Excessive debt can lead to catastrophic consequences

Another excellent column from Jack DeVine appeared in the Aiken Standard today and it appears below:

 

 

DeVINE: Excessive debt can lead to catastrophic consequences

By JACK DeVINE

Columnist

Not long ago, a letter to the editor published on this page argued that government economics are fundamentally different than family economics. After all, governments can print money, set monetary policies that control inflation and interest rates, float bonds to generate cash. Therefore, we shouldn't allow our personal financial experience to cause us to get too worked up about the nation's ballooning debt - in fact the writer went so far as to brand those who use that "scare tactic" as shameless!

Count me in. My initial reaction to that letter: nonsense. It's like arguing that gravity only works sometimes.

But in fairness to the writer, he actually is in pretty good company, in that his thesis is implicitly endorsed by the Obama administration. The president wags his finger at us for being greedy, he pins the financial crisis on an era of irresponsibility, of living beyond our means. In a recent interview, Treasury Secretary Gaithner postulated that the ultimate positive effects of this ugly recession will be more prudent, cautious spending by all of us.

But at the same time, both are insistent that the administration's current plan to spend our way back into prosperity, and in so doing to run up an annual deficit four or five times higher than ever in history, is not only prudent, it's essential. In effect, they are suggesting that the laws of economics can be applied or suspended on demand.

I think it's pretty simple. The fundamental principles of economics are always in play - for governments, big companies, small companies, families.

As a prime example, excessive debt is a killer, always, in every circumstance. What proves to be excessive may vary from case to case, but the principle always applies.

To illustrate: Millions of American families own houses, but few could pay them off with accumulated savings. So instead, homeowners take on long-term debt - a mortgage. This kind of deficit spending is a perfectly sensible thing to do, provided that: (1) the borrower is reasonably confident that the house will hold its value, at least to the extent that the borrowed amount is covered and (2) the monthly payment is manageable, now and in the future. Different people have different tolerance for debt, but clearly a mortgage payment that doesn't leave room in the family budget for food and fuel would be a big, big mistake.

What's different on the government level? Not much. As with individuals, it gets harder and harder for the nation to borrow money at attractive rates (e.g., from China) as we slide deeper into debt. And printing gobs of money is a delusion - inflation is right around the corner with its whole new set of economic consequences.

Like the family whose mortgage payment eats up the lion's share of its monthly income, our government is now plunging headlong into a level of debt which is a much larger share of our gross domestic product than we will be able to afford to repay.

As another example, let's bring the concept of economic stimulus payments down to family level as well. Suppose you choose to hire your unemployed neighbor to wash your car every day, and you're generous enough to pay him enough money to keep food on his family's table and a roof over their heads - a truly compassionate act on your part. And your largesse would, temporarily and incrementally, help the broader economy as well by putting that money in circulation each week - your own private stimulus package.

But that stimulating effect would last only as long as you're willing or able to keep up the payments. When it's over, you'd have a very clean car and a very appreciative neighbor - but your investment would have been spent and the benefit would be long gone. And if you had funded your generosity by borrowing against your credit card, you probably would both end up in worse shape than before, with compounded debt to be repaid and your neighbor still out of a job.

How is that different from government trying to stimulate the economy by borrowing money to fund temporary jobs - say city beautification projects - with no long-term benefit or return on investment? Not much.

A more powerful alternative might be to stake your neighbor in a fledgling business. That could be a stimulus gift that keeps on stimulating and could even be worth your carrying some debt. Or if you're a government, why not spend some of your stimulus money on a new nuclear plant, with compounded benefits of jobs now (engineering and construction), jobs later (life of plant maintenance and operation) and community benefit (gobs of carbon-free electricity?).

The lesson is simple. Moderate deficit spending can be necessary and manageable, but excessive debt can be catastrophic. Forward thinking investment can help people through hard times and stimulate the economy, but make-work spending doesn't accomplish either very well. Economic principles are always in play, for you and for your president.

The writer is a resident of Aiken and a businessman.

