I don't (health) care!!

Is anyone else bothered by how fast Obama wants to push through this Health Care Reform? There are only a few weeks left before the August Recess, but Obama expects the Congress to pass comprehensive Health Care before they go on vacation. Just think about that for a second. Obama wants legislation that would affect the rest of our natural lives, decided in a matter of days.

On top of all that, polls have been showing that the American people are not in favor of the Administration's Health Care plan. Obama does not seem to care since he has been saying things such as, "we WILL get this done."(1) He doesn't seem to be listening to those who he is serving, but rather dictating to us.

I do agree that something needs to be done to fix health care cost. But the solution is not to create a large population dependent on a government system. All that does is secure hundreds of thousands of votes in upcoming elections. (Do we as Americans ever feel like we are being duped, swindled, bamboozled, flimflammed, etc....?) We need to stand up to these government thugs and not let them tell us how we feel or what we want. Last time I read the Constitution, it is still supposed to be the other way around. (That's a topic for another blog!) We need to once again become independent for our own welfare. We need to once again start to take personal responsibility of our lives. We need to once again declare our freedom from tyrants!!

I'm not suggesting that we need to start another revolution to overthrown the government, so don't send the FBI or CIA to my house. What we do need to do is throw out those in government who want to strip us of our freedom and dignity. Less government regulation in health care would lower costs. Less abuse by those who are not paying taxes, or who have don't insurance, would lower costs.

Surprisingly, I do agree that all AMERICAN CITIZENS should get emergency care even if they don't have health insurance, but not for free. Perhaps at a discounted cost that can be made in payments little by little through a slight, and I mean slight, increase in their personal taxes each year when they file. On the flip side, I do not believe that anyone who walks into the ER should be seen and the billed passed onto someone else. Those who have colds, sprained ankles, hangnails, or whatever else they can come up with, should be sent packing(2). If your life is in imminent danger, then as a society, I would feel most would agree to help you out in that case.

For the purpose of being transparent, I have very good health care insurance provided through my job. It is not free though. I pay quite a bit for it. About 8% of my gross pay in fact. The government plan is estimated at costing over 1 trillion dollars (i.e. $1,000,000,000,000) in the first 9 years(3). With the $787 billion stimulus bill(4), $410 omnibus bill(5), Obama's $3.6 trillion budget(6), and a second stimulus being mulled over(7), how much longer can this go on? The fact is that the government already RAN OUT OF MONEY APRIL 26TH!! Just over 3 months into the Obama Admin the government went broke. They are eventually going to put you on the monetary hook to fix it.

Stand up and let your voice be heard! We want to spend our own money for a change!

Notes:
1) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/15/obama-accuses-health-care-critics-defending-status-quo/
2) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-ervisits_02met.ART.Central.Edition1.4a5fd8b.html
3) http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=324
4) http://useconomy.about.com/b/2009/02/15/economic-stimulus-package-passed-by-congress.htm
5) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/11/senate-passes-omnibus-bill/
6) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123564748462081261.html
7) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=ajQbZ.WrAVwQ
8) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/24/happy-debt-day-government-run-cash-sunday-earliest/

What goes up must come down. (Hopefully with the aid of a parachute)

Yesterday, Feb 3rd, 2009, Iran launched it’s first domestically made satellite into space. What that means is now Iran can potentially develop that into ballistic missile technology. What that means is that they can then launch missiles from Iran and hit any place on the globe, including American soil. Iran has not hid its disapproval for the U.S.A. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also openly voiced his desire to “wipe Israel off the map.” Not to mention its support to terrorist organizations. On top of that, Iran is currently seeking to develop nuclear technology, claiming it is only for the purpose of supplying energy. Add all this up and it equals trouble. We as a world superpower have a responsibility to the other world nations to determine if we can trust Iran with such devastating potential.

I don’t see the timing of this launch as a coincidence. I believe that it would be a huge stretch to say that Iran had just barely finished its preparations of this project a mere few days before the satellite was actually launched. It seems much more reasonable that Iran has had this ability for quite some time now but has not chosen to display it. The satellite was launched on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution represented in part, the belief that Western culture was evil and should be eradicated from off the face of the earth. The same year as the Revolution, Iranians took over 50 Americans hostage (from the American Embassy of all places), all in the name of spreading Islam. They were held for 444 days. Then President Jimmy Carter failed to successfully rescue or achieve release of the hostages though diplomacy. The hostages were only formally released MINUTES after President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. You better believe that those Iranians were watching US news and following the Presidential race! I wouldn’t have wanted to mess with Reagan either.

