Saturday, September 14, 2013

Syria? How about regime change in Venezuela?

(My Babalu post)
We are all focused on Syria and the Middle East. I just hope that someone in this White House is watching the events in Venezuela.
We just saw two stories from Venezuela that home the reality that the country is falling apart and freedoms are disappearing. The "Cubanization" of Venezuela is off and running. As they used to say in Cuba: "Para atras ni pa' coger impulso"!
"Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Tuesday at a public event that the Government would launch a "Truth News Broadcast" via mandatory radio and television broadcasts to air his Administration performance. The newscast will be broadcasted at noon and in prime time.
Venezuelan opposition denounces that mandatory radio and television broadcasts constitute misuse of power by the Government, in addition to using state-run media for propaganda.
For its part, the Venezuelan Government argues that mandatory radio and television broadcasts are a necessary tool to broadcast its messages, in order to counteract the alleged "censorship" the private media apply against government events and achievements."
A government news channel to tell the truth? is that like Granma in Cuba or Pravda in the old USSR?
Mandatory listening? Is that like everyone going down to hear "el comandante" at la Plaza de la Revolucion?

The second story is a statement by Mario Vargas-Llosa:
"Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa is "very concerned" over the direction Venezuela has taken over the last years, and remarked that the country "is a total disaster, a real chaos; where demagogy, corruption, and violence abound."
"(Venezuela) is a country that, instead of moving forward, is going backwards; it features the highest inflation rate in Latin America," Vargas Llosa remarked in an interview with news agency Efe apropos the publication of his new novel "El héroe discreto (The discreet hero)" in Spain, Latin America, and the United States. As usual, the writer seized the opportunity to give his opinion about current issues.
He asserted that, unlike his country, Peru, and other Latin American countries, whose economic situation have improved; Venezuela is "a negative exception" to that outlook.
"Venezuela's case is rather tragic," the writer asserted. He is also worried about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro maintaining "the messianic ideas" of his predecessor (late President Hugo Chávez) to turn Venezuela "into a headlight, an example" for other countries.
"However, I'm afraid that Venezuela is rather the exception to the rule. Nowadays, there are more countries in Latin America where democracy is developing, featuring modern economic policies which are leading to progress and development," Vargas Llosa remarked."

Venezuela is on unsustainable path and there are some very bad days ahead.
Regime change in Syria? How about Venezuela?
The US needs to consider sanctions against Venezuela, specially given the real evidence that the country is eliminating freedoms and its economy is falling apart.



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The welfare state is way too big when I pay for your baby's birth

(My new American Thinker post)
We hear about the explosion of food stamps or the numbers of people on government assistance.
Before I get a bunch of insulting email that I don't care about poor people, let me tell you a couple of things:
Our family landed in the US without a penny.  Yes, I mean zero - like, nothing.
Upon landing in the US, our family was assisted by a church, individuals and lots of smiling faces who opened doors unconditionally.  We never expected the US government to give us anything.  Americans gave us freedom and that's what my parents were looking for.  
My parents were not in a "maternity mode" but they would have never expected to have the US government pay for their babies. In fact, I remember my uncle showing my dad a private health insurance policy and telling him to get one.  It was one of the "USA-101" moments that so many of us went through.
Forward to today.  This is where we are:  
"According to researchers from the George Washington University (GWU) School of Public Health, in 2010, almost half of all births in the United States were paid for by Medicaid, and that rate is only going to go up. Medicaid was responsible for 48% of the 3.8 million births in 2010, an increase of 90,000 births from 2008, which was an 8% increase during that period."
At what point is the welfare state a bit too big for our own good as a nation?  Where is the line between helping people and creating dependency?
I'm all for helping people who've been laid off or uprooted by economic dislocations.  There are also charities and churches who are willing to help people in need. 
My question is this:  Why are we paying for all of these births?  Aren't the parents working?  Can't they afford to pay for their own health insurance? 
Where is the father?   Why aren't we asking him to pay for maternity expenses?  Why isn't he expected to pay for these expenses?  Yes I mean expected! 
Sorry but this is too much government.  This is not "a safety net" anymore.  This is a pathway to dependency. 

 You can catch our show with Dr Ileana Johnson here:

   

Tags:  Welfare state, Medicaid, maternity  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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