SC Policy Council Meeting Reminder

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM JANE VAUGHTERS

A REMINDER-- on Wednesday July 22^nd at 11 am in the Alley behind the Municipal Building, the SC Policy Council will recognize the City of Aiken for making their records available online at no expense to the taxpayer. 

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will speak, and many of our elected officials will be there to explain the efforts they have made to encourage open government.  They want to see that there is enthusiastic support for these transparency efforts, and WE NEED YOU TO SHOW THEM THAT THIS IS SO. 

Hope you can make it and bring your friends!  Thanks for your help.      

Jane Vaughters 

(Please call me at 270-3881 if you have any questions.)

Canadian HealthcareVideo

Obamacare debated

I had to chuckle as I read Rob Courtenay's letter to the editor accusing me of running a smear campaign because I have written about some of the unsavory aspects of the Democrat's health care plan. Apparently quoting the president, Congressional Democrats and proposed legislation is so threatening to Courtenay he has to pretend that smear campaign means something it doesn't. He may wish to consult a dictionary.

At the risk of being further accused of running some sort of smear campaign, I will note the proposed legislation contains its own Orwellian-like language. The bill establishes "shared responsibility payments" which I will politely call a euphemism for the truer but uglier and more easily understood word: "tax."

Maybe in my next letter I'll tackle how the bill establishes that our tax dollars will be used to pay for the "special medically underserved population," including the homeless and illegal immigrants who are called "migratory and seasonal agricultural workers." Or we could discuss the hundreds of new commissions and bureaucracies established in the legislation to "help" us make medical decisions which will over-ride our doctor's medical advice.

Or we could discuss how a right to privacy underlies landmark Supreme Court decisions starting with Griswold v Connecticut in 1965 and Roe v Wade in 1973. The Supreme Court ruled that we were entitled to a constitutionally mandated zone of personal privacy that must be free of government regulation and that our most intimate and personal choices are central to dignity and autonomy and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. It will be up to Congress to find a way around those Supreme Court rulings and determine they have the right to access and control our most intimate health care decisions.

Mary Beth Seaha

City Council Update

Steve Homoki to run for City Council at-large Seat-

You are invited to attend a rally in the Alley behind City Hall tomorrow morning July 15^th at 11:30 am to meet Steve Homoki. Steve will formally announce his intention to run for an at-large seat on City Council and present his platform. I hope to see you there.

In case you did not see the Aiken Standard news article today concerning the forthcoming city elections go here

Posted by Dick Smith 071409 

SC POLICY COUNCIL RECOGNIZES CITY OF AIKEN FOR FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY POLICIES-

Jane Vaughters has been an outspoken and effective champion of transparency in all government activities and our colleague Dick Dewar suggested the excellent idea of posting the details of the city finances on-line. All City Council members supported the idea and City staff made it possible in an economical manner.  Unfortunately  our state government does not have the same dedication to transparency. Our legislators are even unwilling to have a recorded vote system. They say it would be too costly and perhaps they are right. It would cost many of them their election if voters knew how they actually vote on issues. We need to send a message. The following letter from Jane Vaughters is self-explanatory. I hope you will attend.

Dear Friends of Responsible Government,

On Wednesday, July 22, at 11 a.m. in the Alley behind the Aiken Municipal Building, the South Carolina Policy Council, a non-partisan research and educational foundation devoted to honest accounting in government, will hold a press conference recognizing the City of Aiken for its voluntary commitment to transparent financial activity.

PLEASE COME, for we will not only discuss what we have achieved so far at the city level but what we need to do to achieve this transparency at all levels of government.  WE WILL NOT GET TRANSPARENCY LEGISLATION ON EVERY LEVEL IF WE CITIZENS DO NOT DEMAND IT.

State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will tell of his efforts to be on-line source for state agency transparency information --he is so informed and so interesting and so tenacious.  Policy Council President Ashley Landess, also a terrific speaker, will tell how their research on transparency relates to online spending accountability and share some of the important statistics compiled by the Policy Council this year—(did you know that even with the new rules, our lawmakers failed to record votes 75% of the time)!  Local city officials will tell how they placed government transactions online and available to the public free of charge.  State and county officials will bring us up to date on the status of transparency legislation at those levels.

