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OPINION

We are not France. Say it with Me

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
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The Gosh Darn Liberal wrote: Wow, what a week. Obama care passed and hopefully my insurance goes down. Maybe I should call it Romneycare and you people will look the other way. What a week! The weather has slapped most of you in the face and no "Global warming is a fraud" charges. Hope your enjoying your warm spell. What a week. Bin Laden is still dead and it still sticks in your craw. Happiness is a whiney conservative cut off at the knees. What a week! Housing prices are going up in my area. Ransom can stay in D.C. with all the other beltway snobs.- Thank Goodness: Obamcare Saves Home Prices in DC Again

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Dear Comrade Gosh,

Hate to disappoint but I don’t live in D.C. I live in flyover country with the rest of the great unwashed. And every time an owl farts sideways out here liberals from the east coast blame it on global warming

Obamacare “passed” a long time ago. And you know what the great thing is? Democrats get to defend it between now and the November elections. This is gonna be good. Because that plan worked out so well for Democrats in 2010.

I love when weasels get caught in a trap and have to weasel their way out. You all weaseled your way in 2008 and now you can weasel your way out in 2012.  

Remember when Democrats were anxious to pass Obamacare without much debate? “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it?”  Now they’ll have to live with it and debate it too.

“It is absolutely an impossible task to manage risk when an individual can enter or leave a commercial product without any restrictions to pre-exisiting conditions,” said Brett Haugh, principal of Houston-based Employee Benefits Solutions, which helps employers manage health-care costs, according to the Houston Chronicle. “That means the price for those products will increase dramatically.”

Translation: Your insurance premiums will go up. Benefits will go down.

It’s simple math.     

Anthony wrote: Is it not fair that uninsured people like me who get sick and never pay their hospital bills get taxed so we can at least contribute to our own care? Or, would you rather us continue to freeload off folks like yourself? The tax is fair. Get over it. - Thank Goodness: Obamcare Saves Home Prices in DC Again

Dear Comrade Anthony,

Why don’t you just pay your bill in the first place? Because you don’t have the money. If you had the money, they would tax you, but you don’t so they won’t. Instead, they’ll tax rest of us who have money. And in addition to extra taxation, they are also going to reduce benefits for the rest of us too.

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Only politicians believe that you can fix a federal program by doing more of the same. As bad as the private retirement market is right now, for example, it would be much, much worse if the folks who managed Social Security were managing retirements for the rest of us.

We have empirical proof of this in the housing market.

It used to be about half of all mortgages were originated by the feds, now about 95 percent of all mortgages start with the federal government. That’s why banks aren’t loaning money. Another example: The federal government took over the student loan business and now student loans top credit card debt in this country.

The federal government already manages more healthcare dollars than anyone else. Some estimates put the number as high as 60-65 cents of every healthcare dollar is managed by the federal government.

Now we are trying to solve this problem by letting them take over the rest?

Good grief.

DMZuniga wrote: John, you say that "(w)hat’s clear from the Supreme Court decision is that our revolution for limited government and limited taxation is now broken." Wrong; John Roberts is a chess player, sly as a fox, but since most Americans are products of government schools and they don't play chess...well, they, like you, are hyperventilating about the sky  falling .A conservative Chief Justice made a brilliant, inspired move..- Thank Goodness: Obamcare Saves Home Prices in DC Again

Dear DM,

I don’t know about John Roberts being sly as a fox.

But I do know that I’m not hyperventilating. 

I will say that the ruling makes it more difficult for Obama.  Democrats will now have to either embrace Obamacare or rebuff it.

I’m guessing that Democrats will now want to go back to the bargaining table.

This is probably the worst outcome for Obama, but not an impossible outcome for the rest of us.

Oldschool7 wrote: And the only car company involved in NASCAR . . . where their profits go to a Foreign Country is . . . . . you guessed it Toyota. The company that has had almost 30 MILLION recalls in the last 7 years . . . . sources more parts in China than any other, in fact the Yaris is totally Chinese content. Much of the Domestic content is manufactured in the US even if many of the cars are assembled in Canada or Mexico.- When All Else Fails, UAW Tries Racism

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Dear Comrade 7,

Thanks for rebutting my point about the uses of racism by liberals by providing another example of a different type of racism used by liberals.

I don’t care about the color of the skin, or the nationality, the gender or being pen pals with the persons who build my automobile or the parts that go into my car, quite frankly. What I care about is buying the product that makes the most financial sense for me and for my family.    

What do you have against Japanese car markers that provide jobs here in the U.S.? What do you have against Chinese people who are just trying to make a living? Or Mexicans? Or Canadians?

You defend a Mexican’s right to come across our border illegally to have a job, but you take away the right to have a job in Mexico.

Typical liberal thinking. 

You guys are quite sick.

Really. Get help.

Soon.

Kevin 32 wrote: the truth of the matter is that the only auto plants that are not union are the plants in the southern United States, the plants in Japan, Germany, all of Europe are all union is some way or another! so the argument they give is invalled! On the other side of the coin, you have Mr. Ghosn talking about costs, and just how much $$$$ mula, dinero money, bucks does he make? huh? talk about throwing sones in glass houses? there has to be a happy medium! .- When All Else Fails, UAW Tries Racism

Dear Comrade 32,

Brush up just a little on grammar. I usually don’t say that, but… Yeah.

Now brush up a little on history and economics. 

What do unions in Germany, Japan and all of Europe have to do with the United States?

