Kudlow: Liberal entitlement-state dream is crumbling

May I ask this question? Why is it that Americans don't have the freedom to choose their own health insurance? I just don't get it. Why must the liberal nanny state make decisions for us? We can make them ourselves, thank you very much. It's like choosing a car, buying a home or investing in a stock. We can handle it.

So why must the government tell me and everyone else what we can and cannot buy?

Charles Krauthammer and the Wall Street Journal's Dan Henninger noted in excellent recent columns that this whole Obamacare business represents the greatest-ever expansion of the liberal entitlement-state dream. But I don't want that dream. And you shouldn't either.

(Read more: When insurers drop policies: Three stories)

Here's what else I don't want: As a 60-something, relatively healthy person, I don't want lactation and maternity services, abortion services, speech therapy, mammograms, fertility treatments or Viagra. I don't want it. So why should I have to tear up my existing health-care plan, and then buy a plan with far more expensive premiums and deductibles, and with services I don't need or want?

Why? Because Team Obama says I have to. And that's not much of a reason. It's not freedom.

Fortunately, NBC News pulled the plug this past week on President Barack Obama's promise that "if you like your own plan, you can keep it." Ditto for keeping your own doctor. The plug was pulled because NBC learned that Team Obama knew—for three years—that stiff new regulations would prevent the grandfathering of existing health-care plans. And not just a few plans. But plans that could affect as many as 15 million individuals.

Via: CNBC

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WASHINGTON PROPOSES $1 TRILLION BAILOUT FOR DELINQUENT STUDENT LOANS

A possible $1 trillion bailout is coming—and soon.

America’s now-nationalized student loan industry just reached a value of $1 trillion, according to Citigroup, growing at a 20 percent-per-year pace. Since President Obama nationalized the industry (a tacked-on provision of the Obamacare bill), tuition has gone up 25 percent and the three-year default rate is at a record 13.4 percent.

Ron discussed this problem last night with Larry Kudlow:

With many young people unable to pay their loans (average graduating debt is about $29,000), Citigroup and others are speculating that this industry might be ripe for a bailout.

To pay off all the current defaults, Citigroup says it would cost taxpayers $74 billion. However, this number doesn’t include those who will default in the coming years, and, when the government rewards the defaulters, it will encourage more borrowers not to pay their debts.

And liberals in Congress have proposed forgiving all student loans via “The Student Loan Forgiveness Act 2012,” costing taxpayers $1 trillion.

Adding another $1 trillion dollars to the national debt isn’t exactly “forgiveness” for young people—it’s prolonging the payoff. In fact, student loan bailouts are a catch-22 for young people because they’re going to be held accountable for paying off the national debt and interest payments.

A student loan bailout will also be rewarding higher education bureaucrats for a diminished product. A college degree used to mean that a person would add on average $1 million to their income over their lifetime. Today a college degree only guarantees an average $300,000 in added income over a lifetime.

The answer isn’t a bailout. The student loan industry must to be returned to the private sector. Would a private lender ever invest $100,000 of their money in a student that had no plan? No.

It’s not about limiting access to college; it’s about making sure students have a well-thought out plan for their future before investors put a $100,000 stake in their education. College should be about specializing in a trade rather than defaulting to general studies that won’t lead to a job.

A civics education is important, but why would an employer hire someone with no applicable work skills, especially in a slow economy?

If we wish to end the incentives for bailouts, we need to hit higher education in the purse. Endless government money and bailouts won’t get our students jobs, and it won’t fix the problem.

Ron Meyer is the press secretary and a spokesman for American Majority Action. Celia Bigelow is the Campus Director for the same organization. Learn more at AmericanMajorityAction.org.

Via: Breitbart

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THE BIG FAIL: Voters Wonder Where Obama’s Vision Is For Country As Well As His Facts

ROMNEY HAS BETTER VISION FOR THE COUNTRY THAN OBAMA

CBS’s Charlie Kaye: “In the @CBSNews Instant Poll, 65% say Romney won on the issue of the economy. 34% say Obama won on the economy.” (Charlie Kaye, Twitter Feed, 10/16/12)

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “Look at this. 58%, 58% of debate watchers say Romney would better handle the economy, 40% say President Obama would. That’s issue number one.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/17/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “59% say Romney would do a better job on the deficit, 36% say President Obama would do a better job on the deficit.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/17/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “We also asked who would better handle the issue of taxes. 51% say Romney. 44% say president Obama.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/17/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “49% say Romney would better handle health care, compared to 46% for president Obama. 49-46.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/17/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “We also asked who seemed to be a stronger leader. 49% said Governor Romney, compared to 46% for President Obama.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/16/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “We also asked who spent more time attacking his opponent. 49% said President Obama. 35% said Governor Romney.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/16/12)

• CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “45% say Romney answered the questions more directly, compared to 43% for President Obama.” (CNN’s “Debate Night In America,” 10/16/12)

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Salena Zito: “I’m sorry but all day every reporter was talking about the Obama Team saying Obama would talk about his vision. Yet not once, not once did he.” (Salena Zito, Twitter Feed, 10/17/12)

CNBC’s Larry Kudlow: “You know I still don’t know what President Obama’s economic growth vision is, I don’t think he outlined it. You know I think Obama was a pretty good counterpuncher tonight. He had a lot more energy going, there’s no question about that. Both these guys had a lot of energy going but at the end of the day, I still don’t know what the president is intending if he’s reelected. I don’t think he made the case. I don’t think he provided a vision. I think he was mostly a counterpuncher and Mitt Romney wouldn’t let him have the counterpunch without the counter-counterpunch. So in that sense it’s a push but I still don’t see what the Obama case is for reelection. I just don’t see it; I didn’t hear it from him.” (CNBC, 10/16/12)\

Via: GOP.com

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