I Love It When Politicians Tell The Truth!

Ok, I absolutely wasn’t going to do this, but I just read an article that I think everyone should read. It is titled “How to Fight Health Care Fearmongers and Demagogues”by Robert Reich. In case you don’t remember, Robert Reich is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and is a former U.S. Secretary of Labor.

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/512/obama-health-care.html

The reason I want you to read this is because of the absolutely remarkable and stunning admissions that appear in this article. As far as I am concerned, it proves every point (well almost every point, it doesn’t address the “death squad” thing:) that those on my side of the health care debate have been so vocal in complaining about. Let me address some of those issues that he brings up.

My friend, Keith, from New Orleans, just emailed to say he attended a local "town meeting" on health care and tried to get a word in favor but was almost hounded out of the room.

Why are these meetings brimming with so much anger? Because Republican Astroturfers have joined the same old right-wing broadcast demagogues that have been spewing hate and fear for years, to create a tempest.

But why are they getting away with it? Why aren't progressives—indeed, why aren't ordinary citizens—taking the meetings back?

Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan. All we have are some initial markups from several congressional committees, which differ from one another in significant ways. The White House's is waiting to see what emerges from the House and Senate before insisting on what it wants, maybe in conference committee.

But that's the problem: It's always easier to stir up fear and anger against something that's amorphous than to stir up enthusiasm for it.

“Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan” Well there you go, Duh! I am so glad that someone has the guts to say it! This is a significant part of the opposition's anger and concern. There is no plan! That is what he said. This is not the Republicans saying this, this is a diehard Democrat. Oh, there are plenty of ideas, but nothing solid and a great deal of rhetoric, but no plan! What the opposition (namely me) is concerned about is that just like the Stimulus Bill. Something, who knows what, will be rammed through the congress in the middle of the night and not even the legislators will really know what is in there until it is too late. This is way to important of an issue, affects too many lives, and costs way too much to be done in such haste. Thank-you Secretary Reich for your honesty!

But that’s not all…

“Admit that taxes will have to be raised and that cost-savings won't be sufficient to achieve nearly universal care. But be absolutely clear that taxes will be raised only be raised on the very top. He needs to decide whether he favors a surcharge on the top 2 percent, or a cap on tax-free employee benefits (which would affect only the very top), or some combination, and then announce which he prefers and why.”

Oh, so it’s ok, thank-goodness, they are only going to raise taxes on the top 2% whoo hooo that doesn’t include me so that makes it Ok. Uhhhhhh NO! It is not ok. We pay enough taxes. We should be looking for ways to reduce the burden not increase taxes. Oh and by the way, something else he said was important, cost-savings won't be sufficient to achieve nearly universal care, if you think that it will only be the top 2% who will pay more, then as my mother would say, You have another think a-coming!

Say unequivocally that the public option is essential for controlling costs and getting private insurers to offer people better deals, not at all a step toward a government takeover of health care.

Yeah Right! You have got to be kidding me, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday! Read on!

Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers. (Here, he must clear up any confusion about any deal made with Big Pharma.) But this won't lead to a government takeover of health care. The whole point of cost containment is to provide the public with health care on more favorable terms. If the public plan negotiates better terms—thereby demonstrating that drug companies and other providers can meet them—private plans can seek similar deals

“Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers.” I don’t want to be rude to my liberal friends, but this is exactly what my side is saying will happen. The government will by its very size be able to negotiate deals that private insurers couldn’t possibly receive. And going out of business is exactly what will happen to these businesses. (Which in case you haven’t figured it out already, that is exactly what Nancy Pelosi and President Obama want to have happen.)

Sorry, Not done yet…

It will have low administrative costs—Medicare's administrative costs per enrollee are a small fraction of typical private insurance costs—but that's no problem, it's a strength. One goal of health-care reform is to lower administrative costs. Competition with a public option is the only way to push private plans to trim their bureaucracies and become more efficient.


