Wednesday, October 28, 2009
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands...
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
H.R. 3200 - Bill is Set to Self-Destruct
Okay, so here's the scoop: there's a “popular” e-mail going around these days (see quoted material below, names removed to protect the guilty, although I'm not sure why) babbling on about who the "opponents" of the Health Care bill really are. There's also a fairly popular e-mail going around about how the current Health Care set up in the US is resulting in too little for too much. The problem with both of these e-mails is pretty straight forward - they give you only what they want you to have and leave the main course in the kitchen. And while they provide plenty to chew on, the fact is that most of it ends up being blue meat. Who wants blue meat when you can have REAL meat?! If your meat is blue it's either been sitting in the back of the freezer for a decade too long or it's some kind of man-made meat substitute. You know, it's sort of like the difference between real sugar and Splenda. Have you tried a Splenda brownie? The brownie is great to start with, and at first there seems to be no difference, but you can sense something is just not right with it and then comes that lingering bad after-taste, no matter what you eat it just hangs in there a little longer. But you keep eating it anyway and pretend to enjoy it too, if only for the fact that somehow you're convinced that it's better for you. Never mind the fact that the guy next to you is eating a real brownie and weighs 20 pounds less than you. No matter what, whether it's 10 years too frozen or just faking you out, either way it can’t possibly be good for you. So instead, here's some real meat for you to chew on.
The fact is that those who support this monstrosity of a reform bill are terrified that they are losing the argument. They can't (or won't) accept the possibility that real, everyday, hard-working Americans are rising up and finally speaking their minds. After-all, how could that possibly be? How could anyone be against something that "they" the "chosen" party is putting forth? After-all they did win in a landslide just last November - to them that landslide gave them nothing less than a license to kill, or in this case a license to do whatever the hell they want to (a.k.a Chris Buttars Plague). And they honestly expect the rest of America to fall in line. What was it that Obama said when he got back from his tour of Europe and the Middle-East? Oh yeah I remember he said, "I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done,” the president said. “Inaction is not an option. And for those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us." (Read Here) So you're putting us on "notice" huh? Do we have to sit in the corner too? Are you going to send us to the principals office? And what's this reference to "chatter" Mr. President? Chatter? Do you mean discussion? debate? conversation? freedom of speech? He just can't stand the fact that more than half of America has issues with this bill. Sounds to me like our President is a little too close to 2 years old than we suspected.
So now that the tide seems to be turning, the Democrats' true colors are showing – they become bitter, contentious, elitists and begin to turn to vicious attacks to make their argument. They call the Town Hall attendees "racists" and "mobsters" and paint a picture of utter destruction taking place at the Town Hall meetings. (See Here) They show a couple clips of a few bad apples, leave the rest on the cutting room floor and somehow manage to misrepresent the whole of the debate against Health Care reform. They seem to believe that if they can label the opponents of the Obama Health Care bill as psychos, nut-jobs, mobsters, racists and radicals that mainstream America will go along with it! The funny thing is that these same individuals will sweep more dramatic stories under the rug when it suits their purposes. (Follow this Link) The fact is that the first e-mail example I provide at the bottom of this post is merely another twig on a rather pathetic propaganda fire.
More important than the misrepresentation of the grassroots movements involved in the opposition of the Health Care bill is the misrepresentation of the facts in the debate itself. A prime example would be this arbitrary argument that the American Health Care system is too costly for the benefits that are produced. This argument is just plain dim-witted. Are you kidding me? Can anyone reading this e-mail honestly tell me that, given the choice, they would choose to go to any other country in the world outside of America to have any medical procedure done (let alone a life threatening procedure)? The answer to that question speaks volumes about our Health Care system and the product and services it provides. Let’s also not forget the fact that capitalism itself has been the foundation of all medical advances in the last 200 years. Socializing medicine will kill the last bit of free enterprise element left in the system.
The truth is that capitalism promotes innovative thinking; it drives people to think outside of the box in order to achieve success. In a socialist system the only entity that gets credit for success is the entire populous itself. Ingenuity becomes stifled because people no longer have an incentive to be creative. When incentive disappears so does motivation. Why risk anything when the reward is so small, right? So why, of all aspects of our lives, would we want to stagnate talent and vision in the field of Health Care? We might as well start taking years off of our life expectancy now because we’re about to head back to the middle-ages. (Click Here) Then again, look at the bright side – some of us will get to live in castles and carry around swords and daggers! Wait…did they have open-carry laws back then? Oh well, we’ll cross that draw-bridge when we get to it.
