My Healthcare Plan

Get ready, we are far from hearing the end of this debate! Talk of Trillion dollar programs, inadequate patient care and how "we" as a nation will care for those with health issues are rising to a fever pitch. Those who want to spend money on government programs to fix the problem will argue on the side of care, that millions of Americans do not have adequate health care. Those on the other side of the issue will argue about the future of our nation, and the debt we are saddling the next generation with. 2000 pages of health care, with references to addendum and appendices and research that at the very least is hard to understand and at the very worst possibly tainted. Who really knows what is going on?
I fear that we are reaching for solutions that do not address the problem. The problem to me is not adequate care, it is rising costs and allowing personal care to become a ward of the state instead of neighbors. When I hear politicians say "Millions of Americans do not have adequate Health Care," what they are really saying is that "Millions of Americans do not have adequate Health Insurance." There is a huge difference here, insurance is the mechanism to pay for this grossly overweight system of health care, but it does not affect the care that we can expect. The fact is that any person can get care for any problem at any time, whether they can afford it or not. Although emergency rooms are perhaps not the most appropriate place for every problem, they are certainly not the contributor to rising costs as have been claimed. E-room docs are efficient, the process moves far more patients than an average exam setup, and in case you have not noticed; the Emergency room doesn't have million dollar paintings and teak boardroom tables.
What I am getting at here, is that the establishment is to blame, from the hospitals to the politicians to the insurance companies. Everyone has a piece of this pie, and instead of fixing the problem of rising costs and robo-care, they are going to use their well heeled lobbyists and PR machines to convince all of us to perpetuate the problem instead of solving it! The real issue at hand is that no one knows what it costs, because the patient is not the customer. The insurance companies and the federal government are the customers, let's face it, the actual consumer is not the customer. When was the last time you took your car in to have the oil changed, did you ask how much it would cost? Did you receive an answer? The same situation is not true of any medical service that has been provided to you, you don't have a clue of the cost other than "What's my co-pay?" It is no wonder that costs are out of control, no one even knows what they are.
Now, you will claim its not the same thing, I will counter that it is exactly the same thing, and even worse. For example, do you expect your auto insurance to pay for oil changes? Of course not, no more than you expect your home insurance policy to pay for a garage addition, but we expect our health insurance to pay for routine visits and pregnancies. In my mind, that is ridiculous, on top of having no idea what that oil change or garage addition will cost before having it done. We are mired in the thought that "someone else will pay for it," not realizing that someone else IS paying for it, and the someone else is US. Part of this problem may be due to treating entitlements as a badge of honor, unlike earlier in my lifetime when they were treated with a measure of shame. Using food stamps or getting reduced cost lunches at school used to be something to hide and be embarrassed about, today kids will brag about not having to pay full price. This mindset is seeping into our entire culture, and at the root of the healthcare argument that if not checked will spend us into bankruptcy. Applied to healthcare, why not eat Twinkies for breakfast, someone else will pay for it when I need help anyway.
Providing care for those that need it is as basic a human responsibility as it gets, and one that any of us would undertake when the need is legitimate. What person would leave an accident victim on the side of the road, instead of at least stopping to see if they are OK? We feel an obligation to help the cancer victim all over America's towns, with spaghetti dinners and cans on luncheon countertops, and it feels right to help a fellow human being whether in our own town, city or across the world. It is the right thing to do. The problem with universal health care, is that it removes that personal contact and places it in the hands of a government institution. We don't need to take care of that cancer patient or accident victim, we are paying our health insurance and dialing 911 so that should take care of it. That is just wrong.
To really fix the healthcare problem, we have to fix the costs. To find an example of a health cost that is not covered by insurance, let's use corrective eye surgery. When it first came out, it cost several thousand dollars and was considered dangerous by many people. Today, this type of surgery costs only several hundred dollars and you can find a reputable doc with credentials that can tell you exactly what it will cost, how many patients have been helped and even give you referrals on the safety of the procedure! So, without the health care industry involved, we are better informed and get better care at a lower cost. For ideas about what managed government health care will look like, we need to go no further than the process of getting an H1N1 shot.
Taking care of each other does not involve spending us into oblivion, it involves creative solutions to complex problems by focusing on the core issues. Covering major catastrophe like cancer is the goal of most Americans, not having their family suffer or going bankrupt if they end up with some terrible disease. So let's cover everyone with a basic policy that has a very high deductible, say $25,000, that will reduce the approximately $12,000 annual cost per person to around $3000. Give every US citizen (everyone, even the 11 million that are not covered under the current proposed plan that spends over a Trillion dollars) an Health Savings Account (HSA) account that is not taxed, can be used for regular care, that can roll over into the next year and be funded by the employer, citizen, support group or government. Most HSA expenses over a year would total around $4000, so we are already ahead by $5000 per person. The balance of any costs between $4000 and the $25,000 deductible would be covered by the individual, local support, the government depending on the economic condition or a government borrowing mechanism that would allow individuals to borrow against he future value of their HSA. This would also work with Social Security, but that is another story. When a patient goes to the doc, they can expect to be told what it will cost in addition to the procedure, and wold pay the cost out of the HSA account.
The result of this plan would allow the patient to become the customer, focus on the actual costs of care and allow the free market to begin reducing costs and improving care as in our eye surgery model. Groups of like minded individuals may decide to form health co-ops to share costs, churches could provide outreach health care through "Parish Nurse" programs, to deal with normal maladies, educate people about living healthier lives and generally keep people healthier and out of the system. There are infinite areas that could result from a system like this one, which would improve basic health, reduce costs and allow personal care for each other.
How can the government help, after all, we don't want to totally discount the coordinating and pooling effect of government. For starters, help initiate a nationwide system of electronic records. Create a fund to assist different economic classes with deductible and premium assistance. Promote wellness programs. Pay for lower income folks to get regular checkups. Promote healthier foods that are given away at low income food banks across the nation, instead of filling bags with high carb and fatty foods that no one wanted in the first place. Provide information on doctors and hospitals that are providing the best care. Allow health care across state lines.
Here is a plan that will work, can be started today and will have an immediate impact on the core problems. There are many areas you might not agree with, or want to change depending on your focus, but this plan will work to address the core problems of cost and personal care. We simply cannot sustain this system, and expanding it will be an act of lunacy, there must be another direction. So, for those of you that say there are no good ideas out there, try this one on before you adopt either spending us into bankruptcy or saying we don't have a better idea.