Regardless of the past, we are now in the present. Today we have President Barack Obama. He has said that he wants to use diplomacy instead of force to solve our foreign problems. He wants to withdraw our troops from Iraq and shut down Gitmo. He wants to put an end to nuclear development worldwide. Also, he does not wish to weaponize space. Pretty much the complete opposite of what our enemies want! I know what you all are thinking. Why again is this not a coincidence? And hasn’t Obama only been President for two weeks? That must mean that the Iranian Government must have been developing this technology when Bush was in office, right? Of course they were! But the technology has not been employed until the US elects a foreign policy push-over. Would this have happened if we had elected John McCain? We will never know, but it did not happen under President Bush. (I know G.W. Bush looks harmless, but if you believe that the man who controls the world’s superpower will use those powers against you, I’m guessing you’ll try not to rock the boat either.)

What can we expect President Obama to do about this possible threat? He has not really made his intentions clear. The White House press secretary described the matter as being an “acute concern to the administration.” Aides of Obama have asked for sanctions to be removed from Iran in an effort to promote better relations. That, in affect, would only be rewarding bad behavior and embolden them. Ahmedinejad has already expressed how he believes Obama’s approach shows his weakness. As early as the campaign, VP nominee Joe Biden tried to begin damage control. Remember when he told Americans that within a few months of Obama’s Administration, our enemies would test us. And when that time came, we needed, more than ever, to stand by the President, even if we disapproved of his actions. That comment happened to be right after he and Obama were given the top secret national threat information from the Intelligence Department. Coincidence again? Well, that time is here and Obama is too busy going on a press tour trying to fix his mistakes of nominating tax evaders to his Cabinet. Not very menacing.

Lastly, the biggest coincidence of all is the name of the Iranian satellite. In an open and deliberate jab, the satellite was named Omid. Ironically, Omid is the Persian word for hope, which also happened to be one of President Obama’s main campaign themes.

Election

I began this as a note on my Facebook page, but I decided, 'well wrote all this, why not just start the blog?' So here it is: Jack's truth about reality. I was going to start off by explaining the purpose of this blog. That will have to be next.

First off, I'm unexpectedly very peaceful. I have no bad feelings about the election. Honestly though, I did expect to be a bit more uneasy. I do have many friends who have expressed to me their concern and worry. I never was scared. Just disappointed. I know all those Barack supporters are very happy, and they should be. Congrats to them. I did not support Barack, but you folks do deserve this time.

I do feel the need to express my concern on a few things regarding the election though. Firstly, racism. No matter what anyone wants to believe, race was a huge factor in this election. I don't believe America was a racist country 2 days ago. I don't believe it was even 10 years ago. I don't think just because we elect a black man to be president means that for some reason we have crossed an imaginary line where we can all of the sudden feel better about ourselves. If Barack were a white man, would he be getting the same attention? I would have a hard time believing so. I have heard, seen, and read so much regarding how the fact that he is black is part of why they are voting for him. If we are all of the sudden not racist, wouldn't that not matter. Isn't the hope of Dr. Martin Luther Kings famous speech color blindness? If color had ANYTHING to do with why you voted for Barack or McCain, you are the problem, not the solution.

Secondly, socialism. I do believe, from what I have heard Barack say, and also his associates, that we will, at least try, to head down a socialist path. That path I feel will fail. We have been a value destroying culture as of late in the name of tolerance, and oddly enough, compassion. Truly, nothing in life is free. Too many are now expecting a free ride. This tactic exploits the greed in people, and cheats them out of their dignity and self respect. Spreading the wealth around only quashes it. There will be more on this topic in the future. This will suffice for now.

Again, I have friends on both sides. I truly am proud to be an American. I love all that this country stands for. If under the Bush administration you were ashamed of America, shame on you. You're first is loyalty to the Country, not it's leader. I have not agreed with Bush even as much as I wish I did, but I still love America and do not hang my head in disgust like so many. I will not hate America under a Barack presidency either, and neither should anyone else.