laws, regulations, and especially the environmental jihad.
There’s factories all over the South churning out cars. Toyotas, not Chevys. Because Chevy is a union pension scheme that makes cars as an industrial by product. Toyota exists to make cars.
There’s nothing wrong with the American business environment that can’t be solved with a box of red pens and the Master Copy of the Federal Register.
There’s nothing wrong with the American business environment that can’t be solved with
a box of red pensa paper shredder and the Master Copy of the Federal Register.I don’t disagree. I was just saying that there are only two good arguments I’ve ever heard in favor of tariffs and I still don’t find them to be very convincing
3) Dispose of all taxes… every single one across the board… and fund government solely through user fees and very small tariffs for what absolutely cannot be paid for through user fees.
I haven’t determined my position on these specific tariffs, particularly given Chinese dumping. The timing is good and should minimize inflationary pressure, particularly given the corporate tax reduction.
Still gathering information, but I don’t embrace the “L” positions of all tariffs bad, any trade good.
Thanks for the American Conservative link – I had not read that piece.
Once you’ve gathered your info, I’d like to hear the argument. I’m generally in favor of lower tariffs and free trade, but more skeptical of managed trade agreements. However, the people who are not necessarily opposed to some tariffs are never allowed to make their case in the wider media anymore and I’d like to hear their argument too
Sure. Perhaps over G&T’s at Shaw’s next time I’m in-town.
China is beloved within our media, because it is a super-duper free society and other nonsense that isn’t true.
LOL
By the way, it’s Krugabe’s birthday!
Celebrate with me.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/opinion/the-force-of-decency-awakens.html
I couldn’t get past the first paragraph, where he mentions #meetoo and decency in the same sentence. I’d love to see him and Camille Paglia talk this over.
Camille would probably verbally bitch-slap him so hard it’d re-sequence his DNA.
U.S. jobless claims hit near 50-year low
This is not a test. This is your emergency alert system announcing the beginning of MAGA, sanctioned by US government.
At the sound of the siren, all businesses, including oil, will be legal and encouraged for 3 consecutive years.
Taxes, bureaucrats, and regulations will be severely restricted during this time.
Blessed be our new founding fathers and the United States of America, a nation reborn.
[Purge siren]
For some reason, this story makes my blood boil just as much as cop murder stories.
Cops are pretty much pikers when it comes to murder. They’ll only get, what, one apiece? Sometimes not even that. But you preclude a hospital opening and you could get dozens, maybe hundreds.
It’s far far worse.
I’m not letting cops off the hook, but it’s dark, shit’s confused sometimes other people are yelling GUN GUN GUN. Shit happens.
These people, in a series of meetings and white papers, in the cold light of day, thought it was a good idea to LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE HOSPITAL BEDS. They had weeks, months, years to go “Uh hang on wait a minute…..we’re really debating over whether or not opening up another healthcare facility in an aging, obese nation is a good idea. That’s dumb. Of course it’s a good idea.”
Like, this should have been a moment in these meetings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU
Or this.
Or the demonstration scene from Robocop.
Socialists+cronyists lie; people die.
In other fake news news, the official WaPo reddit account seems to be taking info from somewhat less than reliable sources. Namely, ardent Stalinists who openly and regularly call for physical violence.
I mean, that’s probably most of the WaPo staff by now, so I guess they couldn’t tell the difference anymore.
This is no different from wanting to open a restaurant, but the guy on the board of the Burger King across the street gets to vote on whether we need another restaurant. Fuck that right in the ear. Government is corruption.
In parts of Europe this actually happens if you try to open a restaurant too close to another existing restaurant
And parts of the US if you put your restaurant on rubber and drive it around town.
Somewhere Tulpa rages…”FOODTRUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Good point.
I have a friend in the restaurant business who gets really upset about food trucks not being regulated the same as regular restaurants.
She also Ubers everywhere.
I have a friend in the restaurant business who gets really upset about food trucks not being regulated the same as regular restaurants.
If she thinks they have such a sweet deal, why doesn’t she open one?
But do burgers have the power to save lives?
Not until you add bacon & cheese.
Q, do you have any Rockford-inspired girly pics?
How about some Gretchen Corbett?
I’ll be in my trailer.
Maybe Stuart Margolin in a thong?
Leave the 2016 Libertarian Convention out of this.
You can ignore the 2016 Libertarian Convention, but the 2016 Libertarian Convention won’t ignore you.
How about Lindsay Wagner?
This kind of thing goes away if we just raise taxes and fund the government more.
What?
Gun control could be Trump’s Nixon-China moment. Democrats talk a good game about bans and confiscation, but as moronic as they are, they understand that substantially infringing the Second would turn out conservatives and lose them union voters, as well as robbing them of a critical issue. You don’t campaign on achievements, you campaign on promises, particularly promises you never intend to keep. Trump, however, bucks that trend: he’s not a conservative, not a party man, and he’s not running again after his term is up, whether he loses in three years or makes it through seven more. He could do what Republicans won’t and Democrats can’t, and he’s pigheaded and dumb enough that he just might.
Certificate of Need laws make Ayn Rand look like a fucking genius.
That is a good enough reason to get rid of them.
Good work, Switzy.