Making the Case for Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines

The federalist makes a good case in rebutting one of its own. The case for competition across state lines between insurers is not between different companies, who will always compete on prices and services but in state regulations. Laws and regs will always cause price and quality to vary and allow for states to compete just as the insurers do. 

Clancy argues – correctly – that what Republicans really want is not so much competition among insurers, but competition among regulatory regimes; undoubtedly more insurers would already offer a wider array of policy options if not for governmental mandates requiring, say, “mandatory maternity services for single men“. He also notes that such competition is mostly unnecessary in the life and auto insurance markets because states don’t regulate those policies as heavily and just let people transfer their policies from their prior state of residence. (On the other hand, it’s hardly unknown for people to keep cars registered, often illegally, in a state other than where they live in order to evade taxes and fees).

Where they clash is on taxation of these services:

But Clancy goes astray in analogizing to taxation: 

Imagine if we let people pick their “governing state” with respect to taxes instead of insurance. I could, for example, opt to pay South Dakota’s dirt-cheap tax rates while still living, and using the roads and police, in high-tax New York. Why would New York stand for that? Why should it? Under our Constitution, state sovereignty isn't a suggestion, it’s the law. 

The problem here is that taxation exists to benefit the state, and to finance the services it provides to its citizens. It is for that reason that New York has plenary power to require New Yorkers to fork over a portion of their income or property to support our government. It is also for that reason that the Constitution denies New York the power to tax persons and business activities outside its borders and requires that taxes be “fairly apportioned” to the taxpayer’s presence and conduct in the state; other states will tax who and what appears within their own borders. If New York taxpayers are allowed to pay South Dakota, New York cannot retaliate by taxing South Dakotans. 

But voluntary health insurance transactions are for the benefit of the insured, not the State. New York suffers no injury to its sovereign power if I buy an insurance policy offered in Delaware, any more than if I order a computer manufactured in Texas. Indeed, if you assume insurance is commerce (more on this below), New York would be prohibited under the Dormant Commerce Clause – on grounds of discrimination against interstate commerce – from barring me from buying an out-of-state insurance policy were it not for the fact that Congress, in the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945, specifically permitted individual states to have exclusive control over the regulation of the insurance business within their borders (a statute passed in response to a Supreme Court decision that had permitted insurers to be subject to the federal antitrust laws). Changing any of that remains within Congress’ power.

This is an idea that the left adopts and mystifies me: Taxes are there for the state. The state is not the same as the people who reside in that state. While I may benefit from things like roads and bridges, I do not get money handed to me, I pay money to the state in exchange for these services. When I buy something in another state, they act like I'm stealing from the state I live in. While I do want to support local business, I honestly could care less if I am supporting local taxes. Indeed I want to pay as little tax as possible, no matter where I live.

If a state wants revenue, it will make it attractive to people to do commerce in that state by lowering it's taxes and simplifying the regulations. This will bring economic activity and the sheer volume of that will more than overcome any reduction in rates. Until guys like Krugtron can understand that, we will continue to be slaves to the state, rather than cooperatively working together to have the state provide basic services and a level playing field. Otherwise, it should leave us and our choices of health insurance alone.

Good pair of articles.

Mother Jones finally Realizing Keystone Might be Better than Oil Rail Cars Exploding

Seriously, if Mother Jones is starting to wake up (emphasis on "starting") how long to get Obama on board? You telling me that a pipeline is worse than rail cars full of oil exploding?

Early on the morning of July 6, 2013, a runaway freight train derailed in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, setting off a series of massive explosions and inundating the town in flaming oil. The inferno destroyed the downtown area; 47 people died. 

The 72-car train had been carrying nearly 2 million gallons of crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken fields. While the recent surge in domestic oil production has raised concerns about fracking, less attention has been paid to the billions of gallons of petroleum crisscrossing the country in "virtual pipelines" running through neighbor­hoods and alongside waterways. Most of this oil is being shipped in what's been called "the Ford Pinto of rail cars"—a tank car whose safety flaws have been known for more than two decades. 

... 

Not waiting for a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, oil companies are also building rail terminals in Canada's tar sands region. The Association of American Railroads says that the vast majority of rail shipments arrive without incident. But more oil on the rails has also meant more spills. Trains leaked more crude in 2013 than all years since 1971 combined. (These figures don't include the Lac-Mégantic disaster, in which 1.6 million gallons of oil spilled.)

