Health Care and the Hidden Beast

"One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project, most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it." Reagan cites the failure of president Harry Truman's national health insurance proposal as evidence of the American people's rejection of socialized medicine." - Ronald Regan
A person will never forget, but a people will always forget, always swayed by the rulers of society (the media) then forgetful of the history that is evident of our only source of learning from our mistakes. There is a debate today, which I feared would land it's own special seat on the floor of the House during the President's first term. Health care the last several months has been on the mind of the American people. Despite the interruptions of global events, (earthquakes, weather) the American people continue to have the coverage of the health care bill be the main subject on their televisions and internet pages. Let me just sum up what President Obama is trying to push through the House and Senate: Universal Health Care, a government run function, with a public option, that will provide health care to those who wish to access it and cannot afford health care. There are 47 million who cannot afford health care, and as a result when help is needed, the answer to the call for help is silent. The government wishes to fix this, and help fund for those who cannot afford it.
There are a few problems with these statistics. First off, let me touch the 47 million people who cannot afford it. Now how likely is that 47 million people according to the democratic statistic include the 20 million illegal immigrants? More than likely. These illegals should not have any type of health care benefits anyway, since they are avoiding taxes and are here illegally. Their jobs are low paying, and their care is usually done through emergency room help, to where if they can't afford it, the government (that means us) picks up the tab anyway. I know those people may have had it rough in their old country, but the happiest immigrants are those who are not freeloading off of the government system, and came to the country through the proper channels, and as a result, eventually will be able to afford health care. But immigration is another issue.
Also in this 47 million category includes students. Most universities will cover students until they graduate, and so then the Democrats wish to throw at you they will be without care as they look for a job with benefits. There is a theme here. The theme is that privatized health care is expensive, and only those with descent jobs will be able to afford it. I just shopped for health care, and for a decent package, including hospital visits and regular doctor visits, health care for an adult is around $45 to $50 a month. Now I see students who have expensive cell phones, vehicles, etc. and these plans for these phones could be more than $100 a month. Now this is not a select few, this is pretty common. What if they were to surrender their internet service for their phone, or monthly text messaging bills? That is about $50-60 right there. There is your monthly payment for health care. What really is more important? Now this is more of a practical issue, and there is much more to this that we can help without the government.
"Fedex and UPS are doing just fine. It's the postal service that's having problems." - President Obama
Now, this quote makes me want government run health care why? End of statement.
I wish now to conclude with these facts found in the 1990 page health care bill. This is according to NFIB, which is a website devoted to the workforce of small businesses:

1. Employer Mandate - Research shows an employer mandate could cost 1.6 million jobs with more than 1 million of those jobs lost in the small business sector.

2. Payroll Tax Penalty - No matter how profitable or unprofitable a business might be in a given year, businesses are forced to pay this tax. The legislation requires that all employers with a payroll of $250,000 or more pay a payroll tax of up to 8 percent if they do not provide “qualified” health insurance to their employees. If an employer chooses to add a worker or increase wages, the tax rate on that employer may continue to go up. Simply put, this is a tax on job growth.

3. Pay-or-Play, Pay-and-Pay and Offer-and-Pay - The legislation establishes a confusing multi-part test that hits both employers who do and do not offer health insurance. A non-offering employer will pay a payroll tax penalty. Small businesses must 1) offer a qualified plan, as determined by a government-appointed board, 2) provide both individual and family coverage, and 3) meet minimum contribution levels, which could be more than they are already paying and can afford. If employees decline coverage and opt into the exchange, that employer is also penalized. All of these added expenses and new rules will simply lead to a greater chance that employees will not be able to keep the coverage they already have.

4. Mandated Minimum Plan with a Big Price Tag - Today, 86 percent of small businesses who offer coverage only offer one plan. Small employers and their employees want the ability to choose from a variety of affordable plans. H.R. 3200 reduces options available to small businesses. The bill gives a political board the power to determine whether an employer plan is “acceptable.” It does nothing to ensure that the new plans will be less expensive than what small employers are paying today and even requires small employers to cover certain services they are currently exempt from under federal law.

5. Exchange Limits Access to All Small Businesses - NFIB has long been a supporter of creating a simpler and more efficient way to shop for affordable insurance, like an exchange. However, this bill fails to provide guaranteed access to the exchange for employers with 21 or more employees. Providing increased access and more choices for some, but not all small business is not reform that small business can support.

6. An All Powerful Insurance Czar - The “Health Choices Commissioner” will have unbridled authority to institute rules and regulations that greatly affect small employers, including the ability to define who is and is not a full-time and part-time employee. Thresholds set forth by an unelected commissioner would be subject to continual changes, leaving small business owners in constant fear of ever-changing compliance requirements.