“It will have low administrative costs… a small fraction of typical private insurance costs.” Once again, this will not push private plans to become more efficient as Reich implies, it will drive them out of business. This isn’t rocket science people! This plan will ultimatly force all Americans into a one sized fits all government plan with a total government takeover of health care!

While it's true that the public won't have to show profits, plenty of private plans are already not-for-profit. And if nonprofit plans can offer high-quality health care more cheaply than for-profit plans, why should for-profit plans be coddled? The public plan would merely force profit-making private plans to take whatever steps were necessary to become more competitive. Once again, a plus.

Uhhhh Duh, Once again it shows how unfair, and if you ask me, un-American, this “Public Option Plan” is. First, the for profit insurance companies go out of business, then the "not for profit" ones follow suit, and then there is only ONE, the government plan! Trust me; these people know exactly what they are doing. And as much as they would like for us to simply follow along like “Lemmings,” to use their terms, I am personally grateful for those who have been willing to speak up and say. Not on my watch!

Now's the time for specifics. It's impossible to fight fearmongering lies with nothing but positive principles.

Well, I certainly agree that now is the time for specifics, perhaps it was time for those before they made every effort to pass this bill in the dark of the night to begin with! And, he is absolutely right, it is impossible to fight fearmongering with lies. He does a pretty good job making the case against this bill with his facts!

One final point and then I promise I will shut up and let this go. What was one of the biggest Democratic complaints about George Bush? That he went into war preemptively without even a plan for how to get out! Hmmmmm Does anyone see a comparison here? The American people are being expected to support a bill that really doesn’t exist, and simply trust that all the little details “like death squads” (LOL Sorry I had to put that in there just to cause a little more irritation than I already have:) will all work out in the end.

Put me down as a solid NO! on this one. Now, let’s put this government take over of insurance aside, and talk about the 15-20 things we could vote on tomorrow that we can all agree upon and make some real changes in insurance and in the lives of everyday Americans!.

Blessings

I recommend that my liberal friends not read this… unless you really want to know how I feel about the Health Care Debate!

Ok, I know, it was clear back on Sunday that I posted my last blog. I have both been very busy and also uninspired to write. In reality I have written two blogs that I decided not to post because I really don’t want to start or enter any more arguments. But with that being said, here I go!

I am so sick and tired of this Health Care debate, just as most of the people are who I read their posts and opinions on Facebook and blogs. The problem is that I am firmly entrenched on the opposite side of the argument from most of my online colleagues. (especially my very liberal colleagues) I am so tired of the lies and deceit that I hear in the arguments (of course my colleagues would say that all the lies and deceit are coming from my side of the argument) I am exceptionally tired of the name calling. (of course they would say that the name calling is all on my side)

Here are a couple of points that are being drowned out in the discussion. The problem we are facing is much greater than Health Care reform. This is just the straw that broke the camels back. Many people in our nation are afraid on multiple levels, and not because they are “Lemmings” like I hear from my liberal friends. People are afraid because no one in power is listening to them. (does that sound familier to you, it should, you have been saying that for the past 8 years)

The people spoke up loud and strong and said that they didn’t want to bail out all of these mega companies, and the government did it anyway, both Bush and Obama. The people spoke up loudly when the government took over GM and Chrysler. (I know that I will never by a car manufactured by the government) Once again the government pretty much did what they wanted which was not what the majority of the people wanted. The people spoke up once again on the budget, and once again the government didn’t listen, passing a bill full of pork and earmarks. The people spoke up again when they passed this stimulus package that was never, and will never stimulate anything except the special interests of those in power. Once again the government didn’t listen.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in “tea bag” protests and they were mocked and laughed at and called terrible names by the liberal media. Once again the administration and the government refused to listen, even pretending to ignore the protestors completely. Now, President Obama did everything humanly possible to ram this Health Care legislation down the throats of the people prior to the August break, hoping that, like the stimulus package, no one would really read what was in it. And when he wasn’t successful in ramming it through, the legislators have now had to go home and feel the heat of a people who are extremely tired of their government not listening to them.