Rachel Carson would be 107 Today, Not Sure How Old the Malaria Victims Would Be

Google's doodle today:

This is to celebrate Rachel Carson's birthday, who would be 107 today. She wrote "Silent Sprint" that got DDT outlawed. I highly recommend John Berlau's "Eco Freaks" book detailing the damage the removal of DDT has wrought. Here is some of his findings:

3. But DDT was once nicknamed “Double Death Twice” in the popular press. What happened to people exposed to higher than normal amounts of DDT? 

Studies show they turned out fine, and the experiences of some folks makes me wonder if exposure to DDT actually prolongs your life. Joseph Jacobs was a chemist directing the effort to mass-produce DDT to protect World War II soldiers from insect-borne disease. In the rush to get the first shipment out the door, a valve that Jacobs happened to be standing under was accidentally opened, and Jacobs was soon covered with hot DDT. Jacobs did indeed die – more than 60 years later at the tender young age of 88. He would go on to build a top engineering firm, write books, and have a family. But he always considered his role in the early production of DDT as one of his greatest accomplishments. The story is same for others, including one man who is still alive at 97. (A lot longer than Carson lived. Maybe she should have had some DDT herself. -- Yoda) 

4. But what about birds and forests. Doesn’t DDT do a lot of damage there? 

DDT can be harmful if used in excess, but application of DDT has also saved many trees from insect infestations and may be partly responsible for an increase in bird populations. Starting in the late ‘40s, it was sprayed on elm trees to successfully stave off predatory beetles spreading Dutch Elm disease. After DDT was banned, the U.S. population of elm trees fell by more than half, and many American towns have few of the elms that once lined their streets. DDT also saved Oregon’s “old-growth” Douglas fir trees, home for the celebrated spotted owl, from devastation by tussock moths in 1974. 

In some of the instances where DDT was alleged to have killed birds, other factors – from excess hunting to mercury poisoning – were more likely the real culprits. Further, the bird population would often increase in areas spread with DDT as there were fewer insects to spread bird diseases. Ironically, today the mosquito-borne West Nile virus is killing many of the birds – including robins, condors, eagles and peregrine falcons – alleged to have been harmed by DDT. Yet greens still oppose most spraying programs that use any type of pesticide to fend off mosquitoes.

"We Don't Take Obamacare." Family was Told.. But at Least it Cost More

Yes the insurance appeared to be cheaper. But if nobody takes it and you get no return for your money, the cost-benefit ratio is sky high.

 But the Robinsons soon learned the HMO Blue Cross Blue Shield plan they pay about $375 each month for wasn't quite what they expected. 

For example, when it came to finding an obstetrician in Texas for their upcoming baby earlier this year, Rachel said she called all 28 practices listed as acceptable options for their plan, but could find none to take her as a patient. 

“Some would just come right out and say, ‘We don’t take Obamacare,’” she said. ”Or the best one was, ‘The doctor takes it here at the actual practice, but whatever hospital you use … does not take that insurance.’”

Obamacare doesn't work. All the cries of "Racism" won't help a couple pay for the baby they are trying to have, or pay for the hospital visits after a car crash or any number of other things. These are the realities and as John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." 

New Site Name, Same Great Taste

We are now www.conservativeyoda.com. The old link will still work but we are looking to update a bit. We'll be doing a site redesign and maybe moving from here to Wordpress as they do better with the podcasting. Thanks for your support and if you like what's happening here, spread the word!

@Toure May Be the Most Hateful Stupid Person at MSNBC... and That's Saying Something

What makes me so upset? This twit.. I mean tweet:

The power of whiteness: RT @hope_and_chains: My family survived a concentration camp, came to the US w/ nothing, LEGALLY, and made it work.
— Touré (@Toure) May 23, 2014

Surviving the holocaust is skin color based now? Even if he means making it work coming over here was somehow a white power, I'd like him to go to some of the poor white areas and tell me all about the "power of whiteness."

Toure I would assume thinks that racism is bad. To use racism to fight it however makes him a grade A hypocrite. In our last podcast, we spoke of not moving the conversation forward because of tainted thinking. Jill Abramson couldn't get past the idea of victims and oppressors. In the modern era, this is outdated thinking. Sure, in Iran, Nigeria, Burma, and most of the Islamic dictatorships there are victims and oppressors, a cause Toure doesn't seem to muster a lot of enthusiasm for. But being white is not a superpower. I truly believe that Toure thinks this video is real:

It's not. It's satire Toure. It's damn funny satire showing that perhaps your view of a black and white race based world is absurd. Progressives like Toure haven't actually progressed. They are living in the past and cannot see past skin color. It's sad. At least free speech has let us identify this idiot for the racist he really is.