Muslim Outrage at Ft. Hood Shootings

MSN is running a piece today on the outraged Muslim community, trying to deepen a rift and throw salt in the wounds of the soldiers who have not begun to even heal physically yet. First of all, couldn't they let this type of thing settle down until we get some more facts? Secondly, why be so quick to take sides on an issue, is it so important to throw the evil American society under the bus that basic conscience can be ignored? They are in such a hurry to point fingers at our imperialism and greed as the leading cause of any terrible thing that happens in America, that they are willing to let the ink dry before the blood does.
When I mention "they," I am referring to the liberal minority in this nation that wants to remove everything that is good from our culture; our faith, our freedom, even our status as the greatest nation on the earth. I think that most of us are content to put up with it, let everyone have their opinion and be respectful of those opinions, but this one has gone too far.
One quote uses a Muslim source from Fort Hood to say "when a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal. But when a Muslim does it, they call it Jihad." Hold on right there, let's get some perspective. The white guy that shoots up the post office isn't screaming "Allahu Akbar!" while shooting off rounds at people, and why even mention the "white" guy at all? Isn't that racist? If a "white" guy made a comment about a Muslim, or any other race for that matter, he would be apologizing on the national news within hours, and just for the record being Muslim doesn't count at being a race anyway it just determines your religion.
I am not sure what this nut was doing in our military anyway, but at the least this is proof to the world that we are indeed a free and open society, and to prove it we are willing to consider loss of life an acceptable alternative to living under the control of any person or institution. I don't see any Christians showing up at the local Muslim recruiter's office, getting a decent position and then shooting up their "friends" while screaming "Jesus is Lord!" If that absurdly impossible thing ever did happen, you can bet 2/3rds of the world population would be screaming for our heads. Instead, we acknowledge that in a free and open society there is an opportunity for terrible things to happen, but even those terrible things pale in comparison to the alternatives. Our freedoms are worth it, and we all know it, that's why we will lick our wounds and move on.
To go even further, the writers suggest that it is the military's fault for not recognizing and fixing this problem before it happened. This is akin to the Va Tech shooter situation, where the "government" is supposed to protect us from those things that cannot be predicted. Those that want to be protected from every possible ill really want our society to be recreated into a place that only Orwell could dream of, I for one want no part of that place. We live in the greatest nation on earth, one that has combined elements of faith and basic freedoms into a very special fabric, a fabric that is being tested and stretched to its limits by those seeking to destroy our Republic out of ignorance and carelessness. Our freedoms are to be cherished, even when they result in the possibility of terrible things. Our faith preserves us as a people of basic morality, so laws can be kept at a minimum, and our Constitution and the Statue of Religious Freedom guarantees that we are free to choose whatever religion we want. I doubt the Founding Fathers had Islam in mind when writing the Constitution or other statues, but it remains the choice of the individual, just don't use that as a cop-out against the foundations of our nation when things go wrong.