And, now that the voices are finally being heard what do our legislators and the media say? That this is an “Astro Turf” movement, that these people are unpatriotic. Even the Speaker of the house had the audacity to say that these people are un-American. These people, people from all walks of life, from white haired senior citizens to young people preparing to vote for the first time, many of whom are deathly afraid of the radical (Yes I mean radical) direction that our country is going. Some of these people have fought for our way of life overseas, and some have lost sons and daughters to protect our freedom. We hear that these “Un-American people are just the radical fringe and that their voices mean nothing and that the government should do what it wants anyway.

What alarms me in this debate is the hypocrisy of people like Nancy Pelosi (and many of my liberal friends) who denounced President Bush vehemently, who called him every name possible, who hammered every word he spoke, who protested the war and said that Bush was evil. These were the same people who supported organizations like Code Pink and Acorn who make it their point to disrupt every chance they can. The hypocrisy I see is that when this outrage was coming from their side, they had no problems with it, and now that the outrage is turned on them, it is now somehow un-American. Oh Please! All I can say is that conservative people have learned these tactics very well from our liberal friends. It certainly seemed to work for them.

To be honest, I didn’t think that there was anyway possible that the political pendulum in this country could swing back so quickly. All I can say is, thank-you Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed and Barack Obama. You have managed to do in seven months what I assumed would take years and years.

Our country is and has been a center right nation. Bush in the end didn’t understand that, and apparently Barrack Obama doesn’t either. President Clinton figured it out in “94” after the last health care debacle. Is history repeating itself?

Now if you want to have a civil debate on the actual issues of Health Care. I am more than happy to enter that discussion. I believe that health care should be affordable, that there should be mechanisms in place to help those who want insurance to get it. I also believe that we need tort reform desperately. When an OB-GYN has to spend close to one million dollars per year on malpractice insurance, then our system is broken. I believe that private individuals should be able to pool together to buy health coverage and that it should be tax deductible. I believe that people should never have to decide between food and medication and that preexisting conditions should not be held against someone. I also believe that Government does have a role to play in this debate. These among other things are what I believe.

Let the debate begin.

Blessings

I Was Born Under a Wandering Star...

I had the chance to watch "Paint Your Wagon" a couple of nights ago and for the life of me I can't get this song out of my head. "When I get to heaven, tie me to a tree, for I'll begin to roam and soon you know where I will be."

This movie came out in 1969 and all I can say is that they don't make movies like this one anymore. I am pretty sure that my kids would find it boring, but me, on the other hand, I could watch it a hundred times if for no other reason than to hear the awesome music. Songs like, "Paint Your Wagon," "Gold Fever," and "They Call The Wind Mariah" (Mariah Carey was actually named for that song)

I'm not sure about the moral or theological implications of "Paint Your Wagon," but ultimately the preacher wins:) At least that is one way of looking at it. Do yourself a favor and rent this one if you get a chance. (I can't believe that Clint Eastwood was ever that young:)

Blessings

Man's Best Friend is Always Ready

I think by now you have figured out that I love dogs. Big dogs, little dogs, fast dogs slow dogs, fluffy dogs or wiry dogs. It doesn't matter, there is just something about their ability to show unconditional love that I just can't resist. I ran across this piece the other day by Dave Barry that I thought was really great. I am not sure where to credit it to, it came by email, but I thought that you would enjoy it as much as I did. If I could write as well as Dave Barry, this is exactly what I would say about our four legged friends:) (Actually Odie does just about everything in this essay except swallow your arm, he would if he were bigger:)

Blessings

Man's Best Friend is Always Ready

by Dave Barry

I'm trying to convince my wife that we need a dog. I grew up with dogs, and am comfortable with their ways. If we're visiting someone's home, and I suddenly experience a sensation of humid warmth, and I look down and see that my right arm has disappeared up to the elbow inside the mouth of a dog the size of a medium horse, I am not alarmed. I know that this is simply how a large, friendly dog says: ''Greetings! You have a pleasing salty taste!''

