Monthly Archives: June 2010

Barack Obama: First Female President?

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I was listening to WMAL’s The Grandy Group this morning on my commute into work, and they were discussing Kathleen Parker’s recent op-ed in The Washington Post, where she makes the clear comparison to how President Barack Obama is acting like a woman in terms of his leadership. During their discussion, many callers were agreeing with Parker’s statements and citing Obama’s lack of leadership with the BP crisis, along with other issues.

The question still remains: Does President Obama act like a female? Good question and one whose answer should not be taken lightly. This is also a topic that requires sensitivity.

While I agree with a few of the points raised in Ms. Parker’s op-ed, I would not go as far to say that Obama is the first female President. After all, he does not meet the gender requirements (though, you could imagine that this opens the doors for a new movement…the gender-izers) for this title. To say, that he acts like a female, this would mean offending many, myself included. Females are strong, sensitive, and personable. I mean, we take care of family (round-the-clock…you know, cooking, cleaning, keeping the house in order…i.e., the 24-hour shift), friends, and working outside the home. Obama does not fit that criteria by a long shot, as he is the Commander-in-Chief of our country…a full-time job with little to no explanation and one that requires leadership.

Ms. Parker was right in one area is that Obama should take more incentive in being a leader, rather than shying away from his elected duties. When Obama heard about the BP oil spill, his response was “Plug the Damn Hole.” It was masculine, but instead of taking the leadership role, he has shied away and focusing on other more important matters…playing golf, taking the Russian President to a burger joint. It appears that Obama is insecure about his leadership abilities and is delegating his job to Congress, who seems to have more power at this point than the President.

Perhaps, it is time for Obama to realize that being President requires strong leadership and determination. Instead of taking time off to play golf, Obama should be down in Louisiana working to solve the BP crisis or working to improve the economy (this is the top issue concerning Americans right now). If he continues this path, it does not bode well for his re-election chances come 2012.

Haymarket Hospital Site Runs into Problems

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In April, I began covering the plans to build a hospital in Haymarket, Va. Both Prince William Hospital System (PWHS), a Novant company, and Sentara Health Care were competing to build a hospital in Western Prince William County. The Prince William plan was approved unanimously by the Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia in April, while the Sentara application was denied. Sentara Health Care withdrew their application after this decision.

The residents of the Gainesville/Haymarket area have been extremely supportive of Prince William Hospital System’s decision to build a hospital in their community, with the commute times and population growth being their main concerns. The proposed Prince William Hospital in Haymarket is designed to support and supplement the services provided by the existing Prince William Hospital at Heathcote, which is considered one of Virginia’s safety-net hospitals. This hospital site also has the support of State Senator Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas), Delegate Jackson Miller (R-Manassas), Manassas Mayor Harry Parrish, Prince William County Sheriff Glen Hill, and others.

Fast forward to June, the Commonwealth of Virginia is now deciding the fate of Prince William Hospital System’s application to build a hospital in Haymarket. Right now, the fate is not looking too good for PWHS, as the Division of Certificate of Public Need (COPN) recommended that the State Health Commissioner, Karen Remley, deny PWHS’ application to build. Why would the Division of COPN stand in the way of the proposed hospital? The staff director in the COPN division has questions based on the area’s population growth and does not think that the transportation problems warranted a hospital.

Drive times are another concern and are among the top criteria in deciding whether to build a new hospital. For someone going to the nearest hospital in Manassas (Prince William Hospital), it takes anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour to get to the hospital. This is particularly critical, especially if there is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate attention. DCOPN makes the claim that hospitals in Northern Virginia are already under utilized but when you look at very specific data. That is a broad brush overview of the region. When you examine the data specifically in Prince William County, it is the second largest County in the planning district with 20% of the population, yet it only has 12% of the available hospital bed space. This presents an obvious problem for one of Virginia’s fastest growing counties.

It appears that there is a disconnect between Richmond and the rest of the state. How would the COPN Division know what is best for the residents of Western Prince William County?

This will be one of the first COPN applications that will be reviewed under the McDonnell administration. While the final decision rests with the Health Commissioner, the Governor and HHR Secretary Bill Hazel should remind Commissioner Remley of the challenges that NOVA residents face everyday because of serious traffic congestion before any final decisions are made. The COPN regulations provide flexibility to the Health Commissioner regarding the criteria considered in this process. The criteria include: the recommendation of a local health planning agency, community support, and local travel times to hospitals exceeding 30 minutes.

The final decision was to be made by June 30; however, because of the high volume of COPN applications, it may be delayed by a few months into the fall.

Maywood, Mexico

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From Human Events:

Boasting a population that is 97% Hispanic, more than half foreign born, and 40% illegal, the Los Angeles County, Calif., incorporated city of Maywood has achieved the Reconquista goal. It is now as lawless and chaotic as any place in Mexico. Maywood is a warning to every city and town in America.

The Maywood City Council announced this week that after years of radical policies, corruption and scandal, the city was broke and all city employees would be laid off and essential city services contracted out to neighboring cities or to L.A. County government.

How did this happen?

Click here and find out.

Stop Spending…The Return of Rick Santelli

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Rick Santelli, the guy who began the tea party movement, is back. This time, he returns with a call that the President and Congress should pay particular attention to…”Stop Spending, Stop Spending, Stop Spending.” The only way we are going to get out of the deficit is to cut wasteful spending and funding of wasteful programs at the Federal level.

