Dominic Siciliano, one of the speakers, told those present at the meeting about his two year old daughter, who was receiving a chemotherapy treatment at the time he was speaking.

To him, it doesn't matter what health care costs. He works hard to be able to afford good health care, he says, and if he can't afford it, he'll go into debt to make sure his little girl gets the best treatment money can buy. His biggest fear is that in an effort to lower the costs of health care in America, politicians and bureaucrats will deem the best care "wasteful" or "inefficient." "Don't mess with my right to medical choice," he pleaded, "If I have the money , or even if i don't, I want to be able to buy that care."

And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

Bottom Up Politics: Mike Cox.  And Pizza.

Hall of Record: June 2009 Weather

LifeBeat: RLM Vice-President Explains Embryo Research Legislation

The Shekel: A Riddle Wrapped in a Con(yers) Inside the Michigan Democratic Party?

A second major malfunction at the Michigan Department of Corrections has come to light this week, following almost immediately on the heels of the accidental release of a convicted murderer with 124 "major misconducts" under his belt.  

Sure, they mistakenly cut that psychopathic butcher-knife killer loose without giving him his meds, endangering his family members and everyone else in the neighborhood, but that's tidily-winks compared to today's admitted screw-up. The Granholm-Cherry administration's DOC will see that one murderer and raise us 62 accidentally released sex offenders.

62.  Convicted.  Sex.  Offenders.

"The issue has been rectified," Marlan told the Associated Press on Wednesday, but not until some bureaucratic goof in the system set loose 62 of the most dangerous, reviled and clinically ill men in the corrections system.

And no, this wasn't a move to clear room for those Californian killers the Democratic administration is hoping to import.  This was just a pure, unadulterated bungle.  Another one.  This week.

See, the reason they build prisons is to house the nut jobs, the pedophiles and the rapists specifically so they don't have interaction with innocent, unsuspecting potential and future victims.  Releasing them "accidentally" sort of defeats the purpose.  And while a far-too-late round-up might put the monsters back in their cages it won't put the genie back in the bottle, especially if any of the convicts took advantage of their time on the outside and returned to old habits.

These aren't minor mistakes.  These are life-changing, potentially life-losing mistakes.  Lives, quite literally, hang in the balance.  Things are bad enough when we're simply talking "early release."  When Matthew Macon was intentionally cut loose by the administration six years into a ten year sentence he went on a rape and killing spree that racked up a half-dozen victims.  And he was one of the guys DOC thought they'd rehabilitated.

The 62 sex offenders?  Not so much.  By the Granholm-Cherry administration's standards and actions, they believe them to be MORE dangerous than Matthew Macon was.  And still they wound up roaming the streets.

Now I'm not blaming Jennifer Granholm and John Cherry directly.  It isn't like the Governor called up the prison, named off half-a-hundred names and John Cherry drove the bus that dropped them off at their homes.  But on the flip side, we have seen ZERO consequences or even hints of consequences come from these "mistakes," sending the unmistakable signal up and down the bureaucratic ladder that incompetence won't only be tolerated... it will be defended.

It is well past time to clean house at MDOC.  Tragically, it looks more and more like someone's going to have to get killed... again... before anyone is held accountable.

Let me say first of all... I'm SORRY and I'm doing everything I possibly can to get the site back online when she crashes and to prevent additional outages from happening in the future.

Please continue to bear with me and with the site as we try to get to the bottom of all of this.

As far as the what and the why... according to the good folks at the hosting company there are indications that we MAY be the target of a form of "attack" designed specifically to take us offline and gum up our operation.

That is not a direct accusation of any kind and certainly, at this time, isn't directed at any group or individual whatsoever.  Alas, it is looking more and more like the ugly truth. I hope it isn't.

Obviously, if / when we get to the bottom of it I'll fill everyone in on all of the gory details.

In the meantime, thanks for your patience and thanks for sticking with us!

According to Dr. Mark O'Brien, the status quo represents a true "us versus them" battle pitting responsible doctors and their patients against "big business, big government, big hospitals, big insurance companies and the big media."

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements give health care consumers more control over how much is spent on their health care and how it is provided.  That is in stark contrast with the current system where insurance companies and government providers often make the calls.

Medicare's current unfunded liability stands at $38 trillion, ore more than $335,000 per American household.  More frightening, the Heartland Institute reports it is anticipated that Medicare will consume half the federal budget by the year 2035.  Individual and corporate income tax rates would have to rise by 90 percent to finance projected Medicare costs through 2050.

The biggest reason?  Neither the consumer nor the supplier pay any attention to the price.

Read on...

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is the brightest of those lights. Since being appointed in March, Mr. Bobb has tackled the seemingly hopeless disaster that is the Detroit Public School System with inspiring vigor.

In just a few months, Bobb has slashed a $430 million deficit nearly in half by eliminating bloated staffing and uncovering fraud. Bobb has cut 181 positions out of the 231 person curriculum department, terminated half of the district's assistant superintendents, and dumped eleven of the 21 "executive cabinet" members.

Bob hasn't just juggled numbers and laid off unnecessary personnel - he's aggressively tackled fraud and corruption. In the past two weeks, Bobb uncovered over 250 non-existent "ghost workers" on the payroll and suspended seven more employees accused of theft and embezzlement after investigations were initiated under his watch.

And Mr. Bobb isn't finished yet. He plans on privatizing the district's transportation services, is considering additional privatization, and will close 29 schools this fall.

Cold hearted? Only if one believes that a school district's primary job is to employ adults and coddle unions instead of putting resources into educating children. The kids and taxpayers of Detroit should hail Bobb as a hero.

And Mayor Bing should take notice. The Mayor started out on the right foot by rejecting the perk of the Manoogian Mansion, opting to rent out the building for the benefit of taxpayers. Bing then suggested that the City's grossly inefficient public lighting department be outsourced, only to back away when confronted by union intimidation. Let's hope the Mayor regains his nerve.