789 Billion. Wow.

Nicely done. I have to give props to Congressional Democrats. They've crammed nearly a billion dollar doo-doo burger right down our collective throat. Thank goodness we know what the money's going for...

What??? Whaddya mean you don't know what it's for??? I just assumed somebody was keeping an eye on them! After all, they gave us their Scout's honor that if we fired all those dirty Republicans, it would usher in a new era of accountability!

Oh well. I'm sure they are trustworthy. I'm sure that all the people that have spent 8 years bitching and moaning about how government is "out of control" will be all over this "stimulus" package. They are just looking out for all of us, right?

Forgive the sarcasm. I'm just saying what we all know...the self-proclaimed protectors of our Liberty are just a bunch of Liberal activists who will remain conspicuously silent as my son's future (and that of his children and grandchildren) is sold for votes.

I know you Democrat thieves are robbing us blind. Just please spare me the insulting "the stimulus means jobs" B.S., okay? The stimulus is nearly a trillion dollars of pretend money to continue to keep the ignorant hoping in vain for deliverance from bad decisions.

Enjoy it while it lasts. Even Europe has begun to abandon its Socialism as a failure. As usual, we will arrogantly walk the same road, one century too late. Only now, we won't call our mistake what it is, as we did so vehemently when we condemned "Bush's Imperialism". Now Democrats are in charge. It'll be an honest mistake.

Who is John Galt? Me.

Back...with a vengeance.

I have been absent too long. My brain is overflowing with stuff, and I am yearning for an outlet.

Firstly, just allow me to congratulate our new President on being exactly the colossal disappointment we all expected. Lacking both experience and humility, he has become the hapless puppet of his dark and intentionally anonymous liberal masters.

One after another of his desired Cabinet appointees have withdrawn in shame. Vast right wing conspiracy, right? Nope. Just good old fashioned tax evasion.

A real threat to our way of life? I guess it's still possible. More likely he'll just be a less talented and more embarrassing Bill Clinton. I think we'll survive.

So congratulations, everybody! We have another reason to celebrate. Nothing new to report. Just Chapter 44 of the American novel of hubris, greed, and corruption. This time the head cheat is black. Cool.

So until you all get rich off the promises that bought your votes, I recommend you keep your support of our new guy pretty subdued. So far I've seen neither hope nor change. Just a different color on the guy making empty promises and rewarding those he's indebted to. If that's what does it for you, swell. You are a childish goof, but swell.

Back...with a vengeance.

I have been absent too long. My brain is overflowing with stuff, and I am yearning for an outlet.

Firstly, just allow me to congratulate our new President on being exactly the colossal disappointment we all expected. Lacking both experience and humility, he has become the hapless puppet of his dark and intentionally anonymous liberal masters.

One after another of his desired Cabinet appointees have withdrawn in shame. Vast right wing conspiracy, right? Nope. Just good old fashioned tax evasion.

A real threat to our way of life? I guess it's still possible. More likely he'll just be a less talented and more embarrassing Bill Clinton. I think we'll survive.

So congratulations, everybody! We have another reason to celebrate. Nothing new to report. Just Chapter 44 of the American novel of hubris, greed, and corruption. This time the head cheat is black. Cool.

So until you all get rich off the promises that bought your votes, I recommend you keep your support of our new guy pretty subdued. So far I've seen neither hope nor change. Just a different color on the guy making empty promises and rewarding those he's indebted to. If that's what does it for you, swell. You are a childish goof, but swell.

Back...with a vengeance.

I have been absent too long. My brain is overflowing with stuff, and I am yearning for an outlet.

Firstly, just allow me to congratulate our new President on being exactly the colossal disappointment we all expected. Lacking both experience and humility, he has become the hapless puppet of his dark and intentionally anonymous liberal masters.

One after another of his desired Cabinet appointees have withdrawn in shame. Vast right wing conspiracy, right? Nope. Just good old fashioned tax evasion.

A real threat to our way of life? I guess it's still possible. More likely he'll just be a less talented and more embarrassing Bill Clinton. I think we'll survive.

So congratulations, everybody! We have another reason to celebrate. Nothing new to report. Just Chapter 44 of the American novel of hubris, greed, and corruption. This time the head cheat is black. Cool.

So until you all get rich off the promises that bought your votes, I recommend you keep your support of our new guy pretty subdued. So far I've seen neither hope nor change. Just a different color on the guy making empty promises and rewarding those he's indebted to. If that's what does it for you, swell. You are a childish goof, but swell.

II. A Few Words about Rights

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

- from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations General Assembly

10 December 1948

Come to think of it, what exactly is a right, anyway? Philosophers and legal scholars have been discussing the concept of rights for a very long time. Entire libraries could be filled with books on this subject (and have been), and the entire study and practice of law is, in a sense, the art and science of defining rights. It would be insane to tackle this issue in any meaningfully deep way here. But to the extent that it is critically important for all of us on every conceivable side of this issue to be able to share at least a rudimentary vocabulary, it behooves us to discuss this notion of rights at this point.