There’s no need to deny that honest reform of the Health Care system in America is a necessity. Most of us agree that the cost of our Health Care system is too high but what we don’t agree upon is what to do about it. To be truthful, the best thing to do would be to leave the public and private options out of the whole system and go back to a system without insurance companies and without HMO’s and without Medicaid. Go back to paying your doctor when you need them, and allow charities to be set up to help those who have major medical cases come up. God forbid we pay for what we actually use instead of these insane premiums every month for medical care many of us will never use. But we all know that there is no way that’s ever going to happen - so now we’re forced to work inside the system to fix it. Three of the highest draws on our Health Care system today are: 1) frivolous litigation 2) unhealthy lifestyle choices 3) prescription drug costs. (See links: HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE) True and honest reform to those three things will bring about an astronomical reduction of the actual costs of health care in America. Medical litigation must be capped, education about preventative measures to keep us healthy must continue, and something must be done about the rising costs of prescription drugs in the US. While we should not be opposed to companies making money (capitalism) we should be opposed to the fact that these companies are charging $1000/month for medication in the US that can be bought in other countries for $200/month. Something needs to be done, but there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's not tear the founding of the greatest Nation on earth asunder by arbitrarily replacing it with a foundation that Germany, Russia, North Korea, and Cuba have already proven doesn't do anything but oppress liberty.
At the end of the day the biggest reason why most sound-minded Americans oppose the form of reform that the Obama administration has presented us is relatively simple – it smacks of socialism! You can deny it all day long but any time a government takes over a sector of private industry for “the good of the people” that is called socialism. And guess what? It doesn’t work. Germany proved that it the 1930’s. But check this out: Watch this 10 min clip. Nevermind the fact that this country was founded on the principles of freedom. Remember the old school-ground taunt you always heard, "it's a free country you know!" Well I hope you wrote it in your journal somewhere because you'll have to describe it to your children and grand- children because they won't be able to create those memories for themselves. Strange how so many in America have forgotten our roots. And don’t forget - we all know how the government works: if you give an inch…they’ll take your foot. Is that right? Anyway I’m sure you know what I mean. And one final note to Obama and Team: please don’t pee on my leg and tell me that it’s raining! (follow this link) Do these gooseknuckles think we're stupid?
The fact is that those who support this monstrosity of a reform bill are terrified that they are losing the argument. They can't (or won't) accept the possibility that real, everyday, hard-working Americans are rising up and finally speaking their minds. After-all, how could that possibly be? How could anyone be against something that "they" the "chosen" party is putting forth? After-all they did win in a landslide just last November - to them that landslide gave them nothing less than a license to kill, or in this case a license to do whatever the hell they want to (a.k.a Chris Buttars Plague). And they honestly expect the rest of America to fall in line. What was it that Obama said when he got back from his tour of Europe and the Middle-East? Oh yeah I remember he said, "I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done,” the president said. “Inaction is not an option. And for those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us." (Read Here) So you're putting us on "notice" huh? Do we have to sit in the corner too? Are you going to send us to the principals office? And what's this reference to "chatter" Mr. President? Chatter? Do you mean discussion? debate? conversation? freedom of speech? He just can't stand the fact that more than half of America has issues with this bill. Sounds to me like our President is a little too close to 2 years old than we suspected.
So now that the tide seems to be turning, the Democrats' true colors are showing – they become bitter, contentious, elitists and begin to turn to vicious attacks to make their argument. They call the Town Hall attendees "racists" and "mobsters" and paint a picture of utter destruction taking place at the Town Hall meetings. (See Here) They show a couple clips of a few bad apples, leave the rest on the cutting room floor and somehow manage to misrepresent the whole of the debate against Health Care reform. They seem to believe that if they can label the opponents of the Obama Health Care bill as psychos, nut-jobs, mobsters, racists and radicals that mainstream America will go along with it! The funny thing is that these same individuals will sweep more dramatic stories under the rug when it suits their purposes. (Follow this Link) The fact is that the first e-mail example I provide at the bottom of this post is merely another twig on a rather pathetic propaganda fire.
More important than the misrepresentation of the grassroots movements involved in the opposition of the Health Care bill is the misrepresentation of the facts in the debate itself. A prime example would be this arbitrary argument that the American Health Care system is too costly for the benefits that are produced. This argument is just plain dim-witted. Are you kidding me? Can anyone reading this e-mail honestly tell me that, given the choice, they would choose to go to any other country in the world outside of America to have any medical procedure done (let alone a life threatening procedure)? The answer to that question speaks volumes about our Health Care system and the product and services it provides. Let’s also not forget the fact that capitalism itself has been the foundation of all medical advances in the last 200 years. Socializing medicine will kill the last bit of free enterprise element left in the system.
The truth is that capitalism promotes innovative thinking; it drives people to think outside of the box in order to achieve success. In a socialist system the only entity that gets credit for success is the entire populous itself. Ingenuity becomes stifled because people no longer have an incentive to be creative. When incentive disappears so does motivation. Why risk anything when the reward is so small, right? So why, of all aspects of our lives, would we want to stagnate talent and vision in the field of Health Care? We might as well start taking years off of our life expectancy now because we’re about to head back to the middle-ages. (Click Here) Then again, look at the bright side – some of us will get to live in castles and carry around swords and daggers! Wait…did they have open-carry laws back then? Oh well, we’ll cross that draw-bridge when we get to it.