Election Integrity

It is the home stretch here in the Old Dominion when it comes to the race for Governor, not to mention other Local and State offices. Much has been said of Republican nominee McDonnell's social positions after his 1989 Thesis from Regent University came to light, especially regarding the position of women and marriage. I have to say that when his poll numbers dropped I thought Deeds had his number, only to find out that apparently the dip was short lived. The reality is that the Virginia election is very, very closely watched nationwide; and with over $22 million (did you get that!) collected to support their candidate this is a big deal. Democrats and Republicans alike are jockeying for position to declare how important or unimportant every possible detail should be, and this race really highlights for me how much we have thrown integrity to the wind in order to get a desired result.
When McDonnell first announced his candidacy and Bolling bowed out as a Republican challenger, the Republican side of the ticket was set early and left the Democrats to fight out their candidate in a primary. I was very pleased to see Creigh Deeds chosen to represent the Democratic ticket, not because I particularly like his positions (which I don't), but because I found the idea that Terry McAuliffe could "buy" Virginia to be rather distasteful. I offered my help to the McDonnell ticket early on as a blogger and supporter, but I have to tell you that my support has waned over the following months. Now don't get me wrong, I am still a supporter of McDonnell and there is little to no chance he will lose my vote, but he has lost my passionate support. The reason for this change of heart is simple, I believe he has chosen a route to become elected that erodes his personal positions on many issues that I personally care about. This in itself is nothing new on either side of the aisle, but I am afraid that we are allowing our elected officials and staff to be rather Machiavellian in their approach instead of standing on personal principle. This is not about being divisive, capable politicians like Huckabee are able to articulate their positions without being abusively divisive as you might see on Hannity or from Daily Kos; this is about having integrity to stand for what you believe even if it means you lose votes. Instead of scraping every vote off the floor to gain an advantage, we need public servants that are willing to lead and present their positions in a way that creates passionate followers instead of just voters.
When Deeds lost his edge after the Thesis debacle and appeared to be on the downswing in the race, I found it interesting that the Obama administration started backing up on their support of Deeds which had been so solid just weeks before. They did not have integrity in supporting their man out of fear, fear of being associated with the loser in such a pivotal contest. McDonnell has backed up on issues such as abortion and traditional marriage that were outlined in his Thesis to keep his lead, which is also an issue of integrity. I could make the point that Obama himself is one of the few that has kept his integrity from the campaign, on the very few issues that he dared to make a stand on such as declaring universal healthcare as a right and not a privilege. I would call that "selective integrity," where you make sure your Thesis from Harvard is nowhere to be found, so you can't be called out on the integrity issue down the road.
I would ask my candidate to take a stand, lead us in a direction that makes sense and be able to tell me what that is, and allow room for others to ask critical questions that might open their ability to understand why you believe what you do. If I don't agree with you, at least I know where you stand and can trust you not to move around on issues, which might just let me actually listen to you. That is where real change can begin.

Quote of the Day...

"Our experiences as men and Anglo-Saxons affect our decisions. I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latino woman who hasn't lived that life."

If I made that quote in public, I can only imagine the outcry that would result. I would be ridiculed and harassed for being racist, sexist and part of the unfair "oppression" in this country. So how does a person get to say those words and rise to the top of their profession? I'm not sure, but rest assured there is a double standard at work in our society. Any white, Christian man in Congress that makes a quote like that will be resigning the next day. The same is true for any school system administrator or teacher, community leader, or even the postmaster for crying out loud.

But our latest nominee for Supreme Court Justice gets to make that statement, and be congratulated for it. Here is the quote, "Our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions. I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."-Sonia Sotomayor.

