Hardly Historic

So, the LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC and others are reporting that on Sunday night, the House of Representatives passed an “historic” health care bill. In point of fact, the is nothing historic about this bill.

From the Soviet Constitution (1936):

Article 42. Citizens of the USSR have the right to health protection.

Other socialist dictatorships, such as Fascist Italy and NAZI Germany, had the same mandates. This is not to say that people interested in universal health care are NAZI’s or Communists; it is only to illustrate the roots of the school of thought which gave birth to these ideas. Remember, when the government runs health, the government RUNS health–by ceding control of our own health-care to the Federal government, we have given up the protection of Bill of Rights and given the Federal government license to regulate and penalize any activity which may affect our health in any way.

I know that there are people out there who are either devoted leftists, or who think that they’re apolitical and don’t realize how deeply the left has affected their thinking, who don’t see a problem with this. Being “healthy” is good for us, so who cares if the government mandates it? Ignoring the obvious question of who defines what “healthy” is (by guidelines currently accepted by the U. S. government, Arnold Schwarzeneger at the height of his bodybuilding career was grossly obese), let’s look at the right of the government to mandate how we live our lives at all.

What if this mandate had come from the Right instead of the Left? What if, instead of Nancy Pelosi deciding that she knew what was best for everyone’s physical well-being, Newt Gingrich decided that he knew what was best for everyone’s spiritual well-being? After all, from his point of view, the well-being of your eternal soul is far more important than the well-being of your physical body. What if he formed a coalition that rammed through (against massive protests) a measure which mandated that every American citizen would attend services at a Roman Catholic church weekly, and that if anyone could not afford a minimum required tithe, federal funds would be used to subsidize them?

Would you still fail to see the Constitutional problems of the Federal government mandating activities and funding them with taxpayers’ money? Please let me know what you think below.

When You Get Angry…

Starting today, and progressing until either Obamacare’s full effect in 2014 or its hopeful repeal, you will notice changes in your insurance. First, it is by definition no longer insurance; that is, a back-up investment to cover the expense of potential future problems. From now on, what we call “health insurance” is really a government co-op, just like your utility company, designed to be your sole method of payment for medical expenses.

Of course, there are a few differences. The increased regulatory measures of Obamacare are going to INCREASE your insurance costs–insurance companies now have to “insure against” things which have already happened. It will also raise your taxes–and the taxes of employers, who will be able to hire fewer people. The government-mandated subsidy will do to general medical care precisely what Medicare has done to the pharmaceutical industry–consumer prices will skyrocket.

As our economy stagnates and your bills rise, remember this: the Democrats, who are now utterly controlled by the elitist Progressive movement (Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have all stated so publicly), OWN THIS THING lock, stock and barrel. We have to get as many of them out of office as quickly possible. I’m not saying that Republicans have all the answers… but they are the only ones who can mount a majority quickly enough to fix ANY of this.

The bottom line is this: America tried to send a message to the Republican Party, and wound up selling itself down the river. Make sure you know EXACTLY whom you’re voting for.

Upon Further Consideration…

Man, I just can’t sleep.

At any rate, last night I watched the House of Representatives vote as it occurred. At about 9:45 pm, the “health-care” bill passed, and I wrote a vehement note on Facebook that if Obama signed this bill into law, I would drop my health insurance rather than comply with an illegal Federal mandate.

I’m now rescinding that decision.

I know that very, very few people read this blog or give a hoot what I think. I know that some people will read this and think that I’m a coward who caved on his convictions when he finally took the time to consider the consequences. That’s fine. Those who know me personally know that I’m hardly one to be put off by the threat of physical or financial hardship, and those who’ve deployed with me know that the threat of legal action won’t deter me from doing what’s right (Prison? Hell, have you met my ex-wife? FEAR HER STEREO.)

The fact is, on the off chance that anyone cares or, God help me, wanted to join me in dropping their insurance, that it would actually be counter-productive. Not only am I not actually “obeying the Federal mandate” (I’m not buying health insurance; I already have it), but in dropping my insurance I would be taking money away from the working Americans in the insurance company, and FUNDING the very tyrants whom I oppose (via the penalty which will be applied to uninsured individuals, which will not be applied to any insurance coverage).

It pains me to have voluntarily contracted my entire adult life to allow myself to be put in harm’s way to protect the world from tyrants, only to have tyrants take over my own country through a dishonest back-door. However, I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong (unless it involves asking for directions), and my quick decision on Facebook was poorly-considered. Here’s to the United States of America using this debacle as a rallying cry for freedom and common sense.

PACE

The Second-Funniest Thing I’ve Ever Heard…

A friend of mine asked me yesterday why I don’t blog anymore, so I guess I feel motivated today…

Anyway, I heard the second-funniest thing I’ve ever heard yesterday. The funniest thing I’ve ever heard was (embarrassingly) on an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. In it, one of the characters gives this advice to another: “write what you know.” Now, this is sound advice on writing–but coming from writers whose mouthpiece to deliver it is a woman, supposedly of Classical Greece but sporting red hair and calling herself a “bard,” it’s downright hilarious.

The second-funniest thing I’ve ever heard was delivered in speech by President Obama yesterday: he told Congress that the *ahem* “health-care” bill should be passed because “it goes right down the middle of American politics.” Let me give you a counter example of this logic: Here I have a roast-beef sandwich. Here I have a sandwich made from my own feces. I’ll split them right down the middle, and you can have the resulting sandwich.

How’s your appetite?

A Question of Hypocrisy

In consideration of today’s impending House of Representatives vote–allegedly on a bill to reform health-care, but really to expand the power of the Federal government far beyond its legal limits–some proponents of the legislation have decided that my opposition makes me a hypocrite. Being always interested in a fair argument, I propose the following for consideration:

1) As a civil servant, I am directly involved in every disaster relief response undertaken by the State of Missouri.

2) As a member of the Missouri Army National Guard, I have personally taken part in some of these responses, including our relief mission to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was there three days after the hurricane, personally handing out food and water, and protecting fire fighters who were being shot at by arsonists.

3) I have been certified as an EMT, and used my training to save at least two human lives (on my own time, separate from any lives I have saved by use-of-force as a military policeman).

4) I am a dues-paying member of organizations which, when totaled, provide millions of dollars a day in charitable donations to hospitals across the country, especially childrens’ hospitals.

5) I donate, in addition to other charities, 5% of every paycheck I make to the American Red Cross.

6) I have had surgery while unemployed and uninsured–after which I got a job and paid for surgery on my own.

Given these items for consideration, how does my objection to your demands that the Federal government exceed its Constitutional powers to take even more of the money that I earn through my own labor make me an uncaring hypocrite? Have you done more than I to help others?

New Hermetics

I received a e-mail from Jason Augustus Newcomb today welcoming me into the program, pending the assignment of a proctor. Not only am I impressed with Mr. Newcomb’s spiritual writings, but he’s actually got a book out called “How the Teaching of Jesus Could Save America,” which promotes the idea of liberals and conservatives working together.

Quite a far cry from deep left I usually encounter when dealing with other people of mystical orientation.