Obamacare Incompetence Roundup

Cover Oregon Director was shown the door after the mess that was Oregon's Obamacare website. His punishment? He still gets to collect his 14k a month paycheck.

The resignation was “effective immediately,” said officials in the governor’s office. 

Or so we thought. 

It turns out, Goldberg never really left and is now drawing a full-time salary from the state. Oregon officials confirm Goldberg returned to full-time status at the Oregon Health Authority on May 15 and will use his accrued vacation pay until July 18. 

He’s getting paid $14,425 a month.

The administration won't release enrollment numbers anymore anyway so Oregon's failure sounds like it's the tip of the iceberg.

During the initial open enrollment period, the Obama administration released monthly enrollment reports that — even if they were exasperatingly incomplete and/or doctored in what data they chose to reveal — gave us at least some sort of idea of what was going on with the president’s crowning legislative achievement. Now that the Obama administration has that alleged 8 million sing-ups number to tout, however, they evidently no longer feel the need to even keep up the pretense of releasing regular reports on the law’s progress.

Well we lied about the initial numbers so why keep giving them? It interrupts our being lazy.

One of the reasons they touted having Obamacare was that people without coverage would use emergency rooms since they didn't have insurance. Now that 8 million do (uh-huh) at least the frequency of visits would go down now, right? Nope.

The ObamaCare boosters in the mainstream liberal media are once again avoiding negative news on the health care law’s unintended consequences. According to a study released Wednesday by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), emergency room visits are on the rise, in spite of promises to the contrary by supporters of ObamaCare.

Well don't worry. With all the money they haven't saved, they've used it to buy 21 helicopters for just one president. Like Mr. Burns said "I like to put my feet up."

There is much huffing and puffing by Navy officers and elected officials that such a debacle will not recur — and it may not. And yet… Gizmag reports that this is “initial US$1.24 billion contract is for six S-92 helicopters and two trainer simulators for the US Marine Corps as part of a development and conversion program that will see a fleet of 21 aircraft built for presidential use by 2023.” 

$1.24 billion is a lot of money.  For six helicopters and two simulators. 

Then, presumably, many more dollars to scale up to 21 “aircraft built for presidential use.” 

This columnist might find no sum excessive to protect the United States of America from (to appropriate and adapt a phrase from MoveOn.org) the three most frightening words in the English language, “President Joe Biden.” Yet … the delivery of these craft will occur much too late to fulfill such a noble mission. 

And… 21? 

To transport one president? 

Really?

Really. The boy king needs his carriages.

Carpool Conversations Episode IV (and V?) Double Sized #Podcast - New York Times, Batman, and Indiana Jones

Part 1


Part 2


So we went a little haywire and decided on a double sized podcast. We start out with the Time firing Jill Abramson (Yes, I looked up her name later.) She may have or not have a case regarding her pay but the point we are trying to make is beyond that, we are talking about the liberal mindset and how it taints these kinds of discussions.

Then we dovetail into the Agents of Shield and the differences between the DC and Marvel attempts at creating franchises, and finally into Batman, the Man of Steel, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

We'll get a little more into politics the next time. Maybe. Or not. Who knows, these aren't scripted folks. Enjoy!

Download Part I
Download Part II

Krugtron proved wrong again! Said VA is model of Health Care in 2011

Ah Paul. What would we do without you. Oh right, we would be able accurately inform the public.

Oops, in 2011 Krugman pointed to VA as model for health reform. I'm making it a picture so more people will look. pic.twitter.com/O47JXbw85U
— Robert P. Murphy (@BobMurphyEcon) May 22, 2014

How does this man continue working?

Here's the point: No matter how good a government run service starts, it will always descend into chaos because, as George Will said, when there is no penalty for failure, failure will run rampant.

How Many Misstatements can Obama Make In One Article? Let's See....

Via Breitbart:

“The problem is not that the Democrats are overly ideological -- because the truth of the matter is, is that the Democrats in Congress have consistently been willing to compromise and reach out to the other side,” Obama said.

Sure they have.