Make no mistake, she will be appointed with little opposition, because who can speak out against her without being branded a racist? A brilliant political move by President Obama, and a continuing result of the past election, but the fact remains that we are still an oppressive and racist nation no matter who happens to be on the receiving end. Until we are strong enough to stand up to this kind of divisive talk and correctly label it, we will simply be subject to the pendulum swinging back and forth instead of fixing the true issues in our hearts.

Abolish Slavery...Again

We are undergoing a rather significant change in vocabulary these days, learning new terms reflecting green technology for our homes, cars and industry for example as well as new twists on old terms. One of these terms that conjures up a lot of different meanings is the word slavery, that "peculiar institution" that has not existed in the United States for nearly 150 years. Other countries have had to deal with the same issue in the past century, although the path toward abolition of slavery was not nearly as catastrophic as in the US. In Britain for example, the results of lifelong stands against human slavery by men such as William Wilberforce did not lead to civil war, but a gradual changing of hearts and minds over time. It could easily be argued that the slavery issue in the US was not the root cause of the Civil War, but rather a larger issue of States vs. Federal rights, but no one can deny that our country is better off without that institution.
Human slavery can be traced to biblical times, when a very different cultural view accepted and treated this type of bondage as acceptable. Slaves could have conformed to our modern view of forced labor, with strong taskmasters holding whips at the ready, but also could have been managers, bankers or even political figures that looked after the interests of their "masters." A slave belonged to a particular class, not so much to a group that was shamelessly abused for the benefit of another group. It seems that many today want to return to that definition of slavery, and use a wider meaning of that word to create another movement against human bondage. I wonder, however, if this movement to be has identified the right target...
The definition of slavery is being widened to include references not only to human bondage, which still exists in many cultures and eventually needs to be rooted out, but also to situations where people can be motivated to rise up against "the man" who has held them down and enslaved them. This is the "company store" argument, where workers are invited to get in debt and then owe their lives to the company store, never quite getting ahead enough to buy their freedom and becoming enslaved to the company as a result. This is yet another example of an attempt to demonize our capitalist system, that same system that has led us to prosperity unheard of in the history of the world, and is laid squarely at the feet of those who are running the businesses and industries that power the US economy. Now is it certainly true that there are evil people in this world, bent on treating those in their care with little regard, but you can encounter people with poor motives in any place you care to look. There are also good people there, who care for the health and well being of those entrusted to them. This argument against slavery is really an attempt to pit people against each other and replace good business practices with socialist "fairness" issues. The truth is, there are only a certain group of people capable of leading, inspiring and creating positive growth in business. Most personality models would place that number between 3-5% of the population. The vast majority of people are more capable of following instructions, completing tasks and allowing those with the ability to manage to focus on their gifts. What we are trying to do is skew the relationship between people and how we are made to function. It is true that is takes all kinds to create something positive, but those that have the vision and skills are worth more to that venture than those who are either not capable or not interested in that type of endeavor.
If you are looking for a realistic meaning of slavery in our world today, we should first focus on those countries that need a William Wilberforce type of movement and eradicate human bondage in our time. Secondly, we should approve and mandate proper limited government principles that do not enslave this and future generations in mountains of debt to pay for services that are used today. We are enslaving our children by spending money we do not have, on services that we do not need! This next year alone, we will borrow 50 cents of each dollar that is spent by our national government. No household, business or corporation in America would even think of buying a new car when they were already unable to pay for the one they have, but our government continues to do so, and will continue to do so until we put a stop to it or our AAA rating is downgraded. We are not a slave to the company store, if anything we are slaves to our own complex lives, allowing marketers to help people make a choice to get in debt, to spend and not be satisfied on top of it. We have a choice, yet are pushed along by messages we are bombarded with at every turn that are in opposition to the simple, community existence we are turning aside. Abolish slavery? You bet, and it starts with each one of us...

The $50 Lesson

I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”

She replied, “I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.”
Her parents beamed.

“Wow...what a worthy goal,” I told her, “but you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.”

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?”