Our goal is to have all this presented in about 30 minutes--I hope!!  What is needed most by these good people is YOU supporting their efforts.  We want to get as much coverage as possible for this event, so BRING YOUR FRIENDS, GET EXCITED ABOUT WHAT IS POSITIVE IN OUR CITY AND STATE, AND DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE DOWNTOWN AIKEN ECONOMY WHEN YOU ARE THERE.

Please call me at 270-3881 if you have any questions.  Hope to see you on the 22nd.

Thanks, 

Jane Vaughters 

     For more information about the South Carolina Policy 
    Council, please go to their web site at http://scpolicycouncil.com/. 

Posted by Dick Smith 071409

City Council Update from Dick Dewar

NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME STATISTICS. Wes Funderburg, our City Web Administrator, in cooperation with Public Safety staff, has completed a link for neighborhood crime statistics: http://www.cityofaikensc.gov/crimeanalyzer/statistics.aspx. This link is part of our city website http://www.aiken.net/. It is available to anyone using our city website. The compiled statistics are by neighborhood areas and not individual addresses, in order to respect the privacy of crime victims. If you have any questions about this new website link, please let us know.

YOUTH IN ACTION REPORT. Our Neighborhood Services Division, at Council’s request, has completed its first annual summer neighborhood improvement projects, Youth in Action, on June 26, 2009. About 35 local young people, working under the guidance of Christ Central Missions, Cumberland AME Church, Full Gospel Praise and Deliverance Church, New Covenant Presbyterian Church, and the Police Athletic League worked on five different houses in Aiken. Work included painting, pressure washing, yard cleanup, some rotten wood replacement, trash removal, and other exterior improvements. NDS provided supplies, water, and lunches each day. A character-based program was conducted prior to lunch. Local restaurants supporting this pilot project included Chick-Fil-A, Church’s Chicken, other businesses, including Baynham’s Restaurant, Domino’s Pizza, Reids Food Stores, and Bi-Lo assisted with reduced cost food. Bill McGhee was of particular valuable assistance at the Sumter Street house.

Houses at 1346 President Drive, 504 Washington Circle, 603 Sumter Street, 648 Jefferson Terrace, and on Locke Lane are now more a part of their neighborhoods as a result of all the hard work done by our volunteer youth and their supervisors. Special thanks are due to Angela McGhee, Varney Hodge, Andrew McCaskill, Lalita Ashley, Herbert Schofield, Ricky Brown, Leasa Segura, Phil Noah, Cynthia Mitchell, Sabina Craig, Alan Willing, Jamie Bledsoe, and Bill Hamilton who worked very hard to make this initial, local project successful


DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPGRADES. Carol Jones with the South Carolina Department of Transportation has confirmed that phasing specifications for our downtown traffic signals have been completed. The next step in hopefully improving our downtown traffic patterns is the state’s selection of contractor to install the necessary equipment to re-phase our downtown traffic signals. That work is anticipated to commence sometime this month.