7. Government-Run Public Option - The public option would further compromise the viability of private insurance and would restrict choice to a single plan: the government-run plan. A reformed, private insurance marketplace can better provide businesses and employees with more affordable coverage and a sustainable choice of plans.

8. The Surtax: A Tax on Job Creation - The surtax imposes an additional tax on some businesses reducing after-tax profits at a time when small businesses are struggling to find capital. Because 75 percent of small businesses are structured as pass through entities, they pay their business taxes at the individual level. More than one-third of small businesses would face the tax. And those most likely to face this tax employ 33.5 million workers – more than one-quarter of the American workforce.

9. Jeopardizes Options That Small Employers Have Today - The legislation actually takes steps to limit the viability and use of health savings accounts (HSA) – jeopardizing a health insurance option that small business owners have and use today.

10. An Employer Tax Credit with Limited Value - While some small businesses can be helped by tax credits, the structure of the credit is critical to its successes. Under H.R. 3200, only small businesses with 25 or fewer employees would be eligible for a subsidy of up to 50 percent of the cost of health insurance for employees. Businesses that have an average annual salary per worker of $20,000 or less get the full subsidy; however, the average wage of full-time employees at businesses with fewer than 10 employees is more than $30,000, meaning that in many cases the value of the credit is already cut in half.

Let me share with you from personal experience how universal health care will destroy our nation financially, and socially. As I have mentioned earlier I have served my mission in Poland, which has a national health care system. I was sick a lot, as my companions will no doubt remember. There were times I had to go to the doctor, and if you were outside of Warsaw, depending on where you were, you were being helped in an old, rundown building, with not much privacy. Doctors did not have the tools they needed, since they could not afford it. The country is still feeling the impacts of communism, and in time it will grow past old wounds. They cannot provide nearly as well as America can provide. Why do you think when a surgery must be done, be it complex, or simple, if possible the patient is brought to America? We have the best health care system in the world. There are flaws, but only because people are trying to destroy it, and take advantage of the system. Let us remember that this bill is not to help us, but to give those in Washington more power. It is dangerous, and behind its eyes of helping the needy, there is a beast, one that will bring the bitter taste of socialism to American society. Let it not come to that, for we are much better than this. Let us be wise in our spending, and in our priorities, for if all were to do this, we would be beyond prosperous.

Earth's Damage

I know as of late this topic has been slowly sketched into the minds of all political power houses and businesses. Climate Change has effected many people, and even though we may not think it effects you personally, it does. It is happening all around us, the talk of climate change, the fear of destruction looming over our heads like an overdue judgment of mother nature. But notice I didn't say climate change itself is effecting us. I mentioned the talk of it instead. Some of you may find it dire that we spring into action, that every little bit of effort will effect the outcome of our environment, and that we are the cause of burning our planet up. People do often wonder why people like me have problems believing such an "atrocity" is taking place. Let me show you:
The latest gallop poll says that 36% of Americans believe that global warming is happening, and that it is of great necessity that we take care of it. Okay so what is up with the other 64% of Americans? Are they just uninformed? Do they not care? Or are they like me, they are skeptical? They try to find the answer, but a lot of it does not make sense. They watched "An Inconvenient Truth" only to find that it was inconvenient to have their time wasted by that movie. Watching that movie raised a lot of questions for me. My first one was why Al Gore? What education does he have to show me that he knows so much about our ecosystem and how our planet works? He doesn't have any in that genre. He's a politician, and politician's are good at implying dramatics into half-truths. Now he could really believe in what he is teaching. But then this raises another question: What of the majority percentage of scientists that say global warming is sketchy?
At the beginning of 2009, a survey was taken of the polar ice caps as is done yearly. The ice caps were "melting at an alarming rate" at the end of 2005, thus sparked the issue of global warming. But according to http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=01&fd=01&fy=2006&sm=01&sd=01&sy=2009, it shows the ice caps more frozen, as said in the latest report "record high freezing's". So this again raises the question, is global warming happening?
Another aspect of Global Warming that you may have noticed recently is that it has been changed to "Climate Change." I recently took note of this, and could only base it on the assumption that the earth was cooler than in previous records. Still, the earth getting cold is our fault. News flash, when you scream about global warming, it shouldn't get colder, no matter what excuse you can come with for the reason. Which is why it is climate change. But then, one last question comes up, what is the "right" temperature for the earth?
That is not our place to decide. Granted we dominate the earth, but there are other creatures here as well. Where one temperature is comfortable for one species, it may not be for another. We, as the dominate species on the planet can live with the differences. If we really had the power to change the temperature, to change our climate, or "fix" it as some would like to say, is it beneficial to everybody? And I mean all of those lovable creatures you environmental Nazis want to protect. I don't have a problem in protecting animals, but I feel if we could change the temperature as we are all led to believe we can, it wouldn't benefit every creature on the earth. Many would die in our quest to find the "perfect" temperature. In a world of constant change, there is no perfection, only progression.
These are reasons why I have difficulty believing Climate Change is real, or rather, that we are the cause of it. The earth changes, and it has been doing it since it's creation. Now with our limitations can we really tamper with a force that is beyond our comprehension? That seems to have no limitations? I would assume that it would be futile, but many try, and I fear in the long run they will see their efforts were in vain.

