Erick Erickson at RedState has a couple of posts up about some of the more chilling provisions of government run health care.  The first comes from Oregon and is the story of 53 year old Randy Stroop....

Since the spread of his prostate cancer, 53-year-old Randy Stroup of Dexter, Ore., has been in a fight for his life. Uninsured and unable to pay for expensive chemotherapy, he applied to Oregon's state-run health plan for help.

Lane Individual Practice Association (LIPA), which administers the Oregon Health Plan in Lane County, responded to Stroup's request with a letter saying the state would not cover Stroup's pricey treatment, but would pay for the cost of physician-assisted suicide.

So much for a post televised presser bounce.  Today's Rasumussen Reports have the bad news for President Obama.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8 (see trends)...Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Worse news (for the President) is the fact that the majority of Americans disapprove of the health care plan that he has been pushing so hard.

Fifty-three percent (53%) now oppose the Congressional health care reform package. That’s up eight points over the past month. Just 20% now see health care as the most important of the President’s priorities. Nearly twice as many, 37%, say deficit reduction is most important.

That 8 point swing can be tied directly to the President's approval rating.  As more and more news has gotten out about this health care plan, the Presidents approval has gone down with support of the plan.

This is what happens when you misread your mandate.

My radio partner Jazz Shaw has a post up regarding a little heralded push nationwide to mandate ethanol use.

As the Rochester, Minnesota Post Bulletin reports, a major manufacturer of ethanol, is hoping for a government waiver which will allow more ethanol to be blended into the gasoline you purchase at the pump.

This move is (not surprisingly to most Minnesotans) being pushed by the ethanol industry and their cheerleaders lead by MN Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Ten governors representing the Midwest Governors Association (MGA) recently issued a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson voicing their support for the E15 waiver currently being considered by the agency...The letter was signed by Rounds, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Iowa Gov. Chester J. Culver, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

"If individuals be not influenced by moral principles; it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice." --James Madison, response to Washington's first Inaugural address, 1789

Join Jazz and I today at 10 eastern (8 Mtn) for Mid Stream Radio.  Sure to be on the plate will be last nights Presidential presser.  Did President Obama hit a home run or do you agree with Howard Feinman (of Newsweek) that it was nothing more than the "same old talking points"?  Join us on MSR and let us know what you think!

Lousiana's Bobby Jindal has an opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal that offers yet another set of options....

•Aligned consumer interests. Consumers should be financially invested in better health decisions through health-savings accounts, lower premiums and reduced cost sharing. If they seek care in cost-effective settings, comply with medical regimens, preventative care, and lifestyles that reduce the likelihood of chronic disease, they should share in the savings.

As a mother, I can not help but ache for what this woman is going through.

A young alcoholic denied a liver transplant because he was too ill to prove he could stay sober outside hospital had begged his mother to help him live.

Gary Reinbach, 22, was terrified and pleaded with his mother to do something hours before his death. His last words to her were: 'Please help me Mum, I don't want to die.'

Mr Reinbach had the worst case of cirrhosis that doctors had ever seen in a man of his age but they refused to give him a new liver which could have saved his life.

National guidelines dictate that to qualify for a donor organ, a potential recipient must prove he has the determination to stop drinking by remaining abstinent for six months.

Except that Gary didn't HAVE 6 months to live...

My dear friend (and favorite economics professor) King Banaian posted this graph today.

The blue line represents the revenues that the federal government is bringing in - the red the money that they are spending BEFORE health care, BEFORE stimulus two, BEFORE Cap and Trade and BEFORE any other pending bailouts.

The Census has the depressing news about Utah's dismal voter turnout.

Utah ranked second to dead-last among all states for voter turnout in the 2008 election, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Only 53.1 percent of eligible voters in Utah showed up to polling locations, down from 67.8 percent in 2004. Only Hawaii had worse turnout, at 51.8 percent...The census estimates only 56.8 percent of Utahns were registered to vote in 2008. That was down from 75.7 percent in 2004.

My former home state (on the other hand) had the best turn out!

Minnesota had the highest turnout among eligible voters last year, at 75 percent.

I can't help but chuckle over the fact that the many of Democrats in Congress don't want Obamacare for their families.....

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan. Yet all Democrats -- with the exceptions of acting chairman Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy via proxy -- voted nay.

In other words, Sherrod Brown and Sheldon Whitehouse won't themselves join a plan that "will offer benefits that are as good as those available through private insurance plans -- or better," as the Ohio and Rhode Island liberals put it in a recent op-ed. And even a self-described socialist like Vermont's Bernie Sanders, who supports a government-only system, wouldn't sign himself up.

You will take what the government gives you and you will be happy with it - the great and powerful O has spoken.....pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.....

It looks like Mel Zelaya may have been planning his own election outcome a la Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.....(HT Anti-Strib)

Here is a quick and rough translation of the above excerpt:

Several computers containing the results of the referendum Zelaya wanted to conduct are seized at the Presidential Palace

The National Directors of Criminal Investigation seized various computers from the Presidential Palace that had recorded the supposed results of the referendum to reform the constitution that the deposed leader, Manuel Zelaya, was planning to conduct on July 28, the day he was removed from office.