“All of you look the same and I look like Morgan Freeman,” he said after pointing out some of his old friends from his days in Chicago.

Let's link me to a trusted actor whose played a president with gravitas in the movies. Let's put that false equivalence in your mind.

“There’s a tendency to say, a plague on both your houses. But the truth of the matter is that the problem in Congress is very specific,” he added, citing the Republican Party.

Yeah, it's all Republican's fault. No fault on your side at all. You didn't just overhaul the health care system and make it worse completely on party lines.

Obama explained that he was committed to addressing climate, but Republicans continued to “deny the science.”

Only science I agree with is accurate.

 “And I know it's hard to talk about global warming here in Chicago after this winter,” he joked. “But everybody here understands that it's changing weather patterns that are at stake here, with potentially devastating, catastrophic consequences.”

We know it's been colder lately, like for the last 2 decades, but really. It's warming. Trust me.

Jay Rockefeller makes Salient, Cogent, and Thoughtful Points on Why Critics Don't Like Obamacare: They're Racists

Guys, it's getting beyond comical.

Via HotAir:

Two noteworthy details here. One: Rockefeller couldn’t be more casual in lobbing his grenade. He’s not out at a fundraiser with a drink in his hand, mindlessly babbling to some reporter with his guard down. He’s at an actual Senate hearing with a Republican senator sitting right in front of him, and yet it’s bombs away — and not for the first time. Congressional rules of decorum forbid swearing and personal insults, but if you want to charge the other side with racism for questioning Obama’s pet boondoggle, fire away. Two: Unlike most instances where this accusation is made, the target was present and eager to respond. Watch the very beginning and then the last few minutes of the second clip to see Johnson hit back. I would have walked out if I were him, but admittedly, his approach is smarter.

He says "It's not something you're meant to talk about in public." Really? It seems like you guys can't wait to talk about it ad nauseum. Second, the failure of Obamacare is documented. The broken promise of "you can keep your health care" is well known. So. We criticize a law that's unsuccessful and that's racism. So should we have assumed failure? Is expecting success racist by their measure? So it's racist to assume competence from a black man? That expecting failure and incompetence is somehow not racist? Then who are the real racists?

Sorry Senator Byrd. How could I believe that dems are the real racists? That's just crazy.

I'm Not Telling You Where I Stand Until You Elect Me

Why would you vote for someone who won't answer a simple question?

Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic challenger to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, refuses to say whether she would have voted for Obamacare. Asked the question twice directly by the Associated Press on Wednesday, she dodged it both times.

If you vote for someone who won't answer a question about a vote she will never actually have to make, what does that say about you? Is party above all for you? This is mystifying to me, even if she says she would have at the time, she could explain it with "but I understand now that it is flawed and it needs to be overhauled" or SOMETHING. Instead she only shows herself to be a gutless coward who will only take a stand for political expediency.

Why would you want someone like that in office, no matter which party they are representing?  

And yet People Still Defend this Dirtbag: Obama didn't Actually Give Back 5% of Salary

Yup. Don't you even think about feigning surprise.

Obama promised last April to take a 5 percent pay cut in “solidarity” with federal employees who were furloughed as a result of the automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester. The cut was meant to equate to the level of spending cuts imposed on nondefense federal agencies. 

“The president has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury,” a White House official said at the time. 

According to his tax returns, Obama is still receiving the presidential salary of $400,000 per year. Last year, he earned $394,796 in wages from the Defense Financing and Accounting Service (DFAS-CIVPAY), which handles the salaries for civilian members of the Defense Department.

Of course he didn't. A meaningless gesture that really, wouldn't cost him anything. He would make it all back after his term in speaking engagements and whatnot. But even this little bread crumb of a promise, even if it was a cynical ploy to garner sympathy (which it was), he couldn't even execute on that. But sure, let him overhaul the health care system. He's more than competent.

Yeesh.

**Update**
Jay Carney "believes he did." Well. Then it must be true.

Carpool Conversations Episode III: Free speech, Racism and The Transformers

Episode III: Revenge of Michael Bay

So check out some of the articles I wrote on Blind Squirrel as well as Toure's ridiculous reactions to the tea party. We wrap it up with a discussion on Michael Bay and his destruction of the Transformers movies. Enjoy! Download here

What? Interact with Those Filthy Racists in The Tea Party? Toure says "Unpossible!"