I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

Founding Fathers

Americans can trace their heritage and history with a certain amount of pride, overcoming pretty long odds to become the most prosperous nation of all time. We can all look back to Washington, Jefferson and Madison with a certain amazement at what they risked in order to gain our independence and create a new nation. Regardless of our opinions of the Founding Fathers and their motivations, religious convictions and social opinions, we can all agree that our respect for those men begets a high honor.
I wonder if our Founding Fathers will continue to be remembered through the ages, for we may be on the cusp of history that will redefine our "Founders" from a different time, and this time is rapidly approaching. I am most proud of our nation being able to put aside race and electing the first African American President, but at the same time I have a sense of foreboding that our new direction is borne of a calculated and precise plan to re-create the United States of America in a very different image.
Use a little investigative work on the web, and it seems painfully true that most of the people in power in the US today have a common background, and it is not one in support of democracy or our republic. There is a calculated effort in play right now to overwhelm capitalism in America, and replace this system with a new order that can be traced to a single source. Take some time to Google up Saul Alinski, a man who hated liberals during his lifetime not because they were not on the right track, but because they were too soft and not willing to employ militant tactics to achieve their ends.
Alinski wrote several books, among them Rules for Radicals, and traces his personal history back to a time when the Communist Party in America was just beginning, in Chicago of all places...If you keep looking, you will find that he proposed a tactical system of subversion that used community organizing to lead a powerful call for change, then overwhelms government systems with required services that cannot possibly be provided, and then allows a new system to prevail after rebellion that places a select few in power. There are two key adherents to this theory, who studied under this man and perfected this system, and those two people are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Now, before you get mad and call me names, do the research yourself, find the associations and draw your own conclusions. I am open to reasonable discussion, but the facts seem uncontrovertable, and we all should question whether or not this could be true and get it out in the open.
If this is true, then several things should start happening according to this plan. First, government programs will be funded with huge amounts of money, eventually becoming overwhelmed and unable to provide the level of service that has been promised. Community Service programs will equate to brainwashing our young people that America is a terrible country, full of evil and keeping the people of our world under our heavy handed thumbs. Community activism and reform groups will continue to grow with huge funding from our very own government, and the message that our Republican form of government does not serve their needs will be the primary focus. The opposing party will become the "party of no." Taxation will increase until the burden is so great on the working minority of the population that they will do anything to get out from under the burden.
What is the result of all this? A change of government form in the US, whether it be a Constitutional change or based only on reality, that we are transferring power from our Republican form of government to that of an oligarchy (rule by a few powerful people). If you step back and look, this epic shift has already begun, the situation is in place and the select few in control of our future oligarchy are completing the steps one by one. Perhaps I am a cynic, perhaps looking for a magic bullet and there really is no conspiracy, but as we see private meetings and controlled use of the media we should be thinking about the real story. Unfortunately, I feel that in just the past few months we have been unwittingly manipulated into letting this happen, not without protest to be sure, but without any real power to stop the onslaught that is coming. We may well be into a cycle that will indeed lead to rebellion, but I hope that it is a rebellion based on the Tea Party model that puts power back in the hands of the people and takes it out of the hands of government. The Constitution is the key, if we draw the line there we may have a chance, where power not given to the federal government must reside with the states and the people, and limited government is advocated so that this document may prevail and protect the people from the government as it was designed.
Do your research, make your own decisions, but do it quickly before we find the Constitution re-written and statues of Saul Alinski replacing those of George Washington.

Thank You Fargo, North Dakota!

I want to make sure we recognize the people of Fargo, North Dakota in their battle against flood waters from the Red River. If you didn't notice, people lined up in 9 degree weather to fill sandbags to raise the level of their protective dikes when record rising water threatened the city and surrounding neighborhoods. The reason you might not have noticed is that this really wasn't a news event, other than a human interest story it did not get that much press, which is a shame.
What struck me is that these people did not complain about lack of government help, or why the dikes were a few feet short of the projected record flood levels, they just all got together as a community and solved the problem the best way they knew how. I was particularly struck by the neighbors that got together in small groups to work together and sandbag their homes in a protective circle, even the ones emptied by fleeing neighbors that didn't participate in the work. That is the true meaning of community and responsibility to our neighbor. How much easier would it have been to stand up on national TV and tell the world that their local officials had screwed the deal up by not having the dikes built high enough to anticipate a 112 year flood level, or why the federal government had not prepared for this disaster and supplied their every need? Much easier, but that is not what happened. They took care of the problem and each other in a very personal and responsible way, quite at odds with the practice of being a professional "victim." I certainly don't discount there are victims of many disasters, but want to highlight the different response from Fargo.
I dare say that if the Red River does spill over its banks and demolish Fargo, it will be rebuilt and we won't hear much about it, because the local community will take care of it as a dedicated group of hard working and responsible people. I would also bet there won't be blame assigned, crooked contractors salivating over government rebuilding contracts, or public officials using this disaster for personal gain. Perhaps the residents of New Orleans can learn a lesson from the people of North Dakota, hardy souls to be certain and a vanishing shadow of the American dream.