Hitchcock Woods Sand River Stormwater Green Infrastructure. The City of Aiken recently received a $3.34 million grant from the Department of Health and Environmental Control to capture a portion of stormwater through strategically placed rain gardens, bioswales, porous pavement and other means. The City's Sand River Restoration Project is currently being designed jointly by the city's consulting firm in cooperation and under the general direction of Dr. Gene Eidson, Director, Center for Watershed Excellence, Clemson University. Dr. Eidson and his staff were present at the last Council Meeting to describe the work currently underway and what they hope to accomplish through this project. Once we have completed this work they will continue to monitor the results both for the city and the Hitchcock Woods Board as a research component. Plans should be completed by September and construction started by late fall/winter. Dr. Gene Eidson stated he wanted to introduce Council to the Green Infrastructure Concepts being proposed. He said the Green Infrastructure Concepts come out of the work they have been doing with the Sand River Ecological Restoration Master Plan. He said this was a masterplan to address all the impacts they have seen in Hitchcock Woods. They provided a Preferred Alternative Analysis for Sand River which incorporated Green Infrastructure. He pointed out that in the 2009-2010 budget; two of Council’s goals were to find a strategy for solving the Sand River storm drainage problems in Hitchcock Woods and to obtain sustainability measures to enhance the city. He said the project presented is an example of how we can make Aiken a model city for sustainability and new ideas and innovation. Dr. Eidson then presented a slide show. Dr. Eidson stated there are 8 watersheds that surround Hitchcock Woods. He said when you look at the topography and realize Hitchcock Woods is the low lying area, you can understand why there are potential impacts. Everything drains into Hitchcock Woods. The land use around Hitchcock Woods in the 8 watersheds is highly built out with a lot of hard surface and infrastructure, resulting in stormwater that flows into Hitchcock Woods. The impact is continual erosion in Sand River from the downtown watershed. There is about a 60 foot deep canyon and the sand from the canyon has migrated causing damage further down. He said they have gone through a master plan process which has involved the City, Hitchcock Woods Foundation, the County and other stakeholders. They talked about the project background and how to develop a process to handle the impact of the stormwater issue. They talked about existing conditions, and they utilized all the reports that have been generated over the last decade in coming to an understanding of the existing condition. They talked about remediation and stabilization of the canyon. The importance of the restoration plan, making sure we restore it so it has ecological fidelity with the structure and function is similar to what was there. Very important to the city is that it represents an economic and durable prescription, and that it be cost effective and long lasting. Then all the issues of the stakeholders in the city be considered by bringing all the people together and talk about historical, cultural, and social issues related to the plan. Dr. Eidson stated there had been many meetings, with a kickoff meeting in January, 2008, followed by three visioning workshops. He said they were asked to provide a Preferred Alternative for the project. He said they looked at all the reports that had been done in the past and came up with a priority format which included stabilizing the energy coming from the stormwater, dissipating the energy, stabilizing the canyon and providing for storage.

The first phase of the project is pervious parking along Park Avenue as well as Newberry Street. There would be a series of rain gardens and bioswales and wetlands. There are two sub watersheds in the downtown, and Park Avenue is great for capturing a lot of the flow. She said some graduate students will explore expanding upon the Green Infrastructure concept. Dr. Cal Sawyer reviewed the stormwater best manager practices that are being proposed to promote the infiltration being discussed and to address some of the issues related to polluted runoff. He pointed out that the discussion would involve not only water quantity, but also water quality. There are a number of pollutants that are related to the impervious surfaces being discussed with respect to some of the parkways and greenways. He said the pollutants in general can be divided into four parts—nutrients, organics, pathogens, and heavy metals. All these things accumulate on parking areas and are what we are talking about addressing with the practices being promoted. He pointed out that in the last couple of weeks some coring has been done in some of the parkways and some of the side streets to look at the potential infiltration rates. This will help a lot in terms of designing and analyzing the infrastructure for the areas. He said a lot of water could be moved through the area very fast. Some of the different types of practices are bioretention and bioswales. He explained how these practices work in the flow of water. Some other items to be considered are types of permeable parking. Three types of permeable parking proposed to be used are asphalt, concrete and interlocking block pavers. All these must meet the structural design to be able to park cars and move emergency vehicles across them. They also have to make sure that water will infiltrate instead of running off. They will be looking at sub grade, structural integrity, and short and long term maintenance requirements. He pointed out when installing some of these practices there will be construction which will take place over a period of weeks and months as opposed to months and years. He said they will be looking at permeable parking, bioretention and bioswales, and also cisterns. The concept of cisterns has been around since the Roman times. He said the use of cisterns is proposed to be used to capture some rooftop runoff and route that underground into a cistern and recycle that water for irrigation of the landscape in the area. Dr. Eidson stated from the preliminary results it appears to be an ideal location for this project. He said he was excited about the grant from EPA for this project so Aiken can be a model community. He said he would like to see the projects implemented and push us forward in terms of sustainable development and design. He said there had been some concerns about the parkways, but there are many designs that can be utilized. Trees do not have to be removed. We are fortunate that Aiken has many parkways with many different configurations. He said they can showcase numerous designs in the City of Aiken and make this city open to other researchers and other communities that want to learn how to implement Green Infrastructure.

SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE SALE AND CONVEYANCE OF LOTS AND HOMES IN CROSLAND PARK - Over the last several years the City of Aiken has acquired property and sold lots and homes to various citizens in the Edgewood and Toole Hill areas. We are now ready to start selling lots and homes in the Crosland Park area. The price of these homes will vary depending on their purchase price and the improvements made to each home. Based on the work involved these homes should be sold at or above the appraised value. In some cases the appraised value may be higher than the amount of the home and the work that was involved in its rehabilitation. In other cases the appraised value may actually be lower than the price of work that went into each of the homes. Our overall goal is to meet the costs involved in the acquisition and rehabilitation for all the homes in the Crosland Park neighborhood. Instead of bringing back each sale, we recommend that staff be given the ability to sell all homes at a price that exceeds or equals the cost of the home and improvements. At this time we are ready to sell two homes and three lots that we have purchased to the Aiken Housing Authority. Since no improvements have been made on the homes the sales price consists of our cost to acquire the property and any soft costs that we have incurred. We have already purchased 25 homes, and we have an option on approximately 80 others. Therefore, many additional home sales would be negotiated under these circumstances in the near future. This flexibility will allow us to move forward with the sale and to keep the entire Crosland Park project moving forward.

FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND OUR UTILITY SERVICE POLICY AND ANNEXATION REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING BILLBOARDS. At our June 22, 2009 meeting, City Council discussed our current utility services and annexation policy for properties with pre-existing, nonconforming billboards. In the 1990s Council developed a policy that stated nonconforming signs, such as billboards, needed to be removed prior to the city providing utility services. There is also a similar policy for signs involved in annexations. Since the enactment of our utility and annexation policies concerning billboards, the legislature in 2006 passed the South Carolina Landowner and Advertisement Protection and Property Evaluation Act. These statutes clearly protect the interest of the billboard company and limit the ability of the property owner to remove them without just compensation. There are over twenty-five billboards located just outside our city limits and they have currently stymied the type of development that can occur on these properties. At the last meeting, Council agreed that we should consider amending our policies by allowing the billboards to remain until the end of the lease period. The attached ordinance would allow us to enter into an agreement with the landowner and billboard owner that sets forth when the billboard would be removed. Unless the landowner and billboard owners agree in writing to remove it, the city would not supply utilities or approve an annexation. We feel that by changing our utility service and annexation policy this would allow us to provide utilities and annex properties yet help ensure the billboard is removed at the end of the lease period.

Our City Attorney believes that we can enter into an agreement with the landowner and the billboard owner that sets forth when the billboard would be removed. At tonight's meeting we would like to determine whether or not City Council would like to move forward with changes to the utility policy that would hopefully alleviate this problem in the future.

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CDIC TO APPLY FOR FUNDS TO ASSIST THE CROSLAND PARK NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION PROJECT UNDER THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009. The City of Aiken is working with 15 non-profit organizations to improve the Crosland Park neighborhood. These organizations and churches have joined together to help individuals in Crosland Park and our community to find better housing, to help nurture families, develop opportunities for individuals to earn higher wages and to build their capacity to provide even more services within our community. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has grant opportunities to provide training for these types of organizations that we have developed for Crosland Park. This training will help faith based and non-faith based organizations work together to better serve those in need within the community. Some of the initial training that we would like to have for the various boards would include fair housing, tenant screening, developing a common lease agreement, summer and after school programs, home preventative and annual maintenance, and building housing capacity for each of the organizations. We would like to apply for a grant which would provide assistance up to $250,000 for this training.

