Ball Diamond Ball

We just won a huge victory on the health care bill, and most people don’t even realize it yet.   The failure of the current bill was a godsend for those who are serious about repealing Obamacare.   Going forward, Trump can now say that he did everything he could to support the GOP establishment version of this process.   It will cost him nothing to now turn around and try and alternative approach. On the other hand it will cost to Paul Ryan everything to resist that.

Paul Ryan and his guys tried to cram this thing down our throats with threats and blackmail. Trump supporter at it, no matter what, to the hilt. Nobody on the hill can say that they were not supported by the … Continue reading →

Bend Over, Here It Comes!

I like Trump, but he blew it like you read about. We’ve all known since 2010 that Boehner/Ryan/P.Sessions/McCarthy/Cornyn are a bunch of rent-a-democrats dressed up in Republican suits.

Trump bought their bullshit hook, line, and sinker. His admin is weakened and stained and he has nobody to blame but the guy watching him shave in the mirror tomorrow morning.

Trump ran on repeal and free market replacement. Republicans have both houses primarily because of their promise to repeal the ACA. Republicans had one job: repeal Obamacare. This was a layup, a 6″ putt, etc. just do it.

These clowns couldn’t even start a rock fight, let alone screw one up.

I can’t wait until Aetna, United Health, Blue Whatever are all begging … Continue reading →

Joel Pollack has an interesting take on the President. He has been a calm and unfevered supporter for a while and is worth reading. His latest on the health insurance  fubar in the House is  here:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/24/health-care-bill-failure-art-of-the-deal/

I do know Trump had been signaling the message to the voters that if this failed, they would get stuck with what they had. A lot of folks made the perfect the enemy of the good on this one, but given the lack of will it was too cumbersome too succeed.

I recommend they keep OCare for those that want it and let the rest of us have real insurance. “If you like your overpriced coverage and limited doctors and high deductables, you can keep it until no one offers … Continue reading →

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Mr. David Sussman for his cutting edge media outlet: Whiskey Politics. The pod cast is available here. http://whiskeypolitics.net/brent-berarducci/ Enjoy

I find myself in an odd position.  I want a thing going here where some of the less-rowdy (or at least less frequently rowdy) folks are completely in their element.  I am likely the wrong person to set this up, but will eagerly participate when I can.

Nanda, please take charge and move out.  Let me know if you need anything.  I understand that there are some proposals for times and phone numbers etc — just tell me what the answer is.  I am not going to set a time, as my own schedule is volatile.  I would no sooner set it up then I would suddenly be unable to show up.  So let’s don’t build it around my schedule — I don’t really have one.

We’ve discussed … Continue reading →

So we have a bit more good news. From my little perch, I am seeing domestic economic activity not seen since the 1980s with construction, manufacturing expansion and new capital equipment on order.

Meanwhile, down Brent’s way the other good news is rolling in.

So Trump puts two Texans in charge of State and Energy so we can exploit a   foreign policy hand full of aces against Russia, Iran and China. We can engage in the ME when we need to , not from necessity.  The piece below lines it out fairly well.  Brent- let me know if I am overblowing this…

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/03/why-opec-is-finished-and-russia-too.php

Continue reading →

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/03/22/house-intelligence-chair-nunes-surveillance-trump-transition-team-incidentally-collected/

This is just good fun now.   I would fire Comey and the team that did this very publicly, with jail time.

I would guess the WSJ might wish they had exercised more judgement on their editorial page.

Oh well. Time for another Media Memory Hole Exercise.

Charles Murray, in his book, We The People, not only outlines when and with which case we lost our liberties and unchained the federal government, but also proposes a solution. Flat out repealing all the bureaucracy simply won’t work. Too many links and too many depending on all this. The only way is to start cutting back on government power.

Murray’s proposal is to fight EVERY overstepping of authority, EVERY snide bureaucrat thinking HE (or she) had the answer AND authority (EPA just naturally comes to mind) – all the way to federal court.

This, of course, can get expensive. So Murray’s proposal is that rich conservatives and libertarians set up think tank-like organizations dedicated to fighting in court every overstep they can find.

Like this.

This … Continue reading →

I am not optimistic about this health care bill.  I am happy that Hillary and Pelosi did not get a license to expand the breach, which would have been truly horrific.  But when comparing horrors of different magnitude, it is easy to lump it all together as just so much gore.  So my internal risk manager tells me to be grateful.  Fine, I’m grateful.

But that does not mean optimistic.  I don’t wish to make perfect the enemy of good, but I’m hardly insisting upon perfection here.  All I want is for government to get out of the health care rationing business, and that’s not what we’re going to get.  The Republicans are likely to get stuck with the failure of this all, and then the next round of … Continue reading →

The combination of these two fields is an exciting place to be. I am not there right now. But being away gives me a chance to learn away from the field for a while, and helps provide perspective. Time and distance are my favorite remedies for nearly all problems.
IT is a new-ish field, and has nothing like the maturity which benefits other defined business fields. This is great because it affords many opportunities for innovation. This is a disaster because it affords many opportunities for innovation. Most new ideas are no damned good, and in IT, we try them all.
I am fond of a quote from somebody about the Last Big Thing. We spend our energy seeking a new solution while nobody masters the … Continue reading →