There’s no need to deny that honest reform of the Health Care system in America is a necessity. Most of us agree that the cost of our Health Care system is too high but what we don’t agree upon is what to do about it. To be truthful, the best thing to do would be to leave the public and private options out of the whole system and go back to a system without insurance companies and without HMO’s and without Medicaid. Go back to paying your doctor when you need them, and allow charities to be set up to help those who have major medical cases come up. God forbid we pay for what we actually use instead of these insane premiums every month for medical care many of us will never use. But we all know that there is no way that’s ever going to happen - so now we’re forced to work inside the system to fix it. Three of the highest draws on our Health Care system today are: 1) frivolous litigation 2) unhealthy lifestyle choices 3) prescription drug costs. (See links: HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE) True and honest reform to those three things will bring about an astronomical reduction of the actual costs of health care in America. Medical litigation must be capped, education about preventative measures to keep us healthy must continue, and something must be done about the rising costs of prescription drugs in the US. While we should not be opposed to companies making money (capitalism) we should be opposed to the fact that these companies are charging $1000/month for medication in the US that can be bought in other countries for $200/month. Something needs to be done, but there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's not tear the founding of the greatest Nation on earth asunder by arbitrarily replacing it with a foundation that Germany, Russia, North Korea, and Cuba have already proven doesn't do anything but oppress liberty.
At the end of the day the biggest reason why most sound-minded Americans oppose the form of reform that the Obama administration has presented us is relatively simple – it smacks of socialism! You can deny it all day long but any time a government takes over a sector of private industry for “the good of the people” that is called socialism. And guess what? It doesn’t work. Germany proved that it the 1930’s. But check this out: Watch this 10 min clip. Nevermind the fact that this country was founded on the principles of freedom. Remember the old school-ground taunt you always heard, "it's a free country you know!" Well I hope you wrote it in your journal somewhere because you'll have to describe it to your children and grand- children because they won't be able to create those memories for themselves. Strange how so many in America have forgotten our roots. And don’t forget - we all know how the government works: if you give an inch…they’ll take your foot. Is that right? Anyway I’m sure you know what I mean. And one final note to Obama and Team: please don’t pee on my leg and tell me that it’s raining! (follow this link) Do these gooseknuckles think we're stupid?
by Phil Ellsworth, August 2009
Below are the e-mail examples (not necessarily for your reading pleasure).
First e-mail Example:
"It's probably a mistake to lump all opponents of reform in together; different groups are fighting with different motivations. I tend to see them in five different groups:
* The Greedy: There's a fairly small group of people who profit handsomely from the broken status quo. Regular Americans are getting screwed by the system, but The Greedy are getting rich. Reform puts their profits at risk, so they're fighting back to protect their livelihood.
* The Partisans: If President Obama does what many presidents have failed trying to do, it will likely make him more popular and make his presidency successful. The Partisans care more about Republican gains than the national well being, so they're fighting to prevent a major Democratic victory because it would be a major Democratic victory.
* The Tin-Foil Hats: If reform passes, the government will kill their grandparents, create "death panels," lavish benefits on illegal immigrants, and mandate that ACORN volunteers live in your basement. The Tin-Foil Hats have active imaginations, and believe their own ridiculous conspiracy theories. They'll benefit from reform, but the voices in their head discourage them from believing it.
* The Dupes: Probably the largest group in opposition to reform, The Dupes tend to believe what The Greedy, The Partisans, and The Tin-Foil Hats have told them. When confronted with accurate information, The Dupes suspect the media, Democrats, and their lying eyes aren't to be trusted. After all, Sean Hannity wouldn't lie to them, would he? Like The Tin-Foil hats, The Dupes stand to benefit from reform, but are skeptical because they don't know who's telling the truth and who isn't.
* The Wonks: The smallest of the groups, The Wonks are conservatives who actually care about substantive policy details, have read the proposals, and believe there are better ways to improve the system. The Greedy, The Partisans, The Tin-Foil Hats, and The Dupes tend to ignore The Wonks, which is a shame."
Second e-mail Example:
"If the global economy were a 100-yard dash, the U.S. would start 23 yards behind its closest competitors because of health care that costs too much and delivers too little, a business group says in a report to be released Thursday. The report from the Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs of major companies, says America's health care system has become a liability in a global economy. Concern about high U.S. costs has existed for years, and business executives - whose companies provide health coverage for workers - have long called for getting costs under control. Now President Obama says the costs have become unsustainable and the system must be overhauled. Americans spend $2.4 trillion a year on health care. The Business Roundtable report says Americans in 2006 spent $1,928 per capita on health care, at least two-and-a-half times more per person than any other advanced country. In a different twist, the report took those costs and factored benefits into the equation. It compares statistics on life expectancy, death rates and even cholesterol readings and blood pressures. The health measures are factored together with costs into a 100-point "value" scale. That hasn't been done before, the authors said. The results are not encouraging. The United States is 23 points behind five leading economic competitors: Canada, Japan, Germany, Britain and France. The five nations cover all their citizens, and though their systems differ, in each country the government plays a much larger role than in the U.S. The cost-benefit disparity is even wider - 46 points - when the U.S. is compared with emerging competitors: China, Brazil and India."
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