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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Obama's Free Birth Control A Red Herring

SEARCH BLOG: HEALTH and GOVERNMENT

The recent flap about the Obama administration wanting to force the Catholic Church to provide free birth control to their employees is a bit of a...

yes... that's a herring... a red herring.

For those of you who don't know the significance of this image with regard to the Obama administration action, here's a little background.

This is a typical ploy of politicians when they find they are facing problematic issues and feel the need to avoid them.  In the case of the Obama administration, it is the President's push for mandating his version of better health care... even if it steps on the Constitutional rights of the Catholic Church [and everyone else].  The "red herring" is that this is being "fair" to the poor and, besides, it will be provided for free by insurance companies.

A few thoughts here:

  • If the Catholic Church is providing health insurance to its employees, the Church is paying for these "free contraceptives" even if the insurance companies are forced to show in their accounting that it is for free.  No insurance is "free."
  • The notion that free birth control is "only fair" is something being pull out of someone's a--.  Because they supposedly can't afford contraceptives?  Hardly.
  • Contraception is widely available and dirt cheap.  If you can buy that Coca Cola, you can buy several contraceptives.

If you got as far as fifth grade, you can do the math.  You can have a really cheap date for less than 40 cents.  If you can't afford that... you shouldn't be having kids.  

How about a little personal responsibility here?  From the CDC.
Unmarried Childbearing(Data are for the U.S.)
  • Number of live births to unmarried women: 1,693,658
  • Birth rate for unmarried women: 50.5 births per 1,000 unmarried women aged 15-44 years
  • Percent of all births to unmarried women: 41.0%
Source: Births: Final Data for 2009, table C Adobe PDF file [PDF - 1.3 MB] 
Well... that just raises the question about whether or not cheap or free contraceptives even are the issue.  Why are women having a dozen children out of wedlock with multiple partners?  Certainly not because they can't afford 40-cent contraception.

Perhaps it is the whole notion that contraceptives are even wanted that is the red herring.  This is a culture of irresponsibility abetted by the U.S. government... and not simply by providing abortions or contraceptive, but by taking away the consequences of irresponsibility... by providing all manner of support... in the name of "fairness."  We are moving to a culture where men are relegated to "sperm donors" and husbands are replaced by a rich uncle... Sam.

But then why is the President pushing this red herring?  Because he can then say he is "doing something" for the poor... that he really "cares".  Sure, he cares for their votes... but he doesn't want anyone to think this through the whole way.

RELATED:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2012


Providing Free Contraceptives For All

2012 IS HERE

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There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956)
“The Divine Afflatus,” A Mencken Chrestomathy, chapter 25, p. 443 (1949)
... and one could add "not all human problems really are."
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
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Tracking Interest Rates

Tracking Interest Rates

FEDERAL RESERVE & HOUSING

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February 3, 2006 Go back to 1999-2000 and see what the Fed did. They are following the same pattern for 2005-06. If it ain't broke, the Fed will fix it... and good!
August 29, 2006 The Federal Reserve always acts on old information... and is the only cause of U.S. recessions.
December 5, 2006 Last spring I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.
March 28, 2007
The Federal Reserve sees no need to cut interest rates in the light of adverse recent economic data, Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman said ”to date, the incoming data have supported the view that the current stance of policy is likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing in core inflation”.

July 21, 2007 My guess is that if there is an interest rate change, a cut is more likely than an increase. The key variables to be watching at this point are real estate prices and the inventory of unsold homes.
August 11, 2007 I suspect that within 6 months the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates before housing becomes a black hole.
September 11, 2007 It only means that the overall process has flaws guaranteeing it will be slow in responding to changes in the economy... and tend to over-react as a result.
September 18, 2007 I think a 4% rate is really what is needed to turn the economy back on the right course. The rate may not get there, but more cuts will be needed with employment rates down and foreclosure rates up.
October 25, 2007 How long will it be before I will be able to write: "The Federal Reserve lowered its lending rate to 4% in response to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and massive numbers of foreclosures that threaten the banking and mortgage sectors."
November 28, 2007 FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN
"Should the elevated turbulence persist, it would increase the possibility of further tightening in financial conditions for households and businesses," he said.

"Uncertainties about the economic outlook are unusually high right now," he said. "These uncertainties require flexible and pragmatic policymaking -- nimble is the adjective I used a few weeks ago."
http://www.reuters.com/

December 11, 2007 Somehow the Fed misses the obvious.
fed_rate_moves_425_small.gif
[Image from: CNNMoney.com]
December 13, 2007 [from The Christian Science Monitor]
"The odds of a recession are now above 50 percent," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We are right on the edge of a recession in part because of the Fed's reluctance to reduce interest rates more aggressively." [see my comments of September 11]
January 7, 2008 The real problem now is that consumers can't rescue the economy and manufacturing, which is already weakening, will continue to weaken. We've gutted the forces that could avoid a downturn. The question is not whether there will be a recession, but can it be dampened sufficiently so that it is very short.
January 11, 2008 This is death by a thousand cuts.
January 13, 2008 [N.Y. Times]
“The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.”
January 17, 2008 A few days ago, Anna Schwartz, nonagenarian economist, implicated the Federal Reserve as the cause of the present lending crisis [from the Telegraph - UK]:
The high priestess of US monetarism - a revered figure at the Fed - says the central bank is itself the chief cause of the credit bubble, and now seems stunned as the consequences of its own actions engulf the financial system. "The new group at the Fed is not equal to the problem that faces it," she says, daring to utter a thought that fellow critics mostly utter sotto voce.
January 22, 2008 The cut has become infected and a limb is in danger. Ben Bernanke is panicking and the Fed has its emergency triage team cutting rates... this time by 3/4%. ...

What should the Federal Reserve do now? Step back... and don't be so anxious to raise rates at the first sign of economic improvement.
Individuals and businesses need stability in their financial cost structures so that they can plan effectively and keep their ships afloat. Wildly fluctuating rates... regardless of what the absolute levels are... create problems. Either too much spending or too much fear. It's just not that difficult to comprehend. Why has it been so difficult for the Fed?

About Me

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Michigan, United States
Air Force (SAC) captain 1968-72. Retired after 35 years of business and logistical planning, including running a small business. Two sons with advanced degrees; one with a business and pre-law degree. Beautiful wife who has put up with me for 4 decades. Education: B.A. (Sociology major; minors in philosopy, English literature, and German) M.S. Operations Management (like a mixture of an MBA with logistical planning)