I respond by telling the dog that he is a GOOD BOY and pounding him with hearty blows, blows that would flatten a cat like a hairy pancake, but which only make the dog like me more. He likes me so much that he goes and gets his Special Toy. This is something that used to be a recognizable object -- a stuffed animal, a basketball, a Federal Express driver -- but has long since been converted, through countless hours of hard work on the dog's part, into a random wad of filth held together by 73 gallons of congealed dog spit.

''GIVE ME THAT!'' I shout, grabbing an end of the Special Toy. This pleases the dog: It confirms his belief that his Special Toy is the most desirable item in the universe, more desirable even than the corpse of a squirrel. For several seconds we fight for this prize, the dog whipping his head side to side like a crazed windshield wiper. Finally I yank the Special Toy free and hold it triumphantly aloft. The dog watches it with laser-beam concentration, his entire body vibrating with excitement, waiting for me to throw it . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . until finally I cock my arm, and, with a quick motion I . . . . . .

fake a throw. I'm still holding the Special Toy. But WHOOOSH the dog has launched himself across the room, an unguided pursuit missile, reaching a velocity of 75 miles per hour before WHAM he slams headfirst into the wall at the far end of the room. This stimulates the M&M-size clump of nerve cells that serves as a dog's brain to form a thought: The Special Toy is not here! WHERE IS THE SPECIAL TOY??

The dog whirls, sees the toy in my hand and races back across the room. Just as he reaches me, I cock my arm and . . . . . .

fake another throw. WHOOOSH! WHAM! The fake works again! It will always work. I can keep faking throws until the dog has punched a dog-shaped hole completely through the far wall, and the dog will STILL sprint back to me, sincerely believing that THIS time, I'm going to throw the toy. This is one reason why I love dogs.

My wife, who would not touch the Special Toy with a barge pole, is less impressed. She fails to see the appeal of an animal that appears to be less intelligent than its own parasites. Oh, I've tried to explain the advantages of having a dog. For example:

A DOG IS ALWAYS READY. It doesn't matter for what: Dogs are just ready. If you leave your car window open, the dog will leap into the car and sit there for hours. It will sit there for DAYS, if you let it. Because the dog knows that sometimes the car just starts moving, and you have to be ready! Usually the dog will sit in the driver's seat, in case (You never know!) the dog is called upon to steer.

A DOG IS VIGILANT. One time, on a movie set, I watched a small dog walk past a line of six metal light stands. When the dog came to the sixth light stand -- which was EXACTLY the same as the other five light stands -- the dog stopped and began barking furiously at it. The dog would NOT stop. The owner finally had to drag the dog away, with the dog yanking wildly at its leash, still enraged by the light stand. Clearly the dog had detected some hostile intent in this particular light stand, something that we humans, with our inferior senses, were not aware of. We humans were thinking: ''What's WRONG with that dog?'' Whereas the light stand was thinking: ''Whew! That was close!''

These are just a couple of examples of the practical benefits provided by dogs. There are many more, and I have tried pointing them out to my wife, but she doesn't see it. This is why, in our house, we have fish. They're nice fish, but they're not a whole lot of fun. Although they are excellent drivers.

Is This The End? Or Just the Begining?

Well, another week is beginning to wind down. (Or is it just beginning?) The bulletins are ready for Sunday, my sermon is about 80% ready, and about all that I really have left is to figure out what to do for a children’s message. It really is a little funny when I think about Sundays. Most of the time I think about, and refer to it as the beginning of the week, but in reality, at least for me, it is more like the end of the week. Sundays are normally the culmination of a week’s work of reading, preparation and writing. So, for someone who procrastinates like I do, it always feels extra good (if not completely weird) if things are pretty much ready on a Friday morning.