Toure is such a racist, it's unbelievable this man gets a forum on a major network. But then it's MSNBC so he fits right in. Look at the incredulity on his face, it doesn't even register to him that the tea party is animated by anything other than racism. 

If you shut down an entire group and paint them with a broad brush and you believe they are all one race, what exactly does that make you? 

Toure. 

Blind Squirrel Part III: New York Times sees Obamacare Might Be *gasp* Causing Less Choice

Three Stories showing liberals aren't all on board the liberal train now? Is that a trend? I hope so. We'll see.

From the NY Times(!): 

 In the midst of all the turmoil in health care these days, one thing is becoming clear: No matter what kind of health plan consumers choose, they will find fewer doctors and hospitals in their network — or pay much more for the privilege of going to any provider they want.

It's amazing to see these all starting to pile up lately. Obama and the liberal agenda in general may be showing cracks. The results of Obamacare are plain to see. The political correctness shutting down free speech is really starting to get to people. The idea that every criticism of liberalism can be answered with "RACIST!" is starting to ring hollow. Is this the beginning of the end? Let's hope so, as the we can't shift to the right too soon.

Blind Squirrel Part II: Bill Maher (Bill Maher?!?!) Defends Free Speech

Well when he's right, he's right. I may disagree with most of everything Bill says but in this case (starting at 2:15) he is absolutely right.

Free speech and privacy in your home should be sacred. We should be able to say any fool thing we want and not be wondering if someone is taping us so we can get our stuff taken away. Donald Sterling may be an ass but the method he got taken down was a little scary.

Via HotAir:

Must we live on constant hair-trigger alert, prepared to pronounce ourselves grievously offended at the drop of a hat?  The whole thing is exhausting.  It’s suffocating.  I happen to be a believer in the Golden Rule.  If we all generally made an effort to treat one another the way we’d prefer to be treated ourselves — even in the midst of sharp disagreements — the world would be a far better place. I’m also a devotee of free speech, and an imperfect defender of our (theoretically) open and pluralistic society. We ought to “live and let live” to the greatest extent possible, model our morals and values as best we’re able, and work to persuade each other of the best course forward for our government and society at large. We have regular elections to resolve some of these disputes. But we’ve lost something when a ruthless, conformity-enforcing circus is poised ’round the clock to pounce upon controversies and banish heretics.

The religious persecutors willing to brand a person with a scarlett "R" are now on the left. This didn't go too well for the original moralizing christians, the left had better start learning from that. Because if you are losing Bill Maher, it's time to re-evaluate.

Carpool Conversations -- #Podcast Episode II

Episode II: Attack of the Jobs Report. Well we had some fun with this one. We talk about the unemployment rate, Enron, corruption and wrap it up with a review of the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Enjoy! Download here

Update: Apologies for error on embed. You should be working now.

Here is the link I spoke about referencing the 60 Minutes piece on Medicare/Medicaid blowing 65 billion a year.

The EPA, soon to be Enforcing the Global Warming Initiatives, Are Clean and Pure as the Wind Driven Snow Are Just another Corrupt Federal Agency

You know, the usual tripe:

"This is truly a broken agency," committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said, adding that the employee problems have gotten to the point of being "intolerable."  

The committee revealed several startling allegations and cases shared by the inspector general's office. In one case, an employee was getting paid for one or two years after moving to a retirement home, where the employee allegedly did not work. When an investigation began, the worker was simply placed on sick leave.  

In another case, an employee with multiple-sclerosis was allowed to work at home for the last 20 years. However, for the past five years, she allegedly produced no work -- though she was paid roughly $600,000. She retired after an investigation.  

In yet another case, an employee was accused of viewing pornography for two-to-six hours a day since 2010. An IG probe found the worker had 7,000 pornographic files on his EPA computer. 

And so on. These people have power over our lives. They institute regulations that might as well be laws. These regulations don't go through congress because they have better things to do like personal attacks on private citizens:

“While the Koch brothers admit to not being experts on the matter, these billionaire oil tycoons are certainly experts at contributing to climate change. That’s what they do very well. They are one of the main causes of this. Not a cause, one of the main causes.” -- Harry Reid on the Senate Floor May 7th, 2014.

Actually, the report lists Koch Industries at 24 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (CO2 equivalent emissions), which puts the company at 27th on the list, responsible for 0.36 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Exxon Mobil landed in 14th place, with 39 million tons, Dow Chemical was 44th with 15 million tons and GE was not on the list. Combined, those companies actually had more than double the emissions of Koch Industries.

