What's new, pussycat? #5

These people will be making medical decisions for you
Liberal Congress-person Hank Johnson (he won his seat from always entertaining Cynthia McKinney) recently lost his marbles and publicly asked the US admiral if the presence of 8,000 personnel and their families on Guam would cause that island to tip over. Rather perplexed admiral replied that the military authorities are unaware of such possibility, but that he will make sure that they will start monitoring the island for any signs of tipping. I am not sure if this satisfied Hank's enviromental concerns.

The WSJ recently confirmed that Hank’s worries were far from being misplaced. Below is the letter written by one of the islanders remembering his youth's indiscretions.

We used to go island tipping when we were kids. We'd get a bunch of us together and all run to one end of the island, and just when it started to tip up, we'd race to the other end and create a huge wave as it slammed back down. Then we'd laugh and laugh and laugh--such crazy kids. Our parents would wake up when their bed slid across the room and get so angry.

One time we loaded up our pockets with rocks to make an even bigger splash, and the added weight and speed of cars made it even more exciting. But we were responsible and never actually tipped any islands over. Sure, some of the older kids and even some parents talked about being able to roll the island a full 360 without anything falling off, but I'm still pretty skeptical about that.

To this day you see warning signs on the cliffs in Guam warning you not to get too close to the edge. Some people think it's to prevent you from falling, but the real reason is too many people near the edge is a recipe for island-tipping disaster--an archipelageddon!

Obamacare takes care of bureaucracy
As reported by the media, the new bill contains

a provision that amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide a "reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for a nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk." In addition, the employer must provide for this purpose "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public."

The bill also targets the small companies:

Businesses that employ fewer than 50 employees are exempt from these requirements if they can show that following them would impose an "undue hardship." The burden of proof will be on the employer and may be difficult to meet in most cases.

Let me put my thinking cap at this point, awaken my Russian experience, and explain what is going on here. Remember – what matters is not what they tell us, but what is hidden behind the façade. These regulations serve two purposes.

The first purpose is obvious – the destruction of small businesses. While a large corporation has no problem dedicating an extra room for breast feeding mothers, a small company may find the added cost to be insurmountable. Given that the cost is fixed – it is in economic sense a highly regressive tax. In other words, small businesses will be affected by this new regulation far more than the large businesses. Consequently some small companies will not be able to sustain this new requirement and will either go bankrupt, close down or merge with larger companies. And if you remember from history – welfare socialist regimes normally find it much easier to persuade large businesses to support “Hope-n-Change” – just check the amount of money that the pharmaceutical industry spent on promoting Obamacare.

The second purpose is also obvious. The regulation gives the government bureaucracy unlimited power to decide if a particular business is obligated to have an extra room or not. As anyone who lived in Russia knows – this is a free card to bureaucracy for corruption. Every time when a government clerk receives unlimited power to incur costs on business – it’s a clear invitation for bribery. And moreover – what is more fun than having those proud small-business owners beg a local Obama-to-be bureaucrat to allow the business to survive! Sadism is one of the building blocks of liberalism – or at least the reason why some people cannot wait to join it.