Financial "In"stability

OK, so I am just as irritated as you are that 165 Million dollars ended up being paid as bonuses out of "our" money to AIG executives. After thinking about it over the weekend, I have to admit that I am more irritated that 170 Billion was spent in the first place, and now our Congress is reacting in a very terrifying manner in an attempt to keep the public's eye on AIG and not themselves. Looking back, this whole issue has ceded impressive new powers to our government's ability to tax, and we the people are the dummies clamoring for it...another reason to enjoy our Founder's wisdom at creating a Republic rather than a democracy, other than the small fact that the leaders of our Republic are actually the ones leading the masses into quick, reactive and punitive decisions instead of protecting us from that type of "mob rule."
One of the reasons I prefer limited government as the Constitution mandates, is that under this arrangement I can expect my stuff to be safe from arbitrary government action. When I see local governments declare property condemned with no other designs other than confiscation, I feel threatened that my property might be next. Now we have the nation's Congress applying a targeted confiscatory tax on a special group of taxpayers. Regardless of our feelings on the subject, whether we can associate with the overwhelming percentage of Americans who see this as an opportunity to "stick it to the man" that has stuck it to them with the gift of recession, or with the group that was contractually promised a certain income much as a waiter/waitress or salesperson would be compensated, the reality and long term implication of this action is we have implicitly given our Congress the right to tax specific groups of people at will.
Add to this frightening new development the role that the government intervention has played in normal business activities. Leaders of financial institutions are afraid to commit to normal business activities, out of fear of being the focus of the next public outrage. In a personal example, a large bank was recently in negotiations with a company I am involved with, the object of the "partnership" was to entertain selected high value clients in a special environment where those clients might be convinced to begin investing or increase an investment in the bank. With the recent developments and instability that our government has created by issuing funds and later disagreeing with the way those funds were used, this project was completely shut down before it ever got started. People are out of a job, and not business executives; caterers, hotel staff, organizers, mechanics, etc are all looking for work or have their job in jeopardy because of this situation. Whatever the intent of stabilizing the financial system, we can now clearly see the reality that any time the government gets involved in a uniform instead of a striped shirt the whole game gets confused, and people lose their jobs.
I will give President Obama one kudo, in the racing industry you hire the biggest cheater as the Chief Technical person. When he hired Tim Geithner he did the same thing, now we can expect the IRS to be fully capable of recognizing the tax cheats out there and getting every last penny out of them, after all, he has the best experience to know how to catch the rest of the cheaters. Its too bad that the real villains are the ones that refused to regulate companies like AIG, instead preferring to pander to their "constituents" at the expense of people that did the right thing and lived within their means. Now those same people in Congress are pointing distracting fingers at the greed of Wall Street, and in many cases rightfully so, but if those pointing fingers expect even the slightest credibility there needs to be some self examination at the same time, and some accountability for throwing money around like drunken sailors while using the AIG execs as their scape goats. It is the whole lot of 535 people in Congress that needs to be fired, well before we ask for the money to be repaid by the banks, so when and if we do get it back it can be spent in a prudent and reasonable fashion to repay the mountain of debt we are creating.

Top American Cities with Poverty-a Lesson?

A friend set this to me, I haven't verified this information and thought someone might have a few comments. If its true then it speaks to a culture of dependence and oppression we have to stop empowering.
Cole

TOP 10 POVERTY CITIES



This has got to be one of the greatest American tragedies. What do the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rate all have in common?



Detroit, MI (1st on the poverty rate list)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;



Buffalo, NY (2nd)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1954;



Cincinnati, OH (3rd)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1984;



Cleveland, OH (4th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1989;



Miami, FL (5th)...has never had a Republican mayor;



St. Louis, MO (6th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1949;



El Paso, TX (7th)...has never had a Republican mayor;



Milwaukee, WI (8th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1908;



Philadelphia, PA (9th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1952;



Newark, NJ (10th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1907.



Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'



It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats --- yet are still disadvantaged.



The disadvantaged remain disadvantaged because they are looking for a Liberal Democratic Government to give them something, when all they have to do is work for it.



(How can a person be 5th generation & disadvantaged in this country?)



"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.

It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free".