 Meh, who gives a shit about facts, honesty, decency, or any of that crap. We got a country to fleece. I mean run. Whatevs.

Remember how Massachusetts was the Template for Obamacare? Well Let's Hope So

... as they are pulling the plug. Well kind of. But some destruction is better than none at this point:

The Patrick administration will hire yet another outside company to try to salvage the state’s disastrous Obamacare website as it tries to avoid the embarrassment of a federal takeover. 

Virginia-based hCentive — which has worked on the Colorado and Kentucky Obamacare exchanges — will develop software to fix the Bay State’s site by open enrollment in November, the Massachusetts Health Connector announced. …

Ok, it's just the website. But there is something symbolic about this. How long before the feds finally pull the plug? After Scott Walker wins the presidency with a republican majority and they tear the shit out of it?

One can hope.

Blind Squirrel finds a Nut

So the Daily Beast admits that maybe probably kind of sorta being against big government isn't really racist. I mean, of course republicans are racists (that goes without saying but we'll say it ad nauseum anyway) but this particular opinion of big government may not be totally completely one hundred percent racist per se.

First we make sure you know that that Republican's have always been associated with racism and always will be:

There’s no question that some of the past associations are ugly. To the extent that many Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians look back kindly on Barry Goldwater’s 1964 shellacking at the hands of Lyndon Johnson, they have to acknowledge that opportunistic segregationists came along for the ride (as did a young Hillary Clinton, who was hardly a racist). As Glenn Garvin writes: “Nothing was more problematic than the civil rights issue—particularly the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed most forms of racial discrimination. Goldwater was no racist; early in his career as a Phoenix city council member, he aggressively supported local civil rights ordinances…Goldwater was privately appalled to discover that his opposition to the Civil Rights Act rallied to his side not only libertarians but racists who detested and feared not state power but black people. He was horrified when Alabama’s racist Gov. George Wallace offered to switch parties and run as his vice president.”

So now that we got that out of the way, there may be some issues that aren't... entirely.... race based: (emphasis mine)

The fixations of small “l” libertarians include ending the drug war, mandatory minimum sentence and other prison reforms, and pushing a maximalist version of school choice, all of which would directly benefit minorities more than non-minorities. Libertarian public-interest law firms such as the Institute for Justice spend much of their time fighting occupational licensing laws that disproportionately stymie inner-city entrepreneurs who have little to no political or economic capital. IJ’s first case, dating back to 1991, attacked Washington, D.C.’s absurd laws against African hair-braiding without expensive and irrelevant cosmetology licenses. 

Similarly, there’s no way to confuse libertarian obsessions with Fourth Amendment rights, ending stop-and-frisk policies, and reversing “the rise of warrior cops” with anything related to white supremacy. The same goes for the libertarian insistence against an interventionist foreign policy, whether through boots on the ground or via drone strikes and bombing runs. As with any group, there are differences, but libertarians have long been in the forefront of pushing for legalized abortion and gay marriage. (Reason magazine, like the Libertarian Party, was calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the early 1970s, when the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders still considered homosexuality a form of mental illness that should be “cured.”)

So apparently it not just non-racist to push for less government, but may actually be beneficial to minorities? Well yeah, because it's beneficial to all people regardless of color. This is crux of what conservatives and many libertarians believe: that people will benefit the most without an encroaching, overreaching government taking away their choices.

Of course the article talks mostly about libertarians. Conservatives are still filthy racists in their mind but this article is far more coherent than most of what you normally get out of the Daily Beast.

Carpool Conversations -- Our New #Podcast

That's right, we've made a podcast. Han and I regularly take a carpool together to work and we frequently have conversations. My daughter wanted me to call it "We're awesome and you should listen to us" but we decided on "Car Pool Conversations."

Since this is a political blog, we naturally decided to spend the first 20 minutes discussing in detail the new Star Wars movie. Then we move on to Obama's poll numbers, bad art, and false courage. It's about 45 minutes in all. You can also download here.

By the way, we are well aware that the audio quality of our voices, given the mics we have to work with and the background noise in the car, isn't the best but we hope the content will overcome that. Plus we are learning better audio techniques so bear with us. Also, there are some f-bombs here and there so NSFW just in case.

Here's the link I said I wouldn't read out: http://conservativeyoda.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-are-most-spoiled-whiny-civilization.html