One reason for being so early in my preparations this week is that tomorrow is one of the biggest days of the year at Fountain Church. It is the Annual Fountain Celebration which is really a big deal. They have been busy cooking and preparing for weeks now. The main part of the celebration is a community dinner where over 300 people are expected to come and join in the fellowship. In addition to the fun and fellowship, the church expects to make well over $1000 in free will donations. (Not a bad days work) I found out that my job tomorrow is to eat and talk to people. Whoo hooo, I am very good at both of those jobs. These folks are good at not making things too difficult on me.

So, for a Friday morning, things are actually pretty calm around here. We will take Mary and Andrew back to their Mom and Dad here in a few minutes and then this evening, I think that a band concert on the square will just about complete a perfect week. (Or is that just the beginning of the next week? I never can keep that straight:)

Blessings

Does the AMA Consider Procrastination a Disease?

For those of us who seem to be plagued by this awful disease called procrastination, (I know, it is a self inflicted illness) tomorrow always looks like the perfect day to get things done. Unfortunately, there always seems to be another tomorrow followed by another one, followed by a… well you get the picture. I had such high hopes for my office. I was going to have all my books organized into topics and then alphabetized, everything that I use all the time was going to be right on my desk or at least within arms reach, I was going to have just a perfect, well kept workspace, you know, the kind that would inspire me to do and write brilliant things. (well as brilliant as I am capable of)

But, as you might have guessed, that hasn’t happened yet. As a matter of fact, after one whole month of being here, I still have a dozen boxes, or so, in my office that haven’t even been unpacked yet. The worst problem is that my desk seems to be accumulating mail and books. You would think that now that I have twice (probably three times) the office space that I could find a place to put everything. Well, I guess I have, unfortunately it seems to be right on my desk:(

So, tomorrow is the big day, I am going to get up early, go to the YMCA and then come home and work diligently on my office until it is the show place that I have been dreaming of…

But then again, maybe tomorrow would be a good day to take Mary and Andrew swimming down at the Frank O’Bannon State Forest... and I do have that sermon to get ready for Sunday... oh, and I need to make some changes in the bulletins... well, I also have that meeting with my District Superintendent in the morning... and we have the set up tomorrow afternoon for the Fountain Church Celebration... and I should also stop by and see….

Come to think of it, my office is looking just fine:)

Blessings

Journey's End

These past few days have been wonderful and memorable. Karen has been spending the last week at her Mom’s house, while I have been here, taking care of the home front. Sunday, after church, Odie and I went up to Seymour to meet Ben and Crystal and the kids and from there we made the journey over to the Quad Cities to visit everyone and most importantly, to pick up Karen.

The journey, although long, was uneventful, well if you don’t count the 7 hours of driving in rain and storms today. But, we finally arrived back home safe and sound, ready to get started on this week’s work. It’s funny that today feels a lot like Sunday evening to me. I’m not sure if it is good or bad that when I wake up in the morning it will already be Wednesday.

The best part of the last few days was getting the chance to visit with everyone and to see how much weight my sister has lost and to be able to be with Karen’s Mom on her 80th birthday. I have got to say that the highlight was going to dinner Monday night at Happy Joe's Pizza, a local Birthday tradition in the Quad Cities. (Actually Karen worked there about the time we got married) They always make a big deal out of birthday’s including singing Happy Birthday accompanied by a loud, rather obnoxious horn. Well, Andrew thought that the horn was about the greatest thing that he had ever seen and for the rest of the day yesterday and the trip home today he would spontaneously break out in song, Happy Birthday to you, honk, honk! followed by laughter. You have just got to love the way a 2 year old mind works (his not mine) :)

Well, it’s about time to call it a night and get ready for Monday, uhh errr, Wednesday, or whatever day it is. One thing is for certain, it will be here too soon.

Blessings