The Greatest Socialist of All Time

I was very happy to see the President return to the "Hope" and "Change" mantra that earned him the White House last night. Regardless of your opinion of the man and the direction he is taking our country, we all benefit when the tone is a positive one. This change of approach from words like "catastrophe" to "sputtering along" when referring to our present economy is a step in the right direction, sure to help stabilize markets and start some positive energy.

I don't know where this all takes us in the future, I fear a return to oppressive interest rates and the tax of runaway inflation due to our manipulation of the money supply, which I am not convinced is needed. I am not an economist, just a concerned citizen that sees a course of huge spending increases causing pain for future generations that could be avoided. The natural business cycle may prove to be the most powerful tool toward turning the economy around, and I am sure plenty of people will be lining up to take credit for it in a few years. I admit there are different points of view on the subject that can, and should, be argued in civil discussions, but I don't think anyone would refute the idea that we are headed for a period of increased government growth. Whether that growth proves to be a good thing or a bad thing is open to debate, and how the future will be told.

One area I am concerned about is the creep toward socialism. I am not sure exactly what the definition of a socialist nation is, I believe an economist would tell you when spending on social programs reaches about half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) then you are classed as a socialist nation. The US is headed toward 40%. What that means in reality is a nation where the people prefer their government to be in control of taking care of its citizens. The care of individuals will be more in the hands of government run programs than in the hands of family, friends and community than ever before, but what does that really mean and why should we worry?

From my perspective, in simple terms, that means a government that wants to replace God as our caretaker. Providing for every need is the intent, so that we are all happy, productive and settled contributors for the common good. There are a few elements missing from this idea, however, first and foremost is that even if our physical needs are met we will all still hunger for something more. Over 90% of Americans profess a faith in God, whatever the religion doesn't matter to make this point, we mostly believe there is something else out there that is more than we can comprehend. Our understanding of this fact, and how we react to it, is just as important (I would argue more so) as our physical care and well being. We need to be allowed to wrestle with out current condition, struggling together to find our way out and learning about our inner selves at the same time.

The best care for any individual is to consider ALL of their needs, just not the physical ones. Government can swallow our corporate financial resources to provide for some important items, but in reality we are still left wanting more, and more, until the nation is bankrupted (see previous post on stages of democracy). The greatest socialist of all time was none other than Jesus Christ, he wept, healed, provided for and loved so much that he is regarded as one of the most important figures of our time. He truly understood people's needs, not just the physical ones, but the spiritual ones, and put himself in a position of relationship where those needs could be called out and filled. We would do well to learn a lesson from that example, we cannot provide for needs without relationship. Allowing people to fill out a form, stand in a line or Google up a webpage to collect some of our national resources for themselves is not providing, it is creating dependence. We are giving fish instead of teaching to fish, replacing relationship with bureaucracy, administering medicine for our bodies while our souls are withering. 

Jesus Christ put modern socialists to shame. Not only did he provide food, health and well being, he provided relationship that went even further to heal the complete needs of the people. And he did it with no money. Now, I can't walk on water, or expect to fix problems without financial resources, but what I am able to do is help people by building relationships first and having faith toward positive resolution. Who better to understand financial issues than our families, communities and friends who are living with the same concerns? What better situation to push people together and help each other solve problems, instead of pulling them apart to rely on the ease of the government dole that requires no personal commitment? Modern socialists would do well to consider their own imposed references to separation of church and state. True need is a matter for the church, which does not require government to succeed, but partial need is a matter for the state, which must have a moral and upright society for the republic to function. Washington stated this reality in his farewell address, yet we are still trying to prove him wrong.

So while we are throwing money at a problem that might reach part of the physical need that is out there and protect us from struggling together, it still falls to those of us that respect personal responsibility to seek out and help those in need. It falls to us to build relationships, understand the problem, and attempt to help the best that we can, albeit with fewer resources since more and more will be going to DC to pay for a partial solution. It is easy to complain, but our responsibility remains, a responsibility not to our nation and its programs but to the citizens that make it up. The gift of Christ is part of that responsibility for those that believe Him as the only path to the Father, and if you want to give someone real "Hope" then that is the best path you can take.

The New Economy

Should have been a Dead Donkey...

Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed
to deliver the horse the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad
news... the horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya going to do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can, watch me.  I just won't tell anybody he's
dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with
that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off.  I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece
and made a profit of $998."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars
back."

Chuck grew up and now works for the government.  He's the one who figured
out how this "bail-out" is going to work.

