The MLLG Collection – Short Takes

We accumulate numerous blog-worthy topics too short for an entire posting.
From time to time we present an eclectic collection of such pithy morsels. 
The MLLG Collection – Short Takes
By: George Noga – February 15, 2017
1. Veterans Administration: During the 2013 VA scandal, veterans died while waiting for appointments. In response, Congress voted an extra $15 billion to reduce wait times and to make it easier to fire bad employees. So, how is that working out? Wait times today are 50% longer. Private physicians see up to 8 times more patients than VA docs. In one VA office (Phoenix) 13 employees make over $300,000. The few employees fired for severe misconduct have been reinstated upon appeal. You shouldn’t be surprised; this is simply government as usual. Solution: abolish the VA; move veterans into Medicare and use VA facilities for long-term care and for treating PTSD.
2. Oil Prices: Prices plunged 70+% from recent highs and oil company profits dropped 50%. What happened to all the speculators and price gouging? If energy companies manipulate prices when they are high, why aren’t they doing it now? If they are villains when prices are high, aren’t they now beneficent angels? One thing is certain: when prices rise again, progressives will demonize speculators and oil companies.
3. Vaccinations: The nanny state intervenes in many aspects of family life when there is no public health or safety danger and even when risks are statistically nonexistent. They ban teeter-totters, jungle-gyms and require sawing off limbs under 8 feet high to prevent tree climbing. They ban many toys and outlaw blowing up balloons for kids under 14. They have infantilized America. Yet, in the one area (vaccinations) where government intervention truly is necessary, they are AWOL. Communicable diseases are spreading like wildfire but government panders to anti-science movie stars and progressives ensconced in liberal enclaves who are spreading disease. If the push back were coming from evangelicals in flyover America, the reaction would be different.
4. Source of World Peace: Peace among nations is not achieved by disarmament, weakness or even by treaties. The rare times when peace prevailed was when it was imposed by a powerful nation, e.g,, Pax Mongolica, Pax Romana, Pax Brittannia and, until recently, the Pax Americana. The clear lesson is that peace is not the absence of power but it is a condition imposed by power. War is a terrible thing, but not the worst thing. It is worse to believe that nothing, even loss of freedom, is worth fighting for.
5. Obamacare Not Insurance: One stupid-crazy part of Obamacare is not often discussed. The ACA covers 100% of many small, ordinary and predictable medical expenses such as flu shots, annual physicals, birth control and 15-20 other procedures. However, if you break a leg, the ACA subjects you to high deductibles and copays. This turns insurance on its head; routine expenses are fully covered but a serious injury, when you really need insurance, can cost over $20,000 in deductible and copays. This is akin to your homeowners insurance paying in full for broken windows but charging you $20,000 in deductible and copays if your house burns to the ground.
6. Chick-fil-A: Progressive mayors of many liberal enclaves (New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago) are trying to ban Chick-fil-A because its owner once opposed gay marriage – as did Barack Obama at that same time. Perhaps mayors of conservative cities should ban Ben & Jerry’s for its socialistic views. It would be interesting to see progressives’ reaction to such a move. Why stop there? Why not have only liberal companies permitted in California and only conservative companies in Texas?

Next on February 19th is our post: Americans voting with their feet.