We are not France.

You might have noticed that things pretty much suck in Japan right now. Ditto Europe.

We are not France. Say it with me: We are not France. Post it to Facebook; live it; breathe it.  We’re not even much-vaunted Germany. German GDP went from $3.6 trillion to $3.3 since 2008. 

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We are not France.

We are better than that. Most of us don’t even find Jerry Lewis that funny.

And I don’t like mimes.

That proves it.       

Frans2 wrote: Municipalities aren't going broke because the unions negotiated good retirement deals, they are going broke because of poor financial and fiscal management. Had they realistically valued the returns on retirement fund investments they would have made adequate provision for it and, most probably, would have resisted generous benefits. Instead they pretended they would get returns of ten or twelve or fifteen percent per annum on their investments which was a fantasy. Now both the municipal employees and the municipalities are paying the penalty for spending too much time in financial fantasyland. - Forward Democrats! Union Sets Record for Biggest City Bankruptcy

Dear Comrade 2,

Certainly part of the pension problem has to do with investment managers, retirees, employees and others assuming that the rates of return that we got in the late 1990s were going to go on forever.

But while the rest of us take our lumps in the markets and see the value of our investments go down, public unions want to shift that risk to the backs of the taxpayers. What’s more, they allow public pension managers to use accounting rules that would get the rest of us thrown in jail. They do it because the union honchos can then brag how great the union is by using inflated pension numbers and gimmicks, knowing full well they won’t be able to deliver.

Take the average teacher who enters the work force at of 25 years old and who retires at the age of 65.  Even assuming Social Security will be there at retirement, the teacher’s savings, accumulated at ten percent of their salary for 40 years, must enjoy rates of return near 6 percent to ensure a retirement income equal to 70 percent of the salary they first enjoyed when they entered the workforce. From 1925-2004 the safest investments, US Treasuries, have returned only 3.7 percent. Corporate bonds have averaged 5.4 percent. The riskiest investments average near 10 percent but are not suitable for a state managed pension program. Nor are they reliable. Dizzying rates of return in the 1990s, in part, have led to assumptions about market returns that are unsustainable. As a result, politicians have been able to use fuzzy math to hand out bigger benefits to public employees.

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In Florida for example, the state currently assumes that its pension system will return 7.75 percent annually, according a report by Milliman, an actuarial consultancy located in Vienna, Virginia that tracks pension obligations. But private pension plans can only assume at 5-6 percent rate of return currently- approximately the same rate of return that corporate bonds get historically- according to Asset International, a publication for chief investment officers. Safe rates of return are substantially smaller than those projected by the state. Consequently, the pension shortfalls will be that much greater, because states don’t realize those high rates of return. “’It's widely reported to be a $1 trillion problem, but if you dig into the numbers, it’s a $2 to $3 trillion problem,’” says David Kelly, an actuary at Mercer Investment Consulting’s Financial Strategy Group, reports Asset International about unfunded pension liabilities. “’The reported liabilities are understated by using an optimistically high … rate [of return].’”

This problem will get much worse before it gets better.         

David wrote: Never read anything you've written before, but now I know I haven't missed anything. The next day David wrote again: Looks like you still don't have anything to say.

Dear Comrade David,

And yet you still found time to write? Twice?

I’m touched.

Please don’t touch me again.

Thank you.

Frans2 wrote: Lousy managers are a primary source of union strength. Don't blame the unions for that, blame management. To a good manager, unions are a godsend because they can be a great help in getting the mission accomplished. Having spent years having to work with five separate unions, I know whereof I speak. Rob Constitution replied: You're irretrievably stupid. Unions are one of only a couple main reasons our country is heading over a cliff. Unfunded pay and benefits are the result of the unions blackmailing and holding politicians hostage. No, managers aren't a primary source of union strength. Union thugs and politicians are THE reason for union strength. - Forward Democrats! Union Sets Record for Biggest City Bankruptcy

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Dear Rob,

Well played.

Canetoad wrote: What's up John, no eco bashing, climate change denying diatribe today. Too touchy of a subject as Corlorado burns, Florida drowns and mid-west farmers lose their crops. - From a “Glorious Burden” to an “Annual Burden,” Obama has Ruined His Presidency

Dear Canetoad,

I live pretty close to the fires.

Actually, every ten years “Corlorado,” as you call it, has fires like this. The fires are made worse by the dumb policies of liberal eco-snobs who don’t want to do forest clearance.

Ten years ago today I was working and living on the Wiens Rranch in Sedalia, Colorado setting up a fire base for the Hyman Fire, which was the largest wildfire in Colorado history. We had about a dozen helicopters taking off and landing 24 hours a day.  

The fire wasn’t due to global warming. It was started deliberately by a park service employee.

The fires will go out when we get a little rain. Stand by.

In meantime maybe you can get Obama to pass a tax on every municipality that doesn’t make it rain.   

Torr wrote: Obamanomics 101: Barrack Obama and Cass Sunstein buy a truck and start their own business buying alfalfa hay in northern Idaho for $2.00/bale and hauling it to southern Colorado and selling it for $2.00/bale. After a few weeks, Sunstein says: “According to my figures, somehow our business is losing money.” Obama smirks, shakes his head and replies: “I tried to tell you to buy a bigger truck.” - From a “Glorious Burden” to an “Annual Burden,” Obama has Ruined His Presidency

Dear Torr,

Rim shot.

That’s it for this week.

V/r,

JR


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