I would like to leave you with one more article. Now it is short, but take into account the sources that are given by the author. http://wizbangblog.com/content/2007/02/15/global-warming-it-aint-happeni.php (Sorry it was giving me a hard time with the links so you'll have to copy and paste)

The Winnings

The polls as of late through the Gallup are curious. We see that President Obama's job approval rating is at a 67% stand, while the state of the nation is at a 73% dissatisfaction rating. Well-Being says we are at 50% struggling, with the country's mood at a 54% happiness rating. What does all of this mean? It is certain that Obama did win the presidency by majority vote. To be frank, John McCain, as much as some may admire him as a war hero, was not the strongest of candidates the Republican Party could have produced. It was an unfortunate circumstance with their primaries, as the more Conservative presidential candidates such as Mike Hukabee and Mitt Romney continued to battle over the votes by conservatives, while John McCain took what was left, yet needed off at the side line. The country is at this point happy with Obama, and are anxious to see what he can do. I fear for his supporters however. I will say I am not one of them, but I do respect the man for his beliefs and for his victory in a tough battle that was hard fought towards the White House. I respect that he is the first African-American to be president of the United States, but just because I feel that I cannot agree with a lot of his policies, does not mean that I am a racist. With this said, the question is therefore brought once again: Who is the man we, as a free people voted for? Is he the "Messiah" that the media and supporters portrayed him as, or are the fears that critics had of him true? We will first look at his first acts in office and see what direction we can expect based on these decisions.
It has been circulating around all major news networks that a massive stimulus package is being brought underway to stabilize the economy. As many cheer for this great advancement, we can look at it as one simple factor: IT IS ANOTHER BAILOUT. Bailouts as of late are rounding towards 5 trillion dollars in combination. There were many bailouts that were barley touched by the news media after the $700 billion bailout. That was merely the first. This was also feared by critics. We wish to decrease our national debt by decreasing the yearly deficit, yet we are increasing all of these things and tacking on to the yearly deficits beforehand with these bailouts. Let me tell you another thing about this package: IT'S MORE OF YOUR MONEY! That's right. When I said it was another bailout, I was not kidding. Obama wishes to give a tax cut with this stimulus package, but how will he get the national debt at a stable level when the bailout money is needed to be paid for by us? As we continue to pay, more bailouts will come. It seems like an never ending process that is going to lead our country slowly down to an economic hell, much worse than the Great Depression, for then, the government wasn't in as serious trouble as ours will be. We didn't owe money to other countries on the scale we do now. What is the solution?
We must stop trying to "change" everything, and just look at what has worked in the past. People talk much about so called "political evolution." Yes politics evolve, but is it because it is evolving, or politicians are just tired of old politics? We may never know the answer to that question. Answer: The Private Sector Here is where the economy has it's stability. The answer is not more government, but it is tax cuts to the larger corporations which then in a sense trickle down to the smaller businesses. That's one factor. Another is Stricter Loans. What does this have to do with anything you ask? This is why we're in a jam in the first place. Why the housing market is in a jam, and why banks have been failing. Bad loans were given out to people who couldn't afford the interest or pay them off. This happened over many many years, and because of this happening, in the long run (which the world rarely looks towards) the economy on a national level begins to slowly fail. We saw this happening begin in 2007. A sign was gas prices began to rise due to demand. Why they rise is a completely different story that is for another day. But we were in a recession, and the housing market has been the tank longer than that. Several forecloses on those who couldn't afford their mortgages or loans. It was simply put "bad business." Look at news articles from when this began. It was a chaotic falling, and now we're paying for those who were unwise, and who were greedy. My friends we have nobody to blame for this economic failure up high then ourselves. It is important we learn good business, or we will fall again, and deeper.

Welcome

I welcome all who come across this. I will say up front that I am a conservative, yet to all who think that I am a closed minded, lost, republican are more than far from the truth. I try to keep an open mind. I myself have traveled and lived among a different people, which greatly increased my love for my country and desire to sustain "a more perfect union." I fear what I have seen as of late is the slow decaying of values and beliefs that our country once held dear. I wish, in time, to express my concerns and let the world know that even when the hour is the darkest, there is always a light at the end, even if at times we find it to dim. Let it be known that there are those who have not lost faith in our country, and that we as a people, can still speak, even if there are those who wish us to do otherwise.