There are two basic views about the origins and meanings of rights. There are those, whose opinions are exemplified by the Declaration above, who feel that rights are granted by, and their exercise protected by, the State. This is why they feel there is no contradiction in saying that all humans are “born free, with equal rights”, but that those rights are subject to the “purposes and principles of the U.N.”. Under this more modern system of defining one’s rights before the law, the term “rights” runs the risk of becoming so broad as to be meaningless. For if the UN or any government can make the most fundamental exercises of even “life, liberty, and security of person” subject to their “purposes and principles”, then these “rights” could conceivably be revoked by that same power which granted them.

The other view of rights is that they are quite literally “endowed” by one’s Creator (or by Nature itself). According to the members of this school of thought, because of their divine or at least ancient origins, true rights owe no homage to any earthly king or authority. In this view, rights must be given room even if they violate the purposes and principles of the UN or any other governmental body. Furthermore, under this view of rights, any governmental body that stands in the way of the free exercise of rights is illegitimate, due to a fundamental flaw that puts it at odds with the free exercise of a man’s Natural Rights, which are supreme and irrevocable. It was on this exact basis that the American Revolutionaries began the process of severing their bonds with their home nation; a nation they felt had become an oppressive force in their lives, and was, therefore, illegitimate and deserving of rejection.

But where did this concept come from? And how could a group of people be so sure that this was the nature of rights? Sure enough to risk “their lives and their sacred honor"? To understand, you have to trace the thought processes that were being conveyed by the Founders back to their roots. This second view of rights has ample historical support. From the most ancient histories, through the Greek philosopher Aristotle to the Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 B.C) (“According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another”); to Gratian (“Natural law is the law common to all peoples”); to Rufinus (1160 A.D.) ("Natural law is a certain force instilled in every human creature by nature to do good and avoid the opposite”); to William Ockham (“a tyrannical ruler may be deposed”); to Jean Gerson to Hugo Grotius (“Liberty is the power that we have over ourselves”) to John Locke (“Government has no other end, but the preservation of property”), and then on to Jefferson and Madison, the authors of our sacred American documents, there is a cohesive strand of thought about what constitutes “The Rights of Man”. Put simply, rights are privileges to which any one may lay claim as having been given to him or her by the Creator, or by Nature. They do not require any special help or assistance from others. They can not be given or taken by the powers that be. This single unbroken strand of thought exists backward and forward in time.

There is no need to rediscover the nature of rights. This has already been done for us over the past 3000 years. We only have to decide what is really a right and what is not one.

An American Doctor's Declaration of Independence: Part I

I. Introduction

“Health care is a human right”. The phrase is quoted so often, and is so ingrained in our dialogue that it would seem that it is a settled matter. For millennia, though, the debate about what constitutes “a right” has raged. Even as recently as the 1990s, the assertion of a right to health care in the U.S. ignited a firestorm of disagreement. Now it might seem that the battle has ended with a whimper and a silent admission that health care as a right is something we have all agreed to accept.

This fundamental and central question about the nature of health care in society lies at the heart of all discussions about health policy. I submit that it is far from settled. It is unsettled because the statement contains an implicit falsehood – that the prerequisite questions have been answered to everyone’s satisfaction. They have not. Within the debate about whether people have a right to health care exist myriad other debates of equal interest and potential rancor. Questions like:

• What exactly is a right?
• What is the nature of health care?
• To what level of health care are people claiming a right?
• What are a health care provider’s responsibilities?
• What are a health care provider’s rights?
• What is the nature of the medical profession?
• Does a positive right abolish charity?

Until these questions can be addressed and answered satisfactorily, I believe that the claim that “Health Care is a Right”, by those who espouse that view, is a premature declaration of victory.

Next time: A Brief Discussion of Rights

The Hope and Change Cabinet: Treasury Secretary

The Contenders:

Larry Summers

Lawrence “Larry” Summers followed one of his mentors, Robert Rubin, as President Clinton’s Treasury Secretary.

He was born in 1954 in New Haven, Connecticut. His parents and an uncle were all noted economists, so you could say that he has it in his blood. He attended MIT and Harvard, where he earned Bachelors and Doctorate degrees in economics, respectively. He taught at both of his alma maters before moving to Washington to work on President Reagan’s economic staff.

Make no mistake, though. He is a democrat at heart. He worked on the Dukakis Presidential campaign in 1988. During the Clinton years, he served as Chief Economist at the World Bank, then Undersecretary and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury before becoming Treasury Secretary himself. After Clinton’s departure, Summers returned once again to Harvard, this time as its President.

His mentors include Martin Feldstein of Harvard, Robert Rubin, and Alan Greenspan.