APPROVAL OF EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG) FOR PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT. The Aiken Public Safety Department has been notified that they are eligible for a $15,571 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). This grant is 100% funding requiring no city matching funds. This grant would be used to fund the Police Athletic League (PAL). Funding for this program has decreased significantly for Aiken's program due to the economy. Funds from this grant would be used to pay for recreational and athletic equipment, event registration fees, officials, cost and travel expenses for leadership events and field trips. The program provides opportunities for youth who may be at risk for gang and other criminal activities and helps develop constructive skills through recreation and other organized activities. Aiken's chapter of PAL has over 200 youth involved in football, cheerleading, baseball, chess, field and track as well as leadership activities. This program was the winner of the 2009 Municipal Achievement Award and the award will be presented at the MASC conference in August.

REQUEST TO USE PARKWAYS ON PARK AVENUE BETWEEN LAURENS STREET AND UNION STREET BY THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS. Wayne Jones, Planning Coordinator, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Brigadier Barnard E. Bee Camp #1575 has sent in his July 2, 2009, letter requesting use of the Park Avenue parkways between Laurens Street and Union Street. Their group, in conjunction with the Southern Guard Brigade, wants to use these parkways for a Living History Presentation. A copy of his letter is attached. Mr. Jones expects this event to take the public back in time to the 1860's. Events on Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17, 2010, are expected to include 200 to 250 reenactors, 20 cavalry horsemen, a living history outdoor drama, a static display that includes two authentic artillery pieces, staged skirmishes, a formal ball, character actors, and an of-the-period worship service. All events will be free to the public except for the formal ball on Saturday evening, which will be a ticketed event. His group is in the process of determining how this proposed event could fit in with Celebrate Aiken! activities. Their request to use these parkways includes events from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Director Frommer has met with Mr. Jones to discuss traffic control issues. It is our understanding that participants would arrive Friday evening, January 15, 2010 and set up their encampments and displays. For City Council consideration is this request by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to use the Park

FINAL COMMENT. This has been an unusually long Council Update, but there are several important issues that City Council is addressing. The work on Hitchcock Woods is particularly important since the Woods means so much to so many Aiken residents. The minutes of our Work Session were much longer than what I have included above and if you are interested in this issue, I recommend reading them on the City’s Web Site at http://www.aiken.net/ .

Likewise, we are considering a major change in our utility policy which will allow annexation or providing of utilities to parcels with billboards installed. These are issues that Council should receive public input and I urge residents to attend our Council meeting to voice their concerns.

Handwriting on the Wall

 I wish I had written this. Powerline nails it once again.

 

Handwriting on the Wall

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July 8, 2009 Posted by John at 9:03 AM

Representatives of the G8 are meeting in Italy and are trying to negotiate a deal on "climate change." The London Times reports that negotiations have hit a major snag:

Hopes of a deal on climate change at the Group of Eight industrialised nations summit in Italy were today hanging by a thread. As world leaders sat down for a working lunch at the start of a three day meeting of the G8, it emerged that negotiations had failed to reach agreement on halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Summit negotiators, who do the hard bargaining before the heads of state arrive to complete the agreements, failed to make progress on the issue in talks that continued late last night. China and India are understood to have blocked any mention of the target in the draft communiqué, insisting that the developed economies should promise to cut their own emissions sharply by 2020 before asking developing nations to commit to a long term target.
The breakdown in negotiations has undermined President Obama's chances of producing a diplomatic coup when he chairs talks on climate change at a meeting of the 17-nation Major Economies Forum tomorrow.

The implications for Waxman-Markey, a version of which will soon be taken up by the Senate, are huge. If India and China--the world's biggest emitter of CO2--decline to limit their carbon emissions, it is impossible to claim that Waxman-Markey will have any discernible impact on the Earth's climate, even if you buy the anthropogenic global warming hoax hook, line and sinker. The only impact the bill could have would be to hobble America's economy and pave the way for China and India to replace the U.S. as the economic superpowers of the 21st century.
The great advantage India and China have over the U.S. is that their elites have not gone suicidal. Those nations have no intention of sacrificing their economic well-being on the global warming altar. Undoubtedly the leading scientists in both countries have advised their governments that AGW is pseudo-science fueled by power-hungry politicians and charlatans like Al Gore, who has gotten rich by pretending to believe that burning gasoline will destroy the Earth, while relaxing aboard a gasoline-burning houseboat a third the size of a football field.
At this point, anyone who votes for tax-and-trade can no longer pretend that the bill has anything to do with climate. Rather, it is a vote that no manufacturing jobs should be created in the U.S., and that in the future, all such employment will belong to Chinese and Indian workers.
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Senator Jim DeMint's Health Care Freedom Plan

