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Craig Westover

Afton, MN
Commenter for
5 years 24 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 02/15/10 at 05:20 pm in response to Bachmann on health care, bipartisanship, her legislative accomplishments

Eric --

Here's one way "across state lines works."

If an insurance company is licensed in another state, it can sell into Minnesota. It would only have to meet the requirements of the state in which it was licensed, not those of the state of Minnesota.

So, for example, Minnesota has (last count I heard) 67 mandated coverages. all of which add to premium costs. If I could purchase a policy from say S.C. with fewer mandates and was comfortable with the risk or could...

Posted on 02/12/10 at 09:59 am in response to Clark goes after Bachmann for Social Security comments

Thanks for the comments on my comments. I would encourage commentators to look at the numbers, look at how similar plans have worked for, ironically, government workers who have been allowed to opt out of SS and have private plans. The assumptions of your criticisms just don't hold up.

Two interesting points. First, a program along the lines I outlined will NOT work for everyone. NO program will; social security certainly doesn't. The point is, any program should maximize benefits for...

Posted on 02/11/10 at 10:23 am in response to Clark goes after Bachmann for Social Security comments

Glad you asked about health of IRA.

I'm in that age bracket -- just short of retirement age -- that got hit hardest by the stock market swing the past two years. Yes, my portfolio is less than it was at the market peak, but it is considerably higher than it was last time the DOW was around 10,000, and it will still pay a much higher return on investment than my social security payments. Plus, if I drop dead tomorrow, everything in my IRA goes to my family.

The point is, as I'...

Posted on 02/10/10 at 05:40 pm in response to Clark goes after Bachmann for Social Security comments

I'll concede that Michele sometimes says things in outlandish ways, but her Social Security coment is not one of those times. No one proposing responsible social security reform is talking about "yank(ing) the proverbial retirement rug out from under her constituents."

General outline of social security reform proposals:

1) People over some age, generally 55, guaranteed their social security benefits. Everyone else has a choice to stay in the program or opt out.

2)...

Posted on 02/08/10 at 03:29 pm in response to U of M study: Soft-drink consumption linked to higher risk of pancreatic cancer

I've read or heard at least half-a-dozen version of this story. Kudos for quoting the actual number of cases. I haven't seen that in any other article, but to be practically informative, the incidence number needs to be considered. Without that number, the 87 percent figure is practically meaningless.

The age-adjusted incidence rate for pancreatic cancer is 11.7 per 100,000 men and women per year according to the National Cancer Institute. That means that incidence for people drinking...

Posted on 02/02/10 at 04:53 pm in response to Expansion of sex offender program in Moose Lake is Pawlenty's largest bonding proposal

There is more to this issue than economics. Yes, I know we are talking about sexual predators here, but shouldn't we be concerned about "involuntary" civil commitment used as a law enforcement tool? Do we want government to have the power to lock people up because of the likelihood they might commit a crime?

Posted on 02/01/10 at 01:51 pm in response to Drilling deeper into the Supreme Court's corporate campaign-finance decision

Bottom line, Miles, is that you have a government that is arbitrarily intervening in the affairs of individuals and corporations (which are no more than a contractual agreement among individuals). To deny a group to influence who is making those choices is simply wrong.

I am as appalled by the numbers you cite as you are. However, the answer is not to deny the right to influence an election; the answer is deny the extra-constitutional activities of government. If you do that, the...

Posted on 10/24/09 at 12:19 pm in response to Among possible responses to GAMC problem: respite care for the homeless

Bernie –

When you characterize conservative philosophies, it carries more weight if you characterize them correctly. Rand’s philosophy says nothing of the kind. The fundamental premise that you are misrepresenting badly is that I as an individual have no moral authority to take from you to pursue my ends. I as an individual have every right to help those less fortunate and to convince you to do the same, but I have no moral authority as an individual or through the power of government...

Posted on 09/12/09 at 10:43 am in response to Pawlenty on MSNBC: Fear of death panels not irrational

Eric,

When you say "there is no society so wealthy that it can guarantee to all its citiziens every health care procedure that they want, and not even every procedure that might do them some good," you are absolutely correct. But to say, "The rationing-or-no-rationing portion of the health care policy debate is fundamentally ludicrous," is not true. The crucial question is the best way to optimize (ration) health care distribution.

You are also wrong when you say "Opponents of...

Posted on 09/03/09 at 02:46 pm in response to Klobuchar to announce national anti-truancy proposal

"Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., plans to announce national anti-truancy legislation Thursday."

I really am curious where in the U.S. Constitution "truancy" control is enumerated as a power of the federal government. (Bueller. Bueller. Bueller)