While President of Harvard University, Mr. Summers made several remarks about affirmative action, the relative abilities of men and women in the sciences, and the tendency of liberal colleges at the time to divest from holdings in companies in Israel. He also had a long-standing feud with the liberal members of the campus. His comments and opinions so inflamed fury on the left that he was eventually forced to step down from his post as President. Many still hold a grudge against Summers for this ugly period of disagreement.

Larry Summers is a strong advocate for free trade and globalization. He is experienced, having held the post of Treasury Secretary before, and having an impeccable academic and career resume. He is reasonable and pragmatic, and appears to be loyal and honest to a fault.

MOCKBADOC feels that he would make an acceptable Treasury Secretary.

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Sheila C. Bair

Sheila C. Bair is a 54-year-old Republican attorney specializing in Financial Regulatory Policy. She has taught this subject at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2002. She is currently the Chairwoman of the FDIC. She was named the second most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine earlier this year.

Long before it was widely realized, Bair was sounding the alarm on the unthinkable lending practices of American banks stemming from the Clinton-era Community Reorganization Act, bank intimidation, and the irresponsibility of the now-seized IndyMac, FreddyMac and FannieMae.

The recent sinking of the American banking industry, however, has sucked down the good with the bad, and Bair’s critics allege that she was weak and inconsistent in the stabilization of some banks and not others.

Although a capable and intelligent pick, Sheila Bair seems an unlikely choice given recent events. Despite her blamelessness in the fiasco, the fact that she was at the helm as the ship capsized will likely ruin her chances. She also lacks the kind of experience she will likely need as Treasury Secretary in these highly-charged times. The new SecTreas will need to be tough, perhaps even mean, to drive us out of this mess, and Bair is untried so far as I can tell.

MOCKBADOC thinks there may be better choices for the job of Treasury Secretary.

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Timothy Geithner

The odds-on favorite so far is 47-year-old New Yorker and international business expert Timothy Geithner. He is the current President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins, and has studied Asian culture and business and has lived and worked abroad for several years. He is the consummate financial industry insider, having worked at several high-profile firms and in government. He has worked in the International Affairs division of the Treasury Department, and was even named Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, a post in which he worked under both Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers (already mentioned).

He left U.S. Government when Clinton did, and spent his time at the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Monetary Fund.

Recently, as President of the New York Fed, his reputation was stained as a result of the collapse of the venerable Big Apple Financial firm Lehman Brothers and was intimately involved in the plan to bail out their rivals Bear Stearns and AIG.

It is unclear how Geithner could use his experience to chart a course out of our current mess. His history suggests a predisposition toward internationalism, which may actually undermine our efforts to stabilize our own economy. Like it or not, the international economy takes its lead from ours.

Still, he is young, energetic, and probably very attractive as a working partner to the equally young and untested Obama. He is definitely one to watch, but…

MOCKBADOC thinks Geithner lacks the gravitas to drive the bus during these troubled times.

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Paul Volcker

The final name commonly mentioned for Treasury Secretary is Paul Volcker, the 81-year-old New Jersey native, considered the “elder statesman” candidate for the job. Mr. Volcker holds degrees from Princeton, Harvard, and the London School of Economics. He worked as an economist with the New York Fed and Chase Manhattan Bank before a brief stint with the U.S. Treasury Department as an analyst from 1962 to 1963. He returned to Chase Manhattan Bank only briefly before once again working for the Treasury Department, this time as the Undersecretary for International Monetary Affairs.

Volcker is a life-long Democrat, and was appointed by Jimmy Carter to head the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in 1979. He was reappointed by Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, under whom he served in this capacity nearly until the end of Reagan’s second term.

During his time at the Fed, Volcker was able to reduce inflation from a high of over 13% in 1981 to just over 3% in 1983. The aggressive actions taken by Mr. Volcker, including limiting the supply of money and largely abandoning the practice of targeted interest rates did have a flip side, however, and produced extremely high unemployment. This caused him to be subjected to very significant criticism.

Mr. Volcker left government in 1987, and lived relatively quietly, with the exception of his criticism of the son of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan after he discovered improper financial relations between Kojo Annan and a Swiss bank in his work as a special investigator into allegations of corruption in the world body.

While Volcker certainly has the experience and the pedigree to run the Department of the Treasury, one wonders whether this 81-year-old economic heavyweight may have fought his best fight in the early 1980s. If John McCain was too…er…”erratic” for the Presidency according to the Obama campaign, Volcker may suffer from the same malady.

MOCKBADOC thinks that Paul Volcker would make a superb advisor, perhaps even Chief Economic Advisor, but shouldn’t be named Treasury Secretary.

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Final analysis and prediction:

While all four contenders have their strengths, two of them are felt to be hopelessly entangled in the sub-prime mortgage mess, and one seems to be in the Autumn of his career. Only one of the four has the pedigree, the temperament, the experience, and the guts to have a chance to get us out of this mess.

MOCKBADOC predicts that the Hope and Change Treasury Secretary will be Lawrence “Larry” Summers.