 July 08, 2009

Dear Friend,

In many ways, our health care system is broken. Even people satisfied with their own care are nervous about losing it, concerned about rising costs, and frustrated by the failure of government to bring about genuine reform. But the reason Congress has so far been unable to fix our health care problems is that Congress is too busy creating the problems in the first place. That’s why the current proposals emanating from the White House and congressional Democrats won’t work either. Those proposals would hand over the most personal, private undertaking of our lives -- health care -- to the most impersonal, inefficient, and broken system in our society -- the federal bureaucracy.

These programs will only grow government, limit options, encourage waste and abuse, and ultimately lead to rationing of health care by bureaucrats and politicians in Washington. If you’ve ever wondered if there might be a better way, then my new Health Care Freedom Plan might be for you.

The plan, which I introduced last month in the Senate, is the opposite of a government takeover like HillaryCare in 1994 or ObamaCare this year. It does not force any American off of their current plan, but provides them with the ability to access and own a health plan that best meets his or her needs. Compared to the Democrats’ plan, my bill will cover more uninsured Americans, in half the time, at no cost because it will be paid for entirely by terminating the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and reclaiming the Wall Street bailout funds over the next five years.

Here’s how it works:

My plan puts individuals back in control of their health care decisions by offering every American a health care voucher -- worth $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for families -- to purchase a plan that best works for them. It doesn’t force anyone who likes their employer-sponsored health care to leave it. If you like your current plan, you can keep it. If you don’t have insurance, or if you do have insurance but might want to shop around, you can claim the voucher. My plan finally allows comparable tax benefits for those without employer-sponsored care, like small business workers and the self-employed.

The plan also breaks down barriers and creates a nationwide insurance market that doesn’t restrict individuals from purchasing insurance plans in other states. It also allows greater flexibility to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to pay for insurance premiums.

To bring down overall health care costs, my bill reduces predatory malpractice lawsuits against physicians and hospitals and brings more transparency to the industry by requiring that true costs of health care are disclosed before patients receive treatment. My plan also ensures that Americans with pre-existing health conditions would be provided access to affordable coverage through federal block grant funding of state high-risk projects.

Americans should have access to health insurance that they can afford, own, and keep -- and that the government can never take over or take away. The Health Care Freedom Plan guarantees every American’s freedom to choose and own a plan that is best for them. You can rest assured that I will continue to fight for real reforms that allow Americans to regain control of their health care choices.

Sincerely,







Charleston
112 Custom House
200 East Bay St.
Charleston, SC 29401
Phone: 843-727-4525
Fax: 843-722-4923 Columbia
1901 Main St.
Suite 1475
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: 803-771-6112
Fax: 803-771-6455 Greenville
105 North Spring St.
Suite 109
Greenville, SC 29601
Phone: 864-233-5366
Fax: 864-271-8901 Washington, D.C.
340 Russell
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6121
Fax: 202-228-5143
To E-mail Jim, CLICK HERE

Please note: correspondence sent via mail is delayed several weeks due to security screening.
For time-sensitive matters, please call or e-mail my office.

Storm Clouds on the Fourth of July

The following article was posted today on Pajamas Media by Roger L. Simon. It is a very thoughtful piece and I recommend it to everyone. To read the entire post go here.

Storm Clouds on the Fourth of July

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my country so divided and depressed on the Fourth of July in my lifetime and - no matter what Bob Dylan dreamed up - I’m not young, forever or otherwise. That includes the Vietnam War period when both sides at least had some conviction and excitement for the future, even if wrong. Not so now. The current situation is grim.
Obama is already over. In six short months the now-spattered bumper stickers with “Hope and Change” seem like pathetic remnants from the days of “23 Skidoo,” the echoes of “Yes, we can” more nauseating than ever in their cliché-ridden evasiveness. Although they may pretend otherwise, even Obama’s choir in the mainstream media seems to know he’s finished, their defenses of his wildly over-priced medical and cap-and-trade schemes perfunctory at best. Everyone knows we can’t afford them. His stimulus plan - if you could call it his, maybe it’s Geithner’s, maybe it’s someone else’s, maybe it’s not a plan at all - has produced absolutely nothing. In fact, I have met not one person of any ideology who evinces genuine confidence in it.more

There was No coup in Honduras!