States of Crisis for 46 Governments Facing Greek-Style Deficits

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From Bloomberg.

This article focuses mostly on California while containing a few interesting remarks about the rest of the states:

Even as the U.S. appears to be on the mend — gross domestic product has climbed three straight quarters — finances in Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and other states show few signs of improvement. Forty-six states face budget shortfalls that add up to $112 billion for the fiscal year ending next June, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research institution. State spending is 12 percent of U.S. GDP.

Stay tuned to see whether the next few quarters eat up these apparent gains.

Now, listen for the call for austerity:

“States are going to have to cut back spending and raise taxes the same way Greece and Spain are,” says Dean Baker, co- director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “That runs counter to stimulating the economy and will put a big damper on the recovery in the latter half of this year.”

Does anyone wonder whether the states are going to get more tax revenue from the growing number of unemployed citizens?

It looks like one of the last legs propping the states up is about to give:

State budget woes are a worsening drag on growth as the federal government tries to wean the economy from two years of extraordinary support. By Jan. 1, funds from the $787 billion federal stimulus bill will dry up. That money from Washington has helped cushion state budgets as tax revenue has plunged.

State leaders won’t be able to ride out this cycle the way they have in the past. The budget holes are too large. For the first time since 1962, sales and income tax revenue fell for five straight quarters, through December 2009, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York at Albany.

Lawmakers need to overhaul tax policy, underfunded public pensions and entitlement spending programs such as Medicaid if they want to establish long-term plans that will foster growth, says former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

If they fail to act, state fiscal positions will steadily erode and hurt the U.S. economy through 2060, according to a March 2010 report prepared for Congress by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Now, that sound like a long time.  I hope Americans know that while they are loafing around in the streets, homeless and starving, that they still have to pay their fair share.

Forget about Recovering Lost Jobs

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Vice President Joe Biden is known for making all kinds of interesting remarks, ranging from hilarious to really dumb. However, his remarks from a campaign stop on Friday were truthful and albeit, honest. He said, “there’s no possibility to restore 8 million jobs lost in the Great Recession.” Unfortunately, he is right.

With the recent display by the federal government to spend to excess and the possibility of taxes being raised on the horizon, it is no wonder why we can not restore this massive job loss. Wasteful spending, enacting more financial regulations, and raising taxes are no way towards prosperity or solving a budget deficit.

Recently, the New York Times ran an article about whether the Obama Administration and Congress can create jobs without additional stimulus legislation. Of the experts questioned, there was more mention about putting free market principles to work, rather than relying on wasteful spending and additional bailouts. Easing regulations and reducing taxes were other suggestions. These are the examples Obama should be seeking, not enacting stricter regulations, wasteful spending measures, etc.

We need to put America back to work, and it is unfortunate that the Democrats in control of Washington would rather tax and spend, than address the unemployment issue by utilizing free market principles.

RIP Senator Robert Byrd

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This morning, U.S. Senator Robert Byrd died at the age of 92. My thoughts and prayers go to his family during this difficult time. He served his country and West Virginia in Congress for 60 years. Even though, I did not agree with his positions, his long service is admirable.

His death leaves a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. There are two questions about what will happen to his seat:

-Will West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin declare an immediate vacancy today?
-Will Manchin wait until after July 5 to appoint a successor to the seat?

If a special election is declared, this could favor the GOP. One of the strongest contenders for the GOP would be Rep. Shelley Moore-Capito. Moore-Capito has strong recognition in her district, as well as throughout the state.

If Manchin appoints someone to fill the seat, will he appoint himself? If not, who has the recognition to represent West Virginia in the open Senate seat?

Small People, Gulf War Casualties

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From a brief account:

When David Arnesen reported that the other men were so sick they were cutting their shrimping trips short and heading home, his wife knew something strange was happening. Shrimpers work through illness, she says, because a trip cut short can cost a shrimper thousands of dollars.

She says the men had all the same symptoms at the same time — vomiting, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath. Could it be a coincidence?

“I don’t believe in coincidence. It would be one thing if one of them got sick. It would maybe be OK if two got sick,” she says. “When everyone’s getting sick all at the same time, that’s not coincidence”

When asked at a news conference Sunday about people getting sick while out on the Gulf, BP CEO Tony Hayward had his own theory.

“Food poisoning is clearly a big issue,” HE said. “It’s something we’ve got to be very mindful of.”

Arnesen says there’s no way her husband and the men on the other boats had fallen victim to food poisoning, noting the men were on eight boats and didn’t eat the same food.

The night her husband became ill, Arnesen says, she tried to get him to come home like the other shrimpers, but he refused. He stayed out fishing from 6 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next morning, and came home so sick he collapsed into his recliner without eating dinner or saying hello to her or the children.

“It’s a nasty cough. I literally woke him up over and over again,” she says. “It didn’t sound like he was getting enough air.

At first, David refused to see a doctor, but after three weeks of coughing and feeling weak, he agreed to go. His wife says he was diagnosed with respiratory problems and prescribed medicines, including an antibiotic and cough medicines.

She says while he’s feeling better, he still doesn’t have the energy he used to have.

“Here we are over a month later and he’s still not completely well,” she says.