New Economic Stimulus Plan

It has taken me a while to catch on, but I think I am starting to get the economic stimulus program that President Elect Obama is proposing. We can see the program taking shape in the inaugural whistle stop tour leading toward the 20th on the mall in Washington, as hundreds of millions of dollars are bring spent to create jobs and stimulate local economies along the way. If people are losing jobs in the recession, all that needs to be done is to hire unemployed workers for security and service jobs along the way, fill up the hotels and provide the local restaurants and street vendors with crazed and trapped DC visitors to spend their money, and viola-instant recovery plan. 

Once this starts to take hold, then we can use this model all over America to employ people in short term solutions so they have money to spend, and even throw in a dose of tax "cuts" to spur the recovery along even further. Never mind that the cost projections for this inauguration are estimated to be 5 to 6 times the cost of the '01 Bush inauguration, or that all of these jobs are temporary at best, or that our spending deficit is at obscene levels and projected to continue for several years. Never mind that defining a tax cut to include people that do not pay income taxes is a play on words at best and deceitful at worst, and never mind that the projected 825 Billion "shock and awe" stimulus project that will likely be voted on within days of Obama taking office includes over 500 Billion in entitlement projects that we were promised would not happen. I was one that intended to wait and see what Obama was going to do, for often those who are the most fervent supporters during an election are among those who are most disappointed after the election, but the respect due to his office must be tempered with some anxiety that he now plans to take our nation in a direction that has be tried before, and failed on the shoulders of oppressive taxes, regulation and government run programs.

This is welfare, plain and simple, promoted by the government using tax dollars that could be used much more efficiently by family, friends and neighbors to provide for those in need than by our federal government. When that money is taken from us, we are less able to provide for those needs on a personal level, and the inefficiency of the programs designed to provide for those needs wastes our combined resources. I am plenty angry about my money being taken and used in ways that I may or may not agree with, but I am more angry about those resources being removed and lessening my ability to support needs that I can see right in front of me.

We have managed to elect a President that is using the current economic mess, one created by the combined reckless spending of Republicans and Democrats alike, as an excuse to actually go even further down the road of reckless spending instead of an excuse for restraint. I use the word restraint because it was the word Barack Obama used during the debates with Senator McCain when referring to economic policies that included entitlement spending. The high cost of this inauguration alone is symbolic of where we are going. I realize a big chunk is being paid for by private donors, but Sharon Stone and Steven Spielberg paying out millions so they can come and weep at their accomplishment of helping elect Obama is less than a third of the total cost. Who pays the rest? The taxpayer.

The government is going to be allowed to intrude even further into our lives, and to take an even greater role in continuing the sloppy and wasteful management of people's needs that can only be solved by limiting governmental influence in their lives and turning over their "care" to local communities, faith based organizations and families that know and love them. We cannot rely on the media to report in an unbiased way on this subject, they are weeping along with the Hollywood elites and can't see through the fog of their own tears, choosing to spend their time whipping President Bush on his way out and coddling the new administration that they elected by virtue of their reporting. If they would only show a shred of fairness and report these inauguration costs as they had blasted Bush about them in '01 (40 million compared to an estimated 200 million for Obama), I would start to give them some credibility again.

People have needs now more than ever, and those needs must be met by other people that know their situation and care about them on the local level. We need neighbors to look out for those that are out of work, helping them with electric and heating bills until they can find something else, keeping an ear open for jobs that can provide for their families. We need businesses to be allowed to spend time looking into ways to promote new income and hire more people, which starts with time spent focused on their business instead of onerous regulation and laws, complicated and overly expensive tax issues and new requirements that will only stifle American entrepreneurship. As a small business person, you can get to a depressing place very quickly, a place that replaces the care and obligation for employees that are helping to grow the business with a feeling of apathy and comments like "let Obama take care of them." 

This is not a healthy place to be, and the more we coddle and support this direction, the worse it will get. I warned of the potential for economic disaster several years ago when the stock market was at 14,000, even to the point of suggesting that a small % of your investments should be in "hard" assets. I wish I had suggested more, for given the direction we are heading, the consequences of inflation and higher interest rates are sure to erode our ability to provide for our families even further. The only "shock and awe" program that can get us moving again in a long term solution is something akin to the Fair Tax, a huge jumpstart in the private sector that will stimulate businesses in a way never seen before, rather than a replay of the Great Depression programs that did not lead to long term employment and paved the way for the eventual demise of our hardworking and productive society.