I have been stewing about Honduras and the actions of the OAS and our own government. Please read the following:

July 2nd, 2009

Dear Liberty Leader,

Within the next 48 hours, the situation in Honduras will reach its most critical point yet. Deposed Marxist dictator Manuel Zelaya -- backed by Hugo Chavez, CNN, and Barack Obama's State Department -- has set the stage to try to retake power in direct defiance of that nation's Supreme Court, its legislature, and the vast majority of the Honduran people.
And if Honduras falls, the rest of Latin America -- already at risk -- will not be far behind.
That's why it is more important than ever for us as Liberty Leaders to get out the facts to all we know -- as quickly as possible.,The attached commentary from a leading Honduran attorney, Octavio Sánchez, sets the record straight. Manuel Zelaya was seeking a third term through attempting to amend a portion of the Honduran Constitution which is illegal to amend. His removal was legal and constitutional. For more background, also refer to the following legal memorandum further explaining the timeline of events as they occurred and legal complexities. Please share this information with everyone in your address book and sound the alarm for our Friends of Freedom south of the border!
Thank you!

Bill Wilson

A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense.

By Octavio Sánchez
Tegucigalpa, Honduras – Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'état.
That is nonsense.
In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.
To understand recent events, you have to know a bit about Honduras's constitutional history. In 1982, my country adopted a new Constitution that enabled our orderly return to democracy after years of military rule. After more than a dozen previous constitutions, the current Constitution, at 27 years old, has endured the longest.
It has endured because it responds and adapts to changing political conditions: Of its original 379 articles, seven have been completely or partially repealed, 18 have been interpreted, and 121 have been reformed.
It also includes seven articles that cannot be repealed or amended because they address issues that are critical for us. Those unchangeable articles include the form of government; the extent of our borders; the number of years of the presidential term; two prohibitions – one with respect to reelection of presidents, the other concerning eligibility for the presidency; and one article that penalizes the abrogation of the Constitution.
During these 27 years, Honduras has dealt with its problems within the rule of law. Every successful democratic country has lived through similar periods of trial and error until they were able to forge legal frameworks that adapt to their reality. France crafted more than a dozen constitutions between 1789 and the adoption of the current one in 1958. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since 1789. And the British – pragmatic as they are – in 900 years have made so many changes that they have never bothered to compile their Constitution into a single body of law.
Under our Constitution, what happened in Honduras this past Sunday? Soldiers arrested and sent out of the country a Honduran citizen who, the day before, through his own actions had stripped himself of the presidency.
These are the facts: On June 26, President Zelaya issued a decree ordering all government employees to take part in the "Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly." In doing so, Zelaya triggered a constitutional provision that automatically removed him from office.
Constitutional assemblies are convened to write new constitutions. When Zelaya published that decree to initiate an "opinion poll" about the possibility of convening a national assembly, he contravened the unchangeable articles of the Constitution that deal with the prohibition of reelecting a president and of extending his term. His actions showed intent.
Our Constitution takes such intent seriously. According to Article 239: "No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform [emphasis added], as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."
Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says "immediately" – as in "instant," as in "no trial required," as in "no impeachment needed."
Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America's authoritarian tradition. The Constitution's provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo.
The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya's arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day.
Don't believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions.
I am extremely proud of my compatriots. Finally, we have decided to stand up and become a country of laws, not men. From now on, here in Honduras, no one will be above the law.
Octavio Sánchez, a lawyer, is a former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras.
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Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

Is anyone minding the Store?

This You tube clip was done May 12th but I have not seen it before. We should be very scared.Every day things are looking worse.