Chris Lewis

Christian. Husband to @kaliekristine and dad of Caleb. Aggie '12. AnCap. Stars Fan.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

You do not advance the kingdom of God by placing your faith in the kingdoms of the world.

[The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial]

We have a 2 trillion deficit and a trillion interest payment on the debt. Can we cut some fkn spending for the love of all things holy.

[Young Americans for Liberty @YALiberty]

Yes.

[Being Libertarian @beinlibertarian]

It's ok to celebrate the American spirit today and still hate the government.

That's kind of the whole point.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

Getting rid of Lyubushkin and his money is good though. That’s honestly probably the reason you only get a 2nd for Borque. If you want to take our good player for less than he’s worth, you must also take a bad player to make us some salary cap space.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

Dislike

[Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun]

Nashville finalizing a trade for Mavrik Bourque from Dallas. In exchange for draft picks.

[Ryan Matthew Neuhaus @RyanMNeuhaus]

States don't have to give birth certificates to alien children. It's a choice.

Everyone trying to say nullification isn't possible isn't thinking very hard. This isn't that complicated.

[John Birch Society @The_JBS]

“This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens…”

- Jacob Howard (1866)

This is a massive betrayal of the American people and a disregard for the original intent of the 14th Amendment.

[Sean Davis @seanmdav]

For decades after the 14th Amendment was ratified, it was understood that American Indians born in America were not American citizens. It took an act of Congress to make them citizens.

The Roberts/Barrett take on the 14th is entirely inconsistent with actual history, language, and common sense. They’re not actually stupid enough to believe it. Which means this entire decision was driven by their own cowardice and craven desire to be liked.

What an embarrassment those two are.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@Thanx4AllDaFish @Devon_Eriksen_ Every government claims to be for and by the people, and none of them are of the people.

If you really wanted investment in things people wanted, you would let them spend their own money. The only purpose in taxing them is to spend it on things they wouldn’t have themselves.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@Thanx4AllDaFish @Devon_Eriksen_ It’s not the government’s job to fund research.

[Devon Eriksen @Devon_Eriksen_]

What happened to my bank account? Absolutely nothing.

You believed a lie.

You believed a lie that was told to you by your political class, and your news media, to keep you from asking uncomfortable questions about how much you are paying in tax, where that money is going, and what quality of care you actually receive for the portion of it they didn't steal.

Don't believe me? Look at the pictures.

Look.

At.

Them.

That's my wife, @acrobatichobbit. Before and after.

That's a five centimeter mass. Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. The worst kind of cancer, the most vicious form of assassin your own body can betray you with. That bright area? Blood.

Ten years ago, anywhere in the world, the scan on the left is a death sentence... an endless gauntlet of painful surgeries, followed by chemotherapy, hair loss, uncontrolled vomiting, wasting away to nothing, death.

In America, today, it's not.

We have things here. Genetic therapies. Tailored viruses that attack tumor cells. Drugs that highlight cancers for your immune system, drag them kicking and screaming into the spotlight to be killed.

I won't tell you about her exact course of treatment, because that's none of your goddamned business, but I will tell you that it cost American drug companies and medical researchers a fortune to discover.

A fortune that your nation cannot afford because you chose socialism instead of progress. And socialism, however fine-sounding in theory, simply does not work.

Were she and I British, living in Britain, relying on the National Health Service, I would be a widower now.

Did saving her cost a ruinous amount of money?

Yes. This technology was expensive to create, and the people who did so deserve to pay their mortgages and feed their kids. So do the oncologists and surgeons.

Many of the men who cared for her were old men, experienced men, long past retirement age, still working because when your profession is clawing souls back from the void, sitting on a beach with a pina colada instead just doesn't hit the same.

They deserve every cent.

Did saving her cost a ruinous amount of money?

Yes.

Did I pay it?

No.

Because believe it or not, when things are ruinously expensive, but vitally necessary, we here in America come up with ways to deal with that.

Ways that don't involve creating a big pot of money and entrusting it to corrupt slimeballs.

We have insurance. And sometimes insurance isn't cheap, but the bite it takes is a hell of a lot less of what we have than the tax man takes from you.

And insurance companies sometimes have to make hard decisions about which spending choices will save the most people. I know about this in detail, because that is my wife's profession. She creates the mathematical models that pay for all this stuff.

The insurance that saved her is the exact same plan that she provides to others.

And at the end of an awful year and a half of treatment, awful because cancer medicines make you far sicker than the cancer itself...

We were left whole.

Battered and wounded in spirit, but financially whole, at least.

The only loss we took was the blow to my career as a novelist, because it turns out you can't write stories while your wife is dying, and you don't automatically recover that ability afterwards. Not right away.

I wondered every day if she was going to live or die. I wondered every day what the hell I was going to with myself without her.

But I never wondered, not for a moment, how the hell we were going to pay for all this.

Your government doesn't solve the problem. It is the problem.

They lie to you.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@taylordbaird Not saying you are saying this, but at the same time it’s hard not to interpret that as him prioritizing getting paid over winning. We’re already not good enough to win a championship, and then he wants to take up as much cap space as he can? Hard to stomach.

[Mises Caucus @LPMisesCaucus]

Today's SCOTUS ruling on Monsanto and Roundup reinforces the Libertarian warning against government regulators. Corporations are exempt from liability for damages so long as they follow the rules, and Regulatory Capture means they help write those rules.

Abolish the EPA. MAHA.

[David Castillo @DavidCastilloAC]

I still don't get the allure of trading Jason Robertson. We already know that a core (when healthy) with him can go deep in the playoffs. A core without Robertson, on the other hand, is a total x-factor. The cap is its' own issue, but is how a potential trade narrows the window.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@rlag09 Rantanen’s offensive skill and ceiling are higher, and yes, he popped off for a few games two playoffs ago. That’s not the same thing as being a better player.

And Robo didn’t go to the Olympics bc Guerin has the same value blindness you have, not bc he deserved to be left off.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

The flat trade cost to acquire Rantanen was worth it. Very high, but worth it.

But if that move also ends up costing Robertson… then it was a mistake. Under almost no circumstances can Dallas win a trade sending out Robo, especially with everyone knowing they’re in a cap crunch

[Greg Wyshynski @wyshynski]

Regarding Jason Robertson:

One NHL executive that inquired about him said @DallasStars were seeking a “Rantanen” package back for the RFA winger. Please recall they sent two protected 1st-rounders, two 3rds and 2nd-year center Logan Stankoven to Carolina.

We shall see ...

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@rlag09 Concentrated offensive contributions easily stand out. Consistent distributed defensive ones do not. That does not make their total impact less.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@rlag09 The fact is, there is virtually no world in which swapping him for other assets actually makes this team more competitive. Teams that fancy themselves contenders should not be trading away their best player.

[Chris Lewis @CJL2012]

@rlag09 Not quite, but he is worth more than Rantanen. I’m pretty sure his offensive and defensive combined measurable impact is top 5 in the league. Even more impressive that he can do that as a winger, and as a guy who’s not dependent on elite speed to do it.

[Arthur MacWaters @ArthurMacwaters]

Honestly at this point I'm a bit frustrated I didn't get my USAID-sponsored RPG