Michael Steele & Co are here in Honolulu for the GOP Winter Meeting starting tomorrow at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Yes, on the agenda is the Purity Test:


(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;
(2) Market-based health care reform and opposing Obama-style government run health care;
(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) Workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

oddly, hawaii has some kind of health care system in which just about everyone is covered, mostly by employers? (though you can obviously tell us more)

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Why are conservatives so hell bent on bringing this 'smaller government' into a persons private life? They need to kick the religious wack jobs out of the party.

Also, nice words but what's theirp plan? Exactly how do they plan on containing the little midget in SE Asia and the mental midget in the ME? Do they have a plan that they have not shared with the rest of the world?

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Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

added to this irony... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_care_reform

Think that's odd . . . consider the healtcare plan in MA.

Hawaii's healthcare system, recently lauded by Rush himself, is a combination of employer subsidized (some 100%, others have an employee contribution) benefit for full time employees and their dependents and a state medicare/medicaid system for welfare recipients. Briefly, it does increase business costs, however it has resulted in uncrowded ERs and significant advances in wellness and longevity in the state. Tradeoffs galore.

It's a club. You get benefits and you have rules. Can anybody join your club if they don't want to abide by certain guiding principles? Can you join NAMBLA if you are trying to shut them down? Can I join the Black Lawyers groups if I am neither black or a lawyer? Can I believe in all of those things above and join the DNC? Can I believe in equal rights for all and join the White Aryan Nation?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
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91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
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04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
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As opposed to the liberals wanting to stay out of our private lives? It is we who are asking them in when you ask them to manage this, that or the other for you. If you want to live in Dad & Mom's house, you don't argue that their curfew is unreasonable if they choose to dig their heels in. When I went to live with the folks for a month because I was on vacation visiting, I lived under their rules. If I didn't want to, I could go live in a motel. IT was that simple.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

But at what price do those tradeoffs come? You know when I don't believe someone? When they tell me all the good stuff but none of the bad. That is the hallmark of a used car salesman. Car gets excellent mileage, great shape, good engine, gently used, easy payments, etc, etc. A good thing you have going is that you don't have too many illegals sucking up resources, do you? The rest of the states have that issue because we are too stupid to turn away those that cannot afford it which leads them to the ER and it gets clogged up. Sorry, if you insist on throwing stuff down the toilet that wasn't meant to be there, you have to accept that it clogs up here and there.

As I always ask, who would manage the system if the govt runs it? The same group that gives us the national debt? Or the shady accounting practices of transferring money from one pool to another? Govt is acceptable as a watcher. As a player in the game, not so good.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

yes, as one of the tea party guys said: " keep the government's hands off of medicare."

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Makes sense if you think about it. Why would I want something I benefit from to be more screwed up? If I am getting it in the end by Bubba once a day, do I want him to go at me twice a day?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

???

(lovely visual image, by the way, reminds me of the movie "deliverance")

(uh, medicare is a program run by... the u.s. government since about 1965)

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

I know that. However, the more they mess with it, the worse it will get. Just like the Bubba example. Bad enough to have to submit to him once. I'd avoid the 2nd time if I can. So yes, while it might be a PITA today, it can be worse if they try "help" us out. Might not be apparent in that program but it will come back to bite us at some other point. So yes, leave it alone.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

We do have illegal immigration here, even from Mexico, although the majority is from Asia and South Pacific, but since health insurance is essentially universal here for workers and those on welfare, you better have a pretty good excuse for showing up at an ER without coverage.

The obvious trade off is that group plan healthcare costs are business expenses, however it's a level playing field if all employers have to play by the same rules. The system isn't run by the government, it's all handled by the HMO, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, etc. that are licensed to do business in the state.

I wouldn't think it is as bad as the border states, is it? How do you have illegals running across the border that much when there is a lot of water around you? With universal coverage, having people not clog up the ERs is a benefit. HOWEVER, you did pay for it by giving them something they didn't earn. Kinda like me bribing my kid to mow the lawn and being happy that the grass is cut without me breaking into a sweat. We paid for it already.

Do the HMOs, BCBS, govt, etc, etc, pay for the leaches that can't afford it? IF so, that might be the not so obvious trade off. A reduction in the motivation for them to better themselves and a loss of an example of someone who cannot and/or will not better themselves.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

We're a state of barely over a million residents, so in proportion, the "undocumented" population may be comparable to the rest of the nation. The service providers are the ones that "eat the bills" and they are also the ones that get squeezed by the insurance reimbursement schedules. Like I said, there are trade offs galore to get to the health benefits of having nearly universal coverage.