ObamaCare and Me

By Zane F Pollard, MD

I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this national debate on healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity to the table by explaining many of the problems from the perspective of a doctor.

First off, the government has involved very few of us physicians in the healthcare debate. While the American Medical Association has come out in favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA only represents 17% of the American physician workforce.

An Open Letter to Obama…

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally. You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America. You are responsible to the citizens of the United States. You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth.

Editorial: “Predatory lending made easy”

By Dan Casey

Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times’ metro columnist.

dan.casey
@roanoke.com
981-4423

Sooner or later I will leave this job at The Roanoke Times.

And lately, I’ve been thinking about the future after a long and fun newspaper career. I will go into business for myself. It will be a consumer lending (ahem) store. I’ll call it “Casey’s Rip-off Loans.” The motto will be “The Loan Shark You Will Love.” And our advertising slogan will be, “We cheat you honestly, unlike those other chiselers.”

Loan-Shark Lenders Have Date With Hangman: Jane Bryant Quinn

. “The consumer-credit industry can dream up any sneaky product it wants and no one polices it for harm.”

Commentary by Jane Bryant Quinn

June 3 (Bloomberg) — Pity the neighborhood loan shark.

The credit-card companies have stolen his customers by taking a softer approach to charging outrageous interest rates. During the subprime lending boom, mortgage banks shouldered into shark territory, too.

Loan sharks are called mobsters. Thieving legitimate lenders are called capitalists — free to impose any terms short of kneecapping on their troubled borrowers. Washington treated capitalist sharks as role models and beloved campaign contributors — that is, until the economy collapsed and debtors (aka voters) emitted a collective scream.

Who does Geithner think he is?!?

Oh, that’s right, he’s Socialist/Fascist President Obama’s right hand man and Treasury Secretary. What’s next, socialized medicine, nationalization of banks and business, government control of oil and energy, or maybe they’ll be done with business for a while and turn their attention to ways of isolating you as a threat if you are against abortion or a member of a conservative group.

Come to think of it, they’re already working on all of the above….

MSNBC’s show of irresponsibility continues

The show of stupidity that is Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann continued Tuesday night. As respected Republican Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, was about to begin the Republican response to the President’s address an obnoxious “oh God” was heard spewing out of the mouth of one of the leaders of the characterless network that is MSNBC.

Obama and Dems headed for pending fiscal disaster

Hasn’t Obama and the Democrats on Capital Hill heard of the KISS philosophy?

Editorial: Cast out the predators

Lawmakers miffed that payday lenders took advantage of them should seek more than ‘reform.’

Payday lenders couldn’t leave bad enough alone. Last year, lawmakers “reformed” the industry just the way it wanted. As a way to say thanks, the usury lenders rolled out a “new” product — larger, open-ended loans with unlimited interest rates — that is even worse than the last.

Letter to the Editor: Payday Loan Became Vicious Hook

We, the people of this great commonwealth, owe ourselves freedom from exploitation by payday lenders. This must not be just a problem for lower-middle- class workers.

We each have different needs. So we each seek different solutions. The solution should not turn into a bigger problem, as payday loans have.

President Obama: “Our patchwork heritage is our strength”

With one quote the President summed up the social challenge before him.

President Obama’s call for a more personal investment from all American’s is dependent on his ability to convince a cynical society to recognize diversity as the strength he alluded to in his address.